Secondly, There is a Spiritual Evil which Pursues the Sinner. A Resolved •nner is pursued with evil indeed, when •e holy God gives him up to commit •ore evil. Sin, Sin, is it self the most woeful Evil, as well as the woeful Fountain of all other Evil. When Sin is ••nished with Sin, or when for Sin men are left unto more Sin, Then, The• does •vil pursue Sinners, with the most horrible Vengeance of God. I find, some Interpreters give this as the sense of the sentence here passed upon Sinners; Evil pursueth Sinners; That is to say, Sin•ers will have their Sinful and Evil Habits follow them, till they do Eternally perish in them. A Lust is an Evil. Ne•er, Never does Evil more terribly pursue a Sinner, than when he is given up •o the Lust of his own Heart. But such oftentimes is the Dreadful Wrath of •he Holy and Jealous God against a Sinner, as to leave him, to be Enslaved by a raging Lust as long as he lives. Thus we read, Psal. 81. 11. They would […] hearken to my Voice; So I gave them •p to the Lust of their own Heart. A ⟨p. 12⟩sinner is given up to the power of Lust; A Lust of intemperance, a Lust of Unchastity, a Lust of Covetousness and Earthly-mindedness. This Lust will now Pursue him all his Days; Tho' his Condition be changed, Tho' his Relation be changed, yet his Lust continue• the same, and Pursues him in all his New Conditions and Relations: He goes perhaps to get rid of his Lust, by some Devotionary methods, but they signify no more than the Green Withes about Sampson, for the Restraining of it; While he remains an Unregenerate Sinner, and a stranger to Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, it will Pursue him all his Days. And hence it comes to pass, that an astonishing Blindness and Hardness comes upon the mind of a Sinner, and a lamentable Indisposition to Repentance. Oh! We have s••n, we have seen prodigious Instances! I have read of a Malefactor, one that had been Condemned to Die for Stealing and Murder; That even in the very Hours of his Execution, he Proclaimed his Impenitence: His Fellow-sufferer could say to him, Luk. 23. 40. Dost th•• ⟨p. 13⟩not Fear God, seeing thou art under Condemnation? But I say unto you, Sinners can't be Pursued with a greater Evil, than […] Soul insensible of the Evil, that Sin is bringing upon them! There have been Sinners actually seized by a Law of Death, for Capital Crimes;
Secondly, There is a Spiritual Evil which Pursues the Sinner. A Resolved •nner is pursued with evil indeed, when •e holy God gives him up to commit •ore evil. Sin, Sin, is it self the most woful Evil, as well as the woful Fountain of all other Evil. When Sin is ••nished with Sin, or when for Sin men are left unto more Sin, Then, The• does •vil pursue Sinners, with the most horri•le Vengeance of God. I find, some In•erpreters give this as the sense of the •entence here passed upon Sinners; Evil •ursueth Sinners; That is to say, Sin•ers will have their Sinful and Evil Habits follow them, till they do Eternally •erish in them. A Lust is an Evil. Ne•er, Never does Evil more terribly pur•ue a Sinner, than when he is given up •o the Lust of his own Heart. But such oftentimes is the Dreadful Wrath of •he Holy and Jealous God against a Sinner, as to leave him, to be Enslaved by a raging Lust as long as he lives. Thus we read, Psal. 81. 11. They would 〈…〉 hearken to my Voice; So I gave them •p to the Lust of their own Heart. A ⟨p. 12⟩sinner is given up to the power of Lust; A Lust of intemperance, a Lust of Unchastity, a Lust of Covetousness and Earthly-mindedness. This Lust will now Pursue him all his Dayes; Tho' his Condition be changed, Tho' his Relation be changed, yet his Lust continue• the same, and Pursues him in all his New Conditions and Relations: He goes perhaps to get rid of his Lust, by some Devotionary methods, but they signify no more than the Green Wythes about Sampson, for the Restraining of it; While he remains an Unregenerate Sinner, and a stranger to Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, it will Pursue him all his Dayes. And hence it comes to pass, that an astonishing Blindness and Hardness comes upon the mind of a Sinner, and a lamentable Indisposition to Repentance. Oh! We have sn, we have seen prodigious Instances! I have read of a Malefactor, one that had been Condemned to Dy for Stealing and Murder; That even in the very Hours of his Execution, he Proclamed his Impenitence: His Fellow-sufferer could say to him,
