appointed to all men once to die and 't is well if they die but once and the second death have no power over them they must see corruption or death in equivalence i.e. a change for this flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdome of God as that wherein we were created might possibly have done 1 Cor. 15.50 Our body is sown in corruption in dishonor in weakness 1 Cor. 15.42 43. and is therefore called vile Philip. 3.21 and before this body be laid in the grave 't is languishing in a continual Consumption and dying daily besides all the dangers that attend it from without And 2 Sin is against the good of mans Soul too 2 Against his Soul The Soul is transcendently excellent beyond the body and the good of that beyond the good of this so that a wrong done to the Soul is much more to mans hurt then a wrong done to the body therefore saith our Saviour Fear not them that can kill the body and do no more which is but little in comparison of what God can do to the soul if it sin but fear him that can destroy i.e. damn soul and body in hell Mat. 10. 'T is not very ill with a man if it be well with his soul but it can never be well with a man if it be ill with his soul so that we can more easily and cheaply die then be damned and may better venture our bodies to suffering then our souls to sinning for he that sinneth wrongs his soul Prov. 8.36 Nothing but sin doth wrong a mans soul and there is no sin but doth it Thus we see in general that sin is against the good of mans body and soul But yet for a more clear and full discovery hereof I shall consider and speak of man 1 In a Natural Sense 2 In a Moral Sense 1 If we consider man in a Physical or Natural state 1 In a natural sense we shall find sin to be 1. Against the well-being And 2. Against the very being of man it will not suffer him to be well or long in the world nor if possible to be at all 1 'T is against mans well-being in this life And so 1 Against his well-being vivere est valere well-being is the life of life and sin bears us so much ill will that it deprives us of our livelihood and that which makes it worth our while to live man was born to a great estate but by sin which was and is Treason against God he forfeited all Man came into the world as into an house ready furnished he had all things prepared and ready to his hands all the creatures came to war on him and pay him homage but when man sinn'd God turn'd him out of house and home all his lands goods and chattels were taken from him Paradise was mans Inheritance where he had every thing pleasant to the eye and good for food as for cloaths he needed none while Innocent but when he sinned God dispossessed him of all and drave him out into the wide world like a Pilgrim a Beggar to live on his own hands and to earn his meat with the sweat of his brow as you may read at large Genes 3. Thus by sin man that was the Emperour of Eden is banisht from his Native Country and must never see it more but in a new and living way for the old is stop'd up and beside that 't is kept against him with flaming swords Ever since it hath been every mans lot to come into and go out of this world naked to shew that he hath no right to any thing but lives on the alms of Gods charity and grace all â—â—e have or hold between our birth and death is clear â—gain and meer gift God might chuse whither â—he would allow us any thing or no and when he hath given he may take again and none of us have cause to say any thing but what Job did Chap. 1.21 Naked came I into the world and naked shall I return the Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord. All we have our food and rayment is but lent us we are only Tenants at will and therefore seeing we deserve nothing we should be content with and thankful for any thing 1 Tim. 6.7 8. 2 To shew that man by sin had lost all when our Lord Jesus came into this world for the recovery of man and stood as in the sinners stead he had not where to lay his head the Foxes had holes and the birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head Luke 9.58 Which plainly shews that the sin of man had left the Son of man nothing Though Christ were Lord of all yet if he will come in the likeness of sinful flesh he must speed not like the Son of God but Son of Man and be a man of sorrows destitute forsaken and afflicted and though we fare the better for his suffering yet he fared the worse for our sin and among other the miseries he under-went he had not where to lay his head Again To add yet another discovery of the venomous nature of sin as to this that we are upon 't is not a little observeable that though God took not the full forfeiture nor stript us so naked and bare a he might have done but indulged us comperent subsistance and accommodation and as the first fruits of his goodness made the first suit of cloaths which Adam and Eye wore yet sin is against that good which God left us and fills it with vanity and vexation with bitterness and a curse God left Adam many acres of land to till and husband but he hath it with a curse sweat and sorrow many a grieving bryar and pricking thorn stick fast to him Gen. 3 17.-19 God left him ground enough v. 23. but alas 't is cursed ground so that sin is against mans temporal good either in taking it from him or cursing it to him Sin is so envious that it would leave man nothing and if God be so good as to leave him any thing sins eye is evil because God is good and puts a sting in it viz a curse Yet more particularly 'T is 1 Against his rest 1 Sin is against mans rest and ease of which man is much a lover and indeed needs it as being a great part of the well-being of his life 'T is a sore travel which the sons of men have under the Sun yea what hath man of all his labour and the vexation of his heart wherein he hath laboured for all his daies are sorrows and his travel grief Eccl. 1.13.2.22 23. whither he increase wisdome and knowledge or pleasures and riches yea he taketh not rest in the night but is haunted with vain and extravagant if not feared with frightful dreams and his fancies which are waking dreams by day are more troublesome then them of the night
Mans ground is over-grown with thorns that he hath many an aking head and heart many a sore hand and foot before the year come about to get a little livelihood out of this sin-cursedground Mans Paradisical life was easie and pleasant but now 't is labour and pain such as makes him sweat yea Eccl. 2.1 2. his recreations fall little short of his labour for pain and sweat The old world was very sensible of this as may be gather'd from Genes 5.29 He called his name Noah saying this same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed sin curse and toil keep company 2 Sin is against mans comfort and joy 2 His comfort and joy Genes 3.17 In sorrow shalt thou eat all the daies of thy life not one whole merry day 't were some comfort to a man if after he had toil'd and moil'd all day he could eat his bread with joy and drink his wine with a merry heart but sin will not suffer him if he laugh sin turns it to madness Eccl. 2.2 or else 't is no better Musick then the crackling of thorns Eccl. 7.6 In Paradise the blessing of God on Adams diligent hand made him rich and there was no sorrow with it to allude to Prov. 10.22 but now mans sweet meats have sowre sawces in sorrow shalt thou eat his bread is the bread of affliction Yea the Femaie the She-man or Manness the Woman hath a peculiar sort and share of sorrow for the time of conception breeding bearing and birth are tedious yet alas many that feel the pain which sin brought are not sensible of the sin which brought the pain though their sorrow and pain too be greatly multiplied as we find it exprest Genes 3.16 and the more for want of faith and sobriety 1 Tim. 2.15 3 3 His health Sin is against mans health Hence come all diseases and sicknesses till sin there were no such things For this cause in general many are weak and sick among you Let a man take the best air he can and eat the best food he can let him eat and drink by rule let him take never so many Antidotes Preservatives and Cordials yet man is but a crazy sickly thing for all this Verily every man in his best estate is a frail and brittle thing yea altogether vanity Psal 39. which is spoken with reference to diseases and sickness take him while his blood danceth in his veins and his marrow fills his bones yet then is he a brittle piece of mortality 4 Sin is against the quiet of a mans natural conscience for it wounds the spirit 4 The quiet of conscience and makes it intollerable a wounded spirit who can bear Prov. 18.14 while that is sound and whole all infirmities are more easily born but when that is broken the supports fail and this hath great influence upon the body for Prov. 17.22 a merry heart doth good like a medicine no cordial like it but a broken spirit drieth the bones it sucks away the marrow and radical moisture Prov. 12.25 heaviness in the heart of man makes it stoop a good conscience is a continual feast but sin mars all the mirth When Cain had killed his Brother and his conscience felt the stroak of the curse he was like a distracted man and mad when Judas had betray'd his Master he was weary of his life 5 Sin is against the beauty of man 5 His beauty it takes away the loveliness of mens very complexions it alters the very air of their conntenance Psa 9.11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity thou mak'st his beauty or that which is to be desir'd in him as 't is in the margine to consume or melt away like a Moth surely every man is vanity his beauty vain Now there was no such thing as vanity or deformity till sin entred every thing was lovely before and man above any thing of the inferiour world 6 6 The loving cohabitation of soul and body Sin is against the loving and conjugal cohabitation of soul and body they were happily matried and lived lovingly together for a while till sin sowed discord between them and made them jar many a falling out is there now between body and soul between sense and reason they draw several wayes there 's a self-civil war even in this sense the flesh lusteth against the spirit that poor man is hall'd and pulled this way and that tossed to and fro as with several winds nunc hic nunc flectitur illic man is full of contradictions Time was when the mind commanded the body but now this servant rides on horse-back when that Prince walks on foot Man is inverted his head is where his heels should be his soul is become a prisoner to the body rather then a Free-man too too often the beast is too hard for the man and the horse rides the rider sense Lords it and domineers over reason 7. 7 His relative good Sin is against mans relative good in this world mans comfort or sorrow lies much in relations the weal or woe of his life is as relation are that which was made for an help proves but too often an hindrance Sin hath spoil'd Society that homo homini lupus diabolus one man is a wolf yea a devil to another Sin will not let Husband and Wife Parents and Children to live quietly but sets them at variance and many times a mans Enemies are them of his own house and bosome they who eat bread at our Table lift up their heel against us and familiar friends become enemies Lust makes wars James 4.1 and from pride comes contention Proverbs 13.10 It breeds divisions factions in Church and State that there is little of union or order harmony society or friendship in the world Thus doth sin set it self to oppose mans well-being Yea 2 Sin is against the very being of man 2 'T is against the being of man sin doth aim not only that man should not be well but that man should not be at all How many doth it strangle in the Womb how many miscarriages and abortions doth it cause how many doth it send from the Cradle to the grave that they have run their race before they can go others die in their full strength beside the havocks it makes by war c. as some do alwayes eat their bread in darkness Job 21.23 Man no sooner begins to live but he begins to die and after a few daies which are but as a span and do passe away more swift then a Weavers Shuttle sin lays all in the dust Princes as well as Beggars Sin hath reduced mans age to a very little pittance from almost a thousand to a very uncertainty not only to seventy but to seven for among men no mans life is valued at more mans time is short and uncertain he that 's born to day is not sure to live
his Son 7 Not sparing Christ Jesus but delivering him up for us all Gods sending his Son into the world to condemn sin Rom. 8.3 and to destroy it 1 Joh. 3.8 doth clearly witness for God how odious sin is to him and ought to be to man for whom Christ suffer'd and died that sin might die and man might live yea live to him who died for us for to no less doth his love constrain us 2 Cor. 5.14 15. To clear and evince this the more plainly and fully I shall shew these three things 1 That Christs sufferings were for sinners 2 That Christs sufferings were exceeding great 3 That the greatness of his suffering are full witness on Gods part of Sins sinfulness against God and Man 1 1 He suffer'd for sinners That Christ his sufferings were for sinners Jesus Christ himself suffer'd but he did not suffer for himself for he was without sin Hebr. 4.15 and 7.26 neither was guile found in his mouth nor any misbecoming word when he suffer'd though 't were a provoking time 1 Pet. 2.22 23. 'T is a faithful saying that Christ came into the world to save sinners 1 Tim. 1.15 This was the design errand and business about which he came he had his name Jesus because he was to save his people from their sins Mat. 1.21 And he himself professeth that he came to seek and to save that which was lost Luke 19.20 Now dead and lost is the sinners Motto Luke 15.32 accordingly when he was in the world he suffer'd and died that he might save sinners he died for our sakes and so loved his Church that he gave himself for it Eph. 5.25 Yea 't is not only said often that he died for us Rom. 5.8 and 8.32 but that he died for our sins not only for our good as the final cause but for our sins as the procuring cause of his death Rom. 4.25 He was deliver'd for our offences 1 Cor. 15.3 Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture according to what was typified prophesied and promis'd in the Scripture One eminent place instend of many others is in Is 53.5 He was wounded for ou◠transgression he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed To this the Apostles bear witness in the New Testament Gal. 1.4 he gave himself for our sins and 1 Pet. 2.24 who his own self bare our sins Now this dying for us and our sins notes 1 That he died and gave himself as a ransome for us Mat. 20.28 1 As a ransome I came to give my life a ransome for many said our sweet and blessed Saviour 1 Tim. 2.6 He gave himself a ransome for all Christs dying was the paying of a price a ransome price and hence we are said to be bought redeem'd and purchased 1 Cor. 6.20 Ye are not your own ye are bought with a price viz. that of his blood as 't is in 1 Pet. 1.18 19. Ye were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ and the Church is purchased with his own blood Acts 20.28 He gave himself as a Redemption price and we are a purchased people 1 Pet. 2.9 2 He died for us as a Sacrifice for our sins 2 A Sacrifice he became sin for us 2 Cor 5.21 In the Old Testament the Sin-offering is called sin so here Christ Jesus an Offering for sin is said to be made sin for us 'T is said in the holy Scripture that Christ offer'd his Body his Soul himself Hebr. 10.10 There 's the offering of his Body Is 53.10 He made his Soul an offering for sin And Eph. 5.2 He hath given himself for us an offering and a Sacrifice to God Hebr. 9.14 He did offer himself without spot to God and v. 26. He put away sin by the Sacrifice of himself Now as we were redeem'd by the price so we are reconciled by the Sacrifice of his death For Rom. 5.9 10. We are reconciled by the death of his Son 3 3 3 A curse Christ laid down his life for us as bearing the curse and punishment due to our sins and therefore 't is said he was made a curse for us which was the punishment of our sin Gal. 3.13 He bare our sins i. e. the curse due to our sins The punishment of sin is called sin often in Scripture and to bear iniquity is to be punished and as Redemption came by the price and Reconciliation by the Sacrifice so Justification by his bearing the curse and punishment Is 53.11 12. He shall justifie many for he shall bear their sins He became a curse for us that the blessing of Abraham might come upon us and that is Justification by Faith as you may see Gal. 3.13 14. with v. 8 9. This shall suffice as to the first thing viz. that Christs sufferings were for sinners 2 2 His sufferings were great The sufferings of Jesus Christ were exceeding great I shall omit what may be gather'd from the types under the Law and what is exprest by the Prophets concerning the suffering of Christ though many things might be collected thence but they being all fulfilled in him I shall confine my self especially to the relation made thereof in the N. Testament He was a man of sorrows as if he were a man made up of sorrows as the Man of Sin is as if he were made up of sin as if he were nothing else He knew more sorrow then any man yea then all men ever did For the iniquity and consequently the sorrows of all men met in him as if he had been their Center and he was acquainted with griefs he had little acquaintance else grief was his familiar acquaintance he had no acquaintance with laughter we read not that he laughed at all when he was in the world his other acquaintance stood afar off but grief follow'd him to his Cross from his birth to his death from his Cradle to the Cross from the Womb to the Tomb he was a man of sorrows and never were sorrows like his he might say never grief or sorrow like to mine 't is indeed impossible to express the sufferings and sorrows of Christ and the Greek Christians used to beg of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that for the unknown sufferings of Christ he would have mercy on them Though Christs sufferings are abundantly made known yet they are but little known eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor hath it or can it enter into the heart of man to conceive what Christ suffer'd who hath known the power of Gods wrath Christ Jesus knew it for he underwent it but though it be impossible to declare all yet 't is useful to take a view of what we can I shall therefore draw a Scheme of Christs sufferings under three Heads 1 Jesus Christ underwent all manner of sufferings 2 Jesus Christ suffer'd by all manner of persons 3 All manner of aggravating circumstances did meet in
