of Works which must necessarily 〈…〉 Relation to God in such a Covenant at 〈◊〉 to which the Promise of such a 〈◊〉 did â—â—long and the Knowledg of these Covenant-Terms communicated to him together with the Law of his Creation 3. From the Sacramental Vse of that Tree in the Midst of the Garden of Eden which was called the Tree of Life because institute of God for a Sign and Pledg of that eternal Life which Adam should have obtained by his own personal and perfect Obedience to the Law of God had he continued therein and that this Tree was appointed by God unto such an Use and End is collected 1. From the Allusion that Christ makes thereunto in the New Testament 〈◊〉 2. 7. where he promiseth and eternal Reward to him that overcometh in there 〈◊〉 I will give him 〈◊〉 of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God The reason of which is taken from God's Appointment of this Tree to be an assurance of 〈◊〉 Life to Adam upon the Terms and Condition of a Covenant of Works and the Ana 〈…〉 of that Reward which Christ gives to his faithful ones upon Terms of another Covenant which Analogy consists in the general Nature of an eternal Reward promised tho' there be not an Identity or perfect Agreement in the Degree or particular Kind thereof I will not pretend exactly to determine the Mode or Degree of that Blessedness which was set before Adam by the Covenant made with him whether it was a Confirmation in his present State which was very happy or a Translation to a better when the Course of his Obedience in this was run out however it seems reasonable to conclude that it was in some respects short of that Glory we are called to by Jesus Christ but they both agree in the notion of an eternal and in its kind perfect Happiness and therefore the one is expressed by those Terms that relate to a former Assurance of the other 2. From the Method of God's dealing with Adam in reference to this Tree after he had sinned against him and the Reason thereof assigned by God himself Lest he put forth his hand and take also of the Tree of Life and eat and live for ever You may read an account of the whole Gen. 3. from Verse 22th to the End We are not to suppose that Adam could indeed have obtained eternal Life by eating of the Fruit of that Tree after he had sinned against God but the whole Scheme of that Discourse is Ironical and as I take the foregoing Words * En 〈◊〉 promissam Behold the Man is become like one of us to be an holy upbraiding of the Folly of Man in aspiring to such a State by the Breach of God's Law upon the Credit of the Devil's Suggestion so I take these Words also to intimate a farther Delusion that fallen Man was in danger of by entertaining an Opinion that vain Man is on any pretence ready to nourish in himself of his being in a Capacity yet to recover his forfeited Happiness this way or by any other Work of his own howbeit they teach us what was the Vse and End that this Tree was at first designed to as also that Adam was not ignorant thereof tho' now he was to be taught the utter impossibility of obtaining Life by a broken Covenant by the guarding and prohibiting all access to that Tree by the Cherubins flaming Sword that turned every way to keep the way of the Tree of Life 3. This also must not be forgotten that as Moses's Law did some way include the Covenant of Creation and serve for a Memorial thereof on which account all Mankind was concerned in its Curse it had not only the Sanction of a Curse awfully denounced against the Disobedient but also a Promise of the Reward of Life to the Obedient now as the Law of Moses was the same as to the moral Precept with the Law of Creation so the Reward in this respect proposed was not a new Reward but the same that by Compact had been due to Adam in case of his perfect Obedience § 4. From what hath been said I conceive it is manifest that Adam was set in his way but not actually brought to his eternal Rest in that State wherein he was created being capable of and made for a greater Degree of Happiness then he immediately enjoyed which was set before him as the Reward of his Obedience by that Covenant wherein he was to walk with God and of this Reward thus set before him these things are farther to be observed 1. That altho' the Law of his Creation was attended both with a promise of Reward and a threatning of Punishment yet the reason of both is not the same nor alike necessary for the Reward is of meer Soveraign Bounty and Goodness and therefore might have been either less or more as it pleased God or not proposed at all and yet no Injury done but the Punishment threatned is a Debt to Justice and results immediately from the nature of Sin with reference to God without the Intevention of any Compact it is due to the Transgression of a Divine Law as such and therefore still due to every Transgrssion of it even by those that are already cut off from hope of Reward by former Breach of the Covenant and as it may not be more then the Offence deserves without Injury to Man so neither may it be less without a Diminution of the Glory of Justice by the strict Rule of which it is always measured that Death therefore which was threatned in the Curse is in a strict and proper Sence the wages of Sin Rom. 6. 23. 2. In the History of this Transaction as left upon record by the Holy Ghost for our Instruction we have a more particular and express Mention made of the Curse threatned than of the Reward promised and so a more distinct Notion of that conveyed to our Minds then of this altho' we have reason to think both were known to Adam with equal clearness and this may be because it more concerns us to be thro'ly humbled under a Sense of the present Misery of Mankind in their lapsed State then curiously to enquire after the particular Mode or Degree of that Blessedness which was once proposed but can never be obtained by us in the Interest of that Covenant which first gave Man a Right thereunto § 5. In this Transaction of God with Adam he is not to be considered in a private Capacity or as one concerned for himself alone but God treated with him as the common Root and Representative of all Mankind that were to spring from him according to the ordinary course of Nature and were then reckoned to be in him both as a natural and Foederal Root and therefore in his standing all Mankind stood and in his Fall * Nos omnes eramus ille unus homo they all sinned and fell in him for
