s I N AN u N c L E A N N E s s. Book IV~ P A R A L L E L ~ I. A Vomit is a very loathfome Thing, but a Dog's Vomit is mofl: detefl:able: So Sin is a very loathfome Thing, but Apofl:acy is the worfl: of Sins ; no Sin is more abominable in God's Sight than that. I[. A Vomit is cafl: up fometimes by reafon of the Sicknefs of the Smmach : So a Chrifl:ian being very lick of his $in, cafl:s it up, or vomits it out by Repentance. Ill. Some Men finding themfelves opprelfed by means of fome Oblhuctions, or by reaion of the Foulnefs of their Smmachs, take fomething tO make them Vomit, to free themfelves of that which otherwife may endanger their Health, if not their Lives: So a Chrifl:ian, being fenfible of internal Obfl:ructrons, and Pollutions of his inward Man, takes a fit Antidote of Chrifl:'s preparing, by which means he vomits up the Filth and Pollution of his Heart and Life, and thereby attains a healthy Soul, and flourithes in Godlinefs. IV. Some Men on a fudden are made to vomit, by eating fomething that offends, or agrees not with their Stomachs: So many Sinners, by hearing of a foul-fearching Ser– mon, and by the Rebukes and continual Gnawings of their own Confciences, vomit up fome of the Sins of their Lives; bm in a little Time they grow more ftck of Religion than ever they were of their Sins, and fo, with the Dog, they lick up their old Vomit again, i.e. ,turn to their former Ways of Sin and Error. V. What is more hateful, or caufeth greater Shame, than to fee a Man wallow in his own filthy Vomit? So it is hateful to fee a wicked and an ungodly Apofl:ate, who hath turned his Back upon Chrifl: and his Ways, wallowing in all hisformer Sins, and brutith Lufl:s. I N F E R E N C & LET this teach us to hate Sin and Apofl:acy. '· SIN AN U N C L E A N N E S S. From all )'Our Uncleannejfes, &c. Ezek. xxxvi. 29. In that Day there jha/1 be a Fountain open to the Hottfe of David, and to the Inhabitants of J erufalem, for Sin, and for Unc!eannefs, Zech. xiii. 1. <J'owork all Uncleamzefs, &c. Eph. iv. 19. SIN is compared to an unclean Thing, and Man by reafon of Sin is faid to be defiled; who can bring a clean Thing out of an unclean? The Hebrew <J'ama, as Mr. Caryl obferves, comes near the Word Contaminatum, which is ufed by the Latins for Un· cleannefs, and it fpeaks the greatefl: Uncleannefs, Pollution, Sordidnefs, and Filthi– nefs imaginable, as of Habit, Gore of Blood, the Muddinefs of Water, or whatfoever is loathfome or unlovely, noifome or unfeemly; fuch an Uncleannefs is Sin. Note, Sin is an unclean <J'bing: They who fee the Face of Sin in the Glafs of the Law, fee it the mofl: ugly and deformed Object in the World: If Virtue could be feen, the would attract all Eyes to her, and ravith all Hearts to behold her, Virtue is an invifible Beauty; fo if Sin could be feen, all Eyes would turn away from it, and all Hearts loath it: Sin is an invifible Deformity. The Spirit of God doth as it were fl:rive for Comparifons, to fer out the Uglinefs of Sin, it is compared to the Blood and Pollution of wretched new-born !nfants, to the Corruption and Petrefaction of a rotten Sepulchre, to the Scum of a Seething-Pot, to loathfome, fl:inking, and putrifying Sores, tO the fuperAuity of Naughtinefs, to the Leprofy, &c. Ezek. xvi. Rom. iii. '3· !fa. i. s. G. ]am. i. 2 7· All thefe Comparifons thew forth the Uglincfs of Sin, but alas! it is filthy beyond compare. P A R A I. L E I. S. I. SOME Things are fo unclean and filthy, that they defile every Thing they touch: Sin is fuch an Uncleannefs who can touch it, meddle with it, and not be defiled by it? It is an infectious Uncleannefs: As Good is fo much the better, by how much the more it is dilfufive, fo Sin is fo much the worfe, bv how much it is the more infec– tious and diffuGve. Sin is dilfufive two Ways ; 1. By. Propagation from .ddam to all his Pofl:erity. 2. By Way of Imitation. li. Some Things are full of U.ncleannefs, they abo1md in Filth and Pollution; fuch a Defile-
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