upon so just and gratious a God as may safely bring into suspicion and disgrace any doctrine which admits of so just an exception Now to this likewise the Apostle answeres God forbid The Law is not given to condemne or clogge men not to bring sinne or death into the world It was not promulgated with any intention to kill or destroy the Creature It is not sin in it selfe It is not death unto us in that sense as we preach it namely as subordinated to Christ and his Gospell Tnough as the rule of righâ—…eousnesse we preach deliverance from it because unto that purpose it is made impotent and invalid by the sinne of man which now it cannot prevent or remove but onely discover and condemne Both these Conclusions that the Law is neither sinne nor death I finde the Apostle before in this Epistle excellently proviâ—…g Vntill the Law sinne was in the world but sinne is not imputed where there is no Law neverthelesse death â—…atgned from Adam to Moses even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adams transgression That is as I conceive over those who did not sinâ—…e against so notable and evident Characters of the Law of nature written in their hearts as Adam in Paradise did for sinne had betweene Adam and Moses so obliterated and defaced the impressions of the morall Law that man stood in need of a new edition and publication of it by the hand of Moses That place serves thus to make good the purpose of the Apostle in this Sinne was in the world before the publication of the Law therefore the Law is not sinne But sinne was not imputed where there is no Law men were secure and did flatter themselves in their way were not apt to charge or condemne themselves for sin without a Law to force them unto it And therefore the Law did not come a new to beget sinne but to reveale and discover sinne Death likewise not onely was in the world but raigned even over all men therein before the publication of the Law Therefore the Law is not death neither There was Death enough in the world before the Law there was wickednesse enough to make condemnation raigne over all men therefore neither one nor other are naturall or essentiall consequences of the Law It came not to beget more sinne it came not to multiply and double condemnation there was enough of both in the world before Sinne enough to displease and provoke God death enough to devoure and torment men Therefore if the Law had beene usefull to no other purposes then to enrage sinne and condemne men if Gods wisedome and power had not made it appliable to more wholsome and saving ends he would never have new published it by the hand of Moses Here then the observation which from these words we are to make and it is a point of singular and speciall consequence to understand the use of the Law is this That the Law was revived and promulgated a new on Mount Sina by the ministery of Moses with no other then Evangelicall and mercifull purposes It is said in one place That the Lord hath no pleasure in the death of him that dyeth but it is said in another place That the Lord delighteth in mercie Which notes that God will doe more for the Salvation then he will for the damnation of men He will doe more for the magnifying of his mercy then for the multiplying of his wrath for if that require it he will revive and new publish the Law which to have aggravated the sinnes and so doubled the condemnation of men He would never have done Before I further evidence the truth of this doctrine It will be needefull to remove one Objection which doth at first proposall thereof offer it selfe If God will doe more for his mercie then for his wrath and vengeance why then are not more men saved then condemned If Hell shall bee more fill'd then Heaven is it not more then probable that wrath prevaileth against Grace and that there is more done for furie then there is for favour To wave the solution given by some That God will intentionally and effectually have every man to bee saved but few of that every will have themselves to be saved An explication purposâ—…ly contradicted by Saint Austin and his followers whose most profound and inestimable Iudgement the Orthodoxe Churches have with much admiration and assent followed in these points I rather choose thus to resolve that case It will appeare at the last great day that the saving of a few is a more admirable and glorious worke then the condemning of all the rest The Apostle saith That God shall bee gloryfied in his Saints and admired in those that beleeve For first God sheweth more mercie in saving some when He might have judged all then Iustice in Iudging many when he might have saved none For there is not all the Iustice which there might have beene when any are saved and there is more mercy then was necessary to haue beene when all are not condemned Secondly the Mercie and Grace of God in saving any is absolute and all from within himselfe out of the unsearchable riches of his owne will But the Iustice of God though not as essentiall in him yet as operatiâ—…e towards us is not Absolute but Conditionall and grounded upon the supposition of mans sinne Thirdly his Mercie is unsearchable in the price which procured it Hee himselfe waâ—… to humble and empty himselfe that he might shew mercie His mercie was to be purchased by his owne merit but his Iustice was provoked by the merit of sinne onely Fourthly Glory which is the fruite of Mercie is more excellent in a few then wrath and vengeance is in many as one bagge full of gold may bee more valuable then tenne of silver If a man should suppose that Gods mercy and Iustice being equally infinite and glorious in himselfe should therefore have the same equall proportion observed in the dispensation and revealing of them to the world wee might not therehence conclude that that proportion should be Arithmeticall that mercy should be extended to as many as severitie But rather as in the payment of a summe of mony in two equal portions whereof one is in golâ—… the other in silver though there bee an equalitie in the summes yet not in the pieces by which they are paide so in as much as Glory being the communicating of Gods owne blessed Vision Presence Love and everlasting Societie is farre more honourable and excellent then wrath therefore the dispensation of his Mercie in that amongst a few may bee exactly proportionable to the revelation of his Iustice amongst very many more in the other Suppose wee a Prince upon the just condemnation of a hundred malefactors should professe that as in his owne royall brest mercy and Iustice were equally poised and temper'd so he would observe an equall proportion of them both towards that number of
THREE TREATISES OF The Uanity of the Creature The Sinfulnesse of Sinne. The Life of Christ. BEING THE SVBSTANCE OF SEVERALL SERMONS PREACHED AT LINCOLNS INNE BY EDWARD REYNOLDES PREACHER to that Honourable Society and late Fellow of Merton Colledge in Oxford GAL. 2. 20. Not I but Christ liveth in me LONDON Imprinted by Felix Kyngston for Robert Bostocke and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Kings Head 1631. HONORATISSIMO ET CELEBERRIMO DOCTISSIMORVM Iurisprudentium Collegio Hospitij Lincolniensis Magistris Uenerabilibus Socijsque universis Auditoribus suis faventissimis EDWARDVS REYNOLDES EIDEM HETAERIAE A SACRIS CONCIONIBVS Tres hosce Tractatus De Rerum Secularium vanitate De Peccato supra modum peccante De Christi in Renatis vitâ ac vigore MINISTERII IBIDEM SVI 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quaedam Exile quidem perexiguum perpetuae tamen observantiae Summaeque in Christo Dilectionis pignus Humiliter Devotè D. D. D. A TABLE OF THE CONTENTS The first Treatise The Vanity of the Creature ECCLES 1. 14. PRoportion and Proprietie the grounds of satisfaction to the soule Pag. 3 The Creature insufficient to satisfie the Desires of the soule 4 The Ground hereof The vast disproportion betweene the soule and the Creature 7 The Creature vaine 1. in its nature and worth 9 Therefore wee should not trust in it nor swell with it 11 The Creature vaine 2. in its deadnesse and inefficacie 15 Therefore we should not relie on it nor attribute sufficiency to it 19 How to use the Creature as a dead Creature 1. Consider its dependence and subordination to Gods power 22 2. Sanctifie and reduce it to its primitive goodnesse 24 How the Creature is sanctified by the word and prayer 26 3. Love it in its owne order 34 The Creature vaine 3 in its duration 36 The Rootes of Corruption in the Creature 38 Corrupt mindes are apt to conceive an immortalitie in earthly things 46 The proceedings of Gods providence in the dispensation of earthlie things wise and iust 48 Correctives to be observed in the use of the Creature 1. Keepe the intellectuals sound and untainted 52 2. By faith looke through and above them 55 3. Convert them to holy uses 58 Great disproportion betweene the soule and the Creature It is vexation of spirit 59 Caresare Thornes because first they wound the spirit secondly they choak and overgrow the heart thirdly they deceive fourthly they vanish 59 Degrees of this vexation 1. In the procuring of them 62 2. In the multiplying of them 64 3. In the use of them Discovered 67 1. In knowledge naturall and civill 68 2. In Pleasures 70 3. In Riches 72 4. In the Review of them 74 5. In the disposing of them 75 The Grounds of this vexation 1. Gods Curse 76 2. The Corruption of nature 78 3. The deceitfulnesse of the Creature 80 It is lawfull to labour and pray for the Creature though it vex the spirit 84 We should be humbled in the sight of sinne which hath defaced the Creation 86 Wee should be wise to prevent those cares which the Creatures are apt to breed 89 Irregular cares are both superfluous and sinnefull 90 How to take away or prevent Vexation 1. Pray for that which is convenient to thy abilities and occasions 94 2. Take nothing without Christ. 