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heart, Matt. xv. 19, 20. For out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, thefe are the things which defile a man.

Friendly. As the nature of fin is fo vile, and its refidence is in the heart, what might be the effects of it?

Truth. Its effects were mifery, curfe, and wrath; which is feen in Angels, inafmuch as by fin they became Devils; therefore whatfoever is horrible in their nature and condition, is the effect of fin; for the Devils' natures and actions are the confummate fimilitude of fin, for which they are faid to be referved in chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day, Jude. 6. Likewife the effects of fin are felt to an exquifite degree in the human mind, fuch as guilt, grief, horror, and distraction; dread of death, and diftrefs for fear of damnation; nay, the horrors of Hell, encompass the mind as the confequence of fin. Neither is the body free from its baneful effects, as forrow, pain, and ficknefs, &c. are the concomitants of fin, according to the common obfervation, where fin goes before, punishment will follow after. Sin produceth all the mifery that is in the mind, let it diffuse itself in whatfoever finful branches, fuch as atheism, pride, hypocrify, deceit, hatred of GOD, murmuring against him, blafphemy, curfing, fwearing, lying, filthy communications, obfcene actions, &c. whatever pain, guilt, and mifery, attend these, and fuch-like actions, it is the produce of fin.

Secondly, The effects of fin appears in that feparation it hath made between GoD and his creatures; it hath fixed an inveterate enmity againft GoD in the carnal mind; ignorance of him, and alienation to him, that it neither defires him, nor feeks after him, Rom. viii. 7. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not fubject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Sin makes fuch a separation between GOD and the foul, by diffufing fuch a contrariety of nature in the mind, to his holy law and divine perfections, that it hath not only the ftupidity and ignorance, but likewife the enmity to fay to GOD, Depart from me: There is no beauty in him, that I should defire him. Thus fin hath made an internal feparation between GoD and the foul, and causeth a fpiritual exile, and a divine banishment in the mind, by an unpaffable gulph. Thus the effects of fin appear, not only in filling the mind with dark and ignorant notions of GOD, but with direct enmity and rebellion againft him. Though the bible is acknwledged to be the word of GOD, the word of truth, and the gofpel of our falvation, yet take a carnal perfon, and confine him to hear, or oblige

him to read therein, for fo many hours every day, he would count it a worle burthen than a prifon, nay worfe than to be a galley flave; it is a frequent expreflion of a very popular preacher, "That you may tie a carnal man to a tree, and "preach him to death." But further, the difmal effects of fin are feen, by the feparation it hath made in man from his original purity, Gen. i. 27. In the image of God created be bim. His understanding had a perfect and glorious knowledge of his Maker, his will was a perfection of obedience to his Maker's law; whereby he was conformed to the pure nature of GoD, and fully difpofed to make a free choice of GOD as his chiefeft good and lati end; his affections were engaged in conftant acts of love, delight and praife to his Maker. But, alas! Sin has made ruinous work of that perfect state in which man was created, his understanding is thereby become darkness, the will perverfe, and the affections alienated from GOD. It has made man a compofition of evil; man, that was made in the image of God, is now become the image of the Devil, for fin transforms into its own likeness, where ever it comes, and feparates the foul from GOD, as far as the eaft is from the weft. It brings an infinite lofs upon the creature, as it is fure to produce infinite mifery to the foul of man, and lays the foundation for eternal punithment.

Third. The effects of fin are likewife known, by that trembling and anguish of foul which it brings with it; that deep diftrefs and forrow that attends it. It was fin that drove our first parents out of paradife, and made the children of Ifrael fay, Gen. xlii. 21. We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we faw the anguish of his foul, when he befought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this diftrefs come upon us. It was fin that made all the camp of Ifrael to tremble at mount Sinai, Exod. xix. 16. and Job to fay, behold I am vile; and David, against thee, and thee only, have I finned, and done this evil in thy fight. It made the Evangelic Prophet to cry out, wo is me, for I am undone! And the Publican, on the account of fin, could not fo much as lift up his eyes, but fmote upon his breaft, and faid, God be merciful to me a finner! It made the prodigal to fay, I have finned against Heaven, and before thee; and the Goaler trembling faid, Sirs, what muft I do to be faved? And indeed, when the LORD fets home a fenfe of fin upon the mind, fets the tranfgreffions of the guilty foul in order before his eyes, makes him to fee the exceeding finfulness of fin, in all its innumerable number, heinous nature, and aggravating circumftances; it fixes in the mind an apprehenfion of wrath

due for thefe offences, that he is thereby obnoxious to the curfe of the law, he then cries out, a wounded spirit who can bear? Thus the effects of fin are feen in the countenance, felt in the mind, and known by the language of a convinced finner.

Fourth. The effects of fin are known by its strength, and unmoveablenefs from the mind. You may fooner move the moft ponderous mountains upon the earth, and caft them into the fea; nay, you may fooner erafe the earth from its foundation, than you can erase a sense of guilt from the mind, or remove the anguifh of the foul on the account of it; all the legal facrifices under the law fail of its removation, Heb. x. 4. For it is not poffible that the blood of bulls, and goats, should take away fins. Neither can all our moral obedience to the law remove it; no, the ftrength of fin is too great, and the weight thereof too ponderous upon the mind, for the feeble obedience of man, with all his cries, tears, and alms- deeds to remove; so far from it, that ten thousand times ten thousand years obedience to the law of GOD, would not remove the guilt of one fingle crime; the fruit of the body, flain as a facrifice for the fin of the foul, will not avail, Mic. vi. 7. The whole creation groans, being burdened with the weight of it; and, indeed, nothing can remove it but CHRIST, Heb. ix. 26. But now once in the end of the world bath he appeared to put away fin by the facrifice of bimfelf.

