Sermons Preached on Several Occasions, Sermon 2
The Second Sermon.
JER. XIII. 23.
Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the Leopard his ſpots? then may ye alſo do good that are accuſtomed to do evil.
IN theſe words we have a ſhort, but very ſatisfactory account of the Ground of God's ſevere proceedings againſt the Jews for their ſins. God had long born with them, he had uſed all ſorts of means to reclaim them: He had ſometimes been drawing them by the Cords of a Man, with Bands of Love; he had been trying to win them by kindneſs; Hoſ. 11.4.he was to them as they that take off the yoke on their Jaws, and he laid meat unto them. He had treated them with that gentleneſs and kindneſs which is wont to work upon Irrational Creatures, and make the very brute Beaſts, tame, gentle, and tractable; Iſa. 1.3.For even the Ox knoweth his owner, and the Aſs his maſters crib. Otherwhile he had been trying whether ſeverity might take any better effect upon them; he had been correcting them firſt more favourably, and with much lenity, afterwards more ſharply and ſeverely; and together with other means, he had been ſtill warning, admoniſhing, exhorting, reproving, threatning them by his Prophets, and ſetting before them the Comforts and Rewards of Repentance and Obedience, and the ſad conſequents and iſſues of their diſobedience, in caſe they ſhould ſtill go on in their Sin and Impenitency. But none of theſe things would work upon them; through long cuſtom and continuance in ſin, they were now become incorrigible; 'twas in vain to expect that they ſhould be reformed: All means and endeavours were but loſt upon them. Wherefore ſeeing their Diſeaſe appeared to be incurable, God was reſolved to be rid of them, and to eaſe himſelf of them once for all. They ſhould dwell in his Land no longer, away they muſt into Captivity, and ſuch a Captivity as ſhould not only remove them far from the Land of their Nativity, but ſcatter them up and down, and diſperſe them from one another. So we have their Sin and Puniſhment ſet forth in the words of the Text, and the following Verſe; Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the Leopard his ſpots? then may ye alſo do good, that are accuſtomed to do evil. Therefore will I ſcatter them as the ſtubble that paſſeth away by the wind of the wilderneſs.
Before I come to the words, we may by the way obſerve, That 'tis a moſt woful condition to be ſtill incorrigible under all means applyed to humble and reform us. The miſery of ſuch a people lyes in theſe two things.
1. That God is wont to give up ſuch a people to themſelves, to walk in the way of their own Hearts. He ſaith of them, as of the Jews, Iſa. 1.5.Why ſhould ye be ſtricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more; and as of Ephraim, Hoſ. 4.17.Ephraim is joined to Idols, let him alone; he is ſo nearly joined, and intirely united to them in his Affections, that nothing will withdraw him from them; therefore let him alone, let him take his courſe, and ſee what will come of it in the end. And though this may ſeem to be no great evil, but rather an advantage, and a very deſirable liberty in the Judgment of the Sinner, who cannot endure to be curbed or reſtrained; yet 'tis a very heavy Judgment, and ſo much worſe than any Affliction whatſoever, as the evil of ſin is worſe than the evil of puniſhment. And ſo God ſpeaks of this his Diſpenſation in words full of high Indignation and Diſpleaſure: Pſal. 81.11, 12.My people would not hearken to my voice, and Iſrael would none of me; ſo I gave them up to their own hearts luſts, and they walked in their own counſels. As if he had ſaid, I met with them, and was avenged of them for their wretched contempt of me; I let them go on, and ſuffered them to be as vicious and profligate, as filthy and abominable, as they had a mind to be.
