to the unregenerate but even to the most holy and godliest man that liveth Let him desire to know more of it for it may do him also much good and this is the reason why the more godly any are the more they are displeased with themselves and do the more highly esteem of Christ not but that they grow in grace only they grow also in the discoveries of more filth and unworthiness in themselves Thirdly By the true knowledge of this we come to be acquainted with that combate and conflict that is between the flesh and the spirit so much spoken of by Divines who usually say In every godly man there are two men two I's as the Apostle Rom. 7. distinguisheth I Paul carnal sold under sinne doing the things I would not and I Paul spiritual delighting in the Law of God in the inwardman and thanking God the Father through Christ because freed from condemnation That Paul did not speak of this combate while unregenerate as a Legalist as some say but as truly converted will appear if we consider that in another place Gal. 5. 17. the Apostle speaks of all the godly as thus exercised The flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh So that whatsoever is done holily and godlily it is alwayes cum luctâ carnis and therefore grace is the mortifying of the flesh Now our sins will not be put to death without some pain and reluctancy to the carnal part Therefore this is a perpetual concomitant of every godly man he hath a combate and spiritual conflicting within him and this makes him often in so many agonies this makes him so earnestly watching and praying against all temptations now come we to natural people they feel not the least strugling within them all is quiet and at ease because they are wholly in their original sinne they were born in And this makes it plain likewise that all their praying hearing all the religious duties they ever performed were never done in an holy and godly manner because there was no reluctancy or inward combate but they did them in a customary formal way without any spiritual life or motion for flesh will not fight against flesh Indeed there is a combate between conscience in its conviction and corruption even in some unregenerate men as in Aristotle's incontinent man as distinguished from his intemperate and that is known of Medea video meliora proboque deteriora sequor I see and approve better things but follow the worse And some would have Paul's combate to be no other because he cals it The Law of his mind fighting with the Law in his members but that is not cogent as is more largely to be shewed in its time Though therefore there be a reluctancy in some unregenerate men yet that is not like the conflict in the godly because amongst other differences this is one principal The godly man being regenerated in every part of the soul though not perfectly his will is sanctified as well as his mind Hence the combate and opposition in a godly man is between the same faculty sanctified and the flesh still abiding in that part his holy will against his corrupt will so that not only his mind and conscience is against sinne but his will also so farre as sanctified Hence the same Apostle makes the opposition between will and will What I would not that I do and though captivated by lust yet at that very time delighting in the Law of God in the inward man whereas in unregenerate men they have only an opposition between their conscience and their heart The mind suggests one thing but the will and affections wholly incline another way Therefore that light in their consciences is a trouble and vexation to them they do all they can to extinguish it The Doctrine then of original corruption informing us That it abideth still in a man while he liveth upon the earth doth inform the truly godly that they must alwayes expect agonies and conflicts within like fire and water met together so will grace and corruption be Therefore by this very combat we may discern true grace and it 's counterfeit for presumption which would be thought faith is easie we find no opposition to it but faith is put forth with much difficulty so godly sorrow put forth upon pure and spiritual motives is greatly assaulted by the flesh within us but worldly sorrow or mourning though for sinne because of temporal judgments only that is easie we are carried to it from a propensity within from a love to our selves Hence lastly The main and principal effect of the true knowledge of our original defilement is to bring the soul humbled and burdened under it to a true and real esteem of Christ and his Grace So much as we take off from original sinne making it either no sinne or the least sinne or quite abolished after Baptism so much do we take off from the grace of God in Christ Hence the Apostle Rom. 5. when he maketh that famous opposition between the first Adam and the second the gift of grace by one and the condemnation by the other he pitcheth upon that first disobedience by which we are made sinners as the original of all that calamity we are plunged into and therefore the same Paul when he poured out a large complaint about this Law of sinne working in him at the close of all he runneth to Jesus Christ Rom. 7. 35. It is the true knowledge of this only that will make us see the necessity of Christ all the day long and in every duty in every performance As we have none speak so much of Grace and Christ as Paul so none speaks so largely and fully about original sinne In the fifth Chapter of the Romans he asserts the Doctrine of it and in the seventh Chapter he declares the power of it which he felt experimentally in himself though regenerated Do not then think this is a Philosophical dispute or that to erre in this is like erring in those points wherein one Christian is to bear with another but with Austin account it a fundamental and that to deny it is to overthrow that Law whereby we are Christians CHAP. III. Demonstrations of the Naturality of this Sinne That we have it by Naturall Propagation SECT I. BEing then thus informed of the Usefulness and Necessity of true Knowledge in this matter Let us have your ready and diligent attention in prosecuting that matter which relateth to it And so I come to that notion which this Text fastens upon it that it is a Natural sin that we have it by natural Propagation In the Scripture and by the Ancients before Austin's time it had many names The Law of sinne The Old man The Flesh The old stroke of the Serpent an hereditary evil The tradux mali But in his time for better obviating the Hereticks who would allow the former names it was by him called Original sinne and ever since made an
up against it makes him rage at it as the Apostle doth abundantly testifie in this Chapter he tels us This Law of sinne did warre and fight against the Law of God it did lead him captive it conquered and subdued him against his will If then a godly man find this Law of sinne so powerfull and operative in him No wonder if men wholly carnal and natural they finde the Law of sinne as fully prevailing over them as the Devils did on the herd of Swine which they hurried violently into the sea without any resistance As then the Devil when he possessed some bodies provoked and moved them to many violent and sudden actions which they could not gainsay Thus doth the Law of sinne in men naturally it provoketh it instigateth it turneth the soul upside down it is continually pressing and enclining to evil which makes the Scripture say Gen. 6. That the imaginations of the thoughts of mans heart is only evil and that continually Thirdly Original sinne is a Law because by this a man is bound and captivated to the lusts thereof there is an indissoluble union till death Thus the Apostle argueth from the Law of an Husband and his Wife she cannot marry another while her Husband lives Neither can we be married to Christ while this is predominant yea we must die ere we be wholly freed of it Fourthly Original sinne is called a Law of sinne within us because of the injurious command and rule it hath in every man by nature And this indeed is the most explicite and formal reason why it is called a Law for to a Law there is not onely required a directive power for so counsels and admonitions have which are no Laws but there must be also a preceptive and commanding power so that a Law hath vim coactivum a compelling force to have a thing done and in this respect the Apostle gives it this Title of a Law of sinne within us for even in the person of a regenerate man What sad complaints doth he make of this tyrannical power of sinne within him He is not his own man he cannot do what he would yea he doth what he would not insomuch that he cals himself carnal and sold under sinne These expressions are so great that therefore some have thought they could not be applied to a godly man For it is said of Ahab as a sure Character of his wickednesse That he sold himself to do evil 1 Kings 21. 20. but Ahab did that willingly Paul is here passive he is sold against his will because sinne hath such tyranny over him Therefore the afflicted Israelite did not more groan to be delivered from his oppression than Paul crieth out to be delivered from this body of sinne Well therefore may this birth-pollution be called The Law of sinne within us for it ruleth all it commands the whole man what sinne bids us think we think what it bids us do we do No natural man can do othewise The Apostle speaks peremptorily They that are in the flesh cannot please God Rom. 8. 7 8. And the carnal minde is not subject to God neithe indeed can be Oh the miserable and unhappy estate we are all then in by this original sinne We cannot but sinne we do not love that which is good neither can we The Law of sinne hath wholly enslaved us Though all the curses of the Law be denounced against us yet we cannot but sinne As venemous creatures cannot vent that which is sweet but necessarily that which is poison yet as Bernard of old said well This necessity in sinning doth not take off from voluntarinesse and delight in it neither doth the delight take off from the necessity Lastly It may be called The Law of sinne saith Aquinas Because it 's that effect of Gods penal Law inflicted upon mankind because of Adam's transgression So that upon Adam 's sinne God hath so ordered that it should be by way of a punishment upon us to be prone unto all evil For as you heard this original sinne is both a sinne and a punishment So that as God hath appointed that every man should die it is a Law that shall never be repealed so likewise that every one born of man in a natural way should be unclean and have a fountain within him daily emptying it self into poisonous streams Vse To be informed whence it is that thy heart is so out of all measure evil whence it is that no godly thing is pleasing to thee whence it is that upon searching into thy heart thou findest a noisom dunghill there that thou art never able to go to the bottom whence it is that lust is so ready at hand alwayes that sinne alwayes appeareth first in thy soul All this is because original corruption is by way of a Law in thee That teacheth to sinne that instigateth to sinne yea that commands and imperiously puts thee on to all manner of evil If you do not feel this heavy thraldome and pressure upon you it is not because it is not there but because thou art dead in sin and hast no feeling of it Solemon speaking of a good woman hath this notable expression Prov. 31. 26. The Law of kindnesse is in her lips The Law of kindnesse she cannot but be loving and friendly in all she saith Now on the contrary The Law of sinne is all over thee The Law of sinne is in thy heart the Law of sinne is in thy mind the Law of sinne is in thy eyes in thy tongue thou canst not but sinne in and by these CHAP. III. Of the Name The Sinne that dwelleth in us given to Original Sinne. SECT I. Of the Combate between the Flesh and Spirit ROM 7. 17. Now then it is no more I that do it but sinne that dwelleth in me THis excellent Chapter which containeth the heart and life of the Doctrine of Original Sinne so that it may be called the Divine Map thereof describing all the parts and extents of it will afford us many testimonies for the confirmation of it We therefore proceed to another name that we find here described to us in this Text viz. The sinne that dwelleth in us The Apostle you heard as we take for granted doth here speak in his own person and so of every regenerate man that there is a conflict and a combate between the flesh and the Spirit In all such there are two Twins strugling in the womb of the soul which causeth much grief and trouble of heart which the Apostle doth in a most palpable and experimental manner relate in this passage vers 15. That which I do I allow not for what I would that I do not but what I hate that I do Now you must understand this aright lest it prove a stumbling blâ—ck For First The Apostle speaks not this as a man meerly convinced but yet carried away with strong corruptions This is not to patrocinate those who live in sinnes against their conscience but have some
whereas the reason they give why by flesh cannot be meant wholly sinfull Because say they then in the opposition by Spirit would be meant wholly spirituall whereas the Orthodox do acknowledge a conflict with the Spirit and the flesh abiding in every regenerate man But to this the Answer is That the abstract is put for the concrete spirit for spiritual so that the Subject in the Proposition Born of the Spirit Spirit is the holy Spirit of God and the Predicate is made spirit Spirit is to be understood of that spiritual and heavenly nature wrought in us by him And although he who is made thus spiritual is not purely and absolutely so yet the Spirit will in time subdue and wholly conquer the flesh in which sense Gal. 5. They that are Christs are said to have crucified the flesh with the lusts thereof Although there be the reliques and remainders of it still in the most holy The Text then being thus vindicated the Observation is That all men born in a natural way are not only without the Image of God but thereby also are positively polluted and made all over flesh and sinfull SECT II. Of the use of the word Flesh in Scripture And why Original Corruption is called by that name TO discover this in the first place It is good to take notice of the use of the word Flesh in Scripture for the mis-understanding or mis-applying of it hath brought in a world of mischief The Papists by Flesh I mean some of them understanding only the bruitish and sensitive part as if sinne were onely resident there and the rational part were free and pure but this is a very great errour For besides the general use of the word Flesh in the Scripture there is two more pertinent to our purpose 1. Flesh is sometimes taken for that which is weak and frail Isa 31. Their horses are flesh and not spirit Psal 78. He remembred they were but flesh And 2. It is often taken for sinfulness and corruption Thus Gal. 5. The works of the flesh are opposite to the works of the Spirit and men who are in the Flesh Rom. 8. cannot please God Gal. 3. Who having begun in the Spirit will ye end in the flesh To be in the flesh and in the Spirit are made two opposite beings by the Apostle Insomuch that we may make it a sure Rule That wheresoever flesh is opposed to the Spirit of God or its spiritual operations that then flesh is used for that which is evil and sinfull and thus it is in the Text. The true notion therefore of the word Flesh being retained Let us consider Why original sinne is thus called Flesh And First It is called so Because of its opposition to what is spiritual Whatsoever the Spirit of God revealeth to be believed or commands to be obeyed it is wholly contradicted by man while abiding in the flesh Thus the Apostle Rom. 8. The wisdom of the flesh is enmity against God You see here is not only a meer privation of what is spiritual but a positive enmity and frowardness against God and therefore we do not speak enough to describe the fulness of our natural evil when we say that we came naked into the world without the Image of God and his Spirit for original sinne hath a contrariety in it against God it puts a man upon hatred of whatsoever is holy therefore the Apostle addeth Rom. 8. 5. It is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be Oh then that God would make our hearts more of flesh in the Prophet Ezekiels sense viz. tender and melting under considerations of how much flesh is in both mind and heart in the Apostles sense Would thy self-righteousness thy self-love thy self-fulness continue any longer if thou didst thus judge and believe concerning thy self Oh what a noisom carkass what a loathsom monster wouldst thou be in thy own eyes if thou didst consider the positive frowardness and opposition which is in thee to what is holy And therefore even in the regenerate Gal. 5. 17. The Flesh is said to lust against the spirit Search then into thy heart and say From whence doth arise these gainsayings and oppositions which are in me to what is holy Why should not heavenly and spiritual things be as welcome pleasing and delightfull to me as sinfull and wordly objects Is not all this because thou art Flesh Certainly there is a thousand times more reason for thee to imbrace spiritual objects than earthly They have more real excellent and enduring good in them then all the pleasures of sinne if put together but it is because thou art flesh that thy heart is naturally so full of enmity against whatsoever is spiritual And although this natural enmity be encreased in thee by voluntary wickedness yet that which cleaveth to thee as soon as thou hast a being is enough to make thee refuse the word of God the Ministry inviting of thee and to slight every Sermon thou hearest or every affliction God layeth upon thee for thy sinne mourn then under this enmity this Law of sinne that rebelleth against the Spirit of God This may sensibly and evidently teach thee that thy natural corruption is more than a meer want of the Image of God Secondly In that original corruption is called flesh is manifested That even the whole intellectual and sublimer parts of a man are become sinfull We see our Saviour saith That which is born of flesh is flesh nothing is excepted so that whereas some would have it the rational part The mind and understanding not to be comprehended under this flesh we say the contrary according to Scripture That in the soul and faculties thereof there is originally sinne chiefly seated There is the spring and fountain from whence issue all the streams of sinne into the lower parts of the soul Thus when the Apostle reckons up the works of the flesh Gal. 5. 19 20. There are Idolatry and Heresies numbered with the rest which must needs be sins of the mind How often doth the Scripture speak of darkness ignorance folly and blindness in the minds of all men by nature Col. 2. 18. There it 's called a fleshly mind and certainly if the mind must be renewed as the Scripture speaks Rom. 12. 2. Col. 3. Eph. 4. 23. it necessarily followeth that it is fleshly and sinfull Behold then what a fountain of evil and misery springs out from us in this respect which may overwhelm us For though the inferior parts of the soul had been throughly infected with this Leprosie yet if the superiour and chief parts had not been contaminated there would have been hopes that those Sun-beams would have dispelled such misty clouds but seeing that the eye is become dark How great is our darkness and salt it self having lost its seasoning all must become loathsom and unprofitable Not only thy eyes thy ears not only thy affections and passions of love fear anger c. which are the
it compell us to think of it as more than a mâ—er bare simple privation for in the Text it is called Flesh in other places Lust the Old man the Body of sinne which emphatical expressions are for this end to make us conceive of the deep and most real pollution it bringeth upon us Insomuch that we are not to extenuate and diminish the nature of it but as the scope of the Scripture is to aggravate it under the most substantial and powerfull names that are so we also are accordingly to judge of it It is true Illyricus out of a vehement opposition to Papists and Synergists did wring the Scripture till bloud came out of it in stead of milk for he would understand these places mentioned about original sinne almost literally as if sinne were our very substance and essence whereas if he had gone no further then to say that the Scripture by these names doth intend not onely the meer privation of good by this original pollution but also a positive pronenese and a continual activity unto all evil than he had hit the mark The Scripture Names then are only considerable for the holy Ghost doth not use them in vain but thereby would startle and amaze us that we may consider that we are without and what evil doth abide in us Secondly This is proved from Scripture-affirmation about the state of all men It doth not onely describe man privatively that he is without God without Christ but also pesitively that he is an enemy to God and cannot be subject to him Rom. 3 10 11. to the 18. verse The holy Apostle applying several passages out of the old Scripture to all men by nature instanceth both in privatives and positives also Privatives There is none that understandeth there is none that seeketh God there is none that doth good there is no fear of God before their eyes But is this all No he addeth Their throat is an open Sepulchre the poison of Aspes is under their lips their feet are swift to shed bloud c. Here you see the nature of every man is abominable loathsome and ready to commit the foulest sinnes if he be not stopt yea the Scripture is more oftener expressing this Positive part of original sinne then the Privative Genes 5. Genes 8. 21. The imagination of a mans heart is said to be onely evil and that from his youth Eliphaz also in Job 15. saith How abominable is man who drinketh down iniquity like water Thus you see the Scripture represents us in a farre more loathsome vile and poisonous nature than we are apt to believe concerning our selves When Austine maintained this Doctrine Pelagius would say This was to accuse mans nature Lib. 1. de Naturâ Gratiâ But this is indeed the onely way to set up the grace of Christ our Physician for the whole need not a Physicias Neither saith Austin are we so to exalt God a Creator as to make a Saviour wholly superfluous It is true therefore which the same Author saith That when we have to do with such who deny the necessity of grace by Christ making free will of it self sufficient to what is holy and all because they deny any such thing as original sinne we are not so much saith he to deal in Disputations with them as prayers for them that their eyes might be opened to know themselves and that the stony heart may be taken from them for if once they had the sense and feeling of this they would quickly confesse both original sinne and Christs grace Thirdly Original sinne is positive Because the Scripture attributes positive and efficatious actions to it which meer and bare privations are not capable of The seventh Chapter of the Romans speaketh fully to this what expressions and that in allusion to military affairs doth the Apostle use concerning this sinne inhabiting in him For vers 23. he complaineth of this Law of sinne that it doth warre against him and bring him into captivity which phrases denote That this original sinne is not a sluggish idle privation but withall it connoteth an impetuous repugnancy to any thing that is holy This also the Apostle confirmeth Gal. 5. 17. where the flesh is said to lust against the Spirit shall we think then that the holy Ghost speaketh of this activity and working of sinne in us that we should apprehend no more than the absence of Gods Image within us Let us then aggravate the hainnousnesse of it as we see the Scripture doth and deeply humble our selves under it Shall it be a small thing to have such an impetuous active principle in us against what is holy That which we should imbrace and close with as the most excellent that we flie from and are most averse to as if it were the greatest evil and would be to our utter undoing Fourthly If vicious habits that are acquired by customary practice of evil are not meer and simple privations but do also include in them a propensity to evil then it followeth that original sinne likewise is not a meer privation For we are to conceive of original sinne as an innate and imbred habit as the other are acquired Now it 's plain That all vicious moral habits they are not a meer negation or absence of such virtues but doâ— also incline and dispose the subject to vicious actions easily and with delight So that we must needs attribute as much Postivenesse if not more to original sinne then to vicious acquired habits And the truth is This is a closer Leprosie infecting of us then such habits for this we have as soon as we are born this is twisted within our bowels this can never be wholly shaken off whereas accustomed sinnes they are perfectly overcome by the work of Regeneration For this is the difference between acquired habits of sinne and original corruption In Regeneration seeing the Image of God is put into us which is the substance of all holy habits the contrary habits are presently excluded and the sinnes the godly afterwords commit are not from their former habits of sinne but from the reliques of original corruption whatsoever the Remonstrants say to the contrary But Regeneration doth not totally exclude original sinne onely diminisheth the strength of it So that this original corruption will abide in some measure in us even while we carry this mortal body about with us And if the Prophet made it such an impossible thing for men habituated in sinne to be converted as when he saith If a Leopard can change his skinne then may you learne to doe well who are accustomed to doe evil Jerem. 13. 23. What then shall he said of us who are borne in evil Customary sinnes are but the Leopards skinne original sinne is like the Leopards nature Lastly This positive inclination doth necessarily follow from the privation of this Image of God if the due summetry and excellent Harmony which was at first in the soul be taken away then all the faculties and
effectual the concupiscible part now this kingdome is divided against it self our fear doth put out our joy we do not take that quiet delight which might be in having any temporal good because we are so molested with feares lest we should loose it How often are we distracted Inter spem metum between hope and fear Thus these affections that by their primitive institution were all of one accord they all mutually assisted one another now they are become like contrary winds hope driveth one way fear another love one way anger another so that by this meanes every man is miserably tormented within himself There is an heartquake as well as an earthquake and as this later is produced by winds got into the bowels of the earth which cannot find any vent Thus it is with these passions of man they are all pent up as it were close in his heart one is ready violently to break out one way another another way so that no sea is more tossed up and down when contrary Euroclydons fall upon it then the heart of man while moved with different passions It 's the contrariety of thy passions maketh all thy discontents and all the turmoiles that are in thy soul thy love that haleth thee one way thy anger draggeth another way Thus thou art like one that is to be torn in peices by wild horses one draweth one limb asunder another teareth another part asunder so that thy soul is become like the Levites wife's body that was cut into so many peices Adam in respect of his affectionate part was like the upper region where there is no molestation or confusion but now that part in us is like the middle region where tempests and stormes thundring and lightning are daily produced SECT IX The Pollution of the Affections in respect of the Conflict between the natural Conscience and Them AGain The great and notorious pollution of the affections doth appear In that fight and conflict which is between the natural conscience and them so that no sooner doth the reason and affections of men begin to work in them but presently there is a civil warre begun in a man his mind that inclineth one way and his affections they carry another way The very Heathens acknowledged this as Aristotle in his incontinent person and the Poet in his Medea Video meliora probeque deteriora sequor yea there are some interpreters Socinians and Papists and Arminians to whom also Amyraldus in this particular adjoyneth himself though disalowing their other opinions that would have the Apostles complaint which he maketh Rom 7 to be nothing more then the contrariety of the mind and affections in an unregenerate man especially when the mind is legally convinced and that hath some powerfull influence upon it and among other reasons he giveth this that it would be very injurious to regenerating grace as if that could or did carry a man no further the Aristotle's incontinent person was wheras indeed convinced of better things but had no power to follow them But there is a two-fold conflict and combate to be acknowledged The first a natural one betwen conscience and affections The other a spiritual one and that is not between these several powers in the soul but between the regenerate part in every particular and the unregenerate so that there is not only spiritual light against corrupt affections but affections sanctified against unsanctified ones they have love against love fear against fear hope against hope This opposition in the regenerate man is universal whereas this natural conflict is seated only in some particular parts of the soul The Apostle Rom. 7 doth speak of this spiritual fight in himself as regenerate as appeareth because he saith In the inward man he delighted in the Law of God which no unregenerate man can do and although the Apostles and some other eminent and godly men may attain to farre higher degrees of greace then others yet it may not be thought that there is any godly man living or did live that doth not more or less find this combate of flesh and spirit in him Certainly if it should be so in any man we might say that in that man original sinne was quite subdued the flux of bloud was wholly dried up in them but that is the prerogative of heaven But our work is to consider the sad difference that is now brought upon all men by original corruption between the rational and affective part our very constitution is in discord there is no more agreement then between fire and water Even as in the Romane Governement there was commonly perpetual opposition between the Senatus and the Plebs The Senate and the common People they were very difficultly ever reconciled Thus in man his intellectual and sensitive part they are carried out to contrary objects one inviting to one way another to another Indeed even the rational part is in the Scripture sence become flesh that is wholly corrupt and mindeth only sinful things yet this corruption doth not put out those natural dictates and practical maxims which conscience hath against which the affections of men do naturally so rebell It is true that there are some who have so hardned themselves in evil by a voluntary obstinateness and are made such bruits in their lusts that they have none of this conflict at all they are hurried on with all delight to sinne and have not so much as the least regreet within themselves but this is acquired partly by the just judgement of God upon mans wilful impiety being from him delivered up to such a senslessnes otherwise there is in all such a fundamental contrariety between the superior and inferior part of his soul that there is no rest within It is true the Papists and so the Socinians they affirme his repugnancy to have been in Adam in the state of integrity yea a Remonstrant attributeth it blasphemously to Christ himself but seeing that God made man right this rectitude is to be understood universal and that could not be without an admirable harmony and agreement between the spiritual and sensitive part in a man There are some also who place the hurt that we have by original sinne in this affectionate part only as if the mind and the will they did escape in Adams fall and no sinne infected them only the sensitive part becomes all over poisoned but the contrary to this hath already been demonstrated yet we grant that in the affectionate part is the Serpents brood there are the Cockatrices eggs that is the womb wherein many sinnes even all the bodily ones are conceived and brought forth SECT X. The Sinfulness of these Affections is seen in the great Distractions they fill us with when we are to set upon any holy Duties FUrther The sinfulnesse of these affections is seen in the great distractions they fill us with when we are to set upon any holy Duty What is the reason we do not make God the delight of our soul
of this to tender hearts and ears is confutation enough For is not this truly and properly to make God the Author of sinne that he put a rebellious thorn in our sides at first and that because we are his creatures made of a soul and a body therefore we must necessarily be divided within our selves Thus those who charge original sinne with Manichism do herein exceed the Manichees themselves for they attribute this evil in a man to an evil principle but these make the good and holy God to be the Author of this rebellion Neither is it any evasion to say This rebellion of the sensitive part is no sinne unless it be consented unto for it is such which is contrary to the Law of God it is to be resisted and fought against And certainly that demonstrateth the evil nature thereof Luther indeed speaks of a Franciscan which maketh this concupiscence to be a natural good in a man as it is in the fire to burn or the Sunne to shine But certainly such qualities or actions are not to be resisted or fought against as these are How can that be good which is confessed to be a sinne if consented unto ¶ 4. VVHen we say the flesh and the Spirit do thus conflict with one another you must not understand it of them as two naked bare qualities in a man but as actuated and quickned from without For the gracious habit in a man is not able to act and put it self forth vigorously without the Spirit of God exciting and quickning of it And although inherent sinne of it self be active and vigorous yet the Devil also he continually is tempting and blowing upon this fire to make it flame the more impetuously So that we are not to look upon these simply as in themselves but as subservient to the Spirit of God and the Devil The Spirit of God by grace in the heart doth promote the Kingdom of God and the Devil by suggestions doth advance the kingdom of Satan in our hearts So that grace and sinne are like the Deputies and Vicegerents in our souls to those Champions that are without us Now because the Spirit of God is stronger and above the Devil therefore it is that the flesh shall at last surely be conquered Nay if the godly at any time fail if sinne at any time overcome it is not because the Spirit of God could not overcome it but because he is a free agent and communicateth his assistance more or lesse as he pleaseth only in this combat the godly are to assure themselves that they shall overcome all at last that the very root of sinne will be wholly taken away never to trouble or imbitter the soul any more ¶ 5. FIfthly In natural and corrupt men there is no sense or feeling of any such conflict They never groan and mourn under such wrestlings and agonies within them and the reason is because they are altogether flesh and flesh doth not oppose flesh neither is Satan set against Satan It is true there is in some natural vicious men sometimes a combate between their conscience and their appetite their hearts carry them on violently to sinne but their consciences do check them and they feel a remorse within them but this is farre different from that spiritual conflict which the Apostle doth here describe and is to be found only in such men who have the Spirit of God No wonderthen if there be so many who look upon this as a figment if so many even learned men write and speak so ignorantly and advisedly about it for this truth is best acknowledged by experience It 's not the Theologia ratiocinativa but experimentalis as Gerson divideth Divinity that will bring us to a full knowledge of this It cannot then but be expected that you should see men live at ease and have much quietness and security in their own breasts thanking God as if their souls hearts and all were good within them all were as they desire it for the strong man the Devil keepeth all quiet flesh would not oppose flesh It is true one sinne may oppose another covetoufness drunkenness and so a man who would commit them both be divided within himself one sinne draweth one way and another sinne the other way but still in the general here is an agreement all is sinne all tendeth one way still and therefore is not like this combate in the Text but of this more in its time ¶ 6. SIxthly In all regenerate persons though never so highly sanctified there is a conflict more or less It is true some are more holy then others some are babes and some are strong men some are spiritual some in a comparative sence are carnal some are weak some are strong and according to the measure of grace they have received so is this conflict more or less Amyraldus a much admired Writer by some neither do I detract from that worth which is due to him doth industriously set himself Constd cap. 7. ad Rom. to expound the 7th of the Romans of a person not regenerated but in a legal state yet disclaiming Arminianisme and Socinianisme which Exposition being offensive and excepted against as justly it might by William Rivet he maketh a replication thereunto wherein he delivereth many novel assertions Among which this may be one That making four ranks or classes of Christians he apprehendeth the first to be such who have attained to so high a degree of sanctification that they consult and deliberate of nothing but from the habit of grace that is within them and that this conflict within a man is rather to be referred to the legal work upon a man then the Evangelical condition we are put into hence he understands this Text not universally but particularly of the Galathians who were then in that state viz. a legal one not Evangelical which he thinketh the next Verse will confirme where the Apostle saith If ye be led of the Spirit ye are not under the law now of this sort who may be apprehended ordinarily to live without such a combate he placeth the Apostles especially when plentifully endowed with the Spirit of God after Christs resurrection and for Paul he is so far ravished with the Idea of godliness represented in his life that he saith Consid in cap. 7. ad Rom. cap. 74. if God had pleased so to adorne Paul with the gifts of the Spirit that in this life he should attain to that perfection which other believers have only in heaven none might find fault herein The general rules he goeth upon and others though disclaimed by him is because there are many places of Scripture which shew that some godly persons are victorious and tryumphing above this conflict as when this Apostle saith afterwards ver 24. They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof and Rom. 8. 2. The law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ hath made me free from the law of sin
reasons formerly produced and many others which might be named there are two famous places of Scripture which do most signally and eminently declare such a combate in the most holy men The first is this of my Text which hath sufficiently been explained and vindicated from corrupt Interpretations And truly the light of this Text shineth so clearly that there are very few who are not convinced that this speaketh of the fight which regenerate persons find in themselves between those two contrary principles of the Spirit and flesh which are within them The second place which doth so firmly establish such a conflict in those who by grace are made new creatures is Rom. 7. from v. 14. to the end of the Chapter where we have a most palpable delineation of this duel that is fought in the inwards of a godly man but that place is not so freely consented unto as this Text I am upon Now because the clearing of that is of special use and because it is of such affinity with my Text I shall inlarge my self for I will not call it a digression in the full explication of that part of the Chapter shewing How that it must be a regenerate person and him only of whom those things are there spoken And you will find that the distinct opening of that portion of Scripture will afford us many necessary things both for Instruction Consolation and Admonition and all immediately adhering to this point I am now upon This I intend to dispatch in several particulars which will be as so many branches growing from the flock of that Proposition I have already named And First You are to know that the Discourse which Paul there useth concerning the combate within himself is by some interpreted as if Paul though he name himself Yet doth not mean himself while regenerated but while unregenerated So that say they Paul doth therein take upon himself the person of one that is not yet in the state of grace This they conceive must necessarily be so because such a person is said to be carnal and sold under sinne The flesh is alwayes said to have the better whereas regenerate persons they have crucified the flesh and the Spirit And the Law of the Spirit of life hath freed them from the Law of sinne and death Rom. 8. 2. Onely when they expound it of an unregenerate person they distinguish of such 1. One who is grosly ignorant and prophane wallowing in his sinnes in a most senslesse and stupid manner whose conscience are wholly dead within them and such are carried out to sinne with all impetuousness having no check or remorse of conscience within them of such the Apostle doth not speak But 2. There are others who are in a Legal state under the powerfull convictions and operations of the Law as Amyraldus expresseth it Men who besides the meer knowledge of the Law have by the efficacy of Gods Spirit the convincing power of it so set home that now their inlightned minds do greatly incline them to that which is good but because their hearts are not sanctified their affections are not mortified therefore these lusts do hurry them away against those legal convictions that are upon them or as Arminius expresseth it in cap. 7. ad Rom. not in a much different way the Apostle speaketh of one who is in some preparatory way to conversion By the Law he is so farre wrought upon that he is afraid because of his sinnes he cryeth out of them mourneth because of them hath many wishes and desires Oh that I could leave these lusts I do not like or consent to such evil things that I do Thus this person is supposed to have a servile fear which is initial to the work of conversion And this frame of spirit although it be not regeneration yet is to be reckoned among the good and spiritual gifts of God This say they is the direct case of that person who is here described by Paul and it cannot be denied but that many of the Ancients and some later Writers have expounded it of a man under such legal convictions And although the Pelagians boasted That all Ecclesiastical Writers did interpret it of such a person yet Austin opposeth them therein instancing in some who did understand it of a person regenerated It is true Austin himself while younger did expound it of an unregenerate person I understood it saith he in that manner or rather I did not understand it But when he came to be elder and more exercised in the Scripture other Writers then he was compelled to yeeld to the truth and to interpret it of a person regenerate so that they caluminate Austin who make him flie to this Interpretation out of the heat of his Disputations with Pelagians taking this sense though formerly he had done the other as being more subservient to his present interest for he attributeth his change of mind to the truth of God in other Scriptures as also to the light he had from the tractates of other learned men Especially those places compelled and forced him as he saith viz Now I no longer do it but sinne within me and I delight in the Law of God in the inward man He that delighteth doth it not for fear of punishment but love of righteousness Vide August lib. 1. Retract c 23. c. 26. l. 3. contra Julianum c. 26. lib. 6. contra Julianum cap. 11. We grant indeed that there is such a legal state in which some men are that there are some who are miserably divided between their enlightned consciences and their corrupt lusts so that they do the they would not do Yea the godly themselves though they have a superiour and more subline combate yet because they have an unregenerate part within them therefore they sometimes have even this conflict between their consciences and some importuning corruptions but this is not remarkable in them comparatively to the other In the second place There are others who do zealously contend that that discourse cannot be applied to any but a regenerate person and to understand it otherwise would be to plunge the godly in a deep gulph of discouragements and to attribute such things to unregenerate persons which those that are truly sanctified cannot go beyond And this way Austin and others of old do willingly go Yea most of the Popish Interpreters Estius Contzen Pererius Sasbâ—lt c. Tolet is taken notice of as the most eminent dissenter The Lutherans also generally and the Calvinists yea most Protestant Writers Even Musculus whom the adversaries of this Interpretation do so much alledge in this point and labour to decline all suspicion by his name yet doth clearly and fully expound it of a man truly regenerated and converted but in the lowest degree and initials of grace although in the lowest form yet sanctified and regenerated he confesseth him to be Arminius and Amyraldus have indeed in a peculiar manner set themselves against this
and yet give no discovery that he doth not mean it of himself especially when the Adversaries to this Exposition say That to understand it of Paul is so contumelious to the Spirit of God and so destructive to all godliness Certainly if so the Apostle would have manifested something to remove this stumbling block Although I may adde that even that very Text I have in a figure transferred to my self and Apollo c. doth not necessarily allude to that mention made of thâ—â— 1 Cor. 2. 12. where speaking of their factions some said they were of Paul others of Apollo as if the Apostle did by figure use their names intending thereby the false Apostles for say they The Corinthians made their divisions by occasion of the false Apostles glorying in them and exalting them against those that were faithfull But if so what argument could there be in Paul's words Was Paul crucified for you Were you baptized in the name of Paul If he did mean false Apostles and not himself why should he thank God that he had baptized so few Therefore Pareus acknowledgeth that the common Interpretation of that Text as if Paul by a figure use his name and Apollo for the false Apostles is no wayes agreeable with the scope of the place For how could that be an example to teach them humility as he there enlargeth himself Heinsius also doth not like the translation of the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for such a transmutation of names and persons but maketh it the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but enough of this 2. A second Argument is In that this person is said to hate evil not to will what is evil not to know or approve of it and then he is said to will that which is good Now this is the Description of godliness to love good and to hate evil It is true that in convinced men who yet retain their lusts as also in legal men they would not do the evil that they do but yet they cannot be said to hate it No they love their lusts therefore when any fear doth abate they presently fall unto those sinnes again but this man doth hate sinne So that in this property two things discover a regenerate person 1. That not only his conscience and his judgement is against sinne but his will his heart and affections also whereas in all unregenerate men their judgements and their consciences being enlightned and terrified maketh them afraid to commit sinne but their will then affections 〈◊〉 not against it And then secondly The Apostle speaketh generally of evil and good he doth not say I do this evil I would not or I do not this good that I would but evil and good indefinitely and this is only proper to the regenerate he only hateth all evil be only loveth all good whereas the unregenerate person doth hate only some evil and it is some good only that he would do though if a man truly hate any sinne he hateth all sin because odium is circa genus Thirdly This person must be a regenerate person because there are two distinct principles in him Sinne and He are made two different things vers 17. It is no more I that do it but sinne that dwelleth in me And ver 18. I know that in me that is my flesh dwelleth no good thing Here then are as it were two distinct persons this person hath two selfs which doth necessarily demonstrate that this is a sanctified person For can a man under legal convictions say It is not I but sinne within me Can he that hath only errors upon his soul say It is not I but sinne within me How absurd and false were that for their hearts are set upon evil only the terrours of the Law restrain them Now a man is what his heart is not what his conviction is It is true the Libertines did abuse this Doctrine and would thereby acquit themselves it was not they but the flesh Yea some blasphemously would attribute it to God himself but till a man be regenerated he hath but one self and that is the flesh But saith Arminius those legal preparatory workings by the Law are the good gift of God and are to be reckoned among the works of the Spirit and therefore the Apostle may oppose them and sinne together To this it is answered Though those legal operations are from Gods Spirit yet because the person is not regenerated he is still in the state of the flesh he is still without Christ and therefore cannot distinguish himself from the flesh within him As long as those good gifts of God are not in a subject regenerated the same person and the flesh are all one Yea though those good effects come from Gods Spirit and so are in themselves spiritual yet as they are in a person unregenerated they are improved carnally they are managed only to self-respects and thus temporary believers though they do enjoy the good and common gifts of Gods Spirit yet as they are in them they are carnally improved spiritual things being prostituted to temporal ends It is plain then that onely a godly man may say It is not I but sinne in me and thus Aquinas on the place saith it may be easily understood of a man in the state of grace and of a sinner it can be only interpreted extortè by violence His reason he goeth upon is because that a man is said to do which his reason doth not which his sensitive appetite inclineth unto because homo est id quod est secundum rationem By reason we must understand sanctified reason otherwise a mans reason is corrupted as well as his sensual part Besides there is a further Argument used by the Apostle in this distinction he maketh It is no more I that do it No more that implieth once it was he that did it formerly he could not make such a distinction as now he doth Fourthly The person here spoken of must needs be a regenerate person Because it is said He delighteth in the Law of God after the inward man ver 22. This is one of the places that compelled Austin to change his former opinion Certainly to delight in the Law of God is an inseparable property of a regenerate person David expresseth his holy and heavenly heart thereby yea the Greek word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I delight with Arminius doth well observe the emphasis of the word for he maketh the Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not redundant but significant So that the meaning is he delighteth in the Law of God that is he delighteth in Gods Law and Gods Law delighteth in him there is a mutual sympathy and delight as it were which maketh the reason the stronger for a regenerate person For can any but he delight in Gods Law and Gods Law as it were delight in him again It is true it is 〈◊〉 in the inward man but that is not a diminution but a specification of the cause
whereby he doth delight in Gods Law I will not say that the inward man doth alwayes signifie the regenerate man and so is the same with a new-creature For although some understand that place so 2 Cor. 4. 16. The outward man perisheth but the inward man is renewed daily yet happily the context may enforce it another way yet here it must be understood of the mind as regenerated because it is opposite to the flesh and so signifieth the same with the hidden man of the heart in which sense a Jew is called one inwardly because of the work of grace upon his soul Fifthly The sad complaint he maketh concerning his thraldom doth evidently shew that it is a regenerate person O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death If we take body for the material body which is mortal and so sinfull or else for that body of sinne which abideth in the godly it cometh much to one point It argueth that the person here spoken of feeling this weight this burden upon him is in sad agonies of soul judgeth himself miserable and wretched in this respect and thereupon doth earnestly groan for a total redemption he longs to be in heaven where no longer will evil be present with him where he shall do all the good and as perfectly as he would It is true a godly man cannot absolutely be called a wretched and miserable man but respectively quoad hoc and comparatively to that perfect holiness we shall have hereafter So we may justly account our selves miserable not so much from external evils as from the motions and stirrings of sinne within us that do press us down and thereby make our lives more disconsolate Hence it is that Austin calleth this Gemitum saactorum c. the sighs and groans of holy persons fighting against concupiscence within them Sixthly The affectionate rejoycing and assured confidence that he hath about the full deliverance of him from this bondage expressed in those words I thank God through Jesus Christ doth greatly establish this exposition also of a regenerate ate person It is true there is variety about reading of this passage however this plainly cometh from an heart affected with assurance of Gods grace to give him a full redemption though for the present he lie in sad conflicts and agonies This is so palpable a conviction that some of the Dissentients will make Paul here to speak in his own person as if he did give God thanks for that freedome which the person spoken before had not obtained Neither is it any wonder to see such a sudden change in Paul from groaning under misery presently to break forth into thanks and praises of God For we may often observe such ebbings and flowings in David's Psalms that we would hardly think the same Psalm made by the same man at the same time one verse speaking dejection and disconsolateness the next it may be strong confidence and rejoycing in God Lastly The conclusion which Paul maketh from this excellent experimental Discourse is fully to our purpose So then I my self serve the Law of God but with the flesh the law of sin To serve God and to serve the Law of God is all one and this none but a godly man doth Yea to serve him with the mind and the spirit is a choice expression of our grace But because this is not perfect and compleat he addeth He serveth also the flesh and the law of sin It is true None can serve God and mammon Christ and sin but yet where there is not a perfect freedom from thraldom to sin there though in the principal and chief manner we are carried out to serve God yet the flesh retardeth and so snatcheth to it some service you heard contraries might be together while they are in fight Neither is our redemption from sin full and total It is to be done successively and by degrees that so we may be the more humbled and grace exalted Besides that expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is emphatical this is used when Paul expresseth himself in some remarkable manner I the same and no other man as it is used in other places 2 Cor. 10. 1. Now I Paul my self beseech you c. 2 Cor. 12. 13. except it was because I my self was not burdensom to you Rom. 9. 3. I could wish that myself were accursed c. which is enough to convince such as are not refractory ¶ 3. Objections Answered I Shall now consider what is objected against this Interpretation and shall not attend to the general objections such as that That who are Christs and regenerated have higher things attributed to them They have crucified the flesh they have mortifiedeth old man c. As also this seemeth to be injurious to Gods grace it will encourage men in slothfulness and negligence c. for these shall be answered in the general I shall therefore only pitch upon two objections which the Adversaries insist upon The first is That this person here spoken of is said to be once without the Law which say they is the description of a Gentile in Paul 's language therefore he assumeth some other person then his own for Paul alwayes lived under the Law Austin indeed expounds it thus I did live once without the Law that is saith he when he was a child before he had the use of reason This is too harsh Therefore it is better answered The person here spoken of is not said to be without the Law which is indeed the description of a Gentile but that he was alive without the Law once that is he as all the Pharisees understood the Law of God as forbidding only external sins and Paul living unblameably as to that respect thought to have life and righteousness by the Law but when the commandment came in power to him and he was convinced that it did prohibit not only outward sins but inward lustings of heart then he began to find himself a greater sinner than he was aware of then he found the Law to be death to him so that he lived without the Law because he was not affected with the full and exact obligation therof The second thing much insisted upon is That the person here spoken of is said to be carnal and sold under sinne which they say is made by the Scripture a certain property of a wickedman Thus it is said of Ahab Thou hast sold thy self to do wickedly 1 Kin. 21. 10. yea of all the children of Israel 2 Kin. 17. 13. They caused their children to pass through the fire and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord. But first Calvin doth grant that this is spoken of Paul while unregenerate and therefore beginneth his Exposition at the 15th verse of a sanctified person yet that cannot well be because there the Apostle beginneth to alter the tense There he saith I am carnal I am sold under sinne whereas before he had used the
Cor. 15. 56. which Austin expounds in this sense as that by sinne death is caused as that is called Poculum mortis a cup of death which causeth death or as some say The Tree of life is called so because it was the cause of life If then original sinne be a sinne it must have a sting and this sting is everlasting death So that if we attend to what the Scripture speaketh concerning us even in the womb and the cradle that we are in a state of sinne we must conclude because it is a sinne therefore it deserveth damnation Hence you heard the Apostle Rom. 5. expresly saith Judgement came by one to condemnation and Rom. 3. That the whole world is guilty before God Secondly The Scripture doth not only speak of this birth-pollution as a sinne but as an hainous sinne in its effects whereby it doth admis of many terrible aggravations as you have heard It is the Law in our members it 's the flesh tho body of sin the sin that doth so easily beset us the sin that warreth against the mind and the Spirit of God that captivateth even a godly man in some measure which maketh Paul groan under it and cry out of his miserable condition thereby so that it is not meerly a sinne but a sinne to be aggravated in many respects and therefore necessarily causing damnation unlesse God in his mercy prevent Let Bellarmine and others extenuate it making it lesse then the least sinne that is of which more afterwards let them talk of venial sinnes that do not in their own nature deserve hell yet because all sinne is a transgression of Gods Law the curse of God belongeth thereunto therefore it hath an infinite guilt in respect of the Majesty of God against whom it is committed and they who judge sinne little must also judge the Majesty of God to be little also What shall one respect of involuntariness which is in original sinne make it lesse then others when 〈…〉 so many other respects some whereof do more immediately relate to the nature of sinne then voluntariness can do farre exceed other sinnes Thirdly Original sinne must needs deserve damnation because it needeth the bloud of Christ to purge away the guilt of it as well as actual sins Christ is a Saviours to Infants as well as to grown men and if he be a Saviour to them then they are sinners if he save them then they are lost As for that old evasion of the Pelagian Infants need Christ not to save them from sinne but to bring them to the Kingdom of Heaven it 's most absurd and ridiculous for the whole purpose of the Gospel is to shew That Christ came into the world to bring sinners to Heaven through his bloud his death was expiatory and by way of atonement therefore it did suppose sinne hence he is sad to be the Lamb of God that taketh away the sinne of the world John 1. 29. which is both original and actual Fourthly That eternal damnation belongeth to the sinne we are born in appeareth by those remedies of grace and Ordinances of salvation which were appointed by God both in the Old and New Testament for the taking away of this natural guilt Circumcision in the Old Testament did declare that by nature the heart was uncircumcised and that every one was destitute of any inherent righteousnesse hence circumcision is called The seal of the righteousnesse which is by faith Rom. 4. 11. To this Baptism doth answer in the New Testament the external never whereof with the formal Rite of Administration doth abundantly convince us of our spiritual uncleanness as also the need we have of the bloud of Christ and also of his Spirit for our cleansing Now because the known Adversary to this truth affirmly That he knoweth of no Church that in her Rituals doth confesse and bewail original sinne As also that we might see the Judgement of our first Reformers in England about Baptism as relating to original sinne It is good to observe what is set down in the Publique Administration of Baptism as by the Common-Prayer-Book was formerly to be used there the Minister useth this Introductory Forasmuch as all men be conceived and born in sinne adding from hence That none can enter into the kingdom of Heaven unlesse he be born again It is the sinne he is born in not pure Naturals as the Doctor saith that inferreth a necessity of regeneration Again In the Prayer for children to be baptized there is this passage That they coming to thy holy Baptism may receive remission of sins Now what sinnes can children have but their original It is spoken in the plural number because more than one child is supposed to be baptized Again in the same Prayer we meet with this Petition That they being delivered from thy wrath What can more ashame the Doctors opinion then this That which he accounteth so horrid is here plainly asserted That children are born under Gods wrath therefore prayer is made that they may be delivered from it Lastly In another Prayer after the Confession of Faith we have this Petition That the old Adam in these children may be so buried that the new man may be raised up in them Why doth he not seoff at this expression saying as he doth upon another occasion That they change the good old man with these things that he never thought of No doubt but he will force these passages by some violent Interpretation as he doth the 9th Article but certainly it would be more ingenuity in him to flie to his principles of liberty of prophesying rather then to wrest these publick professions of original sinne It is true the Ancients and so the Papists put too much upon Baptism For Austin thought every child dying without Baptism yea and without the participation of the Lords Supper was certainly damned But of this extream more afterwards It is enough for us That Christs Institution of such a Sacrament and that for Infants doth evidently proclaim our sinfulnesse by nature and therein our desert of eternal wrath Fifthly To original sinne there must needs belong eternal wrath because of the nature of it and inseperable effects flowing from it The nature of it is the spiritual death of the soul by this a man is alienated from all life of grace and therefore till the grace of God appear it 's true of all by nature as followeth in the Chapter where this Text is vers 12. Without Christ alient from the Commonwealth of Israel strangers from the Covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world Thus Davenant upon that Text Dead in sinne Col. 2. 13. saith All the sons of Adam are accounted dead first because they lie in a state of spiritual death having lost the Image of God and partly because they are under the guilt of eternal death being obnoxious to the wrath of God for by nature we are the children of wram If then original sinne put
and thereby avoid the temptation to be transported by curious and unnecessary Questions but above all this will prepare to exalt Christ in his Mediatory Office This will be the foundation to build the free and unsearchable riches of Gods grace upon Insomuch that the whole summe of Religion doth consist in the cause of the first and second Adam I shall trouble thee no further only my desire is That the Reader would pass by candidly the Errata he will often meet with in the printing by reason of my distance from the Press as also the mispointings which many times obscure the sense Now the Father of Spirits mould and fashion our hearts according as every divine Truth requireth and make us to gather and hive up Honey from every Flower in his Garden that so our Christianity may not be speculative and from Books only but experimental and savourily affecting the heart which only bringeth hope of eternal life is the prayer of Thine in Christ Jesus ANTHONY BURGESSE Sutton Coldfield Aug. 19. 1658. To the Reader AS for making the Table and prefixing the Contents before the Chapters Sections and Paragraphs of this Book the Reverend Author committed that task to a Friend who desireth the Reader to pardon any failings that he shall discover in them ERRATA PAg. 62. l. 24. for Gnanon r Gnavon p. 68. l. 36. for strictly for r. strictlyâ— largely for p. 69. l. 26. for quantum libet praeferimus r. quantumlibet profecimus l. 27. for cogitate r. cogitata p. 71. l. 40. for because r. â—e because p. 72. l. 18. for are r. were p. 73. l. 14. for reservantur r. reservatur p. 80. l. 13. for ad r. and. p. 82. l. 31. for vorti cordis r. vorticordis p. 85. for coactivum r. coactivam p. 88. l. 27. for Echineips r Echineis p. 92. l. 30. for balbutiri r. balbutire l. 34. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 94. l. 41. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 45. dele to p. 95. l. 16. for is r. it is p. 97. l. 10. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 107. l. 10. for outward r. outwardly p. 121. l. 28. for 〈◊〉 r. ne p. 122. l. 6. for fabula r. tabula l. 8. for imitation r. mutation p. 219. l. 32. for Monasterii Anabaptis r. â—unster Anabaptists p. 221. l. 26. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 225. l. 12. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 286. l. 27. for rei r. 〈◊〉 p. 307. l. 34. for thereby r. there The Analysis of this Book This Treatise of Original Sinne shews 1. That it is by pregnant Texts vindicated from false Glosses 2. What it is both Name especially the Scripture names Thing Privative and Positive 3. How it comes to be communicated with a consideration of the original of the Soul 4. It s Subject of Inhesion General the whole man In particular The Mind Conscience Memory Will. Affections Imagination Body Predication Every one Christ excepted 5. Its Qualities or Adjuncts The greatnesse Of Adam's Actual transgression which is our original imputed sinne Of our Original Sinne inherent in us The Propriety in every one The Activity The Equality in all A Justification of Gods shutting up all under sinne for the sin of Adam 6. The Immediate Effects of it Propensity to Sinne. The Cause of all Actual sins The Combate between the flesh and Spirit in the godly Death Eternal Damnation THE CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK PART I. PRoving the total and universal Pollution of all Mankind inherently through Sinne. CHAP. I. The first Text to prove Original Sinne improved and vindicated viz. Ephes 2. 3. And were by nature the children of wrath as well as others CHAP. II. Of the Name Original Sinne and of the Utility and Necessity of being clearly and powerfully informed about this Subject CHAP. III. Demonstrations of the Naturality of this sinne that we have it by Natural Propagation CHAP. IV. Objections against the Naturality of Original Sinne answered CHAP. V. A second Text to prove Original Sinne opened and vindicated viz. Rom. 5. 19. For as by one mans disobedience many were made sinners c. CHAP. VI. Whether we are sinners by Natural Propagation or by Imitation CHAP. VII Of the Souls inward filth and defilement by Original Sinne. CHAP. VIII That the inward Contagion that we have from Adam's Disobedience is truly and properly a sinne CHAP. IX Objections Answered CHAP. X. A third Text to make good this Fundamental Point improved and vindicated viz. Job 14. 4. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean Not one SECT II. A three-fold Uncleanness SECT III. A Comparison between mans moral Uncleanness and Levitical Uncleanness SECT IV. What is comprehended in this expression Uncleanness SECT V. Objections against mans Natural Uncleanness answered CHAP. XI A fourth Text to prove Original Sinne opened and vindicated viz. Psal 51. 5. Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sinne did my mother conceive me SECT II. Objections answered SECT III. More Advantages accruing from the Belief and Meditation of this Truth SECT IV. That we are to bewail this Original Sinne all our dayes SECT V. Which needed not to have been if Adam had stood SECT VI. We must be humbled for a two-fold Original Sinne and seek from Christ a two-fold Righteousnesse SECT VII The different opinions of men about humiliation for Original Sinne. SECT VIII Repentance may be taken either largely or strictly SECT IX The Difference between godly Sorrow for Original Sinne and for Actual SECT X. Reasons why we must be humbled for Original Sinne. The Contents of the Second Part. SHewing that Original Sinne is and how it is communicated CHAP. I. Of the Name Old-man given to Original Sin Rom. 6. 6. Knowing this that if our old-man be crucified with Christ c. SECT IV. Why it is called Man SECT V. Why it is called Old-Man CHAP. II. Of the Name Law of Sin given to Original Sinne. Rom. 7. 25. But with the flesh the Law of sinne SECT III. Original Sinne compared to a Law in five Respects CHAP. III. Of the Name The Sinne that dwelleth in us given to Original Sinne. Rom. 7. 17. It is no more I but sinne that dwelleth in me CHAP. IV. Of the Epithete Evil is present with us given to Original Sinne. Rom. 7. 21. That when I would do good evil is present with me CHAP. V. Of that Name The Sin that doth so easily beset us given to Original Sinne. Hebr. 12. 1. And the sinne that doth so easily beset us SECT II. What is implied in that expression SECT III. How many wayes Original Sinne is a Burden and an Hinderance unto us CHAP. VI. Of the Name Evil Treasure of the Heart given to Original Sinne. Matth. 12. 35. And an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth evil things SECT II. How Original
Fourth Part. TReating of the Effects of Original Sinne. CHAP. I. Of that Propensity that is in every one by Nature to sinne Job 15. 16. How much more abominable and filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water SECT I. The Text explained and vindicated from Socinian Exceptions SECT II. How much is implied in this Metaphor Man drinketh iniquity like water SECT III. Some Demonstrations to prove that there is such an impetuous Inclination in man to sinne SECT IV. The true Causes of this Proneness and the false ones assigned by the Adversaries examined CHAP. II. The second immediate Effect of Original Sinne is the Causality which it hath in respect of all other sins Jam. 1. 14. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed SECT I. The Text explained setting forth the generation of Sinne. SECT II. That Original Sinne is the Cause of all Actual Evil cleared by several Propositions which may serve for Antidotes against many Errours ¶ 2. Of the Motions of the heart to sinne not consented unto as an immediate Effect of Original Sinne. ¶ 3. How many wayes the Soul may become guilty of sinne in respect of the Thoughts and motions of the heart CHAP. III. Of the Combate between the Flesh and the Spirit as the Effect of Original Sinne so that the Godliest man cannot do any holy Duty perfectly in this life Gal. 5. 17. For the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh and these are contrary one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would SECT I. The Text explained and vindicated from corrupt Interpretations SECT II. Several Propositions clearing the truth about the Combate between the Flesh and Spirit in a Godly man SECT III. A Consideration of that part of the seventh Chapter to the Romans which treats of the Conflict within a man Shewing against Amyraldus and others that it must be a regenerate person only of whom those things are spoken ¶ 4. The several wayes whereby Original Sinne doth hinder the Godly in their Religious Progress whereby they are sinfull and imperfect ¶ 5. Objections against the Reliques of Sin in a regenerate man answered ¶ 8. The several Conflicts that may be in a man ¶ 10. How the Combate in a Godly man between the Flesh and Spirit may be discerned from other Conflicts ¶ 10. Of the Regenerates freedome from the Dominion of sinne and whether it be by the Suppression of it or by the Abolishing part of it CHAP. IV. Of Death coming upon all men as another Effect of Original Sinne. 1 Cor. 15. 22. For as in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive SECT II. Death an Effect of Original Sinne explained in divers Propositions ¶ 2. How many wayes a thing may be said to be Immortal and in which of them man is so ¶ 4. Distinctions about Mortality and that in several respects Adam may be said to be created Mortal and Immortal ¶ 7. The several Grounds assigned by Schoolmen of Adam's Immortality rejected and some Causes held forth by the Orthodox SECT III. Arguments to prove That through Adam's sinne we are made sinners and so Mortal SECT IV. Arguments brought to prove That Adam was made Mortal answered SECT V. Whether Adam's sinne was onely an occasion of Gods punishing all mankind resolved against D. J. Taylor SECT VI. Whether Death may be attributed to mans constitution considered in his meer Naturals against D. J. Taylor and the Socinians CHAP. V. Eternal Damnation another Effect of Original Sinne. Ephes 2. 3. And were by nature the children of wrath as well as others SECT I. What is meant by Wrath in this Text. SECT II. What is meant by Nature SECT III. That by nature through the original sinne we are born in all are heirs of Gods wrath all are obnoxious to eternal damnation SECT IV. What is comprehended in this Expression Children of wrath SECT V. Some Propositions in order to the proving That the wrath of God is due to all mankind because of Original Sinne. SECT VI. Arguments to prove it SECT VII Some Conclusions deduceable from the Doctrine of the damnableness of Original Sinne. SECT VIII A Consideration of their Opinion that hold an Universal Removal of the Guilt of Original Sinne from all mankind by Christs Death Answering their Arguments among which that from the Antithesis or Opposition which the Apostle maketh Rom. 5. between the first Adam and the second Adam SECT IX Of the state of Infants that die in their Infancy before they are capable of any Actual Transgressions and that die before Baptisme A TREATISE OF Original Sinne. PART I. CHAP. I. The first Text to prove Original Sinne improved and vindicated SECT I. EPHES. 2. 3. And were by nature the children of wrath as well as others THE true Doctrine of Original Corruption is of so great concernment that Austin thought De Peccato Orig. contra Pelag. Celest 2. cap. 24. the Summe of Religion to consist in knowing of this as the effect of the first Adam and also of Christ the second Adam with all his glorious benefits Though therefore Coelestius of old thought it to be but Recquaestionis not fides Ibidem cap. 4. And others of late have wholly rejected it as Austin's figment yet certainly the true way of Humiliation for sinne or Justification by Christ cannot be firmly established unless the true Doctrine of this be laid as a Foundation-stone in the building Now because original sinne is used ambiguously by Divines sometimes for Adam's first sinne imputed unto us for Omnes homines fuerunt ille unus homo he was the common Person representing all mankind as is in time to be shewed And this for distinction sake is called Originale originans or Originale imputatum And sometimes it 's taken passively for the effect of that first sinne of Adam viz. The total and universal pollution of all mankind inherently through sinne which is called Originale originatum or inherens I shall treat of it in this later acception as being of great practical improvement many wayes SECT II. ANd because in Theological Debates two Questions are necessary The An sit and the Quid sit Whether there be such a thing and What it is and in both these the truth of God meeteth with many adversaries I shall first insist on the Quod sit That there is such a natural and cursed pollution upon every one that is born in an ordinary way The first Text I shall fasten this Truth upon is this I have mentioned which deservedly both by Ancient and Modern Writers is thought to have a pregnant and evident demonstration That there is such a natural contagion upon all To understand this the better take notice of the Coherence briefly The Apostles scope is to incite the Ephesians to Thankfulness by the consideration of that great love and infinit mercy vouchsafed to them by God and because the Sunne is most
communicated to his posterity would have been truly and properly holiness An Infant new born would have been called righteous in a proper sense Therefore are we now born sinfull in a true and proper respect Argum. 8. This is a sinne properly Because it is against the Law of God We want that perfection which we ought to have we are bound not only to actual obedience but to do this from an holy and unspotted principle within Therefore it is truly said Original sinne is in some sense forbidden in every Commandment and original Righteousness is commanded in all but because this is so much vexed by Objections we are to speak more to it in answer to them We have brought in several Arguments to prove original sinne to be a sinne properly and truly so and this was the rather to be done because of some Papists but especially Socinians and Arminians with the Pelagians of old denying it to be so But from Scripture it is clear that it is as true a sinne as actual and therefore that division of sinne into original and actual is of an univocal genus into its species both the members of that division partaking in a proper manner of the nature of sinne It being therefore the foundation of this point and all our fabrick which in times shall be raised being bottomed of this we shall ex abundanti offer two or three Arguments more to prove that it is a sinne not in a large or a metonymical lense but rigidly and properly And the first in order is Argum 9. From the necessity of Infants in respect of a Saviour Those Infants that die in their Infancy and go to heaven cannot obtain this glorious benefit but by Christ If therefore Christ be a Saviour to some Infants then they are lost and undone in themselves But not for any actual sinnes Therefore for original This fully demonstrates every Infant though but a day but an hour old to be truly a sinner Why Because even they need Christ a Saviour if they had no sinne they needed not a Jesus And this must necessarily be confessed That either Infants cannot be saved and are not to be accounted of the people of God and of his Church or if they be that they have sinne from which they are to be cleansed and saved The former is rarely asserted and therefore the later must be granted And indeed when the Scripture saith Matth. 1. 21. Christ is called Jesus Because he shall save his people from their sinnes As also Ephes 5. 25 26. Christ is said to give himself for his Church that he may cleanse it so as to be without spot or wrinkle Either we must say Infants are none of Christs people they belong not at all to his Church or if they do they have true and proper sinne in them which the Scripture cals uncleanness and it is evidently applied to Infants in that sense Job 14. 4. Job 15. 14. who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean And who is is born of a woman that he should be righteous Where to be unclean is made directly opposite to be righteous Therefore when the Pelagians of old would evade this Argument saying Infants needed a Christ to bring them to the Kingdom of Heaven though they had no sinne Austin well urged That they divided those two names of our Saviour Christ and Jesus making him a Christ where he was not a Jesus Certainly to be a Saviour of Infants implieth in themselves they are lest Argum. 10. Hence in the next place The initial Sacrament which God hath appointed alwayes in his Church for Infants doth fully demonstrate they have sinne in a proper formal sense viz. Sinne to be remitted and to be abolished In the Old Testament every Infant eight dayes old was to be circumcised and that Sacrament did plainly declare the sinne and corruption that was in them though so young for Rom. 4. Circumcision was a Seal of the Righteousness by Faith which is a Gospel-righteousness by Christ whereas if they had no sinne within such a Seal would have been ridiculous and absurd As for Christ who though he had no sinne yet was circumcised and baptized that was upon another account for having voluntarily made himself subject to the Law it beloved him to fulfill all the Righteousness thereof but Infants have not that consideration If then Infants needed a righteousness through faith this plainly demonstrated they had nothing but sinne in themselves besides The cutting of the fore skin in the Sacrament of Circumcision did denote the throwing away of that inherent pollution of their Natures Deut. 10. 16. Therefore Deut. 30. 6. God promiseth to circumcise their heart which was to regenerate them of which Circumcision was a sign Hence Rom. 2. 28 29. the Apostle distinguisheth of a Circumcision of the flesh and a Circumcision of the spirit If then Infants needed a Circumcision of the Spirit If they needed that the sinfull fore-skin of their heart should be cut off of which their external Circumcision applied to them was a Seal it followeth unquestionably that they had an universal pollution all over them before they had committed any actual sinne Thus also for Baptism an initiating Sacrament in the New Testament that is to be applied to Infants For though Anabaptists do now deny it yet the Pelagians of old though so exceedingly pressed by this Argument That Infants were baptized for Remission of sinne but it could not be actual therefore it was original which was in them They never dared to deny their Baptism but ranne to other evasions I take it for a Truth at this time because so fully proved by those who have writ on this Subject That Infants are to be baptized and if so it 's also plain by Scripture That Baptism in the nature of it signifieth Remission of sinnes and Regeneration which priviledges if Infants want they must necessarily have that which is truly and properly a sin Argum. 11. Lastly Every Infant new born comes into the world with that which is truly and formally a sinne Because the Scripture makes it the peculiar Character and property of Christ that he was wholly without sinne Therefore the Angel in his discourse to Mary cals him the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that holy thing which shall be born of thee Luke 1. 35. And the Apostle telleth us It behoved us to have such an High priest who was tempted like us in all things sin only excepted Heb. 4. 15. These places do clear that Christ only was born without sinne and all others are polluted with it And the reason why Christ is exempted is because he was not of Adam Quoad seminalem rationem but corpulatam substantiam as the Schoolmen say He was not the sonne of Adam by natural generation but by a miraculous conception It is true The Evangelist Luke reckoning up Christs Genealogy ascends up to Adam as if he were the sonne of Adam but that is because he was the supposed
how the Pelagians made use of it he answereth That this is to be understood of actual sinne not original sinne Every actual sinne must be voluntary it 's not necessary original sinne should be personally and formally so Again he limits that Rule to such sins as are meerly sins not punishments also but original sin is both a sin and punishment Lastly He grants this to be true amongst the Laws of men and therefore cals it politica sententia And no wonder if Philosophers required a formal will in every sin else not to make it imputable because they were wholly ignorant of this Truth But in the last place our Divines do deny that voluntariness is requisite to every actual sinne for there are sinnes of ignorance for which Sacrifices were to be offered And David prayeth to be cleansed from secret sins which he did not know and if so they must be involuntary yea Paul expresly cals that a sin Rom. 7. which yet was against his will although it may be granted that even in these there is some kind of voluntarines For a thing may be voluntary either in its cause or in it self or absolutely involuntary but comparatively voluntary as when we do things for fear or there may be a mixture of voluntarines and involuntarines which Paul seemeth to acknowledge in himself yet still the proper notion of a sinne lieth in the contrariety of it to the Law of God Therefore John defineth sinne by that whether it be voluntary or not he doth not take notice of This is acknowledged by some Scholastical Writers especially Holkot De imputabilitate peccati answereth this Objection fully to our purpose where he positively affirmeth That sinne is not therefore imputable unto us because it was in the power of the will but as righteousness is therefore praise-worthy because it is righteousness so unrighteousness is therefore culpable and damnable because it is unrighteousness that is if I may interpret him because it 's against a Law Hence he proceedeth to shew That a thing is not righteous or vnrighteous meerly because it was in the power of the will for the will of a child would have been made righteous by God sine proprie motu without any proper motion of the childs will And then why may it not as well be sinfull without any such voluntary motion in an Infant So that he concludeth It 's as proper to original sinne to be naturally contracteâ— or derived from another without any proper act of the will as it is to an actual sinne to have the will one way or other consenting to it Even as in the state of integrity original righteousness in Infants would have been propagated but actuall Righteousness voluntarily performed And these things may satisfie this first Objection yet hereafter we shall speak more to this SECT II. THe second Objection is in effect to this sense What is a punishment cannot be a sinne But the deprivation of Gods Image in man upon Adam's disobedience is a punishment And therefore it cannot be a sinne Original sinne if not totally yet principally consists in the losse of that original Righteousnesse and rectitude which God made man in Seeing therefore the privation of this came upon man by way of punishment when Adam transgressed We cannot conceive it say they to be a sinne also for a punishment and a sinne are wholly contradictory a sinne must be voluntary a punishment involuntary a sinne is an action and a punishment is a passion a sinne is an evil and God cannot be the author of it a punishment is good and an act of Justice so that God cannot be said to permit that but to inflict it This Argument at the first view hath likewise some colour but upon the examination of it it will quickly vanish I shall not answer in a large dispute about that famous Question Whether the same thing may be a sin and a punishment Or whether God doth punish one sin with another but shall speak as much briefly as is convenient for this Objection And First You must know that Arminius began to dislike this Doctrine of original sinne Respons ad Artic. 31. which was mentioned in their publique Catechism upon this very reason because it was a punishment and he gave this Reason to the Minister then conferring with him Because if God did punish Adam's sinne with this sinne then he must punish this with another and that other with another and so there must be a processus in infinitum But his followers the Remonstrants in their Apology for their Confession contra Censuram seem to disclaim this opinion That our original corruption is either malum culpae or poenae properly so called Because where there is an evil of punishment it must be for some sinne But Infants have committed no voluntary sinne and therefore could not deserve such a punishment So that they profess themselves to be of Zuinglius his mind whether he retracted it or not afterwards they are not certain viz. That it is a morbus a vitium a languor an imbecillity of nature but neither the evil of sinne or punishment Some Papists as Pighius Catharinus Mayro and some Scotists hold That native pollution to be no sinne because it 's a punishment and that for Adam's sinne imputed to all concluding on this That it cannot be a sinne because it 's a punishment The Socinians they say The necessity of dying with other punishments is the punishment of Adam's sinne and therefore that repugnancy and contrariety which is between the flesh and the Spirit is from our very Creation The sensitive appetite rebels against the rational from the very first Creation of man and would have been whether Adam had sinned or no yea it was from this vehement opposition of the appetite to reason that he did sin I shall consider the strength of their Objection as it lieth in this The same thing cannot be a sin and a punishment too The Remonstrants affirm this and Papists likewise but with some explication And 1. It is confessed That there are some punishments of sinne which are not sinne as when God for Adam's disobedience hath made man obnoxious to miseries to sickness and death These are not sinnes It comes from sinne to have pain and to die but they are not sinnes and the Reason is Because these are malum naturale not morale they are a natural evil not a moral In the second place Austin saith and he saith it truly from Scripture That original inherent sinne which he calleth concupiscence is both a sinne a punishment of sinne and a cause of sin Even as blindness of mind or hardness of heart is both a sinne a punishment and a cause of further sinne Lib. 5. contra Juhan cap. 3. That it is a sinne appeareth by the many Texts already brought And Austin's Reason in that place is very cogent Quia inest illi inobedientia contra dominatum mentis There is in it a disobedience against the dominion of
of sinne is expresly said to be in the members And whereas the Apostle in that verse saith He seeth a Law in his members bringing him into captivity to the Law of sinne that doth not argue a distinction between these but according to the use of the Scripture the Antecedent is repeated for the Relative the sense being That the Law of his members did bring Paul into captivity to it notwithstanding the Law of the mind with in him as Gen. 9. 16. I will remember saith God himself the everlasting Covenant between God that is my self and every living creature We see then in these words that the Apostle giveth another name to that original sinne which dwelleth in him he calleth it very emphatically The Law of sinne in him Original corruption is even in Paul though converted how much more in all unregenerate persons by way of a Law From whence observe That the Scripture cals original sin the Law of sin Within us SECT II. TO understand this take notice of these things First The Apostle in his Epistles doth delight to use the word Law and that when speaking of contrary things The Law of God the Law of Works This he mentioneth properly but then he cals it The Law of faith because the Hebrew word for Law signifieth no more than Doctrine for Torath either comes they say from a word that signifieth to appoint or teach or from a word that signifieth to rain because saith Chemnitius as the raine is gathered together in the clouds not to be kept there but to be emptied on the earth that so it may be made fruitfull Thus the Law of God was appointed by God not meerly to be written in the Bible but also to be implanted in our hearts The word then in the Hebrew signifying Doctrine in the general no wonder if the Gospel be called The Law of Faith So Regeneration Rom. 8. is called The Law of the Spirit of life as in other places it is The Law of God written in our hearts but the Apostle doth not only apply it to these things but especially in this Chapter he cals it The Law of sinne not sin only but the Law of sinne and the Law in our members why the Apostle doth so you shall hear anon Only In the second place you must consider when the Apostle cals it The Law of sinne it is in an improper and abusive or allusive sense for a Law properly is only of that which is good the matter of a Law must be honest and just because a Law is pars juris and Jus is à justo Therefore Aquinas saith That unjust Laws are rather violentia than leges Yea Tully saith Such Decrees are neither Leges nor ne appellandae quidem yet the Scripture speaks of some who make iniquity a Law Psal 99. 20. or who frame mischief for a Law Tacitus complaineth of the multitude of Laws in his time and saith The Commonwealth groaned ut flagitiis ita legibus So that although the properties of a Law are to be good and profitable yet by allusion all unjust and hurtfull Decrees are called Laws and thus the Apostle cals it the Law of sinne alluding to those properties or effects which a Law hath What the Law of God doth in a regenerate man the contrary doth the Law of sinne in a natural man SECT III. Original Sinne compared to a Law in five respects ORiginal sinne therefore may be compared to a Law in these respects First A Law doth teach and direct Lex est lux It informeth and teacheth what is to be done Thus the Schoolmen they make Direction the first thing necessary to a Law The work of grace in a godly man is called by the Apostle The Law of the mind in this Chapter Because grace within a man doth teach and direct him what to do Hence 1 John 2. 27. the godly man is said to have an anointing within him The Law of God is written in his inward parts and so from within as well as by the Word without they are taught what to do Thus on the contrary the Law of sinne in a natural man doth teach and prompt him to all kind of evil This Law of sinne doth not indeed teach what we ought to do but it doth wonderfully suggest all kind of wickedness to us and from this cause it is that you see children no sooner able to act but they can with all readiness runne into evil sinnes that they have not seen committed before their eyes they can with much dexterity accomplish What a deal of instruction and admonition is requisite to nurture your young ones in the fear of the Lord And all is little enough And why is this The Law of God is not in their hearts they have not that in them which would direct and teach holiness But on the other side children need not to be taught wickedness you need not instruct them how to sinne they have much artifice and cunning in an evil way And why so The Law of sinne is in them this is that they are bred with So that as the young ones of Foxes and Serpents though they have no teacher yet from the Law of nature within them they grow subtil and crafty in their mischievous wayes Thus the Law of sinne doth in every man he is ingenious and wise to do evil As the ground ere it will bring forth corn doth need much labour and tillage but of it self bringeth forth bryars and thorns Thus all by nature are so foolish and blind that without heavenly education and institution you cannot bring them to that which is holy but of their own selves men have subtilty and abilities to frame mischievous things And why is all this They have a Law of sinne within them which directs suggests and informeth to do much evil So that we are not to put all upon the Devil to say He put it into my minde he suggested such thoughts to me No the Law of sinne within thee can sufficiently prompt thee to all evil Secondly A Law doth not onely teach but it doth instigate and incline it presseth and provoketh to the things commanded by it Thus the Law of the mind in a godly man doth greatly instigate and provoke him to what is good It is like a goad in his side it is like fire in his bowels he must do that which is good else he cannot have any rest within him You read when David refrained for a while from speaking good at last he could hold no longer but the fire did break out So Paul 2 Cor. 5. The love of Christ constraineth us Thus the true believer he hath a principle of grace within him which is like a Law upon him he cannot do otherwise he must obey it Thus on the contrary Original sinne in a natural man is like a Law within him it provoketh him it enflameth him to all evil Whensoever any holy duty is pressed upon him this Law of sinne stirreth him
check and bitter reluctancy sometimes so that they can say sometimes I do the things I allow not yea I hate When the Apostle Rom. Chap. 1. and Chap. 2. speaketh of some Heathens that had their consciences accusing of them and that they detained the truth in unrighteousnesse he supposeth That those who yet never tasted of the power of the Gospel may have such truth and light in their consciences that it shall suggest what is to be done yet love to their lusts will hurry them the contrary way but as in time is to be shewed the combate between reason and the sensitive appetite is a farre different thing from the conflict between the flesh and the spirit in the godly Neither secondly must you understand Paul speaking of gross and foul sins as if when he said The evil he would not that he doth were to be understood of scandalous and wicked enormities No but it is to be interpreted of those motions to sinne and constant infirmities which cleave to the most holy Let not therefore any prophane person that customarily walloweth in his impieties excuse himself with this It is true I am such a beast I do such soul things sometimes but I may say with Paul The things that I allow not yea that I hate those I do This is to turn honey into poyson This is to make the Scripture an incentive to thy impiety No Paul and such as thou art differ as much as the Sunne and a dunghill Paul did not mean the drunkenness the uncleanness that he would not do that he did but he meaneth such corruptions and infirmities that immediately flow from the polluted nature within us from which we are never throughly cleansed in this life Thirdly Neither when the Apostle saith The good he would that he doth not and the evil he would not that he doth Is thus to be so understood as if it were perpetual and in every particular act as if sinne had alwayes the better and grace the worse as if in no action he did grace did conquer sinne for in other places the godly are said to have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof As also That sinne shall not have dominion over them but sometimes in some temptations they are captivated against their wils Fourthly Neither may you thus understand Paul when he saith He would do good but evil stops him as if he had only the sluggards will and wish who would eat but doth not labour who would be rich but yet lets his field be full of briars and thorns such velleities and incompleat wishes many formal Christians have so that such lazy and sluggish desires without efficacious operations are not to shroud themselves under Paul's expression Lastly Therefore Paul's meaning is That the good which he would do be cannot do it perfectly he cannot do it with that alacrity and fervency as he would do Though the flesh do not wholly conquer the spirit yet it doth stop and hinder it Therefore Nazianzen calls it the Echineips the fish that stops the ship that it doth not go so speedily though it doth not drown it SECT II. In what sense those words It is not I but sinne that dwels in me are to be understood THis premised we may take notice of an inference or conclusion that the Apostle draweth from this Now then it 's no more I that do it but sinne that dwels in me which he speaketh not as excusing or putting off the blame from himself but to difference and to distinguish these two principles that are within him the regenerate and unregenerate So farre as he is regenerate he doth not do these things neither are they to be charged upon him he speaks it to distinguish not excuse which is the rather to be observed because of those Carpocrations of old and Libertines of late who excuse all their impieties saying It is not they that do such things but the flesh within them and so make a mock of all sinne yea some of late have arrived to such horrid blasphemy as to say It 's not they that do such and such evil actions but God in them Neither doth the Apostle lay the fault upon the Devil it was not his but the Devil as many are apt to do but upon that fountain and root of all the bitterness in his heart and life which is original corruption here described to be the sinne dwelling in him From whence observe That original sinne is an inherent in-dwelling sinne in us It is the sinne that sticketh fast to our Natures and dwels in us Some will confess That there is original imputed sin but not inherent where doth the Scripture call it so say they But first They grant original imputed sinne yet Where doth the Scripture call it imputed sinne And secondly we say The Scripture cals it inherent in this Text The sinne that dwelleth in us that is the same in sense with the sinne inherent in us So then original sinne is the sinne that dwelleth inheretit and abideth in us To open thus First Take notice That there are three kinds of sinnes as to our purpose Original Habitual and Actual Actual sinnes are all such which are a transgression of Gods Law whether by thought word or deed for the sinnes of the mind and the heart are actual sinnes though never committed bodily and externally Now these actual sinnes they cannot be called sinnes that dwell in us for they are transient and when committed they are passed away onely the guilt remaineth viz. An obligation to eternal wrath Neither doth the Apostle so much complain in this Chapter of the actings of sinne though that be part as the Law of sinne in his members which is the fountain of all In the next place There are Habitual sinnes such as are acquired by frequent acts and daily commissions of sinne and these indeed must be confessed to be in-dwelling and fixed sinnes in us and these habits of sinne do much intend and strengthen our original corruption making it more vigorous and if so be that custom be a second nature how miserable is an unfegerate man who hath as it were a two-fold nature inclining him to sinne Original corruption which is like an innate habit and custome in sinne which is like an acquired So that as the Scripture speaks of some who are twice dead so we may say These are twice alive in respect of their vigorous propensity to sinne Therefore the Scripture speaks sometimes of men that have these double chains of wickedness upon them Thus when the Apostle Rom. 3. 10 11 12 c. doth from several places in the Old Testament apply those things which are spoken of men in an high nature flagitious to every one by nature that doth comprehend both their innate and acquired impiety and therefore might well by the Apostle be applied to all because all by nature would be carried out to such enormous rebellions The Psalmist because of original and habitual sinne
is flesh as well as spirit in the best performances This close subtil insinuating nature of original sinne is the cause why a godly man can never know the bottom of his heart This makes so many hypocrites and apostates This is it that makes a man so uncertain about himself for when he hath done all that we would think there were no danger yet some embers or other may lie as it were under the ashes and set all on flame Lastly When it saith Evil is present with us that denoteth the molesting and retarding nature of it stopping us in all the good we would do This is that especially for which Paul makes this sad complaint so that he cannot step one step but sinne puls him back again This is the milstone about the neck This is the clog and burden upon every man Oh Lord I would even flie up into heaven but this burden doth press me down When we would runne our spiritual race this makes us halt Vse Of Instruction to abhorre all such Doctrines as teach a perfection that holdeth We may attain to be without sin in this life Some Anabaptists and Papists though so extreamly contrary yet have understood that place Ephes 5. 27. Not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing to be fulfilled in this life forgetting the words before that he might present it to himself a glorious Church so that till this be done it is not without spot And near to these are such who though sinne be every way present in them yet because of their pharisaical and doubled minds as Paul once was they do not discover or feel any such thing But let the tender enlightned heart go into Gods presence and sadly bewail himself saying O Lord How ill is it with me What shall I think or say of my self How unspeakable is my misery I might have thought all sin within me even dead and buried But oh how it stirreth Oh how ready is it to put forth it self Lord I know not how to live with this burden and yet I cannot live without it I should utterly faint but that thy grace is sufficient for me CHAP. V. Of that Name The Sinne that doth so easily beset us given to Original Sinne. SECT I. HEB. 12. 1. And the Sinne which doth so easily beset us THe Apostle from those several Examples of many Worthies recorded in the former Chapter which he cals A Cloud of Witnesses partly for the multitude of them and partly for Direction As the Israelites had a Cloud to guide them in the wilderderness doth inferre a conclusion by way of Incouragement to go on constantly in the way of Christianity which he doth here as in other places compare to a running in the race This similitude sheweth the Difficulty in the race the Earnestness the Fortitude and Patience that ought to be in such who will be saved What an antidote should the meditation of this expression be against all dulness slothfulness and negligence whose life is like a running in a race to Heaven Now the Apostle following this Metaphor exhorts to lay aside all those burdens that may hinder us in this work It would be 〈◊〉 in him who is to runne a race to put burdens upon his back and lay as many heavy weights upon himself as he can No lesse absurd are they who give way to sinne in the lusts thereof and yet hope to arrive at Heaven Now the burden we are to lay aside is expressed in two words 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 weight by this is meant all actual sinne especially love and cares about the world for the earth is an element that descends downward and so he who hath an earthly heart cannot but have his soul presse downward 2. There is the Root and cause of this expressed in that phrase The sinne that doth so easily beset us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word is but once used and that in this place it 's a two fold compound and so the more emphatical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is as much here as easie and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that it is a sinne which besetteth and compasseth us about and that very easily it finds no resistance neither have we any power to withstand it Some understand this of actual sinnes but not only Protestant Interpreters but even some Papists also Ribera and others understand it of Concupiscence within us The word is made a Metaphor several wayes Erasmus renders it Tenaciter adhaerentem That sinne which doth so tenaciously adhere to us making it an Allâ—sion to Ezekiel Chap. 24. where there is a Pot set on the fire yet all the fire and burning cannot get off the rust and filth that cleaveth to it Gretius makes it to respect Lament 1. 14. where there are yokes and bands mentioned about the neck which are impediments to the beast in his going Others they make the Metaphor from a Wall or an hedge that stops the passenger in his way Yea Lapide following others makes it to be the outward temptations or the dangers that are in the way by enemies and adversaries to the Truth but the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth not well agree to that Hesichius rendereth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Varinus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If we compare this expression with what Paul saith of himself Rom. 7 concerning original sinne keeping and pressing him down we may well with Beza put a procul dubto upon that exposition which doth apply it to original sinne for that indeed is the onely weight that doth constantly and perpetually beset us and hinder us in our way to Heaven and that with all ease and facility Observe then That original sinne is the sinne which doth so easily beset us That doth circumcingere as Beza saith bind us up strait and close that our limbs are not expedite and free to runne our holy race So that it is with us as a racer that hath his arms or legs bound his garments so strait-laced to him that he cannot have that liberty and freedom to runne as he doth desire Some consider the word as it did allude to a milstone about the neck plunging us down into the Sea SECT II. What is implied in that Expression So easily beset us LEt us take notice What is contained in this excellent and emphatical word And First There is implied our utmost impotency and inability to shake off the power of it For although the Apostle exhorteth us to lay it aside yet that must be understood as a duty alwayes in doing that we are neverable to compleatfully and perfectly You see though they are godly to whom he writeth and they are already in the race yet it is their work daily to be unburdenning of themselves When therefore it 's called The sinne so easily besetting us hereby is taught us our inability and insufficiency to withstand it Insomuch that all those Doctrines which teach Free-will and a power to do what is good are justly to be
full as ever Thus it is with this treasure of original sinne all the sins that have come from it to this day have not at all diminished the fountain it 's as full and as overflowing as ever yea as sudden showrs make the rivers fuller causing a flood Thus do all actual and customary sins they make this original corruption like Nebuchadnezzar's fornace seven times hotter than it was before Fourthly In that it is called a treasure we thereby see the delight and pleasure that we naturally take in what is sinfull Our Saviour saith Where a mans treasure is there his heart is also how much more when this treasure is his heart when his heart and treasure is all one Therefore this expression doth denote the futable and pleasing nature of sinne to us it sheweth that what water is to the hydropical man as Job 15. so is sinne to a man by nature Hence Heb. 11. they are called The pleasures of sinne Who would think so you would rather think we might as well say The pleasures of hell and the pleasures of damnation that a man would be as willing to be damned as to sinne But thus sweet and pleasing is sinne to every man by nature because his heart is upon it it is a treasure to him That as the godly account Gods will sweeter than the honey-comb so do they the will and lusts of sinne Do ye not pity such who are so distempered in their palate that they cannot forbear eating those things which will be their death at last How much more miserable is man to whom nothing is so pleasant so much sought after as that which will prove his eternal damnation And certainly if sinne be not such a delight to thee naturally how cometh it about that no threatning no fear of hell all the curses in the Law denounced against thee cannot make thee forbear If you regard sinne in its own nature so the Scripture represents it most irksom and loathsom comparing it to gall to a bitter root to mire to vomit And who can desire to swallow down these things But because original sinne hath infected all hath made us like so many beasts therefore what is in it self abominable to our corrupt natures is become exceeding pleasant Fifthly Because it 's a treasure therefore it is that every day there cometh from us some new corruption or other some new sinne or other to be matter of condemnation to us That when we might think if once we had got our hearts to such a frame if once we could subdue such a corruption then we hope we should be at some ease but no sooner have we obtained such desires but this treasure of evil poureth out new matter of sorrow corruptions rise fresh again when we began to hope all were dead So that the soul begins to be even hopeless crying out O Lord how long When shall this bloudy flux be stopped When shall it once be that I may be quiet and free from this molesting enemy within But it is with thy heart as with the sea when one wave is over presently there cometh another and again another and it cannot be otherwise as long as this treasure is in us as Job saith Chap. 14. A Tree though the boughes of it be cut yet the root will spring again and be as big as ever if suffered to grow Thus original sin though it may be mortified and crucified in some measure though there may be much stopping and abating the strength of it by grace yet because the root is there still it will quickly sprout again Hence are the godly put upon those duties of crucifying and mortifying the flesh because they will have this work to do as long as they live there is a treasure and so out of this as the good Scribe cut of his good treasure Mat. 13. 52. doth bring out new and old thus doth he old lusts and new Vse Of Instruction Have we all by nature an evil treasure in our hearts then see why it is that thou art alwayes sinning that thou art never weary that all the world cannot change thee or make thee of another mind Is it not this evil treasure within As it is a treasure of sinne so it is of wrath and punishment Rom. 2. some are said To treasure up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath and this is thy case and never do thou flatter thy self because thou dost not feel and perceive any such evil upon thee for therein art thou the more miserable Treasures use to be hidden and secret therefore in the Scripture called hidden treasures and thus is this treasure of evil in thy heart it is hidden from thee thou dost not know it till God open thy eyes till he give a tender heart CHAP. VII Of the Name Body given to Original Sinne. SECT I. ROM 8. 13. But if ye through the Spirit doe mortifie the deeds of the Body ye shall live I Come now to the last Name I shall insist upon that the Scripture giveth original sinne and that is a Body For although the most famous and notable name is flesh yet because that will most properly be considered when we speak of the Nature and Definition of it I shall put it off till that time Only we must necessarily take notice of this Title given to it here and elswhere viz. a Body Not that this word is to foment the Illyrican absurdity That original sinne is not an accident but a substance but hereby is manifested the real and powerfull efficacy of it upon the whole man For the coherence of the words the Apostle at vers 12. from that glorious and precious Doctrine of Justification by Faith and also Sanctification begunne in us doth inferre this Exhortation by way of Conclusion That therefore we are not Debtors to the Flesh we have received such great and unspeakable favours from God that we owe all to him as for sinne called here the Flesh we owe nothing at all to that sinne will not justifie us sinne will not save us Neither hath the Devil shewed that love to us which Christ hath done By this then we see That though Justification and Gospel-mercies be not for any works or merits of ours yet Believers are to study and abound in holiness as that which Christ aimed at by the work of Redemption as well as our Justification Now for this reluctancy against and mortification of sinne the Apostle useth several Arguments as in the Text the danger that will accrew even to the godly If they live after the flesh they shall die that is eternally The godly need this goad to prick them forward they must not please themselves as if because they were elected justified they may live as they list and walk after the flesh No if they do so they shall surely be damned SECT II. What is implied by the word Mortifie BUt on the contrary If they mortifie the deeds of the body by the Spirit they shall
live where you have the duty supposed to mortifie that implieth it is not enough to forbear from the actings of sinne but they must kill it Sinne may be left upon many considerations yet not mortified Look therefore that sinne be dead in thee and not asleepy or onely restrained for a season Again To mortifie signifieth the pain and renitency that is in the unregenerate part against this Duty A wicked man had almost as willingly be killed as leave his lusts This sheweth how fast sinne is rooted in us more than a tooth in the jaw or the soul in the body and if any of these are not taken away without much pain and trouble no wonder if the leaving of our corruptions be so troublesom to us Lastly This word supposeth It 's a constant work we are alwayes mortifying alwayes crucifying This is spoken to comfort the godly that they should not wholly be dejected if they find some actings and stirrings of sinne still within them SECT III. SEcondly There is the Object of this Duty and that is The deeds of the body Many translate it The deeds of the flesh for that which was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before is here called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now this body is not only sinne putting it self forth in bodily actions but it is the same with flesh which is original corruption defiling the whole man So that the body here as Beza doth well observe is The whole man in soul and body while unregenerate for the flesh the body here spoken of by the Apostle is in the soul as well as body it is every thing that is opposite to God in a man whether it be in his mind or in his flesh So that Austin said The Epicurean he saith Frui carne meâ est bonum to enjoy the flesh is good The Stock he saith Frui mente meâ est bonum to enjoy my mind is good but both are deceived for to enjoy God only is good and both the body and the mind are all over defiled with sin SECT IV. LAstly There is the Efficient Cause by which we mortifie the deeds of the body and that is the Spirit It 's not our power but Gods Spirit that conquereth these lusts for us Observe That original sinne is a body in us It is a body both in our soul and body it 's called a body not properly as if it were a substance but metaphorically and allusively So Rom. 6. 6. it 's called The body of sinne and certainly it may as well be called so as flesh and the old man SECT V. Why Original Sinne is called a Body BUt let us consider Why it hath such a name given to it And First It is to shew That original sinne doth not lie latent in our breasts but putteth it self forth visibly in all the operations of the body That as the Godhead is said to dwell in Christ boaâ—ly and the Word was made flesh because the Divine Nature which is immaterial and invisible did through the body become as it were visible Thus we may say Original sinne dwelleth in us bodily and that it is made our flesh because in and through all bodily actions it doth manifest it self both to our selves and others It is then the body of sinne because it makes it self outward visible and doth as it were incarnate sinne hence it is called the outward man Indeed it is disputed whether 2 Cor. 4. 16. where the Apostle saith Though our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed daily By outward man there is meant the body only or original sinne in the bodily deeds thereof Most do interpret it of the body only yet Paraeus understands it of original sinne with the body That as the body and original corruptions with the effects thereof are constantly dying being mortified by the Spirit of God so the inward man which is the work of grace is daily more confirmed Howsoever this be yet it is plain Rom. 7. 22. That the work of grace within us being called the inward man that by opposition original corruption must be the outward man and therefore called The Law in our members It is thought by Nerimbergius that the Apostle taketh this distinction of an outward and inward man from Plato out of whom he quoteth a place with some vicinity to Paul's expression This is certain That original sinne may well be called a body and the Law in our members because by these it doth so palpably put forth its self Insomuch that we may wonder any will not believe there is original sinne for it is obvious to the sense they may behold the effects of it that as you may know a man hath a soul because he speaketh and laugheth though you cannot see the soul Thus though you cannot see original sinne yet because as soon as ever the child can speak or do any thing you see vanity and sinne put forth it self therefore you may conclude there is original sinne Thou then that wilt not be convinced of it by Scripture by reasons and several Authorities we send thee to experience You cannot go from house to house from Town to Town from company to company but you may see the effects and actings of original sinne If you say It 's mens actual sins and custom therein that makes them so vile It is true But still we ask Whence came the custom Whence came they to have those actings Certainly those streams could not have been polluted if the fountain had not been and if original sinne did not infect our natures why should not men generally as well act that which is good and obtain a custom in that which is commendable Therefore experience thy eyes thy ears may convince thee of this bodily sinne Secondly The Apostle calleth it a Body to answer those other expressions that he useth about it for he often calleth upon us to mortifie to kill to crucifie this original sinne Now to mortifie and crucifie are properly relating to a Body we do not say properly accidents or qualities are crucified To make therefore the expression harmonious he calleth it a Body Howsoever therefore it is with our natural body that no man ever yet hated his own flesh we are to nourish and cherish that and it would be murder to mortifie that body yet this Body of sinne is to be kept under we are not to spare it but by the Spirit of God to be constantly crucifying of it neither let that discourage thee because as you heard this will be painfull and grievous to flesh and blood for you must conclude upon this That the way to Heaven is narrow and straight there must be constant violence and opposition to all natural inclinations Every godly man may well be called a Martyr for though he may feel no pain in the killing of his natural body yet he must and will feel much exercise in killing the body of sinne but better endure some grief here than eternal torments hereafter
is causally and seminally in the first man so propagated from man to man but this hath deservedly been acknowledged the hardest knot to unty in all this doctrinal truth about original sinne how the soul can come to be polluted if created from God In this Argument The Pelagians did much tryumph and Austin was so puzled with it that he many times confesseth his ignorance at least his doubt in this point yea he saith That he could neither legendo erando or ratiocinando find out how the propagation of original sinne and the creation of the soul could be defended together But of this more in its time SECT II. The great Objections that are against asserting the Souls Creation IT is certain that here are dangerous rocks on both sides for if we say the soul is created then seeing God cannot but make every thing holy he cannot make a sinfull soul how then can it be infected with sinne Again if the soul be created then it was not virtually in Adam then it could not be said to sinne in him because it was never in him for why did not Christ sinne in him but because he was not seminally in him and if the soul was never radically in Adam how can it be polluted is it just with God to punish that with Adams sinne which never sinned in Adam If it be said that the soul when united to the body doth from that receive infection as if pure liquour were powred into a stinking vessel This will not solve but increase the doubt for a vessel indeed may pollute liquour because they are both bodies and so act by a corporall contact but the soul is a spirit and its a rule say they received by all that a body cannot act upon a spirit Besides sinne is properly in the soul and must from that be conveyed to the body The body whie without a soul is not capable of sinne no more then a bruit beast It hath no reason it is under no law how then can that communicate sinne to the soul when it hath none at all it self Thus you see what strong cords here are even that a Sampson can hardly break SECT III. Objections against holding that the Souls come by Generation Multiplication c. THen on the other side if you think that the only way to maintain the propagation of original corruption is to hold that the souls are not immediately created of God but either by generation or multiplication or some other way Then here also are more dangerous rocks for if we hold this we seem to contradict some strong Texts of Scripture that maketh God the immediate giver of the soul Besides we must then necessarily make it material yea though they who hold the traduction of the soul will not grant that consequence yet it cannot be avoided but what is generable is corruptible and so the soul must be mortall and that rule of Aquinas seemeth to carry much evident light with it Quod dependet a materiâ quoad fieri dependet quod existere This rule holds true in every thing else and why should it be denied about the soul if the soul in its beginning depends upon the body it cannot continue seperate from it and so be immortal SECT IV. THus you see there is a veil upon the face of this Doctrine But although modesty and sobriety be necessary in this point as also in the Doctrine of the Trinity and Christs incarnation yet as in them its necessary to search the Scriptures and so farre to improve the light shining from them that we may be able to convince heretical gainsayers Thus it is also in this truth so much knowledge as is not forbidden yea as is revealed in the Scripture let us thankfully acknowledge and humbly yet with diligence and constancy improve against those who by reason of these difficulties would overthrow the fundamental Truth it self we must not for some seeming Objections forsake the clear Texts of Scripture It commonly falleth out that almost in every great and fundamental truth in Religion as the Doctrine of the Trinity the Doctrine of Justification There is some Objection above all the rest that hath more difficulty in it then ordinary and so it is here but let us not be afraid to get Canaan because of some Anakims in the way SECT V. The severall Wayes that learned Men have gone to remove the aforesaid Difficulties TO guid you therefore in this wilderness to it let us consider what are the several waies that many either of learned or of corrupt judgements have said to the clearing of this And First There are and have been some in the Church following Origen who also followed Plato deriving many opinions from him who did thus think to make this truth easy By holding that the souls were created long before the bodies and that upon their evill and sinne committed they were adjudged to be put into bodies and so from hence it is that they say man is so propense to all evill Therefore they will not say That the souls of men are either by traduction or immediate creation and infusion into the body but that they were created long before the body and while preexistent before it they deserved to be put into this dark prison of the body There was one Vincentius Victor according to his name bold and audacious who disliked Austin for his cunctation and deliberation in the point of the traduction of the soul which occasioned Austin to write four Books De origine animae Now this Vincentius he affirmed That the soul was created before the body and did deserve to be made part of that man who is a sinner yea that it did deserve to be made peccatrix a sinner Some have also thought that this was a general received opinion amongst the Jewes and they proove it from that question proposed to Christ concerning the man born blind yea they were Christs Disciples that did make that question so that it seemeth they were still infected with that vulgar error for Joh. 92 They say Master who did sinne this man or his parents that he should be born blind They ask whether the sinnes of the mans parents or his own sinnes made him to be born blind now he could not have any sinnes before he was born unless his soul did preexist before his body and it seemeth the Pharisees concluded that they were his own sinnes for they say ver 34. Thou wast altogether born in sinnes They did not happily mean original sinne for they say sinnes which must be actual sinnes either his own or his parents But this opinion is so wicked and absurd that to name it is enough to refel it and for this monstrous figment might Origen be called Centaurus as well as for others Only two things are to be said to it First If souls for sinnes acted were adjudged to their bodies how is it that the Scripture giveth that command of Increase and multiply how is it
