2. These are said to be unfruitful by a /x€[coaL<;, that is, damnable ; as Heb. xiii. 17, ' That is unprofitable for you.' The meaning is, hurtful and pernicious ; however, the expression is emphatical. These works produce not only no good fruit, but certainly bring forth evil fruit, and prove bitterness in the end. So the apostle saith, Eom. vi. 21, 'What fruit had you then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed ? for the end of those things is death.' There is no solid fruit and benefit to be gotten by sin ; it bringeth nothing but disgrace, shame, loss of time, strength and estate, and hereafter eternal death : Gal. vi. 8, ' For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap cor- ruption.' Which is to be heeded by us, that we may not be inveigled by its pleasant and deceitful bails. Sin promiseth much, but per- formeth nothing, and therefore is often called deceitful ; as Eph. iv, 22, ' Deceitful lusts ; ' Heb. iii. 13, ' The deceitfulness of sin,' Sin smileth upon the soul with enticing blandishments. Satan told our first parents, ' Ye shall be as gods,' Gen. iii. 5 ; and still we promise our- selves something from sin, some contentment, some profit ; for no man
VeR 11.] SERMONS UPON EPHESIANS V. 303
would be wicked gratis, merely for his mind's sake, or without an aim at some further end. Mere evil, as evil, cannot be the object of choice ; there is some fruit or benefit expected in all that we do, but sin will never make good its word to us.
[1.] It doth not answer expectation ; the sinner looketh for more contentment and satisfaction than he doth enjoy : Eccles. v. 16, ' And what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind ? ' It is a fruitless enterprise ; so that very experience is enough to confute it ; and that is one reason why objects of sin are loathed when we have our fill of them : 2 Sam. xiii. 15, ' And Amnon hated her exceedingly, so that the hatred wherewith he hated her, was greater than the love where- with he loved her.' Men's eyes are opened, and when the lust is satisfied, it beginneth to be contemned ; they see what horror of con- science they have brought upon themselves. Keason taketh the throne again when lust is satisfied, and scourgeth the soul with bitter remorse ; the fruit is shameful.
[2.] It is not valuable ; the profit will not counterbalance the loss, nor the pleasure the pain : Mat. xvi. 2G, ' What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? ' Men hazard their souls, and it may be gain a little wealth ; that is the worst bargain a man can make. Besides, this cometh with a curse, that within a little while eateth it out : Prov. x. 2, '^ Treasures of wickedness profit nothing,' So it is in the eye of faitli at least a fruitless enterprise to seek to grow rich by sin. Compare the pleasure and pain ; the pleasure is a short contentment, that is gone as soon as it cometh, and when it is gone it is a thing of nothing, but the pain is eternal. But to speak of what is of present feeling ; it raiseth a tempest and storm in the con- science, which is not easily allayed : Hosea viii. 7, ' For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.' The pleasure and fancy in sin is lost as soon as enjoyed, but the sting is not so soon gone. The crop doth answer the seed, and usually with increase. They that sow the wind can expect to reap nothing but the wind ; yet they reap the whirlwind. A man that feels the gripes of a surfeit buyeth his pleasant meat at a dear rate ; and what a sorry purchase doth he make that losetli his time and strength, and after all this expense gets nothing but horror of conscience and trouble of mind ! Certainly men would not lie so long in sin if they would recollect themselves and consider, "What have I gotten since I was the devil's bond-slave, but a blind mind, a troubled conscience, and a hard heart, and it may be shame and disgrace in the world ? what a folly is it to pursue that which will bring me no profit ! One beginneth to be awakened when once he cometh to say, Job xxxiii. 27, ' I have sinned, and perverted that which is right, and it profiteth me not.' Whatsoever sin pro- miseth or sinners fancy, sin at length will be found to be an unprofitable course, yea, utterly destructive. What do men get by drinking, gaming, chambering and wantonness ? what by all the lusts of youth, and the bold attempts of riper years, but an ill name and a worse con- science, a diseased body, and many times an entangled and maimed estate ; a doubtful heart, and at length the mist of darkness is reserved for them for ever ? Oh, that we could oftener put this question, Eccles. ii. 2, * What doeth it ? ' what shall I gain by these vain delights and