might be no God for sinners are haters of God Rom. 1.30 And as he that hates his Brother is a Murtherer 1 Joh. 3.15 so as much as in him lies he that hates God is a murtherer of God It keeps Garrisons and strong holds against God 2 Cor 10.4 5. It strives with and fights against God and if its power were as great as its will is wicked it would not suffer God to be God â—s a troublesome thing to sinners and therefore â—hey say to him depart from us Job 21.14 and â—f Christ Jesus let us break his bonds in sunder and cast his cords far from us Psal 2.1 2. And when the Holy Ghost comes to woe and entreat them to be reconciled they resist and make war with the spirit of peace Acts 7.51 so that they are against every person in the Trinity Father Son and Spirit In short and for a conclusion sin is contrary to God and all that 's dear to him or hath his name upon it and though it be against all good yet not so much against any good as against God who is and because he is the chiefest good Before we pass on let me beseech thee who ever thou be that readest to pause a little and consider of what is said for mutato nomine dâ— te what 's said of sin is to be consider'd by the sinner and is meant of thine and my sin Shalâ— I not plead for God and thy Soul and entreaâ— thee to be on Gods side and depart from thâ— Tents of wickedness Poor Soul Canst thou finâ— it in thine heart to hug and imbrace such a Monster as this is Wilt thou love that which hateâ— God and which God hates God forbid Wiâ—â— thou joyn thy self to that which is nothing buâ— contrariety to God and all that 's good Oh saâ— to this Idol yea to this Devil Get hence whaâ— have I to do with thee thou Elymas Sorcereâ— thou full of all malignity and mischief thoâ— Child yea Father of the Devil thou that art thâ— Founder of Hell an Enemy to all righteousness that ceasest not to pervert the right way of the Lord and to reproach the living God Away away Shall I be seduced by thee to grieâ— the God of all my joy to displease the God 〈◊〉 all my comfort to vex the God of all my coâ—tent to do evil against a good God by whom I live move and have my being Oh no. Thus consider of these things and do not go on to provoke the Lord least a worse thing befall thee then any hitherto do not contend with God who is stronger then thou art who is able when he will and he will be one day found both able and willing enough to turn the wicked into hell the Element of sin and sinners who shall go into it as into their own place as Judas did Acts 1.25 Oh learn to pity thine own soul for he that sinneth doth as offend and wrong God so wrong and destroy his own soul or as some read the Text despiseth his own soul Prov 8.36 Oh think on 't what hast thou no value no regard for thy soul wilt thou neglect and despise it as if 't were good for nothing but to be damn'd and go to hell wilt thou be felo de se a self-soul-murtherer shall thy perdition be of thy self Oh look to thy self for sin notwithstanding all its flattering pretences is against thee and seeks nothing less then thy ruine and damnation And this brings and leads me to the second thing to be treated of Sins contrariety to Man The second thing wherein the sinfulness of sin doth consist 2 Sin is contrary to the good of man is its contrariety to the good of Man which is the thing that our Text doth especially ment on and intend and is therefore to be the more copiously spoken to Sin is contrary to the good of man and nothing is properly â—nd absolutely so but sin and this results and is evident from sins contrariety to God as there is nothing contrary to God but sin for Devils are not so but by sin so sin in being contrary to God is and cannot but be contrary to man that must he unavoidably evil to man that 's evil against God who is the chiefest good of man communion with and conformity to God is mans felicity his heaven upon earth and in heaven too without which it would not be worth his while to have a being Now sin being a separation between God and Man an interruption of this communion and conformity it must needs be prejudicial and hurtful to him Beside the Commandment of which sin is a transgression was given not only for Gods sake that he might have glory from mans obedience but for Mans sake that man might enjoy the good and benefit of his obedience and find that in keeping the Commands of God there is great reward These two were twisted together and no sooner is the Law transgrest but God and Man are joynt-sufferers God in his glory and Man in his good Mans suffering follows at the heel of sin yea as he suffers by so in sinning suffering and sinning involve each other No sooner did sin enter into the world but death which is a privation oâ— good did enter by it with it and in it for 't is the sting of death so that sin saith here its death and death saith here is sin No sooneâ— did Angels sin but they fell from their first estate and habitation which they had with God in glory not a moment between their sin and misery and as soon as man had sinned his conscienâ—â— told him that he was naked and destitute oâ— righteousness and protection and consequently an undone man that he could not endure Gods presence nor his own Genes 3.7 8. So apparent is it that sin and that in being contrary to God is contrary to man for what crosseth Gods glory is cross to mans happiness Now To proceed more distinctly and particularly 1 In this life I shall evince that sin is against mans good both present and future here in time and hereafter in Eternity in this life and world which now is and in that to come against all and every good of man and against the good of all and every man And herein lies the second instance of the sinfulness of sin as it is 1 Against mans present good in this life and that 1 Against the good of his body 2 Against the good of his soul For on both it hath brought a curse and death 1 Sin is against the good of mans body 1 Against his body it hath corrupted mans blood and made his body mortal and thereby render'd it a vile body our bodies though made of dust were yet more precious then the fine gold but when we sinned they became vile bodies before sin our bodies were immortal for death and mortality came in by sin but now alas they must return to dust and it s appointed to all men once to die and 't is well if they die but once and the second death have
hide his face from you his face which makes heaven a smile whereof or the lifting up the light of which countenance upon us refresheth us more then corn wine and oyl Psa 4.6 7. yea his loving kindness is better then life we had better have parted with this then that Mans sin is exprest by this that he turns his back to God and not the face and his punishment by this that God turns his back to him and not the face God carries it not like a friend but a stranger And indeed this hiding of his face is significative of many more miseries then I can now stay to instance in 2 Another and no less misery hereupon is that God hears not his prayers as it follows in that fore-mentioned Text Is 59.2 and so it attends the hiding of Gods face Is 1.15 God is a God hearing prayers but sin shuts out our shouting and the prayers of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord and he calls them no better then howlings Hos 7.14 Yet further There are two or three other miseries not to name many more that are consequent upon this separation which continually attend poor sinful man 1 That man is without strength Mans great strength is in union with God separation weakens him for without him apart from him out of him separated from him we can do nothing to be a sinner is to be without strength Rom. 5.6 with 8. Man was once a Sampson for strength but having parted with his Lock his strength is departed from him that of himself as of himself he is not sufficient to think one good thought 2 Cor. 3.5 He was strong while in the Lord and the power of his might but now his â—ands are weak and knees feeble his legs cannot bear him up having got the Spiritual Rickers 2 Being separated from God man becomes afraid of God and ashamed to appear before him while Innocent though naked yet man was not afraid nor ashamed to approach to God or of Gods approaching to him but when he had sinned he was asham'd to shew his face and afraid to see Gods face or to hear his voice Gen. 3.9 10. When righteous he was bold as a Lyon but now he runs his head into a bush 3 This separation and departure hardens his heart against God that when God comes to talk and treat with man about his sinning he will lay it any where yea at Gods own door as Adam did rather then confess it 'T is three times said in one Chapter Hebr. 3.8.13 15. Harden not your hearts least any of you be hardened harden not your hearts and all this in relation 〈◊〉 hearing the voice of God as 't is there When God comes to convince man he cannot endure to hear on 't but hardens his heart and as it was in the beginning so it is now among the sinful children of men Thus have I as briefly as so large a subject would permit set out the sinfulness of sin as 't is against the good of man body and soul in this life in a natural and moral respect which was the first thing propounded The second follows 2 Sin is contrary to 2 Sin against the good of man in the life to come it damns men or against the good of man in the life to come It hath brought on man that eternal death Damnation In this life man by reason of sin is in deaths often but in the life to come he is in death for ever If sin had only wrong'd man in this life which is but for a moment it had not been so considerable but sins miserable effects are everlasting if mercy prevent not the wicked die and rise to die again the second and a worse death There is a Resurrection to life for the righteous the children of the Resurrection and for the wicked a Resurrection to condemnation or death for 't is opposed to life John 5.29 But Before I shew what and wherein damnation is and consequently the mischief and misery that sin hath thereby brought on man I shall premise a few things which will make our passage smooth and easie I say then 1 That God damns no man but for sin Damnation is a punishment Mat. 25.46 and all punishment supposeth guilt and transgression God the judge of all the earth will do right and he lays not on man more then is meet that man may not enter into judgment with God Job 34.23 or quarrel and find fault with him which man would quickly do if Gods judgment were not just even sinners themselves being Judges Death is but sins wages Rom. 6.23 that which it hath merited mans undoing is but the fruit of his own doing mans perdition is of himself Hos 13.9 His own wickedness correctâ— him Jer. 2.19 and that not only in this life but that to come Mat. 7.23 and Mat. 25 2 That by sin all men are liable to condemnation We were all of us children of wrath by nature Eph. 2.3 and the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience Eph. 5.6 Hâ— that believeth not is condemned already he iâ— in a state of condemnation beside that which unbelief will bring upon him Joh. 3.18 and he that believeth not the wrath of God abideth on him He was a child of wrath by nature and continues still so in unbelief Joh. 3.36 Thâ— wrath of God seiseth on him as its habitation anâ— abode Every mouth must be stop'd for all thâ— world is become guilty all have sinned and fallen short of the glory and are obnoxious tâ— the judgment of God Rom. 3 19.-23 3 Some men have been are and will be damneâ— for sin all but them who have do and shall condemn sin and themselves for sin If we judge our selves we shall not be condemned of thâ— Lord else woe be to us When our Saviour senâ— his Disciples to preach saith he Go preach the Gospel that 's good news and glad tidings he that believes shall be saved Mark 16.16 Ayâ— but what if they will not believe what shall we say then Why then tell them he that believeâ— not shall be damned This is as great a truth of the Gospel that he who believes not will be damned as this is that he who believes shall be saved Heaven and Salvation is not more surely promised to the one then hell and damnatioâ— is threatned to and shall be executed on the other broad is the way that leads to this destruction there are as many tracts to it as there aâ—â— sins but impenitency and unbelief are the high road way the beaten path wherein multitudes go to hell 4 Damnation is the greatest evil of suffering that can befall a man 't is the greatest punishment that God doth inflict This is the wrath of God to the uttermost 't is his vengeance Oh who knows the power of his wrath none but damned ones It is misery altogether misery and alwayes misery to be damned This will yet more fully appear upon
taking away of sin Isa 27.9 yea to make us partakers of his Holiness Heb. 12.10 which is the end of the greatest promises 2 Pet 1.4 2 Cor. 7.1 So that God aims at the same thing in bringing threatned evils on us as in making good promises and making them good to us Is not this better then sin did that ever do such kindnesses for us A as its mercies are cruclties its courtesies are injuries its kindnesses are killing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sic notus Vlysses it never did nor meant us any good unless men be so mad to think that 't is good to be defiled dishonoured and damned 5. Sufferings tend to make us perfect but sin makes us more and more imperfect The second Adam was perfected by suffering Heb. 2.10 â—u the first Adam was made imperfect by sinning and thus it fares with both their seeds and children as it did with them a sinner and without strength Rom. 5.6 a sinner and without God without Christ without hope c Eph. 2.12 But a sufferer after a while 〈◊〉 be perfected by the same God of all grace who hath called him into eternal glory by Christ Jesus aâ—d after his example 1 Pet. 5.10 but the more a sinner the more imperfect and fitter for Hell 6. Suffering for God glorifies God 1 Pet 4.14 and calls on us to thank and glorifie God for it vers 16. but sin dishonours God by suffering the Saints are happy vers 14. being Gods Martyrs but by sinning sinners are miserable as the Devils Martyrs vers 15. and which I pray you is better to suffer for God or for the Devil to be suffering Saints or Sinners 7. Sufferings for God Christ and Righteousness adde to our glory as well as they glorifie God but sinning adds to our torment That suffering adds to our glory see Mat. 5.10 11 12. 2 Cor. 4.17 Light afflictions work an exceeding weight of glory but sin which is exceeding sinful works an exceeding weight of wrath and torment Rom. 2.5 It heaps heap upon heap load upon load to make up a treasury of wrath which then is the greatest evil I speak to wise men judge ye what I say light affliction or heavy sin which is better treasures of glory or treasures of wrath or which is all one to suffer or to sin Thus far I have evinced that sin is worse then affliction I but it may be said if we suffer not unto death 't is no great suffering skin for skin and all a man hath will he give for his life but to dye is dreadful 't is worse to sin I shall therefore prove 2. Sin is worse then death That sin is worse then death we use to say of two evils chuse the least now to dye is more cheap and easie then to sin as Gods loving-kindness is better then life we had better part with this then that so sin is worse then death we had better undergo this then do that better submit to death then commit sin as I hinted before from Mat. 10.28 But let us compare them Sin is more deadly then death viz. the separation of soul and body the dissolution of Natures frame and the union thereof this which we call Death is apprehended as a great evil as appears by mans unwillingness to dye men will live in sickness and pain they will be in deaths often rather then dye once and 't is not only an evil in apprehension but 't is really so to humane Nature for 't is called an enemy 1 Cor. 15.26 'T is true death is a friend to grace but 't is as true that death is an enemy to nature and there are four things in which death is evil and an enemy to man and in all these respects sin is more an enemy to man then death 1. Death is separating it separates the nearest and dearest relations yea that which God hath joyned together man and wife soul and body it separates from Estates Ordinances c. as I shewed before thus death is a great evil and enemy true but sin is worse for it brought death and all the evils that come by death and separates man while alive from God who is the light and life of our lives Death separates not from the love of God that sin doth Rom. 8.38 39. Isa 59.2 2. Death is terrifying 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the King of Terrors Job 18.14 't is a grim Sir a very sowre and tetrical thing 't is ghastly and frightful for men are not only unwilling but afraid to dye but all the terror that is in death sin puts there 't is the sting of death 1 Cor. 13.56 without which though it kill it cannot curse nor hurt any man so that sin is more terrible then death for without sin either there had been no death or to be sure no terror in death when the sting is taken away by the death of Christ there 's no danger nor cause of fear Heb 2.14 15. and the Apostle looking on the Prince of Peace was not afraid of the King of Terrors but could challenge and upbraid it 1 Cor. 15 55 3. Death is killing but sin much more death deprives of natural and temporal but sin deprives of spiritual and eternal life death kills but the body sin kills the soul and brings it uâ—der a worse death then the first viz. the second Men may kill us but only God can destroy us i. e. damn us and that he never doth but for sin so that sin is more â—iâ—ling then death is 4. Death is corrupting it brings the body to corruption and makes it so loathsom that we say of our dearest relations as Abraham of Sarah when she was dead bury her out of my sight death makes every man say to the worm thou art my mother and to corruption and putrefaction thou art my sister Job 17.14 But sin corrupts us more then death for he that dyed without sin saw no corruption it defiles us and makes us a stink in the nostrils of God and men Gen. 34.30 the old man and its lusts are corrupt and do corrupt us Eph. 4.22 They corrupt our souls and that which corrupts souls the principal man of the man is much worse then that which corrupts the body only but sin corrupts the body too while alive intemperance uncleanness corrupts soul and body so that sin is even in this worse then death Our Saviour tells the Jews that their great misery was not that they should dye but that they should dye in their sins Job 8 21. intimating that sin was worse then death and that which made death a misery better dye in an Hospital or a Ditch then in sin 't is better to dye any how then sin and dye in sin and therefore the Father told Eudoxia the Empress when she threatned him Nil nisi peccatum timeo I fear nothing but to sin And ' ewas a Princely Speech of a Queen who said She had rather hear of her
