scorned and mocked for their purity and preciseness in the presence of Christ in the Arms and embraces of Christ in a state of full Happiness and perfect Satisfaction while they themselves are shut out and denied entrance Luk. 13.25 28. The fire of Hell will give them light enough to see as well as heat enough to feel themselves infinitely miserable 5. It will greatly add to their torment and anguish to consider that they were sometime near the enjoyment of this blissful presence of Christ Pardon and Peace and Love and Life and the endless fruition of the blessed Jesus were tendered to them were nigh them were at the very door of their hearts They were solemnly commanded lovingly invited severely threatned sweetly allured and pathetically perswaded to accept of Christ and Grace yea and Heaven and Happiness and eternal Life yea and their hearts began to relent and to close with the intreaties of the Gospel They were almost perswaded to be Christians indeed There was but a little a very little between them and Christ The bargain was driven so far that Christ was got into their consciences they bore witness for him and warn'd them if they loved their Lives their Souls to accept of him while he would accept of them yea Christ was got into their Judgments they gave their Verdict on his side as one infinitely more amiable and elegible than the World or Flesh nay he had possibly got into their Affections they delighted to hear of his great Love to poor Sinners and of the great things he purchased for them with his own blood and yet though they were so near they came short and like Ephraim play'd the part of unwise Sons and stay'd in the place of the breaking forth of Children O how like a Dagger will it pierce the heart of them that live under the Gospel and neglect the great Salvation offer'd to them when they come to be banished the presence of Christ and to see others who made Religion their business on Earth bathing their Souls in Rivers of Pleasures drawing water with joy out of the Well of Salvation eating of the Tree of Life that groweth in the midst of Paradise and hous'd in the Arms of their dearest Saviour and shall reflect and consider with themselves all those Joys and Pleasures all those Dainties and Delicacies all those Robes and Riches and Glories and Felicities which they enjoy in the presence of Christ might have been mine they were freely and frequently and affectionately offered to me I had the refusal of them nay I had a good mind to them I was not far from the Kingdom of Heaven There was but a little between me and them they were at the very door of my heart and stood knocking there for admission and desired only hearty acceptance but like a Fool I dallied with them and defer'd them as if hereafter had been time enough and so have lost them for ever 6. It will much augment their anguish and misery to consider who it is that passeth so severe a doom upon them This dreadful Sentence is pronounced by Love and Grace and Goodness it self He that sometimes call'd them to him so sweetly so affectionately now casts them from him so sharply so furiously He who sometimes cry'd to them Come to me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and wept over them O that thou hadst known even thou in this thy day the things of thy peace He that formerly invited intreated besought them to be reconciled 2 Cor. 5.20 and shew'd them his heart-blood the price of their Pardon and Life and stretch'd out his Arms to imbrace their returning Souls will now in wrath and rage and flames and fury bid them be gone from him and his Curse go along with them And if Love prove their Enemy surely Wrath will not be their Friend And if Mercy be thus against them surely Justice will not be for them Ah how sorely will it gall the Sinner to consider This dreadful doom is denounced against me not by an Enemy or one that hated me but by a Friend and Father by one that loved me and took my nature on him and suffered therein the Laws Curse to render me capable of escaping these Torments which I now suffer and partaking of those Pleasures which yonder blessed Souls enjoy CHAP. VII Containing the folly of Sinners and the vast difference between them and the Godly at the Great day 3. IT informeth us that every wicked man is out of his wits surely the man is mad who exchangeth his Soul and Saviour and God and all for a little worldly profit or fleshly pleasure yea that parts with true and durable Riches for shadowy and fading Treasure that loseth heavenly and eternal Joys for earthly and transitory Pleasures No man can love sin but he hates himself nor part with his Duty but he parts with his Felicity And surely such a man who hates himself and forsakes his Happiness is a mad man Well might the Holy Ghost speak the Prodigal out of his wits when he was out of his way and wandring from his Father's house How mad was he to forsake Bread for Husks all the