to be unaccountable § 9. The State and Condition of Man thus fallen is 〈◊〉 to be enquired into and that was midst miserable and dreadful for having after this maâ—â—ier broken Covenant with God by a wicked and wilful Transgression of his holy Law 1. He thereby utterly forfeited and lost all Covenant-Interest in God he could no more claim a Right in or hope for that Reward which was promised on Condition of his perfect Obedience to the Law of that Covenant which God had made with him but immediately fell under Guilt being by the Sentence of his own Conscience bound over to punishment under the just Wrath of the Almighty and therefore he dreaded nothing more then the Approach of God to him Gen. 3. 8 9 10. 2. He did not only forfeit his Right and present Relation to God by this Sin but moreover he was thereby rendred uncapable of true Happiness inasmuch as he was now apostatized from a Covenant of Friendship to a State of Enmity against God and Alienation from him which is the necessary Adjunct of Wickedness He fell under the Dominion of Sin and that Image of God wherein he was created was in a manner wholly defaced he sinned and fell short of the Glory of God Rom. 3. 23. And now instead of that original Righteousness wherewith he was at first beautifyed there was nothing to be found in him but abominable Filthiness and horrid Deformity his Mind was covered over yea possest with hellish Darkness Hatred of God reigned in his Heart and his Affections were no longer subject to right Reason but became vile and rebellious and in this State it is evident he must be utterly uncapable of Communion with God and of the Fruition of him wherein alone the true Happiness of a reasonable Creature doth consist 3. The Curse of the Law in its utmost Rigour and prime Intendment was immediately and only due to him and no less then the utmost Execution thereof was every Moment to be expected by him and that was Death even the worst of Deaths eternal Death which is An everlasting Punishment of Soul and Body under the wrathful Vengeance of a provoked Deity Now that this was the prime Intendment of the Threatning might be evinced by many Reasons but at present I shall content my self with the mention of two only 1. This Punishment will be inflicted on many of the ungodly Posterity of Adam who have been guilty of no other Transgression but that of the Light and Law of Nature such were those wicked Heathens that Paul speaks of Rom. 1. 20. c. and Chap. 2. 6 16. who tho' they never had the Law written or knew of any repeated Promulgation thereof and therefore we may conclude them much more unlikely to be acquainted with the new-Covenant and its Terms yet being a Law to themselves were for the Transgression of this Law lyable to this Punishment Now this Punishment must be the Fruit of that Curse which is the Sanction of that Law which they were under and which was transgressed by them which was the Law of Creation even the same Law that Adam was made under and if the Law be the same the same Penalty was incurred by the Transgression thereof and if they are liable to eternal Death for the Transgression of this Law there is no rational doubt but Adam was so 2. If the just Demerit and Wages of Sin was contained in the threatning as no doubt it was it could be no less than an eternal Punishment that was threatned for if that be not the Desert of every Sin it cannot be due to any Sin for the Reason why the Punishment of any Sin is eternal is that the Penalty inflicted on the Sinner may be adequate to the Offence the Punishment hath an Infinity in its Eternity because the Fault is infinitely aggravated and that can only be in regard of its Object there is nothing that can be an infinite Aggravation of Sin but its being committed against a God of infinite Greatness Glory and Goodness and this Aggravation attends every Sin as it is Sin against God and tho' other Circumstances may increase the Provocation and so intend the Degree of the Sinners Pain yet none but this can reach Infinity The Punishment therefore due to Adam for Sin against God could be no other or no less then eternal Death which is that intended in the Sanction of the Law given to him Fourthly The whole Creation of this visible World became lyable to Destruction with fallen Man as an Inheritance forfeited by his Treason against the Supream Majesty By the Sin of Man the Frame of Earth and the Heavens made for his Service and Delight was loosed and their Foundations so shaken as would have issued in an utter Ruin had not Christ interposed and upheld the Pillars thereof Psal 75. 3. with Heb. 1. 