imprisoned Beside what Ausonius tells us â—â—us plus alio invenire potest nemo-omnia is a very great truth one may find out more then another but none will or can find and speak out all so exceeding broad are the commands and truths contain'd in the sacred Scriptures beyond any others Though therefore I think it no disparagement to me to acknowledge that I have perused others and profited by them yet I may without vanity or ostentation say that I have not only handled this Subject in another manner but that I have also spoken to other things then any hath done that I have yet met withall and do not doubt but much more may be said then hath been by me any or all that have written on this Theme As to the sinfulness of sin the Subject of the Treatise I have indeed handled it most largely as 't is against Mans good and happiness it being most properly the intent and scope of the Text and God is so condescending that he is pleased to treat man as a self-lover and so to gain him and win him by his own advantages yea he seems by his patience to have a concern for mans Salvation beyond his own vindication in this world as the Apostle gives us to believe 2 Pet. 3.9 And truly this vouchsafement self-denial and humbling of himself is so great and rich a goodness that it most forceably leads and draws us to repentance Rom. 2.4 As to the stile I have not minded any curiosity for I am still of my former opinion that that eloquence doth injury to things which draws us to observe it seeing words are only for the matters sake and should not hinder but help its promotion fine expressions according to what 's said by a Learned and Eloquent person fine expressions are but like the gawdy and guilded frame of a Looking-glass which acquaints us not with our faces and features The genuine use of a Looking-glass yea many times the richness of the frame doth so much amuse and dazle the eyes of some childish persons that they are regardless of any thing else The Rhetorick diverts men from attending the more concerning the instructive part of a discourse yea many that pretend to be Criticks make little other use of Sermons and good Books then to censure or to applaud the contrivance and the phrase without minding the Doctrine or caring to rectifie what hath been discover'd to them to be amiss 'T is no commend to a Preacher to be more sollicitous to make his expressions then to make his Hearers good There must be no flattering of sinners we must rather endeavour they may condemn themselves then applaud us and 't will be more joy to a good Divine to hear the peoples sighs for their sins then to hear their praises of his Sermon and that they follow his counsel then that they admire his language We must not speak against sin to shew an art of declaiming a skill of speaking Oratoriously but to exercise our own and to provoke others to exert their hatred against it and 't is to be fear'd that when the best of men have done their best and utmost there will yet be too many that read pious books with less reverence and concern then a Romance or a Play being more for the Rhetorick then Divinity for the wit then worth which is to say the shadow then substance of discourses and as the forementioned excellent person significantly expresseth it If a devout book have not good store of witty passages some Readers will not mind it at all and if it have they will mind nothing else And this experience confirms But whatever Readers this Book meet with I have endeavour'd that it may profit and so far please them that I hope they will find nothing worthy of their displeasure but the thing I write against I have committed it to God and beg'd his blessing that it may be of use to teach men to profit hereafter by their hitherto loss and get something by reading which they can never do by committing of sin But not to detain thee much longer I entreat thee to remember that this world is but a glittering and pompous vanity a thing that 〈…〉 using and will not reach beyond the grave and perhaps will not last so long for the lust and fashion of it pass yea take them wings and fly away Remember that sin leads no where but to hell the place and Element of torment Remember that ere long Death will arrest thee and carry thy body to the dust and Dungeon of the grave and if thou die in thy sins thy Soul to Hell and Damnation I entreat thee therefore to exercise thy self unto and in the power of godliness and do not live as if the practise of Piety were nothing but a Book of that Name Alas what is' t to have Religion in thy Bible in thy head and tongue and yet have none in thine heart and life Do but think what thou wilt say or do when thou comest to judgment as Solomon tells the young man Eccl. 11.9 Take the course which thou canst own and justifie in that day and do what thou wilt and then I am sure thou wilt not dare to do any thing but what thou oughtest for who can answer for one of a thousand or for but one sin As for any of them yet alive that were Hearers and shall now be Readers of what 's contain'd in the following Treatise I crave leave to tell them that they have it double as Precept upon Precept and line upon line and God seems to send it to them the second time that it may do more good upon them then it did at first that the repetition and calling of it to remembrance may do more then the preaching of it did though I know blessed be God that it was not then deliver'd and heard without good effects on many and I hope on more then I know of That God may be glorified and the Readers may profit by it is much the prayer as 't will be much the joy and rejoycing of my Soul whatever censures may be past upon me Ralph Venning There are several mis-pointings which the sense will help the Reader to Correct beside the following Errata which are to be amended thus PAge 16. line 12. for destruction read distraction p. 55. l. 20. for joyn'd r. injoyn'd l. 23. for sociability r. insociability p. 74. l. 24. for joyn with r. joyn them with p. 97. l. 2. for believe they r. believe then p. 126. l. 33. for no more r. the more p. 128. l. 2. for tell of God r. tell God p. 141. l. 24. for have r. leave p. 145. l. 2. for when before r. before and when p. 145. l. 33. for they call r. they not call p. 148. l. 27. for iuch r. such p. 152. l. 4. for divisions r. diversions p. 156. l. 26. for hundred r. hardned p. 157. l. 15. for exercise r. excess p. 255. l. 4.
evil and doth evil yea nothing else so that sin and its works are contrary to God and his works 4. Sin is contrary to the Law and Will of God 4 To his Law yea to all the rules and orders of his appointment There is not one of his Laws which it hath not broken and endeavoured to make void and of none effect yea 't is not only a transgrestion of but a contradiction also to the Will of God When the Son of God came into the world to declare and do his Fathers Will he was encountred by and under-went the contradiction of sinners Hebr. 12.3 who would have made men believe that neither he nor his Doctrine was of God 'T is an Anti-will to Gods Will it sets it self to oppose preaching prayer and all the Institutions of God and that not only out of envy to man that he should not be the better for them but out of enmity to God that he should not be worshipped in the world Now to act contrary to the will and Statutes of God is to act contrary to God himself as may be seen by comparing Levit. 26.14 15. with 21 23 27. and many other places David in fulfilling the Will of God was said to be a man after Gods own heart Acts 13.22 and they that obey the will of sin are said to walk after the heart of sin Ezek. 11.21 5. 5 To his Image Sin is contrary to the Image of God wherein man was made God made man in his own likeness viz. in righteousness and true holiness Eph. 4.24 Now sin is clean contrary to this Image as much unlike it as deformity and ugliness is unlike to handsomness and beauty as darkness is to light as hell to heaven yea and more too Sin is the Devils Image as when God made man he made him in his own image so when the Devil made man sin he thereby made him his own image and likeness and so I conceive the Devil meant that phrase Ye shall be like Gods Elohim Genes 3.5 He did not say nor mean that he should be like the Elohim the Creators as the word is Job 35.10 Eccl. 12.1 the God that made them but like Elohim Gods viz. such as I and my Angels are who once knew good but now know evil both by doing it and suffering the sad effects of it The word Elohim is used not only of God and good Angels but of fallen Angels or Devils 1 Sam. 28.13 And under the covert of this ambiguous and dubious word he craftily abused our first Parents for he well knew that by sinning they could not become like Elohim God above but would become like Elohim the Gods below And alas are we not like Elohim-devils knowing good by loss and evil by the sad and dismal effects thereof Thus he that runs may read the Picture Image and likeness of the Devil in sin sinners are as like the Devil as any thing for he that sinneth is of the Devil 1 John 3.8 not only a servant but a child of the Devil Ye are of your Father the Devil said holy Jesus to the sinful Jews John 8.44 Never was Child more like the Father then a sinner is like the Devil sin hath the nature the complexion the air the features and very behaviour of the Devil 6. 6 To his people Sin is contrary to the people and children of God 'T is true sin cannot hate them so much as God loves them nor do them so much hurt as God can do them good yet out of spite and envy 't will do its worst and hate them because God loves them Gods Children are his Darlings and Favorites dear to him as the apple of his eye in all their afflictions he bears a part and is afflicted and looks upon it as if he himself were treated as they are in this world Acts 9.4 5. Mat. 25 41.-45 Now the nearer and dearer they are to God the more Gods heart is set upon then for good the more sin sets its heart against them for evil Sin is alwayes warring against the Seed of God in them the flesh lusteth against the spirit Gal. 5.17 and warreth against their souls 1 Pet. 2.11 So that by sins ill-will Gods people should neither enjoy nor do any good in this world 't is alwayes provoking the Serpentine Race to make war upon to imprison and persecute even to destruction the little Flock and Remnant of the holy Seed it will not further then rebuked by grace let them have one quiet day it disturbs and interrupts them that they cannot attend upon God without destruction when they would do good a evil is present with them either to keep it undone or to make it ill done it endeavours to spoil all they take in hand and to turn their holy things into iniquity by reason whereof they cry out as greatly opprest wretches that we are who shall deliver us from this body of death Rom. 7. This evil and envious sin is bent also to hinder all it can the comfort welfare and happiness of the Saints Sin like the Devil hath not such an evil eye or aking tooth at all the sinners of the world as it hath at the Saints in the world 't is true the Devil is a man-hater but more a Saint-hater watch for your Adversary the devil seeks whom of you he may devoure as S. Peter tells us 1 Pet. 5.8 And this it doth to cross and thwart God and his design who and which is set upon the happiness of his people 7. 7 To his Glory Sin is contrary to and set against the glory of God and all that should and would give glory to him or hath any tendency thereunto Confession of sin and repentance gives glory to God Jos 7.19 and this sin endeavours to obstruct and hinder It began to practise it on Adam and Eve and still keeps on this trade among the children of men Revel 16.9 Faith would give glory to God now that men may not believe sin imployes the Devil to blind their eyes 2 Cor. 4.4 Good men would do all they do but sin will let them do nothing at all to the glory of God but is ever throwing one dead fly or other into their most precious boxes of oyntment Sin is so malicious that it will not only displease and dishonor God it self but labours to defeat and frustrate the endeavours of all that attempt to do otherwise Might sins desires take place there should not be a person or thing by whom and whereby God should be pleas'd or glorified It gives out false reports of God and goodness layes prejudices and rocks of offence and stumbling in mens wayes that they may be out of love with all that 's good so desperately is it bent against the honor of God 8. 8 To his being Sin as was hinted before is contrary to and opposite against the being and existence of God it makes the sinner wish and endeavour that there
