all disturb them they go up and down and eat and drink and sleep as merrily as if they obeyed the whole Will of God Job tells you of those that bid God depart from them that desire not nor endeavour to know him that cast off Prayer to him and all his Service as fruitless and yet these men guilty of such great and gross Omissions could take the Timbrel and Harp and rejoyce at the sound of the Organ and spend their days in wealth and mirth Job 21.12 13 14 15. These Negative Sins are still and silent and make none or little noise in the ears of Conscience But positive sins are more clamorous We read of those that were guilty of Bribery and Oppression under their guise and mask of Religion and how they are stab'd and frighted A dreadful sound is in their Ears trouble and anguish make them afraid They believe not that they shall come out of darkness Job 15.21 22 24 compared with 34. 35. verses How many do we know in places where we live who if they should rob or wrong their Neighbours would hardly enjoy any peace or quietness in their Spirits who can live chearfully and contentedly day after day nay year after year while all this while they rob God of that Love and Fear and Trust which they ow him in their hearts and of that open Homage and Allegiance which they ow him in their Houses The reason hereof is because sins of Commission are most against natural light In sins of Omission there is no such actual disturbance by which the free contemplation of the mind is hindered as in sins of Commission Beside foul acts of Sin as Uncleanness and Murther c. bring more shame and cause more horrour than bare neglects of our Duty Conscience is not wont to take any great notice of external neglects or of spiritual defects 2. We are the more prone to overlook and take no notice of sins of Omission as Conscience is less troubled for them so our Christian Friends are not so apt to warn and admonish us of them as of sins of Commission If a Professor fall into some gross sin of Commission as if he be over-taken with intemperance or lying or going beyond his Neighbour All the Town or Neighbourhood rings of it his Christian Friends hear and take notice of it and out of love to his and faithfulness to their own Souls admonish him of it and endeavour with the Spirit of meekness to bring him to repentance for it But this Professor may neglect prayer in his Closet reading and meditating on the Word of God examining his own heart nay possibly prayer in his Family and the instruction of those committed to his Charge in the Principles of Religion and his Friends be wholly ignorant hereof and so be all their days wanting to acquaint him with his sin herein When David had been guilty of several sins of Commission in the matter of Vriah Nathan hears of it for it seems to be the Town-talk in that it 's said That he caused the Enemies of God to blaspheme vers 14. And I suppose Gods Narration of it to him was rather a Command or Commission for the manner of his reprehension of David than of certifying him of that he was ignorant before he goeth to him and tells him thereof and calls him to Repentance for them 2 Sam. 12. 1 to 10. But though David in all this time likely nine moneths for the Child was born vers 14. had been guilty of many Omissions in not confessing his sin with sorrow and shame in not begging pardon with Faith and Hope and in several other particulars yet Nathan takes no notice thereof in his Speech to him neither makes any mention of them 3. We are the more prone to overlook sins of Omission because they are so near akin to Intermissions which are lawful and necessary Affirmative Precepts as was said before do not bind ad semper I am bound to pray in my Closet and Family every day but I am not bound to pray in either all the day God commands me to mind the nourishing and refreshing my Body and to follow my particular Calling and as occasion is to visit the Fatherless and Afflicted now because these Intermissions or Omissions for a time are allowed and commanded men are apt to turn them or to fall from them into total Omissions and when they do so to be little troubled for them Because men may be excused from solemn religious Duties three parts or more of the week-day therefore they will neglect them altogether and are insensible of their neglect Commissions being never lawful for the Negative Commands bind ad semper therefore if men be guilty of them they take the more notice of them and lay them more to heart but positive Precepts being sometimes unseasonable and binding but at sometimes i. e. the Duties of them are to be performed but at some time when instead of our intermission there be an omission we are ready to wink at it and regard it at most but as an Infirmity which may require a pardon of course If I may omit Prayer and Scripture ten hours of the day saith the subtle wicked heart of man why not eleven hours and if eleven hours what great hurt if it be omitted twelve hours i. e. the whole day and the Duty be not performed at all CHAP. XXIV The Reasons why sins of Omission are damnable I Come now to the third thing to be spoken to in the explication of this Doctrine and that is to give the Reasons why Christ will condemn men at the Great Day to eternal Torments for Sins of Omission Thirdly The Reasons of the Doctrine Why sins of Omission are damnable Reason 1 1. The great and grand Reason is because they are Sins Every sin is damnable The wages of sin as sin is death Temporal Spiritual and Eternal Rom. 6. ult Therefore these Omissions being sins as well as Commissions must of necessity be damnable to our Souls As there is bitterness in every Sprig or Branch of Wormwood and saltness in every drop or spoonful of Sea-water so there is Death and Hell and Wrath and Damnation in every Sin The wicked Papists distinguish Sins into Venial and Mortal but they got that distinction from the Devil not from God they have their seven deadly sins But the Holy Ghost tells us All sins are deadly without any distinction Gal. 3.10 Though one Sin may be greater and more hainous than another yet every sin is mortal A Pistol is less than a Musket and a Musket than a Canon but they are all of them killing Ezek. 18. The Soul that sins shall die Under the word death is comprehended all the misery of this and the other World Sin being a contempt of the Authority a violation of the Law and a slighting the Love of an infinite God deserves all that privation of Good and infliction of Evil which this Sentence of Christ
