that live at one end of the world thirst for the blood and treasure of those that live at the other ; so that the earth is but as a cock-pit, where there is little else but fighting and killing one another. And is this the guest thou canst find in thy heart to bid welcome within thy bosom ? Thirdly, A damning property. If all the mischief sin did us was in this world, it were bad enough ; but, con- sidering our short stay here, it would give some ease to our thoughts that we should have done with it and this life together ; but to be worried here by it, and damned for it also to eternal torments in another world, this is intolerable ! Methinks that place, Matt. xxv. 41, * Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,' should make us sit down and consider whether any sin be so desirable as to make it worth lying in endless torments to obtain and enjoy it a few fleeting days, that are at an end almost as soon as they connnence. Thou knowest, sinner, already, the best of thy sinful pleasure, but not the worst of thy punishment, which is so great as to lose its chief emphasis by translating it into our language, and clothing it with expi-essions borrowed even from those things we most dread in this life. Alas! what is the fire and brimstone we see and fear so much here, to that which burns in the infernal lake ! The fire in our chimney was made for our use and comfort chiefly, but that in hell is for no other end than to torment sinners in : this in our kitchen is kindled by a little pufl"of wind, and quenched by a little water; 'but the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle that,' Isa. xxx. 33 ; and where shall we find buckets to quench that which God kindles ? They say smelling of the earth is healthful for the body ; and taking in the scent of this sulphurous pit, by frequent meditation, cannot but be as wholesome for the soul. O Christian, be sometimes walking in the company of those scriptures which set out the state of the damned in hell, and their exquisite torments. This is the true house of mourning, and the going into it, by serious meditation, is a sovereign means to make the living lay it to heart ; and laying it to heart, there is the less fear that thou wilt throw thyself by thy impenitency into this uncomfoi'table place, who art offered so fair a mansion in heaven through faith and repentance.
CHAPTER XXVI.
SOME SCRIPTURE ANSWERS FITTED TO THE COMMON ARGUMENTS OF THE TEMPTER, WITH WHICH HE USUALLY ENTICETH TO SIN, ARE HERE BROUGHT TO THE christian's HAND FOR HIS DEFENCE.
Secondly, Provide thyself with Scripture answers to Satan's false reasonings with which he puts a fair colour on his foul motions, the better to gain thy consent. He is wily ; thou hadst need be wary. He not only propounds the sinful object, but sets a fair gloss upon it, and urges the soul with arguments to embrace bis offer. And when sin comes thus forth, Goliath like, it is not Said's armour, but the smooth stones of the brook, — not thy own resolution, but the divinity of Scripture argument, that can preserve thee, or prostrate thy enemy. Now, thou wilt find in the word an answer put into thy mouth to repel all Satan's sophistry. And this, indeed, is to be an Apollos, mighty in the Scrip- tures, when we can stop the devil's mouth, and choke his bullets, with a word seasonably interposed between us and the temptation.
Section I. — Sometimes Satan thus insinuates himself into a soul. What, man, will one sin, if yielded to, so nuicli hurt thee? One mole doth not mar the beauty of the face, nor can one sin spoil the beauty of thy soul ; and it is no more that I am a suitor for. If I bade thee wallow in every puddle, thou mightest well abhor the motion ; but why art thou so afraid of one spot being seen on thy garment? The best jewel hath its ffaw, and the holiest saint his failing. Now, to repel this motion when so modestly proposed —
First, The word tells us that no sin goes single. It is impossible to embrace or allow one sin, and be free of others. For, First, He that yields to one sin, casts contempt u])on the authority that made the whole law, and upon this account breaks it all : ' Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all,' James ii. 10. And he gives the reason in the next words : ' For he that said. Do not commit adultery, said also. Do not kill. Now, if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art a transgressor of the law.' Not that he is guilty of all distributively, but collectively, as Estiuswell
gQ3 AND THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT.