Omission for not visiting the Sick and Imprisoned and not relieving the Hungry and Naked Then it may inform us That nothing short of practical godliness will speak a mans estate safe at this Day or fore-speak his estate to be comfortable at that day The want of this is the cause of these mens condemnation They might forbear injuring the Saints they might speak them fair bid them Be ye fed Be ye cloathed They might wish them well they might honour and respect them as Herod did the Baptist for their sanctity and righteousness yet because they were void of this practical godliness they gave them not wherewith to be fed and cloathed they are banished the presence of Christ and adjudged to the Curses and Company of Devils 1. A great Profession will not do without this practical godliness Some soar high in their Professions of and pretences to greater strictness and degrees of Grace and Holiness than others who alas fall foully often on Earth and always into Hell for lack of this practical godliness As some great Tradesmen who living wholly upon their Credit with others without any stock of their own quickly break and miscarry A Profession is but as the leaves of a Tree a sign of fruit not the fruit it self There is a vast difference between leaves and fruit Some think that Christ had not cursed the Fig-Tree if it had been without leaves as well as without fruit But when by its leaves it professed to have fruit Vide Robinson 1. part 132 and invited him to it in expectation thereof and disappointed him he presently claps a Curse on it that withers it at the very roots The Pharisees were great Professors made broad their Philacteries where-ever they went would be known for persons extraordinarily pious and religious yet how wicked was their state Matth. 5.20 Except your Righteousness exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall never enter into the Kingdom of God and how woful is their Condition Woe to you Scribes Pharisees Hypocrites ye live in Omissions ye neglect the great things of the Law Judgment Mercy and Faith Matth. 23.23 2. Great Gifts and Parts will not do without this A man may have choice natural Abilities rare acquired Accomplishments yea common Gifts of the Spirit of God and yet for want of this practical godliness be damned What amiable words come out of Balaams mouth he speaks like a Saint yea like an Angel how often have I heard his Prophesies with great admiration and affection his Tongue hath melted my heart and yet he had no good works for all his many good words and his lack of practical godliness ruin'd him What special endowments had they who preached in the Name of Christ and in his Name cast out Devils and in his Name did many marvailous works and yet were cast to Devils for being Workers of Iniquity as all are who are void of this practical godliness Matth. 7.21 23. What excellent Gifts doth the Apostle suppose a man to have the gift of Prophesing of understanding all Mysteries and all Knowledge and of all Faith so as to remove Mountains and yet if he have not Charity he is nothing c. 1 Cor. 13.2 3. If he love not his Brother and express it not to his power by spiritual and bodily Charity which is part of practical godliness he is nothing in Gods Eye what ever he may be in the eyes of men 3. Great Priviledges with seeming performances without this practical godliness will not do They who had Tabernacle Temple Ark Covenant Promises for want of this were destoy'd The Ark could not preserve them Afterwards when they nelected practical godliness the Temple could not protect them He bids the Jews go and see what he did to his place at Shiloh for their Iniquities He made them monuments of his Fury who had been patterns of his Pity when they neglected this practical godliness How meanly doth God discourse of seeming Obedience to his own Institutions when this is neglected Though they had his own Divine stamp on them and were signs of the sweetest Sacrifice and the most acceptable Service imaginable and he had often taken delight in them yet when they left off to do well observe his Language about them To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifice to me saith the Lord bring no more vain Oblations Incense is an abomination to me Your new Moons and your appointed Feasts my Soul hateth I cannot bear them What strange expressions are here of his own Institutions But what 's the reason Truly the lack of this vers 17. Learn to do well seek Judgment relieve the Oppressed Judge the Fatherless Plead for the Widow Isa 1.11 to 18. And how peremptorily doth he beat men off from trusting in their Priviledges as of no advantage without this practical godliness Think not saith the Baptist to say within your selves We have Abraham to our Father this was a great Priviledge for with him and his Seed was the Covenant made and to them were Circumcision and the Pass-over the Seals of it given but what counsel doth he give them truly to mind practical godliness Bring forth fruit meet for Repentance i. e. for all the great priviledge in which you take so much pride and upon which you lay so much stress yet you can never flee from the wrath to come unless you bring forth good fruit fruit meet for repentance such fruit as will speak your hearts to be changed such fruit as is suitable to a renewed nature This and this alone is practical godliness The Coherence in that Matth. 3.8 9 10. deserves our Observation And John saith unto the Pharisees O Generation of Vipers who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come bring forth therefore fruit meet for repentance And think not to say within your selves We have Abraham to our Father For I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up Children to Abraham Do not think that God is bound to and must save you because ye are Abrahams Seed for God can of stones make Sons of Abraham And now also the Ax is laid to the root of the Tree therefore every Tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire CHAP. XXIX The Condition of men only Civil is unsafe and sad 5. IF Christ will condemn men at the Great Day for sins of Omission for not relieving the Poor and Afflicted It may inform us That the condition of men meerly civil and negatively religious will be woful at that day Why Because Christ will command them to depart from him into everlasting fire Ah how dreadful will it be to take an eternal Farewel of the Lord of Life the God of all Grace the Well of Salvation and to enter into a state of Death and Wrath and that for ever If the righteous scarcely be saved where shall the Sinner and Vngodly appear 1 Pet. 3. By Sinner I
at all Seasons and in all Conditions thou art to be in the fear of God and watchful over thy self that thou dost nothing to displease him and solicitous how thou mayst do that which is most pleasing to him Thou must love God with all thy heart when he seems most angry with thee and trust in his goodness when he inflicts never so great or so many evils on thee Thy duty is to believe in a crucified Christ and so venture thy Soul on the death of another upon the bare warrant of Scripture thou art required to deny and bemoan and abhor thy self as near and dear as thou art to thy self to mortifie thy earthly members and to cut off thy right hand and pluck out thy right eye Not a Relation not a Condition not an Ordinance not a Providence but calls for Duties suitable Duties to be performed and not one of these Duties but calls for suitable Graces to be exercised Besides ere these Duties can be performed and these Graces exercised many strong and sturdy lusts must be subdued the allurements on one hand of a flattering gaudy giddy skin-deep World as Babies to please Children trampled on and its afrightments as Cloths stuft with straw to scare Birds must be despised I and all the Powers and Policies of Hell combated with and conquered And Friend can all this be done with thy hands in thy Pocket or without pains It 's in vain to think of freedom from Omissions whilst thou liest on the bed of Security Water corrupteth and breeds venemous Creatures whilst it standeth still it is preserved sweet by motion as we experience in running-streams The unused Iron rusteth whilst that which is used groweth daily more bright Neither Nature nor Art will afford us any thing that is good without labour The ground will not yield its fruit unless the Husbandman dung and plow and dress and harrow it Can any Artist make an excellent Clock or Watch or curious Vessel without pains And wilt thou presume of Holiness and Heaven without it The Heavens are ever in motion for the benefit of this lower World and never stand still but by a Miracle The Earth is always labouring to bring forth fruit for our profit and delight and never idle and barren but as cursed of God for mans sin Adam in his estate of Innocency was by God himself taught a Lesson of Industry and commanded to till the ground Our blessed Saviour was not idle but when he undertook the work of