Comforts which before he was a Stranger to. In the other Cafe, Grief confirms the old Habits, quickens the old Defires, and makes a Man ten times more worldlyminded than he was before; fo that his laft State is even worse than his firft. And this will appear by confidering, in the laft Place, 2 Fourthly, That the Death which is wrought by worldly Sorrow is opposed to the Salvation which follows Repentance, and may therefore fignify eternal Death as well as temporal, the Truth of the Proposition admitting either or both of these Explications. The natural Effect of Grief, confidered as fuch, is to waste and impair the Strength, to deaden the Faculties of the Mind, and to make a Man useless to himself and his Friends: So that where this Paffion enflamed to any Degree has been long in Poffeffion, it leaves nothing of the Man, but the outward Form, and hardly that, This, I fay, is the Effect of Sorrow in general : But then here lies the Difference between godly Sorrow and worldly Sorrow: The firft, in every Step, tends to Peace and Joy, and its moft natural Effect is to de 2 stroy ftroy itself, and leave the Mind' in perfect Eafe and Tranquility. The Sinner's Tears, though they spring from Grief, are yet the most fovereign Cordial to an afflicted Heart, and like Showers in Summer portend a cooler and more refreshing Air. But worldly Sorrow knows no Rest, it has no Period; it ftill urges Men to new Pursuits after the World, and the World has new Difappointments in referve to baffle all their eager Care. Every Disappointment is a new Occafion of Grief; and the whole Gain of this Paffion for the World, being fairly computed, amounts to this, Vanity and Vexation of Spirit. Thus the Cafe ftands if we regard only the Comforts of this Life. The Sorrow for Sin produces the Pleasure of Righteousnefs, which is a perpetual Spring of Joy and fpiritual Confolation: Whilst the worldly Man, pursuing false Enjoyments, is ever reaping real Torments. But if we change the Scene, and look into the other World, the Difference grows wider ftill: The Time is coming when the Tears of Repentance fhall be wiped away, when the Sinner's Grief shall stand between him and Judgment, and the Shame which he took to himself shall protect him from Shame at the great Appearance of the World. But worldly Sorrow will then have an heavy Account to pafs; thofe guilty Tears which were shed for tranfitory Pleasures of Mortality will stand in Judgment against you, and exclude you from the Joys of that Life which is for evermore. The Confufion and Diftrefs of that Time will be more than I can describe, or you imagine; they will exceed even the Fears of Guilt, and be more gloomy than even Despair could ever paint them. The whole is comprised in the Words of the Text, The Sorrow of the World worketh Death, DISCOURSE DISCOURSE IX. PART I. I PETER . II. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as Strangers and Pilgrims, abstain from fleshly Lufts, which war against the Soul. T HE Exhortations of Scripture to abstain from fleshly Lufts, or Lufts of the Flesh, are many, the Expreffion itself is fo familiar to Chriftians, and fo well understood, that there is no need, I think, of many Words to explain the subject Matter of the Advice now before us. Some Sins are privileged by their Impurity from being expofed as they deferve: A modeft Tongue |