A64834:439
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.
If this prevails not, then (2) It would persuade, that though it may be a sin in another; yet (rebus sic stantibus) all things considered, it can be none in thee, because thou art necessitated, as for a poor man to steal; but no man is necessitated to sin, though under necessity, sin is sin in any, in all: for though temptations may mitigare and excuse à tanto, yet they do not excuse à toto, from its being a sin, or make it no sin.
If this prevails not, then (2) It would perswade, that though it may be a sin in another; yet (rebus sic stantibus) all things consider'd, it can be none in thee, because thou art necessitated, as for a poor man to steal; but no man is necessitated to sin, though under necessity, sin is sin in any, in all: for though temptations may mitigare and e•cuse à tanto, yet they do not excuse à toto, from its being a sin, or make it no sin.
3 'Tis but one, and but this once. If sin be good, why but once? if evil, why once? one sin though but once, is one and once too much: Beside, when the Serpents head is in, 'tis hard keeping out the whole body; one makes way for another, 'tis almost impossible to sin once and but once. Yet then fourthly, saith sin, 'tis but a little one; that cannot be a little sin which is against a great God, and deserves so great a punishment as death, for the wages of sin (of every single sin) is death, Rom. 6.23. I but saith sin, (5) 'tis in secret, none will see it; but this is a cheat, for 'tis impossible to sin so secretly but there will be two Witnesses, God and Conscience know all the sins that men commit. I but, saith sin, (6) thou wilt hate it and dread it ever after; as some go to Mass that they may distaste it, and to Plays to see the folly of them: but who would be a burnt child to dread the fir•• 'tis bad making such costly experiments as may cost us the loss of our souls, 'tis dangerous meddling with that which is an appearance, and may be an occasion of evil, much more to parley and ⟨p. 207⟩tamper with sin it self. But then (7) saith sin, I promise thee thou shalt get by it; so much profit, so much pleasure, so much honour shalt thou have by it; but sins gain is loss, he that gets the world by a sin, pays too dear for it, for 'tis the loss, at least the hazard of his soul; the pleasures of sin are grievous; its honours, disgraces and shame. Did not our first Parents find it so, and do not we? the Apostle appeals, Rom. 6.21. the precious substance promised, ends in a pernicious shadow, and the spoils we get by sin do but spoil us. Sin promiseth like a God, but pays like a Devil; sin tells us we shall not dye, but live like Gods, but we find nothing but death and such a life as they have in Hell. Sins performances are contrary to its promises: it promiseth gold, and […] dross: If any man have a mind to true mise••es, let him take sins fall promiset. Well but then, (8) saith sin, others do it, and why mayest not thou? 'Tis not what others do, but what they ought to do that we are to follow; we must not follow any man, nor a multitude of men to do evil: if others will venture their damnation, what's that to us? 'twill be no (solamen miseris socios habuisse) no comfort to have had companions in sin, and to meet them again in Hell.
3 'Tis but one, and but this once. If sin be good, why but once? if evil, why once? one sin though but once, is one and once too much: Beside, when the Serpents head is in, 'tis hard keeping out the whole body; one makes way for another, 'tis almost impossible to sin once and but once. Yet then fourthly, saith sin, 'tis but a little one; that cannot be a little sin which is against a great God, and deserves so great a punishment as death, for the wages of sin (of every single sin) is death, Rom. 6.23. I but saith sin, (5) 'tis in secret, none will see it; but this is a cheat, for 'tis impossble to sin so secretly but there will be two Witnesses, God and Conscience know all the sins that men commit. I but, saith sin, (6) thou wilt hate it and dread it ever after; as some go to Mass that they may distasie it, and to Plays to see the folly of them: but who would be a burnt child to dread the fir•• 'tis bad making such costly experiments as may cost us the loss of our souls, 'tis dangerous medling with that which is an appearance, and may be an occasion of evil, much more to parley and ⟨p. 207⟩tamper with sin it self. But then (7) saith sin, I promise thee thou shalt get by it; so much profit, so much pleasure, so much honour shalt thou have by it; but sins gain is loss, he that gets the world by a sin, pays too dear for it, for 'tis the loss, at least the hazard of his soul; the pleasures of sin are grievous; its honours, disgraces and shame. Did not our first Parents sind it so, and do not we? the Apostle appeals, Rom. 6.21. the precious substance promised, ends in a pernicious shadow, and the spoils we get by sin do but spoil us. Sin promiseth like a God, but pays like a Devil; sin tells us we shall not dye, but live like Gods, but we find nothing but death and such a life as they have in Hell. Sins performances are contrary to its promises: it promiseth gold, and 〈…〉 dross: If any man have a mind to true mise••es, let him take sins falle promiset. Well but then, (8) saith sin, others do it, and why mayest not thou? 'Tis not what others do, but what they ought to do that we are to follow; we must not follow any man, nor a multitude of men to do evil: if others will venture their damnation, what's that to us? 'twill be no (solamen miseris socios habuisse) no comfort to have had companions in sin, and to meet them again in Hell.