They evidence their hatred of sin as sin and not for by-respects thus that they abhor all their secret sins which none knows but themselves yea such as they know not by themselves but only God knows them they hate that which none can accuse them for or lay to their charge as guilty of Psa 19.12 Lord who knows the error of his way and as S. Paul though I know nothing by my self yet c. 1 Cor. 4.4 the heart of man is such a maze as man himself cannot find out all the windings of it such a deep as man himself cannot fathom it so deceitful that man himself doth not know it only God searcheth it Well this being so Lord cleanse me from my secret errors undiscern'd and unknown yea by me unknowable errors and extravagancies 't is meet to be said to God as Job 34.32 that which I know not viz. wherein I have done amiss that shew thou me A man doth many things amiss which scape his own observation as much as that of others and of these would a good man be cleans'd these create no trouble to his conscience but only they are against God though unknown to him and therefore would berid of them that they might not lodge in his heart though as strangers and unknown Yea 4 They are against all inclinations to sin against the very conception of sin they do all they can not only that sin may not bring forth or breed but that it might not conceive that I may refer to James 1.14 15. Oh the burden of the body of death and Law of the members that though S. Paul can say 't is not he that sins but sin that dwelleth in him yet he would berid of this in being of sin that it might not so much as incline him to evil Yet once more 5. And lastly they are carried out against sin as sin as appears by this that they cannot content themselves not to do evil unless also they do good they think it not enough that they do not displease God unless they please God to be negatively unless they be positively good they would not only not commit evil but they would not omit good many men as they will do no hurt so no good the charge against them Mat. 25. is not that they did defraud or oppress or were cruel to the members of Christ but they did not actually do them good not cloath not feed not visit c. but good men are for being and for doing good not only cleanse me from secret sins or only keep me from presumption but oh that the thought of my heart the words of my mouth and consequently the works of my life may be acceptable to thee O Lord Psa 19. The Apostle in the name of all the houshold of faith speaks thus 2 Cor. 5.9 wherefore we labour the word is we are ambitious or like heavenly Courtiers we affect this honor that whither present or absent that is living or dying we may be accepted of him or as the Greek will bear it well to be actively read that we may be acceptable to him even to all well pleasing This to the first Objection The second Ob. is to this purpose We see that godly men have sinned 't is matter of fact Now if sin were so odious to them as you say would they sin Before I give answer to this Objection let me premise 1 By way of concession and confession that they do sin yea who is he that liveth and sinneth not If any man say he hath not sinned he makes God a lyar who hath concluded all men under sin and if we say we have no sin we both deceive and yet confute our selves for we sin in saying so 1 Joh. 8.10 Yet 2. There is this to be said that the sins of good men are more usually sins of captivity then sins of activity as the Apostle speaks Rom. 7. they are rather led into sin by temptation then go into sin by choice and inclination 't is against the Law of their mind 'T is indeed possible that a good man may plot and contrive a sin as David did the death of Uriah and this is the only thing wherein God himself saith that David sinned 1 Kings 15.5 God covers all his other sins as being rather overtaken by temptation then acted by design in the rest So that for the most part good men are captivated rather then active as to sin And David himself could say that he had not wickedly after the manner of the wicked Jude 15. departed from God Psa 18.21 3 God may sometime have a good man to this saddest of tryals to know all that is in his heart as he left the good King Hezekiah 2 Chron. 32.31 we are not over-forward or willing to believe our selves so bad as we are in our hearts as to the seeds of evil sown there Is thy servant a dog said Hazael when his sin was foretold and S. Peter himself could not believe it possible that he should deny Christ his Master yet when left to himself he did it but then notwithstanding this there is enough to be said in the behalf of godly mens hatred of sin yea indeed they hate it the more for having sinn'd I answer then that the godly mans witness against sin is still true good and firm for 1 As he abhors to commit sin so he abhors sin committed and himself for committing it Job 40.4 40.6 Sin is the burthen of every good mans soul when the Author of Psa 73. had sinned he was so angry with himself that he could not do that which God did for him viz. forgive and pardon himself but calls himself fool and beast good men condemn not only their sin but themselves and sin in the more hateful to them for having been done by them 2 They are restless till sin be purged as well as pardon'd King David could not content himself to have sin blotted out by a pardon unless 't were washt and cleans'd away Psa 51.1 2. and the mending of his bea rt without new making it by Creation would not content him v. 10. Yea 3. If God chastise and afflict them for having sinned yet they justifie God and whoever justifies a punishing God condemns sin if the sentence be just the sin is unjust Thus they do continually Micah 7.9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him So Psa 51.3 4. This confession I make and this prayer I make that thou O Lord mayst be justified when thou judgest This also speaks against sin Yea 4. They take an holy revenge on themselves and become the more zealous for God as S Peter who did not only weep bitterly but was made willing to feed sheep and Lambs to do any and every service for Christ And Psa 51.12 13. restore to me saith he the joy of thy salvation and I will teach the transgressors thy ways So 2 Cor. 7. when the Apostle had made them
the flesh and spirit as if it were one with us as the Leopards spots and the Aethiopians blackness There was a leprosie so inveterate that though they scrapt the house round about and within and threw out the dust though they took other stones and mortar yet it return'd again Levit. 14. When distempers become as it were natural and are in the constitution they are hard to be cured 't is not easie obliterating that which is written with a pen of Iron and the point of a Diamond 't is difficult to soften an heart of stone Beside this filthiness hath had long possession even time out of mind it pleads prescription so long a Custom is become a Law and as another Nature Jer. 13.23 yea to shew how hard 't is to be cured and rooted out we may observe that very forceable means have bin used for the cleansing of it yet it hath not been done God poured out a whole flood of water which washt away most sinners yet sin as I may say kept above water and was found alive and strong after the flood When God sent fire and brimstone Hell as an Ancient calls it from Heaven on that Center of sin Sodom c. yet sin got out with Lot and his daughters Fire and water are very cleansing and purifying things yet these you see have not done it When others sinned the Earth swallowed them up yet sin remained it did not dye the same sins are still in the world after all these judgments Even in the Saints themselves with all the forces that Faith can make 't is very hardly kept under but the flesh will be lusting against the spirit and when their affections do not cleave to sin yet sin will cleave to their affection and it makes them cry out as burthen'd with St. Paul Wretch that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death the victory is by Christ Iesus 't is death kills sin And yet 4. It lives in its effects when we are dead and gone for it follows us to our grave and there it rots our bodies when it can no longer reach our souls to make them vile it yet forbears not to make our bodies putrid and vile He that sinned not saw no corruption but we that sinned do and stink within a few days as Lazarus did Oh sinful and infectious sin Thus far of the names of sin and how they witness against sin there remains only one thing more to witness against it and that is the second thing I mentioned as to sin witnessing against it self Viz. 2. The Arts or Artifices that sin useth to disguise it self if sin were not an ugly thing would it wear a vizard or if it had not evil designs would it walk disguised and change its name truth is not ashamed of its name or nakedness it can walk openly and boldly but sin is a cheat a lye and therefore lurks privily and puts on false names and colours for if it should appear like it self as it sooner or later will to all for conversion or confusion it would fright men into dying fits as it did the Apostle and when they come to themselves ingage men to abhor and hate it as he and the Prodigal did Men would never be so hardy as they are to sin but that sin hardens them and hardens them by deceiving them as the Apostle speaks Heb. 3.13 take heed lest any be hardned through the deceitfulness of sin Sin useth all manner of Arts Methods and Devices as Satan doth to draw us in to inveigle us it puts many tricks upon us and hath all the faculties and knacks of deceiving and cheating us I may truly say that sin hath not learnt but taught all the deceits the dissimulations flatteries and false policies that are found in Courts the Stratagems of War the Sophisms and fallacies of the Schools the Frauds of Tradesmen whether in City or Country the Tricks of Cheaters and Juglers the Ambuscadoes of Thieves the Pretensions of false Friends the several Methods of false Teachers and whatever else there is of Consenage in the World and practiseth them all upon us to make us sin And though it be impossible to reckon up all the particular ways whereby the deceitful hearts and sins of men abuse them yet I will instance in a few that it may be for a warning to sinners and a witness against sin and then conclude this part of our Discourse 1. Sometimes sin perswades us that such or such a thing is no sin though it look like a sin as the Devil dealt by Eve at first and so deceiv'd her she was a little jealous and shy that what the Serpent put her upon was evil but he cunningly insinuates that however it seem'd to her yet that it was not so This way is the pride and wantonness of persons upheld that though these things are appearances of evil yet they are not evil but alas 't is next to being a sinner to look like a sinner appearance in good is too little in evil 't is too much 't is a very hard thing to look like a sinner to talk and garb it like a sinner and not to be one and which is the worst on 't 't is more then likely that what the Devil grants to be like a sin is a sin and they that are perswaded otherwise are deceived by him as Eve was 't is great odds but if we do like the picture we shall like the thing though an Idol be no God nor like him yet God hath utterly forbidden graven images for they are of the Devils carving If this prevails not then 2 It would perswade that though it may be a sin in another yet rebus sic stantibus all things consider'd it can be none in thee because thou art necessitated as for a poor man to steal but no man is necessitated to sin though under necessity sin is sin in any in all for though temptations may mitigare and eâ—cuse à tanto yet they do not excuse à toto from its being a sin or make it no sin 3 'T is but one and but this once If sin be good why but once if evil why once one sin though but once is one and once too much Beside when the Serpents head is in 't is hard keeping out the whole body one makes way for another 't is almost impossible to sin once and but once Yet then fourthly saith sin 't is but a little one that cannot be a little sin which is against a great God and deserves so great a punishment as death for the wages of sin of every single sin is death Rom. 6.23 I but saith sin 5 't is in secret none will see it but this is a cheat for 't is impossble to sin so secretly but there will be two Witnesses God and Conscience know all the sins that men commit I but saith sin 6 thou wilt hate it and dread it ever after as some go to Mass that they
no power over them they must see corruption or death in equivalence i.e. a change for this flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdome of God as that wherein we were created might possibly have done 1 Cor. 15.50 Our body is sown in corruption in dishonor in weakness 1 Cor. 15.42 43. and is therefore called vile Philip. 3.21 and before this body be laid in the grave 't is languishing in a continual Consumption and dying daily besides all the dangers that attend it from without And 2 Sin is against the good of mans Soul too 2 Against his Soul The Soul is transcendently excellent beyond the body and the good of that beyond the good of this so that a wrong done to the Soul is much more to mans hurt then a wrong done to the body therefore saith our Saviour Fear not them that can kill the body and do no more which is but little in comparison of what God can do to the soul if it sin but fear him that can destroy i.e. damn soul and body in hell Mat. 10. 'T is not very ill with a man if it be well with his soul but it can never be well with a man if it be ill with his soul so that we can more easily and cheaply die then be damned and may better venture our bodies to suffering then our souls to sinning for he that sinneth wrongs his soul Prov. 8.36 Nothing but sin doth wrong a mans soul and there is no sin but doth it Thus we see in general that sin is against the good of mans body and soul But yet for a more clear and full discovery hereof I shall consider and speak of man 1 In a Natural Sense 2 In a Moral Sense 1 If we consider man in a Physical or Natural state 1 In a natural sense we shall find sin to be 1. Against the well-being And 2. Against the very being of man it will not suffer him to be well or long in the world nor if possible to be at all 1 'T is against mans well-being in this life And so 1 Against his well-being vivere est valere well-being is the life of life and sin bears us so much ill will that it deprives us of our livelihood and that which makes it worth our while to live man was born to a great estate but by sin which was and is Treason against God he forfeited all Man came into the world as into an house ready furnished he had all things prepared and ready to his hands all the creatures came to war on him and pay him homage but when man sinn'd God turn'd him out of house and home all his lands goods and chattels were taken from him Paradise was mans Inheritance where he had every thing pleasant to the eye and good for food as for cloaths he needed none while Innocent but when he sinned God dispossessed him of all and drave him out into the wide world like a Pilgrim a Beggar to live on his own hands and to earn his meat with the sweat of his brow as you may read at large Genes 3. Thus by sin man that was the Emperour of Eden is banisht from his Native Country and must never see it more but in a new and living way for the old is stop'd up and beside that 't is kept against him with flaming swords Ever since it hath been every mans lot to come into and go out of this world naked to shew that he hath no right to any thing but lives on the alms of Gods charity and grace all â—â—e have or hold between our birth and death is clear â—gain and meer gift God might chuse whither â—he would allow us any thing or no and when he hath given he may take again and none of us have cause to say any thing but what Job did Chap. 1.21 Naked came I into the world and naked shall I return the Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord. All we have our food and rayment is but lent us we are only Tenants at will and therefore seeing we deserve nothing we should be content with and thankful for any thing 1 Tim. 6.7 8. 2 To shew that man by sin had lost all when our Lord Jesus came into this world for the recovery of man and stood as in the sinners stead he had not where to lay his head the Foxes had holes and the birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head Luke 9.58 Which plainly shews that the sin of man had left the Son of man nothing Though Christ were Lord of all yet if he will come in the likeness of sinful flesh he must speed not like the Son of God but Son of Man and be a man of sorrows destitute forsaken and afflicted and though we fare the better for his suffering yet he fared the worse for our sin and among other the miseries he under-went he had not where to lay his head Again To add yet another discovery of the venomous nature of sin as to this that we are upon 't is not a little observeable that though God took not the full forfeiture nor stript us so naked and bare a he might have done but indulged us comperent subsistance and accommodation and as the first fruits of his goodness made the first suit of cloaths which Adam and Eye wore yet sin is against that good which God left us and fills it with vanity and vexation with bitterness and a curse God left Adam many acres of land to till and husband but he hath it with a curse sweat and sorrow many a grieving bryar and pricking thorn stick fast to him Gen. 3 17.-19 God left him ground enough v. 23. but alas 't is cursed ground so that sin is against mans temporal good either in taking it from him or cursing it to him Sin is so envious that it would leave man nothing and if God be so good as to leave him any thing sins eye is evil because God is good and puts a sting in it viz a curse Yet more particularly 'T is 1 Against his rest 1 Sin is against mans rest and ease of which man is much a lover and indeed needs it as being a great part of the well-being of his life 'T is a sore travel which the sons of men have under the Sun yea what hath man of all his labour and the vexation of his heart wherein he hath laboured for all his daies are sorrows and his travel grief Eccl. 1.13.2.22 23. whither he increase wisdome and knowledge or pleasures and riches yea he taketh not rest in the night but is haunted with vain and extravagant if not feared with frightful dreams and his fancies which are waking dreams by day are more troublesome then them of the night
