disease is dangerous It is easie erring but dangerous in this point Hence this Article did so reign in the hearts of those Worthies that they used all diligence to keep this Fountain pure greatly fearing the posterity to come would be negligent herein Now as for the meanes how we are justified they did not only learn it out of the Scriptures which peculiarly appropriate this to Faith and not to any other particular grace but experimentally and practically out of their own hearts God suffering them to be greatly exercised and tempted about his favour and to be often in the deepes not seeing the Sun for many daies that so Justification by Faith alone might be the more confirmed unto them and they have the witness of this Doctrine in themselves And although it be true that the Protestant Writers in this Controversie did chiefly militate against the merit and causality of Works in Justification then asserted by the Papists Yet it is plain that thereby also they did exclude their Conditionality also as to the Act of Justification Hence Perkins quantus vir saith Fides est unicum solum illud instrumentum c. Faith is the alone and only instrument wrought by the Spirit of God in the heart of a man whereby he layeth hold on Christ applying his righteousness to himself which neither Hope or Charity or any other grace can do And whereas he had granted in the ensuing Discourse that these graces were present at Jnstification but doing nothing to it but Faith doth all As the head is present to the eye when it seeth yet it is the eye alone that seeth Bishop his Adversary by scorn calleth this a worthy piece of Philosophy and laboureth to invalidate it but the learned Abbot his Defendant is large in clearing of this Truth distinguishing of a separation Reall and Mental and that again into Negative and Privative declaring that Faith though not negatively considered excluding other graces yet privatively abstracted from the consideration of them is said to justifie I would referre the Reader to those solid and excellent Writers in this point Perkins his Reason for Justification by Faith alone is very pregnant from Joh. 3. 14. where believing in Christ for eternal life is compared to beholding of the Serpent that Moses lifted up in the Wilderness Now as it was meer seeing and no working that did heal the wounded Israelite so it is meer believing and no other grace that maketh us partakers of this Spiritual Priviledge Chemnitius also giving Reasons why the Protestants use the word solâ of Faith in Justification maketh one to be that merits and dignity may be excluded from our works and all attributed to grace only But another ut ostendatur medium seu organon applicationis for not by Works but Faith alone is the Promise received It is clear then that our former Divines though they principally aimed at the excluding of the merit of Works yet did also thereby shut out their conditionality because they make Faith the only applicativum medium and because they deny other graces to have any such receptive power For when the Papists urge other graces as Love c. they answer that these do consist in extramittendo Faith in intus recipiendo And lastly because they make them only qualifications of the subjects and the effects or discoveries of true Faith Insomuch that we never read in Scripture or as I know of in any sound Authour that we are justified by repentance or by love Neither is this Justification by Faith alone excluding the Conditionality of Works to be applyed to our Justification at first only but as continued so that from first to last we are justified all along by Faith Although therefore the learned Brother doth often fly to this Sanctuary and if this fall to the ground all his superstructure tumbleth with it yet it is clear by Scripture Justification begun and continued is by Faith alone Hence the Apostle arguing in this very matter brings that text The just shall live by Faith Gal. 3. 11. which belongs to the whole course of our life respectively to Justification and when the Apostle saith Rom. 5. Being justified by Faith we have peace with God Would it not be irrationall to limit it only to our Justification at first Is not the righteousness of God revealed from Faith to Faith Rom. 1. 17. Not from Faith to Works See Calvin proving non minus Justitiae complementum quam initium fidei tribuendum esse So that our Justification is by Faith to Faith not by Faith to Works If my judgment were for Justification by Works as a condition thereof as well as Faith I should think it my duty both in Preaching and Printing as occasion serveth to perswade the forbearing of the word Sola when we say Faith Justifieth For if God hath appointed Works as well as Faith how dare any man presume to say Faith alone And thus we must receive the moderating advice of Cassander who saith Multis eruditis piis viris satius videtur in concionibus popularibus vox illa Sola praetermittatur I can grant that we are justified by Faith as it is an instrument appointed by God and as it is a condition provided the conditionality of it be limited to the receptive Office of Faith and Gods designment thereunto But it cannot be an instrument applying and a condition in the sense my Reverend Brother contends for When we say Faith Justifieth as an applying meanes then Christ and his Grace is considered as donum oblatum Faith being the hand that receiveth this Treasure But when it Justifieth as a condition in the sense asserted it must be considered ut opus praestitum whereby the Covenant is made good to us which maketh two distinct kindes of Justification which latter differeth from the Popish way only ut magis minus They make Works merits and Causes he Conditions whereas not only causality but conditionality doth overthrow the alone Justification by Faith and introduceth another way of Justification then by application alone Or if the learned Brother will make Works a condition of Justification when Faith alone doth begin and continue it he will be necessarily involved in a contradiction In what a sense I make Faith a Passive Instrument but supernatural I have in my former Treatise clearly explained and so need not repeat it here again It is no Contradiction to exclude Works form a Conditionality as to the Act of Justification and yet to affirm them requisite necessarily in the Subject Justified I wonder at the wilfulness in some who accuse them as a contradiction when Protestant Writers do a thousand times over illustrate this by divers Similitudes Because Repentance is required as well as Faith must their office and work be confounded Must all they be Conditions Certainly it 's not Repentance but Faith that receiveth the pardon Yet Repentance qualifieth the Subject and denoteth it capable of
that is the cause of all thy bad fruit A regenerated will a sanctified will would make thee prepared for every good work It is for want of this that all preaching is in vain all Gods mercies and all judgements are in vain Why should not the hammer of Gods word break it Why should not the fire of it melt it but because the stubbornness of the will is so great that it will not receive any impression 't is called therefore a stony heart not an iron heart for iron by the fire may be mollified and put into any shape but a stone will never melt it will sooner break into many pieces and flie in the face Thus the will of a man hath naturally that horrible hardness and refractoriness that in stead of loving and imbracing the holy things of God it doth rather rage and hate with all abomination such things ¶ 7. The Enmity and Contrariety of the Will to Gods Will. IN the second place That imbred sinfull propriety of the will which accompanieth it as heat doth fire is The enmity and contrariety of the will to Gods will There is not onely a privative incapacity but a positive contrariety even as between fire and water Gods will is an holy will thine is unholy Gods will is pure thine is impure Gods will is carried out to will his own glory honour and greatness thine is carried out to will the dishonour and reproach of God Thus as Gods will is infinitely good and the cause of all good so in some sense thy will is infinitely evil and the cause of all that evil thou art plunged into Therefore when the Apostle saith That the carnal mind is enmity against God Rom. 8. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 comprehends the actings of the will and the affections as well as of the mind It is enmity in the very abstract so that it is neither subject to God nor can be Oh that God would set this truth more powerfully upon our hearts for what tongue can express the misery of this that thy will should naturally have such irreconcilable opposition and implacable enmity to the Law of God that it should be diametrially opposite to Gods will which at first was made so amicable and compliant with Gods will that there was the Idem velle and Idem nolle Besides many other considerations there are two especially that may break and exceedingly humble our souls herein For 1. Gods will and his law which is his will objectively taken are absolutely in themselvs very good and therefore the proper object of thy will So that if thy will be carried out to any thing in the world it should be carried out to Gods Law above any thing This is to be willed above any created good what soever How is it that thou canst will pleasures profits and such created good things and art not more ravished and drawn out in thy desires after the chiefest good but to be in a state of opposition to this chiefest good to contradict and withstand it this is the hainous aggravation Could there be a Summum malum it would be in the will because of its direct opposition to the Summum bonum Herein mans will and the Devils will do both agree that they are with hatred and contrariety carried out against Gods will If therefore thou wert to live a thousand and thousands of years upon the earth and thou hadst no other work to do but to consider and meditate about the sinfulness and wretchedness of the will in this particular thou wouldst even then take up but drops in respect of the Ocean and little crums in respect of the sand upon the sea-shore But Secondly This contrariety of thy will is not only against that which absolutely in it self is the chiefest good but relatively it would be so to thee and therefore thy contrariety to it is the more unjustifiable What to be carried out with unspeakable hatred to that which would be thy blessedness and happiness who can bewail this enough To have a delight and a connaturality with those things that will be thy eternal damnation with much readiness and joy to will them and then to be horrible averse and contrapugnant to those things which if willed and imbraced would make thee happy to all eternity Oh miserable and wretched man thy condition is farre more lamentable then that of the beasts for they have a natural instinct to preserve themselves and to desire such things as are wholsom to them but thou art naturally inclining to will and imbrace all those things which will be thy eternal woe and misery What is the cause that thy will cannot imbrace the Law of God Why art thou so contrary to it Alas there is no just reason can be given but original sinne is like an occult quality in thy will making an Antipathy in it against the same so that thou doest not love what is holy neither art thou able to say Why only thou dost not love it yea there is the greatest reason in the world and all the word of God requireth it likewise that thy will should be subordinate and commensurated unto it but there is no other cause of this evil will then the evil of it It is evil and therefore cannot abide that which is good ¶ 8. The Rebellion of the Will against the light of the mind and 〈◊〉 slavery of it to the sensitive part in a man THirdly The original pollution of the will is seen in the rebellion of it against the light of the mind and the slavery of it to the sensitive part in a man to the carnal and sinfull affections therein Both which do sadly proclaim how the will is by nature out of all holy order and fallen from its primitive integrity For in the former respect therefore did God give us reason that by the light and guidance thereof the will should proceed to its operations So that for the will to move it self before it hath direction from the mind is like the servant that would set upon business before his master commands him like an unnatured dog that runneth before his master do set him on To will a thing first and afterwards to exercise the mind about it is to set the earth where Heaven should be But oh the unspeakable desolation that is brought upon the soul in this very particular The will staieth for no guidance expecteth no direction but willeth because it will what is suteable and agreeable to the corrupt nature thereof that it imbraceth be it never so destructive and damning God made the mind at first that it could say like the Centurion I bid the will go and it goeth the affections move and they move but now the inferior souldier biddeth the Centurion go and he goeth This then is the great condemnation of the will that though light come in upon it yet it loveth not the light but rebelleth against it and this sinfulness of the will is more palpably
all those voluminous disputations of this state of pure nature is wholly De non ente there being not the least title in Scripture to establish any such opinion upon it It is true the Author mentioned is often affirming and dictating Magisterially concerning such an estate but never yet hath any Scripture-proof been brought for it some philosophical arguments happily may be Now being this is the foundation upon which many of the Adversaries to original sinne do build I shall in its time and order God assisting raze up this foundation and lay the Axe against the root of the Tree proving that it is both against Scripture and solid reason Lastly That there is such an inclination naturally in a man to sinne and repugnant to what is good a mans own experience may teach him were there no Bible no Orthodox Teachers a mans own heart may convince him of such a perversnesse within him though by natural light he could never discover the spring of it Doth not Paul even while regenerated complain of this Law of sinne within him Rom. 7. Nazianzen maketh sad complaining verses about this constitution of his soul Carmen quartum pag. 69. The conflict with the flesh and spirit which in a most excellent and affectionate manner he doth there bewail And certainly if the Adversaries to this Doctrine find not such a pronenesse in them it is because they are blinded they are benummed within as the Pelagians of old bragged That a man might be without passions and sinfull commotions That they did not pati they felt none of these things but herein they were either horrible hypocrites or stupidly hardened SECT IV. Of the Causes or Fountain of the vehement proneness and inclination to sinne that is in all men by nature and of the false Causes assigned by the Adversaries THus you see this Text hath sufficiently informed us of this Truth That there is in all men by nature a vehement proneness and inclination to sinne To which we have also added many other Demonstrations of this Truth not so much that it is doubtfull and needeth to be proved For the Adversaries do confess it as that thereby we might the more deeply humble our selves under the consideration of it If then there be such constant muddy streames we are to enquire what is the fountain of them And although this Text and many others of the like nature do evidently proclaim it to be that corrupt and unclean heart of a man within that he hath hereditarily and by natural propagation yet because the Adversaries to original sinne will by no meanes assent to this let us consider what are the causes they assign and herein we shall find they do not so much speak falshood as blasphemy against God But before we come to the particular causes specified by them let us in the general consider How many wayes this propensity in mankind may be imagined to proceed for some gave one head or spring to it Others another so that there is not more dispute in Philosophy about the cause of the ebbing and flowing of the sea or about the rise and spring of Nilus that famous river in Egypt then there is about the original of this impetuousness in man to sinne The effect is acknowledged by all but the dispute is about the cause thereof In the first place therefore Some do assign this inclination to sinne to the souls operations before the body was made For they conceit that the soul had a being before the body and according to the evil or good they had they were adjudged to proportionable bodies and thereby it cometh to pass that some have better tempered bodies then others according to that Rule gaudeant bâ—â—è nati They are to rejoyce that have good and kindly constitutions This was the opinion of the Platonists and Origen who was justly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the monstrous opinions he brought into the Church did proâ—â—â— absurd fancy Yea it is thought that this opinion was amongst the Jewes as seemeth to be implyed in that Question propounded by the Disciples to our Saviour concerning the man born blind Did this man sinne or his parents Joh. 9. 2. as also a passage in the Apocryphal Writer inclineth thereunto Wiâ—â— 8. 20. And being good I came into a body undifiled which Grotius understands of the pre-existency of the soul adding that Synesius though made Bishop yet did not retract this errour But this being so gross a figment it 〈◊〉 not any confutation and the rather because it is a wonder that no such pre-existent soules should behave themselves well for which they should have assigned to them undefiled and immaculate bodies for we believe not the 〈◊〉 mentioned Author in that boast he there maketh A second opinion of the Manichees who feigned two principles of good and evil and this evil principle they made the cause of man whereupon they condemned marriage as unlawfull and made man to be opus Diaboli the work of the Devil This Manicheism the Pelagians have alwayes endeavoured to fasten upon such as do affirme original sinne but it is done maliciously and ignorantly for we say this evil came not into man at first by nature but by the free and voluntary consent of Adam and since man is fallen we do not say sinne is his nature or his substance but that it is a vitious quality adhering thereunto as leprosie to the body 3. There are others who may be reduced to the Manichees and they were Heretiques called Materiaris who feigned an eternall matter that was so evil that the wisdome and power of God could not subdue it but that this malignancy did adhere to it whether God will or no. And this they make the cause of that vicious inclination in man It is say they from the evil matter man is made off which is inseperable from it but this doth grosly contradict the History of the Creation as recorded by Moses Wherein it is said God made every thing exceeding good Gen. 1. 31. Fourthly The Pelagian many Papists and the late Socinian Writers all these attribute it to mans Creation and constitution at first at least in part for they tell us of a state of pure naturals that man hath whereby the appetite doth rebell against the mind for man confisting of a soul and a body hereby say they do necessarily arise contrary inclinations The soul enclineth one way and the body another way and this conflict they are not afraid to say was in Adam himself and therefore God gave him grace as a supernatural and superadded ornament yea and as a remedy to keep the inferior appetite in its order now man being fallen he hath lost those superadditionals but continueth in his meer naturals and these being weak and imperfect are easily carried out to sinne wanting the grace of God to elevate them This is the mystery of their iniquity This is the fountain of all their poisonous impieties and therefore God assisting is
it the mother of many errors 6 The cause of all miseries 7 Worse than actual 8 Ignorance thereof the cause why men understand not the work of conversion 9 Inseparably adheres to the best 11 A natural evil and how with the several names it hath had 13 The difilement of our specifical being 14 The inward principle of all sinfull motions ib. Flacius his opinion concerning it ib. Is alwayes putting it self forth 16 Neerer to us than actual or habitual sin 18 What it is 19 20 Why compared to death 21 Objections answered 22 Pelagians and Socinians opinion of it 28 Propagated ib. Is an internal and natural depravation of the whole man 32 Adams sin imputed to us is not all our Original sin ib. Of that opinion that Original sinne is vitium but not peccatum 33 Truly and properly a sin 34 Against the Law 35 How voluntary 39 Arminius and the Remonstrants disagree about Original sin 40 Arminius Remorstrants Zuinglius Papists Scotists and Socinians opinions of it 40 A sin a punishment and a cause of sin 41 Original inherent sin and Adams imputed sin are two distinct sins 43 Against the Law and how 44 45 Acknowledged in Old Testament times 48 Remonstrants confess it may be proved by two or three places of Scripture ib. Compared to a leprosie 51 Makes us leathsom to God as soon as born 52 Why called uncleanness ib. Should make us vile in our own eyes ib. Put a man by nature into worse condition than beasts 53 Makes us like the Devils ib. Pollutes our duties and makes us unfit and unworthy to draw nigh to God in duties 54 Makes us to be in the most immediate contrariety to God that can be ib. The denial of it charged upon Calvinists by the Lutherans 56 Acknowledged by the Rabbins and Fathers 62 Meditation thereon wherein advantagious 64 Not one universal thing of general influence but a particular thing in particular men 65 To be bewailed even by those that are regenerate ib. A two-fold Original sin 66 The different opinions of men about humiliation for it 67 In what sense it is to be repented of 68 Papists against sorrow for it 69 Several opinions concerning the pardon of it 67 68 69 Wherein repentance and the pardon of Original and actual sin do differ 70 It is an universal defilement 71 And an universal guilt ib. And the fountain and root of all actual sin ib. And the greatest sin 72 Inseparable from our natures while we live 73 Of the Scripture names of it 79 Not the essence or substance of the soul ib. Why called the old man 80 Improperly called a Law 83 Why called a Law 84 Instructs a man in all evil ib. Inclineth and provoketh to all evil ib. Compelleth to all evil 85 Why called the inherent or in-dwelling sin 90 How it dwels in the regenerate ib. Active and ever stirring 94 Is of an insinuating and contaminating nature 95 Depriveth both of power and will to do good 97 98 Inclines the heart to the creature 98 Resisteth all profers of grace 99 Weakens the principles of grace 100 Why called a treasure 102 An inexhausted stock 103 The cause of all pleasure in sin 104 Called a body and why 105 107 Shews it self outwardly in all our actions 107 Cannot be mortified without pain ib. A reality yet not a substance 108 Not a single sin but a lump of all evil ib. Inclineth only to carnal earthly and bodily things 109 Seth born in Original sinne 110 111 Deprives of more than external happiness and immortality against Socinians 117 Many Papists deny the positive part of it 136 Hath infected all men 137 Positive as well as privative 144 And the reasons thereof 145 Produceth positive sinfull actions 146 Sticks closer then vicious habits ib. Not a pestilential quality in the body 149 Is properly concupiscence or lust 157 And in what sense 159 And why so called 162 It is ignorant also ib. Defined 164 The whole man and the whole of man the subject thereof ib. Propagated and communicated to all Adams posterity 165 Truly known only by Scripture-light 167 How farre Heathens were ignorant thereof 168 The propagation thereof by the souls creation 199 Hath fill'd us with errour 211 And with curiosity 212 And vanity 213 And folly 214 Polluting the conscience how and wherein 221 Polluteth the memory 249 Polluteth the will 268 The affections 325 The imagination 348 The body of a man 392 And every one of mankind 387 Not the children of the most godly or the Virgin Mary excepted but only Christ 387. to 401 Original sin imputed the aggravations of it 405 Inherent the aggravation of it 407 It defiles all the parts of the soul is the root and cause of all actual sin is incurable taketh away all spiritual sense and feeling is habitual radicated in the soul 407. to 410 Objections against the hainousnesse of this sin Every one hath his proper Original sin 412 Vents it self betimes 415 Is alike in all 419 The immediate effects of Original sinne are mans propensity to sin 437. to 455 Is the cause of all other sine 455 Evil motions not consented unto and lusts consented unto 464 The combat between the flesh and spirit 474 Death 505 Eternal damnation 526 P Pray A Natural man cannot Pray 314 Pride Pride the cause of most heresies 218 Propagation Propagation of sin 397 Punishment The same thing may be a Punishment and a sin 41 R Redeemer THe necessity of a Redeemer demonstrates our thraldom to sin 319 Reformation A carnal mans Reformation is but the avoiding of one sin by another 318 Regenerate A sure difference between a Regenerate and unregenerate man 9 Regeneration Three sorts of mistaken Regeneration 10 Reliques Reliques of sin 474 Remember Whence is it that we Remember things when we would not 266 Righteousness Original Righteousness not given to Adam as a curb to the inferiour faculties 25 The difficulty of Rom. 5. 26 Original Righteousness the privation of it a sin 130 We were deprived of it by Adam 131 Vniversally lost 135 The losse of it the cause of all temporal losses ib. The privation of it doth necessarily inferre the presence of all sin in a subject susceptible 202 S Sacraments ONe end of the Sacraments 255 Sanctification Sanctification two fold 391 Satan All by nature in bondage to Satan 370 Scripture Scripture discovers us to our selves better then light of nature or Philosophy 161 168 The end of its being written 253 Self-knowing Self knowing a great duty and the hinderance of it 8 Sensless We are altogether Sensless as to any spiritual concernment 176 Sin A man naturally can do nothing but sin 15 16 The reason why all men do not commit all Sins though inclinable thereto 17 Men lie under a necessity of sinning yet this necessity is consistent with voluntarinesse 18 Sin delightfull to men 21 How Sin is natural to us 24 Christ only born without Sin and how 37. 390 Sin is what
