more force and evidence Knowledge learnt by experience is the most efficacious Therefore Christ himselfe who knew all things already yet learnt in the schoole of experience by what he suffered A little of some knowledge distill'd out of a mans owne observation is most precious every drop of it therefore the Apostle urgeth it on Timothie 2 Tim. 3. 14. Continue in the things thou hast learned and beene assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them There is a two-fold motive and both emphaticall First he was assured in himselfe and secondly that which strengthned that assurance and was a meanes to worke it was the example of the holy Apostle and of his owne Parents Knowing of whom thou hast learned it And so ver 10. the Apostle againe urgeth his owne example Thou hast fully knowne my doctrine and manner of life and then also brings to his mind the education of those his godly Parents who instructed him Hence also Esay 26. 10. it is made an aggravation that in the land of uprightnesse men deale unjustly Thus light drawn from the observation of Gods judgements upon others it much aggravates it is laid to Belshazzars charge Dan. 5. 22. Thou knewest all this how God dealt with thy father Nebuchadonezer So some of you come here and live in a religious society and see sometimes one sometimes another of thy Colleagues turn to Christ yea haply chamber fellow converted from his evill courses and yet thou goest on this is sinning against a great light Fourthly the more vigorous strong powerfull the light is that is in thee and more stirring in thy heart and joyned with a taste the greater the sins committed against it are to be accounted The more thou hast tasted the bitternesse of sinne and Gods wrath and hast beene stung with it as with a Cockatrice the more thou hast tasted Gods goodnesse in prayer and in the ordinances the more of such a knowledge and yet sinnest the worse In the 5. of Iohn 35. Christ aggravates the Iewes unbeleefe in himselfe and their present hardnesse that Iohn was to them not only a shining but also a burning light that is they had such knowledge engendred by his ministery as wrought joy and heat as well as light therefore it is added they rejoyced therein for a season And thus their fall Heb. 6. is aggravated that it was such a light as had tasting with it For to explaine this you must know that between ordinary notionall light or that assenting to spirituall truths which is common with men from traditionall knowledge living in the Church that between it and true saving light or the light of life there is a middle kind of light which is more than the common conviction men have and lesse than saving light it is a light which leaves also some impression on the affections makes them feele the powers of heaven and hell and be affected with them Now the more of such light against a sinne be it drunkennesse or uncleannesse or oppression and yet fallest to it againe the worse For this is a further degree added to knowledg and not common to all wicked men And therefore as those Iewes who had not onely common meanes of knowledge but miracles also and yet beleeved not Iohn 12. 17. shall be more condemned so those who have such tasting knowledg set on by the holy Ghost which is as much as if a miracle were wrought for it is above nature a supernaturall worke of the Spirit And therefore to sinne against such light and such onely is that which makes a man in the next degree of fitnesse to sin against the Holy Ghost Fiftly to sin against professed knowledge is an aggravation also and an heavy one To sin against a mans owne principles which he teacheth others or reproves or censureth in others Titus 1. last Those that professe they know God and yet deny him these are most abominable of all others For these are lyars and so sinne against knowledge as lyars doe in the 1 Iohn 2. 4. such an one is called a lyar in a double respect both in that he sayes hee hath that knowledge he hath not it not being true and because also he denyes that in deed which he affirmes in word this is scandalous sinning So Rom. 2. 24. the Iewes beasting of the law and of having the forme of knowledge in their braines caused the Gentiles to blaspheme when they saw they lived cleane contrary thereunto and therefore a brother that walkes inordinately was to be delivered to Satan to learne what it was to blaspheme 1 Tim. 2. 20. That is to learne to know how evill and bitter a thing it is by the torments of an evill conscience to live in such a course as made God and his wayes evill spoken of as it befell David when he thus sinned Yea 2 Cor. 5. 10 11. though they might keep company with a heathen because hee was ignorant and professed not the knowledge of God yet if a brother one that professed and so was to walke by the same rules did sinne against those principles he professed then keepe him not company Thus did Saul sinne All the Religion he had and pretended to in his latter dayes was persecuting witches yet in the end he went against this his principle hee went to a witch in his great extremitie at last And thus God will deale with all that are hollow and sinne secretly against knowledge in the end Hee suffers them to goe against their most professed principles These are aggravations in generall applicable both to any act of sinning or going on in a known state of sinning USE NOw the use of all that hath been spoken what is it but to move all those that have knowledge to take heed more heed of sinning than other men and those of them that remaine in their naturall estate to turne speedily and effectually unto God For if sinning against knowledge be so great an aggravation of sinning then of all engagements to repentance knowledge is the greatest First thou who hast knowledge canst not sin so cheap as another who is ignorant Therefore if thou wilt be wicked thy wickednesse will cost thee ten times more than it would another Places of much knowledge and plentifull in the meanes of grace are dear places to live in sin in To be drunk and uncleane after enlightning and the motions of the Spirit and powerfull Sermons is more than twentie times afore thou mightest have committed ten to one and beene damned lesse This is condemnation sayes Christ that light came into the world Neither canst thou haue so much pleasure in thy sin as an ignorant person For the conscience puts forth a sting in the act when thou hast knowledge and does subject thee to bondage and the fear of death When a man knows how dearely he must pay for it there is an expectation of judgement embittereth all Therefore the Gentiles sinned with more pleasure than we
God the Sonne under-went had a cup mingled him of his Father more bitter than if all the evils in the world had beene strained in and he dranke it off heartily to the bottome but not a drop of sinne though sweetned with the offer of all the world would goe downe with him Thirdly other evils the Saints have chosen and imbraced as good and refused the greatest good things the world had as evill when they came in competition with sinne So Moses those rather to suffer much rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sinne Heb. 11. from 24. to 28. So Chrysostome when Eudoxia the Empresse threatned him goe tell her sayes he Nil nisi peccatum timeo I feare nothing but sinne Fourthly take the Devill himselfe whom you all conceive to be more full of mischiefe than all the evills in the world called therefore in the abstract spirituall wickednesse Eph. 6. 12. yet it was but sinne that first spoiled him and it is sinne possesseth the very devils he was a glorious Angell till he was acquainted with it and could there be a separation made betweene him and sinne he would be againe of as good sweet and amiable a nature as any creature in earth or heaven Fiftly Though other things are evill yet nothing makes the creature accursed but sinne as all good things in the world doe not make a man a blessed man so nor all the evills accursed God sayes not blessed are the honorable and the rich nor that accursed are the poore but cursed is the man that continues not in all things Gal. 3. 