(3.) Sin is a transgression of the law. Do but consider what a dis- grace sin puts upon the law that forbiddeth it ; it doth in effect condemn the law, as if it were not good and useful and righteous, as if it were an idle restraint. There is a notable expression, James iv. 11, 'He thatspeaketh evil of his brother and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law and judgeth the law ,' that is, he puts this affront upon the law, as if it were injurious, as if God were not right- eous in making such a law agamst passion and evil-speaking. There- fore Nathan comes to rouse up David's conscience, and tells him his sin: 2 Sam. xii. 9, 'Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight ? ' In every sin there are some implicit thoughts by which the law is disvalued and disapproved ; we secretly tax it of envy, folly, and rigour, as if God had dealt harshly with his creatures ; they look upon it as a weak and simple law : Ezek. xviii. 26, ' Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal.' The devil, when he inspired the first sin, would suggest to our first parents as if
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322 SERMONS UPON GENESIS XXIV. 63.
God had envied tlie perfection of man by prescribing a law to him :
Gen, iii. 5, ' God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil'
[2.] Consider the nature of sin with respect to yourselves, and so- the evil of it appears in these respects.
(1.) It is a degradation of your natures, and sets you beneath the rank of men, and equals you with beasts: Ps. xlix. 12, 'Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not ; he is like the beasts that perish/ In the original it is, he abideth not for a night. Adam sinned the very same day that he was created. So Ps. xxxii. 9, ' Be ye not as the horse or as the mule, that have no understanding ; ' implying that in- considerate and rash men, that never consider their ways, are like the horse and mule, which are void of understanding, and are guided only by their own instinct. To what use do men put their reason that do- not reflect upon their consciences ? It would be an odd sight to see a man with the head of a mule or the feet of a horse, yet there is a greater affinity between the body of a beast and the body of a man than be- tween a beast and a man's soul ; the former are in the same degree of being, as material substances.
(2.) It is the defilement of your natures. The scripture, when it speaks of sin, sets it out by ' filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness,' James i. 21 ; an allusion to the brook Kedron, where the garbages of the sacrifices were wont to be cast. So it is called a blot. These notions are to heighten our souls into a detestation of it. Omne malum naturam, aut timore, aut 'pndore perf^idit. There is such a filthiness in sin, that it is ashamed of itself, and therefore it always seeketh for a disguise. There needeth no argument against it, but to be seen in it» proper colours ; it either seeketh a show of virtue, or a veil of dark- ness. Pray why doth the adulterer seek for the twilight (Prov. vii. 9, ' In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night') but that he is ashamed of sin ? Sin is so moristrous and deformed that it seeks to hide itself from those that love it most, from the conscience of the party that committeth it, or from the sight of others. Nay,, there is such a turpitude in it that some sins beget shame in their very name and mention. The apostle speaks of a sin that ' is not so much as- named among the gentiles,' 1 Cor. v. 1 ; and Eph. v. 3, ' But" fornica- tion, and all uncleanness, and covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints.' Socrates hid his face whenever he spake against wantonness.
(3.) It is the bondage of your natures. Oh! what worser captivity can there be than this, for reason to be put out of its empire, and that you should be under the command of vile afi'ections, a slave to pride, and a drudge to your lusts and carnal pleasures ? Sin is a bondage here and hereafter ; here it binds you with the cords of vanity, and hereafter with the chains of darkness. This is the preposterous judg- ment of men, that they look upon the service of God as their greatest bondage : Ps. ii. 3, ' Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us ; ' but then it is otherwise , there is no greater freedom than to be employed in the service of God, and to be free for the actions of a holy life : Ps. cxix. 45, ' I will walk at liberty, for I seek thy precepts.' The bonds of duty are not gyves, but ornaments ;