Tbe great Evil and Danger of Little Sins. The:e are tn1o Confidtrations that may be very ufeful to us in order to the humbhng of our felves before God for little Sim. By little Firjl, Confider thefe little Sim are thofe Sins whereby we continually withSi7u. "' ' il out incermillion offend againft God, and provoke him againft our own Souls ~;:,:;~J. Still either the Mated of oar Actions are contrary to the Holy Will and Law 0f - · God, or the manner in which we perform eh em: If the Subfi:ance of oct Actions · are not evil, yet the Circumftancesare; there's not a Word in Prayer ·not a ThoNg:ht in Meditation, but hath rhe Guile of feme Sin cleaving to it~ ahd"if it be to with us in our Holy Perfo(mances, how do you think then it is with us in our common and ordinary Converfation? And Jhould it not deeply huinble us to con(jder, that. there is not one hour, no, nor one moment of our Livl!s free from Sin ; that our Pul(ts bear too flow ro keep an 4.ccounr of our Sins by . our Thoughts are comi'nually in Morion without intermillion or ceffarion,.anJ · ' yet, \Every one of the Ima_e)natiflm rf the :Thflughu "f flftl" HtartJ are only evil antl Gen. 6. ;. that continually, Gen. 6. 5'· Cercainly did we terioufly confider what it is w~ fay when we confefS eo God that ou r whole Lives are nothing but one cbminueJ ; cou(fe of Sin, thofe momems, every one of which brings frefh Guilt upon us would not flide away fO pleaft~.ndy wirh us as they do ; but becaufe our Sin; feem 1H:nall eo us, we regard them not; and foom·Time waftcs, and our Guilt encrealeth, dll Eternity puts a period 3nd full end to thofe Sins, to which we cou1d1neVer put any ftop or inrermillion. Little Sins ·Secondly, Confider whllt a ct~rrupt und deprll'tltd Nature thtfe lit t le Sim do procmJ flow jr11m. When at any time we are fenfihle of a vain and finful Thought from .s m- rifirtg up in our Hearts, we lhould trace ir along to the Fountain of it even ;;t:. Na~ Original Corruptioh from whence it bubbles up: If we would hut do 'fo, we lhould fee great caufe ro be deeply humbled for that fruitful feed-plot of all nlanner:of Sins that is in our Hearcs. Many thuufands of Lufts lye crawling and knotting together there that never yet faw the light; the Dumned in Hell have not wor[eNaturedn them than we have: There is no Sin, how hOrrid foever, that they committed on Eahh,or can be fuppofed to commit now in Hell, but we alfo ll10uld run into it, did not God's powerful refhaints withhold us. Now do little Sim proceed from fuch a Corrupt and ·curfed Fountain, and have we not then great caufe to be humbled before the Lord for them, and fay, Lord, here is Sin, a Jiule Sin it is, but yet it' proceeas from a Heart that hath in it the Spawn of all the greateft and' ""ilefi Sins that ever were or can be committed; and that it is but a vain Thought~ ana not BlafphemJ, Murder, or Adulttry, or any of the greateft and mofi crying Sins that ever were committed in the World, is to be acknowledged and attributed only to the powerful reftraim of thy free Grace: For the fame corrupt Fountain that fends forth this vain Thought and that idle Word, would have fent forth Blafphemr, Adultery, Athei[m, or any of the vilefi. Abominations ; but it is thy free Grace only that hath refirained us. Ufe \T. Fithlf, and Ltjll], If there be fo great Evil az~d Danger in little SinJ, thi! Wt jhould rherl Jhould teach us, not tfl make light of any Sin. Load_every Sin with its due '"ke ht~d Weight, give every Sin its proper Aggravations, and then certainly you will i{g~;if";~ fee. no Reafon to account any of them to be fmall or little. To help you in this, Sin. '1 take briefly thefe Directions. 1 Firft, Pray earnefUJ for ~& wife qnd an smderjfanding Heart, and for a [oft and render Confcience. Some Sins fo Counterfeit an harmlefs appearance, and look1fo innocently, that a Man had need of muCh fpiritual Wifdom, to know how to difiinguifh between Good and Evil, and to put a difference between thofe things that differ as much as Heaven and Hell do: Now rhis arifech from tba.c- great blindnefs and ignorance that is in Mens minds, whereby they cannot difcern that great evil and mifchief that lurks under [mall Sim, but are apt to account ·every cl\ing that is not fcandaloos and grofiy wicked eo be bur an indifferent matter: And as their Minds are thus blinded, fotheir Hearcs are hardneJ, that what they fee and know to be finful, yet they will dare to vemure upon it: Whence is it elfe that the generality ofthe World live in the Comm~ffion ?f · thofe that they call little Sim, bm hecaufe their Hearts are hardned, and theu Confciences feared, that chofC Sins that are great enough to damn them, yet are .nor great enough to trouble them~ A render Confcience is like the Apple of a man's Eje, the leafi duft that gers into it afflicts it. No furcr and better way
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