The Blackness OF SINS AGAINST Light.
Because when They KNEW GOD, They Glorified Him not, as GOD. —
THIS Text presents us with a Grand Article in the Black Bill of Indictment against Atheistical Sinners. Wherein we may Remark;
1. THEIR Endowment, A Rich [Page 2] Talent was bestowed upon 'em; viz. the Knowledge of GOD, & the Knowledge how they ought to Glorify Him as GOD, in a manner agreeable to His Known Perfections. When Rational Men considered the marvellous Fabrick of Heaven and Earth, the Exquisite Artifice, and Order of the whole Frame of Nature, and how the Discordant Elements are tuned to an Harmonious Consent, and what a Line of Goodness, Usefulness, and mutual Respect runs thro' the Universe of Beings; And that all this could not come to pass by a fortuitous Concourse of Atomes, nor be produced by it self, nor have been from Eternity; For Men could not beget Men from Eternity; there must needs be a going back to some First Man, who could not beget himself; And if Arts had been advancing in Infinite Ages before us, the Exquisitely Rare Inventions of these Latter Days would have been made long before; And the Short Hystory we have of the most Ancient Records of the World is utterly inconsistent with the Supposition of the [Page 3] Precedaneous Eternity of the World: I say when Rational Men considered these things, they could not but Conclude, that there is a Being of Supream Wisdom and Power and Goodness, the Creator and Governour of the World, which is GOD; for the Glory of the Work shewed them the Super-eminent Glory of the Artificer, as you find it in the Verse before the Text. Thus they were Endowed with the Knowledge of GOD; and consequently of their Duty, wherein they reasonably stood Bound to their Creator.
2. THEIR Iniquity; They did not Glorify the LORD as GOD, but the contrary; and in this their Iniquity they were without Excuse; because of their Knowledge: [See the Reference of the Text, to the immediate Context.] The bright Flames of their Light & Knowledge, stood in the way to Oppose and Hinder them, But they violently and very wickedly Broke thro' those Flames of Light, to commit Iniquity; And hereby their Iniquity was Aggravated, and became so much the more Heinous; and [Page 4] Meritorious of the greater and more terrible Punishment.
DOCTRINE. The Offering of Violence to Light & Knowledge, by Running directly against 'em, to the Committing of Evil, is in it self a woful Crime, which being Added to the Evil that is Committed, doth greatly multiply Guilt, and Debars the Sinner of Excuse.
Consider Here;
I. THAT since Sin Entred into the World and Spiritual Death by it, Mankind do Naturally Run to the Commiting of Evil. Evil is the contrary of Good. Good is that which is agreeable to Mans Primitive Constitution, when he was made after the Image of the Glorious GOD, the Infinite GOODNESS. This Good, in our Text is called the Glorifying of GOD as GOD. To Glorify GOD is not to add Splendor & Excellency to Him; for who can add to what is Infinite? But to let the Divine [Page 5] Glories shine upon us, and within us, and thorow us, and to be Sacred Glasses to Reflect those Glories upon Others. The Volumn of the Works of Creation and Providence, and the Book of the Little World, MAN, especially his Soul, and the Concreated Wise and Vertuous Ideas, and the Holy Habits & Propensions of it, whereby Man became a Living Law unto Himself, were the first Bible that GOD ever Wrote; Exhibiting the Glories of GOD, His Omnipresence, Alsufficiency, Omnisciency, Righteousness, Holiness, Goodness, Mercy, Truth and Faithfulness, as the most Consummate Objects, which it is our Duty, and Blessedness, to Converse withal, and to be United unto; which our Ravished Minds should be ever Viewing of; and whereunto we ought to be Sacrificing the highest Admirations, the Low, but most Loyal Submissions, the most Obediential Resolutions, and the Absolute, Superlative, and most fervent & inlarged Desires, Love, Trust, Hopes, Delights and Joys, together with Awful Reverential Fear, even all [Page 6] the Best Affections of our Souls; Not making out after or Doting upon any Creatures whatsoever, as our Last End or Chief Good; Nor setting up Our Selves and Wills and Carnal Interests above GOD, or Equal with GOD, Or setting our selves off from