mans Redemption went up and down doing good denying himself his sleep A great while before day he was at prayer Mark 1. and he prayed all night He denied himself his Food when he was hungry and disappointed of Food at the Figg-Tree he goeth not to an house to eat but to the Synagogue to preach He denied himself his ease and pleasure and all to follow his business Joh. 9.4 As he said so he did I must work the work of him that sent me whilst it is day And did Christ contend and fight and strive and wrastle night and day before he was crown'd or could enjoy the Joy set before him and dost thou think to have all for nothing Reader to conclude this Head consider Rom. 12.11 Not slothful in business fervent in Spirit serving the Lord. Where we have the Duty I am perswading thee to commanded by the Apostle in regard of its great weight extraordinary difficulty or backwardness to it both ways 1. Negatively not slothful in business i. e. you will do nothing at it if ye be sleepy or slothful the business is not such as may be done in a dream As idleness is the burial of our persons so slothfulness is the burial of our actions It 's bad to be slow at our business but much worse to be slothful 2. Affirmatively fervent in Spirit this is the greatest diligence possible Fervency is the heat and height of the Affections and is as contrary to slothfulness as fire to water When the powers and faculties of the Soul are wound up to their highest pitch in the Service of God then a man may be said to be fervent in Spirit The labour of the body is nothing to the labour of the brains and the sweating of the outward man is little to the industry of the inward man He that hath the heart of a man may command his purse and hands and what he hath Fervency of Spirit or intension of Mind about any business will call in his time and wealth and strength and all to its assistance 2. The Duty is urged by an high and weighty reason serving the Lord. It 's the Majesty Excellency Purity and boundless Perfection of the Object which requires such warmth and life and heat and fervency of Spirit in those that adore him Though we may make bold with our fellow-dust and ashes with those that are of the same make and mould with our selves yet the most High he whose Name alone is Excellent the God of the Spirits of all Flesh to whom the whole Creation is less than nothing he is not to be made bold with His immense Being and Perfections command the highest and the hottest affections The greatest Prince must not be put off with less than the greatest Present CHAP. XLIV Another cause of Omissions is vain excuses men have that Omissions are little sins with the cure of it 4. A Fourth cause of sins of Omission is a Presumption or false Opinion that men have concerning them and so they think to excuse them 1. That they are little sins and so not much to be minded 2. That the performance of them would be unseasonable at this or that time and so they are put off to another time that never comes 3. That when they are called to the performance of this or that Duty they neglect it with this excuse that it is but one Duty they live in the neglect of or it can be no great matter for once to omit it Reader I shall handle these severally and shew first that these foolish excuses which men please themselves with do cause Omissions and then direct to the cure of each severally 1. The first excuse is that Omissions are small sins and this Opinion is generally rooted in all men Because they do not fly in the face of Conscience disturb the light of Reason trouble the Societies where and debauch the persons amongst whom we live as some sins of Commission do therefore thy fancy for it is but a fancy that they are light and little and no great matter is to be made of them When once a man hath suckt in this poysonous Opinion no wonder if his heart swell and his life swarm with such sins For when his Nature hath a reluctancy against the positive Precepts much more than against the negative and his lazy temper sets him farther off and he believes that they are Peccadilloes and little taken notice of by God yea that a pardon in the High
no more Sermons and joyn in no more Prayers and receive no more tenders of Grace or intreaties of the Gospel Isa 38.11 I said I shall not see the Lord even the Lord in the Land of the living I shall behold man no more with the Inhabitants of the world Where the King is there he hath his Secretaries and Seals and Ministers of State and they who are banished the Court are banished from these 4. They shall depart from all the good things of this Life Each Country hath its proper peculiar Commodities and so hath each World This World hath its peculiar good things such as are proper to this and not to be found in the other World therefore the Apostle calls them this worlds goods He that hath this worlds goods 1 Joh. 3.17 So the other World hath its proper peculiar Commodities such as are to be found no where else The blessings of this are not to be look'd for in the other Life There is neither marrying nor giving in marriage but all are as Angels Good men as good Angels above all bodily and temporal Blessings and evil Men as evil Angels without them and fixed in a state of endless misery The wicked man possibly was honourable but his glory doth not follow after him Psal 49.17 He was rich but that was only in this world 1 Tim. 6.17 He was one that abounded in Pleasures but now they are gone and exchanged for pains James 5.5 Luk. 16.25 But Abraham said Son remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented The Sinner shall bid adieu to Temporal good Spiritual good Eternal good all good that he may speak indefinitely what Job supposing himself dying spake restrictively Mine eye shall no more see good Job 7.7 CHAP. IV. The Properties of the Sinners loss Secondly I Shall speak to the Properties of this departure from Christ or loss therein 1. It is spiritual It is a loss peculiar to the Soul or Spirit of Man and a loss of that good that is most suitable to the Soul or Spirit of Man No mercies are like Soul-mercies Ephes 1.3 and Job 6.4 No miseries are like Soul-miseries For the nobler any Being is the better that is which advantageth it and the worse that is that injureth it It 's one thing to relieve or abuse a distressed Prince and another thing to relieve or abuse a distressed Subject The Soul of man is the Prince the chief and noblest part of man and it is principally the subject as chiefly sensible of this departure It 's true the Soul cannot depart from God locally but it can and doth morally here in its affections and conversation But that which is now its practice and pleasure will then be their torment and punishment Other losses pinch the Flesh but this pierceth the Spirit Other losses are castigatory and the portion of Children but this is damnatory and the portion of Devils Ah how will the Soul pine and wither away when it shall take its farewel of that Sun who alone could revive and refresh it What a dismal doleful death must it undergo when it shall depart from him who is its only Life Such a wounded Spirit who can bear The Soul hath more exquisite sense and more curious feeling than the Body therefore its loss of its own peculiar suitable satisfying good will cut deep and fill it with bitter horrour 2. It will be a total departure Here they depart in part from God but then totally Here Cain complains if not allowed God's presence in Ordinances though he had his presence in many ways of ordinary Favour Behold thou hast driven me this day from the face of the Earth and from thy face shall I be hid Gen. 4.14 But alas how doth he complain there where he is wholly deprived of the Divine presence in any way of Favour where he hath not the least glimpse of the light of his Countenance The partial departures of God have forced sad Complaints from them that are godly Job 13.24 Why hidest thou thy face and holdest me for thine enemy saith Job I can bear the withdrawings of men and their absence I can bear the strangeness of my Friends and the unkindness of Relations but I cannot bear thy strangeness to me thy with-drawings from me Why hidest thou thy face Job though a strong stout man able to overcome the strong One the Devil yet was ready to faint away and die at this David crieth out mournfully at it Psal 10.1 Why standest thou afar off O Lord why hidest thou thy self in time of trouble Poor Heman is distracted and almost dead with it Psal 88.14 15. Lord why hidest thou thy face I am afflicted and ready to die while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted If these partial departures which had much love in them and with them cast down the Friends of God so heavily O what will his total departures out of pure Wrath cause to his Enemies That world must needs be dolesome and darksome indeed to whom this Sun is wholly set and totally ecclipsed â— It will be an eternal departure They must leave God for ever though it had been spiritual and total yet if but temporal there had been somewhat to have allay'd their Sorrows but to suffer so great a loss and that wholly and for ever too must needs pierce to the quick The Sinner shall see the blessed Jesus no more for ever He must depart from the tenderest Father lovingest Friend richest Treasure choicest Good greatest Glory sweetest Pleasure and that for ever Jude vers 13. To whom is reserved blackness of darkness for ever The Sentence one denounced Depart from me will be like the Law of the Medes and Persians which cannot be altered 2 Thess 1.8 9. Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. The Anchor of Hope will then be broken the Bridge of Grace will then be drawn the Gate of Mercy will then be shut and the Gulph between Christ and the Wicked never to be passed over They may cry out in truth what the Psalmist in unbelief Will the Lord cast off for ever will he be favourable no more Is is mercy clean gone for ever Psal 77.7 8. Alas they are cast off for ever he will be favourable to them no more They may roar out in vain How long wilt thou forget me O Lord shall I never me remembred Psal 13.1 4. It is an irreparable loss such a loss as nothing can make up There are many good things which we may do well without because the want of them may be supplied by other things But Christ is the one thing necessary the one thing excellent the want of whom no good thing in Heaven or Earth can make up When the Soul departs from Christ it departs from all good because nothing is good without him and nothing can be had in the room of him
of Hell because of the violent pain and extream torture which it causeth Whether it be a material fire as Austin and Bullinger think Or Metaphorical as Gregory and Calvin i. e. a pain equivalent thereunto nay much more grievous as others imagine But this is certain no Racks or Engines of pain or misery here below are sufficient to set forth those Instruments of eternal death which God hath prepared for the wicked in the other world The wrath of God which is the very dregs of the Cup that the damned shall drink is called Fire Psal 18.8 Nay God himself in this respect is called a consuming Fire Heb. 12. ult For our God is a consuming fire The Doctrine which I shall draw from this positive part of the Wickeds punishment shall be this Doct. 2. That the Wicked shall in the other world depart from Christ into fire Depart from me into everlasting fire They shall not only be stript of all good Depart from me but also be filled with all evil Into everlasting fire Our Saviour in Matth. 18.9 calls it Hell fire And the Holy Ghost terms it The vengeance of the eternal Fire Jude vers 7. In the Explication of this Doctrine I shall shew 1. Why the positive punishment of the wicked is set out by Fire 2. Wherein it exceeds our Fire For the former the punishment of the damned resembleth Fire 1. In regard of its intension and the extream pain and anguish it causeth Fire is the most out-ragious and tormenting of all the Elements Nebuchadnezzar thought to fright and fear men to purpose with the threatning of a fiery Furnace The fire in the Valley of Hinnon wherein Children were offered as a Burnt-Offering to the Devil was exquisitely tormenting But who can tell the pains of Hell Those fires are but dark shadows and representations of this Fire VVhat elementary or culinary fire is comparable to that Fire Phaleris Bull Low-country Racks Forreign Strapadoes are nothing not so much as Flea-bites to the the fire of Hell The woful effect of it speaks it terrible It causeth weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth The stoutest heart will then be forced to weep like a Child for pain the most resolute sturdy Spirit will wail and moan for anguish and all will bite their flesh and gnash their teeth with envy There Cain may cry out indeed My punishment is greater than I can bear For alas Who can dwell in everlasting burnings The infinite VVisdom that prepared it speaks it intollerable Prepared for the Devil and his Angels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word signifieth Divinam destinationem 1 Cor. 2.9 Heaven is prepared for the godly Matth. 25.35 And they for Heaven Rom. 9.23 Col. 1.12 So wicked men are prepared for Hell Rom. 9.22 And Hell for them As if God had from eternity consulted and contrived the most exquisite way and means of afflicting the Creature As if his VVrath had set his infinite VVisdom and Power on work to devise the fittest materials for the punishment of the wicked and the most cutting killing Instruments of eternal death The Company in this place of Torment will render it the more miserable The Devil and his Angels those frightful Fiends and bitter Foes of Mankind shall be his eternal Associates That cursed Crew which drew men to sin and tempted them so diligently shall be tormented with them and a torment to them for ever 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because he strikes through with his darts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as his Agents and Emissaries The word for Devil properly signifieth a Calumniator or Slanderer He first slandred God to man and then man to God He is therefore call'd the Accuser of his Brethren Rom. 12.11 Those evil Angels have their Names either from their Natures as Spirits or Office as Angels or Dignity as Principalities and Powers or malice against God as Satan Devil or their Fall and Fruits as unclean Spirit evil One Father of Lyes Murtherer Deaf and Dumb Spirit The Devil is mention'd singularly because there is one chief The Prince of Devils Matth. 12. And the rest under him or because they are all one in Counsel as if but one in Being The chief Devil hath many other under him at his call and command This fire is said to be prepared for the Devil and his Angels because they are the greatest and chiefest of Sinners others are but their Scholars Now how hot is that Hell that Fire which God from all eternity devised for the Devils his most malicious Enemies And how ill will they speed who have millions of such dreadful Devils for their everlasting Companions 2. In regard of the universality of the pains it will cause Fire hath all manner of Torments in it and afflicts the whole man If any be troubled extreamly with the Gout or the Stone or the Colick or the Toothach or any one racking Distemper how dolefully doth he cry out and complain But if all manner of Diseases should in extremity seise a man and that in every part of him how dreadfully would he weep and wail The truth is Colick Stone Cancer Gout Toothach Pleurisie St. Anthonys Fire and all other are included in this Fire It hath not only extremity but also universality of Torments thick darkness for the Eyes hideous yellowing for the Ears loathsome brimstone for the Smell and every sense molested and offended in the highest degree every part tormented in flames CHAP. XI The difference between our fires and Hell fire BUt the great pain of the wicked will more fully appear if we consider the difference between our fires on Earth and that in Hell 1. They differ in the cause of their kindling Our fires are kindled with cold Air a puff of Wind thus the spark is blown up into a flame But Tophet is prepared of old for the King it is prepared the pile thereof is fire and much wood and the breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it Isa 30.33 O what a flame is that which is blown up by the breath of an Almighty God What a vast difference is there between the breath of man or of a pair of Bellows and the breath of a God This breath is like a stream of brimstone and if the breath that kindleth the fire be like a stream or rather a Sea of brimstone what is the fire it self What a vast difference is there between the breath of a pair of Bellows and the fire kindled by them 2. They differ in their nature Our fires are by Philosophers described to be a stream of sulphurous particles or swarm of motes of brimstone violently agitated and forcibly breaking forth from those respective Bodies to which they did formerly belong And this is apparent because when any body is throughly burnt the sulphurious parts are almost gone and when those parts are gone what remains will burn no longer But the fire of Hell whether it be material or metaphorical is quite another thing