2. Another thing in which lyes the Miſery of an incorrigible people is, that they are now ripe for Ruin, or for ſome terrible Judgment. Becauſe I have purged thee, and thou waſt not purged, (ſaid God to Jeruſalem) that is, Becauſe I uſed all fit means to purge and reform thee, and yet ſtill thou walloweſt in thy filthineſs and lewdneſs, thou art incorrigible; Ezek. 24.13. Prov. 29.1therefore thou ſhalt not be purged from thy filthineſs till I have cauſed my fury to reſt upon thee. Prov. 29.1He that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, ſhall ſuddenly be deſtroyed, and that without remedy. An incorrigible Perſon, whom no reproofs will work upon, is next door to deſtruction, to unavoidable deſtruction, if ſtill he go on; he ſhall ſuddenly be deſtroyed without remedy; nothing ſhall plead for him, or interpoſe in his behalf to reſcue him from deſtruction. In the 2 Chron. 36.14, 15, 16, 17. God by the Penman of that Book ſets forth the great ſins of Judah and Jeruſalem, the means he was pleaſed to make uſe of to reduce them to obedience, their incorrigibleneſs under thoſe means; and laſtly, the terrible Judgments which thereupon he brought upon them. All the chief of the Prieſts and the People tranſgreſſed very much, after the Abominations of the Heathen, and polluted the Houſe of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jeruſalem: And the Lord God of their fathers ſent to them by his meſſengers, riſing up betimes, and ſending, becauſe he had compaſſion on his people, and on his dwelling-place; but they mocked the meſſengers of God, and deſpiſed his words, and miſuſed his Prophets, until the wrath of God aroſe againſt his people, till there was no remedy; and what was at length the iſſue of this their incorrigibleneſs and ſtubbornneſs? That follows in the next words; therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who ſlew their young men with the ſword in the houſe of their ſanctuary, and had no compaſſion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that ſtooped for age. And as the incorrigibleneſs of this ſtubborn and ſtiff-necked people brought the Chaldees upon them; ſo afterwards the like incorrigibleneſs brought the Romans upon their Poſterity, to their utter ruin and final deſolation; for 'tis their incorrigibleneſs that our Saviour makes the fore-runner and cauſe of their deſtruction by the Romans. Matth. 23.37, 38.O Jeruſalem, Jeruſalem, thou that killeſt the Prophets, and ſtoneſt them that are ſent unto thee: how often would I have gathered thy children together within thee, even as an hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not; therefore your houſe is left unto you deſolate. Take notice of this, and lay it to heart all you that have been often reproved for your ſins, and yet you ſtill harden your Necks; unto whom many ſeaſonable Admonitions, and wholeſome Counſels and Advices have been tender'd, but you have ſtopt your Ears againſt them; who have often ſmarted for your ſins, and yet you love them ſtill, and delight in them as much as ever you did; you that have been often in the Furnace of Affliction, and yet your Droſs is not ſeparated from you; I ſay, take notice of the woful condition of incorrigible Sinners, and conſider what awaits you, and will certainly be your portion, unleſs by Repentance you ſpeedily prevent it.
You unteachable and incorrigible Children, whom no Admonitions or Chaſtiſements will reduce to that Dutifulneſs, humble Submiſſion and Obedience which you owe to your Parents; tremble at the thoughts of what may be coming upon you for your ſin. You who tread in the ſteps of Hophni and Phineas, both in reſpect of your other ſins, and in reſpect of your obſtinate carriage when you are reproved for them, can you without horrour read or hear what the Spirit of God ſaith concerning them? 1 Sam. 2.25.They hearkned not to the voice of their father, becauſe the Lord would ſlay them. You whoſe lewd and ungodly Converſation hath been often reproved and condemned in the Miniſtry of the Word, and yet you are ſtill inſenſible of your danger, and proceed ſtill in your old ways, and walk in the imagination of your heart, to add drunkenneſs to thirſt; conſider what befel ſuch as you are. Zech. 7.11, 12.They refuſed to hearken, and pulled away the ſhoulder, and ſtopped their ears that they ſhould not hear. Yea, they made their heart as an adamant ſtone, leſt they ſhould hear the law, and the word which the Lord ſent by his Prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of Hoſts. Therefore it is come to paſs, that as he cried, and they would not hear; ſo they cried, and I would not hear, ſaith the Lord of Hoſts.
You whom no Counſels or Perſwaſions can prevail with to leave your lewd and graceleſs Companions.
