God through Luxury and Sensuality a disregard of the promise of Life and a disbelief of Death threatned he did eat of the forbidden Fruit and by it fell from his state of Innocency and Happiness into a state of Sin and Misery 1. Of Sin In the loss of his Original Righteousness and the depravation of his Nature in all Gen. 6. 5. Job 14. 4. 15. 14. the faculties of his Soul and the members of his Body 2. Of Misery In the loss of his Communion with God in Pararadise Gen. 38. 10. 23. 1. and subjection as justly obnoxious to all the direful effects and consequents of his wrath in this World and in that to come Adam was not a private but publick Person the Representative of all Mankind and the Covenant Acts 17. 26. made with him was not for himself only but for his Posterity also that should by ordinary Generation descend from him He was the Head of the Covenant and they Parties engag'd with him by that stipulation Legally Parties in that Covenant Dum punitur aliquis pro peccato primi Parentâ— non punitur pro peccato alterius sed pro peccato suo Aquinas quaest 4. de pec orig Art 1. Rom. 3. 9 10 11 12. 23. Rom. 5. 18. 19. Rom. 7. 18 19. and as naturally in him the Head of it as streams in the Fountain and branches in the Root in his standing they stood and in his fall they fell sinning in him they fell with him and partake with him both in his sin and misery 1. In his Sin By the imputation of that particular sin committed by him and by a communication of that corruption derived from him whereby they are indispos'd to all good and inclin'd to all evil 2. In his Misery Being justly Gal. 3. 10. Col. 3. 6. Mat. 13. 42. Rom 2. 5. Rev. 19. 20. Mat. 10. 28. Mat. 5. 26. Mark 9 43 44. 2 Thes 1. 9. lyable to all the punishments of sin in this World both outward and inward on their Souls and Bodies and to those in the World to come in the sharpness universality and eternity of them The Head of Nilus is admir'd because it cannot be found out but the Spring-head from whence the misery of all by Nature arises may viz. from sin the Spring is known but how many and how bitter the streams are flowing from it cannot easily be known the River that watered the Garden of Eden branched Gen 2. 10. out into four streams onely but the streams flowing from the sin committed there are innumerable broad and deep a complex misery as to kind and degree Rom. 3. 16. 7. 24. comprehending both sin and punishment some are sins and not miseries and some are miseries and not sins of both which something may be seen in these eight following particulars viz. 1. Filthiness 2. Enmity 3. Darkness 4. Poverty 5. Nakedness 6. Bondage 7. Death 8. Wrath. 1. Filthiness Adam at first as he came out Ezek. 16. 5. of Gods hands was pure without spot or wrinkle within and without but as he came out of Mat. 12. 45. the Devils hands or when by sin that unclean Spirit entred into him he and in him all his Posterity Isa 64. 6. became as an unclean thing All that are brought out of this Ezek. 36. 25. Heb. 9. 14. 10. 22. Eph. 5. 26 27. state are sprinkled with the Blood of Christ and cleansed from all their filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit but they that are not though Noble by Birth are but as Naaman Noble Lepers tho 2 Kings 5. 1 2. Princes by Blood attainted yea though Angels for outward Beauty yet but as Devils in the sight of God in his Eyes they are unclean though not in their own and the more when they are not so Grace is the Ornament of the Psal 16. 3. 45. 11. Soul and all that are adorned with it have Christ's Beauty upon them a Beauty that God greatly desires and delights in But Sin has defiled the whole man from Head to Foot not one part only but every one inside and outside A capite ad calcem Rom. 6. 19. 3. 13. Gen. 6. 5. Isa 1. 6. 2 Cor. 7. 1. 1 Thes 5. 23. Heb. 10. 22. Tit. 1. 15. Eph. 4. 29. Flesh and Spirit Body and Soul the Faculties of one and Members of the other Mind and Conscience Thoughts and Imaginations Affections and Desires Words and Deeds All of them in general and especial are become altogether filthy by it Some sins defile the Body but all Sins defile the Soul and that with a filthiness so great that all the filth in the World should it meet in one common sink cannot Horrenda vox equallize the pollution of it 2. Enmity viz. Habitual and actual inward and outward in Affection or Action Reconciliation offer'd implies it for there can be no Reconciliation 2 Cor. â— 20 where there is no Breach nor any Peace made before the Enmity is subdu'd Adam at first was in a state of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8. â— Friendship with God God and he were as nearly conjoyn'd as a Creator and Creature could be without sin but sin made a breach and separated these Friends All that are brought out of this state have thrown down their Weapons of Hostility are reconciled Rom. 5. â— to God and at Peace with him but they that are not are like David and Absalom in open 2 Sam. 1â— 5 6 7. 