Verr 2I. the fixtb Chapter to the ROMANS. 137 evil, cannot be the object of choice, there is force fruit or benefit expeEted iti all that we do. 2. It doth not make good its word to us. 1. It doth not anfwer Expe&ation , the Sinner looketh for more contentment aria fatisfa &ion, than ever he dóth injoy, Ecclef. 5.16. What profit bath he that path laboured for the wind ? it is fruitlefsenterprife, it may be there is á wind, a fhort.lfved tranfitorÿ delight , but it is gone affoon as it cometh , nothing cometh of it that may be called Fruit , nothing that may be lolid fatisfafkion to a man that hath a Confcience, and is capable of an immortal Eftate , and hath a Maker , or a judge, to whom he muff give an account, how he hath (pent his time and ftrength, and what bath been the bulnefs of his Life in theWorld. Alas ! the fruit of fin dieth with the very a&, and when the luft is fatisfied, it beginneth to be contemned , as Amnon hated Tamar more than ever he loved ber, 2 Sam. 13. 15. So short are all unlawful pleafures, enduring no longer than the finful aû, for which like Fools men hazard and lofe pleafures for evermore. Reafon taketh the Throne when Appetite is fatisfied, and fcourgeth the Soul with bitter remorfe, becaufe Appetite hath been obeyed before it. Sin after the committing appeáréth worfè Than before; when it is too late the Sinner,cryeth out, What have I done? Efau when he had the birth- right, /ought it afterwards with tears, Heb. 12. 16, 17. Judas when the Treafon was over, he faw the worthlefnefs of the price, for which he fold his Matter,' Mat. 27.4. I have .finned , in that I have betrayed innocent blood. When once Confci- ence is touched.and awakened, Guilt flalheth in the Sinners face, theti the bitter effetts of fin are felt by Experience. 2. It is not valuable, the Profit will not countervail the Lofs; nor the Pleafure the Pain. r. The Profit will not countervail the Lofs, men hazard their Souls, and then gain a little wealth , and that is the worft bargain men can make , Mat. 16. 26. What will it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lofe his own foul ? or what (hall à man give in ex- change for his foul ? Betides that , the wealth gotten by fin cometh With a Curley that within a while confumeth it, Provs to. a. The tleafures of wickednefs profit nothing; CO that to leek to grow rich by fin, is in the eye of Faith at leaft a fruitlefs enterpife. 2. Nor the Pleafure the Pain, it is delightful to the fenfual part, but at the end it bi- teth like a Serpent, Heb. 11. 26. All the pleafures of fin are but for a ftatn. Sometimes' they leave us in the midft, always in the end of our days, and then th'e horrour and anguifh beginneth. But to fpeak nothing of what is eternal , but of that which is of prefent feeling, fin raifeth a tempeft and ftorm in the Confcience, which is not eafily allayed, Hof. 8. 7. They have fawn the wind, they fhall reap the whirlwind. The ppleafure, we fancy in fin is loft affoon as injoyed, but the Ling is not fo foon gone; the Crop doth anfwer the feed , and ufually with increafe , they that fow the wind can expeû to reap nothingbut the wind, but they reap the whirlwind; a man that feeleth the gripes of a Surfeit buyeth the pleafant meat at a dear rate, and what a lorry Purchace doth he make, that is at fo much coil and expeoce of time to pleafe the flefb, and getteth na thing but trouble of mind and horrors of Confcience for his recompence. 3. If there be any fruit of finfngly, yet comparatively it is as none, that is, ifcom -' pared with what we might get by Gods Service. The carnal World litres by Senfe as Gods Children do by Faith; now they that judge of their Happinefs by their Senfes, expeá and promife themfelves more good by the Pleafures, Honour's and Profits of the World than all Gods Promifes; but a little Experience confuteth them. On the other fide, they that meafure their Happinefs by the Rule of Faith , Gods Promifes are Heri- tage enough to them, Pfal. 119. 111. Thy teflinsonies have I taken as an heritage for ever, they are the refacing of my heart. God promifes things truly good to them out of love, P.P. 84: r 1. He will give grace and glory, and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. They are all Tea and Amen, of unvariable Truth, and of certain Accomplifhment. Therefore happy are they that truft in him, when others go a whoring from him, Pfal. 73. 28. Now though by fin men thould get increafe of Riches, injoy variety of Pleafures, indear themfelves to the favour of great Men , yet is this Fruit to be compared to that we may have by ferving and trufting in God ? Alas ! the Nature of there things is fuck, that they cannot make us good, much lefs happy, and their value is much leffened, when we cannot have them without fo fpigbtful'a condition as fin, without committing or doing fomething againtt Confcience, or omitting what God re- quireth of us. Well then, if it feem fruit tingly and apart, yet it is none comparatively in refpett of what. we might have by pleating God. . Sffff Vfe
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