I but, saith sin (9) 'tis but repent, and God will forgive thee: to this we have to say, that he who promised forgiveness to them that repent, hath not promised repentance to them that sin; beside, if sin were to cost no more but repentance, one in his wits would be loth to buy repentance at so dear a rate; Repentance (though it may free from greater, yet it) puts ⟨p. 208⟩men to more grief and pain, then ever sin could afford them pleasure. I but, saith sin (10) thou hast scaped well enough hitherto, no evil hath yet befallen thee: to this say, it may be 'tis so much the worse, and not to be punished may be the worst punishment, Isa. 1.5. Hos. 4.14 17. but what will it cost if God do awaken me? if not that, what will it cost when God shall damn me? But then saith sin (11) 'tis but thine infirmity, thou canst not help it: this is a thing (tell sin) that none but fools and children can pretend to; beside, to plead for infirmities, is more then an infirmity, and that which is but an infirmity to day, may become a disease to morrow, if not prevented; when once the will is engaged, 'tis past an infirmity, and is become a sin. If these (or other like) do not prevail, then it speaks more openly; Sin, (saith Sin) either there's no such thing, there's no difference between good and evil; as all things come alike to all, so all things are alike; or saith Sin, evil is good in Gods sight, else he would judge it, Mal. 2.17. his silence bids thee think that he is such an one as thy self, Psal. 50. but here tell sin, that this defeats and confutes it self, and proves nothing more clear then that sin is exceeding sinful: if there be no sin, or no difference between good and evil, to what purpose are these different words used by sin to prove that there is no difference? to say 'tis only in imagination and not real, is to deny that there is any such thing as sense and conscience, which every man owns, and cannot deny without denying himself and God to be. Between good and evil, there is ⟨p. 209⟩more difference then between light and darkness, life and death, ease and pain, food and poison; and yet these are real, and not the differences of our fancy only. That all things come alike to all, is not always true, there are contrary Instances; and to say, That all things are alike, is never true, but is a manifest contradiction.
To say that evil is good in Gods sight, and that he is such an one as a sinner, is to deny God to be; for if he be not good and just, he is not God: but this speaks men wilfully ignorant; for the flood that drowned the old World, and the fire that fell from Heaven on Sodom; the Judgments which God executes in the Earth continually (of which before) do all witness that God is displeased with, and the avenger of sin: as his giving us rain from Heaven, and fruitful seasons, are witnesses that he is good and doth good; and that his Sun shines and his rain falls on the unjust as well as just, is a greater argument of his goodness, which calls for repentance, and that also doth witness that sin is evil. And indeed over and above,
To say that evil is good in Gods sight, and that he is such an one as a sinner, is to deny God to be; for if he be not good and just, he is not God: but this speaks men willfully ignorant; for the flood that drowned the old World, and the fire that fell from Heaven on Sodom; the Judgments which God executes in the Earth continually (of which before) do all witness that God is displeased with, and the avenger of sin: as his giving us rain from Heaven, and fruitful seasons, are witnesses that he is good and doth good; and that his Sun shines and his rain falls on the unjust as well as just, is a greater argument of his goodness, which calls for repentance, and that also doth witness that sin is evil. And indeed over and above,
If sin were not exceeding sinful, what need it use all these tricks and subterfuges? if it were not, and its deeds were not evil, why doth it avoid the light? Why (like a false Coiner) doth it put the King of Heavens stamp on its base metal? Why doth Jacob call himself Esau, and counterfeit his Brother, if sin were not abominable? Why do the Gibeonites pretend to come from far, if they had not a mind to be unknown? if it were not false and a Robber, why doth it creep in privily, climb up another way, ⟨p. 210⟩and avoid the door? Why doth it flatter and deceive? Why doth it never keep promise, but breaks all that it ever made? 'tis because it is sinful sin.