in the sight of God we speak in Christ Here was conscience and pure conscience as to any fundamental deficiency yet not perfectly pure for Gal. 5. he saith The flesh lusteth against the Spirit so that wheresoever the Spirit is there the flesh in some measure lusteth against it Oh them let even the most holy bewail original sinne in their consciences even in this respect That councel given by Paul to godly servants Colos 3. 17 18. That what they did they should do it in singlenesse of heart fearing God They should do it heartily as unto God not unto men The same are all the people of God bound to do in their service to God Oh how unworthy is it in religious duties to have an eye to man who will praise or dispraise if conscience were the motive thou wouldst neither care for good or bad report And this pure conscientious working is especially to be attended unto by such who are in publick Office The Civil Magistrate if he punish an offender not because he deserveth it but from malice or other sinister respects Though he cry out and pretend conscience and justice a thousand times over yet God looketh upon him as an unjust Magistrate though the thing he doth is just Thus it is also in the Ministers of the Gospel if they preach the Word diligently and constantly but yet the principal motives are either vain glory or a mereenary respect unto the profit and temporal advantage more then the soules of people and the glory of God here also that is done which conscience requireth but not upon conscientious motives we doe not these things as of God in the sight of God But I must not be too long in this particular although indeed we can never say enough herein it is such a close insinuating sinne into all mens breasts Secondly The natural conscience is grievously polluted by original sinne in regard of the limited and partial conviction or illumination that it is apt to receive Conscience will receive light but at a little cranny or hole it will be convinced to doe some things especially if of no great consequence but the greater and more weighty things they are apt to neglect This dough-baked conscience that is hot on one side and cold on the other is the temper of most men How seemingly religious and zealous in some particulars And then for dutâ—ies of greater concernment they are like clods of earth Our Saviour charged this partial conscience upon the Pharisees Luke 11. 42. They tished mint and rue but the things of mercy and judgement they neglected The Chief-priests also they were afraid of defiling themselves by entring into the common-hall and yet had no scruple about shedding the innocent bloud of our Lord Christ And what is more ordinary then this May ye not observe many persons as much moved with rage upon the removal of any needlesse or superstitious Ceremonies as the Athenians were about their Diana and yet for grosse prophanenesse and all manner of excessive riot they are never moved at that they have no zeal for God's glory though iniquity abound in every place Doth not all this discover the hypocrisie and rottennesse of such a conscience Take heed then thy conscience is not like some creatures begotten of putride matter that in their former part have life but in their later have nothing but earth or slime So in some part thy conscience is alive and in other things it is dead If thy conscience tell thee It 's thy duty to pray to hear to keep up Family-duties and yet withall suffereth thee to do unjust unclean and other dishonest things of impiety This is not right it is not regenerated as yet So on the other side If conscience bid thee Be just and upright in all thy dealings be mercifull and tender to fit objects of charity and herein thou art ready but thy conscience doth not at all presse thee to the duties of the first Table to sanctifie the Sabbath to keep up Family-duties to walk contrary to the sinfull course of the world then it is plain that as yet thy conscience is in the gall of bitternesse it hath but some partial conviction not a total and plenary one Thirdly The conscience of a natural man in this also is greatly polluted In that it is very severe and easily accusing of other mens sinnes but it is blind about its own it seeth no evil in it self while it can aggravate the sinnes of others Thus conscience as in other respects so in this also is like the eye which can see all other things but not it self Matth. 7. 3. Such a corrupt conscience likewise our Saviour chargeth upon the Pharisees when he calleth them Hypocrites and biddeth them Pull out the beam in their own and then the more in other mens The Apostle also Rom. 2. 1. beginneth that Chapter Therefore thou art inexcusable O man who judgest others and doest the same things thy self What is more ordinary then this to be Eagle-eyed to spie out the faults and sinnes of others and as blind as a mole about thy self David was very zealous against that injurious man Nathan represented in a Parable and in the mean while did not think that he was the man that this was his sinne Judah also was severe against Tamar who had played the whore till she sent him the staff and bracelets that he might see he was the man Thus you see even godly men are greatly blinded about themselves no wonder then if the natural man be wholly in darknesse Oh then pray and again pray for light to shine into thy own heart Let conscience turn its eyes inward once more know the worst by thy self Think with Paul I am the greatest of all sinners with Tertullian Peccator sum omnium natorum a sinner with the brand and mark of all sins on me at least in motion and inclination say I see those sins in my self which the world doth not none can judge and condemn me more then I can do my self but the contrary is in every mans natural conscience he thinketh himself better then others he blesseth himself in his good heart and is a severe censurer of other mens sinnes Thus he hath those Lamiae of eyes that he taketh up when he goeth abroad and layeth aside when he cometh home Fourthly The conscience naturally is defiled Because of the ease and security it hath though if it were awakened and could do its duty it would not let thee have any rest day or night And this is one of the main particulars wherein original sinne discovers it self in the conscience all life all spiritual tendernesse and apprehension is taken away that whereas conscience is especially seen in the reflex acts of the soul To know our knowledge to judge the actions of the mind and the heart yea and to judge those judgments now we can no more do these things then very beasts do and by reason of this there is a great
if nothing aâ—led them many yeares after when they were in anguish of mind by Joseph's severe carriage towards them Gen. 42. 21. Then they said one to another We are very guilty concerning our brother in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us and we would not hear therefore is this distress come upon us so that some unexpected calamity may be to us as the hand-writing on the will to Belshazzar making conscience to tremble within us 3. God as a just Judge can command these Hornets and Bees to arise in thy conscience It is plain Cain when he set himselfe to build Townes thought to remove that trembling which was upon him but he could not do it how many have set themselves with all the might they could to be delivered from this anguish of conscience and could not because God is greater then our conscience if he command terror and trembling none can expell it This troubled conscience is threatned as a curse to such who did break the Law of God Deut. 29. 65 67. The Lord shall give thee a trembling heart and sorrow of mind In the morning thou shalt say would God it were day for the fear of thy heart Here we may observe that God can when he pleaseth strike the heart of the most jolly and prophane sinner with such a trembling conscience that he shall not have rest day or night and when God after much patience abused doth smite the soul with such horror and astonishment many times This never tendeth to a gracious and Evangelical humiliation but as in Cain and Judas is the beginning even of hell it self in this life So fearfull a thing is it to fall into the hands of the living God when provoked Heb. 10. 31. For in such as ver 27. there is a certain fearfull looking for the indignation and wrath of God which will devour the adversaries 4. This troubled conscience may and doth often come by the Spirit of God convincing and reprooving by the Word especially the law discovered in the exactness and condemning power of it Joh. 16. 8. The Spirit of God doth reproove or convince the world of sinne Now conviction belongs to the conscience principally and indeed this is the ordinary way for the conversion of any Gods Spirit doth by the Law convince and awaken conscience making it unquiet and restless finding no bottome to stand upon it hath nothing but sinne no righteousness to be justified by the law condemneth justice arraigneth and he is overwhelmed not knowing what to doe This is the worke of Gods Spirit and of this some do expound that place Rom. 8. 15. Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but of adoption It is the same spirit which is called the spirit of bondage and of Adoption onely it 's called so from different operations It 's the spirit of bondage while by the Law it humbleth us filleth the conscience with fear and trembling not that the sinfulnesse or slavishnesse of these fears opposing the way of faith are of the Spirit but the tremblings themselves and it is the Spirit of Adoption when it rebuketh all tormenting fears giving Evangelical principles of Faith Love and Assurance Now these fears thus wrought by the Spirit of God in the Ministry of the Word though they be not alwaies necessary antecedents of conversion yet are sometimes ordained by God to be as it were a John Baptist to make way for Christ Lastly These troubles of conscience may arise through Gods permission from the Devil For when God leaveth thee to Satan's kingdome as it was the case of the incestuous person to be buffeted by him tempted by him you see he did so farre prevail with him that he was almost swallowed up with too much grief Therefore when God will evangelically compose the conscience by faith in Christs bloud he taketh off Satan again and suffereth him not to cast his fiery darts into us any longer The false wayes that the wounded Conscience is prone to take THese things explained Let us return to consider the pollution of natural conscience in the two particulars mentioned whereof The first is That the wounded conscience for sinne is very ready to use false remedies for its cure These stings he seeleth are intollerable he cannot live and be thus he taketh no pleasure in any thing he hath but he cometh not to true peace for either they go to carnal and sinfull wayes of pleasure so to remove their troubles or to superstitions and uncommanded wayes of devotion thinking thereby to be healed The former too many take who when troubled for sinne their hearts frequently smite them they call this Melancholly and Pusillanimity Tush they will not give way to such checks of conscience but they will go to their merry company they will drink it away they will rant it away or else they will goe to their merry pastimes and sports Thus as Herod sought to kill Jesus as soon as he was borne so do these strive to suffocate and stifle the very beginnings and risings of conscience within them Oh wretched men prepared for hell torments Though now thou stoppest the mouth of conscience yet hereafter it will be the gnawing worme It 's this troubled conscience that makes hell to be chiefly hell It 's not the flaming fire it 's not the torments of the body that are the chiefest of hels misery but the griping and torturing of conscience to all eternity This is the hell of hels Others when none of these means will rebuke the stormes and waves of their soul but they think they must perish then they set themselves upon some superstitious austere waies as in Popery to go on Pilgrimage to enter into some Monastery to undertake some bodily affliction and penalty and by these means they think to get peace of conscience but Luther found by experience the insufficiency of all these courses That all their Casuists were unwise Physicians and that they gave gall to drinke in stead of honey In the next place therefore This pollution of a troubled conscience is seen In it's opposition to Christ to an Evangelical Righteousnesse and the sway of believing Conscience is farre more polluted about Christ and receiving of him then about the commands and obedience thereunto for naturally there is something in conscience to do the things of the Law but the Gospel and the Doctrine about Christ is wholly supernatural and by revelation Hence although it is clear That the conscience truly humbled for sinne ought to believe in Christ for expiation thereof Yet how long doth the broken heart continue ignorant of this duty Their conscience troubleth them accuseth them for other sins but not for this of not particularly applying Christ to thy self for comfort whereas thou art bound in conscience to believe in Christ as well as repent of sinne I say thou art bound in conscience and if thou doest not by particular acts of faith receive Christ in
furnace and house of bondage did cry and groan for a Redeemer but this is the unspeakable evil of this soul-bondage that we delight in it that we rejoyce in it all our indeavour and care is that we may not be set at liberty and have these chains taken off us From this explication observe That no man hath any liberty or freedom of will to what is good till Christ by his grace hath made him free We do not by freedom of will obtain grace but by grace we obtain freedom of will So that by the Scripture we have not any true ground for a liberum arbitrium but a liberatum in spiritual things There is no such thing as a free-will but a freed will in a passive sense and tunc est liberum when it is liberatum as Austin Then it 's actively free when it is first passively made free Rom. 6. 16. Being made free from sinne He doth not say you have made your selves free but ye are made frre by the grace of Christ And again vers 22. Ye are now made free from sinne and Rom. 8. 2. The Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of sinne and death By which expressions is implied 1. That all men till sanctified are in an absolute vassalage and thraldom to sinne And 2. That it is onely the grace of Christ that doth deliver from this bondage It is Christ not our own will that maketh us free ¶ 3 Of the several Kinds of Freedome which the Scripture speaketh of TO enter into the depths of this Doctrine Consider What kinds of freedome the Scripture speaketh of and which is applicable to our purpose The Schooles have vast disputes about liberty and free-will What it is whether a compounded faculty or a simple one and whether a faculty or habit or act especially they digladiate about the definition of free-will what it is but if any thing shall be thought necessary to be said in this point it may be pertinently brought in when we shall answer such Objections as the Patrons of nature do use to bring in the behalf of Free-will only it is good to know that in the Scripture we find a civil liberty and a spiritual liberty spoken of a civil liberty Thus bond and free are often opposed Ephes 6. 8. Col. 3. 11. 1 Cor. 7. 22. But this is not to the Text nor to our purpose Therefore the Scripture speaketh much of a spiritual freedome and that is First In the translating of us out from the dominion of sinne and Satan into a gracious state of holiness and this is called by Divines Libertas gratia or as Austin libertas à peccato The freedome of grace of which those Texts speak that we mentioned before Secondly There is the Evangelical and Christian liberty whereby we are freed from many things of the law not only the curse of the moral law and the spirit of bondage which did accompany the legal administration thereof but also from the obligation unto and exercise of the ceremanial This Evangelical liberty is often commended in the Scripture as the glorious priviledge of the Christian Church which the legal Church wanted of this legal servitude and Evangelical freedome the Apostle Gal. 4 doth largely and most divinely treat This Christian liberty also from Jewish rites The Apostle Gal. 5. 1. â—â—horteth us to stand fast in as being purchased for us by the death of Christ as a glorious priveledge only the Apostle Peter 1 Pet. 2. 16 giveth good advice That we turn not our liberty into licentiousness It is true the Apostle doth once use the word free abusively and improperly Rom. 6. 20 where the servants of sinne are said to be free from righteousness or to righteousness now this is improperly called a freedome for as the service of God is the truest freedome so freedome from holiness is the greatest slavery Although Austin doth from this Text make a division of liberty into two kinds which he maketh perpetual use of Libertas à peccate and Libertas a justitiâ The godly man hath the former liberty the sinner hath the latter but this latter is improperly called liberty Lastly There is a spiritual freedome mentioned by the Scripture as the utlimte and complete perfection of all when the soul shall be freed not only from the dominion of sinne but the presence of it all the reliques and remainders of it and the body shall be freed from death pain and all corroptibility Rom. 8. 2. This is called the glorious liberty of the sons of God and for this every godly man is to groan and mourn even as the woman in travel to be delivered This is called by Divines libertas gloriae and libertas à miserià But we are to speak of the liberty of grace and herein we are not to admire the Free-will of man but the free grace of God man hath no free-will to do that which is spiritual and holy Free-will is an Idol which the corrupt heart of man is apt to advance he is unwilling to be brought out of himself to be beholding to the grace of Christ only therefore Austin observed well That this truth is to be found out by prayer and supplication sooner then by disputation Did men commune with their own hearts did they observe the Abyss and depth of all evil that is in their corrupt will how intangled and in slaved to the creature they would quickly fall from disputation to humiliation and turne arguments into prayers ¶ 4. The Names which the Scripture expresseth that by which we call Free-Will THe next thing in our method that will be explicating of the Doctrine is to take notice of What names the Scripture useth to express this thing by that we call Free-will for free-will is not a Scripture name but Ecclesialsical yet the sence of it is in the Scripture for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is often used in the Scripture to will and that in such things wherein freedome is necessarily supposed Luk. 22. 9. Where wilt thou that we prepare a place Joh. 9. 27. Wherefore would ye hear it again will ye also be his Disciple Act 7. 28 wilt thou kill me also c. and in many other places hence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used for the free-will of a man 1 Cor. 7. 37 and indeed it is disputed whether to do a thing voluntariè and liberè voluntarily and freely be not all one and so libertas and voluntas only voluntas denoteth the power and liberty the qualification of it in its working Jansenius is most consident that in Austin's constant dispute with the Pelagians liberum arbitrium is no more then voluntas and that to do a thing freely is no more then to do it voluntarily this he maintaineth against the Jesuites and withall wonders at a late Writer of their own whom he nameth not which writeth that the word servum arbitrium was not heard in the Church of God
the cup of gold in Benjamin's sack and therefore this must greatly debase us Thirdly We are not able of our selves to have the least desire or longing after grace and a state of holinesse Not only Pelagianism but Semi-pelagianism is a dangerous rock to be avoided The later made our desires to begin and then Gods grace to succeed and accomplish But there is not so much as the least groan the least desire can arise in thy heart Oh that God would change me Oh that I were in the state of those that do truly fear God! And the reason is because the Scripture describeth us by nature to be dead in sinne and compareth the work of grace to a spiritual resurrection Oh how great is thy bondage which doth so farre oppress thee that thou canst not so much as long for any freedom Oh hopeless and wretched man if left to himself Fourthly From this followeth the next demonstration of our vassalage and spiritual impotency That we cannot pray to God that he would deliver us out of this misery No natural man can pray it is the grace of God that doth inable thereunto he may utter the words of prayer he may repeat the expressions but alas he doth not he cannot pray as God requireth and so as he will accept of it The Apostle is clear for this Rom. 8. 26. The Spirit helpeth our infirmities for we know not what to pray for as we ought Is not this unspeakable misery who needeth to pray more then thou and yet thou canst not pray Thou art sinning thou art dying thou are damning and yet canst not pray Is not thy heart like an adamant if this break thee not Fifthly Such is our impotency and bondage That we are not able to affect our selves with the fear and terrour of the Law thereby to be convinced and humbled in our selves If we cannot do the preparatories for grace much lesse grace it self if we cannot do the lesse How shall we do the greater Now one great preparatory work is To have a divine and powerfull fear in our souls by reason of the Law whereby we are afraid of hell of the day of Judgement and cannot have any rest in our spirits because of this Now this is wrought by the Spirit of God in a preparatory way Rom. 8. 15. It is called The Spirit of bondage And Joh. 14. The Spirit doth convince the world of sinne So that in and through the preaching of the Law and discovery of sinne the Spirit of God doth awaken and terrifie the conscience of a man maketh him afraid that he cannot eat or drink or take the delight he used to do It is true the slavish sinfulness of this fear the Spirit of God doth not work but the heart being like a mudded pool when it is moved such slavish fears will arise likewise But how farre is every natural man from this he is secure and jolly blessing and applauding himself crying peace peace all is at quiet within him because the strong man doth keep the house It is the voice of the Lord only that can make these mountains to quake and melt Sixthly Such is our weakness That we cannot barden or soften our hearts in the least manner but they remain obdurate and like brasse and iron Thy heart is like a stone within thee and thou art no wayes able to mollifie it Therefore God maketh it his work and he graciously promiseth I will take away the heart of stone Ezek. 11. 19. and give an heart of flesh As if God had said I know this work is above you you are not able to do it And certainly if the godly themselves because of the remainders of original corruption doe complain of the hardnesse of their hearts cannot mollifie or soften them as they desire Is it any wonder if the wicked man be not able to remove the stone from him Seventhly A man cannot by the power of nature believe no not so much as with an historical faith till grace prepare the heart therein Now faith is the first foundation-stone Heb. 11. He that cometh to God must believe he is and so he must believe the truth about Christ But we see by the Pharisees who heard Christ preach saw the wonderfull miracles he did yet in stead of believing in him did deride and oppose him so that all the acts of faith whether dogmatical or saving we are enabled unto only by the grace of God Matth. 13. 11. To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven but not to them Thus Act. 18. 27. the Disciples are said to believe through grace faith then is the gift of God not the work of mans free-will And if he cannot do this it is plain he cannot move one foot of himself towards Heaven Lastly Such is our impotency That when grace is offered and tendered to us the will of it self hath no power to consent to it or make improvement of it It can and oft doth resist and refuse grace but of it self it cannot imbrace it It is true Papists and Arminians plead hard for this power of the will but this is to give more to mans will then to Gods grace this is to make man to differ himself from others It might be thought that the will indeed cannot chuse Christ or receive him as a Lord because there is no revelation or manifestation of a Christ They are a people happily who sit in darkness and have no light and therefore though they may have an inward power to see yet for want of light to actuate the medium they cannot so that the defect ariseth not from the power within but the manifestation of the object without And this indeed is gratly to be considered whether an Infidel or Pagan for example doth not believe because there is no proposition of the object in the Ministry otherwise if he enjoyed that then he had power over his own to assent to it Now even the Pelagians themselves and their followers yea even all that give not grace its full due yet thus farre they do acknowledge there must be a doctrinal revelation by the Spirit of God of the truths to be acknowledged and when this light is set as it were upon the Candlestick then a man of his own self is able to see but such is the corruption of man that not only grace must bring in the light but it must also give the eye to see So that the work of Gods grace is both objective and subjective objective in revealing the object and subjective in preparing and fitting the subject It being the Lord who doth give the seeing eye and the hearing ear Prov. 20. 12. Yea the Arminians go further acknowledging that grace doth irresistibly work upon the understanding of a man for it being a passive faculty it cannot withstand its illumination but the will that retaineth its indifferency when grace hath done all it will do This therfore is granted That without the
part as it were flowing from the essence of God and this they acknowledge immortal but the soul and the body they say are mortal And the ancient Heretiques the Apollinarists might runne to this refuge who denied Christ to have any rational soul but his Divine Nature and his sensitive soul and body do make upon Christ The Manichees also affirmed two souls in men the one rational that was good and of God The other evil and the fountain of evil the sensitive soul coming from the Devil Yea Cerda upon Tertul. de anima lib. 3. saith not only Dydimus but others of the ancients did incline to this opinion that the Spirit was a distinct part in a man from soul and body which opinion Austin opposed Thus this Text hath favoured as some think that opinion of two souls in a man his rational and sensitive not in the Manichean way but in a Philosophical way and some learned men indeed have thought by holding two distinct souls many inconveniences would be avoided which are maintained in Philosophy and also the conflict and combate that is between the flesh and the spirit would be better explicated But certainly the Scripture speaketh constantly of man as having but one soul What will it profit a man to winne the whole world and lose his soul not his souls which Chrysostome used as an argument to make man watchfull to the salvation of it saying If thou hast lost one eye thou hast another to help thee if one arm another to support thee but if thou losest thy only soul thou hast not another to be saved Others therefore that they may avoid this inconvenience of holding three parts in a man do by spirit understand the work of grace in a man Thus the Greek Interpreters of old and some learned men of late but this doth not appear any wayes probable nor will the Context runn smoothly to make grace as it were a part of a man neither is it coherent to pray that God would preserve our grace our soul and body but rather grace in them Therefore we take spirit and soul for the same real substance in a man onely diversified by its several operations Lactantius cals it an inextrieable Question Whether animus and anima be the same thing in man meaning by anima that whereby the body is enlivened by animus that whereby we reason and understand but there seemeth to be no such difficulty therein the Scripture promiscuously calling it sometimes a soul and sometimes a spirit It 's called the spirit in regard of the understanding and reason as Ephes 4. 23. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind and soul because of the affectionate part therein so that the Apostle doth not mean two distinct parts in a man but two distinct powers and offices in the same soul You have a parallel expression Heb. 4. 12. where the word of God is said To divide between soul and spirit which afterwards is expressed by discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart Thus when Mary said Luke 1. 46 47. My soul doth magnifie the Lord and my spirit hath rejoyced in God she meaneth the same part within her only giveth it divers names This being explained whereas we see the Apostle praying for the sanctification of the body as well as the soul it is plain That it is unclean and sinfull as well as the soul else it did not need Sanctification From whence observe That the body of a man naturally is defiled and sinfull Sanctification extendeth adequately to our pollution Seeing then it is required of man that his body be holy and he is to glorifie God in that as well as in his soul and this cannot be without the sanctification of it it remaineth that our bodies are not only mortal but sinfull And indeed under the corruptibility of them we do readily groan and mourn under the diseases pains and aches of the body but spiritual life is required to be humbled for the sins of the body Object And if you say How can there be sinne in the body seeing that is not reasonable all sinne supposeth reason now the body being void of that it should seem that it is no more capable of sinne then bruit beasts are Answ To this it is answered That the body is called sinfull not because sinne is formally in it for so it is in the soul but because by it as an instrument sinne is accomplished The subjectum quod or of denomination of sinne is the person man himself The Principium quo formale is the soul the mind and will The medium or instrumentum quo is the body not that the body is only an instrument to the soul for it is an essential part of man with the soul as is further to be shewed Thus we truly call them sinfull eyes sinfull tongues because they do instrumentally accomplish the sinfulness of the heart when the Apostle prayeth That they might be sanctified wholly in spirit soul and body he prayeth for the reparation of Gods Image again Now when that was perfect in Adam the spirit was immediately subject to God the soul to the spirit the body to the soul So that what the spirit thought the soul affected and the body accomplished but now this excellent harmony being dissolved as the spirit is disobedient to God the affections to the spirit so also in the body to both and thereby it becometh a co-partner with the soul in sinne and therefore must be joyned with it in eternal torments SECT III. Scripture Proof of the sinfull pollution of the Body THat the very body of a man is sinfull and needeth sanctification is plain from these Texts 2 Cor. 7. 1. Having these promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holinesse This is spoken to those also that are regenerated none is perfect they must be perfecting As Apelles when he drew his line would write faciebat in the Imperfect tense not fecit as if he had finished it he would be still making it more exact so should we be in our best holy duties Amabam not amavi credebane not credidi there remaineth a further complement and fulness to be added to our best graces Now this perfection is by cleansing of the flesh and spirit that is the body and the soul It is a great errour among some Papists that they hold the spirit and mind of a man free from original contagion and therefore confine it only to the inferiour bodily parts but that hath sufficiently been confuted yet we deny not but the bodily part of man is likewise greatly contaminated and like an impure vessel defileth whatsoever cometh into it The uncleanness of the body appeareth also from that command Rom. 12. 1. where the Apostle enjoyneth that we should present our bodies a living Sacrifice holy and acceptable So that whatsoever we do by our body it is to be holy and acceptable unto God Now this exhortation was needless if we did
estate now in being consistent thus of a body he doth partake with beasts and agreeth with them But the other part of man is spiritual immaterial and immortal substance breathed at first into Adam by God himself and herein he doth agree with Angels According to these two constituent principles a man doth act either according to the soul or the body In the state of integrity his soul was predominant he was like an Angel in this particular but now since man is fallen his body is principal and chief and thereupon is become like the bruit beaâ—â— living and walking according to the inclinations and temptations of the body This the Psalmist observed Psal 49. 12. Man being in honour abideth not he is like the beasts that perish And vers 20 man that is in honour and understandeth not is like the beasts that perish Here you see that though a man be exalted to never so much glory and dignity in the world yet if he understand not if he doth not live according to the true principles of reason and grace he is but like a beast not only in that he perisheth like a beast but also in that he liveth and walketh like one Hence it is that the Scripture doth so often compare wicked men to beasts to the Ass to the Wolf to the Dog and Swina because they fall from the principles of a rational soul and become like them in their operations Thus evil men are said 2 Tim. 2. 26. To be taken captive by the Devil at his will or as in the Greek taken alive As the hunter doth drive wild beasts into his nets and so taketh them alive Thus are wicked men brought as it were willingly into the Devils hands and are tame under him and if so be the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his will be referred to the Devil as some do then it sheweth in what willing subjection they are in to Satans lusts but because it 's not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it therefore relateth rather to the remote antecedent which is God implying that it is by Gods just judgement that man is thus become a miserable slave and doth the Devils drudgery even as we make beasts do our work And thus it is with all men since the fall they are not worthly the name of a man therfore the whole body of wicked men are compared to the Serpents seed as if they were the off-spring of such a poisonous creature rather then of man yea doth not experience confirme this take men without the work of grace either internally sanctifying of them or externally restraining of them take them as left to their own natural principles and having no more to walk by what do you perceive in them more then a beast Indeed their body is still upright and so they differ from them but in their life and manners they are conformable unto them Oh that men would consider and lay this to heart to be affected with this original sinne that hath thus degraded us even from the honour as it were of a man There doth not appear in us the actings and workings of a rational soul we are as our body and the inclinations thereof do carry us away ¶ 4. The Body by original Sinne is made a Tempter and a Seducer FOurthly The body by original sinne is made a tempter and a seducer it doth administer daily matter and occasion to sinne As the Devil is a tempter without so the body is the tempter within we are incited and drawne away to many bodily sinnes from the temptations thereof hence we read in the Scripture that the word flesh is so often put for the sinful part of a man and spirit for the regenerate part and why is it called flesh but because it is so intimately adhering to the body and by the body so much iniquity and sinfulness is expressed Thus sinne is called our flesh as if it were no longer a quality polluting of us but our very bones and corporeal substance There are several bodily sinnes which are bred as it were in this noisome pudddle of the body as drunkenness this is a bodily sinne and where this vice is accustomed unto how greatly doth the body crave and importune for the accomplishing of it this maketh repentance of it and a through reformation so difficult because it is now soaked as it were in the body that as you see it is with the food we eat while in the mouth or stomack it is with some ease exonerated but when digested and by nourishment turned into the very parts of the body then it cannot be separated Thus when sinnes come to be incorporated into thee when thy body is habituated to any vice it requireth much prayer and agony much humiliation and supplication ere such a lust can be disposessed Oh then bewail thy body that is thus become an enemy to the soul that is like a furnace sending forth continual sparks of fire That as the tree by the moisture and softness thereof doth cause wormes to breed in it which do at last destroy it Thus out of thy body arise such lusts that will at last be thy eternal perdition As drunkenness so uncleanness this is also a lust of the body this sinne ariseth from it and although that be very true which the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 6. 18. That fornication and such uncleanness they are against the body because the body is to be kept holy and pure it being the temple of the Holy Ghost where a man is sanctified yet take it as corrupted and polluted so these lusts are very sutable and consonant to it who can think then that the body is such as at first Creation such a ready instrument to much bodily wickedness yea a tempter and a seducer This is the Dalilah that doth so often plunge us into soul sinnes there was no root of bitterness in mans body at first but as it was with the ground when cursed for mans sinne then it did naturally and of it self bring forth weeds and thorns so doth the body thus defiled it is now the continual nourisher and fomenter of vice we damn our souls to please our bodies we are become slaves to our bodily pleasures and delights though we know they are to the eternal perdition both of soul and body at last nourish it we must provide for it we must yet we cannot nourish that but sinne also is thereby strengthned Hence you have that holy Apostle himself much afraid of his body that it may not rise up in rebellion against the work of grace 1 Cor. 9. 27. he useth two emphatical words to this purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I keep under my body an allusion to those who did fight for masteries by way of exercise so that when one did beat the other black and blue about the face 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the countenance and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are those marks upon the face Hence
grace to sanctifie them and prepare them for any heavenly duty Prov. 20. 12. The hearing ear and seeing eye the Lord hath made even both of them Let the Use be even to amaze and astonish thee with the thoughts of this universal pollution upon thee the soul in all the parts thereof the body in all the members thereof Nothing clean and pure but all over leprous and ulcerous How canst thou any longer delight and put confidence in thy self Why doest thou not with Job sit abhorring of thy self and his indeed were ulcers of the body only and they were a disease but not sinne whereas thou art all over in soul and body thus defiled and that in a proper sinfull way Oh that the Spirit of God would convince all of this sinne The Prophet Isaiah was to cry All flesh is grasse and the floâ—rer thereof fadeth away to prepare for Christ but in that was chiefly comprehended All flesh is sinne and the fruit thereof damnation What though this be harsh and unpleasing to flesh and bloud What though many erroneous spirits deny it or extenuate it yet seeing the Scripture is so clear and evident with which every man that hath experience of his own heart doth also willingly concurre Believe it seriously and humble your selves deeply think not transient and superficial thoughts will prevail as the weighnness of the matter doth require If ever thy heart can be broken and softned let it be discovered here rise with the thoughts of it walk with the thoughts of it and leave it not till thou find the belief thereof drive thee out of thy self with fear and trembling finding no rest till thou art interessed in Christ CHAP. VIII Of the Subject of Predication Shewing that every one of Mankinde Christ onely excepted is involved in this common sinne and misery SECT I. The Text opened and vindicated LUKE 1. 35. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Sonne of God WE have at large though not according to the desert thereof described and amplified the subject of original sinne wherein it is seated By which it appeareth that man all over is become corrupted both the totus homo and the totum hominus the whole man and the whole of man The next thing to be considered is the omnis homo or the Subject of predication as Divines call it The former being called the Subject of Inhesion Our work then is to shew That Christ onely excepted every one of mankind is involved in this common sinne and misery there is none that can plead any exemption from it For seeing it is made the peculiar priviledge of Christ to be so born because conceived after a miraculous manner it therefore necessarily followeth that all others are comprehended under this guilt Though you may see some men from the youth up lesse vicious then others more ingenuous and civil then others yet even these are by nature all over sinfull so that there is no such thing as a natural probity and goodness of which the Socinians dispute as in time is to be shewed That it is the prerogative of Christ only to be freed not only from all actual sinne but also original and birth-sinne is evident by this Text which containeth an answer of the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary who with some trouble and amazement had questioned how she should conceive a Sonne who knew not a man The Angels answer consisteth in the information of the manner how it shall be and the consequent issue and event thereof The Manner is expressed in the efficient cause and his efficacy The Efficient cause is said to be the holy Ghost and the power of the Highest A person not the vertue only of God as the Socinians blaspheme as appeareth â—n that we are baptized into the name of the holy Ghost who is reckoned one of the three with the Father and Sonne as also by the personal operations and characters attributed to him which cannot be cluded with the figure of a Proso 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as some endeavour It is true The works of God ad extra are common to all the three Persons yet there is a peculiar order and appropriation and therefore the preparing and forming of Christs body out of the Virgin Mary is peculiarly ascribed unto the holy Ghost The Efficacy is set down in two words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is to be understood of the operation of the holy Ghost not his essence for that is every where The like expression though to another purpose is Acts 1. 8. The second word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 concerning which there is more difficulty The word in the New Testament is applied to a Cloud covering a man with a Dative Case though Favorinus and Stephanus make it to have usually an Accusative Matth. 17. 5. Mark 9. 7. and Acts 5. 15. such an overshadowing as they expected virtue and efficacy thereby So Heysichius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the Old Testament by the Septnagint it is often rendreed for defence and protection because in these hot Countreys the shadows of trees were a great preservation against the extream scorchings of heat And in this sense rather then in any other we take the word in the Text that the holy Ghost should protect and defend her not only in the inabling of her against nature to conceive without a man but also against all accusations and dangers she was to be exposed unto by this means Thus Virgil used the word Et magnum Reginae nomen obumbrat Others which may be additional to the former render it The holy Ghost shall fill her with glory therefore she is said to be highly favoured And thus also among Poets the word is said to be used Olympiacis umbratur tempora ramis Stat. Some make it to be as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if the meaning were the holy Ghost should as it were pourtray and draw the lineaments of the body Others make it an allusion to the hen which by covering her egg doth by the heat thereof produce a live young one to which also the Scripture is said to allude Genes 1. 2. when it is said The Spirit moved or was incumbent as the water Thus by the power of the holy Ghost in an unspeakable manner the body of Christ was formed of the mass and fleshly substance administred by the Virgin Mary But this we are to take heed of lest the mind of man should apprehend any indecent thing in this great mystery Therefore Smalcius the Socinian his assertion is to be rejected with great abomination that feared not to affirm That by this expression is secretly and modestly implied the work of the holy Ghost as supplying the place of a man his blasphemous and abominable expressions I shall not relate Smal. refut Smigl cap. 17 18 19. We shall then keep to the first interpretation understanding it of Help and Protection in this wonderfull work The
all those voluminous disputations of this state of pure nature is wholly De non ente there being not the least title in Scripture to establish any such opinion upon it It is true the Author mentioned is often affirming and dictating Magisterially concerning such an estate but never yet hath any Scripture-proof been brought for it some philosophical arguments happily may be Now being this is the foundation upon which many of the Adversaries to original sinne do build I shall in its time and order God assisting raze up this foundation and lay the Axe against the root of the Tree proving that it is both against Scripture and solid reason Lastly That there is such an inclination naturally in a man to sinne and repugnant to what is good a mans own experience may teach him were there no Bible no Orthodox Teachers a mans own heart may convince him of such a perversnesse within him though by natural light he could never discover the spring of it Doth not Paul even while regenerated complain of this Law of sinne within him Rom. 7. Nazianzen maketh sad complaining verses about this constitution of his soul Carmen quartum pag. 69. The conflict with the flesh and spirit which in a most excellent and affectionate manner he doth there bewail And certainly if the Adversaries to this Doctrine find not such a pronenesse in them it is because they are blinded they are benummed within as the Pelagians of old bragged That a man might be without passions and sinfull commotions That they did not pati they felt none of these things but herein they were either horrible hypocrites or stupidly hardened SECT IV. Of the Causes or Fountain of the vehement proneness and inclination to sinne that is in all men by nature and of the false Causes assigned by the Adversaries THus you see this Text hath sufficiently informed us of this Truth That there is in all men by nature a vehement proneness and inclination to sinne To which we have also added many other Demonstrations of this Truth not so much that it is doubtfull and needeth to be proved For the Adversaries do confess it as that thereby we might the more deeply humble our selves under the consideration of it If then there be such constant muddy streames we are to enquire what is the fountain of them And although this Text and many others of the like nature do evidently proclaim it to be that corrupt and unclean heart of a man within that he hath hereditarily and by natural propagation yet because the Adversaries to original sinne will by no meanes assent to this let us consider what are the causes they assign and herein we shall find they do not so much speak falshood as blasphemy against God But before we come to the particular causes specified by them let us in the general consider How many wayes this propensity in mankind may be imagined to proceed for some gave one head or spring to it Others another so that there is not more dispute in Philosophy about the cause of the ebbing and flowing of the sea or about the rise and spring of Nilus that famous river in Egypt then there is about the original of this impetuousness in man to sinne The effect is acknowledged by all but the dispute is about the cause thereof In the first place therefore Some do assign this inclination to sinne to the souls operations before the body was made For they conceit that the soul had a being before the body and according to the evil or good they had they were adjudged to proportionable bodies and thereby it cometh to pass that some have better tempered bodies then others according to that Rule gaudeant bâ—â—è nati They are to rejoyce that have good and kindly constitutions This was the opinion of the Platonists and Origen who was justly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the monstrous opinions he brought into the Church did proâ—â—â— absurd fancy Yea it is thought that this opinion was amongst the Jewes as seemeth to be implyed in that Question propounded by the Disciples to our Saviour concerning the man born blind Did this man sinne or his parents Joh. 9. 2. as also a passage in the Apocryphal Writer inclineth thereunto Wiâ—â— 8. 20. And being good I came into a body undifiled which Grotius understands of the pre-existency of the soul adding that Synesius though made Bishop yet did not retract this errour But this being so gross a figment it 〈◊〉 not any confutation and the rather because it is a wonder that no such pre-existent soules should behave themselves well for which they should have assigned to them undefiled and immaculate bodies for we believe not the 〈◊〉 mentioned Author in that boast he there maketh A second opinion of the Manichees who feigned two principles of good and evil and this evil principle they made the cause of man whereupon they condemned marriage as unlawfull and made man to be opus Diaboli the work of the Devil This Manicheism the Pelagians have alwayes endeavoured to fasten upon such as do affirme original sinne but it is done maliciously and ignorantly for we say this evil came not into man at first by nature but by the free and voluntary consent of Adam and since man is fallen we do not say sinne is his nature or his substance but that it is a vitious quality adhering thereunto as leprosie to the body 3. There are others who may be reduced to the Manichees and they were Heretiques called Materiaris who feigned an eternall matter that was so evil that the wisdome and power of God could not subdue it but that this malignancy did adhere to it whether God will or no. And this they make the cause of that vicious inclination in man It is say they from the evil matter man is made off which is inseperable from it but this doth grosly contradict the History of the Creation as recorded by Moses Wherein it is said God made every thing exceeding good Gen. 1. 31. Fourthly The Pelagian many Papists and the late Socinian Writers all these attribute it to mans Creation and constitution at first at least in part for they tell us of a state of pure naturals that man hath whereby the appetite doth rebell against the mind for man confisting of a soul and a body hereby say they do necessarily arise contrary inclinations The soul enclineth one way and the body another way and this conflict they are not afraid to say was in Adam himself and therefore God gave him grace as a supernatural and superadded ornament yea and as a remedy to keep the inferior appetite in its order now man being fallen he hath lost those superadditionals but continueth in his meer naturals and these being weak and imperfect are easily carried out to sinne wanting the grace of God to elevate them This is the mystery of their iniquity This is the fountain of all their poisonous impieties and therefore God assisting is
sinne finished because therein the evil of sinne doth most palpably demonstrate it self It is true Calvin doth by sinne finished or perfected mean not so much the acting of any grosse sinne as the customary continuance and perseverance in it and no doubt this sense is not to be excluded but the Text may very well be interpreted of any sinne though but once committed though it be not frequently iterated And thus we have this full and excellent Text largely explained From which we observe That original sinne is that lust within a man from whence all actual sinnes do flow That is as there is not a man or woman but he doth come from Adam Hence the Canonists have a saying That if Adam were alive he could not have a wise among all the women in the world because of their discent from him So it is true of every vain thought every idle word every ungodly action they all come from this original lust within a man and therefore the Devil with all his fiery darts could do us no hurt did not our lusts betray us Nemo se palpet de suo Satanas est said Austin Let no man flatter himself he is a Devil to himself from his own lust he is a tempter to himself This truth is of special use to humble us this will make us debase our selves crying out O Lord I even I alone am to be blamed it is from my own vile self that all this corruption doth thus overflow This our Saviour confirmed when he said Matth. 15. 19. One of the heart proceed evil thoughts murders adulteries c. So that whosoever would be kept free and unspotted from sinne he must watch over his heart more diligently there is the nest there is the spawn of all those noisome sins that may be seen in thy life SECT II. That Original Sinne is the cause of all Actual Evil cleared by several Propositions which are Antidotes against many Errors ¶ 1. VVE proceed to clear this Truth in several Propositions which also will be as antidotes for the most part against so many respective errors in this Point And First By lust here in the Text we are not to understand that particular libidinous disposition in men whereby they are carried out in a wanton or unclean manner as we in our English phrase do for the most part limit it For the Apostle doth comprehend farre more Rom. 7. in that command Thou shalt not lust or covet neither is this lust to be restrained only to the sensitive and carnal part of a man as if lust were not chiefly in the reason and the will of a man according to Scripture-language Lust doth comprehend the deordination of the sublime and rational part in a man Therefore those Papists who do limit lust only to the sensual part are wholly ignorant of the extension of original sinne and the diffusion of it self through the chiefest parts of a man Hence it is justly to be censured that the late Annotator on this Text doth in his paraphrase joyn with the most erroneous of the Popish party for by lust he understands our treacherous sensual appetite which being impatient of sufferings suggests some sensitive carnal baits and so by them enticeth him And in the verse following he agin paraphraseth When consent is joyned to the invitation of the sensual part against the contrary dictates of his reason and the Spirit then that and not the affliction or temptation begetteth sinne Thus he But we may meet with a more sound and orthodox explication I say not in Whitaker and other Protestant Authors who conflict with the Papists in this point but even in Estius the Papist who doth ingenuously acknowledge That because the Apostle is here speaking of the original of all sinne spiritual sinnes as well as carnal it cannot be limited to the sensitive appetite Do not the sins of the mind arise from our lusts within us Do not the Devils sinne from the lust within them and yet they have no sensitive appetite And when the Apostle Gal. 5. 17. speaketh of that remarkable lusting which is between the flesh and the Spirit he cannot mean the sensual inferiour part of a man only for the works of this flesh are some of them said to be Idolatry Heresies which must needs proceed from the rational part of a man It is therefore too evident that this lust which doth so greatly entice us is not only in the inferiour part of the soul but most predominantly in the superiour and hence the understanding hath its peculiar enmity to the holy truths of God and the will its proper obstinacy to the good duties which God hath commanded Therefore we read of that expression Col. 2. 18. Puft up with a fleshly mind So that heresie is a lust of the mind envy a lust of the mind for the Devil is full of envy though Philosophers referre envy to one of their mixed and compounded passions unbelief ambition vain-glory these are lusts of the rational part Think not then that thy affections only do lust against the Spirit of God but thy reason thy will also doth and these have the greatest evil in them they are the greatest enemies to the wayes and truths of Christ As the Publicans sinnes were from the lust of the flesh so the Pharises sinnes were from the lusts of the mind And thus the more superstitious erroneous and devout any are in false wayes of Religion the more dangerous are their lusts because the more spiritual and immaterial This kind of lusting followeth us in our prayers in our preachings in all spiritual performances So that whereas carnal and bodily lusts are easily discerned and are accounted very loathsome in the eyes of the world These spiritual lusts are very difficulty discovered and may then most reign over a man when he thinketh himself most free from them Propos 2. When we say original sinne is the cause of all the actual evil that is committed this is not to be understood as if it did proximly and immediately produce every actual impiety onely this is the mediate cause and the root of all It is true the learned Whitaker will not allow it to be called the remote cause of death and other miseries which Infants are obnoxious unto As the root cannot be said to be the remote cause of fruit because it doth nourish it though under ground and at a distance from it Or as he instanceth a fountain is a cause of that stream which is carried in a long course distant from the spring De peccat orig l. 2. c. 9. But we need not strive about words No doubt when men through custom have contracted habits of sin upon them habits are the immediate and proxim causes of the wicked actions such persons do commit but original sinne is the mediate yet because original sinne is the causa causae it may be called the causa causati it being the cause of the customs and habits of sins it may
deliberate and to consider about the sinfulness and wickedness of them how much God is offended how loathsom and abominable they are in his eyes and yet we suffer them to lodge there the greater is our condemnation Lastly The Intention and end of such thoughts is to be considered for alwayes cogitatio mali is not mala cogitatio the thought of evil is not an evil thought When men think of sinne to repent of it to detest it to reform it sinne is in their mind then but because there are no delightfull motions to it therefore it is not evil So if a Minister preach against adultery or any other sinne he cannot but think of the nature of it and what it is yet because his intention in thinking of it is to make men abhorre and leave it therefore it is good and lawfull So that meer thoughts about sinne are not alwayes sinne but when accompanied with some affections and inclinations thereunto Onely it is good to inform you That such is our deceitfulness of heart that many times we think it lawfull to rejoyce and delight in some profit and emolument that may come by another mans sinne or some evil upon him when indeed we are glad of the sin or evil it self If a man by telling a lie should save thy estate or life How hard is it not to delight in the sinne because thou hast profit by it Thus unnatural children may rejoyce in the death of their parents whereby they come to inherit their estates and yet please themselves that they not rejoyce in their death but the profit that cometh thereby to them There are many practical instances in this case and therefore we must look our hearts do not deceive us therein For it is very difficult to have any advantage by another mans sinne or evil and not to have a secret and tacit will thereof And thus much for the Rules about delightfull motions to sin We proceed to a third particular whereby we may sinne against God by these motions of sinne within us and that is When we are carelesse and negligent about them they trouble us not they grieve us not How many are there that regard the thoughts and motions of their soul no more then the fowls that flie over their heads It argueth an unregenerate heart an heart not acquainted with the power of godliness that doth not mourn and grieve under them How greatly was the Apostle Paul Rom. 7. afflicted by them This made him long for Christ and Heaven where he should be annoyed with them no more This negligence about them is that which maketh thee also careless to repress and conquer them They may lodge whole dayes and nights in thy soul and thou never seekest to expel them out Thus thy heart is like the sluggards field full of bryars and thorns Oh that God would give you seeing eyes and tender hearts then you would find that even an hair hath its shadow even the least motion to sinne hath its sting and bitterness with it and above all sinfull motions look to those that arise in thee because good things are urged and commanded to thee For this is the desperate incurable evil our souls that good things stirre up sinfull lusts within us not indeed properly and directly but occasionally and by accident Thus the Apostle bewaileth the motions of lusts within him from this account Rom. 7. 8. Sinne taking occasion by the commandment wrought all manner of concupiscence within him Thus the good and spiritual Law made him more carnal and sinfull And what is more often then to have powerfull preaching godly and wholsome reproofs stirre up the evil motions of men against them Thus the more remedies are applied to us the more corrupt we grow We might be voluminous in this soul-searching point but we must conclude Let the Use be Seeing that a man is thus tempted from his own lust within him we cannot lay the cause on the Devil himself though he be a Tempter then it 's our duty to look to what is within Those embers within us will quickly set all on fire Say not this or that moved me blame not this or that estate but thy corrupt lust within This is as Luther said in Genes Chap. 13. to be like the fool that stood in the Sunne bowed down and then complained his shadow was crooked It is not thy riches nor thy poverty not thy health or sickness no condition or temptation whatsoever but the true proper cause is this maternal lust which lieth in our bosoms How little is this truth attendeth unto with the Pharisees we more regard to cleanse the outside than the inside Mat. 23. 25. The mistake herein brought those many rigid and ausiere disciplinary wayes in Popery as if from the externals we must cure the heart and not by curing the heart thereby cleanse the outwards The Franciscan will not so much as touch silver The Carthusians will not eat a bit of flesh though their lives depend upon it What folly is this Meat and money are the good creatures of God if we do abuse them they are not to be blamed but our corrupt lusts within If a whorish woman wear gold and precious stones to allure others they are in themselves good though she abuse them to an ill end And thus all the comforts and mercies we enjoy are Gods good gifts and it is not the actual abdication of the use of them but the mortifying of our lust within that will make us please God CHAP. III. Of the Combate between the Flesh and the Spirit as the Effect of Original Sinne so that the Godliest man cannot do any holy Duty perfectly in this life SECT I. The Text explained and vindicated from corrupt Interpretations GAL. 5. 17. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh and these are contrary one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would THe Apostle in the verses before admonished them about the use of their liberty that it should not be turned into licentiousness but that they make love the Rule thereof For though in respect of the right of my Christian liberty my conscience is to regard none but God yet the use and exercise of it must be regulated by love and prudence according as the edification of our brother doth require As a remedy therefore to refrain from all excess therein he giveth us an excellent precept with an emphatical Introduction thereunto This I say then that is This is the summe the main the all in all in these cases Then you have the Antidote it self Walk in the Spirit The only way to prevent all those importunate temptations of the flesh is to give up your selves to the Spirit to obtain the direction and illumination thereof as also the inclination and powerfull operation of it whereby we may be established in that which is good To know what is good and then to be inabled to do it
having named two contrary principles and their lustings one to another there is no reason to limit it to one but that we understand it thus That even in had things a godly man is not carried out with the full command of the flesh but the Spirit of God doth in a great measure check and prohibit it And also in good things though the Spirit of God doth enlighten and enlarge the soul yet the flesh doth something retard and by its opposition causeth that we cannot do holy things with that fulness purity and perfection as we would do Thus you have this noble Text explained which will afford excellent practical matter concerning that property of original sinne that it remaineth in some measure even in the most holy and that therefore there is no perfection in this life None is all spirit without any flesh at all in them Therefore the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Text may have its emphasis The same things ye cannot do that ye would For what godly man doth not feel that it is not the same prayer the same faith the same repentance he desired The duty like Jeremiah's vessel cometh to be marred upon the wheel in the very doing so much deadness distraction lukewarmness and senslesness of spirit appeareth that he wondereth to see how different the duty exercised is from the desire and purpose in his soul From the words thus declared observe That original sinne remaineth in every man though never so godly in some measure whereby there is a combate between the flesh and the Spirit so that we cannot do any holy duty perfectly in this life I limit my Discourse only to the good will in the Text not the bad because that is most homogeneous with my subject And besides The Pelagians calumniated this Doctrine of original sinne as a discouragement unto holiness and that hereby perfection could never be attained because this sinne is said to have some being and working in the most holy though it have not dominion It is from original sinne that the most holy men find a combat within them more or lesse that alwayes in this life they find a need both of pardon of sinne and of the righteousness of Christ which if any deny as the Pelagians did we will not believe them with Austin in that they say but attribute it to their arrogancy and hypocrisie pretending more holiness to the world then they have for their self-advantage or else to their stupidity and senslesness not feeling what doth indeed annoy and oppose the Spirit of God and truly they who have not the Spirit of God abiding in them How can they discern of such a combate That moral conflict which Aristotle speaketh of in the incontinent person he may perceive within himself but this of the Spirit and the flesh He cannot know because it is spiritually discerned SECT II. Several Propositions clearing the truth about the Combat between the Flesh and Spirit in a godly man ¶ 1. The Difference between Original and Actual Sinne. THe only way to comprehend the latitude of this excellent truth about the Conflict between flesh and spirit in the true believer because of original sinne still adhering to him is to lay down several Propositions wherein we may at the same time assert truth and obviate some error First Original sinne doth greatly differ from actual sinne in this particular that when an actual sinne is committed there remaineth no more but the guilt of it which upon repentance by justification is wholly removed away and thus an actual sinne is as if it had never been but in original sinne although the guilt of it be taken away yet the nature of it abideth still though not with such dominion as formerly it did It is true the Schoolmen except Biel and some others say actual sinnes leave a macula a blot or defilement upon the soul as well as a reatus or guilt and what this macula is they are different in their explication of but we must necessarily grant that every actual sinne doth defile the soul depriving it either of the beauty it hath or ought to have but yet still the act of sin is passed away whereas in original sin the sin it self doth still continue by which it is that though to those who are in Christ there is no actual condemnation yet there is that which is damnable in them insomuch as without Christ there is a wo to their most holy and praise-worthy actions It is true the Papists and others look upon this as non-sense or a contradiction that sin should be in a man and not make him guilty as if actual condemnation might not be separated from sinne though indeed the desert of condemnation cannot It cannot be but wheresoever sinne is it doth deserve hell it hath enough in it to provoke God to wrath but yet when humbled for and withstood then through the bloud of Christ this actual guilt though not the potential one is taken away Yea original sinne doth not only differ from actual sinne but also habitual because though habitual sinnes do abide in a man yet when a man is regenerated and made a new creature all the habits of sinne are expelled for if the habits of sinne and grace should abide together then a man might at the same time be holy and unholy the sonne of God and the sonne of the Devil seeing our denomination is from the habits that are within us therefore that cannot be But though in our Regeneration the habits of sinne are removed yet it is not so with original corruption that is not an acquired but an innate habit of sinning within us Thus our original corruption is farre more pertinaciously cleaving unto us then any habits or customs of sinne can be though of never so long continuance ¶ 2. IN the second place That is a false position which the Remonstrants have Exam Censurae cap. 11. pag. 128. that the difficulty which new converts have to leave their former lusts doth arise chiefly from their former custome and exercise in wayes of impiety not from original sinne For they distinguish of godly men such as are incipients new beginners that are but newly converted unto Christ and these they say have a great conflict within them they have much ado to leave their former lusts and impieties they have been accustomed unto and then there are the Adulti such who are proficients and grown up now these they say may arise to such a measure of holiness as to be without any conflict at all between flesh and spirit or to feel it very rarely but that is directly to contradict this Text which speaketh it universally of all that have the Spirit of God in them while in this life they do meet with opposition not only from the devil without but the flesh within Therefore they would elude this Text as if it did not mean an actual reluctancy or lusting against one another but only potential that it is the
nature of the flesh and Spirit thus to oppose one another for this is say they against the nature of habits seeing it is the property of habits to make the will readily and willingly will and do those things which formerly were grievous and troublesome but the Scripture speaketh of the actual reluctancy it doth not say it may or it can but it doth lust and as for habits though we grant when these supernatural habits of grace are infused into the soul we are carried out with readiness delight and willingness in those holy duties which formerly were tedious and grievous unto us yet because neither the habits of grace are perfect within us nor the acts that flow from them therefore it is that there is a mixture of our dross with the spirits gold For although the habits of grace are immediately inspired or infused from God and so as they come from him are perfect yet because that is a true rule Quicquid recipitur recipitur ad modum recipientis whatsoever is received is received according to the capacity and qualification of the subject Hence it is that these habits of grace are imperfect as received and seated in us and whereas again they reply that suppose this Text be understood of actual reluctancy yet it is not generally to be extended to all but limited to the Galathians who were but new converts but beginners and therefore had this fight within them that is also false The Apostle saith the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh in the general It is an universal Proposition neither is it any more to be limited to the Galathians then the duty enjoyned which is to walk in the Spirit so that as the duty belongeth to every godly man the reason likewise must and therefore the Apostle doth not say the flesh lusteth against the Spirit in you they put in vobis into the Text but speaketh universally of all that have the Spirit of God Besides this Text opposeth them for grant these Galathians were new converts yet the cause of the combate within them is not attributed to their former custome of impiety as they would have it but to the flesh which is original sinne within them when therefore a man is truly converted that difficulty to leave his former lusts doth not arise because the habits of sinne do still abide in him but because original sinne is still living in us and therefore according to the greater or lesser measure of grace healing and sanctifying of us so we find the greater opposition in parting with the sinnes we formerly committed ¶ 3. WE are to lay it down for a certain foundation to build upon as hath formerly been delivered That this spiritual conflict was not in the state of integrity Adam before his fall could not find such a rebellion in him for if so this would greatly have interrupted all his blessedness and withall such a duell within him and that necessarily flowing from his creation would have redounded to the great dishonour of God his Maker Now the Adversaries of original sinne whether Papists Remonstrants or Socinians who do usually traduce the orthodox Doctrine about it as if horribly injurious to God do in this particular farre transcend all such supposed reflections either upon the justice or mercy of God For they do boldly affirm That by the very natural constitution of man there is a necessary conflict between the rational and sensitive part only say the Papists original righteousness which the Socinian derideth as much as original sinne did keep down this repugnancy so that Adam had not any actual rebellion within though it was there potentially and radically Thus Soto though Stapleton fluctuateth and seemeth to be his Adversary therin expresly affirmeth Lib. de Naturâ Gratiâ c. 3. that the conflict mentioned by the Apostle Gal. 5. 17. is Homini â naturâ ingenita inbred in the very nature of a man which he would prove from a philosophical Discourse out of Aristotle who divideth man into two parts his rational and sensitive adding that the sensitive part obeyeth the rational not despotically as servants who have no right of their own do to their masters for so the members of the body only do serve the mind but politically and civilly as a Citizen doth his Prince in whose power it is to disobey But as Aristotle knew nothing of mans creation or the Image of God put upon him nor of his fall and the utter depravation of mans soul thereby so it would be absurd to runne to his darkness to fetch light about these things Hence also it is that the same Author Cap. 13. in another place compareth man fallen with man standing to some weighty piece that hangeth on high but is hindred that it cannot fall and the same piece when the impediment is removed For as such a piece of timber had the same proneness to fall to the ground while it was hindred as when the obstacle was removed only it did not actually fall Thus man abiding in his state of integrity had this principle within to carry him more affectionately to sensible things then spiritual only original righteousness did stop and hinder the actual motions thereof It is true that all Papists do not assert this repugnancy from our primitive constitution For Cajetan upon the place doth note truly Sermo est c. saith he The speech is of the flesh as infected with original sinne for thence the flesh lusteth against the Spirit not from the primary Creation Yea their admired Thomas a Kempis Pag. 77. for his practical devotion confesseth that Adam in the state of innocency had not this conflict And no wonder that Papists thus dogmatize when Arminius who useth to be very wary being he was the first that was to broach those dangerous errours the Devil delighting to use a Serpent not an Ass because he was more subtil then other beasts of the field yet asserteth that the inclination to sinne was in Adam before his fall Licet non ita vehemens inordinata ut nunc est although not so vehement and inordinate as now it is It is true the whole Paragraph is put by way of question but in the procedure thereof this is spoken affirmatively Articul perpendendi cap. de peccato originis And with the Socinians nothing is more ordinary then to affirm such a rebellion in man and that so peremptorily that from this they conclude Adam did sinne it was from his concupiscence that he did break the Law of God Yea some are not afraid to attribute this repugnancy and conflict to Christ as if when he prayed Father if it be possible let this Cup passe away that this came from the Agony between the rational and sensitive part within him It is wonder that these do not also hold that it will continue in Heaven also so that as long as man hath a soul and a body this opposition cannot be removed but surely the naming
Exposition for they acknowledge those workings of the Law in this person against sinne are from the Spirit of God These are the good gift of God and although they come not from the Spirit as regenerating yet as moving and preparing the heart for Regeneration Now will it not be derogatory to say that in this conflict the Spirit of God is overcome in every conflict that at no time he cannot do the good he would This is to make the conflict of a man in this legal estate inferiour to Aristotle's incontinent person who hath only the meer light of natural reason to help him for he compareth Lib. 7. Ethic. cap. 9. intemperance to the disease of a Dropsie or Consumption because incurable but incontinency to the falling-sickness because curable And then because the former is continual the later sometimes only If then in very Heathens whose conflict is only between a natural conscience and their lusts conscience doth sometimes prevail their lusts do not alwayes overcome Shall we think lesse is done by the Spirit of God in them who are in this legal conflict It is true if we speak of perfect obedience to the Law of God so at all times in all things the Law of sinne within a godly man doth retard and make him to come short but then in particular combates there the flesh doth not alwayes prevail only the Apostle instanceth in the tyranny of sinne and not the dominion of grace because hereby he would inform the Jews how much they were to sigh and groan under this burden and thereupon to have higher thoughts of Christ For seeing there were two things that did keep them off from Christ The ignorance of the power of original sinne and a desire to find out a righteousness by the works of the Law The Apostle doth take an excellent way to cure them of these two evils by shewing what deep root original sinne hath in the most holy and how opposite and fighting it is against the grace of God within us insomuch that we cannot have our full comfort but in Christ alone ¶ 2. Reasons for this Exposition THat there is no godly man living free from this spiritual combate because of the flesh which still abideth in him hath been proved by Reasons and Scripture To this Text we have joyned Paul's Discourse Rom. 7. which you heard was to be understood of no other then a regenerate person But because such an Exposition as also the Doctrine of the imperfection of Regeneration may be abused You heard with what limitations that Chapter was to be interpreted though of a godly man It is remarkable what Austin saith in defence of himself expounding this place of a regenerate person whereas he had interpreted it otherwise formerly Non ego primus aut solus c. Lib. 6. contra Julianum lib. 11. He was not the first or only man that did interpret it so Yea he confesseth he understood it of unregenerated persons once himself and his greatest reason was because he thought Paul could not say of himself That he was carnal and sold under sinne but afterwards saith he Melioribus intelligentioribus cessi vel potius ipsi veritati c. The example of this excellent man might much convince but that prejudice doth blind mens eyes Let us see what Reasons are cogent for this Exposition First This is very considerable That the Apostle in the former verses speaking of himself useth the Preterperfect tense speakth of that which was past onely at the fourteenth verse there he changeth the tense and speaketh of the present time which may perswade us that he speaketh of himself what he was once before regenerated and what he hath experience of in himself though sanctified This changing of the time argueth a change also in the person for so his Discourse runneth from the seventh verse to the fourteenth I had not known lust and sinne wrought in me all manner of concupiscence I was alive without the Law once and sinne deceived me c. All these expressions are concerning what was done in him Then at the fourteenth verse with the rest following he speaketh of the present time I am carnal I do that which I allow not c. This altering of the time may incline us to think that it is very probable the Apostle doth compare his former estate of unregeneracy with the present of sanctification that he is now in It is true indeed we grant that the Apostle doth sometimes assume the person of another man he supposeth such a thing in himself which yet we must not conclude to be in him as Rom. 3. 7. For if the truth of God hath abounded more through my life unto his glory why yet am I judged as a sinner Here it is certain he personateth a wicked object or and caviller So 1 Cor. 13. 2. If I have all faith and not charity c. As also Gal. 2. 18. If what I have destroyed I build the same again I make my self a transgressor But who doth not see a vast difference between these expressions and Paul's Discourse in this Chapter For they are spoken hypothetically by way of supposition And therefore every one may perceive that the Apostle doth not intend an absolute speech of himself Had the Apostle used such conditional expressions here then there had been some colour If I do the evil I would not if I do not the good I would if I delight in the Law if the Law of God c. then we might have doubted whether he spake of himself or no. Or had the Apostle as absolutely and peremptorily spoken in those places as he doth here we should have wondred at it Should he after a large Discourse to that purpose have concluded So then I my self distroy what I have built it would have greatly amazed us As for that place insisted upon by so many 1 Cor. 4. 6. These things I have in a figure transferred to my self and Apollo c. and from thence gathering That it is ordinary with Paul by a figure to assume another habit as it were then his own Suppose it be granted Doth it therefore follow he doth here in this place What doth the Apostle never speak in his own person If we will not take this as spoken of himself Why do the Dissentients take the second verse in the next Chapter as to be understood of his own person The Law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath freed me from the Law of sinne and death Besides this very place maketh against them for when the Apostle doth thus assume a person he plainly discovereth he doth so you see he doth expresly say that what he did he did by a figure but here is not the least hint given of any such thing there is not a syllable by which we may gather any such transfiguration So that it is a wonder that the Apostle should continue in such a long discourse and that with so much vehemency
to say so But Austin answereth It 's therefore called two wils or therefore it is said to will and nill because it doth will sickly and faintly It 's not so throughly and totally carried out to God as it ought to be and this halting like that of Jacobs thigh will go with us to the grave Thus we are as weak men that are partly well and partly sick as the twy-light when it is partly light and partly darkness or as wine mingled with water not that in such a mixture we are able to say this part is water and the other part is meer wine So we must not think that in a regenerate man one part is meerly spiritual the other meerly carnal but the corruption in a man doth adhere to every part that is sanctified and therefore as the principle is mixed so are the actions which flow from it But it is time to hasten to the last Proposition which is ¶ 10. Of the Regenerates Freedome from the Dominion of sinne And whether it be by the Suppression of it or by the Abolishing part of it THat though original sinne be in a regenerate person yet it is not in its dominion there it is in part abolished For there are these things to be considered in this inbred defilement there is 1. The Guilt 2. The Dominion and both these are removed in a regenerate person 3. There is the sense or presence of it and that is not taken away but by death 4. Some adde the Root of it and that they say is not destroyed till the body be consumed to ashes For although it be true that death putteth an end to all sinne yet that must be understood of an ultimate and final death otherwise if it be a dispensatory death as it was to Lazarus and some others as that did not put a period to their bodily miseries when they lived again so neither did it to sinfulness in their souls But even Lazarus and such like persons raised upon a special economy were regenerated but in part and this conflict of flesh and Spirit was in them and so they needed to pray for forgiveness of sinne But though we must acknowledge that original sinne hath not the power in a godly man it once had All the difficulty is Whether it be by suppression of it onely or abolishing part of it and if original sinne be in part diminished How can the whole of it be propagated to the child Or why may not the last part of it be consumed in this life It may be this Question may be more subtil then profitable Scotus as Pererius alledgeth him in Rom. cap. 7. thinketh that in a godly man original sinne is not at all abated onely grace is every day augmented and so that cannot weigh us down as it did before As saith he if an Eagle should have any weight upon her but the strength of her wings be increased then though the weight were not diminished yet because her strength is increased it would not hinder her in flying But to answer this Question we must conclude that in regeneration original sinne is more then suppressed there is a qualitative change and so a diminishing of darknesse in the mind by light of evil in the will by holinesse So that the encreasing of these graces do necessarily argue the decreasing of original sinn And For this purpose the Scripture useth those termes of crucifying and mortifying onely when we say original sinne is diminished You must not understand it hath quantative parts as if they were cut off by degrees but potestative that is the power and efficacy of original sinne is not so lively so vehement as it was once yet where it is thus weakned a regenerate person begetteth a sonne in an unregenerate estate because he is the sonne of Adam fallen and is not a father as he is godly but as he is a man Now though it doth thus tenaciously adhere unto us yet death will give it a final and full blow not death meerly as it is a dissolution in a natural way so that Castellio doth absurdly endeavour to perplex this Doctrine with curious interrogatories but as the nature of it is altered by Christ the Spirit of God putting forth its greatest efficacy at that time Yea though a godly man should be so overcome by a disease that he were not able to act faith in Christ at that time for the utter subduing of sinne in him yet his faith formerly put forth on Christ for that purpose and the promise of God at that time will effectually conquer all This being so how ought the godly gladly to submit to death The terrible vizour of it is now taken away No vain thoughts no wordly or distempered affections shall ever molest thee more It is not death to thee but to thy sinne It is not a death to thy graces and comforts but to thy corruptions Miseria non home moritur said the Martyr when he was to die It is misery not man that dieth CHAP. IV. Of Death coming upon all men as another Effect of Original Sinne. SECT I. The Text explained 1 COR. 15. 22. For as in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive THe chief scope of the Apostle in this Chapter as was formerly declared from the 49th verse is to establish that fundamental and necessary Article of the Resurrection of the dead which because of the incredibility of it to meer humane reason was much derided by the Heatheus and Paul for the preaching thereof was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acts 17. 18. A trifling babler Hence because of the difficulty to receive this truth Synesius was ordained Bishop though as yet not perswaded of the Doctrine which afterwards by the grace of God towards him he did acknowledge Yea it 's observed That the Philosophers when made Christians received this as the last Article of their Christian faith because so contrary to those Philosophical principles they had been accustomed unto The Sadduces also denied this main Article but they might be supposed to do it upon corrupt grounds futable to their lusts for being though not so numerous nor so applauded for piety by the people as the Pharisees were yet for the most part the richest and most wealthy they imbraced that opinion which denied the Resurrection as being more convenient for their carnal hearts and that they might with more delight and security give themselves up to this present world But the Apostle doth here most industriously and powerfully confirm this Doctrine which if not true all our Christian Religion would be in vain The principal Argument to prove this Doctrine is from the Resurrection of Christ For the rising as our Head it necessarily followeth his members should also rise to such glory and immortality So that Christs Resurrection doth necessarily inferre outs which made the primitive Christians so affected with it that in their ordianry salutations whenmeeting with one another they did use to
us into a spiritual death if thereby we be deprived of all spiritual life How can it be avoided but that eternal damnation must foâ—â—ow thereupon by the desert thereof And as for the inseparable effects of it which are to carry us on necessarily to sinne in all that we do to make us utterly impotent and unable for any thing that is good What can this produce but everlasting misery to our souls Sixthly Original sinne is of a damnable nature because of that spiritual bondage and vassalag we are thereby put into even to the Devil himself For not being the children of God we are necessarily the children of the Devil And therefore to be children of Gods wrath in the Text is no more then to be the children of hell and of the Devil for which reason he is called The Prince of the World Seeing then the Devil hath power over all mankind they are in his bondage and Christ came as a Redeemer to deliver us from him This doth argue in what a wofull and dreadfull estate we are left in by this original filthinesse To have the Devil possesse our bodies how terrible is it But he possesseth the souls of every one by nature till Christ doth destroy him and cast him out Hence the Apostle celebrateth that powerfull grace of God whereby we are delivered from the power of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Sonne Col. 1. 13. from which children are not to be excluded Seventhly That original sinne hath merit of demnation is plain Because by it we are in an unregenerate estate John 3. Whatsoever is born of the flesh is flesh and therefore unlesse a man be born again of the Spirit and from above he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven yea none that are in the flesh can please God Rom. 8 8. If then no unregenerate man can be saved and by original sinne we come to be in that state of carnality it is plain that by nature we are prepared fuel for eternal flames in hell Eighthly That original sinne deserveth damnation appeareth in the consequents of it For when Adam fell into this spiritual death which is the same with original sinne in us though it could not be called so in him because he had not it from his first being neither was it derived to him from any other we may take notice of two sad and terrible effects thereof besides many others The first whereof was the terrour and fear upon his conscience when God called him by name saying Adam where art thou He then flieth from God and would have hid himself from his face How cometh Adam thus to be afraid thus to tremble who had such peaceable enjoyment of God before Was it not because he had now lost the Image of God And this impression is still upon all men by nature There is an inward terrour and fear of God knowing he is an holy just and omnipotent God who cannot but hate and punish sin and therefore we being conscious of that sinfulness and pollution which is in us are afraid of him dare not think of him or draw nigh to him horror is ready to surprize us when we think of God while in our natural estate The other consequent upon Adam's pollution was the casting him out of Paradise and in him all his posterity was likewise ejected Now this was a type as it were of our being cast out of Heaven This is like that solemn curse at the last day Depart from me ye cursed So that if all these Arguments be duly considered we cannot any longer resist the light of this truth That to us belongeth hell and damnation as soon as ever we are born even before we have committed any actual sinne at all SECT VII Some Conclusions deduceable from the Doctrine of the damnableness of Original Sinne. THe Doctrine of our native impurity and the damnable consequent thereof being thus established upon the Scripture rock which will dash in peices all errours that beat upon it I shall proceed to some Conclusions deduceable thence from As First That position of some though of different principles is wholly contrariant to the word of God that none are damned for original sinne For seeing this sinne hath the same damnable guilt with it as actual sinne hath there is no more reason for the non-damnation of persons in one more then in another neither can we conceive God obliged to forgive one more then another why then should it thus universally be acknowledged that for actual sinnes God may and doth damn men but not for original sinne It is true when we speak of persons growen up we cannot seperate their actual sinnes and original because original sinne is alwayes acting and conceiving putting it self forth into many divers lusts and thereupon we cannot say of any adult person that he is damned meerly for original sinne because to this original hath been superadded many actual transgressions and thereupon all impenitent persons dying so are condemned for both yea their condemnation is inhanced thereby for the desert of damnation by original and actual sinne both is greater then by original or actual severally Seeing then many die in the guilt of their natural and actual uncleanness it is an unsavoury Doctrine to affirm that no man is damned for original sinne It is true some men do dogmatize that original sinne in respect of the guilt of it is universally taken off all and that all mankind is put into a state of reconciliation by the second Adam as they were into a state of wrath by the first but this over-throweth the Doctrine of special election and doth confound nature and grace together yea it maketh Christ to have died in vain of which more fully in its time For the present seeing that so many die unconverted in their state of unregeneracy it must necessarily follow that many are damned both for their original and actual sinne also For shall the root be less damning then the branches or fruit actual sinnes demonstrate the effect and power or original sinne and the aggravation of the effect doth necessarily aggravate the cause As they said to Gideon desiring he should slay them Judg. 8. 21. As is the man so is his strength Thus it is here as a mans corrupt nature is so are his actions the one is actus primus and the other is actus secundus Thus as life though an actus primus yet is alwayes expressed in second acts and the effects thereof so it is with original sinne it is by way of a fountain in us yet alwayes emptying it self into streames It is then a subtle devise of Bellarmine who being unwilling to make damnation as it comprehends the punishment of sense to be the consequent of original sinne to say that one dying in his original sinne is not damned by reason of his original sinne but ratione subjecti it bringeth damnation because such a subject is destitute of spiritual life and grace But this is to
degree laid in the dust that thy will and desires may be accomplished Farre be this from thee Surely the great and high thoughts we ought to have of Gods wisdom goodness and holiness ought to keep us from opening our mouths any more in this point saying As I leave my self so my children in the hands of God who disposeth all things according to his own will And as we say of the nature of God he is that Bonum quo nihil melius cogitari potest The same must we apply to all his dispensations likewise Furthermore we are to remember That whatsoever the first Adam hath brought upon mankind the second Adam will totally and fully remove in all that are his members Insomuch that at the last there shall not remain as it were an hoof of any of these calamities That original corruption within thee shall no longer tempt thee incessantly like Joseph's Mistress saying Come and lie with me we shall then in the issue of all have more cause to rejoyce because of Christ and the benefits by him then ever we were cast down and dejected because of the transgression of the first Adam and the unspeakable evil that came by him So that if these particulars be duly considered every believer may with comfort and quietness sit down under this truth while men of pharisaical and self-justifying spirits rage and revile at these things But you will say Grant that there is such a thing as Original Sinne and that we have delivered nothing but Scripture truth in this point yet may we not be too tragical in exclamations about it As there are those who erre in the defect so are there not many that do offend in the excess that make it more hainous then it is This is the last Question wherewith I shall conclude this Subject And First All the Popish Arminian Socinian party with their adherents look upon the Calvinists as excessive in this point hence are there several complaints of them about this matter in all their works But certainly if we do regard the scope of the Scripture it is wholly to debase man and exalt Christ To discover our incurable and sinfull estate that thereby Christ may be the more magnified which is done by nothing so much as to make known that horrid pollution which is upon all by nature And certainly that one Text Genes 6. 5. affirming The thoughts of the imagination of a mans heart to be only evil and that continually speaketh more emphatically the deplored and sinfull estate of man then ever any Calvinist hath yet exprest Yet though this be so we grant that some may go too farre in their opinions and expressions about original sinne though for the most part such is a mans self-fulness and self-righteousness that Pelagianism is likelier to poison the world then Flacciâ—â—ism We must know therefore that one Illyricus a Lutheran in opposition to Victorinus Strigelius a Lutheran also but a Synergist holding the will of man to concurre actively with the grace of God to a mans conversion and thereby extenuating original sinne This Illyricus I say out of a vehement opposition to that party and the School-Doctrine about original sinne making it to be an accident in a man did fall into another extream saying That original sinne was a substantial evil in a man and that the very substantial form of a man was now made sinfull This Illyricus was a man of a very turbulent and unquiet spirit a desperate enemy to Melancthon whose heart it is said he broke Melch. Adam in vita Illyrici At first he was well reputed of by the Orthodox and being sadly tempted in his spirit about sinne and the wrath of God but afterwards delivered from it it was judged so great a mercy that thanks was given to God in the publick Congregation for his behalf but afterwards among other erroneous assertions he maintained That original sinne was a substantial evil in a man We may read his whole opinion with the declaration of himself and his Arguments in his Tractate on purpose concerning this point Clavis Script 2d parte Tractat. 6. de originali peccato wherein he hath many absurd and monstrous expressions Although it must be acknowledged that with that dung and filth he hath there is also some gold Some there are that wholly excuse him saying That his words only were improper but that his sense was orthodox and that out of hatred to that Doctrine which extenuateth original sinne he would pretending the Scripture for his Rule use substantive expressions to declare the nature of it But whatsoever his end may be certainly his sense and opinion as declared in his words is justly to be condemned and exploded For by Adam's fall he maketh a substantial change to be made upon a man That the Image of God is turned into the image of the Devil not accidentally but substantially as when wine is made vinegar or when the parts of a statue or house that were built in some comely harmony representing some glorious thing they should be pulled down and built into another deformed shape As suppose the Image of some comely person should be pulled in pieces and made the image of an horrible Dragon or Serpent He distinguisheth of the material substance of a man and his formal He granteth That the matrial substance of a man still remaineth our body and parts thereof but the formal substance is altered As when a vessel that was once made a vessel of honour is afterwards made a vessel of dishonour the material substance is the same but not the formal He doth no wayes endure that we should call original sinne an accident for he saith This sinne is a transcendent and is in all predicaments it 's sometimes a quality sometimes an action c. sometimes a substance Neither will he distinguish between the substance of a man and his sin adhering thereto between the subject and the privation in it between the abstract and concrete God he saith is angry with concretes punisheth concretes not abstracts and therefore he saith Those that distinguish between the substance of a man and his sinne do as the Alchimists separating from the oyl oleity from a stone lapideity so these from Adam Adameity Thus he and much more But certainly herein he betrayeth horrible ignorance in Philosophy and Theology for both these will necessitate us to distinguish between the substance of a man and the sinfull privation in him otherwise Christ could not have taken the same nature with us upon him sinne only excepted and regeneration would be a substantial change not a qualitative Neither by this opinion could the same substantial bodies be said to be glorified in Heaven So that as the Leprosie in the body is not the body neither is original sinne in man the nature of man and therefore when we read that the flesh and spirit are opposite that opposition must be understood in praedicamento qualitatis not substantiae The greatest support
of integrity 479 Nor is there sense or feeling of any such Conflict in a natural man 480 It 's in all that are sanctified 81 Conflict the several kinds 500 Conscience What Conscience is 223 Whence quietness of Conscience in unregenerate men 90 And whence troubles of Conscience in the regenerate ib. Erroneous Conscience ought to be obeyed 224 Conscience horribly blind and erroneous by nature 225 And senslesse 226 The defect of Conscience in its offices and actings 228 The corruption of Conscience in accusing and excusing 230 Of a counterfeit Conscience 233 Sinfull lust fancy and imagination custome and education mistaken for Conscience ib. Conscience severe against other mens sins blind about its own 236 Security of Conscience 237 The defilement of Conscience when troubled and awakened 238 The difference between a troubled and a regenerate Conscience 243 Causes of trouble of Conscience without regeneration ib. False cure of a wounded Conscience 245 Consent A two-fold Consent of the will expresse and formal or interpretative and virtual 287 Creation Christ had his soul by Creation and so we have ours 195 Creature Mans bondage to the Creature 317 D Damnation DAmnation due to all for original sinne 528 Death Death not natural to Adam before sin 31 115 Death and all other miseries come from sin 173 Devil The Devil cannot compell us to sinne 15 114 Difference Difference between original and actual sins 477 Difficulty Difficulty of turning to God whence 478 Doubtings Doubtings whence 241 Duties Imperfection in the best Duties 11 Of doing Duties for conscience sake 234 E Exorcisms EXorcisms used anciently at the Baptism of Infants 54 F Faculties SOme Faculties and imbred principles left in the soul after the fall 224 Mans best Faculties corrupted by sinne 139 Flesh Flesh and spirit in every godly man 11 How the word Flesh is used in Scripture 139 Flesh and spirit contrary ib. Forgetfulness Forgetfulness natural and moral 257 Forgetfulness of sin 260 Of usefull examples and former workings of Gods Spirit 261 Of our later end the day and death and judgement and the calamities of the Church 262 Freedom Several kinds of Freedom 306 Freedom from the dominion of sin whether it be by suppression or abolishing part of it 503 G Grace WHat sanctifying Grace is 20 Given not so much to curb actual sin as to cure the nature ib. Free Grace exalted by the Apostles 308 The Doctrine of free Grace unpleasing to flesh and bloud 310 The necessity of special Grace to help against temptations 314 H Habits THe Habits of sin forbidden and the Habits of grace required by the Law 45 Heathens Heathens how far ignorant of original sin 168 Condemn the lustings of the heart 169 Heresies Hereticks The Heresies of the Gnosticks Carpocratians Montanists and Donatists 225 The guilt and craft of Heretiques 303 I Jesus Christ JEsus Christ his conception miraculous 388 But framed of the substance of the Virgin 389 Why called the Son of God ib. Had a real body ib. Born holy and without sin 390 How he could be true man and yet free from sin 392 Ignorance A universal Ignorance upon a mans understanding 178 210 Image Gods Image in Adam not an infused habit or habits but a natural rectitude or connatural perfection to his nature 19 Why called Gods Image 21 The Image of God in man Reason and understanding one part of it 113 Holinesse and righteousnesse another part ib. Power to persevere in holinesse another part ib. A regular subordination of the affections to the rule of righteousnes another part 114 Primitive glory honour and immortality another part 115 Dominion and superiority another part yet not the only Image of God as the Socinians falsly ib. How man made in it 131 Imagination Imagination its nature 351 Its sinfulnesse in making Idols and conceits to please it self 352 And in its defect from the end of its being 353 By its restlesnesse 355 By their universality multitude disorder their roving and wandring their impertinency and unseasonablenesse 356 357 It eclipseth and keeps out the understanding 358 Conceiveth for the most part all actual transgressions 359 Acts sin with delight when there are no external actings 360 Its propensity to all evil 361 Is continually inventing new sins or occasions of sin 362 Vents its sinfulnesse in reference to the Word and the preaching of it 364 Mind more affected with appearances than realities 365 And in respect of fear and the workings of conscience 366 And its acting in dreams 367 Is not in subordination to the rational part of man 368 The instrument in Austins judgment of conveying sin to the child 368 Prone to receive the Devils temptations 369 Immortal How many wayes a thing may be said to be Immortal 509 Of Adams Immortality in the state of innocency 513 Impossibility Impossibility of mans loosing himself from the creature and return to God 371 Infants Infants deserve hell 7 Sinners 29 Cannot be saved without Christ 35 55 Infant-holinesse what it is 56 Infants defiled with original sin before born 62 Judgment Whence diversities of Judgment in the things of God 219 Justification Justification by imputed not inherent righteousnesse 29 K Knowing Known CVriosity and affection in all of Knowing what is not to be Known 184 Which comes from original sin 212 L Law THe Law impossible to be kept 10 A Law what 85 The Law requireth habitual holinesse 130 Forbids lust in the heart 156 Liberty Liberty of will nothing but voluntarinesse or complacency 132 Lust What Lust is 155 How distinguished 157 Lust considered according to the four-fold estate of man 160 Sinfull Lust utterly extirpated in heaven 161 M Man MAn by nature out of Gods favour 117 Man made to enjoy and glorifie God 132 133 How sin dissolved the harmony of Mans nature ib. Man unable to help himself out of his lost condition 153 Through sin it is worse with Man than other creatures 174 The nobler part of Man inslaved to the inferiour 175 Man utterly impotent to any spiritual good 177 By his fall became like the devil 183 Memory The pollution of it 247 What it is 250 A two-fold weaknesse of Memory natural and sinfull ib. The use and dignity of it 251 The nature of it 253 Discoveries of its pollution 253 Wherein it is polluted 257 Wherein it fails in respect of the objects ib. Hath much inward vitiosity adhering to it 263 Subservient to our corrupt hearts 265 Mind Whence the vanity and instability of the Mind 217 Ministry One end of the Ministry 255 N Natural EVery Natural man is carnal in the mysteries of Religion in religious worship in religious ordinances in religious performances 140 141 In spiritual transactions and religious deportment 142 143 Necessity What Necessity is consistent with freedom 312 O Original Sinne. THe necessity of knowing it 1 The term ambiguously used and how taken in this Treatise ib. That there is such a natural concontagion on all 2 Why called Original sin 5 Denial of
it the mother of many errors 6 The cause of all miseries 7 Worse than actual 8 Ignorance thereof the cause why men understand not the work of conversion 9 Inseparably adheres to the best 11 A natural evil and how with the several names it hath had 13 The difilement of our specifical being 14 The inward principle of all sinfull motions ib. Flacius his opinion concerning it ib. Is alwayes putting it self forth 16 Neerer to us than actual or habitual sin 18 What it is 19 20 Why compared to death 21 Objections answered 22 Pelagians and Socinians opinion of it 28 Propagated ib. Is an internal and natural depravation of the whole man 32 Adams sin imputed to us is not all our Original sin ib. Of that opinion that Original sinne is vitium but not peccatum 33 Truly and properly a sin 34 Against the Law 35 How voluntary 39 Arminius and the Remonstrants disagree about Original sin 40 Arminius Remorstrants Zuinglius Papists Scotists and Socinians opinions of it 40 A sin a punishment and a cause of sin 41 Original inherent sin and Adams imputed sin are two distinct sins 43 Against the Law and how 44 45 Acknowledged in Old Testament times 48 Remonstrants confess it may be proved by two or three places of Scripture ib. Compared to a leprosie 51 Makes us leathsom to God as soon as born 52 Why called uncleanness ib. Should make us vile in our own eyes ib. Put a man by nature into worse condition than beasts 53 Makes us like the Devils ib. Pollutes our duties and makes us unfit and unworthy to draw nigh to God in duties 54 Makes us to be in the most immediate contrariety to God that can be ib. The denial of it charged upon Calvinists by the Lutherans 56 Acknowledged by the Rabbins and Fathers 62 Meditation thereon wherein advantagious 64 Not one universal thing of general influence but a particular thing in particular men 65 To be bewailed even by those that are regenerate ib. A two-fold Original sin 66 The different opinions of men about humiliation for it 67 In what sense it is to be repented of 68 Papists against sorrow for it 69 Several opinions concerning the pardon of it 67 68 69 Wherein repentance and the pardon of Original and actual sin do differ 70 It is an universal defilement 71 And an universal guilt ib. And the fountain and root of all actual sin ib. And the greatest sin 72 Inseparable from our natures while we live 73 Of the Scripture names of it 79 Not the essence or substance of the soul ib. Why called the old man 80 Improperly called a Law 83 Why called a Law 84 Instructs a man in all evil ib. Inclineth and provoketh to all evil ib. Compelleth to all evil 85 Why called the inherent or in-dwelling sin 90 How it dwels in the regenerate ib. Active and ever stirring 94 Is of an insinuating and contaminating nature 95 Depriveth both of power and will to do good 97 98 Inclines the heart to the creature 98 Resisteth all profers of grace 99 Weakens the principles of grace 100 Why called a treasure 102 An inexhausted stock 103 The cause of all pleasure in sin 104 Called a body and why 105 107 Shews it self outwardly in all our actions 107 Cannot be mortified without pain ib. A reality yet not a substance 108 Not a single sin but a lump of all evil ib. Inclineth only to carnal earthly and bodily things 109 Seth born in Original sinne 110 111 Deprives of more than external happiness and immortality against Socinians 117 Many Papists deny the positive part of it 136 Hath infected all men 137 Positive as well as privative 144 And the reasons thereof 145 Produceth positive sinfull actions 146 Sticks closer then vicious habits ib. Not a pestilential quality in the body 149 Is properly concupiscence or lust 157 And in what sense 159 And why so called 162 It is ignorant also ib. Defined 164 The whole man and the whole of man the subject thereof ib. Propagated and communicated to all Adams posterity 165 Truly known only by Scripture-light 167 How farre Heathens were ignorant thereof 168 The propagation thereof by the souls creation 199 Hath fill'd us with errour 211 And with curiosity 212 And vanity 213 And folly 214 Polluting the conscience how and wherein 221 Polluteth the memory 249 Polluteth the will 268 The affections 325 The imagination 348 The body of a man 392 And every one of mankind 387 Not the children of the most godly or the Virgin Mary excepted but only Christ 387. to 401 Original sin imputed the aggravations of it 405 Inherent the aggravation of it 407 It defiles all the parts of the soul is the root and cause of all actual sin is incurable taketh away all spiritual sense and feeling is habitual radicated in the soul 407. to 410 Objections against the hainousnesse of this sin Every one hath his proper Original sin 412 Vents it self betimes 415 Is alike in all 419 The immediate effects of Original sinne are mans propensity to sin 437. to 455 Is the cause of all other sine 455 Evil motions not consented unto and lusts consented unto 464 The combat between the flesh and spirit 474 Death 505 Eternal damnation 526 P Pray A Natural man cannot Pray 314 Pride Pride the cause of most heresies 218 Propagation Propagation of sin 397 Punishment The same thing may be a Punishment and a sin 41 R Redeemer THe necessity of a Redeemer demonstrates our thraldom to sin 319 Reformation A carnal mans Reformation is but the avoiding of one sin by another 318 Regenerate A sure difference between a Regenerate and unregenerate man 9 Regeneration Three sorts of mistaken Regeneration 10 Reliques Reliques of sin 474 Remember Whence is it that we Remember things when we would not 266 Righteousness Original Righteousness not given to Adam as a curb to the inferiour faculties 25 The difficulty of Rom. 5. 26 Original Righteousness the privation of it a sin 130 We were deprived of it by Adam 131 Vniversally lost 135 The losse of it the cause of all temporal losses ib. The privation of it doth necessarily inferre the presence of all sin in a subject susceptible 202 S Sacraments ONe end of the Sacraments 255 Sanctification Sanctification two fold 391 Satan All by nature in bondage to Satan 370 Scripture Scripture discovers us to our selves better then light of nature or Philosophy 161 168 The end of its being written 253 Self-knowing Self knowing a great duty and the hinderance of it 8 Sensless We are altogether Sensless as to any spiritual concernment 176 Sin A man naturally can do nothing but sin 15 16 The reason why all men do not commit all Sins though inclinable thereto 17 Men lie under a necessity of sinning yet this necessity is consistent with voluntarinesse 18 Sin delightfull to men 21 How Sin is natural to us 24 Christ only born without Sin and how 37. 390 Sin is what
Sinne resembles a Treasure CHAP. VII Of the Name Body given to Original Sin Rom. 8. 13. But if you through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live SECT II. What is implied by the word Mortifie SECT V. Why Original Sinne is called a Body CHAP. VIII Of the Privative Part of Original Sinne. SECT I. Of Adam's begetting Seth in his own likeness Gen. 5. 3. And Adam begat a son in his own likeness after his Image and called his name Seth. SECT II. What Original Sin is as to the Privative Part of it CHAP. IX Wherein the making man after Gods Image did consist CHAP. X. Corollaries informing us of the Nature and Aggravations of our loss by sinne and shewing what were the most excellent and choice parts of that Original Righteousness that we are deprived of CHAP. XI A further Consideration of Original Righteousness proving the thing and answering Objections against it CHAP. XII More Propositions about the Nature of the Image of God which man was created in Shewing what particular graces Adam's soul was adorned with CHAP. XIII Reasons to prove That the Privation of Original Righteousness is truly and properly a sin in us CHAP. XIV The Aggravations of the losse of Gods Image SECT II. By the losse of Original Righteousness Gods end in making man was lost SECT III. The Harmony and Subordination in mans Nature dissolved SECT IV. The Properties of this loss CHAP. XV. Of the Positive Part of original Corruption John 3. 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh SECT II. Of the use of the word Flesh in Scripture and why original Corruption is called by that Name SECT III. How carnal the Soul is in its actings about spiritual objects CHAP. XVI Reasons demonstrating the Positive Part of Original Sinne and why Divines make Original Sinne to have 〈◊〉 Positive as well as Privative Part. CHAP. XVII Objections against the Positive Part of Oâ—â—â—al Sinne answered CHAP. XVIII A Second Text to prove Original Sinne to be Positive opened and vindicated Rom. 7. 7. For I had not known lust except the Law had said Thou shalt not covet SECT II. The word Lust expounded SECT VI. A Three-fold Appetite in man SECT VIII A Consideration of this Concupiscence in reference to the four-fold estate of man SECT X. Why Original Sinne is called Concupiscence or Lust CHAP. XIX The Description of Original Sinne. CHAP. XX. A clear and full knowledge of Original Sinne can be obtained onely by Scripture-light SECT II. Whether the wisest Heathens had any knowledge of this Pollution CHAP. XXI That Reason when once enlightned by the Scriptures may be very powerfull to convince us of this Natural Pollution CHAP. XXII A Comparison and Opposition between the first and second Adam as introductory to this Question How this corruption is propagated 1 Cor. 15. 49. As we have borne the Image of the earthly we shall also bear the Image of the heavenly CHAP. XXIII The various Opinions Objections and Doubts about the manner how the Soul comes to be polluted CHAP. XXIV That the Soul is neither by Eduction or Traduction but by Introduction or Immediate Infusion proved by Texts of Scripture and Arguments from Scripture SECT V. The Authors Apology for handling this great Question SECT VI. Propositions to clear the Doctrine of the Propagation of Original Sin notwithstanding the Souls Creation The Contents of the Third Part. HAndling the Subject of Inhesion CHAP. I. Of the Pollution of the Mind with Original Sinne. Ephes 4. 23. And be ye renewed in the Spirit of your Mind CHAP. II. Of Original Sinne polluting the Conscience Setting forth the Defilement of Conscience as it is Quiet Stupid and Senslesse and also when it is troublea and awakened Tit. 1. 15. But even their mind and Conscience is defiled CHAP. III. Of the Pollution of the Memory 2 Pet. 1. 12. I will not be negligent to put you alwayes in Remembrance of these things c. SECT II. What we mean by Memory SECT III. A Two-fold weaknesse of the Memory SECT V. It s great Usefulnesse SECT VI. Of the Nature of it SECT VII Demonstrations of the Pollution of it SECT VIII Instances of the Pollution of the Memory 1. In forgetting the Objects that we should have in our Memory both Superiour and Inferiour SECT X. 2. In respect of its inward vitiosity adhering to it 3. In not attaining its End 4. In that it is made subservient to the corrupt frame and inclination of our hearts 5. It is not subject to our will and power Hence 6. We remember things that we would not CHAP. IV. Of the Pollution of the Will of Man by Original Sinne. John 1. 13. Which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God SECT II. Propositions concerning the Nature of the Will SECT III. ¶ 1. The Corruption of the Will in all its several operations ¶ 2. It s Corruption in its General Act which is called Volition ¶ 3. In its absolute and efficacious willing of a thing ¶ 4. In its Act of Fruition ¶ 5. In its Act of Intention ¶ 6. In its Act of Election or Chusing ¶ 7. In its losse of that Aptitude and readinesse it should have to follow the Deliberation and Advice of the Understanding ¶ 8. In its Act of Consent SECT IV. The Desilement of the Will in its Affections and Properties or the sinfull Adjuncts inseparably cleaving unto it Rom. 9. 16. So then it is not of him that willeth or of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy ¶ 1. This Scripture opened vindicated and improved ¶ 2. The Will is so fallen from its primitive honour that it s not worthy to be called Will but Lust ¶ 3. It s wholly perverted about the Ultimate End ¶ 4. It s Privacy and Propriety ¶ 5. It s Pride and Haughtiness ¶ 6. It s Contumacy and Refractoriness ¶ 7. It s Enmity and Contrariety to Gods will ¶ 8. It s Rebellion against the light of the Mind and slavery to the sensitive part in a man ¶ 9. It s Mutability and Inconstancy SECT V. Of the Natural Servitude and Bondage of the Will with a brief Discussion of the Point of Free-will John 8. 35. If the Sonne therefore shall make you free ye shall be free indeed ¶ 2. The Text opened ¶ 3. Of the several kinds of Freedom which the Scripture speaketh of ¶ 4. The Names the Scripture expresseth that by which we call Free-will ¶ 5. Some observations concerning the Promoters of the Doctrine of Free-will How unpleasing the contrary Doctrine is to flesh and blood with some advice about it ¶ 6. The first Demonstration of the slavery of the Will is from the Necessity of sinning that every man is plunged into ¶ 7. That a Necessary Determination may arise several wayes some whereof are very consistent with liberty yea the more necessary the more free ¶ 8. The second Argument of its
springs are usually very difficultly discovered Besides We will readily grant That this expression doth denote an habitual inclination to all actual evil and that the Apostle mentioneth it as the curse and bitter root of all the actual impieties that are committed in the world so that there is a reference to actual sins but in the cause of them which is this original pollution And thus much for vindication of this noble Text we have endeavoured to throw out all that earth which the Philistims had cast into this fountain what else may be objected will in time be taken notice of And from hence observe That all men by nature are born full of sinne and so exposed to Gods infinite wrath and vengeance Every Infant coming into the world is destitute of the Image of God and in a more dreadfull condition than the young ones of the bruitish creatures that are not exposed to eternal torments so that although there may be joy that a man-child is born yet much humiliation because a child of wrath is born I shall not so much insist on the Predicate as the Subject with the Manner how This original sinne is a natural sinne not indeed as we had our nature at first pure out of Gods hands therefore here is no Manicheism affirmed as Pelagians of old did calumniate but as vitiated and defiled through Adam's transgression CHAP. II. Of the Name Original Sinne and of the Vtility and Necessity of being clearly and powerfully informed about this Subject SECT I. LEt us consider the Doctrine more largely And First You must know that although Original sinne be not a Scripture-name but called so first by Austin forced thereunto by the Pelagians yet the truth of it is in the Scripture And it is lawfull to use new words though not in Scripture when the matter is contained therein to discover and distinguish Hereticks Now we call it original sin in a three-fold respect First Because we have it from our first parents fallen who were the original and fountain of all mankind It 's not an actual voluntary sinne immediatly and personally committed by us but it is in us antecedently to our own personal will both our mind and will comes into the world habitually darkned and obstinate against what is good Secondly It s original Because we have it as soon as we have our being It 's bred in us and can no more be taken from our natures in an ordinary way than mortality from our bodies For although it be not the substance and essence of a man yet the Scripture calling it the old man and our members not in Illyricus his sense doth thereby signifie the intimate inhesion of it in us that it is in us as it were leven in the whole lump which soureth all we have it in our being which made Ambrose say Cujus ortus in vitio est which Austin often mentioneth yea we were conceived in it as Psal 51. And therefore another was not afraid to say we were damnati priusquam nati with Austin often it 's called Damnata radix damnata massa Lastly It 's called Original Because from this floweth all the actual evil in the world From this corrupt tree groweth all the corrupt fruit that is as is to be shewed therefore the Scripture describes original sinne though not as peccatum actuale yet actuosum not as an actual but an active sin Thus Gen. 6. 5. it 's made to be a forge or shop from whence sparks of lusts do continually rise The heart of man is even like hell it self whose fire of lust is unquenchable So our Saviour speaks of a hard heart which is as an evil treasure Mat. 12. 35. There is an evil treasure in every mans heart you may see all sorts of wickedness come from it old and new sins and though he sinne never so much yet still he can sinne more This sea of corruption will never be dried up in this life Paul also Rom. 7. complaineth of the activity and vigor of this sinne in him that it 's alwayes seducing yea captivating of him although sanctified in part Insomuch that although a man be loathsom in respect of his actual impieties yet much more because of the original fountain of evil within him The greatest part of our wickedness is in our natural inclination and propensity of spirit Oh how deep and piercing should the thoughts of this depravation be within us as we are all over full of sinne so we should be filled up with shame and confusion of face we never go deep enough in our Humiliation and Confession till we come to this SECT II. IN the second place It 's good to take notice of the evident utility and necessity of being clearly and powerfully informed about this Subject This truth is constantly and frequently to be pressed we are not to give it over although it may seem burdensom and tedious unto you The reasons of the necessary discovery of this are divers some Doctrinal and some Practical As 1. If a man be erroneous or heretical in this he cannot be orthodox or sound in many other substantial parts of Religion What Austin said concerning the Trinity is true also in some measure concerning this We may erre easily here and dangerously also easily for such is the self-fulness the self-flattery that is in every one that he is difficultly perswaded that he is thus undone and miserable The light must shine as clear as at noon-day yea the Spirit of God must convince and set this home else a man will never believe it and then the errour herein is dangerous because if this Pillar fall to the ground almost the whole edifice of Religion doth tumble down with it As for instance If a man erre about original sinne denying it either in part or in whole he must necessarily hold Free-will for this is the Cockatrice his egg and the other is the Cockatrice it self from a venemous womb must come a venemous brood Take away original sinne and then you establish Free-will then man hath the same power to do good he had in Creation There may be indeed some wounds and debilitations upon him but not a spiritual death Then if Free-will be established the grace of God that is also evacuated there is no absolute necessity of it it s only ad facilius operandum as the Pelagians of old to make us work more easily and readily Thus the very Sunne of Righteousness is presently taken out of our Heavens Furthermore If we do not believe aright about original sin we must also mis-believe about Justification that cannot be made such a glorious act of Gods grace because of Christs Righteousness imputed unto us as indeed it is Then we shall set up our Dagon against Gods Ark neither will the work of conversion be solely ascribed to the power of Gods grace as it ought to be for at the best they will make grace but an adjuvant cause or a partial one with our