95 3. Throw out every execrable thing 97 4. Keepe the spirit untouched and uncorrupted 98 What it is to set the heart on the Creature 99 The spirit is the most tender and delicate part of man 100 A heart set on the world is without strength◠Passive or Active 1. Vnable to beare temptations 1. Because Satan proportioneth temptations to our lusts 101 2. Because temptations are edg'd with promises and threatnings 105 3. God oftē gives wicked mē over to belieue lies 107 2. Vnable to beare afflictions 108 3. Vnable to performe any active obedience with strength 110 How to use the Creature as a vexing Creature 113 The second Treatise The sinfulnesse of Sinne. ROM 7. 9. NAturall light not sufficient to understand the Scriptures 118 How the Commandement came to Saint Paul and how hee was formerly without it 119 A man may have the Law in the Letter and be without it in the Power and Spirit 121 Ignorance doth naturally beget blind zeale and strong misperswasions 122 Saving knowledge is not of our owne fetching in The Spirit by the Commandement convinceth a man to be in the state of sinne 123 Nature teacheth some things but it cannot thorowly convince 125 The Spirit convinceth first by opening the Rule which is the Law 129 The strength of sinne twofold to Condemne us Operate or stirre in us It hath the strength of a Lord. 129 Husband 129 How sinne hath its life and strength from the Law by the Obligation of it 130 Irritation of it 130 Conviction of it 130 The Spirit by the Commandement convinceth us 1. Of Originall sinne either imputed as Adams sin 134 Or inherent as the corruption of Nature 135 In naturall corruption consider 1. The universalitie of it in Times 136 Persons 136 Parts 136 Corruption of the Minde 139 the Conscience and Heart 140 the Will 141 the Memory and whole man 142 2. The closenesse and adherency of it to nature 143 How the body of sinne is destroyed in this life 144 Why God suffereth the remainders of corruption in us 147 3. The contagion of it on our best workes 149 4. The fruitfulnesse of it bringing fruit suddenly 151 continually 151 desperately 151 unexpectedly 151 5. The temptations of it 155 6. The warre and rebellion of it 157 7. The wisedome and policies of it 161 8. The strength and power of it 164 9. The madnesse of it and that twofold 1. Fiercenesse and rage 167 2. Inconsideratenesse and inconsistency of reason 184 10. The indefatigablenesse of it 185 Being naturall and 186 Unsatisfiable 188 11. The propagation of it 193 The great error of those who either mitigate or denie originall sinne 199 In our humiliations for sinne we should begin with our evill nature 212 We should be iealous of our selves and our evill hearts 213 We should hold warre with our corruptions 215 We should be patient under the weight of our concupiscence 216 Wherein the strength of lust lies 218 How to withstand concupiscence in all the wayes thereof 221 The Spirit by the Commandement convinceth us 2. Of actuall sin with the severall aggravations thereof 226 The Spirit convinceth 2. by discovering the condition of the state of sinne 1. It is an estate of extreme impotency to good 233 because of our naturall Impuritie 234 Enmity 234 Infidelitie 234 Folly 234 In the wicked there is a totall impotency 237 Whether all the workes of naturall men are sinfull 237 How God rewardeth the good workes of wicked men 244 How the good workes of wicked men proceed from Gods Spirit 245 Whether a wicked man ought to omit his almes prayers and religious
sinne Aberration from Gods Image obnoxiousnesse to his wrath and rejection from his presence Staine Guilt and miserie which is the product or issue of the two former Now as wee say Rectum est sui index obliqui The Law is such a Rule as can measure and set forth all this evill Ir is Holy Iust and Good Rom. 7. 12. Holy fit to conforme us to the image of God Iust fit to arme vs against the wrath of God and Good fit to present us unto the presence and fruition of God According unto this blessed and complete patterne was man created An universall rectitude in his nature all parts in tune all members in joynt light and beauty in his minde conformity in his will subordination and subjection in his appetites serviceablenesse in his body peace and happinesse in his whole being But man being exactly sensible of the excellency of his estate gave an easie ◅are to that first temptation which layd before him a hope and project of improving it and so beleeving Satans lye and embracing a shadow he fell from the substance which before he had and contracted the hellish and horrid image of that Tempter which had thus deceiv'd him Having thus consider'd in the generall how the Law may be said to quicken or revive sinne by the obligation Irritation and Conviction of it Wee will in the next place looke into the life of those particular species or ◅ankes of sinne which the spirit in the Commandement doth convince men of Wherein I shall insist at large onely upon that sinne which is the subject of this whole Chapter and if not solely yet principally aim'd at by the Apostle in my Text namely those evils which lye folded up in our originall concupiscence Here then first the Spirit by the Law entiseth vs to Adams Sinne as a derivation from the root to the branches As poison is carried from the fountaine to the Cisterne as the children of traytors have their blood ◅ainted with their Fathers treason and the children of bondslaves are under their parents condition We were all one in Adam and with him In him legally in regard of the stipulation and covenant between God and him we were in him parties in that covenāt had interest in the mercy were liable to the curse which belonged to the breach of that Covenant and in him naturally and therefore unavoidably subject to all that bondage and burden which the humane nature contracted in his fall And though there be risen up a sect of men who deny the sinne of Adam to be our sinne or any way so by God accounted and to us imputed yet certaine it is that before that arch-heretick Pelagius and his disciple Caelestius did vex the Churches never any man denied the guilt of Adams sinne and guilt is inseparable from the sinne it selfe being a proper passion of it to belong to all his posterity This then is the first charge of the spirit upon us participation with Adam in his sinne And in as much as that Commandement unto Adam was the primitive Law so justly required so easily observed therefore exceeding great must needs be the Transgression of it Pride Ambition Rebellion Infidelity Ingratitude Idolatry Concupissence ◅heft Apostacy unnaturall Affection Violation of covenant and an universall renunciation of Gods mercy promised these the like were those wofull ingredients which compounded that sinne in the committing wherof wee all were sharers because Adams person was the Fountaine of ours and Adams Will the Representative of ours The second charge is touching universall corruption which hath in it Two great evils First A generall defect of all righteousnesse and holinesse in which wee were at first created and secondly an inherent Deordination pravitie evill disposition disease propension to all mischiefe Antipathy and aversation from all good which the Scripture calls the flesh the wisdome of the flesh the body of sinne earthly members the Law of the members the workes of the Divell the lusts of the Divell the Hell that sets the whole course of nature on fire And this is an evill of the through malignity whereof no man can be so sensibly and distinctly convinc'd as in the evidence of that conviction to cry out against it with such strange strong and bitter complaints as Saint Paul doth till his understanding be by Christ opened to understand the Spiritualnesse penetration and compasse of that holy Law which measureth the very bottome of every action and condemneth as well the originals as the acts of sinne And hence it is that many men pleade for this sinne as onely an evill of nature rather troublesome then sinnefull That concupiscence was not contracted by nature de novo in the fall but that it is annexed to nature by the Law of Creation that it belongeth to the constitution and condition of a sensitive Creature and that the bridle of originall and supernaturall Ri◅hteousnesse being remou'd the Rebellion of the fleshly against the spirituall that is as these men most ignorantly affirme of the sensuall against the reasonable part which was by that before suspended did discover it selfe It will not bee therefore a misse to open unto you what it is to be in the State of originall sinn◅ and what evils they are which the Commandement doth so discover in that sinne as thereby to make a man feele the burden of his owne nature smell the sinke and stinch of his owne bosome and so as the Prophet speakes abhorre himselfe and never open his mouth any more either proudly to justifie himselfe or foolishly to charge God but to admire and adore that mercy which is pleas'd to save and that power which is able to cure so leprous and uncleane a thing First consider the universalitie of this sinne and that manifold Vnivers◅litie of Times from Adam to Mos◅s even when the Law of Creation was much defaced and they that sinned did not sinne after the similitude of Adam against the cleare Revelation of Gods pure and holy will For that I take to be the meaning of the Apostle in those words Untill the Law sinne was in the world but sinne is not imputed where there is no Law Though the Law seemed quite extinct betweene Adam and Moses in the wicked of the world and with it sinne because sinne hath no strength where there is no Law though men had not any such legible Characters of Gods will in their nature as Adam had at first and therefore did not sinne after the similitude of his prevarication yet even from Adam to Moses did sinne reigne over all them even the sinne of Adam and that lust which that sinne contracted And if sinne reigned from Adam to Moses in that time of ignorance when the Law of not lusting was quite extinct out of the minds of men much more from Moses after for the Law
