1. That you may be sensible of your lost estate, you must get a Conviction of your sin, your eyes must be opened to see your selves guilty of sin before God, and your mouths must be stopped, so as to have nothing to say if the Lord should condemn you. You must not only understand the nature of sin in the general, that it is a transgression of the holy, and righteous, and good Law of the holy and glorious God of Heaven and Earth; but also you must be particularly and thoroughly convinced, that you have transgressed this Law of God; you must be convinced of your particular sins: As to the kinds of your sins, you must 1. See your selves guilty of Original sin, of Adams first transgression by a just imputation, you being in his loins, and parties in the first Covenant: and then you must see what inherent sin there is in ⟨p. 125⟩your nature, that you were conceived and born in sin, that you are a viperous brood, a Serpentine generation, a seed of evil doers; that the Toad is not fuller of poison, than your natures are full of sin; that your natures are contrary unto the nature of God, and have an enmity in them against the Law of God, Rom. 6.7. You must be convinced, how your natures are depraved, being wholly destitute of Original Righteousness, empty of all good, and inclinable wholly unto evil; that they are a polluted fountain, from whence can proceed nothing but what is unclean; that they are a bitter root, from whence doth spring forth such cursed fruits of sin in your lives; and you should look upon your sin of nature to be the worst, because the Original of all actual transgressions. 2. You must be convinced of your actual sins, how you have broken Gods Law in thought, word and deed, you must see your sins of Omission, and your sins of Commission, against the first and second Table of the Law, and take notice of the number of them, so far as you can remember, together with their aggravations; if they have been committed through ignorance when you have had means of knowledge, if against light of Nature and the Word, if against the reluctance of natural Conscience, if against many Warnings and Reproofs, if they have been committed with security, hardness of heart, delight, greediness, pride, presumption, obstinacy, and the like;
1. That you may be sensible of your lost estate, you must get a Conviction of your sin, your eyes must be opened to see your selves guilty of sin before God, and your mouths must be stopped, so as to have nothing to say if the Lord should condemn you. You must not only understand the nature of sin in the general, that it is a transgression of the holy, and righteous, and good Law of the holy and glorious God of Heaven and Earth; but also you must be particularly and thorowly convinced, that you have transgressed this Law of God; you must be convinced of your particular sins: As to the kinds of your sins, you must 1. See your selves guilty of Original sin, of Adams first transgression by a just imputation, you being in his loyns, and parties in the first Covenant: and then you must see what inherent sin there is in ⟨p. 125⟩your nature, that you were conceived and born in sin, that you are a viperous brood, a Se•p•ntine generation, a seed of evil doers; that the Toad is not fuller of poyson, than your natures are full of sin; that your natures are contrary unto the nature of God, and have an enmity in them against the Law of God, Rom. 6.7. You must be convinced, how your natures are depraved, being wholly destitute of Original Righteousness, empty of all good, and inclinable wholly unto evil; that they are a polluted fountain, from whence can proceed nothing but what is unclean; that they are a bitter root, from whence doth spring forth such cursed fruits of sin in your lives; and you should look upon your sin of nature to be the worst, because the Original of all actuall transgressions. 2. You must be convinced of your actual sins, how you have broken Gods Law in thought, word and deed, you must see your sins of Omission, and your sins of Commission, against the first and second Table of the Law, and take notice of the number of them, so far as you can remember, together with their aggravations; if they have been committed through ignorance when you have had means of knowledge, if against light of Nature and the Word, if against the reluctance of natural Conscience, if against many Warnings and Reproofs, if they have been committed with security, hardness of heart, delight, greediness, pride, presumption, obstinacy, and the like;
