to relieve the Poor to pray in their Families or to attend publick praying and preaching hereby they are scandalous and offensive They grieve the godly Rivers of tears run down mine eyes because the wicked forsake thy Laws Psal 119. and they harden the wicked VVhen ungodly men see others neglect all Religion they are encouraged in their Atheism and Irreligion and presuming others are wise and that themselves shall fare as well as others As it was said of those Ezek. 13.21 so it may be said of these They strengthen the hands of the wicked Again these are guilty in all respects they who offend in the matter of a Command by neglecting the Duty it self in the substance thereof offend in the manner and measure also but they who offend in the manner and measure may not offend in the matter 2. VVhen the omission is in regard of the manner of the duties performance As when men do pray but they pray not uprightly with the heart Jer. 12.2 Thou art nigh their mouths but far from their reins Nor earnestly with their whole heart and with all their heart and all the powers of their Souls as the Precept is Jer. 29.13 and that Prayer to which the Promise is annexed James 5.16 But pray as if they pray'd not formally and customarily and carelesly scarce hearing themselves and no wonder then if God hear them not they pray not reverently with the aw of God upon their Spirits but are rash in their words and irreverent in their hearts Eccles 5.1 2. So when men give Alms but do not give chearfully with a free willing ready heart For God loves a chearful giver 2 Cor. 9.17 Nor seasonably when it may do most good Prov. 3.18 Say not to thy Neighbour Go and come again to morrow when thou hast it by thee So when men hear the Word but hear not awfully in the fear of God as in the presence of God Acts 10.33 We are all here present before God to hear all things commanded thee of God Neither hear believingly giving their assent to what they hear and applying it to their own Souls The Word preached did not profit them not being mixed with faith in them that heard it Heb. 4.2 These and such like though they are not guilty of omission in regard of the matter of a Duty yet they are guilty of omission in regard of the manner of it though they do the thing commanded yet they do it not as it is commanded and so are guilty of the breach of a positive Law and Command 3. When the omission is in regard of the measure of the Duty As when a man gives Alms but not answerable to his Estate though God hath filled his Belly with hidden treasures and waters of a full Cup are wrung out to him and he is able to give pounds to poor indigent Families he puts them off with a few pence or at most shillings this is an omission in regard of the measure God expects charitable Contributions from men answerable to his Bounty to them 1 Cor. 16.2 Vpon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him that there be no gatherings when I come According to the measure of the Divine Mercy to us such should be the measure of our Charity to others According to the seed thrown into the Earth is the Crop return'd by the good ground Therefore to make scanty Returns when we have large Receipts is a sin of omission So when men pray but not with that frequency which they might and ought The Command is To pray contiuually to pray without ceasing to pray evermore Which must include at lest frequent i. e. daily prayer each Morning and Evening but some men pray but it 's only at certain seasons now and then by fits and starts Some pray only upon the Lords-Days as if they had liberty all the working-days to be Atheists and neglect the owning of the great God Others pray only under some Affliction and as Patients to their Physitian never go to God but when they cannot tell what to do without him So the Jews In their Affliction they will seek me early Hos 5.15 When he smote them then they sought him but their heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant Psal 78.34 37. Unevenness of Pulse argues a distemper'd Body so doth unevenness in Duties a distemper'd Soul In their trouble they will pour out a prayer When troubles are on them they will make bold to trouble God and call him up for their help God expects frequency of Application to him every day and greater frequency of those that have more time and fewer Obstacles and Impediments than others Now the putting God off with Applications to him and Acknowledgments of him once a week instead of every day and much under Affliction instead of doing it in all conditions and at all seasons or putting him off with Morning-Prayer only instead of Morning and Evening-Prayer or with Family-Prayer only when we should also pray in our Closets daily these are sins of Omission in regard of the measure of the Duty Secondly These sins of omission are either partial or total Total omissions are when men wholly neglect the Duties commanded as when they altogether cast off Praying and Hearing and giving Alms and examining their own hearts Psal 14.3 4. They are all gone aside there is none that doth good They call not upon God A man may read the Word Atheist in the fore-heads of these men They carry about them where-ever they go the sign and mark of Condemnation They please themselves possibly that they do not abound in scandalous sins of Commission not considering that they may be guilty of self-murther as well by starving or not feeding their Souls as by stabbing or poisoning their Souls 2. Partial Omissions are when men do sometimes perform the Duties commanded but not with that constancy which they ought Job 15.4 Thou castest off fear and restrainest prayer before God i. e. Thou imprisonest Prayer and dost not afford it the liberty it formerly had It was wont to appear every day openly but now it is kept in and shews it self but seldom Thirdly Sins of omission are distinguished into external or internal omissions 1. External Omissions are a neglect of the outside as I may call it of the Command 2. Internal Omissions are the neglect of the inside of the Command We must know that in every Command there is an Extra and an Intra an Out-side and an Inside somewhat that concerns the Hands Conversation somewhat that concerns the Heart and Affections As for example In the Fourth Command of sanctifying the Sabbath there God commands us to spend the whole time of his day except so much as the works of Necessity and Mercy call for in religious Exercises and the Duties of his own worship as Praying Reading Hearing Singing c. Now the bare performance
Great Day These bid open defiance to the Prohibitions Precepts and Penalty of the Law and dare the Law to do its worst Either these must be condemned or all shall be saved But God is of an holier Nature than to dwell with such Sinners They may read their doom written under his own hand and like the Law of the Medes and Persians That cannot be alter'd 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Ephes 5.5 Rom. 8.5 To be carnally minded is death vers 13. If ye live after the flesh ye shall die 2. Proposition They who are guilty of total external Omissions are in a damnable Condition This is written in broad Letters that he who runs may read it They who pray not are under wrath and the effusions of wrath Jer. 10. ult They who neglect to pay their external Allegiance to the true God and deny him his outward Homage and Acknowledgment shall be denied and disowned by Christ before his Father and before his holy Angels The Holy God doth all along speak of these as Heathens Psal 79.6 and Sinners with a witness Psal 36.1 2 3. and threatneth that Christ shall come in flaming fire to render Vengeance on them 2 Thess 2.7 8 9 10. Those who are guilty of these total Omissions in regard of the matter of the Duties commanded them are ungodly in the highest degree for ungodliness strictly and properly speaks the neglect of our Duties to God and sins against the first Table as unrighteousness the neglect of our Duties to our Neighbour and our Transgressions against the Second Table and so none in the whole Scripture more obnoxious to wrath and ruine Psal 73.12 These are the Ungodly who prosper in the World but mark how soon they perish vers 18. Thou castest them down to destruction and utterly consumest them with terrours 2 Pet. 3.7 Jude vers 4. 15. 