A PraClical Expofition . Volumes of God)s Remembrance, and our own Confciences? Thefe are TwO Tal/ie 1 evenly !! ruck, tlm fhall ju!lly reprefent the fame Sum and Ceb1, 'nd God's Suit\ Jufiice will. not then abate thee any Thing of its urmofr Due; for he will by no Means acquit the Guilty. · Indeed we are apr .to think rhar becaufe God fo long for. bears us be will never call us ro make up and adjufi Accoums with him. Our Pre· fenr Impunity tempts us to quefHon hisOmnifcience, and to fufpefl: his Threaming{· and becaufe he winks at us we are ready to conclude that he is Blind; we are of that Wretched Temper defcribed, P.falm so. 2 r. Bccaufe Gdd A.eeps Silence we think ~ be is altogether fuch a one as our fe!vu; as carelelS in requiring his Debts as we are in conrraEting rhem ; bur he will rep"rovc us, and fee them in order before our Faces· to our Everlalling Shaine and Confufion. ' Thirdly, Thar the leaft of allrhefe rhy Debrs make thee liable ro be caft inro rhe Prifon of Hell, and to b.e adjudged to Erernal Dearh and Punifhrnems: Nor only rhy Impudent and Scandalous Sins, which make thee detefted of Men, as well as hated of God, b'ut the }eaR Shadow ot a Thought, that .gives hu"t an Umbr01ge of Vanity to thy Mind, the lealt Morion and He(Jving of thy Heart towards a SinfUl 0 \jeEt, the Exhalingbut of one Sinful Defire, the Wavering of thy Fancy, a Glance of rhrne Eye, is a Debt conmrEled with the Infinite JufliceofGod, and a Dcbtrhar, without Forgivcnefs, mufi b~ paid in the Infernal Prifon of Hell: So fays our Saviour, Jllatth. 5· 26. Ven!y tboujhab not come out thence till thou bajl paid the utmojl· farthing. Beware therefore then that you do not en terrain any Slight Thougbrs of Sin, nor think with the Papijls that there are fOme Sorts of Sills that do not def~:rve o~ath, which they call .Vcnial Sins, in Oppofirion to other more Grofs and Heinous Sins, which they allow ro be fliortal. Believe it, the leafi: Prick at the Heart is dcadiy, and fo is the leaft Sin to the Soul. And indeed it is a ContradiElion to call any Sin Venial in their Senfe who hold it is nor wonhy of Damnation; for if it be a Sin iri s worthy cf Damnation, for the JVagcs of Sin is Death; if it be not how is ir Venial? There is but one Mortal Sin, fimply and abfolutely fuch, as God baTh revealed in his Word, that it fhall never be pardon'd neither in this World, nor in that which is to come, and that is the Sin againft the Holy Ghoft, which St. John therefore calls a Sin unto Death> I John 5· 16. And fa far are they; who are guilty of it, excluded ffom God's Mercy, that they are excluded from the Charity of our Prayers; for we are not fo much as to pray i"or fuch, as it is there exprem:d·. Again, all the Sins of Finally lmpenitemand Unbelieving Wretches are eventually Morral, and fhall cerrainly be punifhed at !aft wirh Erernal Death and Damnation; For tbe Wrt~tb ofGo{l abideth on him that /Jclieveth not, John 3· 16. And God will render Indignation and Wrath, Tjibulation and .Anguijh, upon cvctySoul P/ l'Han that t!otb .tVil, Ram. 2 . 9. All Sins wharfoever are Mortal merirorioufly, bozlJ ln the Penirem, and in rhe Impenitent; the Law bath condemned all alike, though all Sins are nor alike heinous, nor fhall be equally punilhed; bur with fome ir fh;zll be far more inrolerable than wirh others, yet all are alike Morral, and def~rve Death, and the fame Hell, though nor the fame Place, nor the Tame Degree of Tormems in lid/; for thofe Sins which are accoumed moft Trivial and Venial are in thernfelves Violations of the Holy Law of God; and the·Penalty that his Laws threaten is no lefs thJn Death. The Law is acc:urate, and reacherh to the Jeaft Things, yea, ro the lc:~ft Circumftances of th?fe Thing~, and evety Tranfgref. fion againfi ir fhall receive its due Recompencc of Reward; Nay) had we no or her Guilt left upon our Souls, from the Firft Moment of our Lives to rh is Prefem DJy, but only the Guilt of the leait Sin rhar the Holy Law condemns, be lr only the wrenching a fide of a Thought or Ddire, only a By and Sinifh:r End in rhe Performance of Holy Duties, nay, let it be bur the Firft Rudiment and Impctfea Draught pf a' Tboughr nor yet finifhed, without a full SatisfaCtion and Expiation, this fmJ ll Debt would caft us inro Prifon, this little Sin would fink us irrecoverably into Hell, and lay us under rhe Revenges ofrbe AlmighrxGod for ever. Oh then, with what Horror and Amaze~ent m<Jy Sinners reHeEl: upon their paft Sins? Witb wha t Dread and Trembling may they expe£1: their furore State, fince as manv ThoufJnds Sins as they have commined, ot all Sizes and Aggravations, fa many Deaibs and Hdill1eaped up one upon another have they deferved, and without Intervention of a full Payment and SatisfaHion mufi rhey be adjudged ro undergo? For though the lc:aft Degree of Divine Wrarh be a Tqrmenting Hell, yet God will enftame his Wrarh ro as many Degrees of Acrimony and Sharpncfs " rhey have commirred Si m,
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