3_42 The Folly of Sinners in light •f I. Is it not moft egregious FoUJ and Madnefs for any to do that which ;;;; 1 /',t they hope they lhalllive to repent that ever they did it? ·This is fu~h a FoUy y:t tb•t they all the Extravagances of Fools could never matcli; and yet this moft wicked M' 1. are guilt)' of: They boldly rufh into Sin, only upon this prefUmpruous Co~~ Hope ,t; ~t· fidence, that they may hereafter he ferry that now they d1d it. In which their tnttcJ :t, Folly is doubly notorious, in tha·r, 1, I. They venture upon a certain Guilt, in hope of an uncertain Repentance. .. And, z. In that they take up their unprofitable Sins upon fo great and burthenfome an lntereft. ; •· r. In that they venture upon a certain Guilr,in hopes of an unc_ercain Repen- :•fllltrsFo!'"tance. For either God may cut thee off, OSinner, jurhe very Act of that Sin z~;::;t which thou intend~ft to repe~t of hereafter;_ orJ . if ~e aftOrd thee Time for Rt· •l~n" ,~- '-entanceJ he may wnhhold h1s Grace, and m h1s JUft and righteous} but yet ~·m GNilt. fearful Judgment, feal thee up under Hardnefs and Impenitency, chat thou 111 hopu •f fhalt go on, trea[uring up lo thy {elf Wrath againj! the Day of Wrath. And if :;i:,~:: 'either of thefe, through the righteous Judgment of God, fliould happen unto 'm'"'"'· thee, what a deplorable F()()l wilt thou prove thy felf to beJ that finnefi Rom.:~.,., out of Hopes of Repentance, and of a Repentance which perhaps will never be granted? Alas! How many bath God, in his fignal Vengeance, cutoff. by fome remarkable ftroke, with an Oath, or Cur[t, or Bla{phemy in their Mouths' fcarce fully pronounced? Howmany, with their drunken Vomits gogling in thei; very Throats? How many, while their Souls have been burning with their luftful Embraces, have even then been cafi into Heli,and burnt up with Everlafiing Fire?. Or, if Vengeance fhould fpare thee fora while, 0 Sinner, yet thou knoweft not hdw foon it will ftrike thee: It is great Follytoexpechhe Warning of a fick Bed . Deqth often furprizes by fitdden Cafualties, . or by fome Difeafes as iudde~ as ·Cafualties; and .ther; are many Ways of Dying, befid~s Ccnf~mptio~;, .Agms, and Dropfies; the hngrmg Fore~ runners of an approachmg DtffolutJOn. But if God lhould caft thee down upon a ·fick Bed, he may juflly vifit thee, who ··haft negle~kd thy Soul in thy Health, with fuch Diftemfers as may make thee not only unfit, but fuch as may render thee uncapable o doing thy !aft kind Office for it. It is Folly to expeetthe Admonition of Old Age : Alas! EceJer. the Almond-Tree d6th not every ·wereftourijh; and it is not one, to many Thou. p:~· S· 6 fands, that lay down an HM1'j Htad in the Bed of the Grave. But grant thou 3 :~Y· 1 • couldft be affured of the Continuance of thy Life, yet is it not egregious Foi(J eo fin in hope of repenting, when every Ad of Sin Will make thy RepentatJce the more difficult, if nOt impollible? The olderthougroweft, fiill the more defperate is thy Cafe; fo.r thy Sins will be the more rooted and habituated in thee, and thy Heart the more hardned to refift the Grace of God : So that, upon all Accounts, thy Repentance is moft uncertain ; and the longer thou cominucft in Sin, !till the more unlikely and improbable. And then judge ~hou thy felf, whether it be not extream Madnefs and Folly, to make fo hght, or no AccoUnt of Sinning, becaure thoU makeft account of Repeming. Bur, ' 2. Suppofe it were moft 'infallibly ·certain that thou fhalt repent, yet none but Sinnm Fools will take up the Pleafures of Sin upon the Sorrow, Anguifh, and Bhternefs f;~:r;;,;}e of_a true and hearty R~p_entanct. Do_ft thou ferio.utly .co.nfider what Repentant~ is? the Plea- It JS not a tranfitory \V1Jh, a. warm S1gh, or a langutfhmg Lord have Mere;·, m a furt!Df Sin lDiftrefs, or on a fick Bed; (and yet even thefe cannot be without judging and "ith "hit- condemning themfelves for Fools, when they finned:) No, but Repentance is the ~~n~?m· breaking of theHeart,arending oft he very Soullin..pieces: The ~fu~l Preparativ~s to it are ghafily Fear-s and :Perrours, fharp and dreadful Convu:hons, that wdf even fearch thy very Bowels, break thy Bones, and burn up thy very Marrow within thee. More efpecially doth God deal thus terribly wirh veteran, old confirmed Sinners, making Repentance more bitter to them than to others, that. they may fee and confefs themfelves Fools, in indulging themfelve~ in their Sins in hopes of repenting for them. Say then, when the Dtvi! and thmc own Lufts tempt thee to any Sin; fay, If I commit this Sin, either Ilhalt repent of ir, or I lhall not; if I never repeht of it, as it is a haz~rd wh~ther I fhall o~ no, what is there in Sin, that can recompence the everlafimg Pam of Damnauon ? If I fhall repenc what is there in the Sin, char can recompence the Anguifh and ' * Bitcernfs
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=