You, that notwithſtanding all that can be ſaid or done to keep you in, and withhold you from your wicked Aſſociates, ſay ſtill with that lewd and ungovernable generation, There is no hope. Jer. 2.25.No, I have loved ſtrangers, and after them will I go: Conſider with fear and trembling what the Prophet ſaid to Amaziah, who ſtopt his Ears againſt good advice. 2 Chron. 25.16.By this I know that God hath determined to deſtroy thee, becauſe thou haſt not hearkened to my counſel. I do not ſay God hath determined to deſtroy you alſo, I take not upon me to be ſo well acquainted with God's ſecret purpoſes; but this I ſay, you are at preſent in the high-way to deſtruction, and you have great cauſe to fear leſt God deſtroy you, as he hath done by other ſuch incorrigible perſons as you are. If you ſtill continue to be like others who have been deſtroyed for the ſame ſins, what reaſon have you to expect more favour than they had? God is not changed, he is ſtill the ſame, his hatred of ſin, his juſtice and ſeverity againſt Sin, is ſtill as great as ever it was.
And ſo much concerning that Obſervation. I come now to that which I chiefly intended. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the Leopard his ſpots? That is, they cannot; no Art or Labour can effect it. Waſh and rub the Skin of the Ethiopian while you will, it will retain its natural hew; you may ſooner rub away the Skin, than alter the colour of it: and ſo for thoſe ſpots with which Nature hath mark'd the Leopard, you may by much tampering deſtroy the ſubject of them, but the ſubject remaining, you can never get out the ſpots. And little leſs difficulty there is in removing thoſe habitual Inclinations to ſin, which long cuſtom hath produced: The caſe is much alike, to waſh a Blackamoor white, and to get him to do good that is accuſtomed to do evil. So then 'tis a Proverbial compariſon, by which is ſignified the extream difficulty of delivering a Man from thoſe vicious impreſſions which cuſtom in ſin hath made upon him. And that's the thing which I purpoſe to treat of.
Cuſtom in ſin makes it very difficult to leave ſin. There needs little other proof hereof than our own Experience. Though ſome vicious Perſons, who are taken in hand, and dealt with betimes, may be more eaſily drawn off from their ſinful courſes, yet how rare a thing is it to ſee any man recovered, who hath long been exerciſed in a trade of ſin! Shall you eaſily prevail with the intemperate, or luſtful, or ambitious, or covetous perſon, to leave thoſe paths of ſin which have been long trodden by them? So great is the force of cuſtom in ſin, that men will by no Arguments be perſwaded to forſake thoſe long-continued ſinful practices, which are continually attended with ſo many viſible and great inconveniences, as one would think were ſufficient to make any man weary of ſuch courſes.
Take for an inſtance but a wandring Beggar, that neceſſarily undergoes many hardſhips, and runs many hazards in that irregular and wicked courſe of life which he hath been wonted to, and you ſhall in vain tempt him to leave it by the beſt proviſions and accommodations which you can proffer him in any ſetled way of honeſt Imployment.
Or take a nearer inſtance in the ſame kind; When almoſt do you ever ſee one of our poor people whoſe hands refuſe to labour, and who make a trade of begging from Door to Door; I ſay, when almoſt do you ſee any ſuch Perſon reclaimed, and brought to endeavour to get his Living in any honeſt and laborious Calling? I deny not, but 'tis poſſible there maybe inſtances of ſome ſuch that have been reduced to an orderly courſe of life; but I believe ſuch inſtances are very rare, eſpecially of thoſe who have from their Childhood been addicted to that diſorderly courſe, as too many are; the only Breeding and Education which their Parents give them, being to teach them how to eat the Bread of idleneſs, and live upon the Charity of others, if that may be called Charity which is beſtowed upon ſuch people.
The grounds of this point are theſe.
1. Cuſtom begets a ſtrong, fixed and habitual Inclination to ſin. Hence a Man is ever in a readineſs to yield to, and comply with any Temptation to that ſin unto which he hath been accuſtomed. No ſooner is occaſion offered, but it meets with a preparation of heart to embrace it. Inſtead of preparing to reſiſt Temptations when they begin to approach, and offer themſelves, he that hath been accuſtomed to ſin, will meet them half way, invite them to come on, and bid them welcome; inſtead of declining Temptations, he will ſeek after them, and ſtudiouſly make proviſion for his Luſts. For cuſtom is now become another Nature to him, and he ſeems to enjoy himſelf no longer than he is complying with it. To be divorc'd and ſeparated from ſuch ſins, is a moſt grievous thing; 'tis as the pulling out of a right Eye, or the cutting off of a right Hand.