world is but Husks dry coorse empty Fare to the Dainties of the Gospel Bread in a Fathers house for Husks among Swine yea and plenty of Bread enough and to spare for a few Husks that could not fill their Bellies If one Soul be more worth than a whole World surely one Saviour one God is more worth than a thousand Souls than a million of Worlds How mad then is he that parts with this Soul this Saviour this God for a little a very little of this World yea for this little of the World for a very little time If all the delights of the Flesh and all the Pleasures of Sin and all the profits of the World cannot ballance the partial enjoyment of God in his Ordinances for one hour How unable will they be to compensate the loss of full Communion with God for ever O how infinitely doth Christ out-weigh what ever the flesh or world can offer in exchange for him 4. It informeth how contrary the portion of the Godly and the Wicked is at the day of Judgment At this day they fare often alike they fall under the same favourable and frowning Providences they have the same Comforts and the same Crosses If any difference for the better 't is usually on the Sinners side The vilest men are exalted and the proud prosper But at that day there will be a difference indeed for the better on the Saints side That day will be terrible to the Wicked a day of wrath a day of the perdition of ungodly men Rom. 2.4 2 Pet. 3.7 To the Godly a day of Redemption a time of refreshing a day of Light and Gladness and a good day Luk. 21.28 Act. 3.19 Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the time of refreshment shall come from
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-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
for the perpetration of gross Enormities 1. If we consider the Religion of the Heathen we shall find that it is vastly inferior in purity to the Christian Religion Among the Gentiles who lived without the Gospel it can scarce be said there was any Religion at all for their Gods were Stocks and Stones and Trees and Fire and Water and Beasts and dead Men nay their Precepts were so far from purity that they commended and commanded impurity As among the ancient Babylonians in the Worship of Venus the Women prostituted themselves to all Strangers nay the very Gods of the Heathen did according to their own fictitious Writers patronize all their Impieties even by their own Patterns Jupiter the chief forsooth of their Gods who hath his Name from being an helping Father commits Incest with his own Sister Juno and his Daughter Minerva Sodomy with Ganymedes ravisheth Europa banisheth his Father Saturn out of his Kingdom Venus was a Whore Mercury a Thief Bacchus a Drunkard c. But to leave these and speak to them that were more sober in their Understandings and not so vain in their Imaginations who had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the work of the Law written in their hearts Rom. 2.14 and improved it to more purpose than others yet these pleased themselves with a little outward civility without any inward or outward practical godliness Their chief devotion consisted in abstaining from gross sins which might expose them to the shame of men and the doing some external acts of Piety as sacrificing and mumbling over a few Prayers that were little significant O how vastly doth the Christian Religion excel this This Religion of the Heathen doth rather hide sin then heal it It doth not root the love of sin out of the heart only restrain it in the life But the Christian Religion doth forbid sin in the Affections as well as in the Conversation it doth abscindere as well as abscondere cure sin as well as cover it In the best Heathen the fire of their Lusts was only raked up and cover'd with ashes from the eyes of the World But now in the Christian it is quenched at least in part and shall by degrees be wholly quenched The Christian Religion doth not only forbid all Sins or outward Commissions but also all Lusts and inward Inclinations I beseech you brethren to abstain as Pilgrims and Strangers from all fleshly Lusts that war against the Soul 1 Pet. 2.11 And a religions Christian doth not only forbear gross Commissions but also abhor secret sinful motions I hate vain thoughts but thy Law do I love Psal 119. Those among the Heathen who were the wisest made nothing of neglecting to give God their love and fear and trust their highest Honour and superlative Esteem and exactest Obedience which are the chief of Religion They allowed Revenge in case of suffering Injury and some of their greatest Law-givers ordained Theft to be unpunishable if it could be done cleanly and cleaverly so as not to be found out They put away their Wives upon any small distast and took others during their pleasure only Their whole Religion hath not one Prohibition against inward Corruptions nor one Precept for inward heart Duties and therefore must of necessity