A64834:470
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. Though the Devil tempt, 'tis man that sins. Temptations from Satan to si•, are not sins ⟨p. 224⟩nor the way to Hell; but the very temptations of sin are sins, the way to more sins, and so to Hell. A mans own lusts are more and worse tempters then the Devil, and the Scripture speaks as if a man were not tempted (nor indeed is effectually) till his lust do it, James 1.14. If a man were tempted by the Devil forty days, and yet without sin as Christ was; yea, tempted all his days, yet if a man yield not, but the grace of God be sufficient for him, he may as St. Paul, glory in his infirmities, and triumph over the messenger of Satan, 2 Cor 12. The Devil gives over for a season, which sinful lusts scarce ever do; they haunt men more then the Devil doth, There is a scum of filthiness boiling or bubbling up, when the Devil doth not meddle with us. Libera me à male homine meipso, was St Austins Prayer, and should be ours; for indeed, no man nor Devil is so bad to us, as evil-self is to us. The Serpent beguiled me, and I did eat, was no excuse; the Devil owed me a spite, and paid it, will not apologize; 'tis man that sins, and sin that damns, either of which the Devil cannot force upon man.
1. Though the Devil tempt, 'tis man that sins. Temptations from Satan to si•, are not sins ⟨p. 224⟩nor the way to Hell; but the very temptations of sin are sins, the way to more sins, and so to Hell. A mans own lusts are more and worse tempters then the Devil, and the Scripture speaks as if a man were not tempted (nor indeed is effectually) till his lust do it, James 1.14. If a man were tempted by the Devil forty days, and yet without sin as Christ was; yea, tempted all his days, yet if a man yield not, but the grace of God be sufficient for him, he may as St. Paul, glory in his infirmities, and triumph over the messenger of Satan, 2 Cor 12. The Devil gives over for a season, which sinful lusts scarce ever do; they haunt men more then the Devil doth, There is a scum of filthiness beiling or •ubling up, when the Devil doth not meddle with us. Libera me à male homine meipso, was St Austins Prayer, and should be ours; for indeed, no man nor Devil is so bad to us, as evil-self is to us. The Serpent beguiled me, and I did eat, was no excuse; the Devil owed me a spight, and paid it, will not apologize; 'tis man that sins, and sin that damns, either of which the Devil cannot force upon man.