GOD in any wise; But Chusing GOD in CHRIST as our Portion and to be All in all unto us, for Time and Eternity; And endeavouring to Reflect and Manifest the Glories of GOD, His Purity, Equity, Veracity, Fidelity, Compassion, Condescention Beneficence, Clemency, and Long suffering Not only b [...] O [...]l Expressions and Celebrations thereof, but also by Imitation; By Conformity to 'em, in habit and disposition, and in Action and Conversation; to the utmost of our creaturely Capacity. That when tis observed what Useful, Amiable and Excellent Creatures we are, it may be thence inferred and concluded, How much more (Infinitely more) Good and Excellent and Glorious that GOD is, who gave us to be what we are. Thus tis our Natural Duty to [Page 7] set up an High Throne for the Glory of GOD in our Hearts and Lives, Living on GOD, and Living unto Him; which Duty we Read in Gods first Bible forementioned; And This is agreeable to Mans. Primitive Constitution; Thus he Reaches to the End of his Creation; This therefore is Good: Now the contrary to this, and whatsoever Prevaricates from this is Evil; To Gaze on, and to be Inchanted with the Excellencies of Creatures, to be taken up with them, & supreamly to Admire, Love, Seek, Trust, and Rejoyce in them; to Refuse or Neglect to be Returned into the Peace, Favour and Communion, and Imitation of God, By the Revealed Mediator; and to act in a way of Disconformity to the Divine Example, not aiming nor striving in all things to shew forth Gods Glory; Offering Lame Service to GOD, that men would not offer to a Mortal King; Putting off His Service from Day to Day, as they dare not do their Earthly Matters; Doing that in H. Sight and Presence that they dare not do in the sight of a [Page 8] Child, much less dare they do it in the presence of a Judge; This is Contrary unto mens Glorifying of GOD as God, and Disagreeable unto their Primitive Constitution, and sets them off from their Last & Chief End, that they were made for, and adapted unto; and therefore This is Evil.
And This Evil is called Sin; and is Prohibited & Condemned by the Law of Nature, and by the Law written in the Holy Scriptures.
II. THIS Evil in its whole Nature, is the worst Kind of Evil; Tis a very vile and guilty and ruining Evil; Of all Evils, that ever entred into the World, this Sin is the First & the Worst: The Worst, because it is the Cause of all other Evils; The Flaming Aetna that out of its Dreadful Paunch has Vomited on the World fiery Rivers of Deluging; Tormenting, and Destroying Calamities. The Worst Evil, because tis the Sting & Poyson that Invenoms all other Evils; 1 Cor. 15.56. This makes 'em Paenal, Vindictive, Direful, and most Anguishing. Other Evils, and even Natural [Page 9] Death, (the most Terrible of all Terribles to the Philosopher,) when the Guilt of Sin is abolished by Pardoning Mercy, thro' the Expiating Blood of CHRIST, become Harmless, Useful, & sometimes Desirable. Isa. 33.24. The Worst Evil, because this Evil only makes a separation between the Creature, and Him who is his Last End and Chief Good; between Man & GOD; In this Regard it is the only absolute Evil, taking away the Main Good of Humane Being; Destroying the Goodness of the Creature, which is its aptitude to its End; and its happiness which flows from its Obtainment and Fruition of its End. So that all other Evils are but Pictures of Evil (or as Shadows that follow the Substance) in Comparison of This Evil, that alienates Men from the Life of GOD, & from the GOD, in whom Life is bound up. The Worst Evil, because tis the Prime, Absolute, Superlative Object of the Irreconcileable Hatred of GOD, an Evil the whole Nature whereof is wholly Evil, & can never be made Good; whence it is Emphatically called, [Page 10] THE EVIL; [To Poneron,] and no other Evils but this Evil of Sin will cause the Almighty to Love a man a whit the less; and no Executions of Revenge from Heaven are done on any, but because of This most Abominable & Provoking Evil. Yea, tis such an Evil as all the Good that men can do on Earth can't make Reparation of, or Atonement for; and as all the Judgments & Torments on Sinners in Earth & in Hell can't possibly make any Satisfaction for, or Expiation of. Tis Therefore surely a very Heinous Evil; and the Worst Kind of Evil.