10. a curse to the least sinne and on the contrary blessed is the man whose iniquities are forgiven c. Rom. 4. 7. Sixtly God hates nothing but sinne Were all evills swept downe into one man God hates him not simply for them not because thou art poore and disgraced but onely because sinfull It is sin he hates Rev. 2. 15. Isa 27. 11. yea it alone and whereas other attributes are diversely communicated in their effects to severall things as his love and goodnesse Himselfe his Sonne his children have all a share in yet all the hatred which is as large as his love is solely poured out upon and wholly and limited onely unto sinne All the question will be what transcendencie of evill is in the essence of it that makes it above all other evills and hated and it onely by God Christ the Saints c. more than any other evill Why It is enmity with God Rom. 8. 7. abstracts we know speake essences the meaning is it is as directly contrary to God as any thing could be for contrary it is to God and all that is his As 1. contrary to his essence to his existence and being God for it makes men hate him Rom. 1. 30. and as he that hateth his brother is a murtherer 1 Ioh. 3. 15. so hee that hateth God may be said to be a murtherer of him and wisheth that he were not Peccutum est Dei-cidium 2. Contrary it is to all his attributes which are his name men are jealous of their names Gods name is himselfe as 1. It makes a man slight Gods goodnesse and to seeke happinesse in the creature as if hee were able to be happy without him And 2. it deposeth his soveraignty and sets up other Gods before his face 3. It contemns his truth power and justice And 4. turnes his grace into wantonnesse And as to himselfe so to what ever is his or deare to him Besides A King hath 3. things in an especiall manner deare to him His Lawes His favour it es his image stampt upon his coine and so hath God First his lawes and ordinances God never gave Law but it hath beene broken by sinne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the definition of it The transgression of the Law 1 Ioh. 3. 4. yea it is called destroying the Law Psal 119. 126. And know that Gods Law the least tittle of it is more deare to him than all the world For ere the least tittle of it shall be broken heaven and earth shall passe The least sinne therefore which is a breach of the least law is worse than the destruction of the world and for his worship as envying God should have any it turns his ordinances into sinne Secondly for his favourites God hath but a few poore ones upon whom because God hath set his love sinne hath set its hatred Lastly for his image even in a mans owne breast the law of the members fights against the law of the mind and endevoureth to expell it though a man should be damned for it Gal. 5. 17. The flesh namely sinne lusteth against the Spirit for they are contraries Contrary indeed for me thinkes though it hates that image in others that yet it should spare it in a mans selfe out of self-love but yet though a man should be damned if this image be expelled it yet laboureth to doe this so deadly is that hatred a man hates himselfe as holy so farre as he is sinfull It abounds now so high as our thoughts can follow it no farther Divines say it aspires unto infinity the object against whom it is thus contrary unto being God who is infinite they tell us that objectively sinne it selfe is infinite Sure I am the worth of the object or party offended aggravates the offence an ill word against the King is high treason not the greatest indignity to another man Sure I also am that God was so offended with it as though he loves his Sonne as himselfe yet he though without sinne being but made sinne by imputation yet God spared him not and because the creatures could not strike a stroake hard enough he himselfe was pleased to bruise him Esay 53. 16. He spared not his owne Sonne Rom. 8. 32. His love might have overcome him to have passed by it to his Sonne at least a word of his mouth might have pacified him yet so great was his hatred of it and offence at it as he powred the vialls of his wrath on him Neither would entreaty serve for though he cryed with strong cryes it should passe from him God would not till he had out-wrastled it And as the person offended aggravates the offence as before so also the person suffering being God and man argues the abounding sinfulnesse of it For for what crime did you ever hear a King was put to death their persons being esteemed in worth above all crime as civill Christ was the King of Kings And yet there is one consideration more to make the measure of its iniquity fully full and to abound to flowing over and that is this that the least sinne virtually more or lesse containes all sinne in the nature of it I meane not that all are equall therefore I adde more or lesse and I prove it thus because Adam by one offence contracted the staine of all no sooner did one sinne seaze upon his heart but he had all sinnes in him And
could not enjoy his Paramore All these as they live in their sins here and so are dead whilest they live and so are miserable making the greatest evill their chiefest good so when they come to die as we all must doe one day and how soone and how suddenly we know not wee carry our soules our precious soules as precious water in a brittle glasse soone cracked and then we are spilt like water which none can gather up againe or but as a candle in a paper lanthorne in clay walls full of cranyes often but a little cold comes in and blowes the candle out and then without a through change of heart before wrought from all sinne to all godlinesse they will die in their sinnes And all and the utmost of all miseries is spoken in that one word and therefore Christ when he would summe up all miseries in one expression tells the Pharisees they should die in their sins Iohn 8. 28. Vse 2. ANd let us consider further that if sin be thus above measure sinfull that Hell that followeth death is then likewise above measure fearful And so it is intimated to be a punishment without measure Ier. 30. 11. compared with Isa 27. Punish them as I punish thee sayes God to his owne but I will punish thee in measure And indeed sinne being committed against God the King of Kings it can never be punished enough But as the killing of a King is amongst men a crime so hainous that no tortures can exceed the desert of it we use to say all torments are too little any death too good for such a crime Now peccatum est Dei 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as I said before a destroying God as much as in us lies and therefore none but God himselfe can give it a full punishment therefore it is called a falling into Gods hands Heb. 10. 31. which as he sayes there is fearfull For if his breath blowes us to destruction Iob 4. 9. for we are but dust heaps yea his nod he nods to destruction Psal 80. 16. then what is the weight of his hands even of those hands which span the heavens and hold the earth in the hollow of them and if God take it into his hands to punish he will be sure to doe unto the full Sinne is mans worke and punishment is Gods and God will shew himselfe as perfect in his worke as man in his If sinne be malum catholicum as hath been said that containes all evils in it then the punishment God will inflict shall be malum catholicum also containing in it all miseries it is a cup full of mixture so called Psal 75. 8. as into which God hath strained the quintessence of all miseries and the wicked of the earth must drink the dregges of it though it be eternity unto the bottome And if one sin deserves a hell a punishment above measure what will millions of millions doe And we reade that every sinne shall receive a just recompence Heb. 2. 