heaven His course was to consider all the Creatures that were under the Heaven I have seen saith he all the works that are done under the Sun and behold all is but vanity and vexation of spirit After he had meditated upon the world he goes over the riches and the pleasures of the world and when he had reckoned them all he concludes in Chap. 2. 11. Then I looked on all the works my hand had wrought and on the labour that I had laboured to do and behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit I gathered me silver and gold and the peculiar treasure of Kings and of the Provinces I got me men-singers and women-singers and the delights of the sons of men as musical instruments and that of all sorts so I was great and increased more than all before me in Ierusalem also my wisdom remained with me and whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them And when he had looked upon all these glorious Excellencies what was his Conclusion Behold saith he all was vanity and vexation of spirit and there was no profit under the Sun Did we meditate much on the vanity of the world we would not idolize it so much 7. Divine Meditation is a mighty help to beget in us the grace of thankefulness for the mercies and blessings we receive from God Certainly it is a great duty that lyes upon us to be thankful for Gods mercies now there is no way to stir you up to thankefulness so much as meditation upon the mercies of God for he that forgets the mercies of God cannot be thankful for them and therefore mark the course that David takes Psal. 8. 3. When I consider the heavens the work of thy fingers the Moon the Stars which thou hast ordained then he crys out What is man that thou art mindful of him or the son of man that thou visitest him for thou hast made him a little lower than the angels When he considered what God had done for man then he admires the love of God to man and breaks out into thankfulness Certainly a Christian forgetful of Gods mercies can never be thankful for them and the way to beget thankefulness is to meditate on what God hath done for us 8. Divine Meditation is a mighty help to beget in you a preferring of Gods house before your own house It is the great sin of this age wherein we live that every man studies to build his own house and no man cares for the house of the Lord We may truly say as Ieremiah saith This is Sion whom no man regards every man seeks his own interest and no man almost cares what becomes of Religion There is a strange kind of lukewarmness that is upon the spirits of all men in this age that so men may grow great themselves they care not what becomes of the House of God Now Divine Meditation would make you prefer the building of Gods House before the building of your own house And for this purpose let me beseech you to read Hag. 1. 4. Is it time for you Oh ye to dwell in your cieled houses and this house lye waste It was the sin of the people of Israel that they neglected the building of Gods House and every man strove to grow rich in his own particular Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts consider your ways here the Prophet calleth them to consideration ye have sown much but bring in little ye eat but you have not enough ye drink but ye are not filled with drink ye clothe you but there is none warm And he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes What was the matter because they did not build Gods House therefore God did not build their house v. 7. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts consider your ways ye looked for much but lo it came to little and when you brought it home I did blow upon it why saith the Lord of Hosts because of my house that is waste and ye run every man into his own house therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew and the earth is stayed from her fruit God will never settle England God will never settle your houses till you make conscience to build Gods House and till you have more zeal for the House of God than for your own houses though you may dream of peace and plenty yet certainly the Lord will never build your houses until you build Gods House And therefore he saith further Hag. 2. 17. I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands yet ye turned not to me saith the Lord. Consider now from this day and upward from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month even from the day that the foundation of the Lords Temple was laid consider it from this day will I bless you And certainly the world is much mistaken the way to build your own house is to join together to settle Religion God will never prosper you till Gods House be setled And did you meditate on these two Chapters the first and second Chapter of Haggai it would by Gods grace beget in you a mighty zeal toward the setling of the House of God and to prefer that before the setling of your own house 9. Divine Meditation will beget in us a keeping of all the commandments of God There is no Commandment of God but Divine Meditation when it is sanctified I do not say otherwise will work in us and inable us to keep Deut. 4. 39 40. Know therefore this day and consider it in thy heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath there is none else thou shalt keep therefore his statutes and his commandments And David saith Psal. 119. 