come short of the Christian Religion for Purity 2. If we consider the Turkish Religion what a bundle of fooleries is Mahomets Alcoran and what a dunghil of filthiness is the Religion of his Followers They allow a man as many Wives as he can maintain and encourage men to murder with a promise of a Poetical carnal Paradise to all that shall die in the Wars against the Christians They obey the Lusts of their Tyrant in all things even to the murder of their Soveraigns nearest Relations or chiefest Ministers of State against the very light and law of Nature They do not so much as profess to mind those heart Prohibitions and Precepts without which all external Holiness is but as a rotten Carkass noisome and unsavoury to Gods Nostrils and without any loveliness or life in his Eyes Nay the Popish Religion so far as it differs from the true Christian Religion is impure They have sins that are Venial allow publickly of Uncleanness The Pope hath a Revenue out of the Stews they dispense with Sodomy incest any Sin for money They place all their Holiness in some external Mortifications which God never required at their hands But what doth the Christian Religion do It reacheth the Heart and teacheth the Soul The Law of the Lord is perfect Psal 19. 1. It directs the whole Man and gives Laws to all the powers of the Soul and parts of the Body It directs us about our Bodies and outward Conversation It commands to present our Bodies a living Sacrifice to God Rom. 12.1 and the members of our Bodies as Instruments of Righteousness unto Holiness It binds the Eyes Ears Tongue Hands Feet all the members to their good behaviour It allows not any part to be abused to prophaneness Job 31.1 Psal 119. Psal 37.30 31. Psal 34.13 14. Rom. 6.13 14 15 16 17. It directs us about our Souls The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the Soul Psal 19.7 It changeth the nature of the Soul and opens the eye of it and turns it from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan to God Act. 26.18 It directeth the mind to learn the Knowledge of God as the richest Treasure and choicest Portion and only Happiness of the Creature 1 Chron. 28.9 And thou Solomon my Son know the God of thy Fathers It directs the Will to choose this God for its suitable and satisfying and everlasting felicity Psal 73.25 It limits the Affections as to their Objects and their motion towards those Objects It forbids inordinate desires after or delight in sublumary Vanities and commands moderation in our love to all created Comforts Let your moderation be known to all men The time is short let them that have Wives be as though they had none c. 1 Cor. 7.29 It enjoyns our love in the greatest degree to be placed on the worthiest Object Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and all thy Soul and all thy Strength Matth. 22.37 And so our fear Fear him that can cast Body and Soul into Hell I say unto you fear him It keeps all the unruly passions within their proper banks and bounds and preserves the superior and inferior faculties in their proper places Now what Religion either of Moralists or Mahometans doth do 2. As it directs about the whole man so it directs as to every part and passage of this mans Conversation We need never be at a loss for a Rule or at a stand what to do if we will but use diligence to know and understand the revealed Will of God The Christian Religion directs us in our Callings whether Magistrates Ministers Tradesmen Souldiers Luk. 3. It directs us in our Relations as Husbands Wives Parents Children Masters
more hainous but that they are less scandalous Sins of Commission as Drunkenness Uncleanness Theft Swearing Murther these make a great noise in the World are taken notice of by all and with the Snail leave a slime and filth behind them wheresoever they are But sins of Omission as not praying in our Closets not examining our own Hearts not relieving the Poor and Needy not bringing up our Children in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord c. These are more still and quiet observed by few or none 5. They differ in this that sins of Omission are the aversion of the heart from God and sins of Commission are the conversion of the heart to the Creature or somewhat below God Omission turns the heart from God Hence we read of mans going far from God Jer. 2.5 and of their departing away from the living God Heb. 3.12 Which is not meant in regard of local motion for so none can depart from God Psal 139.2 3 4 5. but in regard of their inward carnal Affections and disobedient Conversations Jer. 17.5 Whose heart departeth from the Lord. Commissions are a turning to the Creature Whose heart is after covetousness They imagine mischief in their hearts Psal 140.2 Eccles 9.3 The heart of the Sons of men is full of evil Having spoken to the nature of sins of Omission in general and more particularly by their several distinctions and their agreement