The Works of Jeremiah Burroughs 9-11, Treatise 2 · Chapter 11
CHAP. XI.
Containing four Answers to such as live in a course of sin, and put it off with this excuse, The best have their sins in them.
THe first is this, Thou tellest me that the best of all hath some sin, therefore thou hopest that all is well with thee: I tell thee as well that the worst of all may have some good in them, as the Saints have had some ill in them, therefore thou hopest that notwithstanding thy evil, thou mayest go to Heaven; then I tell thee that some Reprobates have had more good in them than thou hast; notwithstanding thy good thou maiest go to Hell. Thou tellest me of Lat, and Peter, and David that had fin, and yet they went to Heaven: then I'le tell thee of Saul, and Ahab, and Judas, and Herod, and if it come to be examined it may be they had more good in them than thou hast, and yet they perished; when did'st thou as Ahab did? when the Prophet threatned him in the Name of God the text saith he humbled himself in sackcloath, and went softly: Herod heard John the Baptist gladly, and reformed many things, Oh he loved to hear John, and he reverenced John; hast thou done so? Judas was troubled for his sin, and came and made restitution of that which he had wrongfully gotten; hast thou done so? Never tell me of some sin in the Saints for to be thy comfort, rather do thou look upon the good that was in the wicked and Reprobate, and see whether that be not more for thy discouragement.
Secondly, Thou tellest me that the Saints have sin remaining in them as well as you; but what if your sin should prove a sin unto death? there's a great deal of difference in sin, Suppose a woman should have her husband lie dead and stiff, and no breath at all, one should come and say to her, why are you troubled? many men are stiff with cold, and hold their breath a great while; Oh but saith she, it's death, the stiffness is the stiffness of death, and his breath is quite gone; she will not be put off with that, that some are stiff with cold, and some hold in their breaths. So thou speakest of the sins that thou hast, and the Saints have sin; but thy sin may be that sin that proceeds from death, and not from infirmity and weakness; as in that place of Deut. 32. chapter, about the 50. verse, They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: Thou hast spots and defilements in thee, that are not the spots of Gods children: but now to shew the difference between the spots of wicked men and the spots of the Saints, that would require a large Treatise: but I'le mention this now to take off men that they may not presume and think themselves safe with this plea, because the best of all have some sin; but let them check themselves with this; let me take heed that I go not away with this too far, let me examine, Is my spot the spot of Gods children? it may be my sin is of another Nature, my sin may prove to be the sin to death, and theirs may be but an infirmity.
The third thing that I would speak to these, is this; Those that are godly and have true grace, they have some sin remaining in them; yet I never found in Scripture, nor I think there cannot be any example found in any that had such a sin in them to plead for their sin, and to harden themselves in their sin, because that others of the Saints had sin as well as they; you shall not find this in Scripture, you shall not find this among the Saints; though they have some sin in them, yet not this sin to plead for their sin, and harden themselves in their sin upon that consideration, because other of the Saints have sin as well as they; Oh no, they rather are the more afraid and troubled for their sin: If thou had'st an ingenious spirit in thee, thou would'st rather reason thus, Oh Lord is it so, that thou art not only dishonored by the men of the world that know thee not, but the best of thy people carry about with them a body of death, and shall I ad to the sin that is committed in the world? thou hast dishonor enough, and it's that which I should take to heart that thou art dishonored by any, especially by thy own children, and shall that which should be the matter of my grief and mourning, be the hardening of me in my sins? Oh how contrary is this to the ingenuity of a Christian.
Fourthly, I might mention this one thing more, The Saints have their sins, but how are they affected with them? Paul had his sin, but how was he affected? Oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? You never find him crying out of himself, that he was a wretched man because he was hungry and naked, and suffered persecution, but his sin did make him so; is it so with thee? doth the remainer of thy sin make thee skreek out to God, and account thy self in the most wretched condition because of thy sin; how art thou perplexed and troubled for the loss of thy estate, and of any evil that doth befal thee; if the enemies should come and plunder thee of all that thou hast, then thou would'st skreek out; but now thou canst agree well enough with thy sin, and think it's no other but that which the Saints have: Will people be satisfied with this when they are plundred of all their estates and abused, I am plundred no more than others are? And the truth is, we ought to comfort our selves in this, that indeed though we suffer, yet we suffer not so much as others of the Saints of God have suffered in former times; we may reason so in our sufferings, but not reason thus by our sin, but we should rather account our sins the worse, because God is dishonored by others as well as by us. But we need say no more of this, the next Point will help us in this and that's the third thing.