Aggravation of sin and sinning against knowledge. Mercy. Delivered in several sermons upon divers…Aggravation of sinne and sinning against knowledge. Mercie. Delivered in severall sermons upon divers…

The third rule is,¹ that the more confirmations any man hath had of the knowledge of that which he sinneth in, and testimonies against it, the greater sin against knowledge it is: when a man hath had a cloud of witnesses in his observation against a particular sin, and yet doth it, and goes on in it, it is the more fearful. To go on against that one witness, the bare light and grudging of natural conscience only, is not so much; but when it is further confirmed, and backed by the word written, which a man hath read, and with testimonies, out of which a man meets with such places, wherein again and again in reading of it, such a practice is condemned, and observes it; and then also hears it reproved in Sermons, and of all sins else, hears in private conference that sin spoken against also; yea hath in his eye many examples of others sinning in the like kind, which have been punished, yea haply himself also; yet to sin against all these is exceeding heinous. Sometimes God orders things so, as a sin is made a great sin, by such forewarnings; so he contrived circumstances that Judas sinned a great sin; for Judas knew before that Christ was the Saviour of the world; he knew it by all the miracles he had seen, as also by his gracious words and converse; and he professed ⟨p. 72⟩as much in following of him; and he had the written word against it, Thou shalt not murder the innocent. But yet further, God to aggravate his sin to the highest, orders it so, that Christ should tell him of it when he was to go about it, pronounceth a woe to him, John 22. 22. that it had been good for that man that he had never been borne. Mar. 14. 21. and the Disciples they were sorrowful at Christs speech, when he suspected one of them; and showed an abomination and detestation of such a fact, there was a Jury of eleven men, yea witnesses against it; yea and Judas against himself, he asked if it were he; yea and Christ gave him a sop, and told him, thou hast said it, and do what thou doest quickly: which even then might argue to his conscience, that he was God, and searched and knew his heart, and yet he went out and did it immediately. How did he sin against the hair, as we speak, and how did all these circumstances aggravate his sin?

The third rule is,