3. and if the Curse had been immediately executed in its Rigor with these Desolations following thereupon there had been an Hell ready prepared for Man for suppose I pray you all the Lights of Heaven to be put out the whole Order Symmetry and Beauty of the Creation to be destroyed and all reduced to a Chaos of Confusion and horrid Darkness about Man and the burning Wrath of God kindled upon him now cast into the Jaws of eternal Despair and tormented by a Worm that never dyes think I say of this and you will hardly be able to conceive of a state more dreadful and dismal than this that Man stood at the very Brink of Fifthly In this Condition Man was altogether helpless and without Strength being utterly disabled to stand before God upon Terms of a Covenant of Works and as uncapable to bring himself upon other Terms with God for he was not able to move one step towards a Reconciliation with God or the ransoming of himself out of these Miseries The Door of Repentance was not opened to him by the Covenant of Creation or if it had there was in him now neither Power nor Will to enter in thereat He was utterly disabled from obeying God acceptably upon any Terms until made a new Creature And therefore it was impossible not only that this Covenant now broken should be renewed with him or any of his Posterity for the same Ends and in the same manner as it was at first made with upright Man but moreover that ever any Covenant should be immediately stricken with him or them wherein fallen Man should have been the first and immediate Covenanter with God for himself as Adam was in his State of Integrity § 10. Thus miserable yea more than we have expressed or can express was the State of fallen Man Let us now see how the boundless Mercy of God was revealed unto him when he was thus lost and miserably ruined by his own Sin And for the better understanding of what is to follow I shall premise two things which are necessary to be kept in our Eye 1. That the infinitely Wise
with some publick Person Head or Representative for all others that should be concerned in them Thus it was in the Covenant of Creation which God made with Adam in his upright State and with all Mankind in him and the same is to be observed in the Noachical Covenant as also in the Covenants made with Abraham considered either as the Father of Believers or of the Israelitish Nation in the interest of a spiritual Relation to him Believers claim the Blessings of the Covenant of Grace that was made with him and in the interest of a natural Relation to him his off-spring according to the flesh did claim the Rights and Priviledges of that Covenant of Peculiarity which was first made with him as the Head of that separate People but more eminently the Covenant of Grace is established in Christ as the Head thereof all its Promises were first given to him and in him they are all Yea and Amen It is by Union to him that Believers obtain a new-Covenant-interest and from him they derive a new Life Grace and Strength to answer the Ends of the New-Covenant § 6. Now as it is evident from what hath been already said that all foederal transactions of God with Men flow only form his good pleasure and the counsel of his Will so upon that ground it is certainly to be concluded that our Knowledg and Understanding of them must wholly depend upon Divine Revelation none can pretend acquaintance with the Secret of God but as he hath pleased to reveal it in his Word this Light must guide all our Inquiries after it and our sentiments of things of this nature must be strictly governed by this Rule seeing the nature of them is such as transcends the common Principles of Reason or natural Light inasmuch as they owe their original to the free acts of the divine Will and Wisdom which are unaccountable till revealed by God himself and therefore it becomes us to captivate all our thoughts of them to the obedience of Faith as knowing that Learning and Strength of parts tho' of excellent use in their place not guided by Scripture-light in these Inquiries can only form an ingenious error and lose a Man in the Labyrinth of his own Imagination and uncertain guesses seeing the single advantage of those assistances in this case trusted to and stretched beyond their line can reach no further than to enable him cum ratione errare and so to wander from Truth in a Path seeming more smooth tho' no less dangerous than others light upon And therefore in these things lies the Spring of most Mistakes and corruption of Doctrine and Practice in matters of Religion Men do easily find out and agree in the true dictates of the Law of Nature but in things pertaining to the Covenants of God how various are their Sentiments Yea many great learned and good Men have been divided in their Judgments about some things of great importance to the Faith and Edification of the Church tho' not absolutely necessary to her Being and some one error admitted about the nature of God's foederal transactions with Men doth strangely perplex the whole Systeme or Body of Divinity and intangle our interpretation of innumerable Texts of Scripture and by this means Jars and Contentions have been perpetuated in the Church to the great grief and hindrance of all the offence of the weak and greater scandal of the blind World and all this hath been much occasioned thro' the want of a due and humble attention to that Revelation of Truth which God hath given us in the holy Scriptures and indeavouring to collect the mind of God from thence without prepossession of Judgment which is a greater occasion of these mistakes then Men are generally aware of and a careful avoiding the undue mixture or confusion of things natural with those that are purely of a foederal nature Forasmuch then as the Covenant of God is his Secret and he only can make us to know it and yet our Faith and Practice Comfort and Holyness is nearly concerned in a good acquaintance with it we need no other Motive to a diligent and humble search of the Scriptures for the right informing of our Judgment thereabout nor no other Caution not to attribue overmuch to our own Wisdom or Abilities but to manage all our Inquiries with