SERMON I. the fir!! death to prevent the miferies of the recond. K 0\V the fl>ame, horror, defpair and th>.t black t ram of affechons whtch lath an offende r for hrs vicious acts, difcovrr; there 1s a pnnc tple. wtthm whtch fhreaten.s vengeance from anghteous and anory God . This argument wJll be more prbffing , 1f \\'C confidet· that confcience a~aches ~ finner. . Fi_rfr, fo.r fecret crimes, wl~ich ~re a~ovc th~ cognizance of men; confcicnce is Gods fpy 10 our bofomes, wluch m1xes 1ts fdf w>th all our thoughts and actions ; let a man t herefore take what courfe he will to htdc h1s offence, let lum fin in the clofe!l retirement that humane policy can contrive, where there is no poflibility of legal convrchon, yet hiS Accufer,. hiS Judge, hiS Hell 1s m Ius own bofome; when the fi n is mofi fe e~·et, confctence bnngs m the evJdence, produces the Law, urges the penalty 'pa!fcs the fc~tCOCC, begins ~he punifhment ~ fo that the finner iS cif:nt1Ct.t.'nf.Y-eJ.1@. , feti condemned tor thof<: fins wh1ch are not pumO>able by man ; yea, fometimes a difcover y of concealed fins ( though certainly bringing temporal death) bath been extorted by t he horror and aogmfl1 of an accufing confc1ence; the reafon ol all is, becaufe in fecret fins confcience appeals to God's Omnifciency, who is greater than Our confcience!i and lwows aOtiJings , r. Joh. 3· 2 0. And up~>n this account it is prtejudicium judicii, a ki~d of antedated day of judgment, a domefhcal dooms-day, and brings upon a fmner the beginning of his farrows. 2 . It fl ings with remorfe for thofe fins which are above the power of man to re. venge ; thofe who command Armies, and by their greatnt fs are fecured from the pcnalucs of the Law, yet confc1ence fets their fins m order before their eyes; and thefe as fo many armed men. charge them thorough, and overwhelm them ; many in!lanccs there are; Beijhazzar m the nud!l of hiS cups and bravery, how was he invaded by fear and horrour, when be faw the hand-writing on tbe Wall! The whole Army of the Fa. fians could not difco~rage his fpirit; but when confcience revived )1is guilt, and the apprehcnfions of Gods JUfitce, he funk under the burden ; the hand-writing from with· out was terrible,becaufc confcience opened a hand-writing' w.ithin. Tiberiusthe Emperor who was doubly dyed in unnatural lulls and cruelties, could neither evade nor dilfcmblc the horrors of his mind. Nero ~fter the barbarous murdering of his Mother, was always purfued by imaginary Dev1ls, his difiraded fancy reprelenting to him furies and flames ready to torment !urn. How many T yrants have trembled on the Throne, when the condemned innocents l1ave rejoyced m their fufferings t From hence we may infallibly conclude the confcience of the moll powerful finner is under the feeling of a Deit y ; for if there were no puniihments to be feared but thofe the Magi!lrate inflicts in his own Dominions, why are Sovera1gn Magl!l:rates themfelves under terreurs for their vitious actions ! and thoCe who are not fitbjed to any humane Tribunal, why do they with fuch fury refled upon themCelves for their crimes? certainly it proceeds from hence, that natural confcience dreads the. ful'rcam Judge, feeing. .nothing is able to fhelter them from hiS Tnbunal, nor re!lram Ius power when he w!ll take vengeance on t hem. In vain doth the Athei!l reply that there fears are the product of a common falfe opinion, which is conveyed by educatio"n, to wit, that there is a God who is provoked by fm ; and that ignorance mcreafes there terrours, as !tttlc cluldren fear bug-be~rs,.m the dark; for 'tis certain, . · 1 • ' Fir!!, That no Art or endeavour can totally free afinner fr<J!11 ·thefeterrol:S, wJwreas groundlefs fears are prefently fcattered by reafon; and this argues there i• an inviolable principle in nature which refpeds aGod. We know there 1s nothing more di1urbs the fpirit than fear, and every perfon IS an enemy to what torments hun,; hence the finner labours to conquer confcience, that he may freely indulge himfelf in .fin; but th is is impofilble; for confcience is fo eifenti~J , that a foul cannot be a fouLwithout tt, and fo in!eparable, that death it felf cannot divo,rce aman from it;. per ire nee[t11e t.e nee tecum ,potefl ; it can neither die with the (inner, .nor without ~im, ; 'tis true, .the ~vorki<tgs of it are unequal; as the pulfe doth not a lways beat a!tke, . but fom~tunes mor_:: violent, and fometimes more rem1fs ;. fO thiS fptrttual pulfe 1s n?t always ,m..equal motion ; fomctimcs it beats, fomenmes It mtermus,but ret?rns agam : thofe. feor~rs who run a courfe of fin without controul, and fe!'m ; o £lefptfe hell, as-a meer..nQJU>Jl, yet t hey are not free lrom inward gripes : confcience arre!ls them in the Name of that God whom they deny: although they !1re Without f31th, they are .n ot ~vlthout fear : defperare fmn ers ruffie it for a time, and drench.. thernfei~cr m fenfu~ l. p~g.fures,tp ,_qp~nch ~1a.t fcint i//a animte, that Vital fPark which fhines andJcqr~hes atLonte; but. ~l! . IO Vain; for it happens to them as to M.alefadors, who f9r, A tune <! r.qlfp the app.r.ehenfioD o: t heir d:tnger in a Sea of dnQk; but wh.en the.fulJli'S-are ev~p_oqtejJ ~nd.;l.>ey Ce:~d~r
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