A77976:477
The Evil of Evils
The eighth book of Mr Jeremiah Burroughs. Being a treatise of the evil of evils, or the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Wherein is showed, 1 There is more evil in the least sin, than there is in the greatest affliction. 2 Sin is most opposite to God. 3 Sin is most opposite to mans good. 4 Sin is opposite to all good in general. 5 Sin is the poison, or evil of all other evils. 6 Sin hath a kind of infiniteness in it. 7 Sin makes a man conformable to the Devil. All these several heads are branched out into very many particulars. / Published by Thomas Goodwin, William Bridge, Sydrach Simpson, William Adderly, [double brace] William Greenhil, Philip Nigh, John Yates.The eighth book of Mr Jeremiah Burroughs. Being a treatise of the evil of evils, or the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Wherein is shewed, 1 There is more evil in the least sin, than there is in the greatest affliction. 2 Sin is most opposite to God. 3 Sin is most opposite to mans good. 4 Sin is opposite to all good in general. 5 Sin is the poyson, or evil of all other evils. 6 Sin hath a kind of infiniteness in it. 7 Sin makes a man conformable to the Devil. All these several heads are branched out into very many particulars. / Published by Thomas Goodwyn, William Bridge, Sydrach Sympson, William Adderly, [double brace] William Greenhil, Philip Nye, John Yates.
London: printed by Peter Cole, 1654
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Corollaries and Consequences from all the former Particulars. › Chapter 46
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. XLVI.
The Third Corollary.] Its Worse to be under Sin, than to be haunted by the Devil.
The Third Corollarie.] Its Worse to be under Sin, than to be haunted by the Devil.
Thirdly, Hence it follows, That Sin is worse than to be continually in the presence of the Devil: It is worse for a man or woman to be under the power of any Sin, than to be continually haunted by devils, and to have the sight of devils before their eyes, and be in company with them. If God should lay such a judgment upon a man or woman, that wheresoever they should be, they should see devils before them; to be under the power of any one sin is worse than if God should lay such a judgment upon thee. Many be mightily terrified in the dark, Oh! there is the devil in the room, and Oh! he comes to them, and there be apparitions of devils, this they be troubled with; Oh! these men and women haunted by devils, and houses haunted by devils, this is a miserable condition: Now art thou haunted by any wicked lust and sin, certainly thou art in a worse condition than any man or woman haunted by devils, or house haunted by the devil. Is there any house in your parish where there is Blaspheming, and Oaths, and railing at goodness, and Sabbath breaking, and such things? this house ⟨p. 375⟩is worse than any house haunted by devils: For Sin is worse a great deal, than the mere presence of the devil. I remember I have read of a Tyrant, one Maxensius in Hetrusia, he invented this torment to put men to death, he would have a dead mans Carcass tied about their bodies and so let them go wheresoever he would, but he still carried the dead Carcass about him, and at length the stench put them to death: this was his Tyranny. If you should have a dead man or woman tied about your bodies; may be the face of a dead man is hideous to you, but if they should be tied about you, so that when you lie in bed, and when you rise, when you sit at meat, it should be always with you, and you should endure the stink and putrefaction; what a sore evil would this be? now if in the presence of a dead Carcass there is so much evil, than in the presence of the devil there is much more. Now sin, any one sin, tied close to your hearts, that you carry about with you, wheresoever you go; know there is in that a greater evil upon you, than if a dead Carcass should be tied to you; yea, than if the devil should haunt you wheresoever you go: because the presence of the devil, is not so much, as turning of the souls of men and women into the nature of the devil; and making the Souls of men and women so like to him.