3. oh let us then take heed of dying in our sinnes and therefore of living in them for we shall lie in prison till we have paid the very utmost farthing And therefore if all this that I have said of it wil not engender answerable apprehensions of it in you this being but painting the toad which you can look upon and handle without affrightment I wish that if without danger you could but lay your eares to hell that standing as it were behind the skreene you might heare sinne spoken of in its owne dialect by the oldest sonnes of perdition there to heare what Cain sayes of murthering his brother Abel what Saul of his persecuting David and the Priests of Iehovah what Balaam and Achitophel say of their cursed counsels and policies what Ahab sayes of his oppression of Naboth what Iudas of treason and heare what expressions they have with what horrors yellings groanes distractions the least sin is there spoken of If God should take any mans soule here and as he rapt His into the third heavens where he saw grace in its fullest brightnesse so carry any ones soule into those chambers of death as Solomon calls them and leading him through all from chamber to chamber shew him the visions of darknesse and hee there heare all those bedlames cry out one of this sinne another of that and see sinne as it lookes in hell But there is one aggravation more of the evill and misery sinne brings upon men I have not spoken of yet that it blinds their eyes and hardens their hearts that they doe not see nor lament their misery till they be in hell and then it is too late Vse 3. BUt what doth sin so exceed in sinfulnesse and is the venome of it boyled up to such a height of mischiefe that there should be no name in heaven and earth able to grapple with it and destroy it Is there no antidote no balme in Gilead more soveraigne than it is deadly Surely yes God would never have suffered so potent and malicious an enemy to have set foot in his dominions but that he knew how to conquer it and that not by punishing of it onely in hell but by destroying it onely it is too potent for all the creatures to encounter with This victory is alone reserved for Christ it can die by no other hand that he may have the glory of it which therefore is the top of his glory as mediator and his highest title the memory of which he beares written in his name JESUS for he shall save his people from their sinnes Mat. 1. 21. And therefore the Apostle Paul his chiefest Herauld proclaimes this victory with a world of solemnity and triumph 1 Cor. 15. 36. Oh death where is thy sting oh grave where is thy victory the sting of death is sinne the strength of sinne is the Law but thankes be to God that gives us the victory through our Lord Iesus Christ which yet again addes to the Demonstration of the sinfulnesse of it for the strength of sinne was such that like Goliah it would have defied the whole host of heaven and earth It was not possible the blood of Bulls and goats should take away sinne Heb. 10. 4. nor would the riches of the world or the blood of men have beene a sufficient ransome Will the Lord be pleased with rivers of oyle shall I give my first borne for my transgression No sayes he there is no proportion for thy first borne is but the fruit of thy body and sinne is the sinne of thy soule Mich. 6. 7. it must cost more to redeeme a soule than so Psal 49. 9. No couldest thou bring rivers of teares in stead of rivers of oyle which if any thing were like to pacifie God yet are they but the excrements of thy braines but sinne is the sinne of thy heart yea all the righteousnesse that we could ever do cannot make amends for one sinne for suppose it perfect when as yet it is but
AGGRAVATION OF SINNE AND SINNING Against KNOWLEDGE MERCIE Delivered in severall Sermons upon divers occasions BY THO GOODVVIN B. D. LONDON Printed by M. Flesher for Iohn Rothwell and are to be sold at his Shop at the signe of the Sun in Pauls Churchyard MDCXXXVII AGGRAVATION OF SINNE BY THO GOODWIN B. D. LONDON Printed by M. F. for Iohn Rothwell and are to be sold at the Sun in Pauls Church-yard M DC XXXVII A TABLE OF THE CONTENTS OF the Aggravation of sin THe subject is the sinfulnesse of sin page 2. The mischievous effects of the evill of sin ibid. 1. It hath debased the soule ibid. 2. It defiles the soule 1. In an instant 2. Totally 3. Eternally 3 3. It robs the soule of the image of God 4 4. It robs a man of God himselfe 5 5. It was the first founder of hell 6 The essence of sin is the cause of all these evills ibid. Sin an evill that contains all the evils in the world 7 1. It is the cause of sorrowes and diseases and all evills ibid. 2. There is some peculiar mischief in sin not found in other evils as appears in divers instances 8 Quest What transcendencie of evill is in the essence of sin that makes it above all other evill 10 Answ It is contrary to God and all that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. It is contrary to his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being ibid. being ibid. 2. It is contrary to all his attributes which are his name is to himselfe and what ever is his ibid. 1. To his lawes and ordinances 2. To his favourites 3. To his image in mans owne breast 11 Sinfulness of sin aggravated from the person suffering being God and man 12 The least sin virtually more or lesse containes all sin in the nature of it proved ibid. Every sin inclines our nature more to sin 13 Sin containes not onely all other evils in it but also all of its owne kind ibid. Sinne a perfect evill ibid. Reasons why sin is the chiefest evill 1. Because it is simply to be avoided for its selfe 2. Because there can be no worse punishment than it selfe 3. Because it cannot have a worse epithete given it than it selfe 14 Use Wonder at the abounding nature of sin 15 Examine our owne estates ibid. Quest When a mans sins may be said to be his own Answ 1. Then he commits sin out of his owne 2. Then he hates it not but loves it 3. Then he nourisheth it cherisheth it 4. Then he provides for it 5. Then he lives in sin 17 Use 2. Consider the punishment of sin is out of measure fearfull 18 It containes all miseries in it 19 What the damned speake of sinne in hell ibid. Use 3. Onely Iesus Christ can conquer sin 21 Christs righteousnesse abounds sins sinfulnesse 22 Come to God through Christ and take him to be our Lord and King 23 Sinne and Christ cannot stand together ibid. We will not take Christ while sin appears sinfull to us ibid. IMPRIMATUR THO WEEKES R. P. Ep o Lond. Cap. Domest AGGRAVATION OF SINNE ROM 7. 13. Was that then which is good made death unto mee God forbid But sinne that it might appeare sin working death in mee by that which is good that sinne by the commandement might become exceeding sinfull WEE finde our Apostle in the 9. verse to have been alive but struck upon the sudden dead by an apparition presented to him in the glasse of the law of the sinfulnesse of sinne Sin revived sayes the 9. verse appeared to be sinne sayes the 13. verse lookes but like it selfe above measure sinfull and hee falls downe dead at the very sight of it I dyed sayes he in the 9. it wrought death in me sayes the 13. that is an apprehension of death and hell as due to that estate I was then in But yet as the life of sinne was the death of Paul so this death of his was but a preparation to a new life I through the Law and dead to the Law that I might live to God Gal. 2. 19. and here hee likewise speakes of Gods worke upon him at his first conversion for then it was that hee relates how sinne became in his esteeme so above measure sinfull The subject then to be insisted on is the sinfulnesse of sinne a subject therefore as necessary as any other because if ever we be saved sinne must first appeare to us all as it did here to him above measure sinfull And first because all knowledge begins at the effects which are obvious to sense and interpreters of the nature of things therefore wee will begin this Demonstration of the evill of sin from the mischievous effects it hath filled the world withall it having done nothing but wrought mischiefe since it came into the world and all the mischiefe that hath beene done it alone hath done but especially towards the poore soule of man the miserable subject of it Which first it hath debased the soule of man the noblest creature under heaven and highest allyed made to be a companion fit for God himselfe but sinne hath stript it of its first native excellency as it did Reuben Gen. 49. 