its nature If you look upon a Cain a Judas though his outside be so detestable yet his inwards are much more abominable so that a mans heart is like Peters great sheet which he saw in a vision Acts 11. 6. which was full of four-footed beasts and wild beasts and creeping things all unclean such a receptacle is mans soul of all impiety A man cannot tell what is in the sea what monsters are in the bottom of it by looking upon the superficies of the water which covers it so neither canst thou tell all that horrid deformity and wretchedness which is in thy heart by beholding thine outward impieties Oh then that you would turn your eyes inward as it were an introversion is necessary Then you will say O Lord before I knew the Nature of original sinne I was not perswaded of my vileness of my foulness Oh now I see that I am beyond all expression sinfull now I see every day I am more and more abominable O Lord formerly I thought all my sinne was in some words in some actions or in some vile thoughts but now I see this was the least part of all that evil that was in me Now I am amazed astonished to see what a sea of corruption is within me now I can never go to the bottom now I find something like hell within me sparks of lust that are unquenchable Fourthly Where there is not a true knowledge of this native corruption there our Humiliation and Repentance can never be deep enough for it 's not enough to be humbled for our actual sinnes unless also we go to the cause and root of all When a godly man would repent of his lusts of his unbelief or any other actual transgression he stayeth not in the confession of and bewailing those particular sins but he goeth to the polluted fountain to the bitter spring from whence those bitter streams flow and commonly this is a difference between an Ahabs Humiliation and a Davids Ahab humbleth himself only for his actual impieties and that because of judgments threatned and impending over him but David even when he heareth God had forgiven his iniquity yet hath great humiliation for his sinnes and Psal 51. thinketh it not enough to bewail his adultery and murder but to confess That in iniquity he was conceived his actual sinnes carried him to the original Thus Paul also Rom. 7 when he miserably complaineth of that impotency in him to do good that he could never do any good as perfectly fully purely and cheerfully as he ought to do presently he goeth to the cause of all this deordination the Law of sinne within him that original sinne which was like a Law within him commanding him to think to desire to do sinfully and obeyed it in all though against his will insomuch that he saith He was carnal and sold under sinne This the Apostle doth complain of as the heaviest burden of all So that an unregenerate man may by the light of nature bewail and complain of his actual impieties he may cry out Oh wretched man that I am for being such a beast such a devil so exorbitant and excessive but whether he can do this for the body of sinne within him as Paul did that may justly be questioned And therefore you see then the troubles and workings of conscience in some men to miscarry greatly They seem to be in pain and travails of soul but all cometh to nothing Oh how many in times of danger and under fear of death do sadly cry out of such sins they have committed Oh the promises and resolutions they make if ever God give them recovery again But all this passeth away even as mans life it self like a vapour like a tale that is told And one cause of the rottenness and defect of this humiliation is because it did not go to the bottom of the soare there was the inward and deep corruption of original sin that such never took any notice of and so in all his sorrow did omit that which is the most aggravating cause of all grief and trembling O Lord I have not only done this wicked thing but I had an heart an inclination of soul to carry me to it and therefore actual sinnes though ten thousands of them they pass away the guilt only remaining but this original pravity continueth in the pollution of it Fifthly Ignorance of original sinne makes us also mistake in the crucifying and mortifying of sinne No man can truly and spiritually leave a sinne unless he doth conquer it and subdue it in some measure in the original and root of it and this is a sure difference between a regenerate and unregenerate man about leaving or forsaking of sinne They both may give over their wonted actual impieties They both may have escaped the pollution of the world and that through the knowledge of the Gospel 2 Pet. 2. 20. but the one leaveth only the acts of sinne the other mortifieth it gradually though not totally in the cause and inclination of the soul Thus Paul Rom. 7. though he complain of those actual stirrings and impetuous motions of sinne yet withall he can truly say I delight in the Law of God in the inner man Now no hypocrite or unregenerate man can say so Though he be outwardly washed yet he hath a swinish nature still his inward parts are as loathsom as noisom as ever before Though there be a fair skinne drawn over the wound yet in the bottom there is as much corruption and putrefaction as ever before Samson's hair is only cut it 's not plucked up by the root so that it 's not enough to have given over thy former profaneness Thou thankest God thou art not the man once thou wert Oh but consider whether sinne in the root of it as well as in the branches of it doth wither and die daily A disease is not cured till the cause of it be in some measure at least removed As long as originall sinne is not in some degree mortified thy old sins or some other will break out as violently as ever here is the fountain and root of all within thee Sixthly He that is ignorant of the nature and extent of this natural defilement he must needs grosly mistake about the nature of conversion and be wholly ignorant of what regeneration is As you see in Nicodemus John 3. 6. though a master in Israel yet grosly mistaking about a new-birth and what was the reason of it That appeareth by our Saviours argument to prove the necessity of it Whatsoever is born of the flesh is flesh implying by this That if Nicodemus had known that by natural generation he was nothing but flesh that is sinne and evil his soul his mind his conscience all was flesh in this sense as well as his body then he would quickly have discerned the necessity of being born again then he would not have continued a day an hour a moment in such a dangerous condition And what
Ecclesiastical word only to call it a natural evil they did not presume for fear of the Marcionites who held That there was an evil Nature as well as the good And the Pelagians accused the Orthodox for Manicheism in this point because they held the propagation of this corruption by Nature Therefore they avoided the term of a Natural evil yet Austin at last did use it and indeed it is a very proper and fit name for it hereby differencing it from all actual voluntary and personal sinnes as also from sinne by imitation and custom for Aristotle makes a distinction of things that are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib Ethic. 2. cap. 1. where he sheweth what is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by nature as the stone to descend and the fire to ascend is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so according to him who knew nothing of original sinne we are neither good or evil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by nature And withall this Text doth fully warrant the expression If we are by Nature sinnefull then there is a natural evil Not that God put it at first into our Natures or that it is our substantial Nature but we have it by Natural Propagation Let us therefore consider How much is implied in this expression SECT II. ANd first It may well be called Natural because it doth infect the whole Nature of Mankind It 's a defilement that followeth our specifical not individual being Even as we call death natural because it followeth all mankind Rich men die and poor men die learned men die and foolish None are exempted from it Thus also it is with this sinne All that are born in a natural way of mankind have this contagion The sonnes of Noblemen and Princes though they glory in their blood and their descent yet they are as full of sin and the children of wrath as well as the children of the basest so that though in civil respects they boast of their birth and are above others yet in a theological and divine respect all are alike yea the children of godly parents though they have a promise to their seed and in that respect their children are said to be holy 1 Cor. 7. yet they come into the world with inherent corruption in them They do not generate their children as godly men but corrupt men as Austin of old expressed it A circumcised man begat a child uncircumcised and the Husbandman though he soweth his seed out of the chaff and husk yet that brings up others with chaff and husk upon it Well therefore may we call it a natural sinne because it doth extend to the whole humane Nature as it is in every one that partaketh of it in a natural way So that as Divines do distinguish of infirmities and evils There are some that are specifical which follow the Species as death and some are accidental which follow the individual nature Thus there are some sinnes which follow the particular nature of a man and these are actual sinnes Every man is not a drunkard an adulterer but some are defiled one way some another but then there is a sinne which followeth the whole and universal nature of man and this is original sinne though every man be not guilty of such or such a particular sinne yet all are of original sinne And therefore the Schoolmen say Actual sinne doth corrumpere personam but original Naturam actual sins corrupt the person original the nature SECT III. WE are declaring the Naturality of this Original sinne not as if it were ingredient into or constitutive of our nature but an universal and inseparable pollution adhering to it as they say of death as though it be praeter Naturam or contra yet if we do regard the principles of mortality which are in every man so death is natural Come we therefore to a second demonstration of the Naturality of this evil and that is seen In that it is the inward principle of all the sinfull motions of the soul and that perâ—se not per accidens This is a great part of that definition which Aristotle giveth of Nature now we may in a moral sense apply it to our purpose First I say It 's the inward principle of all the sinfull motions and workings of the Soul For as the nature of the stone is the cause of its motion downward as the nature of the fire is the cause of the fires motions and operations Thus is original sinne the intrinsecal cause and root of all the actual evil we are guilty of It is farre from me to justifie Flacius his discourse or opinion of original sin making it the natural substance of a man and not an accident though he so expresseth himself that some think its his Logical and Metaphysical errour rather than Theological Only that which I aim at is to shew That this birth-sinne is naturally ours because from it doth flow all the sinnefull and evil operations of the whole man So that we may say as it is natural to the stone to descend to the sparks to flie upwards so it is natural to man to think evil to speak evil and to do evil Aristotle observeth Lib. 2. Ethic. cap. 1. this as one property of things by nature that there the principles are before the actions A man hath the power to see or hear before he can actually do either but in moral things the actions are before the habits As it is natural to the Toad to vent poison and not honey so when a man sinneth it 's from his own it 's natural to him but when inabled to do any thing that is good this is wholly of grace Now I say It 's an inward principle of all sinne within us to distinguish it from external cause viz. the devil or wicked men who sometimes may tempt and cause to sinne Therefore the devil is called The tempter Mat. 4. 3. Insomuch that it is made a Question Whether there be any sinne a man commits that the Devil hath not tempted unto but that I attend not to at this time This is enough that the Devil is but an outward cause of sinne and therefore were there not that original filth in us his sparks could never kindle a fire he cannot compell or force to sinne In somuch that whatsoever sinne we do commit we are not to lay the fault principally upon the Devil but our own corrupt hearts Though Ananias lied against the holy Ghost because the Devil had filled his heart And Judas betrayed Christ because Satan had entred into his heart yet the devil could not have come into their hearts had they not been of uncleane and corrupt Constitutions before it was an evil heart and therefore the devil took possession of it The Apostle James cap. 1. 14. doth notably discover the true cause and natural fountain of all the evil committed by us and that is The lust and concupiscence that is within
Even as when the Prophet Elisha would make the waters sweet he threw salt into the spring and fountain of them Thus because it 's from a polluted nature that all our actual sinnes flow therefore grace regenerating is principally ordered to take away or conquer that by degrees which is the cause of all If this be so then let us consider What this grace is which doth inable us to do any thing after a godly and holy manner This is a supernatural gift of God and an insused quality into the soul whereby it 's inabled to work above its own proper and natural operations If then to do any thing that is good be wholly of grace it 's Gods gift then to sin is natural and proper to thee The Scripture is copious and plentiful in affirming this That Christ as our head is the cause of all our supernatural actings We receive of his fulness and so are inabled by him Grace then being supernatural to love God to repent of sin to do any thing spiritually being thus wholly above nature it necessarily followeth that when we sin and do evil that we do it naturally SECT X. NInthly The Nature of a thing if compounded and not simple is the complex of the whole The nature of a man is not his hands or his eyes only but his soul and his whole body Thus the nature of original Righteousness was not the perfection of one single faculty the understanding only the will only but it was the complete harmonical rectitude of the whole man called therefore the Image of God Now as the Image of a man is not one limb or member but the pourtraiture of the whole So neither was the Image of God in Adam one grace or some few graces but the perfection of every part Light in the mind holiness in the will order and regularity in the affections Thus it is on the contrary with original sinne it 's called The old man and it 's said to have mâ—mbers by which is implied that it 's not any single sinne or a defect and pollution in one faculty of the soul but it 's universal over all Hence our Saviour saith John 3. Whatsoever is born of the flesh is flesh it is wholly corrupted it is all over sinful So then when we say it 's natural this implieth That it is a Leprosie all over us as farre as our physical being extends Thus also in a moral sense doth our sinful Being inlarge it self Therefore our natural estate is not compared only to a blind man or a deaf man what wants the use of some faculties but unto death it self that depriveth of the use of all The naturality then of this sinne doth denote both the inward inheston as also the universal diffusion of it nothing within a man being free from this contagion SECT XI LAstly The Naturality of this evil doth appear In the great easiness promptitude and delight a man naturally finds to sin This is a way to discover what is natural if the actions be easie ready and with delight This discovers they flow from Nature but what is of art that is with difficulty and much observation We need not hire or teach a man to eat or drink these are natural actions and are accompanied with delight And thus the Naturality of this birth-sinne is notably manifested with what ease pleasure and inward readiness is a man carried out to sinne from his youth up Eliphaz speaks notably of this Job 15. 16. How much more abominable and filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water like a Leviathan that is said to drink up the river and hasteth not You see he cals every man by nature abominable and filthy which is discovered by this He drinketh iniquity like water as a dropsie or feavorish man that is scorched with heat within doth with greediness and delight pour down water and the more he drinketh the thirstier he is and he never saith he hath enough Thus it is with filthy and corrupted man he doth with earnestness and delight fulfill the lust of the flesh he is never satisfied Every man in the world hath a Sheol within him that is alwayes craving and saying Give Give as hell hath unquenchable sparks of fire such an hell is in every mans heart As our Saviour said It 's my meat and drink to do my Fathers will Thus it is every mans meat and drink by nature to be doing the Devils will Do ye not see it in children how of themselves they are prone to any impiety but call them to learn or to be instructed then there is much aversness All this ariseth from the natural evil within us CHAP. IV. Objections against the Naturality of Original Sinne answered SECT I. THe Naturality of original sinne hath been in divers respects asserted I shall therefore conclude this Text with answers to some Objections that are made against this Doctrine I do not mean against original sinne it self for they are various so unwilling is man to be convinced that he is wholly sinful but against the Naturality of it which this Text doth affirm Neither shall I take in all Objections of this kind because they will be met with on some other Texts only I shall pitch upon one or two whereby your understandings may be more fully cleared in this point and so I shall part with this Text. First therefore it hath been enviously of old objected against this Truth That if there were such a natural pollution adhering to all mankind this would redound to the dishonour of God who is the Author of man This Argument the Pelagians of old insulted with If say they any man hold God is the maker of man presently he is called a Pelagian for thus they flourished If there be original sinne either the parents that beget or the children that are begotten or God the Creator of the soul and in a peculiar manner forming all the parts of our body must be the cause of this sinne This Objection they thought unanswerable unless we should charge God with being the Author of this original defilement Hence it is that they charged Manâ—cheism upon the Orthodox as if they thought that Nature it self was evil Five things there were that these Hereticks did usually commend Nature Marriage the Law Free-will and Holiness none of which they thought could be maintained unless we deny original sinne But when these Arguments are fully searched into there will appear no matter of boasting Let us call the first to account and examine Whether the Doctrine of original corruption doth charge God foolishly or no Whether hereby all the sinne in the world will be laid upon God Now there is a three sold charge drawn up against this Truth as it relateth to God 1. That it makes him the Author of this sinne 2. That it makes him unjust imputing that sinne of Adam to us and punishing us because of it when we had no being or any will of our own
sonne of Joseph his father he was accounted his legal father though he was not his natural The Arminians think they only have found out the true reason why Christ contracted not original sinne from Adam nor was not in his loins For say they Christ was not is Adam as a common parent and so sinned not in him because he did not come of a woman by that first command Increase and multiply but by a new and singular promise which God made to Adam after his fall viz. That the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent But though it be granted That Christ was born of a woman by a singular promise yet that alone without the miraculous operation of the holy Ghost would not have cleansed the humane Nature of Christ from sinne especially if that be true which some learned men say That the Virgin Mary did in some measure concurre actively to the body of Christ and therefore Christ is called The fruit of her womb and is said to be of the seed of David 2 Tim. 2. 8. So that being the Virgin Mary her self was unclean till the holy Ghost over-shadowed her none could bring that which was clean out of her but God in a miraculous and extraordinary manner sanctifying that mass of which Christs body was made Besides we read of Isaac that he was born by the virtue of a singular promise Sarah's womb being as good as dead yet for all that he was not free from original sinne Therefore the holinesse of Christs humane nature and that in the very conception must be attributed to the wonderfull operation of the holy Ghost If then this was peculiar to Christ alone It followeth necessarily That all those who in a natural manner descend from Adam come into the world unclean and infected with this pollution Thus we have laid sure and firm foundations to maintain this Truth That original sinne is truly and formally a sinne deserving eternal condemnation as well as actual sinne CHAP. IX Objections Answered SECT I. I Am only demonstrating that it is sin and not what it is Therefore I proceed no further in the positive Explication of it but come to answer those Objections that are made by all sorts of persons against this sinne whether Pelagians some Papists Arminians or Socinians And when these Clouds are dispelled the light of the Truth will shine more evidently And First That which is a famous and obvious Objection owned by all the Adversaries to this Doctrine is The necessariness and involuntariness of it Object Every sinne say they must be voluntary This is a principle ingraffed as they conceive in the conscience of a man No man is to be faulted or blamed for that which is not in his power to prevent And they press that known Rule of Austins Vsque adeo voluntarium peccatum est malum quod non sit peccatum nisi voluntarium If it be not voluntary it cannot be any sinne at all Now say they this original sinne comes upon us by natural necessity it lieth no more in our power to prevent it then to hinder our being born Shall then we conceive God willing to damn a man especially an Infant for that sinne which never was in his power or his will to do This they think cannot be admitted Therefore though some of them grant Adam's actual sinne may be made ours because our will is interpretatively in his yet not this inherent corruption because this is a particular personal sinne and so requireth a personal actual will to make it a sinne And this seemeth to have some plausible colour while we attend only to principles of humane Reason and Arguments of Philosophy But let us see whether it will not be too light if weighed in the balance of the Sanctuary And Answ 1. We must understand in what sense any sinne at all can be called voluntary and that is not as if any man could will sinne no not he that sinneth maliciously as it is sin This is granted by all moral Philosophers That no man willeth sin as it is sin because bonum either real or appearing so is the adequate object of the will As in the understanding that cannot assent to any thing that is apparently false so neither doth the will choose any thing that is manifested to be evil as evil but when it imbraceth any sine there is some deceivable good or other which deceiveth the soul Thus Adam when he transgressed the command of God he did not will this as a sinne nor did he positively intend the damnation of his posterity For we suppose that he knew himself to be a common Parent and that he received a common stock for all mankind But he willed that action to which sinne was annexed And thus no wicked man when he sinneth doth will the damnation of his soul formally but consequentially by willing that to which this guilt doth belong Secondly Although it be granted That every sinne must be voluntary yet as Austin of old answered this sinne may be called voluntary as it is in Infants because their will is interpretatively in Adam and we therefore are all said to sinne in him Adam's will may be said to be our will two wayes 1. By way of delegation as if we had chosen him to be our common parent and had translated our wils over to him as amongst men it is usual in arbitrations and then they are said to will that which their Arbitrator hath done though it may be they dislike it and in this sense Adam's will is not our will for we had no actual being or existence in him Hence 2. Adam's will may be said to be ours interpretatively God appointing him to be the universal principle of mankind what he did is interpreted as if we had done it and the equity of making Adam's will ours ariseth from the instituting will and Covenant of God that would have it so But more especially because God then dealt with Adam in a Covenant of works which if broken and violated carrieth condemnation to all his off-spring as appeareth by the curses threatned in the Law This original sinne then is voluntary because committed by Adam's will which by Gods imputation is made ours so that as in Adam upon his actual disobedience the Image of God was lost and in stead thereof came an universal pollution of his whole man which was in him truly and properly a sinne So it is in every Infant descended from him Thirdly If it be granted That every sinne must be voluntary yet this also will hold good in Infants sinne for a thing may be said to be voluntarium in causa but involuntarium in se With moral Philosophers all habits of sinne are involuntary in themselves but voluntary in their cause those actions that did produce them And thus is original sin inherent in mankind it is voluntary in its cause which was Adam's sin Fourthly Austin himself who urgeth voluntariness in sinne yet afterwards considering
