N00731:58
The folly of sinning, opened & applied, in two sermons, occasioned by the condemnation…The folly of sinning, opened & applyed, in two sermons, occasioned by the condemnation…
The folly of sinning, opened & applied, in two sermons, occasioned by the condemnation of one that was executed at Boston in New-England, on November 17th. 1698. / By Increase Mather, president of Harvard College, in Cambridge, and preacher of the Gospel at Boston in N.E. ; [Two lines from Romans]The folly of sinning, opened & applyed, in two sermons, occasioned by the condemnation of one that was executed at Boston in New-England, on November 17th. 1698. / By Increase Mather, praesident of Harvard Colledge, in Cambridge, and preacher of the Gospel at Boston in N.E. ; [Two lines from Romans]
Boston: printed by B Green for Michael Perry over against the Town House, 1699
THE FOLLY OF Sinning. › Sermon 2 › Proposition 2: PROPOSITION. II.
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.
nevertheless could remember some sins and vanities of his youth; & a sorrowful (not a pleasant) remembrance it was to him. He would not tell of the vanities of his youth to make others merry. There are some that take pleasure in seeing others sin; which argues an high degree of Impiety. Rom. 1.32. They not only do things worthy of death, but take pleasure in them that do them. Yea, there are that when they cannot commit sin themselves, delight in seeing others do it; which is perfect Diabolism. The Devils are not drunk themselves, nor do they commit Adultery, being Spirits and not Bodies, they are not capable of committing those sins, but they take pleasure in seeing men commit those sins. If there be any pleasure in Hell that is it.
5. They that cause others to sin, make light of it. As if the burden of their own sins were too light for them, and therefore they must contract the guilt of other mens Iniquities. Thus did Jeroboam the Son of ⟨p. 63⟩Nebat, He […] Israel to sin. And so did Rehoboam, He forsook the Lord, and all Israel with him. 2. Chron. 12.1. One may cause others to sin, by requiring them to do it. Thus Absalom caused his Servants to become guilty of Murdering his Brother Amnon. He said to his Servants, smite him, kill him, Have not I commanded you? 2 Sam. 13.28. So Jezebel wrote a Letter in the Kings Name to the Elders in the City of Jezreel, who she knew would do any thing the King and Court would have them do, requiring them to take away the Innocent Life of Naboth, by a form of Law, and under a pretence of Executing Justice on a Traitor: One may caus• another to sin by instigating them thereunto. Ahab sold himself to work wickedness, whom Jezebel his Wife stirred up.