Comparison I am only to take notice of the Protasis or Proposition which is That by one mans disobedience many were made sinners So that in the words we are to consider the Subject or rather the cause of mankinds sinfulness and that is described in the Nature of it and the Author The Nature of it is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Apostle called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which words do denote the hainousness of it Rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft and Adams sinne is called disobedience yea some learned Divines shew That the proper specifical nature of this sinne was disobedience there were also many sins ingredient thereunto this the Apostle doth to aggravate the hainousness of it Insomuch that Peltan the Jesuite doth wickedly accuse the Protestants for aggravating the guilt of it so much Apud illos saith he omnia sunt quasi tragica infernalia De pecc orig They have nothing but tragical expressions and proclaim hell and damnation because of this pollution For this is the Apostles scope in this place to heighten the consideration of it that so Christ may be the more magnified Even as an Historian who would make a parallel between two great Generals yet intending to preferre one before another doth in the first place amplifie the gallantry the warlike power the military stratagems of the one that so he may the more advance that other General whom he intends to preferre above him Thus doth the Apostle here he makes original sinne to be exceeding sinfull that so the grace of Christ may be exceeding rich and precious grace Adams sinne then which is imputed and made ours as you heard is disobedience SEC II. SEcondly You have the Author of this disobedience and that is said to be by one man Though Eve was the first in transgression yet Adam is named as the chief and therefore Adam is sometimes used collectively both for man and woman as when God said Let us make man after our Image Here then we have Paul informing us of that which all Philosophy was ignorant of viz. The imputation of Adams sinne to us and our natural pollution flowing from it Yea Paul guided by the Spirit of God finds out that mystery which none of us ever could discover by reading the History of Mans Fall related by Moses For there indeed we could see the cause of death how that came upon all mankind but that Adams sin was ours That we all sinned in him that hereupon we were all involved in sin and misery for this we are to bless God for Paul who hath so largely discovered it SECT III. IN the next place We have the Effect of this disobedience with the Extent of it The Extent is to many that is to all born naturally of Adam For many is not here opposed to all but to one the original from that one many even all are made sinners Therefore it 's a dangerous Exposition of Theodoret as Sixtus Senensis relateth which affirmeth Not all but some only to be infected with Adam 's sinne exempting Abel Noah and others from this pollution For 1 Cor. 15. the Apostle saith In Adam all die and in this Chapter at vers 12. All have sinned in Adam But the Effect that is more dreadfull and worthy of all meditation We are made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is more then when all were said to sin in him for this doth denote the habitual depravation of all the parts of the soul as also a readiness to commit all actual sins Therefore the word is sometimes applied to signifie great and hainous sinners as Mary Magdalen is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sinner So then you see that by Adams disobedience all are made sinners CHAP. VI. Whether we are Sinners by Natural Propagation or by Imitation THere remaineth one great Doubt Whether we are so by Natural Propagation because born of him or by occasion only and imitation because he sinned We are not say some made sinners as soon as we are born but when by free-will we come to consent to sinne and choose it Thus Pelagians of old and Socinians of late with many others Erasmus though he saith he holds Original sinne yet useth all his strength to enervate the Orthodox Interpretation SECT I. That Adam's Disobedience makes us Sinners by Propagation BUt there are cogent Reasons to understand it thus That Adam 's Disobedience makes us sinners by natural Propagation As First Because the Apostle still chargeth our guilt and sinfulness upon Adam only upon that one man and upon that one offence whereas if it were by example and imitation only it might be upon our parents and others and upon their transgressions So that the Apostle might have said By many men and many disobediences we are made sinners but still he chargeth it on one man and one offence Secondly If Imitation be taken strictly then a man must know and have in his eye that which he doth imitate but how many thousands are there that runne into all excess of wickedness and never heard of Adam much less could not propound his sin for a patern to follow So that even in the Pelagian sense to be sinners by Imitation cannot be properly used in this Controversie Thirdly If the Apostle understood sin only by Imitation or occasion not Propagation then as Austin of old well urged it might be more properly fastned upon the Devil as the Original for it was not by Adam but the Devil that sin came into the world in this sense and so death by sinne Hence the Devil is said to be a man-slayer from the beginning Joh. 8. 44. or a murderer and that both of souls and bodies In somuch that the Devil was the occasion of all the wickedness and death the consequent thereof And hence our Saviour speaking of wicked men Joh 8. saith They are of their Father the Devil and what they see him do that they do So that the Devil is made to be the original of sinne by imitation to wicked men and not Adam Fourthly Adams sinne must be made ours by natural Propagation not Imitation Because death is made the necessary consequent of it all that 〈◊〉 have sinned Adam 's sinne But now death is propagated naturally Hence Infant die which yet according to the best Divines have not actual sinne why 〈◊〉 it that they die yea they are not only subject to death but to exquisite torments and pains yea Infants have been grievously possessed with the Devils and tormented by them Now this could not be if they were not guilty of sia If therefore death be by natural Propagation then sinne the cause of it must also be in that manner Fifthly This comparison made between the first Adam communicating sin and the second communicating Righteousness doth fully evince this For we are made righteous by Christ not only as if he were a patern and example of Righteousness unto us but by
mind and spirit therefore the Spirit lusteth against it That it is a punishment is manifest by the event for upon Adam's disobedience he lost Gods Image and so hath blindness in mind perversness in his will and a disorder over the whole man in which dreadfull and horrible estate we all succeed him and this the Text in hand speaketh to That it is the cause of sinne is manifest Gen. 6. 5. for from that corrupt heart of man it is That the imaginations of a mans heart are only evil and that continually This is a furnace red hot which alwayes sends forth those sparks Thus you see that original sinne is all these three a sin a punishment and a cause of sin 3. It is very clear and plain by Scripture that God doth punish one sinne by another So that when a man hath committed one sinne he is justly given up by God to commit more Amongst the many instances that may be given I shall pitch on two only 2 Thess 2. 10 11. where you have a sinne mentioned that God will punish viz. They received not the truth of God in love A sinne that is very ordinary But then observe how dreadfully God punisheth this God shall send them strong delusions that they should believe a lie This is their punishment a spiritual punishment more than any corporal one and that this is a sinne as well as a punishment is plain Because to believe a lie is a sinne to take falshood for truth the delusions of the Devil for the voice of Gods Spirit This is a sinne and a very hainous one The other instance is Rom. 1. 21. where you have the Heathens sinnes mentioned Because that when they knew God they glorified him not c. There you have their punishment to be given up to uncleanness to all vile lusts and sins against nature None can deny but these were sinnes and that they were a punishment for corrupting their natural light implanted in them is plain for the Apostle vers 24 26 28. saith For this cause or therefore God gave them up to these lusts and vers 27. the expression is observable That they received in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet Hearken to this with both ears and tremble all you who live under Gospel light if natural light corrupted bring such heavy soul-judgments no wonder if supernatural And therefore if you see men notwithstanding all the preaching of Gods word yet given up to be beastly sots or obstinate malicious men in their wickedness Wonder not at it for they receive in themselves a just recompence for the abusing of that light God hath vouchsafed to them Many other instances there are wherein it is plain That God makes one sinne a punishment of another Yea it 's said That every sinne since the first is both a sinne and a punishment Therefore the want of Gods Imagine us as soon as we are born with a proneness to all evil may be the punishment of Adam's actual disobedience and yet a sinne in us 4. As for the distinction assigned between sinne and punishment the one voluntary and an action the other involuntary and a passion Though there be learned men both Papists and Protestants viz. Vasquez and Twisse who disprove this by instances yet if it be granted it will not hinder or enervate our Position That original inherent sinne is both a sinne and a punishment also For when the learned say That sinne may be a punishment of a sinne they do not mean sin quâ sinne peccatum quâ peccatum for that is wholly of man but peccatum quâ poena as a judgment it is of God To understand this therefore take notice That in sinne there is the Obliquity and the Action to which this Obliquity is annexed Now sinne in the Obliquity of it so it is not a punishment but in the action or materiale of it to which it doth adhere As for instance Those vile and unclean lusts the Heathens were given up unto were a punishment of their rebellion unto the light Now as they were sinnes in their formality so they were onely permissivè and ordinativè of God but take the Actions substracted to that Obliquity which was in them so they were efficienter of God and he gave them up to their lusts 2. When God doth punish one sinne with another the meaning is not as if he did infuse this wickedness but only he denieth that mollifying and softning grace which if a man had he would resist the temptations of sinne as in this particular of original sinne You must not conceive of God in the Creation of the soul as if a man were pouring poison in a vessel so he did put sinne into our natures but he denieth to give and continue that Righteousness Adam had and then our souls do necessarily receive the clean contrary darkness for light Atheism for faith disorder for order Even as if God should withdraw the Sunne at noon-day continue the light thereof no longer to us it would upon that subduction be immediately dark there needed no other cause to introduce it Thus it is here upon Adam's fall God denying to continue his Image and original righteousness in us original sinne without any other positive cause cometh in the stead thereof and therefore we are not as Austin of old well observed to seek after the causa efficiens but deficiens peccati sin hath no efficient but deficient cause Therefore thirdly In this original sinne we may consider that which is peccatum and so it 's evil and that which is poena and so it 's good For as you look-on it being the deprivation of that rectitude which ought to be in a man so it is a sinne but as you consider it to be the denying of that holiness on Gods part which once we had so it 's poena or rather punitio The denying of this Image o◠God at first was punitio but this loss continued is poena so that the want and loss of that righteousness which once we enjoyed if considered on Gods part who continueth his denial of it is a just punishment and a good thing ordained by God but if you consider it as inherent in man who hath deserved this at Gods hand so it 's an evil and properly a sin in him 4. The same thing may be a sinne and a punishment also in divers respects As it may be a sinne in respect of a sinner but a punishment in respect of others Thus Absolom's sinne was a sinne in respect of himself but a punishment in respect of David So Parents sinnes may be sinnes in respect of themselves but punishments in respect of their children and we are especially to take heed of such sinnes as are not our sinnes onely but others punishments such are passions and unmortified anger this is a sinne to thee and a punishment to others 5. Every sinne is a punishment in this respect That it brings anxiety terror and fear
declared the loathsom and abominable objects we are to God as soon as ever we have a being We are unclean that is filthy loathsom abominable such as the pure eyes of God cannot behold with the least approbation Hence Job 15. 16. man is called abominable and filthy so that no Toad or noisom creature can be more irksom and loathsom to our eyes than we are to God while abiding in this natural pollution God indeed when he made man at first saw that all was exceeding good If Adam had continued in his integrity then there had the clean been brought out of the clean then man would have been glorious and comely thirsting after and drinking down righteousness like water then the imaginations of the throughts of his heart would have been holy and good and that continually but now we are become sinfull and thus polluted of our own making It is from us that of once clean we are made unclean For although none but God can make the unclean clean yet Adam by the liberty and mutability of his will did quickly make the clean unclean Oh then how deeply should this thought pierce us that we came into the world abominable and loathsom in Gods eyes The object of his wrath and displeasure finding nothing of that holy Image in us which was at first put into us Oh consider how great and glorious and powerfull that God is to whom thou art thus loathsom If all men and Angels should abhorre thee it is nothing to this that God abominates thee Secondly This also implieth That we should be loathsom and abominable in our own eyes that when we are grown up and shall be truly informed upon what terms we come into the world we should be as so many spiritual monsters in our own eyes Job you see here though so godly a man and who had such a glorious character given him by God himself yet because of this doth loath himself The ulcers and sores upon his body for which he sate abhorring of himself upon the dung-hill seem not more to affect him then this spiritual vileness and loathsomness that is upon him It 's observed That though Herod and others have kept a festival Commemoration of their birth-day yet we never read that ever any godly man did so though Calvin saith it 's mos vetustus and so not vituperabilis because of the good use may be made of it in the Scripture Indeed the day of their death hath been celebrated and called their birth-day because then and never till then did they begin indeed to live And if Solomon meerly because of the miseries and vexations that do accompany this humane life Eccles 4. 2. praised the dead above the living and he that never had been that was not born better than both How much rather will this bold true if we consider how man is born in a sinfull estate and cannot but sinne all the day long Certainly we may say it had been farre better thou hadst never been born if not new born if not delivered from this native filthiness as if thou must have a being better have been any bruitish creature than a man better be a Toad a Tyger a Serpent than a man if not washed by the bloud of Christ from this uncleanness For although we have cause to bless God that he made us men rather than bruit beasts in respect of natural considerations yet in a theological sense because they are not subject to hell and damnation as man is therefore their estate is not so miserable For In the third place In that men is born unclean thereby is proclaimed That he cometh into the world upon farre more dangerous and wretched terms than other creatures do The bruit creatures they are not unclean God doth not loath and abhorre their young ones They are not by nature the objects of his wrath neither are they exposed to eternal torments but thus is the sinfull off-spring of all mankind Thou canst not see a worm crawling on the ground thou canst not hear a snake hissing in the hedge but thou mayest think these are not as bad as I am these have no sinne in their natures God is not angry with these as he is with mankind For though History report of a devout man who seeing a Toad fell a weeping because of the goodness of God who had made him a man and not that Toad yet upon the consideration of original sinne he might as deeply have mourned because he was worse than that Toad Thou canst not see the fatted beasts driven to the slaughter but thou mayest say They are happier than I am for they are killed and there is an end of them but I am a miserable and wretched man born in sinne and if not cleansed from it must necessarily perish to all eternity Luther while in the deeps troubles and sorrows of heart because of his sinne had this passage Oh quoties optavi me uunquam fuisse hominem He went from place to place his heart aking and throbbing crying out Oh that I had never been a man So that by sinne a man is not onely made like the beast that perisheth but worse for the beast perisheth totally but so shall not he Fourthly In our natural uncleanness is declared our manifest similitude and agreement with the Devils themselves that we and they are now under the same consideration for man is naturally unclean and the Devils have this appropriated attribute all along the New Testament for the most part that they are the unclean spirits The Devil is an unclean spirit and man is unclean in body and spirit Hence because of this natural pollution we are all by nature the seed of the Serpent The Devils is said to rule in us and we are therefore under his Kingdom for being not born in a state of grace but of sinne we are therefore under his dominion and upon this supposition even in Austin's time there were exorcisms used at the Baptism of Infants which was not a Scripture institution no more than giving honey and milk to the baptized child which was very ancient and yet now laid aside even by the Roman Church it self that amongst other Rites in Baptism they had this of exorcismes and insufflation by which they signified not that the child was possessed bodily with the Devil but that it was under the power of him This Austin instanceth in to Julian the Pelagian where he tels him Ipse à toto orbe exufflandus esset si huic exufflationi qua princeps mundi ejicitur for as contradicere voluist is I mention not this to allow or commend that Ceremony for it was an absurd one though brought into the Church â—etimes for it had been happy if the Church alwayes had contented her self with the pure plain and sole institutions of Christ but to inform you what even the ancient Church thought about Infants new born that they were wholly under the power of the Devils Yea the Heathens had
that which yet is of Gods appointment and if true would necessarily condemn marriage as unlawfull So that as he observeth The words do properly relate to the child afterwards in the womb when formed and nourished there A second Objection is That what David saith here is hyperbolical Thus the Socinians David doth not mean as if he were born in sinne but doth hyperbolically aggravate his wickedness in that from his youth up he did quickly fall into sinne and they compare two places amongst others Psal 58. 3. Isa 48. 8. where wicked men are said to be transgressors from the womb But first Seeing David intends to abhorre himself before God there is no sense to go from the plain words otherwise we might turn all the Scripture into tropes and figures and so make no certainty at all And as for those two places they confirm this Text for how come men to be transgressors from the womb to act wickedness so early to sinne as soon as ever they are able to act any thing Doth not all this demonstrate they were born in sinne Besides those places are not parallel for they speak of the facts of men after they come out of the womb and in such particulars an Hyperbole may sometimes be admitted but this relateth to David while in the womb and not to his own action but that wherein he was passive Lastly Another Socinian saith It is to be understood of actual sinnes and not original because it is in the Plural number whereas original sinne is but one The Answer is That indeed the Septuagint and so the Vulgar Latine they render it in the Plural number in iniquities c. And thereupon it 's disputed by the Schoolmen Whether original sinne be one or more sinnes Some though but few say it 's more Others but one and excuse their vulgar Translation by saying that it may be called sinnes in the Plural number because it is the root of many or because it being a body of sinne hath as it were many parts and members Arminius likewise among other exceptions brought this against their publick Catechism because it said Innata peccata in the Plural number as if original sinne were many sinnes But all this Discourse is needless for in the Hebrew it is in the Singular number and so our Translators render it and that David cannot mean actual sinnes is plain because he was born in this iniquity he speaketh of The Text then thus vindicated first from the note of Attention Behold Observe That the true Doctrine about original sinne is not only to be believed but we are diligently to meditate and consider about it Behold saith David I was shapen in iniquity c. Great will be the spiritual advantage that a man may reap hereby but because I have mentioned many already I shall now name but two or three not spoken before SECT III. More Advantages accruing from the Belief and Meditation of this Truth FIrst The man who deeply considers this he will dwell at home much he will much commune with his own heart his work will be to rectifie his inwards much to attend more to his heart-work Alas how many do you see spend all their time in disputes about Religion in quarrellings and strises about this opinion and that opinion whereas if he were deeply sensible of that wound upon him by original sinne and how his whole soul is out of order he would presently give over that way he would say I have greater work in hand I have more necessary business to do If a mans house were on fire he would give over any disputes he had with his neighbour and go presently to quench that Thus the Pilot when the ship is leaking he would not attend to needless cavils and in the mean time endanger his Ship when thy vitals yea thy very heart is diseased thou standest disputing about the cure of thy fingers end Oh how much better were it to be searching into your hearts diving into the bottom thereof then to spend thy time in useless disputes Again If we did meditate on this more We should not be so forward to judge and censure others to be alwayes medling and talking of other mens infirmities for we should find our selves had enough at home Yea further When men accuse in and falsly slander us charging this sinne and that upon us Now though we may bless God and appeal to him because of our innocency yet we must withall confess that if men knew all that stirreth in our hearts as God doth they would abhor us Even Socrates though an Heathen when he was told how men reviled him What would they say saith he if they knew all by me Certainly there is no godly man but loatheth himself more in Gods eyes because of this depth of pollution within him then all the world can despise him he is not more abominable in their eyes than he is in his own Lastly Hereby a godly man is provoked to walk with more fear and trembling because David had this birth-sinne therefore was he so quickly tempted to those foul sins Oh if God should not keep down and by his Spirit mortifie this body of sin it would quickly break out even into a very hell Thou carriest therefore fit fewel for any sinne Oh take heed how thou comest near the fire of any temptation SECT IV. That we are sadly to bewail and be humbled for this Original Sinne all our dayes VVE have considered the Introductory Note of Attention and now proceed to the Matter it self which is acknowledged and bewailed and that is not actual sinne but the sinne he was born in even before ever his understanding and will could put forth any actions David you heard doth not here hyperbolize he speaks it not only humiliter but veraciter he doth in his own experience find that there is such a bitter root within him such a corrupted nature that if left to it self would immediately flame out into most accursed and abominable transgressions and therefore David knowing that the strength of all his actual sins was in this original he composeth himself in a serious and affectionate manner to acknowledge that That we are not only to believe there is such a thing as original sinne in us but we are sadly to bewail it and to be humbled for it all our dayes This is not a truth in Divinity that is to be in a speculative and barren manner disputed about but we are to descend into our own hearts to discern the wofull and bitter effects of it upon our own souls It is not enough for you to be of this saith That there is original sinne that it is the sinne of the whole world and of all mankind but you are to take notice of and to be affected with that particular and proper original sinne which difsuseth it self over thy whole man Original sinne is not one sinne as there is one Sunne and all partake of the light
in some persons hath a notable expression Psal 5. 9. Their inward part is very wickednesse or wickednesses as in the Hebrew Their inward part is nothing but wickednesse Now although therefore habitual sinnes may truly be called sinnes dwelling in us yet the Apostle doth not speak here of such habitual sinnes for he speaks all along of one sinne as the mother as the fountain and root of all And besides Paul speaking in the person of a regenerate man could not complain of the acquired habits of sinne within him for in Regeneration there is an expulsion of all habitual sinne and in this sense Those that are born of God are said not to sinne viz. habitually and customarily as wicked men do although some actual sins and those of a very hainous nature may consist with the work of grace yet habites of sinne and habits of grace can no more consist together than light and darkness It is evident then that the Apostle not meaning habitual sinne must understand original in the immediate actings and workings of it for this will alwayes be a troublesome and molesting inmate This is not conquered but with the last enemy death it self SECT III. Why Original Corruption is called The Inherent or In-dwelling Sinne. THis premised Let us consider why original corruption is called the Inherent and In-dwelling Sinne and that even in a godly man And first The Apostle cals it the sinne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Because of the propriety and proper right it hath to us As a man is said to dwell in his house because he hath a right to it and it is his own This original sinne is in every man as in its proper place as the stone doth rest in its center and will not move further So that as hell is said to be the proper place of Judas He went saith the Text to his own place Thus is the heart and soul of a man the proper and fit subject for all the natural impiety that cleaveth to us and therefore though the Devil be also said To rule in the hearts of wicked men he dwels also in them as well as sinne for which he is compared to an armed man keeping the house yet this is more extrinsecal and from without The Devil could not find a room ready swept and garnished for him but because of this native pollution Hence the Apostle doth not in this Chapter complain of the Devil but sin dwelling in him He doth not say I would do good but the Devil hinders me though that be sometimes true but sin dwelling in him Secondly This expression of sinne dwelling in a man denoteth The quiet and peaceable possession it hath in man by nature it dwels there as in its own house nothing to disturb or molest it Hence it is That all things are so quiet in a natural man there is nothing troubles him he is not disquieted in his conscience he feeleth no such burden or weight within him as Paul here complaineth of so that you would think many civil and natural men in a more holy condition than Paul They will thank God They have a good heart and all is quiet within them but this is not because original sinne doth not dwell and live and work in them but because they are sensless and stupid sinne is in its proper place and so there is no trouble and restlesness in their conscience Therefore it s thy want of experimental discoveries that makes thee question original sinne otherwise thy own heart would be in stead of all books to thee in this particular Indeed in godly men though sinne dwelleth in them yet it hath not peaceable possession it is as a tyrant in them Therefore the regenerate part maketh many oppositions and great resistances There is praying watching and fasting against it They are as sollicitous to have it quite expelled as some were to have Christ cast out the Devils from their possessed friends otherwise in the natural man original sin prevaileth all over and there is no noise no opposition yea great delight and content there is in subjection thereunto so that they resist Grace and the Spirit of God by the Word which would subdue sinne in them So that there is a great difference between the Inâ—dwelling of original sinne in a natural man and a regenerate In the former it dwelleth indeed but as the Jebusites in Canaan upon hard terms as the Gibeonites were in subjection to the Israelites It is true Arminius In Cap. 7. ad Rom. pag. 696. from this expression of sinne dwelling in Paul doth think a firm argument may be drawn to prove that he discourseth of an unregenerate person Because saith he the word to dwell doth in its proper signification and in the use of the Scripture signifie a full and powerfull dominion and therefore rejecteth that distinction of Peccatum dominans or regnans which is said to be in wicked men and inhabitans which is in the godly he would have it called inexistens not inhabitans But we have shewed That sinne is said to dwell in a man not because of its dominion in a godly man but because of its fixed inseparability and from this word a servant who hath no rule in an house is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. Pet. 2. 18. Thirdly The word doth denote permanency and a fixed abode in us it is not for a night or year but our whole life dwelling in us So that sinne is not in a mans heart as a pilgrim as a stranger that is presently to remove but it hath taken up a fixed abode in us here it dwels and here it will dwell you see our holy Apostle sadly complaining of this inseparability of it from him as long as he lâ—veth Actual sinnes they are committed and so passe away yea when pardoned it is as if they had never been but original sinne is like Samson's hair though cut it will grow again and be as strong as ever till it be plucked up by the roots Fourthly In this expression is denoted the latency also and security of it it dwels in us and it 's called The Law in our members The chief actings and stirrings of it are in the inward man Therefore it is that the natural man the Pharisaical and hypocritical man know nothing of it Paul while a Pharisee and so zealous against grosse sinne abounding in external obedience yet knew not lust to be a sinne neither was he so sensible of such a load and burden within him Vse 1. Of Instruction not to think imputed original sinne or Adam's actual transgression made ours to be all the original sin we have No you may see there is an in-dwelling sinne an inherent corruption from whence floweth all that actual filth which is in our lives And why is it that we hear no more groaning and labouring under it Is it not because the spiritual life of grace is not within them Oh why are all things so still and peaceable within thee
Is it not because sin doth all in thee and flesh will not fight against flesh Vse 2. Why is it that even the most holy are to walk humbly to go out of themselves to lay fast hold on Christ and his righteousness is it not because they have such a treacherous enemy within that hindereth them in every holy duty Why also is there such a necessity of watching praying of holy fear and trembling Is not all this because of that secret deceitfull adversary within our own brests CHAP. IV. Of the Epithete Evil is present with us given to Original Sinne. SECT I. ROM 7. 21. I finde then a Law that when I would doe good Evil is present with me I Shall not for the present say any more in the general the may relate to the Explication of this Chapter especially of that conflict and combate mentioned therein as also in whose person he describeth it for all will be fully considered when we come to speak of the fruit and immediate effects of original sinne To come therefore immediately to the Text You may easily perceive that it is part of that paroxysme and spiritual agony Paul is in between the principles of good and evil working in him therefore he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I find that is by experience As for Grotius who makes this no more than the combat of conscience with corruption which may be in natural men alledging places out of the Poets and Epictetus where some have said in the like manner they knew it was evil they did and they do not allow it but yet their frail flesh compelleth them to do it so that they do not what they would and what they would not that they do As also bringing in a Pagan out of Lactantius saying That he sinneth Non quia velo sed quia cogor the flesh being so strong in him These are but low and philosophical notions arguing the ignorance of the work of Gods Spirit in a man and the repugnancy thereunto by the unregenerate part But of this more in its time It is enough for the present to take notice that Paul saith of himself That he findeth this in him In the next place There is the object matter of this experimental discovery which in the Greek is something intricate and hath so tormented Interpreters that there are eight Expositions given to make the grammatical connexion Yea Erasmus is so bold that unless we receive the supply of that Ellipsis or defect he thinketh in Paul's speech which he giveth that we must confess Paulum balbituri but as Beza well saith Erasmus doth ineptire in saying so our Translators render it smooth enough I find a Law and then followeth the specifical description of it for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is taken many times 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is this That when I would do any good I cannot do it so fully so perfectly so freely because evil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is present with me it 's adjacent and pressing upon me it doth not signifie a meer presence of sense but the activity and vigorous motions of it Beza thinketh it an allusion to that which was spoken to Cain Gen. 4. 7. Sinne lieth at the door it is at hand upon all occasions in the punishment thereof to lay hold on a sinner howsoever if the simple word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth not signifie a bare simple nearness but that which is a burdensom destructive approximation as when it 's said Matth. 3. 10. The ax is laid to the root of the tree 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Original and so also some expound that 1 Tim. 1. 9. The Law is not made for the righteous 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a burden imposed upon him by constraint for he hath a voluntary principle within If I say the simple word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be used so then much more the compound 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are called ' Diabolicae praepositiones because they do so intend the signification Paul then finds sinne alwayes at hand when his heart is ready to do any good to pull him back to press him down and so he is like the bird tied in a string which assaying to flie up to heaven immediately is plucked back again Now this sinne thus present is not actual habitual or an accustomed sinne Though Gratius relateth it to the custom of sinne even as he doth Lib. 2. de Jure belli cap. 12. 26. expound that of the Apostle By nature the children of wrath making nature to be custom saying The Apostle doth not so much speak of his own person as of the Romans amongst whom he then lived For Regeneration delivers from the custom of sinne but it is that original sinne that corrupt nature which doth alwayes cleave to us as the shadow doth the body or rather as the Ivy the Tree secretly consuming it From whence observe That original sinne is the adjacent sinne or the sinne that is alwayes troublesomly present with as So that whereas we may go from one company to another from one place to another yet we can never go from this original sinne but we carry it about with us at all times in all places in all duties and that even the most holy do whereby it is that they are kept so low and humble in themselves Why is it that when we are regenerated we should not be like Saints in Heaven without any spot or blemish Why should we not delight in God and heavenly things more than in earthly Why should there he the least difficulty and unwillingness in us to any thing that is good Is not all this because this sinne is thus readily present with us it lieth not at the door but in the very heart of us all But let us explain What is comprehended in this Epithete given original sinne That it is present with us SECT II. What is implied in that Epithete FIrst It implieth That this sinne putteth it self forth first in the soul The motions and thoughts of sinne arise first in us before grace can prevent them The Schoolmen speak of the motus primò primi the very immediate and first stirrings of the Soul before the will gives any consent or the mind hath any deliberation and these are sinnes because contrary to the Image of God But whence come they Even from this womb of original corruption So that it is like a furnace alwayes sending forth sparks The Scripture expresseth it notably Gen. 6. 5. where every imagination of the thought of the heart is said to be only evil and that continually Valentia Analysis Dis de peccato originali and other Papists complain That we aggravate originall sinne too much we speak too tragically about it and indeed the Subject is very distastfull to every man how unwilling is he to bear that he is all over thus sinfull This is to make them like Devils and
abandoned John 15. when separated from Christ we cannot do any thing and therefore are said to be not asleep but even dead in sinne so that no Infant new born is more unable to help it self than we are to promote the good of our own souls This therefore must be laid as a foundation without this our humiliation doth not goe deep enough We are to lie bemoaning our selves as that poor Cripple which had no power to put himself into the water And indeed till we be sensible of this impotency we cannot expect that Christ will help us When that Cripple said He had no man than our Saviour relieved him Oh then bewail the strait and misery thou art in If it were a temporal calamity thou wert in and such as neither thou thy self or any man in the world could help thee How greatly would it afflict thee But now though neither men or Angels can deliver thee out of this spiritual evil yet thou doest not lay it to heart Secondly As it densteth that our power to good is lost by this original sinne So also our will and desire For why should it be said to beset us so easily But because we have neither power or will against it so that till the principle of Regeneration be infused into us sinne hath defiled our will as well as our power as we cannot so neither we will not gain say the lusts thereof We must not then conceive of man as indeed miserably polluted and such as cannot help himself but is very willing and heartily desireth to be freed from this bondage but his will is as grosly polluted as any thing He willeth not the things of God he loveth not yea he hateth every thing that is spiritual and holy Insomuch that we may truly say That the actual wickednesse in mens lives doth not onely arise from weaknesse and impotency to what is holy but from an unwillingnesse and an aversnesse to it Though they be allured with the glorious promises of Gods favour and eternal glory Though the terrors of God and the everlasting flames of hell be set before them yet they will not Though their consciences be convicted though the word of God be plain against their lusts so that they cannot tell what to say yet they will not So that herein lieth the sad and dreadfull efficacy of original sinne that it hath corrupted the will all over so that whereas we will the lusts of the flesh the pleasures of sinne the comforts of the world we have no will to what is good If then the will which is the appetitus universalis and like the primum mobile that doth carry all the inferiour orbs with it be thus infected with sinne no wonder if we be easily beset by it This is to bribe the Commander in Chief that ruleth all and so it is no wonder if all be at last betrayed into the hands of sinne and Satan Thirdly When original sinne is said thus to beset us and compasse us about hereby is denoted What an impediment and hinderance it is to us in our way to Heaven that were it not for this clog upon us we should with all chearfulness and alacrity runne the way of Gods Commandments It is this that makes the Chariot-wheels of the soul move so slowly It is this that stops us in the way that makes us draw back SECT III. How many wayes Original Sinne is a Burden and an Hinderance unto us NOw because this property is chiefly aimed at by the Apostle in this expression viz. that it is a burden an hinderance a stop to us while we are in our race Let us consider How many wayes original sinne is a burden and hinderance so that if this were removed there would be no complaints of the difficulty that we find to what is good yea the more perfect and spiritual any duty is the more pleasing and acceptable it would be to an heart eased of this burden And First Original sinne is a burden incurvando By bowing down and pressing to the soul to these creatures here below So that now by nature the creature with the comforts thereof is the center of a mans heart is the ultimate object his soul is placed upon God indeed made man after his own image and then his heart his affections they did all ascend upwards to God then he could not satiate or fully delight himself in any thing but God but through this original sinne a man is habitually averse to God and converted to the creatures So that God is not in all his thoughts yea Ephes 2. 2. they are said to be without God in the world Even as the body of a man when deprived of its sense falleth prostrate presently upon the ground so when that original righteousness was removed which was the soul of the soul presently we fall downwards to the creatures knowing no better good nor desiring any better comforts but what are in them No marvel then if this make the godly go stooping and bowing down because it depresseth and leaneth to the creature leaving God That as you see the body is a burden to the soul especially if diseased which made Plato say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very grave and sepulchre of the soul Thus original sin is a spiritual burden to it that there cannot be those ascensions and elevations of the mind to God as ought to be Secondly It 's an impediment in our race Obnitendo by a plain opposing and contrary thwarting of any good that the Spirit of God either externally offers or internally operates Thus this native sinne doth with all violence oppose and thwart whatsoever is spiritual Therefore you see the Apostle expressing this resistance by military words that it doth warre against him and sometimes lead him into captivity Thus even a Paul is like a poor captive or prisoner carried up and down whether he would not Now this obnitency and reluctancy of original sinne is seen two wayes against what is good 1. There is a good published and tendered by the preaching of the Gospel God doth by that proffer unto us everlasting and eternal life but this original sinne stirreth up a man to reject it and to refuse it it 's no sutable or acceptable offer to our natures no more than pearls or sweet flowers are to the beastly Swine Indeed when a people have lived long under the preaching of the Gospel yet do reject it and oppose it loving darkness rather than light these have a double blindness and hardness upon them The natural one by original sinne and the habitual contracted one which they are justly delivered up into by God for the contempt of the light they do enjoy but I speak here only of the natural blindness and natural hardness upon our hearts So that upon the very first offers and tenders of grace the first Sermon that ever we hear the first time that the Gospel doth sound in our ears we
Our Saviour speaks to this twice as it 's mentioned by the Evangelist Matthew Chap. 5. 30 18. 3. It is better saith he to go halt and blind into life than with two hands and eyes to be cast into everlasting fire Think then whether will be more burdensom to leave the pleasures of sinne here or hereafter to be tormented to all eternity Thirdly Original sinne may be called a Body To shew the reality of it that it is not a meer fancy or humane figment as some call it or a non ens as the late Writer D. J. T. Answ to a letter We know the Scripture and so our use of speech opposeth a body to a shadow The Legal Rites are called a shadow and Christ the body Thus original sinne it is not the shadow or the notion of a sinne it liveth and moveth as well as actual it provoketh God it curseth and damneth as well as actual sins So that we are not to flight it or to be fearless of it but rather to tremble under it as the fountain of all our evil and calamity The word Body is sometimes taken for that which is substantial and real in which sense some have excused Tertullian and others that attributed a body to God and Angels as if they intended nothing but a real substance as the aâ—iome of the Stoicks was Omne quod est est corpus Hence they made Virtues and the Arts Bodies But whatsoever their intentions might be the expression is dangerous for God is a Spirit but there is no danger to call original sinne a Body thereby to express the full and real nature of it and thus farre Illyricus his intention was good though his opinion was absurd to amplifie those terms the Scripture giveth to original sinne in opposition to Popery wherein they speak so coldly and formally of it only that he should therefore make it to be more than an accident even the substance of a man in a theological consideration hence he did overthrow all Philosophy and Divinity So that properly the Lutheran Poet cannot be excused when he saith Ipse Deo eoram sine Christo culpa scelumque Ipse ego peccatum sum proprieque vocer In a figurative expression it may pass but he intended Flaccianism hence Contzen speaks of Illyricus by scorn Cujus vel substantia est peccatum Yet thus much we must take notice of That the Scripture doth not in vain use such substantive names about our natural defilement for hereby it doth aggravate it and would have us also know the greatness and vileness of it For how few are there till sanctified and enlightned by the Spirit of God that do bewail this as an heavy burden They can complain of the pains the aches the troubles of their natural body but do not at all regard this body of sin whereas to a spiritual tender heart this body of sinne is farre more grievous than any bodily diseases or death it self yea death is therefore welcome to them because that alone will free from this body of sinne so that they shall never be molested with it more Fourthly Original sinne is called the Body of sinne Because it is a mass of sin a lump of all evil It is not one sinne but all sinne seminally And this seemeth to be the most formal and express reason why the Apostle giveth it this name calling it a Body and attributing members to it for as a body is not one member or one part but the whole compounded of all Thus is original sinne it is not the defilement or pollution in one part of the soul but it diffuseth it self through all It is a body of sinne and herein it doth exceed all actual transgressions and for this reason we ought the more to grieve and mourn under it The body is heavier than one part why are actual sins a load upon thee but this which is the cause of all and comprehends all thou art never affected with O pray more for the Spirit of conviction by the Word Look oftner into the pure glass of the Law Compare thy universal deformity with that exact purity It is for want of this the pharisaical and the natural man is so self-confident trusteth so much in his own heart doth so easily perswade himself of Gods love whereas if we come to a Christian like Paul complaining of this Law of sinne within him finding it captivating and haling of him whither he would not then we have much a do to comfort such an one all our work is to make him have any hope in Christ he thinketh none are so bad as he that the very devils have not worse in them than he feeleth in himself and all this is because original sinne is such a loathsom dunghill in his brest that as those who have putrified arms or other parts of their body they cannot endure themselves they would flie from themselves Thus it is with them because of this original pollution Fifthly Original sinne may be called a Body Because it inclineth onely to carnal earthly and bodily things not at all savouring the things of God and his Spirit Hence it is called so often the flesh because it only carrieth a man to fleshly things being contrary to God and full of enmity to his will as Rom. 8. And doth not experience confirm this Take any man till renewed by grace and all the bent and impulse of his soul are to such things alone that are earthy and sensual Jam. 3. 17. The Apostle James doth there excellently describe the nature of all natural wisdom It is earthy sensual and devilish Every one by nature is both beastly and devillish This body of sinne presseth him down to the earth and hell Insomuch that you may as soon see a worm flying in the air like a bird as a man abiding in this natural pollution having his conversation in heaven So that being made thus bodily and carnal all the spiritual things of God are both above our apprehension and contrary to our affections Now this very particular if there were no more is as deep as the Sea and containeth unspeakable matter of humiliation viz. That by this natural pollution we are destitute of Gods Spirit Spiritual things are no more apprehended by us than melody by the deaf ear Do ye not see wise men learned men yea great Scholars when you come to discourse with them about spiritual things they are very fools and are as blind as moles that live wholly in the earth But of this more in the effects of original sin Lastly In the Scripture Body is used sometimes for the strength and power of a thing And thus original sinne is the body as that which giveth life and motion to all actual sins Let the Use be greatly to humble thee under this notion Gods word gives original sinne This sinfull body It troubleth thee thou hast a mortal body a corruptible body but above all this body of sinne should be a burden to
sting into all Lastly This loss is incurable as to any humane or angelicall power The image of God is so lost as that by our own power we are never able to recover it again Insomuch that when God doth repair it in us it 's a new Creation and a spiritual Resurrection we could not further it in the least degree Let the Use then be deeply to humble us to break our hearts far this and yet still to break them more and more When Tamar was defloured she went with ashes upon her head weeping and saying I whither shall I go Oh do thou much rather mourn and sigh and pray We oh wretched we Whither shall we go What shall we do Call to the Angels they cannot help you Cry to the mountains they cannot hide you from Gods wrath Shall Saul seek for his lost Asses the woman for her lost Groat Micha for his lost gods and wilt nor thou bitterly lament the loss of the true God and his Image in thee CHAP. XV. Of the Positive Part of Original Corruption SECT I. JOH 3. 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh THe Privative Part of original corruption being largely discovered we come now to the Positive Part of it For although many of the Papists deny it laying the whole nature of it in a meer want of original righteousnes yet not only the Protestants generally but Aquinas and some who follow him do plead for this Positive Part in original corruption as well as the Privative and is therefore called Flesh as here in the Text and in other places lust Of which in its due time We are not then to conceive of this birth-sinne as a meer privation of the Image of God but as including also therewith a propensity and inclination to all evil To the discovery of this Truth we shall find this Text pitcht upon will be very subservient and herein we are to take notice That it is part of that famous Colloquy and Conference Christ had with Nicodemus a Master in Israel wherein several things in the general are briefly obserable As First The Mercy that is to the Church in having this Discourse upon Record For by Nicodemus his carnal cavillings we see the necessity of Regeneration our Saviour is the more powerfull in his asseverations Verily verily I say unto you c. that hereby every one may see that though he be great rich wise learned ingenious yet he must be born again Secondly We may take notice of our Saviours wisdom that pitcheth upon this Subject rather than another to treat upon for herein Nicodemus did grosly erre Nicodemus had learning enough knew the Law of God and the Scriptures but was wholly ignorant of Regeneration Thirdly We therefore see That the work of Regeneration is a mystery even to wise and learned men Twice or thrice saith that great Doctor How can this be What poor and childish Objections doth he make against it and all because this is a thing spiritually discerned Lastly The great cause why Nicodemus did not know what Regeneration was or see the necessary of it was Because of his blindnesse about original sinne Had he believed how carnal and sinfull every one was born he would presently have bewailed his condition and said O Lord it is true I am all over polluted I find nothing of thy Spirit in me I am all over flesh and do therefore need thy Spirit to regenerate and quicken me But this was the root of his destruction from hence did arise that gross miscarriage about a new-birth because was so sensless and unacquainted with the pollution he was born in So that the Text is an Argument to prove the Doctrine of Regeneration and the necessity of it which Nicodemus did so carnally cavil against For although our Saviour did so vehemently assert the truth of it in these expressions twice geminated Verily verily I say into thee c. Yet because Nicodemus still asketh How can this be therefore our Saviour discovereth to him the root and fundamental cause of the necessity of this birth and that not of Nicodemus only but of every man Therefore he speaks generally Vnlesse a man be borne again c. The fundamental cause therefore of the necessity of Regeneration is from that universal Proposition laid down in the Text That which is born of the flesh is flesh which is also illustrated by the contrary That which is born of the Spirit is spirit The strength of the Argument lieth in this Every thing resembleth that it is produced of from a Serpent there cometh a Serpent from a Toad a Toad so from a Dove a Dove a Sheep a Lamb There being therefore two contrary effective principles in us The flesh and the Spirit The flesh that produceth what is flesh the Spirit what is spirit In the first Proposition we have the emphatical expression of this defilement 1. In the Vniversality of the Subject of Predication That which is born of the flesh is flesh There 's none exempted great men noble men Even Kings and Emperors they are flesh of flesh 2. There is the Vniversality of the Subject of Inhesion All is flesh that comes of flesh so that not only the body but the soul also is flesh in this sense for by flesh here as in other places is meant The whole man consisting of soul and body as he is unclean and impure and this appeareth by the opposition which is the Spirit of God and the effects thereof Another emphatical expression is In using the abstract for the concrete is flesh that is fleshly is spirit that is spiritual We see then here a Proposition affirmed concerning all mankind born in a natural way which no humane Philosophy could ever inform us in yea to which it is wholly contrary viz. That we all by nature both in soul and body are nothing but flesh for flesh is here put for the vicious and sinfull quality that is in us and so the mind the intellictual and choisest parts of the soul are thus condemned as well as the more gross and sensitive as in time is to be shewed This is a clear Text to prove our universal contagion by sinne yet upon what weak and poor grounds would the Remonstrants oppose it They therefore by flesh understand Man simply as man flesh and blood begotten in a fleshly and bodily manner not as sinfull and corrupted as if our Saviours Argument had been as what is born of man is man so what is born of the Spirit is spiritual But this is very unsound For what Argument would this be to prove Regeneration Must a man be new born meerly because he is a man Certainly had Adam continued in the state of integrity there would have been procreation of children yet then there would not have been a necessity of Regeneration Our Saviour therefore is giving a reason why there must be a new birth and that is from the sinfull pollution every one is born in And