live where you have the duty supposed to mortifie that implieth it is not enough to forbear from the actings of sinne but they must kill it Sinne may be left upon many considerations yet not mortified Look therefore that sinne be dead in thee and not asleepy or onely restrained for a season Again To mortifie signifieth the pain and renitency that is in the unregenerate part against this Duty A wicked man had almost as willingly be killed as leave his lusts This sheweth how fast sinne is rooted in us more than a tooth in the jaw or the soul in the body and if any of these are not taken away without much pain and trouble no wonder if the leaving of our corruptions be so troublesom to us Lastly This word supposeth It 's a constant work we are alwayes mortifying alwayes crucifying This is spoken to comfort the godly that they should not wholly be dejected if they find some actings and stirrings of sinne still within them SECT III. SEcondly There is the Object of this Duty and that is The deeds of the body Many translate it The deeds of the flesh for that which was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before is here called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now this body is not only sinne putting it self forth in bodily actions but it is the same with flesh which is original corruption defiling the whole man So that the body here as Beza doth well observe is The whole man in soul and body while unregenerate for the flesh the body here spoken of by the Apostle is in the soul as well as body it is every thing that is opposite to God in a man whether it be in his mind or in his flesh So that Austin said The Epicurean he saith Frui carne meâ est bonum to enjoy the flesh is good The Stock he saith Frui mente meâ est bonum to enjoy my mind is good but both are deceived for to enjoy God only is good and both the body and the mind are all over defiled with sin SECT IV. LAstly There is the Efficient Cause by which we mortifie the deeds of the body and that is the Spirit It 's not our power but Gods Spirit that conquereth these lusts for us Observe That original sinne is a body in us It is a body both in our soul and body it 's called a body not properly as if it were a substance but metaphorically and allusively So Rom. 6. 6. it 's called The body of sinne and certainly it may as well be called so as flesh and the old man SECT V. Why Original Sinne is called a Body BUt let us consider Why it hath such a name given to it And First It is to shew That original sinne doth not lie latent in our breasts but putteth it self forth visibly in all the operations of the body That as the Godhead is said to dwell in Christ boaâ—ly and the Word was made flesh because the Divine Nature which is immaterial and invisible did through the body become as it were visible Thus we may say Original sinne dwelleth in us bodily and that it is made our flesh because in and through all bodily actions it doth manifest it self both to our selves and others It is then the body of sinne because it makes it self outward visible and doth as it were incarnate sinne hence it is called the outward man Indeed it is disputed whether 2 Cor. 4. 16. where the Apostle saith Though our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed daily By outward man there is meant the body only or original sinne in the bodily deeds thereof Most do interpret it of the body only yet Paraeus understands it of original sinne with the body That as the body and original corruptions with the effects thereof are constantly dying being mortified by the Spirit of God so the inward man which is the work of grace is daily more confirmed Howsoever this be yet it is plain Rom. 7. 22. That the work of grace within us being called the inward man that by opposition original corruption must be the outward man and therefore called The Law in our members It is thought by Nerimbergius that the Apostle taketh this distinction of an outward and inward man from Plato out of whom he quoteth a place with some vicinity to Paul's expression This is certain That original sinne may well be called a body and the Law in our members because by these it doth so palpably put forth its self Insomuch that we may wonder any will not believe there is original sinne for it is obvious to the sense they may behold the effects of it that as you may know a man hath a soul because he speaketh and laugheth though you cannot see the soul Thus though you cannot see original sinne yet because as soon as ever the child can speak or do any thing you see vanity and sinne put forth it self therefore you may conclude there is original sinne Thou then that wilt not be convinced of it by Scripture by reasons and several Authorities we send thee to experience You cannot go from house to house from Town to Town from company to company but you may see the effects and actings of original sinne If you say It 's mens actual sins and custom therein that makes them so vile It is true But still we ask Whence came the custom Whence came they to have those actings Certainly those streams could not have been polluted if the fountain had not been and if original sinne did not infect our natures why should not men generally as well act that which is good and obtain a custom in that which is commendable Therefore experience thy eyes thy ears may convince thee of this bodily sinne Secondly The Apostle calleth it a Body to answer those other expressions that he useth about it for he often calleth upon us to mortifie to kill to crucifie this original sinne Now to mortifie and crucifie are properly relating to a Body we do not say properly accidents or qualities are crucified To make therefore the expression harmonious he calleth it a Body Howsoever therefore it is with our natural body that no man ever yet hated his own flesh we are to nourish and cherish that and it would be murder to mortifie that body yet this Body of sinne is to be kept under we are not to spare it but by the Spirit of God to be constantly crucifying of it neither let that discourage thee because as you heard this will be painfull and grievous to flesh and blood for you must conclude upon this That the way to Heaven is narrow and straight there must be constant violence and opposition to all natural inclinations Every godly man may well be called a Martyr for though he may feel no pain in the killing of his natural body yet he must and will feel much exercise in killing the body of sinne but better endure some grief here than eternal torments hereafter
lower region of thy soul but thy will thy mind thy conscience these also are become flesh and are wholly corrupted so that in thee by nature there remaineth no good thing at all SECT III. How carnal the Soul is in its actings about Spiritual Objects 3. IN that it is called Flesh there is discovered that a man in all the workings of his soul in religious things is carnal and meerly carried out wholly by the principle and instigation of flesh within him the Image of God was so glorious and efficacious in Adam that all his bodily and natural actions were thereby made spiritual his flesh was spirit as I may so say the body and bodily affections did not move inordinately against Gods will but having a divine and holy stamp upon them they were thereby made divine and spiritual But since this original corruption the clean contrary is now to be seen in us for even the spiritual workings of the soul are thereby made carnal and fleshly Adam's body was made spiritual and now our souls are made carnal Oh the said debasing and vilifying of us that is by this means If an Angel should become a worm it is not so much dishonour as for righteous Adam to become an apostate sinner Let us take notice how our souls do put themselves forth about spiritual objects and you shall find they are wholly carnal and fleshly in such approaches insomuch that in their highest devotions and religious duties they are onely carnal and fleshly all the while As First In the mysteries of Religion which are revealed unto in by a supernatural light The mind of man because it cannot comprehend of them in a carnal or bodily manner much more if not by natural reason though that be corrupt is ready to despise and reject all What was the reason that Christ crucified is such a foolish Doctrine to be believed by the learned Grecian but because it was not agreeable to natural reason When Peter made that Confession concerning Christ That he was the Sonne of the living God Christ tels him Flesh and blood had not revealed that to him Mat. 16. 17. And doth not this fleshly mind still effectually move in Atheists and Heretiques Is not this the bane of Socinan persons that they will make reason a judge of divine Mysteries whereas that it sâ—lt is corrupt and is it self to be judged by the word of God So that the power of original sinne as it is flesh manifests it self about all the supernatual Doctrines and Truths revealed in the Gospel We that are Pigmies think to measure these Pyramides we think to receive the whole Ocean in our little shell Hence it is that Paul 2 Cor. 8. 5 6. will have all our imaginations every high thought brought into captivity Thus you see That whatsoever a man doth in reference to God he is wholly carnal and fleshly in it he is not carried out with a sutable principle of the Spirit to that which is spiritual and this may be discovered in many branches it is also very usefull and profitable for hereby they shall see that the onely things which they relie upon as religious worship of God and the evidences of their salvation are so farre from being a true stay to them that like thorns they will pierce their hands If a mans spirituals be carnals How great are his carnals If his Religion if his devotion if the matters of his God be thus altogether flashly What will his sins and corruptions appear to be We have already instanced in one particular viz. The Doctrine to be believed and declared how carnal a man is in that We proceed further to illustrate this necessary Truth and therefore Secondly Every natural man in his religious worship is wholly carnal as well as in his Doctrine to be believed For if we consult the Scripture and observe what was the cause of all that Idolatry and spiritual abomination for which God did so severely punish the children of Israel was it not from a carnal fleshly mind within Therefore you heard Gal. 5. Idolatry is made a work of the flesh when they changed the glory of God into the similitude of an Ox that eateth bay Was not this to please the eye And so their goodly Altars their goodly Images which the Prophet mentioneth Were not all these because of their sutableness to a carnal mind We need not instance in Pagans or Heathens who are wholly in darkness without any supernatural light But if we take notice of the Christian Church in all the successive Ages thereof How potent and predominant have carnal principles been in all their Devotions And is not Popery to this day a full demonstration of this Truth So that that notable expression of our Saviour Joh. 4. 23 24. God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth Yea that the Father seeketh such to worship him hath seldom had its due observation Whereas then Campian would prove All Monuments all Churches all Windows and Pictures therein to be a demonstration of their Religion This proveth indeed the superstition and carnality of it not the spirituality and truth of it and oh the dishonour done to God by this means This fleshly wisdom in Gods worship hath been one chief cause of most of the calamities which have fallen upon it Col. 2. 18. The Apostle attributeth the worshiping of Angels to a fleshly wisdom in men Thirdly A man is naturaly carnal in religious Ordinances Because he is apt to put trust in them to think he merits at Gods hands or maketh satisfaction for his â—ispasses This is not to be spiritual but carnal We have low carnal apprehensions of God when we think that by our righteousnesse though it were ten thousand times more perfect than it is that we are able to profit God therewith Thus those false Teachers with their followers they are said to make a fair shew in the flesh Gal 6. 12. and Phil. 3. 3. to have confidence in the flesh To worship God in the Spirit and to have no confidence in the flesh are two opposite things Now by flesh there is meant circumcision and all other Church-priviledges which Paul did eminently enjoy and while a Pharisee he wholly rested in them but when once the sonne of God was revealed to him then he renounced all confidence in these things judging himself to be only carnal in them But now little was Paul while a Pharisee and so exactly diligent in the discharge of them perswaded that all he did was rejected by God that he abhorred all that he was only carnal in those things It is therefore of great consquence to be spiritual in the particular for this is a secret sweet poison that is apt to undo us Therefore the Particular the formal the devout man who is ignorant of Regeneration while he abhorreth all bodily flesh-sinnes he may be highly guilty of soul flesh sinnes So that there is little cause for a
there is no love and also no hatred So that if we do not know how loathsom and vile this sinne is we are never able to bewail it and to humble our selves under it There are many Descriptions of it given by several Authors but that we may in a large and popular way comprehend all things in one Description that is necessary to understand the full nature of it we may take this delineation of it SECT II. ORiginal sinne is an horrid depravation and defilement of the whole man caused by the Devils temptation and our first Parents obedience thereunto and from them descending by propagation to all his Posterity being stript of Gods glorious Image whereby they are prone to all evil and so are under the bondage of the Devil and obnoxious to eternal wrath It is not my purpose in making this draught of it to attend unto the exact rules of Logick but so to compose it that every thing considerable to give the true knowledge of it may be comprized therein And First We say It 's a depravation and defilement which implieth the sinfulness of it that it is truly and properly a sinne And therefore sinne is truly and univocally divided into original and actual so that they who make it onely to be guilt without any inward contagion they do wholly erre from the Scripture they say not enough It is true Adam's sinne in the guilt of it is imputed unto us which made Ambrose of old say as Austin alledgeth him against the â—elagians Morinus sum in Adamo ejectus sum in Paradiso in Adamo c. I am dead in Adam I am cast out of Paradise in Adam But we are not disputing of original imputed sinne but original inhering Therefore original inherent sinne is truly and properly a defilement upon us against the Law of God and this sinfull estate of all by nature should be farre more terrible unto us then our miserable and mortal estate Again When we call it a defilement we oppose their opinion who make it only morbus and not truly a sinne As also those who say It is the substance of a man for if so then Christ could not have taken our nature without sinne neither could there be glorified bodies in Heaven without sinne for all these have the humane nature of a man Further we say It 's an horrid depravation This Epithete is necessary to be added to awaken pharisaical and self-righteous persons it being so dreadfull an evil that we are never able to go to the depth of it Never therefore think of speak of original sinne but let thy heart tremble and let horrour and amazement take hold of thee because of it and this is put in the Description to obviate those opinions that make it the least of all sinnes Some complain That we are too severe and tragical in the aggravation of it but enough hath been already spoken out of Scripture to shew that neither heart can conceive or tongue express the foulness of it This is the general part of the Description Secondly You have the Subject of it and because the Subject thereof is twofold of Inhesion and of Predication In this part we have the Subject wherein it is and that is totus homo and totum hominis the whole man and the whole of man there being no part free from this contagion so that it 's repletively and diffusively in all the parts of soul and body though eminently and principally in the mind and will and the whole heart It 's true sinne is not properly seated in the body the eyes or hand or in the sensitive part yet participatively and subordinately as they are instruments to the soul in its actings so they are said to be sinfull Thus there are lustfull eyes cursing tongues unclean bodies There are sinfull imaginations and fancies because these are the organs by which the soul putteth forth its wickedness So that the body is like a broken spoiled instrument of musick and the soul like an unskilfull Artificer playing on it which causeth horrid and harsh sounds for pleasant melody But as God is every where yet in Heaven after a more glorious and signal manifestation of himself So on the contrary though original sinne be a Leprosie infecting the whole man yet it 's most principally in the intellectual and immaterial parts of the soul It 's horrible darknesse in the mind aversnesse in the will to all that is good and contumacy in the heart to whatsoever is holy And this part doth directly oppose all those who grant indeed original sinne but yet grant it wholly in the inferiour and sensitive part as if our reason and mind were like the Heavens of a quintessential frame in respect of any unholy contagion whereas indeed because these eyes of the soul are dark therefore is the whole body dark Because the Sunne and Moon and Starres as it were of this little world of man are turned into bloud therefore every part else is also become blood defiled and loathsom and this is the reason why so few do either believe or know this natural corruption because it benummeth us yea it taketh away all spiritual life so that we cannot discern of it The declaration of the cause of it followeth in this description where we have the external efficient cause and the internal The external was the Devil after his all and apostasie he endeavoured being a murderer from the beginning to destroy man also and accordingly he did prevail and thus by the Devil sinne came into the world yet he is the external cause onely he could not force or compel our first parents to sinne he did onely perswade and entice them Therefore the internal cause was the freedom of their will God created them in whereby they might either imbrace good or chuse evil which mutability was the cause of their apostasie It is true the dispute is very curious How Adam being created perfect could yeeld to sinne Whether did the defect arise in his will or understanding first But seeing it 's clear by Scripture that he did sinne and we feel the wofull effect of it Let us not busie our heads in metaphysical curiosities although I see the soundest Authors make the beginning of his sinne to be in inadvertency for his soul being finite while he earnestly intended to one thing he did not attend to another and so sinne was inchoatively first in his understanding not by errour or ignorance for Adam's understanding was free from that but by not attendency to all considerations and arguments as he ought to do Although it must be confest that the root and foundation of his sin was the vertibility of his will for as he might not sin so also he might sin he had then a posse peccare in him and so a defectibility from the Rule Thus although efficient causes use not to be put into exact definitions neither hath sin so properly efficient as deficient causes yet in large descriptions it is
