S98 s I N A s I c K N E s s. Book IV. s I N A s I c K N E s s. '!'he whole Head is jick,. and the whole Heart faint, &c. Ifa. i. 5· '!'he Whole need not a Phyjician, but they that are jick, Matt. ix. I2. SPIR.ITUAL Sicknefs is two fold; (I.) To be fick with Sin. (2.) To be fick of Sin : As Sin wounds the 'soul, fo it makes fick, and this is Man's Mifery; but to be fick of Sin, viz. to be fenfible of the Evil and curfed Nature thereof, this is a Mercy. p A R A L L E L s. I. THE Caufes of natural Sicknefs are divers, fometimes it arifes from fame inward, and fometimes from fame outward Caufe; to know from whence the Diftemper grew or did arife is very necelfary, whether it be chronical or acute, i. c. that which hath feized on the Patient on a fudden, by Heats, Cold, or from the Couuption of the Blood, by an infeCtious Air, &c. which an able Phyfician is diligent to pry and fearch into. Now as touching the Sicknefs of the Soul, it is evident the original Caufe thereof, was by eating of the forbidden Fruit, which furfeited the whole Lump of Mankind; or, if you p•leafe, it was occafioned by Poifon, by the Poifon of the old Serpent. Deadly Poifon makes a Man very lick, and corrupts the whole Mafs of Blood: And as it is needful to find out, if poflible, the Caufe of Sicknefs, f0 it is as necelfary to find out the Caufe of fpiritual Sicknefs; the Caufe being difcovered, the Cure is ealy. If a Man doth not fee what his State is, as confidered in the firft Adam, nor the evil and damning Nature ofSin in general, nor the particular Plague of his own Heart, he is in no. hopeful way ofHelp and Healing. II. Some Sicknelfes or Difeafes are Epidemical: Sin is a Sicknefs or Difeafe fo uni– verfal, and a Contagion fo catching, that none have efcaped, nor are totally free from it. Ill. Some are fo Gck that they have no place free : Sin is a Difeafe that afflicts every Part, '!'he whole Heed isjick, and the whole Heart faint, &c. !fa. i. 5· IV. The Dillemper which we call the Sicknefs, or Peftilence, is very mortal, and fweeps away Thoufands: Sin is fuch a Sicknefs, no Pefiilence like it : Sin is the Plague of Plagues. That which is moftoppofite to God, is the greateft Evil; but Sin is moll: oppoGte and contrary to God, and therefore the greateft Evil. That which feparates Man from, and deprives him of the greateft Good, mull: needs be the greateft Evil, or the Plague of Plagues; but Sin doth this, therefore the greateft Evil. That which is the greateft Judgment to beleft unto, is the woril: of Evils: But it is the greateft J udg· ment in the World, to be left or given up to the Lufts of our own Hearts: Ergo, &c. When God defigns to bring his fevereil: Wrath upon a People, or a particular Soul, when he refolves to afflitl: them to the urtermoft, he doth not fay, I will bring Plague, or Sicknefs, or Famine upon them, bur, I will deliver them up to their Sins. Ifract would have none of me, &c. and what then? So I gave them up to their own H<arts Lufls, &c. Pfal.lxxxi. I I, I 2. Thus he gave up the Gentiles to vile AffeEtions, Rom. i. 26, 28. That Sicknefs, Plague, or Peftilence, that deftroys moll:, that kills Millions, which is fo infectious, that none amongil: Thoufands, nay, Millions of Thoufands, can ef· cape, is the Plague of Plagues; bur fuch a Sicknefs is Sin. More fhall be damned, than fhall be faved; nay, but few comparatively enter in at the ftrait Gate, and fo find Life. Now all that are damned, are damned or deilroyed by Sin, and therefore it is the worft of Evils. That which kills or deftroys Body and Soul too, is the Plague of Plagues; but Sin deftroys Body and Soul too: Ergo, Sin is the Plague of Plagues. V. Many of thofe who have the Difeafe we call the Sickncfs, have Spots upon them, which are of two forts, one of which are called the 'Tokens; and when they appear, they look upon themfelves as dead Men: So Sin, this fpiritual Plague and Sicknefs of the Soul, marks fame Men out for eternal Death: '!'heir Spot, faith the Lord, is not the Spot of my Children; Dcut. xxxii. 4· that is, their Sin is not a Sin of Infirmity, fuch asap· pear upon the Children of God. Any Spot is bad, but fame are worfe, very bad, they are deadly Spots, they have the Tokens of Death and ·wrath upon them. x. The Sin or Spot of a godly Man is rather a Scar or Wound that is healed,or almoft healed: But Sin in fame of the Ungodly, is like a rotten, putrifying Sore in the Fleth. 2. The Spots of the Godly are not fo contagious or infeEtious as the Sins or Spots of the Wicked, The Sins of the Ungodly make their very Pcrfons and Prayers loathed 2 and
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