earnest prayer to God for that holy spirit of Light and Truth who only can lead us into all this Truth and bring us to a clear acquaintance with the mind of God concerning it Of God's Transactions with Adam CHAP. II. The Importance of this Enquiry the method proceeded in stated § 1. The original state of man the Law that he was made under both moral and positive the sanction of this Law and the Reward proposed to him § 2. That he had a promise of Reward farther asserted and proved § 3. Some farther remarks upon this Transaction Reward and Punishment not alike necessary the sanction of the Law by the Curse most expresly mentioned and why it was so § 4. Adam a publick person the consequent hereof § 5. That Transaction with Adam of a foederal nature proof that it was so herein consists the Mystery thereof § 6. The general nature of this Covenant Man left to the freedom of his own Will under it his mutability the original of Sin § 7. The sin of our first Parents some Remarks thereupon § 8. The state and condition of Man fallen described in several particulars the death threatned in the sanction of the Law was eternal death two reasons urged for the proof of it § 9. The Mercy of God to fallen Man two things premised to the consideration thereof § 10. God holds a treaty with man the issue of it A Promise of Redemption implyed in the commination of the Serpent A restraint and modification of the Curse ensuing thereon this the occasion of temporal Death the institution of Bloody Sacrifices the Covenant of Grace not made with Adam as a publick person § 11. The state and condition of Adam's Posterity after the Fall described in some particulars § 12. § 1. IN the former Chapter I have briefly touched upon some things of a more general nature which I thought needful to be premised to the handling of those Particulars which are to follow and now my work is to consider the first state of Man an account of which is to be taken from the state of Adam in whom the world of Mankind was Epitomized and in the Transactions of God with him the Relation he had to God with the Event and Issue thereof we are all most nearely concerned for the right understanding of these things is not only necessary in order to but lies in the very Foundation of all useful Knowledg of our selves and of the mind of God in all Revelations that he hath in following Ages made of his Will and Counsel to the Children of Men either before or in the Law of Moses or by the word
and Gracious God who from Eternity foresaw the Fall of Man had also from Eternity a gracious Purpose in himself according to the Counsel of his own Will to redeem 2 Tim. 1. 9 10. Tit. 1. 1 2. and save a Remnant of lost Mankind from their lapsed and fallen State and by his All-powerful Grace thro' the Merits of Christ to recover them from Misery to the Inheritance of a Kingdom and Glory far greater than that set before Adam in his Integrity And these eternal Counsels that were hid with himself were transacted in a way of Covenant between the Father and the Son even in a Covenant of Redemption now revealed in the Scriptures of Truth And to this Covenant belong all the Promises of the Father to the Mediator and the restipulatory Engagements of the Redeemer about the Salvation of Sinners and the way and method of its Accomplishment And with respect to these Counsels the Son of God is said to be the Father's Delights and himself also to have his Delights in the habitable World when the Head of the Dust thereof was formed Prov. 8. 22 31. In which Context the mutual Acquiescence both of the Father and the Son in this admirable Contrivance of infinite Grace and Wisdom is not obscurely set forth 2. In pursuance of this Covenant of Redemption and the Suretiship of Christ taken therein upon the Fall of Man the Government of the World was actually put into the hands of the Son of God the designed Mediator who interposed himself for the Prevention of its present and utter Ruin And by him were all future Transactions managed for the Good of Man and all Discoveries of Grace and Mercy were made to the Children of Men in him and by him And all things in Heaven and Earth were brought into an order subservient to the Ends of the new Creation and the Redemption of lost Man to be accomplished in the fulness of time by the Son of God incarnate Fallen Man could have no more to do with God nor God with him in a way of Kindness but in a Mediator § 11. And from this Design of Love and Mercy it was that when the Lord God came unto fallen Man in the Garden in the cool of the Day and found him filled with Horror and Shame in the Conscience of his own Guilt he did not execute the Rigor of the Law upon him but held a Treaty with him which issued in a Discovery of Grace whereby a Door of Hope was opened to him in the laying of a new Foundation for his acceptance with God and walking unto well pleasing before him For 1. In the Sentence passed upon the Serpent which principally concerned the Devil whose Instrument he had been in tempting Man and who probably was made to abide in his Possession of the Serpent till he had received this Doom Gen. 3. 5. there was couched a blessed Promise of Redemption and Salvation unto Man which was to be wrought out by the Son of God made of a Woman and so her Seed which Salvation thus promised Man was to receive by Faith and to hope in it for in this implyed Promise was laid the first Foundation of the Church after the Fall of Man which was to be raised up out of the Ruines of the Devil's Kingdom by the Destruction of his Work by Jesus Christ 1 Joh. 3. 8. 