more hainous but that they are less scandalous Sins of Commission as Drunkenness Uncleanness Theft Swearing Murther these make a great noise in the World are taken notice of by all and with the Snail leave a slime and filth behind them wheresoever they are But sins of Omission as not praying in our Closets not examining our own Hearts not relieving the Poor and Needy not bringing up our Children in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord c. These are more still and quiet observed by few or none 5. They differ in this that sins of Omission are the aversion of the heart from God and sins of Commission are the conversion of the heart to the Creature or somewhat below God Omission turns the heart from God Hence we read of mans going far from God Jer. 2.5 and of their departing away from the living God Heb. 3.12 Which is not meant in regard of local motion for so none can depart from God Psal 139.2 3 4 5. but in regard of their inward carnal Affections and disobedient Conversations Jer. 17.5 Whose heart departeth from the Lord. Commissions are a turning to the Creature Whose heart is after covetousness They imagine mischief in their hearts Psal 140.2 Eccles 9.3 The heart of the Sons of men is full of evil Having spoken to the nature of sins of Omission in general and more particularly by their several distinctions and their agreement with and difference from sins of Commission I come to the second thing promised in the explication of the Doctrine and that is the danger of them CHAP. XXII The danger of sins of Omission in the hainous nature of them and their offensiveness to God Secondly THe danger of sins of Omission though men are ready to conceive that sins of Omission because they make no great cry in the World are but infirmities are venial sins and are not much to be regarded as having little of danger to the Soul in them yet the contrary will appear plainly if we consider these particulars 1. The malignity and sinfulness of them speaks their danger The more venome and poyson there is in any Cup or Dish the more dangerous it must needs be the more sinfulness there is in any sin the more hazardous it is to the Soul Now I shall shew the sinfulness of omissions 1. They are most against the mind and will of God Those sins are the greatest which most cross the Will of the Law-giver For sin is a transgression of the Law or Mind of God And every one knoweth that the Mind of God is more in the Precept or Affirmative part of the Law than in the Prohibition or Negative part of it The Precept or performance of the Duty commanded is the main thing the Prohibition is as it were accidental in order to our Obedience to the Precept Mens legis est lex therefore sins of Omission being against the substance and principal part of the Command and so most directly against that which is the special Mind of the Law-giver must needs be the greatest Sins It is more good to do good than not to do evil Omissions are not to be esteemed bare Negations or Privations but as breaches of a positive Law wherein the mind of God is most discover'd Now how great a Sin and how dangerous is it to cross the Mind of God surely it 's bad thwarting him that can cast Body and Soul into Hell Vide ante The second difference between sins of omission commission I say unto you saith Christ fear him Matth. 10.28 2. Sins of Omission are the ground of and make way for Sins of Commission The want of love to God and our not believing his Word which are Sins of Omission are the ground of all abominations When a man once casteth off daily reading the Word and seeking God by Prayer or performs those Duties coldly and carelesly he throws himself out of God's Protection and so becomes a Lacquey to the Devil and a tame Slave to every Lust to trample on and tyranize over at pleasure Psal 14.3 4. They are all gone aside they are altogether filthy there is none that doth good no not one Negligentiam in orando semper aliqua notabilis transgressio sequitur saith One always some notable Sin followeth upon slothfulness in prayer David's not watching his Eyes and Heart and his not imploying his time better at that hour of the day brought forth Drunkenness Murder Adultery Lying c. Some Sins of Omission are like great men that never go without many Followers admit their Persons you must admit their long train which they bring with them So a Gad a whole troop of ugly lusts will throng in upon our neglect of one Duty Not doing good fits the heart for doing evil The ground not sown with good Corn doth naturally of its own accord bring forth evil weeds Indeed it 's impossible for him that doth no good not to do evil He that doth not gather with Christ scattereth and he that is not with me is against me Matth. 12.30 He that fights not for his Prince in a day of Battel is his Enemy and that Servant who helps not his Master in Harvest hinders him Not to save a life when we may is to destroy and murther it The Negative Christian will quickly fall to be a positive Atheist and Heathen If the Heart be empty of good and swept clean of Grace the unclean Spirit will quickly take up his logding in it Besides God doth often judicially give up them to commit Evil who refuse to do good Because they received not the truth in the love of it here is a Sin of Omission God gave them up to strong delusions that they might believe a lye c. 2 Thess 2.10 11. Now how great and dangerous is this Sin that ushers in so many Sins Alas one Sin is too weighty for thy Soul to bear how heavy then will that whole rabble and regiment of sins be that one sin of Omission may bring along with it If I live in Sins of Omission Sins of Commission will follow both naturally and judicially 3. Sins of Commission do exceedingly grieve the Spirit of God Indeed every Sin is offensive to the Holy Ghost or Spirit of Holiness as directly contrary to its nature but the Spirit of God sets a particular special brand and mark upon these Sins as grievous to him Follow that which is good rejoyce evermore pray without ceasing In every thing give thanks quench not the Spirit despise not Prophesying 1 Thess 5.15 16 17 18 19. Observe the Duties are all positive the neglect whereof is a Sin of Omission to which he exhorts them if they would not quench the Spirit The Spirit is not only grieved but also quenched by Sins of Omission Fire may be quenched by with-drawing fewel from it as well as by throwing water on it By scandalous Sins of Commission we throw water on this heavenly Flameâ— quench it but by
knowledge make way for the sin against the Holy Ghost Matth. 12.32 Heb. 6.4 5 6. Sins against the Gospel are greater than sins against the Law Those sins are against the natural Law the moral and the Law of Faith Rom. 3.27 and are committed in the face of the Sun as they are against the clearest Light so they are against the sweetest Love and therefore the more sinful A Taper in the hand of a Ghost makes it look the more gastly This is the condemnation Joh. 3.19 Sins repeated and reiterated are much greater than sins once committed Hereby the habit of Sin is strengthened frequent acts root the habits Hereby the long-suffering of God is abused for the more patient he is the more he is provoked Rom. 2.4 As in Numbers one in the first place stands but for a single one in the second place ten in the third place for an hundred the fourth place for a thousand so here each Repetition is a great aggravation Prov. 29.1 He that being often reproved hardneth his heart shall be see the grievousness of his punishment not afflicted but destroyed the quickness of it speedily and the irrecoverableness of it and that without remedy It 's one thing to fall into the water another thing to lie there 't is the latter that drowns men The Sins of the people of God are greater respectively than the Sins of others therefore they are said only to do evil as if all the World beside were innocent Jer. 32. The Children of Israel and the Children of Judah have only done evil before me Deut. 32.6 1. As these Sins are committed against the greatest Obligations on Gods part against the electing calling pardoning adopting