Sin Stigmatized, Part 1 · Section 34
§ 34.
NEither is it ſtrange that they ſhould be ſo jocund, confident, and ſecure, Drunkards inſenſible of their ſia and da… ger, becauſe ignorant.that they ſhould neither be ſenſible of their preſent condition, nor afraid of future Iudgments, for, for what the eye ſeeth not, the heart rueth not; ſecurity makes worldlings merry, and therefore are they ſecure becauſe they are ignorant.
A dunſe, wee know, ſeldome makes doubts, yea, a foole, ſaith Salomon, boaſteth, and is confident. Pro. 14.16. and by a foole, in all his Proverbs, hee meanes the naturall man.
As the Spyder which kills men, cures Apes: ſo ignorance doth wonderfully profit nature, which is the greateſt bane to grace that can bee, it is a vaile or curtaine to hide away their ſinnes: our knowledge, ſaith one of the learned, doth but ſhew us our ignorance; and wiſdome, ſaith another, is but one of mans greateſt miſeries, unleſſe it be as well able to conquer, as to decerne; the next to being free from miſeries, is not to be ſenſible of them. Eraſmus could ſpie out a great priviledge in a blockiſh condition, Fooles, ſaith hee, being free from ambition, enuy, ſhame, and feare, are neither troubled in conſcience, nor maſſerated with cares; and beaſts, we ſee, are not aſhamed of their deeds. Where is no reaſon at all, there is no ſinne; where no uſe of reaſon, no apprehenſion of ſinne; and where is no apprehenſion of ſinne, there can be no ſhame.
Blind men never bluſh, neither are theſe men aſhamed or afraid of any thing, becauſe for want of bringing their lives to the rule of Gods word, they perceive not when they doe well, when ill: the timber not brought to the Rule, may eaſily appeare ſtraight, when yet it is not: nay, becauſe they ſee not their owne ſoules, they are ignorant that they have any, and as little care for them, as they know them: they beare that rich treaſure in their bodies (as a Toade doth a pretious ſtone in her head) and know it not.
What's the reaſon a worldling can ſtrut it under an unſupportable maſſe of oathes, blaſphemies, thefts, murthers, Why they are ſo jocund and confident.drunkenneſſe, whoredomes and other ſuch like ſinnes, yea, can eaſily ſwallow theſe ſpiders, with Mithridates, and digeſt them too, their ſtomackes being accuſtomed unto them, when one that is regenerate ſhrinkes under the burthen of wandering thoughts, and want of proficiency? It is this, the one is in his element, the ſtate of nature; the other taken forth; now a fiſh in the river is not afraid of drowning. Yea, let a man dive under whole tunnes of water in the Sea, he feeles not any weight it hath, becauſe the water is in it's proper place; and no element doth weigh downe, in it's owne place; but take the ſame man forth, and lay but one veſſell upon his ſhoulders, he feeles it a great burthen, and very weighty: ſo every ſmall ſinne to a holy man, who is in the ſtate of Regeneration, hath a tender conſcience, and weigheth his ſinne by the ballance of the Sanctuary, is of great weight; but to a naturall man, who hath a brawny conſcience, is plunged over head and eares in ſenſuallity, and weighteth his ſinne by the ballance of his owne carnall reaſon, it is a light thing not worth the regarding; yea, ſo long as they remaine in this eſtate they are dead in ſin, Eph. 2.1. Rev. 3.1. Now lay a mountaine upon a dead man hee feeles not once the weight.
Well then may theſe doe much evill to others, but ſmall hope is there that others ſhould doe good upon them, or reforme them from this ſinne of ſwearing; no, it is an evill which, for inſolencie and grouth, ſcornes to be ſlaine either by tongue or pen; but, like the Princes of Middian, it calls for Gideon himſelfe, even the power of the magiſtrate to fall thereon.