making a' Mock :at 'Sin. ---~~----:- tainlyl rhefe Men mufl needs haVe very night Thoughts of Sin, who can _be ~ eafily rempred eo commit ir, and are fo har~ to be b~oughr to repent of 1t; Ol;' ' ihhej' do, yet is it (o Oightly ahd fuperfictally, as tf they f~ared the Amends ,, would be greater than the InJury. . . . ..· . · ., , I come now eo rhe SecondThinO', and rhatt5, to fhew what 1C 15 that mducerh ' rr. and perfuaderh wicked Men to m~ke fo light of their SinS. fi~u{tr ~f Now rhetc are rhefe Two things that make Sinners eo account their Sjps !;:z~~ fliO"ht and trivial Matters. . flight~~ J. Bccaufc they fee fo few Infiance~ ofGod's dread Wrarh and Veng7ance1q-:e. SiN. cured on Sinners in thisLife; and rhofe rar.~ On_es char a_re.exram ~nd vttible,rh;ey, Sinnt~; nor impUte rather co Chance, th_an co the Retn'buu.on of Dtvme Juftice: And th:.r;e~ bci,Jgt;{hn~ .. fore, upon their own Impumty, an~ the Impumty oforher_s, they conc~ude, 1 h;at .pl.~rilr pu~ certainly Sin is no fuch heinous dung as fame fower tetncal People wouldJ~m mjhtd, verfuade the World to believ~; And ~o they cry Pe~ct, Pe:zce? ro themfelvu, thpugh ~=r~~::tm they go on in 1be. Frowardmfs of tbm Hearts,. add~ng lmqu1ty to Sm. Becaufe llfgh~ of God fo long winks at them, they conclude h1m bhnd, or at leafi, that he doth Sin. not much difallow thofe Sins which he doth not prefentl}1 jmnifh; 1 Indeed, it Deut. :19. would be fomewhat difficult co an[wtr this Argument, wer~ this.prefent I,.ife the ap~ 1 9· pointed Time of Recompence. No, but God referverh his W.c.ar.h and Vengeance to a more publick, and more dreadful Execution of it.,tha? any ~an be in this Lif~. Though now rhou feeleft no EftCcts of God's. Wrath, yet believe it, the Storm is but all this while gathering : But when thou Iaunchefi forth into the boundlefs Ocean of Eternity, then, and perhaps ne\"er before rhen, will it break upon thee in a Tempeft of Fury, and dro~n thy Soul in Perdition a)ld Defiruttion. 11. Another thing that makes wicked Men rhink fo flight of Sin,isJ that it j:an- . ~. not affect God with any real Inj.ury; for as he is nor beneficed by our Services, fo' sm;m he is nor wronged by our Iniquities. 'Tis tme, ~ould our Sin~. reach God, coulci ~;;h: of rhey dethrone him, or rend off any of his glorious Attributes from his immuta,ble Sm,bw•uf• Effence; there might then be great Reafon why God fhould fo feverely re~enge it~~~~ re•l ,rhem, and we for eve~ deteft and abhor them: But fince his Glory is fref; fro~ ~Jr;IJ " any.. Stain, and his Being from any Wrong and Prejudice, our Sins are nothing to 0 • him, nor 'is there any Reafon we fhould Judge them heinous and provoking. : '. 'Tis true, O.Sinner, thy Sins can never invade God's Effence; that is infinitely above the Attempts of Men or Devils; bur yet every wicked Wretclt would,, if he c?uld, dethrone ~od: _Sinners ":oul_d not have _him. be fo :h:oly, nor fo JUfi as he IS; not fo holy m hatmg of the1r Stns, nor fa 1uft m pumfhing of them ; chat is, they would not have him be God; for it is neceffary that God lhould be as he is. Sinners do really contradict God's Purity, rebel againft his Sovereignty, violate his Commands, de fie hisJuftice, provoke his Mercy, defpife his Threarnings,and hinder the Manifefiations of his Glory ro theWorld : And is all this nothing? Every Sinner bath fo much Poyfon and Venom in him that he would even fpir it in the Face of God himfelf, if he could reach him: Du~ hec~ofe ~od_ is in hir:tfelf fecure from th~ir impotent Affaul~s,_Sin lhewsirs Spight agamfi htm 10 what 1t can; defaceth h1s Image where. ever tt comes,abolifheth all Scrutl:ures and Lineaments of God in the Soul, and would banifh his Name his Fear, his Worfhip from off the Face of the whole Earth: And therefore tho~ :who art guilty of thisRehellion againfi the greatMajefty ofHeaven,canfi thou yet think thy Sins to be !light and inconfiderable,and not worth either the Cognizance .or the Vengeance of the Almighty ? Believe it, the Day is coming, and will nor carry,when that Guilt which thou now carrieft fo peaceably in chy Bofom and which, like a frozen and benumb'd Serpent, ftirs not,nOrftings not, fhall whe~ heated with the Flames of Hell, fly in thy Face, and appear in all i" native and genui~e Deformities and Horrour, and overwhelm thY. Soul with Everlafiing A ngutlh and Torment; and then, but too late, then Wilt thou exclaim againft thy felf, as being worfe than a Fool, or Mad-man,fer thinking fo flightly of and making a Mock ac th:u wl)ich hath eternally ruin'd and. deftroyed thee. ' And having thus lhew'd you briefly, rhat wicked Men do make light of Sin and the Inducements chat tempt them to it; I fhallnow, in the ' Thi,d place, fhew you their great and inexcufable Foil; in fo doing And Ill. certainly never was any infenface Man, never any that was wholly aba'ndon'd ;'~' biiJ!f by his Reafon and Underfianding, guilty.of a greater Folly than this is : For, ~=;~~m I. Is
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