well kept that God keeps and if he keep not the City the watchmen watch in vain Commit thy self to the Keeper of Israel and all will be well Prov. 16.1 2 3. 3. Not in Deed-sins Caution against Deed-sins The third thing I am to dehort from and caution against is living in the practice of any sin yet before I directly speak thereunto I crave leave to say some things about and against sins of omission a thing too seldom treated or taken notice of though scarce any guilt more common I shall therefore dehort 1. From sins of Omission 2. From sins of Commission 1. Take heed of sins of Omission Of sins of Omission it is a sin to omit what good is commanded as well or ill as to commit what evil is forbidden not to do what we ought as to do what we ought not We are not only to eschew evil but to do good also 1 Pet. 3.11 and I the rather insist a little hereon because many are more apt and prone to omit Duties to be neglectful of doing good then to commit especially gross and palpable evils and withal to look upon it as a less evil if any at all there being so many though but trifling excuses ready for it as you may see Luke 14.18 19 20. I beseech you therefore to consider these things 1. That good and some of the best of men have been guilty hereof and have suffered hereby to instance but in two the first is Jacob who was exceeding tender of telling a lye though 't were to get a blessing Gen. 27.11 12. but this Jacob was so forgetful of and did so long neglect and omit to pay his vow which he made at Bethel that God minds him of it Gen. 35.1 and for the omission whereof it s suppoâ—ed that the afflictions mentioned in the former Chapter did befal him The other Instance is Hezekiah a good man and a good King who returned not to the Lord according to the benefit he had received nor did answer the end of it but was guilty of not being humble or thankful enough though he sung a Song of Praise and it seems annually unto God and therefore wrath was upon him 2 Chron. 32 25. with Isa 38.20 Alas how apt are good men to neglect Duties and especially returning ones even them of praise and for these things sake the wrath of God comes on his own Children as for gross sins it comes upon the children of disobedience Eph. 5.5 6. How dear did it cost the Spouse her not opening to her Beâ—oved Cant. 5.6 7. 2. Yet generally and for the most part 't is a great affliction to good and godly men to be forced to omit and to be constrained to be absent from Duties though the omission of them at such a time and in such a case be no sin of theirs as in time of sickness or in case of flight how doth David mourn while in the wilderness being persecuted and driven there how doth be lament his absence from the Assemblies of them that kept Holy-day Psal 42 1-4 Though God in cases of such necessity dispense with his Sabbath and consequently his instituted Worship on that day yet holy men lament this necessity and mourn that they are restrained from bearing a part with others and forced to do that which else were not lawful to do on a Sabbath-day and 't is on this account not to exclude others that as I conceive our Saviour bid the Disciples pray that their flight might not be on the Sabbath-day Mat. 24.20 For the usual Ordinances of the day could not be enjoy'd nor the ordinary Duties of the day practised and performed But 3. As it should be an affliction to be in a necessity so 't is a sin to be willing to omit a Duty 'T is an affliction not to have an head or hand but a sin not to have an heart for Duty As 't is a sin to will evil so 't is a sin not to will good but to be willing not to do good is more a sin too many persons are glad of diversions as School-boys are when they have no mind to their books any thing shall serve to put off a Duty When the flesh was weak and the spirit willing Christ himself excused them Mat. 26.41 but if the spirit be unwilling 't is no excuse though the flesh be never so weak 'T was some comfort to St. Paul that though to do he had not power yet to will was present with him Rom. 7.18 but not to will though we have no power and much more not to will when we have power is a sin The reason why the wicked bad God depart from them was because they had no mind nor desire to be acquainted with his ways Job 21.14 so Rom. 1.28 they did not like to retain God in their knowledge or to pay acknowledgments to him they had no mind nor will nor list to do it and this is sin as well as the other sins wherewith they are charged 4. One omission makes way for another he that under pretence of unfitness to Duty puts it off makes himself fit for nothing more then to omit again qui non est hodie eras minùs aptus erit he prepares and fits himself to be unfit for and to omit Duty much and too long fasting takes away and deadens our appetite he that omits one is like to omit another and so another till he omit all and give up his very profession and when that 's gone the mans Religion dies and he becomes twice dead Omissions make way for commissions as it did in our first Parents and 't will be worth our while to observe a few Texts that speak of sluggards from whence sins of omission generally arise Eccl. 10.18 by much slothfulness the building decays and through idleness of the hands the house drops through it not only lyes open to wind and weather but at last falls down the repairs being neglected and omitted Our bodies are called the Temples of God of which our souls are as I may say the Holy of Holies or as we call it the Chancel and 't is through sloth that this glorious Fabrick decays so much Prov. 18.9 he that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster he is a man that will come to nothing and be worse then nought very shortly and speedily for he is a Prodigal a spend-thrift he spends more then he gets and more then was given him true and 't is as true that his brother the slothful man will not hold out much longer then he for Prov. 20.4 the sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold therefore shall he beg in harvest and have nothing A Prodigal comes to nothing and so doth the Sluggard Love is a laborious thing we read of the labour of love 1 Thes 1.3 and love never grieves to be obedient 1 Joh. 5. Now idleness argues a defect and want of love for
SIN THE PLAGVE of PLAGVES OR Sinful Sin the worst of Evils A Treatise of Sins Tryal and Arraignment wherein Sin is Accused for being proved to be and condemned for being exceeding sinful And that 1 As against God his Nature Attributes Works Will Law Image People Glory and Existence 2 As against Man his good and welfare of Body and Soul in this Life and that to come With the Use and Improvement to be made of this Doctrine that men may not be Damned but Saved c. Being the Substance of many Sermons Preached many Years ago in SOVTHWARK By Ralph Venning A.M. Prov. 8.36 He that sinneth against me wrongeth his own Soul John 5.14 Sin no more least a worse thing come unto thee London Printed for John Hancock to be sold at his Shop in Bishopsgate-street over against the Exchange next to the White-Lyon and the corner shop in Popes-head-Alley and by T. Parkhurst at the Golden Lyon on London-bridge 1669. Academiae Cantabrigiensis Liber To all that were Hearers and to all that shall be Readers of what 's contained in the following Treatise THE Christian Religion as it exposeth to so it fits for and is suited to Suffering as well as Glory Yea the All-wise God hath so ordered it that while we are on this side the Grave such Graces as suppose Suffering and are preparative to Glory should be most exercised by us which are to act their part and to have their continuance only in this world and which indeed had not had an actual being or existence if Sin had not entred into the world viz. such Graces as are Faith Repentance Hope and Patience There had been no need of Faith for righteousness if we had not lost our own no need of nor occasion for Repentance if we had remained Innocent no room for Hope seeing we had been in a continual sight enjoyment and possession of happiness if we had not sinned nor any use or exercise of Patience when there had been no suffering and none there had been if there had been no Sin The state of Innocency before sin was being in the next degree like to the state of Glory when sin shall be no more and that excludes these and such like things for then sorrow and sighing shall flee away and all tears be wiped from their eyes then Faith shall be turned into Vision and Hope into Fruition suffering and consequently patience shall be at an end as to good and holy men It cannot therefore but be hugely useful and advantageous toward the exciting exercising promoting and perfecting of these Graces to know what an exceeding sinful thing sin is not only that we may suffer well as did Christ Jesus 1 Pet. 2 19.-23 and make Moses's choice Hebr. 11.25 and not that which is charg'd on Job as his Chap. 36 21. But also because if ever we be saved these Graces must be practis'd and that they are not in a capacity to be till sin appear to us as it did to S. Paul an exceeding sinful deceitful and destructive thing And truly as Sinners are not like to be awakened hereunto till the Commandment come as it did to the Apostle and discover it to them so they who are awakened and converted are greatly obliged and no less provokt by it to admire the love and mercy of God and to pay him everlasting gratitudes for their deliverance and salvation from sin But of the usefulness of this Doctrine I speak in the Treatise it self and shall therefore forbear to name any thing more of that Nature in this place As to the Book I have but a few things to say this Treatise was began and almost finish'd before the late Sore and great Plague began and therefore though for a memorial of it I have taken occasion to give it a Name or Title from thence yet it is not calculated particularly thereunto but with a more general aspect upon the universal mischief that Sin hath done mankind as to Soul and Body Time and Eternity it being the root of all evil Corporal Spiritual and Eternal only in relation to that sweeping Beesom of destruction and the dreadful fire from heaven or hell and in several senses from both which since consumed the habitations as the Plague did the Inhabitants before both which I fear are alas but too much forgotten we should consider the operation of Gods hand lifted up to lay it to heart to confess our sin and give him glory For though God in the midst of judgment remembred mercy yet we in the midst of mercy should remember judgment both hands being to lead us to repentance else though the Plague be over and gone and that fire burns no longer yet if the plague of our hearts and not fiery lusts if our sins continue we are far from health and safety If after such deliverances as these we sin as if we were deliver'd to do nothing else or to speak as Ezra doth Ch. 9.13 14. and after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great trespass seeing that God hath punished us less then our iniquities have deserved and hath given us such deliverance as this should we again break his Commandments and joyn in affinity with the people of with such and the like as our former abominations would not he be angry with us till he have consumed us so that there be none as hitherto through mercy there hath been remnant and escaping but the fire of his wrath may burn to and we burn in the lowermost hell Oh let us hear and fear and do no more so wickedly Deut. 13.11 for sin is so notoriously more then excessively and intollerably evil that as 't is at present the reproach 't will be hereafter the ruine of any people who repent not And what is impenitency but a treasuring up of and growing rich in sin and wrath together Rom. 2 4.-9 and what is that but to be abundantly damned As to this Subject I am well aware that several pious and learned men have treated of it but that is no discouragement to their Successors to do so too no more then 't was to S. Luke Ch. 1.1 2 3. to write the Gospel of which others had written before him And indeed what is the Gospel of S. Matthew Mark Luke and John but the same Gospel published with some little variety The Apostle S. Peter wrote of the same things which S. Paul had done 2 Pet. 3.15 and they both wrote of the same things over and again Phil. 3.1 2 Pet. 1.12 13. And Jude the Brother of James as v. 1. did transcribe or at least Epitomize a great part of S. Peters second Epistle almost in terminis verbatim word for word I remember S. Austin somewhere gives his advice to have the same things published by several men that by the interest relation and affection which they have in the world truths may come to the more hands which else would be confined and well high
imprisoned Beside what Ausonius tells us â—â—us plus alio invenire potest nemo-omnia is a very great truth one may find out more then another but none will or can find and speak out all so exceeding broad are the commands and truths contain'd in the sacred Scriptures beyond any others Though therefore I think it no disparagement to me to acknowledge that I have perused others and profited by them yet I may without vanity or ostentation say that I have not only handled this Subject in another manner but that I have also spoken to other things then any hath done that I have yet met withall and do not doubt but much more may be said then hath been by me any or all that have written on this Theme As to the sinfulness of sin the Subject of the Treatise I have indeed handled it most largely as 't is against Mans good and happiness it being most properly the intent and scope of the Text and God is so condescending that he is pleased to treat man as a self-lover and so to gain him and win him by his own advantages yea he seems by his patience to have a concern for mans Salvation beyond his own vindication in this world as the Apostle gives us to believe 2 Pet. 3.9 And truly this vouchsafement self-denial and humbling of himself is so great and rich a goodness that it most forceably leads and draws us to repentance Rom. 2.4 As to the stile I have not minded any curiosity for I am still of my former opinion that that eloquence doth injury to things which draws us to observe it seeing words are only for the matters sake and should not hinder but help its promotion fine expressions according to what 's said by a Learned and Eloquent person fine expressions are but like the gawdy and guilded frame of a Looking-glass which acquaints us not with our faces and features The genuine use of a Looking-glass yea many times the richness of the frame doth so much amuse and dazle the eyes of some childish persons that they are regardless of any thing else The Rhetorick diverts men from attending the more concerning the instructive part of a discourse yea many that pretend to be Criticks make little other use of Sermons and good Books then to censure or to applaud the contrivance and the phrase without minding the Doctrine or caring to rectifie what hath been discover'd to them to be amiss 'T is no commend to a Preacher to be more sollicitous to make his expressions then to make his Hearers good There must be no flattering of sinners we must rather endeavour they may condemn themselves then applaud us and 't will be more joy to a good Divine to hear the peoples sighs for their sins then to hear their praises of his Sermon and that they follow his counsel then that they admire his language We must not speak against sin to shew an art of declaiming a skill of speaking Oratoriously but to exercise our own and to provoke others to exert their hatred against it and 't is to be fear'd that when the best of men have done their best and utmost there will yet be too many that read pious books with less reverence and concern then a Romance or a Play being more for the Rhetorick then Divinity for the wit then worth which is to say the shadow then substance of discourses and as the forementioned excellent person significantly expresseth it If a devout book have not good store of witty passages some Readers will not mind it at all and if it have they will mind nothing else And this experience confirms But whatever Readers this Book meet with I have endeavour'd that it may profit and so far please them that I hope they will find nothing worthy of their displeasure but the thing I write against I have committed it to God and beg'd his blessing that it may be of use to teach men to profit hereafter by their hitherto loss and get something by reading which they can never do by committing of sin But not to detain thee much longer I entreat thee to remember that this world is but a glittering and pompous vanity a thing that 〈…〉 using and will not reach beyond the grave and perhaps will not last so long for the lust and fashion of it pass yea take them wings and fly away Remember that sin leads no where but to hell the place and Element of torment Remember that ere long Death will arrest thee and carry thy body to the dust and Dungeon of the grave and if thou die in thy sins thy Soul to Hell and Damnation I entreat thee therefore to exercise thy self unto and in the power of godliness and do not live as if the practise of Piety were nothing but a Book of that Name Alas what is' t to have Religion in thy Bible in thy head and tongue and yet have none in thine heart and life Do but think what thou wilt say or do when thou comest to judgment as Solomon tells the young man Eccl. 11.9 Take the course which thou canst own and justifie in that day and do what thou wilt and then I am sure thou wilt not dare to do any thing but what thou oughtest for who can answer for one of a thousand or for but one sin As for any of them yet alive that were Hearers and shall now be Readers of what 's contain'd in the following Treatise I crave leave to tell them that they have it double as Precept upon Precept and line upon line and God seems to send it to them the second time that it may do more good upon them then it did at first that the repetition and calling of it to remembrance may do more then the preaching of it did though I know blessed be God that it was not then deliver'd and heard without good effects on many and I hope on more then I know of That God may be glorified and the Readers may profit by it is much the prayer as 't will be much the joy and rejoycing of my Soul whatever censures may be past upon me Ralph Venning There are several mis-pointings which the sense will help the Reader to Correct beside the following Errata which are to be amended thus PAge 16. line 12. for destruction read distraction p. 55. l. 20. for joyn'd r. injoyn'd l. 23. for sociability r. insociability p. 74. l. 24. for joyn with r. joyn them with p. 97. l. 2. for believe they r. believe then p. 126. l. 33. for no more r. the more p. 128. l. 2. for tell of God r. tell God p. 141. l. 24. for have r. leave p. 145. l. 2. for when before r. before and when p. 145. l. 33. for they call r. they not call p. 148. l. 27. for iuch r. such p. 152. l. 4. for divisions r. diversions p. 156. l. 26. for hundred r. hardned p. 157. l. 15. for exercise r. excess p. 255. l. 4.
