(1.) It provokes God to withdraw his Judgments for a time. This the Sinner desired, and thinks himself happy that he is at ease: Miserable Delusion! This Respite is the Presage of his final Ruin. 'Twas the desperate State of Judah, as God expresses it, Why should ye be stricken 1any more? ye will revolt more and more. The words of an anxious Father that has tried all Methods, Counsel, Kindness, Corrections to reclaim a rebellious obstinate Son; and finding no answerable Effect, gives him over to follow the pernicious swing of his corrupt Desires. No Severity is like the suffering him in his licentious Courses. Thus when God hath used many gracious ways to reduce the Sinner, by his Word, Spirit and Judgments, but he is inflexible to the Calls of the Word, impenetrable to the Motions of the Spirit, and insensible of afflicting Providences; when after a Combat ⟨p. 157⟩with the Rod, Sin comes off unwounded, and the Rod retires; this Calm is more dreadful than the fiercest Storm; nothing can be more fatal to the Sinner, for by this Divine Desertion he is given over to a reprobate Mind, and vile Affections; he goes on undisturbed in his Sins, and every day increaseth his Enmity against God, and provokes God's Enmity against him. 'Tis not conceivable that one who is not made pliable to the Grace of God by Afflictions, should submit when he is in pleasant Circumstances, and disposed to enjoy sensual Satisfactions. If the Whip and Spur cannot break and tame the unruly Beast, certainly the rich Pasture will never make him manageable. So that God's ceasing to punish the Sinner at present is so far from being a Favour, that 'tis the Effect of his deepest Displeasure; for it contributes to his hardening. 'Twas ⟨p. 158⟩the Case of Pharaoh, when any of the Plagues were removed: Indulgence occasioned his Induration. As Water taken from the Fire, freezes sooner and harder, than if the thinner Parts had never been evaporated by the former Heat; so when Men are taken off from the Fire of Affliction, they are more confirmed in their vicious Courses than if they had never been afflicted.
(1.) It provokes God to withdraw his Judgments for a time. This the Sinner desired, and thinks himself happy that he is at ease: Miserable Delusion! This Respite is the Presage of his final Ruin. 'Twas the desperate State of Judah, as God expresses it, Why should ye be stricken 1any more? ye will revolt more and more. The words of an anxious Father that has tried all Methods, Counsel, Kindness, Corrections to reclaim a rebellious obstinate Son; and finding no answerable Effect, gives him over to follow the pernicious swinge of his corrupt Desires. No Severity is like the suffering him in his licentious Courses. Thus when God hath used many gracious ways to reduce the Sinner, by his Word, Spirit and Judgments, but he is inflexible to the Calls of the Word, impenetrable to the Motions of the Spirit, and insensible of afflicting Providences; when after a Combate ⟨p. 157⟩with the Rod, Sin comes off unwounded, and the Rod retires; this Calm is more dreadful than the fiercest Storm; nothing can be more fatal to the Sinner, for by this Divine Desertion he is given over to a reprobate Mind, and vile Affections; he goes on undisturb'd in his Sins, and every day increaseth his Enmity against God, and provokes God's Enmity against him. 'Tis not conceivable that one who is not made pliable to the Grace of God by Afflictions, should submit when he is in pleasant Circumstances, and dispos'd to enjoy sensual Satisfactions. If the Whip and Spur cannot break and tame the unruly Beast, certainly the rich Pasture will never make him manageable. So that God's ceasing to punish the Sinner at present is so far from being a Favour, that 'tis the Effect of his deepest Displeasure; for it contributes to his hardning. 'Twas ⟨p. 158⟩the Case of Pharaoh, when any of the Plagues were removed: Indulgence occasioned his Induration. As Water taken from the Fire, freezes sooner and harder, than if the thinner Parts had never been evaporated by the former Heat; so when Men are taken off from the Fire of Affliction, they are more confirmed in their vicious Courses than if they had never been afflicted.
- 1Isa. 1. 5.
