Sin Stigmatized, Part 2 · Section 174
§ 174.
FIrſt, 3 Believe their ſtate dan…ero us and that there is no …ay to help, ut by a change to the cou… trary.believe thine eſtate dangerous, and that there is but one way to helpe thee, viz. to repent what thou haſt done, and never more to doe what thou haſt repented, not foſtering one knowne ſin in thy ſoule: for the only way to become good, is, firſt, to believe that thou art evill; and by accuſing our ſelves, we prevent Sathan; by judging our ſelves, we prevent God. And laſtly, one hole in a Ship may ſinke her, one Bullet may kill a man, aſwel as twenty: neither is repentance without amendment any more then to pump, and never ſtop the leake.
2. Secondly, if thou beeſt convinced, and reſolveſt upon a new courſe, 4. Be conſtant and peremptory in their reſolutiou.let thy reſolution bee peremptory and conſtant. If with theſe premonitions, the Spirit vouchſafes to ſtirre in thy heart, by good motions, and holy purpoſes to obey God, in letting thy ſinnes go, as once the Angel in the Poole of Betheſda, take hold of opportunity and having eares to heare, hark en what the Spirit ſaith, and take heed you harden not againe, as Pharaoh and the Philistins did. Thou knoweſt Pharaoh had many purpoſes to obey God, in letting the children of Iſrael goe, but ſtill hardens againe, as often as he purpoſed, untill God had almoſt deſtroyed the whole Land; yea, after hee had ſtood out nine plagues, when death entred within his Palaces, he diſmiſſed the people, but preſently after, in all haſt makes after them to fetch them back againe; yea, he could ſeeme religious, when the fit tooke him; every great plague put him into a Feaver, and then he was godly of a ſudden, O pray for me now, but when the fit was over, Pharaoh was Pharaoh againe, as prophane as ever; nine times hee began to relent, and nine times againe hee hardened his heart; but he was never good egg nor bird, his beginning was naught, his proceeding worſe, and who could looke for better at his later end: and the Philistins being five times puniſhed, five times repented themſelves, and at laſt returned to their old by as againe, in which they remained conſtant, 1 Samuel 5. and 6. Chapters.
Againe, Pilate had ſtrong purpoſes and deſires to let Chriſt goe, yet at lenght condemned him, to content the people, Luke 23.22. to 25. The young man in the Goſpel reſolved verily to follow Chriſt, but turned backe and went away ſorrowfull, when hee heard the condition propounded, of giving that he had to the poore, Mat. 19.22. Iudas was grieved for murthering Chriſt, yet no change enſued, hee after murthered himſelfe; all theſe conceptions dyed, before they came to the birth: therfore take heed, leaſt it ſhould fare ſo with thee. How many thouſand good motions of the Holy Ghoſt prove ſtill-borne and abortive, through our negligence, or be over-laid with our vanities? we uſe them, as Iulius Caeſar did the Paper that concerned his owne life, all the other petitions he read, only that he put in his pocket, and never look'd on it.
Men commonly regard the ſongs of Sion, as they doe muſicke, which they heare at night in the ſtreets, whiles they are in bed; perhaps they will ſtep to the window, and liſten to it awhile, as if they lik'd it, but preſently to bed againe.
O doe not like the Iſraelites, who are ſaid to heare God, and, in the ſame Chapter, to worſhip the Calfe; quench not the Spirit, 1 Theſ. 5.19. If thou be upon the mountaine, looke not backe againe upon Sodome, as Lot's wife did. If thou be within the Arke, fly not out againe into the world, as Noah's Crow did. If thou bee well waſhed, returne not againe to the mire, as the Hog doth. If thou beeſt clean purged, turne not againe to thy filthy vomit, as the Dog doth. If thou be going towards the land of Canaan, think not of the fleſh-pots of Egypt. If thou have ſet thy hand to the plow, looke not behind thee; for better not begin, then leave off having begun; better remaine cold, then firſt bee ho…, then luke-warme, and after key-cold againe. For as in naturall things, as water that which hath beene a little warmed, becommeth more cold, then if it had never had any heat in it: ſo in ſpirituall, the evill ſpirit having once forſaken a man, if he returnes to that houſe, after it is empty, ſwept, and garniſhed, he bringeth with him ſeven more ſpirits, worſe then himſelfe, and the latter end of that man is worſe then his beginning, Matth. 12.43.45. Thus it fared with Iulian the apoſtate, and Iudas the traitor, who ſuffering the divell to enter into him, when he had newly received the Sacrament, he could never afterward be driven out againe: ſo if the divell enter into thee, after thouhaſtreceived this warning, had theſe good purpoſes, and made theſe holy reſolutions, he will poſſeſſe thee, like Iudas, ſtronger then he did before. Oh, it is a fearefull thing to receive the grace of God in vaine; and a deſperate thing, being warned of a Rock; wilfully to caſt our ſelves upon it.
Wherefore, reſemble not the Chelidony ſtone, which retaineth his vertue no longer, then it is rub'd wi…h gold; nor the Iron, which is no longer ſoft, then it is in the fire. Be not like thoſe which are Sea ſicke, who are much troubled, while they are on ſhip-board, but preſently well againe, when they come to ſhore; for that good, ſaith Gregory, will doe us no good, which is not made good by perſeverance.