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even as a man sick of a mortal disease, and almost at his last gasp, hath need of a physician. In the corruption of nature all are involved : Eom. iii. 23, ' All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God ; ' and so by consequence all are under the wrath of God : Eph. ii. 3, 'We are by nature the children of wrath, even as others.' Which abideth upon us while we remain unbelieving and impenitent : John iii. 36, * He that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.' And besides this, there is the dominion of actual sin, Kom. vi. 14. All which show the miserable state of the world, and the high need of a saviour. Sin liveth with men from the birth to the grave ; and all are become abominable and filthy ; they are all gone out of the way ; there is none that seeketh after God ; there is none that doeth good, no not one, Ps. xiv. 1-3. They are all gone out of the way of holiness and happiness ; they are all become vile and loathsome to God, all guilty of a careless neglect of God, and of their duty, and of the service they owe to him ; all are given to please the flesh : John iii. 6, * That which is born of the flesh is flesh.' So general a wickedness and defection from God is there throughout the world, as if they had cast off all fear, and care, and love of God and his service ; though they speak honourably of him in words, yet in their deeds they deny him, and disobey his authority, and wholly abandon themselves to please the flesh.
2. To lie under sin, and the consequences thereof, is a burden too heavy for us to bear, and miserable are they who have it lying upon their own shoulders. How light soever sins may seem to be when they are committed, yet they will not be found to be light when we come to reckon with God for them. Sin to a waking conscience is one of the heaviest burdens that ever was felt : Ps. xxxviii. 4, ' My iniquities are gone over my head ; as an heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.' If you do but taste of this cup, if a spark of God's wrath light upon the conscience, what a weight and pressure is this upon the soul ! You will find the little finger of sin to be heavier than the loins of any other sorrow. You may know it in part by what Christ suffered. If his soul was heavy unto death, if he felt such strange agonies, sweated drops of curdled blood, lost the actual sensible comfoi-ts of his godhead when he bore the burden of sin, what shall any one of us <lo, if he were to bear his own burden ? If this be done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? You may also know it by the complaints of the saints, when the finger of God hath but touched them. All life and power is gone if God should set home one sin upon the conscience : Ps. xl. 12, ' Mine iniquities have taken hold upon rae, 80 that I am not able to look up ; they are more than the hairs of my head, therefore my heart faileth me.' So Job complaineth that the arrows of the Almighty are within him, the poison whereof <lid drink up his spirits, Job vi. 4. If you will know what it is to Ijear sin, ask a tender conscience or a troubled conscience. What disquiets of soul do wicked men feel when their consciences are a little awakened ! how uneasy do their hearts sit within them ! Prov. xxviii. 14, • He that hardeneth his heart sliall fall into mischief.' Cain crieth «ut, ' My punishment is greater than I can bear,' Gen. iv. 13. What large offers do men then make to jret rid of their burden ! ' Thousands
488 SERMONS UPON JOHN I. 29.
of rams, and ten thousands of rivers of oil ; yea, their first-born for their transgressions, the fruit of their bodies for the sin of their souls/ Micah vi. 6, 7. Lastly, what it is to live and die in sin, the other world will show us. Christ usetli no other expression of the misery of the unbelieving Jews but this, ' Ye shall die in your sins,' John viii. 24. That is enough, for that speaketh all manner of horror and tor- ment. And the threatenings of the word show their case is miserable enough: 'They fall into the hands of the living God,' Heb. x. 31. And ' the worm ' that feedeth upon them * shall never die ; ' and ' the fire ' wherewith they are scorched ' shall never be quenched,' Markix. 44, Sins that now lie like sleepy lions then awaken, and take them by the throat, and feed and gnaw upon them to all eternity. Miserable questionless is the state of them who bear their own burden and their own transgression. Now the sense of this should make a crucified Saviour sweet to us.