3. Proposition Those who perform external Duties and wholly neglect internal or please themselves in total inward Omissions cannot be in a state of Salvation God will not be put off with the Body without the Soul of Religion Indeed external Duties are but the Garments or Cloaths of Religion wherein it appears and whereby it is known to the World the life and power of it consists in internal Performances or those that are the motions and actions of the Understanding and Will and Affections as in the Knowledg of God his Being and Excellency and the kindness he hath for and the love he hath to Mankind in Jesus Christ as also in the choosing him for our richest Treasure and supream Lord and Law-giver and in loving him with all the heart and Soul and strength and desiring his love above all the World and delighting in his Favour as the Souls felicity and seeking to please him rather than to command the Creation A man without these is but the Picture of a Saint he hath somewhat of the resemblance but nothing of the reality of a Christian He hath a form but nothing of the power of godliness 2 Tim. 3.1 2 3 4 5 to 7. and therefore is in a state of perdition The neglect of believing repenting loving the Lord Jesus Christ are all inward Omissions for these are acts proper and peculiar to the Soul and condemned in Scripture with the most dreadful damnation Mark 16.16 John 3. ult Luke 13.3 1 Cor. 16.22 If a man pray and pray wholly without Faith and without fervency Jam. 1. Jam. 5. this is no way acceptable to God All such prayers are howlings and bablings and of no sweet sound in Gods Ears Hos 7. Isa 1.15 16 17. Whatsoever a man doth either by way of hearing or singing or praying or receiving if there be not that dread of God and love to his Name and Faith in Christ which are the essentials of these Duties all is as nothing 4. Proposition Those who allow themselves in partial Omissions whether external or internal are in no good Condition By partial Omissions I mean at sometimes as for prayer a man it may be prays in his Closet or Family usually but if any worldly business intervene and calls for his company he will as usually attend on that and wholly omit his Closet and Family-Duties for that Morning or Evening Or for a man to pray as some do only at the Evening and not in the Morning as if God were the God of the Night and not of the Day or as some others who will pray only upon the Lords-Day as if God had a right to them then but not all the week after Or when men perform some religious Duties and not others will pray but not read Scripture daily or pray and read the Word but not take notice of those under their Roofs to instruct and admonish and support them as occasion is Or some will perform their Duties which immediately concern God but will not be charitable to the Poor at least not in such a degree and measure as their Estates will bear and as God expects These and such like I understand by partial and external Omissions What is meant by internal partial Omission is next to be consider'd Partial internal Omissions are when men oftentimes though not constantly are negligent in the manner of performing their Duties and though they be formal and superficial and lazy and slothful in the Worship of God yet they take little or no notice thereof Indeed sometimes they find some heat and warmth and this pleaseth them but at other times they are cold and liveless in their Duties and this doth not much displease them They can commonly pray as if they pray'd not and read as if they read not and wait on God without any suitable and considerable affections towards him and not be disturbed at it These sudden heats at one time and colds at another time speak the Body out of order and the Soul not healthy The next thing to be explain'd is what is meant by allowing themselves in partial Omissions and indeed the stress of the Proposition depends on that To allow themselves in these partial Omissions notes these two things To know these partial Omissions to be sins and yet to continue in them without any great disturbance or trouble of Spirit They must know that they are sins otherwise continuance in them will not argue a total want of Grace or the predominant power of sensuality in the Soul I doubt not but in many dark places of this Nation there may be those who live in a total Omission of some Duties as praying with their Families and a strict sanctification of the Sabbath or who yet fear God in truth and make great Conscience of their Conversations These men neglect prayer and devoting the Sabbath wholly to God c. because they do not know them to be their Duties And where a man desires and endeavours to know his Masters Will and lives up to that Light God hath given him he may upon a general repentance expect pardon through the blood of Christ for
time now is the day of Salvation Therefore O Sinner Agree with thine Adversary quickly while thou art in the way with him lest at any time the Adversary deliver thee to the Judge and the Judge deliver thee to the Officer and thou be cast into Prison Verily I say unto thee thou shalt by no means come out thence till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing Matth. 5.25 26. But having written largely of this in another Treatise and intending to speak of it here only by way of Preface to what I mainly intend and now come to discourse of and that is the Nature Danger Cause and Curse of Sins of Omission in the reasons of this severe Sentence I shall speak no more thereof but proceed to the third general part of the Text and that is the reason CHAP. XV. 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 their Omission thereof deserve Hell Thirdly THe reason of Christ's severe Sentence against them vers 40 43. For I was an hungred and ye gave me no meat I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink I was a stranger and ye took me not in naked and ye clothed me not sick and in prison and ye visited me not The words have nothing of difficulty in them and therefore I shall not wast time in the explication of them Every one knows what it is not to give meat to the Hungry or drink to the Thirsty or Raiment to the Naked c. That it is the omission of a Duty viz. Charity which God commands and also that Believers are the Members of Christ Ephes 1. ult Christ mystical 1 Cor. 12.12 And therefore what injuries are done to them are done to Christ Acts 9. Only it may be needful to speak to these two particulars before I raise the Doctrine 1. Whether there be not the like ground of the Salvation of the blessed that there is of the damnation of the wicked namely the merit of their works Both seem to speak it Come ye blessed c. For I was hungry and ye gave me meat Again Go ye cursed c. For I was hungry and ye gave me no meat c. 2. Why Christ will try men at the great day by the performance or neglect of this Duty of Charity and not rather by their performance or neglect of Prayer Hearing Watchfulness or some other Duty or by their Humility Heavenly-mindedness Patience Temperance c. In answer to the first though Bellarmine affirms There is the same reason in each and Cornel. A Lapide with the rest of the Papists concur therein yet if they were not wilfully blind they might see enough in the Text to disprove them 1. In that Christ calls to the blessed to inherit the Kingdom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which word signifieth Haereditatis jure possidere to enjoy a thing by right of Inheritance from Parents and Ancestors and not by right of Purchase or deserving therefore Heaven is often called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Inheritance Col. 1.12 Ephes 1.14 1 Pet. 1.3 So the Type of it the Land of Canaan is often called by the 70 probably from the division or distribution of the Land by lot to them A 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sors 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lexceu 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Distribuo quia hereditates olim per sortem distribul solebant Josh 14.2 which to a word is the import of the word Now they who enjoy an Estate by right of Sonship do not possess it by Merit What can a Child who may inherit his deceased Fathers Estate in his Child-hood or Infancy do to deserve that Estate 2. In that Christ tells them That this Kingdom was prepared for them before the foundation of the World Now what could they do before they had a Being to deserve this Inheritance And the Apostle is positive that all is to be referred to the Purpose of God not to the piety of any men For saith he the Children being not yet born neither having done any good or evil that the Purpose of God according to Election might stand mark not of works but of him that calleth It was said unto her The Elder shall serve the younger Rom. 9.11 12. Eph. 1.4 Rev. 13.8 If it be Objected That God foresaw that they would improve their Free will unto the performance of such good Works whereby they would deserve Heaven and therefore chose them to Heaven which the Papists stand much upon I answer 1. The fore-sight of their Faith and good Works cannot be the cause of their Election because their Election is by God himself declared to be the cause of their Faith and good Works If their Faith and Obedience be the effect of Election they cannot be the cause of it but so they are Joh. 6.37 All that the Father hath given me shall come to me i. e. believe on me Again As many as were ordained to eternal life believed Act. 13.48 So for good Works Joh. 15.13 Eph. 1.4 Rom. 8.30 2. Then mans will must be the ground of God's Actions not his own Will The Scripture tells us That God worketh all things after the Counsel of his own will Ephes 1.11 But say the Papists in Election God worketh according to the impâ—â—vement of mans will 3. Then the accomplishment of Goâ—… Decree depends upon the mutable and uncertain will of man so that there is a possibility that God may be disappointed of his Choice and his Elect of that Happiness to which they are chosen if both depend on a changeable Creature But the word of God speaks the contrary that God cannot be frustrated of his Choice Psal 33.10 The Counsel of the Lord standeth for ever the thoughts of his heart to all Generations His Decrees are sure 2 Tim. 2.19 though his sentence may be alter'd Jer. 18.7 8 9 10. Nor can the Elect be disappointed Matth. 