A62053:363
The sinners last sentence to eternal punishment, for sins of omission
The sinners last sentence to eternal punishment, for sins of omission wherein is discovered, the nature, causes, and cure of those sins / by Geo. Swinnock.
London: printed for Geo. Swinnock, 1675
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Chapter 29: The Condition of men only Civil is unsafe and sad.
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.
CHAP. XXIX. The Condition of men only Civil is unsafe and sad.
5. IF Christ will condemn men at the Great Day for sins of Omission, for not relieving the Poor and Afflicted: It may inform us, That the condition of men merely civil, and negatively religious, will be woeful at that day. Why? Because Christ will command them to depart from him into everlasting fire. Ah how dreadful will it be to take an eternal Farewell of the Lord of Life, the God of all Grace, the Well of Salvation; and to enter into a state of Death and ⟨p. 225⟩Wrath, and that for ever. If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the Sinner and Ungodly appear? 1 Pet. 3. By Sinner, I suppose, is meant the scandalous man, who liveth in Commission. It's said of Mary Magdalen, who had been guilty of notorious Enormities, Luke 7. For she is a Sinner. And it's said of the Publican, (whose whole Tribe was infamous for Extortion and Bribery) That he was a Sinner. He is gone to be a Guest to one that is a Sinner. By Ungodly, as the very word [Greek or Hebrew] signifieth, is meant one that liveth in Omissions, one that liveth without the Worship of God; i. e. without the Love and Fear, the Acknowledgement and Adoration of this God. Worship is that high Honour and Solemn Respect that the Creature owes to God: Not to give him this, is ungodliness. An ungodly man is one that doth not seek God, nor trust God, nor obey God; that doth not own him in his Mercies as his Father and Benefactor, nor in his Judgments as a wise Master, that would by Chastisements make him partaker of his Holiness. Now if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall ⟨p. 226⟩the sinner and ungodly appear? If there be a difficulty in the Salvation of the Righteous, there is a necessity of the damnation of the Sinner and ungodly. If the Righteous get so hardly to Heaven, the Sinner and Ungodly must surely be cast into Hell. Where shall the Sinner and Ungodly, those that are guilty of these Omissions and Commissions, appear? They must appear somewhere, but they can appear no where with comfort, or without unspeakable horror. Where shall they appear? before God? why, they hate his Being, despise his Dominions, slight his Love, disobey his Laws, and indeed seek his Life; and can they appear before him? Can they look for a smile from his Face, who loath him perfectly? or can they stand before his Frowns and Fury? Do they know the weight of his Hand, the killing-darts of his Eye, and the Power of his Anger?