11. We lose nothing so much by suffering as we do by sin. In sufferings and persecutions we lose the favour of men, but by sins we lose the favour of God ; and that is a sad purchase to buy the favour
454 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SeR. LX.
of men with the offence of God, to lose heaven, to undergo the wrath of God. Look what difference there is between man and God, be- tween this Hfe and eternity ; so much difference is there between the evil of an afflicted state, and the evil of a sinful state. Shall I hazard the love of an infinite God for the pleasure of a finite comfort ? Shall I hazard eternity for a moment ?
12. To suffer is not in our choice, we shall not be responsible for that ; but to sin, that is in our choice whether we will or no.j Affiictions are laid upon us, we are not active but passive only so far as in bearing them we submit to the will of God, but the Lord lays affliction upon us ; but we never sin but by our own consent. Afflictions are inflicted, sins are committed, and they will be required of us because they are our own voluntary acts.
13. Sin is the cause of aflBiction, therefore it is worse. There is more in the cause than in the effect. Sin is worse than hell, because it made hell ; and if there were no sin, there would be no hell. And you know the speech of him, Si Mc inferni horrorem, illic peccati imdorem^ &c. ; if here I should set the horror of hell, and there the filthiness of sin, I would rather be damned than endure the filthiness of sin. We are not put to the choice ; however, it is a clear argument that because sin is the cause of affliction, therefore it is worse, for afflictions are but a part of the curse that was introduced by sin.
14. An afflicted man may die cheerfully, but a sinner cannot. Every man when he comes to die would choose this side : Num. xxiii. 10, ' Let me die the death of the righteous, and let ray latter end be like his.' But the sinner ' at his end shall be a fool,' Acts xvii. 11 ; when they come to die, they discern their own folly.
15. Sin is contrary to the new nature, to the noblest being ; but affliction is only contrary to the old nature. It is the flesh that com- plains of affliction, but the spirit of sin. Paul was buffeted, scourged, and in prison often, yet Paul never groans for his affliction, but groans mightily for his sins. If any had cause to complain of affliction Paul had, — in perils often, in nakedness, in watchings, in fastings, 2 Cor. xi. 25-27. But he complains not of them, but of sin : Rom. vii. 24, ' 0 wretched man ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? ' Sin is the greatest offence to the noblest being on this side heaven, to the new nature infused into the soul.
16. When you deliberately choose sin, it will within a little while bring greater affliction ; it will bring the curse of God along with it on all you have : Deut. xxviii. 17, 18, ' Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store,' &c. He is not cursed in the want of an estate, but in his basket and store, and in his increase ; and the more estate he has, the greater is his curse. And therefore you have not your choice, for you have both sin and affliction too. So much for the first question.
Secondly, Why the people of God make such a choice as this is. They cannot be gracious unless they do so.
1. The great work of grace is to choose God for our God. This is the first article of the covenant, ' Thou shalt have no other gods but me.' What is it to choose God for our God ? To give him the pre- eminence and uppermost place in the heart ; to glorify him as God. God hath not the glorv of a god unless we honour him thus. As a
VeR. 25.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL 455
prince hatli not the honour of a prince if he be respected only as a common man ; so if God have not the uppermost phice in the heart, we do not glorify him as God. Now God cannot have the uppermost place till his favour he valued above all things, and we stand in dread of breaking with God above all things; we have not till then consented to the articles of the covenant. As long as we can break with God to preserve any worldly interest of ours, we prefer that in- terest before God ; as when a man can be content to offend God rather than displease his parents : Mat. x. 37, ' He that ioveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me ; and he that Ioveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.' So when to advance and prefer our children we displease God : 1 Sam. ii. 29, ' Thou hon- ourest thy sons above me.' Eli was the high priest and the magis- trate, and he should put his sons by the priesthood when they were scandalous ; but for the advancement and honour of his family, he continues them. So when out of love to carnal pleasures we break with God, we love pleasure more than God : 2 Tim. iii. 4, ' Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God ; ' when we can break a law to salve an interest, when willingly and with full consent we sin against God ; therefore it is impossible you can be gracious.