Three treatises of the vanity of the creature. The sinfulness of sin. The life…Three treatises of the vanity of the creature. The sinfulnesse of sinne. The life…

The last Question is, Whether sins of omission may be ⟨p. 297⟩esteemed reigning sins? To which I answer, That the wicked in Scripture are Charactered by such kind of sins, Pour out thy vengeance upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not upon thy ¹name. The wicked through the pride of his heart will not seek after God, God is not in all his thoughts. There is no ²truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. I was an hungered, and you gave me no meat; thirsty, and you gave me no drink; a stranger, and you took me not in, &c. As in matters of government, a Princes negative voice whereby he hinders the doing of a thing, is oftentimes as great an argument of his royalty, as his positive commands to have a thing done (nay a Prince hath power to command that to be done, which he hath no power to prohibit; as Josiah commanded the people to serve the Lord:) So in sin, the power which it hath to dead and take off the heart from Christian duties, from Communion with God, from knowledge of his will, from delight in his word, from mutual Edification, from a constant and spiritual watch over our thoughts and ways, and the like, is a notorious fruit of the reign of sin. So then as he said of the Roman Senate, that it was an assembly of kings, so we may say of sinful lusts in the heart, That they are indeed a Throng and a people of kings.

The last Question is, Whether sinnes of omission may be ⟨p. 297⟩esteemed raigning sinnes? To which I answere, That the wicked in Scripture are Character'd by such kinde of sinnes, Powre out thy vengeance upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not upon thy ¹name. The wicked through the pride of his heart will not seeke after God, God is not in all his thoughts. There is no ²truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. I was an hungred, and you gave me no meate; thirsty, and you gave me no drinke; a stranger, and you tooke me not in, &c. As in matters of governement, a Princes negative voyce whereby he hinders the doing of a thing, is oftentimes as great an argument of his royalty, as his positive commands to have a thing done (nay a Prince hath power to command that to be done, which he hath no power to prohibite; as Iosias commanded the people to serve the Lord:) So in sinne, the power which it hath to dead and take off the heart from Christian duties, from Communion with God, from knowledge of his will, from delight in his word, from mutuall Edification, from a constant and spirituall watch over our thoughts and wayes, and the like, is a notorious fruit of the raigne of sinne. So then as he said of the Romane Senate, that it was an assembly of kings, so we may say of sinfull lusts in the heart, That they are indeed a Throng and a people of kings.