Mans ground is over-grown with thorns that he hath many an aking head and heart many a sore hand and foot before the year come about to get a little livelihood out of this sin-cursedground Mans Paradisical life was easie and pleasant but now 't is labour and pain such as makes him sweat yea Eccl. 2.1 2. his recreations fall little short of his labour for pain and sweat The old world was very sensible of this as may be gather'd from Genes 5.29 He called his name Noah saying this same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed sin curse and toil keep company 2 Sin is against mans comfort and joy 2 His comfort and joy Genes 3.17 In sorrow shalt thou eat all the daies of thy life not one whole merry day 't were some comfort to a man if after he had toil'd and moil'd all day he could eat his bread with joy and drink his wine with a merry heart but sin will not suffer him if he laugh sin turns it to madness Eccl. 2.2 or else 't is no better Musick then the crackling of thorns Eccl. 7.6 In Paradise the blessing of God on Adams diligent hand made him rich and there was no sorrow with it to allude to Prov. 10.22 but now mans sweet meats have sowre sawces in sorrow shalt thou eat his bread is the bread of affliction Yea the Femaie the She-man or Manness the Woman hath a peculiar sort and share of sorrow for the time of conception breeding bearing and birth are tedious yet alas many that feel the pain which sin brought are not sensible of the sin which brought the pain though their sorrow and pain too be greatly multiplied as we find it exprest Genes 3.16 and the more for want of faith and sobriety 1 Tim. 2.15 3 3 His health Sin is against mans health Hence come all diseases and sicknesses till sin there were no such things For this cause in general many are weak and sick among you Let a man take the best air he can and eat the best food he can let him eat and drink by rule let him take never so many Antidotes Preservatives and Cordials yet man is but a crazy sickly thing for all this Verily every man in his best estate is a frail and brittle thing yea altogether vanity Psal 39. which is spoken with reference to diseases and sickness take him while his blood danceth in his veins and his marrow fills his bones yet then is he a brittle piece of mortality 4 Sin is against the quiet of a mans natural conscience for it wounds the spirit 4 The quiet of conscience and makes it intollerable a wounded spirit who can bear Prov. 18.14 while that is sound and whole all infirmities are more easily born but when that is broken the supports fail and this hath great influence upon the body for Prov. 17.22 a merry heart doth good like a medicine no cordial like it but a broken spirit drieth the bones it sucks away the marrow and radical moisture Prov. 12.25 heaviness in the heart of man makes it stoop a good conscience is a continual feast but sin mars all the mirth When Cain had killed his Brother and his conscience felt the stroak of the curse he was like a distracted man and mad when Judas had betray'd his Master he was weary of his life 5 Sin is against the beauty of man 5 His beauty it takes away the loveliness of mens very complexions it alters the very air of their conntenance Psa 9.11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity thou mak'st his beauty or that which is to be desir'd in him as 't is in the margine to consume or melt away like a Moth surely every man is vanity his beauty vain Now there was no such thing as vanity or deformity till sin entred every thing was lovely before and man above any thing of the inferiour world 6 6 The loving cohabitation of soul and body Sin is against the loving and conjugal cohabitation of soul and body they were happily matried and lived lovingly together for a while till sin sowed discord between them and made them jar many a falling out is there now between body and soul between sense and reason they draw several wayes there 's a self-civil war even in this sense the flesh lusteth against the spirit that poor man is hall'd and pulled this way and that tossed to and fro as with several winds nunc hic nunc flectitur illic man is full of contradictions Time was when the mind commanded the body but now this servant rides on horse-back when that Prince walks on foot Man is inverted his head is where his heels should be his soul is become a prisoner to the body rather then a Free-man too too often the beast is too hard for the man and the horse rides the rider sense Lords it and domineers over reason 7. 7 His relative good Sin is against mans relative good in this world mans comfort or sorrow lies much in relations the weal or woe of his life is as relation are that which was made for an help proves but too often an hindrance Sin hath spoil'd Society that homo homini lupus diabolus one man is a wolf yea a devil to another Sin will not let Husband and Wife Parents and Children to live quietly but sets them at variance and many times a mans Enemies are them of his own house and bosome they who eat bread at our Table lift up their heel against us and familiar friends become enemies Lust makes wars James 4.1 and from pride comes contention Proverbs 13.10 It breeds divisions factions in Church and State that there is little of union or order harmony society or friendship in the world Thus doth sin set it self to oppose mans well-being Yea 2 Sin is against the very being of man 2 'T is against the being of man sin doth aim not only that man should not be well but that man should not be at all How many doth it strangle in the Womb how many miscarriages and abortions doth it cause how many doth it send from the Cradle to the grave that they have run their race before they can go others die in their full strength beside the havocks it makes by war c. as some do alwayes eat their bread in darkness Job 21.23 Man no sooner begins to live but he begins to die and after a few daies which are but as a span and do passe away more swift then a Weavers Shuttle sin lays all in the dust Princes as well as Beggars Sin hath reduced mans age to a very little pittance from almost a thousand to a very uncertainty not only to seventy but to seven for among men no mans life is valued at more mans time is short and uncertain he that 's born to day is not sure to live
a day And what is our life but as a vapour which soon passeth away I might inlarge here but this may suffice to shew that sin is against all the good man in this life consider'd in a natural sense and now I proceed to shew that sin is against the good of man 2 In a Moral sense 2 In a moral sense for 1 Sin hath degraded man by defiling him and tantum non almost unmann'd him for as our Text speaks of sin as a man so the holy Scripture speaks of man as if he were sin and every man were a man of sin made up of sin whither we consider the outer or inner man Man was a very noble thing made little lower then the Angels Psal 8. But alas by sin he is made almost as low as Devils Man was once a companion for God himself but sin hath separated between God and him sin hath robbed man of his primitive excellency of a Lord he is become a servant yea a slave to creatures to Devils and lusts of all sorts Now this debasement came by defilement which defilement cleaves 1 1 His body defiled To his body for the flesh is silthy 2 Cor. 7.1 and the body needs sanctifying and cleansing 1 Thes 5.23 the body is a body of sin the members are servants to uncleanness and to iniquity Rom. 6.19 Take him from head to foot from the Crown of that to the sole of this there 's no whole because not holy part in him but all filthy and full of putrefactions and sores If we dissect and anatomize man we shall find this but too true for not to name every sin that cleaves to the whole or every part but in a more general way 't is thus said of sinful men their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness with their tongues they use deceit the poyson of Asps is under their lips their throat is an open Sepulchre Rom. â— 13 14. eyes full of adultery 2 Pet. 2.14 the eye-lids haughty Prov. 30.13 ears dull of hearing Hebr. 5.11 yea deaf as the Adder Psa 58.4 5. the forehead is impudent as a brow of brass Is 48.4 both hands are imploid to work iniquity Mic. 7.3 the belly an Idol-God Phil. 3.19 the feet are swift to shed blood Rom. 3.15 and if we look within their inward part is very wickedness Hebr. wickednesses Psa 5.9 the gall is a gall of bitterness in a moral as in a natural sense the spleen is affected yea infected with envy and malice what part is there which is not the seat of one or other evil Yea this defilement cleaves 2 To the Soul 2 His soul defiled which is the principal subject of it 't is not only flesh but spirit that is filthy 2 Cor. 7.1 Gods Image was more in and on the Soul then body of man and sins ambition and envy is to deprive the Soul of this Image righteousness and holiness were stamp'd on mans Soul but sin hath blotted this Image and Superscription which onâ—â— told from whence it came and to whom it belong'd so that man is fallen short of the glory of God and the glory of being Gods it must be new created or renewed till God will own it for his because till then his Image is not legible if it in this sense be at all for there is none righteous no not one Rom. 3.10 'T is not any one faculty only that sin hath defiled but like a strong poyson it soaks and ears through all that whereas all was holy and holiness to the Lord 't is now evil and evil against the Lord Genes 6.5 Every imagination figment or creature of the heart is only evil continually yea the Flood which washt away so many sinners could not wash away sin the same heart remains after the Flood as before Genes 8.21 and as it was with the heart of man from his youth it hath continued to be to this old and decrepit age of the world for to this day there proceeds out of the heart the same evil thoughts words and deeds that then did Mat. 15.20 And from this unclean Fountain issues forth all that defiles the man Sin hath made the heart of man deceitful and desperately wicked Jerem. 17.9 and its hardned in impenitency through the deceitfulness of sin Hebr. 3.12 13. yea though thereby man do nothing but undo himself and treasure up wrath against the day of wrath Rom. 2.5 It makes man obstinate that he will not be saved but will be damned you will not come to me that you may have life Joh. 5.40 As for the Word of the Lord we will not hearken but we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth Jerem. 44.16 17. and 't is out of the abundance of folly and madness that is in mens hearts and bound up there that they thus speak not only vain thoughts and words but villanous ones bubble and break forth from this corrupt fountain which sets the tongue on fire of hell that the devil could not broach and belch out more horrid blasphemies against God then the tongues and hearts of sinful men It hath defiled and spoiled mans memory and conscience also his memory how treacherous is it as to good but alas too tenacious as to evil The conscience is become an evil conscience and in many a seared conscience Thus all over without and within is man defiled and polluted of which I may speak yet more in another place only at present a little more largely to shew how sin hath almost put out mans eyes and even extinguished the Candle of the Lord how it hath dimned and benighted mans leading faculty the understanding which should shew a man the difference between good and evil and guide him in the way wherein he should walk but is now too often an ignis fatuus that leads men into bogs and ditches into errors and immoralities Sin hath 1 Blinded mans understanding and made him ignorant 2 Depraved his understanding and made him a fool 1 Sin hath darkned mans understanding Iâ—hâ—h 〈◊〉 Darkned mans understanding and made him blind Poor man is wise to do evil but to do good hath no knowledge Jerem. 4.52 yea there is none that understandeth viz. as and what he ought Rom. 3.11 All the workers of iniquity have no knowledge Psal 14.4 Poor man is cover'd with Egyptian thick darkness yea said to be not only dark but darkness in the abstract Eph. 5.8 and which is sad is in love with darkness Joh. 8.19 and his light is darkness Mat. 6.23 That man is in darkness by sin is clear as the light of the Sun by the light of Scripture truth beside that of sad experience for in general when men are converted they are called out of â—nd turned from darkness to light Acts 26.18 1 Pet. 2.9 c. And our Lord Jesus came to be and give light to them that sate in darkness Luke 1.76.79 And indeed none but he can open the
life soul and all to get that which is not bread Isa 55.2 2 Sinners are likened to dogs I shall not run division in this nor persecute the Metaphor in prosecuting the particulars of which there was something said a little before but only to shew that though it were most usual with the Jews to call the Gentiles dogs and our Saviour speaks in their dialect and language when he told the woman that 't was not meet to take the childrens bread and cast it to dogs Mat. 15.26 yet 't is a common name to sinners whither Jews or Gentiles to all without God and Christ for without are dogs Revel 22.15 Upon the whole then 't is but too clear and evident what mischief sin hath done man in thus degrading him by making him a fool a beast a Monster and yet this is not all but 2 Sin hath not only degraded man 2 Sin separates man from God but hath also separated man from God in a moral sense for Acts 17.28 though by nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are his Off-spring and in him we live move and have our being yet morally and spiritually sinners are separated from God and are without God This is a great injury and I may call it the greatest seeing God is mans chiefest good to be separated from him must be his greatest evil and loss There was ever a very great disproportion and distance between God and Man God the Creator and man the creature God Insinite and man finite c. but this was no misery to man 't is sin only sin that hath made a difference and separation between God and man and therefore sinners are said to be afar off Eph. 2.73 for they depart from God and like the Prodigal go into a far Country Luke 15.13 More particularly sin hath separated man 1 1 From the sight of God From the sight and seeing of God Man could talk with God face to face as a man converseth with his friend but woe and alas man cannot see his face and live One of the first discoveries of mans sinfulness and misery by it was that he could not endure but hid himself from the sight yea and the voice of God Genes 3.8 Our happiness lies so much in the sight of God that it hath the name of Beatifical Vision a sight which passeth all sights When our Saviour prays for the happiness of his he doth not only pray that they may be where he is but that they may see his glory Joh. 17.24 And this is the glory which doth not yet appear that we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is 1 Joh. 3.2 They that are regenerate and enlightned from above and are refined and clarified have some glimpses and gradual sights of God and yet 't is comparatively called darkness we see but darkly as 't were his back-parts through a glass which is short of seeing face to face 1 Cor. 13.12 We do live by faith now rather then by sight as the Apostle doth express it 2 Cor. 5.7 'T is true faith is to us instead of our eyes for 't is the evidence of things not seen Hebr. 11.1 and by it we look as Moses did to him who is and to his things which are invisible 2 Cor. 4.18 Seeing then mans happiness lies so much in seeing God what an exceeding great mischief hath sin done to man in separating him from the sight of God that man cannot see God and live whereas the best life is in seeing God 2 Sin hath separated man from the life of God 2 From the life of God not only from living unto God and with God but from living the life of God viz. such a life as God lives which is a life of holiness in perfection and therefore 't is said of sinners that they are alienated from the life of God Eph. 4.18 yea and more that they are dead in sins and trespasses Eph. 2.1 So far from living that they are dead so far from living to God that they live against God so far from living the life of God that they live the life of Devils 'T is according to the Prince of the Power of the Air i.e. the Devil Eph. 1.2 Oh what an injury hath sin done in separating man from the Divine Life and Nature and sinking him into the dregs and death of sin viz. made him dead in sin 3 Sin hath separated man from the love of God 3 From the love of God I speak not now of what love and good will there is in God toward man but of that love and the actual communication thereof which man once had and enjoy'd whereof sin hath not only deprived him but made him the object of his wrath for God is angry with the wicked every day Psal 7.11 and they are by nature the children of wrath Eph. 2.3 4 and therefore said not to be beloved Rom. 9.25 Man was once the object of his love and delight when man came into the world in the likeness of God God lookt on him with delight and was enamour'd of this his Image but sin alas hath made him the object of his wrath Oh injurious sin 4 4 From communion Sin hath separated man from communion with God God and man kept company while man and holiness kept company but when that and man parted then God and man parted the redintegration of any is upon a new account they could not walk together because of this disagreement Amos 3.3 When man left walking in the light of holiness and walked in the darkness of sin fellowship ceased 1 John 1.6 7. 