Thomas Halyburton, The Great Concern of Salvation (Works, p. 25):
Every sin implies, in its formal nature, contempt of God, as that which is its source. Sin flows from a secret enmity of heart against the Almighty, and therefore carries in it a high contempt of him. It may be, men are so blind that they cannot discern any such thing in it; but God makes breaking the law, and despising or contemning the law, to be all one; Amos 2:4, “Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked.” Sin in most men’s eyes is a harmless thing; but how far otherwise would it be if its nature were seen in a just light by the eye of faith; if we saw it trampling upon God’s authority, goodness, and holiness, and even endeavouring as it were to ungod him.
Every sin implies, in its formal nature, contempt of God, as that which is its source. Sin flows from a secret enmity of heart against the Almighty, and therefore carries in it a high contempt of him. It may be, men are so blind that they cannot discern any such thing in it; but God makes breaking the law, and despising or contemning the law, to be all one; Amos 2:4, “Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked.” Sin in most men’s eyes is a harmless thing; but how far otherwise would it be if its nature were seen in a just light by the eye of faith; if we saw it trampling upon God’s authority, goodness, and holiness, and even endeavouring as it were to ungod him.