superiority and preheminency the mind is now debased and this light is put now not under a bushel but a dunghill God indowed man with understanding that it might be like a Queen in the soul directing and ordering all actions to true happiness Though the will be chief in power and efficacy yet the understanding is in direction and counsel Insomuch That the will is called caeca potentia a blind power of the soul being essentially subordinated to follow the dictates of the understanding and if the will be thus subordinate that is called a rational power participativè though not formaliter no wonder then if the sensitive and affectionate part of a man his love his grief his anger these were not to rise or stirre but as the understanding did give orders to them Thus was the understanding of a man placed in him as the Sunne in the Firmament to give light to all the powers of the soul but now by original corruption it 's dethroned it 's ejected out of its power and is made a servant to every lust that reigneth in the will and the affections hence it cometh about That whatsoever a mans corrupt heart carryeth him unto presently the mind of man being like a bribed advocate pleadeth for the lawfullness and the necessity of it It is true indeed we have a rule in Divinity Nemâ— potest credere quia vult No man can believe a thing to be true meerly because he will but yet the will and affections can so divert the understanding or put mists and pretences before it that now it 's become like the Sunne in a foggy misty day that cannot put forth its light so that if you do ask What is the true original cause of all heretical opinions and corrupt practises you may say It 's because the mind doth not keep up its primitive power As the reason given in the Judges why so much Idolatry and other wickednesse was committed was because there was no King no Governour in Israel every one did that which was right in his own eyes Thus if you aske Whence is that confusion in a mans opinion in a mans practices It 's because the mind of a man is degraded the will is carried out to what it listeth every sinfull affection and passion doth what it pleaseth So that whereas all our affections and actions should have their first rise from the guidance of the minde Now our lusts and affections doe first move and then the understanding is imployed to defend and excuse the lawfulnesse of them Oh then bewail this sad desolation come upon thee Thy minde and judgement are become slaves and vassals to every unlawfull way to plead for that to defend that to excuse that Thus as the Scripture when it speaketh of a civil desolation making a confusion upon the Governours thereof saith The heavens are turned into blacknesse or The Sunne and Moon into blood so it is now upon the face of a mans soul if reason and judgement were strong enough to doe their office there would not be that insolency of the affections and rebellion in our wils which doth now wholly overpour us The second thing in this particular is The subordination of it to God and to his Rule The mind of a man did then wholly follow the Rule God had prescribed it To believe to think to judge as the Rule was but now it 's become heretical It 's prone to choose an opinion of its own a Doctrine of its own Although the word Heresie in it self signifie neither good or evil and therefore in Eusebius Constantine applieth it to the Christian Religion calling it heresie as Tertullian doth the Christian Religion Secta a Sect yet in Ecclesiastical Writers if not constantly in the Scripture it is used in an ill sense and signifieth an election or adhering to a way of our own devising and not that which is commanded by God Tertullian cals Adam's sinne heresin because committed of his own choice against Gods will Insomuch that though there may be many particular causes of heresies as ignorance pride discontent covetousness and such carnal principles yet the main is that proneness in the mind to lift up it self against God and his Rule having lost its primitive subordination to God This want of subordination to God and the Scriptures is notably seen in Heretiques who when they perceive Scripture against them rather then submit they will be guilty of Scripture-slaughter as Tertullian called it Marcion saith he cometh not with Stilo sed Machara draweth his sword and detruncateth a great part of Scripture Others though not so audacious yet because they will not submit do not Materiam ad Scripturas but Scripturas and Materiam accommodare not submit their opinions to the Scripture but the Scripture to their opinions Valentinus openly professed He did amend the Gospel Seventhly Herein is original corruption greatly depriving the mind of a man In that it maketh a man proâ—e to deceive and cosen himself so that sinne is presented as sweet or profitable and good to be imbraced holy things are presented as difficult and irksom Especially this self-deceiving is seen in the judging of our selves good and right when indeed we are abominable and loathing to God Whence is it that every mans ways are clean in his own eyes Whence is it that every man is a Pagmalion in love with himself or rather a Pharisee to justifie himself Yea as it is Psal 50. 21. They judge of God like themselves loving what they love pleased with what they please As the Ethiopians though Christians yet worshipping the Virgin Mary paint her like a Blackmore because they are black Now what a fearfull pollution is this to deceive our selves about God about sin about godliness our own souls So that when we can have a pretence or a colour to justifie our selves then we rejoyce This self-deceiving is often taken notice of by the Scripture 2. Pet. 2. 13. Gal. 6. 3. 1 Cor. 6. 9. Jam. 1. 22. it's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deceiving your own selves putting a fallacy or a false syllogisme upon our selves And indeed it might be easily shewed how many false syllogismes a man imposeth upon himself Doth not Presumption argue à divisis ad conjuncta from the means divided yet to obtain the end Yea in every prayer in every religious duty the natural man taketh Non causam pro causâ because he performeth these duties he thinketh he serveth God whereas it is not an holy principle or gracious motive putteth him upon them but formality customarinesse or some other inferiour motive Thus every natural man deceiveth himself by false causes he thinketh he repents he loveth God he hath a good heart he shall be saved when alas all this while thou art deceived and deceiving of thy self Mourne then under this native-pollution that thou art so deceived in all things about thy self about the work of grace about what is flesh and what is spirit that thou art
deluded in all things and takest counterfeit for that which is true and genuine Under this head we may comprehend all that craft and subtilty in men as in the Jesuites to maintain Idolatry or Heresie For the Devil as at first so still he delights to use Serpents because they are more crafty then others The craft also in man naturally to do mischief for which they are compared in Scripture to Foxes doth declare how original sinne hath all over infected the mind Eighthly The great pollution of original sinne upon our minds is seen In the pronenesse to vain idle sinfull and â—oving thoughts so that these do discover an unclean fountain of the heart more then any thing Whence do these sparks arise but from that furnace of sinne within thee The Air is not fuller of Flies Aegypt was not fuller of Frogs then every mans heart is naturally of idle vain foolish and impertinent thoughts Thoughts they are the immediate product and issue of original sinne The first born they are streams that come immediately from the fountain Now certainly if a man had by nature an holy sanctified mind he would also have holy and sanctified thoughts Think you that Adam in integrity or the good Angels are troubled with thoughts as we are For all the while a man is natural he never had a good thought in him he might have a thought of good but not a good thought For as every Cogitatio mali is not Cogitatio malâ We may think of evil to abhorre and detest and this thought of evil is good So in a natural man though he may have a thought about good yet it is not in a good manner and therefore evil though the object matter be good What then will prostrate thee and make thee lie grovelling upon the ground loathing thy self if this do not Amongst the millions and millions of thoughts which thou hast there is not one but it is either vain proud idle or impertinent yea our thoughts are not in our own power no more then the birds that flie in the air but they arise antecedently to our own will and deliberation And certainly if vain thoughts be such a burden to a regenerate man if they do captivate and inthrall him which made one cry out Libenter Domine bonus esse vellem sed cogitationes meae non patiuntur I would gladly be good but my thoughts will not suffer me No wonder if to the natural man who is under the power of original sinne that sinfull thoughts hurry him away without any resistance Ninthly Original pollution doth greatly defile the mind of a man in the mutability and instability of it Insomuch that the judgement of every natural man destitute of true light and faith which doth onely consolidate the soul is like a reed shaken with every wind he is mutable and various ready every day or every year to have a new Faith and a new Religion This maketh the Apostle inform us That one end of the Ministry Ephes 4. 14. is That we be not carried away with every wind of Doctrine Such empty straws and feathers are we that any new opinion doth presently seduce us and therefore the Scripture doth press a sound mind and an heart established with grace which is the special preservative against such instability Aquinas maketh this the reason of the good Angels confirmation in grace and that they cannot now sinne because such is the perfection and immutability of their natures that what their understanding doth once adhere unto they cannot change Indeed it is thus with God that his knowledge is unchangeable but there is no reason to attribute this to Angels and therefore their confirmation in good is not so much to be attributed to any intrinsecal cause in themselves as to the grace of God establishing them But how farre short was man newly created of such immutability How much more then man fallen From this pollution it is that we have so many apostates that there are Seekers that there are so many Neutrals that there are so many who think any in any Religion may be saved It is true there may be a just cause of changing our minds in Religion as when educated in Popery or when we have received any heretical opinions but I speak here of that instability which is naturally in the mind of a man that though he be in the truth yet there is a proneness to desert it and to discover much lenity in the matters of Religion The Remonstrants go too farre this way commending this sinfulnesse under the name of modesty and humility and therefore though in Fundamentals they will grant we may say This our faith is This we doe believe yet in other points which though not fundamentals yet the errors about them may greatly derogate from the glory of Christ and his grace as also much prejudice the consolations of those who truly fear God as their opinions do They commend those expressions Ita nobis videtur and Salvo meliorum judicio It is our sententia not our fides Now if this were said only in some points disputed amongst the Orthodox that are at a great distance from Fundamentals it might be received but they extend this further if not to the foundation-stones yet to those that immediately joyn to them and so do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 remove such things that will in time endanger the whole structure of Christianity and so from Remonstrantisme proceed to Socinianisme which is adificari and ruinam as Tertullian expresseth it De praesc Such an edification many unsetled spirits meet with Tenthly Original sinne doth pollute the mind of a man with pride and vain-glory so that he is easily puffed up with his own conceits and altogether ignorant of his ignorance The Apostle Col. 2. 18. saith of some Vainly puffed up with a fleshly mind This Tumor this Tympany in the mind hath been the cause of most heresies in the Church The Gnosticks boasted in their knowledge and had their name from it The Eunomians did vainly and blasphemously brag That they knew God as well as he knew himself And some in these later dayes have not been afraid to compare themselves above the Apostles for gifts and illuminations So that whereas every one should with wise Augur say humbly I have not the understanding of a man I am more bruitish then any man Or with Austin when one admiring his learning used this expression Nihil te latet he answered again Nihil tristius legi because he knew the falshood of it because of his ignorance even in innumerable places of Scripture They equalize themselves to Angels yea to God himself This pride this self-conceit is a worm bred in the rose and the more parts men have the more doth this disease increase Matthew Paris relateth of a great Scholar much admired for his learning who in his Lectures once in the Schools proving the Divine Nature and also Incarnation of Christ with mighty applause did
extraordinary officer an Evangelist is not here to be disputed Paul writeth this Epistle to him concerning his end why he left him there and also exciteth him to a lively performance of his office especially in a sharp and severe rebuking of them because of their doting still about Jewish fables and ceremonies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 clearly without ambiguities 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so Varinus or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so Hesychius or cuttingly as it were to go to the bottom of the putrified sore that no unsound core be left behind so Illyricus And to evidence the crime of the Cretians the more he brings a testimony from Epimenides whom he cals their Prophet by way of conception for they esteemed him so sacrificing to him for he pretended in furious fits to be like one acted with a divine spirit and rapture Now this famous brand he stigmatizeth the Cretians with That they were alwayes liars c. And although Epemenides being a Cretian it might be retorted that he lied in saying The Cretians were lyars yet the speech is to be understood not of every one but of the general part and therefore the Apostle saith This witnesse is true From whence Aquinas gathereth That wheresoever there is any truth a Doctor in the Church may make his use of it because all truth is of God The use here is not so much for confirmation as conviction if you ask Why must these Cretians be so sharply rebuked for their Doctrine about Jewish Ceremonies seeing Rom. 14. The Apostle doth there prescribe another deportment to such viz. of for bearance and condescension The Answer is Those that are there spoken of were such as did erre out of infirmity and weaknesse but these in Crete were such as did obstinately and pertinaciously defend these false Doctrines therefore they must be severely dealt with yet the end of this censure is medicinal That they may be sound in the faith all errour is a sicknesse and a disease The Apostle having thus informed about Titus his duty he proceedeth to some Doctrinal Instruction about those erroneous opinions instancing in one which was greatly controverted in the Infancy of the Church and that is about the choice of meats and abstinence from them To obviate any corrupt Doctrine herein he layeth down this weighty Proposition To the pure all things are pure that is to such who are sanctified by the Christan saith and are righly instructed in Christian liberty all things viz. of this kind not adultery fornication or such sinnes are pure to them they may lawfully use them Every creature as the Apostle elswhere being sanctified by the Word of God and prayer This Truth he amplifieth by the contrary Proposition To the defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure this is more then if he had said All things are unclean for that might have been limited as in the former to things of this kind but saying that nothing is pure to them is signified hereby that all is pitch as it were that the touch That like a Leper even good things do not purifie them but they defile them And then you have the cause and fountain of this Even their mind and conscience is defiled No wonder the streams are polluted when the fountains are By mind is meant the speculative part of our understanding by conscience the practical part and therefore having spoken of the pollution of the former we now proceed to the later This Text is deservedly brought by Protestant Authors to prove that all the actions of unregenerate persons and much more of Infidels are altogether sinne that there is not one truly-good action to be found amongst them and that because the mind and coscience is thus all over polluted The Popish Interpreters because they are for the Negative yea some going so farre as to plead for the salvation of Infidels though without the knowledge of Christ do limit the Text too much as if it were onely to be understood of those whose minds were not informed with true knowledge nor their consciences rightly guided in those Disputes about Judaical Ceremonies as if to such only all things were unclean but although these persons gave the occasion yet the Apostle maketh an universal Proposition and therefore he doth not onely say the defiled but unbehevers which comprehends all those that have no true knowledge of Christ and the reason is univocally belonging to every one for every mans mind and conscience without saith is polluted and cannot please God The Fountain thus cleared this streame of Doctrine floweth from it viz. That the consciences of all men by nature are polluted and defiled Even their mind and constience saith the Text signifying by that expression that there remaineth no hope as it were for them when the foundations are thus removed To this defiled conscience in Scripture is opposite 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a good conscience 1 Pet. 3. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 3. 9 a pure or clean and that by the bloud of Christ Heb. 9. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 13. 18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 24. 16. And this kind of conscience onely those that are regenerate have But an evil conscience is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as here in the Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Heb. 9. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 4. 2. There is also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a weak conscience but that the godly may have The conscience were are to treat upon is the defiled one and that not so much as made more impure and sinfull by voluntary impieties as what it is by nature in evey one And before we come to demonstrate the pollution of it it is good to take notice of the nature of it The New Testament useth the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 about thirty times and that for conscience In the Old Testament the Hebrew word Madani is once rendred Eccles 10. by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but most commonly that which in the New Testament is called conscience in the old is called Leb the heart of a man So Davia's heart is said to smite him apponere ad cor and redire and cor are nothing but the acts of conscience and thus sometimes in the New Testament 1 John 3. 20. If our heart condemn us It 's observed that the first signification of the word Leb is a conspersion or meal sprinkled with water Thus the heart of a man is a lump as it were watered and sprinkled with some common principles and apprehensions about God and what is good and evil As for the nature of conscience it self it is not good to be too nice in Scholastical Disputes about it remembring that of Bernard There was Multum seientiae but param conscientiae in the world It 's disputed Whether conscience be a power or an habit or an act onely that it is not a power Aquinas proveth because that can never be removed or laid aside or changed whereas conscience may
that solid judgement as to know its liberty and its freedome from Judaical rites and all other Commandments of men about the worship of God Indeed the notion of Christian-liberty may quickly be abused to prophane dissoluteness but yet the true Doctrine about that was one of the greatest mercies brought to the Church in the first reformation for there the conscienees of all were grossely intangled and miserably inthralled yea their Casuists who took upon them to resolve and direct conscience they were the greatest tormentors of all insomuch that they then seemed to be in a wilderness or rather under an Aegyptian bondage wherein were many lawes and Canons many Doctrines and opinions that were as Luther expresseth it about one homicidissimae Now to this bondage the conscience of a man is more naturally prone then unto any obedience to the true commands of God Indeed the conscience of man naturally is miserably polluted about the knowledg of those tyes and obligations that are upon it for sometimes it contracteth and limiteth them more then it ought Hence it is that a man yea a godly man may live in the omission of many duties in the commission of many sinnes and yet not know that he doth so and all because we do not study the extent of the obligation of conscience and from this it is that many good men have endeavoured to grow in more knowledge to study the commands of God obliging of them and upon enquiry have found cause to do those things they never did before and also they would not for a world walk in the same paths they once did Thus Melancthon remembring his superstitition while a Papist Quoties cohorrui c. How often doth horror take bold on me when I think with what boldness I went and fell down before Images worshipping of them This is one great pollution of conscience not to know its divine obligations that are upon it But then on the other side the conscience smitten about sinne is many times prone to stretch its obligations beyond the due line they judge sinnes to be where there are none They make duties where God hath not required and all because the troubled conscience is like a troubled fountain a man cannot see clearly the face neither are we then able to judge of any thing truly It is a rule in Philosophy Quicquid per humidum videtur majtu apparet Every object through an humid ormoist medium appeareth greater then it is thus also doth sinne and duties through a grieved wounded conscience therefore for want of the true knowledge of our Christian-liberty there is a scrupulous conscience called so because as little stones in the shoe hinder the feet in going so doth the scrupulousness and timerated thoughts much annoy in a Christian walking These commonly are without end as one circle in the water begets another or as Gerson resembleth it like one Dog that barketh setteth all the Dogs in the Town on barking so doth one scruple beget another and that many more Now although a scrupulous conscience may be for the main tender and good yet the scrupulousness of it ariseth from the infirmity and weakness thereof and maketh the soul paralytical in all its actions These scruples make a man very unserviceable and to live very uncomfortably and although God in great mercy doth many times exercise the truly godly sadly with them thereby to humble them to keep them low to say with Agur they have not the understanding of a man to be kept hereby from gross and foul sinnes yet they are to be prayed against for these scruples are like the Aegyptian Frogs alwaies croaking coming into the chamber and in at every window thereby disturbing thee in thy duty If thy conscience were sound and clear the light thereof would quickly dispell these mists Again From the blindness of a troubled conscience cometh also the sad and great doubtings upon the heart whereby the soul of a man is distracted and divided pulled this way and haled that way Rom 1. 14. The Apostle speaketh at large about a doubting conscience and sheweth how damnable a thing it is to do any thing doubting whether it be a sinne or not A doubting conscience is more then a scrupulous for Divines say a man may go against a a scrupulous conscience because the conscience is for the main resolved that such a thing may lawfully be done only he hath some feares and some jealousies moving in him to the contrary But a doubting conscience is when Arguments are not clear but a man stands as it were at the end of two waies and knoweth not what to do now if conscience were well inlightned and informed out of Gods Word it would not be subject to such distracting doubts but because of its natural blindness therefore it is at a stand so often Hence In the last place it becomes from a scrupulous doubting to a perplexed conscience so insnared that what way soever he taketh he cannot but sinne if he do such a thing he sinneth and if he doth it not he sinneth as in Paul who thought himself bound to set himself against Christians if he did persecute them it is plain he did sinne if he did not he thought he sinned It is true Casuists say Non datur casus perplexus there cannot be any case wherein there is a necessity of sinning because a man is bound to remove the error upon his conscience but yet the ignorance and blindness of man doth bring him often into that perplexed estate There remain two chief particulars wherein the pollution of a natural and troubled conscience is observable which are In the sixth place A proneness to use all unlawfull meanes and to apply false remedies for the removall of this trouble Seventhly A direct and open opposition to what is the true evangelical way appointed by God for to give true peace and tranquillity to such a conscience Before we descend to these particulars It is good to take notice of some general Observations which will greatly conduce to clear the particulars What a blessed Thing it is to come well out of the pain of a troubled Conscience FIrst That it is a most blessed and happy thing to come out of a troubled conscience in a goood safe and soul-establishing way For this womb of conscience when in pain and travail is apt to make many miscarriages yea sometimes it is so farre from having any joy that a man-child is born I mean the true fruit of holiness produced that there is a monster brought forth in the stead thereof Doth not experience and Scripture confirme this that many have come out of their troubles of conscience with more obstinacy and willfullness to sinne again That as the wind blowing upon coales of fire which might seem to extinguish the fire doth indeed encrease it Thus these pangs these gripes of conscience which sometimes they have felt that made godly friends say Now there is hope blessed be God that maketh them
