Secondly. A Sinner has hardened his Heart in Sin, when he will […] ⟨p. 18⟩to Sin, with the utmost Hardiness, tho' he has the Light and Voice of his Conscience Reclaiming of him. To be so Hardy in Sin, as to trample on all the Remonstrances of Conscience against it, is to harden ones Heart in Sin. We find it Exemplified; 2 King. XVII. 13, 14. The Lord testified against them, saying, Turn from your evil Ways: Yet they would not hear, but hardened their Necks. Conscience, the Deputy of God, pleads in his Name with many a Man, Oh! Do not the Abominable Thing! And yet, the Abominable Man will do that Thing. Such a Man has hardened his own Heart unto a Degree that is Horrible! A Sinner hardens his Heart when he omits those Things, whereof his Conscience tells him, This is Commanded of GOD! But he yet more hardens his Heart, when he commits those Things, whereof his Conscience tells him, This is Forbidden by GOD! It may now be said of such,—what we read, Zech. VII. 12. They have made their Hearts as […] Adamant Stone, lest they should hear ⟨p. 19⟩the Law, and the Words which the Lord of Hosts hath sent by His Spirit. There are those, that won't forbear Sinning, tho' their Conscience do stand before them with a flaming Sword, as the Angel did before Balaam; and say, Thy Way is Perverse before God; The Wrath of God will fall upon thee in this evil Way. O Desperate hardness of Heart! Wherein does the Heart of a Devil differ from it! Foolhardy, Self-hardened Sinner; What wouldest thou do if thou couldest? What less than push an Impotent Stab upon the Almighty GOD Himself? What less than stretch out thy Hand against God, and strengthen thyself against the Almighty, and run upon Him, upon the thick Bosses of His Buckler!
Secondly. A Sinner has hardened his Heart in Sin, when he will 〈…〉 ⟨p. 18⟩to Sin, with the utmost Hardiness, tho' he has the Light and Voice of his Conscience Reclaiming of him. To be so Hardy in Sin, as to trample on all the Remonstrances of Conscience against it, is to harden ones Heart in Sin. We find it Exemplified; 2 King. XVII. 13, 14. The Lord testified against them, saying, Turn from your evil Ways: Yet they would not hear, but hardened their Necks. Conscience, the Deputy of God, pleads in his Name with many a Man, Oh! Do not the Abominable Thing! And yet, the Abominable Man will do that Thing. Such a Man has hardened his own Heart unto a Degree that is Horrible! A Sinner hardens his Heart when he omits those Things, whereof his Conscience tells him, This is Commanded of GOD! But he yet more hardens his Heart, when he commits those Things, whereof his Conscience tells him, This is Forbidden by GOD! It may now be said of such,—what we read, Zech. VII. 12. They have made their Hearts as 〈…〉 Adamant Stone, lest they should hear ⟨p. 19⟩the Law, and the Words which the Lord of Hosts hath sent by His Spirit. There are those, that won't forbear Sinning, tho' their Conscience do stand before them with a flaming Sword, as the Angel did before Balaam; and say, Thy Way is Perverse before God; The Wrath of God will fall upon thee in this evil Way. O Desperate hardness of Heart! Wherein does the Heart of a Divel differ from it! Foolhardy, Self-hardened Sinner; What wouldest thou do if thou couldest? What less than push an Impotent Stab upon the Almighty GOD Himself? What less than stretch out thy Hand against God, and strengthen thyself against the Almighty, and run upon Him, upon the thick Bosses of His Buckler!