2. In this Commination of the Serpent there is not only implyed a Promise of raising up a Saviour of the Seed of the Woman and sending him into the World for the breaking of the Serpents Head that is the perfect Conquest of Satan and the utter ruining of his Kingdom but also of propagating and preserving a Church in the World that should be Heirs of that Salvation and should maintain a spiritual War with Satan and his Kingdom which on their part should end in perfect Conquest and Victory The God of Peace bruising Satan under their Feet while he is nibling at their Heel and making them to be more than Conquerors thro' him that loved them for the Seed of the Woman is to be understood collectively of Christ and his members as the Seed of the Serpent includes all wicked Men tho' it hath a principal respect to Christ personal who alone hath obtained the Victory over the infernal Power and destroyed the Works of the Devil But altho' this was done by himself alone yet was it not for himself only but for his Body the Church of which every true Believer is a Member and shall certainly obtain Victory thro' the Faith of his Name And against this Church the Gates of Hell can never prevail but a Church there ever shall be in the World so long as the World continues and ever was since the first Promise tho' maligned and persecuted by the Devil and wicked Men as early appears in that Instance of Cain and Abel Gen. 4. compared with 1 Joh. 3. 12. And something of this nature is intimated in the Name of Seth and the Reason given by Eve of her imposing that Name Gen. 4. 25. 3. Hereupon there was a present Restraint and Modification of the Curse in the Sentence pronounced upon Adam and Eve Gen. 3. 16 19. whereby altho' they and their Offspring were necessarily subjected to many Evils and Miseries while they lived and Dissolution by a temporal Death at last yet they were not immediately laid under a Sentence of eternal Death which was the Punishment they had deserved And concerning this Sentence we may farther observe 1. That the Promise of breaking the Serpents Head which was revealed to our first Parents did not give them a Deliverance from all Misery but only an Exemption from eternal Death But notwithstanding this Promise and all that Christ hath now done for the full Accomplishment thereof it is the Will of God that all Men even Believers as well as others shall in this World be exercised with Miseries and remain subject to temporal Death or Dissolution of the Body into Dust 2. The Corruptibility of Man all the Miseries he is subject to while he lives and temporal Death at last are the Fruits of Sin and of the Curse due to it as they are natural Evils or Punishments but yet they are not the Fruit or Result of the Curse only nor the full Wages of Sin As they are evil they flow from the Curse but as temporal only the Evil of them is limited and thus modified by Mercy or compassionate Goodness at least The Position of temporal Death concludes indeed that Sin is in the World but this Limitation of Death doth also prove that there is Mercy reserved for some and that such as obtain not Mercy must be brought to an after reckoning inasmuch as the Fruit of their Doings hath not fully been repaid to them in this World And hence 3. There are none of these Evils but are capable of a Change as to their penal Nature together with the Change of that Man's State upon
ut quidam privati Hominer ex Generation◠Caln Instinctu divino se ad Adam conjunxerint 〈◊〉 salvati sint Luther in Gen. nay it is possible that even some of the Line and Race of Cursed Cain might do so as on the other hand it is more then probable that others of the Children of Adam besides Cain did revolt with him from all true Religion and Holiness and joyned Issue in an open Contempt of God and Rebellion against him However the Nature and Necessity of the thing in it self in reference to religious Worship and that Obedience that was due to God therein did oblige his Servants to keep themselves distinct and separate from the rest of the World And whilst they did so the general Defection of Mankind was prevented But towards the Period of the old World all things declined and grew worse and worse Gen. 6. 5 12 13. The Violence and Corruption of Mankind abounded and even the Sons of God were taken with the bait of sensual Delights And those who had formerly kept up a pure and distinct Communion for the solemn worshipping of God by calling upon his Name and therefore had also his Name called upon them Gen. 4. ult being denominated the Sons of God did now lose the sense of Religion and brake the Bounds of their just Separation and mingled themselves with the Daughters of Men Gen. 6. 24. These were the Women of Cain's Offspring or of Confederacy with his Seed by whose Beauty they were entangled while they regarded more the gratifying of their Lust than the true Ends of Marriage and being thus entangled were also drawn in a Partnership with them in their Abominations Insomuch that when the time of the Flood came the pure Worship of God was maintained in the Family of Noah only who found Grace in the sight of God Gen. 6. 1-11 and was preserved in the Ark that by him and his Sons the desolate Earth might be again replenisht with Inhabitants after the Foundation of the Wicked had been destroyed with a Flood Job 22. 16. § 5. Now in the dealings of God with Noah there are some things call for our diligent Attention as carrying on to a farther degree of Light the Discovery of Grace and Redemption by Christ and so the farther Establishment of the Church in Expectation thereof For The Ark which Noah being warned of God built by his special Direction for the saving of himself and his House which were eight Souls 1 Pet. 3. 