A64834:314
Sin, the Plague of Plagues
Sin, the plague of plagues, or, Sinful sin the worst of evils a treatise of sins trial and arraignment, wherein sin is accused for being, proved to be, and condemned for being exceeding sinful : and that 1. as against God, his nature, attributes, works, will, law, image, people, glory and existence, 2. as against man, his good and welfare of body and soul, in this life, and that to come : with the use and improvement to be made of this doctrine, that men may not be damned, but saved, &c. : being the substance of many sermons preached many years ago in Southwark / by Ralph Venning ...Sin, the plague of plagues, or, Sinful sin the worst of evils a treatise of sins tryal and arraignment, wherein sin is accused for being, proved to be, and condemned for being exceeding sinful : and that 1. as against God, his nature, attributes, works, will, law, image, people, glory and existence, 2. as against man, his good and welfare of body and soul, in this life, and that to come : with the use and improvement to be made of this doctrine, that men may not be damned, but saved, &c. : being the substance of many sermons preached many years ago in Southwark / by Ralph Venning ...
London: printed for John Hancock, 1669
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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.
Yet 2. There is this to be said, that the sins of good men are more usually sins of captivity, then sins of activity, as the Apostle speaks, Rom. 7. they are rather led into sin by temptation, then go into sin by choice and inclination; 'tis against the Law of their mind: 'Tis indeed possible that a good man may plot and contrive a sin, as David did the death of Uriah; and this is the only thing wherein God himself saith that David sinned, 1 Kings 15.5. God covers all his other sins, as being rather overtaken by temptation, then acted by design in the rest: So that for the most part, good men are captivated rather then active as to sin: And David himself could say, that he had not wickedly (after the manner of the wicked, Jude 15.) departed from God, Psa. 18.21.
3 God may sometime have a good man to this saddest of trials, to know all that is in his heart, as he left the good King Hezekiah, 2 Chron. 32.31. we are not over-forward or willing to believe our selves, so bad as we are in our hearts, as to the seeds of evil sown there: Is thy servant a dog, said Hazael, when his sin was foretold? and S. Peter himself could not believe it possible, that he should deny Christ his Master; yet, when left to himself, he did it; but then notwithstanding this, there is enough to be said ⟨p. 142⟩in the behalf of godly mens hatred of sin; yea indeed they hate it the more for having sinned. I answer then, that the godly mans witness against sin is still true, good and firm; for
3 God may sometime have a good man to this saddest of tryals, to know all that is in his heart, as he left the good King Hezekiah,