Chap. 33 Tenthly, sin is more against mans good than affliction, for that it stirs up all in God to
CHAP. XXXIII.
Tenthly, sin is more against mans good than affliction, for that it stirs up all in God to come against a sinner in way of Enmity.
Tenthly, The Evil of sin as against our good, consists in this, It stirs up all in God to come in way of Enmity against a sinner: and this is another manner of business than to suffer affliction. A most dreadful place of Scripture we have for this, Levit. 26. verse 24. 28.
If you walk contrary to me, I will walk contrary unto you: What is that? All my glorious Attributes shall work against you; as if God should say, Is there any thing in me can make you miserable? you have it? if all my Power or wisdom can bring evil upon you, you shall have it: I will walk contrary in all the working of my Attributes, and ways of My Providence.
And a most dreadful place we have, Psalm, 34. 16. there God said, The face of the Lord is against them that do evil: Mark, the face of the Lord: What is God's face? The manifestation of himself, and his glorious Attributes; the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
Oh that thou wouldest consider this thou that dost evil, whose conscience cannot but tell thee thou dost evil; know, the face of God is against thee: and is this nothing to have the face of God against thee? The face of God is terrible in the world when he meets with a sinner; one sight of the face of God against a soul, cannot but overwhelm the soul and strike it down to the bottomless Gulf of eternal despair, if God hold him not by his mighty hand, there is so much terror in it: and yet the Scripture said, the face of God is against them that do evil.
Another text very remarkable we have in the 2 Sam. 22. 27. With the pure thou wilt shew thy self pure, and with the froward thou wilt shew thy self froward; or unsavory: But it may be translated, With the perverse thou wilt wrestle: so that those that be froward and perverse, and will walk on in a sinful way, God wrestles it out with them; God puts forth his Power to wrestle, and certainly if God wrestle with thee, he will lay thee upon thy back.
It is a dreadful thing that God should use such a speech, that he will wrestle with man; for all men in sin, as I shewed before, they wrestle with God, as if they would have the day; God will have his will, and thou shalt have the fall; thou wrestlest, and God wrestle: you know wrestlers put forth all their strength against one another, and know, God puts forth all his strength against every sinner.
And that I may bring it more full to your senses, consider this, From whence has any creature power to bring evil upon thee, or to torment thee? Surely it has somewhat of God in it: as thus, Fire has power to torment the Body, and it is only one spark of God let out through the power of that creature, otherwise it had no power. And again, another creature, Swords and Weapons, they have power to gash and wound the Body; whence have these Instruments their power? it is but some drop of God's power through these instruments.
So one Disease has power to torment one way, and another, another way; whence has any Disease power to torment? only there is some little of God's power let out through that Disease. Now if all creatures tormenting has only power through God's letting out his power, then what a dreadful thing will it be when God's Power shall be infinitely let out against the creature?
Take all creatures in their several powers to torment, and put them all together, one creature in one kind, and another in another, and put them all together, this would be great torture: Now all the Power of God is the several powers of all the creatures put together