III. FOR Men to Run directly against Their Light & Knowledge to the Committing of this Evil of Sin, is in it self a Woful Crime; Which being Added to the Evil that is Committed, doth greatly Increase & Multiply Guilt, & Debars the Sinner from Excuse. As there are Degrees of Torment in Hell, & 'twill be more Tolerable for Sodom than for Capernaum, so there are Degrees of Guilt & Heinousness in Sins, tho' the Least Sin deserves Everlasting Punishment. Tho' all Guilt is extreamly to be Trembled at, yet [Page 11] especially the Guilt of Sins against Light.
To Demonstrate that Sins against Knowledge are Much Viler and More Heinous than Sins of Unavoidable Ignorance, and more Inexcusable, We will offer these Arguments.
I. THAT Sin that is Chosen & Loved and Acted, As it is Sin, as it is a Transgression of Gods Law, & is Preferred before the Will of GOD carries a greater heinousness, than that sinful Action that is not Acted, Eo Nomine, as it is Sinful; because the Sinfulness of it is not known when tis committed; To fight against GOD and His Law Directly, To consider such a Thing as Forbidden of God, and yet to Chuse it, and therein to prefer a mans own wisdom before GOD's Wisdom, and a mans own will and lust before GOD's Will, & a mans own Self-love before GOD's Love to Him; to do this Deliberately & Resolvedly, is more contrary to the Glorifying of GOD as GOD than to do an ill thing indirectly and indeliberately, and therefore it is the more Heinous; now the Ignorant sinner doth this or that, which he reckons [Page 12] may conduce to his Temporal Wealth, Ease, or Honour, not knowing that he transgresseth against the Lord; But he that sins against his Light Knows that in what he doth, he Transgresseth and Violateth the Law and Will of GOD, yet being swayed by some Outward Considerations which Preponderate with him, he counts it Good, yea Best for him for the time being to Venture to Transgress; He directly & deliberately chuseth to Act contrary to GOD in those matters, Preferring his own wisdom and will to GOD's Wisdom & Will; thus he embraceth Sin, as Sin, considering it to be forbidden Fruit, which the Ignorant Sinner doth not; Therefore the Knowing Sinner is far more Guilty than the Other.
Sometimes also the Vicious Appetite of some Wretches makes out after some Things, meerly Because GOD has forbidden them; and if the LORD had not forbidden them, They would not have been Desired at all: But so desperately to Love Sin, as Sin, is most Prodigiously Heinous & Vile. Such have [Page 13] no Plea of Ignorance, and Unwitting Mistake for their EXCUSE, as some others have, 1 Cor. 2.8.
II. THOSE Sins are more Heinous in the sight of God than others, that have in them a more Powerful Enmity unto GOD, & His Law, & Glory, than others have; Now that sins against Knowledge have such a Powerful Enmity is Evident, forasmuch as the Inlightned Consciences of men who commit Them, Interrupt them, Contest against them, Oppose them, Condemn them; Terrible Flames of Light stand in their Way; Yet these Knowing sinners Powerfully break thro' all, to Commit sin; so strong and great is their Disaffection to the Commandments of God; so mighty is their Enmity to Holiness. Their sin therefore is the more heinous. Moreover, GOD principally looks at the Heart; and the more of the Heart and Will there is in any Sin, the more heinous is it in the sight of GOD: The less Will the less Sin; The more Will the more Sin: Now surely there's Abundance of the Heart, Will, & Affections in sinning when [Page 14] the will to sin, like a mighty River, riseth up & breaks over all Banks of Opposition; Vanquisheth the Force of Light, Law, & Conscience; and carries all before it. Even thus it is when Men sin against their Knowledge, and therefore their sin is the more heinous. Such men have no Pleas of Meer Infirmity, and Involuntary Weakness for their EXCUSE.