Adams sinne may be thus farre said to be unto posterity imputed as that by reason of it they become obnoxious unto Death namely to an eternall dissolution of body and soule without any reunion and an eternall losse of the divine vision without any paine of sense yet that death which to Adam in his person was a punishment is not so to his posteritie but onely the condition of their nature Thirdly they say that that which is called originall sinne is nothing else at all but onely the privation of originall righteousnesse and that concupiscence was 〈◊〉 contracted and brought upon nature by sinne but was originally in our nature suspended indeede by the presence but actuated by the losse of that righteousnesse Fourthly they say That that Privation was not by man contracted but by God inflicted as a punishment upon Adam from whom it comes but onely as a condition of nature unto us that man in his fall and prevarication did not Throw away or actually shake off the Image of God but God pull'd it away from him which if God had not done it would have remained with him notwithstanding the sinne of the first fall Fifthly they say That in as much as the privation of originall righteousnesse was a punishment by God upon Adam justly inflicted and by Adam unto us naturally and unavoidably propagated It is not therefore to be esteem'd any sinne at all neither for it can God justly condemne any man nor is it to be esteem'd a punishment of sinne in us though it were in Adam because in us there is no sinne going before it of which it may bee accounted the punishment as there was in Adam but onely the condition of our present nature Lastly they say that Adam being by God deprived of originall righteousnesse which is the facultie and fountaine of all obedience and being now constituted under the deserved curse all the debt of legall obedience wherein he and his posteritie in him were unto God obliged did immediately cease so that whatsoever outrages should after that have beene by Adam or any of his children committed they would not have beene sinnes or transgressions nor involv'd the Authors of them in the guilt of iust damnation That which unto us reviveth sin is the new covenant because therein is given unto the law new strength to command and unto us new strength to obey both which were evacuated in the fall of Adam Vpon which premises it doth most evidently follow that unlesse God in Christ had made a covenant of grace with us anew no man should ever have beene properly and penally damned but onely Adam and he too with no other then the losse of Gods presence For â—… Hell and torments are not the revenge of Legall but of Evangelicall disobedience not for any actuall sinnes for there would have beene none because the exaction of the Law would have ceased and where there is no Law there is no transgression not for the want of righteousnesse because that was in Adam himselfe but a punishment and in his posteritie neither a sinne nor a punishment but onely a condition of nature not for habituall concupiscence because though it be a disease and an infirmitie yet it is no sinne both because the being of it is connaturall and necessary and the operations of it inevitable and unpreventable for want of that bridle of supernaturall righteousnesse which was appointed to keepe it in Lastly not for Adams sinne imputed because being committed by another mans will it could bee no mans sinne but his that committed it So that now upon these premises we are to invert the Apostles words By one man namely by Adam sinne entered into the world upon all his posterity and death by sinne By one man namely by Christ tanquam per causam sine quâ non sinne returned into the world upon all Adams posteritie and with sinne the worst of all deaths namely hellish torments which without him should not haue beene at all O how are wee bound to prayse God and recount with all honour the memorie of those Worthies who compiled Our Articles which serue as a hedge to keepe out this impious and mortiferous doctrine as Fulgentius cals it from the Church of England and suffers not Pelagius to returne into his owne country There are but three maine arguments that I can meet with to colour this heresie and two of them were the Pelagians of old First that which is naturall and by consequence necessarie and unavoidable cannot be sinne Originall sinne is naturall necessarie and unavoidable therefore it is no sin Secondly that which is not voluntarie cannot be sinfull Originall sinne is not voluntarie therefore not sinfull Thirdly no sinne is immediatly caused by God but originall sinne being the privation of originall righteousnesse is from God immediately who pull'd away Adams righteousnesse from him Therfore it is no sinne For the more distinct understanding the whole truth and answering these supposed strong reasons give me leave to premise these observations by way of Hypothesis First there are Two things in originall sinne The privation of righteousnesse and the corruption of nature for since originall sinne is the roote of actuall and in actuall sinnes there are both the omission of the good which we ought to exercise and positive contumaâ—…ies against the Law of God therefore a vis formatrix something answerable to both these must needs be found in originall sinne This positive corruption for in the other all agree that it is originall sinne is that which the Scripture cals flâ—…sh and members and law and lusts and bodie and Saint Austin vitiousnesse inobedience or inordinatenesse and a morbid affection Consonant whereunto is the Article of our Church affirming that man by originall sinne is farre gone from righteousnesse which is the privation secondly that thereby he is of his owne nature enclined unto evill which is the pravitie or corruption and this is the doctrine of many learned papists Secondly the Law being perfect and spirituall searcheth the most intimate corners of the soule and reduceth under a law the very rootes and principles of all humane operations And therefore in aâ—… much as well being is the ground of well working and that the Tree must be good before the fruite therefore wee conclude that the Law is not onely the Rule of our workes but of our strength not of our life only but of our nature which being at first deliver'd into our hands entire and pure cannot become degenerate without the offence of those who did first betray so great a trust committed unto them Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God Exâ—…ni valdâ—… tuo with all thy might saith the Law it doth not only require us to love but to have mindes furnish'd with all strength to love God so that there may be life and vigoâ—… in our obedience and love of him The Law requires no
side Love of lusts and pride of heart can never consist with obedience to the word Nehem. 9. 16. Ier. 13. 17. 43. 2. Thirdly converting and saving knowledge is not of our owne fetching in or gathering but it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Doctrine that comes unto us and is brought by that sacred blast of the spirit which bloweth where he lifteth We doe not first come and are then taught but first we are taught and then we Come Ioh. 6. 45. Esai 55. 5. 65. 1. we must take heed of attributing to our selves boasting of our owne sufficiencies congtuities preparations concurrencies contributions unto the word in the saving of us Grace must prevent follow assist us preoperate and cooperate Christ must be All in All the Author and the Finisher of our faith of our selves we can doe nothing but disable our selves resist the spirit and pull downe whatever the word doth build up within us Ever therefore in humility waite at the poole where the spirit stirres Give that honour to Gods ordinances as when hee bids thee doe no great thing but onely wash and be cleane heare and beleeve beleeve and be saved not stoutly to cast his Law behinde thy backe but to humble thy selfe to walke with thy God and to see his name and power in the voyce which cryes unto thee Fourthly though sinne seeme dead to secure civill morall superstitiously zealous men in regard of any present sense or sting yet all that while it is alive in them and will certainely when the booke shall be opened either in the ministry of the word to conversion or in the last judgement to condemnation reviue againe All these points are very naturall to the Text but I should be too long a stranger to the course I intend if I should insist on them I returne therefore to the maine purpose Here is the state of sinne sinne revived the Guilt of sinne I died the Conviction of it by the spirit bringing the spirituall sense of the Commandement and writing it in the heart of a man and so pulling him away from his owne Conclusions The Doctrines then which I shall insist on are these two First the spirit by the Commandement convinceth a man to be in the state of sinne Secondly the spirit by the Commandement convinceth a man to be in the state of death because of sinne To convince a man that he is in the state of sinne is To make a man so to set to his owne seale and serious acknowledgement to this truth That he is a sinner as that withall he shall feele within himselfe the qualitie of that estate and in humility and selfe-abhorrencie conclude against himselfe all the naughtinesse and loathsome influences which are proper to kindle and catch in his nature and person by reason of that estate and so not in expression onely but in experience not in word but in truth not out of feare but out of loathing not out of constraint but most willingly not out of formality but out of humility not according to the generall voyce but out of a serious scrutinie and selfe examination loade and charge himselfe with all the noisomenesse and venome with all the dirt and garbage with all the malignitie and frowardnesse that his nature and person doe abound withall even as the waves of the sea with mire and dirt and thereupon justifie almighty God when he doth charge him with all this yea if he should condemne him for it Now we are to shew two things First that a meere naturall light will never thus farre convince a man Secondly that the spirit by the Commandement doth Some things nature is sufficient to teach God may be felt and found out in some fence by those that ignorantly worship him Nature doth convince men that they are not so good as they should be the Law is written in the hearts of those that know nothing of the letter of it Idlenesse beastiality lying luxury the Cretian poet could condemne in his owne countrey-men Drinking of healths ad plenoscalices by measure and constraint condemn'd by Law of a heathen prince and that in his luxurie Long haire condemn'd by the dictate of nature and right reason and the reason why so many men and whole nations notwithstanding use it is given by Saint Hierome Quia à natura deciderunt sicut multis alijs rebus comprobatur And indeede as Tertullian saith of womens long haire that it is Humilitatis suae sarcina the burden as it were of their Humility so by the warrant of that proportion which Saint Paul allowes 1. Cor. 11. 