A64834:448
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.
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,