of Prejumptuou.r Sin.r. arc rhere that would nor fuffer no no~ fo rnuc.h as a Hair of their He~d tO be twitched off eo gain that for which they w1llnotfhck eo Lyean?Su;ear,. Smsrhar Murder their Souls? They are fo Foolilh, char the L?rd cornpl~ms m lja. )2. ;. They fell themjthm (or No11ght · either rhey ftay nor ttll the Devtl comes to cheapen them, hue Sin bdorehand o~ elfe they readily rake any Price that he offers for rhcm,any vile Trifle is looked upon as a great Purchafc:, . if they can procure it ~t fo low .a Price as Helt and Dnmnation is; why, whaus lt that makes the Swearer open h1s Throat as wide as Hell againfi Heaven and God himfelf, hut only that he fanfies that a big, fu\1-mourh 'd Oath, makes his ~peech more g~ac:ful a!Jd ftarely? And what is it chat makes the Company-keeper run tnto all Excels. wttl~ Rtot,and to drown _ himfelf in all Senfualiry, bur only chat he ma~ comply W!Ch illS Debauched Companions, and not difguit them by any fing~lancy and refervednefs ~ And can thefe things be called Temptation;? Are thefe thtngs matter of fuch wetght, as deferve to be put in the Balance againft the Soul's Eternal Happinefs and Glory? Is ic poffible that Men that have No? le and Imm?:cal S~uls in them, Jhould ever fo far debafe them, as to bring them mro compeuuon wuh, nay, to make them to be che Price of fuch Vile Nothings as chefe are? And yet tell thefe Men that they hereby rouze up God 's Wrath againft them that burns to the loweft Hell; tell them char chey deftroy their precious Souls ; tell them that they get nothing by fuch fins as chefe are, unlefsthey reckon Damnation forGairt: Why, yet let God frown, and Hell triumph, and their Souls perilh, they will o':, and will nocraife the Rate of finning, nor pur the Devil eo more charges, and (o they are Damned for nothing. Is not this moft defperare boldnefs a?d prefumpdon? And therefore do not lay che blame of your fins upon the vwlence of Temptation, or upon the reftlefs imporrunides of the De:uil; when God fhall at the I aft Day eaU, Sinner :ftand forth, what's the reafon you committed fuch and fuch Sins that had nothing in them to commend them? That left nothing afcer them but Shame without, and Terrours within? Will you the? plead as now ufually you do, that Temptatio'u were too hard for you,and the Dernl coo ftrong for you to refift? No,no, it will then be made apparent,thatthe De:uil was falfly charged with multitudes of Sins that he never knew of till they were committed : And therefore when Men fin upon Jlit,ht Temptatio'ns, it is not from the power of Temptation;, it is not from the importunity of the De:uil that they fin, but only·from a prefumptuous refolution, that they will fin whatever it co:ft them, and that's the firfi Trial. Secondly, Whtn a Man ?vilfullr and knowinglr runs him/elf into Temptation~, and Whm Mm upon occafion; of Sin, if he be overcome br thefo Temptations, he fins pre{umptu- run thenu ouflJ notwithjlanding. In this Cafe, though the Ttmptation be violent and ir-{ehm. 1 refiftible, yea, though ~hen we are i.n.tangled by it, we firive and firuggle to ,.;to;;!~ our very utmo:ft, yet th1s doth not mmgate but rather aggravate our Sin, be- tatirns, caufe it was meerly thorough our own prefumption that we brought our fCives and ocunder the power of fuch a prevalent Temptation, from which Chrifiian Fear and c;.f"n[, 0{ Caution might eafily have preferved us. If a Man that is wholly Ignorant of.~;~~~ tf the Art of Swimming, lhall plunge himfelfinto a deep River, rho' he :ftruggle ctmtby hard for Life afterwards, yet if he finks and is drowned, he perilhes only thnn, ~hq through his own prr/umption. That Man deferves to be blown up that will make ;h~ fint Ounp(Jwder in a Smith's Shop when the Sparks fly thick about him: Truly oc- c~fl;.mp ""' cations of !inning are the Dtvil's Forge, where he is continually heating and hammering out his Fier1 Darts. Why, now for you chat know your felves to be as catching as Powder, or Tinder, wilfully to run your felveSintothisForge where his FieryD11rts gl0w, and fparkle, andtfy about you, what is thiS bur moft defperate boldnefs ana prefumption? What fays the Wife Man, Proverbs z6. z7. Can If Man takt Fire into his Bojom, and his Cloaths not be burnt? Can a Man run himfelf upon fuch occafions of fin, and not run alfo into the commiflion of fin? Asche Motion of a Scone, wlien it falls downward, is fiill the fwifcerthe nearer it comes to its Center; fo when you are running your felves into the occafions of fin, the more· willingly you go to fin, the nearer you come to it, there's no fiop nor fiay: When you put your felves upon thefe Occafiom and Trmptations you put your felves out of the proteCtion of God's Grace, and you fiand wholly at the De:uil's Courcefie; and if you are overcome, blame hothing but your own venturoufnefs a~d prefumption. Confider this therefore, haft thoU not had frequent experience of many fad Foils that theDwil hath ~iven thee· . . ~
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