USE 2. Of Lamentation for the Hardness of Men's Hearts in these Times: As it is said the Lord Jesus mourned when he saw the Hardness of the People's Hearts, Mark 3.5. Are there not some so far from this, as that they take Pleasure in their Sins, they are Sugar under their Tongues, as sweet as Sleep, nay, as their Lives? And you come to pull away their Limbs when you come to pluck away their Sins: Tho' they have broke Sabbaths, neglected Prayer, despised the Word, hated and mocked at Saints, been stubborn to their Parents, curst and swore, (which made Peter go out and weep bitterly) tho' lustful and wanton, (which broke David's Bones) tho' guilty of more Sins than there be Motes in the Sun or Stars in Heaven, tho' their Sins be Crimson, and fill Heaven with their Cry, and all the Earth with their Burden, yet they mourn not; never did it one Hour together; nay, they cannot do it, because they will not: If you were weary and loaden, where are your unutterable ⟨p. 88⟩Groans? If wounded and bruised, when are your dolorous Complaints? If sick, where is your Enquiry for a Physician? If sad, where are your Tears, in the Day, in the Night, Morning and Evening, alone by your selves, and in Company with others? Oh how great is the Wrath of God, hardening so many Thousands at this Day! Whence comes it that Christ is not prized, but from this Senselessness? Name any Reason, why the blessed Gospel of Peace, and all the sweet Promises of Life are under-valued, but from hence: And what do you hereby poor Creatures, but only aggravate your Sins, and make those that are little exceeding great in the Eyes of God? Whence is it that you treasure up Wrath against the Day of Wrath, Rom. 2.2, 3, 4, 5. This Hardness is that which blunts the Edge of God's Ordinances, whence God's poor Ministers sit sorrowful in their Closets, seeing all God's Seed lost upon bare Rocks: Oh this is the Condition of many a Man, and which is most fearful, the Means which should make the Heart sensible, make it more proud and unsensible. Tyre, and Sidon, and Sodom, are more fit to mourn, than Chorazin and Capernaum that have enjoyed humbling Means long. Nay, how many are there that mourn out their Mournings, confess out their Confessions, and by their own Humiliations grow more senseless afterward? Did we ever live in a more impenitent secure Age?
USE 2. Of Lamentation for the Hardness of Men's Hearts in these Times: As it is said the Lord Jesus mourned when he saw the Hardness of the People's Hearts, Mark 3.5. Are there not some so far from this, as that they take Pleasure in their Sins, they are Sugar under their Tongues, as sweet as Sleep, nay, as their Lives? And you come to pull away their Limbs when you come to pluck away their Sins: Tho' they have broke Sabbaths, neglected Prayer, despised the Word, hated and mocked at Saints, been stubborn to their Parents, curst and swore, (which made Peter go out and weep bitterly) tho' lustful and wanton, (which broke David's Bones) tho' guilty of more Sins than there be Motes in the Sun or Stars in Heaven, tho' their Sins be Crimson, and fill Heaven with their Cry, and all the Earth with their Burthen, yet they mourn not; never did it one Hour together; nay, they cannot do it, because they will not: If you were weary and loaden, where are your unutterable ⟨p. 88⟩Groans? If wounded and bruised, when are your dolorous Complaints? If sick, where is your Enquiry for a Physician? If sad, where are your Tears, in the Day, in the Night, Morning and Evening, alone by your selves, and in Company with others? Oh how great is the Wrath of God, hardning so many Thousands at this Day! Whence comes it that Christ is not prized, but from this Senselessness? Name any Reason, why the blessed Gospel of Peace, and all the sweet Promises of Life are under-valued, but from hence: And what do you hereby poor Creatures, but only aggravate your Sins, and make those that are little exceeding great in the Eyes of God? Whence is it that you treasure up Wrath against the Day of Wrath, Rom. 2.2, 3, 4, 5. This Hardness is that which blunts the Edge of God's Ordinances, whence God's poor Ministers sit sorrowful in their Closets, seeing all God's Seed lost upon bare Rocks: Oh this is the Condition of many a Man, and which is most fearful, the Means which should make the Heart sensible, make it more proud and unsensible. Tyre, and Sydon, and Sod•m, are more fit to mourn, than Chorazin and Capernaum that have enjoyed humbling Means long. Nay, how many are there that mourn out their Mournings, confess out their Confessions, and by their own Humiliations grow more senseless afterward? Did we ever live in a more impenitent secure Age?