'T is true there is reconciliation and recovery by Jesus Christ but sin did what in it lay to cut man off from all communion with God for ever Oh this spiteful and pernicious sin 5 5 From Covenant-relation Sin separated man from the Covenant-relation wherein he stood unto God so that God had no obligation upon him to own him or look after him to have any thing to do with him but ruine him and what sin did at first it doth if not repented of and pardon'd to this day and therefore sinners called Loammi not my people which is worse then not to be a people 1 Pet. 2.10 and they are without God Promise and Covenant Eph. 2.12 Man can claim nothing of God upon any right or Plea of his own having sinned and therefore are said also to be without hope viz. in themselves Oh what a separation hath sin made in robbing man of God it robs him of all things for all things are ours but so far as God is ours 1 Cor. 3 21.-2 From hence come two great miseries on sinners from God as judgments upon this separation 1 God hideth his face and this follows on the separation as 't is express Is 59.2 Your iniquities have separated you and your God and your sin hath hid his face from you or as the Margin reads it have made him
be parted from God who is the Heaven of Heaven All good things are but as a drop to the Ocean in comparison of him Psa 73.25 whom have I in Heaven but thee as if all the rest were nothing If a Saint were to go to Heaven this very day he would say as Absolom why am I come up from Geshur if I may not see the Kings face 2 Sam. 14.32 This then will be the misery of miseries to the damned that they must depart from God in whose presence only there is joy and pleasures for evermore This face of his they must see no more unless it be as ever frowning upon them in Hell The good people sorrowed most for the words that Paul spake viz. that they should see his face no more Acts 20.38 This this will be the pricking cutting wounding of sinners to the heart that they must see Gods face no more no more of his goodness no more of his patience no more of his mercy When Cain a type of this was turned out of and banished from the presence of the Lord he cryes out that his punishment was intollerable Genes 4.13 8. 8 This estate unalg terable They shall not only be deprived of all good things but continue in an utter incapacity of any alteration for the better This makes Heaven so much Heaven that 't is alwayes so and this makes Hell to be so much Hell that 't is alwayes so In this world there is a door of hope a day an offer and means of grace space for repentance a Mediator in Heaven a patient God possibility of being blessed but when once damned the door is shut 't is in vain to knock the day offers and means of grace is at an end there 's no room left for repentance Gods long suffering will suffer no longer the Mediation of Christ Jesus is over there 's no possibility of mending their condition Oh methinks we should hear the words of the wise Eccl. 9.10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might for there is no work no working out salvation in the grave whither thou art going Think of it poor soul think of it betime till it be too late for if thou die in thy sins though thou shouldest weep out thine eyes in Hell 't will stand thee in no stead God will not know thee nor hear they cry but laugh at thy calamity and mock thee in the midst of thy torments Prov. 1.25 26. Thus I have briefly shown the privative part of Damnation wicked men must part with all their goods with their joys their peace their hopes good company all which stood them in great stead in this world with Heaven and which is more and worst of all with God himself and be utterly incapable of ever being in a better condition And what think you now Is not sin exceeding sinful that separates him from all good past present and to come if 't were only from past good that which Adam enjoy'd in Paradise or only from present good what men have in this world 't were the better to be endured if futurity and Eternity were secured 't were pretty well but sinful sin hath cut off Paradise that none of us were ever in Eden since we came into the world it hath spoiled imbitter'd and poyson'd with a curse all present temporal enjoyments that they prove satisfactions to none but vexations to all and yet so spiteful and of so malignant a nature is sin that it reserves its worst till last even Hell and Damnation and 't will be worse to us in Eternity then 't was in time And to make this appear yet more evidently and fully I proceed to the Second part of Damnation Which the Schools and justly call paena sensus Para scusus or posiâ—ive dâ—â—â—nation the punishment of sense if 't were not for this that men will be then sensible of and feel both their loss and their gain viz. the pain which they have gotten by their sins Damnation would seem to be but a dream or an imagination but their senses as well as their understanding feeling as well as fancy will tell them what a dreadful thing 't is to be damned a thing which I wish with all my soul that none of you may ever know but by hearing of it and that the hearing may be a means to prevent the feeling of it But now what shall I do who that hath not been in Hell can tell what Hell is who would go thither periculum facere to try what ' t is Surely eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive as what God hath prepared for them that love him so for them that hate him that is for sinners impenitent sinners It is sins design and work to make man eternally miserable to undo him soul and body for ever Now the better to represent this doleful state and woful misery I shall search the Scriptures and endeavour to fathom the depth of expressions used there that we may learn from thence what Damnation is and from thence the sinfulness of sin in relation whereunto I lay down three Propositions in general 1 1 All the miseries of this life not to be compar'd with it This punishment that sinners must undergo will be such a state of misery as all the miseries of this life are not to be compared with it they are nothing to it Take the dregs of all the miseries of this life and out of them extract an Essence the very spirit of miseries as men do Strong-waters from the Lees and dregs of Wine and Beer it will fall infinitely short of this misery damnation The gripings and grindings of all the diseases and torments that men do or can suffer in this life are but flea-bitings to it to pluck out a right eye to cut off a right hand were a pleasure and recreation in comparison of being damned in Hell Mat. 5. o. A Burning Feaver is nothing to burning in Hell nay let me speak a true though a great and big word If all the miseries that have been undergone by all men in the world were all met together and center'd in one man it were nothing to Hell Hell would be a kind of Paradise if ' twâ—re no worse then the worst of this world 2. 2 'T is contrary to what the Saints shall enjoy This state will be a state clean contrary to that which the Saints shall enjoy in Eternity their differing states are exprest in contrary terins as Mark 16.16 He that believeth shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned Now damnation and salvation are contrary states that 's a state all of evil and of all evil this all of good and of all good So Mat. 25.46 The wicked shall go into everlasting punishment but the righteous into life Eternal The life that Saints obtain sinners go without and the misery that Saints are deliver'd from sinners are
his Son 7 Not sparing Christ Jesus but delivering him up for us all Gods sending his Son into the world to condemn sin Rom. 8.3 and to destroy it 1 Joh. 3.8 doth clearly witness for God how odious sin is to him and ought to be to man for whom Christ suffer'd and died that sin might die and man might live yea live to him who died for us for to no less doth his love constrain us 2 Cor. 5.14 15. To clear and evince this the more plainly and fully I shall shew these three things 1 That Christs sufferings were for sinners 2 That Christs sufferings were exceeding great 3 That the greatness of his suffering are full witness on Gods part of Sins sinfulness against God and Man 1 1 He suffer'd for sinners That Christ his sufferings were for sinners Jesus Christ himself suffer'd but he did not suffer for himself for he was without sin Hebr. 4.15 and 7.26 neither was guile found in his mouth nor any misbecoming word when he suffer'd though 't were a provoking time 1 Pet. 2.22 23. 'T is a faithful saying that Christ came into the world to save sinners 1 Tim. 1.15 This was the design errand and business about which he came he had his name Jesus because he was to save his people from their sins Mat. 1.21 And he himself professeth that he came to seek and to save that which was lost Luke 19.20 Now dead and lost is the sinners Motto Luke 15.32 accordingly when he was in the world he suffer'd and died that he might save sinners he died for our sakes and so loved his Church that he gave himself for it Eph. 5.25 Yea 't is not only said often that he died for us Rom. 5.8 and 8.32 but that he died for our sins not only for our good as the final cause but for our sins as the procuring cause of his death Rom. 4.25 He was deliver'd for our offences 1 Cor. 15.3 Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture according to what was typified prophesied and promis'd in the Scripture One eminent place instend of many others is in Is 53.5 He was wounded for ou◠transgression he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed To this the Apostles bear witness in the New Testament Gal. 1.4 he gave himself for our sins and 1 Pet. 2.24 who his own self bare our sins Now this dying for us and our sins notes 1 That he died and gave himself as a ransome for us Mat. 20.28 1 As a ransome I came to give my life a ransome for many said our sweet and blessed Saviour 1 Tim. 2.6 He gave himself a ransome for all Christs dying was the paying of a price a ransome price and hence we are said to be bought redeem'd and purchased 1 Cor. 6.20 Ye are not your own ye are bought with a price viz. that of his blood as 't is in 1 Pet. 1.18 19. Ye were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ and the Church is purchased with his own blood Acts 20.28 He gave himself as a Redemption price and we are a purchased people 1 Pet. 2.9 2 He died for us as a Sacrifice for our sins 2 A Sacrifice he became sin for us 2 Cor 5.21 In the Old Testament the Sin-offering is called sin so here Christ Jesus an Offering for sin is said to be made sin for us 'T is said in the holy Scripture that Christ offer'd his Body his Soul himself Hebr. 10.10 There 's the offering of his Body Is 53.10 He made his Soul an offering for sin And Eph. 5.2 He hath given himself for us an offering and a Sacrifice to God Hebr. 9.14 He did offer himself without spot to God and v. 26. He put away sin by the Sacrifice of himself Now as we were redeem'd by the price so we are reconciled by the Sacrifice of his death For Rom. 5.9 10. We are reconciled by the death of his Son 3 3 3 A curse Christ laid down his life for us as bearing the curse and punishment due to our sins and therefore 't is said he was made a curse for us which was the punishment of our sin Gal. 3.13 He bare our sins i. e. the curse due to our sins The punishment of sin is called sin often in Scripture and to bear iniquity is to be punished and as Redemption came by the price and Reconciliation by the Sacrifice so Justification by his bearing the curse and punishment Is 53.11 12. He shall justifie many for he shall bear their sins He became a curse for us that the blessing of Abraham might come upon us and that is Justification by Faith as you may see Gal. 3.13 14. with v. 8 9. This shall suffice as to the first thing viz. that Christs sufferings were for sinners 2 2 His sufferings were great The sufferings of Jesus Christ were exceeding great I shall omit what may be gather'd from the types under the Law and what is exprest by the Prophets concerning the suffering of Christ though many things might be collected thence but they being all fulfilled in him I shall confine my self especially to the relation made thereof in the N. Testament He was a man of sorrows as if he were a man made up of sorrows as the Man of Sin is as if he were made up of sin as if he were nothing else He knew more sorrow then any man yea then all men ever did For the iniquity and consequently the sorrows of all men met in him as if he had been their Center and he was acquainted with griefs he had little acquaintance else grief was his familiar acquaintance he had no acquaintance with laughter we read not that he laughed at all when he was in the world his other acquaintance stood afar off but grief follow'd him to his Cross from his birth to his death from his Cradle to the Cross from the Womb to the Tomb he was a man of sorrows and never were sorrows like his he might say never grief or sorrow like to mine 't is indeed impossible to express the sufferings and sorrows of Christ and the Greek Christians used to beg of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that for the unknown sufferings of Christ he would have mercy on them Though Christs sufferings are abundantly made known yet they are but little known eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor hath it or can it enter into the heart of man to conceive what Christ suffer'd who hath known the power of Gods wrath Christ Jesus knew it for he underwent it but though it be impossible to declare all yet 't is useful to take a view of what we can I shall therefore draw a Scheme of Christs sufferings under three Heads 1 Jesus Christ underwent all manner of sufferings 2 Jesus Christ suffer'd by all manner of persons 3 All manner of aggravating circumstances did meet in