It is a deep impression of infinite wrath and fury on every member of the Body and faculty of the Soul And O what a fearful thing is it to fall into the hands of the living God for our God is a consuming fire Heb. 12.2 ult The wrath of God is sometimes compared to that of a Lion roaring after her prey which tears and rents and kills and slays without the least pity And to a Bear robbed of her Whelps which claws and wounds and destroys whatsoever comes near her But alas the wrath of a God is infinitely more cutting more killing The Mountains are moved the Rocks are rent in pieces the stoutest Oaks are rooted up the Foundations of the Earth tremble the great Luminaries are darkned the course of Nature is over-turned when he is wroth Thou even thou art to be feared for who may stand when thou art angry If his wrath be kindled but a little how wofully do his own Children cry out Job 6.4 The Arrows of the Almighty are within me Job 13.24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face and holdest me for thine enemy Psal 88. Their Spirits are drunk up while they suffer his terrors they are distracted What then will be the condition of them on whom he will pour out all his wrath If a small degree of God's anger be so terrible when it is mingled with Love what will a full Cup of pure wrath be 3. They differ in the ends of their Creation Our fires were created for our Service and Comfort God made these for the use and benefit of man to fence us against the cold to melt and mould metals and form them into several moulds c. But the fire of Hell is created for the torment of Men and Devils God makes it of such a nature as may best suit his end For every wise Agent fitteth his means to his end and the more wise the Agent is the more proper means he findeth out for his end Now when the only wise God to whom Angels themselves are Fools shall set his infinite Wisdom awork about the most proper means of racking and torturing the poor Creature surely it will be done to purpose As when his Love sets his Wisdom awork to find out a way to comfort his Children what Rivers of Pleasures VVeights of Glory Crowns of Life fulness of Joy doth he provide So when his wrath sets VVisdom awork to find out a way for the afflicting his Enemies what stinging Adders and gnawing VVorms and Chains of Darkness and Lakes of Brimstone doth he provide 4. They differ in the Fewel that feeds them Our fires are maintain'd and preserv'd in burning by wood or coals or somewhat that is combustible and the fire must be suitable to the meanness and limitedness of the fewel But the fire of Hell is fed with the Curse of a righteous Law and the wrath of an infinite God and the lusts of the damned Ah what work will sin back'd with the Curse and wrath of God make in the Souls and Bodies of men If David beloved of God under the weight of sin and sense of Divine displeasures went mourning all the day and cryeth out so mounfully Thine Arrows stick fast in me and thy hand presseth me sore There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine Anger nor rest in my bones because of my Sin Mine Iniquities are gone over mine head as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me Psal 38.2 3 4. O what will they suffer and how will they roar and howl whose Sins are as a Mountain of Lead shall press and oppress their Consciences all whose lusts shall gnaw their Spirits set home and close to their Souls by the fury and malediction of God 5. They differ in this that our fires are accompanied with Light but the fire of Hell though it hath heat to torment hath no light to comfort It is a state of darkness of utter darkness Matth. 25. Of Blackness of Darkness Jude vers 13. They have only light enough to see themselves endlesly and easelesly wretched and miserable Darkness is dreadful but what darkness like utter darkness or blackness of darkness The Egyptians did not move out of their places in the time of their darkness but what will men do in the dark in the midst of ravenous VVolves and roaring Lions and stinging Adders and fiery Serpents and frightful Devils 6. They differ in their Operations 1. Our fires work only on the Body they cannot pierce the Soul but Hell fire pierceth the Soul Spirits burn in it as well as Bodies Go into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels If it seise on Devils it will also on the Souls of men The Spirit whose senses are most acute will feel the greatest pain in the unquenchable fire 2. Our fires destroy and consume their fewel they turn their wood and coals into dust and ashes the bodies of men are by them turn'd into ashes and hereby the pain ceaseth with the life of the Creature But the fire of Hell will never consume though it be ever consuming it will always be destroying but never destroy the Sinner The damned will be always dying but never die The Almighty hand of God will preserve them to undergo that wrath that is intollerable and those flames that are unquenchable CHAP. XII The fulness of wicked mens misery in that it 's positive and privative with some Cautions against it Vse LEarn hence the full misery of the wicked in the other World They shall not only be deprived of all good in their banishment from the presence of God but also be afflicted with all evil in their suffering the pains of Hell fire The godly in the other World shall be perfectly blessed in their freedom from all poenal and all moral evil and their fruition of all that is truly good for they shall ever be with the Lord who is an universal good So the Wicked in the World to come shall be perfectly cursed in the absence of what ever is comfortable and in the presence of whatsoever is dreadful and may render them miserable Snares Fire Brimstone an horrible Tempest shall be rained on them as their portion woful are the fruits of Sin oftentimes in this World It keeps good from men here strips them of their Estates Relations Liberties Limbs Health Names nay of the Gospel Ordinances and seasons of Grace and brings on them much evil here Aches Pains Diseases in their Bodies Horrors and Terrors in their Souls But these are nothing to the effects of Sin in the other World Here in the midst of Judgment Mercy is remembred there is no state on Earth of mear or pure wrath All good things are not removed nor all evil things inflicted on any In the worst Estate there is Life and that cloathed with some Favours The pained have some intermission or at least remission of their pains In the lowest estate there is hope of better and that is no small Cordial
neglecting to pâ—â—â—â—…d to attend on Prophesying and such Sins of Omission we withdraw fewel from it and thereby put it out When the Israelites would not hear the Voice of God they are said to grieve his holy Spirit Psal 95. And when they believed not his Word the Wonders that he wrought they are said to vex his holy Spirit Isa 63.10 with Numb 14.11 Numb 20.12 Then they rebelled and vexed his holy Spirit Not to obey God is to disobey him Not to be loyal to him is to be rebellious now hereby they vexed his holy Spirit Now how great a Sin and how dangerous is it to grieve the Spirit of God the size or measure of Sin is to be taken from the Majesty slighted disobeyed and offended by it The Spirit is God an infinite boundless Being whom these Sins of Omission grieve and vex Again how dangerous is it to grieve and drive the Spirit from us It 's the Spirit that must enable us to our Duties Rom. 8.26 Direct us in our walkings Psal 143.10 Comfort us in our Sorrows Joh. 14.16 Isa 65.1 2 3. It is the Spirit that is the Spirit of Grace and Holiness Zach. 12.10 〈◊〉 1.4 and must work them in our hearts if ever we be gracious and holy 1 Pet. 1.2 It is the Spirit must strengthen us with might in our inward man to keep the Commandments of God Ephes 3.16 Ezez 36.27 It is the Spirit that is the earnest of our Inheritance the First-fruits of our eternal blessed Harvest and that must seal us up unto the day of Redemption Ephes 1.13 14. Rom. 8. Ephes 4.30 How great a Sin and how dangerous therefore is it to grieve this Spirit and by Sins of Omission to incense him to with-draw from us without whom we are unable unto any good and indeed exposed to all evil 2. The danger of these Sins will appear by their offensiveness to God Since our Felicity depends on the Favour of God and our Misery on his Anger Hell it self being but his wrath ever to come 1 Thess 1. ult those Sins which are highly provoking to God must be very dangerous If in his Favour be Life Psal 30.5 and his Wrath be worse than Death Psal 90.11 I had need to beware how I provoke him to jealousie Now the not believing God which is a sin of Omission is called the Provocation Psal 95.8 9. Harden not your hearts as in the Provocation as in the day of temptation in the Wilderness When your Fathers tempted me proved me and saw my Works This Provocation was their not believing his Word for all the Wonders he had wrought for them They said Can God furnish a Table in the Wilderness Behold he smote the Rock that waters gushed out Can he give Bread also Can he provide Flesh for his people Therefore the Lord heard this and was wroth So a fire was kindled against Jacob and anger also came up against Israel because they believed not in God and trusted not in his Salvation Psal 78.19 to 23. It will appear how provoking sins of Omission are to God by these three particulars 1. By his frequent Reprehensions and complaints of men for them He blames men for not sacrificing Mal. 3.18 for not mourning 1 Cor. 5. And sharply reproves for not receiving Correction Jer. 2.30 In vain have I smitten your Children they received no Correction For not grieving when