20. did not only afford him and them a temporal Deliverance from the Deluge of Waters by which God in his Wrath then swept away a disobedient World but was moreover useful by its typical Respect for their farther Instruction about the Redemption of Man from the Floods of divine Vengeance to be hereafter poured out in eternal Wrath upon the World of Unbelievers For this is to be observed concerning the State of the Church before Christ came in the Flesh That as the Gospel was preached unto them by Types and dark Shadows so this kind of Instruction was afforded them not only by the stated Ordinances of Ceremonious Worship but also by many extraordinary Works of Providence which were so ordered by Divine Wisdom as that they might bear a typical Respect unto and be an apt Representation of spiritual things This may be observed in many Instances in the History of Abraham and of his offspring the Children of Israel On this account the Manna they did eat in the Wilderness is called spiritual Meat and the Water of the Rock which they drank spiritual Drink and the Rock Christ 1 Cor. 10. 3 4. and yet we read of no special Ordination or Appointment of these things unto such an End but what they had from the Order and Voice of Providence together with the peculiar Circumstances of the People concerned in them And under this Consideration doth Noah's Ark come which either was a Type of Christ as the Ark in the Jewish Sanctuary or of the Church considered as guarded with his Salvation which in the Issue will come near to the same thing And this Type is rendered the more lively by the Form of Structure which God commanded and also the unwonted Use of one Term in the Direction given for the securing of their Preservation who were to enter into the Ark. 1. The Form in which the Ark was built in the Proportion of its Dimensions comes nearest to that of the Body of a Man for it was in length 300 Cubits in breadth 50 and in height 30 So that in Figure is was shaped like a Coffin and there was a Resemblance of Burial in the entring thereinto and of a Resurrection in coming out of it In which respect the Apostle Peter makes Baptism to be the Antitype to the Ark 1 Eph. 3. 19 20. And thus was the Ark an extraordinary Sacrament or Prefiguration of the Churches Redemption and Salvation by the Death and Resurrection of Christ and of her Union and Communion with him that dyed and rose again so as to enjoy all the Benefits of his Death and Resurrection 2. In the Directions given for the building of the Ark Noah is commanded to pitch it with Pitch both within and without Gen. 6. 14. the Words in the Hebrew are Caphartà Baccophèr The first sence of the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to cover and thence by a Metaphor it signifies to expiate or make Atonement because as things covered are hid from Sight so Sin expiated is blotted out and no more remembred against the Sinner And the Noun viz Cophèr is never used in the like sence in all the Bible for the Hebrews have other Words that properly signify such kind of Stuff as was now to be made use of see Exod. 2. 3. but in the Law it is often used for the Covering of or Propitiation for Sin So that these Terms seem to be especially adapted by the holy Ghost unto the typical respect of the Ark which was to prefigure the Salvation of the Church thro' the Expiation of Sin and Atonement made by the Death of Christ in the Merit of whose Blood is her only Defence against the swelling Waters of Divine Wrath and the Curse of the Law under which the whole World of Unbelievers must inevitably perish Now tho' we have no reason to think that these things could be then apprehended so distinctly and clearly as we now see them by the Light of the New Testament yet have we good ground to believe that some general Knowledg of them was conveyed to the Minds of the Faithful in the time of this Type and by means thereof And this will inform us how Noah became an Heir of the Righteousness of Faith by building the Ark and entring thereinto Heb. 11. 7. seeing there was not only a Proof of his Obedience herein whereby the Truth of his Faith was manifested but moreover his Faith did reach and in some Degree apprehend the Mystical use of the Ark
of the Gospel The ignorance of this that was in them is apparently the reason of the Blindness and miserable Mistakes of the wisest Heathen Philosophers in a thousand other things of the greatest Importance if a Man miss the right account of this he is certainly bewildred in all after search for that Truth which it most concerns him to know and therefore it behoves us with all diligence to observe what the Holy Ghost hath left upon Record for our Instruction in this matter The Discourse of which may be reeferred to these three Heads 1. The Condition of Adam before he sinned 2. His Sin and the immediate Consequents thereof And 3. How God dealt with him in his fallen State of each I shall discourse but very briefly And first § 2. Concerning the Condition of Man before his Fall we may observe these things 1. That God made him a reasonable Creature and indued him with original Righteousness which was a Perfection necessary for the enabling of him to answer the End of his Creation and eminently in this respect he is said to be created in the Image of God Gen. 1. 26 27. and to be made upright Eccle. 7. 