1â— Hostility against him and as Absalom made all the means he could to stir up the People in Rebellion against David so they employ their whole strength of Soul and Body against God They are Enemies to him both actively and passively Haters of God and hateful to him Haters of him and hated by him as clearly appears 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the terms of Difference on their part and on Gods 1. On their part who gave the Offence They are Strangers to God and unacquainted with him Job 21. 21. Eph. 2. 12. â—3 19. Eph. 4. 18. they are Foreigners and alienated from the Life of God without him afar off and at distance from him they know not God nor Isa 1. 3. Job 35. 10. Mal. 2. 17. desire it for he is not in all their thoughts they acknowledge no wrong say not What have we Jer. 8. 6. done nor repent of their Wickedness they seek not after God Rom. 3. 11 Joh. 5. 40. Jer. 2. 31. Psal 14. 2. Psal 10. â—3 nor for peace with him nor are willing to come to him for it they will not accept of Overtures Parleys and tenders of Peace nor read the Articles of Agreement or Covenant of Peace but Hos 8. 12. count it a strange thing they will not hearken to God's Voice Jer. 13. ult â—… 22. 21. â—… 25. 4. Mat. 28. â—7 Psal 81. â—1 Psal 2. 2. nor regard it will
transgressions 1 John 3. 4. of Gods Law Thoughts are free from the censure Cogitationis paenas nemo luit de minimis non curas lex of Humane Laws and small offences are little regarded or taken notice of but the Divine Law reaches to the least sins and forbids the whole Latitude of sin from the beginning to the end from thoughts to deeds and from the appearance to the act for 1 Thes 5. 22. Mat. 5. 28. Heb. 4. 12. Gods Law as the Exchequer Accounts reaches to the least sums and farthings Little spots as well as great ones made a Leprosie as much crookedness may be in a small line as in a greater and as much contempt of God and his Law in the least sin as in the greatest 2. Little sins are Mortal The breach of every Law of Earthly Kings is not Capital and Mortal but all of the King of Heavens are for the wages of sin the transgression of those Laws viz. of sin indefinitely is Death they are not all alike great but all are Mortal and will Rom. 6. 23. without Repentance bring sure Damnation though not equal degrees of it for as the promise is annexed to the least Grace so a curse is to the least sin A little leak unstopt will sink a Ship a little Sword will kill as surely as a great one a little Debt will cast into Prison as well as a great one and a little sin unrepented of will as surely send you to Hell as a greater and when once there it will be but sorry comfort to think what you are there for whether for great sins or small ones 3. Little sins make way for greater David by being Idle became wanton and from a wanton glance of his Eye he proceeded to Adultery from lust to act and from one act to another viz. from Adultery to Murder Solomon from sensual Lusts went on to Spiritual viz. to Idolatry Judas from Covetousness to Murder first he grudg'd the costly Oyntment bestow'd on Christ and then betray'd him and Peter from Lying to Perjury and so will all not only Seducers but all that indulge any sin wax worse and worse and 2 Tim. 3. 13. Jer. 9. 3. proceed from evil to evil viz. both as to kind and degree Little Wedges make way for greater little Burthens strengthen for greater little Coals kindle greater the lowest stair helps up Principis obsta to the highest the least figure in Arithmetick increaseth the Sum In minimo esse fidelem magnum est Aug. and in the least sin there is a tendency to the greatest it is of an increasing Nature and will unless timely prevented proceed untill it is out of measure sinful That sin is ever most dangerous that is most contemptible Of Custom in Sin Much might be said as to the evil of Custom in sin viz. that it will indispose you to any thing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo that is good and disenable all the Faculties of your Soul to receive it that it will put you upon sinning with freedom facility pleasure and delight and bring you under a fatal necessity of sinning whether you will or no or at least without any sense of it like the People of Alexandria who did not mind their Earthquakes because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Omne peccatum vilescit consuetudine fit quasi nulium qui ad ostia Niâ—i vivunt nimium audiendo nihil audiunt ex voluntate perversâ facta est libido dum libidini servitur facta est consuetudo dum