of the text led me to this notion of those impreffions that God makes upon the minds of men by way reafon and argument, when he comes to challenge, convince and reprove them; the reafon of their own mind fails them, they cannot justify themselves, or bear up againft God. And therefore I read the words, when thou with fecret rebukes, doft charge a perfon for his fecret iniquities, thou makeft his beauty, viz. his reason and understanding; his wit and parts, thofe things that he values himself by, to confume away like a moth, &c. I have fhewed in fix inftances, whereby this comes. to pafs. I have alfo fhewed you in part the great provocation of God to deal thus with men ; to confound them in their inward parts, to beat them out of the fense of their own reafon; and leave them felf-condemned, fo that they retain no priviledge of felfenjoyment. And I have instanced in fix cafes, which, do properly lead men into this condition. 1. The cafe of havocking confcience, by finning gainst the sense of their own judgment. 2. The cafe of hypocrify, diffimulation, and falsehood when men do not honeftly mean, or really intend. 3. The cafe of fhameless apoftacy. 4. (Which is yet inferior to the other three, but yet bad enough) The cafe of irreligion, when men give God no place, are taken up with their own outward accommodations, and have no fenfe of God; when he is not, by thofe good things, endeared or recommended to them; this is downright irreligion. 5. The cafe of exemption from outward punishment as whenfoever it pleaseth God (as fometimes it doth) to make use of his infinite patience : for who amongst us knows the length of Gods patience? and upon that confideration, he will forbear the world, notwithstanding profaneness and declared atheism. Or whenfoever God is pleafed out of refpect to his worshippers, or out of his compaffion towards innocent infants, and harmless creatures, to keep off judgments; then is it to be thought that those perfons that are wilful finners, &c. fhall hear from God in private; to abate their confidence, and to fhew how exorbitant they are, in their ways. This God can do, by letting them fink down into mental diftraction, &c. For God can difpoffefs a man of all his comforts, by not giving him power of felf-enjoy ment, and taking content. For this of the two, is a far greater mercy of God, for a man to have lefs, and a contented mind; than to have much more, and not have fatisfaction. For power of self-enjoyment is a far greater thing than right and title. It comes to pass sometimes, that great offenders do avoid the hands of men, either through the undue favour of partial judges, or sometimes by great friends, or fome worldly intereft, or craft, or cunning; or fometimes a thing is acted in fecret, and cannot be legally proved (as what more ordinary than fecret murders?) when it cannot at all be proved at a distance of time, the guilty cannot be at peace, and their own mouths must betray them. In these cases, it is most likely, these perfons will hear from God. 6. In 6. In the last place the case of high spiritual ad vantages. That was the aggravation of the fin of Capernaum, Coraizin and Bethfaida, that they were lifted up to heaven; and they are threatned, to be thrown down into hell, Luke x. 13, 15. For if the mighty works that were done in them, had been done in Sodom and Gomorrah, they had repented, Matt. xi. 21, 23. and this is the aggravation. And this is an observation, you never read of a fin that cannot be pardoned, till you read of the extraordinary gift of the Holy Ghost. The cafe that is represented, Ifaiah vi. 9, 10. all defperate cafes refer to. And he faid, Go tell this people, hear ye indeed, but understand not; and fee ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and fhut their eyes left they fee with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their beart, and convert, and be healed, Mat. xiii. 14. Mark iv. 12, Luke viii. 10. John xii. 40. All desperate conditions refer to this; every one of the four evangelists. relate that our Saviour refers cafes to it; it is referred to, in the acts of the apoftles, Acts xxviii. 26. and by St. Paul to the Romans xi. 8. Here it is in the first сору, and all after inftances are after this example. When men dally in religion, diffemble with God, give God high offences, provoke and exafperate him to difpleasure, by their trifling and dallying, and hypocrify, and diffimulation, and irreligion, and living in fin; then it comes to the cafe which is represented in the prophet Ifaiah. This notion is declared, Amos iii. 2. You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you. you for all your iniquities. And this best complies with the reafon of the thing, and holds the fittest proportion; that they who have had the greatest opportunities and have been moft wanting to themselves, and continue in their iniquities, and give themselves leave to fin, which are the worst of finners; that judgments fhould befal them. And it is reafonable, that God should recompence fpiritual fins by fpiritual judgments, and these are a reprobate state, a seared conscience, a blinded understanding; and this is the worst condition: for this man is remoteft from repentance, and repentance is the recovery. Or elfe that they be under the dreadful and fearful apprehenfions of an illuminated and mifgiving mind; and fo upon a continual rack and torture. Now these mental judgments they have a peculiarity to the vifible church and are much more within the compafs of the visible church than in the wilderness of the world. Thus I have represented to you the caJes: now I come to make fome application, I wilk make thefe inferences. : 1. Hence we have an account of men's withering in the world, taking little or no delight in their affairs; though in no bad circumftances, do not enjoy themselves. We wonder fometimes that men cannot be content; they want nothing, neither friends, nor estates, nor any other convenience of life; men in shorter conditions by far, enjoy themfelves upon much better terms; here is the account, there are fecret judgments of God; judgments that work in darkness. There is no wonder that men cannot hold up their heads when they are neither at : at peace with God, nor at peace with their own confciences and all these things that are without a man will make no more recompence for the want of the peace of confcience, than it will make a recompence for the pain of the gout, to lie upon a bed of down. Men have no peace neither with God, because not reconciled to the nature, mind, nor will of God; nor have they peace in their own confciences, because under guilt. Therefore no wonder that friends and revenues &c. will not relieve them; they have an internal wound. In this repect I may tru ly say that mens fin go before them into judgment, ■ Tim. v. 24. I will give you fome instances. It was from fomething in fecret between Cain and his confcience, that his countenance fell, Gen. iv. 5. for he had facrificed as well as his brother Abel: but it was fomething within him. Another instance, In Nabal, his heart died within him upon his wife's words only, Sam. xxv. 37. which is ftrange, for a covetous miferable wretch will most commonly endure words hard enough for words break no bones, but the text tells us God ftruck him, verse 38. Another inftance; God defeats the counfel of Achitophel, 2 Sam. xvii. 14, 23. and he cannot bear it, but goes and makes away with himself. Again; Judas he had his bargain; he had received the price of innocent blood, Matt. xxvii. 3. 4, 5. why could not he enjoy it? he might have enjoyed it for any demand of those that paid it him, for they would not meddle with it again. Had Judas been in the fame temper of mind he was in be fore |