41. debased the soule more worth than all the world as Christ himselfe saith that onely went to the price of it yet sinne hath made it a drudge and slave to every creature it was made to rule therefore the Prodigall as a type is said to serve swine and feed on huskes so as every vanity masters it Therefore we find in Scripture that men are said to be servants to wine Tit. 2. 3. servants to riches and divers lusts c. And hence it is that shame attends upon it Rom. 6. 21. Now shame ariseth out of an apprehension of some excellencie debased and by how much the excellencie is greater by so much is the shame the greater and therefore unutterable confusion will one day befall sinners because sinne is the debasement of an unvaluable excellencie Secondly it not onely debaseth it but defiles it also and indeed there was nothing else that could defile it Mat. 15. 20. for the soule is a most pure beame bearing the image of the Father of lights as farre surpassing the sinne in purenesse as the sunne doth a clod of earth and yet all the dirt in the world cannot defile the sunne all the clouds that seeke to muffle it it scatters them all but sinne hath defiled the soule yea one sinne the least defiles it in an instant totally eternally First one sinne did it in the fall of Adam Rom. 5. 17. one offence polluted him and all the world Now suppose you should see one drop of darknesse seazing on the sunne and putting out that light and eye of heaven and to loosen it out of the orbe it moves in and cause it to drop downe a lump of darknesse you would say it were a strange darknesse this sinne did then in the soule to which yet the sunne is but as a Taper Secondly it
defiles it thus in an instant Take the most glorious Angell in heaven and let one of the least sinnes seaze upon his heart he would in an instant fall downe from heaven stript of all his glory the ugliest creature that ever was beheld you would count that the strongest of all poysons that would poyson in an instant as Nero boiled a poison to that height that it killed Germanicus as soone as he received it now such an one is sinne Thirdly sinne defiles it totally it rests not in one member onely but beginning at the understanding eates into the will and affections soaks through all Those diseases we account strongest which seaze not on a joynt or a member onely but strikes rottennesse through the whole body Fourthly it defiles eternally it being aterna macula a staine which no nitre or sope or any creature can wash out Ier. 2. 21. There was once let in a deluge of water and the world was all overflow'd with it it washed away sinners indeed but not one sinne And the world shall be a fire again at the latter day and all that fire and these flames in hell that follow shall not purge out one sinne Thirdly it hath robbed the soule of the image of God deprived us of the glory of God Rom. 3. 23. the image of Gods holinesse which is his beauty and ours wee were beautifull and all glorious once within which though but an accident is more worth than all mens soules devoid of it it being a likenesse unto God a divine nature without which no man shall see God Though man in Innocency had all perfections united in him via eminentiae that are to be found in other creatures yet this was more worth than all for all the rest made him not like to God as this did without which all Paradise could not make Adam happy which when he had lost he was left naked though those his other perfections remained with him which is profitable for all things as the Apostle sayes The least dramme of which the whole world emballanced with would be found too light without which the glorious Angels would be damned devills the Saints in heaven damned ghosts this it hath robbed man of Fourthly it hath robbed man even of God himselfe Your sinnes separate sayes God betwixt you and me and therefore they are said to live without God in the world and in robbing a man of God it robs him of all things for all things are ours but so farre as God is ours of God whose face makes heaven he is all in all his loving kindnesse is better than life and containeth beauty honours riches all yea they are but a drop to him But its mischiefe hath not staid here but as the Leprosie of the Lepers in the old Law sometimes infected their houses garments so it hath hurld confusion over all the world brought a vanitie on the creature Rom. 8. 23. and a curse and had not Christ undertooke the shattered condition of the world to uphold it it had fallen about Adams cares And though the old walls and ruinous palace of the world stands to this day yet the beauty the glosse and glory of the hangings is soyled and marred with many imperfections cast upon every creature But as the house of the Leper was to be pulled downe and Traitors houses use to be made jakes so the world if Christ had not stept in had shrunke into its first nothing and you will say that is a strong carrion that retaines not onely infection in it selfe but infects all the aire about so this that not the soule the subject of it onely but all the world Lastly it was the first founder of hell and laid the first corner stone thereof sinne alone brought in and filled that bottomlesse gulfe with all the fire and brimstone and treasures of wrath which shall never be burnt and consumed And this crucified and pierced Christ himselfe poured on him his Fathers wrath the enduring of which for sinne was such as that all the Angels in heaven had crackt and sunke under it But yet this estimate is but taken from the effects of it the essence of it which is the cause of all these evills must needs have much more mischiefe in it Shall I speak the least evill I can say of it It conteins all evills als◠in it therefore Iames 1. 23. the Apostle calls it filthinesse and abundance of superfluitie or excrement as it were of naughtinesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As if so transcendent that if all evills were to have an excrement a scumme a superfluitie sinne is it as being the abstracted quintessence of all evill An evill which in the nature and essence of it virtually and eminently containes all evills of what kinde soever that are in the world Insomuch as in the Scriptures you shall finde that all the evills in the world serve but to answer for it and to give names to it Hence sinne it is called poyson and sinners serpents sinne is called a vomit sinners dogs sinne the stench of graves and they rotten sepulchres sinne mire sinners sowes and sinne darknesse blindnesse shame nakednesse folly madnesse death whatsoever is filthy defective infective painfull Now as the holy Ghost sayes of Nabal as is his name so is he so may wee say of sinne for if Adam gave names to all things according to their nature much more God who calls things as they are Surely God would not slander sinne though it be his onely enemie And besides there is reason for this for it is the cause of all evills God sowed nothing but good seed in the world He beheld and saw all things were very good It is sinne hath sowne the tares all those evills that have come up sorrowes and diseases both unto men and beasts Now whatsoever is in the effect is via eminentiae in the cause Surely therefore it is to the soule of man the miserable vessell and subject of it all that which poyson death and sicknesse is unto the other creatures and to the body and in that it is all these to the soule it is therefore more than all these to it for corruptio optimi pessima by how much the soule exceeds all other creatures by so much must sinne which is the corruption poyson death and sicknesse of it exceed all other evills But yet this is the least ill that can be said of it There is 2. some further transcendent peculiar mischiefe in it that is not to be found in all other evills as will appeare in many instances For first all other evills God proclaimes himselfe the author of and ownes them all though sinne be the meritorious cause of all yet God the efficient and disposing cause There is no evill in the City but I have done it He onely disclaimeth this Iam. 1. 13. as a bastard of some others breeding for he is the Father of lights ver 17. Secondly the utmost extremity of the evill of punishment