If sin were not exceeding sinful, what need it use all these tricks and subterfuges? if it were not, and its deeds were not evil, why doth it avoid the light? Why (like a false Coyner) doth it put the King of Heavens stamp on its base metal? Why doth Jacob call himself Esau, and counterfeit his Brother, if sin were not abominable? Why do the Gibeonites pretend to come from far, if they had not a mind to be unknown? if it were not false and a Robber, why doth it creep in privily, climb up another way, ⟨p. 210⟩and avoid the door? Why doth it flatter and deceive? Why doth it never keep promise, but breaks all that it ever made? 'tis because it is sinful sin.
Having shown what sin is, wherein its sinfulness consists, and proved it by many witnesses (even it self being one) before I come to the fourth thing, viz. the application and improvement of this Doctrine; I shall in brief sum up the charge against sin. That which sin is accused for, and proved to be guilty of, is High treason against God, and that it attempts no less then the dethroning and ungoding of God himself; that it hath unmanned man, made him a fool, a beast, a Devil, and subjected him to the wrath of God, and made him liable to eternal damnation. It hath made men deny God to be, or affirm him to be like themselves. It hath put the Lord of Life to death, and shamefully crucified the Lord of G•ory: It is always resisting the Holy Ghost: it's continually practising the defilement, the dishonour, the deceiving, and the destruction of all men. Ob what a prodigious, monstrous, devilish thing is sin! 'tis impossible to speak worse of it then, or so bad of it as it is, for 'tis hyperbolically sinful! there's want in the words that are, and need of more and worse words then there are any to speak its vileness! to say 'tis worse then death and devil, the very Hell of Hell, is not to rail at it, but to tell it its own; for 'tis the Quintessence of evil, which hath made all the evils that are, and is worse then all the evils it hath made; 'tis so evil, that 'tis impossible to make it good, or lovely by all the Arts that can ⟨p. 211⟩be used; poison may be corrected and made medicinal, if not nutritive; but sin is sin, and can be no other, its nature cannot be changed, no not by a pardon. To speak as the thing is, 'tis not only ugly, but ugliness, not only filthy, but filthiness, not only abominable but abomination: there is not a worse thing in Hell it self, it hath not its fellow there. All this and much more may be said of and against sin; and having laid this ground-work, I shall now build upon it the fourth thing, viz.1
Having shewn what sin is, wherein its sinfulness consuts, and proved it by many witnesses (even it self being one) before I come to the fourth thing, viz. the application and improvement of this Doctrine; I shall in brief sum up the charge against sin. That which sin is accuse•d for, and proved to be guilty of, is High treason against God, and that it attempts no less then the dethroning and ungoding of God himself; that it hath unman'd man, made him a fool, a beast, a Devil, and subjected him to the wrath of God, and made him lyable to eternal damnation. It hath made men deny God to be, or affirm him to be like themselves. It hath put the Lord of Life to death, and shamefully crucified the Lord of Gory: It is always resisting the Holy Ghost: it's continually practising the defilement, the dishonour, the deceiving, and the destruction of all men. Ob what a prodigious, monstrous, devillsh thing is sin! 'tis impossible to speak worse of it then, or so bad of it as it is, for 'tis hyberbolically sinful! there's want in the words that are, and need of more and worse words then there are any to speak its vileness! to say 'tis worse then death and devil, the very Hell of Hell, is not to rail at it, but to tell it its own; for 'tis the Quinitessence of evil, which hath made all the evils that are, and is worse then all the evils it hath made; 'tis so evil, that 'tis impossible to make it good, or lovely by all the Arts that can
1. §11By way of Inference for our Information in several things; as first in general, That Sin is the worst of Evils, the evil of evils, and indeed the only evil; nothing is so evil as, nay, nothing is evil (properly) but sin, nor in comparison of it. As the sufferings of this present time (of our life which are upon us) are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us; so neither the sufferings of this life or that to come, are worthy to be compared (for evil) with the evil of sin: No evil is displeasing to God or destructive to man, but the evil of sin. 'Tis worse then affliction, then death, then Devil, then Hell; affliction is not so afflictive, death is not so deadly, the Devil not so devilish, Hell not so hellish as sin is; and this will help to fill up the charge against its sinfulness, especially as it is contrary to and against the good of man.