sorry with a sharp Epistle he doth not repent of it because it wrought such sorrow in them as wrought repentance to salvation not to be repented of as appear'd in their indignation against revenge upon themselves and zeal for God as he there speaks in their behalf Lastly It fully appears that godly men abhor sin by this that they desire to die upon no account more then this to berid of sin that they may sin no more but be holy as he which hath called them is holy they groan for a change upon this account 2 Cor. 5.4 mortality and corruption are conjoyn'd 1 Cor. 15. and this is not laid aside till that be and therefore they desire not only to be in Christ where there is no condemnation Rom. 8.1 but to be with Christ Phil. 1.23 which is best of all for there is no sin no nor temptation to it There was never a temptation to sin in heaven since the devil was cast out nor will never be for the devil shall never be there nor corruption neither for that ceaseth when mortality is swallowed up of life So that upon the whole the witness of godily men is unexceptionable notwithstanding their having sinned I now proceed to shew 2 That wicked men themselves are witnesses of 2 Wicked men and against the sinfulness of sin that it is an ugly shameful and an abominable thing that which they are ashamed to own Let us hear some of the Heathens speak their sense of it Cicero tells us he thought not that man worthy the name of a man that spent one day in the pleasures of the flesh yea he faith further that after death he thinks there 's no greater torments then sin and another speaks after this manner that he thought it one of the greatest torments that men should have in another life to be bound to the sins they most delighted in in this life Socrates would die rather then consent to a sin of injustice and one of them saith Socrates was not unhappy in being put to death but they unhappy that put him to death he suffer'd but they sinned another hath a saying of mens living in pleasure much like that of S. Paul concerning the wanton widow 1 Tim. 5.6 she that lives in pleasure is dead while she lives 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their reason of these things said by them concerning sin was because sin degraded man and was a degeneration that such live the life of a beast and not of a man which is a life of reason and virtue whence Plotinus saith the pleasures of the body do so interrupt the happiness of the soul that 't is the souls happiness to despise the bodies pleasures Sin say the Stoicks is the worst kind of suffering and he is the only miserable man that is wicked the greatest punishment of sinners is sin Seneca I could produce many more to this purpose but I shall not take in the witness only of these or such other brave magnanimous and well-bred Heathens but the very Herd of wicked men the very dregs of them shall give in testimony will they nill they by their thoughts words or works and sad experiences that sin is an ugly because finful thing Sinners are asham'd of sin 1 When before they commit it 2 After they have committed it 1 Sinners are asham'd of sin before and think it an ugly thing when they commit it For 1. though they are so daring and impudent as to sin yet they have not the courage to consider what 't is they are going about or at least to speak one what they think concerning sin they know that when they sin their conscience will accuse them and they shall find regrets which they are loath to feel much more to utter and declare therefore they dare not ask themselves what 't is they are about to do or are a doing to catechize themselves and say is there not a lye in or at my right hand Is 44. It argues that men are afraid they shall find what they have no mind to meet with when they are loath to entertain themselves with a few forethoughts concerning it but rush like horses into the battel The Scripture speaks as if 't were impossible for men to be so wicked if they were but considerative without which they act not like men if they think of it and yet sin they care not dare not speak out their thoughts but had rather conceal their shame and pain as well as they can then tell any body what fools they have been and how foolishly they have done If sin had any thing of Noble or Honorable in it why do they not proclaim its virtues and thereby their own in loving it If they think it good why do they call it by its name if they think it evil why do they but think it so 't is only because they are asham'd on 't that any body should know what they think as Psa 14.1 the fool hath said in his heart there is no God It seems he had not the hardiness nor heart to say it with his mouth he whisper'd and mutter'd or wish'd but was loath to be heard their speaking thus within speaks out this that they are ashamed of what they think and dare not utter it 2 Sinners dare not commit sin till they have given it a new name they sin not under the name and notion of sin no woe unto them they call as good evil so evil good Is 5. Revenge they will not own but a vindication of their Honor a doing right to their reputation Covetousness is a fordid thing they say theirs is but frugality and good husbandry Drunkenness is unmanly because unmanning 't is beastial they confess but theirs is only good fellowship in the liberal use of the creature Pride must be called decency and being in the fashion Fornication but a trick of Youth or gratifying nature Thus do men disguize sin for surely did they call it by its own name and but look it in the face they know they shall find it such an ugly Hag as were not fit for the imbraces of men no nor of devils This their new-naming it condemns it 3 This argues their being asham'd on 't that they do what they do as much as they can in the dark yea as they foolishly think in the dark from Gods sight also and do thereby implicitly confess that if men or God saw them they should be asham'd of what they do time was when they that were drunk were drunk in the night it being a business of shame And Eph 5.11 12. the Apostle tells us that 't is a shame to speak of what 's done by some in secret and therefore it seems they themselves do it secretly because they are asham'd it should be known and talkt of And indeed 't is a general rule given by Christ himself that he who doth evil hateth the light because his deeds are evil and he cannot endure that they should
be manifested for then they would be reproved by the light Joh. 3.19 20. The abominations of the Ancients of Israel were so abominable that they did them in the dark and thought them hid from God himself Ezek. 8 5.-12 4 That sinners find sin a painful thing and are asham'd on 't is clear by this that they are tormented while taking their pleasure and are stung with eating the honey their conscience accuseth them when it takes them in the very act Rom. 2.15 Even in laughter the heart is sad 't is not only at the end of laughter but in it while at it Prov. 14.13 while men are taking the pleasures of sin they hear a But remember thou must die and go to judgment which chills and cools their heat Eccl. 11.9 We little think what secret sighs and groans are within when wicked men are merry or seem at least to be so from the teeth outward In 2 Sam. 13. you will find no meaner person then a Kings Son vext and tormented with his own passion 2 Sam. 13. he was in a Burning Feaver with lust it made him sick and lean even to being consumptive but it may be said this was because he had not his will was he so when he had Yes and worse too by his own confession for the hatred wherewith he hated her was norâ— then the love wherewith he loved her as much as to say he was more tormented now then before Sin disappoints men they have false joyes but true miseries and suffer rather then enjoy any pleasure from sin they are vext to see how they are cheated This Amnon was now in an hot presently in a cold fit and toss'd as from a Feaver to an Ague cast into the fire and into the water contrary torments sick of love and sick of loathing sick for want of her company and sick of having it discontented at not and at having his will sin pleaseth not men either full or fasting Oh how are they tormented whose desires are great and enjoyments little yea contradictions to what they thought of they expected pleasure and find pain sought joy and met with grief Hence sinners are so weary of time and not only of business but recreations their changing so often argues they have no satisfaction Hence the Pythagoreans place the wicked on a rowling pin as having no quiet or peace but are like the raging Sea as the Prophet speaks Is 48.22 and 57.21 The soul saith Tacitus is lasht with guilt as the body is with stripes and Tiberius as impudent as he was could not protect himself from those inward scourges which are such horrid and hideous furies and torments as hell hath not worse 5 Sinners are so asham'd of sin that they mask it under a form of godliness they paint it and think to make it look well though it be so much the more ugly for being colour'd and complexion'd with a form of godliness the thing it self and they that do it being witnesses Though sinners are like devils yet they would be thought Saints Sauls sin must needs be for a sacrifice and so God must patron the sin that was committed against himself 1 Sam. 15. Absolom covers his Rebellion and Treason with the devotion of a vow 2 Sam. 6.6 Herod smooths over his murtherous intentions with the pretence of worship and will murther S. John least he should be perjur'd as if forsooth he durst not sin unless he did it conscientiously ne sit sceleratus secit scelus This shall suffice to shew that wicked men are asham'd of sin and to own it as such they are asham'd of it before and when they do commit it 2 Yet further Sinners are asham'd of sin after they have committed it good men are asham'd of what does but look like a sin and of what may be interpreted to be meant for a sin though 't were not so as David for cutting off the lap of Sauls garment which argues their loathness to and aversness from sin and we shall find that wicked men also when they have done evil are asham'd that they have done it which is a witness what an ugly because sinful thing sin is As 1 Sinners dare not own their sin to avow it and stand to it to justifie their wickedness though they may excuse it as I shall shew presently which clearly shews they are asham'd of it and are not satisfied with what they have done The Thief as bold and sturdy a sinner as he is when he is taken is ashamed so is the house of Israel asham'd Jer. 2.26 they cannot plead sins cause to justification Particularly 1 They cannot endure to be called by the name of the sin which they have committed and live in the practise of No Drunkard cares to be called so but takes it for a disgrace no Lyar will receive the lye given him but as an affront no Adulterer will own that name Now whoever follows a lawful honest Trade or Calling is not ashamed of its name though never so mean as Shoe maker c. but sin is such an ugly base imployment that they who commit sin will not endure to be called Sin-makers though it be their trade Sinners charge God with slandering of them when he complains of their sin Mal. 1.6 and 2.17 and 3.8.13 When God accuseth them they put God on the proof and say wherein so impatient are sinners to be called sinners 2 They are asham'd of their sin and dare not own it as appears by their palliations excuses and put offs when sin was but young yet Adam and Eve were asham'd of their First born as lewd women are asham'd of their base born children they cloaked and hid their sin Job 31.33 If they do well what need excuses if ill excuses plead against it and are accusations of its illness They who were invited to the wedding made excuses which were indeed proofs of their denials and that they would not come Mat. 22. â— their seeming civilities and apologies were arguments of their being criminal all our fig-leaf aprons and coverings are proofs that we are atham'd of what we have done yea many times it is laid at the wrong door Nature is blamed as if the fault were in their constitution the Deâ—â—â— is blam'd because he tempted and beguiled yea God himself is blam'd for permission or it may be for more the woman thou gavest me c. Gen. 3. what doth all this prove but that in the eyes of sinners sin is a very ugly and abominable thing Yet again 3 That sinners dare not own what they have done but are asham'd of it is evident by this they deny that they have sinned and commit a sin to cover sin 't is an hard and difficult thing to bring sinners to confession sin is such a shameful thing 'T is said of the adulterous woman Prov. 30.20 she eateth viz. her stoln bread in secret Ch 9.17 and wipeth her mouth which argues 't was foul and filthy and says I have
Loathsomness of Sin 2. The Infectiousness of Sin 1. That Sin is a filthy i. e. a loathsom thing will be clear if we do consider a little that to which sin is resembled and likened as to the most offensive and loathsom diseases 't is likened to a Canker or Gangrene 2 Tim 2.17 Now with such persons as are under these diseases others are loth to eat or drink 't is likened to the rot to the filth and corruption of the foulest disease which is so foul and rotten as according to the Proverb one would not touch it with a pair of Tongs The Apostle tells us of some who like Jannes and Jambres resist the truth and calls them men of corrupt or rotten minds And Solomon gives us to know that as a sound heart is the life of the flesh so Envy any thing opposed to the sound heart is rottenness to the bones yea sin is likened to the Plague which every one flies from 't is so noisom and loathsom that it separates the nearest relations now sin is called the Plague of the heart 1 Kings 8.38.39 which is much worse then any plague-sore of the body and this is not all but as sin is likened to the most loathsom diseases so to other the most loathsom things that are 't is likened to the blood wherein infants are born which is loathsom as Ezek. 16.5 6. It s likened to Mire and Dung to the very excrements that lye in Ditches and Common shores wherein Sows and Swine do wallow as 't is exprest 2 Pet. 2.22 yea to the Vomit of dogs in the same place to the Putrifaction of graves and sepulchres Math. 23.27 28. which is stinking as Martha said of Lazarus when he had been some days dead Joh. 11.39 't is likened to Poyson Rom. 3.13 All these things and others which I shall not name are loathsom things at which men stop their noses and from which they hide their eyes yet sin is more loathsom then they all if we consider that nothing but the fountain open'd for Judah and Jerusalem to wash in nothing but the blood of Jesus can cleanse from this filthiness all the Nitre and Sope in the world cannot get it out beside 't is not only filthy but filthiness not only corrupt but corruption in the very abstract and all the things to which sin is resembled are far short of sin they are but shadows which are very imperfect representations of things all the former Instances or others of like name and nature reach but to the body and do not defile the man but sin reacheth and seizeth on soul and spirit and defiles the man Math. 15.19 20. This is the Canker the Rottenness the Plague the Poyson of the Soul and sin is not only worse then any but then all of these yea further if our righteousness be but as a menstruous rag Isa 64.6 how filthy must our sin be The Apostle St. Paul counted his righteousness which was of the Law to be but dung Phil. 3. what did he reckon his injuriousness persecution and blasphemy then surely as bad as death and hell if not only our righteousness but our righteousnesses yea all our righteousnesses be as filthy rags as 't is in that fore quoted place Isa 64.6 what is our sin our sins and all our sins Ah how filthy beyond expression or imagination yet again sin is not only filthy i. e. loathsom but it is 2. A polluting and infectious thing 't is of a pestilential and poysonous nature and therefore called not only corruption but pollution and defilement 2 Pet. 2.20 There are many things that may make a man foul and loathsom as Leprosie and ulcerous tumours c. and yet the soul of a man may be pure and fair as Jobs was when his body was all over of a scab or sore and he state on the dunghil but sin as was hinted before defiles the man and soaks into his very spirit and infects that But that we may take the clearer and fuller prospect of sins pestilent and infectious nature and operation let us behold it 1. In its Vniversality how it hath extended and spread it self over all the world there is no Land or Nation Tribe Language Kindred or People where it hath not been known from the rising of the Sun to the going down thereof all Climats hot and cold all Quarters of the world Americans Africans Asians and Europeans have all been infected not only Sodom or Samaria but Jerusalem and Sion were infected and ruin'd by it 't is here and there and every where but in Heaven Beside this it hath infected all Ages 't is almost as old as the world it hath run in a blood from Adam to Moses and so on to this day 't is a plague that hath lasted almost 6000 years yea which is more not one man hath escaped it all kind of men of all ranks and qualities high and low rich and poor Kings and Beggars have been infected by it the wise the learned as well as foolish and illiterate Rom. 3.9 10. who is there that hath lived and sinned not our Saviour excepted and if any man say he hath not sinned he sins in saying so By one man sin came into the world but since not one man but every man hath sinned all have sinned and come short of the glory of God Rom. 3.23 and death came upon all in as much as all had sinned Rom. 5.12 If all men are mortal then all are sinners for death came in by sin where there is no sin there 's no death as in Heaven Rev. 21.4 All men have died of this plague yea our Lord and Saviour had not died if he had not been made sin for us Moreover this Leprosie hath spread it self not only on whole mankind but on the whole of man every whit of every man is infected it hath made flesh and spirit filthy 2 Cor. 7.1 from the crown of â—he head to the sole of the foot there 's no sound part in him all as I instanced above all his members are servants to sin and 't is no better within Gen. 6.5 his heart is evil the thoughts of his heart are evil the imaginations of the thoughts of his heart are evil the very thoughts of his thoughts are evil every creature of the heart is evil How the Vnderstanding is darkned and depraved I shewed above that the Heart is desperately wicked and deceitful beyond any knowledge but Gods the Prophet assures us from God himself Jer. 17.9 the mind and Conscience is defiled Tit. 1.15 16. The Will is become perverse and stubborn worse then so 't is wilful and mad set upon sin and hell Eccle. 8.11 The Affections concupiscible are inordinate the Passions irascible are unruly that man 's more head-strong then the horse that rusheth into the battel It hath made some men so restless that they cannot sleep unless or until they have done mischief Prov. 4.16 To go on yet further Sin spreads its