and that from this Text which because of the different thoughts of learned Interpreters doth deserve a diligent explication And For the Coherence of it you may take notice of the sad and bitter event described by the Evangelist of Christs coming as light into the world Though he came to his own and that as a Physician to the sick as a Saviour to such who were lost yet his own received him not Now lest it might be thought this rejection of Christ was universal he addeth Some did receive him and 〈…〉 dclareth the unspeakable benefit and priviledge vouchsafed to such So that in the words we may take notice 1. Of the Subject who are thus honoured and highly blessed by Christ Such as received him and what this is is explained viz. Such who believe on his Name In this is comprehended all our Evangelical Duty and that both inwardly and outwardly onely faith is expressed because this is virtually all This is the seed and the root the soul and life the salt that seasoneth the whole man 2. We have the Priviledge or Benefit which is said to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the right or dignity of being the sonnes of God for so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to be understood and therefore Popish Disputes about the power of free-will in holy things from this place is wholly impertinent onely the difficulty is Quest How they who believe in Christ can be said to have this priviledge given them of Sonship seeing that they could not believe unlesse they were first born of God and so the sons of God Answ Some therefore do understand this Sonship in respect of that future glory which in Scripture is sometimes called Adoption and 1 John 3. 1. Then it will properly appear that we are sonnes of God But we may well enough understand it of our Adoption and Sonship even in this life and this is said to be obtained by faith because in our sense and feeling there must be believing before we come to know this priviledge doth belong to us or else though faith and Sonship be together in time yet in order of nature one precedeth the other Thus we have the Subject and the Priviledge But in the next place we have the Description of the efficient cause for it was not their own power and free-will that made them believe Therefore the efficient cause is set down first Negatively and then Positively Negatively by removing those false causes that men might imagine and we have a three-fold enumeration of them Not of blood not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man Divers Interpreters go divers wayes though much to the same sense Some think the Evangelist by blood doth not in the general mean natural generation and then afterwards distribute it into two particulars not of the will of the flesh that is of the woman Nor of the will of man that is not of the man Others supposing the general interpret the distribution thus Not of the will of the flesh that is not naturally Nor by the will of man that is not by humane adoption for so some are made legal sonnes amongst man Others they think all these enumerations are but to signifie one thing and therefore the opposition to all is God But we may not think the holy Ghost doth so industriously reckon up these several wayes but that some special thing is intended by every one Although as Erasmus observeth the emphatical Article is not in the original By blood therefore we understand any dignity or excellency of birth it's bloods in the plural number either by an Enallage and so an Hebraism as Maldenate Or else because of the long succession by birth And this may well oppose the carnal opinion reigning both with Jew and Gentile for all know how the Jew boasted in his birth because he was the seed of Abraham therefore he thought the favour of God necessarily annected to him And for the Gentile What a vanity and sinfull humour is in persons to be proud of their birth that they come of noble parents For although this be an outward civil dignity amongst men yet it maketh nothing at all to their spiritual dignity yea many times hindereth it according to that observation Heroum filiinoxae Regeneration then doth not come according to such civil and political respects 2. Not of the will of the flesh that is not of the natural will and choice of 〈◊〉 he hath no power or ability in him so much as to will a better condition then 〈◊〉 is in Lastly Not of the will of man that is not by the will of man though perfected and adorned with many acquired perfections Not by the will of a Plato or an Aristotle or a Seneca So that here is a two-fold will denied from efficacy in grace the will considered in its natural abilities or in its acquired abilities Thus 2 Pet. 1. 21. The prophesie in old time is said Not to come by the will of man but the will of God The will of man is there supposed to be in some raised and eminent ability above what it naturally hath and therefore opposed to the will of God in a more peculiar and extraordinary manner putting forth it self Thus we have all false causes removed and the true one affirmed which is God himself So that this Text doth plainly triumph over all the proud opinions of Pelagians Socinians Arminians and Papists who either give whole or part of the work of conversion to the will of man For the Evangelist is very diligent to exclude the will from any efficiency herein under any respect whatsoever Observe The will of every man is naturally so polluted that it cannot produce or cause our regeneration It is not by the will of the flesh or by the will of man that we are born again SECT II. Propositions concerning the Nature of the Will BEfore we come to lanch into this ocean of wormwood and gall for the polluted will polluteth all other things Let us say something to the nature of the will not enlarging our selves either as Philosophers or Divines do in this point but select only what is fit for our purpose First Therefore consider That God hath appointed and ordered in nature that every apprehensive power should have an appetitive power proportionable thereunto The apprehensive being like the eye to discern and discover the object The appetitive like the hand to imbrace it Thus the Angels as they have an understanding to know things so they have a will to desire them In beasts there is a sensitive apprehension by imagination and a sensitive appetite accordingly Now because man in his soul is like an Angel and in his body communicateth with beasts therefore he hath both a two-fold apprehension intellectual and sensitive understanding and imagination and also a two-fold appetite a rational one which is the will and a sensitive one which is the sensitive appetite in a man wherein the passions
be destroyed how can the building be established Let then your attention your thoughts and affections be greatly quickned while we anatomize all the evil of the will This is the most grievous and most dreadfull instance of all the pollution original sinne infecteth us with In the 7th place When we speak of the pollution of the will The wera will may be take ambigously for sometimes therby is denoted the power to will someomes again the very act of willing and somtimes the object that we do will is often called our will Thus when the Scripture speaketh of Gods will it doth sometimes mean the object willed and this is often called Gods will sometimes the act of willing thus if God will and sometimes that power whereby he doth will not that there is Potenis volendi properly in God for all power is Perfectibilis per actum whereas every thing in God is actum purus only we speak so of God according to our capacity Some indeed have questioned Whether we may porperly attribute the word will to God or metaphorically only but seeing that simply to will is Perfectio simpliciter simplex and absolute and most simple perfection therefore it is not to be denied to God for as the Psalmist saith He that maketh man know shall not be know Thus he that maketh man will shall not he will only will is not in God as it is in man for mans will is carried out to a good desired or not enjoyed In our will there is convenientia and indigentia First A convenience or sutebleness between the faculty and the object and therefore we will it And then there is an indigency or want of it Now Gods will being the same with his Essence is absolutely perfect and sufficient but the created will in man is otherwise and this will since mans fall whether taken for the power to will or the act of willing or the object willâ—d is altogether a corrupt and a diseased will there is nothing found or good in it Although our purpose is to speak of the will as a power in the soul yet prone to put it self immediately into actings In the eighth place The will having this great dominion over the whole soul and being the universal appetite of a man therefore it is that in it is seated obedience or disobedience to God Obedience or disobedience to God is not properly at least not primarily or radically in any part but in the will It is true all the other parts of the soul in regeneration are made holy and sanctified and thereby in their way conformable to the will of God yet obedience and disobedience are primarily acts of the will so that as the will is qualified so is a man said to be obedient to God A good will is the good tree that maketh the fruit good and a bad will is the bad tree that maketh the fruit bad As then all the evil or good of a tree cometh from the root so doth all the evil or good of a man come from his will For till this be sanctified till this be renewed nothing can be good in a man Therefore if you examine what is the cause of all the impiety and all the wickedness that most commit it is because their wills are corrupt their wils are rebellious Their minds their consciences many times tell them they ought to do otherwise only their wils are slubborn and contumacious Joh. 5. 40. Ye will not come unto me that ye may have life So in the Parable Mat. 21. 29. when the sonne was commanded to go and work in the vineyard he saith I will not It is then the will of man that is the desperate and implacable enemy to all the things of God men may delude themselves with reasons and fair glosses but it is their will and only their unsanctified will that maketh them continue in such opposition to God now the will is therefore the root of all obedience of disobedience in a man because that is like the Centurion in a mans soul whatsoever it biddeth this or that power of the soul do it doth what it bids the mind think it thinketh what it bids love to love it loveth what it bids the hand move to it moveth to for there are two acts of the will wherein it demonstrateth its dominion The Elicite acts and the Imperate Elicite are those which the will doth immediately produce as election intention consent c. and herein it hath full power yet so as that it 's in subordination to God The Imperate acts are those which are produced by other parts of a man yet from the command of the will so when we move our hands or our feet these are imperate acts of the will Thus when we turn our mind from one object and place it upon another this is an imperate act of the will The affections also they are in some measure under the command of the will but not so absolutely as the body and the motions thereof are By which you see that all things in a man are reduced to his will and therefore the more active and universal this is the greater is the defilement thereof In the ninth place The will in regard of its constitution at first hath for its object that which is good And in the state of integrity it was alwaies a true real good but in this state of revolt from God the will cannot indeed be carried out to any thing but what is good only it 's but an apparent good a disguised good it is a true and real evil As the object of the understanding is truth and it cannot give its assent to that which doth appear to be false so the object of the will is good neither can the will have any motion or tendency to any object which hath not the colour at least of some good As the Devil appeared in Samuel's cloaths and so was believed to be Samuel Thus doth all the evil in the world which doth at any time seduce and draw the will aside it hath the mantle and covering of good It being impossible that the will should desire evil as it is evil It is true some deny that bonnus is the object adiquate and general of the will but they say good is the object of the will as it is prosequntiva prosecuting and desiring but maluâ—â— is the object of the will as it is persequntiva and aversiva as it doth repel and dislike so evil is the object of the will For displicency and hatred are acts of the will and the objects of these is evil But we speak of the will now as it is a rational desiring appetite satisfying it self with love of some object and if this be not good either real or apparent the will can no more tend to it then the eye to musick or the car to colours onely by original sinne herein ariseth our unspeakable miserey that the good which the will doth now imbrace is
onely a counterfeit specious guilded good no true real good They are but seeming goods and real evils Like the Glow-worm that shineth in the night and is nothing but an earthly worm Like a rotten Post or Tree that in the night seemeth to be glorious but in the day we know what it is Thus if we could take off the visor the painting from those objects we place our wils upon we shall see nothing but damnable guilt and real abominable evils which will at last damne our souls Per falsa mala itur ad vera bona per falsa bona itur ad vera mala by that which is speciously good we come indeed to that which is truely evil and by that which is apparently evil we come to what is substantially good Lastly In the will according to those that are exercised in School-Divinity We are to conceive in it sutable and proportionable affections to those we call passions in the sensitive part Thus in the will as it is a rational appetite there are love joy desire fear and hatred This is plain because in Angels there are such affections so also in the soul separated there is love and joy earnest desire for the coming of Christ and its reunion to the body by which it appeareth evidently that besides those passions in a man which work by a corporal transmutation there are these spiritual and immaterial affections or rather actions and operations of the will So that the will loveth the will rejoyceth the will desireth c. This is the more to be attended unto because hereby this pollution of original sinne will appear the more extensive and diffusive The love of the will the desire of the will the joy of the will are become abominable SECT III. ¶ 1. The Corruption of the Will in all its several Operations THese Doctrinal introductions thus substracted Let us proceed to open this noisom Sepulchre this dead and defiled will which hath been spiritually dead not as Lazarus four dayes but ever since Adam's fall and therefore must needs be stinking and unsavoury to a spiritual discerning And let us First Take notice of its defilement in all its several operations which the will aboundeth with And we find them out of the Schoolmen thus marshalled The will say they may be carried out to good simply and absolutely as good and then it is only a bare volition which is either inefficacious and conditional called velleity or efficacious and absolute then it is volition in the general or else it may be carried out to good relatively as it is finis an end and then either this end is enjoyed and possessed which maketh the act of the will called fruition or else it is desired and purposed to be obtained which maketh another act of the will called intention In the next place The will may be considered as it operates about the means to its intended end And 1. There is a yeelding unto and imbracing of such a mean propounded to that end and this act in the will is called consent for the understanding that doth properly assent and the will consent This act of the will to consent unto a thing is of great importance in Casnistical Divinity for there may be suggestions and fiery injections of diabolical temptations but if the will doth not consent as you see Christs holy will did not in his combate with the Devil they do not become our sins Of this consent more in its time 2. If there be several means conducible to such an end then cometh another act of the will called Election or a choosing of one thing rather than another that which consulation is in the understanding Election is in the will Lastly When the Will hath thus intended the end and chosen efficaciously its means then is there the last act of the will which is called usus the use or the application of all the other powers of the soul to bring this end about It useth the understanding it useth the affections it useth the whole body to accomplish it Thus you see what are the several operations of the will It is now necessary to take all these singly by themselves to shew how grosly the will is disordered and by that you will be convinced that the corruption of the will is indeed the corruption of the whole man which made Austin frequently define sinne by a mala volunt as and that which is good by a bona volunt as because of the dominion the will hath in the whole man ¶ 2. The Corruption of the Will in its general Act which is called Volition FIrst therefore Let us begin with the general act which is called Volition the bare willing of a thing which you heard was either conditional and imperfect or efficacious for the former kind How much corruption is there in the will and that both about sin and also about good About sinne What secret wishes and wouldings are there in a man naturally that sinne were not sinne Vtinaâ—n hoc non esset peccare said he that thy pleasures were not sinnes that thy unlawfull profits were not sinnes there is this secret corruption in the will whereby it would have the nature of things changed vice to be virtue and virtue to be vice Some indeed dispute Whether there be any such actings of the will as may be called velleities and not volitions But experience teacheth there are so the Apostle Rom 9. 3. I could wish my self accursed there is an incompleat act of the will When the Psalmist saith The fool hath said in his heart there is no God Psa 14. 4. that is in his wish in his incompleat will for absolutely a man cannot will that which is impossible If then we do but observe the motions of the will in this respect we shall find the number of these sinnes to be like the sand upon the sea shore Oh the many secret ungodly wishes that do by swarms rise up in thy will which though thou takest no notice of yet God doth and will accordingly judge thee As thus the will is sinfull in one way by its incompeat acts so also when it cometh to what is good when it should in a powerful lively and efficacious manner be carried out to it it is very remiss and languid insomuch that they are but velleities they are the sluggards wishes that desireth and yet starveth himself because he never putteth out his hands to work Is not this half and faint willing of the things that are good the root and cause of most mens destruction Preach to them presse them about repentance about conversion to God and they promise you they will do it and God give us his grace to do it and no more is done whereas thou shouldst will what is good with all thy might and strength above gold and silver above life it self These wishers and woulders in Religion never make true converts But of this more in its time ¶ 3. The Corruption of the
of Salvation but not as a place of Gods glory they desire Salvation as it freeth from Hell torments but not as it is a perfect sanctification of the whole man for the enjoyment of God Here thy intention is sinfull and incompleat when thou intendest Heaven and happiness thou art to desire all of it not some parts of it Again Our intenton is much more corrupted in making the meanes to be the end we make a perfect period and stop at a Comma or a Colon and truly this is the general and universal corruption of every mans natural intention he shooteth his arrow too short he intends no further then an happy pleasant and merry life in this world one intends honours another intends wealth another intends pleasures There is no natural man can intend any higher good then some creature or other That as the bruit beasts have a kind of improper intention as they have of reason whereby they are carried out to those things only that are obvious to sense Thus it is with man in his natural estate destitute of regeneration a worme can as soon fly like a Lark towards Heaven as this man intend any thing that is spiritually good for the natural man hath neither a mind or an heart for such holy things and so is like an Archer that hath neither eyes or hands and thereby can never reach the mark Secondly The intention of the will is corrupted in its error and mistake about its object it shooteth at a wrong mark It 's really and indeed evil which he intendeth though it be apparently good it is in truth poison though it be guilded It is true the rule is Nemo intendens malum operatur No man intendeth evil as evil but it is propounded under the notion of good and that even in those who sinne against the light and dictates of their own conscience But yet the Scripture speaketh constantly of wicked men as those that love evil and will evil and hate good because it is evil which their wills are carried out unto though it hath the outward bait and colour of what is good Herein then we have cause with bitterness of heart to bewail our sinfull intentions thou dost but cosen and delude thy own self Though thou hast many glosses many colours and pretences to deceive thy self with yet that which in deed and truth doth alure and bewitch thy soul is evil in the appearance as it were of some real good a strumpet in Matrones cloaths Thirdly The intention of the will is herein also greatly defiled that when it doth any holy and spiritual duties the true motive and proper reason of their intention is not regarded but false and carnal ones Finis operis and Finis operantis are not the same as they ought to be This is the wickedness of man so great that no heads though fountaines of waters can weep enough because of it The Pharisees they were very constant and busie in prayers in giving of almes but what was their intention all the while It was to be seen of man and therefore in the just judgement of God they had that reward This intention of the will is thought by some to be the eye our Saviour speaketh of If that be darke the whole body is darke Matth. 6. 22. Jebus did many things in a glorious manner as if none were so zealous as he but like the Kite though he soared high yet still his eye was to see what prey lay on the ground that he might devour it it was a kingdome not Gods glory he intended Thus Judas intended a bag and riches in all that seeming love and service he professed to Christ Oh take heed of the intention of thy will in every holy duty This maketh or marreth all To what hath been said may be further added First That we foolishly labour to justify our bad and sinfull actions by our good intentions as if they were able to turne evil unto good and black into white Is not this a continuall plea among natural people that though what they do be unlawfull yet they mean no hurt in it they have good hearts and good intentions Hence it is that when they have done evil in the eyes of God then they study to defend themselves by some intended good or other Thus Judas when he muttered about the ointment powred on our Saviour yet he pretends to good intentions That the ointment might have been sold and given to the poor Saul when he had rebelliously spared the best of the Cattel yet he carrieth it as if his intention had been to keep them for a Sacrifice to the Lord Yea the Pharisees in all their malicious and devilish designs against Christ would be thought that their high and pure intentions for the glory of God did carry them forward in all they did By such instances we see how prone every man is to put a good intention upon a bad action and thereby think to wash himself clean from all guilt but it is against the principles of Divinity that a good intention should justifie that which is a bad action It is true a bad intention will corrupt a good action so vain glory or to do any religious duty to be seen of men This is a worme which will devour the best rose This is a dead Flie in a box of ointment But it doth not hold true on the contrary That a good intention will change the nature of an evil action The reason whereof is that known Rule Malum est è quolibet defectu bonum non est nisi ex integris causis Even as in a Picture one defect is enough to make it uncomely but the beauty of it is not unless every thing be concurrent So in musick any one jarre is enough to spoil the harmony but to make sweet musick there must be the consent of all Do not therefore flie to thy good heart to thy good meanings thou intendest no hurt for if thy action cannot be warranted by the Word if it have not a good and lawfull superscription upon it this will never endure the fiery trial The Apostle maketh all such conclusions full of horrour and blasphemy as it were that argue Let us do evil that good may come of it Rom. 3. 8. Austin said It was not lawfull to lie though it were to save a world Consider then the sinfulnesse of thy will and be more affected with it then hitherto thou hast been When thou art overtaken with any sinne Doest thou not excuse thy selfe with a good intention Doest thou not plead some good or other though aimest at in all such unlawfull wayes But though man cannot judge thee yet the All-seeing eye of God doth pierce into all thy intentions and he knoweth thee better then thou knowest thy self Secondly The intention of the will is greatly corrupted in this particular also That it will adde to the worship of God and accumulate precepts and means of grace as they think in