1. §11By way of Inference for our Information in several things; as first in general, That Sin is the worst of Evils, the evil of evils, and indeed the only evil; nothing is so evil as, nay, nothing is evil (properly) but sin, nor in comparison of it. As the sufferings of this present time (of our life which are upon us) are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us; so neither the sufferings of this life or that to come, are worthy to be compared (for evil) with the evil of sin: No evil is displeasing to God or destructi•e to man, but the evil of sin. 'Tis worse then affliction, then death, then Devil, then Hell; affliction is not so afflictive, death is not so deadly, the Devil not so devilish, Hell not so hellish as sin is; and this will help to fill up the charge against its sinfulness, especially as it is contrary to and against the good of man.
These four Evils that I have named are terrible indeed, and from all which every one is ⟨p. 212⟩ready to say, Good Lord deliver us; yet none of these are, all of these are not so bad as sin, and therefore our prayers should be more to be delivered from sin; and if God hear no prayer else, yet as to this we should say, We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord!
1. §11'Tis worse then any evil of affliction; there are afflictions of several sorts, and they are all called Evils: is there any evil (of what sort, or kind, or quality soever) in the City, and I have not done it? Amos 3.6. (God, you see, will own himself the Author of it, but not of sin, that's a bastard of some others be getting and breeding, the evil of plagues and afflictions are of Gods bringing, though of sins deserving) now indeed no affliction seemeth to be (or is) joyour for the present, Heb. 12 11. but though they are not to be desired, yet they may be endured but sin is neither to be desired nor endured: any sin is worse then any suffering, one sin then […] suffering, the least sin then the greatest suffering What (you will say) is it worse then to be whipped, to be burnt, to be sawn asunder, &c yes, by a great deal, as appears by what our Saviour saith, Mat. 10.28. fear not them that can kill, but fear him that can damn, q. d. 'tis better to be killed then to be damned, We ma• more easily suffer from men, then sin against God. One may suffer and not sin, but 'tis impossible to sin and not suffer. They that avoid suffering by sinning, sin themselves into worse suffering. Th•• seems to be clear enough; yet because truth are seldom well improved till they be believed and are seldom believed till they are well proved, ⟨p. 213⟩I shall therefore make this out more fully, That sin is worse then suffering, first by this Argument in general: because Sin is all evil, only evil, and always evil, which no affliction is nor can be; in my flesh, saith the Apostle, there dwelleth no good, no not the least, and this is ever present with me; this cannot be said of afflictions, that there is no good in them, that they dwell in and are always present with us: there are some lucida intervalla, Sun-shines in Winter. One may say, 'twas good that I was afflicted, Psal. 119.71
but none can say (periissem nisi peccassem) I had perished if I had not sinned; no, no, 'tis by sin we perish and are undone: many have thanked God for affliction, but never any for sin. Some indeed mistake that place, Rom. 6.17. as if the Apostle thanked God that they were sinners, no by no means; but he thanks God that they who once were sinners, were become obedient to the Gospel: and the proper sense and reading is, Thanks be to God, though ye were the servants of sin (in time past) yet (now) ye have obeyed the form of Doctrine which was delivered to you, or (as the Margin ⟨p. 214⟩and Greek) whereunto ye were delivered. Sin of it self is neither good before nor after its commission, 'tis not good to be committed, nor good after 'tis committed, nor doth it do us any good, but hurt all our days; but other evils, though we cannot call them good before, and so desire them; yet we can call them good after, and so thank God for them.
