A sin against the First Table, caeteris paribus, is greater than a sin against the Second, 1 Sam. 2.25. as being more immediately against God. Whereas all sin hath its sinfulness from its opposition and offensiveness to so infinite a Majesty, Psal. 51.4. Against thee, thee only have I sinned. Thus we read that Witch-craft and Idolatry, which directly disown God as the greatest sins, 1 Sam. 15.13. And our Lord Jesus, when asked what was the first and great Commandment, answers, To love the Lord our God with all our hearts, &c. Matth. 22.11. Spiritual sins are greater than bodily sins; 1. As those by which we most imitate the ⟨p. 414⟩Devil, who is for spiritual wickednesses in high places, Ephes. 6. All sin is from Satan per modum servitutis; but these sins per modum imaginis. 2. As those sins by which we most directly oppose God, who is a Spirit, Joh. 4.24. and therefore God most directly sets himself in battle-array against them. 3. As those sins that defile and pollute most the chiefest part of man, his spirit, in which regard the Apostle calls them filthiness of spirit; and distinguisheth them from the filthiness of the flesh, 2 Cor. 7.1. 4. As those sins which are the spring of all bodily and outward sins; Out of the heart proceed Murders, Blasphemies, Thefts, &c. Matth. 15.19. 5. As those sins have more of the heart and spirit in them; the malignity of sin, in regard of its Object, is from the immensity of that God against whom it is committed; in regard of its Subject, it's from the degree of that heartiness and willingness with which it is committed. To back-slide in heart, is more than back-slide from God with our tongues, and deny him vocally, Prov. 14.14. Such a one shall be filled with his own ways and wickedness. ⟨p. 415⟩To err in heart, is the provocation indeed, Heb. 3.10. To err in heart is much worse than to err in our heads; the more of the heart and spirit in any Service, the more lovely and acceptable to God; the more of the heart and spirit in any sin, the more loathsome and abominable to God. 6. As those sins which have their full scope and swing. In bodily sins a man is curbed, as in Uncleanness, by the weakness or weariness of his Body; in Prodigality, and Luxury, and Pride, by the weakness of his Estate; in Murder, by his Antagonist's strength, or his fear of the Law, or want of opportunity:
A sin against the First Table, caeteris paribus, is greater than a sin against the Second, 1 Sam. 2.25. as being more immediately against God. Whereas all sin hath its sinfulness from its opposition and offensiveness to so infinite a Majesty, Psal. 51.4. Against thee, thee only have I sinned. Thus we read that Witch-craft and Idolatry, which directly disown God as the greatest sins, 1 Sam. 15.13. And our Lord Jesus, when asked what was the first and great Commandment, answers, To love the Lord our God with all our hearts, &c. Matth. 22.11. Spiritual sins are greater than bodily sins; 1. As those by which we most imitate the ⟨p. 414⟩Devil, who is for spiritual wickednesses in high places, Ephes. 6. All sin is from Satan per modum servitutis; but these sins per modum imaginis. 2. As those sins by which we most directly oppose God, who is a Spirit, Joh. 4.24. and therefore God most directly sets himself in battel-array against them. 3. As those sins that defile and pollute most the chiefest part of man, his spirit, in which regard the Apostle calls them filthiness of spirit; and distinguisheth them from the filthiness of the flesh, 2 Cor. 7.1. 4. As those sins which are the spring of all bodily and outward sins; Out of the heart proceed Murders, Blasphemies, Thefts, &c. Matth. 15.19. 5. As those sins have more of the heart and spirit in them; the malignity of sin, in regard of its Object, is from the immensity of that God against whom it is committed; in regard of its Subject, it's from the degree of that heartiness and willingness with which it is committed. To back-slide in heart, is more than back-slide from God with our tongues, and deny him vocally, Prov. 14.14. Such a one shall be filled with his own ways and wickedness. ⟨p. 415⟩To err in heart, is the provocation indeed,