14. 15. We may call mens long haire Superbiae suae sarcinam nothing but a clogge of pride Saint Austin hath written three whole chapters together against this sinfull custome of nourishing haire which hee saith is expressely against the precept of the Apostle whom to vnderstand otherwise then the very letter sounds is to wrest the manifest words of the Apostle unto a perverse construction But to returne these Remnants of nature in the hearts of men are but like the blazes and glimmerings of a candle in the socket there is much darknes mingled with them Nature cannot throughly convince 1. Because it doth not carry a man to the Roote Adams sinne concupiscence and the corrupted seeds of a fleshly minde reason conscience will c. Meere nature will never Teach a man to feele the waight and curse of a sinne committed aboue five thousand yeeres before himselfe was borne to feele the spirits of sinne running in his bloud and sprouting out of his nature into his life one uncleane thing out of another to mourne for that filthinesse which he contracted in his conception Saint Paul professeth that this could not bee learned without the Law 2. Because it doth not carry a man to the Rule which is the written Law in that mighty widenesse which the Prophet David found in it Nature cannot looke upon so bright a thing but through vailes and glosses of its owne Evill hateth the light neither commeth to the light cannot endure a through scrutinie and ransacking left it should be reproved When a man lookes on the Law through the mist of his owne â—…usts he cannot but wrest and torture it to his owne way Saint Peter gives two reasons of it because such men are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. Pet. 3. 16. 1. Vnlearned men namely in the mysterie of Godlinesse have not been taught of God what the truth is in Iesus till that time a man will never put off his lusts but defend them and rather make crooked the rule coine distinctions and evasions upon the law it selfe then judge himselfe and give glory to God 2. Fickle unstable men men apt to be tossed up and downe like empty clouds with every blast never rooted nor grounded in the love of the truth unstedfast in the Covenant of God that lay not hold on it
that original righteousnes which he at the first put into him and appointing him to bee the head and fountaine of all mankind not only in nature but in foro-too in regard of legall proceeding with-held from him and his seed that Gift which was freely by him in the Creation bestowed and willfully by Adam in the fall reiâ—…cted and adjudg'd this miserie upon him that hee should passe over to all his posterity the immediate fruit of his first prevarication which was originall sinne contracted by his owne default and as it were issuing out of his willfull disobedience upon him because they all were in him interessed as in their head and father in that first transgression Thus have I at large opened those many great evils which this sinne hath in it that life of concupiscence which the Apostle here speaketh of I cannot say of it as the Romane Epitomizer of his Historie Iâ—… brevit abella totanteius imagiâ—…m amplexâ—… suâ—… that in a small compasse I have comprized the whole Image of old Adam but rather cleane contrary In amplatabull non dimidiam eius imaginem amplexus sum The halfe of this sinne hath not all this while beene described unto you Now therefore to conclude this Argument wherein I have been the larger both because of the necessarinesse of it that we may know whither to rise in our humiliations for sinne and because it is the principall sâ—…ope of the Apostle in the place and serves most abundantly to shew our owne everlasting insufficiency for happinesse in our selves we see by these things which have been discovered in this sin at what defiance we ought to stand with the doctrine of those men first who mince and qualifie and extenuate this sinne as the Papists doe making it the smallest of all sinnes not deserving any more of Gods wrath then onely a want of his beatificall presenâ—…e and that too without any paine or sorrow of minde which might be apt to grow from the apprehension of so great a losse nay not onely denying it after Baptisme to bee a sinne but onely the seed of sinne an evill disease langvor tyranny and impotency of nature but that even in the wicked themselves concupiscence is rather imputed for sinne then is really and formally sinne notwithstanding it be forbidden in the Commandement and upon these presumptions reviling the doctrine of the Reformed Divines for exaggerating this sinne as that which overspreadeth in its beeing all our nature and in its working all our lives Secondly of those who heretofore and even now deny any sinfulnesse either in the privation of the Image of God or in the concupiscence and deordination of our nature It was the doctrine of the Pelagians in the primitive times that mans nature was not corrupted by the fall of Adam that his sinne was not any ground to his posterity either of death or of the merit of death that sinne comes from Adam by imitation not by propagation That Baptisme doth not serve in Infants for remission of sinne but onely for adoption and admission into Heaven that as Christs righteousnesse doth not profit those which beleeve not so Adams sinne doth not prejudice nor injure those that actually sinne not That as a righteous man doth not beget a righteous Childe so neither doth a sinner beget a Childe guilty of sinne That all sinne is voluntary and therefore not naturall That Marriage is Gods ordinance and therefore no instrument of transmitting sinne That concupiscence being the punishment of sinne cannot bee a sinne likewise These and the like Antitheses unto Orthodox Doctrine did the Pelagians of old maintaine And as it is the policy of Satan to keepe alive those heresies which may seeme to have most reliefe from proud and corrupted reason and doe principally tend to keepe men from that due humiliation and through-conviction of sinne which should drive them to Christ and magnifie the riches of Christs Grace to them there are not wanting at this day a broode of sinfull men who notwithstanding the evidence of Scripture and the consent of all Antiquitie doe in this Point concurre with those wicked Heretikes and deny the originall corruption of our nature to bee any sinne at all but to be the work of Gods owne hands in Paradise nay deny further the very imputation of Adams sinne to any of his posterity for sinne And now because in this point they doe expressely contradict not onely the Doctrine of holy Scriptures the foundation of Orthodox Faith the consent of Ancient Doctors and the Rule of the Catholike Church but in no lesse then foure or five particulars doe manifestly oppose the doctrine of the Church of England in this Point most evidently delivered in one article for the Article saith Man is Gone from originall righteousnesse they say Man did not goe away from it but God snatched it away from man the Article saith that by Originall sinne Man is enclined unto evill and calleth it by the name of concupiscence and lust they say that Originall sinne is onely the privation of righteousnes and that concupiscence is a concreated and originall condition of nature the Article saith that the flesh lusteth alwayes contrary to the spirit they say in expresse termes that this is false and that the flesh when it lusteth indeed doth lust against nothing but the spirit and that the Apostle in that place meant onely the Galatians and not all spirituall or regenerate men the Article saith that this lust deserveth Gods wrath and condemnation they say that it doth not deserve the hatred of God and lastly the Article saith that the Apostle doth confesse that concupiscence and lust hath of it selfe the nature of sinne they say that it is not properly either a sinne or a punishment of sinne but onely the condition of nature in all these respects it will be needfull to lay downe the truth of this great Point and to vindicate it from the proud disputes of such bold Innovators And first let us see by what steps and gradations the Adversaries of this so fundamentall a doctrine which as Saint Austin saith is none of those in quibus optimi fidei Catholicae defensores salvâ fidei compage inter se aliquando 〈◊〉 consonant wherein Orthodox Doctors may differ and abound in their owne sense doe proceed to denie the sinfulnesse of that which all Ages of the Church have called Sinne. First they say That the Sinne of Adam is not any way the sinne of his posterity that it is against the nature of sinne against the goodnesse wisedome and truth of God against the rule of Equitie and Iustice that Infants who are Innocent in themselves should bee accounted Nocent iu another therein taking away Baptisme for remission of sinnes from Infants who being not borne with guilt of Adams sinne stand yet in no neede of any purgation Secondly they say that though
