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church, against our prayers, our purposes, our vows, and our engagements to be the Lord's,-when it is committed imprudently, boastingly, maliciously, when it is persevered in, or relapsed into after repentance, it must be highly aggravated. 4. Sins receive their aggravations from the circumstances of time and place. Although sin is sin at any time and in any place, yet there are times when it becomes most dangerous to commit sin, and places in which sin committed becomes very aggravated. (1.) Sin committed on any day is sin; but sin committed on the Sabbath, or the Lord's day, is a greater sin; for if we are to watch against sin on any day, it ought surely to be on this day. (2.) When sin is committed on a day set apart for humiliation or thanksgiving, it is more heinous than the same sin committed on the same day not set apart for such necessary services, according to the calls of Providence. (3.) When sin is committed immediately before or after the public worship of God, it becomes a heinous sin; for it argues both a total indifference about the preparation of the heart to wait upon God, and a disregard to the exercises of his worship in which we may have been engaged. Ezek. xxiii. 37, &c. (4.) Sin committed in Britain is more aggravated than the same sin committed in a heathen land; because the one is a land enlightened by the Gospel, while the other is sitting in the region and shadow of spiritual darkness.—Isa. xxvi. 10. (5.) Sin is more aggravated when committed by one who dwells in a religious family, than it is when committed by one who lives in one of the families of Satan. (6.) Sin committed in public is more aggravated than sin committed in private, because many may be led astray.1 Sam. ii. 22-24; 2 Sam. xvi. 22.

INFERENCES.

From this subject we learn,-1. The necessity of abasement before God under a deep sense of our aggravated sins. 2. The greatness of pardoning mercy, which is extended to the chief of sinners. 3. The necessity of self-examination, that we may see how aggravated our sins are; for without this we must be ignorant of sin. 4. That our sins are very great in a land enlightened by the Gospel. 5. That we ought not to think any sin of a trifling nature; for it shall not be found so at last. 6. That, as there are degrees of sin, so there are degrees of punishment in hell.

Desert of every Breach of the Law.

Every sin deserveth God's wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to come.

ANALYSIS AND PROOFS.

We are here taught,

1. That every sin deserves the wrath and curse of God in this life. Gal. iii. 10.—“ Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them."

2. That every sin deserves the wrath and curse of God for ever in the world to come. Rom. vi. 23.-"The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." See also Matt. xxv. 41.

EXPLANATION.

Obs. 279.-Every sin deserves the wrath and curse of God, both in this world and in the world to come.

By the desert of sin we are to understand that which is in the nature of sin, and which of itself deserves all the wrath which God has denounced against it, and which shall assuredly be inflicted upon all impenitent sinners. As sin respects the holiness of God, so it is the opposition, the contrariety of sin to this holiness, as discovered in his law, in which the desert or demerit of sin consists.

By the wrath of God, we are to understand his anger in the dreadful effects of it, whether manifested in a more visible or in a more secret way.-Psal. xi. 6. Or, it is a most pure, unlimited, and undisturbed act of the Divine mind, which produces the most dreadful effects against the sinner.—Isa. Xxxiii. 14; Nah. i. 2.

The curse of God has a reference particularly to his law; and by it we may understand the sentence of his law denouncing all evil against the transgressor.-Gal. iii. 10.

Every sin deserves the wrath and curse of God both here and hereafter; for, although there are different degrees of punishment in the world to come, yet the smallest sin deserves this punishment as well as the greatest. And this is evident from what the law saith, Gal. iii. 10,—❝ Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them ;" and James ii. 10,—

"He that offendeth in one point, is guilty of all." If the the law will not overlook one transgression, then the least must be punished; but, strictly speaking, the law knows no punishment less than the curse. If So, then every sin deserves the curse; and the law can do no wrong to the sinner, when the curse is executed. But we have a direct testimony that sin deserves death: Rom. vi. 23,—“ The wages of sin is death." Now, it is not said, that the wages of a great sin is death, or that the wages of many sins is death, or that the wages of a little sin is not death; but in plain language it is said, that “Death is the wages of sin,”—that is, of every sin, great or small; and this must be so in the very nature of the thing. But, farther, if Christ endured the wrath and curse of God in the room of his people, it must be evident that their sin deserves the same.-See Tit. ii. 14. The reasons why every sin, however small, deserves the wrath and curse of God, are the following :

:

1. When sin is committed, it is against the sovereignty of God. It is a setting up of one's own will and authority in direct opposition to the will and authority of God—which surely is no mean guilt; and in the very nature of the thing it deserves an adequate recompense. But no suitable recompense can be given in this world; and in the world to come, none is given less than the wrath and curse of God, which are justly due to sin.