24.24 If it were possible they would deceive the very Elect. Here the impossibility of their seduction is grounded on the stability of their Election 4. Then there can be no Election of Infants to everlasting life I mean of such as God fore-seeth or ordaineth to die in their infancy because God cannot fore-see that these will improve the liberty of their wills unto Faith and Repentance That Infants may be saved is clear Matth. 19.14 Suffer little Children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven Matthew calls them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first word signifieth Puerulus a little Child one say the Criticks that is in the first seven years of his Age. But the latter Luke 18.15 signifieth Infants newly born or sucking Babes Now if of such is the Kingdom of Heaven then they may be saved But none are saved save such as are elected therefore without any fore-sight of Faith or good Works
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
of these Duties is the out-side of the Command and he who doth them though customarily obeys the Command literally but the sanctifying the Name of God in these Duties and the performance of them with Reverence Humility Faith Love Joy according to the several duties and several parts of them is the inside of the Command and he alone that performeth these Duties in such a manner obeyeth the Law spiritually The neglect of the former is an external Omission for which God threatens Families and Nations Pour out thy wrath upon the Heathen that know thee not and upon the Families that call not upon thy Name Jer. 10.25 They who will not deprecate the wrath of God must feel it and they who will not intreat his Favour must go without it So the not casting the incestuous Person out of the Church was an external omission 1 Cor. 5.2 The neglect of the latter i. e. of performing sabbath-Sabbath-Duties in the forementioned manner is an internal omission Thus God complains of his people that though they pray'd and possibly made long Prayers yet God counts their prayers as no prayers for their internal Omissions There is none that calleth upon thy Name that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee They put up it may be some lazy Petitions but they pour out no hearty Desires Nay God curseth men for doing his work negligently Jer. 48.10 Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord deceitfully CHAP. XXI The agreement and difference between sins of Omission and sins of Commission 2. IT will further explain these sins of Omission to consider the difference between Omissions and Commissions as also their agreement 1. They agree in the Authority forbidding them The same God forbids each sin He that saith Thou shalt not kill The same saith Thou shalt serve me diligently Exod. 20. Jer. 48.10 Matth. 22.37 With all thy heart Matth. 7.13 2. They are both against the same particular Command In the same Command wherein he forbids theft he commands diligence in our Callings and the use of all lawful means for the increase of our own Estates In the same Law wherein he forbids Vncleanness He commands Care and endeavour to preserve our own and our Neighbours Chastity 3. They are both a privation of that Rectitude which is required by the Law to the goodness of every action For if malitia moralis non est quid positivum If there be nothing positive in the formal nature of sin according to the Schoolmen as there can be nothing positive in it unless we will make God the Author of it but a want of a conformity to the Law then every Commission is an Omission in this respect and so they agree in their formal nature 4. They agree in their fruit and effect sins of Commission exclude Heaven and condem to Hell Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Adulterers nor Drunkards nor Covetous shall inherit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Ephes 5.9 and so do sins of Omission as the Text doth abundantly prove The difference between sins of Omission and sins of Commission consisteth 1. In that sins of Commission are against a Negative Law and sins of Omission are against an Affirmative Law Oppression is against a Negative Law Thou shalt not oppress thy Neighbour Thou shalt not oppress a Stranger Neglect of Charity is against an Affirmative Law Give to him that asketh of thee and from him that would borrow turn not thou away Matth. 5.42 2. They differ in this Every Commission proceeds originally from a sin of Omission but sins of Omission do not proceed originally from sins of Commission All sin springeth from this The departure of the heart from God Jer. 2.5 Heb. 3.12 and the want of true love to and fear of his Majesty 1 Joh. 5.3 Joh. 15. which are sins of Omission Where there is no love to God there is no care to forbear what he forbids Joh. 14.24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings And where there is no fear of God all manner of wickedness will abound Psal 36.1.2 David concludes a wicked mans Omission from his sins of Commission The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart That there is no fear of God before his eyes i. e. His scandalous Practices and sins of Commission tell me That he is guilty of inward Omissions That there is no fear of God before his eyes He who casteth off fear will soon let the Reins loose to all Licentiousness They who called not on God will devour Jacob and make waste his dwelling-place Jer. 10. ult No sin comes amiss to them Rom. 3.9 to 14. The monstrous horrid unnatural sins of the Heathen had their beginning in sins of Omission When they knew God i. e. by the light of nature which plainly speaks a Deity they glorified him not as God e. i. did not love him fear him trust in him honour him as God neither were thankful did not acknowledge their Ingagements to him for their noble Beings and manifold Mercies These were sins of Omission but what followeth upon them Truly unnatural bestiality unrighteousness fornication wickedness covetousness maliciousness envy murther pride c. Rom. 21.21 to the end Men leave the fountain of living Waters and then hew themselves broken Cisterns which will hold no water Jer. 2.13 The first and great sin of Mankind proceeded from an omission Adam's heart was turned from God by Unbelief I humbly conceive before ever his Hand touched or Tongue tasted the forbidden fruit But now sins of Omission do not proceed originally from sins of Commission James 1.14 15. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed Then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death Barlow exercit 3. They differ in this that sins of Commission are founded in some act or habit Sins of Omission only in the Soul without acts or habits 1. There is somewhat positive about sins of Commission but nothing about sins of Omission and that is the reason 2. As Drunkenness is an immoderate use of Beer or Wine Here is an act of the Creature and much positive about this sin though nothing positive in the sin it self So in theft another sin of Commission there is somewhat positive about the taking away our Neighbours goods and keeping them as our own but in sins of Omission there is nothing positive as in not praying not hearing not believing not giving to the Poor there is nothing positive no acts but a neglect of acts required Sins of Omission are wholly privative and have nothing of positivity in them 4. They differ in this that sins of Commission are more scandalous in the eyes of men than sins of Omission I do not say sins of Omission are always less hainous than sins of Commission I shall prove by and by they may be
