Precious faith considered in its nature, working, and growth

As to the opposite, sin, the believer sees more of the sinfulness of sin, and yet more of the holy God about it then others do. He sees more of the sinfulness of sin then others. Next to Christ, who weighed sin upon the cross, he of all men knows best how to weigh it; the natural man may put in the breach of the Law into the scale, but he puts in all the bloody aggravations, the suffocated light, and abused love, the quenchings of the spirit, and the rejections of Christ, the broken vows and lying promises of obedience, the stabs of conscience, and warning pieces of wrath, the measures of delight and obstinacy in sin, and the heaps of guilt in reiterated sinning, no man makes sin so sinful as he; the pure light of faith being up in the heart, every scarlet thread in the contexture thereof becomes visible; and yet after all this, the believer sees more of the holy God about it then others do, and that whether he look on the ⟨p. 178⟩sins of others, or his own. As to other mens, we have many examples in Scripture; the messengers that came to Job, spake of the Sabeans and Chaldeans oppression, but the Lord hath taken away, saith holy Job, Job 1.21. when Shimei cursed David, Abishai looks no further then Shimei, why should this dead dog curse my Lord the King? saith he, but what saith heavenly David, the Lord hath said unto him, curse David, 2 Sam. 16.9, 10. In the crucifying of Christ, carnal men looked only at the instruments, such as Pilate and the Jews were, but the Saints saw Gods hand and Gods counsel in it, Acts 4.28. As to his own sins, there is a famous instance in the Churches complaint, O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways? and hardened our heart from thy fear? Isa. 63.17. What? were they not sensible that the error and hardness were their own? yes doubtless, they were more sensible then others, as appears by their mourning and longing for the Lords return, yet they cry out, why hast thou made us to err? and why hast thou hardened us? the believer when he looks upon providence and sin, hath a spiritual sagacity to determine the matter. God is holy, while man is unclean; God wise, while man foolish; God merciful, while man cruel: the light is Gods, and the darkness mans; the order Gods, and the ataxy mans; the justice Gods, and the unrighteousness mans. As to Satan, the believer knows him by the word more truly then all