38 Chap. 22. An ExpoJition upon the Booke of J o )3. 'Verf,5 whit manner they have been committed. That franc whichis l ut little in the nature of it, may be a very great one in the circumilances ofit. As there are force mercies which we re. ceive fromGod, little in their kinde yet great in their circum- fiances, and very obligeing; fo are our fins. Some fins art very horrid in their own nature, they lay the confcience waft; and eat out the very principles of Godlineffe,fuch areAtheifine, Blafphemy, and idolatry. The finne of the people of Ifraei in making Gods ofGold, howdeteftable was it a goldenGod, what anugly fight is that ? and indeed there are many finnes which by how much they have the more external) beauty and glory upon them, the moreugly and filthy they are. Other fins are fmall in their kinde, yet by additional( confiderations they (well into an immenfe vaftneffe, and become out of meafure (intuit. For inftance, firft to finne againft light, that is, not onely to commit a knowne fin, but to commit it knowingly, ('Tis pot. ,fable, that while we know fuck a thing to be a finne, yet to dot it unknowingly, or not to know that we have done it ; He that knoweth it is a finne to tell any untruth, may yet tell one and not know it : But) whenwe doe that which is a knowne firs, and lliikewifeknow that we doe it, then we have no cloake for our fin Secondly, To fin againft many received mercies, greatens it exceedingly ; Thus the Lord aggravates the finne of David, I have done thus, and thus for thee,and if this hadbeen too lithe, I would moreover have given thee fuch ;,nd filch things ; where- fore haft thou defpiled the commandement ofthe L;rd to doe evil in his fight, 2 Sam. r 2. 8, 9. Thirdly, It greatens finne when continued in after warn ings, and renewed admonitions ; He that being often reproved hardneth hit %ecke, ¡had fuddenly be delfroyed, and that without re- may, (Prov. 29. I. ) The Greatneffe of his punifhment, (he flail be (not afllifted, but) dfffrsyed ) the quicknes ofit (he fhaii fuddenly be deftroyed) the irrecoverableneffe of it ( and that without remedy) all thefe with one confent vote the greatnes of that finne, whatfoever it he in its kinde, which is peril fled in after perfwafion to deflft and depart from it. The Church is commanded to palle her extreameft eenfure upon that
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=