with and difference from sins of Commission I come to the second thing promised in the explication of the Doctrine and that is the danger of them CHAP. XXII The danger of sins of Omission in the hainous nature of them and their offensiveness to God Secondly THe danger of sins of Omission though men are ready to conceive that sins of Omission because they make no great cry in the World are but infirmities are venial sins and are not much to be regarded as having little of danger to the Soul in them yet the contrary will appear plainly if we consider these particulars 1. The malignity and sinfulness of them speaks their danger The more venome and poyson there is in any Cup or Dish the more dangerous it must needs be the more sinfulness there is in any sin the more hazardous it is to the Soul Now I shall shew the sinfulness of omissions 1. They are most against the mind and will of God Those sins are the greatest which most cross the Will of the Law-giver For sin is a transgression of the Law or Mind of God And every one knoweth that the Mind of God is more in the Precept or Affirmative part of the Law than in the Prohibition or Negative part of it The Precept or performance of the Duty commanded is the main thing the Prohibition is as it were accidental in order to our Obedience to the Precept Mens legis est lex therefore sins of Omission being against the substance and principal part of the Command and so most directly against that which is the special Mind of the Law-giver must needs be the greatest Sins It is more good to do good than not to do evil Omissions are not to be esteemed bare Negations or Privations but as breaches of a positive Law wherein the mind of God is most discover'd Now how great a Sin and how dangerous is it to cross the Mind of God surely it 's bad thwarting him that can cast Body and Soul into Hell Vide ante The second difference between sins of omission commission I say unto you saith Christ fear him Matth. 10.28 2. Sins of Omission are the ground of and make way for Sins of Commission The want of love to God and our not believing his Word which are Sins of Omission are the ground of all abominations When a man once casteth off daily reading the Word and seeking God by Prayer or performs those Duties coldly and carelesly he throws himself out of God's Protection and so becomes a Lacquey to the Devil and a tame Slave to every Lust to trample on and tyranize over at pleasure Psal 14.3 4. They are all gone aside they are altogether filthy there is none that doth good no not one Negligentiam in orando semper aliqua notabilis transgressio sequitur saith One always some notable Sin followeth upon slothfulness in prayer David's not watching his Eyes and Heart and his not imploying his time better at that hour of the day brought forth Drunkenness Murder Adultery Lying c. Some Sins of Omission are like great men that never go without many Followers admit their Persons you must admit their long train which they bring with them So a Gad a whole troop of ugly lusts will throng in upon our neglect of one Duty Not doing good fits the heart for doing evil The ground not sown with good Corn doth naturally of its own accord bring forth evil weeds Indeed it 's impossible for him that doth no good not to do evil He that doth not gather with Christ scattereth and he that is not with me is against me Matth. 12.30 He that fights not for his Prince in a day of Battel is his Enemy and that Servant who helps not his Master in Harvest hinders him Not to save a life when we may is to destroy and murther it The Negative Christian will quickly fall to be a positive Atheist and Heathen If the Heart be empty of good and swept clean of Grace the unclean Spirit will quickly take up his logding in it Besides God doth often judicially give up them to commit Evil who refuse to do good Because they received not the truth in the love of it here is a Sin of Omission God gave them up to strong delusions that they might believe a lye c. 2 Thess 2.10 11. Now how great and dangerous is this Sin that ushers in so many Sins Alas one Sin is too weighty for thy Soul to bear how heavy then will that whole rabble and regiment of sins be that one sin of Omission may bring along with it If I live in Sins of Omission Sins of Commission will follow both naturally and judicially 3. Sins of Commission do exceedingly grieve the Spirit of God Indeed every Sin is offensive to the Holy Ghost or Spirit of Holiness as directly contrary to its nature but the Spirit of God sets a particular special brand and mark upon these Sins as grievous to him Follow that which is good rejoyce evermore pray without ceasing In every thing give thanks quench not the Spirit despise not Prophesying 1 Thess 5.15 16 17 18 19. Observe the Duties are all positive the neglect whereof is a Sin of Omission to which he exhorts them if they would not quench the Spirit The Spirit is not only grieved but also quenched by Sins of Omission Fire may be quenched by with-drawing fewel from it as well as by throwing water on it By scandalous Sins of Commission we throw water on this heavenly Flameâ— quench it but by
