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reason of their continuance in sins? Is it because there is no sentence denounced against sin? These busy and subtle extractors of reasons, that can distil, and draw poison out of manna, occasions of sin, out of God's patience, will not say so, that there is no sentence denounced. The word that is here used, pithgam", is not truly an Hebrew word: and though in the Book of Job, and in some other parts of the Hebrew Scriptures, we find sometimes some foreign and outlandish word, derived from other nations; yet, in Solomon's writing very rarely; neither doth Solomon himself, nor any other author, of any part of the Hebrew Bible, use this word, in any other place, than this one. The word is a Chaldee word; and hath amongst them, the same signification and largeness, as dabar in Hebrew; and that includes all a verbo ad legem; from a word suddenly and slightly spoken, to words digested and consolidated into a law. So that, though the Septuagint translate this place, Quia non est facta contradictio; as though the reason of this sinner's obduration might have been, that God had not forbidden sin; and though the Chaldee paraphrast express this place thus, Quia non est factum verbum ultionis; as though this sinner made himself believe, that God had never spoken word of revenge against sinners: yet, this sinner makes not that his reason, that there is no law, no judgment, no sentence given: for, every book of the Bible, every chapter, every verse almost, is a particular Deuteronomy, a particular renewing of the law from God's mouth, Morte morieris, Thou shalt die the death; and of that sentence from Moses' mouth, Pereundo peribitis, You shall surely perish; and of that judgment from the prophet's mouth, Non est pax impiis, There is no peace to the wicked. And if this obdurate sinner could be such a Goth and Vandal, as to destroy all records, all written laws; if he could evacuate and exterminate the whole Bible, yet he would find this law in his own heart, this sentence pronounced by his own conscience, Stipendium peccati mors est, Treason is death, and sin is treason.

His reason is not, that there is no law; he sees it: nor that he know no law; his heart tells it him: nor that he hath kept

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that law; his conscience gives judgment against him: nor that he hath a pardon for breaking that law; for he never asked it: and, besides, those pardons have in them that clause, Ita quod se bene gerat; Every pardon binds a man to the good behaviour; and by relapses into sin, we forfeit our pardons for former sins. All their reason, all their comfort, is only a reprieve, and a respite of execution: Distulit securim, attulit securitatem1o; God hath taken the axe from their necks, and they have taken security into their hearts; sentence is not executed.

Execution is the life of the law; but then, it is the death of the man and therefore whosoever makes quarrels against God, or arguments of obduration, out of this respite of execution, would he be better pleased with God, if God came to a speedy execution? But let that be true, where there is no execution, there is no reverence to the law; there is truly, and in effect, no law the law is no more a law without execution, than a carcase is a man. And so much, certainly, the word, which is here rendered sententia facta, doth properly signify, a judgment perfected, executed. When Esau was born hairy", and so in the likeness of a grown and perfect man, he was called by the word of this text, Gnesau, Esau, factus, perfectus. And so, when God had perfected all his works, that is, said then, that he saw, that all was good that he had made; where there is the same word, that he had perfected1. So that, if the judgments of God had been still without execution; if all those curses'; Cursed shalt thou be in the town, and cursed in the field; cursed in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy land, and in the fruit of thy cattle; cursed when thou comest in, and when thou goest out. The Lord shall send thee cursings, and trouble, and shame, in all thou setst thy hand to. The Lord shall make a pestilence cleave to thee, and a consumption, and a fever. The Lord shall make the heavens above, as brass, and the earth under thee, as iron; with all those curses and maledictions, which he flings, and slings, and stings the soul of the sinner, so vehemently, so pathetically, in that catalogue of comminations, and interminations, in that

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place; if all these were never brought into execution, we should say, at best, of those laws, and judgments of God, as the Roman lawyer did of that severe law of the twelve tables, by which law, he that was indebted to many men, and not able to pay, was to be cut in pieces, and divided proportionably amongst his creditors, Eo consilio tanta immanitas poenæ denuntiata est, ne ad eam unquam perveniretur; Therefore so grievous a punishment was inflicted, that that law might never come to execution: for, from the enacting of that law, to the last times, in that government, there was never any example, of one execution of that law: so we should say, that God laid those severe penalties upon sins, only to deter men from doing them, and not with any purpose to inflict those penalties. In laws, to the making whereof, there concurs, besides the authority of the prince, the counsel and the consent of the subject, there are sometimes laws made, without any purpose of ordinary execution; of which, the civil wisdom, and the religious conscience, and the godly moderation of the prince, is made a depository, and a feoffee in trust; and those laws are only put into his hands, as a bridle, the better to rule and govern that great charge committed to him, in emergent necessities, though not in an ordinary execution of those penal laws. But who was a counseller to God, or who inserted any provisos or non obstante's into his laws? or who conditioned them, with any such reservations, that they should have no ordinary execution? And therefore an ordinary execution they have always had.