so every sinne in us by a miraculous multiplication inclines our nature more to every sinne than it was before it makes the pollution of nature of a deeper dye not onely to that species of sinne whereof it is the proper individuall act but to all else as bring one candle into a roome the light spreads all over and then another the light is all over more increased So it is in sinne for the least cuts the soule off from God and then it is ready to goe a whoring after every vanity that will entice it or entertaine it And this shewes the fulnesse of the evill of it in that it containes not onely all other evills in the world in it but also all of its owne kinde As you would count that a strange poyson the least drop of which containes the force of all poyson in it That a strange disease the least infection whereof brought the body subject to all diseases yet such an one is sinne the least making the soule more prone and subject to all And now you see it is a perfect evill and though indeed it cannot be said to be the chiefest in that full sense wherein God is said to be the chiefest good because if it were as bad as God is good how could he pardon it subdue it bring it to nothing as he doth and then how could it have addition to it one sin being more sinfull than another Ezek. 8. 15. Iohn 19. 11. But yet it hath some analogie of being the chiefest evill as God the chiefest good For 1. as God is the chiefest good who therefore is to be loved for himselfe and other things but for his sake so also in sin the chiefest evill because it is simply to be avoided for its selfe but other evills become good yea desirable when compared with it Secondly as God is the chiefest good because he is the greatest happinesse to himselfe so sin the greatest evill to it selfe for there can be no worse punishment of it than its selfe therefore when God would give a man over as an enemie he meanes never to deale withall more he gives him up to sinne And thirdly it is so evill as it cannot have a worse Epithete given it than it selfe and therefore the Apostle when he would spek his worst of it and wind up his expression hightest usque ad hyperbolem calls it by its own name sinfull sinne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 7. 13. that as in God being the greatest good quicquid est in Deo est Deus ipse therefore his attributes and names are but himselfe idem praedicatur de seipso so it is with sinne quicquid est in peccato peccatum est c. he can call it no worse than by its owne name sinfull sinne USE AND what have I beene speaking of all this while Why but of one sinne in the generall nature of it There is not a man here but hath millions of them as many as the sands upon the Sea shore yea as there would be Atomes were all the world pounded to dust it exceeds in number also and therefore ere we goe any further let all our thoughts break off here in wonderment at the abounding of sinne above all things else for other things if they be great they are but a few if many they are but small the world t is a big one indeed but yet there is but one the sands though innumerable yet they are but small your sinfulnesse exceeds in â—oth And next let all our thoughts be wound up to the most deepe and intense consideration of our estates for if one sin abounds thus what tongue can expresse or heart can conceive their misery who to use the Apostles phrase 1 Cor. 15. are yet in their sinnes that is stand bound to God in their owne single bond onely to answer for all their sinnes themselves and cannot in the estate wherein yet they stand of impenitencie and unbeleefe plead the benefit of Christs death to take off and ease them of the guilt of one sinne but all their sinnes are yet all their owne which to a man in Christ they are not for his owne bonds are cancelled and given in and Christ entred into bonds for him and all his sins translated upon him Now for a proper character of their estate and sutable to this expression First then a mans sinnes may be said to be still his owne when he committeth sinne out of his owne that is the full frame and inclination of his heart Thus the devill is said to sinne Ioh. 8. 44. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of his owne the whole frame of his spirit is in it which a man in Christ cannot be so fully said to doe for hee hath a new creature in him that sinneth not 1 Ioh. 3. 1 9. that can say even when he sins It is not I but sinne And secondly then sinne is a mans owne when he hates it not but loves it The world loves his owne saith Christ Ioh. 15. 29. and so doth a wicked man his sinne more than any good which is Davids character Psal 52. 3. And thirdly what is a mans owne he nourisheth and cherisheth therefore Eph. 5. 19. No man hates his owne flesh but loveth it and cherisheth it so doe men their sinnes when they are their owne Those great and rich oppressors Iam. 5. 5. are said to nourish their hearts in wantonnes and in pleasure as in a day of slaughter as living upon the creame of sinning and having such plenty they pick out none but the sweetest bits to nourish their hearts withall 4. So what a man provides for that is his own so sayes the Apostle A man that provides not for his owne is worse c. When therefore men make provision for the flesh as the phrase is Rom. 13. 14. have their Caterers and contrivers of their lusts and whose chiefest care is every morning what pleasures of sinne they have that day to be enjoyed it is a signe that their sins are their owne In a word when men live in sinne 't is the expression used 1 Tim. 5. 6. She that lives in pleasure is dead while she lives When the revenewes of the comfort of mens lives come in from the pleasures of sinne and that supplies them with all those necessaries that belong to life as when 't is their element they drink in like water their meat they eate the bread of wickednesse Prov. 1. 7. and it goes downe and troubleth them not their sleepe also they cannot sleepe till they have done or contrived some mischiefe ver 16. their apparell as when violence and oppression covers them as a garment and pride compasseth them as a chaine Psal 73. their recreation also It is a pastime for a foole to doe wickedly he makes sport and brags of it Prov. 10. 23. yea their health being sick and discontented when their lusts are not satisfied as Ahab was for Naboths vineyard Amnon grew leane when hee
dung Mal. 2. 3. and a menstruom cloath yet thou owest it already as thou art a creature and one debt cannot pay another If then we should goe a begging to all the Angels who never sinned let them lay all their stock together it would begger them all to pay for one sinne no it is not the merit of Angels will doe it for sinne is the transgression the destruction of the Law Psal 109. 1. and the least 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is more worth than heaven and all that is therein Onely though it be thus unconquerably sinfull by all created powers it hath not gone beyond the price that Christ hath paid for it the Apostle compares to this very purpose sinne and Christs righteousnesse together Rom. 5. 15 20. 'T is true sayes hee that sinne abounds and that one sinne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and instanceth in Adams sinne which staineth all mens natures to the end of the world yet sayes he the gift of righteousnesse by Christ abounds much more abounds to flowing over 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sayes the Apostle 1 Tim. 1. 14. as the sea doth above mote-hills Malach. 7. 14. Though therefore it would undoe all the Angels yet Christs riches are unsearchable Eph. 3. 8. hee hath such riches of merit as are able to pay all thy debts the very first day of thy mariage with him though thou hadst beene a sinner millions of yeares afore the creation to this day and when that is done there is enough left to purchase thee more grace and glory than all the Angels have in heaven In a word he is able to save to the utmost all that come to God by him Heb. 7. 