2. Cuſtom in ſin brings on delight in ſin; the actions that are natural, are moſtly accompanied with ſome pleaſure: And ſo are ſinful actions, when cuſtom hath made them familiar to us, and given them, as it were, the ſtamp of Nature. 'Tis ſtrange that a Man ſhould be ſenſible of any pleaſure or delight at all in ſome ſins; and yet through cuſtom there is that content and complacency in them, that it is as death to forſake them. To ſit in an obſcure Ale-houſe, and to be continually pouring in that which to a ſober Man would be little better than a Potion; to ſpend days and nights in a dark hole amidſt the ſtink of Vomits and Spewings round about, to the blaſting of a Man's Reputation, the impairing of his Health, the miſ-ſpending of his time, and the waſting away of that which it may be Wife and Children want at home; who would think there ſhould be any content in ſuch a Life? And yet there are, who by cuſtom have made it ſo pleaſurable to them, that they prefer it before all the contents and ſatiſfactions that a fair Houſe, a Table richly ſpread, and the Society of their neareſt Relations can afford them, and whatever other advantages and accommodations might render their converſe at home comfortable and delightſom. If cuſtom hath once made ſuch baſe and dirty ways of ſin pleaſant, you ſhall in vain tempt them out of them, or indeavour to draw them off from them by the faireſt and moſt taking proffers that you can make them.
3. Cuſtom in ſin blinds the mind, and corrupts the judgment, ſo that a man ceaſeth to be a competent judge of the nature of things, and of the differences between good and evil. By degrees he is beſotted, and comes to be in great meaſure deprived of the reaſon of a man; ſo far hath ſin darkened his underſtanding, and weakened his Intellectuals for judging of Spiritual things. He is given up to a reprobate mind, Rom. 1.28.as the Apoſtle ſpeaks; he puts good for evil, and evil for good; light for darkneſs, and darkneſs for light. And when the light of reaſon is darkened, and the Eye of the Soul is put out; when the leading and governing Faculty of the Soul is thus depraved, it muſt needs be a difficult thing to draw a man off from thoſe ways, the evil whereof he cannot diſcern, nor will be apprehenſive of.
4. Cuſtom in ſin ſeareth the Conſcience, and draws ſuch a callus or brawnineſs over it, as it becomes inſenſible. At firſt there is ſome tenderneſs of Conſcience, ſome reluctancy, and ſhrinking back from thoſe ſins which after a frequent repetition and cuſtomary practice of them, a man makes no bones of, but ſmoothly ſwallows down. He that at firſt durſt not tell a Lie, or if he were at any time overtaken, was wont to be much troubled afterwards; yet upon a cuſtomary practice of that ſin, will add Lies to Lies, and ſtand to them moſt impudently and obſtinately: He that ſeemed to fear an Oath, will through cuſtomary Swearing arrive at that degree of inſenſibleneſs, that he will not ſtick to multiply Oaths, and Perjuries alſo, if need be, and all this without any touch of remorſe, any gainſayings or grudgings of his Conſcience. Now when a Man through cuſtom in ſin comes to that paſs, that his Conſcience is quiet, and doth not either interpoſe before the commiſſion of ſin to hinder him, or moleſt him, and diſturb his peace afterwards, 'twill be no eaſie matter to diſengage him from that ſin.
5. Cuſtom in ſin doth conſequently harden the heart againſt all means by which the Sinner ſhould be reclaimed.
1. It hardens the heart againſt the Word. The threatnings thereof, and all the moſt dreadful denunciations of Judgments, make no impreſſion upon ſuch a Mans heart; 'tis as Steel or Adamant that will not yield or relent.
2. Neither will the wholeſome Counſels, Advices or Admonitions of Friends and Chriſtian Acquaintance work upon it. He hath no ſenſe of any thing which in that way is offered him for his good: His Ears are ſtopt againſt the voice of the Charmer, Charm he never ſo wiſely.
3. He is fortified with Armour of proof againſt all Providences, by which he might be ſtopt in his courſe of ſin, or reduced from the Errour of his ways. Let God oppoſe him in his ſinful courſe, let him hedge up his ways with Thorns, or ſtand before him with a drawn Sword, all is one, on he will fearleſly and preſumptuouſly, and adventure himſelf upon the thick Boſſes of his Buckler, in Job's phraſe.