but none can say (periissem nisi peccassem) I had perished if I had not sinned; no, no, 'tis by sin we perish and are undone: many have thankt God for affliction, but never any for sin. Some indeed mistake that place, Rom. 6.17. as if the Apostle thanked God that they were sinners, no by no means; but he thanks God that they who once were sinners, were become obedient to the Gospel: and the proper sense and reading is, Thanks be to God, though ye were the servants of sin (in time past) yet (now) ye have obeyed the form of Doctrine which was delivered to you, or (as the Margine ⟨p. 214⟩and Greek) whereunto ye were delivered. Sin of it self is neither good before nor after its commission, 'tis not good to be committed, nor good after 'tis committed, nor doth it do us any good, but hurt all our days; but other evils, though we cannot call them good before, and so desire them; yet we can call them good after, and so thank God for them.
More particularly. 1. Suffering may be the object of our choice, which sin cannot be; for that which is evil, and can be no other (and so is sin) cannot be the object of our volition and choice, 'tis contra-natural. If men did not call evil good, and good evil, they could never love the evil, nor hate the good: nor can fin be chosen as a means to a good; for as 'tis evil and nothing else, so it doth evil and nothing else. But now affliction, though not chosen for it self, yet for an end (a good end and effect of it) may be chosen, yea, and rather then sin; it may be chosen, though no other good thing should follow then this, that one did no evil. Instances we have of this, as the three young Worthies, Dan. 3.17. whose gallantry of spirit was such, that though they should not be delivered by their God, yet they would not (they were holily wilful) they would not sin against their God, nor so much as demur, deliberate, or take time to consider, whether they should suffer or sin, twas past dispute with them, brave and noble Souls that they were. The like we have of Daniel himself, Chap. 6. and of St. Paul in Chap. 20, 21. of the Acts, of which I spake before; I shall therefore only add this to it, which is observable, ⟨p. 215⟩That when he speaks of his afflictions, he calls them light, 2 Cor. 4.17. but when of sin, he speaks of it as a burden that pressed him down, and made him cry out, Wretch that I am! and again, we groan being burdened, 2 Cor. 5. Moses his choice is famous and celebrated all the world over; for 'twas not made when he was a Child, but when he came to (forty) years of age: and he preferred suffering, not only before sinning, but before honours, riches, and pleasures, accounting the worst of Christ (Reproaches) better then the best of the world. There is one Instance more which is more then all the rest, and that is of our blessed Saviour, who had the greatest offer made him that ever was made, and though tempted, and suffered by being tempted; yet he scorned and abhorred to sin, Math 4. yea, he endured the Cross, and despised the shame, Heb. 12.1.—4. he met the Cross, shame, and pain, and as an addition, the contradiction of sinners; yet all this he endured, rather then he would sin, for vers. 4. 'twas striving against sin: And when St. Peter would have him decline suffering, he calls him Satan, and said as to him, Get behind me, Satan:
reaching us this, That 'tis better to suffer then to sin.