judgment of many that a Princes Negative Voice is a greater part and mark of his Royalty than any Affirmative Command of his for a King may have Power to Command that which he hath no Power to forbid As he may and should enjoyn his Subjects to Worship the true God according to his revealed Will but he hath no Power to forbid them Thus in Sins of Omission for a man to live without Prayer without the love and fear of God without delight in him and communion with him without care of and watchfulness over his own heart and life may be a greater sign of the reign of Sin and thereby of an unregenerate state than the commission of some gross actual Transgressions It is apparent that this man is under the power of Lust as a Servant to it Tit. 3.3 And under the dominion of the Devil carried captive by him at his will 2 Tim. 2.26 And an unregenerate unsanctified person because he lives in Disobedience to these positive Laws of God Whereas he that is born of God sinneth not 1 Joh. 3.9 with his whole will there is not a free voluntary chearful submission of his Will to the quiet undisturbed dominion of Sin And he that is born of God hath a tender regard to the whole Law I have esteemed thy Precepts concerning all things to be right therefore I hate every false way Psal 119.128 He hath respect to Affirmative as well as Negative Precepts He hath an equal uniform regard to all the Law to that part which commands the doing good as well as that part which forbids the doing evil Therefore the man that lives in Sins of Omission is not born of God and therefore uncapable by the Gospel of Heaven and so justly for this cause sentenced to Hell CHAP. XXV Farther Reasons why Christ at the Great Day will condemn men for sins of Omission 3. CHrist will condemn men at the Reason 3 Great Day for sins of Omission because those that live in such Sins have no interest in himself There is no way to escape Hell but by the Lord Jesus Christ 1 Thess 1. ult Jesus that delivereth from the wrath to come There is no way to attain Heaven but by Christ I give to them eternal life and they shall never perish Joh. 10.28 As Salvation is God's Gift Rom. 6. ult so it 's Christs Purchase There is no Name under Heaven whereby men may be saved but by the Name of Christ Act. 4.12 So that all who are without Christ not interested in him must of necessity perish He that hath the Son hath life he that hath not the Son hath not life 1 Joh. 5.12 Those that are without Christ are unpardoned All their sins are imputed to them Ephes 4. ult Rom. 3.25 And where-ever sin is imputed it condemneth Ezek. 18.3 Those that are not interested in Christ are Children of the Devil Joh. 8.44 and Children of wrath Ephes 2.2 3. And such Children must be with their Father the Devil and under wrath for ever Now those that live in Sins of Omission have no interest in Christ Our interest in Christ and so in Life is by Faith That Christ may dwell in your hearts by Faith Ephes 3.17 Gal. 2.20 I live by Faith in the Son of God It is Faith that causeth the Union between Christ and the Soul and joyns them together by virtue of which Union the Christian hath communion with Christ in his Merits and Righteousness that his Life and Death and Burial are the Christians are by God imputed to him as if performed in his own person Hence it 's said That the Christian lives with Christ is crucified with Christ and buried with Christ Rom. 6.4 And the Christian is said to be the righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5. ult By this Union with Christ which is the fruit of Faith the Christian is made a Son of God Gal. 3.26 and so an Heir of God and Joynt-Heir with Christ Rom. 8.17 As a Woman by marriage being united and made one with a Man hath communion with him in his Relations Honours and Estate So the Christian by Faith made one with Christ hath communion with him in his Relations Go tell my Brethren I go to my Father and your Father to my God and your God Joh. 20.17 In his Estate Christ is Heir of all things Heb. 1.2 and the Believer is a Joynt-Heir with him as is before proved Christ was the First-born among many Brethren and so the Inheritance did belong to him Col. 1.18 Believers are a Congregation of first-born and so the right of the Inheritance is theirs Heb. 12.23 But such as live in sins of Omission are without Faith and therefore without Christ and therefore must be without Heaven for ever Faith is a sanctifying as well as a justifying Grace Act. 26.18 And to give them an Inheritance among them that are sanctified through Faith in Christ and therefore will not suffer the Soul to live in any sin Faith will not suffer a man to live in the want of love to God in so great an