his service and all this while think a good intention will bear them out If you ask Why the Church of God hath not alwayes been contented with the simplicity of the Gospel why she hath not wholly kept her self to divine Institutions You will find this corrupt intention of the will to be the cause thereof A good intention brought in most of the superstituous and uninstituted Ceremonies that ever have been in the several ages of the Church Mat. 15 9. In vain do ye worship me teaching for Doctrines the commandments of men The Pharisees thought by their commands and Doctrines to teach men the fear and the worship of God This corrupt intention hath eaten out the very life and power of godliness men taking upon them a more excellent stay as they think then the Scripture hath revealed to teach reverence and devotion From whence are those frequent commands to the people of Israel That they must not go after the imagination of their own hearts That they must not do what is good in their own eyes That they must not adde to or take from the word of God By these straight and close injuctions we see that no intention whatsoever though never so seemingly pious and reverential will warrant a man to appoint any worship of God from his own head Vzzah had a good intention when he endeavoured to stay the Ark from falling but God was so displeased thereat that he struck him dead immediately now the reason was because Gods order was not kept about the Ark Vzzah's intention did not preserve him from Gods displeasure so neither will their devout intention justifie such who do superadde to Gods worship Some observe that expression of Eve's Gen. 3. 3. where she saith That God had said they should not eat of it nor touch it left they die We do not read that God forbad them to touch yet it's thought this was added by Eve for caution sake as if she were so carefull to keep Gods command about eating that she addeth they must not so much as touch it From whence Ambrose gathereth Nihil vel boni causâ addendum est precepto But oh how busie and active have many at all times been in the Church to bring in new worship new institutions of which there is no footstep in Gods Word as if they were more carefull of Gods honour and glory then he himself is But though with men this sinne be accounted small saying They cannot worship God too much they cannot be excessive in serving of him yet this is an high sinne in the Scripture account It being one of Gods royalties to prescribe what shall be his Worship Shall a servant take upon him to make Rules in his Masters house Let men that dote upon superstition and are inamoured with customs of devotion that have no command from Scripture Lay this very seriously to heart Oh how terrible will it be when thy Devotion and Religion will appear abomination God asking thee Who hath required this thing at thy hands The Ape is therefore the more deformed because so like a man and yet is not a man Thus all that worship which hath the greatest appearance of humility zeal and mortification which yet hath not its original from God is the more loathsome to such as are of a spiritual tast and judgement in heavenly things serving of God not in the way they chuse but in the manner he hath commanded And thus much for the act of Intention ¶ 6. The Pollution of the Will in its Acts of Election or Chusing WE shall in the next place consider those that relate to the means which lead to the end and I shall first begin with Election or Chusing because in that is contained either life or death For as the Election of God or his meer chusing of some to eternal life is the fountain of all the good which such persons partake of all their springs are in it So the election or choice of man is the womb wherein all happiness or misery is conceived If a man have right intentions and true ends yet if he chuse false sinfull and ungodly means he can never come to that end It is as if a man should intend his home or dwelling-place which is in the North and he chuse that road or way which leadeth into the South It is acknowledged by all That in every man there is an innate appetite to the chiefest good but as naturally all men do erre about the knowledge of it what it is so also about the means how to attain it But let us open this viper and see what a poisonous brood is in it As First Herein is the sinfulness of the wils choise manifested That it electeth and imbraceth such things as are pleasing to flesh and blood that are suitable to sense although there be never so many snares and temptations thereby to endanger the soul As it was with Lot Gen. 13. 10 11. when he beheld all the plain of jordan to be well watered and that it was like the garden of God he chose all that countrey and departed from Abraham But in what sad dangers did this unwise choice of his cast him into And thus it is with every man naturally he chuseth such conditions such wayes as are full of pleasure profit and advantages in the mean while not considering how quickly this honey is turned into choler that rugged and difficult wayes had been better then such sweet and pleasant wayes Whereas then Moral Philosophy maketh a three-fold good Vtile Jucundum and Honestum Profitable Pleasant and Honest or Virtuous and the later is properly and fully the object of the will that is so depraved that it chuseth only what is advantagious or pleasant Experience doth abundantly confirm this for what man naturally till regenerated doth chuse any thing but as it is connatural to and commensurated with that depraved appetite within David being enlivened with a supernatural life see what a choise he declareth that he had made Psal 119. 30 173. In both those verses he professeth He had chosen the Commandments of God Hence the Wiseman who knew what was fittest to be chosen saith Prov. 16. 16. That wisdome and understanding which is nothing but grace is to be chosen rather then gold or silver If then the will were truly sanctified it would not chuse a thing because it is delightsome and profitable but because it 's holy and commanded by God Isa 7. 15. it is made the description of a child That he knoweth not to refuse the evil and chuse the good Thus the child and a fool he will chuse his bauble before gold or silver such folly and simplicity is upon us The will is so perverted that it will chuse any thing rather then that which is indeed and solidly good Secondly The election of the will is grosly depraved In that it chooseth uncertain things before certain not only pleasant and profitable things before holy and honest but uncertain
then it hath another act which is to Reason and Discourse and that is properly of Conclusions to be deduced from those principles So what principles are in respect of conclusions to the Understanding the same the end is in respect of the means to the will And therefore as the understanding doth necessarily erre when it doth not discourse suitably to the first principles So the will which is the appetitive part of a man must necessarily sinne when it doth not chuse means with a due order to the end Now God being the chief end of all our actions how impossible is it for the will corrupted as it is to will riches health learning or any creature in reference to God as the end Lastly If liberty consist as Gibieuf would have it in an amplitude of spirit and independency upon the creature so that it is above every created object with an eminent magnanimity of spirit adhering to God alone and resting in him as the chiefest good then it is plain also That by nature the will of man is utterly impotent to this thing for the love of the creature is so predominant that we live and doe all things in reference to that So that whereas grace maketh us to doe all things of God and through God and to God Now the creature doth so reigne in our hearts that we move only in all the workings of our soul to it Aristotle observeth That some are slaves by nature and such have no reason of their owne to guide them that doe Sentire rationem magìs quà m habere Feele Reason rather then make use of it And if we speak in a spiritual sense we are all thus borne slaves and vassals not being able to put forth the actings of true and right reason but do follow the lusts of our own soul and are taken captive by the Devil at his will Thus we have at large discovered the bonds and chaines of sinne our wils are fastened in Oh that in the reading of this God would breathe into the souls of such wretched sinners strong desires and ardent groans to be redeemed from this thraldome Shall the ungodly say Psal 2. concerning Christ Let us break his bonds when yet they are bonds of love which are for our eternal happiness And wilt not thou rather cry out concerning these bonds and these yokes which are for thy eternal damnation Let us break them and rend them asunder Doth not the senslesnesse and stupidity of men while they hear these things too sadly evidence the state of thraldom we are in to sinne CHAP. V. Of the Pollution of the Affections SECT I. This Text opened COL 3. 2. Set your Affections upon things above not on things on the earth THe exceeding great pollution of the Will by original sinne being largely discovered both in the acts of it as also in its state We now proceed to the Affections which are seated in the sensitive appetite of a man For as sense is a kind of imperfect understanding so the affections are a kind of an imperfect will and the defilement of these is so palpably and experimentally discerned that Heathens have complained of God the Author of Nature for implanting such things in us which are for the most part the cause of all our ruine and calamity Now it is not my intent to declare the depravation of every affection in a man for that would make the work to swell too big but I shall speak in the general of them instancing in particulars as occasion offereth The Scripture doth not speak of the several parts of the soul according to that Philosophical division as is generally received and therefore that which Philosophers call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 affections or passions as distinguished from the understanding and will that is most commonly called the heart and the soul Thus love fear hope and anger are attributed to the heart of a man It is true the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used in the New Testament three times where the word Affection is not barely intended but an horrible depravation of it even to unnatural uncleanness as Rom. 1. 26. God gave them up to vile affections and how unnatural they were is immediately subjoyned Col. 3. 5. The Apostle there reckoning up several sinnes to be mortified fornication uncleanness addeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some understand the same kind of uncleanness the Apostle mentioneth to the Romans So doing or that mutum percatum a sinne that they say Socrates was guilty of though so admired for his wisdome and morality Hence those that have given themselves up to this dreadfull pollution are called Pathici from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we render it inordinate affection in the general and therefore some do understand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here for those sinnes which arise from the irascible appetite and so take the word though generally spoken in an ill sense Even as the Stoicks held all passions and affections to be sinne and the affections which are placed in the concupiscible appetite the Apostle meaneth say they by the next expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 evil concupiscence If this be so as Grotius expounds it then we have here the Apostle speaking of affections according to philosophical notions but I will not determine this to be the meaning The last place is 1 Thess 4. 5. where the Apostle shewing God hath called us to holinesse he addeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not in the lust or affection of concupiscence Here it seemeth to be taken strictly for those lustfull affections which flow from the sinfull concupiscence in a man But if the Scripture doth use the word differently to Philosophers to be sure the thing it self is acknowledged as appeareth by my Text where we have a Command directing of us about the Object we are to place them upon and that is set down First Affirmatively and then Negatively The Directive Duty is in that expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Set not your affections we render it in the margin or mind so that the Greek word doth signifie the acts of the mind but not them onely it comprehendeth also the affectionate part of a man It includeth the mind and affections also because commonly the intense actings of the mind excite and stirre up proportionably the intense actions of the affections Therefore it 's sometimes translated savouring Matth. 16. 23. So Rom. 8. the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth not onely comprehend the mind but chiefly the affectionate workings of the flesh against the Spirit of God We shall treat of it as relating to the affections therefore we have the Object prescribed them they are to be upon things above heavenly things This implieth naturally they are placed other where then they should be upon earthly and sading objects The Serpents seed and so we are all by nature cannot but lick up the dust of the earth and live upon that So that there is for more emphasis added the Negative also
Images those glorious Altars and many other superstitious wayes of worship but because the fancy was pleased herein what is pleasing to the senses is also carried with delight to the Imagination Insomuch that those Heathens Numa and others who would have no Images to adore their gods by thinking it unbeâ—eeming their greatness were carried by reason and did not give way to the Imagination and this is a very necessary truth for all such who are so difficulty taken off from their Idolatries and Superstitions for what is it but thy fancy thou wouldst have satisfied thou doest not look upon Ordinances and the worship of God as spiritual means to quicken thy faith and to make thee more spiritual but as that whereby thou wouldst have thy Imagination take some corporeal refreshment and satisfaction Even Aristotle saw the vanity of this and therefore would not have any musical delights in the worship of their Heathenish gods And Aquinas following him herein is against musical instruments in the service of God what God appointed in the Old Testament cannot be brought as an argument for any such custome in the New Secondly Towards man here the imagination is as full of evil as the sea of water Prov. 6. 16. One of the seaven things that are there said to be an abomination unto the Lord An heart that deviseth wicked abominations How crafty and subtle is the abomination of man to devise wicked and malicious purposes This is the forge of all those malicious bloody and crafty designes that ever have been acted in the world Read over prophane and sacred Histories and there you will admire what subtle foxes men have been sometimes what cruel lyons they have been at other times all which doth arise from this sinful imagination which is prone to find out all manner of wayes to vent the wickedness that is bound up in the heart so that we need not exclaim on the Devil as if he put this into their hearts for though no doubt sometimes he doth as in Judas yet the heart of it self is ready for any evil SECT XII It continually invents new Sinnes or occasions of Sinnes ALthough much hath been said concerning the original pollution of mans imagination yet still more is to be discovered so that there is a very 〈◊〉 resemblance between mans imagination and those chambers of imagery which Ezekiel beheld in a Vision upon the walls thereof were pourtrayed the forme of creeping things and abominable beasts and all the Idols of the house of Israei Ezek. 8. 9 12. Thu is every mans imagination a table as it were whereon are pictured all the formes and shapes of all kind of evil It may well be called the chamber of mans imagery where are images of jealousy daily created such formes received that do provoke God to wrath and jealously Let us therefore proceed Tenthly In this we have an open field wherein mans imagination doth act numberless evils because of its invention it is continually inventing new sinnes or occasions of sinnes As if the old sinnes and trespasses which had filled the world were not enough What new wayes of impiety are invented new fancies in evil wayes For although invention be indeed principally an act of the understanding yet because as you heard the understanding in its operations hath recourse to the imagination and that is subservient and under-agent to it therefore we may attribute the same things to both especailly the things of invention because a mans imagination hath a peculiar influence therein Now in this respect if there were no other the sinnes of the imagination will encrease like the sands upon the sea-shore It were possible to shew by going over every particular Commandment that the imagination of man doth constantly invent new sinnes against them the Apostacy of man from his first rectitude is emphatically described by the Scripture in this as the general and summe of all that he sought out many inventions Eccles 7. 29. where the wise man having declared that amongst men and women though less amongst women one not so much as good in an ethical and moral sense could be found for in a spiritual sence there is not one man amongst a thousand no not in all mankind that is good but the speaketh of external and moral enquiring then after the cause why such an universal corruption should overflow all mankind insomuch that there is not one amongst a thousand that deserveth the name of a man not such an one as the primitive righteousness did require but not so much as reason judging rightly by ethical Rules would commend he doth clear God from being the Author of this And because this truth is of such great consequence he useth a word of attention Lo Ecce Consider it diligently And secondly he telleth you how he came to the knowledge of it I have found it viz. in the Word of God where you see this Doctrine concerning original corruption is not to be investigated by humane reason as it is discovered by divine revelation I have found it after much and diligent study Oh that those corrupt teachers who deny this original pravity could with Solomon say They have at last after much study found out this truth also Now the Doctrine found out is That God made man right full of righteousness and holiness not onely negatively without sinne but positively full of righteousness but they that is Adam and Eve which are called the man Adam in the words preceding Sought out not being contented with that measure of knowledge and happiness God created them in affecting to be like God Many inventions that is found out many wayes of sinning when they once forsook the strait Rule they diverted and wandered into many crooked paths The Hebrew word Chishbonoth is very emphatical it is used but once more in the Old Testament and that is 2 Chron. 26. 15. where it is said Vzziah used engines invented by cunning men to shoot arrows and great stones withall So that by this word is denoted that subtilty and great artifice which is in mans Imagination to invent any evil way sinnes that never were acted before are found out Every age almost hath new sinnes and whence is this but from the subtilty of mans Imagination to find out new wayes of sinning Hence Rom. 1. 30. one character in the Catalogue of those sinnes attributed to the Heathens is to be Inventers of evil things And certainly here the Imagination of man is very prone that whereas to learn Trades or the Arts there they must have teachers and much time must be allowed them to learn In the invention of evil things there men are taught of their own corrupt hearts to do so We might instance in divers things wherein the sinfull Imagination of man is discovered about inventing of evil new sinnes new oaths new blasphemies new wayes of cheating and dishonesty especially in those new wayes for nourishing pride and wantonness Which is the ridiculous absurd and uncivil
former particular our bodies had some kind of efficiency and working in those sinnes but here it is passive as it were an object that doth allure and draw out the soul inordinately to it so that we mind the body look to the body provide for the body more than the soul so that whereas the soul is farre more excellent and worthy than the body so that our thoughts and studies should be infinitely more zealous to save that then the body yet till grace doth sanctifie and life us up to the enjoyment of God who doth not look after his body more than his soul which yet is as if saith Chrysostom a man should look to his house to see that be repaired and that be in good order but neglect his own self The soul that is properly a man the body is but his house and a vile one also is an house of clay it is but a garment to the soul and a ragged tottered one Now it is good to take notice in what particulars our bodies are thus objectively a cause of sinne to us And First It is evident in that diligent and thoughtfull way of car we have about the feeding and cloathing of it Doth not our Saviour even to his very Disciples prohibit this perplexing care Matth. 6. 25. Take no thought for your life what ye shall eat nor for your body what ye shall put on but how faulty are we here comparatively to our souls we that have so many thoughts to provide for the body how few have we about the soul Is not the body well fed when the soul is starved Is not the body well cloathed when the soul is naked How justly may thy soul cry out murder murder for thou art destroying and damning that every day Will not thy soul witness against thee at the day of judgement the body was taken care for the body was looked to but I was neglected Will it not cry out in hell Oh if I had been as diligently attended unto as the body I had not been roaring in these eternal torments The second particular wherein the body doth objectively and occasionally tempt the soul to sinne is about the adorning and trimming of it not only the care to provide for it but the curiosity to adorn it doth provoke the soul to much sinni And whereas our very garments should put us in constant mind of our original pollution for there was no shame uponnakedness till that first transgression and thereby greatly humble us we now grow proud and vain from the very effect of the first disobedience Every morning we put on our garments we should remember our original sinne The body before sinne was not exposed to any danger by cold and other damages neither was the nakedness thereof any cause of blushing but all this and more also is the fruit of the first sinne and if so how inexcusable is it to be curious and diligent in trimming up and adorning our bodies by those very garments the thoughts whereof should greatly debase us but this is not all The great attendance to the glory of the body doth wholly take off from the care of the soul How happy were it if persons did take as much pains to have their souls cloathed with the robes of righteousness to have them washed and cleansed from all filth as they do about their bodies one spot one wrinkle in the garment is presently spied out when the soul at the same time though full of loathsomness is altogether neglected as if our souls were for our bodies and not our bodies for our souls The Platonists indeed had such high thoughts of the soul and so low of the body that their opinion was Anima est homo the soul is the man they made the body but a meer instrument as the Ship is to the Pilate or musical instruments to an Artificer This is not true in Philosophy though in a moral sense it may have some affinity with truth but if we do regard the affections and actions of all by nature we may rather say The body 〈◊〉 man Yea the Apostle goeth higher he maketh it some mens God Phil. 3. 19. Whose belly is their God Why their God Because all they look at in Religion all they mind is only to satisfie that The Monks belly in Luther's time was their god When then a man liveth his natural civil and religious life onely to have his belly satisfied this man maketh his belly his god And again there are persons whose backs are their god For never did Heathens or Papists bestow more cost upon their Idols and Images to make them glorious then they do on their backs little remembring that we came naked into the world and that we shall not carry any thing out with us If this care were for soul-ornaments if thou didst spend as much time in prayer to God and reading the Scriptures whereby thy soul might be made comely and beautifull as thou doest about thy body this would prove more comfortable If thou didst as often look into the glass of Gods word to find out every sinne thou doest commit and to reform it as thou doest into the material glasse to behold thy countenance and to amend the defilements there thou wouldst find that the hours and day so spent will never grieve thee whereas upon the review of thy life spent in this world thou wilt at the day of judgement cry out of and bewail all those hours all that time in unnecessary adorning of the body The Apostle giveth an excellent exhortation 1 Pet. 3. 3 Whose adorning let it not be of plating the hair or of wearing of gold but let it be the hidden men of the heart in that which is not corruptible The Apostle doth not there simply and absolutely forbid the wearing of gold in such who by their places and calling may do it for Isaac gave Rebâ—ccah earings of gold but he speaketh comparatively rather look to the adorning of the soul then of the body spend more time about one then the other It is a known History of that Pambo who seeing a woman very industriously trimming her self to please that man with whom she intended naughtinesse wept thereupon because he could not be as carefull to dresse up his soul in such a posture as to please God Oh then look to thy body hereafter Let it not steal so much time from thee as thereby to neglect thy soul and to lose those opportunities thou mayest have of humbling thy self before God! Thirdly The body doth objectively draw out sinne from the soul In that the fear of any danger to that especially the death thereof will make us damne our soules and greatly offend God which doth plainly discover that our bodies are more to us then God or heaven or our soules are Therefore we have our Saviour pressing his Disciples against this fear if fear about hurt to the body may insnare the godly and keep them from their duty no wonder if