consuetudini non resistitur facta est necessitas they were daily Or like them that lived at the Cataracts of Nilus who by hearing too much heard nothing at all A doleful Paradox but true But all that I shall say relating to it shall be onely two things viz. 1. That nothing provokes God more than Custom in sin 2. That nothing is more hardly remov'd than Custom in sin 1. That nothing provokes God more than Custom in sin Custom in sin is sin by Multiplication for it is not got by one act but by many and the multiplication of sin is the great aggravation of it the breach of Humane Laws is not lessened but aggravated by a frequent repetition of it and so is the breach of Divine Laws too for as sin has a Power and a Law by which in some it reigns so it is the more heinous when it is so for the least sin that reigns is more displeasing to God than the Rom. 6. 12 16. greatest that does not All Acts whether good or bad please or displease as the good or evil habits are from whence they come 2. That nothing is more hardly remov'd than Custom in sin Evil Habits as well as good are got by degrees and perfected by use for Acts strengthen Habits and Aâ—io perfecta non recipitur nisi imperfecté primó Ab imperfecto ad perfectum consuetudinem vincere dura pugna the stronger they are with the greater difficulty will they be conquer'd and overcome Trees well Rooted and of some standing are not easily transplanted streams of Water of long continuance are not easily diverted from their Chanel the League of Friendship betwixt Old Friends is not easily broken nor sin easily remov'd when habituated by Custom for Custom is a second Nature and that is not without difficulty if at all repell'd Naturam expollas furcâ licet usque recurrit Mark 9. 17 21 26. The Devil that possess'd the Young Man from a Child was of all with the greatest difficulty cast out The Cretians when they Curse one another say the Devil lead you into an evil Custom but my Prayer for you shall be that God would keep you from it that you may not be hardened in sin Zech. 7. 12. Adamas né ferro quidem cedit nullis seilpris nullis malleis domaâ—ilis Mark 6. 52. 16. 14. The stone of the Heart is in all by Nature and felt by all that are not dead in sin your Heart by Nature is a stone and by custom in sin it will be as an Adamant the hardest as Naturalists observe of all stones a greater Misery than which you cannot lye under either here or in Hell for Hell it self would be no Hell to any of a tender and broken Heart Of Thoughts The great Misery come upon all by reason of sin is that every Gen. 6. 5. imagination of the thoughts of their Heart are evil onely evil and continually so Evil thoughts are all thoughts of evil against God and Man so called either as arising from evil or tending to it Thoughts are known to God Gen. 6. 16. The Ark that was made close on every side had a Window on the top towards Heaven as an Emblem of Gods Omniscience who sees you not onely when in secret but the secret within you for he knows your thoughts yea your thought every single thought afar off viz. either
World or as the three stretches of the Prophet Elijah or 1 King 17. 21 22. the Widow of Zarephaths dear Son a means to put Life into them who by Nature are as truly dead Spiritually as that Child was Naturally 1. Knowledge of Misery Sense of sin and Misery by i◠alone will do no good nor any thing without it for the foundation of Happiness is laid in it◠The knowledge of a Disease make◠way to a Cure and sense of Misery is the first step to Mercy we usually say it is most miserable to have been happy but in this it is the happiness of sinners to know their misery and their greatest misery if they do not 2. Knowledge of the way or means of recovery out of Misery None but Sinners need Mercy and none but sensible sinners will seek for it but yet they cannot seek it aright unless they know the way to it no more than they can find it unless they seek it the Diseased Woman in the Gospel Mat. 9. 20 21 22. was sensible of her Bloody Issue before she came to Christ and came to him before she was healed by him it was not barely the apprehension of her Disease but the apprehension of her Disease and of Christ her Physician that cured her None so fit to seek for Mercy as humbled sinners and none but such will but yet unless they do they cannot have it 3. Knowledge of Duty when redeemed from Misery Conversion is a change from one contrary to another not from one sin to another that is Hypocrisie but from 〈…〉 contrary one to another from the privation to the habit from Darkness to Light and from Death to Life this new state calls for a new life and all that are brought into such a state must live sutably to it they must not be always 1 Thes 2. 12. Eph. 5. 8. 1. Pet. 2. 