Omission for when Faith certifieth the Soul of Gods love to it this kindleth in the Soul flames of love to God 1 Joh. 4.19 When Faith brings much fewel the fire of love will be great Faith will not suffer a man to live without Repentance The eye of Faith which beholds a Christ crucified for sin affects the heart with sorrow for and indignation against those sins that crucified him Zach. 12.10 They shall see him whom they have pierced and mourn Faith will not suffer a man to live without delight in Christ and rejoycing in the God of all Consolation Faith seeth so much good certainly laid up in the Covenant and Promises for the Soul that it fills the Soul with joy in the hope and expectation of the enjoyment of them Whom having not seen we love and in whom believing though now we see him not we rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1.7 8. Faith will not suffer a man to live without waiting quietly on God Faith will not limit the Holy One of Israel but patiently stay Gods time for the mercies the Soul wanteth Faith knoweth his Bonds are good his Debts are in sure Hands The God that cannot lye hath promised Tit. 1.2 and therefore is not hasty to call them in He that believeth will not make haste Isa 28.16 Faith will not suffer a man to live without prayer He that knows his own wants and necessities how great and urgent they are and also where he may quickly have liberal Supplies and bountiful Relief will not long be kept from that Door You may sooner and easier put off a Beggar ready to starve who must needs perish if Charity do not help him and perswade him never to ask Alms more as keep a Believer from his daily waiting at Heavens Temple to ask spiritual Alms. An Unbeliever hath little hope to speed and therefore little heart to
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
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-Duties 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
of his Promises Fear not I will be with thee Isa 43.2 3 5. Jer. 1.8 Jer. 15.20 Luk. 1.28 Act. 18.10 His presence in this sense is the Redeemers purchase He suffered the Just for the Vnjust to bring us to God 1 Pet. 3.18 Thence the Name of the Redeemer is Immanuel God with us Matth. 1.23 Against his departure in this sense Jer. 14.8 is the Churches earnest Prayer Leave us not And the fear of it doth so affect Moses that he is ready to throw up all Exod. 33.15 If thy presence go not with us carry us not hence His presence in this sense is Heaven it self Psal 16. ult In thy presence is fulness of joy at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore Luk. 22. 1 Thess 4.17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. This is that presence of Christ which the wicked shall want for ever This is included in Depart from me 3. There is the afflicting punishing presence of God There is the presence of his Fury as well as of his Favour In this sense Job prayeth for God's absence How long wilt thou not depart from me Job 7.19 Which Junius glosseth Turn thine anger away from me In this sense God tells men That he will visit them i. e. with Judgments As a Father beholding his Child about some naughty Action tells him I l'e be with you presently meaning to correct him Isa 23.17 Jer. 6.15 At the time that I visit them they shall be cast down saith the Lord. In this sense wicked men shall have the presence of God for ever His tormenting presence as well as the absence of his Grace and Favour will be their eternal portion And certainly if his afflicting presence in this World which hath love for its Original and their good for its end be so grievous to his own people that they cry out Let him turn from me Job 14.6 Let him depart away what will his tormenting presence be to the wicked in the other World of which wrath pure wrath is the Original and satisfaction to justice his end CHAP. III. Concerning the privative part of the Sinners Punishment THis part of the Verse will afford this Doctrine Doct. That a great part of wicked mens punishment in the other World will consist in their departure from the presence of Christ Then shall he say to them on his left hand Depart from me They now bid God depart from them They say unto God Depart from us Job 21.14 But that which is their wish here shall be their woe for ever And he shall say unto them depart from me ye workers of Inquity I know you not Matth. 7.23 The presence of Christ is now their Trouble but his absence will then be their Torment Hence the state of the wicked in the other World is called utter-darkness Calvin in Matth. 8.12 Matth. 