And then a Fourth Note is this, That there is no stop in Apostasy; let men Apostatize once from God, and there 1is no stop then, they cannot tell whither to go then, if once they be rolling down, a man may not think thus, I will but roll thus far, and there I'll stop; no, if you be once rolling, you will roll, and roll down to the bottom, and you know not whither you may roll or fall: If a man should leap into the water and say, I will but sink thus far, to the middle and no further, this were but folly, you will sink more and more: so it is with 2Apostates, I verily believe those that did make slight at first, they did not think that they should go so far, Oh! God forbid that they should do such things as were so vile and abominable, yea, but when once they are rolling, ⟨p. 432⟩when once they are sinking, they […] and sink more and more, till they roll into the bottom[…] pit of Hell, they sink more and more till they sink into the very bottomless gulf, into such things as they would abhor before. There's a Curse upon the wicked in Psal. 35. That God would set them in slippery places, and that the Angel of God should persecute them; when men will go out of the ways of God into the slippery paths of their own, it's just with God that an evil spirit should drive them on in those ways. It is in going from the ways of God, just as you shall find it in your travelling in Champion Countries, there's a High-way goes to such 3a Town, and there's another way that lies close by it, and you (it may be) are got out of the right way, and so go on and think it will bring you to the place where you are travelling, but it winds you out of your right way, and so you go further and further, out of the right Road, perhaps some miles before you are aware of it. And so it is in Apostasy, it may be at first when they are got out of the way of God they think it not so much, but then these evil ways wind them out by degrees so that they grow further and further; They sin more and more.
And then a Fourth Note is this, That there is no stop in Apostasie; let men Apostatize once from God, and there 1is no stop then, they cannot tell whither to go then, if once they be rowling down, a man may not think thus, I will but roul thus far, and there I'le stop; no, if you be once rouling, you will roul, and roul down to the bottom, and you know not whither you may roul or fall: If a man should leap into the water and say, I will but sink thus far, to the middle and no further, this were but folly, you will sink more and more: so it is with 2Apostates, I verily beleeve those that did make slight at first, they did not think that they should go so far, Oh! God forbid that they should do such things as were so vile and abominable, yea, but when once they are rouling, ⟨p. 432⟩when once they are sinking, they 〈…〉 and sink more and more, till they roul into the bottom〈…〉 pit of Hell, they sink more and more till they sink into the very bottomless gulf, into such things as they would abhor before. There's a Curse upon the wicked in Psal. 35. That God would set them in slippery places, and that the Angel of God should persecute them; when men will go out of the waies of God into the slippery paths of their own, it's just with God that an evil spirit should drive them on in those waies. It is in going from the waies of God, just as you shall find it in your traveling in Champion Countries, there's a High-way goes to such 3a Town, and there's another way that lies close by it, and you (it may be) are got out of the right way, and so go on and think it will bring you to the place where you are traveling, but it winds you out of your right way, and so you go further and further, out of the right Road, perhaps some miles before you are aware of it. And so it is in Apostacie, it may be at first when they are got out of the way of God they think it not so much, but then these evil waies wind them out by degrees so that they grow further and further; They sin more and more.
- 1Obs. 1.
- 2Simile.
- 3Simile