smitten Jer. 5.3 For not seeking God Isa 9.13 Nay observe what special notice he takes of and how sadly he aggravates their Omissions Jer. 3.7 I said after she had done all these things i. e. gone up upon every high Mountain and upon every green Tree Turn thou unto me but she turned not Here he complains of Israels Omission in not turning to him but mark how he accents Judahs Omission who knew what Israel had done and how God had put her away vers 8. Yet her treacherous Sister Judah feared not the dreadful doom of Israel struck no aw into the heart of Judah And vers 10. And yet for all this that Israel hath committed and been severely punished for her treacherous Sister Judah hath not turned unto me with the whole heart but feignedly saith the Lord. Here was an Omission internal or in the manner of her Conversation it was not sincere but with dissimulation 2. By his severe Comminations and Threatnings denounced against those that are guilty of Omissions He curseth those that deny him their help in a day of Battel and that come not forth to help the Lord against the mighty Judg. 5.23 He curseth those that are not diligent about his Work Jer. 48.10 And believe it his Curse is effectual not like the discharge of a piece with powder only which doth no execution Those whom he curseth are cursed indeed His curse like Lightning blasteth and withereth where-ever it cometh I cursed his habitation saith Eliphaz not as a private Malediction of his own Spirit but as a pious Praediction of Gods Spirit Now mark what followeth upon God's cursing the wicked mans Habitation Job 5.2 3 4. His house is by this breath of God tumbling to the ground presently His Children that should be the honour and support of it are far from safety vers 3. they are crushed in the Gate and there is none to deliver them vers 4. Whose harvest the hungry eateth up and taketh out of the thorns and the Robber swalloweth up his substance His Estate which is a second thing requisite to the outward glory of a Family that is seised on and snatched from him So God threatneth multitudes with his wrath which is so terrible so intollerable that none can stand before it Psal 147.8 that Mountains are moved Rocks are rent in pieces the Foundations of the Earth tremble at it yea that God's own people are ready to be distracted at it Psal 88.3 4 5. for a Sin of Omission For not calling on his Name Jer. 10. ult God threatneth to cut a man off from his people which includes either a cutting off from the society of Gods people here and hereafter as Gen. 17.14 or of being cut off out of the Land of the living by the Sword of the Magistrate Exod. 30.33 or both as some think for a meer omission But a man that is clean and is not in a journey and forbeareth to keep the Passover even the same Soul shall be cut off from his people Numb 9.13 3. It appears that Sins of Omission are highly provoking to God by the execution of his Judgments on them that are guilty of them His Works as well as his Word speak his great indignation against these sins Saul lost his Kindgom for not killing Agag and the best of the Flock Because thou hast rejected the Word of the Lord the Lord hath also rejected thee from being King saith Samuel to him 1 Sam. 15.23 26 28. Ahab omitted to kill Benhadad and lost his life for it 1 King 20.42 Because thou hast let go a man out of thy
suppose is meant the scandalous man who liveth in Commission It 's said of Mary Magdalen who had been guilty of notorious Enormities Luke 7. For she is a Sinner And it 's said of the Publican whose whole Tribe was infamous for Extortion and Bribery That he was a Sinner He is gone to be a Guest to one that is a Sinner By Ungodly as the very word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth is meant one that liveth in Omissions one that liveth without the Worship of God i. e. without the Love and Fear the Acknowledgment and Adoration of this God Worship is that high Honour and Solemn Respect that the Creature owes to God Not to give him this is ungodliness An ungodly man is one that doth not seek God nor trust God nor obey God that doth not own him in his Mercies as his Father and Benefactor nor in his Judgments as a wise Master that would by Chastisements make him partaker of his Holiness Now if the righteous scarcely be saved where shall the sinner and ungodly appear If there be a difficulty in the Salvation of the Righteous there is a necessity of the damnation of the Sinner and ungodly If the Righteous get so hardly to Heaven the Sinner and Ungodly must surely be cast into Hell Where shall the Sinner and Ungodly those that are guilty of these Omissions and Commissions appear They must appear somewhere but they can appear no where with comfort or without unspeakable horrour Where shall they appear before God why they hate his Being despise his Dominions slight his Love disobey his Laws and indeed seek his Life and can they appear before him Can they look for a smile from his Face who loath him perfectly or can they stand before his Frowns and Fury Do they know the weight of his Hand the killing-darts of his Eye and the Power of his Anger No surely they cannot appear before him Thou even thou art to be feared and who may stand when thou art angry Where shall they appear Shall they appear before Christ the Judge of Quick and Dead Before him who sometimes invited them earnestly to come to him and intreated them affectionately to accept of him and life with him Shall they appear before him It 's his Call which they have despised and his Commands which they have violated It 's his Blood which they have trampled on and his Spirit whom they have grieved They are his Members whom the Sinners have oppressed and wronged and his Children and Spouse and Body which the Ungodly have neglected and not relieved O how glad would they be if the Rocks would crush them to pieces that they might be deliver'd from the wrath of the Lamb Rev. 6.15 Their severe Sentence which may make every Ear to tingle and Heart to tremble that hears it will proceed from his mouth Then shall he say unto them on his left hand Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire But where shall these Sinners and Ungodly appear Shall they appear before the Saints Alas with what face can they behold them whose Persons they have imprison'd whose Estates they have plundered whose Profession they have derided whose Names they have abused and whom they have often wished out of the way and thought the Troublers of the Family and Town and Country where they lived If the Saints plead it must be against them for they cannot but as Justices agree and concur with the Sentence of the Judge as righteous and just But where shall they appear Shall they appear before the Law No that condemneth them for the least Omission for the smallest Commission to Hell fire they are the Prohibitions of the Law that the Sinner hath transgressed and they are the Precepts of the Law that the Ungodly hath not obeyed and therefore the Law curseth them both to the uttermost The Law enableth Sin to bind over the Transgressor of it to the Wrath and Curse of God Hence it 's said The strength of Sin is the Law But where shall they appear Shall they appear before the Gospel No their Omissions have most relation to the Gospel They have not believed the truth of it They have not embraced the goodness of it They have not obeyed the Precepts of it They rejected the tenders of Pardon and Life made to them in the Gospel with frequency and fervency They would not come to their Physitian to be healed of their mortal Diseases Though he came to them and offer'd his help freely and assured them of effectual and speedy recovery if they would be directed by him yet they rejected the Counsel of God against themselves therefore the Gospel will condemn as surely and more sorely than the Law Heb. 2.2 3 Joh. 3.19 If the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every Disobedience received a just recompence of Reward How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation And again Of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy But where shall they appear Shall they appear on Earth Surely there will be no Earth then for them to appear in That Earth which they sported so much in as Leviathan in the waters and which they were fond of and delighted in will be burnt up with fire and consumed with fervent heat But where shall they appear Shall they appear in Heaven Can an unsanctified heart enter into the Holy of Holies No. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord Heb. 12.14 An impure Eye cannot behold such an infinitely pure Object When Angels seated in Heaven as their Habitation once lost their purity they soon lost that place Heaven could not bear them 't is not as Noahs Ark to take in all sorts Clean or Unclean Into it can in no wise enter any thing that is Vnclean Rev. 21.27 Neither could they bear Heaven Thee spiritual delights of that Coelestial Court became unsuitable to their polluted Natures The rarest Dainties and most curious Delicates are altogether unsavoury and unpleasant to an aguish and distemper'd Palat. But where shall they appear If they cannot appear before God their Maker before the Lord Jesus Christ before the Saints Before whom shall they appear If they cannot appear before the Law before the Gospel before what shall they appear It must be in Hell before Devils and damned Spirits with them to lodge and dwell for ever Ah the Great Day is called The terrible Day of the Lord Jesus and it will be a terrible Day indeed to these meer Civilians It is called the Day of Perdition of ungodly men It 's to others a Day of Consolation Lift up your Heads with joy for the Day of your Redemption draweth nigh A Day of Promotion It 's your Fathers pleasure to give you a Kingdom Luke 12.32 Joh. 17.24 A Day of Rest from all their Labours and Sorrows and Sufferings bodily or spiritually Rev. 14.13 But it 's the Day of Perdition of Ungodly men They who live without God here must live without him for
Servants Ephes 5. Ephes 6. Col. 3. Col. 4. It directs us in all Conditions how to demean our selves in Prosperity to be joyful in Adversity to consider how God hath set the one against the other In Afflictions to be patient and prayerful and more studious of a right improvement of them than of deliverance out of them Under Mercies it directs us to be thankful to God the more chearful in his Service and faithful in the use of our Talents for the honour of our Master It directs us in all our Thoughts Jer. 4.14 Words Psal 39.2 Works Prov. 4.23 24 26. It directs us in all our natural Actions as Eating Drinking Sleeping 1 Cor. 10.31 Tit. 2.12 In our civil Converses Micah 6.8 In our religious Duties how to pray James 5. James 1. How to hear how to receive 1 Cor. 11. 3. It s purity above and beyond all other Religions appears in this That it forbids Evil all Evil nothing but Evil it commands Good whatsoever is Good and nothing but Good Isa 1. Psal 32.14 The Laws of Lycurgus among the Grecians and Numa among the Romans had somewhat of good in them but not all prohibited somewhat that was evil but not all that was evil But the Christian Religion is of a larger extent both in its Precepts and Prohibitions I have seen an end of all Perfections but thy Commandments are exceeding broad Psal 119.96 A man with the eye of his Body may behold an end of many worldly Perfections of many fair Estates great Beauties large Parts hopeful Families but a man with the eye of his Soul for by Faith may see an end of all earthly Perfections He may see the World in a flame and all its Pomp and Pride and Glory and Gallantry and Crowns and Scepters and Riches and Treasures turn'd into ashes he may see the Heavens passing away like a scroll and the Elements melting with fervent heat and the Earth with the things thereon consumed and all its Persections which men doted so much on vanished into smoke and nothing It 's easie to see to the end of all terrene Perfections but its difficult yea impossible to see to the end of Divine Precepts But thy Commandments are exceeding broad Of a vast Latitude beyond our apprehension They are so deep that none can fadom them Psal 36.6 So high that they are established in Heaven Psal 119.48 So long that they endure for ever 2 Pet. 1. And so broad that none can measure them They are not only broad but exceeding broad Higher than Heaven longer than the Earth broader than the Sea The Commands of God reach the inward parts the most secret motions and retired recesses of the Soul They reach all the privy thoughts They pierce even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit and of the Joynts and Marrow and discern the thoughts and intents of the heart Heb. 4.12 They reach to all our Actions to those that seem smallest and of less concernment as well as to those that are greater and of more concernment They reach to the manner nay circumstance of Actions The Divine Law takes notice of all the circumstances of sins as aggravations of sin As 1. From the time of Gods patience towards the Sinner These three years I came seeking fruit Luke 13. 2. The place where the sin was committed The Sons of Eli lay with the Women that assembled at the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation 1 Sam. 2.22 3. From the season of committing the Sin Isa 58.3 4. Behold in the day of your Fast ye find pleasure and exact all your labour c. 4. From the Condition of the person that sins He that eats bread with me lifts up his heels against mee Joh. 13.18 A familiar Friend proves a treacherous Enemy So Joh. 3.10 Art thou a Master in Israel and knowest not these things 5. From the means the person enjoys You only have I known therefore you will I punish for your Iniquities Amos 4. Rom. 2.7 6. From the manner of committing the Sin So they spread Absalom a Tent on the top of the house and Absalom went in to his Fathers Concubins in the sight of all Israel 2 Sam. 16.22 Impudency in sin doth highly increase it Were they ashamed when they committed all these Abominations No they were not ashamed But how far are other Religions from observing much more from condemning men for such sinful circumstances CHAP. XXXI The holiest have cause of humiliation 8. IF Christ will condemn men at the Great Day for sins of Omission I was hungry and ye gave me no meat c. Then it may inform us That the best have abundant cause of humiliation for the best have in them abundant matter of Condemnation O how many are our Omissions every day every hour and by reason of them we are obnoxious to Hell flames Good Bishop Vsher who for Piety and Learning was honoured through the Christian World though he was early converted and feared the Lord in his Youth though he was eminently industrious in private in his Family in chatechising and instructing and praying often every day with and for them that were committed to his Charge Though he was a constant Preacher and that with Judgment and Affection Though he was singularly famous for his many worthy pieces which he wrote in Latin and English yet after all this diligence and labour when he came to die Usher's Life the last words almost which he was heard to speak were Lord in special forgive my Sins of Omission Sins of Omission will at death lie heavier on our hearts than we think for in life If such a laborious person found cause of bewailing his Omissions surely much more cause have Loyterers as we are Omissions are fruits of Original Corruption as well as Commissions It 's from that dead stock that we are so defective in bringing forth good fruit Paul layeth his Omissions at this door Rom. 7.17 to 23. In my flesh is no good When I would do good evil is present with me c. Now whatsoever is the Child of such a monstrous Parent is loathsome and calls on us for sorrow and self-abhorrency Holy Job did but suspect his Children to be guilty of Omissions of not sanctifying the Name of God in their Hearts according to their Duties at their Feasts and Meetings And he riseth early and offereth Sacrifice according to the number of them all Job 1.4 5. He goeth to God and begs Pardon for them and the blessing of God upon every one of them It may be saith he my Sons have sinned and cursed and not blessed God so Calvin reads it God in their hearts Thus did Job continually Now if Job upon a supposition that his Sons might be guilty of Omissions was so constant in his addresses to God on their behalf by way of humiliation acknowledging their Iniquity and beseeching his Mercy What cause have we on the behalf of our own Souls who know that we often offend God
thee if ignorant to labour after the Knowledge of God and thy Duty to him When David leaves his charge with his Son Solomon to serve and worship the blessed God as the great business of his life Mark how he begins with the means thereof and concludes with the motive thereto And thou Solomon my Son know the God of thy Fathers and serve him with a perfect heart and willing mind If thou seek him he will be found of thee but if thou forsake him he will cast thee off for ever 1 Chron. 