55. I have remembred thy name Oh Lord in the night and have kept thy Law 2. Divine Meditation is not only a means to beget grace but it is a mighty help to preserve and increase grace As the wood preserves the fire as the oil preserves the flame as the water preserves the fish so doth meditation preserve your graces It preserves every grace and it increaseth every grace for Meditation is a Divine pair of bellows to blow up the sparks of grace when there is but a little fire meditation will kindle this fire more and increase it when you find your love of God grows cold meditate upon the love of God and this will kindle the love of God in your hearts and when you find the fear of God to diminish in you meditate upon the power of God that thy breath is in his hand that he hath thee in his hand this will increase the fear of God and so when the love of the world increaseth upon you meditate upon the vanity and nothingness of it and this will decrease the love of the world 3. Divine Meditation as it is a means to beget grace and to increase grace so it is
work of Meditation for want of matter to meditate upon for meditation supposeth knowledg meditation is a dwelling upon that we know and therefore the ignorant Christian cannot be a meditating Christian he that is ignorant of God cannot meditate of God he that is ignorant of Christ crucified cannot meditate of Christ crucified and this is one reason why so many Saints of God are so barren in Sacramental meditation because they know so little of Christ crucified the ignorance of God and Christ is not only a sin but it is the root of all sin It is said 1 Sam. 2. 12. of the two Sons of old Eli They were sons of Belial and they knew not the Lord. All sin is wrapt up in ignorance as a child in swadling clouts as Toads and Serpents grow in dirty and dark Cellars so doth all sin grow where ignorance dwells And therefore Chrysostome saith That ignorance is a deep hell And one saith very well An ignorant Christian is the Devils shop wherein he forges all manner of wickedness 2. There is the forgetful Christian for meditation is a meditating of what we know concerning God and Heaven and the day of Judgment it is a bringing of the things we know unto our selves and therefore a forgetful Christian cannot be a meditating Christian he that forgets the Mercies of God can never meditate on the Mercies of God This sin of forgetfulness of God is a sin that the Children of Israel were very guilty of Psal. 106. 7. The Prophet complains of them our Fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt they remembred not the multitude of thy mercies but provoked him at the Sea even at the red Sea v. 13. they soon forgot his works v. 31. They forgot God their Saviour which had done great things in Egypt therefore he said that he would destroy them The forgetfulness of God and the mercies of God is made the root of all sin as well as the ignorance of God Iudg. 3. 7. The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and forgot the Lord their God therefore they did evil in the sight of the Lord. And therefore God lays a charge upon the children of Israel that when they came into the land of Canaan and should have the fulness of all outward blessings Deut. 8. 11. Beware saith he that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments and his judgments and his statutes which I command thee this day lest when thou hast eaten and art full and hast built goodly houses and dwelt therein v. 14. Then thy heart be lifted up and thou forget the Lord thy God You that forget the mercies of God God will forget to be merciful unto you and you that do not remember what good things God hath done for you God will take order that you shall have no good things to remember The good Thief on the Cross when he was dying his great request to Christ was Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom It is the great desire of all Saints that God would remember them in mercy but certainly you that forget the mercies of God God will forget to be merciful unto you 3. I am to reprove the rash-headed Christian that rushes upon Duties and upon Ordinances and publick Offices without consideration that comes rashly to the Sacrament and kneels down rashly to his private and publick devotion that doth not consider before-hand when he comes to worship the Lord our God this I call the rash-headed Christian we have many such among us And there are four things worthy your observing that may be said of a rash-headed Christian. He is a spiritual fool and all the Sacraments he receives and the prayers he makes they are the sacrifices of fools as you have it excellently set down Eccles. 5. 1 2. Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifices of fools for they consider not that they do evil Be not rash with thy mouth and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God for God is in heaven and thou upon earth therefore let thy words be few Out of which two verses I gather these two things 1. That it is the duty of all Christians in all their addresses to God to consider who this God is to whom they draw near to consider their own vileness and Gods excellency to consider that God is in heaven and they are upon earth 2. That whosoever doth rush upon Ordinances without consideration he doth offer up the sacrifice of fools because he doth not consider that he doth evil when you come rashly to publick duties here upon the Sabbath-day and you come rashly to the Sacrament and when you are hasty to utter words to God you come as so many spiritual fools 2. A rash-headed Christian will many times speak that which he will wish he had not spoken and he will do that which he shall have cause to repent of We have many examples of the Saints of God that have paid dearly for their rash-speaking and their rash-practising for this rashness is a sin that the Saints of God are very much subject to we read of Peter that he fell three times into this sin Mat. 16. 