2. We may and ought to (not only choose suffering, and not sin, but) rejoice in suffering, and that with all j•y, and (in the highest degree) glory in tribulation; but sin is matter of shame and grief, not of joy. James 1 2. account it all joy, not simply joy, or a little joy, but all joy, matter, of glory, when you fa•l into divers ⟨p. 216⟩temptations, that is, tribulations, as Saint Paul speaks Rom. 5.3. they were temptations for trial of faith, and the trial thereof is the furnace of affliction, Isa. 48.10. with 1 Pet. 1.6.7. Now if any glory in their sin, and pride themselves in that as a glory, they glory in their shame, Phil. 3.19. yea, if we do but fall into sin, 'tis matter of grief and shame: so that suffering is as far to be preferred before sin, as joy is before grief, and glory is beyond shame; to which this also may be added, That God himself takes pleasure, joy and delight in the trials of good men; for though he delight not to grieve the children of men, yet, Job 9.23. he laughs at the trial of the innocent; and in this sense many understand that Text. God laughs not at them as at the wicked, by way of derision and scorn, but by way of pleasure: just as a Commander in War rejoiceth when he puts a Party, of whose valour and skill he is confident, upon some dangerous service: though he knows that some of them must bleed, and perhaps dye for it, yet it pleaseth him to see such engaged in it. Thus God laughs at the trial of the innocent, for he sees they are men that will bide a trial; as the excellent Expositor on the Book of Job expresseth it, with much more to this effect. God took pleasure in the sufferings of Christ (as Christ himself also did) and so he doth in the sufferings of his people, as he did in Jobs, of whom God makes his boast to the Devils face, that he still held fast his integrity, though he were afflicted by the Devil, who moved God against him to destroy him without a cause,
The Heathen Moralist (Seneca) ventured to say, That if there were any spectacle here below noble enough, and worthy to entertain the eyes of God, it was that of a good man generously contending with ill fortune (as they used to phrase) afflictions and sufferings. But now, when men sin, he laughs them to scorn, if his sons and daughters sin, it provokes him to grieve and be angry; but the sins of others provoke him to laugh at and to hate them, Psal. 2.4, 5 Psal. 37.13. and which is better to suffer and please, or to sin and grieve God? to undergo that which by patient suffering of it, will rejoice and glorify God, and give him occasion to magnify us too? or to do that which will provoke him to be angry with us till we be consumed, and then laugh at our calamity? Prov. 1.26, 27.
The H•athen Moralist (Seneca) ventur'd to say, That if there were any spectacle here below noble enough, and worthy to entertain the eyes of God, it was that of a good man generously contending with ill fortune (as they used to phrase) afflictions and sufferings. But now, when men sin, he laughs them to scorn, if his sons and daughters sin, it provokes him to grieve and be angry; but the sins of others provoke him to laugh at and to hate them, Psal. 2.4, 5 Psal. 37.13. and which is better to suffer and please, or to sin and grieve God? to undergo that which by patient suffering of it, will rejoyce and glorifie God, and give him occasion to magnifie us too? or to do that which will provoke him to be angry with us till we be consumed, and then laugh at our calamity? Prov. 1.26, 27.
3. There are many blessed encouragements given us to suffering, none to sin, but all manner of discouragements against sinning: all encouragement and no discouragement to suffering; all discouragement and no encouragement to sin. As, when we suffer for God, God suffers with us; but when we sin, God suffers by us: In all their (his peoples) afflictions he was afflicted, he sympathized with them, Isa. 63.9. Heb. ⟨p. 218⟩4.15. but when he speaks of sin, 'tis Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Sauls sin persecuted Christ Jesus, Acts 9.4. God complains of their iniquity, as a burden, as if they made a Cart of God, and loaded him with sins as with sheaves, Amos 2.13.
3. There are many blessed incouragements given us to suffering, none to sin, but all manner of discouragements against sinning: all incouragement and no discouragement to suffering; all discouragement and no incouragement to sin. As, when we suffer for God, God suffers with us; but when we sin, God suffers by us: In all their (his peoples) afflictions he was afflicted, he sympathized with them, Isa. 63.9. Heb. ⟨p. 218⟩4.15. but when he speaks of sin, 'tis Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Sauls sin persecuted Christ Jesus, Acts 9.4. God complains of their iniquity, as a burden, as if they made a Cart of God, and loaded him with sins as with sheaves, Amos 2.13.