saving-love each of these is an aggravation of Sin God accents Israels Sin from his special kindness Hos 11.1 Although I was an Husband to them 2. As they are committed against the most solemn ingagements on our part Every of Gods people doth expresly before God Angels and Men promise and covenant to be the Lords wholly universally and eternally the Lords The Israelites avouched God to be theirs And David swore that he would be Gods obedient Servant Psal 119. I have sworn and I will perform that I will keep thy righteous Judgments And it 's no mean Sin to be guilty of Perjury God aggravates the Sin of his people by this They all like men have transgressed the Covenant 3. As these Sins are committed against the greatest helps to Obedience An enlightned Mind a renewed Will sanctified Affections an awakned Conscience and a principle of Life or new Nature are all opposed and resisted by their Disobedience This cut the heart of David that God made him to know Wisdom secretly Psal 51.6 4. As the Sins of these men cause God to be more blasphemed and dishonoured than the Sins of others Levit. 22.31 Nathan tells David By this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme 2 Sam. 12.14 Indeed these by falling into sin after their Repentance seem to repent of their Repentance and to lick up their Vomit Sins of Omission may be greater in respect of the person committing them a Believer in regard of the means the Offender enjoyeth The Word of the Divine Grace in regard of the matter he omits the Duties of the Gospel and in many other respects than Sins of Commissions in others who have not such circumstances It is very evident and cannot be denied that Sins are unequal for though Original Sin as the Logicians say of Substantia be not capable of magis minus of intension or remission of aggravation or diminution yet actual sins are like qualities and quantities which receive more or less addition or substraction and have their Latitude and Degrees For this cause under the Law there were diversity of Sacrifices for diversity of Sin Levit. 4. 2. I answer that no sins are little simply Though there is a difference of sins consider'd comparatively and so sins may be said to be little if compared with those that are more hainous yet no sins absolutely consider'd are little The least Sin resembleth the Earth which though but a point to the Heavens yet is a vast immeasurable Body in it self 1. Because all sins are against a great and infinite Majesty Reader it 's the excellency of the Person whose Authority is contemned and Commands violated and whose Name is dishonoured by sin that gives sin its name speaks its hainous Nature and is the highest aggravation of it Numb 32.23 and this is done in all Sins Friend till thou canst hear of a little God contemned abused disgraced and resisted by Sin speak no more of little sins in excuse for thy allowance of them Zach. 1.5 2. Because the price paid to make satisfaction for all sins of what size or sort soever was a great price It is the blood the precious blood of the Son of God Liv. 5.17 18. and that only that can wash away the least Sin 1 Joh. 1.7 Aaron must offer Sacrifice for pollution in a mans dream that he never thought of possibly but in sleep And for the Sins which the Jews committed ignorantly not understanding them to be any offence to God and in answer to those Types our Redeemer is said to die for the ignorance the errors of the people Reader till that thou canst tell of a Sin so little that somewhat less than the death of him who was God will satisfie for it call no Sin little 3. Because no little punishment is the due and desert of every Sin The wages of Sin is Death and Hell and infinite Wrath of an Almighty God and therefore it s the wages of every Sin Rom. 6. ult A quatenus ad omne valet consequentia Because fire as fire burns therefore every fire burns because Sin as Sin damneth therefore every Sin damneth So that all Sins bring greater intollerable eternal Sufferings Endless banishment from the blissful presence of God and Christ everlasting burnings amongst Devils and damned Ones is the desert of every Sin Reader when thou canst tell of a little Fire and little Torments in Hell and little horrors and terrors of Soul there to be the fruit of Sin Call not any of thy sins little Another thing Reader I would advertise thee of No Sin is little to him who thinks it so Sins may be said to be mortal or venial 1. In respect of their own Nature and so no Sins are venial but the least is mortal 2. In respect of the Divine Favour 3. In regard of the Issue In the two last respects all the sins of such as believe and repent are venial not in the Popish sense so as to be in their own nature no transgressions but praeter-transgressions of the Divine Law and not properly sins but analogically but they are venial as God for Christ's sake doth forgive them Either those Sins which they term venial are forbidden by the Law of God or not if not they
hew to purpose Hos 6.5 God heweth them by his Prophets and slays them by the word of his mouth It cuts to the heart Act. 4.54 Act. 5.33 And hath dreadful effects on them Isa 6.9 10. And he said go and tell this people Hear ye indeed but understand not see ye indeed but perceive not Make the hearts of this people fat and make their Ears heavy and shut their Eyes lest they see with their Eyes and hear with their Ears and understand with their Hearts and convert and be healed And this hewing them down is also by death The Ax of death fells the Tree for the fire of Hell The rotten Tree or the barren Tree is not good for fruit therefore for the fire He is hewn down and cast into the fire Abscission is the way to perdition to eternal burning This is the Catastrophe of the barren Trees Tragedy 3. The certainty of it Both Christ and the Baptist speak of the punishment in the present Tense not the Future Is hewn down and cast into the fire not shall be hewn down c. The fruitless person shall as certainly be in Hell as if he were there already therefore promises and threatnings though future are delivered to us as present As to us a Son is born Isa 9.6 Isa 21.9 Babylon is fallen 4. The universality of the Persons Every Tree that bringeth not forth good fruit Every man what ever his Profession may be or his Hopes are or his Priviledges have been if he bring not forth good fruit he is hewn down and cast into the fire The Doctrine being thus proved by Scripture I shall proceed to the Explication of it in several particulars 1. I shall speak to the nature of them and shew what sins of Omission are 2. To the danger of them 3. To the Reasons why they are so damnable CHAP. XIX The nature of sins of Omission in general First COncerning the first i. e. the nature of them I shall speak to one more generally and two more particularly 1. By the several distinctions of these Sins 2. By their agreement with and difference from sins of Omission 1. More generally a sin of Omission is a neglect of some Duty commanded us in the Word of God In every Command there is a Precept and a Prohibition A Precept enjoyning and a Prohibition forbidding A Precept enjoyning some Duty and a Prohibition forbidding the contrary The neglect of doing what the Precept enjoyns is a sin of Omission and the doing what the Precept forbids is a sin of