22. there Christ told Peter That he must be crucified and Peter began to rebuke him saying Be it far from thee Lord this shall not be unto thee Peter spake very rashly now Christ said unto him Get thee behind me satan thou art an offence unto me And Luk. 9. when Christ was transfigured then Peter began to utter a rash speech saith Peter to Christ Master it is good for us to be here and let us make three tabernacles one for thee and one for Moses and one for Elias not knowing what he said It was a rash speech and especially Luk. 22. when Christ told him that one of you shall betray me saith he very rashly Master though all betray thee yet will not I betray thee But he spake rashly not knowing the deceitfulness of his own heart We read of the two brethren Iames and Iohn that they spake very rashly unto Christ Luk. 9. 54. When his two disciples Iames and Iohn saw this they said Lord wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them even as Elias did but he turned and rebuked them and said Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of We read of Moses that he spake unadvisedly with his lips and God was angry with him Numb 20. Shall we bring water for you out of he rock he spake unadvisedly and the Lord was angry with him Iephtha made a rash vow Whatsoever I see I will offer in sacrifice He had cause to repent of that Vow And that which I say of words I may say of deeds the Saints of God have done many things in their haste that they have cause to repent of David rashly
Vncertainty 3. The fitness for it 4. How to be above the hurt of it 5. To live in expectation of it 6. To be free from the fear of it 122 2. Judgment 1. The terribleness of it 2. Solemnity of the great Assizes 3. Account to be given to God 4. Separation at that day 5. Happiness of the Godly 6. Miserableness of the wicked 123 3. Heaven 1. The joys of it 2. Beatifical Vision 3. Perfection 4. Perpetuity 5. Fitness for 6. What to do to get to Heaven 125 4. Hell where of the punishment of 1. Loss 2. Sense 126 2. God Christ the Holy Ghost and thy self 127 1. Of God where of his 1. Attributes 2. Works 3. What Relation towards him 128 2. Christ where of his 1. Divine 2. Humane nature 3. Offices and then of his 1. Life 2. Death where 1. what he suffered 2. for whom 3. who he was 4. what love he suffered with 5. what interest you have in it 6. his Resurrection 7. Ascension 8. Intercession at Gods right hand ibid. 3. Holy Ghost 1. nature 2. office 3. motion 4. graces 131 4. Our selves in the state of 1. Innocency 2. Apostacy 3. Regeneration 4. Glory 132 Further of our 1. Sins 2. Duties 3. Evidences 4. Comforts 5. frailty of body 6. immortality ibid. 3. Dependance upon God 4. Advantages God hath us at he may throw into Hell at pleasure therefore we should study and think on 1. our Relations 2. Calling 3. Company 4. our hearts Hereof 1. Thoughts 2. Affections 3. Words 4. Actions ibid. 5. Sinfulness of sin 137 6. Vanity of the Creature 138 7. Excellency of the Gospel 8. Commandments Threatnings Promises Ordinances of the Gospel as 1. Prayers 2. reading the Word 3. hearing the Word 4. the Sacrament 139 9. Errors of the times Iudgments of God great changes of the Nation several passages of Providence the mercies of God 140 6 Rules and Directions and those of three sorts respecting person subject manner 1. For the right qualifying of the person that is to meditate viz. 143 1. Convince thy soul of the necessity of it 144 2. Of the benefits and advantages of it as 145 1. The begetting Repentance 2. The Love of God 3. Fear of God 4. Love of Christ. 3. The mischiefs of not-meditating 4. Get a sufficient furniture of saving knowledg 148 5. Labour to get a serious spirit 149 to which purpose a fourfold frame of spirit is to be avoided as namely 150 1. A slight frame of spirit 2. A trifling frame of spirit 3. A watry frame of spirit 4. An inconsiderate frame of spirit 6. Labour for the love of heaven and heavenly things 153 7. Labour to get an interest in Heaven and heavenly things 154 8. An heart disengaged from the world 155 9. Be not discouraged though you have difficulty in the beginning 157 10. Do all these things by power deriv'd from Iesus Christ 158 2. Rules for the right ordering the subjects or materials ibid. 1. At the beginning pick out easie subjects as of Heaven 1. the happiness of it in general 2. in particular 161 2. Vse variety as heads of several materials were suggested 162 3. Pick out such subjects more especially as dispose to godly sorrow and holiness 163 4. Such as are most seasonable to thy condition and suitable to thy relation As suppose thou art 164 1. Troubled in mind and exceedingly dejected think of the willingness of Christ to receive poor ones 165 2. Troubled in conscience think of the promises not