taken away unless they cause some to fall.-Prov. iv. 16. The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.-Prov. xii. 10. Fools make a mock at sin.-Prov. xiv. 9. Not a just man upon the earth, who doth good, and sinneth not.Eccles. vii. 20. Prov. xx. 9. Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Eccles. viii. 11. Ps. lv. 19. Woe unto them who draw iniquity, &c. who say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it, &c. Isa. v. 18-20. The king of Assyria, lifted up in pride, said, Shall not I do to Jerusalem as to Samaria? &c. By the strength of my hand have I done it; and by my wisdom, for I am prudent. -Isa. x. 10, 11. 13. Ye have said, We have made a covenant with death and with hell, &c. The scourge shall not come unto us, &c. Isa. xxviii. 15. Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness, &c. In the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the Majesty of the Lord, &c. When thy hand is lifted up, they will not see, &c. Isa. xxvi. 10, 11. They make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him who reproveth in the gate, &c. -Isa. xxix. 21. Thou hast trusted in thy wickedness; thou hast said, None seeth me, &c. and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.-Isa. xlvii. 10. All we, like sheep, have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way. Isa. liii. 6. The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest; whose waters cast up mire and dirt.-Isa. lvii. 20. Thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go. Jer. ii. 25. xxi. 21. Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved: thou hast consumed them, they have refused to receive correction; they have made their faces harder than a rock: they have refused to return. Jer. v. 3. Were they ashamed? &c. They were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore, &c. Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the way, and see, and ask for the old paths; where is the good way; and walk therein, &c. But they said, We will not walk therein. Jer. vi. 15, 16. They speak not aright; no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle. Jer. viii. 6. The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of a diamond it is graven upon the table of their heart, &c. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, &c. Jer. xvii. 1. 9. Thus saith the Lord, Return ye, &c. And they said, There is no hope; but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imaginations of his evil heart, &c. Let us devise devices against Jeremiah, &c. and let us not give heed to any of his words.-Jer. xviii. 11, 12. 18. The king cut and burned the roll, wherein was written Jeremy's prophecy; and would have taken the prophet himself.-Jer. xxxvi. 21. 23, 24. 26. The people told Jeremiah, We will not hearken unto thee: but we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, &c.-Jer. xliv. 15-17. They are stiff-hearted, &c. they are rebellious, &c. they are impudent.Ezek. ii. 4. 7. iii. 7. Hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? For they say, The Lord seeth not us; the Lord hath forsaken the earth. Ezek. viii. 12. When they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary, to profane it, &c. Ezek. xxiii. 39. Nebuchadnezzar said, Who is that God who shall deliver out of my hands?-Dan. iii. 14, 15. The king said, Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? While the word was in his mouth, &c. a voice said, The kingdom is departed from thee. Dan. iv. 30, 31. his Though Belshazzar knew all which God had done to father for his pride, yet he humbled not his heart. But thou hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven, &c. Thou hast praised the gods of silver, &c.-Dan. v. 21-25. Their mother hath played the harlot, &c. For she said, I will go after my lovers, who gave me my bread, &c.Hos. ii. 5. They set their heart on their iniquity. Hos. iv. 8. God repeats many judgments he had brought upon Israel; and saith, Yet have ye not returned unto me, &c.Amos iv. 6-10. They hate him who rebuketh in the gate: and they abhor him who speaketh uprightly.-Amos v. 10. Isa. xxix. 21. None upright among men; and the best of them as a brier, &c. Micah. vii. 2-4. Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, Execute true judgment, &c. But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears that they should not hear; yea, they made their heart as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, &c. Zech. vii. 9-12. I will punish the men, &c. who say in their heart, that the Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil. -Zeph. i. 12. Ps. ii. 17. Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord: yet ye say, What have we spoken against thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances? &c.-Mal. iii. 13, 14. Job xxi. 14, 15. Herod, his wickedness in imprisoning John the Baptist for Herodias's sake, his brother Philip's wife; for John had said, It is not lawful for thee to have her and their consequent wickedness in cutting off John's head.-Matt. xiv. 3-10. O Jerusalem! &c. How often would I have gathered thy children, &c. and ye would not.-Matt. xxiii. 37. John v. 40. Luke xiv. 17, &c. When Pilate had said, I am innocent of the blood of this just person; see ye to it: then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.