5. let their sins be what they will But then wee must come to him and to God by him and take him as our Lord and King and head and husband as he is freely tendered we must be made one with him and have our hearts divorced from all our sinnes for ever And why not now doe we yet look for another Christ and to allude to us as Naomi said to Ruth Is there yet any more sonnes in my wombe that they may be your husbands So say I Hath God any more such sonnes or is not this Christ good enough or are we afraid of being happy too soon in being married to him But yet if we will have Christ indeed without whom we are undone how shall we thou continue in sinne which is thus above measure sinfull no not in one The Apostle speaks there in the language of impossibility and inconsistencie Christ and the raigne of one sinne they cannot stand together And indeed wee will not so much as take Christ untill first wee have seene more or lesse this vission here and sinne appear to us as to him above measure sinfull naturally we slight it and make a mock of and account it precisenesse to stick and make conscience of it but if once sinne thus appeares to any but in its owne colours that man will looke upon the least sinne then as upon hell it selfe and like a man affrighted feare in all his wayes lest he should meet with sinne and starts at the very appearance of it he weepes if sinne doe but see him and hee doe but see it in himselfe and others and cryes out as Ioseph did How shall I doe this and sinne and then a man will make out for Christ as a condemned man for life as a man that can no longer live oh give me Christ or else I die and then if upon this Christ appeares to him and manifests himselfe as his promise is to thē that seek him Ioh. 14. 21. his heart thereupon will much more detest and loathe it he saw it evill afore Out then it comes to have a new tincture added which makes it infinitely more sinfull in his eyes for he then lookes upon every sinne as guilty of Christs bloud as dyed with it though covered by it the grace of God appearing teacheth us to deny all ungodlinesse and worldly lusts The love of Christ constraines him Thinkes he Shall I live in that for which Christ died shall that be my life which was his death did he that never knew sinne undergoe the torment for it and shall I be so unkinde as to enjoy the pleasure of it No but as David when hee was very thirstie and had water of the well of Bethleem brought him with the hazard of mens lives powred it on the ground for sayes hee It is the blood of these men So sayes he even when the cup of pleasures is at his very lips It cost the blood of Christ and so pours it upon the ground And as the love of Christ constraines him so the power of Christ doth change him Kings may pardon Traytors but they cannot change their hearts but Christ pardons none hee doth not make new creatures and all old things passe away because he makes them friends favourites to live with and delight in and if men put on Christ and have learned him as the truth is in Iesus they put off as concerning the former conversation the old man with the deceitfull lusts and he ceaseth from sinne that is from the course of any knowne sin they are the Apostles owne words which shall judge us and if we should expect salvation from him upon any other termes we are deceived for Christ is author of salvation to them onely that obey him Heb. 5. 9. AGGRAVATIONS OF SINNING AGAINST KNOWLEDGE BY THO GOODWIN B. D. LONDON Printed by M. F. for Iohn Rothwell 〈…〉 be sold at the Sun in Pauls Church 〈…〉 M DC XXXVII Contents of Aggravation of sinning against knowledge Doct. TO sinne against knowledge is the highest aggravation of sinning page 34 1. Demonstrations of the point by comparing it with other kinds of sinning 36 How much sins against knowledge doe transcend sins of ignorance 37 1. In sins of ignorance there may be a supposition if he had known it he would not have done it but not so in these ibid. 2. The vast difference between them appears in the repentance God accepts for each a generall repentance for the one not so for the other 39 3. Some kinds of sinning against knowledge exclude from mercy which done ignorantly leave a capacity of it 40 4. Sinning against knowledge is the highest but that of sinning against the holy Ghost 41 6. Reasons 1. Because knowledge is the greatest mercy 42 2. Knowledge is the immediate guide of men in all their waies a man sins against his guide 43 That knowledge is so proved in that an erroneous conscience binds 45 3. Reason Knowledge layeth a further obligation to obedience ibid. Lawes come in force when promulged 46 4. There is the more contempt cast on the law 47 5. In sins against knowledge the will of the sinner closeth more with sin as sin ibid. 6. In sinning against knowledge a man condemnes himselfe 48 Three things handled concerning sins against knowledge ibid.
be pittyed but yet are in a most dangerous condition Saul when he was fallen away yet had this ingenuity a while left hee desired Samuel to pray to his God for him and told David that he was more righteous than he yet still went on in his courses and in the end as some have thought sinned against the Holy Ghost But others there are who though they be fallen from all the inward powerfull and secret performance of duties they once did practice and from all conscience of sinning yet retain their profession which they know to be but an out-side these of all others goe on against knowledge and Rev. 22. 15. they are said to make a lye not onely to tell a lye in words but to make a lye in deeds Now a lye is a sin of all others most against knowledge and indeed against a double knowledge both facti and juris so is this 1. That they professe themselves to be that they know they are not 2. That they will not endevour after that state they know they ought to get into if ever saved This is the condition of many who being convinced of the power of religion have launched forth into a profession and hoyst up saile but now the tyde is fallen the spirit withdrawne the conscience of sinne extinguisht in them yet for their credit sake still beare their sails up as high as ever even as many Merchants doe who are sunk in their estates still beare a faire shew yea will seeme richer than ordinary by purchasing lands c. Such a professor was Iudas hee began seriously and thought to have gone to heaven and was earnest in good duties at first as they also 2 Pet. 2. 18. they really or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of Christ but in the end Iudas became a grosse hypocrite one that pretended the poore when he loved the bag and on the sudden betrayed his Master when yet the Disciples knew it not suspected Iudas as little as themselves and the end of those also in that fore-named place is said to be worse than their beginning Now because such sinne so highly against knowledge therefore their punishment is made the regula of all other wicked mens as when it is said that other sinners shall have their portion with Hypocrites as the wicked Angels punishment is made the measure of mens Goe ye cursed into the fire prepared for the Devill and his Angels so among men such grosse Hypocrites their punishment is made the rule and so the chiefe of all kind of torments which sinners of the sonnes of men shall undergoe Now let mee speake a word to all such as thus go on in a state of impenitencie against knowledge this is a high kinde of sinning and of all the most desperate and doth argue more hardnesse of heart and despising the riches of Gods goodnesse For if as in the Rom. 2. 