only to grace but of grace to give grace 167 3. In outward want consider the wonderful providences of God ibid. 4. Sick like to thy own life or some dear Relative think on a seasonable subject as Death c. 168 5. To receive the Sacrament consider the nature thy need of it c. 169 3. Rules for the manner of ordering Meditations on the foremention'd or like subjects viz. 170 1. To begin and enter upon the practise of Meditation and here be six Directions ibid. 1. Be sure to pick a fit place to meditate in ibid. 2. A fit and seasonable time according to our circumstances ibid. 3. Be sure to have a fit subject prepar'd not to seek at the time 171 4. Then set your self as in Gods presence under his eye ibid. 5. Begin with some short ejaculatory not long prayer 172 6. Keep your hearts with all keeping 173 2. To proceed better in this work here we must know there be two faculties of the soul the understanding and will or heart and affections 175 1. Rules to help the understanding more logically and plainly 176 1. Logically as Topicks or Common-place-heads ibid. viz. 1. Description 2. Distribution 3. Causes 4. Effects 5. Properties 6. Opposites 7. Comparisons 8. Titles 9. Testimonies ibid. An instance in considering sin as the subject ibid. 1. Consider description as a transgression of Gods Law 178 2. Distribution as sin by imputation propagation and action ibid. 3. Cause of sin God not the cause but Satan and self 179 4. Effects and cursed fruits temporal carnal and eternal 5. Properties and Adjuncts in general and particular 181 6. Opposites grace and holiness 182 7. Comparisons as bruises leprosie c. ibid. 8. Titles given to sin in Scripture as robbing God c. 183 9. Testimonies in Scripture against sin wrath of God c. ibid. 2. Plainly where particularly consider 184 1. What the Scripture saith of the subject you would meditate upon ibid. 2. What Sermons you have heard upon that subject 185 3. Take a Book that treats on the subject you would metate upon 186 4. Be sure to join Application with your Contemplation 187 5. Consider the means how to obtain what you meditate upon 188 2. Rules to help the will heart and affections and to raise them 189 1 Labour to get a relish and savour of the things you meditate on to have the heart affected 2. Complain before God for the want of this relish 3. Wish you had a supply of the tast you want 190 4. Confess your inability as of your self to do this 5. Petition to God for help 6. Confidently believe God will help you 3. Rules to conclude all after entrance and progress 197 1. Lift up your heart to God with thankfulness and bless his Name ibid. 2. Resolve to live as one who hath been thinking on the things of God 199 3. Recommend your self body soul relatives c. to God 200 A Perswasion to the practise of these things concluding in four particulars 201 1. Mourn before God that you have liv'd so long in the School of Christ and have not practised this duty of solemn Meditation 202 2. That you have misplac'd your Meditation ibid. 3. Study the necessity excellency usefulness and profitableness of Meditation as the marrow of all other duties 205 4. Defer not to practise according to the directions given in expectation of Gods blessing ibid. GEN. XXIV 63. And Isaac went out to meditate in the
a mighty means to arm and defend us against all the temptations of the Devil and against all his fiery darts It is armour of proof against the Devil and all his temptations What made Moses refuse the pleasure treasures and honours of Egypt for Moses when he was of age a young man and fit to enjoy the pleasures of Egypt he chose rather to suffer affliction than to enjoy the pleasures of sin he refused to be called the Son of Pharoah's Daughter What made him do all this Because he had respect to the recompence of reward and he beheld him that was invisible he meditated upon the reward he should have in Heaven he knew the pleasures of Heaven were better than the pleasures of Pharoah's Court and he knew the treasures he should have in Heaven were better than the treasures he should have in Egyyt and therefore he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season He knew he could not enjoy both and he had an eye to the recompence of reward he saw him that was invisible and this made him do all this he could never have done this without this Divine grace of Meditation And what made Ioseph refuse to lye with his Mistris when he might have been preferred by lying with her and had secresie and security why he meditated How can I do this and sin against God He thought of God and he would not do it it was meditation that made him refuse it What made the Saints of old receive joyfully the spoiling of their goods Heb. 10. 