more love then strength therefore if it did not of us require strength to love but onely suppose it it could require no love neither for the Apostle tels us that by nature we are without strength So that if the meaning of the Law be onely this Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all the strength which thou hast and not this Thou shalt love him with all the strength that I require thee 〈◊〉 have and that I at first gave thee so that the strength and faculty as well as the love and duty may câ—…dere sub prâ—…cepto fall under the command the meaning of the Law would amount but to this Thou shalt not or needest not to love the Lord thy God at all because thou hast no strength so to doe and art not to be blamed for having none Thirdly it is not the being voluntary or involuntâ—… that doth make a thing sinfull or not sinfull but being opposite to the Rule which requires complete strength to serve God withall Now all a mans strength is not in his will the understanding affections and bodie have their strength which failing though the will bee never so prompt yet the worke is not done with that perfection which the Law requires yet withall wee are to note in this point two things First That originall sinne is â—…do voluntarie too because brought in by that will which was originally ours for this is a true rule in divinity Voluntas capitis totius naturae voluntas reputatur that Adams will was the will of all mankind and therfore this sinne being voluntarie in him and hereditarie unto us is esteemed in some sort voluntary unto us too Secondly that a thing may be voluntarie two wayes First efficienter when the will doth positively concurre to the thing which is done Secondly Deficienter when the will is in fault for the thing which is done though it were not done by it selfe For wee must note that all other faculties were at first appointed to be subject to the will were not to move but upon her allowance and conduct and therefore when lust doth prevent the consent and command of the will it is then manifest that the will is wanting to her office for to her it belongs to suppresse all contumacie and to forbid the doing of any illegall thing And in this sense I understand that frequent speech of Saint Austen That sinne is not sin except it be voluntarie that is sinne might altogether be prevented if the will it selfe had its primitive strength and were able to exercise uprightly that office of government and moderation over the whole man which at first it was appointed unto Which thing the same Father divinely hath expressed in his confessions What a monstrous thing is this saith he that the minde should command the body and be obeyed and that it should command it selfe and bee resisted His answer is The will is not a totall will and therefore the command is not a totall command for if the will were so throughlie an enemie to lust as it ought to be it would not be quiet till it had dis-throned it These things being premised wee conclude That as our nature is universally vitiated and defil'd by Adam so that pollution which from him wee derive is not onely the languor of nature the condition and calamitie of mankinde the wombe seed fomenter formative vertue of other sins but is it self truly and properly sin or to speak in the phrase of the Church of England hath of it selfe the nature of sin First where there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 transgression there is sin in this sin there is more for there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rebellion and antipathie against the whole Law therefore concupiscence is sin Secondly That which inferres death and makes men naturally children of wrath is sinne but lust and fleshly concupiscence reviving bringeth death and wrath therefore it is sinne Thirdly where there is an excesse of sinne that thing must needs be sinfull but concupiscence by the commandement is exceeding sinfull ergo Fourthly that which is hatefull is evill and sinfull for God made all things beautifull and good and therefore very lovely but concupiscence is hatefull what I hate that I do Fifthly that which quickneth to all mischiefe and indisposeth to all good must needs be sinfull as shee that tempteth and solliciteth to adulterie may justly be esteem'd a harlot but concupiscence tempteth draweth enticeth begetteth conceiveth indisposeth to good and provoketh to evill therefore it is sinne Sixthly that which is hellish and divelish must needs be sinnefull for that is an argument in the Scripture to prove a thing to be exceeding evil but concupiscence is even the Hell of our nature and lusts are divelish Therefore they are sinfull too Nemo se palpet saith Saint Austen desus Satanas est de Deo beatus Let no man sooth or flatter himselfe his happinesse is from God for of himselfe he is altogether diuelish Seventhly that which was with Christ crucified is sinne for hee bore our sinne is his body upon the tree but our flesh and concupiscence was with Christ crucified They that are Christs have crucified the flâ—…sh with the affections and lusts Therefore it is sin Lastly that which is washed away in Baptisme is sinne for Baptisme is for remission of sinnes but concupiscence and the body of sinne is done away in Baptisme Therefore it is sinne And this is the frequent argument of the ancient Doctors against the Pelagians to prove that infants had sinne in their nature because they were baptized unto the remission of sinnes To give some answer then to those pretended reasons To the first wee confesse that nothing can bee toto genere Necessarie and yet sinfull neither is originall sinne in that sort necessary to the nature in it selfe though to the nature in persons proceeding from Adam it be necessarie For Adam had free will and wee in him to have kept that originall righteousnesse in which wee were created and what was to him sinfull was to us likewise because wee all were one in him Wee are then to distingvish of naturall and necessarie for it is either primitive and created or consequent and contracted necessity the former would indeed void sin because God doth never first make things impossible and then command them but the latter growing out of mans owne will originally must not therefore nullifie the Law of God because it disableth the power of man for that were to make man the Lord of the Law To the second three things are to be answer'd First The sinfulnesse of a thing is grounded on its disproportion to the Law of God not to the will of man Now Gods Law sets bounds and moderates the operations of all other powers and parts as well as of the wil. And therfore the Apostle complaines of his sinfull concupiscence even when his wil was in a readines to desire
the good and refuse the evill Ro. 7. 18. Secondly no evil lust riseth or stirreth though it prevent the consent of the will but the wil may be esteemed faultie not in this that it consented unto it but in this that it did not as it ought to have done hinder and suppresse it For the stirrings of lust before the will is their usurpation and inordinatenesse not their nature which therefore the will according to that primitive soveraignty which in mans nature shee had ought to rectifie and order againe Thirdly originall sin though to persons it be not yet to the nature it was voluntarie and to the persons in Adam as in their common Father for with them otherwise then in him no covenant could be made and even in humane lawes the Acts of parents can circumscribe their children To the third wee utterly deny that God did take away originall righteousnesse from man but he Threw it away himselfe God indeed with-holds it and doth not obtrude againe that upon us which wee rejected before but he did not snatch it away but man in sinning did nullifie it to himselfe For what was righteousnesse in Adam but perfect and universall rectitude whereby the whole man was sweetly order'd by Gods law and within himselfe now Adams sinne having so many evils in it as it had pride ambition ingratitude robberie luxurie idolatry murther and the like needs must that sinne spoile that originall righteousnesse which was and ought to bee universall Secondly wee grant that originall sinne is not onely a fault but a punishment too but that the one of these should destroy the other wee utterly denie for which purpose wee may note that a punishment may be either by God inflicted in its whole being or by man in the substance of the thing contracted and by God in the penall relation which it carries ordered It is true no punishment from God inflicted upon man can bee in the substance of the thing sinfull but that which man brings upon himselfe as a sinne Gods wisedome may order to be a punishment too When a prodigall spends his whole estate upon uncleannesse is not his povertie both a sinne and a punishment when a drunkard or adulterer brings diseases upon his bodie and drownes his reason is not that impotencie and sottishnesse both sinne and punishment did not God punish Pharaoh with hardnesse of heart and the gentiles with vile affections and yet these were sinnes as well as punishments To expedite this point in one word as I conceive of it Two things are in this sinne Privation of Gods Image and lust or habituall concupiscence The privation is in regard of the first losse of righteousnesse from Adam alone by his voluntarie depraving of the humane nature and excussion of the image of God but in regard of the Continuance of it so deficienter Gods justice and wisedome hath a hand in it who as he is the most just avenger of his owne wrongs and the most free disposer of his owne gifts so hath hee in both respects been pleased to whith-hold his image formerly rejected and not to obtrude upon ingratefull and unworthy men so pretious an endowment of which the former contempt and indignitie had justly made them ever after destitute Concupiscence wee may conceive both as a disorder and as a penaltie Consider it as a punishment and so though it bee not by God effected in nature for he tempteth no man much lesse doth hee corrupt any yet is it subject to his wisedome and ordination who after he had been by Adam forsaken did then forsake him likewise and give him up into the hand of his owne counsell leaving him to transmit upon others that seminarie of uncleannesse which himselfe had contracted Consider it as a vice and so wee say that lust or flesh doth not belong to the parts as such or such parts but is the disease of the whole nature either part whereof though it doe not equally descend from Adam yet may hee justly bee esteem'd the Father and Fountaine of the whole nature because though generation doe not make all the materials and parts of nature yet doth it worke to the uniting of them and constituting of the whole by them So then naturall corruption is from Adâ—…m alone meritoriously by reason of his first prevarication from Adam by our parents seminally and by generation and contagion but under favour I conceive that it is not from the body in the soule but equally and universally from the whole nature as a guilty forsaken and accursed nature by some secret and ineffable resultancie therefrom under those relations of Guilt and cursednesse This with submission to the learned I conceive in that great question touching the penalenesse and traduction of originall concupiscence reserving to others their libertie in such things wherein a latitude of opinions may consist with the unitie of faith and love But to returne to those things which are more for practice This doctrine of originall sinne doth direct us in our humiliations for sinne shewes us whither wee should rise in judging and condemning our selves even as high as our fleshly lusts and corrupt nature Let not any man say saith S. Iames that he was tempted of God I shall goe further Let not any man say of himselfe by way of excuse extenuation or exoneration of himselfe I was tempted of Satan or of the World and who can be too hard for such enemies who can withstand such strong solicitations Let not any man resolve his sinnes into any other originall then his owne lusts Our perdition is totally of our selves wee are assaulted by many enemies but it is one onely that over commeth us even our owne flesh Saint Paul could truly say It was no more I that sinned but did he charge his sinnes therefore upon Satan or upon the World No though it was not he yet it was something that did belong unto him an inmate a bosome enemie even sinne that dwelt within him It is said that Satan provoked David to number the people and yet Davids heart smote himselfe and did not charge Satan with the sinne because it was the lust of his owne heart that let in and gave way to Satans temptation If there were the same minde in us as in Christ that Satan could finde no more in us to mingle his temptations with all then hee did in him they would be equally successelesâ—…e but this is his greatest advantage that he hath our evill nature to helpe him and hold intelligence with him And therefore wee must rise as high as that in our humiliations for sinne For that will keepe us ever humble because concupiscence will be ever stiâ—…ring in 〈◊〉 and it will make us throughly humble because thereby sinne is made altogether our owne when wee attribute it not to casualties or accidentall miscarriages but to our nature as David did In sinne was I shaped and in iniquitie did my mother conceive me
even as a nurse her infant Secondly Holynesse must needes consist in a Conformitie unto Christ if wee consider the nature of it Wee are then Sanctified when wee are re-endued with that Image of God after which we were at first created Some have conceived that we are therefore said to bee created after Gods Image because wee were made after the Image of Christ who was to come but this is contradicted by the Apostle who saith that Adam was the figure of Christ and not Christ the patterne of Adam yet that created Holynesse is renewed in us after the Image of Christ. As we have borne the image of the earthly Adam who was taken out of the Earth an image of sinne and guilt So wee must beare the Image of the Heavenly Adam who is the Lord from Heaven an Image of Life and Holynesse We were predestinated saith the Apostle to be conformed unto the Image of the Sonne Conformed in his Nature Holynesse in His End Happynesse and in the way thereunto Sufferings We all saith he beholding with open face as in a glasse that is in Christ or in the face of Christ the Glory of God are changed into the same Image with Christ He the Image of his Father and we of Him from glory to glory that is either from glory inchoate in obedience and grace here for the Saints in their very sufferings are glorious and conformable to the Glory of Christ The Spirit of Glory is upon you in your reproaches for Christ unto Glory consummate in Heaven and Salvation here after or from glory to glory that is Grace for Grace the Glorious Image of Gods Holynesse in Christ fashioning and producing it selfe in the hearts of the faithfull as an Image or species of light shining on a glasse doth from thence fashion it selfe on the wall or in another glasse Holynesse is the Image of God now in an Image there are two things required First a similitude of one thing unto another Secondly A Deduction derivation impression of that similitude upon the one from the other and with relation thereunto For though there bee the similitude of snow in milke yet the one is not the image of the other Now then when an image is universally lost that no man living can furnish his neighbour with it to draw from thence another for himselfe there must be recourse to the prototype and originall or else it cannot bee had Now in Adam there was an universall obliteration of Gods Holy Image out of himselfe and all his posteritie Vnto God therefore Himselfe wee must have recourse to repaire this Image againe But how can this be The Apostle tels us that He is an Inaccessible an unapproachable God no man can draw neere him but hee will be licked up and devoured like the stubble by the fire and yet if a man could come neere him as in some sense he is not farre from every one of us yet He is an Invisible God no man can see Him and live no man can have a view of his face to new draw it againe Wee are all by sinne come short of His Glory as impossible it is for any man to become holy againe as it is to see that which is invisible or to approch unto that which is Inaccessible except the Lord be pleased through some vaile or other to exhibite His Image againe unto us and through some glasse to let it shine upon us we shall be everlastingly destitute of it And this Hee hath beene pleased to doe through the vaile of Christs flesh God was manifested in the flesh in that flesh He was made visible and we have an accesse into the Holyest of all through the vaile that is to say Christs flesh in that flesh He was made accessible By Him saith the Apostle wee have an accesse unto the Father He was the Image of the Invisible God He that hath seene Him hath seene the Father For as God was in him reconciling the World unto Himselfe so was Hee in Him revealing Himselfe unto the World No man hath seene God at any time the onely begotten Sonne which is in the bosome of the Father Hee hath revealed Him Thirdly consider the quality of the mysticall body It is a true rule That that which is first and best in any kinde is the rule and measure of all the rest And therefore Christ being the first and chiefest member in the Church He is to bee the ground of conformitie to the rest And there is indeede a mutuall suteablenesse betweene the Head and the Members Christ by compassion Conformable to His Members in their infirmitie We have not an high Priest who cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities And the members by communion conformable to Christ in His Sanctity Both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are of one Fourthly Holynesse in the Scripture is called an Vnction All the vessels of the Tabernacle were sanctified by that Holy Vnction which was prescribed Moses Ye have received an ointment saith S. Iohn which teacheth you all things It is an oyntment which healeth our wounds and cleanseth our nature mollyfieth our Consciences and openéth our eyes and consecrateth our persons unto royall sacred and peculiar services Now though Christ were annointed with this Holy Oyle above his fellowes yet not without his fellowes but all they are by his unction sanctified Light is principally in the Sunne and sappe in the roote and water in the Fountaine yet there is a derivation a conformitie in the beame branches and streames to their originals Onely here is the difference in Christ there is a fulnesse in us onely a measure and in Christ there is a purenesse but in us a mixture Fifthly and lastly Christ is the Summe of the whole Scriptures and therefore necessarily the Rule of Holynesse For the Scripture is profitable to make a man perfect and to furnish him unto all good workes Saint Paul professeth that he with-held nothing which was profitable but delivered the whole Counsell of God and yet elsewhere we finde the Summe of his preaching was Christ crucified and therefore that which the Scripture calles the writing of the Law in our hearts it calles the forming of Christ in us to note that Christ is the summe and substance of the whole Law Hee came to men first in his Word and after in his Body fulfilling the types accomplishing the predictions performing the commaunds remooving the burdens exhibiting the precepts of the whole Law in a most exemplarie and perfect conversation Now for our further applycation of this Doctrine unto use and practise we may hence first receive a twofold Instruction First touching the proportions wherein our holynesse must beare conformitie unto Christ for conformitie cannot be without proportion Here then we may observe foure particulars wherein our holynesse is to bee proportionable