infections to the defiling of mans duties and holy things it defiles his natural and civil actions the plowing of the wicked is sin Prov. 21.4 Man should dâ— all from the highest to the lowest duty to the glory of God but Alas what doth man do that is not ill done and to the dishonour of God Sin infects mens prayers the prayers of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord Prov. 28.9 yea though offer'd up with incense to persume them Isa 1.13 Under the Law Aaron was to bear the iniquity of the holy things Exod. 28.38 Israel brought God many a present but sin like a dead flye in a box of oyntment spoiled all Isa 1.11.16 Yet again Sin infects all that belongs to man when man was created God furnished his house for him gave him the world and fulness thereof and it was good but Alas how is it chang'd as I spake before for sin hath made all that belongs to man very vanity i. e. empty and unprofitable Eccl. 1. The fulness of the creature cannot fill a man the eye is not satisfied with seeing nor ear with hearing for all is vanity the gloss and beauty the pleasure and profit of creature-enjoyments are become vanity yea and more sin hath made it vexation too sin hath imbitter'd mans enjoyments man lives among his comforts but a vexatious life as in the fulness of his sufficiency he is in straits so in the fulness of his comforts he is in sorrow in the midst the very heart of laughter his heart is sad Mans enjoyments are disappointments they fail his expectations and so add not to his content but vexation neither the length nor the comfort of his life is in the abundance of these things Luke 12.15 and which is yet worse sin hath not only made things vain and vexatious but a snare and temptation to man they are sins baits by which it catcheth men what are honours pleasures and riches but snares to the children of men Prov. 30.8 9. This we have said in brief as to the universality of sins infection how it hath spread it self all over 2. Let us consider how suddenly it infects and withal doth increase and multiply Sin is not barren but Alas too fruitful to beget and bring forth more it is not lazy but gets ground continually how great a fire hath a spark kindled Adams â—â—â—â—erity have not been so numerous as his sins A little Cloud as it seems at first no bigger then ones hand grows and spreads to cover the whole Hemisphere The water that at first seem'd little and shallow swell'd more and more from the ankles to the knees from the knees to the loyns thence to the head till it grows to so great a River as cannot be passed over and so doth sin a very monster for its growth Particularly let 's observe how it increaseth in our selves and then how in others 1. How it increaseth in our selves Sometimes the same sin increaseth from little to great it grows from an infâ—nt to a man 't is as a snow-ball that like same crescit eundo grows bigger by rolling it in the snow the little grain of mustard grows to a great tree a little seed of sin becomes a great tree Adams sin was but one but 't was a breeding and big-bellied sin the mother of all abominations One sin transgresseth the whole Law James 2.10 when lust hath conceiv'd it hastens to bring forth and when it hath brought forth it brings it up till it come to its full stature James 1.14 15. 't is at first but a Lust an appetite inclination or motion thence it proceeds to Inticement by that to draw us aside and then to tempt and impregnate us by this temptation it conceives and there 's an Embryo this grows in the womb and when 't is brought forth 't is a sin and this being finished or perfected it proves deadly So James 3.5 6. the tongue is a little member but as a little spark of fire but it being kindled becomes a world of iniquity and defiles the whole body and sets on fire the whole course of Nature a little Leaven leaveneth the whole lump and sometimes one sin begets many more sins not only of the same kind but others also Josh 7.11 God had forbidden them to take the accursed thing but when they had taken they dissembled also and put it among their own stuff and when Achan confesseth his sin you may see how one drew on another vers 19.20 21. saith he when I saw I coverted and when I coveted I took and when I had taken I hid them thus one begat another Sin degrees it self into a greatness and multiplies into a number If we abhor not the garment we may be as it spotted with the flesh if we withdraw not from occasions of evil we may by the occasions be drawn to evil and in not abstaining from appearances of evil be brought to apparent evil There is one Chapter that gives us two sad Instances of this thing Gen. 34. Dinah out of curiosity will needs make a visit to the Daughters of the Land while she goes to see the daughters the son saw her visamque cupit having seen her he took her having taken her he lay with her and by lying with her defiled her The report whereof coming to Jacobs sons they were griev'd being griev'd they were wroth being wroth they meditate revenge meditating revenge they spake deceitfully having deceiv'd they slew and having slain they fall upon the spoil How hard it is to sin once and but once sin grows upon us Let us see 2. How sin increaseth in others and infects others it went from one man to every man how soon had the world got the name of ungodly world or world of ungodly 2 Pet. 2.5 and after the flood how soon was the world overspread with sin from seven or eight persons one root of bitterness defiles many Heb. 12.15 Mens ill examples are very pestilential and pernicious a little Leaven leaveneth the whole lump as our Country Proverb hath it one scabbed sheep infects a whole flock The world grows worse and worse the latter days most perill us because most sinful and as if there had not been sin enough some set up projects and trades of new sins being inventors of evil things Rom. 1.30 Oh how diffusive and catching is this infection for others will quickly be in these new-invented fashions of sin and sinning Yet again 3. The infection of sin is tantum non almost incurable 'tis to us impossible and only possible with God and that at a costly rate by the blood of Christ to cure this plague and cleanse us of it 't is very hard to be cured because 't is within us and dwelleth in us Rom. 7.17.20 an ulcer in the flesh is more easily cured then one in the lungs a disease that 's inward cannot be so well reacht yea 't is not only in us but 't is rivetted in us 't is gotten into
conscience which tells them they ought not to sin and if they do chides them for it must needs be uneasie and unpleasant mens sins make them sick as Amnons did so far are they from being pleasures To desire the presence of what 's absent or the absence of what 's present or the continuance of what cannot be kept or the continuance and keeping whereof would surfeit them as the constancy of drunkenness and intemperance doth do must unavoidably be very tedious and such men even in the fulness of their sufficiency to allude to that in Job cannot but be in straights if they gratifie one they displease another of their lusts as if they gratifie pride and prodigality they displease covetousness and so are still far from pleasure being ev'n distracted and slain by one or other of their lusts all the day long they have sightings without and within and good men are not more persecuted by the Devil and wicked world then these men are tormented by their irregular and inordinate fleshly appetites and carnal inclinations But yet for all this men are loth to believe this which say they crosseth Scripture expression and their experience the Scripture mentions the pleasures of sin Heb. 11.25 and we find the pleasure on 't Thus men are apt to plead for sin and be its Advocate and can hug any Scripture that doth but speak of though it disown and disallow any such thing as sinful pleasures As to that misunderstood Text let me say this that Moses cannot be charged with any sin from whence he drew pleasure and therefore by the pleasures of sin are not meant such as slow from but such as lead unto sin he declined the pleasures which would have inclined him to sin Pleasures are allurements and baits to draw to sin as it was to Eve the Tree was pleasant to the eyes and inviting but the taste and digestion found no pleasure but bitterness from the fruit thus Moses lived where pleasures were and such as tended or were abused to sin yea such as he could not have enjoyed without committing the great sin which the Egyptians did viz. afflicting the people of God and being cruel to them instead of delivering them So that this Scripture speaks nothing in favour of sin or that there are any pleasures to be had by or from it Yet if we should take the Text as interpreted by them all that can be said of it is but this that it speaks as they think not that there are but there are thought to be pleasures of sin 'T is an ordinary thing for the Scripture to speak of such a thing as if it were and to say it is which is but supposed to be by others As for instance 1 Cor. 8 4-6 there are Gods many and Lords many not that really there was any such but by others they were reckoned such So in this Text he speaks after the manner of men concerning the pleasures of sin as they are reputed and this is confirmed by a passage of the Apostle 2 Pet. 2.13 they count it pleasure to riot in the day-time 't is no pleasure but they accounted it a pleasure 't was none for they did enjoy but a mock-sport or pleasure while they sported themselves in their own deceivings so that in counting it pleasure to riot they deceive themselves they suppose it a sport and pleasure but 't is not so Yet again If there be any pleasure it can be but to the body and sensual part of man which is a pleasure to the beast not to the man the body is but the case of man a mud-wall Cottage thatcht ovâ—â— with hair 't is the Soul that is the excellency and glory of man the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the man of the man and whoever will take 〈◊〉 right measure of what 's good or evil to man must take it especially with respect and relatioâ— to the Soul He much mistoâ—k the Nature 〈◊〉 his Soul who bid it take ease in eating and drinking alas the Soul cannot feed on flesh ' â—iâ— a Spirit and must have a diet peculiar and proper i. e. spiritual Very usually the pleasure of the body prove the Souls pain to eat anâ— drink is the bodies pleasure but gluttony anâ— drunkenness which are the sins of eating and drinking are the Souls pain and many time the bodies too To take rest when weary is thâ— bodies pleasure but to be idle which is the siâ— of rest and ease is an affliction and trouble to the Soul Yet further That which men call the Pleasure of sin is both their dyâ—â— and punishment many laugh and are merry from the sickliness and distemper they are under as they say of them that are bitten by the Tarantula they laugh themselves to death Some are such ticklish things that they will laugh at the wagging of a feather but this is an Argument of their weakness and folly two ill diseases Many persons take pleasure in eating lime mortar coals and such like trash but 't is from a disease which vitiates and corrupts their palate else they would not feed on ashes had they not the Green-sickness disease so whoever pretends to find pleasure in sin proves himself distemper'd and diseased and under the old radicated disease of being in sins yea dead in them 'T is as a disease so a punishment because 't is false pleasure and what truer misery then false joy 't is like his pleasure who receives much money but 't is all false coyn or his who dreams of a feast and awakes so bungry and vext that he could eat his dream and on this account sin should be doubly bated because â—ugly and because false because it defiles and because it mocks us But Yet again If there be any pleasure 't is but for a season a very little while 't is soon over and gone like the crackling of thorns under a pot the triumphing of the wicked is short and the joy of the Hypocrite is but for a moment Job 20.5 but the miseries of sin may be yea without repentance will be Eternal so that as the sufferings of this present life to the godly are not worthy to be compared with the future glory so the pleasures of the wicked are as nothing take the best of them not to be compared with the future miscry certainly they are woful and ruful pleasures that men must repent of or be damned for to all Eternity Upon the whole then the inference is undeniable that there is no good of profit honour or pleasure to be had by sin and that they who seek for all or any of them there do as they that would seek case in Hell the very place and Element of torment If good be not good when better is expected how miserably vexatious must the disappointment be when men look for good and peace but behold evil and trouble yea and nothing else comes upon them when they bless themselves and say as Deut. 29.19 we shall have