commission The truth is in every Commission there is an Omission as in every deadly Disease somewhat of a Feavor For in every Commission as in Drunkenness or Oppression or Uncleanness there is a neglect or omission of the Duty commanded as Temperance Charity and Chastity But those we most properly call sins of Omission which are extrinsicate from sins of Commission as not praying not reading the Word not believing not feeding the hungry c. But to speak strictly there is no sin but sins of Omission for all sin consists in privation of due rectitude or deficiency and coming short of the rule Though the Commands are generally deliver'd by way of negation partly because of the proneness of men to commit those sins that are forbidden and God would by his Negative command curb and keep them in Thou shalt not c. thou shalt not c. partly because Negative Commands bind more strongly than the Affirmative The Affirmative obligant semper but not ad semper but the Negative bind semper ad semper as the School-men speak The Affirmative bind us always i. e. there is no time wherein it can be said that they are of no force but not to all times I am always bound to pray but I am not bound to pray at all times I am bound always to speak truth but I am not bound to speak all truth at all times But Negative Commands bind always and at all times as Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not commit Adultery These bind every moment of a mans life I mean every moment of his life these sins are to be forborn they are at no time lawful Though I say the Commands are deliver'd Negative for the most part viz. eight of them yet we must understand that all the Negative Commands of God include their Affirmative as Thou shalt have no other gods before me this includes thou shalt have me for thy God thou shalt know me love me fear me trust me and worship me as thy God And when God saith Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image c. this includes thou shalt Worship me according to my Will revealed in my Word When God saith Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain this includes thou shalt use reverently all my Names Titles Attributes Ordinances Word and Works VVhen God saith Thou shalt not kill this includes thou shalt use all lawful means for the preservation of thine own and thy Neighbours life When God saith Thou shalt not commit Adultery this includes thou shalt by all just ways maintain thine own and thy Neighbours Chastity in thought word and deed When God saith Thou shalt not steal this includes thou shalt be true faithful and just in all thy Contracts and Dealings with others restore what is ill gotten be diligent in thy Calling and endeavour the furtherance of thy own and thy Neighbours estate by all just ways When God saith Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour this includes thou shalt to thy power promote truth in thy self and others maintain thine own and thy Neighbours good Name When God saith Thou shalt not covet c. this includes thou shall be fully satisfied with thine own Condition and desire and delight in thy Neighbours prosperity Thus the Negative Commands of God include their Affirmative so that to depart from the evil forbidden is not to keep these Laws unless also we practise the Duties commanded The neglect of any of them is a sin of Omission CHAP. XX. Three distinctions about sins of Omission 2. I Shall speak more particularly and explain these sins 1. By these distinctions 2. By their agreement with and difference from sins of Commission First These sins of Omission are to be distinguished in regard of substance manner or measure 1. When a duty is omitted in regard of the matter of it as when men pray not give not to the Poor hear not the VVord c. these omit the substance of the Duty Of such as those God complains There is none that looketh after God Rom. 3.11 And again They will will not hear the Law of the Lord Isa 30.9 And he that turneth away his Ears from the cry of the poor he also shall cry himself but shall not be heard Prov. 21.13 These are most deeply guilty before God They shew their utter contempt of him and openly manifest it to others when they omit
and see what the end will be He is fond of lyes and vanities and delights in prostituting himself to their embraces Let him alone Let none disturb him or recall him let no Mercy no Misery no Means no Ministry ever hinder him in the prosecution of his Lusts or stop him in his course much less be effectual for his Repentance and Amendment In temporal Judgments God acts the part of a Father to whip his Child that he may reclaim him for his Errors and be fit to inherit his Estate But in spiritual God acts the part of a Judge to deliver the Malefactor over to Execution In the former he prunes the Tree that it may bring forth fruit and so continue in his Garden to his joy and delight but in the latter he leaves the Tree as unsound and barren to be cut down for the fire Now sins of Omission cause God to deliver men up to these Judgments God calls upon Israel to hear and obey him they will not But my People would not hearken to my Voice Israel would none of me What was the result of their refusal So I gave them up to their own hearts lusts and they walked in their own counsels Psal 81.11 12. God doth not testifie his anger for their contempt of him by sending Plague or Flames or wild Beasts among them He doth not say Well since they thus slight my Authority I will be avenged on them to purpose I will give them up to the Sword or Famine or racking Diseases or greedy devouring Lions which would have been sad and grievous but he executes on them a far more sad and grievous Judgment when he saith So I gave them up to their own hearts lusts and they walked in their own counsels God's leaving one Soul to one lust is far worse than leaving him to all the Lions in the World Alas it will tear the Soul worse than a Lion can do the Body and rent it in pieces when there is none to deliver it God's giving them up to their own wills that they walked in their own counsels is in effect a giving them up to eternal wrath and woe 3. The destructiveness of Sins of Omission to the Souls of men appears in that they render the Condition of men desperate and without remedy Sins of Commission wound the Soul dangerously but sins of Omission make the state of the Patient hopeless and desperate Sins of Commission are directly against the Law and so bind the Sinner over to its Curse but Sins of Omission are directly against the Gospel and thereby hinder the Patients Cure Gal. 3.20 Joh. 3. ult He that hath broken the Precepts of the Law is liable to its punishment but yet this Sinner may flie to the Gospel as his City of Refuge and lay hold on Christ there tendered for Pardon and Life But by some sins of Omission he rendereth the Gospel ineffectual for his good and himself uncapable of the good things promised in it Faith and Repentance are the two Conditions upon which all the exceeding rich and precious Promises depend so that by not believing and not repenting which are Sins of Omission men deny themselves all the benefit and advantage of the Gospel He that believeth shall be saved he that believeth not shall be damned Mark 16.16 He upbraided the Cities wherein most of his mighty works were done because they repented not Woe to thee Corazin woe to thee Bethsaida c. Matth. 