9. sinners because they were sometimes so for once is above any Indulgence granted 1. Knowledge of Misery Sense of Misery is necessary not to merit Mercy but to qualifie for it not to fit the God of Mercy to give it but the necessitous sinner to receive it Now the misery of all by Nature is best known as one contrary compar'd with another by considering the happiness of Man in his state of Innocency When God had made the World and richly furnish'd it with all things for Necessity and Delight he then made Man not in the Image of any inferior Creature Gen. 1. 26. but in his own which Image was both outward and inward consisting partly in his Body and partly in his Soul Partly in his Body As it was So admirable a Structure that Galen a Heathen made a Hymn of Praise to God that made it an Instrument of Righteousness and a frame of admirable composure containing so many Miracles as Members so many perfections as parts and in some degree resembling the Majesty of God Partly and chiefly in his Soul by an inward resemblance of it to God not onely in the Spiritual Nature of the Soul but in the Natural Faculties Properties and Endowments of it viz. Knowledge Righteousness and True Holiness 1. Knowledge in his Understanding Of all that was needful for his state of Perfection and Happiness viz. A knowledge of God and his Excellencies of himself as to the Nature of every Faculty of his Soul and both the temper and use of every Member of his Body and of all other Creatures both as to Nature and Kind and how to carry himself uprightly to God and them 2. Righteousness in his Will A Natural Inclination with a power perfectly dispos'd to the whole will of God and to every thing that was just right and good without any reluctancy and of himself to will nothing that was not so 3. Holiness in his Affections Being free from all Disorder Sin and Impurity rejoycing in the love and bounty of God loving him as the chiefest good in himself and as the Author of all his As soon as Adam was made God planted a Garden in Eden in Gen 2. 7. 8. 15 16 17. which was every Tree pleasant to the sight and good for Food the Tree of Life also in the midst of the Garden and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and put him into it to dress and keep it and entred into a Covenant of Life with him called a Covenant of Works upon condition Gal. 3. 12. of perfect Obedience forbidding him to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil upon pain of Death God might have dealt with him in a way of absolute Soveraignty and required Obedience from him without any promise of Reward but he did not for he entred into a Covenant with him containing a Precept Threatning and Promise A Precept requiring perfect and perpetual Obedience A Threatning denouncing death if he did not obey it A Promise assuring Life if he did and though the promise is not so clearly expressed as the threatning yet as strongly and truly imply'd for if Adam must die if he disobeyed he should certainly live if he did not The Death threatned was Temporal Spiritual and Eternal the first in the separation of the Soul Gen. 2. 17. 3. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In dying thou shalt dye and all kinds of Death were threatned from the Body the second in the separation of the Soul from God the third in the separation of the Soul and Body from God for ever one from the presence of his Grace here the other from that of his Glory hereafter The Life promised imply'd a continuance of his present Life and the assurance of one to come a confirmation of his present happiness and a translation at last to a greater and better The present Life enjoy'd was two-fold one as a Man and a Creature the other as a perfect and upright Man The first consisting in the Union of Soul and Body the second in a Union betwixt God and the Soul The Life to come was a perfect immutable and eternal happiness both of Soul and Body with God through a perfect likeness to him and an immediate vision and fruition of him in Heaven to all Eternity Adam being a glorious and excellent Creature by Creation and endow'd with a power and will to obey stood bound to obey both by the Law of Nature and the Rom. 2. 14 15. positive Law and Command from God which obliged him to it But being made with a freedom of will viz. a liberty of its own accord to choose or refuse to do or not to do to stand or fall at his own choice without constraint or force from any and being mutably good his will though naturally dispos'd to good only yet being mutable and changeable it might be altered and become evil as it did for through the Temptation of the Eccles 7. 29. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Devil the perswasion of Eve and Pride a desire to be as