he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women, committed them to prison.'
Fourthly, Though he had cast them into prison, yet if he had given them but some liberty in a prison, as Joseph had, and as others have had, and as himself once had when he begot Onesimus in his bonds, Philem. 10, and when Onesiphorus oft refreshed him, and Avas not ashamed of his chain, 2 Tim. i. 16, &c., or as the primitive Christians had, the matter had not been so great. Oh ! but I kept them close prisoners ; ' Many of the saints did I shut up in prison' I shut them up from friends, from relations, and from all comfortable accommodations ; and thus he further aggravates his sin, Acts ix. 1, 2.
Fifthly, If he had rested there, if he had proceeded no further, the matter had not been so bad ; Oh ! 'but J gave ray voice against them to put them to death.' My heart and my hand was not only against them, but my tongue also. If I could not kill them with my hand, I was ready and wilhng to kill them with my tongue ; if the casting voice fell upon me, I would be sure to give it against them ; I never Avanted a word to do them mischief If they wanted a word, instead of a knife, to cut their throats, I would be sure to lend them one.
Sixthly, He rises yet higher, for he does not only severely punish their bodies, but he does what he can to damn their souls ; I compelled them to blaspheme, like that Italian, who first made his enemy deny God, and then stabbed him, and so at once murdered both body and soul.^ As there is no love to soul love, so there is no cruelty to soul cruelty ; and as there is no mischief to soul mischief, so there is no murder to soul murder ; and yet in this murder had Paul a hand. It is sad to compel a man to bear a burden beyond his strength, to lie in chains, to forsake his own country, &c., but it is infinitely more sad to compel a man to sin, to the least sin ; but saddest of all to compel a man to blaspheme, ' And yet this I did,' says Paul, &c.
Seventhly, He yet further aggravates his sin by his madness, by his exceeding madness against the saints, in those words: 'and I was exceeding mad against them.' He was mad with rage and wrath, he was exceedingly mad with passion and fury against the dear saints of God. Madmen think madly, and madmen speak madly, and madmen act madly against those they are mad with ; and so did he against the saints. The Alcoran saith, that God created the angels of licrht, and the devils of flame. Certainly, as God's children are children of the light, so Satan's children are furious children, wrathful children, children of the flame, children of madness ; and such a one was Paul, &c.
Eighthly, and lastly, ' I did persecute them to strange cities ;' them I did not kill I did scatter ; I forced them to leave both house and home; them whom God had joined together I put asunder: I made the husband run one way, and the wife and children another way, and all of them glad to hide their heads in a corner.
And thus you see, that true penitents, in the confession of their sins,
do clothe their sins with the highest aggravations imaginable. A
penitent in his confession of sin cries out. Oh the sparing mercies, the
preventing mercies, the succouring mercies, the supporting mercies, the
^ Told in Wauley's Wonders, as before. See index s. n. — G.
410 A CABINET OF JEWELS. [ChAP. III.
renewed' mercies, the delivering mercies that I have with a high hand sinned against ! Oh that clear light ! oh that free love ! oh that gospel grace ! oh those bowels of mercy that I have sinned against ! Oh the fatlierly corrections, the dreadful warnings, the high resolutions, the serious protestations, the frequent vows and promises that I have desperately sinned' against ! Oh the checks of conscience, the rebukes of conscience, the lashes of conscience, the wounds of conscience, and the frequent motions of the Spirit, and strivings of the Spirit, that I have sinned against ! &c. But now wicked men confess their sins slightly, carelessly, triflingly. They are careful and skilful to hide their sins, to cloak their sins, and to extenuate and lessen their sins ; and with the unjust steward, for an hundred to set down fifty, Luke xvi. 6. All wicked men do commonly flatter themselves, that either their sins are not sins, when indeed they are, or that they are not great and grievous sins, when indeed they are, or that they are not so great and grievous as other men's sins are, when indeed they are more grievous and heinous than other men's sins are ; so far are they from aggravating of their sins. The truth is, wicked men are so far from aggravating of their sins, that they are still extenuating of them, and that bj^ fathering of them, sometimes upon their constitutions, sometimes upon bad com- pany, sometimes upon their callings, sometimes upon Satan, and some- times upon chance, as they call it, &c. But no more of this; enough is as good as a feast.
(6.) Sixthly, The true penitent confesses his sins hitmhly, sorrowfully. In his confessions he appears before the Lord with ropes about his neck, as Benhadad's servants, and with tears in his eyes. His confes- sions savour of contrition of heart, and not of ostentation of spirit. Contrition of heart, and confusion of face, is the common result of a penitential confession, Lev. xxiii. 27, 28. David waters his couch with his tears, Ps. vi. 6 ; and he mingles his meat with his tears, Ps. xlii. 3 ; and Ezra and Daniel confess their sins with wet eyes and blushing cheeks, Ezra ix., Daniel ix. Confession without contrition neither pleaseth God nor profiteth man. Confession is the language of the tongue, contrition is the language of the heart, and God looks for both. The publican does not only confess his sins, but he smites also upon his breast, as a man full of grief and sorrow, Luke xviii. 1 3. Lying in the dust, and rending of garments, and putting on sackcloth and ashes, were of old required of those that confessed their iniquities. The spirit of repentance is a spirit of mourning. Penitential confessions are com- monly attended with grief in the heart, and with shame in the face : Ps. xxxviii. 18, ' For I will declare mine iniquity, I will be sorry for my sin.* He tells you not only that he will declare his iniquity, but he tells you also, that he will be sorry for his sin. The same spirit you may find working in Jacob, Hosea xii. 4-; yea, he had 'power over the angel and prevailed, he wept and made supplication unto him.' The people of God, in the day of their confession, do not only say, We have sinned, but they also draw water and pour it out before the Lord in token of contrition, 1 Sam. vii. 6. Every sin is as a sword in a penitent man's
* Qu. 'renewing'? — Ed. ^ Compare these scriptures together: Ps. li. 17 ; laa. Ixi. 1, and Ivii. 15 ; Job xvi. 20 ; Ph. cxix. 1, aO; Jcr. ix. 1, xxxi, 18, I'J.
Chap. III.] a cabinet of jewels. 411