86 SER. IV. z. Tha; it is againil Know. ledge. Rom.1, 3f. Aas 17. 30. That the Nature of man is full of A fecond Circumftance to aggravate fin,is,when it is committed againft Knowledge, and indeed no circumftance does it morethan this, that a man fins againft the light he bath, when bee knower it to be a fin, and (it may be) bethinkes himfelfe of ir, and yet commits it. You know how it is with men; An of- fence committed, an injury offered to a King, after Proclamation, comes to be a rebellion, becaufe his will was made knowne. And fo it is with God, when He path revealed a Truth to me, that I know this to be a fin, and am convinced ofit, and yet goe on in ir, this alters the nature of a finne, it is not now a bare tranfgreffion ofthe Law, but a Rebellion,and fo God is provoked in an high degree; for in a finne again fl knowledge,there is more harme,more difobedience, more prefumption : Ifa Prince be in a place where he is not knowne, and findes not refpect futable to his worth,he matters it not,he will not take it amiffe, for he is not knowne, but if he be knowne, and taken notice of, and yet negle6ted, it is great dif- refpe61, and taken for a great offence. So when men finne againft light given, it aggravates fin exceedingly. As in the one and twentieth verfe of this Chapter, this that the Apoftle laid to the charge of the Romans, aggravated their fin; they knew G o D, but they glo- rified Him not as G o D, as if bee had Paid, If you had not knowne Him, it were another cafe ; but to know G o D,and not to praCtife according to know - ledge, to know God, and not to glorifie Him as God : this God will not take in good part,it fhewes you are (inners, and in a condition of death. Therefore in Ai 17.3 o. faith the Apoftle, The times of Igno- rance
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