11.21 22 23. Sins of Commission make the wound and Sins of Omission keep off that Plaister which alone can heal it Sins of Commission plunge us into a bottomless gulph of Misery and Sins of Omission stop the current of that Mercy that alone can relieve and succour us These Sinners are like men in swoons gasping for breath and ready to expire yet shut their mouths and fasten their teeth together to keep out those Cordials that alone can recall them to life 4. The danger of Sins of Omission will appear by our proneness to slight and neglect them If Sins of Omission are of so deadly a nature as most to contradict the Will of God and so highly provoking to him and so mortally destructive to us then the more we slight this great Enemy the more dangerous it is to us A weak enemy and an enemy that can do us little harm may be slighted without great danger But when an enemy is so powerful so deadly so damnable our contempt of him is a great advantage to him and a great disadvantage to us for by this means he falls upon us disarmed and unprepared for him Pompey slighted Caesar when News first came to Rome of his marching into Italy with his Army and said That if did but stamp with his foot he should therewith fetch Souldiers enough out of all parts to subdue Caesar And so made small preparation to resist him which was his own and the Common-wealths destruction Truly thus men are apt to slight sins of Omission and thereby to undo themselves As it 's said of Joab He spake kindly to Amasa and made as if he would kiss him But Amasa took no heed to the Sword that was in Joabs hand so he smote him therewith in the fifth rib and shed out his bowels to the ground that he died 2 Sam. 20.9 10. Thus sin of Omission is familiar with us and pretends rather love and kindness than any hurt to us for in all sin there is a deceitfulness and we taking no heed to the Sword in its hand Heb. 3.13 to its malignant killing-nature but slighting it as if it were venial are destroy'd by it And there are three Reasons why we are so apt to over-look sins of Omission 1. Because Conscience doth not so soon cheek us for them as for sins of Commission If a man commit Murther or Adultery or Theft his Conscience is ready to flie in his face and thunder in his ears as it did with Cain after the slaughter of his Brother that he cried out My punishment is greater than I can bear and he went up and down trembling as some think all his days Gen. 4.13 14. But men may neglect Praying or Reading or Charity especially in regard of the manner of doing them and Conscience will take little notice of it Such Omissions may pass with little or no regard Cain in the Offering he brought to God neglected probably to bring the best of the fruit of the ground however to offer it with an upright believing heart but we read not that he took notice of these Omissions though he did of God's manifest disrespecting his Offering Gen. 4.3 4 5. It 's ordinary with some moral men if they fall into ill Company sometime by accident and are made drunk to be ashamed of it and much troubled for it but these men can live in their Families without Prayer and Scripture and neglect to teach their Children and Servants the ways of God and yet these Omissions do not at
for the perpetration of gross Enormities 1. If we consider the Religion of the Heathen we shall find that it is vastly inferior in purity to the Christian Religion Among the Gentiles who lived without the Gospel it can scarce be said there was any Religion at all for their Gods were Stocks and Stones and Trees and Fire and Water and Beasts and dead Men nay their Precepts were so far from purity that they commended and commanded impurity As among the ancient Babylonians in the Worship of Venus the Women prostituted themselves to all Strangers nay the very Gods of the Heathen did according to their own fictitious Writers patronize all their Impieties even by their own Patterns Jupiter the chief forsooth of their Gods who hath his Name from being an helping Father commits Incest with his own Sister Juno and his Daughter Minerva Sodomy with Ganymedes ravisheth Europa banisheth his Father Saturn out of his Kingdom Venus was a Whore Mercury a Thief Bacchus a Drunkard c. But to leave these and speak to them that were more sober in their Understandings and not so vain in their Imaginations who had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the work of the Law written in their hearts Rom. 2.14 and improved it to more purpose than others yet these pleased themselves with a little outward civility without any inward or outward practical godliness Their chief devotion consisted in abstaining from gross sins which might expose them to the shame of men and the doing some external acts of Piety as sacrificing and mumbling over a few Prayers that were little significant O how vastly doth the Christian Religion excel this This Religion of the Heathen doth rather hide sin then heal it It doth not root the love of sin out of the heart only restrain it in the life But the Christian Religion doth forbid sin in the Affections as well as in the Conversation it doth abscindere as well as abscondere cure sin as well as cover it In the best Heathen the fire of their Lusts was only raked up and cover'd with ashes from the eyes of the World But now in the Christian it is quenched at least in part and shall by degrees be wholly quenched The Christian Religion doth not only forbid all Sins or outward Commissions but also all Lusts and inward Inclinations I beseech you brethren to abstain as Pilgrims and Strangers from all fleshly Lusts that war against the Soul 1 Pet. 2.11 And a religions Christian doth not only forbear gross Commissions but also abhor secret sinful motions I hate vain thoughts but thy Law do I love Psal 119. Those among the Heathen who were the wisest made nothing of neglecting to give God their love and fear and trust their highest Honour and superlative Esteem and exactest Obedience which are the chief of Religion They allowed Revenge in case of suffering Injury and some of their greatest Law-givers ordained Theft to be unpunishable if it could be done cleanly and cleaverly so as not to be found out They put away their Wives upon any small distast and took others during their pleasure only Their whole Religion hath not one Prohibition against inward Corruptions nor one Precept for inward heart Duties and therefore must of necessity come short of the Christian Religion for Purity 2. If we consider the Turkish Religion what a bundle of fooleries is Mahomets Alcoran and what a dunghil of filthiness is the Religion of his Followers They allow a man as many Wives as he can maintain and encourage men to murder with a promise of a Poetical carnal Paradise to all that shall die in the Wars against the Christians They obey the Lusts of their Tyrant in all things even to the murder of their Soveraigns nearest Relations or chiefest Ministers of State against the very light and law of Nature They do not so much as profess to mind those heart Prohibitions and Precepts without which all external Holiness is but as a rotten Carkass noisome and unsavoury to Gods Nostrils and without any loveliness or life in his Eyes Nay the Popish Religion so far as it differs from the true Christian Religion is impure They have sins that are Venial allow publickly of Uncleanness The Pope hath a Revenue out of the Stews they dispense with Sodomy incest any Sin for money They place all their Holiness in some external Mortifications which God never required at their hands But what doth the Christian Religion do It reacheth the Heart and teacheth the Soul The Law of the Lord is perfect Psal 19. 