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A66437
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Warnings to the unclean in a discourse from Rev. XXI. 8. Preacht at Springfield lecture, August 25th. 1698. At the execution of Sarah Smith. By Mr. John Williams pastor of the Church at Deerfield.
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Williams, John, 1664-1729.
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1699
(1699)
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Wing W2743; ESTC W15452
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28,591
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67
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any company or society when but a little of their sin is made known or but a few of their ungodly pranks brought to light but now all shall be made manifest to their everlasting disgrace 6. God won't design any good to you in any in all those sorrows and torments that you shall indure Here when God chastens he aims at profit he puts into the Furnace to puriâ—y but then his wrath will be a confirming fire Reprobate silver shall they be called God who was so long abused slighted and disregarded will not have one thought or intention to do you any good or to prepare you by these miseries for his favour He sentenceth to everlasting fire prepared for Devils You will be separated from all those that God designs good to the Judgments of God will be to make you miserable Oh! Consider of these things you that forget God least he tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver you It s an ease to the Spirits of many a man and woman under afflictions to have comfortable hopes and perswasions that God is carrying on a design of Love Grace to their Souls by such Dispensations that by these he is preventing worse Judgments 1 Cor. 11.32 but no ease can come to the Damned from any such consideration God never designs to bring them out of torment but the Smoke of their torment will ascend for ever and ever USE III. Of Warning To Warn all to take heed of those sin and to warn them that are guilty of them speedily to repent and fly to Christ for pardon and forgiveness 1. To warn every one of you to take heed of these sins 1. Or God may justly suffer you to be punished in the same way that you abuse others Job 30.10 God permits this many times by way of retaliation 2 Sam. 12.11 Hos. 4.12.15 they themselves had been unclean You would be far from taking pleasure in having these sins paid back into your own botomes to have Husbands or Wives to have Children Sons or Daughters left of God to Uncleanness but it would be a righteous thing with God to permit you to be exercised after such a sort 2. Or you will take a course to bring an unremoveable reproach blemish and spot on your selves Prov. 6.33 If you get a pardon as to everlasting punishment yet a spot will remain 1 King 15.5 Solomon tells you a Good Name is better than precious Oyntment I am sure they justly forfeit the reputation of wisdom that will part with a good name for the pleasures that are to be enjoyed in this way 3. Or the best that can be expected is sorrow unspeakably greater than any pleasure you can reap in this way of sinning Sorrow from the Judgments of God and that will be sure to overtake you in this life and rottenness of bones being brought to a morsel of bread How many heart distressing troubles was David followed with after he fell into these sins how was he punished in and from his own Children and how by his Subjects revolting Sorrows from the Influences of Gods Spirit in bringing to a sound repentance He tells of broken bones his moisture turned into the drought of Summer he lost the joy of Gods salvation Oh how will Conscience accuse and perplex who would undergo the horrors of Conscience that will fill the Soul of such to the causing of them to have a dreadful sound in their ears for all the delight that is this way to be enjoyed the Psalmist Psal 51. acquaints us how such pleasures bite at the last Cain says his punishment is greater then he can bear his guilty conscience makes him fear that every one that meets him is Gods Executioner 4. Or it 's to be feared that if once you yield that you will hold on in such wayes till Death overtake you Sinners are stupified that are left to these wayes of Sin You have heard that few are recovered by unfeigned repentance Stollen waters are so sweet and pleasant to ignorant carnal men who know not that the dead are there and that her guests are in the depths of hell that they oftimes go on till a dart strike thro' their liver Prov. 7.23 the young man had so much conscience left him that he would not yield till with much fair speaking he was sollicited and then he goes on till death these are oftimes so far besotted by their lusts that reproofs will be slighted by them Hos. 4.4 5. They are Sins that bring great wrath upon a Land Hos. 4.23 when the Sons of Eli had given themselves to these sins God was wrath and Thirty four thousand men fell in the Battle and the Ark of God was taken The wrath of God distresseth a Land where such Iniquities abound Wars Impoverishing Dispensations to many Families and Towns are the effects of Gods Anger stirred up 〈◊〉 kindled by such provocations Why should you rebel thus against the Lord and so provoke God to be wroth with the whole Congregation 6. Or you may fear that God will destroy you for defiling his Temple 1 Cor. 13.17 Direction 1. Don't disobey Gods Counsels and walk contrary to them in refusing Christ Psal. 81.11 12. they take a direct course to fall into these abominations to their everlasting contempt that cast contempt upon the Word of God and on his Son A Christless Soul can have no assurance that he shall not be left finally to the worst abominations Prov. 2 10.16â— Prov. 5.12 13. 2. Don't rely on your own wisdom to be security to you from these abominations but endeavour to have your ways such as may please God Eccl. 7.22 Some are ready to say as Hazael are we Doggs that we should do such things and yet both do them and have pleasure in them that do them Yea though they know the Judgments of God against them who do such things Solomons Wisdom was no preventive grace it self is no preservative from foul acts of sin where persons are carnally confident of their own strength Peter after his boasts is so scared by a sorry damsâ—l that he denies Christ and Curses and Swears See that your wayes are well pleasing to God that you may be kept by the mighty power of God through faith to Salvation 3. Abstain from all appearance and leading causes to such sins don't come â—igh the door of her house don't be out in evenings among foolish vain jolly company when you should be in your Closets and on your knees before God Prov. 5.8 9. Prov. 4.14 1â— the young man spoken of Prov. 7.1 was going the way to her house in the black and dark night he is insnared Prov. 17.18 19 21. beware and take heed of Idleness as that which will occasion your sinning after this sort Usually Unclean persons are idle persons there was abundance of Uncleanness in Sodom and that because there was abundance of Idleness Ezek. 16.49 beware of drinking away your precious time Drunkenness ushers in Murder and
