by Ezekiel Hopkins
in ePub, .mobi & .pdf formats
DID NOT MOSES GIVE YOU THE LAW? AND YET NONE OF YOU KEEPETH THE LAW. - JOHN 7:19
I HAVE, in several Discourses, according to the measure of divine assistance, endeavoured to unfold unto you the vast contents of the Law & Sin; and those various duties, that are summarily comprehended in those Ten Words, which the infinite wisdom of God hath given us as an Epitome and Abridgment of all Morality.
I well know and am assured, that there never was, neither can there be, any treatise so exact and particular, as to drain this whole subject; for, since it comprizeth in it the Whole Duty of Man, in every particular occurrence and action of his life; since the variety of circumstances is almost infinite, and yet these circumstances specify our actions, and make them morally, either good or evil; and since every Precept extends its branches, so far, as to enjoin every man's duties collaterally, which yet it doth not touch directly, and to forbid very many sins by consequence, which it doth not immediately prohibit: therefore, I cannot but judge it next to an impossibility, minutely to reckon up every sin and every duty, methodically; to rank and dispose them every one under that particular Command, to which they do properly appertain.
The serious contemplation of this boundless extent of the Law occasioned the Psalmist to say, Ps. 119:96 that he had seen an end of all perfection: he had taken the dimensions of all other things; and found them such, as an inquisitive mind might describe the whole limits and compass of them. But thy commandment is exceeding broad: not for the indulgence it gives; for so it is exceeding narrow: the broad way is not the Way of God's Commandments; but that, which leadeth down unto destruction: but broad it is, in respect of its comprehensiveness; as it reacheth to every thought of our souls, and every action of our lives, and every circumstance of both.
And, therefore, since the Law of God is of such an unmeasurable latitude; as astronomers take only the more conspicuous and remarkable stars into their constellations, but leave innumerable others, with which the heavens are every where thick studded, to the casual observation of the beholders: so I have contented myself to remark unto you those duties and sins, which are most eminent; and to reduce them into order under those several precepts, where they are either required or forbidden, leaving innumerable others to your own private observation.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. DISCOURSES ON THE LAW
-- 1. All are Transgressors of the Law: a Sermon on John 7:19
-- 2. Transgressors of the Law are under the Curse: a Sermon on Gal 3:10
-- 3. Of our Redemption by Christ from the Curse of the Law: a Discourse on Gal. 3:13
II. DISCOURSES CONCERNING SIN
-- 1. The Folly of Sinners in making a Mock at Sin: a Sermon on Prov. 14:9
-- 2. The Great Evil and Danger of Little Sins: a Discourse on Mat. 5:19
-- 3. Of Abstaining from the Appearance of Evil: a Discourse on 1 Thess. 5:22
-- 4. The Nature, Danger, Aggravations, and Cure of Presumptuous Sinning: with the difference between Restraining and Sanctifying Grace, in effecting thereof: a Discourse on Psalm 19:13
-- 5. The Dreadfulness of God's Wrath against Sinners: a Sermon on Heb. 10:30, 31
-- 6. Of Pardon and Forgiveness of Sin: a Discourse on Isaiah 43:25