unto two men in severall by diverse wayes of propriety or unto sundry purposes A house belongs wholly to the Landlord for the purpose of profit and revenew and wholly to the tenant for the purpose of use and inhabitation but it seemes in ordinary reason impossible for the same thing to belong wholly to sundry men in regard of al purposes for which it serves But such an ample propriety hath every man to originall sinne that he holds it all and to all purposes for which it serves For though some sinnes there are which cannot by some men bee properly committed properly I say because by way of provocation or occasion or approbation or the like one man may participate in the sinnes which another commits as a King cannot be 〈◊〉 to his superiors in governement because he hath no superiors a lay man cannot commit the sinneâ—… of a Minister an unmarried man the sinnes of a husband c. yet this disability ariseth out of the exigence of personall conditions but no way out of the limitednesse or impotency of originall sinne which in every man serves to all the purposes which can consist with that mans condition and as his condition alters so is it likewise fruitfull unto new sinnes And these are two great aggravations of this sinnefull inheritance That it comes whole unto every man and that every man hath it unto all the purposes for which it serves Thirdly it is to be observ'd that in originall sin as in all other there are two things Deordination or sinfulnes and Guilt or obligation unto punishment And though the former of these be inseparable from nature in this life yet every man that beleeveth and repenteth hath the damnation thereof taken away it shall not prove unto him mortall But now this is the calamitie Though a man have the guilt of this sinne taken of from his person by the benefit of his owne faith and the grace of Christ to him yet still both the deordination and the guilt passeth over unto his posteritie by derivation from him For the former the case is most evident what ever is borne of flesh is flesh no man can bring a cleane thing out of an uncleane an evill roote must bring forth evill branches a bitter fountaine corrupt streames leaven will derive sowernesse into the whole masse and the Fathers treason will staine the blood of all his posterity And it is as certaine for the latter that though guilt and punishment may bee remitted to the Father yet from him it may be transmitted to his childe Every parent is the chanell of death to his posterity Totum gonuâ—… 〈◊〉 fecit Adam is damnationis traduceâ—… Adam did diffuse and propagate damnation unto all mankind Neither is 〈◊〉 any wonder or injustice that from a cursed roote should proceed branches fit for nothing but the fire As a Iew that was circumcised brought forth an uncircumcised sonne as cleane crne sowed comes up with chaffe and stubble as the seed of a good Olive brings forth a wilde Olive so is it with the best that are their Graces concurre not to naturall generation and therefore from them is nothing naturally propagated For first the wiping off of Guilt while the fault abides is an Act of Grace and pardon now pardons are ever immediate from speciall favour from direct grant and therefore cannot runne in the bloud nor come to a man in the vertue of his birth or by derivation especially where the pardon runnes not in generall termes but personally by way of priviledge and exemption and that too upon certaine conditions the performance and vertue whereof is intransient and cannot availe any by way of imputation or redundancie Secondly though the personall Guilt be off from the man yet the ground of that Guilt the damnablenesse or liablenesse to be imputed unto punishment is inseparable from sin though sin be not mortall de facto So as to bring damnation to the person justified yet it never ceaseth to be mortall de merito that is to be damnable in it selfe in regard of its owne nature and obliquity though in event and execution the damnable vertue of sinne be prevented by faith which cures it and by repentance which forsakes and cuts it off For wee must observe that To merit damnation belongs to the nature of sinne but to bring forth damnation belongs to the accomplishment and finishing of sinne when it is suffered to grow to its measure never interrupted never prevented God hath patience toward sinners and waiteth for their repentance and doth not presently powre out all his wrath if in this interim men will bee perswaded in the day of their peace to accept of mercy offer'd and to Breake of sinnes before the Epha be full then their sinnes shall not end in Death But if they neglect all Gods mercie and goe on still till there be no remedie then sinne growes to a ripenesse and will undoubtedly bring forth Death Since therefore the nature of sinne passeth to posterity even when the guilt thereof is remitted in the paâ—…ent needs must the guilt thereof passe too till by grace it be done away Fourthly In originall sinne there is a twofold denomination or formalitie It is both a Sinne and a Punishment of sinne For it is an absurd conceite of some men who make it an impossibility for the same thing to be both a sinne and a punishment When a prodigall spends all his mony upon uncleannes is not this mans poverty both his sin and his punishment When a drunkard brings diseases on his body and drownes his reason is not that mans impotencie and sottishnesse both his sin and his punishment Indeed sinne cannot rightly be cald an inflicted punishment for God doth not put it into any man yet it no way implies contradiction but rather abundantly magnifies the justice and wisedome of Almighty God to say that he can order sinne to bee a scourge and punishment to it selfe And so Saint Austen cals it a penall vitiousnesse or corruption So that in the derivation of this â—…in wee have unto us propagated the very wrath of God It is like Aarons rod on our part a branch that buddeth unto iâ—…iquitie and on Gods part a Serpent that stingeth unto Death So that Adam is a twofold cause of this sinne in his posterity A meritorious cause he did deserve it by prevarication as it was a punishment an efficient cause he doth derive it by contagion as it is a sinne And this is the wretchednesse of this sinne that it is not onely a meanes to bring the wrath of God upon us but is also some part and beginning of the wrath of God in us and so is as it were the earnest and first fruits of damnation Not as if it were by God infus'd into our nature for wee have it put into us no other way but by seminall contagion and propagation from Adam but God seeing man throw away and wast
he must come And now when we have Christ how carefull should we be to keepe Him how tender and watchfull over all our behaviours towards Him lest Hee be grieved and depart againe The Spirit of the Lord is a delicate spirit most sensible of those injuries which his friends doe him Let us therefore take heede of violating afflicting discouraging grieving this Spirit which is the bond of all our union and interest with Christ in any of those his sacred breathings and operations upon the Soule But when He teacheth let us submit and obey receive the beleefe and the love of His Truth when He promiseth let us neither distrust nor despise but embrace as true and admire as pretious all the offers which He makes to us when Hee contends with our lusts in His Word and secret suggestions let him not alwayes strive but let us give up our fleshly affections to bee crucified by Him when Hee woes and invites us when Hee offers to lead and to draw us let us not stop the eare or pull away the shoulder or draw backward like froward children or cast cold water in the face of Grace by thwarting the motions and rebelling against the dictates thereof but let us yeeld our selves unto Him captivate all our lusts and consecrate all our powers and submit all our desires to His rule and government and then when Hee hath beene a Spirit of union to incorporate us into Christs Body and a Spirit of unction to sanctifie us with His Grace Hee will undoubtedly bee a Spirit of comfort and assurance to seale us unto the day of our full redemption THE LIFE OF CHRIST PHILIP 3. 10. That I may know Him and the Power of His Resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings THe purpose of the Apostle in this place is to arme the church of the Philippians against those false Iudaizing Teachers that Confounded Christ and Moses Circumcision and the Gospell together This he doth by Arguments Personall from men and by arguments reall from the matter it selfe Arguments Personall are first from the disposition quality End of those false teachers whom he describes ver 3. They are evill trees and therefore no great heed to be given to the fruits they beare to the doctrines they obtrude They are Dogs uncleane beasts that barke onely for their bellies and doe not onely barke but watch their times to bite too They are Euill workers though they come like fellow workers with Christ pretending much strictnes in the edification of the Church yet indeed their businesse is only to pull downe and to pervert They are the Concision where the Apostle by an Iâ—…onicall paranomasia shewes the end of their doctrines They preach indeed Circumcision but their businesse is schisme and Concision In the Law it was Circumcision Gods ordinance but now being by Christ abolished it is nothing at all but a bare Concision or cutting of the flesh and will in the Event prove a rent and schisme in the Church The Second personall Argument is taken from the Apostles owne condition who neither by nature nor Education was an enemie to legall Ceremonies who in all points had as great reason to vindicate the Law and to boast in fleshly priuiledges as any of those False Teachers ver 4. He was by nature an Israelite of the whole bloud as well as they by Education of the strictest sect of all a pharise by custome and practice a persecutor of the Church under that very name because the law he had been bred under was engdanger'd by that new way and in his course of life altogether unblameable in regard of legall Obedience and observations and lastly in his opinions touching them he counted them gainfull things and rested upon them for his salvation till the Lord opened his eyes to see the light of the Glorious Gospell of God in the face of Iesus Christ. The arguments from the matter are first from the Substance of which Circumcision was the shadow Wee are the Circumcision who worship God in the spirit and reioyce in Christ Iesus c. Vers. 3. They boast in the flesh they have a Concision but we are the Circumcision because we have the fruite and Truth of Circumcision the spirituall worship of God which is opposite to externall Ceremonies Ioh. 4. 