Chap. 28 Fifthly, sin is more opposite to mans good than affliction, because 'tis a defilement of th
but he will be sure it shall be for that, which if he attain to that he aims at, it shall be worth all.
If a man be at a great deal of charge in a voyage, he aims at such an end as may be worth his charge: So when God above all things lays out his wisdom, power, and mercy, & goodness, & faithfulness; and sets at work all his Counsels to be laid out upon such a business, as to get man to attain to his last end; then certainly mans end and happiness must be worth it all. And it must needs be a glorious thing, God intends for the children of men to make them happy withal, when the great Counsels of God, and ways of God's wisdom and power be so about this business of bringing man to happiness.
Now if there be such a glorious happiness for mankind, then that which is most opposite to this great happiness, must be very evil.
Now sin directly opposes mans happiness, the end man was made for: and thus you see the evil of sin. When God comes to awaken mans conscience, and enlighten mans Soul to see how sin crosses their happiness more than any affliction, they will choose rather to be under the greatest affliction, than the least sin.
Object. I but it may be you will say it does not cross man's happiness, but that he may come to be happy for all sin?
Answ. I Answer, Of its own nature it directly crosses mans happiness; quite undoes man; and if God by his Power fetch it about another way, this is no thank to sin, but to God.
CHAP. XXVIII.
Fifthly, sin is more opposite to mans good than affliction because tis a defilement of
the Soul.
1 It defiles all a man meddles with. 2 sin is the matter the worm shall gnaw upon to all eternity.
Fifthly, The evil of sin against a mans good appears in this, In that it is the defilement and corruption of the Soul, a rottenness in the Soul. affliction is not the filth and corruption of the Soul, the Soul may be as clear from filth and corruption, notwithstanding affliction, as it was before man sinned. sin, it is the rottenness of the Soul, and therefore such a kind of defilement, As,
1 It defiles all things a man meddles withal, and al his actions; it makes a man vile, and defiles every thing that comes from him. To the unclean all things are unclean and impure, Tit. 1. 15. It defiles the creature and every thing he has to do withal, and every thing he meddles withal.
2 And especially it appears in this, That it is no other than the matter for the worm to breed in that shall gnaw upon the Soul of the wicked to all eternity. You read in Scripture, That the damned shall be punished with fire that shall never go out; and the worm that shall never dye. What is that worm that shall never dye? The worm of conscience that shall gnaw upon their Spirits to all eternity.
Now, what breeds this worm, and supplies it with matter? No other but the corruption of sin in the soul. For as with worms (as the Holy
Ghost makes use of that Metaphor) that breed in the corruption and filth in a mans body, there are some worms that breed in the body which are deadly. But out of what do those worms breed? Out of the filth and corruption of the Body, and the corruption of the body supplies matter for the worm to gnaw upon.
And so in trees, and timber, there breeds worms; upon what do they breed but upon the corruption of the timber when it begins to rot.
So then worms breed out of corruption, and live upon corruption; so
that worm of conscience that shall lie gnawing upon the souls of those that perish to all eternity, is nothing else but that which breeds from the filth of their hearts while they live here the worm breeds.
Therefore you that live a long time in sin, old sinners, gray headed sinners, though you do not feel the worm gnaw for the present; yet ever since you were born the worm was breeding, and it will be a great and a dreadful worm hereafter: and know you supply abundance of Corruption for to feed that worm that will gnaw another day: You feel it not now, but the longer you be before you feel it, the more dreadful will it be then. All those that have corrupt hearts, and have this worm breed, if God would make the worm gnaw now, it would be well for them; for there be ways to kill it here, to kill the worm of conscience.
If it gnaw, there is a sovereign medicine, the blood of Christ: And certainly there is no Medicine in the world to kill this worm but the blood of Christ, and those that God does intend to kill this worm in, and those that shall not have it gnaw to all eternity, God lets it gnaw now, the Ministry of the Word makes it gnaw and pain them, and they feel such pain that wheresoever they go, or whatsoever they do yet the worm lies gnawing upon their hearts, they cannot sleep, or eat their meat:
Alas! what should I eat, and have my worm gnaw there!
And they can never be at rest till God apply the blood of Christ, and then they void the worm as it were. How will you rejoice when your
Children, if the worms be great and put them to pain, if the Physician give them that which makes them void them, how do you rejoice to see the worm that would have been the death of your
Child? It might have grown bigger and bigger, if it had not been taken away.