1. It directs the whole Man and gives Laws to all the powers of the Soul and parts of the Body It directs us about our Bodies and outward Conversation It commands to present our Bodies a living Sacrifice to God Rom. 12.1 and the members of our Bodies as Instruments of Righteousness unto Holiness It binds the Eyes Ears Tongue Hands Feet all the members to their good behaviour It allows not any part to be abused to prophaneness Job 31.1 Psal 119. Psal 37.30 31. Psal 34.13 14. Rom. 6.13 14 15 16 17. It directs us about our Souls The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the Soul Psal 19.7 It changeth the nature of the Soul and opens the eye of it and turns it from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan to God Act. 26.18 It directeth the mind to learn the Knowledge of God as the richest Treasure and choicest Portion and only Happiness of the Creature 1 Chron. 28.9 And thou Solomon my Son know the God of thy Fathers It directs the Will to choose this God for its suitable and satisfying and everlasting felicity Psal 73.25 It limits the Affections as to their Objects and their motion towards those Objects It forbids inordinate desires after or delight in sublumary Vanities and commands moderation in our love to all created Comforts Let your moderation be known to all men The time is short let them that have Wives be as though they had none c. 1 Cor. 7.29 It enjoyns our love in the greatest degree to be placed on the worthiest Object Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and all thy Soul and all thy Strength Matth. 22.37 And so our fear Fear him that can cast Body and Soul into Hell I say unto you fear him It keeps all the unruly passions within their proper banks and bounds and preserves the superior and inferior faculties in their proper places Now what Religion either of Moralists or Mahometans doth do 2. As it directs about the whole man so it directs as to every part and passage of this mans Conversation We need never be at a loss for a Rule or at a stand what to do if we will but use diligence to know and understand the revealed Will of God The Christian Religion directs us in our Callings whether Magistrates Ministers Tradesmen Souldiers Luk. 3. It directs us in our Relations as Husbands Wives Parents Children Masters
are no Sins or the Law of God is imperfect if they be forbidden they are mortal For cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the Book of the Law to do it Gal. 3.10 3. I answer suppose Sins of Omission were little yet it is folly and madness upon this to allow of them A mote in the eye is a little thing it hindereth our sight of the Sun and is big enough to put us to great pain and to disturb our whole Body The Flies and Lice of Egypt were little Creatures but great Plagues The sting of a Bee is a little thing but it puts us to grievous torment He who refused to give a few crumbs was denied one drop Luke 16.21 A flie spoils an Alablaster Box of Oyntment a little poyson spoils much wholsome Liqour 1. If they were little yet they are Sins and that enough to set a good man against them It 's as much Treason to Coin a peny as a twenty shillings piece because the Royal Authority is as much violated in the one as in the other There is the same rotundity in a little Ball or Bullet as in a great one The Authority of God is as truly despised in the breach of the least Commandments as some are called as in the breach of the greatest as others are called Matth. 22.36 37. A sprig of Wormwood hath the same bitterness with the Plant. A drop of Sea-water hath the same saltness with the Ocean The smallest Sin is a breach of the Royal Law as well as the greatest 1 Joh. 3.4 Though the Object may be different yet the Command is still the same And the wise man tells us That the Law must be kept as the apple of the Eye which is offended by the smallest dust Prov. 7.2 The brats of Babylon must be dashed against the Wall as the strongest men must be destoyed It 's worth the while to observe in Scripture how lesser Sins being of the same nature have given to them the names of the greater Malice is called Murder lustful looks Adultery sitting at Idolatrous Feasts though which no thought of worshipping the Idol Idolatry Job 31.27 28. This is argument enough against the smallest Sin that it is a Sin As the Will of God is the highest motive to Obedience so also against Disobedience All Sin as Sin affronts the Divine Dominion as if he had not Authority to command us and to the Divine Wisdom as if God did not know what were fit for us to do and to forbear and to the Divine Grace as if he had no respect to our good in his Precepts and is not this sufficient reason for our hatred of it and watchfulness against it Reader I Know thou wouldst not venture upon a spoonful of Poyson but wouldst consider it s of the same nature with a pint or a quart and why wilt thou venture on any Sin be it never so little in thine eye when it is of the same nature a transgression of the same Law a contempt of the same Lord with the greatest It is Murder to stifle an Infant in the Womb as well as to kill a grown person Reader whatsoever hath the nature of Sin must be the Object of thy hatred let it be comparatively little or great 2. These little sins if they be so will make way for greater Little wedges open the way in the most knotty wood for bigger As Thieves when they go to rob an House if they cannot force open the doors or break through the Walls let in a little Boy at the window who unbolts and unlocks the door and so lets in the whole Rabble Thus the Devil when men startle at greater sins and by them he hath no hopes to get possession of their Souls he puts them upon those sins which they think little and by these insensibly enters for they once admitted open the doors of the Eyes of the Ears and of the Heart too whereby the whole Legion enter and rule and domineer in their Souls to their ruine Men do not indeed they cannot imagine the woful consequences of neglecting their watch against the least Sin How many who have been so modest and maidenly at first that they would not so much as give a lascivious person the hearing when he hath spoken wantonly yet by giving way to their own foolish thoughts have at last prostituted themselves to their pleasure without any shame Sinners increase to more ungodliness when they once venture down hill they know not where nor when to stop Work-men bore holes with little Wimbles which make way for the driving of great Nails When Pompey saith Plutarch could not prevail with a City to billet his Army he yet perswaded them to take in a few weak maimed Souldiers but those soon recovered strength and let in the whole Army to command and govern the City Thus Satan by sins of Infirmity prevails at length for sins of Presumption Great storms arise out of little gusts and Clouds no