On G t 1\T, XXXIX. 9• God,s Authority, and ourragioufly break his Laws before his Face, if they duly conGder'd his Omniprefence and Obfervanceof them? It were tmpoilible. And Infidelity is the radical Caufe of their Inconfiderauon. It was a falfe ImputatiOn agamllJob, but . jua!y applied to the Wicked, Thou faJef/, How does God know? can/,. judge through the Job '""·'•· dark Cloud? Thick Clouds are a Coverrng to hrm, that he fees not. And fuch are mtroduced by the pf.,Jmill declaring their inward Sentiments : The Lord fhallnot fee , neitber fhall.tbe God ofJ•ICOb regard it. . . La!lly; The Sinner flights the Power of God. T lus Attnbilte renders God a dreadful )udg. He has a Right to punilh, and Power to revenge every Tranfgreiliori of his Law. His Judicial Power js fupreme, Ius Executive 1s 1rrefi{bble. He can With one Stroke difpatch the Body to the Grave, and the Soul to Hell, and make Men as mifer" able as they are finful. Yet Sinners as boldly provoke him, as ifthere were no dange" We read of the infatuated SyriaffS, that they thought that God, the ProteCl:or of .ifraet, had only Power on tbe Hills, and not in the Vallres, and renewed the War to their De~ firuCl:ion. Thus Sinners enter into t he Ltfls with God, and range an Army of Lulls againfl the Armies of Heaven, and blindly bold, run upon their own DellruCl:ion. They neither beheve his All-fceing Eye, nor All-m1ghty Hand. They change the Glory of the living God into a dead Idol, that has Eyes and fees not, and Hands and handles not 1 and accordingly his Threatnings make no Imprefi1on upon them. Thus I have prefented a true View of the Evil of Sin confider'd in it fe lf : but as Job faith of God, Ho1v little a Portion of him is known? may be faid of the Evil of Sin, Ho\V little of it is known? For in proportion as our Apprehenfions are defeCl:ive and below the Greatnefs of God, fa are they of the Evil of Sin, that contradiCl:s his Soveraigo Will, and diil10nours his excellent Perfections. · SERMON Ill G E N. XXXIX. 9· Horv can I do thio great Wick,gdneft, and fin againft God / ...I Shall proce~d to confider the Evil of Sin relatively to us, and prove it to be mofl perntc1ous and dellruCl:tve. If we compare It with Temporal Evils, it preponderates all rhat Men are liable to in the prefent World. Difeafes in our Bodies, Di{3.ft:ers in our Eftates, Difgrace in our Reputation, are in juft Efi:eem far lels Evil than the Evil of Sin : for that corrupts and deflroys our more excellent and immortal Part. The vile Body is of no account in compariron of the precious Soul. Therefore the Apo!lle enforces his Exhortation, Dearly beloved Brethren, ahjlain from jlefhly Lrifls, that war againj/ the Soul. The Hfue of this War is infinitely more woful t han of the moll: cruel againfl our Bodies and Goods, our Liberties and Lives: for ~ur Eflates and Freedom, if lofl, may be recover'd; if t he prefent Life be lofl for the Caute of God, it lhall be rellor'd in greater LuO:er and PerfeCl:ion; but if the Soul be Jail:, 'tis loO: for t:\o·er. All Temporal Evils are confifient with the Love of God: Job on the Dunghil, rouahcall with Ulcers, was mofi precious in God's fight : Lazarus in the Jowefl Pover~v, and walled with loath!ome Sores, was dear to his AffeCl:ions; a Guard of Angels was fent to convoy Ius departing Soul to the DIVIne Prefence. But Sin fe;arates between God and us, who is the Fountain of Fel icity, and the Center ofRell to the Soul. Other Evils God, who is our wife and compailionate Father and Phyfician, makes ufe of, as Medicinal Preparations for the Cure of Sin : and certainly the Difeafe which would be the Death of the Soul, is worfe than the Remedy, tho' never fa bitter and affiiCl:ing to Senfe. • Sin is an Evil of that Malignity, that the leafl: degree of it is fatal. !fit be conceiv'd m the Soul, tho' not aCl:ually finilh'd, 'tis deadly. One Sin corrupted in an inflanr Angelica! Excellencies, and turn'd the glorious Spirits of Heaven into Devils, 'Tis Payfall'
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