might be no God for sinners are haters of God Rom. 1.30 And as he that hates his Brother is a Murtherer 1 Joh. 3.15 so as much as in him lies he that hates God is a murtherer of God It keeps Garrisons and strong holds against God 2 Cor 10.4 5. It strives with and fights against God and if its power were as great as its will is wicked it would not suffer God to be God â—s a troublesome thing to sinners and therefore â—hey say to him depart from us Job 21.14 and â—f Christ Jesus let us break his bonds in sunder and cast his cords far from us Psal 2.1 2. And when the Holy Ghost comes to woe and entreat them to be reconciled they resist and make war with the spirit of peace Acts 7.51 so that they are against every person in the Trinity Father Son and Spirit In short and for a conclusion sin is contrary to God and all that 's dear to him or hath his name upon it and though it be against all good yet not so much against any good as against God who is and because he is the chiefest good Before we pass on let me beseech thee who ever thou be that readest to pause a little and consider of what is said for mutato nomine dâ— te what 's said of sin is to be consider'd by the sinner and is meant of thine and my sin Shalâ— I not plead for God and thy Soul and entreaâ— thee to be on Gods side and depart from thâ— Tents of wickedness Poor Soul Canst thou finâ— it in thine heart to hug and imbrace such a Monster as this is Wilt thou love that which hateâ— God and which God hates God forbid Wiâ—â— thou joyn thy self to that which is nothing buâ— contrariety to God and all that 's good Oh saâ— to this Idol yea to this Devil Get hence whaâ— have I to do with thee thou Elymas Sorcereâ— thou full of all malignity and mischief thoâ— Child yea Father of the Devil thou that art thâ— Founder of Hell an Enemy to all righteousness that ceasest not to pervert the right way of the Lord and to reproach the living God Away away Shall I be seduced by thee to grieâ— the God of all my joy to displease the God 〈◊〉 all my comfort to vex the God of all my coâ—tent to do evil against a good God by whom I live move and have my being Oh no. Thus consider of these things and do not go on to provoke the Lord least a worse thing befall thee then any hitherto do not contend with God who is stronger then thou art who is able when he will and he will be one day found both able and willing enough to turn the wicked into hell the Element of sin and sinners who shall go into it as into their own place as Judas did Acts 1.25 Oh learn to pity thine own soul for he that sinneth doth as offend and wrong God so wrong and destroy his own soul or as some read the Text despiseth his own soul Prov 8.36 Oh think on 't what hast thou no value no regard for thy soul wilt thou neglect and despise it as if 't were good for nothing but to be damn'd and go to hell wilt thou be felo de se a self-soul-murtherer shall thy perdition be of thy self Oh look to thy self for sin notwithstanding all its flattering pretences is against thee and seeks nothing less then thy ruine and damnation And this brings and leads me to the second thing to be treated of Sins contrariety to Man The second thing wherein the sinfulness of sin doth consist 2 Sin is contrary to the good of man is its contrariety to the good of Man which is the thing that our Text doth especially ment on and intend and is therefore to be the more copiously spoken to Sin is contrary to the good of man and nothing is properly â—nd absolutely so but sin and this results and is evident from sins contrariety to God as there is nothing contrary to God but sin for Devils are not so but by sin so sin in being contrary to God is and cannot but be contrary to man that must he unavoidably evil to man that 's evil against God who is the chiefest good of man communion with and conformity to God is mans felicity his heaven upon earth and in heaven too without which it would not be worth his while to have a being Now sin being a separation between God and Man an interruption of this communion and conformity it must needs be prejudicial and hurtful to him Beside the Commandment of which sin is a transgression was given not only for Gods sake that he might have glory from mans obedience but for Mans sake that man might enjoy the good and benefit of his obedience and find that in keeping the Commands of God there is great reward These two were twisted together and no sooner is the Law transgrest but God and Man are joynt-sufferers God in his glory and Man in his good Mans suffering follows at the heel of sin yea as he suffers by so in sinning suffering and sinning involve each other No sooner did sin enter into the world but death which is a privation oâ— good did enter by it with it and in it for 't is the sting of death so that sin saith here its death and death saith here is sin No sooneâ— did Angels sin but they fell from their first estate and habitation which they had with God in glory not a moment between their sin and misery and as soon as man had sinned his conscienâ—â— told him that he was naked and destitute oâ— righteousness and protection and consequently an undone man that he could not endure Gods presence nor his own Genes 3.7 8. So apparent is it that sin and that in being contrary to God is contrary to man for what crosseth Gods glory is cross to mans happiness Now To proceed more distinctly and particularly 1 In this life I shall evince that sin is against mans good both present and future here in time and hereafter in Eternity in this life and world which now is and in that to come against all and every good of man and against the good of all and every man And herein lies the second instance of the sinfulness of sin as it is 1 Against mans present good in this life and that 1 Against the good of his body 2 Against the good of his soul For on both it hath brought a curse and death 1 Sin is against the good of mans body 1 Against his body it hath corrupted mans blood and made his body mortal and thereby render'd it a vile body our bodies though made of dust were yet more precious then the fine gold but when we sinned they became vile bodies before sin our bodies were immortal for death and mortality came in by sin but now alas they must return to dust and it s
a day And what is our life but as a vapour which soon passeth away I might inlarge here but this may suffice to shew that sin is against all the good man in this life consider'd in a natural sense and now I proceed to shew that sin is against the good of man 2 In a Moral sense 2 In a moral sense for 1 Sin hath degraded man by defiling him and tantum non almost unmann'd him for as our Text speaks of sin as a man so the holy Scripture speaks of man as if he were sin and every man were a man of sin made up of sin whither we consider the outer or inner man Man was a very noble thing made little lower then the Angels Psal 8. But alas by sin he is made almost as low as Devils Man was once a companion for God himself but sin hath separated between God and him sin hath robbed man of his primitive excellency of a Lord he is become a servant yea a slave to creatures to Devils and lusts of all sorts Now this debasement came by defilement which defilement cleaves 1 1 His body defiled To his body for the flesh is silthy 2 Cor. 7.1 and the body needs sanctifying and cleansing 1 Thes 5.23 the body is a body of sin the members are servants to uncleanness and to iniquity Rom. 6.19 Take him from head to foot from the Crown of that to the sole of this there 's no whole because not holy part in him but all filthy and full of putrefactions and sores If we dissect and anatomize man we shall find this but too true for not to name every sin that cleaves to the whole or every part but in a more general way 't is thus said of sinful men their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness with their tongues they use deceit the poyson of Asps is under their lips their throat is an open Sepulchre Rom. â— 13 14. eyes full of adultery 2 Pet. 2.14 the eye-lids haughty Prov. 30.13 ears dull of hearing Hebr. 5.11 yea deaf as the Adder Psa 58.4 5. the forehead is impudent as a brow of brass Is 48.4 both hands are imploid to work iniquity Mic. 7.3 the belly an Idol-God Phil. 3.19 the feet are swift to shed blood Rom. 3.15 and if we look within their inward part is very wickedness Hebr. wickednesses Psa 5.9 the gall is a gall of bitterness in a moral as in a natural sense the spleen is affected yea infected with envy and malice what part is there which is not the seat of one or other evil Yea this defilement cleaves 2 To the Soul 2 His soul defiled which is the principal subject of it 't is not only flesh but spirit that is filthy 2 Cor. 7.1 Gods Image was more in and on the Soul then body of man and sins ambition and envy is to deprive the Soul of this Image righteousness and holiness were stamp'd on mans Soul but sin hath blotted this Image and Superscription which onâ—â— told from whence it came and to whom it belong'd so that man is fallen short of the glory of God and the glory of being Gods it must be new created or renewed till God will own it for his because till then his Image is not legible if it in this sense be at all for there is none righteous no not one Rom. 3.10 'T is not any one faculty only that sin hath defiled but like a strong poyson it soaks and ears through all that whereas all was holy and holiness to the Lord 't is now evil and evil against the Lord Genes 6.5 Every imagination figment or creature of the heart is only evil continually yea the Flood which washt away so many sinners could not wash away sin the same heart remains after the Flood as before Genes 8.21 and as it was with the heart of man from his youth it hath continued to be to this old and decrepit age of the world for to this day there proceeds out of the heart the same evil thoughts words and deeds that then did Mat. 15.20 And from this unclean Fountain issues forth all that defiles the man Sin hath made the heart of man deceitful and desperately wicked Jerem. 17.9 and its hardned in impenitency through the deceitfulness of sin Hebr. 3.12 13. yea though thereby man do nothing but undo himself and treasure up wrath against the day of wrath Rom. 2.5 It makes man obstinate that he will not be saved but will be damned you will not come to me that you may have life Joh. 5.40 As for the Word of the Lord we will not hearken but we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth Jerem. 44.16 17. and 't is out of the abundance of folly and madness that is in mens hearts and bound up there that they thus speak not only vain thoughts and words but villanous ones bubble and break forth from this corrupt fountain which sets the tongue on fire of hell that the devil could not broach and belch out more horrid blasphemies against God then the tongues and hearts of sinful men It hath defiled and spoiled mans memory and conscience also his memory how treacherous is it as to good but alas too tenacious as to evil The conscience is become an evil conscience and in many a seared conscience Thus all over without and within is man defiled and polluted of which I may speak yet more in another place only at present a little more largely to shew how sin hath almost put out mans eyes and even extinguished the Candle of the Lord how it hath dimned and benighted mans leading faculty the understanding which should shew a man the difference between good and evil and guide him in the way wherein he should walk but is now too often an ignis fatuus that leads men into bogs and ditches into errors and immoralities Sin hath 1 Blinded mans understanding and made him ignorant 2 Depraved his understanding and made him a fool 1 Sin hath darkned mans understanding Iâ—hâ—h 〈◊〉 Darkned mans understanding and made him blind Poor man is wise to do evil but to do good hath no knowledge Jerem. 4.52 yea there is none that understandeth viz. as and what he ought Rom. 3.11 All the workers of iniquity have no knowledge Psal 14.4 Poor man is cover'd with Egyptian thick darkness yea said to be not only dark but darkness in the abstract Eph. 5.8 and which is sad is in love with darkness Joh. 8.19 and his light is darkness Mat. 6.23 That man is in darkness by sin is clear as the light of the Sun by the light of Scripture truth beside that of sad experience for in general when men are converted they are called out of â—nd turned from darkness to light Acts 26.18 1 Pet. 2.9 c. And our Lord Jesus came to be and give light to them that sate in darkness Luke 1.76.79 And indeed none but he can open the
Prophets prophesie falsly and the Priests bear rule by their means and my people love to have it so falshood and slattery was their business and the peoples choice and pleasure God and godliness righteousness and holiness were troublesome and tedious they must have smooth things and soft pillows and alas they were fitted to an hair this suited their tooth and pleas'd their palate well but all this while it argues undeniably that men are dark and blind who can be content with such dogs to lead them yea not only dumb dogs but blind guides yea and false Prophets too who lead them into the Ditch of Sin and Dungeon of Hell What doth all this argue but mans darkness and what doth that infer but sins sinfulness in darkning the understanding of man Is not light good God that made it saw it so but now that the soul is without knowledge it is not good Prov. 19.2 So that sin is against the good of man in putting out the sight of his eyes which is worse in a spiritual sense then if it had put out the eyes of his body Mans eyes are very dear to him God expresseth the tenderness he hath for his people by this that htey are to him as the apple of his eye Zech. 2.8 And the Apostle sets out the love of the Galatians by this that they would have pull'd out their eyes for him Gal. 4.15 And to sheâ— love to God we are to pull out our right eye iâ— it do offend Mat. 5.29 Israel took great indigâ—nation at Naash the Ammonite that he would have put out their eyes 1 Sam. 11. Herein then lies the malignity of sin that it hath so darkned the eyes of mans understanding and left it for a reproach Yet this is not all but 2 Sin hath depraved mans understanding 2 Sin hath depraved mans understanding and made him a fool and made him a fool a sot a very bruit ignorant foolish and beast are joyned together Psa 73.22 folly is the common name of sin and so is fools of sinners in the Scripture Psa 94.8 O ye fools when will ye be wise i. e. O ye sinners when will ye fear God for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdome yea 't is wisdome Job 28.28 yea the top of wisdome Prov. 1.7 Till a man fear God he doth but play the fool he is indeed unmann'd and beside himself for of the Prodigal the Representative of Sinners and Converts when he repented and was converted 't is said that he came to himself and then quickly went to his Father And in the recovery of man our Lord Jesus Christ is made of God to us not only righteousness but light and wisdome 1 Cor. 1.30 we were without that our selves which Christ is made to us That this is the common case of Jew and Gentile i. e. all men the Apostle assures us Rom. 3.9 10 11. yea men themselves declare it and I may say of man as Solomon doth of the sool Eccl. 10 3. When he walketh by the way he saith to every one that he is a fool the way and course he takes his carriage and behaviour shews him to be a fool as a child so a man is known by his doings Prov. 20.11 as he that doth righteousness is righteous so that doth folly is a fool And His folly appears to be very great Mans folly appears 1 With respect and relation to his end or happinesse 2 With respect to the means which relate to the end 3 By non or ill-improvement of means in relation to the end 1 1 As to his