710 A Difcottr{e concerning forely punifhc~ at the Day of Judgment, than unpraU:ifed Kno;vledgc. This kind of Ignorance ts fo far from betng pleadable as an·Excufe, that it is an aggravation of Mens Guilt, and will be fa of their Condemnation. There be but t\'1-·o thing~ that compleat a Chriftian, Knowledge and PraCtice. Both thcfc God doth ftriCtly require. KnOwl edge may be without Practice, but the PraCtice of Godlinefs cannot be without Knowledge. God, l fay, requires them both. Now Judge ye wl~ich is the grcatcfl: Sinner, he that Jab0urs after Knowledge, though he negleCt Pral.hce, or he that ncgld\s them hoth : He that fulfils fome part of God's Will or he that fulfil s nothi ng of it. Certainly in your own Judgment this latter de~ ferves tO be doubly punilh'd; once for not doing his Duty, and again for not knowing it when he might. Truly it is but juft and righteous that God fhould with the higheft ·Dirdain and Indignation, fay unto them, Depart frorn me, ye Curfed, l know you not, fincc they have audacioufly faid unto him, Depart from us, we defire not the knowledge of thy ways. The Apail le, fpeaking of God's patience towards Heathens, who were invincibly ignorant of t he Truth, tells l\5 Afis '7· 30. That the times of this ignor11nce (and yet an Ignorance it was that pu~ them 11pon no lefs tban brutifh Idolatry) God winked at. Ignorant Perfons, in ignorant times, whilft as yet the World was dcftitute of the means of Knowledge, and Datknefs over-fpread the Face of it, God connived and winked at. But ignorant Perfons in kuowing times, Go4 cloth not wink at but frown upon. I am the more carneft in prefling this, becaufe I perceive that vile and rotten Principle, unworthy of a Chriftian who is a Child of Light and of the Day, is tJkcn uy by many, That it is no matter how little we know, if. we do but pn.ctke what we know. \.V hat a Cheat hath . the Devil put upon them l Hath JlOt God commanded you to kuow more, as well as to pradice what you knuw ? Is it likely you Jhould practice what you know ufon God's Command, who will not upon his Command incrcafe your Knowledge. And yet this is the ufual Plea of prophane Men. Ask them why they frequent the publick Ordinances fofeldom, they will tell yon, they know more by one Sermon, than they can pra8ice. But how can fi1ch make Confcience of pract:ifing, who make none of knowing, though the fame God bath enjoined them both? Yea, though they cannot pra8:ice whar they know, yet let me tell them, that for thofe who live under the means of Grace, and may be inftrutted if they will, it may be as great a Sin to omit a Duty out of ne~lect of knowing it, as out of negleCt of doing it; yea, and much greater. We fhould our felves judge that Servant, who while we are fpeaking to him, ftops his Ears on purpqfe that he might not hear what we command him; we Jhould, 1 fay, judge him worthy of more Stripes, than he who gives diligent Ear to our Commands, although he will not obey them. So it is in this Cafe. Thou who fi:orpeft thine Ears, and wilt not fo much as hear what the Will of thy Lord and Mafter is, deferveft much more PuniJhment, than he who takes Pains to know it, althm1gh he cloth it not. lt is damnable not to give God the Service that he requires. llut 0 Infolence! Not to give God thy Lord and Mafter fo much as the hearing? Hath God fent Man into the World, and fent the Scriptures after, as Letters of lnftruCtion, what we fhould do for him here, and will it think'ft thou be a fufficient Excufe when thou returneft to thy Lord, that it is true thou hadft lnftruttions, but never opened'ft them, never looked'ft into them ? Wl1at a fearful Contempt is this caft upon the great God, never fo much as to enquire what his Will is? Whether or no he commands that which is fit and rcafonable for us to perform? And therefore refufe not to fearch and ftudy the ScrJptures, upon pretence that the knowledge of what you canno£ fulfil, will but aggravate your Sin and Condemnation. For be aJfured of it, gnater Sin, and forer Condemnation can no Man have, than he who negleas the means of Know.. ledge, thereby to difoblige himfelf from pra8ice. And again, the Scriptures were given to atlift us in the performance of thofe Duties which it requires fro~ us. They do not only inform the Judgment, but quicken the Will and Affechons, aDd ftrengthen the whole Soul to its Duty. And this is in anfwcr to the firfr Objeaion. Secondly, Some will fay the reading of the Scriptures pof!'e!feth them with ftrange Fears, and fills them with incredible Terrors. lt raifeth up fuch dread· ful Apparitions of llell, and the Wrath of God, as makes them a Terror to them(elves. To
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