I but, saith sin (9) 'tis but repent, and God will forgive thee: to this we have to say, that he who promised forgiveness to them that repent, hath not promised repentance to them that sin; beside, if sin were to cost no more but repentance, one in his wits would be loth to buy repentance at so dear a rate; Repentance (though it may free from greater, yet it) puts ⟨p. 208⟩men to more grief and pain, then ever sin could afford them pleasure. I but, saith sin (10) thou hast scapt well enough hitherto, no evil hath yet befallen thee: to this say, it may be 'tis so much the worse, and not to be punished may be the worst punishment, Isa. 1.5. Hos. 4.14 17. but what will it cost if God do awaken me? if not that, what will it cost when God shall damn me? But then saith sin (11) 'tis but thine infirmity, thou canst not help it: this is a thing (tell sin) that none but fools and children can pretend to; beside, to plead for infirmities, is more then an infirmity, and that which is but an infirmity to day, may become a disease to morrow, if not prevented; when once the will is ingaged, 'tis past an infirmity, and is become a sin. If these (or other like) do not prevail, then it speaks more openly; Sin, (saith Sin) either there's no such thing, there's no difference between good and evil; as all things come alike to all, so all things are alike; or saith Sin, evil is good in Gods sight, else he would judge it, Mal. 2.17. his silence bids thee think that he is such an one as thy self, Psal. 50. but here tell sin, that this defeats and confutes it self, and proves nothing more clear then that sin is exceeding sinful: if there be no sin, or no difference between good and evil, to what purpose are these different words used by sin to prove that there is no difference? to say 'tis only in imagination and not real, is to deny that there is any such thing as sense and conscience, which every man ownes, and cannot deny without denying himself and God to be. Between good and evil, there is ⟨p. 209⟩more difference then between light and darkness, life and death, ease and pain, food and poyson; and yet these are real, and not the differences of our fancy only. That all things come alike to all, is not always true, there are contrary Instances; and to say, That all things are alike, is never true, but is a manifest contradiction.
1. §11'Tis worse then any evil of affliction; there are afflictions of several sorts, and they are all called Evils: is there any evil (of what sort, or kind, or quality soever) in the City, and I have not done it? Amos 3.6. (God, you see, will owne himself the Author of it, but not of sin, that's a bastard of someothers be getting and breeding, the evil of plagues and afflictions are of Gods bringing, though of sins deserving) now indeed no affliction seemeth to be (or is) joyour for the present, Heb. 12 11. but though they are not to be desired, yet they may be endured but sin is neither to be desired nor endured: any sin is worse then any suffering, one sin then 〈…〉 suffering, the least sin then the greatest suffering What (you will say) is it worse then to be whipt, to be burnt, to be sawn asunder, &c yes, by a great deal, as appears by what our Saviour saith, Mat. 10.28. fear not them that can kill, but fear him that can damn, q. d. 'tis better to be killed then to be damned, We ma• more easily suffer from men, then sin against God. One may suffer and not sin, but 'tis impossible to sin and not suffer. They that avoid suffering by sinning, sin themselves into worse suffering. Th•• seems to be clear enough; yet because truth are seldom well improved till they be believed and are seldom believed till they are well proved, ⟨p. 213⟩I shall therefore make this out more fully, That sin is worse then suffering, first by this Argument in general: because Sin is all evil, only evil, and always evil, which no affliction is nor can be; in my flesh, saith the Apostle, there dwelleth no good, no not the least, and this is ever present with me; this cannot be said of afflictions, that there is no good in them, that they dwell in and are always present with us: there are some lucida intervalla, Sun-shines in Winter. One may say, 'twas good that I was afflicted, Psal. 119.71. 'tis good to bear the yoke in ones youth, Lam. 3.23. but one can never say, 'twas good that I sinned, no, though 'twere but in my youth, Eccl. 11.9. & 12.1. All things may be corrected and made to work for our good, and we can say, not only God that afflicted me was good, but the affliction wrought for good, 2 Cor. 4.17. but we can never justly say, that sin did us good. Many can say (periissem nisi periissem) I had been undone had I not suffered;