28.9 As if he had said Solomon thou Son of my Love thou Son of my Vows I am now dying and going to my long home Nature and Grace my love to thee and to God do both strongly incline me to desire thy well-fare and to wish thee well eternally I know not better how to speak and declare it than by charging and commanding thee that what-ever thou omittest or neglectest thou wouldst adore and worship the God of thy Fathers and that not formally and customarily but solemnly and sincerely with a perfect Heart and willing Mind and to this end there is a necessity of thy knowing him Till thou knowest his Grace and Goodness thou wilt never love him till thou knowest his Holiness and Justice thou wilt never fear him till thou knowest his Promises and Power and Faithfulness thou wilt never trust him and till thou knowest his boundless Soveraignty and Dominion over his unquestionable Right and Propriety in the works of his Hands thou wilt never obey him therefore study the knowledge of this God of thy Fathers that thou mayst serve him for be assured he will not be mocked But with the Vpright he will carry himself upright and with the Froward he will carry himself froward Psal 18. If thou livest after the Flesh thou shalt die if thou walkest after the Spirit thou shalt live If thou seek him in his own way with all thy Heart as the great work and business of thy Life he will reveal himself to thee and be found of thee in a way of Grace and Favour but if thou imbrace the World or the Flesh as thy Soveraigns or Portions and so cast him off be confident he will forsake and cast thee off for ever and then what will Devils do to thee and what misery will not surprize thee Friend God affords thee many helps for knowledge and wilt thou not labour after it shall men stumble and fall into Hell for want of doing their Duties and neglect to do their Duties for want of knowledge and that in the clear Sun-shine of the Gospel as those do that live in the night and darkness of Heathenism and Paganism Reader wilt thou not see at Mid-day at Noon-day shall neither the Works nor Word of God teach thee the knowledge of him Wouldst thou do the Will of God or not if thou wouldst not I have no more to say to thee But the Lord have mercy on thee If thou wouldst as thou must if ever thou be saved Matth. 23. Thou seest a necessity of knowledge for can thy Child or Servant do thy Will if they be ignorant of thy Will Is it rational to expect that one who knoweth not what thou wouldst have should do what thou wouldst have Why canst not thou make thy Beast as pliable and as obedient to thee as thy Son Is it not because thy Beast is not so capable of understanding thy mind as thy Son is Nay if thou shouldst do what God commands and not know that he commanded it thou couldst not obey him in it for all Obedience consisteth in doing what God bids us because he bids us Psal 119.5 6. For unless his Authority do principally sway the Conscience in our subjection to what he enjoyns it 's nothing worth God hates blind Sacrifices Mal. 1. Reader wouldst thou have high and honourable thoughts of God wouldst thou have awful and reverential apprehensions of God wouldst thou have Heart and Life wholly at his Command then know him Psal 78.1 In Judah is God known his Name is great in Israel How comes his Name to be so much reverenced and praised and admired in his Church more than in all the World beside but because there he is better known In Judah is God known thence his Name is so great in Israel Father the World hath not known thee but these have known thee Joh. 17. So that Reader if ever thou wouldst esteem and honour and love and obey God get the knowledge of him This is spiritual life and the seed of eternal Joh. 17.3 Be not bruitish in the shape of a man as the Horse and Mule which hath no understanding Psal 32.9 Psal 49. ult Psal 92.6 but take any pains in hearing and reading and meditating and in conferring with others that thou mayst get knowledge They shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased The Merchant ventures to and fro from Port to Port in a wooden bottom to increase his Wealth and get some precious Pearls Knowledge is a Jewel of much greater value Let no labour be thought too much for it especially cry after Knowledge and lift up thy Voice for Vnderstanding seek her as Silver and search for her as for hid Treasure Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God Prov. 2.4 5 6. CHAP. XLIII Another cause of sins of Omission Idleness with the cure of it 3. A Third cause of sins of Omission is Idleness Negative Holiness requires no great pains a man may forbear Drunkenness swearing lying stealing c. without any great labour A man may keep his Bed or his Chair all day and so do no hurt Some men as the Historian observes Tacitus are sola socordia innocentes do no mischief not because they dare not God having forbidden it but because it would cost them some pains to do it Their Heads must work to plot and contrive it and their Hands to manage and execute it There is a sluggish temper and poorness of spirit in many men who prefer a mean quiet before a treasure with labour The Sluggard would do evil as other men only he is unwilling to lose his sleep and ease as they do to accomplish their wicked designs and he would do good as others I mean in regard of the matter of Duties only he is loth to be at the labour Negative godliness requires only a siting still and a forbearing to meddle with such and such things which God hath prohibited but positive Godliness if to any purpose requires industry and zeal and activity and the putting forth our strength and spirits which makes the idle Wretch take his leave of it The slothful Servant could let his Talent lie still in the Earth and not lay it out in gaming and rioting c. and continue his slothfulness but if he had improved it in trading for his Masters profit he must have gone up and down and taken pains It 's
Court of Heaven is allowed in course for such small offences what should hinder but he should abound and continue in them to the end of his life unless his judgment of them be alter'd In all our converses and dealings we are most careless about matters which we judge to be of small concernment For 't is judged a part of folly to be very solicitous about toys and trifles If I have a slight cut on my Finger or my skin razed I possibly let it go and am nothing troubled about it but if a bone be broken or a vital part infected I am not a little perplexed and quickly apply the best means for the cure of it The less I apprehend the danger to be the less care I take to prevent it We see it by experience about the Laws of men that those Laws the breach of which they presume will be generally winked at and little taken notice of by the Magistrate as relieving Beggars and several others are seldom observed and men at most are indifferent whether they keep them or no but for those Laws which they believe will be severely reckon'd for if men break them as those against Thefts Murthers Ravishments Treasons and the like these they will be tender of and take care lest they should incur their penalties Truly so it is about the Laws of God we do usually make some conscience of those Laws which we apprehend have Death and Hell and Wrath and Damnation attending the breach of them but those Laws the breach of which we presume is no great matter and little minded by God we are careless and indifferent about To cure this Reader consider these three or four particulars 1. I grant that there are degrees of Sin All sins are not of the same size nor every Sinner of the same stature All ordinary Births which Satan begets upon the hearts of men are not of the same bigness yet sometimes we find Monsters born Some sins are compared to Camels others to Gnats Matth. 23.24 Some to Motes others to Beams Matth. 7.3 Some to Talents others to Farthings or Pence Our Saviour tells us of a Creditor who had two Debtors the one owed much more than the other Luke 7.41 So Luke 16.5 Some sins are pardonable other sins unpardonable Matth. 12.31 Wherefore I say unto you all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men The Stoicks as Tully observes in his Paradoxes and the Jovinians Epist 29. cap. 1. as St. Hierom testifieth in his Second Book against them sided with them held That all sins were equal because all sins are aberrations from the rule and a going beyond the bounds but it is to be considered that some may wander farther from their rule and out of their way than others Some may shoot wider than others though both miss the mark A sin against the First Table caeteris paribus is greater than a sin against the Second 1 Sam. 2.25 as being more immediately against God Whereas all sin hath its sinfulness from its opposition and offensiveness to so infinite a Majesty Psal 51.4 Against thee thee only have I sinned Thus we read that Witch-craft and Idolatry which directly disown God as the greatest sins 1 Sam. 15.13 And our Lord Jesus when asked what was the first and great Commandment answers To love the Lord our God with all our hearts c. Matth. 22.11 Spiritual sins are greater than bodily sins 1. As those by which we most imitate the Devil who is for spiritual wickednesses in high places Ephes 6. All sin is from Satan per modum servitutis but these sins per modum imaginis 2. As those sins by which we most directly oppose God who is a Spirit Joh. 4.24 and therefore God most directly sets himself in battel-array against them 3. As those sins that defile and pollute most the chiefest part of man his spirit in which regard the Apostle calls them filthiness of spirit and distinguisheth them from the filthiness of the flesh 2 Cor. 7.1 4. As those sins which are the spring of all bodily and outward sins Out of the heart proceed Murders Blasphemies Thefts c. Matth. 