4. to go on in sinne when a man knowes not that is considers not that Gods mercy leads him to repentance is made the signe and effect of a very hard heart treasuring up wrath then much more when thou knowest and considerest thou art in an impenitent condition and hast many motions leading thee to repentance is thy heart then to be accounted hard When a man commits a particular act against knowledge he haply and usually still thinks his estate may be good and that he shall not lose God utterly or hazard the losse of him onely his spirit being at present empty of communion with him he steales out to some stolne pleasure but when a man knowes his estate bad and that he is without God in the world and yet goes on he doth hereby cast away the Lord and professeth he cares not for him or that communion which is to be had by him as Esau did his birth-right David though he despised the Lord yet hee did not cast away the Lord as Saul did for Saul ventured utterly to lose him knowing his estate naught David when hee sinned thought Gods eternall favour would still continue though for the present he might lose the sense of it But when a man goes on in a state of sinning he ventures the losse of Gods eternall love and slights it and knowes he doth so when a man knowes that he is condemned already as being impenitent and that all his eternall estate lyes upon the non-payment of such duties of repentance c. and that the guilt of all his sinnes will come in upon him and that an execution is out and yet goes on this is more than to commit one act against knowledge whereby he thinks he brings upon himself but the guilt of that one sinne and upon the committing of which he thinks not the morgage of all lyes though it deserves it herein men shew themselves more desperate In the next place I come to those rules whereby you may measure and estimate sinning against knowledge in any particular act of sinning and they are either before the sinne or in sinning three of either which I make a second head to explaine this doctrine by First before The first rule is The more thou knewest and didst consider the issues and consequents of that sinne thou didst commit the more thou sinnest against conscience in it when as in Rom. 1. ult Thou knowing sayes the Apostle that those that commit such things are worthy of death that is thou considerest that Hell and Damnation is the issue and desert of it and yet committest it yea and this when haply hell fire at present flasheth in thy face and yet thou goest on to doe it in this case men are said to choose death and to love it Prov. 3. 36. When a man considers that the way to the whorehouse are the wayes to death as Solomon speaks So when thou a professor considerest with thy selfe before This sinne will prove scandalous and undoe me disable me for service cast mee out of the hearts of good men and yet dost it Thus that foolish King was told againe and againe Ier. 38. 17 18 19. that if he would yeeld to the King of Babel he should save his life and City and Kingdome and live there still but if hee would not he should not escape but as Ieremie told him verse 23. Thou shalt cause this City to be burnt with fire yet he would not hearken This is the word of the Lord sayes Ieremie and he knew it to be so and yet being a weake Prince led by his Nobles he would not follow his Counsell and thus Iudas fully knew the issue Christ had said againe and againe Woe be to him by whom the Sonne of man is betrayed and yet went on to doe it The second rule is the more consultations debates and motives against it did runne through thee before thou didst it so much the greater and more hainous How often did mercy come in and tell thee that if
Therefore Eph. 4. 18 19. the Apostle speaking of them sayes that through their ignorance and darknesse and want of feeling they committed sin with greedinesse and so with more pleasure they not having knowledge or hearts sensible of the evils that attend upon their courses Secondly thou wilt in sinning against knowledg be given up to greater hardnesse If the light that is in thee be darknesse sayes Christ how great is that darknesse therefore the more light a man hath and yet goes on in works of darknesse the more darknesse that man will be left unto even to a reprobate mind in the end Thirdly it will procure thee to be given up to the worst of sins more than another man for God when he leaves men makes one sin the punishment of another reserves the worst for sinners against knowledge These Gentiles when they knew God they worshipped him not God gave them up to the worst of sinnes whereof they were capable as unnaturall uncleannesse c. But these are not sinnes great enough for thee that art a sinner of the Christians to be given up to drunkennesse or adultery c. otherwise than to discover thy rottennesse these are too small sins but thou shalt be given up to inward profanenesse of heart as Esau was having been brought up in a good family so as not to neglect holy duties onely but to despise them to despise the good word of God and his Saints and to hate godlinesse and the appearance of it thou shalt be given up to contemne God and his judgements to trample under foot the blood of the covenant or else unto devilish opinions those other are too small to be punishments of thy sinne For stil the end of such an one must be seven times worse than the beginning as Christ sayes it shall if thou wert a drunkard a swearer or an uncleane person before and thy knowledge wrought some alteration in thee thou shalt not haply be so now at thy fal but seven times worse profane injurious to Saints a blasphemer or derider of Gods wayes and ordinances Fourthly when thou commost to lay hold on mercy at death thy knowledge will give thee up to more despaire than another man Knowledge though when it is but newly revealed it is an help yet not made use of turns against the soul to wound it and to work despaire and this both because we have sinned against the meanes that should have saved us as also because such as sinne against knowledge sin with more presumption and the more presumption in thy life the more despaire thou art apt to fall into at death Therefore Esay 59. 11 12. what brought such trouble and roarings like Beares upon these Jewes and that when salvation was looked for that yet it was so far off from them in their apprehensions our iniquities say they testifie to our face and we know them Now then sins testifie to our face when our conscience tooke notice of them even to our faces when we were committing them and then also the same sins themselves will againe testifie to our faces when we have recourse for the pardon of them Therefore thou wilt lye roaring on thy death bed and that thou knowest them will come as an argument that thou shalt not have mercie As ignorance is a plea for mercie I did it ignorantly therefore I obtained mercie so I did it knowingly will come in as a bar and a plea against thee therefore I shall not have mercie Fiftly both here and in Hell it is the greatest executioner and tormenter In this sense it may be said Qui auget scientiam auget dolorem He that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow as Solomon speaks for knowledge enlargeth our apprehension of our guilt and that brings more feare and torment Have they no knowledge who eate up my people Yes there is their feare sayes David Therefore Heb. 10. 28. after sinning after knowledge there remaines not onely a more fearfull punishment but a more fearfull expectation in the parties consciences And this is the worme in hell that gnawes for ever Light breeds these wormes But then you will say it is best for us to be ignorant and to keep our selves so I answer no For to refuse knowledge will damn as much as abusing it This you may see in Prov. 1. 23. Ye fooles sayes wisedome you that hate knowledge Turne and I will poure my spirit upon you and make known my words to you Well ver 24. they refused and would none of his reproof Therefore sayes God I will laugh at your calamitie that is I will have no pitty but instead of pitty God will laugh at you and when your feare comes I will not answer because ye hated knowledge ver 29. so as this is as bad There remaines therefore no middle way of refuge to extricate thy selfe at and avoid all this no remedy but turning unto God otherwise thou canst not but be more miserable than other men yea and this must be done speedily also For thou having knowledge God is quicker in denying thee grace and in giving thee up to a reprobate mind than another man who is ignorant He will wait upon another that knows not his will waies twenty thirty forty yeares as he did upon the children of the Israelites that were borne in the wildernesse and had not seene his wonders in Egypt and at the red sea but those that had he soone sware against many of them that they should never enter into his rest Christ comes as a swift witnesse against those to whom the Gospell is preached Mal. 3. 