29. which Vprightness or Rectitude of Nature did consist in the perfect Harmony of his Soul with that Law of God which he was made under and subjected to which was 1. An eternal Law and invariable Rule of Righteousness whereby those things that are agreeable to the Holiness and Rectitude of the Divine Nature were required and whatsoever is contrary thereto was prohibited which Law was to Adam internal and subjective only being communicated to him with his reasonable Nature * Jus naturale est dictamen recte rationis judicans actui alicus ex ejus convenientiâ vel disconvenientiâ cum ipsâ naturâ rationali inesse moralem turpitudinem aut necessitatem moralem con 〈…〉 ab Authore Naturae ipso Deo talem accum aut Vetâ—â— aut 〈◊〉 Grot. This 〈…〉 Philosopher 〈…〉 eth it was Nota Artificis operi suo impressa And of some Dictates of the Law of Nature as I remember Cicero saith that with respect to them facti non docti imbuti non instructi 〈◊〉 and written in his heart so as that he needed no external Revelation to perfect his Knowledg of it And therefore in the History of his Creation there is no other account given of it but what is 〈…〉 which 〈…〉 have 〈…〉 that he was made in the Image of God which as the Apostle reacheth us doth consist in Righteousness and true Holiness Eph. 4. 24. The Sum of this Law was afterwards given in ten Words upon Mount Sinai and yet more briefly by Christ who reduceth it unto two great Commands respecting our Duty both to God and our Neighbour Mal. 22. 37-40 And this as a Law and Rule of Righteousness is in its own Nature immutable and invariable as is the Nature and will of God himself whose Holiness is stampt thereon and represented thereby 2. It pleased the 〈…〉 Majesty of Heaven to add into the eternal Law a 〈…〉 wherein it charged Man not to 〈◊〉 of the Fruit of one Tree in the midst of the Garden of Eden which Tree was called The Tree of the Knowledge of 〈◊〉 and Evil Gen. 2. 16 17. chap. 3. 3. The 〈◊〉 of this Fruit was not a thing evil in it self but 〈◊〉 was made so by divine Prohibition and therefore it was necessary that the Will of God concerning this should be expresly signified and declared unto Man who otherwise by the Light of Nature had been no more directed to 〈◊〉 from the Fruit of this Tree then of any other in the Garden nor indeed had he been under any Bond of Duty thereunto But the Command being once given forth this positive Law had its Foundations 〈◊〉 laid in the Law of Nature it being an 〈…〉 That it is a most righteous and reasonable thing that Man should obey God and that the Will of the Creature should ever be subject to the Will of the Creator And therefore the Heart of an upright Man could not but naturally close with and submit to the Will of God by any means made known unto him and there can be no Transgression of a positive Precept without the Violation of that eternal Law that is written in his Heart Secondly This Law was guarded by a Sanction in the threatning of Death to the Transgression thereof Gen. 2. 17. which Commination is delivered in Terms denoting the utmost Misery that can befall a reasonable Creature and the highest certainty of its befalling him in case of his Transgression In the day thou eatest thereof saith the Lord in dying thou shalt dye And this Sanction belonged not only to the positive Precept unto which it was expresly annexed but also to the Law of Nature the Demerit of the Transgression of which Law is known to man by the same Light as the Law it self is known to him and this is made good by the experience of Mankind even in their fallen State who do not only find some remaining Notions in themselves of the difference of Good and Evil and some sense of their Duty to embrace the one and eschew the other but also have a Conscience of Punishment due to the Transgression of these Dictates of their Reason And these Notions are connatural to them and therefore to be observed as well in those that have not as in those that have the Light of a written Law to guide them Rom. 1. 32. chap. 2. 15. And if it be thus with fallen Man then much more as the Law it self so also the Sanction thereof was perfectly and distinctly known unto Adam in his upright State whose Conscience was pure and his Mind irradiated with a clear Light as being perfectly free from those dark Fumes of sensual Lust wherewith the Reason and Judgment of his lapsed Offspring is darkned and perverted Thirdly Adam was not only under a Commination of Death in case of Disobedience but had also the Promise of an eternal Reward on condition of his perfect Obedience to these Laws which Condition if he had fulfilled the Reward had been due to him by vertue of this Compact that it pleased God to condescend unto for the incouraging of Man's Obedience and the manifestation of his own Bounty and Goodness § 3. Now that such a Promise of Reward was given to Adam and indeed implyed in the Commination of Death in case of Disobedience may be concluded 1. From the State and Capacity in which God set him which was a state of Tryal in a way to eternal Happiness under a Law of Works and exercise of Obedience which we cannot conceive of but as in order to some Reward and highest End proposed to him and in this way attainable by him 2. From the natural 〈◊〉 of Men to expect the Reward of 〈◊〉 Blessedness for their Obedience to the Law of God and to stand before him upon 〈◊〉 of a Covenant