15.19 5. As those sins have more of the heart and spirit in them the malignity of sin in regard of its Object is from the immensity of that God against whom it is committed in regard of its Subject it 's from the degree of that heartiness and willingness with which it is committed To back-slide in heart is more than back-slide from God with our tongues and deny him vocally Prov. 14.14 Such a one shall be filled with his own ways and wickedness To err in heart is the provocation indeed Heb. 3.10 To err in heart is much worse than to err in our heads the more of the heart and spirit in any Service the more lovely and acceptable to God the more of the heart and spirit in any sin the more loathsome and abominable to God 6. As those sins which have their full scope and swing In bodily sins a man is curbed as in Uncleanness by the weakness or weariness of his Body in Prodigality and Luxury and Pride by the weakness of his Estate in Murder by his Antagonist's strength or his fear of the Law or want of opportunity But spiritual sins have none of these obstacles or hinderances He whose Body is so weak that he cannot know one Woman may yet in his Spirit defile hundreds in one day He whose Estate is so small that he can scarce maintain himself will yet in his thoughts keep a Table for a Prince throw away hundreds upon provision for the Flesh and be as great an Emperour as he pleaseth He whose sickness and lowness of quality and want of a convenient season hindreth him from doing his Neighbour the least actual injury may yet in his Spirit slay more than Sampson did with the jaw-bone of an Ass in a much less time Sins against Knowledge are greater than sins of Ignorance Our Saviour tells the Jews That if they had been blind they had had no sin but because ye say ye see therefore your sin remaineth Joh. 9. Sins against knowledge are sins against our own light and thereby we offer violence to our selves Rom. 1.21 to 28.2 More daring to God for he who is ignorant of his Masters will cannot do any thing or omit any thing to dare him or to provoke him because he doth not know what is displeasing to him but he who knoweth what God would have and omits what he commandeth or doth what he forbids may rather be supposed to commit the one or omit the other because of his enmity to God 3. As more against the mercy of God Knowledge is a great mercy The Vnderstanding of Man is the Candle of the Lord. And sins against it are therefore the more provoking because against the Divine goodness Joh. 15.4 These sins against
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
matter Truly the less the matter is the greater is the malice that will offend and provoke God for it How great is the unkindness to stand with God for a trifle How little dost thou esteem thy God the God of all Consolation how little dost value his Love and Grace and Favour and endless fruition to part with all for little or nothing The less Reader the thing is for or about which thou sinnest the greater is thy Sin Believe it that by which thou wouldst excuse thy sin doth increase it It hath been formerly said If a man will break his faith it should be for a Kingdom for something of worth yet this Sinner were a loser though by breaking his Faith he could gain the whole Earth what then is that man who will lye and forswear himself for a peny Though no man should presume upon Sin because its present profit will be great yet there is more unkindness more folly and more sinfulness in sinning for a little Some like Eagles will not stoop at flies scorn to sin for a small matter others as Ants will be busie about the least dust will break the Law for a very little the former are bad the latter worse 6. The less they are the more they call for thy care and caution for they are the harder to be cured As a wound made with a Bodkin if deep is hardlier cured than a wound with a Sword because the Orifice is so small and presently almost closeth up and so the wound bleedeth inwardly often to the death of the Patient It 's much more difficult for the Mariner to avoid Quick-sands that are hurried hither and thither then known Rocks though Sands are small things and Rocks are great vast bodies Besides our proneness to despise and slight them causeth our more frequent falling into them as also our lying longer in them without repentance 7. Small Sins are not expiated without infinite satisfaction and must they then be dallied with there is more malignity in the least sin than the whole Creation can expel and more Venome than Men Angels can antidote against Friend consider it thou sayst they are little sins therefore I may live in them Did Christ die for them and wilt thou live in them Dost thou not know what prodigious drops of sweat what clods of blood what strong cries and groans and prayers the least Sins cost thy Redeemer Dost thou not know that their weight was so heavy as little and light as thou fanciest them to be that they pressed and bruised his blessed Body that they oppressed and amazed his blessed Soul yea that they made him who is valour and courage it self obedience and dutifulness it self love and pity it self to shrink and draw back and pray against his Duty to his Father and his own Mercy to fallen man and decline the very end and errand for which he came into the world Reader think of it As Austin saith what matters it whether a Ship be overwhelmed with one great Wave or sunk by a small Cranny in the bottom whereat the water enters drop by drop And else-where what easeth it a man to be pressed to death with an heap of small sand more than with a sow of lead or to be strangled with a pack-thread rather than with an halter Reader I would not have thee think any of thy sins little It 's unbecoming a Christian to entertain such a thought of his sins nay it greatens his sin for him to presume it is little As we should not lessen the Mercies of God but always think them great and too great for us and our selves less than the very least of them so we should never lessen our sins but judge the least of them great and the lightest of them heavy and every of them too great and too heavy for us to bear and upon these accounts loath and leave them Friend think of what I have said of little sins and certainly thou wilt be of another mind than to allow of them because they are little and rather reject them because they are sins Is there any thing that God hates but sin and must that be the Object of his hatred Is there any thing that offends God or grieves his Spirit but sin and will nothing delight and please thee but what provokes and displeaseth him 4. I answer that Omissions are not little sins I have already largely proved that in some respects and as they may be circumstantiated they may be much greater sins than sins of Commission Reader consider what is written in the danger of sins of Omission before the Uses and then judge whether they are little sins or no. Are they little sins which do most oppose the Mind and Will of God which make way for whole herds of Sins of Commission and which do exceedingly grieve the good Spirit of God Are those little sins which God complains of so frequently threatneth so severely and punisheth with such dreadful Judgments on their Bodies on their Souls in this World on both eternally in the other World without any remedy But Friend consider farther 1. Can that sin be little which denieth God the highest Honour and greatest Homage and chiefest Respect which the Creature oweth to him What is that which is the choicest Jewel in the Crown of his Glory whence do the greatest Revenews of his Honour flow Are not our highest esteem our hottest love or strongest trust and our most reverential awe of his sacred Majesty the best and the most we can give him and can the omission of these be a little sin The forbearance of Commissions is but the skirt and garment and out-side of that Obedience which we owe to God it is the giving up our hearts and souls to him in our most enlarged desires after him and spiritual delights in him and superlative valuation of him which he requireth of us and principally looks after Micah 6.8 He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God Surely if any sin be little it 's that which incroacheth least upon the honour of God not that which injures so greatly his Royal Prerogative He that robs his Soveraign of some petty goods cannot be so great a Transgressor as he who would rob him of his Crown and Kingdom 2. Is that a little sin which provoketh God to inflict the greatest punishment Either we must believe that God punisheth men more or less according to the nature of their offences whether greater or lesser or else we must accuse him of injustice The Apostle undertakes to prove him righteous because he renders to every man according to his works Rom. 2.5 6. If so where he inflicts the greatest Judgment there must be the greatest sin Now all Divines conclude the punishment of loss which they say is for our Omissions to be far greater than the punishment of sense which is for