lower region of thy soul but thy will thy mind thy conscience these also are become flesh and are wholly corrupted so that in thee by nature there remaineth no good thing at all SECT III. How carnal the Soul is in its actings about Spiritual Objects 3. IN that it is called Flesh there is discovered that a man in all the workings of his soul in religious things is carnal and meerly carried out wholly by the principle and instigation of flesh within him the Image of God was so glorious and efficacious in Adam that all his bodily and natural actions were thereby made spiritual his flesh was spirit as I may so say the body and bodily affections did not move inordinately against Gods will but having a divine and holy stamp upon them they were thereby made divine and spiritual But since this original corruption the clean contrary is now to be seen in us for even the spiritual workings of the soul are thereby made carnal and fleshly Adam's body was made spiritual and now our souls are made carnal Oh the said debasing and vilifying of us that is by this means If an Angel should become a worm it is not so much dishonour as for righteous Adam to become an apostate sinner Let us take notice how our souls do put themselves forth about spiritual objects and you shall find they are wholly carnal and fleshly in such approaches insomuch that in their highest devotions and religious duties they are onely carnal and fleshly all the while As First In the mysteries of Religion which are revealed unto in by a supernatural light The mind of man because it cannot comprehend of them in a carnal or bodily manner much more if not by natural reason though that be corrupt is ready to despise and reject all What was the reason that Christ crucified is such a foolish Doctrine to be believed by the learned Grecian but because it was not agreeable to natural reason When Peter made that Confession concerning Christ That he was the Sonne of the living God Christ tels him Flesh and blood had not revealed that to him Mat. 16. 17. And doth not this fleshly mind still effectually move in Atheists and Heretiques Is not this the bane of Socinan persons that they will make reason a judge of divine Mysteries whereas that it sâ—lt is corrupt and is it self to be judged by the word of God So that the power of original sinne as it is flesh manifests it self about all the supernatual Doctrines and Truths revealed in the Gospel We that are Pigmies think to measure these Pyramides we think to receive the whole Ocean in our little shell Hence it is that Paul 2 Cor. 8. 5 6. will have all our imaginations every high thought brought into captivity Thus you see That whatsoever a man doth in reference to God he is wholly carnal and fleshly in it he is not carried out with a sutable principle of the Spirit to that which is spiritual and this may be discovered in many branches it is also very usefull and profitable for hereby they shall see that the onely things which they relie upon as religious worship of God and the evidences of their salvation are so farre from being a true stay to them that like thorns they will pierce their hands If a mans spirituals be carnals How great are his carnals If his Religion if his devotion if the matters of his God be thus altogether flashly What will his sins and corruptions appear to be We have already instanced in one particular viz. The Doctrine to be believed and declared how carnal a man is in that We proceed further to illustrate this necessary Truth and therefore Secondly Every natural man in his religious worship is wholly carnal as well as in his Doctrine to be believed For if we consult the Scripture and observe what was the cause of all that Idolatry and spiritual abomination for which God did so severely punish the children of Israel was it not from a carnal fleshly mind within Therefore you heard Gal. 5. Idolatry is made a work of the flesh when they changed the glory of God into the similitude of an Ox that eateth bay Was not this to please the eye And so their goodly Altars their goodly Images which the Prophet mentioneth Were not all these because of their sutableness to a carnal mind We need not instance in Pagans or Heathens who are wholly in darkness without any supernatural light But if we take notice of the Christian Church in all the successive Ages thereof How potent and predominant have carnal principles been in all their Devotions And is not Popery to this day a full demonstration of this Truth So that that notable expression of our Saviour Joh. 4. 23 24. God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth Yea that the Father seeketh such to worship him hath seldom had its due observation Whereas then Campian would prove All Monuments all Churches all Windows and Pictures therein to be a demonstration of their Religion This proveth indeed the superstition and carnality of it not the spirituality and truth of it and oh the dishonour done to God by this means This fleshly wisdom in Gods worship hath been one chief cause of most of the calamities which have fallen upon it Col. 2. 18. The Apostle attributeth the worshiping of Angels to a fleshly wisdom in men Thirdly A man is naturaly carnal in religious Ordinances Because he is apt to put trust in them to think he merits at Gods hands or maketh satisfaction for his â—ispasses This is not to be spiritual but carnal We have low carnal apprehensions of God when we think that by our righteousnesse though it were ten thousand times more perfect than it is that we are able to profit God therewith Thus those false Teachers with their followers they are said to make a fair shew in the flesh Gal 6. 12. and Phil. 3. 3. to have confidence in the flesh To worship God in the Spirit and to have no confidence in the flesh are two opposite things Now by flesh there is meant circumcision and all other Church-priviledges which Paul did eminently enjoy and while a Pharisee he wholly rested in them but when once the sonne of God was revealed to him then he renounced all confidence in these things judging himself to be only carnal in them But now little was Paul while a Pharisee and so exactly diligent in the discharge of them perswaded that all he did was rejected by God that he abhorred all that he was only carnal in those things It is therefore of great consquence to be spiritual in the particular for this is a secret sweet poison that is apt to undo us Therefore the Particular the formal the devout man who is ignorant of Regeneration while he abhorreth all bodily flesh-sinnes he may be highly guilty of soul flesh sinnes So that there is little cause for a
powers of the soul must necessarily move sinfully and inordinately The soul of a man is alwayes working one way or other if then it hath lost original righteousnesse it cannot but be hurried on to what is evil as if you take away the pillar on which a stone liethh presently that will fall to the ground If you spoil the strings of musical instruments immediately they make a jarre and ingratefull noise upon every moving of them The soul of a man is a subject immediately susceptible of righteousnesse or corruption and if it lose its righteousnesse then by natural necessity corruption cometh in the room of it and so when the understanding acts it acteth sinfully when the will moveth it moveth sinfully So that we may well say with Austin to the Pelagian demanding How this corruption could come into us for God was good and nature good Quid quaeris latentem rimum cum habes apertam jannam Not a cranny but a gate or door is open for this corruption to seize upon us SECT IV. Application BEfore we come to answer the Objections Let us affect our hearts with it and labour to be humbled under the consideration of this positivenesse and efficacy of it For first Hereby we see that if it be not restrained and stopped by God we know not where we should stay in any sinne What Cain's what Judas's would we not prove Who can say Hitherto I will goe in sinne and no further for there is a fountain within thee that would quickly overflow all This active root of bitternesse this four leaven within thee would quickly make thy life like Job's body full of ulcers and noisome sores If thou art not plunged in the same mire and filth as others are doe not say Thou hast lesse of this corruption than they Thou art borne more innocent than they onely God stops thee as he did Balaam from doing such wickednesse as thy heart is forward enough unto No Serpent is fuller of poyson no Toad of venome than thou art of sinne which thou wouldst be constantly committing were not some stop put in the way Secondly In that sinne is thus positive and inclining thee thou art the more to admire the grace of God if that work a contrary inclination and propensity in thee If thou art brought with Paul To delight in the Law of God in the inward man If thy heart pants after God as the Hart after the waters which once delighted in sinne which once longed after nothing but the satisfying of the flesh Oh admire this gracious miraculous work of God upon thy soul who hath made thee to differ thus from thy selfe The time was once when thou rejoycedst in those sinnes that are now matter of shame and trembling to thee The time was when thy heart was affected with no other good than that of the creature Thou didst know no other desire no other but that but now God hath made iron to swimme he hath made the Blackmoor white Oh blesse God for the least desires and affections which thou hast at any time for that which is good for this cometh not from thee it is put into thee by the grace of God Lastly Consider that this positivenesse of sinne in thee doth not onely manifest it self in an impetuous inclination to all evil but also a violent resistance of whatsoever is good The Apostle Rom. 8. calleth it Enmity against God and Rom. 7. he complaineth of it as warring and fighting against the Law of his minde And certainly this is a very great aggravation not onely to be without what is good but to be a desperate enemy and a violent opposer of it both in others as also to that which the Spirit of God by the Word would worke in our own hearts not onely without the remedy but full of enmity against it Doth not this make our condition unspeakably wretched Certainly this is the highest aggravation in original sinne that we are not onely unable to what is good but we are with anger and rage carried out against it as if good were the onely evil and sweetnesse the onely bitternesse CHAP. XVII Objections against the Positive Part of Original Sinne answered SECT I. Cautions Premised THere remain only some Objections against this Truth but before we answer them take notice First That although we say original sinne is more than a privation of that Righteousnesse which ought to be in man yet We do not make it to be like some infecting corporeal quality in the body that hereby should vitiate the soul and as it were poison that Lombard and some others especially Ariminensis Distinct 30. They seem to deliver their opinion so as rejecting Anselm's definition of original sinne making it to be want of that original righteousnesse which ought to be in us and do declare it to be a morbida qualitas some kinde of pestilential and infecting quality abiding in the body and thereby affecting the soul As when the body is in some phrenetical and mad distempers the soul is thereby disturbed in all its operations so that these make the want of original righteousness to be the effect of original sinne not the nature of it saying upon Adam's sinne Man becoming thus defiled God refused to continue this righteousness to him any longer But if these Schoolmen be further questioned How such a diseased pestilential quality should be in the body Some say it was from the forbidden fruit that that had such a noxious effect with it but that is rejected because that was made of God and all was exceeding good Arimineâ—sis therefore following as he thinketh Austin maketh this venemous quality in a mans body to have its original from the hissing and breath as it were of the Serpent he conceiveth that by their discourse with the Serpent there came from it such an infectious air as might contaminate the whole body and he saith Austin speaks of some who from the very hissing and air from Serpents have been poisoned But the Protestants they do not hold it any positive quality in this sense for this is to make the body the first and chiefest subject of original sinne and so to convey it to the soul whereas indeed the soul is primarily and principally the seat of original sinne We therefore reject this as coming too near Manicheism as if there were some evil and infectious qualities in the very nature and substance of a man Secondly It must be remembred what hath been said before That when we come to give a particular reason why the understanding or will are propense to any evil We can assign only a privative cause viz. Because it wants that rectitude which would regulate it as if a ship it's Anselm's comparison were without Pilot and Governour of tacklings let loose into the whole Ocean it would be violently hurried up and down till it be destroyed Thus man without this Image of God would be tossed up and down by every lust never resting till he had
thus it is no wonder if original sinne which doth so tenaciously and inwardly adhere to all natures be transmitted to every one born in a natural way The last Objection is That there is no necessity of supposing such an habitual vitiosity in a man It 's enough say they that a man be deprived of the Image of God and when that is lost of it 's own self man's nature is prone to evil It needs no habitual inclination to weigh him down as if a wild beast be tied in cords and chains lose him unty him and of himself he will runne into wild and untamed actions But to answer this First The Papists they cannot consequentially to their principles say thus For they hold That if this Image of God be removed he doth continue in his pure naturals there is no sinne inhering in him upon the meer losse of that For they confesse That although by acting from his pure naturals he could not deserve Heaven or love God as a supernatural end yet in an inferiour way as the ultimate natural end so he might love God and that above all other things But secondly That is granted This positive inclination to all evil followeth necessarily from the removal of this Image of God from us If the Sunne be removed then necessarily darknesse doth cover the face of the soul If the loco-motive faculty be interrupted then there is nothing but halting and lamenesse Disturb the harmony and good temperament of the humours and then immediately diseases and pains do surprize the whole man It cannot therefore be avoided that when this disorder is come upon the soul but that our lusts break out as at a flood-gate and we are in a spiritual deluge all over covered with the waters of sin but then here is a positive as well as a privative Besides It is not for us to be curious in giving a reason of such positive corruption in a man by nature it is enough that Gods word is so clear and full in the discovery of it that he must needs wilfully shut his eyes that will not be convinced by the light of Gods word herein And this may suffice to dispel that darknesse which some would have covered this Truth with and as for what knowledge about this positivenesse of original corruption is further necessary We shall then take notice of it when we speak of original sinne as it is called lust or concupiscence SECT III. LEt therefore the Use from the former Doctrine delivered be To affectus and wound us at the very heart that we are thus all over covered with sin that we have not an understanding but to sin a will but to sin an heart but to sin May not this be like a two edged sword within thee What will fire thee out of all thy self-confidence thy self-righteousnesse if this doe not What delight what comfort canst thou take by beholding thy self by looking on thy self thus corrupted and depraved And the rather let this consideration go to the very bottom of thy soul Because First Thy propensity and inclination is to that onely which God onely hateth which God onely loatheth and hath decreed to punish with his utmost wrath to all eternity Consider that sinne is the greatest evil All the temporal evils in the world are but the effect of it that is the cause Now can it ever humble thee enough to think that the whole bent and constant tendency of thy soul is unto that which is the most abominable in the eyes of God Thou canst not do that which is more destructive to thy own soul and more dishonouring unto God then by committing sinne and yet thou canst do nothing else thou delightest in nothing else Thy heart will not let thee do any thing else Look over thy whole life take notice how many years thou hast lived and yet if not regenerated and delivered in some measure from the power of original corruption thou hast done nothing but sinned Every thought hath been a sinne every motion a sinne within thee and yet sinne is the greatest evil and that alone which God hateth Secondly If yet thy heart be hard and nothing will enter take a second naile or wedge to drive into thee and that is being thus all over carried out to sinne not the least good able to rise in thy heart that hereby the very plain Image of the Devil is drawn over thee Hence it is that wicked men are said to be of their Father the Devil and he is said to rule in the hearts of the children of disobedience Ephes 2. What a wofull change is this to be turned from a Sonne of God to become a Devil While Adam retained the Image of God God abode with him and in him there was a near union with God but upon his Apostasie the Devil taketh possession of all and so now man is in a near union with the Devil Every mans soul is now the Devils Castle his proper habitation The Spirit of God is chaced away and now thy heart is made an habitation for these Satyrs Thy soul is become like an howling wildernesse wherein lodge all beastly lusts whatsoever Thou that wouldst account it horrible injury to be called beast and Devil yet thy original sinne maketh thee no lesse Thirdly This further may break thy heart if it be not yet broken enough that hereby thou art utterly impotent and unable to help thy self out of this lost condition For how can a dead man help himselfe to live again How can thy crooked heart be ever made straight unlesse a greater power than that subdue it If thou didst judge thy condition an hopelesse one as to all humane considerations then thou wouldest tremble and have no rest in thy selfe till God had delivered thee out of it Lastly Let this also further work to thy Humiliation that being thus positively inclined to all evil not onely proper and sutable temptations draw out thy sinnes but even all holy and godly remedies appointed by God they do increase this corruption the more And is not that man miserable whose very remedies make him more miserable Doth not the Apostle complain sadly of that Law of sinne in him even in this respect that by this means the Law wrought in him all evil The more holy and spiritual the Law was the more carnal and sinfull was he thereby occasioned to be Oh then What wilt thou do when good things make thee evil spiritual things make thee more carnal CHAP. XVIII A second Text to prove Original Sinne to be Positive opened and vindicated SECT I. ROM 7. 7. For I had not known lust except the Law had said Thou shalt not covet WE are discovering the Nature of original sinne in the Positive part of it For although Corvinus the Remonstrant cavilleth at the Division of original sinne into two parts therein gratifying the Papists as it were yet we see the Scripture speaking of it fully as having these two parts And whereas
he saith The Positive inclination to evil must be the effect of the privation of original righteousnesse and so not a part of original because an effect cannot be a part of its cause It 's answered first That sometimes there is a division of a common thing as into two parts when yet one is the effect of the other as when malum is divided into malum culpae and malum poena the evil of punishment is necessarily the effect of the evil of sinne But Secondly Though an inclination to evil may be the effect of the privation of original righteousnesse yet for all that it may be part of original sinne which is the whole consisting of both these Even as according to some learned Divines Remission of sinne is part of Justification although it be an effect of the imputation of Christs Righteousnesse which is also another part of our Justification SECT II. The word Lust expounded HAving therefore considered this Title or Name given to original sinne viz. Flesh which doth denote the Positivenesse of it I come to a second which shall also be the last and that is the word lust or concupiscence which both in the Scripture and in the writings of several Authors is attributed to it For which purpose the Text pitched upon is very usefull To understand which consider that the Apostle having asserted some things which in an outward appearance did seem to dishonour the Law he maketh this Objection to himself Is the Law sinne A cause of sinne and so sinne and God the Law-giver a commander of sinne To which he answers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by defiance God forbid and in the next place giveth a reason why the Law cannot be the cause of sinne because that doth discover and detect sinne that judgeth and damneth it therefore it cannot be the cause of sinne and that the Law is the manifester and reprover of sinne he instanceth in himself and his own experience I had not known lust to be sinne except the Law had said Thou shalt not covet Now ere we can understand this Text we must answer some Questions And First It 's demanded What is meant by the Law here Some say the Law of Nature which is not so probable Others the written Law of Moses and this is most probable by the whole context But yet some though they understand it of the Law of Moses yet they do not mean any particular command but the Law in the general saying the Apostle useth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for all one As if the meaning were The Law in general did not only forbid sinfull actions but also inward lust and motions of the soul thereunto as our Saviour fully expoundeth it Matth. 5. Others they understand this Law of a particular Commandment viz. the tenth and therefore Beza observeth the Article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by this or by that Commandment in particular And this seemeth most probable because they are the very words of the tenth Commandment But secondly If the Apostle alledge that command Why doth he instance onely in the sinne forbidden not mentioning the objects that are specified in the command Thy neighbours Oxe or his Asse c The Answer is that is not material for the Apostle speaking of lusts in the heart what latent and unknown sins they were without the light of the Law it was enough to name the sinne it self seeing the objects about which they are conversant are of all sorts and can hardly be numbred In the third place It 's doubted how the Apostle could say that he did not know lust to be sinne but by the Law of Moses seeing that by the very Law of nature even Heathens have condemned inward lusts and unjust thoughts and plots though but in the soul and never put into practice Aquinas makes the meaning of it as if Paul's sense was He did not know lust to be sinne as it was an offence to God and a dishonour to him because the Law of Moses represents the sinfulness of these lusts in a more divine and dreadfull way then the Law of nature doth Grotius maketh the sense thus Paul did not know lust but by Gods Law because the Laws of men punish nothing but sinfull actions never at all medling with the thoughts and purposes of the heart Beza expounds the expression comparatively I had not known lust to be sinne viz. so evidently so fully so unquestionably as I did when I understood the Law But the general Interpretation is That the Apostle speaketh here of his thoughts and knowledge while he was a Pharisee and it 's plain by our Saviours correcting of pharisaical glosses about the Law Matth. 5. That they thought the Law did onely require external obedience and whatsoever thoughts or sinfull lusts men had so that they did not break out into the practice of them they were not guilty of sinne He did not then know lust to be sinne following the traditional exposition of his Masters till he came to understand the Law aright Another Question of greater consequence is What is meant by lust Thou shalt not covet for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though in Exod. 20. there be the same Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet Deut. 5. 21. There is another Hebrew expression which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which because in Hithpael and so of a reciprocal signification they translate fecit se concupiscere to stirre up a mans self to desire and thereby say such lusts are only forbidden that a man nourisheth and yeelds himself up unto but that rule is not a general one see Prov. 23. 3. Some limit this Commandment too much as it did only command contentation of spirit and that we should not sinfully desire that which others have But the Apostle doth plainly extend it further than so The Papists they likewise limit it too much making only those lusts andmotions of sinne which we consent to to be forbidden denying that those motions to evil which arise antecedently to our reason and will to be truly sinnes hence is their Rule concerning them Non sensus but consensus is that which doth damn which in a good sense we also will acknowledge to be true But we are not to limit Scripture where it hath not limited it self and therefore we conclude That the command doth forbid a threefold concupiscence or lust First That lust which is actually consented to though not breaking forth into act and if this were all the Law of God would hereby be exlted above all humane Laws which reach no further than external actions And how many are ignorant of at least not affected with the spiriruality of this Law in this particular Would they dare to entertain such heart-sinnes as they doe could they make their souls cages of uncleane unjust and ungodly thoughts as they do Secondly The Law goeth higher and doth not only forbid those lusts in thy heart which thou yeeldest consent unto
entertain Insomuch that every man by nature may say he no longer liveth but sinne in him and the Devil in him Hereby thy heart may be called hell yea and Legion because many Devils do rule in thee Oh that God would make this Truth like a two-edged sword in our hearts that we may not rest day or night till God hath delivered us from this wretched estate Pray for it groan for it all the day long CHAP. XX. A clear and full Knowledge of Original Sinne can be obtained only by Scripture Light SECT I. A Full and large information concerning the whole Nature of original sinne both in the Privative and Positive part thereof hath been delivered to which this Text hath been very usefull There remaineth one thing more in it which is very considerable and that is the way or means how Paul cometh to be thus convinced of that sinfulnesse which he did not acknowledge before and that is said to be by the Law In what sense Paul said He knew not lust to be sinne hath already been declared There remaineth therefore this Doctrine to be observed viz. That original sinne in the immediate effect thereof is truly and fully known onely by the light of Gods word None are ever clearly and throughly perswaded of such an universal horrid defilement but those who look into the pure glass of Gods word This Paul acknowledgeth in himself and yet no Heathen he lived under the light of the Word but following traditional expositions from his fathers and wanting the Spirit of God to enlighten him therefore he was wholly stupid and senslesse in this matter as therefore the Doctrine of Christ and Evangelical grace is a mystery so is also this Doctrine about original sinne SECT II. Whether the wisest Heathens had any Knowledge of this Pollution BUt because this matter is under Debate and Question let us further enquire into it examining Whether the wisest Heathens had any knowledge of this natural pollution the Word doth so fully inform us in And First As for that original sinne called originans viz. Adam's actual transgression made ours by Gods will and appointment through imputation that is wholly known by revelation so that no Heathens by the highest improvement and cultivage of nature could ever discern such things That God made Adam righteous giving him a command of tryal in obedience or disobedience whereof all his posterity should be involved this they had not the least him of and the reason is Because the truth of such things lieth not in nature neither have second causes the least demonstration of this but it is wholly discovered as a matter of fact by the Scripture So that we Christians ought the more to bless God for the sight of his Word seeing thereby a very Ideot amongst us may know more then the wisest Aristotle or Plato amongst the Heathens Secondly As for original inherent sinne it must necessarily be granted That even the Heathens had some general confused knowledge about a mans natural defilement Hence was their custom of a solemn washing and lustration of their Infants in a religious way implying hereby that they came into the world polluted and needed the propitious savour of their gods This solemn religious custom of theirs was some general confession of original sinne but as for the Philosophers who were the wisest and most learned of them some do speak more congruously to this point than others That noble and learned Plessâ—us in his Book of the Truth of the Christian Religion Pag. 377. which he endeavoureth to prove even from Heathinish Authors especially the Platonists doth alledge some things pertinently to our subject For Plato holding That the soul was put into the body as into a prison and a dungeon for former sinnes committed through he grosly erred in the foundation thinking souls pre-existent before the body and for faults committed then adjudged to the body as a place of prison which was an absurd errour yet there was some truth he did take notice of for observing that the soul which should rule and command the body was yet mancipated and enslaved to it he concluded there was some fore-going crime deserving this though he was wholly ignorant of Adam's fall Hence he saith That the soul hath lost and broken her wings which she had at first and thereby doth onely creep and crawl upon the ground Theâ—phrastus also Aristotle's Scholar was wont to say That the soul payeth a very dear rent for the house of her body the body is such a clog and impediment to it The Platonists do seem to acknowledge more truth herein then Aristotls for Aristotle doth expresly deny That either virtue or vice is in us by nature the very same thing which Pelagin afterwards did use to say Therefore the Schoolmen though enslaved to Aristotle yet when urging this Argument That there cannot be a sinne by birth in a man because no man is to be reproved or beaten for that which he hath by nature but rather to be pitied it is not his sinne but misery Which speech if true doth utterly contradict that of the Apostle We are by nature the children of wrath The Schoolmen I say though 〈◊〉 vasalized to Aristotle and alledging him oftner than Paul do answer that Argument thus It is no matter what Aristotle saith in this case because he knew nothing of original sinne Thus you see they are forced to leave him in this point and therefore Aristotle is more to be renounced in this point then any other Philosopher Grotius also Comment in 2d. Luc. v. 21. alledgeth several Hethenish Authors who lay down this for a Position that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is implanted and ingraffed into man to sinne Tully lib. 3. Tusc doth speak so fully to this purpose as if he had read what Moses speaketh of man by nature Simul ac editi sumus in lucem suscepti in omni continuè pravitate versamur c. as soon as ever we are born we are presently exercised in all manner of evil Vt poenè in lacte nutricis errorem suxisse videamur as if we sucked down errour with the nurses milk Here you see he speaketh something like to Moses when he saith Gen. 6. That the imagination of the thoughts of our hearts are only evil and that continually Although at the same time he seemeth to attribute this propensity to evil to wicked manner and depraved opinions for there he saith Nature hath given us of honesty parvulos igniculos and that there are ingeniis nostris semina innata virtutum But although some of their wisest men have confessed such a misery and infirmity upon us yet it may be doubted Whether they looked upon this as truly and properly sinne deserving punishment either from God or man They rather thought all sinne must be voluntary Hence Seneca Erras si existimas nobiscum nasci vitia supervenerunt ingesta sunt Indeed in their sad complaints concerning mans birth and all misery accompanying
him as Austin said they did rem scire but causam nescire they evidently saw we were miserable but they knew not the cause of it whereas original sin according to Scripture light though not personally voluntary yet is truly a sinne and maketh a man in a damnable estate Therefore the word original when we divide sinne into original and actual is not terminus restrictivus or diminuens as when we did divide ens into ens reale and rationis but terminus specificans as when animal is divided into rationale and irrationale both properly partaking of the general nature of sinne So that whatsoever apprehensions they had and complaints they made about man yet they did not believe he was born in sinne though experience told them he was in misery The Persians as Plesseus in the above-mentioned place saith had every year a solemn Feast wherein they did kill all the Serpents and wild beasts they could get and this Feast they called viâ—iorum interitum the slaying of their vices By which it doth appear that they had a guiltiness about their sinfull wayes and that none were exempted from being sinfull Yea Casaub Exâ—rcit 16. ad Annal. Bar. pag. 391. speaking of the sacred mysteries among the Grecians the discharging whereof was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 affirmeth That therefore they called the scope of those holy actions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it was as they thought a perduction of the soul to that state in which it was before it descended into the body which he interpreteth of the state of perfection from which we fell in the old Adam so that even in this errour there was some truth which made Tertullian say Omnia adversus veritatem de ipsà veritate constructa esse operantibus aemulationem istam spiritibus erroris Thus you see how the wisest of the Heathens have been divided in this point Some making the soul of a man to come without vice or virtue as a blank fit to receive either Others acknowledging a disease and an infirmity upon the soul yet ignorant of the cause of it neither acknowledging it to be a sinne and so deserving punishment In the second place Although the Heathens did not see this sinne nor could truly bewail it yet so farre many of them were convinced that if they had any sinfull desires or lusting in the soul or any wicked thoughts in their hearts to which they gave consent that these were sinnes and wholly to be abstained from though they did not break forth into act Grotius in his Comment upon the 10th Commandment sheweth out of several Heathenish Writers That all secret lustings of the soul with consent thereunto were were wholly unlawfull Yea as one of them is there said to expresse it they are not so much as to covet a needle the least thing And as for Seneca he hath high assertions about the governing of our thoughts and ordering the inward affections of our souls so as that the gods as well as men may approve us Tully saith That an honest man would do no evil or unjust thing though he could have Gyges his ring which they feigned made a man invisible And this is the rather to be observed because herein they surpassed the Pharisees who though brought up under the Law and had constantly the word of God to guide them yet they did not think any covetings or lustings in the heart to be a transgression of the Law as appeareth by our Saviours information and exposition he gave them Matth. 5. And Josephus is said to deride Polybius the great Historian for making the gods to punish a King meerly because he had a purpose and an intent to commit some enormious iniquity Yea This principle of the Heathens may make many Christians ashamed and be greatly confounded who live as if their thoughts were free and their hearts were their own so that they might suffer any poisonous evil and malicious actings of soul to be within them and to put to check or controll upon them As they matter not original sinne so neither the immediate effects and working thereof Though their hearts be a den of theevish lusts and their souls like Peter's sheet wherein were a company of innumerable unclean creeping lusts yet so as their lives are unblameable they wholly justifie themselves but you are to know that the strength of sinne lieth in your hearts The least part of your evil is that which is visible in your lives SECT III. THirdly We see that original sinne is so hardly discernable that though men do enjoy the light of Gods Word yea and read it over and over again yet for all that they are not convinced of this native pollution We see in all the Heretiques that have been in all ages who have denied this original sinne they were summoned to answer the Word of God Scripture upon Scripture was brought to convince them but a veil was upon their eyes they would wrest and pervert the meaning of it rather than retract their errour so that Scripture-light objectively shining therein is not enough Paul is a clear instance in this he was most exact and strict about the Law yet wholly ignorant of this fundamental truth before he was converted he knew the Commandment Thou shalt not covet yet he did not fully and throughly attend thereunto Hence In the fourth place To have a full and clear understanding of this native defilement we are to implore the light of Gods Spirit The light of the Word is not enough unlesse the Spirit of God be efficacious to remove all errour and impediments as also to prepare and fit the soul to receive it Hence it 's made the work of Gods Spirit to lead into all truth if into all then into this while the eyes remain blind the Sunne with all its lustre can do no good It is true Gods Word is compared to a light and to a lamp but that is only objective without us there must be something subjectively within us that shall make a sutableness between the object and the faculty To be made then Orthodox and to have a sound judgement herein it must be wholly from the Spirit of God For why is it that when one heareth and readeth those Texts We are by nature the children of wrath Who can bring a clean thing out of unclean He adoreth the fulness of these Texts he is convinced of such heart-pollution and blesseth God for the knowledge of this truth But another he cavilleth at the Texts he derideth and scorneth at such a truth Is not this because the Spirit of God leadeth one into the truth and leaveth the other to his pride and blindness of mind SECT IV. FOurthly It is not enough to know this sinne in an orthodox speculative manner to acknowledge it so But we are also in a practical experimental manner to feel and bewail the power and burden of it And happily this may be part of Paul's meaning when he saith He did not
was on the earth but the top reached to heaven Thus though Adam's inferior part the body was exercised in these earthly things yet his soul the more sublime part that was fixed in heaven But now all our suâ—eableness and communion with heavenly objects is wholly perished we have hearts inlarged with joy we are ravished with delights about wordly things and when brought to any thing that is heavenly there we are weary and neither flesh or spirit is willing to such things yet nature might reach us that man of all creatures only hath hands and those not to embrace the earth but he hath feet to walk and trample upon it We read of Paul and David with other godly ones when recovered in part from the power of this originall corruption what longings and breakings of soul they had after God and his Ordinances These things were accounted for sweetness above the hony and for presciousness above gold now why should not every man be able to say so as well as they but because our tasts are wholly distempered and we are carnall not spirituall Certainly spirituall objects have in themselves infinite more matter of joy and delight then any earthly thing can have who can think there is more sweetness in a drop then in the ocean more light in the starre then in the sun The creature is less then these in comparison of God May not than even blind men see that we are all over-plunged into sinne else why should not God and heavenly objects which do so farre surpass in matter of true delight be more sweet and welcome to us then all the creatures of the world though put together Psal 4 6. Many say who will shew us any good The naturall man finds no delight but in these earthly things oppositely to God There is a Sheâ—ll in his soul that is alwaies craving and asking never satisfied now why can they not with David as well put forth the following petition Lord lift up the light of thy countenance upon us But because the carnall man finds no more pleasure in spirituall things then the swine doth in pearles or pleasant flowres A man that is spirituall having drunk of this water desireth no other As the Philosophers say The matter of the heavens is so fully actuated by the heavenly formes that it desireth no other whereas the matter of these subâ—unary things is never satisfied but though under one forme yet it still desireth another Thus the soul possessed of God and Christ hath so much delight and pleasure that it hath enough it desireth no change but the naturall man is carried out from one thing to another from one object to another first delighting in this and then in that it being impossible that Zacheus his shoe should sit Goliah's foot Thus you see that though a man be restless in his delights yet he can take pleasure in earthly things whereas he finds no sweetness no delight in heavenly things that are infinitely more precious So this may demonstrate the loss of Gods Image and our service to originall sinne in the lusts thereof Thirdly That we are thus originally corrupted appeareth in that utter impotency and inability to do any spirituall good we are not able so much as to think a thought or send forth an hearty groan as to our eternall welfare whereas at first God made Adam right and thereby endowed him with power to do any thing that was holy called therefore the Image of God so happy and blessed was his condition that he could with delight and joy fullfill the Law of God feeling no difficulty nor impediment but now being dead in sinne we are no more able then dead men to move or walk in holy things The Scripture is wonderfully clear in this though Papists Arminians and others have endeavoured to raise a mist and obscure the sun beames Joh. 15. Without me ye can do nothing Rom. 8. The flesh is eumity against God 1 Cor. 2. The naturall man perceiveth not the things of God neither can he where both the act of doing good and the power also is denied to every man by nature If therefore every man by nature be dead in sinne like a stone as in respect of any holy impression from God if he have blind eies deaf eares a foolish heart as to any heavenly thing doth not this plainly tell us that we are all over polluted It 's good for our humiliation to consider how the Scripture describeth a naturall man as wanting all his senses he hath no eies to see no eares to hear no heart to understand but is wholly dead and all this is to shew what a wonderfull impotency is in man to help himself spiritually Now this declareth the necessity of preserving this doctrine of originall corruption clean and sound for if we be orthodox here then also we shall hold the truth of God against foe will and the power of nature in divine things for these two particulars are like Castor and 〈◊〉 they alwaies appear together and what is the design or Secinians Papists and Arminians either in whole or in part to deny or extenuate originall sinne but thereby to make a way to advance their magnificent Diana their free will to holy things for they evidently see if originall sinne be such an universall deep and inward pollution of the whole soul even the will as well as other parts then their doctrine of the power of nature is pulled up by the very root Therefore the more fully assure your souls of this truth by how much the whole body of Divinity depends upon this foundation Indeed the Scripture is so clear in debasing man as to supernaturalls and giving all to the grace of God that we may wonder how this pride should settle it self in mans heart and that he doth not tremble to speak or write any thing whereby the grace of God may be diminished and man exalted he that cannot make a white hair black he that cannot adde one cubit to his stature will yet think to make a polluted soul holy and adde many cubits of grace to his spirituall stature Fourthly Our original corruption will yet further appear If you take notice of that universall ignorance and dullnesse that is upon a mans understanding knowing no saving thing about God or Christ if it be not revealed Insomuch that the necessity of Scripture-light of revealed-light to conduct us to heaven doth without contradiction prove that by nature we are as Paul said Ephes 4 darkeness even darkness it self Look over the generation of mankind that are the wisest and most learned where the light of Gods word hath not shore upon them Rom. 1. 1. The Apostle there informeth us that the doctrine of the Gospel was foolishness to them that professing themselves to be wise they became foolish in their imaginations what Aristotle or Pleto could ever by naturall reason understand any thing of Christ If then we lay this for a sure foundation though
pledge of theirs The second Reason which is pertinent to my matter in hand is from the Collation between Adam and Christ As Adam was the common root and principle of death to all that come from him so is Christ the common Head of Salvation and Life to all who are of him The Apostle Rom. 5. maketh such a Comparison between Adam and Christ as two common Principles and Heads but to another purpose there it is in respect of spiritual death viz. Sinne by one and Righteousnesse by the other but here it is principally in respect of temporal Death and Resurrection by Christ The Apostle having thus cleared this Truth he then enters into a second Debate viz. itâ—â—eth â—â—eth a corruptible body but it shall be raised an incorruptible one It dieth a natural body but it shall be raised a spiritual Last this Distinction of a natural and spiritual body should seem uncouth and very absurd he asserteth and confirmeth it by Scripture And here again in the second place he taketh up a Collation between the first Adam and the second and therein we have them compared 1. In regard of their Condition and State 2. In respect of their Originals And 3. In respect of their Qualities and Properties This illustration the Apostle is large in because the strength of his Argument lieth in this Such as the Principles are such are the Effects Such as the Root is such are the Branches Now all men have from Adam earthly mortal bodies which will die Therefore all that are Christs shall have from him heavenly and spiritual bodies Let us diligently open the particulars wherein we have this Collation between Adam and Christ made for from hence we shall have a fair occasion to examine How from Adam we come thus to have his Image upon us which is the great difficulty in the Doctrine of original sinne SECT II. THe first particular therefore wherein they are compared is Adam's estate is proved from Scripture ver 5. As it is written The first man Adam was made a living soul we have this related Gen. 2. 7. where God is said Adam's body being made out of the dust and formed thencefrom was yet without life and motion therefore God did with him farre otherwise than with bruit beasts for He breathed into him the breath of life This is spoken after the manner of men in a figurative way we are not to think God took on him the form of a man and so breathed life into Adam Neither may we say This was a particle or part of the divine Essence which God communicated to man But the meaning is God inspired into him his soul which gave life and sense and motion to the body by which he becoming a living soul that is a living creature This is Adam's condition But as for Christ who is here called the last Adam Adam because a common Person and last because there is no more to succeed him This last Adam is said To be made a quickening Spirit not but that Christ was man yea and had such an humane Nature as Adam had like to him in all things Sinne onely excepted But this is spoken of Christ principally after his Resurrection For Christ while he lived on earth had an animal body he needed food and rest but after his Resurrection then he had a spiritual body so that it is in reference to this that Christ is called a Spirit but with this Epithete A quickning Spirit that is which giveth life to others He hath not only life in himself but he giveth it also to others and therefore no wonder if he raise those that belong to him But seeing Christ is thus a quickening Spirit it may be said Why then have the people of God their natural bodies still If they be in the second Adam Why are they not as he is To this the Apostle answereth verse 46. That which is natural is first and afterwards that which is spiritual It is the will and appointment of God that the imperfect things should be first and afterwards that which is more perfect In the next place The Comparison is made between the two Adams in respect of their Originals The first was of the earth earthly his body was made of the dust of the earth The Aegyptians had some confused knowledge of this and therefore defined man to be Animal terrenum è limo natum Hence in their Feasts they offered unto their gods an herb that grew in their lakes to signifie what man was But the second man is the Lord from Heaven This place hath an appearance of some difficulty for from this Text did some Anabaptists who revived an old Heresie viz. That Christ had not his body of the Virgin Mary indeavour to prove That Christ had his body from Heaven else say they what opposition could there be made to Adam's body Christs body was in the Virgin Mary but not of her as they affirm But this is grosly to mistake For the Apostle doth not intend to make a comparison in the Materials of which both bodies were compounded but the Originals from whence they are The one is from Earth the other from Heaven being the Lord of Heaven and Earth Some indeed have said That Christ is therefore said to be from Heaven because though it was materially of the Virgin Mary yet because the Conception was in an extraordinary manner by the holy Ghost therefore it might be said to be from Heaven This may have some truth yet Adam was in an extraordinary manner and that in respect of his body formed by God called therefore the Sonne of God yet he cannot be said to be from Heaven So that the most solid Interpretation is to understand it of the Person of Christ and so he is wholly of Heaven being the true and eternal God in which respect John 3. 13. he is said to be The Sonne of man which is in Heaven John 6 38 41. he is said To come from Heaven So that although his body was of the Virgin Mary yet as God in which respect he hath his personality so he is from Heaven The third and last Collation is in respect of their qualities and properties The first man is of the earth earthy in a three fold respect 1. Because his affections are only to earthly things 2. Because the place where he is to be is the earth 3. Because of his mortality he is to return to dust again But the ' second Adam is heavenly in a three-fold contrary respect 1. He is heavenly in regard of his life and conversation 2. In regard of the place where now he is sitting in Heaven at the right hand of God and thus all Christs members shall be heavenly for they likewise shall be in Heaven for ever with the Lord. 3. Heavenly Because of his immortality for he shall never die more SECT III. THus we have the Apostles elegant opposition between the first and second Adam and my Text is a
necessary that he should create souls daily but conserve the order appointed as he doth about the Heavens The Answer is easie therefore do the words relate to the Creation at first with the conservation of them because new Heavens and new earths are not every day made but both they and we do acknowledge new souls are every day produced as often as a man is born and God at first making Adam's soul by breathing into it the same order is still to be conserved This Text thus cleared we may adde as proofs also of the like kind Isa 42. 5. Though Austin thought by spirit there might be meant the sanctifying Spirit of God But that hath no probability Psal 33. 15. the Psalmist saith God hath fashioned the hearts of men alike or wholly throughout By which is meant the soul of a man in all its thoughts and workings because the soul puts forth its vital actions in the heart That also is remarkable which yet I find not mentioned by any in this Controversie Jer. 38. 16. where Zedekiah maketh an oath to Jeremiah that he will not kill him after this manner Thus saith the Lord who made us this soul not this body but this soul he putteth that into the oath intimating what an heavy sinne it would be to kill a man that is innocent seeing he hath his soul from God I shall mention but one Text more and that is in the New Testament which seemeth clearly to demonstrate the creation of the soul Heb. 12 9. We have had fathers of our flesh that corrected us c. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of Spirits I think this Text may put us out of all doubt God is opposed as a Father to our natural parents God is called a Father of Spirits natural parents father of our flesh Now if our souls did come from our parents they might be called fathers of our spirits as well as of our flesh The Apostles Argument would have no force if the Creation of the soul by God alone and the generation of the flesh only by natural parents be not asserted Thus Numb 16. 20. as also Chap. 27. 16. God is there styled The God of the spirit of all flesh in a peculiar manner It may be wondered that though Austin busied himself so much in finding out of this Truth diligently attending to the Scripture yet he never mentioned this place Certainly this Text might have removed his doubt and made him wholly positive in affirming the creation of the soul That which I find later Writers reply to it is That God is called the Father of Spirits in respect of Regeneration because he sanctifieth and maketh holy But the opposition to our fathers of the flesh evidently confuteth this and withall they can never shew that God is called a Father of Spirits or a God of Spirits but in respect of Creation not Regeneration It is true the word spirit may sometimes be used for a man as regenerate as flesh is for a man wholly corrupt but they can never shew that the word spirits in the plural number is taken for men regenerate Vse Of Exhortation To quicken up your attention to this Truth do not think this is unprofitable and uselesse that this Question is like those of which Paul complaineth some doted foolish and endlesse No it is very profitable for in knowing the original of thy soul how it cometh even from God himself may it not shame thee to make thy self like a beast as if thou hadst no better soul then they have Prophanenesse and sottish ignorance do greatly oppose the nature of thy soul Why do men say in effect Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall die but as if they and beasts were all alike And why is it that you see so many have no understanding but that they are like the horse and the mule Why doth the Scripture compare wicked men to so many kind of beasts but because they live as if God had put no rational soul into them That though in the making of their bodies they differ from beasts yet in their souls they do greatly agree SECT III. THus you see we are examining Whether that Doctrine of the Propagation of souls from parents be a sure foundation to build upon in clearing the conveyance of original sinne to Adam's posterity And we have evidently proved That the soul hath its immediate creation from God So that to runne to the Sanctuary of the Souls Traduction would be to implore a dangerous errour to assist the Truth As God needeth not a lie so neither doth his Truth any error And indeed Although I shall not call the Doctrine of the Creation of the soul an article of faith because so many learned men have hesitated therein So that it would be an high breach of charity to commaculate such with the note of heresie yet we may with Hierom call it Ecclesiasticum dogma a Doctrine that the most Orthodox have alwayes received So that the contrary opinion seemeth to be absurd as Whitaker well saith Although Vorstius would make this dispute to be meerly philosophical in his Antibellarm Having therefore laid down those Texts which are a sure pillar of this Truth we shall adde some further reasons and then make use of this point which is very fruitfull SECT IV. Arguments from Scripture to prove the Souls Creation THe first Reason which may appear in the defence of the Souls immediate Creation from God is From the historical Narration which Moses makes of the beginning and original of Adam 's soul For as God when he was to create man did it in a more transcendent and glorious way then when he made beasts or the other creatures For then he said Let there be light and Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that have life Gen. 1. 20. And so Let the earth bring forth the living creatures the beasts after their kind But when he comes to make man then the expression is altered Let us make man in our Image and Gen. 2. 7. where we have the manner of the execution of this counsel it is said He formed the body of Adam out of the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life No such thing was done to other creatures So that you see Adam's soul was from God immediately though his body was from the earth This breathing of life into Adam was infusing of the rational soul Some Ancients thought that it was the bestowing of the holy Ghost upon Adam and that he had his rational soul before They compare it with Christs breathing on his Disciples whereby was communicated the holy Ghost Now it is plain they had their rational souls before This is vain because by the breathing of this life it 's said Adam became a living soul so that he was but a dead lump of earth as it were before And indeed this Text is so clear that I know
God I answer The Meritorious cause is Adam's disobedience by his transgression he demerited this for all that should come of him And if you say Who putteth the sinne in I answer There is no efficient cause that putteth it in It is enough that God doth justly refuse to give or continue his Image And this being denied the soul because a subject either of holinesse or sinne when wanting one must necessarily fall into the other Thus it is with the souls being polluted as it is with night there is no efficient cause of the night only the withdrawing of the Sunne necessarily maketh it So God doth nothing positively to make the soul sinfull but according to his just appointment at first denieth that righteousnesse which Adam wilfully put away from himself and his posterity So that we may as easily conceive of every childs souls pollution by sinne as of Adam and Eve themselves God made them righteous but upon their transgression they became unclean and sinfull How was this God in justice denied the continuance of this holinesse to them any longer so that they became sinfull not because God infused evil but denied him that righteousnesse to them This may fully satisfie the sober and modest minded man Therefore the last Proposition is That we cannot say the soul being pure in it self cometh into the body and so is insected As if some wine should be put in a poisoned vessel for the soul and the body do mutually infect one another not physically by contact but morally For the soul being destitute of the Image of God in all its operations is sinfull and so all the bodily actions are polluted And then again the body that having lost the properties it had before the fall is a clod and a burden to the soul Thus they doe mutually help to damne one another the soul polluteth the body and the body that again polluteth the soul And thus those two which at first God put together in so near an union to make man happy are now so defiled that both from soul and from body the matter of his damnation doth arise It is true we may say inchoatively Sinne it in the body before enlivened by the soul in which sense David bewailed his being conceived in sinne but explicitely and formally it cannot be and therefore we are not to conceive sinne in the body before the soul be united or in the soul before the body be joyned to it but as soon as they both became man then they are under the just curse of God and the soul being blind and the body same they both fall into that eternal pit of damnation if the grace of God deliver not I may in time shew how many wayes the soul defileth the body and the body againe infecteth the soul viz. in a moral sense and therefore let this suffice for the present Onely from what hath been said let us turn our Disputation into Deploration Let the head busied to argue be now as much exercised to weep Jeremiah wished his head was a fountain of tears for the slain of his people and that was but a temporal death and that of one Nation only How much more may we desir so for the spiritual death and that of all in the world Say unto all Heretical Teachers Get ye behind me Satans you hinder and trouble me in my humiliation Is not the Infant new born swadled and bound up hand and feet and so lieth crying A sad representation that so God might bind every one and send him crying to Hell Thus original sinne opened Hell kindled the fire of Hell there was no Hell till this was committed Oh grievous necessity and unhappy condition we are all born in Antequam peccemus peccato constringimur antequam delinquimus delicto tenemur This even this seriously considered should make us have no rest till we be put into the second Adam in whom we have Justification and Salvation A TREATISE OF Original Sin The Third Part. HANDLING The Subject of ORIGINAL SINN IN What Part it doth reside and what Powers of the Soul are corrupted by it By Anthony Burgess ANCHORA SPEI LONDON Printed in the Year 1658. A TREATISE OF Original Sinne. PART III. CHAP. I. Of the Pollution of the Mind with Original Sinne. SECT I. EPHES. 4. 23. And be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind COncerning our Subject of Original Sinne these particulars have been largely treated on viz. That it is What it is and How it is communicated The next thing therefore in our method to be considered is The Subject of Inhesion wherein it is in what part it doth reside and what powers of the soul are corrupted by it There is indeed made by Divines a two fold Subject of original sinne 1. Of Predication the persons in whom it is affirmed to be and that is in all who naturally come of Adam Christ only is excepted And in this there is not much controversie onely the Francisean Papists opposing the Dominicans do hotly contend that the Virgin Mary was by special priviledge exempted from original sinne Scotus seemeth to be the first that made it received as a kind of an Ecclesiastical opinion whereas formerly it was but thought doubtfull or at most probable It is not worth the while to trouble you with this and I may have occasion ere the subject be dispatched to say what will be necessary to it I shall therefore proceed to that which is more practical and profitable even to search into the seat and bowels of this original sinne that we may be fully informed no part of the soul is free from this pestilence To which truth the Text in hand will contribute great assistance And For the Coherence of it briefly take notice that the Apostle at the 17th verse giveth a short but dreadfull Description of a Gentile conversation or the life of one without the knowledge of Christ wherein you may observe a three-fold ignorance or blindness upon all such so impossible is it that of themselves they should ever come to see There is a natural blindness a voluntary contracted blindness and a Judicial one inflicted on them by God for abuse of natural light These there are mentioned in the 18th verse And in this vers 19. we have the formidable consequence declared That being past feeling no remorse of conscience in them They give up themselves to all wickednesse with greedinesse Oh that this were only among Pagans But how many have this natural voluntary and judicial blindness and obstinacy upon them under the light of the Gospel Yea their eyes are more blinded and hearts more hardned where the means of grace have been contemned then in the places where the name of Christ hath not been known This black condition of Heathens being described he compareth those of Christians with it and so we have darkness and light here set together And this the Apostle declareth vers 20. But ye have not so learned Christ Christ