end or happiness Mans folly is but too apparent in relation to his chief and ultimate end the summum bonum Man is exceedingly to seek for happinesse where to place it as how to obtain it Oh the variety of opinions that men have had about happinesse Varro tells us of a great many but who can tell us of all So many men so many minds for when man goes from unity he falls into multitude he hath found out many inventions Time was when man had light and wisdome enough to know that God was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Supreme and chief good and that his happinosse lay in knowing and enjoying God but since sin man is become such a fool as to say in his heart there is no God at least no happinesse in knowing God for if sin make not men such Atheists as to believe there is no God yet it makes them such as to wish that there were no God and to say that 't is no happinesse to know him or profit to serve him Let us eat and drink c. is the voice of more men then let us seek and serve God who will shew us any good viz. corn wine and oyl is the voice of mary Psal 4. yea of all till regenerate Man is become so sottish and bruitish that he lives by sense Now sense will never look to God who is invisible that 's for saith but to the creatares which are visible and the objects oâ— sense How did Solomon set this out to the life in his Ecclesiastes viz. that sense seeks for happinesse below God that man is fond of toys and trifles and seeks contentment where there 's nothing but vexation as if he could sind ease in the place and element of torment viz. in hell he sets his eyes and heart upon that which is not Prov. 23.5 The lust of the eye the lust of the slesh the pride of life is the Trinity the God of this world and excludes the love of God 1 Joh. 2.15 16. All things of sense are but for the one and the worse half of man viz. the body and when all a mans labour is for this with neglect of the soul which is the principal man of the man what folly is it to mind the lesse and neglect the greater to be troubled about these many things and neglect the one thing necessary is folly with a witnesse and will be followed with a vengeance what is it to labour for the back and belly as if it were God to mind earthly things and neglect yea despise heavenly but folly in extremity 't is to glory in shame Phil. 3.19 He that bid his soul take ease in eating drinking and being merry was called fool and so i. e. such another fool is every one that lays up treasure for himself his sensual self and is not rich toward God as our Saviour tells us Luke 12.16 21. on which Text to shew the folly of such men I have discoursed elsewhere which if God please may in due time come to view and therefore I shall wholly wave and omit to speak to it here though I did treat of it when I preacht these Sermons on the sinfulnesse of sin Only Before I proceed to the other discoveries of mans folly in relation to the way and means that lead to happiness let me briefly evince by three things among
hide his face from you his face which makes heaven a smile whereof or the lifting up the light of which countenance upon us refresheth us more then corn wine and oyl Psa 4.6 7. yea his loving kindness is better then life we had better have parted with this then that Mans sin is exprest by this that he turns his back to God and not the face and his punishment by this that God turns his back to him and not the face God carries it not like a friend but a stranger And indeed this hiding of his face is significative of many more miseries then I can now stay to instance in 2 Another and no less misery hereupon is that God hears not his prayers as it follows in that fore-mentioned Text Is 59.2 and so it attends the hiding of Gods face Is 1.15 God is a God hearing prayers but sin shuts out our shouting and the prayers of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord and he calls them no better then howlings Hos 7.14 Yet further There are two or three other miseries not to name many more that are consequent upon this separation which continually attend poor sinful man 1 That man is without strength Mans great strength is in union with God separation weakens him for without him apart from him out of him separated from him we can do nothing to be a sinner is to be without strength Rom. 5.6 with 8. Man was once a Sampson for strength but having parted with his Lock his strength is departed from him that of himself as of himself he is not sufficient to think one good thought 2 Cor. 3.5 He was strong while in the Lord and the power of his might but now his â—ands are weak and knees feeble his legs cannot bear him up having got the Spiritual Rickers 2 Being separated from God man becomes afraid of God and ashamed to appear before him while Innocent though naked yet man was not afraid nor ashamed to approach to God or of Gods approaching to him but when he had sinned he was asham'd to shew his face and afraid to see Gods face or to hear his voice Gen. 3.9 10. When righteous he was bold as a Lyon but now he runs his head into a bush 3 This separation and departure hardens his heart against God that when God comes to talk and treat with man about his sinning he will lay it any where yea at Gods own door as Adam did rather then confess it 'T is three times said in one Chapter Hebr. 3.8.13 15. Harden not your hearts least any of you be hardened harden not your hearts and all this in relation 〈◊〉 hearing the voice of God as 't is there When God comes to convince man he cannot endure to hear on 't but hardens his heart and as it was in the beginning so it is now among the sinful children of men Thus have I as briefly as so large a subject would permit set out the sinfulness of sin as 't is against the good of man body and soul in this life in a natural and moral respect which was the first thing propounded The second follows 2 Sin is contrary to 2 Sin against the good of man in the life to come it damns men or against the good of man in the life to come It hath brought on man that eternal death Damnation In this life man by reason of sin is in deaths often but in the life to come he is in death for ever If sin had only wrong'd man in this life which is but for a moment it had not been so considerable but sins miserable effects are everlasting if mercy prevent not the wicked die and rise to die again the second and a worse death There is a Resurrection to life for the righteous the children of the Resurrection and for the wicked a Resurrection to condemnation or death for 't is opposed to life John 5.29 But Before I shew what and wherein damnation is and consequently the mischief and misery that sin hath thereby brought on man I shall premise a few things which will make our passage smooth and easie I say then 1 That God damns no man but for sin Damnation is a punishment Mat. 25.46 and all punishment supposeth guilt and transgression God the judge of all the earth will do right and he lays not on man more then is meet that man may not enter into judgment with God Job 34.23 or quarrel and find fault with him which man would quickly do if Gods judgment were not just even sinners themselves being Judges Death is but sins wages Rom. 6.23 that which it hath merited mans undoing is but the fruit of his own doing mans perdition is of himself Hos 13.9 His own wickedness correctâ— him Jer. 2.19 and that not only in this life but that to come Mat. 7.23 and Mat. 25 2 That by sin all men are liable to condemnation We were all of us children of wrath by nature Eph. 2.3 and the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience Eph. 5.6 Hâ— that believeth not is condemned already he iâ— in a state of condemnation beside that which unbelief will bring upon him Joh. 3.18 and he that believeth not the wrath of God abideth on him He was a child of wrath by nature and continues still so in unbelief Joh. 3.36 Thâ— wrath of God seiseth on him as its habitation anâ— abode Every mouth must be stop'd for all thâ— world is become guilty all have sinned and fallen short of the glory and are obnoxious tâ— the judgment of God Rom. 3 19.-23 3 Some men have been are and will be damneâ— for sin all but them who have do and shall condemn sin and themselves for sin If we judge our selves we shall not be condemned of thâ— Lord else woe be to us When our Saviour senâ— his Disciples to preach saith he Go preach the Gospel that 's good news and glad tidings he that believes shall be saved Mark 16.16 Ayâ— but what if they will not believe what shall we say then Why then tell them he that believeâ— not shall be damned This is as great a truth of the Gospel that he who believes not will be damned as this is that he who believes shall be saved Heaven and Salvation is not more surely promised to the one then hell and damnatioâ— is threatned to and shall be executed on the other broad is the way that leads to this destruction there are as many tracts to it as there aâ—â— sins but impenitency and unbelief are the high road way the beaten path wherein multitudes go to hell 4 Damnation is the greatest evil of suffering that can befall a man 't is the greatest punishment that God doth inflict This is the wrath of God to the uttermost 't is his vengeance Oh who knows the power of his wrath none but damned ones It is misery altogether misery and alwayes misery to be damned This will yet more fully appear upon
deliver'd to as different as grief is from joy as torment is from rest as terror from peace so different is the state of sinners from that of Saints in the world to come Rom. 2 6.-10 3 This state damnation-state of sinners 3 I admits of no relief will admit of no relief 't will be punishment without pitty miscry without mercy sorrow without succour crying without comfort torment without ease The sinner can look for no relief from God for God judgeth and condemns him none from conscience for that accuseth and upbraids him none from the Devils for they torment him none from hope for that 's departed from him none from time for 't is for ever it s a state of all misery it hath no consolation not so much as a little drop of water to cool the tongue 't is misery all misery nothing but misery as sin is all sin and nothing but sin Damnation-state more particularly consider'd under six Heads 1 The torments themselves the kinds of them 2 The quantity and quality of them 3 The duration of them 4 The Tormentors or inflicters of them 5 The aggravations of them 6 The effects of them By that time I have set these before you I presume you will conclude and cry out Oh sinful sin what a thing is sin and who would sin at this rate A he torments of Hell and be at such cost and charges to damn himself To begin with the torments themselves where I shall consider 1 The place with the names and appendices of it 2 The thing it self with its names 1 The place Hell is the place with its names In general and most frequently 't is called Hell the place and element of torment Luke 16. This is the Rendezvous General for the wicked after the day of Judgment and to express the dreadfulness of any condition or thing the name of Hell is annexed to it as to signifie the excellency of a thng the name of God and Heaven is joyn'd to it as Cedars of God c. 1 Therefore hell is a place and state of sorrow 1 Of sorrow for the greatest sorrows are called the sorrows of hell 2 Sam. 22.6 as the joys of heaven are the greatest joys so the sorrows of hell the greatest sorrows 2 A place and state of pains and pangs 2 Of pain far beyond them of a woman in travel Psa 116.2 The pains of hell gat hold of me there 's no ease in hell 3 Destruction is joyn'd with it 3 Destruction to be in hell is to be destroy'd Prov. 15.11 Hell and destruction are before him and he can destroy body and soul in hell Mat. 10.28 So 4. 'T is a place and state of five 4 Fiâ— of fiery indignation Mat. 5.22 He that calls his brother fool viz. without cause and in rash anger is in danger of hell fire the worst of flames Luk. 16. Yea 5. Damnation is in it and spoken of it 5 Damnation Mat. 23.33 How can ye escape the damnation of hell 6 Torment is attributed to it Luke 16.28 6 Tormen 'T is called the place of torment Thus you see what a kind of place and condition hell is 't is all these and much more than these words can express or you conceive by these expressions Yet more particularly 1 Hell is called a prison 'T is called 1 A prison As heaven is set out by things taking and delectable so hell is set out by what 's distastful and loathsome among which a prison is one and hell is called a prison Mat. 5.25 1 Per. 3.19 Prisons common Goals are the worst places to live in 't is a noysome pestilential air but hell is worse than the worst of prisons 2 2 A bottomless pit Hell is called the bottomless pit Revel 9.11 and elsewhere frequently The Devil is the Angel of the bottomless pit 't is a pit into which sinners must fall and be ever falling for there 's no bottom 3 3 A furnace of fire Hell is called a Furnace of fire and that 's a terrible thing Nebuchadnezars Furnace was terrible especially when heated seven times more than usually yet hell is a worse Furnace of fire Mat. 13.41 42. They that do iniquity that are sin-makers by trade shall be cast into a Furnace of fire which shall not devoure them but torment them and make them wail and gnash their teeth 4 4 A Lake c. It s called a Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone Revel 21.8 Such and such as are there named shall have their part and portion in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone always over head and ears in this Lake yet never drown'd always burning but never burnt to ashes They will in this be like the burning bush which burnt with fire but was not consumed as the Church was so on earth sinners will be so in hell 5 5 Darkness This place though it burn with fire and brimstone is yet called utter and outer darkness those flames will administer heat of wrath but no light of consolation Darkness is a dreadful thing but to be in the fire in darkness to live in death always to be tormented in flames and yet in darkness Oh how dismal must this be Mat. 22.13 bind him hand and foot and cast him into outer darkness so that 't will be in vain to think of making resistance for thou wilt be bound hand and foot and be in darkness too yea 't is called chains of darkness 2 Pet. 2.4 and blackness of darkness for ever Jude 6.13 This of the place 2 Let us consider the thing it self 2 Hell is a state of damnation with its names for as its name is so is it The most common and usual name of this punishment is Damnation a dreadful word who knows how much it means 't will make the stoutest heart to tremble the most consident countenance to fall the most daring courage to fail when they feel it If his wrath be kindled but a little 't is terrible how much more is it so when it shall be wrath to the uttermost for 't is contrary to being saved to the utmost More particularly 't is called 1 Destruction viz. Which is 1 Destâ—â—ction moral destruction not of mans being but well being 2 Pet. 2.12 they shall be taken destroy'd and utterly perish And 2 Thes 1.8.9 they shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. Alas it had been better for them they had never been born or if born that they had never died or if died that they had never risen again then to be thus destroy'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Hicrocles to be banish'd from God and the Divine Life is the worst of deaths 2 'T is a curse an accursed state 2 A curse to be under the curse of God as Mat. 25.41 not only depart from me but depart ye cursed There 's noâ— the