34. They took joyfully the spoiling of their goods knowing in themselves that they had in heaven a better and an enduring substance Because they knew that is they considered that they had in Heaven an enduring substance an eternal reward they should have better riches there they considered that and that made them lose their outward estates they looked for a better estate in Heaven Bishop Hooper when he was going to Martyrdom over night he discoursed and reasoned with himself saith he When I think of the fire I begin to be afraid for I fear that fire will burn but when I think of the fire of hell the fear of eternal fire makes me willing to endure a temporary fire Saith he again When I think of the loss of life I begin to be afraid I know life is precious and when I meditate upon these outward enjoyments outward preferments I seem unwilling to be burnt but when I meditate of the joys of Heaven and the preferments that I shall have there this makes me willing to go through fire to go through Martyrdom to Heaven It was meditation of Heaven and the joys of Heaven that made the Martyrs come so willingly to the stake and imbrace it as a bride doth her bridegroom And thus I have shewed you the great necessity of this grace of Meditation It remains now that I should come to the Application of this Doctrine If this duty of Divine Meditation be so necessary a duty as you have heard then it reproves those Christians that are utterly unaccustomed and unacquainted with this duty that receive mercies from God but are never the better for the mercies they do receive for want of meditation That do not say in their hearts let us fear that God that doth give us the former and the latter rain as it is Ier. 5. 23. it reproves those that are guilty of many sins but do not repent for want of consideration because they do not say in their hearts what have I done it reproves those that meet with many losses and crosses in the world but are never the better for their afflictions because they do not consider what is the meaning of Gods rod and how they may get their afflictions sanctified that read the blessed Promises of the Gospel but taste not the sweetness of them for want of meditation for want of chewing them in a word that hear many Sermons but are never the better for the Sermons they hear and all for want of this Divine Meditation The mercies of God and the promises of God and the afflictions of God and the Sermons we hear are like unto a Soveraign plaister which though it be never so good if it be taken off the wound as soon as ever it is laid on it will never cure the wound it is the abiding of the Plaister upon the wound that cures it So it is the dwelling upon the mercies we receive the chewing upon the Promises the meditating upon the Sermons we hear will do us good That man that hears a Sermon and forgets it as soon as he hath heard it will get no good by it it is with Sermons and mercies as it is with meat a man may eat his meat and be never the more nourished if he do not digest it if he vomit it up as soon as he hath eaten it or if his meat presently go through him it will do him no good it is the digesting the concocting of meat that nourisheth a man so there are thousands of people that hear Sermon upon Sermon and yet are never the more holy by what they hear for want of digesting the Sermons they hear by Divine Meditation Now this want of meditation is a sin that I perswade my self most Christians are guilty of I cannot exclude my self there are few Christians that are convinced of the necessity of this duty of Divine Meditation few that practise this duty the great God hath exercised this Nation with variety of Providences for these many years we have been these eleven or twelve years in the fire of affliction we have met with unexpected changes and alterations but where is the man that lays to heart the Providences of God where is the man that studies what God is doing with this Nation and how to get the Providences of God sanctified We may say of most of the Nation as it is in Ier. 12. 11. The whole land is made desolate because no man layeth it to heart There is no man considers what is the meaning of Gods Providences the variety and strangeness and wonderfulness of them We are like unto those Isa. 42. 24 25. Who gave Israel to the spoil and Israel to the robbers did not the Lord he against whom we have sinned for they would not walk in his ways neither were they obedient to his law therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger and the strength of battel and it hath set him on fire round about yet he knew not and it burned him but he laid it not to heart We have been burning and burning and consuming but no man lays it to heart this is the great sin of this Nation the Lord humble us There are four sorts of Christians that are here to be reproved for the want of the grace of Divine Meditation 1. The ignorant Christian that knows not how to set about the
imputation but of Original sin by propagation thou wert conceived in sin and thou art born in iniquity thou hast a nature which thou carriest about with thee which makes thee prone to all sin and indisposed to all good thou hast a nature that defiles all thy holy duties and thou art guilty of many actual transgressions of heart-sins of lip-sins of life-sins of sins of omission how many good duties have I omitted of sins of commission how many evil actions have I committed and thou art guilty of sins against the Law and sins against the Gospel then would I reckon up soms sins and then thou art guilty of fleshly and outward and visible sins and thou art especially Oh my soul guilty of inward spiritual and invisible sins of heart-adultery though not outward adultery of heart-murder of heart-idolatry of pride vain-glory hypocrisie self-seeking There is the second head the division of sin 3. I would come to the third head and consider the original and cause of sin and I would say thus Oh my soul surely God is not the author of all these sins that I am guilty of it is the greatest blasphemy in the world to charge God with our sins God cannot be the author of that of which he is the punisher Iudas did not betray Christ because it was determined he should do it but it was out of covetousness and the brethren of Iudah did not fell Ioseph because it was decreed they should do it but out of envy Oh! it is my wicked heart that is the root of all my sin it is not the Devil that is the original of my sin for the Devil cannot force me to sin the Devil perswades me to sin tempts me to sin but he cannot compel me to sin sin came into the world by Adam's disobedience Rom. 5. 