6. Cuſtom in Sin emboldens Satan to tempt. Where the Conſcience is tender, and the Heart is ſenſible of the evil, and danger of Sin, and where he hath been formerly reſiſted and repelled, there if he tempt, yet he doth it with leſs confidence of prevailing, and with ſome degree of Cowardly Expectation of being worſted; but where he hath to do with thoſe who have been long accuſtomed to the Sin he would again draw them into, he makes little queſtion of prevailing, as knowing well the ſearedneſs of their Conſciences, the hardneſs of their Hearts, and their ſtrong propenſions to the ſin unto which he is about to tempt them; as alſo remembring how often his Temptations in the ſame kind have already been ſucceſsful.
7. By Cuſtom in ſin God is provoked to leave a Man to himſelf, to the power of Satan, and the efficacy of Temptation; and in way of his righteous Judgment to give him up to a further degree of impenitency and hardneſs of heart.
ƲSE 1.
Then let ſuch as have been long accuſtomed to any ways of Sin, take heed that they make not account it will be an eaſie matter to leave thoſe ways. You may be apt to think that you can come off from thoſe your ſinful courſes at pleaſure; that 'tis but take up Reſolutions againſt them, and you ſhall be diſengaged and freed from them preſently: But herein you would much deceive your ſelf. 'Tis not ſo eaſie a matter to deliver your ſelf from the power of that ſin which you have been ſo long accuſtomed unto: When you addreſs your ſelf to endeavour to leave it, you will find other work of it. You may take up Reſolutions upon Reſolutions, and yet you may be ſtill where you were at firſt, as much enſlaved to your Sin as ever, and as unable to reſiſt any Temptation to it. They muſt be ſtrong and firm Reſolutions, and thoſe frequently renewed, that will ſtand you in ſtead where Sin hath by cuſtom gotten ſuch poſſeſſion of you: And beſides, you muſt look higher than your own Reſolutions, you muſt earneſtly implore God's help againſt your ſelf, ſo miſerably brought under and ſubjected to the power of Sin. Never think to prevail againſt thoſe Sins which Cuſtom hath ſtrengthened and confirmed in you, without much Prayer to God, great watchfulneſs over your ſelf, and diligence in the uſe of all other means, whereby the power of Sin may be weakened.
ƲSE 2.
You muſt therefore acknowledge it to be a great Mercy, if you meet with Croſſes and Afflictions in your ſinful ways early, and before longer Cuſtom in Sin hath produced thoſe confirmed, radicated, and obſtinate habits of Sin which cannot eaſily be removed. God is very gracious to ſome this way; he takes them up ſharply, and chaſtens them ſeverely betimes: They no ſooner enter upon the ways of Sin, but he oppoſeth himſelf againſt them, and hedgeth up their way with Thorns. This is very grievous and afflicting to our corrupt Nature, which can endure no reſtraint: But we little conſider or underſtand how much we are obliged to God for his Care of us herein. How many others are there whom he ſuffers to go on in their Sins without check or controul, till they contract thoſe ſtrong habits of Sin which they are never rid of as long as they live. Do you think your ſelf hardly dealt with, that God doth not ſuffer you alſo to take your courſe, and make your ſelf as vile here, and as miſerable hereafter, as others? 'Tis God's exceeding great kindneſs to you, that he imbitters unto you the beginnings of Sin, and ſtrews the firſt entrance into ſinful ways with Briars and Prickles, ſo that you cannot go on, but you muſt hurt your ſelf. It ſeems you would have liked it better, if the way to Hell had been ſtrewed with Roſes for you. Beware you do not miſinterpret God's Providence: If he be pleaſed to uſe ſeaſonable means to make you weary of the ways of Sin, before you are more hardened in them, count it a ſingular favour, and an effect of that his gracious care of you, for which you can never be enough thankful.
ƲSE 3.
This diſcovers the folly and danger of deferring Repentance, and eſpecially of putting it off till the time of Sickneſs, or till our Deathbed. The longer we defer Repentance, the more difficult will the buſineſs be, through ſo long cuſtom in Sin. If you find it hard at preſent to think of leaving your Sins, what will it be hereafter when they will have taken deeper root in you, and when your habitual Inclinations to them will be ſtronger? And as for putting off Repentance till the time of Sickneſs or Death; what wiſe Man would put off a work of the greateſt Importance, and the moſt difficult work, and a work that will be ſtill more difficult every day the longer 'tis put off; I ſay, what wiſe Man would put off ſuch a work till that time, when he will be weakeſt and moſt unable to undertake it, and go thorough with it? Are the infirmities of Sickneſs, are the pains and languiſhings of a Death-bed likely to make you ſtronger and abler for this work? Is that a fit ſeaſon to be choſen beforehand for beginning to break and ſubdue thoſe inveterate Corruptions in you that have been gathering ſtrength all your days? Your greateſt and moſt implacable Enemy, the Devil himſelf, could not direct you to the choice of a more unfit ſeaſon for that buſineſs. And yet beſides, who knows whether or no you ſhall then have any opportunity of endeavouring to do any thing in that great work which you put off till then, as if it were of all other the fitteſt ſeaſon for it? Who can tell you but you may be ſo ſuddenly and violently ſurprized with Sickneſs, and cut off, that you may have no time to beſtow one ſerious Thought upon that Buſineſs, which is of no leſs Concernment to you than your Souls Eternal Happineſs or Miſery? Or if you ſhould not be ſo quickly taken away, yet who can tell but you may then be deprived of the uſe of Reaſon; and what then will become of this great buſineſs, which being put off till that time, muſt be then diſpatch'd, or never?
ƲSE 4.
This ſhould admoniſh the younger ſort to remember their Creator in the days of their youth, Eccl. 12.1.as Solomon counſels them. To conſecrate their tender years to God, before cuſtom of ſin hath ſtrengthened vicious Inclinations in them, and hardened their hearts againſt God. As 'tis much more acceptable to God, when we give him the Firſt-fruits, when we offer up to him the flower of our age, ſo 'tis much more eaſie and comfortable for us: For hereby we prevent thoſe habits of ſin, which time and cuſtom would beget, to our far greater trouble afterwards. Thoſe Vices which in younger years diſcover themſelves, are more eaſily pluck'd up, as young Weeds out of the Soil in which they have not as yet taken any deep root. Old habits of ſin, ſo cloſe do they ſtick to us, ſo deeply are they rooted in us, and ſo ſtrongly and intricately are their Roots twiſted together with our Nature, that the plucking of them up, is as the rooting up of a great Oke that hath the advantage of many years growth to ſettle it ſelf in the ground. You who are young, if you be wiſe, create not ſo much trouble to your ſelves, as to let ſin grow old and ſtrong in you, before you break it off, or pluck it up by repentance.
ƲSE 5.
This ſhould alſo prevail with Parents to be very careful of their Childrens Education, beginning to reſtrain and beat down ſin in them in ſeaſon, that ſo cuſtom in ſin, and all the ſad effects thereof may be prevented. How happy had it been, both for many Parents and Children, if ſeaſonable Reſtraints and Chaſtiſements had been applied, before the cuſtomary practice of ſin had made them obſtinate and incorrigible! The neglect whereof, how much ſorrow and heart-breaking doth it occaſion to Parents, and how much ſin and miſery to Children! Nothing is more ordinary, than to hear the ſad Complaints that Parents make of the ſtubbornneſs and untractableneſs of their Children, and of thoſe ſinful courſes which they addict themſelves unto, and cannot be drawn off from by all the means they can think of to reclaim them: But whom may too many Parents thank for it, rather than themſelves, whoſe indulgence to them, or neglect of them in their tender years hath been the cauſe? They would not begin with them in ſeaſon, while they were tender and pliable; and now they are by long practice of ſin become ſtubborn and refractory: then they would not reſtrain them, and now they cannot do it. And what greater miſchief can Parents do their Children, than by giving them the head, and laying the Reins on their neck when they are young, whereby they come to be irreclaimably and deſperately hardened in ſin when they grow up? While Parents complain of Children, may not Children as juſtly complain of Parents, that have by their neglect of them betrayed them to ſin and Satan. Many ſuch Children, when by their ſins they have come to ſhameful ends, have moſt paſſionately cried out againſt their Parents, whoſe ill Example, or neglect to correct them, had brought them to that miſery: and could we liſten to the Language of thoſe who are in Hell, there is no doubt but our ears would tingle to hear the lamentable Outcries and curſes of the Souls of undone Children, againſt thoſe whoſe Parental Relation ſhould have ingaged them to have left no means untried for keeping them from that place of torment.
