30$ Chap. 31. An Expofítion upan the Book of Jo B. Verf, a. y which will be thy eternal! ruine, and render thy cafe remedi- leffe. Thereare three Reps or degrees of fin, before it comes to the outwarda&.. Firít, When fome fleeting tranfient thoughts of evil! arife from and are flightly formed up in the phancy, or are occafion'd bythe fight of fomewhat fromwithout" Secondly When themind itaycth"upon fuch thoughts,gives them force entertainment, holds parley with theca, and bath a kind ofdelight in them. Thirdly Whenwe clofe freely with them, and fettle fully upon them, fo that nothing delayes the drawing of them forth into a& but the want of power or opportunity. When evil! thoughts are wrought up to this bight , then fin is fully formed and fhapen in us, fuppofe the outward at fhould never be com- mitted. And though an evill thonght confidered abftratly or in it (elfe be leffefinfull then an outward evil( aft, yetevery evil! thought is very finfull, and concerning their finfullnefTe I fhall lay downe thefe five briefe affertions. Firft , The leaft evill thought, though unconfented to is fin- full, mortally finfull, it calls for death as the wages of it. If any evil! thoughts are finfull & deferve death,thefe altodo,The rea- fon is, becaufe degrees doe not vary the kind or nature of fin, and therefore they neither adde nor take away the properties or effcts of it ; Greater degrees may add fomewhat to the proper- tiesand effects, that is, they may make them greater, but they doe not adde them. And fo leffer degrees may abate or take fomewhat from the properties andeffets of fin, but they cannot take them away. Secondly , When evill thoughts are contented to, and deligh- ted in, they are more vile and finfull then any fuldaine or un- premeditated as of fin. Thirdly , Some fins, and thofe the vileft, are or maybe corn- pleated in the thoughts, fuchare envy at anothers good, rejoy- cing in anothers hurt , difcontent with our owne condition, pride in our owne condition , or in any thing we have or are, as alfo, unbeliefe of the word of God, whether in the Hiftory or Prophecy, whether in thepromifes or threatningsof it. Fourthly , Lvill thoughts are fo finfull, that as they are molt like
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