bigger than the palm of a mans hand comes in time to cover the whole Heavens The greatest River is fed with drops and the biggest Mountain made up of atomes As Sylla said when in his Proscription time that he slew so many one pleaded for the life of Caesar In uno Caesare multi Marii In one little Youth many old subtle men so in one little Sin there may be many great ones When one evil Spirit hath got lodging in the Heart he prepares it and makes room for seven more wicked and worse than himself Keepers first ply their Deer with little Beagles till it be heated and blown and then they put on their great Buck-Hounds So the Devil first plies us with little sins afterwards when we are used to them with greater One circle made with a stone in the water makes way for a second greater than it the second for a third greater than that c. Rivers far from their Springs grow as they go along greater and greater and enlarge their Chanels till at last they empty themselves into the Ocean Thus Sin incroacheth by degrees upon the Soul if it can get but one of its claws into us it will quickly follow with its head and whole body A little Leaven leaveneth the whole lump Unfaithfulness to God is first discovered in the smallest matters then it proceeds to greater things As the decay of a Tree is first visible in its twigs but by degrees it goeth on the bigger Arms and from them to the main body As it is the nature of a Cancer or Gangreen to run from one Joynt or part of the Body to another from the Toe to the Foot from the Foot to the Leg from the Leg to the Thigh and thence to the vital parts Do we not sometimes see a whole Arm imposthumated with the prick of a little Finger and have we not sometimes heard of a great City betray'd by the opening of a little Postern These little sins will
grow to great ones if let alone Time will turn small dust into stone The poysonous Cockatrice at first was but an Egg. General Norris received a slight wound in the Irish wars which he neglected whereupon his Arm gangren'd and both Arm and Life were lost together Small Twigs will prove thorny Bushes if not timely stubbed up 3. The least sin is damnable The smallest bit of sin is a murthering morsel Deut. 27.26 Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this Law to do them To eat a little Leaven seems a small thing yet it 's a cutting off from Israel Exod. 12.19 Gathering a few sticks on a Sabbath looking into the Ark nay touching the Ark are all punished with death It 's observable how God urgeth the Command to abstain from blood which seems a small matter with this argument as they desire God to do any good for them or theirs Deut. 12.22 23 24. and upon pain of death Friend a little thing a prick of a thorn festring the kernel of a Raisin a small bone in thy Throat may deprive thee of thy natural life and these little sins as thou callest them may hinder thee of eternal life A small leak in a Ship unstopt may sink it A dram of poyson diffuseth it self to all parts till it seize and strangle the vital Spirits A Pen-knife will stab mortally and kill a man as surely as a Sword A Pistol will kill as dead as a Cannon Caesar was slain as some report with Bodkins There are other Diseases mortal beside the Plague Some have been eaten up by Bears and Lions others by Mice and Lice It 's spiritual Murder to stifle and suppress the Conceptions of the Spirit in thy Soul as well as to do open despight to the Holy Ghost The Rabbies reckon'd up 613 Commandments of the Law and distinguished them into greater and lesser the lesser they judged might be neglected with little or no guilt but what Scripture makes deadly men must not make indifferent Gods thoughts are not as their thoughts in this particular Ezek. 18.3 The Soul that sins shall die without a distinction Thou mayst say of Sin as Lot of Zoar It is but a little one and my Soul shall live when thou hast much more cause to say as Jonathan Behold I have tasted but a little honey and I must die 1 Sam. 14.43 I have been guilty of a little Sin and without Repentance I must die eternally for it A little spark may kindle such a fire as may burn down a whole City 4. How little soever they should be in their own nature they become great by thy allowance The nature of Sin stands not so much in the material part of it which is often little but principally in the form or anomy which is the breach of Gods Law and also in the manner or carriage of the heart in its Commission A Sin may be great in abstracto as the fact is measured by the Law and as the matter of it may be and yet small in concreto and by circumstances as not allowed of or domineering in the Soul On the other side a Sin may be small as measured by the Law or according to the nature of the fact and yet great by circumstances as liked and approved by us In a Corporation a man of a great Estate and Quality may be an inferior and underling in point of Authority and Sway and one that is of small Estate or Degree may be chief Governour Sick Bodies love to be gratified with some little bit which they love though it never so much favour their Disease As some Favours we receive from God are little in their kind but great in their circumstances and so very ingaging to the Creature as to have a little Food sent in when a man is starving c. So there are some Sins which may be small in their nature but by the time when or wilfulness of the Sinner may be very great For a man to commit a Sin materially greater is not so great a Sin as to commit a lesser with deliberation To commit actual Adultery out of ignorance or for want of advice is not so great a Sin as for a man to be guilty of adulterous thoughts with allowance and advisedly Reader take heed of this for thou wilt find at last that it will be an hard thing to give them comfort who sin with counsel though in small matters A sin little in its nature the more it 's allowed and the more wilfully committed the greater it is nay it may be much greater than Sins materially greater if these be not committed plena voluntate with a full consent of will As a little stone thrown with a strong Arm will do more harm than a much greater stone thrown with a weak Arm. So a little Sin committed with security deliberation and allowance will more wast the Conscience and wound the Soul than far greater out of infirmity and inadvertency Petty Princes usually prove the cruellest Tyrants and do the most mischief to their Subjects Friend dost thou not consider where ever Sin reigneth it is horrid hainous most defiling and damning and thy little Sins may reign as well as great ones There have been Kings of Countries as here in England in the time of the Heptarchy nay of Cities among the Grecians as well as Emperors of vast and large Dominions There are Mayors and Constables commanding in chief in their places as well as Justices and Judges A little hair hanging in the pen may make a great blot and thy little Sins allowed will very greatly defile and wound thy Soul In this sense what the Philosopher saith is true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the smallest errors prove most dangerous Arist Polit. lib. 5. cap. 8. 5. The baser and unworthier art thou to fall out with thy best Friend for a little small matter Ah how great is thy ingratitude to disobey and provoke and displease and dishonour the blessed God to whom thou art so infinitely obliged for a poor small business And what folly and madness is it to forfeit the Divine Favour and incur his Anger and to expose thy self to infinite torments for a trifle a bable a light little inconsiderable thing God aggravates the Sin of the Jews and threatneth them severely for it Amos 2.6 That they sold the poor for a pair of shooes that they sold what was of so great value his people for a pair of shooes so poor and mean a price Friend how will he deal with thee if thou sellest thy own Soul and eternal salvation the blood of thy Saviour the love of thy Father and all the joys and delights of the other World for a pair of shooes for that which thou thy self acknowledgest is but a small and little matter Truly the less the thing the greater thy contempt in denying to do it Ah who will stand with his God for a tittle for a small