III. THE more Ingratitude there is in any Sins, the more Vile and Heinous they are. Every Benefit is a new Obligation; so that there is a Base Perfidiousness in Ingratitude; To render Evil for Good is Diabolical, Now the Knowledge of GOD & CHRIST, and Divine Things, & the Knowledge of Duty &c. are singular Favours and Benefits, Rich Talents and Blessings; Men are greatly beholden to Heaven for 'em; The Intellectual World and the Souls of Men can no more subsist without Knowledge, than the Natural & Corporeal World can subsist without the Light of the Sun: Now Knowledge is given to shew men the Strait Way to Life Eternal, and to prevent Transgression. Wherefore it [Page 15] is not Good that the Soul be without Knowledge. The most Gracious GOD may say now to Sinners, 'I put the Bright & Flaming Sword into the Hands of your Consciences to keep you from the Broad Way of Iniquity, that leads to Destruction, & I gave you the Pillar of Fire, the Manifestations of My Glories, to guide you into the Strait Path that leads to Eternal Life; and yet you do wickedly Transgress; why will you thus Abuse my Kindness? Your Iniquity is Heinous. You cannot say, that you had no Means afforded you to Prevent and Reclaim you from sin; You have no such Plea for your EXCUSE.
IV. THOSE Sins that make a wider separation from GOD than other sins do, & that Provoke Fiercer Wrath than other sins and give more terrible Stabs to mens Consciences than other sins do, and make men more Obdurate, & harder to be wrought upon by the Means of Grace than other sins do, & make mens Cases more Desperate, & Irrecoverable than other sins do, & which if followed in mens Course, do Evidence them to be [Page 16] Christless, and Graceless, more than other sins do, and which will cost a Bitterer Repentance, if ever men be Recovered & Saved, than other sins are like to do, are doubtless more Heinous than other sins; But sins against Light and Knowledge are those Sins that will so do. Therefore they are more Heinous. Sins of Ignorance have less of Malignity, & therefore don't Divide mens Souls so much and so far from GOD, as sins of Knowledge. To sin without Knowledge, unwittingly, doth expose and lay open Sinners to far less Wrath & Punishment, than to sin with Knowledge, and to sin against Knowledge; Less is Deserved, and less is Threatned, even fewer Stripes, Luk. 12.48. GOD hath much more to say against men and to Charge men with (and so have their own Consciences also) when their Vice & Lust are too hard for their Light, and when with open Eyes and open Violence they in an hostile manner, do break in upon His Declarative Glory, than when involuntarily they happen to interfere & justle with it in the Dark, Jer. 5.5.6, [Page 17] 7, 23. Verily he that is Born of GOD, that is, a New Creature sinneth not, so as to hold a Course of Known Sins, without Repentance. But has in him a Powerful Principle that holds a Course of Watchfulness & Warfare against all Known sins, 1 Job. 5.4, 18. Rom. 8.13. No man that has the SPIRIT of CHRIST can make a Trade of Known Sins. In this Regard, Known sins are more Heinous and Deadly than sins of Ignorance and Infirmity, The Latter not being so Exclusive of a state of Grace and Salvation as the Former are, if made a Practice. Moreover, By a Course of Sinning against their Knowledge and Consciences, men harden their Hearts exceedingly and are not easily to be Recovered. If their Knowledge & Light have not had Power sufficient to prevent and withold them from their Iniquities, How can we imagine that it should have Ability to Recover 'em to Repentance! If the more Ignorant Sinners might have such Light, There were greater hopes of their Recovery by it, than of such as have forcibly broke thro' [Page 18] the opposing Dictates of their Inlightned Consciences, Having Armed and Strengthned themselves against them, with great Resolution and Panoply of Sophisms, wherewith they suppress their Light and keep it under, lest it should powerfully affect 'em with its Influences. Mat. 11.21. So there was more Hope that the Light of the Day of Christ should Recover the Dark sinners of Tyre & Sidon, than the sinners of Chorazin & Bethsaida that were wonted to, & hardned in their Rebellions against the Light. Furthermore, For many sins of Ignorance. (And of many Evils that men may have done they may be ignorant as long as they Live; for what man can know and understand his own Errors? Psal. 19 12) GOD may take up with a General Repentance, of him who believes in CHRIST JESUS the Redeemer; But a General Repentance will not suffice for sins against Knowledge, Lev. 5.5. So that sinners against light & knowledge make sad work for a bitter & very Particular and Manifold Repentance. Tis handed down to us from the Ancients, [Page 19] that after Peter had Denied his LORD against his Light, he could never Hear the Cock-crowing, without Penitent Reflections, as long as he Lived. Mr. Perkins saith, "The Greater simple Ignorance is, the Lesser is the Sin; For GOD requires a Particular Repentance for Known sins, but accepts a General Repentance for Unknown. And Mr. Cholmly saith, "Renouncing of Evil is Virtual & Actual: Virtual Renouncing of Evil is when in a Preparedness of Mind, a man is Ready to Renounce it, so soon as it shall appear to him to be Sinful and Damnable; Actual Renunciation of Evil is when a man doth both in Word and Practice separate himself: This Actual Renouncing of it Necessary to Salvation as soon as a man shall Know & be Convinced of the Evil; But the Virtual is Sufficient in Case of Non-conviction of the Evil, and Error; and is Included in General Repentance. But to Close this Fourth Argument, It may be sufficient to Infer & Aver that men now cannot Plead in EXCUSE for their Committing of Iniquities against their [Page 20] Light and Knowledge, that those Iniquities do not strike 'em off from God in a dreadful manner, or that they do not Provoke His Fiercer Wrath; or that they do not deeply stab ther own Consciences; or that they do not wofully Harden them; or that they do not mightily Obstruct, Prevent and Praeclude the Efficacy of the Light and Means of Grace for their Recovery; or that tis possible that men should be in a state of Salvation, Living in an Allowed Course of 'em; or that it will not Cost men a very particular pungent & soaking Repentance, if ever they be Saved from them. So that sins against Knowledge are the more Heinous, Vile, and Inexcusable sort of Iniquities.
BUT we proceed to the USES.
And,
I. WE hence INFER that KNOWLEDGE, (especially) of GOD, of His Alsufficiency and Glories, of our Way to Him by CHRIST JESUS, and of our Duty before Him is an Excellent Thing, a Rich Talent, a Worthy Divine Gift; Else it were not so Heinous & Criminal [Page 21] to Sin against it. Tis to be Chosen above Gold; Prov 8 10 One of its Excellencies is that (if well improved) it Giveth Life to him that hath it Eccl. 7.12. Paul counted all to be Loss, in comparison of the Gainful Knowledge of CHRIST, Phil. 3.8. GOD gives us All things, through the Knowledge of CHRIST, 2 Pet. 1.3▪ It is not Good that the Soul be without Knowledge, Prov. 19.2. None but Fools hate it, Prov. 1.22. Wise men lay it up, as a Choice Treasure, Prov. 10.14. Tis the great Duty of Christians to grow it Grace & Knowledge, 2 Pet. 3.18. Wo to them that Die without Knowledge; Job 36.12. 'Twill be an happy time, when the Whole Earth shall be full of the Saving Knowledge of the LORD, as the Sea with Waters, Isa. 11.9. They that know the Lords Name duely, will put their Trust in Him, Psal 9.10. Those that Know not the LORD will not Obey the LORD, nor let their Lusts go, Exod. 5.2. Knowledge is a Distinguishing Mercy, tis not vouchsafed to all Nations alike, Psal. 147.20. Those that have [Page 22] more knowledge than others, are more beholden to GOD; they have also the more to Answer for; where more is given, GOD will require the more, Luk. 12.48. Oh! How greatly should we Bless GOD for the Holy Scriptures, that are Profitable for Instruction, 2 Tim. 3.15, 16. And, Oh! how kindly are They to be treated, and spoken Comfortably unto who Teach the Good Knowledge of the LORD, 2 Chron. 30.22. And, Oh! how carefully should this Precious Talent of Knowledge be Improved by us?
