affliction lasted longer than the sin. Telling lies frequently hath for its punishment to be given over to believe a lie,' and, at last, that nobody shall believe it but himself; and then the mischief is full, he becomes a dishonored and a baffled person. The consequent of lust is properly shame; and witchcraft is still punished with baseness and beggary; and oppression of widows hath a sting; for the tears of the oppressed are, to the oppressor, like the waters of jealousy, making the belly to swell, and the thigh to rot; the oppressor seldom dies in a tolerable condition; but is remarked towards his end with some horrible affliction. The sting of oppression is darted as a man goes to his grave. In these, and the like, God keeps a rule of striking, in quo quis peccat, in eo punitur. The divine judgment did point at the sin, lest that be concealed by excuses, and protected by affection, and increased by passion, and destroy the man by its abode. For some sins are so agreeable to the spirit of a fool and an abused person, because he hath framed his affections to them and they comply with his unworthy interest, that when God, out of an angry kindness, smites the man and punishes the sin, the man does carefully defend his beloved sin, as the serpent does his head, which he would most tenderly preserve. But therefore God, that knows all our tricks and devices, our stratagems to be undone, hath therefore apportioned out his punishments by analogies, by proportions, and entail: so that when every sin enters into its proper portion, we may discern why God is angry, and labor to appease him speedily. 2. The second appendage to this consideration is this, that there are some states of sin which expose a man to all mischief, as it can happen, by taking off from him all his guards and defences; by driving the good spirit from him; by stripping him of the guards of angels. But this is the effect of an habitual sin, a course of an evil life, and it is called in Scripture, grieving the good Spirit of God.' But the guard of angels is, in Scripture, only promised to them that live godly; the angels of the Lord pitch their tents round about them that fear him, and deliver them," said David. * Psal. xxxiv. 7. Τῷ δὲ θρόνῳ πυρόεντι παρεστᾶσιν πολύμοχθοι Αγγελοι, οἷσι μέμηλε βροτοῖς ὡς πάντα τελεῖται. And the Hellenists used to call the angels èypnyópovs, "watchmen;" which custody is at first designed and appointed for all, when by baptism they give up their names to Christ, and enter into the covenant of religion. And of this the heathen have been taught something by conversation with the Hebrews and Christians. Unicuique nostrum dare pædagogum Deum, said Seneca to Lucilius, non primarium, sed ex eorum numero, quos Ovidius vocat ex plebe Deos: "There is a guardian god assigned to every one of us, of the number of those which are of the second order;" such are those of whom David speaks, 'Before the gods will I sing praise unto thee:' and it was the doctrine of the Stoics, that to every one there was assigned a genius, and a Juno: Quamobrem major cœlitum populus etiam quam hominum intelligi potest, quum singuli ex semetipsis totidem Deos faciant, Junones geniosque adoptando sibi, said Pliny: "Every one does adopt gods into his family, and get a genius and a Juno of their own." Junonem meam iratam_habeam; it was the oath of Quartilla in Petronius (25.4.); and Socrates in Plato is said to "swear by his Juno;" though afterward, among the Romans, it became the woman's oath, and a note of effeminacy; but the thing they aimed at was this, that God took care of us below, and sent a ministering spirit for our defence; but that this is only on the accounts of piety, they knew not. But we are taught it by the Spirit of God in Scripture. For, the angels are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to the good of them who shall be heirs of salvation;" and concerning St. Peter, the faithful had an opinion, that it might be "his angel;" agreeing to the doctrine of our blessed Lord, who spake of angels appropriate to his little ones, to infants, to those that belong to him. Now what God said to the sons of Israel, is also true to us Christians; Behold, I send an angel before thee; beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not: for he will not pardon your transgressions.'+ So that if we provoke the Spirit of the Lord to anger by a course of * Heb. i. 14. + Exod. xxiii, 20, 21. evil living, either the angel will depart from us, or, if he stays, he will strike us. The best of these is bad enough, and he is highly miserable qui non sit tanto hoc custode securus, whom an angel cannot defend from mischief, nor any thing secure him from the wrath of God. It was the description and character which the Erythrean sibyl gave to God, *Αφθαρτος, κτιστὴς αἰώνιος, αἰθέρα ναίων, Τοῖς τ ̓ ἀκάκοις ἄκακον προφέρων πολὺ μείζονα μισθὸν, It is God's appellative to be "a giver of excellent rewards to just and innocent persons; but to assign to evil men fury, wrath, and sorrow, for their portion." If I should launch farther into this dead sea, I should find nothing but horrid shriekings, and the skulls of dead men utterly undone. Fearful it is to consider, that sin does not only drive us into calamity, but it makes us also impatient, and imbitters our spirit in the sufferance: it cries aloud for vengeance, and so torments men before the time even with such fearful outcries and horrid alarms, that their hell begins before the fire is kindled. It hinders our prayers, and consequently makes us hopeless and helpless. It perpetually affrights the conscience, unless by its frequent stripes it brings a callousness and an insensible damnation on it. It makes us to lose all that which Christ purchased for us, all the blessings of his providence, the comforts of his Spirit, the aids of his grace, the light of his countenance, the hopes of his glory; it makes us enemies to God, and to be hated by him more than he hates a dog: and with a dog shall be his portion to eternal ages; with this only difference, that they shall both be equally excluded from heaven, but the dog shall not, and the sinner shall, descend into hell; and, which is the confirmation of all evil, for a transient sin God shall inflict an eternal death. Well might it be said in the words of God by the prophet, Ponam Babylonem in possessionem erinacei, Babylon shall be the possession of a hedgehog:' that is, a sinner's dwelling, encompassed round with thorns, and sharp prickles, afflictions and uneasiness all over. So that he that wishes his sin big and prosperous, wishes his bee as big as a bull, and his hedgehog like an elephant: the pleasure of the honey would not cure the mighty sting; and nothing make recompense, or be a good, equal to the evil of an eternal ruin. But of this there is no end. I sum up all with the saying of Publius Mimus; Tolerabilior est qui mori jubet, quam qui male vivere, "He is more to be endured that puts a man to death, than he that betrays him into sin :"-for the end of this is death eternal.' SUMMARY OF SERMON IX. EPHESIANS, CHAP. IV.-VERSE 29. PART I. PRELIMINARY observations on the prudence of holding one's peace. But by the use of the tongue God has distinguished us from beasts; and by the well or ill using it we are distinguished from one another; and therefore, although silence be perfectly innocent, yet it is rather the state of death than life. The tongue, in fact, is the band of human intercourse, and makes men apt to unite in societies: by it we sing the praises of God; by it our tables are made to differ from mangers, our cities from deserts, our churches from herds of cattle, &c. But the tongue is a fountain both of bitter waters and of pleasant: it sends forth blessing and cursing: it praises God, and rails at men, &c. This topic dilated on. Subjects of discourse proposed. 1. The vices of the tongue. 2. Its duty and proper employment. I. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth: πãs ó σaπpòs λóyos corrupt or filthy' communication: so we read it; and it seems properly to note such communication as ministers to wantonness: this topic enlarged on. But the word which the Apostle uses means more than this: meanings of the word σampòs given; by which it is shown that we are forbidden to use all language that is in any sense corrupted, unreasonable, or useless; language proceeding from old iniquity or evil habits, called, in the style of Scripture, the remains of the old man, &c. Under this is forbidden, 1. useless, vain, and trifling conversation: 2. slander and calumny : |