1. That men are often induced to sin upon hopes of secresy and conceahnent.
2. That to sin upon these encouragements, strongly argues their natural atheism : They think they are safe if men know it not ; they reckon not upon God's discovery of them.
3. That these encouragements to sin are vain things, it being im- possible any place can hide a sinner from God ; and how it appears that the eye of God is, and must needs be upon us, and our actions, wherever we are, and how closely soever we endeavour to hide them ; And then apply it.
First, Men are often induced to commit sin upon the hopes of secresy and concealment. Sin (especially some sorts of sin) carry so much shame and odium in them, that it restrains men from the open practice of them ; but if Satan can persuade them they shall never be divulged to their reproach, they will venture upon them. See that text, " The eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, " no eye shall see me, and disguiseth his face,"" Job xxiv. 15. Rec- koning himself secure if he can carry his wickedness under a vail of darkness, not caring what wickedness he doth, so he may do it un- discerned : It is not the acting of sin, but the discovery of it that puts them into terrors. So it is added with respect both to the adulterer and the thief, ver. ] 7. " The morning is to them as the shadow^ of " death, if one know them ; they are in the terrors of the shadow of " death,'*'* i. e. If a man, especially a man in authority, a magistrate meet them, it is as if the image of death passed before them in a vision. So those idolators, Ezek. viii. 12. " Son of man, hast thou seen what " the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, everv man in " the house of his imagery ? F<jr they sav, the Lord seetli it not.*'^ They conclude all is well, if nothing appear. This encouragement of secresy is the great argument by which Satan prevails with men to commit any sin that hath shame or danger attending it: But his promises of concealment are usually made good, as his promises of great wealth are to witches. This is the encouragement.
Secondlfj, Next I will make evident to you, that to sin upon this encouragement argues atheism in him that commits ik This is plain, for, did men believe the omnipresence and omniscience of God, such an encouragement to »sin as secresy could have no force with them. Thus, when the ancients of Israel practised their idolatry in the daik, it is plain they thought God saw them not, Ezek. viii. 1^. " For thev " say, the Lord seeth us not, the Lord hath forsaken the earth ;*" i. e. They did not really believe God"'s omnipresence and omniscience. And Job tells us, cliap. xxxi. 26, 27, 28. " That if he had beheld *' the sun in his brightness," i. e. to admire and worship it as a god ;
1574 THE SEAIklAic's PRESEllVATlVfi
or, " his heart been secretly enticed, he should have denied the God " that is above." Every one that is enticed to sin upon the encou- ragement of secresy, doth so far deny the God that is above. If such a man did really believe there is a God that sees hira, " whose eyes " are as flames of fire,'' Rev. i. 14. " To whom the darkness and ^' the light are both alike," Psal. cxxxix. 12. it were impossible he should be so terrified at the discovery of a creature, and so secure and wholly vmconcerned at the discovery of God : It could not be that the observation of the great God should not so much trouble them, as the observation of a little child.
Thus we find the inward thoughts of men's hearts concerning God discovered by their bold attempts upon secret sins, Isa. xxxix. 15. " Wo to them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, " and their works are in the dark ; and they say, who seeth us, and " who knoweth us ?''"' They think if their works are shrouded under a vail of darkness, they are safe enough ; if they can escape the bar of an earthly god (a magistrate) they shall never be accountable at any other bar. We have another sad instance of the same impiety in Psal. Ixxiii. 11. " And they say, how doth God know ? And is " there knowledge in the Most High ?" If men did not fancy to themselves there is no God, or (which is all one) that he is like unto themselves, one that cannot see in darkness, they could never encou- rage themselves as they do, to sin upon such a foolish pretence.
Thirdli/, But my proper business in this place, is to prove, that these cncourao-ements to sin are vain thino-s : That no sinner can hide himself from the eye of God. This is plain both from scripture and reason.
The scripture speaks full home to this truth. Prov. v. 21. " The '^ ways of a man are before the Lord, and he pondereth all his paths." To ponder or weigh our paths is more than simply to observe and see them. He not only sees the action, but puts it into the balances, with every circumstance belonging to it, and tries how much every in- gredient in the action weighs, and what it comes to. So that God hath not only an universal inspection upon every action, but he hath a critical inspection into it also. " The Lord is a God of knowledge, " and by him actions are weighed," 1 Sam. ii. 3. So Jer, xiii. 25, 27. ^' Thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood : I liave seen " thy adulteries Und thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredoms " and abominations ; q. d. Thou forgettest there is a God in the heavens that beheld thee, and didst verily believe all was safe, because secret from man. In this falsehood or cheat put upon thee by the devil and thine own atheistical heart, thoit didst trust. But I have seen thee, and all thy secret lewdness. It is a proverb among sinners, Si non caste, tamen caiite. Carry the matter, if not honestly, yet warily : If thou hast a mind to sin, yet order it so that the world may be never the wiser. But how vain a thing is this ? If men do not, the Lord doth see it ; "I know, and am a witness^ saith the Lord," Jer. xxix.
IN FOREIGN COUNTUIESr
23. Thus the scripture speaks roundly and fully to tlie point in hand. But because the atheism of the world is so great, and it is a hard thino- to convince men of this great truth, so as to overawe them from any secret sin by it ; I will, by rational arguments, demonstrate the truth to every man's conscience, and give you plain and fall evidence, that how secretly soever men carry their sinful designs, yet the Lord must needs be privy to them ; and it is impossible they should escape his cognizance.