least dram of blessing or blessedness in thâ— state If so many curses were to wait on thâ— Jâ—ws on earth when they continued in impenitency as we read Deut. 28.16 20. Oh what 〈◊〉 cursed thing how full of curses is damnation 〈◊〉 this valley of Gehinnom this hell is a Mount Ebal the Mount of curses Deut. 17 13. 3 3 The second death Damnation is called the second death Revel 21.8 't will be a marvellous miraculous kind of death a living death a death that never dies aâ— immortal mortality they will live whose portion this death is and death will be their portion all their life 4 4 Shame It s a state of shame and contempt there is scarce any thing in the world we are less willing to undergo then shame The Thief who is not afraid to steal yet when taken he is ashamed Shame and confusion and contempt will be their lot Dan. 12.2 3. Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt 2 The quantity and quality of hell torments We shall take into consideration the quantity and quality of those torments of hell and damnation 1 They will be exceeding great and terrible 2 They will be universal 3 Without intermission 1 1 Great They will be exceeding great and terrible such as will make the stoutest hearts to quake and tremble If the writing of Mene Mene Tekel c. made a change in Belshazzars countenance and trouble in his thoughts so that the joynts of his loyns were loosed and his knees smote one against another Dan. 5.6 what a commotion and heart-quake will the day of Gods wrath and vengeance produce See an instance in type at least of this kind of speech and thing Rev. 6 15.-17 where not only bondmen persons of little and puny souls but great and mighty men chief Captains and Kings of the earth persons of great souls that have made the earth to tremble shall hide themselves in Dens and Rocks and say to the Mountains fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sits on the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand For bond-men to be faint-hearted and fly is no great wonder but for men of might and valour to run away and hide that 's strange I but 't is from wrath though but of a Lamb What will they do then when he shall rise up and roar like the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah 'T is the day of wrath which is the terrible day of the Lord 't is the day of vengeance which is implacable for God who is now hearing prayer will not then spare for their crying no though they cry Lord Lord. God always acts like himself like a God when he shews mercy 't is like the God of all grace who is rich in mercy and loves with a great love so when he executes wrath and vengeance he makes bare his arm and strikes like a God Who knows the power of his anger none but damned ones The sense of it here the receiving or searful reception of judgment as 't is in the Greek Hebr. 10.27 and fiery indignation makes a kind of hell so fearful a thing is it to fall into the hands of the living God when he acts like a God of vengeance as the Apostle there speaks v. 30 31. How dreadful then will it be to be in hell it self under the tortures of his executed wrath for ever as the man is so is his strength 't is but sport to be whipt by a child but to be whipt and lashed by a man a Gyant whose little finger is heavier then anothers loins how painful must it be The rod is for the back of fools but when it shall be turned into Scorpions and God himself shall lay on stroaks without mercy or pitty oh how tormenting will it be A stone thrown from a weak arm will not hit very hard but when the hand and arm of God shall throw down that wrath from heaven which is now but threatned against ungodly men and turn them into hell as a mighty man throws one over his shoulders oh how will it sink them deep into hell 2 2 Universal The torments of hell will be universal and universally inflicted 1 The torments themselves will be universal 't will be not a torment two or three but all tormants met together hell is the place of torment it self Luke 16 28. 't is the center of all punishments sorrow and pain wrath and vengeance sire and darknesse all are there as we proved before If one disease put a man so much to it what would a complication of discases If one punishment the Strapado the Rack or any other be so tormenting what would all at once be Oh what then will hell be 2 The persons on whom these torments will be inflicted will be universally tormented not one or two parts but all and all over whole man hath sinned and whole man will be tormented not soul alone or body only but soul and body after the Resurrection and Judgment day As for the body all the members of it have been instruments of unrighteousness and therefore all the members will be punished as man is defiled so man will be plagued from the crown of the head to the soal of the foot The senses which men have indulged and gratified will be filled with pain and torment that shall be clean contrary to those pleasures wherewith they were gratified in this world The eye which took so much pleasure in and was enamour'd of beauty shall then see nothing but ugly Devils and deformed Hags of damned wretches c. What shall the ear that was delighted with Musick and Love-songs what shall it hear but hideous cryes and gnashing of teeth the howlings and yawlings of damned Fiends The smell that was gratified with Rose-buds and sweet perfumes shall have no pleasing sents but unsavoury brimstone and a stink The taste that was refreshed with eating the fat and drinking the sweet must have nothing but the dregs of the cup of Gods wrath The touch and seeling shall be sensible then not of fine and silken things but of burning flames and scorching fiery indignation Ann as to the soul and all its faculties it and they will speed no better their understanding will be tormented with having the truth understood in miserable effects that which it laught at as foolishness it will then find true by the loss of it viz. Gospel happiness The conscience will be like a stinging Adder a gnawing worm The will will be vex'd that it had its will so long Here men think it a Princely thing to have their will but there they 'l find it a devillish thing 3 3 Without intermission Yet further these torments will be without intermission they shall be tormented day and night
true as I have said in this Indictment let me a little bespeak thee good Reader to consider of what hath been said and that thou wouldst be more afraid of sin then of hell which had not been but for sin and where thou shalt never be if thou repent and believe the Gospel for righteousness is not by repentance but by faith Believe they and love Faith as thou lovest thy Soul and Heaven hate sin and avoid it as thou wouldst hell and damnation sin no more least a worse thing come unto thee least the Rod be turned into a Scorpion least the next loss be the loss of heaven least the next sickness be unto death and death to damnation for if thou die in sin thou art damned irrecoverably 't were sad to die in an Hospital in a Prison in a ditch but as 't is worst living to live in sin so worst dying to die in sin if thou go on these Sermons will witness against thee as much as if not more then if one had risen from the dead if two or three devils or damned wretches should come from hell and cry fire fire it might startle thee but if thou believe not Moses and the Prophets yea Christ and his Apostles 't will work no good upon thee Oh mind the good of thy soul and do not bring on thy self this great universal intollerable and eternal damnation Take heed least Prov. 5.11 12 13. when thy flesh and thy body are consumed I and thy soul damned thou say too late how have I hated instruction and my heart despised reproof and have not obey'd the voice of my teachers nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me Oh! oh How have I rewarded evil to mine own soul by doing evil against God! I made a pish at these things and mocked at sin now I would hear now I would return but hope is perished Such will be the direful outcries of sinners one day take heed therefore for if thou have not on the wedding garment thou wilt be cast out Mat. 22.11 and if thou be found a worker of iniquity thou must depart accursed But not to prevent the application which I reserve to its proper place I now proceed to the third thing propounded 3. 3 The witnesses against sin The Witnesses and their Evidence against Sin as being exceeding sinful That sin is so exceeding sinful extremely and notorious guilty of contrariety to God and the good of man I have a cloud of witnesses to produce God himself Angels and men both good and bad the Law and Gospel the whole Creation sins names and sins actions even sins own confession do all bear witness to this Charge that it is true viz. that sin is an exceeding sinful thing from heaven from earth from hell will we bring witnesses against sin 1 3 God in 7 particulars God himself beareth witness against sin As he leaves us not without witness of his being good so he hath not left us without witness of sins being sinful against him and against the good of man 1 1 Forbidding it By this that God hath forbidden is and made a Law against it all the Laws and every command of God are his witnesses against sin and as he that believes not the testimony God beareth of his Son so he that believes not Gods testimony against sin makes God a lyar who is true and cannot lye The Law written in mans own heart the Law written in Tables of stone the Gospel also which is the Law of Faith is written as a witness against sin 1 Joh. 2.1 Now surely God would not have prohibited sin had it not been an abominable thing abominated by him and to be abominated by us God hath given man room and scope enough a very large allowance of all the Trees of the Garden man might eat only one excepted So Phil. 4.8 whatsoever things are true honest just pure lovely whatsoever is of good report if there be any virtue any praise these things think on and do Now sin comes under none of these names but is contrary to them all and therefore forbidden God hath not forbidden man honours riches nor any pleasures but them of sin Surely then seeing God delights not to grieve the children of men but rejoyceth over them to do them good with all his heart and all his soul as he is pleas'd to express it Jer. 32.41 he would never have forbidden any thing to man but what was prejudicial to him as well as displeasing to himself But I shall speak more of this when I shew how the Law of God witnesseth against sin 2 God witnesseth against sin by this 2 Will not allow us to do evil that good may come of it that he will not allow us to do evil that good may come of it As pleasing a thing as good is to God yet he will not allow us to do the least evil for the greatest good See how angrily and with what indignation the Apostle speaks against them that said the contrary Rom. 3.8 'T is a damnable Doctrine to teach that we may do evil for a good end or that good may come of it This Doctrine was first broacht by the Devil and usher'd in the first sin Gen. 3 1.-6 But 1 We may not do evil that good may came is our selves God allows man to love himself and hath made self-love the rule and measure of our love to others thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self God is not against mans being rich only God will not that men grow rich by sin as Jer. 17.11 God is not against mans pleasure if it be not by displeasing him nor against his honor if it be not by dishonoring him God well knows that good gotten by evil will do man no good but hurt To gain the world and lose a mans soul hath more of loss then gain and there is not any one sin but wrongs and hazards the loss of a mans soul God would not allow Adam and Eve to eat of the forbidden Tree though 't were good for food pleasant to the eye and to be desired to make one wise Genes 3. 2 We may not do evil that good may come to others God hath indeed commanded us to do good to all but hath forbidden us to do evil that we may do good to any or to all He that provides not for his family is worse then an Infidel and so is he that provides for it by a sinful way of covetousness lying cheating oppressing c. See Habak 2 9.-12 Paul as Moses before him could wish himself dead and anathematiz'd to save the Jews but durst not sin for their sakes When one sent to S. Austin to know if he might not tell a lye for his Neighbours good Oh no saith the Father thou must not tell a lye to save the world There 's such a malignity in sin it s so contrary to God that it must not be done for no good 'T is our
his sufferings 1 1 All manner of sufferings Jesus Christ suffer'd all manner of sufferings 't is said Hebr. 4.15 that he was tempted in all things like unto us and among other things meant by temptations suffering are not the least he suffer'd being tempted he suffer'd while he lived but especially a little before and when he died all his life was a suffering not to mention his self-denials which were voluntary he was no sooner born but suffering came upon him he was born in an Inne yea in a Stable he had but a Manger for his Cradle as soon as his birth was nois'd abroad Herod sought his life so that his supposed Father or Father-in-law as I may call him was fain to fly into Aegypt he was persecuted before he could after the manner of men be sensible and have understanding of his sufferings and when he returned his sufferings grew up with him hunger and thirst travel and weariness scorns and reproaches false accusations and contradictions waited on him and he had not where to lay his head But his special sufferings were a little before and at his death and here you find him suffering in 1 His body 2 His soul 1 1 In his body In his body that was wounded and crucified he suffer'd in bearing his Cross as Isaac his Type did and he suffer'd in his body on the Cross 1 Pet. 2.24 and he did not only suffer unto death but in the manner of his dying 't was a shameful a painful an accursed death yea he bled to death Christ Jesus lost blood several times at his Circumcision in his Agony when he sweat drops and clods of blood when he was whipt and scourged when he was nail'd to the Cross and probably when they platted a Crown of Thorns the earths curse on his head And lastly when they thrust the spear into his side with which he bleeds out his life and gave up the Ghost He suffer'd in all parts and members of his body from head to foot His Head which deserved a hetter Crown then the best in the world was crown'd with thorns and they smote him on the head His Face suffer'd being spat upon His Back 't was turned to the smiters 't was stript and whipt yea they even plow'd upon his back and made deep and long surrows his hands and feet were pierced and nail'd to the Cross yea saith he by the Prophet all my bones are out of joynt as if he had been on the Rack Psa 22.14 He suffer'd also in his senses his feeling Could he be smitten wounded nailed and pierced without feeling His tast suffer'd for they gave him instead of strong drink and wine of consolation which was usual to them ready to die Prov. 31.6 instead of this they gave him vinegar and gall to drink His sight suffer'd and among other things the sight of his Mother and other grieving friends could not but affect his heart Luke 23.27 'T was a grief to him to see them grieve for him Did it not afflict him to see his Enemies wag their heads His hearing suffer'd many a scoff and jeer many an ill word and blasphemy His smell could not but suffer when he came to Golgotha the place of skulls where filthiness and putrefaction lodged the very stinking sink of the City But more yet 2 2 In his soul Christ Jesus suffer'd in his soul We read of his sighing and groaning but let us consider him especially in his Agony and upon the Cross In his Agony Mat. 26.37 38. He began to be sorrowful and very heavy these were but the beginnings of sorrow he began c. sorrow is a thing that drinks up our spirits and he was heavy as feeling an heavy load upon him And v. 38. he was exceeding sorrowful unto death sorrowful exceeding sorrowful and unto death It was in such extremity that it made him cry out Father if it be possible let this Cup pass and this was with strong cryings and tears Heb. 5.7 When he was upon the Cross he was under a desertion which made him cry again My God my God why or how hast thou forsaken me Now to cry and to cry with a loud voice argues some extremity of suffering and after this he gave up the Ghost he poured out his soul an offering for sin And yet further as he suffer'd all manner of sufferings both in soul and body so to proceed 2 2 He suffer'd from all manner of persons He suffer'd from all manner of persons Christ Jesus suffer'd from the Devil for though Christ bruised his head yet he bruised Christ his heel No sooner had Christ the testimony from heaven that he was the Son of God but he was immediately carried into the Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil and this was the thing question'd and disputed whither he were the Son of God or not and though Christ worsted him and beat him out of the field yet he departed but for a season for when Christ was about to suffer the Prince of this world muster'd up all his forces again and came upon him with much violence and made men of all qualities his Agents to add to the sufferings of Christ And indeed he suffer'd not only from bad men as you have it Acts 4.26 27. which fulfilled that in Psa 2. beg He was tempted by the Pharisees often and he endured the contradiction of sinners yet this was not all but he suffer'd from his own disciples and nearest relations Peter was a Satan to him once and denied him thrice the rest griev'd him with their slowness and littleness of faith Judas betray'd him his Brethren believ'd not on him and which was heavest of all the rest he suffer'd from his Father he put the Cup into his hands and took pleasure to bruise him and he laid upon him the iniquities of us all yea God did not spare him nor abate him any thing but hid his face from him as if he had been angry with his only and most beloved Son 3 3 His sufferings aggravated by circumstances Jesus Christ had all manner of aggravating circumstances met together in his sufferings He was made of a woman now that he who made the woman should be made of a woman and become and be made a Son to the work of his own hands was a degree of suffering he that made the Law was made under the Law Gal 4.4 He that was Lord of all was made in the form of a servant and though equal to God yet came in sinful flesh and so obey'd as a servant of which these sayings speak as Dr. Jackson observes I â—ame not to do mine own will but the will of him that sent me c. and suffer'd as a sinner for so he was judged and as such put to death though his Judge confest he found no fault in him yea more then this he became a curse Gal. 3.13 yea which is the worst of words he became sin for us 1
sorry with a sharp Epistle he doth not repent of it because it wrought such sorrow in them as wrought repentance to salvation not to be repented of as appear'd in their indignation against revenge upon themselves and zeal for God as he there speaks in their behalf Lastly It fully appears that godly men abhor sin by this that they desire to die upon no account more then this to berid of sin that they may sin no more but be holy as he which hath called them is holy they groan for a change upon this account 2 Cor. 5.4 mortality and corruption are conjoyn'd 1 Cor. 15. and this is not laid aside till that be and therefore they desire not only to be in Christ where there is no condemnation Rom. 8.1 but to be with Christ Phil. 1.23 which is best of all for there is no sin no nor temptation to it There was never a temptation to sin in heaven since the devil was cast out nor will never be for the devil shall never be there nor corruption neither for that ceaseth when mortality is swallowed up of life So that upon the whole the witness of godily men is unexceptionable notwithstanding their having sinned I now proceed to shew 2 That wicked men themselves are witnesses of 2 Wicked men and against the sinfulness of sin that it is an ugly shameful and an abominable thing that which they are ashamed to own Let us hear some of the Heathens speak their sense of it Cicero tells us he thought not that man worthy the name of a man that spent one day in the pleasures of the flesh yea he faith further that after death he thinks there 's no greater torments then sin and another speaks after this manner that he thought it one of the greatest torments that men should have in another life to be bound to the sins they most delighted in in this life Socrates would die rather then consent to a sin of injustice and one of them saith Socrates was not unhappy in being put to death but they unhappy that put him to death he suffer'd but they sinned another hath a saying of mens living in pleasure much like that of S. Paul concerning the wanton widow 1 Tim. 5.6 she that lives in pleasure is dead while she lives 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their reason of these things said by them concerning sin was because sin degraded man and was a degeneration that such live the life of a beast and not of a man which is a life of reason and virtue whence Plotinus saith the pleasures of the body do so interrupt the happiness of the soul that 't is the souls happiness to despise the bodies pleasures Sin say the Stoicks is the worst kind of suffering and he is the only miserable man that is wicked the greatest punishment of sinners is sin Seneca I could produce many more to this purpose but I shall not take in the witness only of these or such other brave magnanimous and well-bred Heathens but the very Herd of wicked men the very dregs of them shall give in testimony will they nill they by their thoughts words or works and sad experiences that sin is an ugly because finful thing Sinners are asham'd of sin 1 When before they commit it 2 After they have committed it 1 Sinners are asham'd of sin before and think it an ugly thing when they commit it For 1. though they are so daring and impudent as to sin yet they have not the courage to consider what 't is they are going about or at least to speak one what they think concerning sin they know that when they sin their conscience will accuse them and they shall find regrets which they are loath to feel much more to utter and declare therefore they dare not ask themselves what 't is they are about to do or are a doing to catechize themselves and say is there not a lye in or at my right hand Is 44. It argues that men are afraid they shall find what they have no mind to meet with when they are loath to entertain themselves with a few forethoughts concerning it but rush like horses into the battel The Scripture speaks as if 't were impossible for men to be so wicked if they were but considerative without which they act not like men if they think of it and yet sin they care not dare not speak out their thoughts but had rather conceal their shame and pain as well as they can then tell any body what fools they have been and how foolishly they have done If sin had any thing of Noble or Honorable in it why do they not proclaim its virtues and thereby their own in loving it If they think it good why do they call it by its name if they think it evil why do they but think it so 't is only because they are asham'd on 't that any body should know what they think as Psa 14.1 the fool hath said in his heart there is no God It seems he had not the hardiness nor heart to say it with his mouth he whisper'd and mutter'd or wish'd but was loath to be heard their speaking thus within speaks out this that they are ashamed of what they think and dare not utter it 2 Sinners dare not commit sin till they have given it a new name they sin not under the name and notion of sin no woe unto them they call as good evil so evil good Is 5. Revenge they will not own but a vindication of their Honor a doing right to their reputation Covetousness is a fordid thing they say theirs is but frugality and good husbandry Drunkenness is unmanly because unmanning 't is beastial they confess but theirs is only good fellowship in the liberal use of the creature Pride must be called decency and being in the fashion Fornication but a trick of Youth or gratifying nature Thus do men disguize sin for surely did they call it by its own name and but look it in the face they know they shall find it such an ugly Hag as were not fit for the imbraces of men no nor of devils This their new-naming it condemns it 3 This argues their being asham'd on 't that they do what they do as much as they can in the dark yea as they foolishly think in the dark from Gods sight also and do thereby implicitly confess that if men or God saw them they should be asham'd of what they do time was when they that were drunk were drunk in the night it being a business of shame And Eph 5.11 12. the Apostle tells us that 't is a shame to speak of what 's done by some in secret and therefore it seems they themselves do it secretly because they are asham'd it should be known and talkt of And indeed 't is a general rule given by Christ himself that he who doth evil hateth the light because his deeds are evil and he cannot endure that they should
Loathsomness of Sin 2. The Infectiousness of Sin 1. That Sin is a filthy i. e. a loathsom thing will be clear if we do consider a little that to which sin is resembled and likened as to the most offensive and loathsom diseases 't is likened to a Canker or Gangrene 2 Tim 2.17 Now with such persons as are under these diseases others are loth to eat or drink 't is likened to the rot to the filth and corruption of the foulest disease which is so foul and rotten as according to the Proverb one would not touch it with a pair of Tongs The Apostle tells us of some who like Jannes and Jambres resist the truth and calls them men of corrupt or rotten minds And Solomon gives us to know that as a sound heart is the life of the flesh so Envy any thing opposed to the sound heart is rottenness to the bones yea sin is likened to the Plague which every one flies from 't is so noisom and loathsom that it separates the nearest relations now sin is called the Plague of the heart 1 Kings 8.38.39 which is much worse then any plague-sore of the body and this is not all but as sin is likened to the most loathsom diseases so to other the most loathsom things that are 't is likened to the blood wherein infants are born which is loathsom as Ezek. 16.5 6. It s likened to Mire and Dung to the very excrements that lye in Ditches and Common shores wherein Sows and Swine do wallow as 't is exprest 2 Pet. 2.22 yea to the Vomit of dogs in the same place to the Putrifaction of graves and sepulchres Math. 23.27 28. which is stinking as Martha said of Lazarus when he had been some days dead Joh. 11.39 't is likened to Poyson Rom. 3.13 All these things and others which I shall not name are loathsom things at which men stop their noses and from which they hide their eyes yet sin is more loathsom then they all if we consider that nothing but the fountain open'd for Judah and Jerusalem to wash in nothing but the blood of Jesus can cleanse from this filthiness all the Nitre and Sope in the world cannot get it out beside 't is not only filthy but filthiness not only corrupt but corruption in the very abstract and all the things to which sin is resembled are far short of sin they are but shadows which are very imperfect representations of things all the former Instances or others of like name and nature reach but to the body and do not defile the man but sin reacheth and seizeth on soul and spirit and defiles the man Math. 15.19 20. This is the Canker the Rottenness the Plague the Poyson of the Soul and sin is not only worse then any but then all of these yea further if our righteousness be but as a menstruous rag Isa 64.6 how filthy must our sin be The Apostle St. Paul counted his righteousness which was of the Law to be but dung Phil. 3. what did he reckon his injuriousness persecution and blasphemy then surely as bad as death and hell if not only our righteousness but our righteousnesses yea all our righteousnesses be as filthy rags as 't is in that fore quoted place Isa 64.6 what is our sin our sins and all our sins Ah how filthy beyond expression or imagination yet again sin is not only filthy i. e. loathsom but it is 2. A polluting and infectious thing 't is of a pestilential and poysonous nature and therefore called not only corruption but pollution and defilement 2 Pet. 2.20 There are many things that may make a man foul and loathsom as Leprosie and ulcerous tumours c. and yet the soul of a man may be pure and fair as Jobs was when his body was all over of a scab or sore and he state on the dunghil but sin as was hinted before defiles the man and soaks into his very spirit and infects that But that we may take the clearer and fuller prospect of sins pestilent and infectious nature and operation let us behold it 1. In its Vniversality how it hath extended and spread it self over all the world there is no Land or Nation Tribe Language Kindred or People where it hath not been known from the rising of the Sun to the going down thereof all Climats hot and cold all Quarters of the world Americans Africans Asians and Europeans have all been infected not only Sodom or Samaria but Jerusalem and Sion were infected and ruin'd by it 't is here and there and every where but in Heaven Beside this it hath infected all Ages 't is almost as old as the world it hath run in a blood from Adam to Moses and so on to this day 't is a plague that hath lasted almost 6000 years yea which is more not one man hath escaped it all kind of men of all ranks and qualities high and low rich and poor Kings and Beggars have been infected by it the wise the learned as well as foolish and illiterate Rom. 3.9 10. who is there that hath lived and sinned not our Saviour excepted and if any man say he hath not sinned he sins in saying so By one man sin came into the world but since not one man but every man hath sinned all have sinned and come short of the glory of God Rom. 3.23 and death came upon all in as much as all had sinned Rom. 5.12 If all men are mortal then all are sinners for death came in by sin where there is no sin there 's no death as in Heaven Rev. 21.4 All men have died of this plague yea our Lord and Saviour had not died if he had not been made sin for us Moreover this Leprosie hath spread it self not only on whole mankind but on the whole of man every whit of every man is infected it hath made flesh and spirit filthy 2 Cor. 7.1 from the crown of â—he head to the sole of the foot there 's no sound part in him all as I instanced above all his members are servants to sin and 't is no better within Gen. 6.5 his heart is evil the thoughts of his heart are evil the imaginations of the thoughts of his heart are evil the very thoughts of his thoughts are evil every creature of the heart is evil How the Vnderstanding is darkned and depraved I shewed above that the Heart is desperately wicked and deceitful beyond any knowledge but Gods the Prophet assures us from God himself Jer. 17.9 the mind and Conscience is defiled Tit. 1.15 16. The Will is become perverse and stubborn worse then so 't is wilful and mad set upon sin and hell Eccle. 8.11 The Affections concupiscible are inordinate the Passions irascible are unruly that man 's more head-strong then the horse that rusheth into the battel It hath made some men so restless that they cannot sleep unless or until they have done mischief Prov. 4.16 To go on yet further Sin spreads its