away Sometimes I confess it may be prudence as circumstances may be when there is a probability of enjoying another season to defer it at present but usually it is best to take the present because future time is uncertain and then it may be said A price was in the hand of a Fool and he wanted an heart 3. That if it be evident that more hurt than good will be done by our present performance of our Duties we forbear and defer them For those Duties that do not bind us ad semper God leaves much to the wisdom of the faithful Christian as to the season of performing them 4. That a certain good at present must be chosen before an uncertain future good though greater than the former If I have a price now in my hands to do my self or Neighbour some good and neglect to improve it but defer it hoping hereafter for an opportunity of doing my self and Neighbour more good this is sinful I doubt not but Felix sinned in putting Paul off till another season though he had intended to hear him afterwards for his own greater profit which he was far enough from because he must know that his own lâ—â—e continuance in his Government and Paul's life were all at the pleasure of another not at his own Reader if thou art upright with God what is said will be sufficient but if out of the deceitfulness of thy heart thy plea be only a pretence for the total omission of thy Duty know assuredly that if thou canst find no season to do God Service he will find no season for thy Salvation CHAP. XLVI A third excuse for sins of Omission It is but one sin with the answer to it 3. A Third excuse which men have for sins of Omission is It is but one Duty I omit and I hope there is no such great danger in that Though I do not read the Word yet I pray though I examine not my own heart yet I read Scripture and mind prayer It is true I give not to the poor but I am painful in my Calling and provident 〈◊〉 my Family as God commandeth me What hurt can there be if some one secret Duty the omission of which cannot be scandalous should never be performed Surely God who knoweth our weak infirm nay wicked and dâ—praved natures cannot exspect universal Obedience to his positive or negative Commands He understands that Perfection is impossible to the humane nature since the Fall and therefore sent his Son into the World to take away the sins of it To cure the distemper of the brain for it 's a kind of phrensie which makes men argue after this rate consider 1. That there is a vast difference between thy being guilty of many sins and allowing thy self in one sin Grace may consist with the being of many sins in the same subject but not with the liking of one sin As the love of money is the root of all evil so is the love of Sin the root of all the evil that befals the Sinner He who knew he could not hinder the inherency of many sins yet desires and endeavours to prevent the regency of any one Sin Psal 119.132 Order my steps by thy Word and let not any iniquity have dominion over me Oserve not any iniquity 2. Consider that the Omission of one Duty may send thee to Hell as well as the Omission of many Duties One Knife one Sword one Bullet one blow may kill a man as well as a thousand If thou allowest thy self in one Omission thou art a Servant to this one Sin For his Servant thou art whom thou obeyest Rom. 6.16 and so the Devils Slave for he hath thee as fast by this one Chain as by many and consequently an Enemy and Rebel against God and accordingly shalt suffer eternally Thy Soul Friend is the price of every sin and when thou allowest thy self in any one thou dost implicitly though not expresly bargain with the Devil thy Master to sell him thy Soul for the wages of unrighteousness 1 King 21.20 One man in Law may keep possession and keep the right owner out of his Estate One sin may keep possession for Satan and hinder Jesus Christ from his Right I mean from sitting on the Throne and swaying the Scepter of thy Soul Wallowing in one puddle defiles the Body and tumbling in one piece of filthiness defiles the Soul One piece of ward-Land though but a quarter of an Acre makes a man liable to the King and brings in his whole Estate though he be worth thousands per annum Therefore Friend do not say it is but one sin and I may be bold with it but rather it is Sin and so mortal and I may not allow it As Christ gave himself to redeem thee from all iniquity Titus 2.14 So do thou give thy self to him in all manner of Duty How severely have some been punished for one Sin Moses for not sanctifying the Name of God at one time Eli for omitting to reprehend his Children according to their wickedness which was one Sin Aarons Sons for not fetching their fire from the Altar as some judge were struck dead Levit. 10.1 2. If the Righteous be recompenced on the Earth much more the Transgressor and the Sinner Take heed if Saul's sparing one Agag lost him his temporal thy sparing one Sin lose thee not the eternal Kingdom 3. This one Sin will not go alone thou mayst hope when thou hast opened the door for this one Sin to enter that thou canst presently shut and keep out its associates but it is impossible Sins are sociable and ever go in company First one evil Spirit takes possession of the man and then seven more worse than himself As there is a concatenation of Graces where one goeth all the rest follow 2 Pet. 1.5 6 7 8. so there is a concatenation of Sins 2 Tim. 3.2 3 4 5. They are so linkt one in another that as in a Chain the drawing of one link brings with that a second and that a third and that a fourth and all are drawn to the very end of the Chain When Dalilah had enticed and prevailed with Sampson then come the Lords of the Philistines and bind him and put out his eyes and set him to grind at the Mill and to make them sport When one sin by its flatteries hath deceived and possessed thy Soul then come others more potent and lordly to strengthen Satans hold and make way for others Any one sin allowed is a great-bellied Monster who hath a numerous brood in the Womb of it It doth insensibly harden the heart and strongly disposeth it for other Sins as one wedge makes way for another Who could have thought that David's idleness should be accompanied with so great and cursed a crew He who neglects Morning-Prayer is hereby disposed to neglect God in his Calling and to buy and sell and do all without his counsel Consider Friend if thou fall from the top of a
the wicked Neighbours of these men will confess the truth thereof and their Consciences will force them to consent thereto Again there is hardly a Muck-worm whose Motto is To have and to hold to heap and to hoard up who will as soon part with his blood as any thing considerable to the poor but all his Neighbours good and bad observe him speak of him and generally condemn him for his earthly-mindedness So that when Christ at the Great Day shall accuse him they will be forced to attest the truth of that Accusation and when Christ at that day shall condemn him they cannot but agree to the Sentence Psal 52.6 7. The Righteous also shall see and fear and shall laugh at him Lo this is the man that made not God his strength but trusted in the abundance of his riches and strengthned himself in his wickedness 2. Because these acts of Charity are signes of Faith and Love to which Graces Heaven is promised James 1.12 James 2.5 Joh. 3.16 17 ult Christ who knoweth the Heart understandeth â—â—om what inward root our outward â—ruit springeth and therefore Faith and Love which are the Fountain of true Charity James 2.15 16 17. being inward and secret he mentions what is more open and known as a sign and testimony of that faith in him and love to him which are invisible and unknown to the World Faith is a Grace seated in the heart With the heart man believeth unto righteousness where by heart I suppose is understood the Vnderstanding and Will for Faith in habitu is in each and in exercitio an act of both And the heart is called an hidden man 1 Pet. 3. But it discovers it self to the Believer by love For when once the Soul applieth Christ for Pardon and Life and begins to hope for those great and good things which Christ hath purchased for him and promised to him this Faith kindleth an holy flame of Love in the affections to Christ and hereby the Soul understands that he is a true Believer beloved of God for our Love is but the reverberation of God's Love back again to himself 1 Joh. 4.19 And then Faith discovers it self to others by these fruits and effects of love to God i. e. feeding the Hungry and cloathing the Naked St. Paul tells us That Faith works by love as its Tool or Instrument Gal. 5.6 Love to God produceth love to his Saints and love to the Saints will draw out the hand and heart and purse to relieve them in their wants 1 Joh. 3.17 Love is costly and expensive thinks nothing too much or too good for it s Beloved Mary's Box of Oyntment is very precious but not too precious for her Lord. Life is worth all the World yet laid down for a Christian at the command of Love 1 Joh. 3.16 Hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us 3. Because practical godliness of which Charity is a part will be that by which men shall be tried at the Great Day our Lord Jesus doth hereby declare That it is not the Profession but the practice of Religion that will be enquired into by the Judge of quick and dead It is not saying Be thou fed and be thou cloathed without giving wherewith to be fed and cloathed But it is feeding the Hungry and cloathing the Naked that shall be rewarded Good words may please our selves but good works only please God and profit our own Souls Not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven It 's the doing not the talking Christian that hath the promise of Heaven Matth. 7. It 's the practical not the verbal Christian that hath a right to Heaven through the precious blood of Christ and the gracious promise of God Rev. 22.14 Blessed are they that do his Commandments that they may have right to the Tree of Life and may enter in through the gates into the City It is the real not the nominal Christian that is prepared for heaven None are fit to do the will of God in heaven but those who have been accustomed to do the Will of God on Earth There is a making meet for the Inheritance of the Saints in light Col. 1.12 A young man by the School is made meet for the University and a Christian by practical Holiness is fitted for eternal Happiness Our Redeemer would hereby declare That all shews and shadows of Godliness all gaudy Professions and curious flourishes of Religion if void of good Works though as Gloworms they shine somewhat in the dark night of this World yet in the long day of eternity they will all vanish and disappear God will not then examine who hath been the greatest Talker of his Will but the greatest Walker in his Way nor who hath been the best Speaker but who hath been the best Doer For whoso looketh into the perfect Law of Liberty and continueth therein he being not a forgetful Hearer but a doer of the Work this man shall be blessed in his deed Jam. 1.25 Hearing the Word without doing the Work it commands brings no blessing The life and substance of Religion consists in practising what is good and not in praising what is good It consists in scripture-Scripture-Duties not in Scripture Phrases 4. Because Christ would hereby publish to the World the great respect he hath for Charity therefore he tells us He will take special notice of his Saints Charity at that day Charity whether in relieving the Oppressed or comforting the Sorrowful or counselling the Doubtful or supporting the Feeble or feeding the Hungry or visiting the Sick or cloathing the Naked is highly esteemed of Christ To what Duty hath he annexed more or larger Promises Matth. 5.7 Psal 18.25 Eccles 11.1 2. Psal 41.1 Psal 112.1 Isa 58.12 He speaks of it as if very much of Religion did consist in it and almost all of it Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is to visit the Fatherless and the Afflicted James 1. ult He slights our most severe Duties those which are most irksome to the flesh if this be wanting Psal 58.7 8 9 10. He limits his own Mercy to the merciful 2 Sam. 22.25 James 2.13 He is himself a merciful High Priest Heb. 5. He had compassion on the ignorant and those that were out of the way Heb. 5.2 On those that had nothing to eat Matth. 15.32 On those that were scattered as sheep without a Shepheard Matth. 9.36 Therefore he cannot but value exceedingly and love tenderly those that are like him That which lieth so near his heart must needs be enquired after as much if not more than any thing else And there is scarce any thing that speaks our respect of persons or things more than our enquiry after them Joseph loved his Father Jacob dearly I suppose far above all his Kindred and therefore he first enquires after him â—…s your
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
walk and converse with the blessed and glorious God Is not his Law worth observing his Glory worth advancing and his Service worth minding and his Love worth accepting when he can make thee miserable or happy with a word in an instant when thou and all thou hast are in his hand every moment to be disposed of for Good or Evil altogether at his Pleasure when he can with the breath of his Nostrils with the blast of his Lips with a glance of his Eye send thee to Hell where the Worm never dieth and the Fire never goeth out Friend consider it Is it not good advice to wish thee to sue and seek to him to pray to and please him upon whom thine unchangeable Felicity or Misery dependeth and who shall judge thee to thine everlasting state of Life or Death Is it not good to have the King thy Friend how many Pleasures may he do thee and how many Favours may he bestow on thee But how much better is it to have the King of Kings thy Friend What Pleasure is there which he cannot do thee what Favour which he cannot bestow on thee He can give thee Earth Heaven Riches Honours Pleasures Life Health Food Raiment Friends Relations his Day his Word his Ordinances his Love his Image his Peace his Joy his Spirit his Son Himself every Good any Good all Good O how blessed is he that hath this God! But Reader wouldst thou have all these without so much as asking for them We say they are poor Favours that are not worth asking Sure I am these Mercies are of more value than thine Understanding can conceive and therefore must deserve more Prayers and Tears and Groans for them than thou art capable of giving Do not any day upon any pretence omit to offer up thy Morning and Evening Sacrifices Remember so often as thou neglectest Morning-Prayer so often thou art all the day naked destitute of thy spiritual Guard and exposed to all manner of Evils and Enemies and dost fore-speak thy self an evil Day and so often as thou omittest Evening-Prayer thou presumest upon sleep and rest and safety without God's leave and fore-speakest thy self an evil Night What did Thomas lose by one Omission Jesus appeared the first day of the week to his Disciples but Thomas saith the Text was not there Joh. 20.24 But what is the issue of this Omission truly by his neglecting this opportunity of confirming his Faith he falls into a desperate fit of Unbelief When the Apostles told him That they had seen the Lord He presently answers Except I shall see in his hands the print of the Nails and put my finger into the print of the Nails and thrust my hand into his side I will not believe Joh. 20.24 25. Ah what had become of Thomas if infinite Majesty had not stooped to recover him 2. Take heed of internal Omissions In the next place I advise thee to look seriously to the manner of thy performances to be sure that thou worship God with thy Heart and Affections This is the chief and substance and heart of thy Performances according to which they shall be accepted or not In all thy Addresses draw nigh to God with an humble Faith and Confidence as to a Father ready able and willing to supply all thy wants and answer all thy Doubts and to grant all thy Prayers and Desires as also with a chearful reverence and awfulness as to a God infinite in his Being and in all his Perfections between whom and thee a poor worm there is an infinite distance In every Duty Let thy Faith in Christ thy Love to God and thy Repentance from dead Works be exercised Hereby thy Duties will be more comfortable to thy self Men that perform Duties in a round out of custom or for fashion-sake have no pleasure therein are backward to them untoward at them and careless after them They come to them with trouble as to that to which their hearts have a reluctancy and go from them with joy as from that which was burdensome and tedious to them But when men pray with a sense of their wants and beg mercy with hope in the blood of Christ and have their love and joy acted in their Duties how sweetly do they come off nay how pleasant are they in the very performance of them Communion with God in them brings peace and comfort indeed Now Reader do I advise thee to thy hurt when I advise thee to the life of a Saint to the life of an Angel to a life of love and joy and delight in the Father of Mercies and God of all Consolations Is not this Life the Suburbs the Earnest the First-fruits of the life of the Blessed of the life of those heavenly Courtiers who bathe themselves without intermission in Springs of Joy and in Rivers of Pleasures And by this care of thine about the manner of performing thy Duties they will be the more acceptable to God He commands the Heart Prov. 23.26 delights in truth in the inward parts Psal 51. and is nigh to them that call upon him in truth Psal 34. How pleasing would it be to thee to know thy prayers and readings to be pleasing to God Jer. 30.21 And I will cause him to draw near and to approach unto me i. e. with welcome and acceptance for who is this that engageth his heart to approach unto me If thou bring thy Heart to a Duty God will bring his Ear to hear thee In the prosecution of this Use I shall first lay down some Arguments or Motives to inforce it 2. Lay down the cause of these Omissions which are so frequent among us 3. Prescribe somewhat for the Cure and Remedy thereof CHAP. XXXIV Arguments against Omissions The positiveness of our Rule and of Gods Mercies I Begin with the first viz. The Arguments to move us to mind positive Duties 1. Consider the Law which God hath given us for the Rule of our Lives is both positive and negative and therefore our Obedience must be such What need positive Precepts but to require positive Practices Single Prohibitions would have sufficed for a negative Religion The Law is holy in its Commands that immediately concern God just in what it commands concerning our Neighbours and good in what it commands concerning our selves Rom. 7.12 Look to the Moral Law every negative command hath a positive Precept Take the Prophets all along that speak in the Name of the Lord and we shall find that they still enjoyn Duty as well as forbid Sin Deut. 12.29 to the end Take heed that thou be not snared by following the Nations that are destroyed before thee and that thou inquire not after their gods saying How did these Nations serve their gods even so will I do likewise Here is Sin forbidden But mark also Duty is commanded What thing soever I command you observe to do it thou shalt not add thereto nor diminish from it Nay a Copy of this Law both positive
blindness of their hearts A blind man may well miss his way and a blind Mind can never do his work Whatever the World talks of their honesty and goodness notwithstanding their ignorance Without knowledge the mind is not good Prov. 19.2 They presume to excuse their dark Heads with their good Hearts but these two are inconsistent A dark Cellar is not fuller of Vermine nor a dark hole of dust than a dark Heart is of filthiness Hos 4.1 2. They who want the knowledge of God are under the dominion of the Devil He is the Ruler of the darkness of this World Ephes 6. And I am sure the unclean Spirit never bears sway in a clean Heart nor this evil Spirit in a good Heart No as the Eagle he first pecks out the eyes of his prey and then devours it How easily is a blind Soul conquer'd and kill'd by the enemies of his Salvation What Error will not an ignorant Creature swallow down he is like water ready to take the impression and form of what Vessel you please to pour him into Matth. 22.29 Our Saviour tells the Sadduces That they erred not knowing the Scriptures And the Apostles told the Corinthians who doubted at least about the Resurrection as the Sadduces denied it Some have not the knowledge of God 1 Cor. 15.32 What crime will not an ignorant man commit Knowledge to the Mind is as Light to the World which discovers our way and thereby prevents our wandrings but it 's no wonder at all for men in the night and darkness of ignorance to go astray or to stumble and fall If a man walk in the night he stumbleth because he seeth not the light of this World Joh. 11.9 Why do we think Sin is called a work of darkness truly not only because it 's from the Devil the Prince of Darkness and he that doth evil loveth darkness hates the light and it 's the way to blackness of darkness but also because it 's conceived in the Womb of a dark Heart The Prince of Darkness may beget what Monsters he pleaseth on such Persons 2 Tim. 3.3 Ignorant women were laden with divers lusts No soil fuller of such weeds than that which is not manured with knowledge St. Paul's ignorance was the ground of his wasting the Church at such a cruel rate I was a Blasphemer a Persecutor injurious but I did it ignorantly 1 Tim. 1.13 That Monster Sin which the Sun hid his head as ashamed to behold the Murther of our Lord Jesus Christ had ignorance for its Mother Acts 3.15 Ye killed the Prince of Life vers 17. And now Brethren I wot that through ignorance ye did it as did also your Rulers So the Apostle Paul Had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory Now if ignorance be the cause of such grieveous Commissions it must much more be the cause of Omission for in all these Commissions there are great Omissions but I shall shew particularly that Ignorance is one cause of sins of Omission We are bound to love God and that with all our Hearts and with all our Souls and with all our Strength Matth. 22.37 But is it possible to love one whom we are ignorant of Did ever any fear an unknown Evil or desire or delight in an unknown Good Are not the greatest Rarities and richest Jewels of the World that are undiscovered undesired The Apostle saith He that loveth not his Brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen 1 Joh. 3. I am sure he that doth not so much as see God with the eye of his Soul his Understanding can never love him We say What the eye sees not the heart grieves not it 's as true what the eye seeth not the heart loves not Who can obey Divine Precepts who is ignorant of them or fear Divine Threatnings who doth not know them or be allured by Divine Promises who is altogether a stranger to them God and Christ and Pardon and Life and Promises Covenant may stand long enough knocking at the door of an Heart fastened with Ignorance before they will find admittance It is our Duty our great Gospel-Duty to believe in Christ Joh. 6. This is his Commandment that ye believe in him whom he hath sent 1 Joh. 3.23 But ignorance hinders this How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard Rom. 10.10 Who will trust a meer stranger especially in a matter of weight I had need to know him well whom I trust with my Soul and Salvation with all I am worth for this and the other World A wise man will not venture his Estate much less his Life least of all his Soul with one of whose integrity and faithfulness and ability and responsibleness he hath not good assurance The Psalmists saying is They that know thy Name will trust in thee Psal 9.10 They who know thy Grace Goodness thy Promise and Power and Truth they will trust thee but others will not Paul's hope could not have been so high nor the Wine of his joy so brisk when his Death drew near had it not been for his great acquaintance with him with whom he had ventured his all 2 Tim. 1.12 I know whom I have believed how willing how ready how able to save me and what I have committed to him he is able to keep for me against that day Knowledg is so requisite to Faith that it 's once again put for Faith Isa 53.10 1 Cor. 2.2 Joh. 17.3 Phil. 3.8 9. but Ignorance is Faiths great hinderance Again Our Duty is to repent even pain of eternal perdition Luke 13.3 Matth. 11.22 23. But ignorance causeth men to omit this as well as the other Where there is a vail upon the Understanding there is ever a caul upon the Heart and Conscience As in the night season we have always the hardest Frosts and the coldest weather Therefore the Holy Ghost tells us when Israel shall repent and turn to the Lord The vail shall be taken away 2 Cor. 3.16 17. While the vail remains they are still turning more and more from God till wrath come upon them to the uttermost but when the Vail shall be taken away that they shall see the evil and mischief and loathsomeness and folly of those ways they have turned to and also for the beauty and amiableness and bounty and kindness of that God they have turned from then they will quickly return unto the Lord. Indeed men may thank their Ignorance for most of their Omissions especially the Heathen and many Christians who live in dark corners of the Land I and many who are as void and empty of Knowledge as the Heathen who live under the Gospel Many of these neglect family-Family-Duties closet-Closet-Prayer a strict Sanctification of the Lords-Day edifying others to their power as opportunity is offer'd them and several others because they do not understand them to be their Duty Reader the cure of this must be for
proceed but defers him to a more convenient season which never came that we hear of Many persons put off in a Morning Closet-Prayer and family-Family-Duties pretending they shall be better at leisure before Noon and thereby come to neglect them wholly for that part of the day As Saul forbad the Priest to ask Counsel of God for want of leisure 1 Sam. 14.19 Others when Alms are desired of them by fit Objects of Charity will not deny them positively but do it really by deferring it till another season which the poor Creatures never see Thus the Devil destroyeth many Souls by prevailing with them to delay their Faith and Repentance upon pretence hereafter will be time enough and then such and such affairs will be over and then they will be more at leisure to mind them If he can thus gain time of men he doubts not but to make them lose thereby an happy eternity he is pleased well enough to hear men say they must and will repent they must and will believe knowing there are few in Hell who enjoyed the Gospel but sometime or other said as much but as long as it is in the future Tense I will and I will and he can perswade them that they are unseasonable Duties at present he fears nothing as knowing himself sure enough of his prey To take away this cause of Omissions I shall answer this excuse 1. I answer by confessing that it may be that some positive Duties may at some times be unseasonable The best sort of Food is not always in