Fifth. The effects of fin are known by its forfeiture of every bleffing, as life and all its enjoyments are thereby feized upon, and death become inevitable. The bleffings of providence are a treasure of rich mercies, which by creation we have now no claim to; our hereditary right to them is loft by fin, which made the pious Patriarch to fay, I am not worthy of the leaft of all thy mercies, Gen. xxxii. 10. All the variety of mercies, the fweets of life, the enjoyments that we poffefs, are forfeited bleffings, bestowed upon us as the kind bounty of our God.

Sixth. The difmal confequences of fin are feen, by that difregard it makes the finner pay to GOD, and all the difcoveries that he has made of the riches of his grace, and mercy for man's falvation. Though GOD hath employed the riches of his wisdom, the treafures of his love, the funds of his grace, the perfections of his nature, the glories of his name, for our happiness; yet fuch are the deplorable effects of fin upon the mind, that (by nature) we despise all that God hath done for

us, as there is not a commandment that he hath given, but what we break; a counfel but what we defpife; mercies but what we abuse; nor opportunities but what we mifimprove. Though he hath condefcended to give us precept upon precept, and line upon line, yet our hearts are as hard as adamant. O the dreadful effects of fin upon the mind, that makes us rebel against our Maker, defpife the grand defigns of his love, the methods of his grace to accomplish our falvation! “What, "finner, fly in the face of thy kind Benefactor, and trample "upon the boundlefs treafures of his mercy, and defpife the "promifes of his grace! What, flight the SAVIOUR, whom "GOD hath provided, and lightly efteem his precious blood, "that was fhed for the remiffion of fin! Surely thy heart must "be harder than the nether mill-ftone, or elfe the cries and "tears, the bleeding heart of a dying SAVIOUR, would melt "it into love, and diffolve thine eyes in tears of repentance! "But, alas! the difmal effects of fin!" which may be seen,

Seventh, In that it makes the finner the greatest enemy to himfelf, as it equips him for the Devil, and makes him a perfect flave to his will. If Satan fays come, he cometh; go, he goeth; do this, and behold he doeth it. Not that the finner obeys, as it is the voice of Satan, but as it is the gratification of his luft and carnal mind, and thereby he heapeth up wrath against the day of wrath.. He vainly thinks that there is no happiness like the gratification of his fenfual appetite, which makes him commit iniquity with greedinefs; his heart being replete with finful conceptions and imaginations, he pursues his carnal enjoyments with uncontroulable power, faying, My tongue is my own, and who is Lord over me? Though Death and Hell is before him, yet it ftops him not in the full career he takes in the paths of iniquity. Notwithstanding God hath faid, Ezek. xxii. 14. Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be ftrong in the days that I fall deal with thee? Yet fuch is the rebellion of his heart, that he faith, Who is the Lord, that I fhould obey him? Thus by fin he fetcheth down the vengeance of Heaven upon himself, accelerates the curfe of the law, and takes fwift marches to deftruction, Pfal. lxviii. 21. But God will wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy fcalp of fuch a one that goeth on ftill in his trefpaffes.

Likewife the effects of fin are feen, in that deception it fpreads upon the mind, putting darkness for light, and light for darkness; bitter for fweet and sweet for bitter. The mind being deceived by fin, hath very diminutive thoughts of the LORD JESUS, of the law of GoD, of the worship of GoD, and of his

ways; counting them all bitter things, though they are to a fpiritual tafte the fum of fweetnefs. A finner hath likewife very reproachful thoughts of the people of God; efpecially if they are zealous, warm, and lively in the things of GOD, declaring plainly that they feek a country, even an beavenly one, then they may be fure the carnal mind (being deceived by fin) will load them with a thoufand reproaches; for fin hath a thoufand ways to deceive the finner; frequenly it deceives the mind, by vain imaginations, raifing thofe expectations that it can never fulfil, whereby the finner is infatuated; yet ftill thefe imaginary hopes caufe him to perfift in his way; and fuch is the pride of his heart, that he defpifeth counfel, and his felf-fufficiency prompts him to think he wants no knowledge, especially if he hath fome little notion of religion, and attends to the out ward form of it. When, alas! religion is the best cloak the Devil has, the principal vail and covering that he makes use of to deceive precious fouls. He will attend religion under every denomination, as far as the form goes therein; for he conftantly attends the religion of Pagans, Mahometans, and the Roman Catholics, because their religion is nothing but form and deception to poor fouls. Likewife he attends the Proteftant Religion in all its affemblies, throughout every denomination, (as I faid before) fo far as the form goes. If he can but fettle a foul, in the form of religion, he is as well pleafed with it, as though it were in the counfel of the ungodly, and in the feat of the fearnful: The Devil well knows that the form of religion never faved a fingle foul, for the hypocrite, the formal profeffor, and the notorious prophane finner, all meet in one place. The Scribes and Pharifees were as ftrictly religious, as to the outward form, as any profeffors under the fun; but what faith our LORD to them? Wo unto you Scribes and Pharifees! Not that the finner will be condemned for his ftrict and clofe attendance to the ways and worship of GOD; no, God forbid; but for making the outward form his truft and dependance without a real change in his foul. This was the cafe of Nicodemus, though a Teacher in Ifrael; for when he came to our LORD, he was ignorant of the new birth, and knew nothing what it was to be born again. Our dear LORD faid, John iii. 3. Verily, verily, I fay unto thee, except a man be born from above, he cannot fee the kingdom of God. And this was the Apoflle's cafe, who was an Hebrew of the Hebrews, and of the ftricteft fect, a Pharifee; who was touching the righteoufnefs which is of the law, blameless, Phil. iii. 6. Yet blamelefs as he was, had he died in that ftate,

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