More particularly. 1. Suffering may be the object of our choice, which sin cannot be; for that which is evil, and can be no other (and so is sin) cannot be the object of our volition and choice, 'tis contra-natural. If men did not call evil good, and good evil, they could never love the evil, nor hate the good: nor can fin be chosen as a means to a good; for as 'tis evil and nothing else, so it doth evil and nothing else. But now affliction, though not chosen for it self, yet for an end (a good end and effect of it) may be chosen, yea, and rather then sin; it may be chosen, though no other good thing should follow then this, that one did no evil. Instances we have of this, as the three young Worthies, Dan. 3.17. whose gallantry of spirit was such, that though they should not be delivered by their God, yet they would not (they were holily wilful) they would not sin against their God, nor so much as demur, deliberate, or take time to consider, whether they should suffer or sin, twas past dispute with them, brave and noble Souls that they were. The like we have of Daniel himself, Chap. 6. and of St. Paul in Chap. 20, 21. of the Acts, of which I spake before; I shall therefore only adde this to it, which is observable, ⟨p. 215⟩That when he speaks of his afflictions, he calls them light, 2 Cor. 4.17. but when of sin, he speaks of it as a burden that prest him down, and made him cry out, Wretch that I am! and again, we groan being burthened, 2 Cor. 5. Moses his choice is famous and celebrated all the world over; for 'twas not made when he was a Child, but when he came to (forty) years of age: and he preser'd suffering, not only before sinning, but before honours, riches, and pleasures, accounting the worst of Christ (Reproaches) better then the best of the world. There is one Instance more which is more then all the rest, and that is of our blessed Saviour, who had the greatest offer made him that ever was made, and though tempted, and suffer'd by being tempted; yet he scorn'd and abhorred to sin, Math 4. yea, he endured the Cross, and despised the shame, Heb. 12.1.—4. he met the Cross, shame, and pain, and as an addition, the contradiction of sinners; yet all this he endured, rather then he would sin, for vers. 4. 'twas striving against sin: And when St. Peter would have him decline suffering, he calls him Satan, and said as to him, Get behind me, Satan:
2. We may and ought to (not only chuse suffering, and not sin, but) rejoyce in suffering, and that with all j•y, and (in the highest degree) glory in tribulation; but sin is matter of shame and grief, not of joy. James 1 2. account it all joy, not simply joy, or a little joy, but all joy, matter, of glory, when you fa•l into divers ⟨p. 216⟩temptations, that is, tribulations, as Saint Paul speaks Rom. 5.3. they were temptations for tryal of faith, and the tryal thereof is the furnace of affliction, Isa. 48.10. with 1 Pet. 1.6.7. Now if any glory in their sin, and pride themselves in that as a glory, they glory in their shame, Phil. 3.19. yea, if we do but fall into sin, 'tis matter of grief and shame: so that suffering is as far to be prefer'd before sin, as joy is before grief, and glory is beyond shame; to which this also may be added, That God himself takes pleasure, joy and delight in the tryals of good men; for though he delight not to grieve the children of men, yet, Job 9.23. he laughs at the tryal of the innocent; and in this sense many understand that Text. God laughs not at them as at the wicked, by way of derision and scorn, but by way of pleasure: just as a Commander in War rejoyceth when he puts a Party, of whose valour and skill he is confident, upon some dangerous service: though he knows that some of them must bleed, and perhaps dye for it, yet it pleaseth him to see such ingaged in it. Thus God laughs at the tryal of the innocent, for he sees they are men that will bide a tryal; as the excellent Expositor on the Book of Job expresseth it, with much more to this effect. God took pleasure in the sufferings of Christ (as Christ himself also did) and so he doth in the sufferings of his people, as he did in Jobs, of whom God makes his boast to the Devils face, that he still held fast his integrity, though he were afflicted by the Devil, who moved God against him to destroy him without a cause, Job 2 3. upon ⟨p. 217⟩which an ingenious and eloquent person speaks thus: Surely one may call him more then happy Job, since if, as David tells us, the man is happy, whose sins God is pleased to cover; what may that man be accounted, whose graces he vouchsafeth to proclaim? God then (we see) takes pleasure in and laughs at the tryal of such his Champions and Heroes:
