A12190:313
The returning backslider, or, A commentary upon the whole XIIII. chapter of the prophecy…The returning backslider, or, A commentarie upon the whole XIIII. chapter of the prophecy…
The returning backslider, or, A commentary upon the whole XIIII. chapter of the prophecy of the prophet Hosea Wherein is showed the large extent of Gods free mercy, even unto the most miserable forlorn and wretched sinners that may be, upon their humiliation and repentance. Preached by that learned and judicious divine, Dr. Sibbs, late preacher to the honourable society of Gray's Inn, and master of Katherine Hall in Cambridge. Published by his own permission before his death.The returning backslider, or, A commentarie upon the whole XIIII. chapter of the prophecy of the prophet Hosea Wherein is shewed the large extent of Gods free mercy, even unto the most miserable forlorne and wretched sinners that may be, upon their humiliation and repentance. Preached by that learned and judicious divine, Dr. Sibbs, late preacher to the honourable society of Grayes Inne, and master of Katherine Hall in Cambridge. Published by his owne permission before his death.
London: printed by George for George Edwards, 1639
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Now as in sickness there is, 1. Grief troubling and vexing the party who feels it: and ⟨p. 132⟩2. Deformity of the place affected, which comes by wounds and weaknesses. So in all sin (when we are sensible of it) there is first grief, vexation, and torment of conscience: and then again, deformity; for it takes away the beauty and vigour of the soul, and dejects the countenance, it debaseth a man, and takes away his excellency,1 as Jacob saith of Reuben, Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel, because thou wentest up to thy fathers bed. Saith God to Cain, 2why art thou wrath, and why is thy countenance fallen? and the Prophet David he confesseth:3 when I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. So again, There is no soundness in my flesh, 4because of thine anger, neither is there any rest in my bones, because of my sin. So that sin is a wound and a disease, whether we consider the miseries it brings on soul and body or both. Therefore howsoever a sinful person think himself a goodly person, and wear his sins as ornaments about him, Pride, Lust and the like; yet he is a deformed loathsome person in the eyes and presence of God; and when conscience is awakened, sin will be loathsome, irksome, and odious unto himself, fill him full of grief and shame, so that he cannot endure the sight of his own soul.