Sin Stigmatized, Part 1 · Section 140 – Section 141
§ 140.
TEnthly, 10 Their ſin is not againſt the life of body or eſtate, but againſt the ſoules of men.thy ſinne is incomparably greater, and conſequently, thy puniſhment ſhall be, in that the hurt which thou doeſt to thy neighbour, is againſt his ſoule. For as the hurting and endamaging of the perſon and life of another, is a more hainous offence, then is the diminiſhing of his goods, and outward eſtate: ſo the hurt which redowndeth, by our meanes, unto the ſoule of any, is much more abominable every way, both in it ſelfe, and in the ſight of God, then is that wrong, which is offered unto his body.
Now thou art a ſoule murtherer, yea, many are the ſoules which thou haſt (intentionally, and as much as in thee lyeth) ſlaine with death eternall: and what canſt thou expect (without repentance, and an anſwerable endeavour to win ſoules as faſt to God, as formerly thou haſt to Sathan) but to bee many fathoms deeper in Hell, then other men? will God powre out his curſe and vengeance on them, which make the blind ſtumble, to the hurt of his body, Deut. 27.18. and will he not much more, do this to ſoule-destroyers?An objection anſwered.
Objection. But thou, like thoſe Diſciples, Iohn 6.60. wilt think this a hard ſaying; neither canſt thou believe, that thou art a ſoule murtherer, though I have made it undeniable, in Section the 100.101.113.134.115.116.117.
Anſwer. But it will one day be a harder ſaying, if you take not heed, when Chriſt ſhall anſwer all your apologies, with depart from me into everlaſting fire, prepared for the Divel and his Angels, Mat. 25.41. Luk. 13.25. to 29. As for further proofe of what I lay to thy charge, I could eaſily ſhew thee, how The daily ſcoffes reproaches &c. of thee and thy fellovves.
1. Detaines
2. Staggers
3. Keepes
4. Beates
5. Hardens
many
From entering into a religious courſe.
Which have made ſome progreſſe in the vvay.
From doing the good vvhichwhich they vvould, or appearing the ſame which they are.
Clean off from their profeſſion.
And makes them reſolve againſt goodneſſe.
For there is no ſuch rub in the way to Heaven, as this; Sathan hath not ſuch a tryed ſhaft in all his quiver; which makes our Saviour pronounce that man bleſſed, that is not offended in him, Matth. 11.6. But of theſe ſeveralls elſewhere, leaſt I ſhould overmuch ſeeme to digreſſe: only I grieve to ſee how they wrong themſelves, in thus wronging others: for in that wicked men doe ſo mock and deride ſuch as are in love with heavenly things, it is hard to ſay, whether they doe moſt offend, in hindering the honour of God thereby, or their neighbours wellfare, or their own ſalvation. What are the waters of thine own ſinns ſo low, that thou muſt have ſtreames from every place, to run into thine Ocean? thy owne burthen is unſupportable, yet thou wilt adde to the weight other mens, that thy riſing may be irrecoverable. Content thy ſelfe, for aſſuredly, thou ſhalt once pay deare for it, either by teares, or torment.
Yea, let ſuch take heed, for the fire of Hell will be hot enough for a mans owne iniquities; he needs not the iniquities of others, like fuell and Bellowes to blow, and increaſe the flame: which if they well conſidered, would make them cheriſh all good deſires in the weake, and to deale in this caſe, as we uſe when we carry a ſmal Light in the winde, hide it with our lap, or hand, that it may not go out. Oh how much eaſier is it to ſubvert, or caſt down a thing, then to erect it, when even a baſe fellow could deſtroy that Temple in one day, which was ſix and thirty yeares in ſeting up.
True it is, None but counterſeits wil be beaten from Chriſts ſtandard by their ſcoffes and reproaches.if the barking of theſe Currs ſhall hinder us from walking on our way, it is a ſigne we are very impotent; yea, if our love be ſo cold to Chriſt, that we are aſhamed for his ſake to beare a few ſcoffs and reproaches from the world, it is evident we are but counterfeits: for, for our comforts, it ſhall not bee ſo with thoſe whom God hath any intereſt in, notwithſtanding all the ſcoffes of Atheiſts and careleſſe worldlings, they ſhall not onelyonly looſe their labours herein, but themſelves too. The faithfull will neither buy peace with diſhonour, nor take it up at intereſt of danger to enſue: wel may they ſerve as Snuffers, to qualifie our zeale, and make it burne brighter, but never become ſuch Extinguiſhers, as to put it quite out, either by perſecutions, or by perſwaſions. So that their ſpitefull adverſaries imagine but a vaine thing, they ſhall be no more able to hinder any one from ſalvation, whom God hath choſen to his Kingdome of grace and glory, then Saul with his Courtiers, could hinder David, from attaining the promiſed Kingdome of Iſrael: they may move the godly, but not remove them; They have oftentimes afflicted me, from my youth, may Iſrael now ſay, but they could not prevaile againſt me, Pſal. 129.1.2 It is given to the great Dragon, and the Beaſt, in the thirteenth of the Revelation, to make warre with the Saints, as well as with the reſt which dwell upon the earth; but hee ſhall not prevaile with any, ſave thoſe, whoſe names are not written in the Booke of Life, verſ. 8. if ſo, let them not ſpare to doe their worſt; the winds may well toſſe the Ship wherein Chriſt is, but never overturn it: if Chriſt have but once poſſeſt the affections, there is no diſpoſſeſſing him againe: as that Cloth which is throughly dyed black, will afterwards take no other colour. The League that Heaven hath made, Hell wants power to break: who can ſeparate the conjunctions of the Deity, Whom God did predestinate, ſaith Paul, them alſo hee called; and whom he called, them alſo he juſtified; and whom hee juſtified, them hee alſo glorified, Rom. 8.30. They ſhall ſooner blow up Hell with traines of Powder, then breake the chaine of this dependant truth. No power of man is able to withſtand the will of God, it ſhall ſtand firmer then the Firmament: it is as poſſible to ſtop the motion of the Sun, as the courſe of Gods predeſtination. A fire in the heart overcommeth all other fires without, as wee ſee in the Martyres, which when the ſweet doctrine of Chriſt had once gotten into their hearts, it could not bee got out again, by all the torments, which wit, and cruelty could deviſe: and the reaſon is, they over-looke theſe bug-bears, and behold Chriſt calling, the Spirit aſiſting, the Father bleſſing, the Angels comforting, the Word directing, and the Crown inviting.
Alaſſe! if their ſcoffes, and all they can ſay, could flout us out of the integrity of our hearts, when our fore Fathers feared not the flames, we were feareful cowards. Indeed, the timorous Snaile puts out her hornes to feele for danger, and puls them in againe without cauſe. If the ſluggard heares of a Lion in the way, hee quakes; but tell it to a Sampſon, or a David, they wil go out to meet him: yea, let Aggabus tel Paul of bands at Ieruſalem, he anſwers, I am ready not only to be bound, but to dye at Ieruſalem, for the name of Ieſus, Act. 21.13 The Horſe neighs at the Trumpet, the Leviathan laughs at the Speare: ſo tell the reſolved Chriſtian of enemies, or danger, hee feares not, hee cares not; to carnall friends he ſayes, I know yee not; to diſwaders, get yee behind me Sathan.