-Matt. xxvii. 24, 25. See the desperate wickedness of the priests and elders. Matt. xxvii. xxviii. Acts iii. 14, 15. Mark xv. 7. 10, 11. The world hateth Christ, and all that are good. - Matt. x. 22. John xv. 18, &c. 1 John iii. 13. John xvii. 14. That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man: for from within (out of the heart of men) proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wick edness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness : all these evil things come from within, and defile the man. -Mark vii. 20 -23. Matt. xv. 18-20. James iv. 1. Matt. xii. 35, 36. O generation of vipers, who hath warned you? &c.-Luke iii. 7. His citizens hated him, &c. saying, We will not have this man to reign over us, &c.-Luke xix. 14. John vii. 7. Light is come into the world: and men loved darkness rather than light, &c.-John iii. 19, 20. Certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying, That they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. And they were more than forty.Acts xxiii. 12, 13. They became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened, &c. and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image, &c. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own hearts, &c. Who changed the truth of God into a lie; and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, &c. For this cause, God gave them up unto vile affections; for even their women did change the natural use to that which is against nature, &c. Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, &c. covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful, &c. Not only do the same, but have pleasure in them who do them. Rom. i. 21.23-27.29-32. There is none righteous, no not one. They are all gone out of the way, &c. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood, &c. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Rom. iii. 10-19. Ps. v. 9. While we were yet sinners, &c. enemies, we were reconciled.--Rom. v. 8. 10. 12. The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God; neither indeed can be, &c.Rom, viii. 7. Now the works of the flesh are, &c. adultery, fornication, uncleanness, &c. Gal. v. 19-21. James iii. 14, 15. You who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in times past ye walked, &c. in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of our flesh.Eph. ii. 1-3. Col. ii. 13. iii. 3. Other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their minds, &c. being alienated from the life of God: who, being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness, &c. The old man, which is corrupt.-Eph. iv. 17-19.22. The enemies of the cross of Christ, &c. whose God is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. Phil. iii. 18, 19. You, who were sometimes alienated, and enemies in your mind, by wicked works. Col. i. 21. The Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us: and they please not God, and are contrary to all men; forbidding us to speak, &c. To fill up their sins alway: for the wrath, &c.-1 Thess. ii. 14-16. Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; but I obtained mercy.-1 Tim. i. 13. A description of the desperate wickedness of some in the last days of the world.-2 Tim. iii. 1, &c. They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him; being abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate (or void of judgment). Titus i. 16. We ourselves were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures; living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. - Titus iii. 3. John viii. 34. Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed: and when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin.-James i. 14, 15. iv. 1, 2. iii. 14, 15. Ye rich men, &c. ye have lived in pleasures, &c. and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, &c.James v. 1, &c. Your vain conversation, by tradition from your fathers.-1 Pet. i. 18. The time past of our life may suf D : for (or by) them?-Job xxii. 17. They are those who rebel against the light: they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof. Job xxiv. 13. fice us, &c. when we walked in lascivi- us: and what can the Almighty do ousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries; wherein they think it strange that you run not with them, to the same excess.-1 Pet. iv. 3, 4. They have eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin.2 Pet. ii. 14. We know that, &c. the whole world lieth in wickedness.-1 John v. 19. Ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord, &c.-Jude 4. When God poured out his vial of wrath, men blasphemed, and repented not.-Rev. xvi. 9-11. 21. ix. 18-21. SECT. II. Ignorant, opposing the true God, and his Ways, and adoring Idols of Stocks and Stones. WHEN Jacob went from Laban, Laban complains that he had stolen his gods. Gen. xxxi, 30. Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice? &c. I know not the Lord. - Exod. v. 2. Israel, by Aaron, made a molten calf; and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of Egypt, &c. They built an altar, and offered burnt-offerings.Exod. xxxii. 