2. And as I know that God must needs be in the right, so I know the case is so palpable and gross, which he pleadeth against, that no man can have reason for it. Is it possible that a man can have any reason to break his maker's laws, and reason to dishonour the Lord of glory, and reason to abuse the Lord that bought him? Is it possible, that a man can have any good reason to damn his own immortal soul? Mark the Lord's question, Turn ye, turn ye, why will you die? Is eternal death a thing to be desired? Are you in love with hell? What reason have you wilfully to perish? If you think you have some reason to sin, should you not remember, that death is the wages of sin, Rom. vi. 23. and think whether you have any reason to undo yourselves, body and soul forever. You should not only ask whether you love the adder, but whether you love the sting? It is such a thing for a man to cast away his everlasting happiness, and to sin against God, that no good reason can be given for it; but the more any one pleads for it, the madder he showeth himself to be. Had you a lordship, or a kingdom offered you, for every sin tha• you commit, it were not reason, but madness to accept it. Could you by every sin obtain the highest thing upon earth that flesh desireth, it were of no considerable value to persuade you in reason to commit it. If it were to please your greatest or dearest friends, or to obey the greatest prince on earth, or to save your lives, or to escape the greatest earthly misery, all these are of no consideration to draw a man, in reason to the committing of one sin. If it were a right hand, or a right eye, that would hinder your salvation, it is ⟨p. 79⟩the gainfullest way to cast it away, rather than to go to hell to save it. For there is no saving a part when you lose the whole. So exceeding great are the matters of eternity, that nothing in this world deserveth once to be named in comparison with them; nor can any earthly thing, though it were life, or crowns, or kingdoms, be a reasonable excuse for the neglect of matters of such high and everlasting consequence. A man can have no reason to cross his ultimate end; Heaven is such a thing, that if you lose it, nothing can supply the want, or make up the loss;
2. And as I know that God must needs be in the right, so I know the case is so palpable and gross, which he pleadeth against, that no man can have reason for it. Is it possible that a man can have any reason to break his maker's laws, and reason to dishonor the Lord of glory, and reason to abuse the Lord that bought him? Is it possible, that a man can have any good reason to damn his own immortal soul? Mark the Lord's question, Turn ye, turn ye, why will you die? Is eternal death a thing to be desired? Are you in love with hell? What reason have you wilfully to perish? If you think you have some reason to sin, should you not remember, that death is the wages of sin, Rom. vi. 23. and think whether you have any reason to undo yourselves, body and soul forever. You should not only ask whether you love the adder, but whether you love the sting? It is such a thing for a man to cast away his everlasting happiness, and to sin against God, that no good reason can be given for it; but the more any one pleads for it, the madder he sheweth himself to be. Had you a lordship, or a kingdom offered you, for every sin tha• you commit, it were not reason, but madness to accept it. Could you by every sin obtain the highest thing upon earth that flesh desireth, it were of no considerable value to persuade you in reason to commit it. If it were to please your greatest or dearest friends, or to obey the greatest prince on earth, or to save your lives, or to escape the greatest earthly misery, all these are of no consideration to draw a man, in reason to the committing of one sin. If it were a right hand, or a right eye, that would hinder your salvation, it is ⟨p. 79⟩the gainfullest way to cast it away, rather than to go to hell to save it. For there is no saving a part when you lose the whole. So exceeding great are the matters of eternity, that nothing in this world deserveth once to be named in comparison with them; nor can any earthly thing, though it were life, or crowns, or kingdoms, be a reasonable excuse for the neglect of matters of such high and everlasting consequence. A man can have no reason to cross his ultimate end; Heaven is such a thing, that if you lose it, nothing can supply the want, or make up the loss;