The reason why they are sometimes, and why they are not always executed, St. Chrysostom hath assigned; Si nullus puniretur, nemo existimaret Deum pre-esse rebus humanis; si omnes, nemo expectaret futuram resurrectionem: If God should punish no sins here, no man would believe a God; and if God should presently punish all here, no man would be afraid of a future judgment. There the obdurate man may find a reason of the manner of God's proceeding, in the execution of his judgments: and if he dare stand the arguing of this case, out of precedent, out of record, out of the history of God, in his word, he must hear heavy judgments denounced, and executed, in cases, where he would hardly discern any sin to have been committed, at least,

no sin proportionable to that punishment. If he were in the case of Ananias and Sapphira, of having reserved a little of their own, whatsoever should befall, he would never see counsel, nor petition the judge, never apprehend danger in this case; and yet, God declared by the mouth of Peter, that Satan had filled their hearts, and that they had lied to the Holy Ghost; and a heavy judgment of present death, was executed upon them both. If he had been of the jury, for that man of God, who, though God had forbidden him to eat and drink in that place", yet, when an old prophet came to him, and told him, that God had spoken to him by an angel, that he should go with him, and eat, did go, and eat with him, he would have acquitted him of any offence herein; and yet God's judgment overtook him, and he was slain by a lion. But if he will hear the case of Saul, who did but reserve some of the spoil, and that purchased with the blood of the people, and that pretended to be reserved for God's service, for sacrifice; and yet Saul heard that judgment, Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and transgression is idolatry: because thou hast cast away the word of the Lord, therefore he hath cast thee away from being king. If he will hear Achan's case, who had taken an excommunicate thing to his own use17, and the heavy judgment thereupon, Inasmuch as thou hast troubled us, the Lord shall trouble thee this day: and so, all Israel stoned him. If he will hear Eli's case1, against whom, only for indulgence to his sons, God prepared, and studied and meditated judgments, and threatened beforehand, when he said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, whereof whosoever shall hear, his two ears shall tingle: and so, soon after, upon the heavy news, that Israel was discomfited, that the ark was taken, that his two sons were slain, Eli fell from his seat, and broke his neck, and died. If he remember Uzzah's case 19, who for putting his hand to the ark, when it was ready to fall, felt the wrath of God, and died in the place. If he study all this title, of God's heavy judgments upon sins, not great in the outward appearance; and then come to them by the consideration of the nature of the first sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve, and finds there, such a lightness in that sin of eating 17 Joshua vii, 19 2 Sam. vi.

15 1 Kings xiii.
18 1 Sam. iv,

17

101 Sam. xv.

forbidden fruit, that he durst do it, if it were to do again; as though it were no more to disobey God, when he forbade the eating of fruit, than to disobey his physician in that point; and yet shall see the heavy judgment of God upon all posterity for that sin, (which he esteems so small a one) to extend so far, as that all his particular sins, even this very sin of undervaluing Adam's sin, and his very sin of obduration, is but a punishment of Adam's sin. If he shall climb by this ladder, to the highest step of all, from Adam in paradise, to the angels in heaven, and see, that in those angels, a sin only of omission, of a not turning toward God, (for there was no creature then to turn upon) in so pure natures, and done but once, was so heavily punished, as that the blood of Christ Jesus hath not washed it away; certainly the hardness, the flintiness of this obdurate sinner, must necessarily be so much mollified, so much entendered, as to confess, that he can make no good argument out of that, that the judgments of God are not executed.

But yet, howsoever that be, they are not executed speedily How desperate a state art thou in, if nothing will convert thee, but a speedy execution, after which, there is no possibility, no room left for a conversion! God is the Lord of hosts, and he can proceed by martial law: he can hang thee upon the next tree; he can choak thee with a crumb, with a drop, at a voluptuous feast; he can sink down the stage and the player, the bed of wantonness, and the wanton actor, into the jaws of the earth, into the mouth of hell: he can surprise thee, even in the act of sin; and dost thou long for such a speedy execution, for such an expedition? Thou canst not lack examples, that he hath done so upon others, and will no proof serve thee, but a speedy judgment upon thyself? Scatter thy thoughts no farther then, contract them in thyself, and consider God's speedy execution upon thy soul, and upon thy body, and upon thy soul and body together. Was not God's judgment executed speedily enough upon thy soul, when in the same instant that it was created, and conceived, and infused, it was put to a necessity of contracting original sin, and so submitted to the penalty of Adam's disobedience, the first minute? Was not God's judgment speedily enough executed upon thy body, if before it had any temporal life, it had a spiritual

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