original imputed sinne or of that inherent corruption which we have from our birth and both do admit of great aggravations It is true some Orthodox Writers doe deny the imputation of Adam's actual disobedience unto us as Josua Placeus who bringeth many Arguments Thes Salm. Dis de statu hominis lapsi ante gratiam but my work is not to answer them I suppose it for granted as a necessary truth Concerning Adam's sinne which is thus ours by imputation Bellarmine maketh the Question An sit gravissimum Whether it was the greatest of all sinnes And he concludeth following the Schoolmen that absolutely it is not only respectively Secundum quid in some considerations which he mentioneth Bonaventure saith It is the greatest sinne extensive not intensive But we are to judge of the hainousness of sinne as we see God doth who esteemeth of sinne without any errour Now it is certain there was never any sinne that God punisheth as he doth this The sinne indeed against the holy Ghost in respect of the object matter of it and the inseparable concomitant of unpardonablenesse is greater as to a particular person but this being the sinne of the common nature of mankind doth bring all under the curse of God So that we may on the contrary to Bellarmine say That it is absolutely the highest sinne against God but in some respects it is not I shall be brief in aggravating of that not at all touching upon the other Question which hath more curiosity in it Whether Adam's sinne or Eve's was the greatest then edification Because our proper work is to speak of original inherent sinne yet it is good to affect our souls with the great guilt thereof for some have been ready to expostulate with God Why for such a small sinne as they call it no more then eating the forbidden fruit so many millions of persons even all the posterity of mankind should thereby be made children of wrath and obnoxious to eternal damnation Doth not the Pelagian opinion that holdeth it hurteth none but Adam himself and his posterity onely if they willingly imitate him agree more with the goodnesse of God But if we do seriously consider how much evil was in this one sinne which Tertullian maketh to be a breach of the whole Law of God we will then humble our selves and acknowledge the just hand of God For First This is hainously to be aggravated from the internal qualification of the subject Adam who did thus offend was made upright created in the Image of God In his understanding he had a large measure of light and knowledge For though the Socinians would have him a meer I deot and innocent yet it may easily be evidenced to the contrary The Image of God consisteth in the perfection of the mind as well as in holiness of the other parts of the soul Neither did Elâ—phaz in his discourse with Job apprehend such ignorance in Adam when he saith Art thou the first man was born Wast thou made before the hils Dost thou restrain wisdom to thy self Job 15. 7 8. implying that the first man was made full of knowledge If then Adam had such pure light in his mind this made his sinne the greater yea because of this light some have proceeded so far as to make Adam's sinne the sinne against the holy Ghost but I shall not affirm that Certainly in that Adam had so great knowledge this made his offence the more evil hence because there was no ignorance in his mind nor no passions in the sensitive part at that time to disturb him his sinne was meerly and totally voluntary and the more the will is in a sinne the greater it is Hence Rom. 5. It is called expresly disobedience By one mans disobedience Yea learned men say That this was the proper specifical sinne of Adam eveâ— disobedience For although disobedience be in a large sense in every sinne yet this sinne of Adams was specifically disobedience for God gave him a positive command meerly that thereby Adam should testifie his obedience to him The thing in it self was not intrinsecally evil to eat of the forbidden fruit it was sinfull only because it was forbidden and by this God would have Adam demonstrate his homage to him but in offending he became guilty in a particular way of disobedience Secondly If you consider Adam in his external condition His fin is very great God placed him in Paradise put him into a most happy condition gave him the whole world for his portion Every thing was made for his use and delight now how intolerable was Adams ingratitude for so small a matter to rebell against God Therefore the smalness of the matter of the sinne doth not diminish but aggravate he might the more easily have refused the temptation so that this unthankfulness to God must highly provoke him Thirdly The sinne was an aggregate sinne It had many grievous sins ingredient into it It was a Beelzebub sin a big-bellied sinne full of many sins in the womb of it his sinne was not alone in the external eating of the forbidden fruit but in the internal causes that made him do so There was unbelief which was the foundation of all the other sinfulness he believeth the Devil rather then God There was pride and ambition He desired to be like God There was apostasie from God and communion with him There was the love of the creature more than of God and thereby there was the hatred of God Thus it was unum malum in quo omnia mala as God is unumbonum in quo omnia bona Lastly Not to insist on this because formerly spoken to There was the unspeakable hurt and damage which hereby he brought to his posterity Not to mention the curse upon the ground and every creature The damning of all his posterity in soul and body it the grace of God did not interpose It cannot be rationally conceived but that Adam knew he was a publique person that he was acquainted upon what terms he stood in reference to his posterity That the threatning did belong to all his as well as himself if he did eat of the forbidden fruit Now for Adam to be a murderer of so many souls and bodies to be the cause of temporal spiritual and eternal death to all mankind who can acknowledge but that this sinne is out of measure sinfull ¶ 2. The Aggravation of Original Sinne inherent in us OUr next work is to consider the aggravation of original sinne inherent in us and this is our duty to do that so being sensible of our own contagion we may not flatter our selves in the power of our free-will but fly alone to Christ who is a Phisitian and Saviour even to Infants as well as grown men and the rather we are to be serious and diligent in this because of all those prophane opinions which do either wholly deny it or in a great measure extenuate it Some Papists make it less then a venial sinne and many
second place there is the Universality 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is more emphatical then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All things not all men This expression is used to shew that not only all men but all their actions studies endeavours every thing belonging to them as it were is thus sinfull and damnable although Grotius maketh the Substantive understood to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the third place we have the Cause appointing and declaring of this and that is the Scripture It is usual to attribute those things which belong to God unto the Scripture because that is the sentence of God that declareth the will of God Thus Gal. 3. 8. The Scripture fore-seeing that God would justifie the Heathen c. that is God by his Word fore-telling what he would do Thus Rom. 9. 17. The Scripture saith unto Pharaoh For this same purpose have I raised thee up c. that is God by the Scripture manifested his will and purpose concerning Pharaoh So that in this place we are to conceive of God wisely and righteously ordering this way that all mankind shall fall into a stat of sin condemnation that so a way may be made open for the advancement of the grace of the Gospel Not that God did necessitate Adam to sinne or did infuse any evil into him but be falling by his own voluntary transgression and thereby plunging all his posterity into this wretched estate God who could have prevented this fall of Adam did not because not bound to it give him that grace which would actually have confirmed him although he bestowed on him grace sufficient enough to inable him to stand God I say did righteously and wisely permit this fall of his thereby to work out a greater good then the sinne of Adam could be an evil Thus God may be called the cause appointing and ordering of all this evil of mankind partly permissivè by leaving Adam to his own will and partly directivè and ordinativè being not a bare spectator or sufferer of this apostasie but also a righteous director and ordainer of it to blessed and heavenly ends Though therefore God is here said to shut up all mankind into this prison yet he is no more cause of the evil which brought this desolation then a Magistrate is of the wickedness of such a Malefactor whom he throweth into prison Yea Gods ordering of this fall of Adam unto such righteous ends doth therein demonstrate his Mercy and his Justice So that although sinne be evil yet the punishing of this is good as also the working of a better good then the evil is evil is a demonstration of the infinite wisdom of God As God doth it thus as the chief cause so the Scripture is said to shut us up under sinne instrumentally because that declareth the curse of God due unto us And that upon a two-fold account both because of the actual impieties all do commit as also because of that original filthiness and pollution we are born in Now it is my purpose to treat of Gods righteous dispensation towards mankind in this particular only because some do rise up with great zeal for the righteousness honour and glory of God in this point as if the Doctrine delivered by the Orthodox herein were altogether injurious and derogatory to him Hence the late known Adversary to this fundamental Truth about original sinne delivers himself thus Answer to a Letter pag. 23 24 To say that for Adam's sinne it is just in God to condemn Infants to the eternal flames of hell and to say that concupiscence or natural inclinations before they passe unto act could bring eternal condemnation c. are two such horrid propositions that if any Church in the world would expresly affirme them I for my part should think it unlawfull to communicate with her in the defence or profession of either and think it would be the greatest temptation in the world to make men not to love God of whom they speak such horrid things Thus he most horribly Now although these two Propositions are set down by him odiously and captiously not fully expressing the Doctrine of the Reformed Churches yet it is plain that he striketh at those Positions which are for the substance of them maintained by all Protestant Churches and doth thereby publiquely professe his separation from and non-communion with all Protestant Churches and particularly with the Church of England in that 9th Article which he doth so cruelly tear and mangle that it may not appear to be what indeed it is Our work therefore shall be from this Text to declare from Scripture-ground the holiness wisdome and righteousness of God in his proceedings thus with mankind for Adam's sinne For although all grown persons are shut up under actual sins as well as original yet here is comprehended both seeing it doth extend to all that may have salvation by Christ out of which number Infants are not to be excluded Therefore Bellarmine bringeth this Text amongst others to prove that there is an original sinne that all are born in And so we observe That God for righteous and wise ends manifested in the Scripture hath shut up all mankind in a state of sinne and damnation That God who could have preserved Adam in the state of happinesse and continued it to all his posterity so that thereby no sinne or condemnation would have come upon any one man for there would then none have done evil no not one hath ordered the contrary way suffering man to fall and thereby all mankind to be in a state of condemnation whereby also sin is so predominant that now there is none that doth good no not one The Scripture doth in other places with much exactnesse and diligence take notice of the proceeding of God in this way as Rom. 3. 9. The Apostle dividing all mankind into Jews and Gentiles sheweth that though there may be many differences in several respects yet as to a state of sin by nature and so a necessity of justification by Christ all were alike Therefore saith he We have before proved 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The word is very emphatical some make it to charge complain and in an heavy manner to accuse So that to be by nature of our selves in a state of wrath not being able without the grace of Christ to avoid this condemnation is the greatest guilt that we can be charged with It ought not to seem a light and contemptible thing that we come thus cursed in the world But because men may be accused falsly and the Pelagians charge us with laying a false curse upon mankind hence the Greek word signifieth more viz. so to charge a thing upon a man as by strong reasons to prove it to shew clearly the causes and grounds of it therefore our Translators render it We have before proved So that the Apostles meaning is We have not only said thus but we have proved A Metaphor say some from those who have cast up
also voluntary subjectivè for this corruption is chiefly seated in the will which ruleth the whole man and it is voluntary consecntivè by consequent for man naturally delighteth in this evil estate and till grace make a change we are not weary of this condition It is true this subsequent will whereby we delight in our original pollution doth not properly make original sinne to be ours for this is an actual sinne and floweth from that better root only it sheweth that this evil estate is so farre from being contrary to mans will naturally that it delighteth in it and doth contumaciously rebell against the grace of Christ that would deliver Lastly Whereas the 18th Chapter of Ezekiel is commonly objected against this truth where God by the Prophet at large declareth That the Sonne shall not die for the fathers sinne an innocent for a nocent but every one shall die in his own iniquity I have spoken something to this already neither am I to consider how that place is to be reconciled with the second Commandment wherein God is said To visit the iniquity of fathers upon their children to several generations Exod. 20. 3. and several instances of Scripture make it good To be sure the Proverb which gave occasion to this passage was a prophane one redounding to Gods dishonour Sanctius in locum the Papist thinketh that the Jews of old had used it and that because of Adam's fall imputed to his posterity but it seemeth rather at that time to be taken up while under the judgements of God especially for Manassehs his sins as appeareth Jer. 15. 4. where is observable that though Manasses had repented and his sinnes pardoned to him yet God visited them upon the Nation afterward So that it may not seem strange If it be affirmed That notwithstanding Adam repented and his sinne pardoned yet it may be visited upon all his posterity There are various thoughts about the interpretation of the place Some making it a promise under the Covenant of grace only as it seemeth probable if you compare it with Jer. 31. 29. where the same prophane Proverb is mentioned and this promise to the contrary whereas Adam was under the Covenant of works Others very probably say This is not to be extended to all times and places only God promiseth That in their particular condition at present they shall have no occasion to use it for such who did might be brought back from their captivity Thus Sanctius and Maldenate because say they it is plain That the Jews now are under their grievous calamity for their fathers sake who crucified Christ saying Let his blood be upon us and our children Mat. 27. 25. But however the Exposition be it doth not gain-say this Doctrine of original sinne for there it speaketh of children free from their parents sins we speak of children filled with inherent corruption themselves though derived from Adam and chiefly because there the Prophet speaketh of particular private parents whereas we say Adam was a publique appointed person by God himself so that that of Adam's is extraordinary even as Christ though innocent yet died for our sins which yet seemeth to contradict this place of Ezekiel and the Socinians bring it to prove it could not stand with Gods justice to punish Christ being innocent for our sins But in the close of all we may justly retort on those who oppose this truth that they attribute much injustice and cruelty to God which Austin doth frequently urge the Pelagians with for they make all the misery that many times falleth upon young Infants yea and that repugnancy and temptation that is within us against good to be from our primitive constitution that God made us so Those that will not acknowledge original sinne to be the cause of this misery must make God to be so and therefore as appeareth by Baronius Annal. Anno 418. The Emperors Edict made to banish Pelagians containeth this as one reason Proprer trucem inclementiam c. for the horrid and cruel inclemency they attribute to God passing a sentence upon man to die before he liveth But I shall hereafter when I come to speak of the Effects of original sin make it appear That the opposers of original sinne do more unjustly yea and blasphemously attribute many things to God in a farre more transcendent way then their adversaries are by them supposed to do How can it stand with the goodness mercy and love of God that so much evil and death it self should be upon mankind from mans Creation and not rather that it was introduced by Adam's sinne Let the Use of all this be to humble our selves under Gods righteous proceedings to say with Job chap. 40. 3 Behold I am vile I will lay my hand upon my mouth Yea mayest thou not admire at the wise ends of God revealed in Scripture why this should be This is to stop every mans mouth This is to make it appear That all the world is guilty before God This is to make it appear that Christ is necessary this is the way to make Christ more glorious and precious to those that do believe A TREATISE OF Original Sin The Fourth Part. Setting forth The immediate Effects of ORIGINAL SINNE By Anthony Burgess ANCHORA SPEI LONDON Printed in the Year 1658. A TREATISE OF Original Sinne. PART IV. CHAP. I. Of that Propensity that is in every one by nature to Sinne. SECT I. This Text explained and vindicated from Socinian Exceptions JOB 15. 16. How much more abominable and filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water THe last particular to be treated upon concerning original sinne is the immediate effects thereof which we now come to discover and whereas they are many some general and some particular as the paines inflicted upon women in child-bearing the general are the curses that are brought upon the whole world and every part thereof I shall limit my self only to those that belong to mankind and are inseparably annexed to every individium herein Now these effects they are either spiritual or temporal I shall begin with the spiritual and first pitch upon that propensity and vehement inclination which is in every one by nature to sinne This plainly demonstrateth there is a sinful and corrupted principle within else all mankind would not be so prone and inclining to evil as they are and this Text will abundantly confirme us of the ready and delightfull propensity that is in every man none exempted to that which is evil They are the words of Eliphaz one of Job's friends who taketh an Argument from this proneness in mans nature to sinne to humble Job and to make him more patiently silent under Gods heavy hand upon him Job indeed acknowledgeth this very truth Chap 14. 4. and doth from thence debase himself under Gods dealings with him but Eliphaz repeateth this again either because the most holy that are though they sometimes affect their hearts with divine truths and do make a blessed improvement
