Consid. 4. It is a sin that cuts off mercy from you in future straits : If you thus requite the Lord for former mercies, never expect the like in future distresses. God is not weary of his blessings, to cast them away upon such souls as are but graves to them. Mark what a re- ply God made to the Israelites, when they cried unto him for help, being invaded by the Amorites, Judg. x. 11, 12, 13. " Did not I de- " liver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the " children of Amnion, and from the Philistines .^ The Zidonians " also, and the Amalekites, and ye cried unto me, and I delivered you " out of their hand. Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other " gods, wherefore I will deliver you no more." O sad world ! it is as if the Lord had said, I have tried what mercy and deliverance will do with you, and I see you are never the better for it : Deliverance is but seed sown upon the rocks. I will cast away no more favours upon you ; now look to yourselves, shift for yourselves for time to come ; wade through your troubles as well as you can. O brethren ! there is nothing more quickly works the ruin of a people than the abuse of mercy. O, methinks, this text should strike terror into your hearts ? How often hath God delivered you ? Remember thy eminent deliverance at such a time, in such a country, out of such a deep distress : God was gracious to thy cry then, thou hast forgotten and abused his mercy : what now, if God should say as in the text, therefore I will deliver thee no more ? Ah, poor soul ! what wouldst thou do then, or to whom wilt thou turn ? It may be thou wilt cry to the creatures for help and pity ; but, alas ! to what purpose ! They will give as cold and as comfortless an answer as Samuel gave unto Saul, 1 Sam. xxviii. 15, 16. " And Samuel said unto Saul, Where- " fore hast thou disquieted me to bring me up ? And Saul answer- *' ed, I am sore distressed ; for the Philistines make war against me, " and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither ** by prophets, nor by dreams : therefore have I called thee, &c. " Then said Samuel, wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the " Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy T'' Oh I
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thou wilt be a poor shiftless creature, if once by abusing mercy thou make it thine enemy !
Consid. 5. It is breach of vows made in distress to obtain these mercies ; they have been easily forgotten and violated by thee when thou hast obtained thy desire : A word or two to convince you what a further evil lies in this, and how by this consideration thy sins come to be buoyed up to a greater height and aggravation of sin- fulness ; and then I have done with this head.
j4 vow is a pi'omise made to God, in the things of God. The obligation of it is, by casuists, judged to be as great as that of an oath. It is a sacred and solemn bond, wherein a soul binds to God in lawful things ; and being once bound by it, it is a most heinous evil to violate it. It is an high piece of dishonesty to fail in what we have promised to men, saith * Dr. Hall ; but to disappoint God in our vows, is DO less than sacrilege. The act is free and voluntary ; but if once a just and lawful vow or promise hath past your lips, saith he, you may not be false to God in keeping it. It is with us for our vows, as it was with Ananias and Sapphira, for their substance : " Whilst " it remained (saith Peter) was it not thine own .?" He needed not to sell and give it ; but if he will give, be may not reserve : it is death to save some; he lies to the Holy Ghost, that defalks from that which he engaged himself to bestow. If thou hast vowed to the mighty God of Jacob, look to it that thou be faithful in thy performance ; for he is a great and jealous God, and will not be mocked.
Now I am confident there be many among you, that, in your for- mer distresses, have solemnly engaged your souls thus to God ; that if he would deliver you out of those dangers, and spare your lives, you would walk more strictly, and live more holy lives than ever you did. You have, it may be, engaged your souls to the Lord against those sins, as drunkenness, lying, swearing, uncleanness, or whatsoever evil it was that your conscience then smote you for ; the vows of God (I say) are upon many of you. But have you performed those vows that your lips have uttered ? Have you dealt truly with God ^ or have you mocked him, and lied unto him with your lips, and omitted those very duties you promised to perform, and returned to the self-same evils you have promised to forsake ? I only put the question, let your consciences answer it. But if it be so, indeed, that thou art* a person that makest light of thy engage- ments to God, as indeed seamen's vows and sick men's promises are, for the most part, deceitful and slippery things, being extorted from them by fear of death, and not from any deep resentment of the necessity, and weight of those duties to which they bind their souls : I say, if this sin lie upon any of your souls, I advise you to go to God speedily, and bewail it; humble yourself greatly before him, admire his patience in forbearing you, and pay unto him what your
* Cases of conscience.
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lips have promised. And to move you thereunto, let these consi- derations among many others, be laid to heart.
Consid. 1. Think seriously upon the greatness of tliat majesty whom thou hast wronged by lying to him, and falsifying thy en- gagements. O think sadly on this ! it is not man Avhom thou hast abused, but God ; even that God in whose hand thy life and breath is. For although (as one truly observes) there be not in every vow a formal invocation of God, (God being the proper correlate, and, as it were, a party to every vow, and therefore not formally to be invoked for the contestation of it ;) yet, there is in every vow an implicit calling God to witness ; so that certainly the obligation of a vow is not one jot beneath that of an oath. Now if God be as a party to whom thou hast past thy promise, and that obligation on that ground be so great ; Oh what hast thou done ! for a poor worm to mock the most glorious Majesty of heaven, and break faith with God; what a dreadful thing is that.^ if it were but to thy fellow- creature, though the sin would be great ; yet not like unto this. Let me say to thee as the prophet Isaiah, chap. vii. 13. " Is it a " small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God *' also?" If you dare to deceive and abuse men, dare you do so by God also ^ Oh ! if the exceeding vileness of the sin do not affect thee, yet methinks the danger of provoking so dreadful a Majesty against thee should ! And therefore consider,