Sober Singularity, Section 2
SECT. II.
QU. 1. To begin with the firſt of theſe. What are we to underſtand by the doing of evil? which is the matter to be avoided. Thon ſhalt not do evil.
Anſ. In anſwer to this enquiry, I ſhall ſpeak very briefly; as being a matter that needs not any large explication. All that I have to deliver under this Head, ſhall be gathered into five plain Concluſions.
Concl. 1. This caution, that is laid down here againſt the doing of evil (for the extent of it, how far it reacheth) may be well taken in the greateſt latitude, and comprehenſiveneſs of the expreſſion: as it ſets againſt all ſorts, and kinds, and qualities of ſin whatſoever. Whether they are greater, or leſſer; ſins of omiſſion, or commiſſion; againſt the firſt table of the Law, or the ſecond: Whether they are ſinful contrivances of the mind, or inordinate paſſions working in the heart and ſpirit; whether it be rotten communication that proceedeth out of the mouth, or any manner of diſorderlineſs in the outward behaviour, and carriage.
A mans actions or doings, in a reſtrained ſenſe, are ſometimes contradiſtinguiſhed, and oppoſed to his words, and thoughts, and affections, Col. 3.17. In word, or deed. Jam. 2.12. So ſpeak ye, and ſo do. But in this place you may take it without any limitation, or reſtriction: for it is delivered indefinitely, and without exception. It may poſſibly have a ſpecial reference to the ſin of bearing falſe witneſs, (as ſome think) which is mentioned immediately before the Text; or to the ſin of wreſting judgment (according to the apprehenſions of others) being the ſin which is condemned in the words following the Text: But it ought not to be confined to either. As, where the holy Ghoſt hath not diſtinguiſhed, we muſt not diſtinguiſh: ſo where the Spirit of God hath not ſet reſtrictions and limits, we muſt not reſtrain. Beſides, The original word is in the plural. Thou ſhalt not follow a multitude foreign ad mala, to evils, i. e. not to any ſort of evil. So that the meaning may be this. Thou ſhalt not joyn with a multitude, in their plots and contrivances againſt the wayes of God. Thou ſhalt not talk vainly, and frothily, or in any wicked manner, as they ſpeak. You muſt not act in any thing after the pattern and ſimilitude of their ſinful actions: But in every thing keep your ſelves pure, and unſpotted, from the taint of their abominations.
Concl. 2. This doing of evil (for the nature of it, wherein it conſiſts) is a breaking of the Law of God, or walking contrary to the dictates of his revealed will, which he hath given as the rule for the guidance of our ſteps. It is the neglecting of any thing, which God hath injoyned to be performed; or the doing of that which he hath forbidden to be done. Herein lies the ratio formalis, or the nature of ſin, that it is a want of conformity to the Law of God, or a tranſgreſſion of it, 1 Joh. 3.4. So that if you would examine your ſelves, in order to repentance, what evils you have done; you muſt compare your actions with the Law of God, and bring your lives and converſations unto the word of the Lord, Pſal. 119.59. I thought on my wayes, and turned my feet to thy teſtimonies. So in relation to the time to come; if you would be directed for the avoiding of evil, you muſt be well verſt in the Law of God, and get a through inſight into the word of God, Pſal. 119.9. Wherewithal ſhall a young man cleanſe his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word. Sin is ſometimes called, A going aſtray, and a turning aſide, Iſa. 53.6. All we like ſheep have gone aſtray, Pſal. 14.3. They are all gone aſide, they are altogether become filthy. The word of the Lord is compared to the way, wherein a Believer is to travel, that he may arrive at the land of promiſe: Now the doing of evil is nothing but a declenſion from that path, or a ſtepping aſide out of the way, Deut. 5.32. You ſhall obſerve to do therefore, as the Lord your God commandeth you: you ſhall not turn aſide to the right hand, or to the left.
Concl. 3. For the reaſon of the name and appellation. The committing of ſin, or breaking the Law of God, is called the doing of evil: becauſe of the deſtructiveneſs and malignity that is in ſin, and the ſad and fearful conſequences that attend thereupon.