teacheth no such wickednesse yet because many may have a bare knowledge and a vain empty profession of Christ and live such Paganish lives he addeth a corrective to his speech which is worthy of all attention If so be ye have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus This is an excellent limitation men may know Christ professe Christ and yet not do it as the truth is in Jesus that is not to obey the Doctrine of Christ as he hath commanded Christ never required that thou shouldst only make a profession of faith in him and then for thy life that that may be full of vice and corruption know if you do so you know not the truth as it is in Jesus Christ We have a like expression Colos 1. 6. where the godly are said To know the grace of God in truth◠and Tit. 1. 1. There is the acknowledging of the truth after godlinesse Oh let such hear and let their ears tingle and their hearts tremble who come to Church profess Christ and yet runne in all excesse of riot What doth any knowledge profit if it be not of the truth as it is in Jesus if it be not an acknowledgment after godlinesse thou deniest the faith and art indeed worse then an Heathen There is Theologia rationalia and experimentalis as Gerson or Theologia docens and utens It is this later viz. an exercised experimental Divinity that maketh a Divine properly Therefore Amesius his definition of Theologia is good that it is Doctrius Deo vivendi a Doctrine whereby we are taught to live unto God Every wicked Christian is worse then a Pagan But who will believe this report Now that we may know what it is to know truth as it is in Jesus he instanceth in a twosold effect or demonstration thereof The first is To put off the old man with the decitfull lusts thereof This old man you heard is original sinne this must be mortified with the immediate issues thereof So that a true knowledge of Christ doth not only cleanse the strems but the fountain also doth not onely change the conversation of a man but the heart the affections the whole man It goeth to the root as well as the branches And the second effect is in the Text To be renewed in the spirit of your mind wherein we are to observe the Duty and the Subject of it The Duty is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To be renewed We read it Imperatively but in the Greek it is the Infinitive mood as also the Duty to put off mentioned ver 22. is in the same mood for these Infinitives do relate to the Verb being taught as the truth is in Christ to be taught to put off to be taught to be renewed If so be we conceive of those to whom Paul writeth as converted already then this duty of renovation is to be understood of further increased and degrees To be more renewed every day for it is usual with the Apostle to write to those who are supposed to be in the state of grace that they should be more sanctified and reconciled to God To be renewed is to have the mind indowed with new Properties and Qualities for ignorance knowledge for atheism and unbelief faith for sinfull and vain thoughts gracious and holy ones c. So that there are two extreame errours in the expounding of this 1. Of the Illyricans who as they held sinne to be the substance of a man so this renovation they must hold to be substantial not accidental But it 's absurd to say a man must have a new soul essentially in regeneration The other extream is of Socinians for they holding There is no such thing as original sinne they must needs say That this renovation is only in regard of contracted sinne and external impiety in the life not in respect of any inbred and inherent pollution in the mind But this also is against the Scripture The second thing in the Text is the Subject of this renovation The spirit of your mind Concerning the difference between spirit and mind many thoughts have been but either it is an Hebraism and is no more then the mind which is a spirit or else spirit is taken for that which is the most sublime noble and also most active and vigorous in a man Thus Job 20. 3. we have the spirit of understanding And Isa 11. 2. The spirit of wisdom the spirit of counsel and the spirit of knowledge Yea it is sometime applied to the vigorous and high actings of evil as Hos 4. 12. The spirit of whoredom And the spirit of whoredoms Hosea 5. 4. So that when the Apostle doth not say Be renewed in your mind but in the spirit of your mind This supposeth That what is most choise excellent and noble even in the rational part of a man called for its dignity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet this is all over polluted by original sinne and so needeth a renovation As for those who by the spirit would understand the holy Ghost that is most absurd For how can we be renewed in that SECT II. THe Text thus opened we may see two Doctrines in the womb of it the first implied and supposed viz. 1. That the mind of every man in all the choise operations thereof is wholly polluted and stained 2. Because it is thus polluted that needs regeneration and renovation as well as any other parts The former Doctrine is only to my subject in hand for now my work is to shew you Wherein this contagion doth discover it self And I shall begin with that which hath the greatest dignity in a man and if that hath not escaped pollution much lesse may we think the other parts have And if the eye be dark how great must our darknesse be And before we speak particularly to that let us say something in the general about the subject wherein this original sinne is seated SECT III. FIrst There hath been some who have not so much seated it in the soul as made the very soul and substance of a man to be original sinne So that we might properly and truly say Man was sinne it self The Author of this was Flaccius Illyricus who in many things is to be praised for his diligence and industry but he was of a turbulent spirit very restless insomuch that in his studies at first he was so greatly tempted that many times publick prayer was made for him in the solemn Assemblies Vide Horned Sum. Controv. de Lutheranismo This man out of great earnestness to oppose Papists yea and the Lutheran Strigelius who extenuated original sinne fell into another extream making it to be the very substance of man It is true Some have excused him as thinking his opinion was sound onely his words were obscure and dangerous for he doth often distinguish between the Homo Physicus and the Homo Theologicus he maketh the Theological man as he is in such a consideration to be onely sinfull But surely it is
superiority and preheminency the mind is now debased and this light is put now not under a bushel but a dunghill God indowed man with understanding that it might be like a Queen in the soul directing and ordering all actions to true happiness Though the will be chief in power and efficacy yet the understanding is in direction and counsel Insomuch That the will is called caeca potentia a blind power of the soul being essentially subordinated to follow the dictates of the understanding and if the will be thus subordinate that is called a rational power participativè though not formaliter no wonder then if the sensitive and affectionate part of a man his love his grief his anger these were not to rise or stirre but as the understanding did give orders to them Thus was the understanding of a man placed in him as the Sunne in the Firmament to give light to all the powers of the soul but now by original corruption it 's dethroned it 's ejected out of its power and is made a servant to every lust that reigneth in the will and the affections hence it cometh about That whatsoever a mans corrupt heart carryeth him unto presently the mind of man being like a bribed advocate pleadeth for the lawfullness and the necessity of it It is true indeed we have a rule in Divinity Nemâ— potest credere quia vult No man can believe a thing to be true meerly because he will but yet the will and affections can so divert the understanding or put mists and pretences before it that now it 's become like the Sunne in a foggy misty day that cannot put forth its light so that if you do ask What is the true original cause of all heretical opinions and corrupt practises you may say It 's because the mind doth not keep up its primitive power As the reason given in the Judges why so much Idolatry and other wickednesse was committed was because there was no King no Governour in Israel every one did that which was right in his own eyes Thus if you aske Whence is that confusion in a mans opinion in a mans practices It 's because the mind of a man is degraded the will is carried out to what it listeth every sinfull affection and passion doth what it pleaseth So that whereas all our affections and actions should have their first rise from the guidance of the minde Now our lusts and affections doe first move and then the understanding is imployed to defend and excuse the lawfulnesse of them Oh then bewail this sad desolation come upon thee Thy minde and judgement are become slaves and vassals to every unlawfull way to plead for that to defend that to excuse that Thus as the Scripture when it speaketh of a civil desolation making a confusion upon the Governours thereof saith The heavens are turned into blacknesse or The Sunne and Moon into blood so it is now upon the face of a mans soul if reason and judgement were strong enough to doe their office there would not be that insolency of the affections and rebellion in our wils which doth now wholly overpour us The second thing in this particular is The subordination of it to God and to his Rule The mind of a man did then wholly follow the Rule God had prescribed it To believe to think to judge as the Rule was but now it 's become heretical It 's prone to choose an opinion of its own a Doctrine of its own Although the word Heresie in it self signifie neither good or evil and therefore in Eusebius Constantine applieth it to the Christian Religion calling it heresie as Tertullian doth the Christian Religion Secta a Sect yet in Ecclesiastical Writers if not constantly in the Scripture it is used in an ill sense and signifieth an election or adhering to a way of our own devising and not that which is commanded by God Tertullian cals Adam's sinne heresin because committed of his own choice against Gods will Insomuch that though there may be many particular causes of heresies as ignorance pride discontent covetousness and such carnal principles yet the main is that proneness in the mind to lift up it self against God and his Rule having lost its primitive subordination to God This want of subordination to God and the Scriptures is notably seen in Heretiques who when they perceive Scripture against them rather then submit they will be guilty of Scripture-slaughter as Tertullian called it Marcion saith he cometh not with Stilo sed Machara draweth his sword and detruncateth a great part of Scripture Others though not so audacious yet because they will not submit do not Materiam ad Scripturas but Scripturas and Materiam accommodare not submit their opinions to the Scripture but the Scripture to their opinions Valentinus openly professed He did amend the Gospel Seventhly Herein is original corruption greatly depriving the mind of a man In that it maketh a man proâ—e to deceive and cosen himself so that sinne is presented as sweet or profitable and good to be imbraced holy things are presented as difficult and irksom Especially this self-deceiving is seen in the judging of our selves good and right when indeed we are abominable and loathing to God Whence is it that every mans ways are clean in his own eyes Whence is it that every man is a Pagmalion in love with himself or rather a Pharisee to justifie himself Yea as it is Psal 50. 21. They judge of God like themselves loving what they love pleased with what they please As the Ethiopians though Christians yet worshipping the Virgin Mary paint her like a Blackmore because they are black Now what a fearfull pollution is this to deceive our selves about God about sin about godliness our own souls So that when we can have a pretence or a colour to justifie our selves then we rejoyce This self-deceiving is often taken notice of by the Scripture 2. Pet. 2. 13. Gal. 6. 3. 1 Cor. 6. 9. Jam. 1. 22. it's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deceiving your own selves putting a fallacy or a false syllogisme upon our selves And indeed it might be easily shewed how many false syllogismes a man imposeth upon himself Doth not Presumption argue à divisis ad conjuncta from the means divided yet to obtain the end Yea in every prayer in every religious duty the natural man taketh Non causam pro causâ because he performeth these duties he thinketh he serveth God whereas it is not an holy principle or gracious motive putteth him upon them but formality customarinesse or some other inferiour motive Thus every natural man deceiveth himself by false causes he thinketh he repents he loveth God he hath a good heart he shall be saved when alas all this while thou art deceived and deceiving of thy self Mourne then under this native-pollution that thou art so deceived in all things about thy self about the work of grace about what is flesh and what is spirit that thou art
deluded in all things and takest counterfeit for that which is true and genuine Under this head we may comprehend all that craft and subtilty in men as in the Jesuites to maintain Idolatry or Heresie For the Devil as at first so still he delights to use Serpents because they are more crafty then others The craft also in man naturally to do mischief for which they are compared in Scripture to Foxes doth declare how original sinne hath all over infected the mind Eighthly The great pollution of original sinne upon our minds is seen In the pronenesse to vain idle sinfull and â—oving thoughts so that these do discover an unclean fountain of the heart more then any thing Whence do these sparks arise but from that furnace of sinne within thee The Air is not fuller of Flies Aegypt was not fuller of Frogs then every mans heart is naturally of idle vain foolish and impertinent thoughts Thoughts they are the immediate product and issue of original sinne The first born they are streams that come immediately from the fountain Now certainly if a man had by nature an holy sanctified mind he would also have holy and sanctified thoughts Think you that Adam in integrity or the good Angels are troubled with thoughts as we are For all the while a man is natural he never had a good thought in him he might have a thought of good but not a good thought For as every Cogitatio mali is not Cogitatio malâ We may think of evil to abhorre and detest and this thought of evil is good So in a natural man though he may have a thought about good yet it is not in a good manner and therefore evil though the object matter be good What then will prostrate thee and make thee lie grovelling upon the ground loathing thy self if this do not Amongst the millions and millions of thoughts which thou hast there is not one but it is either vain proud idle or impertinent yea our thoughts are not in our own power no more then the birds that flie in the air but they arise antecedently to our own will and deliberation And certainly if vain thoughts be such a burden to a regenerate man if they do captivate and inthrall him which made one cry out Libenter Domine bonus esse vellem sed cogitationes meae non patiuntur I would gladly be good but my thoughts will not suffer me No wonder if to the natural man who is under the power of original sinne that sinfull thoughts hurry him away without any resistance Ninthly Original pollution doth greatly defile the mind of a man in the mutability and instability of it Insomuch that the judgement of every natural man destitute of true light and faith which doth onely consolidate the soul is like a reed shaken with every wind he is mutable and various ready every day or every year to have a new Faith and a new Religion This maketh the Apostle inform us That one end of the Ministry Ephes 4. 14. is That we be not carried away with every wind of Doctrine Such empty straws and feathers are we that any new opinion doth presently seduce us and therefore the Scripture doth press a sound mind and an heart established with grace which is the special preservative against such instability Aquinas maketh this the reason of the good Angels confirmation in grace and that they cannot now sinne because such is the perfection and immutability of their natures that what their understanding doth once adhere unto they cannot change Indeed it is thus with God that his knowledge is unchangeable but there is no reason to attribute this to Angels and therefore their confirmation in good is not so much to be attributed to any intrinsecal cause in themselves as to the grace of God establishing them But how farre short was man newly created of such immutability How much more then man fallen From this pollution it is that we have so many apostates that there are Seekers that there are so many Neutrals that there are so many who think any in any Religion may be saved It is true there may be a just cause of changing our minds in Religion as when educated in Popery or when we have received any heretical opinions but I speak here of that instability which is naturally in the mind of a man that though he be in the truth yet there is a proneness to desert it and to discover much lenity in the matters of Religion The Remonstrants go too farre this way commending this sinfulnesse under the name of modesty and humility and therefore though in Fundamentals they will grant we may say This our faith is This we doe believe yet in other points which though not fundamentals yet the errors about them may greatly derogate from the glory of Christ and his grace as also much prejudice the consolations of those who truly fear God as their opinions do They commend those expressions Ita nobis videtur and Salvo meliorum judicio It is our sententia not our fides Now if this were said only in some points disputed amongst the Orthodox that are at a great distance from Fundamentals it might be received but they extend this further if not to the foundation-stones yet to those that immediately joyn to them and so do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 remove such things that will in time endanger the whole structure of Christianity and so from Remonstrantisme proceed to Socinianisme which is adificari and ruinam as Tertullian expresseth it De praesc Such an edification many unsetled spirits meet with Tenthly Original sinne doth pollute the mind of a man with pride and vain-glory so that he is easily puffed up with his own conceits and altogether ignorant of his ignorance The Apostle Col. 2. 18. saith of some Vainly puffed up with a fleshly mind This Tumor this Tympany in the mind hath been the cause of most heresies in the Church The Gnosticks boasted in their knowledge and had their name from it The Eunomians did vainly and blasphemously brag That they knew God as well as he knew himself And some in these later dayes have not been afraid to compare themselves above the Apostles for gifts and illuminations So that whereas every one should with wise Augur say humbly I have not the understanding of a man I am more bruitish then any man Or with Austin when one admiring his learning used this expression Nihil te latet he answered again Nihil tristius legi because he knew the falshood of it because of his ignorance even in innumerable places of Scripture They equalize themselves to Angels yea to God himself This pride this self-conceit is a worm bred in the rose and the more parts men have the more doth this disease increase Matthew Paris relateth of a great Scholar much admired for his learning who in his Lectures once in the Schools proving the Divine Nature and also Incarnation of Christ with mighty applause did
most arrogantly say That Christ was beholding to him for this Dispute that he owed as it were his Divine Nature to his learning as if he had not been God if he had not proved it upon which blasphemy he was immediately stricken with ignorance and such sottishnesse that he was afterwards taught the Lords Prayer by a little childe This pride of minde is worse then all other pride And certainly that is a great effect of original sinne upon us that we are apt to take such contemplative delight about our own notions and apprehensions being therein guilty of spiritual fornication This pride of minde is seen also in owning and defending even the truths of God not as his but as they are our own opinions out of which we may raise our owne glory whereas truth is not mine of thine or a third mans but the Lords Cave ne privatum dixeris ne à veritate privemur Eleventhly Original sinne polluteth the mind in regard of the difference and diversity of thoughts and judgements of men in the things of God Had Adam continued in the state of integrity all had been of one mind of one way In Heaven also when all imperfection shall be done away they shall all think and speak the same things but now there are divisions and different ways in Religion one admiring that which another condemneth which proclaimeth that man hath a Babel upon his understanding It is no wonder that among Philosophers there were such infinite Sects for if you view that part of the world which owneth the Christian Religion what varieties what differences what oppositions are there and that though we have the Scripture to guide us This doth evidently manifest That the mind of man is filled with deep pollution by original sinne Twelfthly The horrible pollution of the mind is seen in its aptnesse to receive all the Devils impressions and delusions so that the most horrid and dreadfull blasphemies that can be imagined have yet been entertained and broached by some men Now the Devil could never possesse the mind of a man so but because of this original corruption Some there were called Caiani that boasted of Cain and commended Esau yea Judas and that he did not sinne in betraying Christ Some have called the holy Trinity Triceps Cerberus Some have thought themselves Christ and the Spirit of God Now how could these devillish delusions be ever believed if the mind had been free from sinne The Enthusiasmes The Revelations that the Monasterii Anabaptis as also John of Leiden pretended to upon which they acted resolutely and violently may abundantly teach us what monstrous births the minde of a man will deliver if left to it self So that what is said of the Devil incubus bodily is much more true of the minde What will not the understanding of a man believe and be resolute for when it hath once Pleniorem gratiam à Diabolo obtained more of the Devils grace as Tertullian speaks ironically of some Heretiques De praesc Thirteenthly In this is original pollution discovered that the knowledge we have and the light we enjoy whether imbred or acquired without Gods grace we are the worse for it So that our understanding in us is but like a sword in a mad mans hand by it we fight against God and set with all enmity against divine things The more knowledge without grace the greater opposition to Christ The learned men very often have been the Patriarchs of all heresies They brought in a Stoieum Platonicum Dialecticum Christianismum as Tertullian speaketh They brought in a Platonical an Aristotolical Christianity Insomuch that Religion hath suffered farre more from unsound learning then ignorance though indeed sanctified learning hath been greatly instrumental to propagate the Kingdome of Christ Lastly The mind is polluted and weakned by original sinne even in the knowledge of natural things Insomuch that there is little or nothing known certainly by us Our knowledge cometh in by the senses and they as Philo alludeth like Lot's children make their father drunk they hinder us of true knowledge The Academici thought nothing was known certainly in natural things And Cerda on Tertullian makes Lactantius and Arnobius to incline to that opinion Certainly our knowledge in natural things is very weak and confused The Devil indeed though he hath lost all spiritual knowledge yea and as some say is wounded much in his natural abilities yet still he retaineth much knowledge called therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but man hath a body that doth much clogg and presse down his soul and hence his ignorance is greater Thus we have in a short Table represented the manifold pollution upon mans understanding by original sinne more particulars happily might have been instanced but these may suffice to make us astonished and amazed at our selves Oh how incurable art thou when thy mind is thus defiled that is the watchman in thy soul to keep off all sinne and if the watchman be blind how hopeless is it It 's this that makes such an obstruction in conversion which is wrought first upon the mind while therefore that ignorance that folly that unbelief reigneth there no Ministry no Preaching doth any good Oh that thou didst know thy ignorance what a beast thou art How foolish and destitute of all true wisdom How quickly then wouldst thou spread out thy arms to receive Christ in the fulnesse of his Offices Yea it 's the corruption on your minds that makes you not able to understand even this Sermon Oh then be as those blind men crying and praying Lord that we might receive our sight CHAP. II. Of Original Sinne polluting the Conscience Setting forth the Defilement of Conscience as it is quiet stupid and senslesse And also when it is troubled and awakened SECT I. TIT. 1. 15. But even their mind and conscience is desiled HItherto we have been discovering original sinne as seated in the understanding the Metropolis as it were of the soul We now proceed to manifest it as polluting the Conscience of every man by nature and certainly this is more lamentable and dreadfull then the former For if the understanding be amongst the other powers of the soul as gold amongst other metals conscience is the pearl or diamond in that gold If the understanding be the eye of the soul conscience is the apple of the eye who would not think that our conscience like Job's messenger had escaped in the fall of Adam bringing us tidings of all the spiritual loss we had thereby only that was not hurt but this Text will inform us That from the head to the sole of the feet as it were there was no place free but that we are totum vnlnus so many Lazarus's not one place without these spiritual ulcers For the understanding of the Text we may take notice that Titus exercising his ministerial office now at Crete whether as a setled officer and Metropolitan which some highly contend for or rather as a temporary and
prophane man see whether they will bear the Touchstone or no Doth thy conscience tell thee such wayes are lawfull Art thou out of faith thus perswaded to do Look over all thy thoughts all thy words thy actions and weigh them in the balance of the Sanctuary See whether they be chaff or wheat Judge them before God cometh to judge them As our Actions so our Persons and the frame and constitution of our souls and here conscience is more unable to do its work then in the former For actions at least many of them may be condemned by the light of nature but when thou comest to search thy heart to judge that here is much heavenly skill and prudence required Did the hypocrite judge himself Did the civil pharisaical man rightly judge himself what a mighty change would you quickly see on those who now blesse themselves in their good condition Had Judas judged himself Did hypocrites judge themselves Oh the amazement and astonishment they would be in to see themselves so soul and rotten in the bottom when they were perswaded all had been well and happy with them Let conscience therefore set up her tribunal in thy heart often call thy self before thy self thy guilty sell before thy condemning self thy sinfull self before thy judging self for by reason of conscience a man cometh to have two selves God hath placed it in man as an Umpire or an Arbitrator to judge the matter impartially between God and thy own soul so that it may say that which Christ denied of himself God hath made me a Judge and a divider to give to man what belongs to him to God what belongs to God but conscience being polluted is not able to discharge this office Hence it is that this Court ceaseth conscience doth not keep any Assize at all There is no judgement executed within this spiritual society Therefore let us groan under the weight of original sinne in this respect also Fifthly Herein conscience is greatly defiled by original sinne That it is afraid of light it is not willing to come to the Word to be convinced but desireth rather to be in darkness that so a man may sinne the more quietly and never be disquieted John 3. 19. Christ saith This is the condemnation that light is come into the World and men love darknesse rather then light As it is with the wicked man He hateth the light as our Saviour John 3. 20. because his works are evil Truly thus it is conscience being naught and rotten therefore it is unwilling to be brought to the light Hence John 16. 7. It is the work of Gods spirit to convince the world of sinne but this is that the natural conscience cannot abide it is unwilling to be searched and tried to be ransacked This is the reason why men are most pleased with a formal drousie flattering Ministry they rage at that which is powerfull particular heart-searching preaching They do not love conscience should be touched upon to have that say Thou arr the man and all is because conscience is afraid of any light or conviction to come upon it for if that be enlightned then thou canst not with that delight and security commit thy sinnes as thou wouldst do Conscience then would belike Michaiah to Ahab Thou wilt not abide it because it alwayes prophesieth evil to thee and therefore this one thing may discover the vilenesse of every natural mans conscience in that it desireth to be in the dark and that which the Church saith to Christ Awake not my Beloved till he please They say to their conscience Let not that be awakened it will take away my comfort it will make me despair and thus because they wilfully keep a veil over their conscience it is no wonder if they die in their sins Sixthly Herein conscience is naturally defiled That it is subject to many multiforme shapes and disguises it doth appear under so many vizours that it is hard to know when it is conscience or when it is something else farre enough from conscience yet such is the guile and hypocrisie herein that a man doth easily flatter himself with the name of conscience when indeed it is corruption in him It is good to discover that which is a counterfeit conscience that which appeareth to be Samuel and in Samuel's cloaths but is indeed a Devil SECT V. A Discovery of a counterfeit Conscience FIrst It may not be conscientia but cupiditas not conscience but even a sinfull lust may put thee upon many things yet thou flatterest thy self with the scared title of conscience saying it 's thy conscience when if thou didst examine thy self it would appear to be some corruption A sad mistake and delusion it is to have conscience and so God himself abused but yet it is very often so We see it in Saul when he sacrificed and so was guilty of rebellion against God yet he pretended conscience that he had done well and all was to serve God thereby Absolom when he was contriving that unnatural rebellion against his Father he pretendeth a vow he had made and so he must out of conscience perform that Judas when he repined at the ointment poured out on Christs body pretended conscience and charity but it was lust and covetousnesse moved him Oh then take heed of treachery herein lest thou pretending conscience it appear to be thy lust only Secondly It may be thy Fancy and Imagination which perswadeth thee and not thy conscience man consisting of a body as well as a soul his imagination and phantasie hath great influence upon him especially when the body may be distempered as you see in melancholly persons when humbled for sinnes and greatly afflicted it is hard to discern when it is their fancy and when it is conscience that worketh in them It is true the prophasie ones of the world they judge all the trouble and wounds of conscience for sinne to be nothing but melancholly and a meer fancy because they never found the word of God kindly working upon them therefore they think there is no such thing in the world as a wounded spirit but such will one day find that troubles of conscience are more then melancholly that it is a worme alwayes gnawing yea that this is indeed hell for it is because of a tormented conscience that hell is so terrible yet though this be so it cannot be denied but that sometimes in humbled persons there may be conscience and melacholly working together for the Devil he loveth to move in troubled waters and melancholly is called Balneum Diaboli but this may be cured and removed by medicinal helps whereas conscience is only pacified and quieted by the blood of Christ Thirdly Custome education and prepossessed principles these may work upon a man as if they were conscience Many men are affected in religious things not out of any conscience but meerly by custome They have been used to such things brought up in such a way of serving of
desired to number the people though Joab withstood it 2 Sam. 24. which might exceedingly have shamed David that a meer mortal man should see that sinfullness which he did not yet he will proceed and the people are numbered but assoon as David had done it then his heare smote him when it was done it smote him not while it was a doing the nine moneths were spent in numbring of the people Why not before then it had prevented the deaths of many thousands But thus it is conscience will not seasonably and opportunely bear witness against sinne Consider then the deceitfullness and falseness of thy conscience herein all the while thou art contriving sinne purposing yea and acting of sinne nothing doth trouble thee but at last when sinne is committed then it ariseth with horror and terror And do we not see this constant pollution of conscience in most dying persons when summoned by God and arraigned by death when the sentence of death is upon them Then their conscience flyeth in their faces taketh them by the throat oh send for the Minister let him pray for me let all that come to me pray for me Thus conscience is stirring now oh but how much better were it if in thy health time if in thy strength and power then conscience had been operative To have heard thee then cry out oh my sinnes oh I am wounded at the heart oh pray for me then there had been better grounds to hope thy conscience was awakened upon true and enduring considerations such as would continue alwaies living and dying whereas such are but sick-suddain fits of conscience and commonly turn into greater hardness of heart and obstinancy afterwards Secondly Conscience troubled doth naturally discover its pollution By the slavish servile and tormenting feares which do accompany it So that whereas the proper work of conscience is By Scripture-light to direct to Christ so that the troubles thereof should be like the Angels troubling of the pool of Bethesda and then immediately to communicate healing Now it is the clean contrary These wounds do fester and corrode more The conscience by feeling guilt runneth into more guilt so that whereas we would think and say Now there are hopes now conscience stirreth now he begins to feel his sinnes we see often the contrary an obortive or a monstrous birth after such travailles of the soul and wherein doth it manifest it self more then by tormenting teares about God So that if it were possible the conscience troubled would make a man runne from the presence and sight of God never to be seen by him Thus you see it was with Adam when he had sinned his conscience was awakened he knew what he had done and therefore was afraid at Gods voice and runne to hide himself such a slavish servile temper doth follow the conscience when wounded for sinne Now all such tormenting feares are so many manifest reproaches unto the goodness of God and his mercy revealed The hard thoughts the accusing imaginations that there is no hope for thee that thy sinnes are greater then thou canst bear or that God will forgive these dishonour the goodness of God these oppose his grace and mercy which he intendeth to exalt in the pardon of sinne Insomuch that the Atheist who denieth the Essence of God is in this respect less hainous then thou who deniest the good Essence of God He denieth his natural goodness thou his moral goodness as it were Is not the great scope of God in the Word to advance this attribute of his mercy especially in Christ he hath made it so illustrious and amiable that it may ravish the heart of a poor humbled sinner but a slavish conscience about sinne rob God of this glory So that although it may be the Spirit of God by the Word that convinceth thee of thy sinne and affecteth thy conscience yet the slavishness and servility of it that is the rust and moth which breedeth in thy own nature that is not of Gods Spirit Thirdly The troubled conscience discovereth its natural pollution By the proneness and readiness in it to receive all the impressions and impulses of the Devil That as in the secure conscience the Devil kept all quiet and would by no means molest So on the contrary in the troubled consience there be endeavours to heighten the trouble to increase the flame and he that before tempted thee to presumption that God was ready to pardon that sinne would easily be forgiven now he useth contrary engines provoketh to despair represents God as severe and one who will never forgive such trangressions that there is no hope for him that he is shut out of the Ark and so must necessarily perish Thus you see he wrought upon the troubled conscience of Judas and of Cain one goeth trembling up and down and cannot cast off the terrors and horrors which were upon him The other is so greatly tormented with anguish of soul that he hangeth himself In what whirlepooles of despair In what self-murders and other sad events hath a troubled conscience agitated and moved by the Devil cast many into Now all this ariseth because the wounded conscience being not as yet regenerated doth hearken more unto the Devil then unto Gods Spirit The Spirit of God through the Word of the Gospel speaks peace to the broken in heart offereth oil to be poured into such wounds holdeth out the scepter of grace but the troubled conscience heareth not this believeth not this but what the Devil that soul-murderer and Prince of darkness doth suggest and dart into the thoughts that is received and followed Hence it is that so many have been under troubles of conscience under terrors of spirit for sinnes for a season but all this pain in travel was only to bring forth wind and emptiness all hath either ended in tragical and unbelieving actions or in a bold and more hardened obstinacy and the great cause of this hath been the Devils moving in these troubled waters he hath presently interposed to marre this vessel while upon the wheel Know then that when thy conscience is awakened and grieved then is the Devil very busie then he tempteth he suggesteth but keep close to the Word see what the Spirit of God calleth upon thee to do get out of the crowd of those Satanical injections and compose thy self in a ferene and quiet manner to receive the commands of God in his Word for the Spirit of God that calleth to believe to come in and make peace with God but the Devil he presseth a final departure from God Fourthly The troubled conscience is internally polluted By that ignorance and incapacity in knowing of what is the true christian-liberty purchased by Christ I speak not as yet of that main and chief liberty which is freedome from the curse of the law through the bloud of Christ but in many doctrinal and practical things The Apostle Rom. 14. speaketh much of the weak conscience which hath not attained to
remember then they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hence they say that sometimes a man thinketh he remembreth when he doth not yea he cannot tell whether he remembreth such a thing or no because say they the Phantasma is thus absolutely presented and not as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Even as a man may look upon a picture either absolutely as having such lineaments and colour or relatively as an Image whereby we come to remember such an one But these Philosophical notions about Phantasmata and Species are so obscure that it is better with Austin to acknowledge our ignorance of this noble and admirable power in the soul whereby it doth remember things whatsoever it be though given us as an admirable and usefull gift yet now it is grosly polluted and is the conserver of all evil and vanity SECT VII Demonstrations of the Pollution of the Memory THat the memory is thus polluted will appear 1. By several discoveries thereof And 2. By the particulars wherein In the former way herein we have a full demonstration of the depraved nature of our memory In that we need the Spirit of God to sanctifie and help it So that one work or office of the Spirit of God is to be a remembrancer unto us about holy things It 's the gift of Gods Spirit to give thee a good memory to make thee able to remember holy things This is clearly and unquestionably affirmed John 14. 26. The comforter which is the holy Ghost I will send in my name and he will teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you Here we see the Spirit of God hath a twofold office or work to do 1. To teach us holy things We are blind and unbelieving not knowing spiritual objects till Gods Spirit doth teach us But this is not all suppose we be taught and instructed is all done then Do we need the Spirit of God no more Yea. Therefore 2. The Spirit of God putteth it self forth in a further work which is to bring the things thus taught to our remembrance As then the mind in respect of understanding and knowing cannot do any thing about what is spiritual without the Spirit of God so neither can the mind about remembring Certainly if the memory of it self could do these things the Spirit of God would be in vain If the Moon and Starres could give so much light as to make a day the Sun would be in vain Hence the children of God do evidently find and feel the work of Gods Spirit upon their memories as well as their understandings for in their temptations how ready to be overwhelmed how ready to be swallowed up with such thoughts and then the Spirit of God doth seasonably re-mind the soul of such Promises of such comfortable Arguments So also upon the temptation to any sinne the Spirit of God doth interpose and prevent it by making them to remember such a threatning such a place of Scripture and this stoppeth them from the evil they were ready to do for they are the Disciples themselves though sanctified and made so eminent to whom this Spirit of remembrancing is promised as usefull and necessary If then the Spirits presence and assistance be thus necessary even to a regenerate mans memory this argueth the natural defilement and impotency of it to any good thing for where nature is able there the Spirit of God is not necessarily required A second Discovery of the pollution of the memory may be from the end of the Scripture why God would have it written so as to be a perpetual monument to his Church Among other ends this is one to be a memorial to us to put us in continual mind of the duties required of us Thus the Apostle Peter indeavoureth to make believers alwaies remembring of the Gospel by those Epistles he did write to them It is true the Orthodox do justly refuse that of Bellarmine who will make the Scripture to be onely utile communitorium as if that were the chief end why the Scriptures were written viz. to serve for our memory only and not to be a rule of our faith for he himself doth acknowledge it to be a partial rule But the principal and chief end why the Scriptures are delivered to the Church is to be a Canon and Rule to it so that the Church must not believe worship or live otherwise then the Scripture commands This is not a partial but a total Rule neither may any thing be added to it or detracted from it But yet we grant also That the Scripture may have other secondary and subservient ends whereof this is not the meanest to be usefull to our memory And certainly one great cause of so much evil committed by thee is forgetfulnesse of the Scripture The Apostle James Chap. 1. 25. doth notably instance to this purpose for he compareth a forgetfull hearer of the Word to one that looketh in the glasse and going away straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was If therefore we did abide and continue looking in this glasse take notice what we are by the direction of the Word how quickly would we reform He that doth make a practical use of remembring the Scripture so as to regulate and order his life accordingly can never miscarry To have the word of God in thy memory against such and such a temptation would prevent all the evil thou fallest into John 15. 20. when our Saviour would encourage his Disciples against the hatred of the world he saith Remember the Word that I said unto you the servant is not greater then his master Remember this truth and that will make thee suffer more willingly So John 16 4. These things have I told you that when the time shall come ye may remember that I told you of them To remember Scripture in the season to have the Word of God in thy mind when a temptation like Joseph's Mistress is soliciting of thee this will cause that no deadly thing shall hurt thee for the word of God is a two edged sword it 's an hammer it 's fire it 's the sword of the Spirit by it both the Devil and all temptations are subdued Christ overcame the Devil by Scripture Now if that be not in thy memory then it cannot be any waies serviceable to thee in the time of need Exercise your memories therefore in the Scripture and that not for memories sake much lesse for ostentation to shew what a good memory you have above others but for a practical and holy use Treasure up such a place against thy drunkennesse thy whoredoms Treasure up such a place against pride earthlinesse and covetous desires What a precious and excellent memory is that which is like a mine of gold or an Apothecaries shop that can from the Scripture presently fetch what Antidotes against sinne or cordials to revive that he pleaseth And truly our memory should be filled up only with Scripture considerations
many now are led aside with Who would not desire to live the lives and die the deaths of such holy gracious men Thirdly Another object of our memory commended in Scripture is The former works of Gods Spirit which happily have been upon us but we have decayed and revolted This were alone necessary for many a man and especially in these times Remember what love thou didst once bear to the Ordinances Remember what delight and sweetness thou didst once find in them but now thou hast cast them off Thus the Apostle remindeth the Galatians Gal. 4. 15. Where is the blessedness you once spake of Once they did so rejoyce in Paul's Ministry accounted it a blessing of an eminent nature but now began to slight it There are also many who have formerly been zealous and active for good things they manifested their good desires about the things of God to all the world but now they are become like so many clods of earth they have forsaken the better part which with Mary once they did chuse and are either turned dissolute or earthly crawling upon the ground like so many worms Thus these flourishing trees are quite withered having neither fruit or leaves Thus the Church of Ephesus guilty of partial Apostasie Revel 2. 5. is injoyned To remember from whence she is fallen and this counsel is to be given to many persons Remember it was otherwise with thee once Remember it was not so with thee as it is now The time hath been thy heart hath been much affected with the word of God preached The time hath been thou hadst family-duties and daredst not to neglect the family-worship of God But now What is become of all this Religion You that began in the Spirit do you not end in the flesh Especially your memories are often to be stirred up and quickned who have been under many fears and dangers who have been at the point of death Oh what thoughts what resolutions have you made against sinne What bitter thoughts and apprehensions had you about your former evil wayes But alas how quickly are all those agonies of soul forgotten In this your memories are very much polluted that all your vows all your promises to God all your fears and terrors are forgotten Thou that art now imbracing of thy lusts entertaining thy Dalilah's again Oh remember what thou didst think of these things when thou didst look upon thy self as a dying man Oh remember what woes and wounds were upon conscience What confident expressions if ever God did recover thee again if ever thou wert delivered again all the world should see thy repentance and Reformation These things thou shouldest remember and shame thy selfe yea be confounded and never able to open thy mouth to excuse thy self Fourthly The Scripture doth propound to our memory as a special object never to slip out of it The consideration of our later end the day of death the day of Judgement these things are to be constantly in our memory The neglect of this is made by the Prophet Jeremiah a bitter instance in his Lamentations concerning the people of Israel Lam. 1. 9. She remembred not her later end therefore she came down wonderfully Here the forgetting of her later end is made the cause of all those strange and wonderfull judgements which come upon them Thus Isa 47. 7. Babylon is there arraigned for her pride and arrogancy And she did not lay the judgements of God to heart neither did she remember the later end of it And how pathetically is Gods desire expressed Deut. 32 29. Oh that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their later end Here you see the summe of all godliness is expressed in considering our later end No wonder then if men who forget their death and the day of Judgement be violently carried on to all excess of riot For what should stop or stay them in their paths Whereas didst thou remember as Solomon adviseth his young man That for all this thou must die thou must be brought to judgement This would bind him as it were hand and foot Quicken then up thy memory whatsoever thou forgettest do not forget that thou art a mortal dying man that the day of judgement is coming upon thee which thou canst not avoid The memory of this would make thee flie from every enticing sinne as Joseph did from his mistress Lastly The Scripture requireth That we should remember the desolation and troubles that are upon others especially the Church of God So that although it be never so well with us though God give us our hearts desire yet the remembrance of the afflictions and straits of others should make us mourn and pray for them Thus Col. 4. 18. Paul calleth upon them to remember his bonds So Heb. 13. 3. Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them What an hard and great duty is this yet if thou art not a dead member in the body if spiritual life be in thee thou wilt remember the sad condition the afflicted estate of many of Gods children when thou enjoyest all thy soul longeth for It was thus with good Nehemiah he was in the Princes Palaces he wanted nothing for his own advantage yet he mourned and was sad from day to day because he remembred how it was with Jerusalem See how impossible a thing almost David maketh it to forget Jerusalem Psal 137. 5. If I forget thee O Jerusalem let my right hand forget her cunning If I remember thee not let my tongue cleave to the rooff of my mouth If I preferre not Jerusalem above my chief joy here is a gracious worthy spirit see what David resolveth shall be in his memory more then the chiefest good in this world he will forget his own friends his own joyes yea his own self sooner then the Churches good now may not even a godly man bewail his forgetfullness herein Thou mindest thy own estate thy own family seekest thy own self but how little is thy memory about the affaires of the Church Thou dost not remember how many afflicted Joseph's how many impoverished Lazar's there may be in the Church of God how many exiles and banished persons how many desirous to take up the crums that fall from thy table Did we remember the afflictions and straights of others it would put us more upon prayer for them and it would also make us walk more thankfully and humbly for our mercies then we do And thus you see though the memory be a vast treasure though it hath infinite recesses and capacious receptacles yet the Scripture hath prescribed matter enough to fill every corner as it were and if the memory were thus frighted if it were such a good store-house how happy would it be whereas naturally it 's like a cage of unclean birds and a den of thieves I proceed therefore to shew as it was to Ezekiel about the Jewes still more abomination in this memory of ours SECT X. The
for fifteen hundred yeares It is Bellarmine that saith so but our Divines had detected this falshood long before Jansenius Howsoever Austin may use the word yet the Scripture expresseth that which we call the will by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A second word to express liberty is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 liberty yet this is not so much applied to the liberty of the will as to the liberty of a man as here in the Text the sonne shall make you free your persons not your wils but because there is an universal bondage in all the powers of the soul to sinne blindness in the mind contumacy in the will for Quid est libertas sine gratiâ nisi contumacia What is liberty in the will without grace but contumacy against God and a wilfull delight in evil wayes Inordinacy in the affections therefore the person is said to be made free not but that the will is principally included in this only the will is not all that is made free 2 Cor 3. 17 where the spirit of the Lord is thereby is liberty It 's from the Spirit of God we obtain liberty from sinne and also from servile slavish feares The Jesuites would have this liberty nothing to the purpose in the controversie de libero arbirio for say they this is a spiritual mistical liberty libertas à peccate and they are treating of libertas naturae which they make to consist in an indifferency to good or evil but by their favour this is a proper liberty and it is this that the Pelagians did most controvert about and still the proper dispute between the orthodox and their adversaries is in this particular Whether there be any liberty or freedome in a mans will without grace to shake off the deminion of sinne so that they keep most properly to the state of the question who are diligent in the opening of the nature of this liberty Another word which the Scripture useth to express this free-will by is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Pet. 5. 2 Phil. 1. 4 and this is very proper and full when we do a thing not by constraint or by a natural necessity then we do it freely therein we shew our liberty so that liberty doth oppose coaction and natural necessity It is impossible the will should in its immediate elicite acts be compelled for then it should be voluntas and noluntas at the same time then velle would be nolle which is an high contradiction Therefore liberty doth necessarly oppose constraint but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth also oppose a natural necessity I say a natural necessity for there are other necessities that liberty doth consist with yea and the more necessary the more free as in time is to be shewed Thus though the stone hath an inclination to descend downwards yet because the stones motion is from a natural necessary principle therefore it is not free Beasts likewise though they exceed the inanimate creatures yet they do not agere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 voluntarily They do act spontaneously but not voluntary because a natural principle of sence doth determine them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 indeed Heb. 10. 26 is translated wilfully If we sinne wilfully after we have known the truth but there it signifieth an high degree of the obstinacy of the will and a confirmation in evil against great light and knowledge but commonly it signifieth doing a thing so as not to be constrained to it Platonical Philosophers call free-will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 too proud a word to be given to a creature and therefore the ancient Greek Fathers being many of them Platonists did greatly obscure the glory of grace by receiving Platonical words of which this is one Indeed they gave to God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is too much for a creature which hath a necessity of subordination to God and dependency on him The Stoicks they express free-will by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which is in our own power The Aristotelians express it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the Scripture expression likewise Though the Scripture and Aristotelians differ as much as light and darkness about the nature of liberty As the Ancients by following Platonical Philosophy so the Neotericks especially the Jesuites by following Aristotle have greatly prejudiced the Doctrine of free-grace setting up free-will in the room thereof There is one expression more and the Scripture hath it but once which is the most emphatical in describing of this liberty and that is 1 Cor. 7. 37. Having power over a mans own will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for liberty lieth in some kinds of some dominion to have our own will hence in liberty we may conceive something Negative and something Positive Negative and that is not to be compelled not to be constrained not to be inslaved Positive and that is to have some power and dominion over the actions of our will as the Apostle instanceth in him who had decreed to keep his virgin from marriage This man is said to have power over his own will By these Scripture words we may come to understand in a great measure what liberty and freedome of will is ¶ 5. Some Observations concerning the Promoters of the Doctrine of Free-Will how Unpleasing the contrary Doctrine is to flesh and blood with some advice about it SEcondly take notice That it is the great purpose and design of some to go contrary to the plain intent of the Scripture For many in all ages of the Church have with all their learning and parts endeavoured to set up this Idol of Free-will whereas the great drift of the Scripture is to advance and set up the free grace and free gift of God The Apostles they write to debase man and to exalt the grace of God Erronious persons they dispute and write to exalt the will of man and to take off from the grace of God What a loud trumpet is Paul in his Epistles to sound forth the praises of free grace not only free grace in justification but free grace also in sanctification It 's the grace of God that doth not only pardon the guilt of sinne but conquer the power of it Consider then whether it be better to set up Dagon or the Ark the free-will of man or the free gift and grace of God Truly it is a very uncomfortable task to be disputing against that grace which yet we must wholly rely upon when we come to die It is one thing what men write while they are in health what cobweb-distinctions they please themselves with in their voluminous writings and another thing when they are in the agonies of death and are to appear at the tribunal of a righteous God It was that which that famous Champion for the grace of God Bradwardine comforted himself with when he undertook the cause of God against Pelagians That he could pray for the grace of God to help him
in his undertakings to be present with him and to direct him whereas his adversaries could not do so And indeed how can an Arminian or a Pelagian with any of those Naturists cordially pray for the grace of God to assist them while they write against grace and patronize free-will Let them sacrifice to their own nets to their own parts and abilities It 's from their will that grace is efficacious This arrogancy is like that of the Heathens whose saying was Ignavis opus est auxilio Dei It is only the sluggish that need the help of God Yea Tully argueth the case That we are not beholding to God for our vertue therefore saith he our ancestors have praised the gods for their success and outward advantages but never for their vertues Happily it is awe and reverence that men bear to the Christian Religion that keepeth them from such blasphemous expressions yet even in Christian Writers pleading for the power of nature instances might be given of proud and swelling expressions Thirdly It is good to observe That even in all those whose end avour hath been to advance the free-will of a man to what is truly good there hath appeared some guiltiness as it were in them therefore they have often changed if not their minds yet their words thus they have removed from the mountaines to the valleys The Pelagians did incrustate their opinions often and the Papists speak sometimes so plausibly that you would think Bellarmine and Calvin did imbrace each other Pelagius did at last come to use the word grace yea did anathematize such as should not hold the grace of God requisite to every good act by which crafty guiles he did deceive the Eastern Bishops and still in the serpents-skin do the Jesuites and Arminians appear They think it the greatest calumny that can be cast upon them to say they are against the grace of God hence they use the word of grace often as well as of free-will but all this ariseth from guilt they do use the word grace ad frangendam invidiam to decline envy to insinuate more into the hearts of credulous hearers so that men sacrilegiously advance the will of man ' make man to have the greatest praise in converting himself in saving himself and whereas Paul said Not I but the grace of God with me They will on the contrary affirm Not the grace of God but I yet for all this they would be thought to advance the grace of Christ but that is a true rule of Austins Gratia non est gratia ullo modo nisi sit gratuita omni modo Grace is not grace any way unless it be free and graâ—uitous every way Therefore the inconstancy the changes and shifts all such are put to who plead for this liberty of the will argue they are not in the Truth but like thieves do hate the light and change their garments often that they may not be discovered They are afraid of the Scripture and would more gladly have the controversie ended by Aristotle then by Paul so that this Pelagian error hath had Cain's curse as it were upon it a trembling lest every place of Scripture it does meet with should kill it Fourthly To maintain the slavery of the will to sinne and to deny any liberty to that which is holy and godly is a truth so unpleasing to flesh and blood doth so reproach as it 's thought mankind that it hath alwayes in the Church of God by some heretical persons or others been spoken against It hath been judged very scandalous and offensive as that which did lay the axe to the root of all Religion and holiness But yet experience hath taught us that none have expressed so much holiness in their lives as those who have had this truth of Christs grace incorporated into them and on the other side the Pelagian Doctrine hath left upon mens spirits like leaven à cornu tumorem a sowreness and bitterness as also a tumor and vaunting confidence in themselves So that if the denying of free-will and exalting the grace of God be so prophane an opinion in its genius and inclination as some calumniate it 's a miracle that from such a poisoned fountain such sweet streames should flow and from such thornes so pleasant grapes should grow But the reason of this offence to flesh and blood is the self-love and self-fullness that is in every man by nature spiritual pride and self-confidence do reign in all men by nature hence it is that though they be naked yet they are not ashamed of it which in Adam while innocent did come from his integrity but in corrupt man from his senslesness and stupidity No wonder then if this Doctrine of grace be not justified cordially and as it ought to be but by the sonnes of grace who have felt the power and efficacy of it upon their hearts who have experimentally found the grace of God freeing their will from all that bondage it was in to sinne and Sataen Fifthly From this it is that a gracious heart is required to study this point as well as a learned head Experience of regeneration of being made a new creature of the conflict between the flesh and the spirit will excellently direct in this controversie I wonder not to see a man though come out of Egypt loaden with Egyptian gold to make a molten-calf for a god and to worship it men of great learning and it may be of great external civility as they say of Pelagius if not humbled by the grace of God and throughlyu emptied of themselves how can they stoop and yeeld all up to Christ It was therefore Austin's wish That the Pelagians would turne their disputations into prayers for it is the heart as well as the head that is usefull in this point Though all Divinity be practical and practice is the end of knowledge yea in Scripture language Tantum scimus quantum operamur we are said to know no more then we do yet some truths have a more immediate influence into practice then others whereas some opinions do stand in the Court as it were others enter into the holiest of holiest Now this truth about the grace of God and free-will is practice practice as I may say what some do of the ultimate dictate of the understanding This truth lieth in the vitals of Religion and therefore the experience of all the godly is justly brought after Scripture arguments to confirme this great truth Therefore humble your selves more commune with your own hearts be much in prayer and self-emptiness and you will quickly find the light of this truth shining into your hearts Come and tast Come and see what you hear with your eares pray that God would grant you an experimental knowledge of grace and then you will quickly confess not unto your own free-will but to the free grace of God all praise and glory doth belong Sixthly This truth therefore being so contrary to flesh and blood It
