The conscience will say, No Lord; I urged him to it, and said, Now get alone* and pour out a prayer to the Lord; now go and read, and meditate on the word of God; and I told him, Lord, when he began to be so eager of the world, now you will be covetous, and worldly; but he would not hear me; he promised me, Lord, he would leave it, and would do so no more; and he would take up this duty and that duty; and put me off this time, and another time, but he never did it. Then you see the case clear, for you never kept day; you have a show of godliness,2 but where is the power of it? The power is to subdue inward lusts, secret corruptions, base thoughts that rise in the mind. This is not to be found in the most; therefore they are but Hypocrites and false hearted. At last when the case is so clear by the Book of the servant, this bad debtor doth confess it, and saith, It was a hard time, and it was but little, if you had had it, I thought it could do you no great good, I hoped you would have borrowed it, if you had had any great need of it. So many a crused hypocrite confesses the conversation is good, and the course is holy which he should take, and which God requires of him; but I feared the loss of my liberty, of my ease, or my honour, and credit, if I had done it. I feared I should have suffered for it, and it was but this, I hope it was not such a matter. Is this honesty, when God and the Gospel, ⟨p. 37⟩call for truth, and for sincerity, you put off and say, This is no great matte, you hope; there are worse matters then so in the world. Thou art no upright, God will have the utmost farthing;3 there is truth in a penny. He that will not suffer in one kind, I will never believe he will suffer in another. But you will say, What if a man be covetous, he hurts none; it is his own that he holds so fast; he is but close fisted a little, I hope this is not such a matter? This is a great sin brethren, in such a place as this is; what, not keep touch here? that mans sin that lives under the Gospel, is the greatest sin of all; of more weight then the sins of any besides: and therefore look to it brethren. If a man forfeit a Bond of twenty pound, or forty pound, perhaps he may recover it; but if of forty thousand pound, we say it will crush the greatest Merchant in the Land, and break his back.
The conscience will say, No Lord; I urged him to it, and said, Now get alone* and powre out a prayer to the Lord; now goe and read, and meditate on the word of God; and I told him, Lord, when he began to be so eager of the world, now you will be covetous, and worldly; but he would not heare me; he promised me, Lord, he would leave it, and would doe so no more; and he would take up this duty and that duty; and put me off this time, and another time, but he never did it. Then you see the case cleere, for you never kept day; you have a shew of godlinesse,2 but where is the power of it? The power is to subdue inward lusts, secret corruptions, base thoughts that rise in the minde. This is not to be found in the most; therefore they are but Hypocrites and false hearted. At last when the case is so cleare by the Booke of the servant, this bad debttor doth confesse it, and saith, It was a hard time, and it was but little, if you had had it, I thought it could doe you no great good, I hoped you would have borrowed it, if you had had any great need of it. So many a crused hypocrite confesses the conversation is good, and the course is holy which he should take, and which God requires of him; but I feared the losse of my libertie, of my ease, or my honor, and credite, if I had done it. I feared I should have suffered for it, and it was but this, I hope it was not such a matter. Is this honestie, when God and the Gospel, ⟨p. 37⟩call for truth, and for sinceritie, you put off and say, This is no great matte, you hope; there are worse matters then so in the world. Thou art no upright, God will have the utmost farthing;3 there is truth in a penny. He that will not suffer in one kinde, I will never beleeve he will suffer in another. But you will say, What if a man be covetous, he hurts none; it is his owne that he holds so fast; he is but close fisted a little, I hope this is not such a matter? This is a great sinne brethren, in such a place as this is; what, not keepe touch here? that mans sinne that lives under the Gospel, is the greatest sin of all; of more weight then the sinnes of any besides: and therefore looke to it brethren. If a man forfeit a Bond of twenty pound, or forty pound, perhaps he may recover it; but if of forty thousand pound, we say it will crush the greatest Merchant in the Land, and breake his back.
- *Isa, 26.16.
- 22 Tim. 3.5.
- 3Mat. 5.26.