season Solomon tells us There is a time to sow and a time to reap Eccles 3.1 2. All the year is not Seed-time only some part of it And it must be granted that every thing is most beautiful in its season vers 11. then in its season it is most lustrous and lovely most amiable and comely The grace and glory of an Action consisteth much in the right timing of it therefore it is the praise of a good man That he bringeth forth his fruit in due season Psal 1. And it highly advanceth the Wisdom of God that all his Actions are done in the neck in the joynt in the fittest opportunity possible When the fulness of time was come God sent his Son Gal. 4.3 4. He hath out of his goodness allotted time for every Duty Eccles 3.1 There is a time to every purpose and Duty for every part of time so that a man can never say at this time I have nothing to do Nay God hath allowed a season an opportunity for every thing wherein by a concurrence of helps and means it may be done with most ease and advantage Isa 50.4 2. I answer that some positive Duties are never unseasonable To honour our God to work out our Salvation to keep a good Conscience to love and believe in our Lord Jesus Christ are always in season These and such like ought to be concommitant with every part of our time Trust in the Lord at all time Psal 62.8 I will bless thy Name all the day Blessed are they that keep Judgment and do Righteousness at all times Psal 106.3 Therefore it is as some observe that when Solomon mentions a time for several things he mentions no time for doing evil because that must never be done and no time for doing good because that must ever be done That which ought to have no being should have no time to be in That which ought always to be needs not the mention of any particular time to be in 3. I answer that no Duties are unseasonable when more good than hurt is done by the present performance of them To reprove our Neighbour offending is a Duty yet if I knew that my reproving him at this time would make him curse and swear and sin more against God I would defer it till another time but if I thought that I should not have another season to do it in and that present Reproof would only put him into a little pet or passion at present but afterwards probably he would consider it to his advantage I would embrace the present opportunity He that will omit that Duty till all things concur to his mind for the performance of it must never perform it There is hardly a step to be taken in our Journey towards Heaven but there is a block in the way to make us stumble at it or go aside for it That if I will observe the Wind I must not sow at all 4. I answer Take heed that this pretence of the unseasonableness of Duties be not a device of the flesh and a wile of the Devil to cloak and cover thy unwillingness to performance of them It 's easie to find some shift for every sin and truly there is none thou canst live in but Satan and thy own heart together will help thee to sufficient grounds for them Scarce any are gone to Hell without some reason on their side for going thither 5. I answer that we must consult God and his Word for Wisdom to know and faithfulness to perform our Duties in their best seasons The heart of the wise discerneth both time and judgment Eccles 8.5 A good man that looks to God and his Word with a single eye desiring to know what he should do and when he may do it best to the pleasing of God shall be taught and led by the Spirit of God in the way which he should go in The Word of God is perfect and directs thee about the fittest seasons for thy Duties It teacheth thee when to mourn Joel 2.13 14. Isa 22.22 23. when to rejoyce Exod. 15.1 2. Nehem. 8.10 when to pray and when to sing James 5.13 when to reprove and when to be silent Amos 5.13 when to give and when to forbear giving Prov. 3.27 Yet still there will be much need of Christian prudence and it may be helpful to thee to observe some general Rules 1. That a greater good be preferred before a lesser and a more weighty Duty always have the precedency of what is less weighty Though a lesser good and a less weighty Duty must be minded in their time and place yet the greater must have the precedency Matth. 6.33 Publick advantage must not be crouded out and put by for private nor spiritual good give way to temporal Shimei shew'd his folly in minding his wealth more than his life And Mary her wisdom was improving the present time for her Soul when Martha was troubled about other things 2. That generally the present time be laid hold on and the first opportunity for the doing of good Time is bald behind and therefore its good to take it by the fore-lock It 's the Mariners wisdom to take the first good Wind that offers it self for his Voyage and it may be the Merchants policy to take the first Chapman The Apostle saith While ye have time do good to all Gal. 8.10 implying that they will not always have it it is winged and flieth
Ladder but one round it will be many to one if thou stop before thou comest to the bottom 4. This one sin allowed makes thee guilty of all sins By the breach of one Command thou disownest the Authority by which all the Commands are enjoyned James 2.10 For whosoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point is guilty of all It 's true he doth not break the whole formally he may be no Thief no Murderer c. But 1. He breaks the whole Law interpretatively He slights and despiseth the Author of the whole Law He cannot obey God in any Command who endeavours not to obey him in every Command the Apostle subjoyns this reason for he that said Do not commit Adultery said also Do not kill so that if thou commit not Adultery yet if thou killest thou art a Transgressor of the Law 2. He breaks the whole Law collectively though not distributively All the Commands are ten words but one Law The whole Law is one Copulative or Chain break one link you disorder and mar all The whole Body suffers by a wound given to any one part The Commands are consider'd all together not severally as they make one entire and perfect rule of righteousness from which whosoever swerveth in regard of any part of it must needs swerve from the whole 3. He breaks the whole Law eventually though not intentionally in the consequent of his Disobedience to one Command He is liable to the same Curse with those that break every Command He is as truly out of favour with God as if he had kept never a Command Any one condition not observed forfeits the whole Lease be it never so large and any one Command not obeyed forfeits the benefits of the Gospel and subjects the Soul to eternal damnation 4. He breaks the whole Law habitually though not actually The same wicked nature which carrieth him out to break one Command wilfully would carry him out to break them all if it were not restrained This mans heart breaks every Command though his hands be tied and he is hindred from breaking many of the Commands 5. He breaks the whole Law by the breach of any one because he sins against love and breaks that bond and knot which keeps and fastens the whole Law together Rom. 13.10 Qui uno peccavit omnium reus est peccans contra charitatem in qua omnia pendent Aug. Epist 29. He that breaks one Command is guilty of all because he sins against Charity on which all hang saith Austin Therefore upon the breach of one viz. That of the Sabbath God chargeth the Jews with the guilt of all Exod. 16.18 5. I answer if it be but one sin thou livest in but one Duty thou livest in the omission of the more foolish art thou to lose all for lack of doing one thing more Though as the young man said thou hast kept all the Commands from thy youth yet if as Christ said to him thou lackest one thing truly as with him the lack of this one thing will be the loss of all And what a Fool is he who runs for a Crown an incorruptible Crown to run within one step of the Goal and then to make a stop and thereby to lose the prize Is not he an unwise man who layeth a large Foundation raiseth up stately Floors is at great cost in building an House yet for want of a little more charge about some material pillar of the Edifice suffers it all to fall down Reader Consider it the omission of one Duty is the amission of all thy Duties If God lose but one thou losest all And art thou willing to lose all thy labour all thy days at the Labour-in-vain and that for want of taking a little more pains and doing one thing more for thy Soul and Salvation One flaw in a Diamond mars all its beauty and brightness One blot in a writing may spoil the whole and render it insignificant One poisonful Herb renders all the good and wholsom Herbs in the pot unprofitable Therefore do not say It is but one therefore I may omit it but rather it is but one Duty more to all my other Duties and therefore I will not stick at it CHAP. XLVII A fifth cause of sins of Omission The example of others with the cure of it 5. ANother cause of sins of Omission