whom they come for tho' they fall as so many Drops of Wrath that bode a dreadful Storm coming upon the wicked yet are they * De primâ igitur Corporis Morte aâ—ci potest quod bonis bona sit malis mala secunda vero sine dubio sicut nullorum bonorum est it a nulli bona Aug. De Civit. Dei Lib. 13. Cap. 2. all sanctifyed unto a Believer and turned into real Blessings which change the utmost Execution of the Curse is not capable of for eternal Punishment can never be turned into a Blessing upon any Yea supposing as there is Reason to do that God did not only promise a Redeemer to Adam before he pronounced this Sentence but also gave him Faith in the Promise it came immediately upon him as a fatherly Chastisment and not as a Fruit of unpacified Anger It is also true on the other side that the Godness and Forbearance of God is thro' the Wickedness of Man turned into a Judgment upon the Ungodly and Impenitent who abuse the day of his Patience unto the treasuring up of Wrath against the day of Wrath and Revelation of the righteous Judgment of God Rom. 2. 5. So that both temporal Mercies and temporal Evils are wholly subservient to the Design of God's Glory in the future and eternal State of Man and we may conclude there had been no such thing as temporal Death if there had not been a day of Patience 4. It is more than probable that at the same time or immediately after God did institute those bloody Sacrifices that were offered unto him from thenceforth and accepted by him when offered in Faith for the further Instruction of Man in the general Notion of the way of his Redemption by the promised Seed and for the Help and Confirmation of his Faith in the Promise Yea even the Coats of Skins which the Lord made and wherewith he cloathed Adam and Eve then confounded with the shame of their own Nakedness seem to be designed of God not only for a natural but also a mystical Vse were for their Instruction concerning that imputed Righteousness wherein they must now stand before him and without which they could find no acceptance with him Especially if these Coats were made of the Skins of those Beasts that Adam was then directed to offer in Sacrifice to God as some conjecture they were we can hardly imagine less to be intended thereby for no doubt with the Institution of Sacrifices something of the Vse and End of them was revealed unto Adam 5. This also must be noted That altho' the Covenant of Grace was thus far revealed unto Adam as we have heard yet we see in all this there was no formal and express Covenant-Transaction with him much less was the Covenant of Grace established with him as a publick Person or Representative in any kind but as he obtained Interest for himself alone in the Grace of God thus revealed by his own Faith so must those of his Posterity that are saved thereby And therefore altho' the Corruption of fallen Adam and the Guilt of his Fall be from him derived to all his Offspring because they were in him as a publick Person and foederal Root when he fell yet can they not derive from him any Interest in his renewed State or in the Grace or Holiness thereof seeing with respect thereunto God dealt with him only as a private Person and the Good of the Promise now given out was no more intrusted with him then with his Posterity or any of them in particular § 12. The State and Condition that the World of Adam's Posterity are now in is as followeth 1. They are all born in original Sin in the Image of the first Adam fallen and so under a broken Covenant being by Nature Children of Wrath unholy and without Strength 2. Yet are they necessarily under the Obligation of a Law to obey worship and serve their Creator tho' they have no Covenant-Interest in him for it is impossible and implies a Contradiction that reasonable Creatures should be brought forth into the World and not be subject to the Law of their Creator or that eternal Death should not be due to the Breach of that Law by them The Law of Creation binds when the Covenant of Creation is broken tho' the Transgression of Man hath forfeited his Interest in the one yet it cannot dissolve the Obligation of the other But yet 3. The World is set under a general Reprieve and the full Execution of the deserved Curse is delayed until the day of Judgment until which time the Children of Men are under a Dispensation of Goodness and sparing Mercy and so in a remote Capacity or Possibility of obtaining Salvation by Christ where it pleaseth God to send the Gospel the Dispensation of which is made effectual for the Salvation of all the Elect who are thereby gathered into the Kingdom of Christ 4. The Lord Christ hath undertaken in the close of his Mediatorial Kingdom when all his Sheep are brought into his Fold for whose sake alone the day of his Patience is lengthened out to the World to raise all Mankind again in an incorruptible State prepared for that eternal Duration unto which they were designed in their first Creation And then will he glorifie all those with himself for whom he hath satisfyed the Justice of God born the Curse of the Law and wrought out everlasting Righteousness who have been also called by his Grace to a Participation of these Benefits thro' Faith and others he will deliver up by a righteous Sentence unto the full Execution of that Curse upon them in its utmost Rigor which till then for the Ends aforesaid was suspended Of God's Covenant with Noah CHAP. III. The Children of God stated in a new Relation and their Obedience upon a new Foundation from the first Promise § 1. The Word of God the Rule of their Faith and Obedience how revealed to them § 2. Enoch's Translation the Instruction and Benefit the whole Church had thereby His Prophecy how written in the Old Testament § 3. The ordinary Propagation of the Church in those times Mixt Marriages one cause of the general Defection of Mankind Noah finds Grace in the Sight of God § 4. The Ark its typical Respect the general nature of such a Type illustrated by conference of some other like extraordinary Works of Providence The form of the Ark its mystical Vse how Baptism answers to the Ark Noah not altogether ignorant of the mystical Signification of the Ark How he became Heir of the Righteousness of Faith by building it § 5. The Covenant of God with Noah the establishing thereof at his entring into the Ark the Benefit of the Church thereby § 6. The farther management of God's foederal Transaction with Noah when he came out of the Ark the Promises obtained in the Interest of his Sacrifice what signified thereby The reason of his Name the particular Benefits of this