An Expojition upon th~ fure rhat 110 GaiaofRobbery, or Oppreffion, or Fraud, or Deceir, be found in your ijands, for this will devour even what you have gorren lawfol!y . . Thirdly, Anxieties and Perplexities of Mind do alway accompany ill·gotren Wealth: For iris a Sin fo much againfr the very Light of Nature, rhat Confcience ifit be no! utterly !lupified and fcnflefs, will be fiill molefiing and haunting rhe.; )Yith troublefome Thoughts and Relleilions• . Befides, the Fear ofDeretlion, and the Shame and Punifhment which will follow upan ir, mufi needs be a conrinual Ditlurbance umo them: Whereas what is gotten with a good Confcience, and in an hooeft and lawful calling, whether ir be more or lefs, it brings this Contentment wirh ir that aMan may quietly fit down and rejoice in that Portion which the Providence and Bouary of a Gracious God, and Heavenly Father barb here afforded him; he drinks no Widows Tears, nor Orphans Blood; he eats not the Flefh of the Poor, nor breaks the Bones of the Needy; his Confcience gnaws not upon him whilfi he is feeding on what his honeft Labour and lnduftry bath prepared for him; and although ir be bur a Bit of Bread, and a C4pof Water, that he can procure:, yet is he entertained at a Conrlnual Fealt: his fare may be but mean, yet his Chear, his Joy and Comfort, is great; and tbe coarfeft Morfel be eats is far more favoury to him than all 1he heighmed Delica~s of Rich Opprellors; whofe Confciencesmingle Ga!l and Wormwood with their moll pleafant Bits, and gnaws and grindes rh•m as they grinde the Faceoof the Poor and Needy. And therefore faith the Wife Man, Prov. 16•. 8. Eerier is a lirilt r<itb Righteoufnifs, than great Revenues withoflt Right. And the Pfalmift, Pfal. 37· 16. 11/ir. tic that a Rigbtcout A1an bath it better than the RicQet l)f many Wicktd. fourth!y,Robbery andDeceit provokes God to tutM:ea off by foine utirimely Sfroke and immaturate Judgmen.t; and r_batei~her by the Hand of H~mane J.ufiice with Sbame and Reproach, or ofD1vtoe Julhce with Wrath and Vengeance: . For fo we find it tbrearned, Pjal. SS· 23· Thou, 0 God, ]halt bring th<nr dOf»n into tbe J?ir of Dej/ru'llion .- Bloody and Dueitjul Mm jhall not lrve out .halfthdr Days. that is, they !ball not lengthen out their Days ro rbat Period which the Courfe and S11ength ofNa· ture might feem ro promife them, but the Hand of God !hall cut them off in the Vigour, and midfi of rheir flourifhing Years. . . But howfoever it may fare with them in this Life, howfoever they may efcape the Reproach of Men, and the Sword of Jufiice, yet, Fiftb!y, They fhall certainly be eternally Curfed and eternally Miferable: Their illgotten Goods fllall not be able to redeem their Souls, or bribe the Ju!tice of God, or givothem the leaft Solace and Comfort. And what wretched Fool,s are they .,·ho mull eternally perifh for ga ining of Things that perifh too; and bringEverlaflingTorments upon themfelves for th3.[ which before brought 1hem Vexations and Difcjuietments, 1 Corinth. 6. 10. Nor Tbitvu, nor Covuour, nor Drun!w·dr, nor Rtvt'lur, nor Extortiantrt, fholl inherit the Kingdom of God. Where then fhall their Portion be but in that L1ke which burnerh with Fire and Brimftone unquenchable? Where the Lord will fpoil their very Souls, as the Wife Man's Exprdlion is, Prov. n 23. Rob not tbe Poor ,for the Lord will plead tbeirCaufe, and will Seoil tbe Souls of tbl!fc that Jpoiled them. And thus you have feen what various Ways liod bath threarned that be will punifh this Sin. Before I can proceed farther here are Two Q)leftions to be anfwered . The firft is, Whether in no Cafe it bo lawful ro Steal? What if rbe Neceffity be fo urgent rhat 1 muft certainly perifh, or eUe rel1e\1e my ielf by this Means? I fay we ought not to do it in any Cafe: For Thefr is in irfelf a Sin, and there c:~'n be no Ntceffity to Sin: For every Man is bound rather to chufe the greareft Evil of . Sufierings, rhan t? commit the leafi Evil ofSin. lpdeed fuch Neceiliry dorh _fome"· h~r mitigatt: the heinoufnefs of the Offence; bur that ts not at all confiderable m the Dr· reaion of our Pra8:ice, fi,nc~ it cootinues a Sin fiill, and deferves Eternal Damnation. The Wife Man tells us, Pruv. 6. 0 o, 3 i. ii'Ien do 7101 difpife aThief tJ be flea/ to fa· tiJfit his Sou/when be is bungry. But this mufr be underftood only comparatively, viz. That the Reproach and lnfatny which attends fucb an one is not fo great as rbar of an Adulcerer, as it appears Veifc 32. As if he fhould fay, to be an Adulterer is a far louler Reproach than to be a needy Thief. Yet he adds, If be be found be /tall rrjlore Sewnfold, be /hall give all the Subjlance of his HoMje .- Thar is, though his Neceffity and Hunger may take ofi:' fornewbat from the Shame , yet it fhall nor from the Punifhment of his O!limcc, bur he !hall reftore thJt which he bath flolen Sevenfold. Nottha!the Reftlrurionfhould be Seven Timesas much as 1he Thefr, forrhe ut~~~
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