is the example of others Men are much led by the eye more than by the ear and look rather to what their Neighbours do than to what God speaketh Though all men are not of one mind in all things yet most in the places where we live are of a mind about evil and against good The whole City of Sodom will joyn together in a sin that was against the very light of nature Sodom and Gomorrah and the Cities about them sinned in like manner The Diseases of others Souls are far more infectious than the Plague or any other Disease of their Bodies The ground why several neglect the Duties God requireth is because others neglect them They see their Neighbours some of whom are counted possibly wise men and are it may be rich men and great men and others who are numerous to live without God to omit Prayer and Scripture in their Families to neglect the instruction of their Children and Servants and they think they may omit them as safely as others Nay they will tell us such and such men are sober men and understand themselves well enough and they think it needless to make so much ado about Family-Duties and the sanctification of the Sabbath c. and our Neighbours generally are of their mind and why should we be wiser than our Neighbours O what a ready Scholar is man to learn a wicked Lesson that is set him by others If Corah conspire against God he shall quickly have some hundreds to joyn with him in his rebellion They move swiftly towards the dead Sea of destruction who are carried thitherward by the tide of Nature and blown powerfully with the wind of Example The patterns of them who are Persons of Quality and Estate have a strange prevalency upon the inferior sort and are often the Looking-glasses by which they dress themselves Ordinary men look on their Superiors especially if they be not scandalous as men of wisdom whether they be such or no and fit to guide and govern others and so judge they cannot err much if they follow their steps The Pharisees plead this for the Omission of the great Gospel-Duty Joh. 7 48. Have any of the Rulers of the Pharisees believed on him Will ye be wiser than they Do you think that if Faith in this Son of man as he calls himself were a Duty they would neglect it or if he were the true Messiah such understanding men as they would not know it One great man as a great Letter in an Indenture though it signifie no more than another small one hath many small ones following him The Herodians
some think were so called from their conforming to Herod in their Religion And it 's judged the Melchites who lived in the East were so called from Melech i. e. of the Kings Religion The works of great men are more powerful with the ordinary sort than the the Will and Word of the great God Again the example of the multitude is very forcible Men are carried down with the stream both easily and strongly It is as common to do as the most do in irreligious as in natural actions We think our selves in greatest safety when we are with the most numerous Party To be singular is lookt upon as ridiculous and those who are so are counted proud conceited precisians Men choose rather to be sociable in sin than singular in sanctity and to do as the most do than as the best do The fewness of Christ's Followers was a stumbling-block to his Enemies and an offence to his Friends To cure this Reader consider 1. That no patterns of any men are valid against the Precepts of God The Precepts of God are like himself of certain purity and eternal verity but the patterns of men are like themselves vain and variable Our business is not to look to what men do but to what God speaketh It is highly derogatory to the supream Being to make the examples of men and not his Commands the rule of our lives The examples of Murderers Thieves Drunkards Swearers are of as much force against the good and wholsome Law of a Prince as the irreligious examples of any men are against the holy and righteous Laws of God A Judge would deride the Malefactors Plea that should say It is true I have broke the Kings Laws but have done no more than such an Esquire or Knight or Lord I have but imitated them therein Or that should say I was guilty of such Treasons but I joyn'd with many other Traytors I had good store of company with me And dost thou think Reader the Judge of Quick and Dead when he shall arraign thee for thine unchangeable Estate and demand of thee why thou omittedst the Duties he enjoyn'd thee will accept thy Plea when thou shalt say It is true Lord I did live without Scripture or Prayer in my Family but such and such great men who lived near me did so as well as I I wrot after their Copies and thought it would be well enough to do as they did or when thou shalt say Lord though I neglected thy Worship and Service I followed therein almost all the Town and Parish where I lived and I judged it best to imitate the most Canst thou imagine that such a silly simple excuse will bear any weight Thou wilt not take such a pitiful Plea from any Child or Servant in thy Family If thy Child when reproved by thee for Drunkenness or Thieving or Disobeying thy Commands should excuse himself and say Sir other mens Sons are as bad as I such a Gentleman's Sons are worse the Children of very many meet and joyn with me in all my drinking stealing and debauched courses How ill would such an answer sound in thine ears Or what wouldst thou think if thy Servant instead of doing the work appointed him should run from Ale-house to Ale-house and spend his time in Carding and Dicing and then excuse it to thee that he did as others did there were many beside himself and some of Quality who were examples to him Consider how poor how pitiful how irrational a Plea it is to excuse thy Disobedience to God by thy imitation of irreligious men and do not think that the great God will take that excuse from thee which thou wilt not from a Child or Servant Surely there is a little more difference between the boundless blessed God and thee a poor Worm than there is between thee and any Son or Servant 2. Consider If thou wilt follow others be they great or many in sin thou shalt also follow them in intollerable and eternal Sufferings The ways of such tend to death and their steps take hold of Hell And if thou wilt walk in their ways and tread in their steps thou canst not avoid their end Rev. 18.4 Come out from among her my people and be not partakers of her Sins that ye receive not her Plagues He that catcheth the Plague of another catcheth all the pain and weakness and ill effects of such a Disease Do not think to feed on wicked mens Dainties to live their lazy sensual lives and not to pay their reckoning Sodom and Gomorrah and the Cities about them went a whoring after strange Flesh here they joyn in sinning but are they separated in sufferings truly no Are set forth for an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire Jude vers 7. If they unite in wickedness they shall be united in woe God will bind them up together as Tares for the fire I know Reader thou wouldst not be willing to dwell for ever with and fare for ever as wicked great men shall Tophet is prepared of old for the King it is prepared he hath made it deep and large the pile thereof is fire and much wood the breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it Isa 30. ult And why then wilt thou do as they do and resemble them now in time It is unavoidable Live as they do here and live as they do for ever Again thou art unquestionably loth to be with and suffer as the most shall to eternity At the great day the World i. e. the far greater part of it shall be condemned 1 Cor. 11.31 When they shall be arraigned for their endless Estates they shall be cast and condemned to the company and curses and torments of the Devils for ever and ever and if thou wouldst not die their Deaths or partake of their unchangeable Conditions why wilt thou live their lives and walk in their wicked ways 3. Consider of all patterns these two The greatest or richest and the multitude are most unfit for thy imitation Because of all men these usually are the worst men and do least imitate Christ For great men how few are there who are good Grace and Greatness are happy and lovely but rare Conjunctions Solomon tells us That Wisdom is good with an Inheritance Eccles 7.11 But where shall we find Wisdom and Wealth Righteousness and Riches together Great and rich men have their Farms and Merchandizing and Honours and Pleasures and other things to look after than their Souls and Salvation How hardly saith our Saviour shall a rich man enter into the Kingdom of Heaven It may well be hard for him who turns the cords of Love and bands of Kindness into fewel to his lusts and weapons of unrighteousness Blessed be God there are some great men who walk religiously but truly they are very few Brethren ye know your calling not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called But God hath chosen the