the flesh and spirit as if it were one with us as the Leopards spots and the Aethiopians blackness There was a leprosie so inveterate that though they scrapt the house round about and within and threw out the dust though they took other stones and mortar yet it return'd again Levit. 14. When distempers become as it were natural and are in the constitution they are hard to be cured 't is not easie obliterating that which is written with a pen of Iron and the point of a Diamond 't is difficult to soften an heart of stone Beside this filthiness hath had long possession even time out of mind it pleads prescription so long a Custom is become a Law and as another Nature Jer. 13.23 yea to shew how hard 't is to be cured and rooted out we may observe that very forceable means have bin used for the cleansing of it yet it hath not been done God poured out a whole flood of water which washt away most sinners yet sin as I may say kept above water and was found alive and strong after the flood When God sent fire and brimstone Hell as an Ancient calls it from Heaven on that Center of sin Sodom c. yet sin got out with Lot and his daughters Fire and water are very cleansing and purifying things yet these you see have not done it When others sinned the Earth swallowed them up yet sin remained it did not dye the same sins are still in the world after all these judgments Even in the Saints themselves with all the forces that Faith can make 't is very hardly kept under but the flesh will be lusting against the spirit and when their affections do not cleave to sin yet sin will cleave to their affection and it makes them cry out as burthen'd with St. Paul Wretch that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death the victory is by Christ Iesus 't is death kills sin And yet 4. It lives in its effects when we are dead and gone for it follows us to our grave and there it rots our bodies when it can no longer reach our souls to make them vile it yet forbears not to make our bodies putrid and vile He that sinned not saw no corruption but we that sinned do and stink within a few days as Lazarus did Oh sinful and infectious sin Thus far of the names of sin and how they witness against sin there remains only one thing more to witness against it and that is the second thing I mentioned as to sin witnessing against it self Viz. 2. The Arts or Artifices that sin useth to disguise it self if sin were not an ugly thing would it wear a vizard or if it had not evil designs would it walk disguised and change its name truth is not ashamed of its name or nakedness it can walk openly and boldly but sin is a cheat a lye and therefore lurks privily and puts on false names and colours for if it should appear like it self as it sooner or later will to all for conversion or confusion it would fright men into dying fits as it did the Apostle and when they come to themselves ingage men to abhor and hate it as he and the Prodigal did Men would never be so hardy as they are to sin but that sin hardens them and hardens them by deceiving them as the Apostle speaks Heb. 3.13 take heed lest any be hardned through the deceitfulness of sin Sin useth all manner of Arts Methods and Devices as Satan doth to draw us in to inveigle us it puts many tricks upon us and hath all the faculties and knacks of deceiving and cheating us I may truly say that sin hath not learnt but taught all the deceits the dissimulations flatteries and false policies that are found in Courts the Stratagems of War the Sophisms and fallacies of the Schools the Frauds of Tradesmen whether in City or Country the Tricks of Cheaters and Juglers the Ambuscadoes of Thieves the Pretensions of false Friends the several Methods of false Teachers and whatever else there is of Consenage in the World and practiseth them all upon us to make us sin And though it be impossible to reckon up all the particular ways whereby the deceitful hearts and sins of men abuse them yet I will instance in a few that it may be for a warning to sinners and a witness against sin and then conclude this part of our Discourse 1. Sometimes sin perswades us that such or such a thing is no sin though it look like a sin as the Devil dealt by Eve at first and so deceiv'd her she was a little jealous and shy that what the Serpent put her upon was evil but he cunningly insinuates that however it seem'd to her yet that it was not so This way is the pride and wantonness of persons upheld that though these things are appearances of evil yet they are not evil but alas 't is next to being a sinner to look like a sinner appearance in good is too little in evil 't is too much 't is a very hard thing to look like a sinner to talk and garb it like a sinner and not to be one and which is the worst on 't 't is more then likely that what the Devil grants to be like a sin is a sin and they that are perswaded otherwise are deceived by him as Eve was 't is great odds but if we do like the picture we shall like the thing though an Idol be no God nor like him yet God hath utterly forbidden graven images for they are of the Devils carving If this prevails not then 2 It would perswade that though it may be a sin in another yet rebus sic stantibus all things consider'd it can be none in thee because thou art necessitated as for a poor man to steal but no man is necessitated to sin though under necessity sin is sin in any in all for though temptations may mitigare and eâ—cuse à tanto yet they do not excuse à toto from its being a sin or make it no sin 3 'T is but one and but this once If sin be good why but once if evil why once one sin though but once is one and once too much Beside when the Serpents head is in 't is hard keeping out the whole body one makes way for another 't is almost impossible to sin once and but once Yet then fourthly saith sin 't is but a little one that cannot be a little sin which is against a great God and deserves so great a punishment as death for the wages of sin of every single sin is death Rom. 6.23 I but saith sin 5 't is in secret none will see it but this is a cheat for 't is impossble to sin so secretly but there will be two Witnesses God and Conscience know all the sins that men commit I but saith sin 6 thou wilt hate it and dread it ever after as some go to Mass that they
taking away of sin Isa 27.9 yea to make us partakers of his Holiness Heb. 12.10 which is the end of the greatest promises 2 Pet 1.4 2 Cor. 7.1 So that God aims at the same thing in bringing threatned evils on us as in making good promises and making them good to us Is not this better then sin did that ever do such kindnesses for us A as its mercies are cruclties its courtesies are injuries its kindnesses are killing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sic notus Vlysses it never did nor meant us any good unless men be so mad to think that 't is good to be defiled dishonoured and damned 5. Sufferings tend to make us perfect but sin makes us more and more imperfect The second Adam was perfected by suffering Heb. 2.10 â—u the first Adam was made imperfect by sinning and thus it fares with both their seeds and children as it did with them a sinner and without strength Rom. 5.6 a sinner and without God without Christ without hope c Eph. 2.12 But a sufferer after a while 〈◊〉 be perfected by the same God of all grace who hath called him into eternal glory by Christ Jesus aâ—d after his example 1 Pet. 5.10 but the more a sinner the more imperfect and fitter for Hell 6. Suffering for God glorifies God 1 Pet 4.14 and calls on us to thank and glorifie God for it vers 16. but sin dishonours God by suffering the Saints are happy vers 14. being Gods Martyrs but by sinning sinners are miserable as the Devils Martyrs vers 15. and which I pray you is better to suffer for God or for the Devil to be suffering Saints or Sinners 7. Sufferings for God Christ and Righteousness adde to our glory as well as they glorifie God but sinning adds to our torment That suffering adds to our glory see Mat. 5.10 11 12. 2 Cor. 4.17 Light afflictions work an exceeding weight of glory but sin which is exceeding sinful works an exceeding weight of wrath and torment Rom. 2.5 It heaps heap upon heap load upon load to make up a treasury of wrath which then is the greatest evil I speak to wise men judge ye what I say light affliction or heavy sin which is better treasures of glory or treasures of wrath or which is all one to suffer or to sin Thus far I have evinced that sin is worse then affliction I but it may be said if we suffer not unto death 't is no great suffering skin for skin and all a man hath will he give for his life but to dye is dreadful 't is worse to sin I shall therefore prove 2. Sin is worse then death That sin is worse then death we use to say of two evils chuse the least now to dye is more cheap and easie then to sin as Gods loving-kindness is better then life we had better part with this then that so sin is worse then death we had better undergo this then do that better submit to death then commit sin as I hinted before from Mat. 10.28 But let us compare them Sin is more deadly then death viz. the separation of soul and body the dissolution of Natures frame and the union thereof this which we call Death is apprehended as a great evil as appears by mans unwillingness to dye men will live in sickness and pain they will be in deaths often rather then dye once and 't is not only an evil in apprehension but 't is really so to humane Nature for 't is called an enemy 1 Cor. 15.26 'T is true death is a friend to grace but 't is as true that death is an enemy to nature and there are four things in which death is evil and an enemy to man and in all these respects sin is more an enemy to man then death 1. Death is separating it separates the nearest and dearest relations yea that which God hath joyned together man and wife soul and body it separates from Estates Ordinances c. as I shewed before thus death is a great evil and enemy true but sin is worse for it brought death and all the evils that come by death and separates man while alive from God who is the light and life of our lives Death separates not from the love of God that sin doth Rom. 8.38 39. Isa 59.2 2. Death is terrifying 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the King of Terrors Job 18.14 't is a grim Sir a very sowre and tetrical thing 't is ghastly and frightful for men are not only unwilling but afraid to dye but all the terror that is in death sin puts there 't is the sting of death 1 Cor. 13.56 without which though it kill it cannot curse nor hurt any man so that sin is more terrible then death for without sin either there had been no death or to be sure no terror in death when the sting is taken away by the death of Christ there 's no danger nor cause of fear Heb 2.14 15. and the Apostle looking on the Prince of Peace was not afraid of the King of Terrors but could challenge and upbraid it 1 Cor. 15 55 3. Death is killing but sin much more death deprives of natural and temporal but sin deprives of spiritual and eternal life death kills but the body sin kills the soul and brings it uâ—der a worse death then the first viz. the second Men may kill us but only God can destroy us i. e. damn us and that he never doth but for sin so that sin is more â—iâ—ling then death is 4. Death is corrupting it brings the body to corruption and makes it so loathsom that we say of our dearest relations as Abraham of Sarah when she was dead bury her out of my sight death makes every man say to the worm thou art my mother and to corruption and putrefaction thou art my sister Job 17.14 But sin corrupts us more then death for he that dyed without sin saw no corruption it defiles us and makes us a stink in the nostrils of God and men Gen. 34.30 the old man and its lusts are corrupt and do corrupt us Eph. 4.22 They corrupt our souls and that which corrupts souls the principal man of the man is much worse then that which corrupts the body only but sin corrupts the body too while alive intemperance uncleanness corrupts soul and body so that sin is even in this worse then death Our Saviour tells the Jews that their great misery was not that they should dye but that they should dye in their sins Job 8 21. intimating that sin was worse then death and that which made death a misery better dye in an Hospital or a Ditch then in sin 't is better to dye any how then sin and dye in sin and therefore the Father told Eudoxia the Empress when she threatned him Nil nisi peccatum timeo I fear nothing but to sin And ' ewas a Princely Speech of a Queen who said She had rather hear of her
but how ridiculous are they and worse then childish that venture precious souls for that which doth not profit as God upbraids Israel of old that they changed their glory for that which did not profit and worse then that great King who sold his Kingdom for a draught of water they leave and part with a fountain of living waters for a cistern an empty cistern that hath none yea for a broken cistern that can hold no water no not a drop Jer. 2.21 Sinners are often asking this question What Profit is there if we serve God Job 21.15 Oh godliness is profitable for all times for here and hereafter it hath the promise of both lives this and that to come 1 Tim 4.8 But let me ask them and I wish they would often ask themselves What profit is there if we sin as Judah askt his brethren What profit is there if we slay our brother Gen. 37.26 surely none but shame and sorrow you may put your gains in your eyes and weep it out if not a greater loss will come unto you Thus then we have seen that no good of profit comes by sin no not by that which is called the most prositable sin Covetousness so that our inference holds good they are mistaken that seek good in evil 2 Of Honor or Credit As there is no good called Profit so none of that called Honour to be had by sin 't is not a creditable thing there are that glory in and make boast of their sin but they glory in their shame Phil. 3.19 and surely sooner or later they will be ashamed of their glory Sin is not a thing of good report it doth malè audire hear ill and hath an ill name all the world over Can that be honourable which is unreasonable can that be an honour to man which debaseth and degrades him the unreasonableness of sin appears by the reasonableness of the Law sin hath no reason for it for the Law which hath all reason in it is against it that sin degrades men I shewed above Take the sine and brave things of this world wherein men pride themselves and these cannot cover the nakedness of sinners much less be an ornament or honour to them for that can never be an honour or grace to the body which is a disgrace to the soul That cannot be an honour to men which they are generally ashamed to owne at least under its own name But though all the world should admire and celebrate the grandeur of sinners yet God accounts them vile though they sit at the upper end of the world and God is doubtless the best Judge of Honour that cannot be honourable to man that is abominable to God Luke 16.15 even appearing righteousness which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God much more then is sin it self Again 3. Of Pleasure There is none of the good called Pleasure to be had from or by sin 't is true indeed the pleasures of sin are much talked of and we read of some that take pleasure in unrighteousness 2 Thes 2.12 and of some impudent and brazen-fac'd that they were who though they knew the Judgment of God yet took pleasure to do and in them that did such things as were worthy of death Rom. 1.32 and there were that lived in pleasure on the earth and seemed to grow fat by it nourishing themselves but 't was for the day of slaughter James 5.5 Notwithstanding all this we doubt not to make it evident that there is no such thing as they talked of or dreamt of pleasure in from or by sin Pleasure is the contentment and satisfaction of a mans mind in what he doth or