23. Secondly from the plenitude and all sufficiencie of Christ which stands not in neede of any legall accession to peece it out and this the Apostle shewes by his owne practise and experience What things were 〈◊〉 to me those I counted losse for Christ because they were things that kept him from Christ before and he repeats the same words Confidently againe that he might not to be thought to have spoken them unaduisedly or in a heate yea doubtles and I count all things but losse for the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Iesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the losse of all things As a merchant in a tempest is contented to Suffer the losse of all his goods to redeeme his life or rather as a man will be content to part with all his owne beggerly furniture for a Iewell of greate value Math. 13. 44. Onely here wee are to note that the Apostle did not suffer the losse of them quoad Substantiam in regard of the Substance of the duties but quoad qualitatem et officium Iustificandi in regard of that dependance and Expectation of happines which he had from them before Neither did he onely Suffer the losse of them as a man may doe of things which are excellent in themselves and use as a merchant throwes his wares out of the ship when yet he dearly loves the and delights in theÌ„ but he shews what estimation he had of them I count them dung that I may win Christ I Count them then filthy carrion so the word signifies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 garbage and filth that is thrown out to dogs things which dogs such as he describes these false teachers to be may delight in but the spirit of God in a sincere hart cannot relish nor sauor in comparison of Christ. And may be found in him when I shall appeare before the face of God or may finde in him All that I loose for him that is a most plentifull recompence for any legall commodities which I part from for his sake not Having mine owne righteousnesse c. Here the Apostle distinguisheth of a twofold Righteousnesse Legall which is a mans owne because a man must come by it by working himselfe Rom. 10. 5. And Evangelicall which is not a mans owne but the righteousnes of God Rom. 3. 21. 22. Freely given to us by grace through Christ. That I may know Him c. That I may have the Experience of his Grace and mercy in Iustifying me frely by faith through the vertue of his suffrings and resurrection Here then we have these two things set down first the Pretiousnesse secondly the nature of
Saving Faith The Pretiousnesse is in the whole scope of the place for the words are a comparative speech where faith is preferd before all legall or morall performances The nature is open'd by the Act of it Knowledge and the Obiect the vertue of Christs Resurrection and the fellowship of his Sufferings Touching the former of these two the scope of the Apostle in this place is to shew that faith is the most pretious and excellent gift of God to a Christian man So it is Expresly called by Saint Peter a pretious faith 2. Pet. 1. 1. For understanding of which point mee must note that faith may be Consider'd in a double respect Either as it is a Qualitie inherent in the Soule or as an Instrument whereby the Soule apprehendeth some other thing Now in the same thing there is much difference betwene it selfe as a Qualitie and as an Instrument Heate as a Qualitie can only produce the like quality againe but as an Instrument of the Sunne it can produce life and sense things of more excellency then the Quality it selfe Faith as a Quality is noe better then other graces of the spirit but as an Instrument so it hath a Quickning quality which noe other Grace hath The iust shall live by Faith Heb. 10. 38. This pretiousnesse of Faith is seene chiefely in two respects First in regard of the Obiects and secondly in regard of the Offices of it First Faith hath the most pretitious and excellent object of any other Christ and his Truth and promises Herein saith the Apostle God commended His Love in that when we were sinners Christ died Rom. 5. 8. This was the soveraigne and most excellent love token and testification of divine favor that ever was sent from Heaven to men God so loved the world so superlatively so beyond all measure or apprehension that He gave His Sonne Ioh. 3 16. There is such a compasse of all dimensions in Gods love manifested through Christ such a heigth and length and breadth and depth as makes it exceede all knowledge Eph. 3. 18 19. It is exceeding unsearchable riches In one word that which faith lookes upon in Christ is the price the purchase and the promises which we have by Him The price which made satisfaction unto God the purchase which procured Salvation for us and the promises which comfort and secure us in the certaintie of both and all these are pretious things The blood of Christ pretious blood 1. Pet. 1. 18. The promises of Christ pretious promises 2. Pet. 1. 4. And the purchase of Christ a very exceeding and aboundant weight of Glorie 2. Cor. 4. 17. But it may be objected Have not other Graces the same object as well as Faith Doe we not love Christ and feare Him and hope in Him and desire Him as well as Beleeve in Him True indeede but heerein is the excellencie of Faith that it is the first grace which lookes towards Christ. Now the Scripture useth to commend things by their order precedencie As the women are commended for comming first to the Sepulcher the messenger which brings the first tidings of good things is ever most welcome the servant who is neerest his masters person is esteemed the best man in that order so Faith being the first grace that brings tidings of Salvation the neerest Grace to Christs Person is therefore the most excellent in regard of the obiect Secondly Faith is the most pretious Grace in regard of the offices of it Though in its inherent and habituall qualification it be no more noble then other graces yer in the offices which it executeth it is farre more excellent then any Two pieces of parchment and waxe are in themselves of little or no difference in value but in their offices which they beare as instruments or patents one may as farre exceede the other as a mans life exceedes his lands for one may bee a pardon of life the other a lease of a Cottage One man in a Citie may in his personall estate be much inferiour to another yet as an Officer in the Citie hee may have a great precedence and distance above him Compare a piece of gold with a seale of silver or brasse and it may have farre more worth in it selfe yet the seale hath an Office or Relative power to ratifie covenants of far more worth then the piece of gold so is it betweene Faith and other Graces Consider Faith in its inherent properties so it is not more noble then the rest but consider it as an instrument by God appointed for the most noble offices so is it the most superlative and excellent grace These offices which are to it peculiar I take it are principally these three The first to unite to Christ and give possession of Him The Apostle prayes for the Ephesians that Christ may dwell in their hearts by Faith Eph 3. 17. Wealth in the Mine doth no good at all till it be sever'd and appropriated to persons and uses Water in the Fountaine is of no service unto me till it be conveyed thence to mine owne Cisterne the light of the Sunne brings no comfort to him who hath no eyes to injoy it So though Christ be a Mine full of excellent and unsearchable riches a Fountaine full of comforts and refreshments a Sunne of righteousnesse a Captaine and Prince of Life and Salvation yet till Hee is made ours till there bee some bond and communion betweene Him and us we remaine as poore and miserable as if this Fountaine had never beene opened noâ—… this Mine discovered Now this Vnion to and Communion with Christ is on our part the worke of Faith which is as it were the spirituall joynt and ligament by which Christ and a Christian are coupled In one place wee are said to live by Christ Because I live saith he you shall live also Ioh. 14. 19. In another by Faith The Iust shall live by Faith Heb. 10. 38. How by both By Christ as the Fountaine By Faith as the pipe conveying water to us from the fountaine By Christ as the Foundation By Faith as the Cement knitting us to the foundation By Christ as the Treasure By Faith as the clue which directs as the Keye which opens and let us in to that Treasure This the Apostle explaines in the former place where he shewes by what meanes Faith makes us liue namely by giving us an enterance and approach to Christ for he opposeth Faith to drawing backe vers 19. 30. Noting that the proper worke of Faith is to carry us unto Christ as our Saviour Himselfe expoundeth beleeving in Him by comming unto Him Ioh. 6. 64. 65. Therefore the Apostle puts both together not I but Christ liveth in mee and the life which I live I live by the Faith of the Sonne of God Gal. 2. 20. Faith is compared to eating and drinking Ioh. 6. and we know there is no sense requires such an intimate and secret union to its object as that of