5. he makes quick dispatch of the treaty of grace with them Therefore few that have knowledge are converted when they are old or that lived long under the meanes And therefore you that have knowledge are engaged to repent and to turn to God and to bring your hearts to your knowledge and that speedily also or else your damnation will not only be more intolerable than others but the sentence of it passe out more quickly against you Therefore as Christ sayes Ioh. 12. 36. Whilst you have the light walk in it For that day of Grace which is very clear and bright is usually a short one And though men may live many naturall dayes after and enjoy the common light of the sunne yet the day of grace and of gracious excitements to repent may be but a short one FINIS AGGRAVATION OF SINNING AGAINST MERCIE By exaggerating the Riches of common Mercies men sinne against BY THO GOODWIN B. D. LONDON Printed by M. F. for R. Dawlman at the brazen Serpent in Pauls Church-yard MCD XXXVII THE TABLE THe first generall Head What goodnesse or bounty patience and long suffering are in God page 3. Bounty in God described ibid. 1. He must be a giver 4 2. What he gives must be his owne ibid. 3. He must give largely 5 4. He must give all he gives freely 6 5. He looks for no
these armies of blessings thou findest the world filled with to fight against their Maker under the devills banner whom thy wickednesse sets up as the god of this world And as the yeere is crowned with goodnesse so thy yeeres with wickednesse and no moment is barren but all thy imaginations are evill continually Yea thou hast sinned against heaven and earth and subjected the whole creation unto vanity laden the earth and filled it so with wickednesse that it groanes the axeltree of it is even ready to crack under thee and the ground thou treadest on to spue thee out Fiftly since thou camest into the world what a long time hath God suffered thee to live in it hee hath not spared thee three yeares onely as he did the figtree but thirty forty And when thou first madest bold to thrust forth thy trayterous head into the world Death which thy sin brought into the world with it might have arrested but for one treason and though all that time of his reprivall he carryes and behaves himselfe never so obediently But unto thee this time hath beene more than a longer day of life and putting off the execution which for the guilt of that first rebellion should have been acted on thee in the womb it hath beene time to repent in And yet hath not this time of thy reprivall made thee so much the more rebellious and hast not thou spent all this time in making up the measure of thine iniquity full and hath it beene will ingnesse onely in God that thou shouldest not perish yea more joyned with waiting also when it should once be thinking the time long as longing and desiring that thou wouldst repent that he might pardon thee Thus Ierem. 13. last God expresseth himselfe when shall it once be yea and consider how many dayes of payment have been set and how many promises made and broken all by thee and yet still hee walteth unto wonderment Thou receiuedst presse money at thy Baptisme when thou didst promise to forsake the devill and all his workes and to begin to serve him when thou shouldst begin to discerne betweene good and evill But no sooner did the light of knowledge dawne in thy heart but thou beganst to fight against him and thy first thoughts to this day have beene onely and continually evill And then haply in thy younger yeares before thou hadst tasted of the pleasures of sinne he gave thee an inkling by meanes of thy education of his goodnesse towards thee and of that happinesse to be liad in him and thou hadst the first offer of him ere thy tender yeares were poysoned by the world and he hath dealt with thee againe and againe both by his Word and Spirit not waited onely but wooed thee and hath beene a suiter to thy heart long and I appeale to your hearts how many promises you have made him of turning from all your rebellions to him after such a Sermon which was brought powerfully home in such a sicknesse and in such a strait thy conscience knowes full well And still God hath made tryall of thee and given thee longer day and though thou hast broke with him againe and againe yet he hath forborne thee againe and againe and hath waited this twenty thirty forty fifty sixty years when thou shouldest come in and be as good as thy word and still thou hast failed him And yet behold and wonder and stand confounded at the riches of his long suffering that after so many yeares expence and promises broken by thee expectations failed in him and many mockeries of him after all this he is yet willing to accept of the remainder if thou wouldst spend the rest of the time left thee in the flesh according to his will as the Apostle speaks 1 Pet. 4. 3. even to lose principall use and all for what is past and requires but the same composition was propounded the first day yea and not onely so but with promise to become a debtor unto thee to bestow further riches on thee than ever yet thou sawest or art able to conceive yea and all this when he could have his penyworths out of thee another way and lose not one farthing by thee but by punishing thee in hell recover all to the utmost Neither seventhly hath it beene barely and simply an act of patience and forbearance though joyned with this willingnesse thou shouldst not perish or meerely a permissive act of suffering thee to live But God shewes forth yet more riches of goodnesse joyned with this long suffering in him ye live and move and have your being and dost thou live in him onely nay thou livest on him also upon his cost and charges I have hung upon thee sayes David from my mothers wombe And consider what thy life is that of so small a bottome he should spin out so long a thred had hee not drawne it out of his owne power as the spider doth her web out of her owne bowels it had beene at an end the second minute to maintaine that radicall moisture that oyle that feeds the lampe and light of thy life that radicale balsamum this is as great a miracle as the maintaining the oyle in the cruze of the poore famished widow And further yet hath he maintained thee onely Nay more hath he not defended thee tooke thy part protected thee tooke thee under his wing as the hen doth her chickens to shelter thee from those many dangers thy life hath been exposed unto Otherwise how many wayes ere this hadst thou been snatcht away out of the land of the living Is thy case the case of the figtree onely which before we mentioned that when God cryed Cut it downe another cryed spare it but there have beene many have cryed Cut thee downe and God hath cryed spare Thee there is never a minute but the devills would have had a blow at thy life as he longed to have had at Iohs That thou a poore lump of flesh shouldst walke through and in the midst of such an host of fierce and cruell enemies whose hearts are swelled with malice at thee and God should say to them all concerning thee as he did to Laban concerning Iacob Touch not this man And yet if thou wert not liable to their malice and power yet consider how many dangers and casualties besides thou hast beene kept in and from as falls drowning killing many wayes how often have the arrows of death come whisking by thee took away those next thee haply of thy kindred brother sister yoke-fellow of the same house family with thy selfe and yet have missed thee And if we look no farther than these dayes of mortality we have lived in two great plagues in this Kingdome how have the most of us all here survived and now the third is increasing and growing upon us To have our lives in such deare yeares of time when to have our life for a prey is mercy enough as Ieremy told Baruch that these arrows should