And he 6. In the last place the cafe of high spiritual advantages. 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 obfervation, you never read of a fin that cannot be pardoned, till you read of the extraordinary gift of the Holy Ghoft. The cafe that is represented, Ifaiah vi. 9, 10. all desperate cafes refer to. 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 fbut their eyes left they fee with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, 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 evangelifts 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 copy, and all after instances are after this example. When men dally in religion, dissemble with God, give God high offences, provoke and exafperate him to displeasure, 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 reasonable, that God fhould recompence spiritual fins by fpiritual judgments, and these are a reprobate ftate, a feared confcience, 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 misgiving 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 vifible church than in the wilderness of the world. Thus I have reprefented to you the cafes now I come to make some application, I will : 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 circumstances, do not enjoy themselves. We wonder fometimes that men cannot be content; they want nothing, neither friends, nor eftates, 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 conscience, 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 truly fay that mens fin go before them into judgment, I 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 inftance, In Nabal, his heart died within him upon his wife's words only, Sam. xxv. 37. which is ftrange, for a covetous miserable wretch will moft 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 thofe 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 fore he did that ill act, he might have enjoyed himfelf as happily as fo much money would have made him; but it was too hot for his fingers. We are not sure of taking any comfort, if we leave God out. Another inftance; Ananias and Sapphira, Acts v. 9. They might have come off for noble benefactors, and received the thanks of the church, had they not diffembled with him who fearcheth the hearts, and had he not found them guilty of lying to the Holy Ghoft. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, Heb. x. 31. of him that can not only kill the body, but the foul, Matt, x. 28. And how doth God kill the foul, which is immortal, but by discountenancing it, and letting it fall down into darkness ? Here are inftances of bad men but I will inftance in better kind of men, that make fad complaint, when there is any thing in this kind. The first is of Job, Job iii. 20. Wherefore is there life to the man that is bitter in foul? and Job xiii. 26. Thou writeft bitter things against me. Here is a representation from a good man, of the fadnefs of this condition. Next, the case of David, Pfal. li. 9. Make me to hear of joy and gladness, that the bones which thou haft broken, may rejoice. 11. Caft me not away from thy prefence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. 12. ReStore unto me the joy of thy falvation; uphold me with thy free Spirit. When David felt this cafe, fee how he expreffeth it. Another Another good man, Pfal. lxxvii. 2. In the day of my trouble I fought the Lord; my fore ran in the night, and ceafed not; my foul refused to be comforted. 3. I remembred God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. 7. Will the Lord caft off for ever, and will he be favourable no mare? 8. Is his mercy clean gone for ever, doth his promife fail for evermore? 9. Hath God forgotten to be gracious? kath he in anger shut up his tender mercy? Selah. See the fadnefs of men in this forlorn and loft ftate and condition, when God comes to apply himself fecretly to mens fpirit, and doth. inwardly reprove. The like you have in Pfal. xc. 11. Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, fo is thy wrath. You know, fear antedates evil, and multiplies evil; men commonly fear more than there is. The like cafe you have in Isaiah, lvii. 16. I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth, for the fpirit fhould fail before me, and the fouls which I have made. This fcripture holds forth this notion fully to you, that I have been fa long upon v. 17. For the iniquity of his covetoufness was I wroth, and fmote him I hid me, and was wroth; and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart, v. 18. I have feen his ways and will heal him; I will lead him alfo, and restore comforts untohim, and to his mourners. 19. I create the fruit of the lips, peace, peace to him that is near, faith the Lord, and I will heal him. 20. But the wicked are like the troubled fea, when it cannot reft, whose waters caft up mire and dirt. 21. There is no peace, faith my God, to the wicked. So Deut. xxxii. 39. See now that I, e Ven |