N00731:77
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 3: PROPOSITION. III.
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.
5. It is the property of a fool to contend with one that is too strong for him. A Wise man will sit down and consider with himself, whether he is able with ten thousand, to meet with him that cometh against him with twenty thousand. Luk. 14.31. Better sit still then rise and fall. But Sinners have not the understanding to consider this. They are so foolish as to set themselves against one that is Infinitely too strong for them. Is a Sinner a fit match for the Almighty? Is he able to make his patty good with that God before whom the Nations are as the drop of a bucket, and counted as the small dust of the balance, yea less then nothing and vanity? Is he able to make his party good with that God, who holds all the water of the Sea in the hollow of his hand, and who measures Heaven with a span. O Sinner, consider with thy self, what thou will do, when God shall strike thee with those hands which have made heaven and earth. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy, are we stronger than he? 1 Cor. 10.22. What infinite folly are they guilty of that do so? ⟨p. 84⟩Nevertheless the Sinner does so. Job 15.25, 26. For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengthens himself against the Almighty, he runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his buckler. The Threatenings and Sanctions of the Divine Law are the bosses of his buckler; but the Sinner regards them not. But canst thou stand it out against God? Can thy hands be strong, or can thy heart endure in the day that the Lord shall deal with thee? Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? dost thou not know that his Power is Irresistible? When he casts forth his Lightnings, what man is there that can stand before the Thunder of God? It is reported concerning Caligula, that for all he was Emperor of the World, when he heard it Thunder, he would run under his bed to hide himself. Histories inform us of Kings that have been Slain with Lightning when they have been surrounded with Armies to defend them. Who can stand before the Omnipotent God when once he is angry? Rocks cannot, for the Rocks are thrown down by him, when his fury is poured out like fire. The Famous Island of Sicily ▪ saw this to be true