foolish things of the World c. 1 Cor. 1.26 27 Not many wise or mighty or noble are chosen or called of God But God hath chosen the poor of the World rich in Faith and Heirs of a Kingdom James 2.5 The poor are evangelized transformed into the heavenly spiritual Nature of the Gospel The Poor receive the Gospel the Rich receive the World and the things of the World The Poor having little Estate in the World look after an Estate in the Covenant but the Rich having this Worlds Goods are satisfied and desire no more Now Reader wilt thou follow them that are wholly taken up with fleshly fading Pleasures and Riches and cast off all care of their eternal condition Are they fit to be thy Guides who bid defiance to God and fight against him with his own Mercies and throw off all regard and care what shall become of them for ever and ever Again for the giddy-headed multitude how unfit are they to be thy examples Most are usually the worst Of all Creatures the basest and vilest are ever most numerous as Flies and Vermine How few Jewels to Pebbles or common stones The weaker part are more than the wiser The whole World lieth in wickedness as a brute in his filth 1 Joh. 5.19 and are such fit to be followed The whole Earth wandreth after the Beast Rev. 17. and is deceived by the Devil Rev. 12.9 And are such poor tame Slaves to a cruel Devil who hates them and thee perfectly good examples for thee to imitate Dost thou not consider what truth speaketh Broad is the way and wide is the gate that leadeth to destruction and many there be who go therein Matth. 7.14 Stop a little and ponder it Wilt thou go after them who go in the broad way to destruction THE CONTENTS Of the several CHAPTERS CONTAINED In this BOOK CHap. 1. The Preface and Introduction to the Text pag. 1. Chap. 2. The division and brief explication of the pronunciation of the Sentence pag. 15. Chap. 3. Concerning the privative part of the Sinners punishment pag. 24. Chap. 4. The properties of Sinners loss pag. 30. Chap. 5. The reasons of the Sinners privative punishment pag. 35. Chap. 6. Vses concerning the hainous nature of sin and grievous misery of Sinners pag. 40. Chap. 7. Containing the folly of Sinners and the vast difference between them and the godly at the Great Day pag. 52. Chap. 8. An use of Trial with the mark of those that shall be banished Christs presence pag. 60. Chap. 9. An Exhortation to flie from this wrath to come with some helps thereunto pag. 63. Chap. 10. The positive part of the Sinners misery exprest by fire and why pag. 68. Chap. 11. The difference between our fires and Hell fire pag. 74. Chap. 12. The fulness of wicked mens misery in that it 's positive and privative with some cautions against it pag. 80. Chap. 13. The eternity of the Sinners misery in the other world with the grand reason of it pag. 85. Chap. 14. How little cause to envy Sinners and how careful we should be to avoid their eternal misery pag. 90. Chap. 15. The reason of Christs severe Sentence and a question resolved whether the Righteous by their Acts of Charity do not deserve Heaven as well as the Wicked by the Omission thereof deserve Hell pag. 69. Chap. 16. Why Christ will try men at the Great Day by Acts of Charity pag. 105. Chap. 17. Three particulars about the Text pag. 115. Chap. 18. That sins of Omission are dangerous and damnable pag. 118. Chap. 19. The nature of sins of Omission in general pag. 123. Chap. 20. Three distinctions about sins of Omissions pag. 127. Chap. 21. The agreement and difference between sins of Omission and sins of Commission pag. 136. Chap. 22. The danger of sins of Omission in the hainous nature of them and their offensiveness to God pag. 143. Chap. 23. The danger of sins of Omission in their destructiveness to man and our proneness to over-look them pag. 158. Chap. 24. The reason why sins of Omission are damnable pag. 173. Chap. 25. Farther reasons why Christ at the Great Day will condemn men for sins of Omission pag. 181. Chap. 26. Vse of Information How dreadful will be the condition of those that live in sins of Omission pag. 194. Chap. 27. Negative godliness is not enough Christs impartiality in Judgment pag. 205. Chap. 28. Practical godliness necessary pag. 218. Chap. 29. The condition of men only civil is ununsafe and sad pag. 224. Chap. 30. Sinners conviction at the Day of Judgment The purity of Christs Religion above all others pag. 234. Chap. 31. The holiest have cause of humiliation pag 248. Chap. 32. Vse of Trial whether we be guilty of these Omissions or no pag. 256. Chap. 33. A caution against sins of Omission in regard of the matter of Duties pag. 272. Chap. 34. Arguments against Omissions the positiveness of our Rule and of Gods Mercies pag. 288. Chap. 35. Arguments against Omissions Christ purchased positive as well as negative holiness and our priviledges oblige to both pag. 296. Chap. 36. Arguments against Omissions we profess our selves Gods Servants and all our Reâ—â—gion will come to nothing without positive holiness pag. 305. Chap. 37. Arguments against Omissions God deserves our positive Obedience before all others and true Sanctification cannot be without it pag. 315. Chap. 38. If God should omit his care of us a moment we are undone and if Christ had omitted the least in our work of Redemption we had been lost irrecoverably pag. 327. Chap. 39. The new nature in Believers inclines the heart to positive as well as negative holiness and the profit will answer the pains pag. 336. Chap. 40. God delights chiefly in our doing good and our opportunities for doing good will quickly be gone pag. 353. Chap. 41. The grand cause of sins of Omission an unregenerate heart with the cure of it a renewed nature pag. 364. Chap. 42. Another cause of sins of Omission Ignorance with the cure of it labouring after knowledge pag. 384. Chap. 43. Another cause of sins of Omission Idleness with the cure of it pag. 396. Chap. 44. Another cause of Omission is vain excuses men have that Omissions are little sins with the cure of it pag. 409. Chap. 45. Another excuse for sins of Omission which is the cause of them that they would be unseasonable and so are deferred to that time which never comes with the answer to it pag. 447. Chap. 46. A third excuse of sins of Omission It is but one sin with the answer to it pag. 456. Chap. 47. A fifth cause of sins of Omission The example of others with the cure of it pag. 465. FINIS