2. Sin is committed against the holiness of God.—Heb. i. 13. There is nothing that God hates but sin. If sinners, then, delight in sin with their whole heart, it cannot be trifling guilt; and, consequently, it deserves a most exemplary punishment.

3. Sin is committed against the goodness of God. It is a rendering of evil for good, cursing for blessing, the worst we have for the best which God can give. And surely this conduct deserves a punishment suited to the nature of the offence committed against a good and gracious God; and this punishment is the curse.

4. Sin is committed against the righteous law of God, the rule by which all ought to be governed. He, then, who can transgress God's law without remorse, is a rebel against the Majesty of heaven; and, consequently, deserves punishment.

5. It is a well-known fact, that the more eminent the person is against whom the sin is committed, the greater is the punishment which it deserves. If, then, God is in every

respect infinite, the offence committed against him must deserve infinite punishment; but a finite creature cannot bear infinite punishment any other way than by infinite duration, that is, for ever.

6. Sin is an infinite evil,—that is, it is an evil for which the sinner himself can never make atonement; and, consequently, his sin must remain until it be taken away by him who gave his life a ransom for many. But if this ransom is despised, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful expectation of the wrath and curse of God for

evermore.

INFERENCES.

From this subject we learn,-1. That the least sin deserves death. 2. That God is righteous when he taketh vengeance. 3. That the least sin cannot be expiated but by the blood of Christ. 4. The love of God in making his Son a sin-offering 5. That we have reason for ever to admire redeem

for us.

ing love.

Special Duties required of Man under the Gospel Dispensation, viz., Faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance unto Life, and the Diligent Use of the Means of Grace.

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escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption.

ANALYSIS AND PROOFS.

We are here taught,—

1. That God himself has devised a way of escape from the effects of sin. John iii. 16.-"God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

2. That faith in Jesus Christ is necessary for escaping the wrath and curse of God. Acts xvi. 31.-" Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."

3. That true repentance is necessary for escaping the wrath and curse of God. Luke xiii. 3.-" Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

4. That a diligent use of the means of grace is required of all who would escape the wrath and curse of God. Phil. ii. 12, 13.-" Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." See also Prov. ii. 1, 5, and viii. 34.

5. That the benefits of redemption are usually communicated to sinners by means of the ordinances. Rom. x, 14."How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?"

EXPLANATION.

Obs. 280.-Faith and repentance, and the diligent use of the means of grace, are not required to give us a right or title to eternal life, or to the possession of it; but only as the means of conveying and improving the purchased salvation, and as evidences of interest therein.-See 1 Cor. i. 21.

It might, indeed, appear from the proposition stated above, that faith and repentance, and the diligent use of the means of grace, are to be viewed as the conditions of escaping the wrath and curse of God; but it must ever be remembered, that eternal life is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Rom. vi. 23. Faith and repentance are, indeed, absolutely necessary in order to salvation; but they are not the conditions on which God promises eternal life, or they are not the procuring cause of it; for he could have required these duties from his creatures, although he had never promised them any thing at all.

In order, then, to prevent some dangerous mistakes which may be committed, and which might lead us to build our hopes of acceptance with God on a false foundation, we shall make the following remarks :—

1. The only ground of pardon of sin and acceptance with God, is the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. Duties, however spiritual, by no means merit deliverance from the curse of the law, and from the wrath of God.-See Rom. v. 18, 19. Salvation by grace, and a covenant of works, are quite incompatible.

2. The way of acceptance under the Gospel dispensation

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