A cabinet of choice jewels, or, A box of precious ointment being a plain…A cabinet of choice jevvels, or, A box of precious ointment being a plain…

Secondly, God has so connected the duties of his Law one to another, that if there be not a conscientious care to walk according to all that the Law requires, a man becomes a transgressor of the whole Law, according to that of Saint James, ⟨p. 261⟩Chap. 2.10. Whosoever shall keep the whole Law, ¹and yet offend in one point, is guilty of all; the bond of all is broken, the authority of all is slighted, and that evil disposition, that sinful frame of heart, that works a man to venture upon the breach of one command, would make him venture upon the breach of any command, were it not for some infirmity of nature, or because his purse will not hold out to maintain it, or for shame, or loss, or because of the eye of friends, or the sword of the Magistrate, or for some sinister respects; and might the breach of any other of the commands of God serve his turn, and advance his ends, he stands as strongly pressed in spirit to transgress them all, as to transgress any one of them. He that gives himself liberty to live in the breach of any one command of God, is qualified with a disposition of heart to break them all; every single sin contains virtually all sin in it. He that allows himself a liberty to live in the breach of any one particular Law of God, he casts contempt and scorn upon the authority that made the whole Law, and upon this account breaks it all. And the Apostle gives the reason of it in Verse 11. For he that said, do not commit adultery, said also, do not kill; now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the Law. Not that he is guilty of all distributively, but collectively; for the Law is copulative, there is a chain of duties, and these are all so linked one to another, that you cannot break one link of the chain, but you break the whole chain. All the precepts of the Law are as it were a string of pearls strung by the authority of God; now break this string in any place, and all the pearls fall to the ground. No man can live in the breach of any known command of God, but he wrongs every command of God; and this at last he shall find to his cost, without sound repentance on his side, and pardoning grace on God's. But,

Secondly, God has so connexed the duties of his Law one to another, that if there be not a conscientious care to walk according to all that the Law requires, a man becomes a transgressor of the whole Law, according to that of Saint James,