351 ' Direllions anent be readily laid to_hand,and fet in order before his eyes Pfal.l. 21. But it is another cafe, where 6ne,is fearc~ ing our his fins, with an ordinary a.ffifl:ance of the Spirit: herei·n, thefe do not duly confult their own interefi, who refufe the help of method in the fearch. And there is a twotold method or order, ~hich may he helpful to you therein ; to wit, the order of the time of life, and the drder of the ten commandments. Both thefe are natural, and eafy to the meanefl: capacity. . . ThiP-king on your fins in the order 'Of the time of your life, you ~ill thereby get a general view of your ·own finfulnefs, and ~hat throughout your whole life. And in this method, Firll, You 'are to COl:}fider the fin of your naturt. 1You are ' to look u'nto the rock whence ye are hewn, ;md to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged,' Ifa• . li. 1. Think, what a finful lump thou wafr in thy 'onception, and birth, ' Jhapen in iniquity, conceiv– ed in fin, P,faLli.s. 'How thou cnme'fl: into the world, with cords 'of guilt wreathed about thy neck, binding ·thee over to wrath under the curfe; firip'd naked oforiginal righteoujize(S; thy whole ·nature corrupted, being the very reverfe of the holy nature of God; thy foul in .all its faculties quite perverted, ready to dif– cover with the firfi occafion, its wrongjtt, namely, a propenjity to evil, and an averjion to good, and thy body in all its members finful flefh. In corifideration whereof thou mayefl: well fay, with admiration of the Divine patience, ' 0 why did the knees prevent me! Or, why the breafis that I fhould fuck !' " , , Second(y, 'rhen turn your though~s to the fins of your ,childhood. Solomon, in his penitehtials tells us, That ' childhoo9 and youth are vanity,' Ecclef. xi. 10. Truly, the fins of that early period of our life, are not to be remembred to be /aught at, but mour– ned over; and fo they will be, by true penitents: for they are the early fproutings and buds of corrupt · ' · nature,
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