8.12 And blackness of darkness for ever Jude vers 13. Because of its separation from Christ who is the Light of the World and the Sun of Righteousness Joh. 1.9 Mal. 4.2 It seems an allusion to them that are fetter'd in dark doleful dungeons or to those that in the night-time stand without in the dark being excluded such Rooms as are full of Lights wherein are rare and costly Feasts In the explication of this Doctrine I shall describe the punishment of the wicked 1. In the perfection of the Object from which they must depart 2. In the properties of their departure and then give the Reasons of the Doctrine First As for the Object of their loss 1. They lose the Lord Jesus Christ the Prince of Life the Lord of Glory the fairest of ten thousand the only begotten of the Father and the Heir of all things The better the Object is the greater their loss who are deprived of it The more excellent the Person of Christ is the more exquisite their punishment will be who must depart from him Christ is the highest the greatest the chiefest good In losing him 1. They depart from an universal good one that is Bread Water Light Life Rest Health Ease Wine Marrow a Feast a Friend a Father Pardon Peace Love Grace Glory any thing every thing all things that the Soul wanteth and requireth to its perfect Felicity 2. They depart from a suitable good that very savoury meat which the Soul loveth and needeth They lose that good which the Soul should have and would have and must have if ever it be happy The Soul is guilty and Christ is pardon pardon is suitable to a guilty Soul 1 Joh. 1.7 The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin The Soul is poor and Christ is riches Riches are suitable to a poor Creature Eph. 3.8 The unsearchable Riches of Christ Prov. 8.18 Riches and Honour are with me yea durable Riches and Righteousness The Soul is miserable naked filthy obnoxious to Death and Wrath but Christ is Mercy Raiment cleansing freedom from Hell and the Heaven of Heaven Rev. 3.17 18. 1 Thess 1. ult Rom. 8.1 He is a good that doth exactly directly suit the condition of the Soul the miseries of the Soul and the necessities of the Soul He is the Plaister that fits the Sores and the Balm that hits the wounds of the Soul when Creatures are Physicians and Physick of no value 3. They depart from an eternal Good they lose that Good which doth not only suit the Souls disposition but also its duration that will last and abide and continue for ever Jesus Christ is the same yesterday to day and for ever Heb. 13.8 He is everlasting Righteousness Dan. 9.24 Everlasting meat Joh. 6.27 Eternal life 1 Joh. 5. ult 2. They depart from with Christ the Society of all Christians When they depart from the Head they depart from the Members When they depart from the Root they depart from the Branches For Head and Members Root and Branches must be together for ever Joh. 14.2 3. Where I am there ye may be also Now the Sheep and Goats flock together but then they shall be parted asunder Matth. 8.11 12. And I say unto you that many shall come from the East and from the West and shall set down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven But the Children of the Kingdom shall be cast out into utter darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth They who are now the Objects of their Contempt will then be the Objects of their envy When once they lose the sight they shall lose the sight of those glorious Stars for ever Every Saint may then say to the Sinner who now frets and fumes at the Saints presence because of his preciseness as Moses to Pharoah I will see thy face no more Matth. 25. ult 3. They shall depart when from Christ from all the means of Grace or Communion with God They shall hear
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
thou mayst for shame or fear forbear it a while yet as two Lovers parted by their Parents contrive and conspire how to meet together and do find some opportunity or other concurring with their desires so thou wilt find some time to give thy old beloved Lusts a visit and as close and fond embraces as ever There is a necessity of being renewed in the Spirit of thy Mind if thou wouldst not be conformable to the World in sin and folly Rom. 12.2 Formerly thou hast lookt on Holiness as a mean contemptible thing as a foolish ridiculous thing as a fruitless unprofitable thing Joh. 7.48 49. 1 Cor. 2.14 Job 21.15 Mal. 3. and thereupon hast turn'd thy back upon it If thou art still of the same Opinion thou will be still of thine old ungodly Conversation Till thy Mind be enlightned to see the beauty of Holiness the excellency of Obedience the equity of the Divine Precepts the Right and Title that God hath to thy Person and Service thou wilt never perform Duties to any purpose Till thou art turn'd from Darkness to Light thou canst never be turned from Satan to God Acts 26.18 They must be renewed in knowledge after the Image of him that created them who would put on the new man which is after God is created in righteousness and true holiness Col. 3.10 Ephes 4.24 This illumination is requisite in order to the second thing there must be a change in the Judgment before there can be any in Affections 2. Get thy Heart changed about Sin and Obedience If there be not a loathing in thee of Sin and a love in thee to Holiness thou wilt not much or long forsake the one or follow after the other By nature thou lovest Sin as thy Meat and Drink Prov. 4.17 as thy Dainties Psal 141. as thy Members Col. 3.5 as thy right Hand and right Eye Matth. 