their sins more and more, until they are brought to that height at last, as to commit that sin for which there is no forgiveness.
There is no mere man since the fall can live without sin, for all are sinners; but yet there are degrees of sin; some sins in their own nature are small, others are more great and hainous. Many sins there are that are ⟨great⟩, yet pardonable, and one sin there is, unpardonable; and whosoever commits that one sin shall have no forgiveness, but must for ever bear the weight and punishment both of that, and of all his other sins. There is such a sin as St. John speaks of here in my text, that is, 'a sin unto death.' And now I come to the explication of the words, from whence I shall raise this point of doctrine.
Doct.) 'That amongst other sins committed by fallen mankind, there is only one sin, that is a sin to death, and whosoever committeth that, he hath no forgiveness, neither in this world, nor in the world to come.'
Now for my further proceeding on this subject, I shall lay open to you,
First, What 'the sin unto death' is.
Secondly, That all other sins, how great and hainous soever, may be forgiven.
Thirdly, That this sin alone shall never be forgiven.
Fourthly, The reason why this sin alone is ⟨unpardonable⟩. And then,
Lastly, I shall conclude all with a few words of ⟨application.⟩
I shall begin first with the description of this ⟨unpardonable⟩ sin; where I shall endeavour to make as ⟨plain⟩ a description of it as possible I can; and in ⟨doing⟩ of it, I shall, i. Shew you negatively, what is ⟨not⟩ this sin. 2. I shall shew you positively what it is.
I. I shall shew you negatively, what is not the sin ⟨unto⟩ death; or in what degree a man may sin, and
A 2
yet