12. By one man sin came into the world And my wicked heart is the root of all my sin Oh my soul why shouldest not thou abhor thy self because of thy sin 4. I would have you consider the cursed fruits and effects of sin and I would say thus Oh my soul be thou humbled for thy sins Oh lye in the dust because of thy sin for it is sin that is the cause of all evil both Temporal Spiritual and Eternal sin brings spiritual temporal and eternal curses it was sin put devilishness into the Angels and made the Angels in Heaven to become Devils in Hell it was sin that brought the flood upon the old world it was sin that turned Heaven into Hell and made God rain down fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorah it is sin that kindles the fire in Hell the fire of Hell would go out were it not for sin sin is worse than Hell because it is the cause of Hell and I would meditate thus Surely sin is more opposite to God than Hell for God is the author of Hell God made Hell for sinners but God is not the author of sin and therefore Oh my soul do thou hate sin more than affliction nay more than Hell it self 5. I would proceed to consider the adjuncts and properties of sin in general and of my sin in particular and I would thus meditate upon this common-place head Oh that the Lord would work in my heart a further abhorrency of all sin Oh that sin might be more loathed for sin is of a defiling nature of a destructive nature sin is of a defiling nature it defiles my person it defiles my Sacraments my Prayers the Sermons I hear it makes me like a dog like a swine nay it makes me like a Devil I have chosen twelve and one of you is a Devil Sin makes you nasty and loathsome in Gods sight sin defiles your civil actions The plowing of a wicked man is sin sin defiles the land in which you live Ezek. 14. The land is defiled by your idolatry sin defiles the whole Creation Oh my soul wilt thou make a sport of that which defiles the whole Creation And then I would say sin is of a destructive nature it destroys the body it destroys the soul for evermore And then I would consider the properties of my sin in particular I would say thus Oh my soul how great is thy guilt I have sinned not only against God but against light my sins have bloody aggravations I have sinned against the heart-blood-heart-blood-mercy of Jesus Christ. I have sinned against many Sacrament-vows that I have made I have sinned against knowledg against conscience 6. I would consider the opposites to the thing I meditate on what is opposite to sin why Grace Then I would meditate of the excellency of Grace and I would say Oh my soul how beautiful is that soul that is endued with Grace sin makes me like a Devil sin stamps the Devils image upon my soul but Grace makes me Gods picture Grace is the portraiture of the Holy Ghost Grace ennobles the soul it legitimates the soul it elevates the soul. Oh the beauty of a soul enriched with grace Oh the Heavenly excellency of a gracious soul Now by how much Grace is more excellent by so much is sin more odious for sin destroys Grace 7. I would consider the comparisons to which sin is compared and I would say thus Oh my soul wilt thou not abhor sin sin is compared to bruises sores putrefaction a leprosie a plague the excrements of a man And it is called in Scripture an abominable thing it is compared to the filth under a mans nails and to the putrefactions of sores and the dung the excrements of man and wilt thou love that which is loathsom to God shall sin be so abominable in the sight of God and shall it not be so in my sight 8. I would consider the titles that are given to sin and I would say thus Sin is called a robbing of God Mal. 3. shall I rob God of his glory by my sin Oh! God forbid Sin is called an injury to God shall I injure my Saviour by my sins It is called a striking thorough the name of God so the Hebrew word signifies which we translate to swear it is a Deicidium the killing the murdering of God and Oh my soul wilt thou do as much as in thee lies to murder thy Saviour to crucifie Christ afresh by thy sins 9. I would consider all that the Scripture saith concerning sin I would consider the wrath of God against sin I would consider all the Threatnings of God against sin and especially I would study what Christ suffered to free us from sin and I would behold the odiousness of sin upon Christ's Cross sin made Christ sweat drops of blood and shall it not make me shed tears Sin made Christ cry My God my God why hast thou forsaken me and shall it not make me cry out Oh miserable man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of sin And then I would consider what hope there is of pardon through Christ and what promises there are made