It is the moſt poyſonous and venemous thing in the world: the moſt miſchievous thing under the Sun. It is the great evil; the moſt ſignal evil. Sinners may have low thoughts, and ſlight apprehenſions of it: They are apt to ask, when they are charged with ſome kinds of ungodlineſs, What hurt is there in them? But in the concluſion they will be found to be the principal evils. When God doth awaken the conſcience, or begin to take the work of judgment into his hands, ſinners ſhall be forced to acknowledge it to be ſo, Jer. 44.4. Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate. And v. 7. Wherefore commit ye this great evil againſt your ſouls? Neh. 13.17. What evil thing is this that ye do, & profane the Sabbath day? Men imagine it is for their eaſe, and pleaſure, and ſometimes for their profit and good to break the Sabbath, and to borrow now and then a point of conſcience: But in the upſhot you will find it to be for your hurt and ruine. We reckon poverty in the eſtate, and ſickneſs of body, and outward diſaſters and calamities, to be the main evils: But, alas, they are nothing, if laid in the ballance with ſin. That is the great evil in a fivefold reſpect.
1. It is ſin which hinders us in the enjoyment of God, which is the chiefeſt good: that doth put an obſtacle in the way of the participation of his favour, and the light of his countenance, which is better than life it ſelf, Iſa. 59.1, 2. Behold, the Lord's hand is not ſhortened, that it cannot ſave; nor his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have ſeparated between you and your God: and your ſins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 'Tis that which is a contempt of the divine Majeſty, who is an infinite and incomprehenſible Being. It is that which makes Jehovah to become our adverſary, who is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords: in whoſe hands our breath, and our dayes, and all our comforts are. For Sirs, God doth not abhor and caſt off any of the children of men, becauſe they are poor or friendleſs, or low in the world; but becauſe they are workers of iniquity. Therefore his wrath is kindled againſt them, and they ſuffer evil from him, becauſe they do evil againſt him, Deut. 32.29.
2. It is ſin which murders and deſtroyeth the ſoul: which is the principal part of man, and ought chiefly to be regarded by him. So Job calleth it, Job 30.15. Terrours are turned upon me: they purſue my ſoul [foreign my principal one] as the wind. In compariſon of the ſoul all the riches of the earth are as nothing, Mark 8.36, 37. For what ſhall it profit a man, if he ſhall gain the whole world, and loſe his own ſoul? Or what ſhall a man give in exchange for his ſoul? Now, The more excellent the ſubject is upon which an evil falls, the greater is the evil that falleth upon it. And ſin is that which is a plague to the ſoul, and bringeth deſolation upon the ſoul: and murders the immortal part, which all the men on earth are not able to kill, Prov. 8.36. He that ſinneth againſt me [they are the words of Chriſt, the infinite wiſdom of God] wrongeth his own ſoul: all they that hate me, love death.
3. It is ſin which maketh perſons miſerable for ever: that renders them everlaſtingly wretched, without ceſſation or end: that doth caſt them into that pit, from whence there is no redemption. Other evils have their period, and determinate time of continuance; and then they are removed from us, or we ſhall be removed from them. But now ſin doth expoſe a man to eternal vengeance. The guilt of the leaſt tranſgreſſion, if laid upon the ſinner, would ſink him unavoidably into the bottomleſs pit of deſtruction, from whence there is no deliverance. You read of it as the juſt guerdon and puniſhment of ignorance; which many account ſo ſmall a ſin, that they hope thereby to excuſe all their other impieties, 2 Theſ. 1.8, 9. When the Lord Jeſus ſhall be revealed from Heaven, with his mighty Angels in flaming Fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Goſpel of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt. Who ſhall be puniſhed with everlaſting deſtruction, from the preſence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.
4. To commit ſin is to do evil; For that is the fountain evil: the original and well-ſpring of all other evils whatſoever. It is the evil of tranſgreſſion, that brings affliction upon mens perſons, and a curſe into their families and eſtates, and puts vanity and vexation into their creature-comforts, and accommodations. It is ſin that lets in wars and commotions into kingdoms, and burns up Towns and Cities; and makes a Land deſolate, by turning a fruitful place into barrenneſs. 'Tis ſin that bringeth diſeaſes upon the body, and filleth the ſpirit with bitterneſs, and puts fear, and horrour, and aſtoniſhment into the heart: that compaſſeth a perſon about with terrours on every ſide, and at laſt carrieth him to the King of terrours, Rom. 5.12. By one man ſin entered into the world, and death by ſin: and ſo death paſſed upon all men, for that all have ſinned. What is the ſource of all that wretchedneſs and miſery, that followeth the children of men continually at the heels? See the anſwer returned by the Lord himſelf, Jer. 13.22. And if thou ſay in thy heart, Wherefore come theſe things upon me? For the greatneſs of thine iniquity are thy skirts diſcovered, and thy heels made bare. Read Job 20. from v. 12. to the end.