past time We grant it therefore that Paul saith this of himself though regenerated that he was sold under sin But then we say The expressions above named and this is not a like here it is in a passive sense there in an active sense of those wicked men it is said They sold themselves which denoteth their wilfulnes and obstinacy of this he was sold which implieth it to be done against his will as captives are there it is absolutely here it is limited to the flesh And if this phrase did denote a wicked man in an high degree then how can they apply it to a man under legal convictions and in a preparatory way to conversion It would be very hard to say of such men that they sold themselves to do evil Besides there is a two-fold bondage and captivity under sin even as the Israelites had a two-fold one they were born in that of Egypt and another they voluntarily by their sin sell into which was that of Babylon Thus there is a bondage unto sin we are all born in for in Adam we were all sold to sinne and so needed a Christ Redermer And secondly there is a bondage unto sinne by our own voluntary transgressions It is true a regenerate person cannot be sold under sinne in this later sence but he is in the former and so it is no more injurious unto the grace of God as Austin noteth then that he is yet mortal and corruptible Thus you have this great and necessary truth established Paul speaketh here of a regenerate person and that not only of him as he is in the lowest estate and initials of grace as Musculus thinketh but of every godly person while in this life even the most perfect that is though this conflict be more applicable to some then others yea if we do regard the exact purity of the law the most holy do most humble themselves under it ¶ 4. The several Wayes whereby Original Sinne doth hinder the godly in their Religious Progress whereby they are sinful and imperfect THe next Proposition in order is That this flesh this original sinne in a man doth several wayes hinder the godly in their religious progress whereby they are sinful and imperfect whereby every one is forced to cry out as he O me nunquam sapientem so O me nunquam pium Oh me never godly never believing never answering the holy Law of God! This treacherous enemy within us is so multiforme putteth it self Chamelion-like into so many shapes that the most holy men have cause to be alwayes on their guard to keep continual watch lest sometime or other this Daliah betray them into the hands of the Philistines How were it possible that some eminent servants of God as David and Peter have fallen so grievously and committed such sinnes which some Heathens by the light of nature would have abhorred but that there is this fuel and spawn of sinne abiding in every regenerate person It may well be affirmed that the reliquiae peccati originalis the reliques of original sinne are in the most holy for as when an house hath been for the greatest part consumed but at last the fire is quenched yet there remains some little sparks and embers which cause a constant watch lest they kindle and consume whatsoever is left yet undestroyed Such care and fear ought the godly to have lest the remaining corruption break out suddainly and so destroy them I shall instance in some particulars whereby original sinne doth thus hinder and retard the work of grace in us As First This flesh within the godly maketh us imperfect in this life by its strong opposition and contrary thwarting it hath to the grace of God within us These two saith the Text are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are two adversaries daily combating with one another Insomuch that what the Spirit saith do the flesh saith do it not Thus original corruption is like Solomons brawling woman whose contentions are a continual dropping Prov. 19. 13. What rest can such a man have no more then he that lyeth in his bed and hath constant droppings of rain upon him Such a disturber and farre more troublesome inmate is original sinne to a believer grace hath no rest no quietnes but the flesh is alwayes raising up oppositions against it alwayes crossing it what the Spirit would not that the flesh would Therefore Rom. 7. 23. the Apostle expresseth the violent actings thereof by military termes it warreth and it bringeth into captivity In this sence we may say the flesh is Satan for that is an adversary in our way that riseth up and stoppeth us in our spiritual progress It is true the natural and carnal man findeth no such opposition he never cryeth out Oh how hard a thing is it to be heavenly minded to be godly indeed to live a life of faith how difficult to live and die upon Scripture and spiritual grounds for all is flesh within dead men feel no pain they find no opposition Mortuus non belligerat is the Proverb but the godly are in continual exercises no sooner doth grace begin to work but the flesh presently beginneth to counter-work Secondly The flesh doth retard and hinder the work of grace by subtil allurements and enticements Thus as the Devil sometimes appeareth as a roaring Lion and sometimes again as a glistering Serpent and in this latter way is most dangerous so it is with this flesh within us sometimes it grosly and violently opposeth the grace of God at other times it craftily insinuateth It readily interposeth it propounds many sweet baits thus what it cannot do as a Lion it accomplisheth as a Fox so that what counsell is given Mis. 75. Keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lyeth in thy bosome implying there would be treachery in the nearest relations This is much more to be observed against original sinne that lyeth in thy own bosome yea it is thy own self and therefore how easily may it perswade thee yea no temptations without could do thee any hurt did not this flesh within betray all Thus it craftily insinuateth and surprizeth the strongesth holds of the soul before we are aware so you heard from that of James 1. 17. Every man is tempted and drawen aside with his own lust Sweet poison doth more easily destroy white powder that giveth no noise more certainly kills and this is the Reason why the godly may be carried away to sinne of profit and pleasure and not judge them to be so their hearts may not condemne them and all because the flesh can so bewitch us it doth cast such mists before our eyes that we are not able to discern between things that differ Thirdly The flesh within us doth keep off grace from its perfect work by depressing it and weighing it down that when grace would lift up the soul to heaven that is like a milstone about our neck and pulleth us back again it is lime to the birds wings it
2. 4. Luke 2. 25. The Scripture useth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for quatentus as Rom. 11. 13. And indeed this is most consonant to the Apostles scope for why should Adam's sinne be brought in rather than other parents Were it not that we were considered in him under a common respect as one with him It is true Erasmus saith he doth not remember that ever he read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a Dative case but Heb. 9. 17. may confute him And among prophane Authors 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 neither can 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matth. 26. 50. be said by most men to signifie in as much For as De Dieu observeth the postpositive is for the demonstrative 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Art thou come for this as the other Evangelists Dost thou betray the sonne of man with a kisse Although if we should render it causaâ—ly as the adversaries contend it would no wayes prejudice the truth we plead for seeing that the sinne here charged upon all mankind is because of Adam And therefore if we will make any rational coherence in the Apostles discourse it must be after this manner As by one man sinne entered into the world and death by sinne and so death passed upon all men as much as all have sinned that is all sinned in that one man for what sense it is to say That by one man sinne and death entred upon all because all sinned in themselves This would be a contradiction to lay the death of mankind upon Adam's sinne and upon all mens actual sinnes likewise Yea it is wholly repugnant to the Apostles scope who is comparing Adam and Christ not simply as two originals and beginnings but as two causes of death and life Indeed I would not much contend with any that would render the word causally and so make the verse an whole entire proposition in it self without any defective expression at all so that we understand all mens sinning to be interpreted of that which they are guilty of in Adam It is not worth time to take notice of the wild Divinity imposed upon this Discourse of Pauls by the late Writer Vnum Necessar pag. 365 who would have Death come upon mankind occasionally onely by Adam's sinne and that but till Moses his time and after Moses to come upon a new account by the Law promulged through his ministry The mentioning of this is confutation enough for here in this Text the Apostle doth make all mankind to die because of Adam And why may not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here be the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Text. Another Text witnessing this truth is Rom. 6. 23. The wages of sinne is death Here death is not taken only for eternal death as the Socinians say because the opposite unto it is made eternal life but for both kinds of death eternal and temporal temporal death being the in-let of eternal and so contrary to eternal life Neither is that cavil of their worth any thing who would make the wages of sinne to be the Subject and not the Predicate because the Article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is put to it but that is no sure Rule Sometimes the Article is put to the Predicate for some emphasis sake and not the Subject as I Cor. 9. 1. Are not ye 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my work in the Lord Are ye not that eminent and conspicuous singular work of mine in the Lord We see then what it is that sinne deserveth even temporal and eternal death it cometh not from mans primitive constitution but Adam's transgression Therefore it is that we deserve many thousand deaths if it were possible for original sinne deserveth death every actual sinne deserveth death yea and hell also Oh how miserable is man who thus deserveth to die and to be damned over and over again Therefore the Apostle useth the plural number 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to signifie the manifold evils that are in this death The word properly signifieth that meat which was allowed souldiers for their service in warre We see then how fearfull we all are to be of sinne What wages wilt thou have for every pleasant every profitable sinne even death temporal and eternal The last Text I shall mention is that which Austin so much urgeth in this point Rom. 8. 10. The body is dead because of sinne which is chiefly to be understood of our mortal body now he saith it's dead because of the sentence of death passed it so that there is no way to escape it It is sinne then that maketh the body in a state of death that deserveth the whole harmony and good temperament of the body should be dissolved and therby follow a dissolution of the whole man For though sinne deserve death yet there must be thereby some ataxy or disorder made in the body of a man otherwise death would not follow So that though sinne be the meritorious cause yet several diseases the effect of sinne do actually cause death Not that sinne maketh a substantial change in a man but an accidental only Thus you see the Scripture constantly attributing death yea and our mortality and corruptibility to sinne onely and not to our natural constitution Therefore those are strange positions we meet with Vnum Necessar cap. 6. Sect. 1. pag. 371 372. That death came in not by any new sentence or change of nature for man was created mortal and that if Adam had not sinned he should have been immortal by grace that is by the use of the tree of life That to die is a punishment to some to others not It was a punishment to all that sinned before Moses and since upon the first it fell as a consequent of Gods anger upon Adam upon the later it fell as a consequent of that anger which was threatned in Moses Law but to those who sinned not at all as Infants and Ideots it was meerly a condition of their nature and no more a punishment then to be a child is But seeing he professeth himself to be of the same judgement with his incomparable Grotius let him consider how these positions agree with him who doth against Socinus industriously and solidly prove Defens fid de satisfac cap. 1. pag. 19 20 21. that death hath alwayes some respect of a punishment instancing in the Texts I have mentioned using such words Quidclarius Quis vel verba legens non videat hanc sententiam and Corinthians the words of my Text and an ad anussim respondereisti ad Romanos Yea he concludeth That it were easie to prove that it was the perpetual judgment of the ancient Jews and Christians that death of whatsoever kind it be viz. whether with violence or without violence was the punishment of sinne adding that the Christian Emperors did deservedly condemn beside other things this opinion of Pelagians that they held mortem non ex insidiis fluxisse peccati sed exegisse eam legem
of them yet at other times when the temptation is violent they need to have the same truths suggested to them again by others or else though Job was convinced that man being thus unclean he might well be moral and subject to diseases yet happily he did not see the righteousness of God in inflicting extraordinary judgements such as his were upon a godly man delivered from the dominion of this original pollution and walking with all integrity of heart as Job was perswaded he did Eliphaz therefore maketh use of this Truth about mans sinfulness still to bring Job lower in his own eyes and to make him exalt God and indeed there is no truth so greatly accommodated to bring a man off yea though godly in an high degree from all self-confidence as also all repinings and murmuring under the severity of God as this about original sinne Now Eliphaz to aggravate this the more doth at the 14. Verse speak interrogatively What is man that he should be clean and then exegetically explaining this he addeth and he that is born of a woman that he should be righteous So that by cleanness is meant righteousness and there is also the reason given why none is righteous even because born of a woman So that it is plain all this sinfulness cometh by natural descendency from our parents The first Hebrew word signifieth that a man hath no innocency so that he hath not any cause to complain or murmure under Gods judgments be they never so heavy and the other denoteth that he hath no righteousness whereby he is able to answer God if called to his Tribunal and the word for man signifieth him a miserable wretched man incurably wretched This proposition is aggravated à majori Behold he putteth no trust in his Saints yea the heavens are not clean in his sight By Saints some have understood the godly Patriarches of old but if we compare this with Job 4. 18. It is plain he meaneth Angels and if we understand it of evil Angels it is plain they proved Apostates there was no trust in them they forsook their habitation as if they did contemne it and were weary of it or if of good Angels then it is plain that God neither did put any trust in them as of themselves for it was the power and grace of God which did confirme them so that of themselves they would have apostatized as well as the rest Eliphaz addeth for amplification sake The heavens are not clean in his sight By heavens we are to understand metonymically the Angels who dwell therein and these are said to be not clean in his sight comparatively to the purity and holiness of God for as the being of the most noble creature is even nothing at all to his infinite Essence so also is their righteousness some understand the heavens without any Trope as if they were said to be not clean because they are subject to vanish away because they shall wax old as a garment Psa 102. 27. and there shall be made new heavens 2 Pet. 3. 7. Cajetan as Pineda in loc observeth from this place and many others alwayes taketh occasion to broach his opinion That the heavens are animated and subject to sinne but that opinion is rejected as absurd though it seemeth to be Aristotle's opinion that caelum est animatum If then it be thus with Angels who are such glorious spirits and and have not the least blemish in their natures comparatively to God no wonder that my Text is brought in with an how much more abominable is man c. wherein we have man described from his property and â—â—ition be is in by nature And secondly the effect as a sign demonstrating of this The property is two-fold abominable even as a carkass is abominable that hath lost the soul which did animate it so is man being made carnal and natural having lost the Spirit of God and his image Abhominable that denoteth such loathsomeness that we cannot endure to behold or come near the object loathed that we cannot endure the sight of it such a thing is man naturally in the eyes of God the Hebrew word for man is the strongest man or the most famous and best of men naturally and indeed this is to be applyed even to regenerate men also so farre as original corruption hath still any vigorous actings in them for so some think Job was not sensible enough though otherwise godly of the contaminating power of original sinne in him whereby his best duties had some impurity and so God might justly bring all that evil upon him he did Thus man is abominable and loathsome in the eyes of God and he ought to be so in his own eyes to his own self a natural man should not be able to bear or endure himself because of that loathsome sinfulness that doth adhere to him how much are Pelagian-Doctrines that cry up a purity in mans nature contrary to this Text Oh that God would mercifully do that to such corrupt Doctors which God threatens in anger to the prophane secure sinner Psal 50. 21. I will reprove thee and set in order before thy eyes the original doth not name what the translator addeth his sinnes some adde thy own self which cometh all to one I will set thy self before thy self and all thy sinnes in the several kinds and grievous aggravations of then The Hebrew word is military and taken from setting a battell in aray against another Thus God said he would do and what a mercy is it to a man when all our self-love self-flattery and self-fullness shall be removed and God shall set our selves in all our loathsomeness and deformity before our selves What burdens would we be to our own selves but this is Gods work humane speculations and moral instructions have no efficacy herein The second propercy attributed to man is filthy The Hebrew word is only used here and Psal 14. 3. and Psal 53. 3. concerning the root of it there is no certainty only it is generally translated that which is putrid rotten and stinking and because rotten and putrifying things are unusefull and unprofitable Hence it is that Rom. 3. 12. the word out of the Psalmist is rendered unprofitable Thus man having lost the Image of God is become like unsavoury salt as he is noisome in Gods eyes so he is unfit for any good thing he is in a state of sinne and so hath no ability to what is good neither can he by any power abiding in him ever recover out of this lost estate so that man is now become like Ezekiel's Vine Ezek. 15. 2 3 4. It will not serve for any work not so much as to make a pin of it to hang a vessel upon it but is only suel for fire Thus unusefull and unserviceable a man is become in respect of the least good whereby the glory of God may be exalted Thus we have the properties describing man by his natural principles In the next place he
is described by the immediate effect from this cursed cause being thus abominable and filthy what doth necessarily flow from hence even to drink iniquity like water This expression sheweth the vehement inclination in man to sinne and that with delight as a man who is greatly thirsty doth earnestly desire to drink that the heat within may be refrigerated Of this expression more in the Doctrine This is enough to shew how it is with man relatively to sinne even as with a feavourish or hydropical person that is continually calling for some drink to cool the heat within Thus this Text sheweth us what is one immediate and inseperable effect of mans nature through original corruption that it doth propend and incline with all greediness to evil and only evil continually Yet although this be so pregnant and clear a place Socinians have laboured to obscure it And 1. They say It is an Hyperbole This is their constant refuge whensoever the Scripture saith any thing to exalt Christ or debaâ—e man they make it an Hyperbole but how can that be accounted an Hyperbole which experience doth confirme And the Adversaries to original sinne grant that mankind is very prone to sinne and all are very ready to offend though they attribute this to other causes rather then original sinne This Answer of theirs hath been fully consuted when we treated on Psal 51. 2. They say Such an impurity is noted to be in man as is in the Angels and the Heavens but they have no original sinne The Answer is That there is more attributed to man how much more abominable is man So that the Argument is taken from the less to the greater 3. They say These words are not to be taken universally or understood of every man but the expression is universal it excludeth or exempteth no man man and born of a woman are universals not particulars 4. They say These are the words of Eliphaz one of Jobs friends and they did not alwayes speak right It is true they did not alwayes rightly apply the Doctrine they spake they mistook about Job but the Doctrine it self in the general was true and therefore we see that quoted in the new Testament as the word of God which Eliphaz spake as that passage 1 Cor. 3. 13. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness is Eliphaz his speech Job 5. 13. but for this particular truth you have heard Job also as well as Eliphaz confirming of it Job 14. 3. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean not one Which is not to be understood of bodily filthiness as the Pelagians of old but spiritual uncleanness as appeareth by the opposite to it in other places which is unrighteousness for it is worth our observing that this natural pollution and sinfulness of man is mentioned four times in this Book of Job with the aggravation of it The first is Chap. 4. 18 19. Behold he put no trust in his servants c. how much less on them that dwell in houses of clay whose foundation is in the dust c. This special truth Eliphaz saith he had in a Vision and by special revelation from God and therefore it was the more to be attended unto if Angels are not able to stand in the presence of God but cover even their very faces the noblest part as conscious of their imperfection comparatively to God then no wonder if sinful mortal man be affected with his distance from yea and contrariety to God In the next place We have this truth witnessed unto by Job and that on purpose to debase himself under God that if God do search into him he cannot find any thing but what is filthy and unclean Chap. 14. 4. of which we have largely treated The third time we meet with is here in my Text where Eliphaz repeateth it again making use thereof to Job that he should acknowledge impurity and uncleanness adhering unto every thing he doth though never so holy And The fourth or last time is Chap 25 45 6. Where Bildad agreeth both with Job and Eliphaz in this truth How can hâ— be clean that is born of a woman The starres are not pure in his sight how much less man that is a worme c. Thus you see in the mouth of three witnesses we have this Doctrine assured to us that man of himself is very abominable and filthy we might think such clear Texts might for ever convince men that they should not speak of such a thing as natural is quaedem sanctitas and probitas a natural kind of holiness and probity no though it were among deaf men the matter is so abominable and grossely repugnant to Scripture-light The last exception put in against this place by the pure Naturalists is That this Text speaketh of actual sinne and therefore it maketh nothing for original To drink down iniquity like water is say they nothing but the 〈◊〉 exercising of impiety But this is readily granted for we bring this Text to declare the immediate issue of original sinne because man is thus abominable by nature therefore he drinketh down iniquity like water he doth not speak here of men who by custom have habituated themselves in an evil way which is become like a second nature to them but of man originally and nakedly in himself till the grace of God make a change upon him So that as to drink though an action doth denote thirst a natural appetite within Thus the acting of iniquity with delight and content doth necessarily suppose a corrupted and perverted principle within from whence all actual evil doth flow Thus the Text being fully explained and vindicated from all exceptions we may observe That man being originally corrupted is therefore prone to all sinne with delight Because he is abominable and filthy therefore he swalloweth down iniquity like water As in every mans body there is a mortal and corruptible principle within which exposeth to diseases and at last death it self So in the soul there is a vehement inclination unto every thing that is evil it 's most sutable and connatural to him As the feavourish man with greedinesse and delight doth swallow down cold liquour thinking he never hath enough Thus it is with man by nature That there is in all mankind a propensity to sinne not onely the Adversaries to original sinne but even Heathens have acknowledged and bewailed and we have the Scripture Rom. 3. at large describing of it Now if it were not by original sinne How and whence should a sinfull inclination be in all men if there were an innocency and neutrality meerly in man to good or evil yea an inclination rather to good because as they say the seeds of vertue are naturally in all How cometh it about that the greater part of mankind is not good rather than evil Why should it not be that to sinne is difficult but to do good is easie But besides experience and many Texts of Scripture that may confound this