II. We HENCE further Infer, that 'twould be a very foolish and wicked thing to cast off Knowledge, on account of its being an occasional Aggravation of mens Sins. Is our Vice and Lust too hard for our Light & Knowledge, tis a sign that our Knowledge is too Small, & Feeble, & Unsanctified; and it doth admonish us to Labour and Pray for more, and stronger, and better Knowledge, that may be able to over-power our Corruptions and Lusts: And if any man lack Wisdom, or Sanctified Knowledge, [Page 23] (and greater Degrees of it,) let him Ask it of GOD, who giveth Liberally, and Upbraideth not, Jam. 1.5. If ever we overcome Sin, and escape the Pollutions of the World, it must be by and thro' the Knowledge of the Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ, 2 Pet. 19.20 All Treasures of Wisdom are stored up in CHRIST, Col. 2.3. And exhibited in the Holy Scripture, and dispensed by the HOLY SPIRIT, Job. 16.14, 15. If we Perish for want of 'em, tis our own fault. Surely our Necessity should put us upon Diligence and Importunity.
'Twere an horrible Abuse of the Doctrine to say, If Knowing Sinners be the most Guilty, then let us know less, that we may be less Guilty. Verily, When Light may be had, tis an heinous Iniquity to go without it, and it aggravates a mans other Transgressions, which he commits for want of Knowledge, that he was willingly & wilfully Ignorant. Who so palpably culpably Blind as he that will not see? — Its an Evidence that men do superlatively love their sins, when they Refuse, Reject, and shut their [Page 24] Eyes hard against the Light, that might hinder them from committing 'em. This is THE CONDEMNATION that Light is come and men reject it, & love Darkness rather than Light, because their Deeds are Evil, Joh. 3.19 Tho' simple unavoidable Ignorance Diminishes Guilt, yet willing, wilful, affected and obstinate Ignorance doth greatly aggravate and increase it, and render mens sins most Inexcusable, 2 Pet. 3.5. Prov. 15.32. Hos. 4.6 So that if men cast off Knowledge on pretense of its Aggravating of Sin, They will save nothing by it; But if they shall get greater Degrees & Strength of Sanctify'd Knowledge, twill prevent the Danger of their turning their knowledge unto the increase of their Guilt & Condemnation. Lament we then over Erroneous Persons, and other Transgressors in this Land of Light; whom it will nothing avail in the Day of Judgment to pretend that they went according to their Light and to their Consciences, and that they did not know that such Opinions were Errors, and that such Actions were [Page 25] Irregular & Naught; since they might and ought to have known the same, but they had no mind to it, & 'twas against their wills; They were Resolved in their notions & ways; and could not bear to think of admitting any Light, or Convictions, that might Alter them. Most Dreadful is their Danger: The Good LORD Deliver them.
III. Hence we Infer, that the Condition of Unwilling Ignorance in humble and teachable Souls is not so dreadful as that of Knowing Presumption is, since their simple Ignorance doth greatly Extenuate their Transgressions, which they would never have Committed & Continued had they had Knowledge. Their sins are Sins, and Expose them to be beaten with Stripes; Luk. 12.48. And need the Blood of the Great Sacrifice to Expiate them; Numb. 15.27, 28 But they are not such great Sins, In Them, being Committed Ignorantly, as they would be in Others that had More Knowledge. Such sins of Unavoidable Ignorance may be found in Gracious and Godly Persons, who allow [Page 26] themselves in no known Sins, and would not allow themselves in these if they knew 'em. Doth the Divine Charity allow them to Escape with a general Repentance, why should Ours Exclude them from our Pity and Prayers and Friendship and Fellowship, as if they were to be Excluded from Heaven? Surely we ought to have Charity for the Saints of old, that lived in sinful Polygamy, not knowing it to be Sinful; as Christ had for those who followed Him not, yet were not without some true sparks of Faith and Godliness in their Souls, Mark 9.38. Luke 9 49.
The Merciful GOD, may take men to Heaven at last; altho' to Chastize them for keeping Company with the Erroneous, & for Reading their Books, and Frequenting their Assemblies, or for other Faults, and to afflict & punish the Church by them, He may Refuse to Deliver them from some of their Darkness & Ignorance and Errors so long as they Live. The Sophistry of some Books may so Cloud the Truth, and inchant the Unwary & Unskilful Reader, [Page 27] tho' a Pious Person, as that notwithstanding all the Light of the Holy Scriptures, he may be in a Doubting Condition, in some lesser Points, all his days. But it must be thankfully acknowledged as a Choice undeserved Favour of Heaven, when by the SPIRIT of GOD we are not only Savingly Illuminated in the Fundamental Truths and Ways of GOD and of CHRIST, But also have Eyes to discern and behold the Other Verities; since else tho' we may have Sound Vitals; Yet we may have Feeble Feet, Weak Hands, & Faltering Tongue, little to our own benefit or the Comfort of others. Well, The Doctrinal Inference bespeaks our Charity to Erring Saints in the Cases wherein they are Unwillingly Ignorant, and commit Faults through meer Ignorance; Both doth not Encourage us to follow the Example of their Error. To Swear by the Life of Pharaoh was a sin of Infirmity and Ignorance perhaps in Joseph; but to Swear by the Life of our Soveraign would be a sin of Iniquity in us, for we have More and Greater Light than Joseph then had. Some men follow [Page 28] the Erring Examples of the Saints, hoping to 'scape as easily and well as they did, and suppose themselves to have as little Guilt upon them as They had: But little do they Consider that an Evil Act, may be Infirmity in One Man, and Iniquity in Another Man: The one sinning therein, Ignorantly, and the other, sinning Knowingly and Presumptously; The one, not at all Violating his ConConscience in the Doing of it; and the other Person horribly sinning against his Conscience.
IV. We hence Infer that the Glorious Judge of all the Earth is to be Justified in all His Judgments upon New-England. Our sins are of a scarlet Die and intolerable Heinousness. New-England Sinners have known the Way of the Lord, and the Judgments of their GOD; but they have Revolting, Rebellious Hearts; their Transgressions are Many, and their Backslidings Strong; Many of 'em have altogether Broken the Yoke that GOD has put upon 'em, and Burst the Covenant-Bonds; God's & Theirs; How shall the LORD Pardon [Page 29] them? Jer. 5 5, 6, 7, 23. They have Known GOD's Works, and His Alsufficiency, and have Sung His Praises, as Israel by the Red Sea, yet will not Believe Him, nor Believe in Him, nor Venture on His Promises; but run to Broken Reeds, and Empty Cisterns; Their Hearts are not Right with Him, nor Stedfast in His Covenant; Psal. 106 12, 14 They have Sinned Knowingly. GOD's Judgments have been among them in the Land, and they have Known His Terrors, as King Belshazzer knew what judgment had been inflicted on Nebuchadnezzar, Dan 5.21, 22. Yet they Fear not His Wrath, but are Bold to sin against Him, and to Run violently on the terrible Point of His Brandished Sword.
Their Sins, and ways of sinning have been set in Order before their Eyes, & Particularly Testified against by the Prophets of the Lord, and by a Synod; and as for their Iniquities they Know them, Isa 59.12. Yet altho' They Know These Evils in themselves and one another, — (as Eli in his Sons) They Reform them [Page 30] not. 1 Sam 2.13 Their Sins are therefore of a Deep & Dangerous Guilt.
Had men a right sense of the weight of the Guilt and Heinousness of their sins against Gospel-Light, (for they weigh very Heavy in the Balances of the Sanctuary) they would Cry out of the same as most Intolerable; as a Burden too heavy for 'em to Bear▪ and Ponderous enough to sink 'em into the Lowest Depths of Hell They could not be so merry and jolly as they are; nor so active & diligent to lay on more weight.
But Dreadful Plagues are upon ther Hearts, and they are long kept under Judgment, & in Extreamest Danger of Eternal Destruction; Some Hundreds (or may I say, Thousands?) have spent the Flower of their Age in sinning against Knowledge & Conscience; they have followed after Vanity, regardless of inward Religion and of the Fear of the Lord; Many sweet Influences and Motions of the Blessed and Eternal SPIRIT they have put by, and neglected, & Disobeyed: And now the Preaching of the Word from Year to Year operates [Page 31] nothing to their Conversion, Prosperity, Adversity Operate nothing; Many Years roll over their Heads, yet they remain as much Unconverted as ever, and Unreformed as ever There's the Judicial Hand of GOD upon 'em. And the LORD is most Righteous, tho' this began Early▪ and continued Long; for, while Children in Age they grew strong Men in Sin, and stout Opposers of Light and Conscience, and most heinous Provokers of the Lord. Hard and Drossy Metal! The Founder melts 'em in vain; They are in a most Dangerous Condition. Jer. 6.29 Adore we the holy Justice and Jealousy of GOD, and the LORD JESUS on many such sinners; who have been made the Monuments of His Wrath, and not suffer'd to Live out half their Days.
V. We hence Infer that we have no Reason to be Puffed up with Pride because of our Light; But great Cause to be Humbled, because of our Guilt. We are a very Knowing People, and very Knowing Sinners. Have we sinned against our Knowledge, with Peter; Let us go [Page 32] with Peter, and Weep Bitterly. Slight Apprehensions of the Known sins, that we have Lived in, and a slight Humiliation for 'em, will not serve the Turn. How can we prove the sincerity of our Repentance, if we do not Loathe them as heartily, as we have Loved 'em heinously? And if we don't walk as humbly with our GOD, as we have walked haughtily and presumptuously in our Known sins? Let us most humbly Dread and Deprecate & Watch against the Commission of Known sins, which are of an Unknown Heinousness Known sins lived in, make Bleeding and Roaring Consciences in the End. If we be not deeply humbled for 'em, we shall be dreadfully Ruin'd by 'em. If we don't cast them out, GOD will cast us off, and that for ever.
VI. We hence Infer, that its the Great Interest of Men to Abandon and Abstain from all Known Sins, and to Forbear doing any thing that they know to be Evil and Provoking to GOD, for otherwise men will heap up Guilt, and treasure up Wrath against the Day of [Page 33] Wrath, and of the Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of GOD.
Men know tis a sin to set their Affections inordinately on Things Below; Riches, Honour, Power, Friends, Pleasures, Col. 3.1, 2. Men know their Vanity, Emptiness, Insufficiency, Unsatisfactoriness to their Souls, ( Eccl. 5.10.) their fluctuating Inconstancy and miserable Uncertainty, (1 Tim. 6.17.) How prejudicial they have been to them that have had the most of 'em; How Insnaring; how Defiling, like Pitch; How full of Stings; tis their Wisdom then to remove their Hearts from them.
Men Know that Coldness, Laziness, Neglects and Delays in matters of Religion are Sinful and Provoking; surely to Add a Knowing Presumption by Continuing in such Iniquity will be against their Interest; and then tis their Wisdom to forbear it.
Men Know that to lie in an Unconverted, Carnal, Prayerless, Unbelieving, Christless, Impenitent State is a Wicked and Damnable thing: Tis their interest now to See and Know these and as [Page 34] other Sins, as Sea-Marks, so as to avoid them and turn from 'em, that they may Escape Destruction. Tis wicked and wilful Self-Murder and Soul-Murder knowingly to rush into those Evils and to persevere is them, that a man is assured will bring Damnation. Oh! that men would See and Ponder their own Interest!
VII. And Lastly; From the Prodigious Heinousness of Sinning, against Light and Knowledge, We Infer the Transcendency, Alsufficiency, Infiniteness of the MERCY of GOD, which by the Precious Blood of CHRIST has Quenched and by a Plenary Pardon has quite Extinguished, in Many, (& can Quench and Extinguish in Others also) the Flaming Guilt of Sins committed Knowingly and Presumptuously, tho' most Heinous; having first Powerfully Conferred the Gifts and Graces of Faith and Repentance. Even a most Wicked Manasseh was Pardoned and Recovered. 2 Chron. 33.2, — 12, 13. The Blood of CHRIST Cleanseth from all Sin. 1 Joh. [...].7.
[Page 35]Are you throughly Convinced of the greatness of your Guilt and Desperateness of your Case, then flee to CHRIST, & to the Throne of Mercy, and be most humble and importunate; Peradventure the LORD may Give you Repentance and Forgiveness: For with GOD all things are Possible, Mat. 19.26.
Now the Divine Grace and Blessing of our Lord JESUS CHRIST, and of God the FATHER, and of God the HOLY SPIRIT, be with you all. Amen and Amen.