ƲSE 6.
Let no Children think it any part of their miſery or unhappineſs, that by God's Providence they are under the government and diſcipline of thoſe Parents who keep them in, and reſtrain them; who endeavour to nip the firſt buddings and bloſſomings of ſin in them; who will not ſuffer them to run with others to that exceſs of riot which their corrupt Natures would be gratified with; in a word, who uſe the beſt means they can for preventing of thoſe evil Cuſtoms and Habits of ſin, which would be the miſery of both Parents and Children. Let them think themſelves well at eaſe under the Diſcipline of ſuch Parents, and willingly ſubmit their Necks to that Yoke which is laid upon them for their good. If they underſtand themſelves, and their higheſt concernment, they will think themſelves happier, a thouſand times happier under that reſtraint, than if they had all that ſinful liberty which man's corrupt Nature reacheth out after, and eagerly purſueth.
ƲSE 7.
Hence moreover we may learn, how great a benefit 'tis to live under Magiſtracy, where good Laws are duly executed, and Sin is ſeverely puniſhed. This through God's bleſſing is a means of the timely ſtopping of that courſe of ſin in many, which without this help would end in obſtinacy and incorrigibleneſs. The wholſome ſeverity of good Laws put in execution, prevents the growth of ſin, and the ripening of it into thoſe habits, which making the Sinner's condition incurable, ripens him for his ruin. 'Tis no privilege, but a great miſery, to live in a place where evey man may do what is good in his own eyes, and where there is no Magiſtrate to put any man to ſhame. This was the condition of Laiſh before its deſtruction.Judges 18.7.
ƲSE 8.
This ſhews how much thankfulneſs is due unto God from thoſe unto whom God hath been pleaſed to give converting grace after a long courſe of ſin, by which they were ſo wofully hardened, as nothing would work upon them. When God converts old and obdurate Sinners, when he cures theſe Spiritual Diſeaſes that ſeemed now to be paſt all cure, how doth he hereby magnify the power of his Grace, and how doth he exalt the riches of his Mercy! When God converts a young Sinner, he quickeneth the dead; but when he converts old Sinners, he quickeneth thoſe who are as it were twice dead, V. 12.as St. Jude ſpeaks; dead by nature, and dead by long cuſtom in ſin, which had made them twofold more the Children of Hell, than they were by nature. If converting Grace, wherever God is mercifully pleaſed to vouchſafe it, calls for thankfulneſs; ſurely when 'tis vouchſafed to old ſinners, it calls for double thankfulneſs. And ſo I have done with the Uſes of this Point. It remains that I anſwer one Objection, and ſo conclude.
Obj. If cuſtom in ſin, make it ſo extreamly difficult to leave ſin; if to endeavour to reclaim ſuch a one, be as it were to attempt to waſh a Blackmore white, this may ſeem to be a great diſcouragement to any man's endeavours for reforming old Sinners.
Anſ. 'Tis certainly a great diſcouragement, and one of the greateſt that is; but yet ſhould it not take a man off from ſeeking the Converſion even of ſuch. For,
1. 'Tis a Duty; and ſo the difficulty and doubtfulneſs of ſucceſs doth not diſcharge a man from it.
2. Though it be extreamly difficult, yet 'tis not impoſſible. Old Sinners have ſometimes obtained mercy, and God hath no where declared his purpoſe of denying converting Grace to ſuch, abſolutely and univerſally.
3. The more inveterate the habits of ſin by long cuſtom contracted, are grown, the ſadder is the Condition of ſuch, and the louder doth it call upon us to lend them our beſt help for reſcuing them out of the Snare of the Devil.
4. Whatſoever the iſſue of our Endeavour may be, God will be thereby glorified, 2 Cor. 2.15.and we ſhall be unto God a ſweet ſavour of Chriſt in them that are ſaved, and in them that periſh.
5. Though our Endeavours ſhould prove ſucceſleſs, yet ſhall they be nevertheleſs accepted of God, and rewarded. Iſa. 49.4.I have laboured in vain, I have ſpent my ſtrength for nought, and in vain; yet ſurely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work is with my God.