4-6. The men of Ashdod were so sottish, that when Dagon, their idol-god, had fallen down before the ark twice, and was broken in pieces, and themselves had confessed the hand of the God of Israel to be sore against them and their god; yet they continued to call him their god; and neither the priest, nor any who came into Dagon's house, would after tread upon the threshold whereon Dagon fell.-1 Sam. v. 25. 7. vi. 5, 6. The wicked say unto God, Depart from us; for we esire not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?-Job xxi. 14, 15. Who said unto God, Depart from Great men are not always wise neither do the aged understand judgment.-Job xxxii. 9. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Ps. xiv. 1. But unto the wicked, God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes? &c. seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words be hind thee? &c. Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thy self. Ps. 1. 16, 17. 21. They slay the widow, &c. yet they say, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard. Understand, O ye brutish, &c. He who planted the ear, shall, &c.-Ps. xciv. 6-9. Evil men understand not judgment. -Prov. xxviii. 5. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; Israel doth not know, my people do not consider. - Isa. i. 3. He heweth down cedars, &c. for a man to burn, and warm himself, &c. Yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh a graven image, and falleth down thereto: he burneth part thereof, &c. the residue thereof he maketh a god, and worshippeth it, and prayeth to it, and saith, Deliver me, for thou art my god. They have not known, nor understood, &c. and none considereth in his heart; neither is there knowledge nor understanding, to say, I have burned part, &c. shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? - Isa. xliv. 14-19. They have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have no understanding.-Jer. iv. 22. The word of the Lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it. Jer. vi. 10. Though Nebuchadnezzar had acknowledged the God of Daniel to be the God of gods, and a Lord of kings, &c. yet he presently makes a molten image, and commands his people to worship it, &c. and says, Who is that God who shall deliver you out of my hands?-Dan. ii. 47. iii. 1. 4-6.15. Belshazzar and his princes, &c. praised the gods of gold, and of silver, &c.-Dan. v. 3, 4. She did not know that I gave her corn and wine, &c. -Hos. ii. 8. The Gergesenes so ignorant, that, because of the loss of their swine, The whole city came out to meet Jesus, &c. and besought him to depart out, &c.-Matt. viii. 32-34. O Jerusalem, &c. how often would I have gathered? &c. and ye would not!-Luke xiii. 34. xix. 14. Christ was in the world, &c. and the world knew him not, &c. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.-John i. 10, 11. Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light. John iii. 19. If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith, &c. Give me, &c. Thou wouldest have asked of him, &c. Jesus saith to the woman, Ye worship ye know not what.-John iv. 10. 21, 22. Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. John v. 40. Jesus said, The world, &c. Me it hateth, because I testify of it that, &c.-John vii. 71 The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him. John xiv. 17. When the people saw what Paul had done, they lift up their voices, saying, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men, &c. and the priest, &c. would have done sacrifice, &c.-Acts xiv. 11-14. While Paul waited for them at Athens, &c. he saw the city wholly. given to idolatry (or full of idols), &c. Certain philosophers, &c. encountered him; and some said, What will this babbler (or base fellow) say? Other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection, &c. I perceive, saith Paul, ye are too superstitious, &c. I found an altar with this inscription, To the unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you.-Acts xvii. 16. 18. 22, 23. When Paul preached, many believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, &c. Demetrius and his company cry out, Great is Diana, the goddess, &c. And cried out against Paul for saying, that they were no gods which are made with hands; and endeavouring to turn men to the true God, &c. The townclerk said, The whole city is a wor shipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter.-Acts xix. 9. 24-41. Certain questions, &c. of one Jesus which was dead; whom Paul affirmed to be alive. -Acts xxv. 19. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God, into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, &c. Rom. il 22, 23.. The world, &c. hated me before it hated you. Because I have chosen you, &c. therefore the world hateth. The way of peace have they not you, &c. These things will they do, &c. Because they know not him who sent me, they hated both me and my Father.-John xv. 18, 19.21. 24. Simon Magus so sottish, that he of fered money for power to confer the Holy Ghost by imposition of hands. Acts viii. 18-20. 1 : known. Rom. iii. 17. The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law ofi God, neither indeed can be.Rom. viii. 7. The preaching of the cross is to them who perish, foolishness, &c. After that in the wisdom of God, the |