44 The Shamefulnefr of Sin, Vpj, II- Sodom, they hide it not. Wounto their Souls, for they have rewarded evil to them- felves. When Men are oncearrived to that pitch of Impiety, as to harden their Foreheads againft all fenfe and thew of Shame, and fo as to be able to fet a good face upon the fouléft Matter in the World; wo unto them, becaufe their Cafe feems then to be defperate, and paft all hopes of Recovery. For who can hope, that a Man will forfake.his Sins, when he is not fo much as afhamed of them? But yet one would think, that thofe that arenot afhamed of their Impiety, fhould be alhamed of their Impudence, and should at lealt blufh at this, that theycan do the vileft and the-molt fhameful things in the World without blufhing. To conclude this whole Difcourfe, let the Confideration of the evil and fhame- fulnefs ofSin have this double effe l upon us, to make us heartily afhamed of the pall Errors and Mifcarriages of our Lives, and firmly refolved to dobetter for the future. I. To be heartily afhamed of the paft Errors of our Lives. So often as were- fleet upon the manifold and heinous Provocations of the Divine Majefty, which manyofus have beenguilty of in the longcourfe ofa wickedLife,together with the heavy Aggravations of our Sins, by all the circumftances that can render them abominable and fhameful not only in the Eye of God and Men, but ofour own Confcienceslikewife; we have great reafon to humbleour felves before God, in a penitent acknowledgment of them, and every oneof us to fay with fob, Behold l am vile, what /hall Ianfwer thee ? Iwill lay mine hand upon my mouth, I abhor myfelf, and repent indots and afbes; and with Ezra, 0 my God ! I am afhamed, and blufh to lift up my face to thee, my God ; for our iniquities are increafed over our heads, and our trefpafs ingrown up unto the heavens : And now, 0 my God, what (hall we fay after this ? for we have forfaken thy commandments; and with holy Da- niel, We havefinned, and have committed iniquity, andhave done wickedly; OLord ! Righteoufnefs belongeth unto thee, but unto usconfufion offace. Thus we fhould re- proach and upbraidour felves in the Pretenceof that Holy God, whom wehave fo often and fo highly offended, and againft whomwehave doneas evil thingsas we could, and faywith the prodigal Son in the Parable ; Father, I havefinned againfl Heaven and before thee, and am nomore worthy to be called thySon. Ifwe would thus take Shame to our felves, and humble our (elves before God, he would be merciful to us miferable Sinners; he would take away all iniquity, and receiveusgracioufly; and fo loon as ever he faw us coming towards him, would meet us with joy, and embrace us in the Arms of his Mercy. And then, II. As we fhould be heartily afhamed of the pall Errours and Mifcarriagesof our Lives, fo we fhould firmly refolve, by God's Grace, to do better for the future ; never to confent to Iniquity, or to doany thing which we are convinc'd is contrary to our Duty, and whichwill be matter ofShame to us, whenwecome to lookback upon it, and make our Blood to rife in our Faces at the mention or intimation ofit; whichwill make us to fneak, and hang down our heads, when we are twitted and upbraided with it, and which, if it be not prevented by a timely Humiliation and Repentance, will fill us with Horror and Amazement, with Shame and Confufionof Face, both at theHour ofDeath, and in the Day of Judgment. So that when we lookinto our Lives, and examine the Anionsof them, when weconfider what we have done, and what our Doings have deferved, we fhould, in a due fenfeof the great and manifold Mifcarriages of our Lives, and from a deep Sorrow and Shame and Deteltation of our felves for them; I fay, we fhould, with that true Penitent defcribed in fob, takeWords to our felves, and fay, Surely it is meet to be faid unto God, I will not offend any more; That which I know not, teach thou me ; and ifIhave done iniquity, Iwill do no more. And thus I havedone with thefecondlnconvenince of a finful and vicious courfe ofLife, viz. that the refie&ion upon it afterwards caufeth Shame; What fruit had you then in thole things, whereofye are now afhamed ? SER-
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