But what of all this? What though none of Chriſts owne band can be diminiſhed. When thou doſt the utmoſt of thy power, and, ſo farre as in thee lyes, flout men out of their faithes, and ſlay them with death eternall? and when the intention, and offer of this miſchiefe, ſhall be judged, as if thou hadſt done the miſchiefe? God regards not ſo much what is performed, as what was intended; and meaſures what we doe, by what we meant to doe. He that ſhot at a Marke, and kild a man, by the Law of God, was not held a murtherer; but he that ſhall purpoſe to kill a man, though he be prevented, is as guilty of his blood, as if he had actually killed him. One man wills the knowledge of anothers wife, he never attaines it, perhaps never attempts it; yet he is an Adulterer. A man would ſteale, if he durſt, he is a Thiefe, though he have ſtolne nothing. A ſtrang thing, ſaith Augustine wittily, the man is ſtill alive, and yet art thou a murtherer; the woman is ſtill chaſt and untouched, and yet art thou an Adulterer. Good and evill thoughts and deſires, in Gods account, are good and evill workes; and as moſtly he accepts the will for the deed; ſo uſually hee meſures the deed by the will. Men indeed looke on the outward appeareance, 1 Sam. 16.7. and ſo meaſure the will by the worke, but God beholdeth the heart, Ier. 11.20. and meaſures the worke by the will: for though our perſons ſhall be judged according to our workes, yet our workes ſhall be judged according to our hearts; as was the widdowes Mite, Marke, 12.43. the Lord accepts affecting, for effecting; willing, for working; deſires, for deeds; purpoſes, for performances; Abraham had onelyonly an intention to offer Iſaac, and yet the Holy-Ghoſt tells us, that Abraham did offer Iſaac, and 'twas rewarded as done. Neither had David beene leſſe guilty of Vriah's death, in that he wrot to Ioab, to put him in the fore-front of the battell, that he might be ſmitten and dye, although he had eſcaped the ſword, then he was, it being performed, 2 Sam. 11.15. nor Ieſabel of Naboth's, in that ſhe ſent her Letters to the Elders of his City, to that purpoſe, 1 King. 21.10.19. Their intention of ſoule murther ſhall be rewarded, as if they bad doue the ſame actually.ſo he that murthers ſoules intentionally, is as guilty, as if he had done the ſame actually, and ſhall ſpeed thereafter; for God (who puniſheth, or rewardeth nothing but the will) will even arraigne and condemne thee for doing the ſame in fact.
§ 141.
TO which may be added (as another aggravation, 11. Their ſin doth not extend it ſelfe to … this or that perſon only but to milions, yea, after ages.belonging to this circumſtance) the extention of it. And herein thou doſt out-ſtrip almoſt all other ſinners, in the heynouſneſſe of thy offence: for whereas other ſinnes, viz. ſwearing, theft, murther, &c. may be compared unto a ſingle Bullet, which kills but one at once, namely, the party offending: one of thy ſinnes, viz. drunkenneſſe, may be compared to chaineſhot, which ſends men by cluſters to Hell; the other, I meane, thy ſcandalizing the way of truth, and turning good into evill, is like that plot of the gunpowder Treaſon, which, if it had taken effect, would have deſtroyed a multitude at one blow. Yea, thereby thou doſt not onelyonly thy utmoſt, but even ſufficient without Gods great mercy, to murther and deſtroy all that heare of thy milicious ſlanders, and bitter invectives, make them aſhamed of their holy profeſſion, and flye from Chriſts ſtandard, backe to the world.
Now injurics are ſo much the more intollerable, as they are dilated unto more: thoſe offences which are of narrow extent, may receive an eaſie ſatisfaction: the amends are not poſſible, where the wrong is univerſall; as may be collected from the ſtory of Queene Vaſhti, Eſther, 1.16.17.18. And thou doſt not inveigh againſt this, or that particular perſon, or congregation, but againſt all the faithfull throughout the land: wherein thou more then reſembleſt a mad Dog, who ſpareth none, but bites at all that come neere him: for this thy ill report of the way of truth, like poyſon, diſperſeth it ſelfe into every veine of the body politicke.
Now he is monſtrouſly malicious, and deſerveth grievouſly to be puniſhed, that caſts poyſon into one cup, with an intention to poyſon one alone; but he more, which throweth it into the whole veſſell, whereof all the family drinkes, with a purpoſe to ſpeed every one in the houſe; but he is deſperatly and prodigiouſly wicked, beyond expreſſion, who hurleth deadly poyſon into the fountain, whence the whole City is ſerved (as once the Iewes ſerved this City) and even ſuch, and no other is thy caſe, it differs not a haires breadth; only thou poyſoneſt ſoules, the other bodies, and therein tranſcendeſt.
Now as this is an heinous offence. above any I can think upon; ſo great offences, if ever they obtaine forgiveneſſe, had need of anſwerable ſatisfactions: notorious offenders, may not thinke to ſit downe with the taske of ordinary ſervices; the retributions of their obedience, muſt bee proportionable to their crimes; as was that of Paul's, who as he had done more evill to the Saints, then all the reſt of the Apoſtles; ſo he laboured more then they all, in adding to the Church ſuch as ſhould be ſaved; yea, ſaith God to Ananias, I will ſhew him how many things hee muſt ſuffer for my Names ſake, Act. 9.16.