5. To commit wickedneſs, is to do evil: For ſin, in a right ſenſe, is the only evil, and nothing but evil. All other things are no further evil, than they are contempered with ſin, and proceed from thence, or have a tendency thereto. The ſoreſt afflictions and calamities have ſomething of good in them: As they come from the Lord, and are the operation of his hands; as they are domonſtrations of his being, and righteouſneſs; and means for the vindication of his holineſs. For the Lord is known by the judgments which he executeth. But iniquity and tranſgreſſion is purely evil, nothing but evil, and that which makes other things to be evil. For the ſting of death is ſin, 1 Cor. 15.56. The bitterneſs of ſickneſs is from ſin: and the poyſon of all corrections and diſtreſſes is from thence, Pſal. 107.17, 18. Fools, becauſe of their tranſgreſſions; and becauſe of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their ſoul abhorreth all manner of meat, and they draw near to the gates of death. It is that which puts gall and wormwood, into whatſoever we find made bitter unto us, Jer. 23.10, 11, 12, 14, 15.
Concl. 4. For the original of it, whence it doth proceed: All the evils which are done in the life of a ſinner, proceed from within out of the heart, and flow from the native pravity and corruption of the Spirit. When a perſon walketh in any ſinful courſe, he doth but, as the ſpider, weave a curſed web out of his own poyſonous bowels. At the firſt, mans ſinful and irregular actions did corrupt his nature; and now, our polluted nature doth tranſmit defilement into our actions. We are not forced and compelled unto the practiſe of evil, but our hearts encline and carry us thereunto, Mar. 7.21.22. For from within out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetouſneſs, wickedneſs, deceit, laſciviouſneſs, an evil eye, blaſphemy, pride, fooliſhneſs: all theſe evils come from within. This is a point of great concernment to be ſtudied, and effectually preſſed upon the conſcience. (1) That it may work in us an holy ſhame, and ſelf abhorrence in reſpect of actual tranſgreſſions; and we may be induced to loath our ſelves in our own ſight. For my brethren, a perſon will never be throughly humbled for the ſins of his life, till he hath learnt to trace them unto his heart, and ſeeth them to be ſtreams iſſuing out of that ſink of filth and folly that is within him, Pſal. 73.21, 22. Ezek. 6.9. (2) That it may leave full convictions upon our ſpirits, of the abſolute neceſſity of ſanctifying and regenerating grace: that our natures muſt be changed, and our very ſpirits within us muſt be purified, in order to fellowſhip with God, and that we may be fitted for his ſervice; becauſe the principal ſeat of pollution is within, and all inordinate motions in the practiſe are but rivulets flowing from that troubled ſea, whoſe waters caſt up mire and dirt, Pſal. 51.5, 6, 7, 10. (3) That it may prevail upon us, to keep a continual eye of ſuſpition and jealouſy upon our hearts, and to be in a conſtant poſture of watchfulneſs over them, leaſt they ſhould carry us aſide. For he that truſteth in his own heart, is a fool. Prov. 28.26. i. e. He is groſlly deluded, and miſtaken, in the internal diſpoſition and bent of his own ſpirit. He doth not know what a deceitful, and treacherous piece, his heart is: what very madneſs, and wickedneſs, is bound up within him. For did a ſinner know, that there are ſeven abominations [all ſorts and kinds of corruption] within him, he would never put confidence in his heart; but would work out his ſalvation with fear and trembling, leaſt he ſhould miſcarry. (4) Again, this is a point to be throughly ſtudied and conſidered, that we may not hearken to thoſe vain excuſes, whereby we are apt to cover our ſins, and to tranſlate the guilt from off our ſelves. There is a proneſs in ſinners, to lay the blame of their miſcarriages upon any thing, rather then upon themſelves; and they are hardly wrought to an ingenious acknowledgment of their evil doings: but they have ever ſomething to plead in their own vindication, and to maintain their innocency. The woman whom thou gaveſt to be with me, ſhe gave me of the tree, and I did eat, Gen. 3.12. The ſerpent beguiled me, and I did eat, v. 13. I