A Sermon mi John 7· l9' out of a Feigned and Complemental Humility, bur a True and D.;ep Sehli:: of theit Neceffiry : FOrgive us our TrtfpaJ!es. - : . . . Smndly, Becaufe although our Obedience could be perfcEled, ~et PerfeEl Obedience without Originat Righreouinefs will not amount umo a Le~al R1ghreoufnefs. . And thus I have done with the DoElrinal Pan of thefe Words, and !hewn you the Impotency we all lye under of a Perfell and ExaEl Obedience to the Law. . . . Fi1jl, Then let this ferve to abafe the Pnde, and !lam the Glory, . of all .FleilJ, Search into thy felf, 0 Man! Confider, what art thou but a Mafs ~~ Sm, RotteJ), nefs and Corruption? RefieEl back upon the whole Courfe of .rhy L1fe? How ha!! thou fpent thofe Years which the Patience and Long·fuffering of God bath lent the<? Hall thou not lived in open Defiance wirh the Great God of Heaven, and a continual Violation of thofe Laws which his Authority bath impos'd upon rhee? SufFer · thy Confcience to awake, and bring in its Accomprs; and though it fhoul4 be like the Uojufl Steward, aod fer down Fifry fot ao Hundred, and !mall Sins for grear, yet even according ro rhis Computation thou !halt 6nd thy felf defperarely ind eb~ed 10 the Juflice of God. Read over the Black Catalogue ot thy S1ns, and fee w11h Aftonithmem and Horror how much thou oweft. FM/ An rhou not Confcious to thy felf of .any Prefumptuous Sins committed againft f:hy Knowledge, the Checks and Exdarilations of thy Confcience, againft thy Natural Light and Reafon, with a DeliberateandRefolved Wilfulnefs? When thou halt feen all the Curfes and Threarnings of the V1w ftand reaciy bent again!t thee, and Hell-fire flafhing in thy very Face~ when Co!Jfdence bath commanded thee in the Name of rhe Great God ro forbear, and denounced againfr thee Wrath and Death if rhotl dar'fl commit it, hall thou not then fallen upon thy Confcience, violently ftopp'd i1sMoU[h, yea, wounded and ftabbed it; and may notthe.Blood andScarsofit reftifie againft thee? Yea, w add Meafure to this, haft thou not frequently relapf!!d intQ the Commi!fion of thefe Prefumptuous and Daring Sins, and repeated them again!! thy Vows, and Proteftations, and Prayers, _and Seeming Repentance, and fo ripping open the Wounds of thy Confcience again before they were \"ell doled, and making them bleed afre(h? Who of us all can acquit our felves of Sins againft Knowledge and Coufcience, that have ever had any Knowledge or Confcience? , Secondly, The Sins of Ignorance which you have committed are altogether nuinber· lds. The Soul naturally is a Dark and Confufed Chaos, and until the Light of the Glorious Ttuth !hinc into it Sin and Duty lye undiflingui!hed, and in tho Blindnefs of our Minds we ofientimes take the one for the other. We many Times tranfgrefs the Law becaufe we knoWit not, and many times tranfgrefs it when we intend roobferve it. We heed not our own A8:ions, bur let them pafs from us wirhout Confidetariom or RefteElion; and truly the greateft Part of our Lives is thus huddled up without pondering what we do; and we are equally ignorant as carelefs whether we du well or ill. And in fuch negleEled AElions the far greater Part mull needs be finful; for when we lieed not the Rule it is hard for us not to tranfgrefs it : And therefore faith the P.fal" mifl, Pial. 19. 1 2. Wbo can underfland his Errorr? Cleanft tbo11 mt [ro1tt my Secret i'au/1s ? Add to this, . · , . . Toirdlf, All thy Sins of Infirmity and Weaknefs, Sins to which thou art betrayed, contrary to thy Purpofe and Refolutions by the fitdden Surprize of aTemptation ; Sins which although rbey may not be wilful and prefumpruous, yet they may be very grofs and fcandalous, as was St. Peter's Denial of his Matter. Caft in alfo, .. Fourthly, All the Swarms of thy Secret Sins, thy Vain Thoughts, and SinfulDefires ! Sins which though lhe World can take no Cognizance of lhem, yer are vifible and confpicuous to the Eyes of the All·fceing God. He fees a Sinful ObjeEl lying in the Embraces of tby AffeElions; and if there be but the lea!! hovering of thy Heart, the leaftfluuering of lhy TboughtstowardsVanity, he remarks it, and ~rites ir ,down in his Deb<-Book, although perhaps thJ Confcience may omit it; And, Oh bow van: aSum thefe alone amount unto! Thy Thoughts run as fwift as Time, and click as faft as the Moments. And fucb a Giddy, Feathery, Unconftant, Thing is theMind ?f Man that we cannot dwell long upon any one Thought, but whiut we are J?Utfumg One, Ten Thoufand orhers arife: Our Thoughts are like thofe Numberlefs Motes . that play b aSun. beam; they fl it up and down in our Minds without any cerrain Scope or Defigo; we cannot turn. our felves fafi enough to them, nor can ~e Jhink what We rhink : But God knoweth them all, and for fuch Infinite Multitudes of Thoughrs hcfe:s down fomany Sins; and yet bcfides all tbefe art thou not confCi' ous to thy feff; · · Fifrbly, fir
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