or delayest it Oh if in this thy day thou consider not the things of thy peace thou mayst have them hid from thine eyes and go blindfold to Hell and be damned for ever and then God will require payment even use upon use to the utmost farthing Mat. 18 23-34 he will be paid all that is due for time for talents for means for mercies for patience and for bearance he will be paid for all If he be not glorified by thee now he will be glorified upon thee then But I hope you are sensible and I shall not need to urge or press this any further and therefore I pass to the Second Counsel believe the Gospel To believe the Gospel 't is not only repentance toward God but faith in our Lord Jesus Christ that 's required for the pardoning and purging of sin for destroying sin and saving thee Repentance is not enough for righteousness is not by repentance but by faith Phil. 3.9 Prayers and tears sighs and sorrows are not our Saviour 't is Jesus only that saves from sin Mat. 1.21 None can put our sint to death but be that dyed for our sins Do not think to compound with God if all the riches of the world were thine to give and thou wouldst give them all it must cost more then so to have thy soul justified and saved Psal 49.9 If all the men of the world would lend thee their blood and thou shouldst offer it up and with that thine own and that of thy first-born too 't were all too little Micah 6 7. bring all thy repentance and righteousness and it cannot compensate or make amends for one sin if all the Angels in Heaven should lend thee their whole stock and 't is a great one yet 't would not do there 's no satisfaction could be made nor any thing merited for thee but by the Son of God he and he only is the Saviour from sin nor is there any Name given under Heaven but his whereby we must be saved nor is there salvation in any other Acts 4.12 Oh then look to him and be saved for be thy sins what they will he can save to the very utmost all that come to God by him for he ever lives to make intercession for them Heb. 7.25 But if thou believe not in Christ Jesus though thou repent of sin and live as touching the Law blaineless as Saul did Phil. 3 though thou be celebrated for a Saint and mayst seem too good to go to Hell yet without Christ and faith in him thou wilt not be good enough to go to Heaven Though there be a Christ to be believed in who hath dyed for sinners yet if thou believe not in him thou mayst dye and be damned notwithstanding that Come then come to and close with Christ not with an idle or dead but with an effectual and lively faith receive whole Christ not only Jesus but Lord not only Saviour but Prince Col. 2.6 be as willing to dye to sin as he was to dye for sin and to live to him as he was to dye for thee be as willing to be his to serve him as that he should be thine to save thee Take him on his own terms give up thy self wholly to him forget thy fathers house depart from all iniquity and become wholly and intirely his let thy works declare and justifie thy faith by purifying thy heart Acts 15.9 by sanctifying thee Acts 26.18 by overcoming the world both the good and evil the best and worst the frowns and flatteries thereof 1 Joh. 5.4 5. as Moses and the rest did by faith Heb. 11. Thus come and thus make good thy coming to and believing in Christ And then thou shalt be saved as the Apostle told the Jaylor Acts 16.30 31. believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved Sin this destructive thing Sin shall not destroy them sin this damning thing sin shall not damn them that do unfeignedly and with their heart believe in Jesus as there was need of a Jesus Christ and as there inrequired faith in Jesus Christ so Salvation iâ— ascertain'd and ensured to them that believe in Jesus Christ He that perseveres to the end shall find the end of his faith the saving of his soul Oh then hasten to take hold on him close with him and cleave to him as ever you would be saved from your sin and Gods wrath Do you like the end and not the way is Salvation desirable and is not faith without which 't is impossible to please God here or to be saved hereafter Have ye not souls as well as bodies would ye not be saved from sin as well as from sickness hasten to Christ Jesus then the Physitian the Saviour of Sours is there any other Christ is there Salvation in any other hath God any more Sons to send is there any other way to Heaven have we not been in hazard long enough Oh now come now to Christ if ever there will be reason for it there is now wilt thou need him thou dost now will he be lovely hereafter he is now Oh methinks these things being so we should flye like Doves to the windows and not stand off a moment longer lest we dye and dye in our sins and then adieu to happiness and hope for ever But I trust this is not in vain I am willing to hope I have not preacht from nor prayed to God in vain expostulated with and beg'd of you in vain but that you will yet repent and believe the Gospel There is yet another thing I have to exhort to on this occasion and that is 3. Not to sin again by returning to folly That you would sin no more nor return again to folly hear and fear and do no more wickedly 't is sad to lick up vomits and after being washt to wallow in the mire the latter end of such is worse then their beginning 2 Pet. 2. and better it had been for them they had not known the way of righteousness then after they have known it to apostatize and depart from the holy Commandment 't will be difficult next to impossible to renew such again unto repentance Heb. 6.6 and what can they expect but judgment fiery indignation and vengeance Heb. 10 26-30 Oh how is and will the sin and condemnation of Apostates be aggravated what after all his kindness wilt thou kick with the heel against him after sin hath cost thee so many sighs and tears and aking hearts wilt thou make work for more thou wilt have thy belly-full for the back-slider in heart shall be filled with his own ways he will have enough of it one day Prov. 14.14 and then cry out Oh what an evil and a bitter thing is Apostacy Oh this evil heart of unbelief that made me again depart from after my returning to serve the living God! The fourth and last thing I have to say is Not to live in any known sin by way of
sinfulness of sin that the devil tempts not in his own name or shape he dares not say I am the devil I am a deceiver I will lead thee to hell for that would spoil his project 5 The devil grants sin to be the worst of evils by this that all the affliction and misery which he brings upon men is to make them sin more so that in the devils account sin is worse then suffering as it proves the goodness of God that he brings evil on us to do and make us good to cure us of the evil of sin by the evil of suffering so it argues the sinfulness of the devil and sin too that he brings evil on us to make us worse he doth not care to afflict us so much because we have sinned as that we may sin no more The end of the devil in persecuting Job was not only to make him smart but to make him sin that he might curse God 't is something beyond suffering which is worse then suffering that the devil aims at in bringing suffering and that is sin 6 The devil bears witness that sin is sinful by this that when any are awakened to see their own vileness he endeavours all he can to drive them to despair as he would at first they should presume to sin so after that they should not hope for but despair of pardon he littles it or nothings it before commission and greatens it after when sin revived the Apostle died Rom. 7.9 It wrought in him apprehensions of death and hell due to that state wherein he then was when Christ Jesus convinced him of his sin of persecution it made him tremble and struck him almost dead Acts 9. Conviction of sin pricks men to the heart and makes them cry out like undone men what shall we do what will become of us is there any pardon is there any hope Now the devil strikes in and tells them that their sin is greater then can be forgiven When the poor Penitent was sorrowful the devil made use of his devices that he might be swallowed up and drown'd in sorrow 2 Cor. 2.7 with 11. as if he would have told him if these forgive thee not much less will God the Church hath cast thee off and so will God His great design is then to perswade men that the Mercy of God and Merit of Christ is not enough to save them Thus the devil speaks out fully that sin is exceeding sinful 7 And lastly the devil declares sin to be sinful in being the accuser of the Brethren Rev. 12.10 Oh what stories doth he tell of God of the Brethren how sinful they are and thereby confesseth to God himself the ugliness of sin for from thence only doth he take the rise and frame the arguments of his accusation as Christ ever liveth to make intercession for us so the devil lives to make accusations against us day and night when God askt the devil if he had consider'd his servant Job Yes saith he I have and accuse him for an hired servant one that serves thee meerly for wages and would if but toucht by thee curse thee to thy face When Satan accused Joshua Zech. 3.1 2. 't was for his filthy garments his iniquity as v. 3 4. He is ever telling tales and sometimes true stories of the miscarriages of Professors he Registers their pride and wantonness their vanity and folly all their unworthy walkings and accuseth them to God for these things and even tempts God Job 2.3 to destroy them for their sinfulness and sometimes as in Jobs case without a cause whatever he say to us to be sure he says to God that sin is an exceeding and out of measure sinful thing when he accuseth the Brethren Thus of the devils witness I proceed to bring in 3 The witness of men Good Bad against sin 3 Men witness against sin 1 Good men bear witness against sin 1 Good men joyntly and severally to which of the Saints shall we turn as was said in another case they all with one consent as one man with one voice and one mouth cry out against sin as a sinful thing one says yea all say 't were damnation to be a sinner if there were no other hell another says 't were better to be in hell with Christ then in heaven with sin another saith 't is more ugly then the devil they all subscribe to this that sin is the most odious of all evils hell it self not more for it had not been had not sin made it Good men bear witness against other mens sins and against their own also 1 Against other mens sins 1 Against other mens sins if possible to prevent if not to convince For 1 They do give advise and counsel to men against sin that they may not sin which proves that sin is an abominable thing in their esteem The sum of what is spoken by way of commend as to Abraham Gen. 18.19 amounts to this that he would advise and charge his Posterity not to sin So that of Samuel to Israel 1 Sam. 12.24 25. and that of David to Solomon 1 King 2.1 2 3. c. yea to all his children Come saith he I will teach you the fear of the Lord Psal 34.11 and 't is by the fear of the Lord that men depart from evil So in the N.T. 1 Thes 2.11 12. 1 Pet. 2.11 1 Joh. 2.1 't is the advise-general that good men give to every one do not sin 2 If they find that their counsel hath not taken place but men have sinned then they bear witness against sin by reproving it Reproofs are arguments of sinfulness for men do not reprove any for what 's good reproof argues preceding guilt were it not that sin is odious to them good men would not be at the cost and charges nor run the hazard of reproving others for it reproving others is a thankless office and unacceptable imployment for the most part men take reproofs for reproachâ—â— yet God having laid it on good men as their they to rebuke and not suffer sin to lye upon their Brother they dare not omit it Levis 19.17 Though Eli reproved his sons for their sins yet he is sharply reproved for not reproving them more sharply 1 Sam. 2. We find Samuel reproving King Saul Is it meet to be said to a King thou art wicked Yet 1 Sam. 13.13 saith the Prophet to the King thou hast done foolishly thou hast done wickedly and Ch. 15.22 23. he calls his sin rebellion and stubbornness thus cuttingly did he reprove King Saul S. John was not afraid to tell Herod of his wickedness and to his face too Luke 3.19 S. Paul would not sâ—are S. Peter when he sound him tripping and dissembling Gal. 2.11 but withstood him to the face what doth this speak but that sin is an odious thing to good men and they judge it extremely sinful against God and man Further. 3 Good men witness against sin by withdrawing
from sinners and their society to have no more to do with them then needs must this separation from their persons is only because of their sins if good men be constrain'd to converse with them yet they cry out as Psa 120.5 6. Woe is me that I dwell in Meshek and the Tents of Kedar The society of the wicked is very burthensome to the godly Lot was in a kind of hell when he was in Sodom their wickedness was continually vexing his soul 2 Pet. 2.7 8. This withdrawing from or groaning under the society of the wicked testifies against sin and is in obedience to the Command of God 2 Cor. 6.14 c. 4 Their mourning over other mens sins shews that in their eyes sin is an abominable thing though but the sin of others Psal 119.136 Mine eyes run down with rivers of tears why because men keep not thy Laws Oh how dear is the Law of God and how vile the sin of men to holy David so the Prophet Jeremiah Ch. 13 15.-17 expresseth the like zeal for God Hear ye and give ear be not proud give glory to the Lord c. But if you will not hear my soul shall weep in secret for your pride mine eyes shall weep sore and run down with tears The Apostle Paul when he speaks of the sins of men he doth it weeping Phil. 3.19 Other mens sins cost good men many a weeping eye and aking heart because sin is so contrary to God and the good of men 5 And lastly to name no more they testifie how sinful a thing sin is by their prayers and endeavours to get pardon for their sins who it may be scarce seek it for themselves Sinners little think how much they are beholding to good men who pray for their salvation even then when the wicked seek their destruction Said St. Stephen Father lay not this sin to their charge oh forgive them How earnestly did Abraham pray for mercy in behalf of Sodom that if possible it might not be destroy'd When Israel had sinned a great sin and provokt the Lord Moses mediates and intercedes for them and offers to die that they may live Exod. 32. Now if they did not know that sin were a sinful thing offensive to God and destructive to man would they interpose at such a rate no they would not But by all this it appears that good men witness against sin as the worst of evils yea and wicked men bears witness against sin no man hath a good word for sin There is no man can plead sins cause or be its Advocate but before I produce their testimony I am to shew 2 That good men witness against their own sin 2 Against their own sin as well as against other mens sins they do not only wish others reformation but do endeavour their own and would if possible be so innocent as not to sin at all 't is their ambition and prayer that their thoughts words and deeds may be all acceptable to God Psa 19 14. they would not dream extravagantly if they could avoid it nor that a vain thought should lodge within them 't is possible indeed that some men may declaim bitterly against other mens sins and yet indulge their own as if they had rather see other men reformed then themselves and virtue were a more pleasant Theme to talk of then a thing to be possest but godly men dare not do so but are against sin in others and against sinning themselves As appears 1 By this that they will not dare not sin though they have opportunity and may do it with pleasure honor and profit as the world rates these things Some men that do not sin for want of opportunity would sin if they had it they want not heart but occasion not inclination but opportunity they would sin if tempted to sin Others avoid sins that would bring disgrace c. but for pleasant fashionable and profitable sins they can easily imbrace such but godly men dare not sin though all these concur take an instance in Joseph who when he was courted into pleasure c. yet even then saith he how oh how can I find it in my heart can I do how shall I do this wickededness and sin against God! Gen. 39 7.-9 't is saith he sin against my Master sin against thee sin against mine own soul but the worst is 't is against God how shall I do this wickedness and sin against God! Another instance of him there is in relation to his brethren how ill they had deserved at his hands what opportunity he had to be revenged is well known yet he generously forgave them and provided for them and this was the reason I saith he fear God Gen. 42.18 Job also in his Apology Ch. 31. c. gives a full account how odious a thing sin of all sorts was unto him even in his prosperity when he might according to the course of this world have done whatever seem'd good in his own eyes and none have said to him what dost thou or why dost thou thus You shall find Balaam after the guize and mode of hypocrites talking and pretending like an Angel but acting and intending like a devil 't was a kind of trouble to him that he could not sin Numb 22.18 I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord but it seems he would if he could whereas a Saint would say I neither can nor will go against or beyond or short of the word of the Lord if I can help it 2 Good and godly men discover that sin is odious to them by this that they will rather suffer then sin Many men make an ill choice such an one as Elihu charged on Job Ch. 36.21 This viz. sin hast thou chosen rather then affliction but godly men make Moses his choice who chose affliction rather then the pleasures of sin Hebr. 11. As precious a thing as life is a godly man would not willingly sin to save his life Though the mouth of a Fiery Furnace heated seven-fold were open to devoure the three children as we use to call them yet they would not sin Dan. 3.18 and Daniel would rather adventure on the Lyons then neglect a duty to his God Dan. 6.10 Though bonds waited on S. Paul every where yet he could not be withheld by fear of them from preaching the faith of Jesus Acts 20.23 24. with 21.11 15. you have a long Catalogue a little Book of Martyrs Hebr. 11. who chose all manner of deaths before any kind or manner of sin and would not accept deliverance on ignoble terms but had rather die holily then live sinfully They all declare that 't is better to suffer to avoid sinning then sin to avoid suffering 3 They witness against sin by this that they will not sin though grace abound or that grace may abound Rom. 6.1 2 no God forbid Though they have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous who is the Propitiation for their sin