hath but sinners have none of this from sin For 1. The God that searcheth their hearts and knows what 's there tells us that there is no peace to the wicked Isa 57.21 the Septuagiâ—t read it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is no joy nor peace nor pleasure no serenity nor one Halcyon-day for they are like the raging Sea casting up mire and dirt by reason of its rowling and disquietment Men to our appearance seem to laugh and be merry but God sees that they have no peace within and I had rather believe the God of Truth then lying men for lye they do when they say they have peace or pleasure in sin Solomon said of laughter it was mad and of mirth what does it yea more in the midst or heart of laughter the heart is sad 2. The nature of the thing viz. sin cannot afford pleasure it being contra-natural to man and therefore the Heathen Philosophers could say that punishment succeeds guilt at the heels like that Gen. 4.7 if thou do evil sin lies dogging at the door Another saith more expresly that punishment doth not only succeed sin but they are born together and are Twins For they that deserve punishment expect it and who ever expects it suffers it in a degree so that the sinner is his own tormenter and sin his terment our knowledge of having miscarried will return and complain of the abuse and the impressions of the fault will bring fear which fear hath torment if there were no more to come the upbraids of conscience mar the mirth and make the pleasure very displeasing What pleasure can it be to feel the upbraids of meat though it taste pleasantly poyson it self is sweet to the taste but not therefore pleasant regrets and ill-savouring belchings do not speak pleasure Whatever crosseth and thwarteth Nature is a punishment not a pleasure and so is sin to primitive and created Nature if custom and a seared conscience seem to deny the sense of such regrets yet that argues the case the worse for what pleasure can that be that benums a man and makes him not only stupid but dead and they that live in such pleasures are by the infallible truth declared to be dead while they live 1 Tim. 5.6 When stupidity may pass for pleasure and death for life or dreams for enjoyments these then may have a large share But 3. There can be no satisfaction but of necessity much vexation because of the boundless and infinite desire in the heart of man which this cannot fill up but disappoints Lusts are like the Hoâ—sleech and the Grave which have never enough but cry give give the desire argues want and to desire again argues the continuance of want hence 't is that sinners shift so often or as the Apostle speaks serve divers lusts which changes and varieties clearly evince the poverty of their entertainments and emptiness of their pleasure While men seek to quench the thirst of sin by giving it salt water to drink they do but increase it and indeed every man may find it much more easie pleasant and satisfactory to him to mortifie then to gratifie sin to deny then fulfil the desires of the flesh For men to be ever contradicting and swimming against the stream of their
conscience which tells them they ought not to sin and if they do chides them for it must needs be uneasie and unpleasant mens sins make them sick as Amnons did so far are they from being pleasures To desire the presence of what 's absent or the absence of what 's present or the continuance of what cannot be kept or the continuance and keeping whereof would surfeit them as the constancy of drunkenness and intemperance doth do must unavoidably be very tedious and such men even in the fulness of their sufficiency to allude to that in Job cannot but be in straights if they gratifie one they displease another of their lusts as if they gratifie pride and prodigality they displease covetousness and so are still far from pleasure being ev'n distracted and slain by one or other of their lusts all the day long they have sightings without and within and good men are not more persecuted by the Devil and wicked world then these men are tormented by their irregular and inordinate fleshly appetites and carnal inclinations But yet for all this men are loth to believe this which say they crosseth Scripture expression and their experience the Scripture mentions the pleasures of sin Heb. 11.25 and we find the pleasure on 't Thus men are apt to plead for sin and be its Advocate and can hug any Scripture that doth but speak of though it disown and disallow any such thing as sinful pleasures As to that misunderstood Text let me say this that Moses cannot be charged with any sin from whence he drew pleasure and therefore by the pleasures of sin are not meant such as slow from but such as lead unto sin he declined the pleasures which would have inclined him to sin Pleasures are allurements and baits to draw to sin as it was to Eve the Tree was pleasant to the eyes and inviting but the taste and digestion found no pleasure but bitterness from the fruit thus Moses lived where pleasures were and such as tended or were abused to sin yea such as he could not have enjoyed without committing the great sin which the Egyptians did viz. afflicting the people of God and being cruel to them instead of delivering them So that this Scripture speaks nothing in favour of sin or that there are any pleasures to be had by or from it Yet if we should take the Text as interpreted by them all that can be said of it is but this that it speaks as they think not that there are but there are thought to be pleasures of sin 'T is an ordinary thing for the Scripture to speak of such a thing as if it were and to say it is which is but supposed to be by others As for instance 1 Cor. 8 4-6 there are Gods many and Lords many not that really there was any such but by others they were reckoned such So in this Text he speaks after the manner of men concerning the pleasures of sin as they are reputed and this is confirmed by a passage of the Apostle 2 Pet. 2.13 they count it pleasure to riot in the day-time 't is no pleasure but they accounted it a pleasure 't was none for they did enjoy but a mock-sport or pleasure while they sported themselves in their own deceivings so that in counting it pleasure to riot they deceive themselves they suppose it a sport and pleasure but 't is not so Yet again If there be any pleasure it can be but to the body and sensual part of man which is a pleasure to the beast not to the man the body is but the case of man a mud-wall Cottage thatcht ovâ—â— with hair 't is the Soul that is the excellency and glory of man the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the man of the man and whoever will take 〈◊〉 right measure of what 's good or evil to man must take it especially with respect and relatioâ— to the Soul He much mistoâ—k the Nature 〈◊〉 his Soul who bid it take ease in eating and drinking alas the Soul cannot feed on flesh ' â—iâ— a Spirit and must have a diet peculiar and proper i. e. spiritual Very usually the pleasure of the body prove the Souls pain to eat anâ— drink is the bodies pleasure but gluttony anâ— drunkenness which are the sins of eating and drinking are the Souls pain and many time the bodies too To take rest when weary is thâ— bodies pleasure but to be idle which is the siâ— of rest and ease is an affliction and trouble to the Soul Yet further That which men call the Pleasure of sin is both their dyâ—â— and punishment many laugh and are merry from the sickliness and distemper they are under as they say of them that are bitten by the Tarantula they laugh themselves to death Some are such ticklish things that they will laugh at the wagging of a feather but this is an Argument of their weakness and folly two ill diseases Many persons take pleasure in eating lime mortar coals and such like trash but 't is from a disease which vitiates and corrupts their palate else they would not feed on ashes had they not the Green-sickness disease so whoever pretends to find pleasure in sin proves himself distemper'd and diseased and under the old radicated disease of being in sins yea dead in them 'T is as a disease so a punishment because 't is false pleasure and what truer misery then false joy 't is like his pleasure who receives much money but 't is all false coyn or his who dreams of a feast and awakes so bungry and vext that he could eat his dream and on this account sin should be doubly bated because â—ugly and because false because it defiles and because it mocks us But Yet again If there be any pleasure 't is but for a season a very little while 't is soon over and gone like the crackling of thorns under a pot the triumphing of the wicked is short and the joy of the Hypocrite is but for a moment Job 20.5 but the miseries of sin may be yea without repentance will be Eternal so that as the sufferings of this present life to the godly are not worthy to be compared with the future glory so the pleasures of the wicked are as nothing take the best of them not to be compared with the future miscry certainly they are woful and ruful pleasures that men must repent of or be damned for to all Eternity Upon the whole then the inference is undeniable that there is no good of profit honour or pleasure to be had by sin and that they who seek for all or any of them there do as they that would seek case in Hell the very place and Element of torment If good be not good when better is expected how miserably vexatious must the disappointment be when men look for good and peace but behold evil and trouble yea and nothing else comes upon them when they bless themselves and say as Deut. 29.19 we shall have
peace though we walk in the imaginations of our heart to add drunkenness to thirst the Lord will not spare them but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoak against them and when they shall say peace and safety then sudden destruction will come upon them as travel upon a woman with child and there will be no escaping 1 Thes 5.3 There are some other inferences yet to be spoken to and of them I shall say but a few things in brief Time spent in sin is worse then lost Sin being so sinful 2. I infer that time spent in sin is worse then lost Most of the pastime in the world is lost time but sinning time or time spent in sin is worse then lost it must be accounted for and who can give a good account of evil doing while men live in sin they do nothing but undo themselves Man was not sent into this world only to eat drink sleep and play much less to sin yea that he might not sin but as into a great Work-house to work for the glory of God Joh. 17.4 and so to work out his own Salvation and that with fear and trembling Phil. 2.12 but they that live in sin work out their damnation and many times without fear or trembling of which they will have great store when they come to receive their just doom and damnation Time is a most precious Commodity for on this moment depends Eternity and as men sow in this seed-time they will reap in that harvest Time is a Prophet for Eternity as men live here they are like to live for ever they that sow sin must reap death Galat. 6.8 Time is to be redeemed Eph. 5.16 and every day to be numbred greatly valued and improved that we may apply our hearts to wisdom Psal 90.12 and this is wisdom the fear of the Lord and this understanding to depart from evil Job 28.28 This is wisdom to know and do what is the acceptable will of God Mat. 7.24 Eph. 5 15-17 We may be said to be but not to live if we live not to God and all time that is not so spent is but mis-spent and worse then lost poor distracted persons that have lost their understanding They that mock at sin are worse then fools wear out their days to less loss and disadvantage then sinners do 3. Then they that make a mock at sin are worse then fools and mad-men fools make a mock at sin Prov. 14.9 tell them as Lot did his sons in Law the danger they are in the judgments that hang over their head and our is to them as Lot was to them as one that mocketh Gen. 19.14 they laugh at it as if God were not in earnest when he threatens sinners and as if they that preach against sin were but ridiculous persons It s a sport to fools to do mischief Prov. 10.23 and there are that sport themselves in their way to Hell as if 't were but a recreation Oh what fools are they that laugh at their own folly and destruction too 'T is a devilish nature in us to mock at the calamity of others but to laugh at our own seems to be worse then devilish There are many too many that mourn under affliction yet laugh over their sins that sigh weep when they feel any burden on their bodies but make merry at that which destroys their soul Can any thing be more mad then these that laugh mock and make sport at that which is a burden and weariness to God Isa 1.14 Amos 2.13 which is the wounding piercing and crucifying of Christ Jesus Zach. 12.10 Heb. 6.6 which is a grief to the Spirit of Consolation Eph. 4.30 which is a trouble to holy Angels Luke 15. which is a wrong to and the undoing of their own souls Prov. 8.36 and such is sin 4. It cannot be well with men in their sin Sin being so sinful infectious and pernicious it can never be well with a man how well soever he be while he is in his sins Was it well with Dives though he fared deliciously every day no it was better with Lazarus that lay at his gate full of sores for that 's welâ— that ends well which it never doth with sinners if judgment be not executed speedily 't will surely for they are condemned already being sons of death and perdition No man hath cause to envy the prosperity of sinners 't is not good enough to be envied but 't is bad enough to be pitied they are but fatted and thereby fitted to destruction Prov. 1.32 the prosperity of fools shall destroy them their folly alone doth it but their prosperity doth double it and do it with a vengeance the prosperous sinner is in the worst case of all sinners they are set in slippery places and shall be cast down from their height to the depth of destruction Psal 73.18 5. Sin being so sinful It concerns us to be religious betimes it greatly concernes persons and hugely obligeth them to be religious betimes that they may prevent a great deal of sin which without being early religious and strictly so they cannot possibly do how precious and dear should that be to us which prevents the being of what is so pernicious and destructive how industriously careful should we be to keep our selves from that which will keep us from happiness and how ambitious to enjoy that which capacitates us for the enjoying of God for ever and gives us the first-fruits of it here We cannot be too soon nor too much religious but the sooner and more the better If ever you mean to be religious there is no time more proper then now the present now no day to to day Eccl. 12.1 remember now thy Creators as the word is viz. God in Christ for he â—reated all things by Christ Jesus Eph. 3.9 Col. 1.16 Remember now in the days of thy youth before the evil days come when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them not only no pleasure in the evil days of sickness death and judgment that evil day which I put far from me but I have none in the remembrance of my youthful days Youth is the most proper season of all our days and now is the most proper season of all our youth to remember God in If you say we will do that when we are old 't is now spring-time with us and no month to May we will think of Religion in a Winters night Oh do not boast of to morrow as young as thou art thou art old enough to dye this night thy soul may be taken from thee and be in Hell to morrow Take the Wise-mans counsel Eccl. 11.9 Rejoyce O young man in thy youth and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes yes Sir with all our heart we will take this counsel we like it well this is pleasing Doctrine