The great Ecoil and Danger of Little Sins. 393 in ,•ain who faich, Do nor blafpheme .me ; rhe fame God that faith, Do nor murrhe~ hach taid alfo lle nor angry with thy Brorhercaullefly. Now \Vhat is it rha(makes Blafphe:ny and Murther fuch heinous Sins ? Truly the Venom and Rancour of chem lye's in this, That che Auchoricy,of that g:e~t God _who harh forbidden them, is Oighced and trampled under foot ; and 1s 1t not fo by (mf/ 11 Sins? Nay, lee me <1~d, . Fourr&ly, The Aurhoricy of ti'.e great Go~ feems to be m?re defp1fe_d by the Goi'~ All;. .commiffion of jm,t/1 Sin1, rhan by the comnuffion of great Sms. Doth 1t not ar- thmtY. gue great come mpc of God, when you will nor obey hin.1 in a matte.re.hat you ~i,ffft~~; your 1e1ves count finall· and inconfiderable ? You think, It may be, It ts not of_ th~11 hy much momenr or concernment what your Thoughts be, nor what your Words grta; Si'M. are; bu t when you hear and are convinced, that all your_Thoughcs fhoul~ ~e holy and that all your Difcourfe fhould be favoury, and fuch as fhould mtm-: fier Profit and edification unco others; if after this, you ftill think it of no ~rear moment whether they be vain and frothy, or whether they he holy and fpirituat ; beli~ve it, rh is lhews you to be defpifers of God's dominion and au· thoriry over you, w~en his C'?mma_nds cannot prevail againfi the leaf! Sin. \V~at a final! Maner was Jt, ma:y fome fay, for A dam to eat of an Applt m Paradi{t? But was it nor as finall a Matter for him to forbear and let it alone? And there~ fore this (m.,i/ Sin fh.cwed no fiuall contempt of God's Authority, who hadfirittly forbidden ic. When we fin, we flatter our felves ·nraighcwith this; is it not a little one ? Truly if ir be but a little one to commit, it is but a little one to refrain from. Iris an Aggravation of Sin, rather than an Excufe, to fay, our Sins are but little onts. It fhews a Heart hardned againft God, and bewrays a defperate comempt of all chat he can fay to us, or do againfi us, when we Jhall chufe rather eo rh wart and break his Commands, to venture, or rather eo defpifC his Power, Wrath and Juftice, than to fo.rego our little Sim. FifthlJ, Little Sins do greacly deface the Iniage of God in the Soul. .AJam LittltSiru was at firft created according eo the Similicude and Likenefsof God: He had p-eatlydt:. the Divine Pounraicture drawn upon his Soul by the creating Finger of rhc AI- fact th{I· mighty; and yet we fee how little a Sin defaced ir, and fpoiled him of all his. ~;f ~ Glory. In curious Pictures a final! Scrarch_is a grear Deformity: Certainly the _Image of God is filch a curious piece of \VorkmanJhip, than he leaft Scratch or Flaw in it by the leaft Sin, deforms and turns chat which before .was the Image of God, into the Image of the Devil. Sixth!J, Lit tl~ Sim have in them ordinarily lefs of Temptation than other Sins z.. 1 s· have,and therefore they have more of wilfulnefs in them. If it be no excufe of h~~e rhu~ns Sin,yer certainly iris a ground of pity and commiferation,when chofe fall into the /itt/tttmpCommi~on of Sin,who are ~ffa~lted and haumed with moft violent a?d eager t/f/::/ in Temptations; when the Dnnl will not let them alone for a moments rune, but e_ · purfues them from place to place; and though they once and again eject and refift him, yet ftill he forceth his Temptations upon thorn: If fuch as theie are at length overcome by chofe impudent Irnporcuriicicsofchat E·ui/One,thistheir yielding requires oUT picy, and ic may be /hall more ea lily obtain God's pardoning Grace and Mercy. .13ut thou that ordinarily commitreft thofe that thou calle!t Little Sin$, haft no fuch alleviation for them. What Temptation canft thou plead? ·Dorh the Devil continually dog thee with fuch So-licitations and Perfwafions,thar though thou wouldft yetthoucanftnotrefifi? no, certainly when the Pon;er$ ofHttl<~rm thcmfelves againft a Soul, it is ro more advantage, chan the Commiffion of a little Sin. LiuleSins have fcarcc any orherTemptationro inforce them befid es the commonnefs and cufiomarinefs of committing them. The Two great ~rgume~ts by which. rhe Devil prevails in all his Temptations, are Pleafure and Profit; now both of thefe do ufually attend the big and more bulk~ Sins; b~t Little SinJ have ufually rhi~ Aggravation left upon them,thatifMen wtll com_mlt them,~l~ey fha\1 bec<?me Smners _for nothing.. Tell me what profit hath the Pr~fane Spn·u to be concmually ftewmg and foakmg a luft in his own thoughts? What profit or pleafure hath the Common Sn;earer for to think himfelf eo be but a Little ~jnner in rapping out his Oaths againfi God and Hea,•en ? Were I anE~i crln(fays one bo.th piouOy and ingenioufiy) I would hare Swearing: We.re Men luch as rold themfel~es unto all ~anner.of lenfual Delights,yetisthere: fo_hrde can be ftramed from this common Sm that 1t can hardly bear the counte~ · .Eeee nanc~
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