Tbe great Evil and. Danger rif Little Sins. that lurks under thern,and chat great wrath that will follow upon them: That as you would out of your great care for your precious and immortal Souls Eternal Welfare, ahftain from the Commiffion of notorious and felf-condemningSins· fo you wouli:II'abourco keep your felvesfree from thefe little Sim, which though lefs fcandalous,yer are they not lefs pernicious and defiructive : And this I fhall endeavour to do in rhe Pro!f:cution of this one Propofition. DoEl:.rine. That little Sin; carry in them great guilt, and will bring after thrm a (ore and heavl . Condemnatio11. He that break~th the ~eafl Comman?ment JIJall in no 'vi[e .enter into the ~ingdom of Heaven. Now m treanng upon th1s Suhjed:, hecaufe I mtend not to mlift long upon ic, I fhatl only lay down fome Demonfirations of the Truth of this Dod:r~ne, and then make fome Ufe and Application of it. Tht leaH Firjl, Therefore the great evil and danger that there is in littleSim appears in Si11 tJp-t at this,tb~c the leafi Sin is_a moft high Affront and Provocation of the Great God• .Aj{r1111t of An Infinite HolinefS is oppofed,and an InfiniteJuftice isincenfed by them. Tho' ~jgreat J.amnot of the Opinion of the Stoick PhilofopherJ, that all Vices are equally hei- ' ~ nous; ye t this I account certain, that there is in the leafi Sin as R:u a repugnancy and contradid:ion eo the Holy Will of God as in the gre:ueft. Hach not God forbidden vain Thoughts and idle Words, as ftridly as he hath forbidden Murder, Adultery, Blafphemy, and Hatred of himfelf, with all thofe abOminable Sins that defile ~he mouths of thofe that name them ? And is it not as much his Will that he fhould be obey'din thofeCommands, as in thefe? Have you any more Difpenfation in'theScripture tofpeak an idle Word, than you have to blafpherne the Name of God? Have you any more liberty allow'd you to fwear little Oaths, than you have to fwearand ban by wharfoe\·er is facredand holy in Heaven, or dreadful in Hell? Or to take the reverend Name of God in vain, more than eo curfe him to his very Face ? Are you more permitted to think evil againfi your Neighbour, than you are to murcher him2 No certain.. ly; there are no fuch Difpcnfations can e~;·er be found in the Word of God; and l affure you, God will never difpen[e with any Sin farther than he hatb revealed • and why then will you dare to difpenfe with your felves more in little Sim than i~ gre11t Sim? Oh, ourConfciences will never bearwithanypatiencerhofe great and crying Sins: Will they not ? And do you think t.hat God's Holinefs will hear with your littleSi1u? Believe it, thefe litt!,Sinsdo arm God's terrible Power and Vengeance againfi you. And as a Page may carry the Sword of a great Warriour after him, fo your little Sim do, as it were, bear the Sword of God's Jufiice, and put it into his hands againft you. And wo unro us if the holy and jealous God deal in fury with us for our fmall Provocations. Littltftns SuondfJ, Every little Sin is a heinous violation of a holy arn:l !lrid: Law that 11 'IJiolation God hach given us to be rhe Rule of our Lives. The leaft Sin takes the two •f tht Lll'fl' Tablu, and in a worfe fenfe than Mo[tJ did, dallies and breaks them in pieces. ifG•~, Nay, Gommittint Thirdl.J, That you may fee what a complicate Evil every Sin is, take this too, littlt {ins \Vhi eh, though it be a Paradox, yet is it a moft fad Truth, That the commi1L ma.u mm ~on c;>f the leaft Sin m~kes you guilty of the greateft Sin; yea, guilty of a·Jl S~n szllcr o~ tmagmable. Hear thts therefore, <l..tld tremllle all you that allow your felvestn :ft~grta· vain Thoughts or idle Words, -and think with your felves, Pilh, this is but a Thought; this is but a Word; no, iris not only a vain Thought, or an idle Word; it is )3Iafphemy, it is Hatred of God, it is Murther, ic is Adulter~, ic is Idolatry; you will fay, this is ftrangeDoBrine; if it be, it is the Apoftlt'J Dofhine, }ames2. James ~- 10. Wbo{oever jhaDkeepthe whole La?v, and, Jet offend in one point, he isfuilry of all. As therefore thou wouldft not be found guilty in the great Day o the Lord of all that ever Hell it felf was ever impeached for, fee thac you abhorr the commiffion of the leaft Sin ; for the leaft Sin will involve thy Soul in the great~ efr g~ilt. And the Apofile gh•es an evident ~ea!On of this, ver. rr. For IJe thllt faid, Do not commit .A(lnlterJ, [aid al[o, Do not Kill; nonJ if thoN do not com~ mit Adultery, yet if thou Kill, thotr art become a trm{grtf]br of the Law. Theworft thing that can be found in all the Sins that ever were committed, is the contempt of God's Authority. Now there is as much wretched contempt of the Authority of the great God, in the commiflion of little Si111, as there is in the cornmiffion of great Sinr. It is the fame God that faith, ?o.9or rake my Na~ri •
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