18. as thy self Matth. 16.24 Now whilst this love continueth thou canst never leave sin As the Dog may forbear the meat on the Table whilst the Servants eye is on him for fear of the Cudgel But when he can come at it alone and scape he will fall to it greedily If from a Conviction of the great evil of Sin thy Heart be not brought to abhor it though some qualm of Conscience or sharp Providence may make thee desist from it at present yet when these Distempers as thou countest them are gone thy Stomach will come and as one recovered of an Ague thou wilt fall too more greedily and feed on it more largely than ever By Nature thy heart is set against Obedience Thy Voice is I will not have this man to Rule over me The Voice of thy Heart which was the Voice of their Lips for they spoke plain English As for the word that thou hast spoken to us in the Name of the Lord we will not do it Jer. 44.16 Both the King and his Laws are odious to thee and how then shall they be obey'd If thy Heart continue thus bent against Holiness dost thou think thou canst mind it All thy shews and shadows and flourishes and profession and privilegdes and purposes and promises will signifie nothing for Holiness or against Sin till thou canst say with David I hate every false way but thy Law do I love Psal 119. He is hardly separated from his Master be he God or Satan who is bound and fastened to him with the heart-strings of love And the Devil shall find it a tough task to rob Christ of that Servant who takes pleasure and delight in his work Therefore Reader thy judgment must be alter'd that thou mayst judge of Sin and Holiness aright and thereby thy heart be brought out of love with Sin and in love with Holiness and then the work of Piety will go on pleasantly and thou wilt chearfully obey the Divine Commands His Statutes will be thy Songs whilst thou art in this house of thy Pilgrimage Psal 119. O how readily wilt thou set about thy business when the Laws of God are the joy of thy heart Psal 119.111 And thy delight is in his Law Psal 1. when thou hast a nature in thee that inclines and inableth and ingageth thee to godliness when thou canst savour and relish Duties and Ordinances and tast them more pleasant to thy Soul than ever the greatest Dainties have been to thy Body If thou wouldst be truly and positively holy thou seest Reader a necessity of Conversion without it thou canst no more act holily than a dead man can move or a stone walk or the Tyde of it self turn backward when in its full strength and career What then wilt thou do For I must confess withall that this regenerating Work which is a resurrection from the Dead and a new Creation is altogether beyond thy power Thou canst as soon stop the Sun in its course and Seal up the influence of the Stars as convert thy self But to encourage thee know that there is help to be had God hath proclaimed himself the Author of it James 1.18 Of his own will begat he us and his Word and Ministers the Instruments of it by the word of Truth so Acts 26.18 1 Cor. 4.15 So that thy work must be to wait on God in his Word and to beg hard of him that he would be found of thee in his own way Alas how shouldst thou fill Heaven and Earth night and day with thy Cries and Groans and Tears and Prayers when thou considerest except thou livest to God and walkest after the Spirit thou art lost for ever and without a new Heart and new Spirit thou canst not live or walk so and none but God can do this for thee O Friend fall down on thy knees before him acknowledge thy unworthiness urge God with his Promise I will give you a new heart and a new Spirit will I put into you and I will take away your hearts of stone and give unto you hearts of Flesh And I will put my Spirit into you and cause you to walk in my ways c. Ezek. 38.26 27. God cannot deny his own hand-writing he will make good what he hath spoken Look up to Jesus Christ to plead for thee who died to purchase Holiness and delights to see that paid which he hath bought and hath God engaged to him That he shall see the travail of his Soul to his satisfaction Isa 53.10 and persevere in so doing knowing thou shalt reap in time if thou faintest not CHAP. XLII Another cause of sins of Omission Ignorance with the cure of it labouring after knowledge 2. ANother cause of sins of Omission is Ignorance They who know not their Masters Will can never do it Let Papists say That Ignorance is the Mother of Devotion the Word of God and our own experience do loudly speak the contrary Ephes 4.18 They are estranged from the life of God i. e. a life of Holiness a life in Heaven through the ignorance that is in them because of the