these their sins are of a scarlet and crimson dye aggravated iniquities filling up the measure of other sins not barely transgressions and violations of a holy Law of God but breaches of his Law with such aggravations that ripen for Damnation 1. Uncleanness is an aggravated iniquity filling up the measure of other sins Prov. 2.18 this appears 1 In that it is a sin that God leaves the abhorred of his Soul and reprobates to a wallowing and continuing in Eccles. 7.26 Prov. 22.14 A Sin that he leaves them to that he never intends good to these are left of God to go the way to Hell and not escaping these sins they may not think to escape damnation Prov. 7.27 Prov. 5.5 these expressions that the abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein plainly intimates that many previous and foregoing sinful courses have provoked God to jealousie and hot displeasure and that he will leave them to this sin to prepare them for a day of Vengeance 2. A Sin that takes away the heart from God and that which is good Hos. 4.11 It alienates and estrangeth the heart from God and the holy Commandment it causeth sinners to disregard and slight promises and threatnings it takes away the heart from thinking and meditating of God and his Word from delighting in God and his Commandments from contriving and studying how to please God and obey his voice so that they will not hearken to his voice they will none of him when the heart is thus taken off from God and that which is good the measure of sin will be filled up apace Prov. 2.17 3. In that they are addicted and accustomed to this Sin are hardened persons and seldome truly repent Prov. 2.19 Prov 7.13.23 the Scripture speaks of these as the most impudent and shameless sinners yea as those that refuse to be ashamed many of these past feeling Eph. 4.18 19. Now when any are hardened from Gods fear they will fall into mischief and the heart of those will be set in them to do evil 4. A Sin that hath ruined and made desolate Nations and Lands guilty of it It drowned the Old World it brought down Fire and Brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah Gen 19.13 Sodom had many other sins as Pride Idleness c Gluâ—tony but this sin of Uncleanness made it a desolation and a sin that eternally ruins and undoes the Soul Prov. 6.32 2. Murder is an aggravated Sin filling up the meaâ—uâ—e of other sins other sins treasure up wrath against the day of wrath This sin ripens for cutting down finisheth the transgression and brings forth death this appears in 1. That the cry of this sin pierceth the very heavens and brings down the Curse of God Gen. 4 10 11. he sinned in his wrath against his Brother he finished that sin in the murder of him God admonished and warned him for his passionateness and angryness but when he had committed this sâ—n saith God Thou art cursed from the earth 2. Inasmuch as usually they are hardened against Gods â—ear and contemners of God that are thus guilty Gen. 4.9 he doth not fall down and cry out against himself for his own guiltiness but as though it were a light thing to break with God he adds sin to sin he lies to hide his murder and takes up God disdaiâ—fully Am I my Brothers Keeper A Parent a Master a Prince would account such language from a Child Servant or Subject unallowable sawciness and contempâ— He speaks as though it was an affront to put such a question to him and therefore after God denounced a Curse on him he doth not bewail the greatness of his sin he doth not relent or manifest sorrow that he had sinned against God as he had done only faith My punishment is greater than I can bear and instead of busying his mind to get his sin pardoned by building a City he diverts his mind from contemplating on his guiltiness 3. In that God will not permit Murderers to liâ—e here but causeth them to dy before their time Blood thirsty men shall not live out half their days Exod. 21.14 Flying to the horns of the Altar shall be no sanctuary or security to them Numb 35.31 there can be no compensation mâ—de for the explaâ—ing of guilt as to this life God will have no man plead that the natural life of such aâ— one may be spared Prov. 28.17 4. In that a whole Land cannot be innocent but polluted that suffer innocent blood to cry against it in neglecting the Execution of Justice for such a transgression In that a whole Land shall smart for sparing a convicted Murderers Life When Murder is uncertain as to the author of it see what is incumbent on a people for the preventing the Wrath of God Deut. 21.1 â—â— 10. A people have no reason to expect that it will goe well with them liâ— they neglect execution of Judgment for this sin Deut. 19.11 12 13. Numb 35.33 the conniving at and suffering of such sins greatly moved God to wrath against Israel Jer. 2.34 5. In that the very light of nature teacheth that God is not wont to suffer this Sin to go unrevenged Acts 28.4 the Wrath of God is not only revealed from Scripture light against this Sin but the Barbarians by the light of nature judge it too great an offence for the Judge of the World to permit long unrevenged here USE I. Of Information 1. What great reason they have to be humbly thankful to God that are restrained and kept from these Sins Every one by nature hath the seeds of all Sin and disobedience Its God that witholds all as well as Ahimelech Gen. 20.6 Religious Education our own wisdom and resolutions can't restrain even from such wickedness Its God that makes us to differ one from another that keeps from such pollutions many of the Wise and Learned of the World many that make a profession have been guilty We are not to be unthankful for restraining gracâ— we are humbly to acknowledg God when he keeps back from presumptuous sins 2. What great reason Ministers Parents and Heads of Families have to warn all under their Charge against and to restrain them from such sinful practices and courses These Sins will not only expose theirs to such calamities in this life that will make the ears of them that hear to tingle but render them obnoxious to Eternal Damnation 3. How they are to blame who suffer and permit such things under their eye and roof that are leading occasions to such Sins They are to blame that suffer and allow their Children and Servants in the black and dark night to be absent from the Religious Orders of their Families to be going the way to such houses they are to be reproved who bring up their Children and Families in Idleness which doth occasion the abounding of sin even this sin of Uncleanness Idleness occasioned Sodâ—ms being so vile Heads of Families are to be reproved that see Young Ones Children or