A Sermon on Gal. 3· 10.' corr upted Body, the wholfomeft Food conv~::ns to PmrefJS:ionand peccanrHumours, and nouri£1Jeth the Difeafe mE:lre than the Maa ;fo to a corrupt and finful Scul the belt of God's Temporal Favours rum to the NourHhmeni of his Difeafe. His PJenry and Profperity ~o but_purvey for his Lufi:s; and Abu~dance that G_od gives him dorh Qur lay in Provlfion for the Fldh; and through the Secret, bur Rtghteous, Judgment of God proves only a fironger Temptation unto Sin, ane! makes him the more fit to promore the DevH's S~rvice, and his own Damnation. , Stcondly, He is accurfed in all his SJ?iritual Enjoyrne?ts: The Sacred Or_dinanc.es of Jefus Chrift, which are the only ordmary Means w_htch qod bath appomted ro make us Eternally Ble£fed, yet even thefe are all Curled to him; for they do but the more harden and confirm him in his Sins, and ripen him the fooner fo r E\•erlafiing DeftruE\:ion. For as the Rain which tails upon the Earth makes a living Tree, whofe Sap is in ir, to bud and flourifh, and bring fonh its feafonable Fruits, but or:- ly ferves the fOoner to rot a dead and wither'd Tree: Sp rhofe very Ordinances and Difpenfations of the Means of Grace, which difiil alike both upon Believers and Unbelievers, have a far different Influence upon them. Into the one rhe.y kindl.v inlinuate', and call fOrth their latent Graces; and where they find the Root of the MJrter, make. them fproutand bloffom int.O aBeautiful Profeffion, and make them bring forth plemiful Fruits unto Holinefs. But torhe other, that are dead Trunks, thefe.Showers of Heaven, and DroppingsoftheSanfluary, which fall upon them, tend only to rot them and to make them the fooner fit Fewel for Hell, and Everlaiting Burnings. And Ob, ~hat a fad and dreadful Curfe is this, that thou who comeft to hear the fame Word preached, which m others proves the Savour of Life unto Ltfe Eternal; to thee, through the Corruption and Wickednefs of thine own Heart, it Chould prove the Savour of Dcatb unto Death Eternal; and inftead of humbling thee under the Power and Evidence of the Truth, fhould only exafperate thine Heart againft the Truth, and thofe who difpence it, that the Sound of the Gofpel fhould only deafen thine Ears, and the Light of the Glorious Truth only blind thine Eyes! That thou who perhaps partakeR of the Sacrament fhould'fi eat thine own Damnation when thou ea tell rheBody of a Saviour, and drink a deep Cutle to thy felf whe,n thou drinkell the Cup of Bleffing! Thy Sins aro of fo baneful a Nature that th<y poifon even the Blood of Chrill unto thee; and whilll the Heavenly Meat is in thy Mouth, even the Body of our Lord Jefus Chrift, which is Meat indeed to a believing Soul, rhe CurfeofGod cometh upon thee! And yet how many fuch Spiders ha ve we wbo fuck Poi[on out of the fweetelt Flowers? Clayey and Earthly Souls, "that are but harden'd by the Sun-fhine of the Gofpel, and made the more incapable of anyIrnpreffions to be wrought upon them : And what a ·dreadful Curfe is this, when the Means of Grace fhall be turned into the Occafion of Sin ~ How Deplorable is their Ellate when Mercy itfelf !hall Ruin thern, and Salvation itfdf fhall De!lroy them ? . Thirdly, If all the Favours of God's Providence, and all the D?fpenfations of his Grace, then certainly much more are all their Chall:ifements and AfHiCt:ions turned into Curfes. If there be Poifon in the Honey, much more certainly is there in the Sring. If God be wroth with them when he fhines, much more when he frowns, upon them. lnde<!d true Believers may with a great deal of Peace and CalmneiS undergo all their Allliaions; for though they be fore and heavy yer there is nothing ofthe Curre in them. That was all received into the Body of Chrift when he hung upon the Cmfs; and their Fathercorre8:sthem, nottofatisfie hisJuftice upon them, bur only by fuch a fharp Medicine to purge them from their Sins, and to make them Partakers of his HolinefS; though the Potion may be Bitter and Irkfome in the taking, yet the Effe£\s of it are Salutary and H<althful ; it is not the Evils we fuffer that are Cnrfes, hue rhe Ordination of thofe Evils to the fatisfying of Divine Vengeance. upon us. And therefore fad and dreadful is the Condition of guilty Sinners who are out of Chr.ill ; for rhere is not the lea!l Affiiaion thai befals them, not the lea I!: Gripe of any Pain, not the lea It Lofs of their Ellates, the moll flight and inconfiderable Crofs that is, but it is a Curfe infiiEled upon them by the J ullice of Gnd for the Guilt of their Sins. God is beginning to fatisfio his Juftice upoD them; he is begin· mng to takerhem by the Throat, and toexatl: from them whatthey owe him.. Every Affiitlion is to them but part ot ·Parmem of that. valt and infinite Sum of Plagues whiCh God will moll feverely reqUire from them tn Hell. And there, Fourthly,
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=