ſaw the people were ſcattered from me, and that thou cameſt not within the dayes appointed, and that the Philiſtines gathered themſelves together to Michmaſh, &c. I forced my ſelf therefore, and offered a burnt offering, 1 Sam. 13.11, 12. We have ſpared of the beſt of the ſheep and of the oxen, to ſacrifice unto the Lord thy God, 1 Sam. 15.15. Such evaſions men have to avoid conviction: and ſuch pretences they plead, to colour over their rebellion; and to put a fair gloſs upon their iniquities. God knows my heart is good, will a carnal perſon ſay, but the Devil owed me a ſpite, and he drove me on to this practiſe. I am neceſſitated, ſaith another, to take this courſe. I am in a mean eſtate and have a multitude of buſineſs on my hands, and have no time to ſpare to mind religion, and converſe with God; But I mean well, and my heart is for God. Thus they dig deep, to hide their wickedneſs; and ſtand up in defence of the integrity of their hearts, whetever their converſations have been: Whereas Sirs all evil cometh out of the heart, Mat. 12.35. A good man out of the good treaſure of the heart, bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treaſure, bringeth forth evil things. So that, Let no man ſay, when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, i. e. Let not the children of men charg their ſins either directly or conſequentially upon the God of heaven. Let them not ſay, The Lord made me thus; it was my fate and deſtiny, and I could not withſtand what he had appointed me to. Let them not ſay, that God doth neceſſitate them to ſin. Let them not lay the fault upon the condition of life wherein God hath placed them, or upon the providences under which he doth exerciſe them. For all ſin proceedeth from within out of the heart. For God cannot be tempted with ſin, neither tempteth he any man. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn aſide of his own luſt, and enticed, Jam. 1.13, 14. Suggeſtions from without can do nothing, except there were Luſt within, to ſwallow the bait, and to give entertainment to the allurements of the world, and ſollicitations of the devil.
Concl. 5. Although the internal and inbred corruption and wickedneſs of the heart of a ſinner, is the ſeedplot of evil, whence it doth ſpring up; yet outward occaſions and provocatives, have commonly a great influence to the educing of that corruption into exerciſe, and to the actual production of that which is evil. From thence it is that the heart of a man, which is full of ſin, is irritated and emboldened to the commiſſion of ſin. Theſe are the motives and arguments which Satan doth make uſe of, to inſtigate and ſtir up the children of men, to acts of wickedneſs; and to incite and incourage them in a way that is not good. As now for inſtance, when ſinners abuſe the patience of God, to ſtrengthen their hands in a courſe of ungodlineſs; It is the heart of the ſons of men that is ſet to do evil; and the forbearance and long-ſuffering of God that is made uſe of for an incouragement unto the doing of it, Eccl. 8.11. When perſons defile themſelves with ſin, that they may avoid trouble and perſecution; it is corruption in the heart, that doth lead them unto ſin, and is the agent in ſin; and it is eaſe and ſafety, and the advancement of a carnal intereſt, which helps to draw forth that corruption, Gal. 6.12. And herein doth appear the deſperate wickedneſs and malignity of mans heart: As it is full of evil, and of a curſed forwardneſs unto evil; ſo it is apt to pervert all ſorts of providences thereunto. A ſinner, like a toad, will ſuck poyſon out of every thing. Or like the ſalt ſea, will turn all ſorts of water into its own briniſh taſt. As a believer improveth all kinds of diſpenſations, to ſet him with greateſt deteſtation againſt ſin: ſo doth a carnal heart make uſe of them, as motives and arguments unto ſin.
Now amongſt other incouragements unto evil, the example of a multitude is wont to be of much prevailing efficacy. The practiſe of the generality ſhould increaſe deteſtation; but ſinners are apt to make uſe of it to incourage imitation. And therefore in the text we have a ſpecial warning given, that we be not led into ſin, by ſeeing a multitude go before us. So I deſcend to the ſecond head of enquiry.