thou exalted thy voice? &c. Even | in his heart, God hath forgotten; he hideth his face, he will never see, &c. Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? &c.-Ps. x. 4. 7. 11. 13; 1. 17, &c. against the Holy One of Israel, by thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, &c.—2 Kings xix. 16. 22, 23; 2 Chron. xxxii. 9, &c. King Ahaz did wickedly, and in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the Lord: this is that king Ahaz.-2 Chron. xxviii. 19. 22. Israel laughed to scorn and mocked the messengers of Hezekiah, who exhorted them to repent.-2 Chron. xxx. 6, 7. 10, &c. The chief of the priests and the people transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathens, &c. And the Lord, &c. sent to them by his messengers, &c. but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose, &c. till there was no remedy.2 Chron. xxxvi. 14-16. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean thing? Not one.-Job xiv. 4; Ezek. xvi. 3, &c. What is man, that he should be clean? or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? &c. Yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight how much more abominable and filthy is man, who drinketh iniquity like water?-Job xv. 14-16; XXV. 4. The wicked say, &c. Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what can he do?-Job xxi. 7. 14, 15; xxii. 17; xxxiv. 9. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his Anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.-Ps. ii. 2, 3; Matt. ii. 16. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek God; God is not in all his thoughts, &c. His mouth is full of cursing, and deceit, and fraud, &c. He hath said With our tongue will we prevail : our lips are our own: who is Lord over us?-Ps. xii. 4. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt; they have done abominable works: there is none who doeth good, &c. They are all gone aside; they are all together become filthy, (or stinking ;) there is none who doeth good, no, not one.-Ps. xiv. 1-3; liii. 1-3; Eccles. ix. 3. He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good.-Ps. xxxvi. 4; Prov. iv. 16. I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.-Ps. li. 5. The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies, &c.. Ps. lviii. 3—5. Pride compasseth them about as a chain: violence covereth them as a garment, &c. They are corrupt and speak wickedly, &c. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth, &c. They say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High? -Ps. lxxiii. 6. 8, 9. 11; xciv. 4. 7; Job xxiv. 14, 15. The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, &c. For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.— Ps. lxxviii. 31, 32. 56-58. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, &c. they have consulted together with one consent, (or heart:) they are confederate against thee.-Ps. lxxxiii. 3. 5. They frame mischief by a law: they gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.-Ps. xciv. 20, 21. For they sleep not except they have done mischief; and their sleep is 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 doeth 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. 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 you 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. Though Belshazzar knew all which God had done to his 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. 21-23. 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 quity.-Hos. iv. 8. ini God repeats many judgments he had brought upon Israel; and saith, Yet have ye not returned unto me, &c. -Amos iv. 6-10. 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 would not.-Matt. xxiii. 37; John v. 40; Luke xiv. 17, &c. ye 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 withThey hate him who rebuketh in the in (out of the heart of men) proceed gate and they abhor him who speak-evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, eth uprightly.-Amos v. 10; Isa. xxix. 21. murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil None upright among men ; and the eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: best of them as a brier, &c.—Micah all these evil things come from withvii. 2-4. in, and defile the man.-Mark vii. 20 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts,-23; Matt. xv. 18-20; James iv. Execute true judgment, &c. But they 1; Matt. xii. 35, 36. 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 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. | fulfilling the desires of our flesh.And they were more than forty.- Eph. ii. 1-3; Col. ii. 13; iii. 3. 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 into 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, 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 fiee us, &c. when we walked in lasciviousness, 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. us and what can the Almighty do for (or by) them?-Job xxii. 17. 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. 1821. They are those who rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.-Job xxiv. 13. 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 behind thee? &c. Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself.-Ps. 1. 16, 17. 21. say, They slay the widow, &c. yet they The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard. Understand, O ye brutish, &c. He who La-planted the ear, shall, &c.-Ps. xciv. 6-9. SECT. 2.-Ignorant, opposing the true 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. 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, The men of Ashdod were so sottish, and falleth down thereto : he burneth that when Dagon, their idol-god, had part thereof, &c. the residue thereof fallen down before the ark twice, and he maketh a god, and worshippeth it, was broken in pieces, and themselves and prayeth to it, and saith, Deliver had confessed the hand of the God of me, for thou art my god. They have Israel to be sore against them and not known, nor understood, &c. none their god; yet they continued to call considereth in his heart; neither is him their god; and neither the priest, there knowledge nor understanding nor any who came into Dagon's house, to say, I have burned part, &c. shall would after tread upon the threshold I make the residue thereof an abowhereon Dagon fell.-1 Sam. v. 2-mination? shall I fall down to the 5. 7: vi. 5, 6. The wicked say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire 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 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 ac |