practical and operative means whereby he doth communicate life unto us And lastly Therefore God doth use Commands Because this way is suitable to man who is a rational Agent For although the work of grace is more than meerly swasive it is efficacious and really changing the heart so that the Spirit of God doth farre more in converting of a sinner then the Devil doth in tempting to sinne yet God dealeth suitably to the nature of a man We are not like stocks and stones to whom it is ridiculous to preach there being not in them a passive capacity of receiving the worke of grace Hence it is that the Word is preached Miracles are wrought powerfull Arguments are used to draw off the heart So that grace doth worke Ethicophysically as some expresse it Commands then and Threatnings are used because grace is wrought in us after a rational manner in an attempered manner to our constitution The understanding being first wrought upon that so the will and affections may more readily give up themselves Thirdly If liberty be the same with voluntariness and no more as many learned men do contend making voluntas and liberum arbitrium all one as that which is opposed to coaction and natural necessity yea if we adde Aurtelus his opinion to this that libertas was nothing but complacentia liberty is the complacency and delight of the will in its object then in this sense if rightly understood a man hath no freedom to what is holy It is true indeed the learned to shew that grace in converting doth not destroy the liberty of the will viz. the natural liberty no more then the will it self Grace doth not compel the will or put an inherent natural necessity upon it for if there could be coaction the velle would be nolle which is a contradiction and if a natural necessity could be imposed upon it it would not be appetitus rationalis a rational appetite so that though grace in converting of man doth insuperably and invincibly change the will making it of unwilling willing so that there is a necessity not natural but of immutability and unchangeableness The will doth most certainly give it self up to the grace of God mollifying and fashioning of it for that purpose This Iron as it were is put into the fire and then it is made pliable to receive any form or impression yet the essential liberty is not destroyed For the Question about Free-will is not An sit but Quid possit And herein lieth the difficult knot in this whole point about grace and the will of man How to assert the irresistible as many call it but others reject that expression though the sense of those who use it is very sound and significant enough work of grace insuperably determining the will to that which is good and yet to be free from coaction or such a necessity as is destructive to liberty The Quomodo How these two are to be reconciled is that which in all ages hath exercised the most learned and judicious insomuch that some have advised to rest in it by faith as in a mystery above our understanding even as we doe in many other Doctrines to be believed by us But I am not to ascend this mountain at this time This is enough for our purpose to shew That if liberty be said to consist in willing a thing freely from coaction and necessity even in this respect we have not thus farre liberty to good because it is God that worketh in us to will Indeed when we doe will we are not compelled by the Grace of God onely we cannot will till the Grace of God enable us thereto It is not of him that willeth but of God that sheweth mercy Neither are we born of the will of man but of God It is grace then onely that maketh us to will the good things tendered to us though the will in eliciting of this is not compelled but doth it freely yea grace giveth this freedome to it so that grace doth not destroy but give liberty And therefore Austin of old urged That they denied Liberum arbitrium who would not have it Liberatum They cannot hold free-will in a true sense that doe not hold free and efficacious grace which giveth the will all the strength it hath to what is good Thus liberty if it be the same with willingness we have it not of our selves till the grace of God bestow it upon us Fourthly If liberty consist in having dominion and power over our actions then also the will cannot be said to be free as to doe holy things For although the will when it doth will is the subordinate cause under God of its own action and as a cause so also may be said to have dominion over it yet because the actual willing of what is good doth not arise or exist by the strength of the will but by the grace of God therefore it is that in respect of good things the will cannot be said to have the dominion over them This Definition of liberty viz. to have a dominion over our own actions is by Jansenius asserted to be the true and proper meaning of Augustine that his judgement is then the will is said to be free when it hath dominion and power over what it doth and if so no wonder then the will be so often said to be captivated and enslaved that it hath no freedom to what is holy For what power can the will have over holy actions when it is corrupted and defiled that no holy thought or holy motion is under the power of it It was Ambrose his complaint of old That Cor nostrum non est in nostrâ potestate Our heart is not in our power but sinnefull and evil workings of soul rise up in us which we are no wayes able to extinguish Fifthly If liberty be as Anselme of old defined it to which some Neotericks doe adhere viz Facultas servandi rectitudinem propter rectitudinem ipsam That it is a power to observe that which is right for righteousnesse sake then this doth evidently proclaime That man hath no Free-will for to observe that which is holy and righteous for holinesse sake which must needs argue a man regenerated and borne again And indeed liberty in this sense is nothing but the Image of God repaired in a man and so is no more then to be like God himself And now that every man by nature hath lost this Image of God is so plain that the experience of every man concerning his distance from God may fully confirme it If to this be added Aquinas his Description That it is Vis electiva mediorum servato ordine ad finem A power to chuse means with a due order and respect to the end yet still freedome in the will to what is good cannot be found For as saith he The understanding which is an apprehensive faculty hath its simple and bare apprehension of a thing viz. of the first principles And
then it hath another act which is to Reason and Discourse and that is properly of Conclusions to be deduced from those principles So what principles are in respect of conclusions to the Understanding the same the end is in respect of the means to the will And therefore as the understanding doth necessarily erre when it doth not discourse suitably to the first principles So the will which is the appetitive part of a man must necessarily sinne when it doth not chuse means with a due order to the end Now God being the chief end of all our actions how impossible is it for the will corrupted as it is to will riches health learning or any creature in reference to God as the end Lastly If liberty consist as Gibieuf would have it in an amplitude of spirit and independency upon the creature so that it is above every created object with an eminent magnanimity of spirit adhering to God alone and resting in him as the chiefest good then it is plain also That by nature the will of man is utterly impotent to this thing for the love of the creature is so predominant that we live and doe all things in reference to that So that whereas grace maketh us to doe all things of God and through God and to God Now the creature doth so reigne in our hearts that we move only in all the workings of our soul to it Aristotle observeth That some are slaves by nature and such have no reason of their owne to guide them that doe Sentire rationem magìs quà m habere Feele Reason rather then make use of it And if we speak in a spiritual sense we are all thus borne slaves and vassals not being able to put forth the actings of true and right reason but do follow the lusts of our own soul and are taken captive by the Devil at his will Thus we have at large discovered the bonds and chaines of sinne our wils are fastened in Oh that in the reading of this God would breathe into the souls of such wretched sinners strong desires and ardent groans to be redeemed from this thraldome Shall the ungodly say Psal 2. concerning Christ Let us break his bonds when yet they are bonds of love which are for our eternal happiness And wilt not thou rather cry out concerning these bonds and these yokes which are for thy eternal damnation Let us break them and rend them asunder Doth not the senslesnesse and stupidity of men while they hear these things too sadly evidence the state of thraldom we are in to sinne CHAP. V. Of the Pollution of the Affections SECT I. This Text opened COL 3. 2. Set your Affections upon things above not on things on the earth THe exceeding great pollution of the Will by original sinne being largely discovered both in the acts of it as also in its state We now proceed to the Affections which are seated in the sensitive appetite of a man For as sense is a kind of imperfect understanding so the affections are a kind of an imperfect will and the defilement of these is so palpably and experimentally discerned that Heathens have complained of God the Author of Nature for implanting such things in us which are for the most part the cause of all our ruine and calamity Now it is not my intent to declare the depravation of every affection in a man for that would make the work to swell too big but I shall speak in the general of them instancing in particulars as occasion offereth The Scripture doth not speak of the several parts of the soul according to that Philosophical division as is generally received and therefore that which Philosophers call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 affections or passions as distinguished from the understanding and will that is most commonly called the heart and the soul Thus love fear hope and anger are attributed to the heart of a man It is true the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used in the New Testament three times where the word Affection is not barely intended but an horrible depravation of it even to unnatural uncleanness as Rom. 1. 26. God gave them up to vile affections and how unnatural they were is immediately subjoyned Col. 3. 5. The Apostle there reckoning up several sinnes to be mortified fornication uncleanness addeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some understand the same kind of uncleanness the Apostle mentioneth to the Romans So doing or that mutum percatum a sinne that they say Socrates was guilty of though so admired for his wisdome and morality Hence those that have given themselves up to this dreadfull pollution are called Pathici from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we render it inordinate affection in the general and therefore some do understand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here for those sinnes which arise from the irascible appetite and so take the word though generally spoken in an ill sense Even as the Stoicks held all passions and affections to be sinne and the affections which are placed in the concupiscible appetite the Apostle meaneth say they by the next expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 evil concupiscence If this be so as Grotius expounds it then we have here the Apostle speaking of affections according to philosophical notions but I will not determine this to be the meaning The last place is 1 Thess 4. 5. where the Apostle shewing God hath called us to holinesse he addeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not in the lust or affection of concupiscence Here it seemeth to be taken strictly for those lustfull affections which flow from the sinfull concupiscence in a man But if the Scripture doth use the word differently to Philosophers to be sure the thing it self is acknowledged as appeareth by my Text where we have a Command directing of us about the Object we are to place them upon and that is set down First Affirmatively and then Negatively The Directive Duty is in that expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Set not your affections we render it in the margin or mind so that the Greek word doth signifie the acts of the mind but not them onely it comprehendeth also the affectionate part of a man It includeth the mind and affections also because commonly the intense actings of the mind excite and stirre up proportionably the intense actions of the affections Therefore it 's sometimes translated savouring Matth. 16. 23. So Rom. 8. the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth not onely comprehend the mind but chiefly the affectionate workings of the flesh against the Spirit of God We shall treat of it as relating to the affections therefore we have the Object prescribed them they are to be upon things above heavenly things This implieth naturally they are placed other where then they should be upon earthly and sading objects The Serpents seed and so we are all by nature cannot but lick up the dust of the earth and live upon that So that there is for more emphasis added the Negative also
more predominant then the understanding It is with man the little world as the great world God made in this two great lights the Sunne and Moon one to rule in the day the other in the night Thus man hath two lights created in him which are to direct him in all his operations the Sunne that is the Understanding the Moon is like the Imagination which giveth a glimmering light and that onely in particular and corporeal things Now as it would be an horrible confusion in the world if the Moon should shut out the Sunne and take upon it to rule in the day time all the light the Moon hath let it be supposed it hath some of its own would not suffice to make a day Thus it is in man his fancy which hath not light enough to guide him in his actions to his true end yet that usurpeth upon the understanding and doth in effect command all Thus the inferiour light prevaileth over the superiour Oh what groaning should the new creature be in till it be delivered from this bondage See then to thy self and examine all things that passe through thy soul more narrowly and exactly It may be thy imagination is the cause of all thy Religion of all thy opinions It may be it is not faith but fancy It may be it is not conscience but imagination that instigateth thee Those expressions me thinks and I imagine so are not high enough or becoming those glorious actings of faith in the soul which the Apostle calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 11. 1. The substance of things hoped for Aristotle opposeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to those apparitions that are made in the air as the Rain-bow which hath no real subsistency and truly such are the conceits and apprehensions many have in Religion and Piety They are not of a solid true and well-grounded knowledge but are like meteors in the air Thus do their opinions flie up and down in their head We may observe it a very ordinary thing in controversies and polemical writings that both parties will often charge one another with their fancies and their imaginations that there is no such thing in Scripture or in reason but a figment in the brain Yea the Pelagians and Socinians call this very Doctrine of original sinne Austin's fancy as if it were an evil imagination to hold That the thoughts and imaginations of the heart are only evil and that continually Thus you see in what confusion we are in when sometimes the solid Doctrine of the Scripture is traduced for a meer imagination And again meer fancies applauded and earnestly contended for as sundamental pillars of Religion and Piety Seeing then our imaginations are so apt to get into the chair of the understanding and as Athaliah destroyed the seed royal that she might reign so fancy bolteth out all solid reasons and arguments that it alone may do all it behoveth us the more to watch over our hearts in this respect and to be sure they are the solid works of faith and not the fickle motions of the fancy that do guide thee and the rather because it is the perpetual custome of wicked and ungodly men to brand and stigmatize both the true faith and all solid piety with the reproach of a meer fancy Do not Papists Arminians Socinians and the like exclaim against the Protestant Doctrine as if it were but an Idol of Calvins and Luthers making when they condemned the blessed Martyrs to burn at the stake they concluded such suffered but for their fancies and their humours It being therefore the constant charge by all enemies to truth that it is not thy faith thou pleadest for thou sufferest for but thy meer fancy it behoveth thee to be the more diligent in Scripture knowledge and to pray that the Spirit of God may thereby quicken thee up to a found and sure faith Thus also it is in practicals Let a man set himself to the power of godliness walk strictly in opposition to the loosness and profaneness of the world Let his soul mourn for sinne and his heart grieve for his evil wayes what do carnal people presently say This is your fancy these are your melancholly conceits they judge it to be some distemper in your imagination that it is a kind of a madness Now that we may withstand such accusations it behoveth us to seek after and pray for such a thorough work of sanctification that we may be assured it is no more fancy then that we live or have our being that if to be godly if to be converted be a fancy onely then to be a man or to be a wicked man is only a fancy also Well though we must take heed of calling faith a fancy and the work of grace a melancholly conceit for that is a kind of blaspheming the holy Ghost yet experience doth evidence That many have not faith have not true piety but meer empty shadows and imaginations in Religion witness the Scepticism of many in these dayes who are of no faith and no Religion who change it often as they do their garments who have no rooting or immovable foundation but are as the water which receiveth every impression but retaineth none that are Reeds shaken with every wind and are clean contrary to Christ for they are not the same yesterday and to day and for ever Can you say this is the work of Gods Spirit Can we say this is the Scripture-truth No you read the Character of such who have true faith and that in a sanctified manner If it were possible to deceive the very elect Matth. 24. 24. Certainly the prevalency of the imagination above the understanding in religious things is one of the sore evils which original sinne hath brought upon all mankind SECT IX In the Imagination are conceived for the most part all Actual Impieties SEventhly This also doth greatly manifest the sinfulness of the Imagination That as in the affections so likewise in it are conceived for the most part all actual impieties The Imagination and the Affections joyned together are commonly that dunghill wherein these serpents lay their eggs yea sinne many times lieth a long while breeding in the imagination before it be brought forth into action yea many times it is never brought forth but the womb of sinne is also the tomb it lived and died in the imagination We may observe the Scripture attributing the greatest works of impiety to the imagination as the cause of it Psal 21. Why do the people imagine a vain thing All the opposition of wicked men and their carnal policy to overthrow the wayes of Christ flow from this imagining Thus Psal 38. 12. They imagine deceits all the day long Zech. 7. 10. All the injustice oppression and fraud that may be used to other men is attributed to this Let none of you imagine evil against his brother in his heart It is true this Imagination spoken of in the Text comprehends also acts of the mind
do phantasmes and imaginations move the understanding The Devil then though he hath no imperious efficacy over thy will yet because he can thus stirre and move thy imagination and thou being naturally destitute of grace canst not withstand these suggestions hence it is that any sinne in thy imagination though but in the outward works of the soul yet doth quickly lay hold on all and indeed by this meanes do arise those horrible delusions that are in many erronious wayes of Religion all is because their imaginations are corrupted yea how often are these diabolical illusions of the imagination taken for the gracious operations of Gods Spirit Divines give many excellent Rules how we may discern between those delusions of the imagination by Satan and the savourie workings of Gods Spirits in illumination and consolations It is not my purpose to enter on that Subject only bewail and humble thy self under this that the Devil hath such command over thy fancy that he can so quickly dart in like so much lightning so many unclean or blasphemous imaginations it is from hence that many have pretended to Enthusiasmes that regard dreames that they leave the Scripture and wholly attend to what they perceive and feel within them And thus much for the opening of this noisome dunghill also SECT XX. Some Corollaryes from the Premises NOw from the corruption which you have heard of all the parts of the soul both the rational and sensitive part of a man conjoyned together we may see the unspeakable misery of man in these particulars and oh that every auditor would smite upon his brest and say O Lord I am the man thus polluted O Lord all this poison and pollution lyeth here For First In having all the powers of the soul thus defiled both superior and inferior hereby man hath lost all liberty and is become a miserable slave and vassal to sinne and Satan For whereas man was made only to serve God and by love to cleave to him the creature is come in his room and thereby man is inslaved in his affections to these temporal things only so that we do very improperly say that a man is the Master or the Lord of such an estate of such an house for indeed he is a slave to them Fiunt servi dum domini esse desiderant as Austin while thou dost so earnestly desire to be master of such an estate thou art indeed made a servant to it but remember thou canst not serve God and the creature these are two contrary masters Secondly He hath by this pollution lost all true judgement to discern of things he doth not know what are the best things yea he doth grossely misjudge he prefereth earth before gold dross before pearles The natural man cannot discern spiritual things because he wants a spiritual eye he mistaketh about God he mis-judgeth about true blessedness he is deceived about the true nature of godliness so that he can no more judge of these things then a worm can of Angelical actions The Apostle speaketh fully to this 1 Cor. 2. 14 15. Thus we are become like children yea natural fools as to spiritual things when we are invited to this feast we pretend excuses when Christ is tendered to us we had rather keep our swine when exhorted to labour for everlasting bread and riches and an eternal crown of glory we had rather have our Barley-Corn then all these Thus we have lost all spiritual judgement and will not part with our bables though for an inheritance in heaven Thirdly A man being thus in his intellectuals and affectionate parts of his soul carried out only to these earthly things and from God hence is it that he is as it were made one with them we may say earth thou art not only in respect of thy body but also of thy soul for if the Apostle say 1 Cor. 6. 17 he that is joyned to the Lord is made one spirit may we not also say he that is joyned to sinne to creatures is made as it were the same with them Although saith Austin the mind when it inclineth to these bodily things is not made corpus a body yet by these appetites and desires quodammodo corporascit it doth as it were become bodily It is as if a mighty Prince should come from his throne of glory and wallow in the mire like a swine this is our state comparatively to that primitive happiness and holiness we are now no better then those lusts and those creatures that we do adhere unto Junge cor tuun aternitati Dei cum ille aeternus eris and again Si terram amas terra es Thou art in Gods account that which thy heart is set upon Oh then God cannot look upon thee as his primitive creature he seeth his image and superscription defaced and another brought in the stead thereof very loathsome and deformed Even as they that worshipt Idols are said to be like them to become as abominable yea and as sensless and as stupid as they are so it is in this case Fourthly From hence also ariseth that impossibility of loosing our selves from the creature to return again to God from wnâ—m we fell Had not the Lord shewed mercy to some of mankind none of them could ever have recovered out of their lost estate no more than the Devils can to that habitation which they forsook All these creatures are the bird-lime that now hinder the wings of the soul from flying to Heaven Oh that we could say The snare is broken and we are delivered Who will give me wings that I may flie as a Dove and my soul find rest with God! Yea as a man hath no power to break these bonds of sinne so neither hath be any desire for he is kept thus fast joyned to sinne by delight and by pleasure so that the more sinne and the creatures delight him the more strongly is he possessed Samson was as much under Dalilah's power though it was by his delight and consent as when under the Philistims by force and constraint So that the will and affections of man are hereby so glued to sin and the creature That nothing is more offensive and troublesom to them then to be divided from these things So that whereas David having experience of the sweetness of Gods favour saith It is good for me to draw nigh to God They on the contrary judge it their greatest good to draw nigh to and possess the creature Hence In the fifth place There is that difficulty in man to bear the want of the pleasures of sinne and the delight of the creatures yea the exceeding great sorrow under the losing of them Were not man fallen from that glorious state of holiness and enjoyment of God he could not so sadly deplore and bewail the loss of any creature no more then a man should be troubled to have the Moon taken away when the Sunne is in the room thereof but because when fallen from God we center upon
these earthly things therefore it is that as we have inordinate delight in the possessing of them so immoderate sorrow in the losing of them For that is a true Rule about all these things Non est earendo difficultas nisi cum in habendo est cupiditas Now all this trouble and perplexing grief ariseth from the pollution of the soul being destitute of that glorious Image Sixthly Man having lost the Image of God thus in his soul hence it is that he liveth a wretched instable and unquiet life for being off in his heart from God he therefore is tossed up and down according to the mutability of every creature Hence no man having no more then what he hath by Adam can live any quiet secure and peaceable life but is tossed up and down with contrary winds sometimes fears sometimes hope sometimes joy sometimes sorrow so that he is never in the Haven but alwayes floting upon the waters Thus miserable is a mans life till the Image of God be repaired in him Lastly From this universal pollution upon a man it followeth That be abuseth every good thing he hath that he sinneth in all things and by all things That whether he eateth or drinketh whether he buyeth or selleth he cannot refer any one of these to the ultimate end which is Gods glory but to inferiour and self-respects Oh wretched and miserable estate wherein thou hast abused every mercy God hath given thee to his dishonour and thy damnation Thou hast turned all thy honey into gall and poison thou wast never able to fulfill that command 1 Cor. 7. So to use the world as not to abuse it Thy meat thy raiment thy health thy wealth they have all been abused neither hath God been glorified or the salvation of thy soul promoted thereby CHAP. VII Of the last Subject of Inhesion or Seat of Original Sinne viz. the Body of a Man SECT I. 1 THES 5. 23. And the very God of peace sanctifie you wholly and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ HItherto we have been discovering the universal pollution of the soul by original sinne and that both in the upper and lower region the rational and sensitive part thereof Our method now requireth that we should manifest the defilement and contagion that is upon the Body also For as it was in the deluge that did overflow the world the cause did precede both from above and beneath Gen. 7. 11. The fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of Heaven were opened from above and below did come the overflowing of waters Thus it is in that spiritual deluge of sinne which doth overflow all mankind There is corruption in the superiour parts of the soul and there is also in the body the lowest and meanest part of man So that whatsoever goeth to the making of man is all over defiled There is nothing in soul or body but is become thus polluted we therefore proceed to the last subject of Inhesion or seat of original sinne and that is the body of man which will be declared from the Text we are to insist upon SECT II. The Text explained FOr the Coherence of it observe that the Apostle having in the former verses enjoyned many excellent and choice duties In this verse he betaketh himself to prayer to God in their behalf that God would sanctifie them and inable them thereunto for in vain did Paul water by this Doctrinal Information unless God did give the increase and withall we see that is a true Rule That precepts are not a measure of our power They declare indeed our duty but they do not argue our power otherwise prayer thus to God would have been needless In the prayer it self we may consider the matter it self prayed for and that is set down 1. Summarily and in the General And then 2. Distributively in several particulars The General is That they may be sanctified wholly or throughout 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Thessalonians were supposed to be sanctified already but yet the Apostle doth here pray for their further sanctification which doth evidence That the Doctrine of perfection in this life is a proud and presumptuous errour If they had attained to the highest pitch of sanctification already why should they still grow in it Thus the Apostle doth often press Gospel-duties upon such as attain to them already but because they have not perfection therefore they are to be urged forward Thus the Apostle writing to those that were reconciled 2 Cor. 5. 20. saith We pray you be reconciled to God So to the Ephes 4. 23 24. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man c. He speaketh as if the work were now to begin as if they had not as yet been partakers of this new-creature Not but that they were so onely there was much behind still to be perfected much leaven was to be purged out they were still imperfect and therefore are to forget what is behind pressing forward to the mark In the second place you have the Distribution of this whole in its parts This Sanctification is to be exercised in a three-fold subject your Spirit Soul and Body It is not Sanctification simply he prayeth for but growing and increasing that it be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as in the Original that it have all that the lot 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a lot what the condition of them doth require what holiness is the spirits portion the souls condition to have that they are to partake of but because this will never be gradually perfect in this life though integrally it is therefore he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without blame Though the godly are not preserved without sinne yet they may without fals such as may make them notoriously culpable and faulty before men but because it is not enough for a time to be preserved and then afterwards to be left to our selves for then we should quickly lick up our old vomit again he therefore addeth that this preservation should be even to the coming of Christ Now that which I intend chiefly out of these words is the Subject to be sanctified and that not the two former viz. Spirit and Soul of whose uncleanness we have largely treated already but of the Body which is last of all Only it is necessary to speak a little to the explication of these three parts of man how they differ for commonly when the Scripture speaketh of man it enumerateth but two parts the Soul and the Body as Eccles 12. 7. and in the creation of man we have only two parts instanced in which are his Soul and his Body Because of this there have been various conjectures upon this place for some have hence made three parts of man his Body his Soul which they make to be the sensitive part of man and his Spirit which they make to be some
not naturally offer up our bodies a sacrifice to sinne and to the Devil For meerly a natural man serveth sinne and the Devil with all the parts of his body Therefore the Apostle speaking to persons converted Rom. 7. 19. saith As ye have yeelded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity so now yeeld your members servants to righteousness Thy eye was once the Devils and sinnes thy tongue was thy ear was by all these sinne was constantly committed so now have a sanctified body an holy eye a godly ear an heavenly tongue a pure body And indeed we need not runne for Texts of Scripture experience doth abundantly confirm the preparedness and readiness of the body to all suitable and pleasing iniquity Consider likewise that pregnant place Heb. 10. 22. Let us draw near with a pure heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water As the heart must be cleansed from all sinnes that our consciences may condemn us for so our bodies likewise must be washed with pure water it is an allusive expression to the legal custom which was for all before they drew nigh to the service of God to sprinkle themselves with pure water to take off the legal uncleanness of the body And thus we must still in a spiritual way that so the body may be fitted for Gods service As it is said of Christ Heb. 10. 5. A body thou hast prepared for me because the Spirit of God did so purifie that corpulent mass of which Christs body was made that being without all sinne he was thereby fitted for the work of a Mediator For as for the Socinian Interpretation who would apply it to Christs body made immortal and glorious as if it were to be understood of Christ entring into Heaven the Context doth evidently confute it that which the Apostle following the Septuaginnt in the original calleth Preparing the body out of which it is alledged Ps 40. 6. It is my ears hast thou opened aliuding to the Jewish custom who when a servant would not leave his Master his ears were to be boared and so he was to continue for ever with him The ears were boared because they are the instrument of hearing and obedience and thereby was signified that he would diligently hearken to his Masters commands Thus it was with Christ his ears were opened his whole body prepared to do the will of God Now as it was thus with Christ so in some respect it must be with us God must prepare and fit a body for us till grace sanctifie and polish it there is no readiness to any holy duty The seeing eye and the hearing ear God is said to make both Prov. 20. 12. By these instances out of Scripture you see what a Leprosie of sin hath spread over the body as well as the soul Oh that therefore we were sensible of these sinfull bodies that are such clogs to us such burdens to us in the way to Heaven But let us proceed to shew the sinfulness thereof in particulars SECT IV. The Sinfulness of the Body discovered in particulars ¶ 1. It is not now Instrumental and serviceable to the Soul in holy Approches to God but is a clog and burden FIrst The Body is not now instrumental and serviceable to the soul in holy approaches to God but is a clog and burden whereas to Adam abiding in the state of innocency the body was exceeding usefull to glorifie God with The body was as wings to the soul or as wheels to the chariot though weighty in themselves yet they do ableviate and help to motion They are both Onera and adjumenta oneranda exonerant Thus did the body to Adam's soul but now such is the usefulness yet the hinderance of the body to the souls operations that the very Heathens have complained of it calling it Carcer animae and Sepulchrum animae the prison of the soul the very grave of the soul as if the soul were buried in the body How much more may Christianity complain of this weight of the body while it is to runne its race to Heaven Mezenius is noted for a cruel fact of binding dead bodies to live men that so by the noisom stink of those carkasses the men tied to them might at last die a miserable death Truly by this may be represented original sinne not fully purged away by sanctification The godly do complain of this body of sinne as a noisom carkass joyned to them and with Paul cry out Wretched men that we are who shall deliver us from this bondage ¶ 2. It doth positively affect and defile the Soul SEcondly The bodies sinfulness doth not only appear thus privatively in being not subservient and helpfull to the soul But it doth also positively affect and defile the soul not by way of any phisical contact for so a body cannot work upon a spirit but by way of sympathy for seeing the soul and body are two constituent part essentially of man and the soul doth inform the body by an immediate union hence it is that there is a mutual fellowship one with another there is a mutual and reciprocal acting as it were upon one another the soul greatly affected doth make a great change upon the body and the body greatly distempered doth also make a wonderfull change upon the mind and if thereby man fall into madness and distractions why not also into sinne and pollutions of the mind Thus the corrupt soul maketh the body more vile and the corrupt body maketh the soul more sinful and so they do advance sinne in a mutual circle of causality Even as vapours cause clouds and clouds again dislolving do make vapours Thy sinful soul makes thy body more wicked and thy sinful body heightens the impiety of thy soul ¶ 3. A man acts more according to the body and the inclinations thereof then the mind with the Dictates thereof THirdly Herein is the pollution of the body manifested In that a man doth act more according to the body and the inclinations thereof then the mind with the dictates thereof He is body rather then soul for whereas in mans Creation the soul had the dominion and the body was made only for the use of the soul now this order is inverted by original sinne the body prevaileth over the soul and the soul is enslaved to the propensities thereof Even Aristotle said that homo was magis sensus quam intellectus more sence then understanding and so more corporeal then spiritual man is compounded of two parts which do in their nature extraemly differ from each other the body that is of dust and vile matter and such materials God would have man formed of even at first he did not make mans body of some admirable quintessential matter as Philosophers say the heavens are made of but of that which was most vile and contemptible to teach man humility even in his very original and most absolute
but since original sinne hath made this violent breach upon the whole man the body is become the foaming and unquiet sea while tempests and storms blow upon it How quickly do these passions of love anger fear and grief put the whole body out of all order So that it is not fit to hear to pray to do any service for God when we are to pray we are to life up our hands without wrath 1. Tim. 6. 8. and so without any other inordinate motion for these make an earthquake as it were in the body These are like a rushing wind and fire but not such as the holy Ghost will appear in We may therefore lie down and roll our selves upon the ground with shame and confusion considering what an unquiet restless and disturbed instrument to the soul our body is now become sometimes anger that set it on fire sometimes sorrow that is ready to drown it Even as we read Matth. 17. 15. the poor lunatique person vexed with the Devil he did ofttimes fall into the fire and oft into the water two contrary elements but dangerous Thus where passions do reign in the body They oft fall into the fire of anger and then as oft into the water of grief and sorrow so that thy body is moulded according to thy passion even as iron heated appeareth no longer iron but fire Surely the experience of this should grieve thee and break thy very heart How many tempests and storms do arise in thy body daily What whirlwinds of passions do carry thee away violently from reason and grace Oh remember this was not in the state of innocency neither will it be in the state of glory Therefore be so farre from being proud of the beauty or strength of thy body that the very thoughts of thy body as now vitiated by original sinne may justly humble thee and though Plotinus the Platonist as you heard was justly to be reproved for the hatred of his body proceeding upon evil principles yet Austin commendeth the modesty and humility of Paulinus for when Sulpictius Severus sent to him to have his Image or Picture Paulinus refused it and that because of the pollution upon it by original sinne and that the Image of God was now lost Erube copingere quod sum non audeo pingere quod non sum Durat enim mihi illud prime Adam virus paternum quo universitatem generis sui pater praevaricatus infecit Thus he being ashamed to give the picture of his body because contamnated by original pollution ¶ 8. The Body when sanctified is become no less glorious then the Temple of the holy Ghost FIfthly Even the very body of a man when sanctified it become no lesse glorious then to be the Temple of the holy Ghost which doth demonstrate that till a man be regenerated it is not such a Temple but a dunghill or stie wherein swinish lusts yea and the Devils themselves do reside as in their proper habitation It is necessary to take notice of several things relating to the body which the Apostle mentioneth 1 Cor. 6. 13 15 19. For having there spoken briefly to the disputes that were then very prevalent about meats the using or not using of our liberty therein he giveth this remarkable reason against too much servency in debate thereof because God shall destroy both belly and meats These were corruptible things and were but for a temporary use and therefore their hearts should be more attentive to those things which are of eternal consequence A necessary truth to moderate our spirits in disputes of that nature Having done this being to aggravate the sinne of fornication which was then generally thought either no sinne or very venial he bringeth in some arguments that being general make against any sinfulness of the body as well as uncleanness As 1. The body is for the Lord that is Christ and the Lord for the body our body is intentionally not for any sinne but the Lord Christ and he demands it as a body dedicated to him How powerfull should this reason be to make us watch against any bodily pollution whatsoever 2. He argueth Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ Know ye not He supposeth that this ought to be If it were an undoubted received truth That our bodies when regenerated do become members to Christ their Head and if so Shall I take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot God forbid He apprehendeth matter of trembling and abomination at such a thing and this holds of every bodily sinne Shall I take the eye of Christ the ear of Christ the tongue of Christ and imploy it in any lusts or passions God forbid And at the 19th verse he goeth yet higher with a Know ye not again that your bodies are the temple of the holy Ghost which is in you and which ye have of God This doth denote an holy dedication of the body to God So that every sinne committed in the body hath a sacriledge in it with what purity reverence and sobriety should we use our bodies thus it ought to be but take a man in his natural condition there is his whole body set apart to the Devils work all the parts thereof are to fulfill the lusts of the flesh but when a man is regenerated there doth become an intimate and unspeakable conjunction not only of our souls but our bodies also with Christs body so that he doth say We are bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh but the body naturally is farre from any such mystical conjunction with Christ Lastly The pollution of the body from the womb is seen in regard of the senses of the body which are the most noble parts thereof They are the windows or gates to let in all wickedness The greatest part of our impiety entereth into the heart by the bodily senses The subordinate end of the senses were to be a preservation to the body and to maintain the natural life thereof but the principal and chief end was to be instrumental to the salvation of the soul God gave us eyes and ears chiefly thereby to glorifie him and to help forward the salvation of our selves but how greatly are the bodily sences fallen from this principal end Rev. 2. 7. and in many other places we have that expression He that hath an ear to hear let him hear no man hath an ear to hear till God open it and by that phrase is denoted that the ear is principally for this use to hearken to what God saith and therefore Rom. 10. Faith is said to come by hearing Thy ear is not given thee to hear stories and merry jests chiefly for commerce with men but to hearken what God out of his Word saith to thee And so for the eyes they are not to behold wanton objects or to take delight in sights but to behold the creatures that thereby God may be glorified Therefore our eyes our ears need Gods
even as Rebeckah when her twinnes did strive in the womb this was an extraordinary prognostick caused in a supernatural way by God And although Calvin on the place saith That it is natural to the fruit of the womb to leap or move when the mother is moved with joy yet he acknowledgeth that Luke doth here note some extraordinary thing and that this leaping was by the secret motion of the Spirit of God which doth detect the horrible impudence and slander of Maldonate who is not ashamed to say That Calvin doth own nothing besides what is natural in this for which in derision he calleth him pius autor we see by this how little we may trust such men We must then conclude even the babe at that time was affected with joy upon the Virgin Mary's coming to his mother and this supposeth that the child also was filled with the Holy Ghost yea v. 15. it is expresly said of John That he should be filled with the holy Ghost from the womb But if this be granted then it is greatly controverted Whether the babe did this with sense and knowledge that Christ was present or whether it was by the motion of the Spirit of God in the child that knowing nothing at all There are probable arguments on both sides The Lutherans they do greedily imbrace that opinion that maketh the child while in the womb to have actual faith and knowledge of Christ and from thence they do peremptorily conclude That Infants have actual sinnes and that they may have actual faith and other graces but this is against experience and if we do grant that John had such actual knowledge of Christ yet this was extraordinary and miraculous and must no more be attributed to all children then speaking to all Asses because Balaam's once did Many Authors conclude that John did rejoyce with some sense and apprehension and for this reason he is said to be filled with the Holy Ghost and joy must arise from some knowledge and apprehension neither say they will it follow from hence that he did not loose this actual knowledge afterwards but had it alwayes while an Infant for we see the Prophets though men grown up yet had not the spirit of prophecy at all times But come we to our business Let it be granted that John had actual faith that he was filled with the Holy Ghost that doth not hinder but that by nature he was a child of wrath and full of sinne for this grace is bestowed upon him when by nature sinfull and doth no more argue he had no sinne in him before then persons grown up have not when the Holy Ghost was poured on them And although it be said He was filled with the Holy Ghost that doth not imply that all sinne was wholly taken out of him no more then the Apostles and all others were quite purged from sinne when they are said to be filled with the Holy Ghost Besides the Scripture as Calvin considereth well doth not say John was filled with the Holy Ghost in the womb but from his mothers womb which he thus expounds That John the Baptist did betimes even from his Infancy manifest what an excellent Prophet he was like to be because the Spirit of God did even then give many Demonstrations thereof and thus though not so extraordinarily God sometimes doth give to some his sanctifying Spirit even from the cradle almost they begin betimes to put forth many excellent signs of that grace which will flourish more in their elder yeares Timothy from a child is said to have the knowledg of the Scriptures from a Child 2 Tim. 3. 15. And some have the fear of God planted so early in their hearts that they cannot know any remarkable time of their conversion yea they cannot remember but that alwayes they had such a tenderness about sinne and love to good things yet we must not think for all this they were not born in sinne we must not say of them as was said of Bonaventure for his hopefullness in his youth In hoc homine non peccavit Adam No these have by nature the same seed of all impiety and their younger yeares would have demonstrated this poison as well as it doth in others but the grace of God doth prevent Oh let such Obadiah's that can say They feared God from the youth admire the goodness of God to them he might have suffered that original sinne in thee to make thee wallow in such mire and filthy lusts as other young persons do Oh take heed of thinking thou hast a better nature then they that thou hast not so much original sinne in thee as others but walk humbly lest God sometime or other leave thee to let thee see what is in thy heart that all the sparkes of original sinne are not put out and then though to thy great grief thou be convinced there is a such a thing in thee SECT III. IT is the peculiar and incommunicable prerogative of Christ alone in respect of his humane nature to be exempted from original sinne as you have heard And therefore it 's an inseparable and inevitable property following every one of mankind As it is said of Justification by Christ Bond and free Jew and Grecian all are out Gal. 3. 28. So there is neither rich or poor Christian or Heathen Noble or ignoble civil or prophane male or female but all are one in original sinne because all are of Adam by natural generation and thereby original sin is propagated to all which Doctrine is to be explicated in more propositions And First Though our natural generation from corrupted Parents be the means by which we all are born polluted and depraved yet this doth not exclude the justice of God and his righteous Decree that from a sinfull fountain shall arise such polluted streams from such a bitter root also bitter fruit but doth necessarily presuppose it So that the just judgement of God in punishing of all mankind for Adam's first transgression must alwayes be acknowledged and we must not separate the natural propagation of sinne from the sentence and Decree of God For if this were the only reason that we became guilty of Adam's sinne because in his lions then all Adam's other sinnes should be made ours as well as that first act of disobedience in eating of the foridden fruit and the sinnes of our immediate parents in whose loines we were should be transmitted to us as well as Adam's yea happily if this were so then the longer original sinne hath been propagated it would still grow more evil and thereby men in the later age of the world become more polluted with original sinne then men in the former age but Cain and Abel who were the immediate off-spring of Adam were as deeply plunged in this native defilement as any are now Therefore some learned men though in this Controversie they do allow the phrase of the Propagation of original sinne because commonly used yet would gladly have
to be confuted most properly when we come to speak of that immediate effect of original sinne which is to make a conflict and rebellion in man between the mind and sensitive appetite in natural men and between the flesh and spirit in regenerate men Fifthly That which the Orthodox following the light of the Scripture assign as a cause of that deluge of impiety amongst mankind is the original depravation of every mans nature through Adam 's transgression From this unclean principle none can bring forth that which is clean and truly the Scripture is so evident going alwayes to this head making the lust within a man a cause of all impiety flowing from us that they seem to deny the Sunne at noon-day who will not acknowledge this But let us in the next place examine What causes ef this universall propensity in mankind to sinne are given by the late Heterodox Writer for the weight of this Objection presseth him and therefore he doth industriously set himself to answer it Vnum Necessar Chap. 6. Sect. 4. It is certain saith he that there are many common principles from which sinne deriveth it self into the manners of all men The first mentioned is That at first God made no promises of heaven he had propounded not glorious rewards to be as an Argument to support the superiour faculty against the inferiour because there was no such thing in that period of the world therefore almost all flesh had corrupted themselves for want of this Adam fell and all the world followed his example and most upon this account till it pleased God after he had tryed the world with temporal promises and found them also insufficient to finish the work of his graciousness and to cause us to be born anew by the revelations and promises of Jesus Christ Thus he but I had almost said Oh monstrum horrendum cui lumen ademptum Now the Socinian appeareth in his own ugly and deformed colours let us see whether there be any validity in this reason or no. And First It is very frivolous ridiculous and absurd for we are asking for a reason of the general inclination of all men in all ages to evil and he would assign one for that speciall age of the world before Christ Is it not still true even since Christs coming that the heart of a man is desperately and incurably set upon evil till the grace of God doth sanctifie it So that though in the New Testament the glory of heaven and the torments of hell are evidently and powerfully demonstrated yet still there is the same torrent of impiety in the manners of men Secondly This reason cannot be acquitted from blasphemy in some sense against God for the cause of overflowing impiety in the Old Testament times is reduced hereby to God himself May not all the prophane ones in that age of the world take up this mans Argument to defend themselves O Lord it is from thee we are thus universally wicked Had the joyes of heaven been promised to us in wel-doing had the torments of hell been manifested unto us we had then been awakened so that we are now wicked because we wanted such efficacious meanes to prevent our impiety that afterwards were vouchsafed to the world so that the Israelites might have replyed to the Prophet Hosea Chap. 13. 9. that he spake falsly their destruction is not of themselves but of God who did not give them sufficient incouragements Had the Asserters of original sinne affirmed any such thing that might so hainously have redounded to the dishonour of Gods justice his mercy and goodness what tragical exclamations would have been raised up immediately But thus it falleth out alwayes that those who out of a preposterous fear sometimes to hold such things that have but an apparent tendency to dishonour God do fall into such abominable positions that do really reproach God and his wayes as may more be shewed in this point Lastly The very inward part of this reason is very wickedness and falshood it self for this Proposition That heaven and hell were not used as Arguments in the Old Testament but that temporall mercies and jugements were the only spurres and curbes in their conversation is being reserved as the peculiar and proper glory of Christ to reveal the promises of eternal life is that notorious pure impure Socinianisns which our learned Writers do so evidently profligate This saith Smalcius De Div Jes Christi c. 7. is so clear a truth that they want no little thing to the true knowledge of Christ and his Office who are ignorant of it or doubt of it yea he addeth Vnde appareat c. from whence it may appear that our Congregations though they are said to blaspheme Christ yet do more rightly acknowledge Christ in this particular Quam omnes alios Christiani nominis professores then all other professors of Christs name Thus they tryumph in this enormious error as their greatest glory because they make it peculiar to Christ to reveal and promise eternal glory It is not my intent to enlarge on this point That eternal life was promised to Adam as also to those who lived in the Old Testamentary dispensation That the tree of life was a Sacramental symbole of eternal life appeareth by that expression Rev 2. 7. And certainly if the Jewes did not discover the resurrection of the dead and eternal life it was because they did not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as our Saviour telleth them Mat. 22. 29 30. and that is remarkable which is said Joh. 5. 39. Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life That same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye think is not spoken as if it were a false perswasion to look for eternal life out of those Scriptures but because they boasted in their own interpretation of them excluding Christ thereby It is therefore a detestable position which Smalcius in the same place hath That the promise of eternal life was wholly hidden from men for those ages which were before Christ neither did it clearly appear to any one that such a thing would be bestowed upon mortal men for doth not Job proclaim the clean contrary Job 19. 25. I know that my Redeemer liveth he shall stand at the later day upon the earth It is true the learned Mercer would apply this to that temporal and blessed restitution of his external happiness which God vouchsafed to him but the Context doth necessitate us to understand it of a more glorious condition We read also Heb. 11. 13 14 15. That the Patriarchs acknowledged themselves pilgrims in this earth and did declare plainly they sought an heavenly country It is not worth the while to examine the suggestions of Schlitingius the Socinian on those Texts who would so miserably wrest them to his own purpose and that the day of judgement was used as an Argument to bridle men from sinne appeareth Eccles 11. 9. as also Chap. 12. 14. The Book concludeth with this
which if done he declareth the blessed effect and issue thereof Ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh Some as Beza readeth this imperatively because of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but the Text he instanceth in is not parallel to this And Grotius bringeth in several places where this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 relateth to the future This then is the happy issue of a man who keepeth wholly to the Spirit of God inlightning and working by the Word that he shall get dominion over the lusts of the flesh He shall not fulfill them He doth not say he shall not have them he shall not feel and perceive them working in him for that cannot be in this life only he shall not fulfill them which is the same as to walk in the flesh and to mind the things of the flesh which those that live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit cannot do In the next place The Apostle giveth a reason why they are thus to give themselves up to the Spirit else the flesh will quickly prevail and that is from the contrary nature and inclinations of these two expressed in that Proposition The flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh By flesh and spirit we are not to understand the body and the soul nor the spiritual sense and literal sense of the Scripture as Origen most absurdly nor as many Papists and others the rational part and the sensitive as if the Apostle were here speaking no more then Aristotle doth about his incontinent person as distinct from an intemperant one Therefore that is too frigid and dilute of the late Annatator on this place in his paraphrase as if the opposition were between the carnal and rational wils between the carnal and rational part of a man instructed out of the Gospel for this ariseth to no more then that ethical and moral conflict which Heathen Philosophers describe whereas the Apostle is here speaking of that which the godly find in themselves and that from the two contrary principles of the flesh and spirit within them Neither are we to understand this with the Remonstrants as if the Apostle spake in the general or Idea only making the sense to be no more then the flesh of a man opposeth the Spirit of God putring it self forth in the powerfull preaching of the Word for the context maketh it evident that he speaketh of this opposition as it is in the subject by which no godly man can do the things that are holy with that perfection as he desireth Lastly Neither are we to understand this of persons as if the Apostle meant the carnal man and the spiritual man as Isaacl did Isaac will alwayes oppose one another For it is clear he speaketh of two principles within us the one whereof is flesh that is our whole man so farre as it is unregenerate the mind and the will as well as the affections for by sinne incarnavimus animas nostras as the Ancient said our souls are become flesh and the whole man so farre as he is regenerate For this in several respects a godly man is both flesh and Spirit This contrariety in their nature is declared by the effect thereof They lust one against another He doth not say they work one against another though that be true but the Apostle would direct us to the head and spring of all outward evil or good and that is the desire within In the next place the Apostle amplifieth this contrary motion between the flesh and the Spirit from the nature of them They are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 immediately set one against another even as darkness and light as fire and water Now although it be a Rule That contraries do expell each other yet it is also another Rule That contraries while they are in pugnâ in fighting with one another they may be together as also in remisse degrees And thus it is with the godly the flesh and the Spirit are alwayes in conflict These are the twins in the womb that by their opposition make the godly mourn and long for Heaven where the flesh shall be wholly overcome Lastly Here is the consequent and issue of this Combate So that the things ye would not those ye do which words are subject to many interpretations Some say they are only to be interpreted as the end to which these contrary principles do encline not that they do denote the event By the flesh we are carried out to this end not to do the good things we would do yet this event doth not alwayes at least follow because Gods Spirit worketh in us both to will and to do This exposition they are the more confirmed in because in the Greek it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which would denote the event but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This seemeth to have no great strength for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is taken eventually sometimes But then if so still there is a difference among Interpreters Some understand it of the good will only as if the meaning were those good things you would do the flesh doth hinder and retard you therein Grotius with others that follow him understand it of the evil will in this manner The Spirit lusteth against the flesh so that those evil things which otherwise you would doe if the flesh did prevail in you now ye cannot do And the late Writer Vnum Necessarium cap. 7. pag. 482. is so peremptory for this Exposition That he saith we cannot make it sense else with what had gone before being beholding to Arminius for this Argument For the Apostle bid us Walk in the Spirit so we should not fulfill the lusts of the flesh and this is the reason Because the Spirit lusteth against the flesh and so we cannot do what that would have us whereas if by the flesh we were hindred from what the Spirit would have us do this would directly contradict what he had said before But to answer this Some read all the former verse by a parenthesis and make this clause to belong to the precept vers 16. Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh so that ye cannot do those things which the flesh would incline you unto But this seemeth too much forced Though therefore we understand it of the good will as well as the bad yet the sense runneth smoothly neither is this brought as a reason of the later part You shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh for so it would have some apparent contradiction but of the duty commanded why they should walk in the Spirit For if they do not such is the contrariety of the flesh to every thing that is spiritual that if yeelded unto it will carry you away to act those lusts which otherwise you would not do and so the connexion is very harmonious But for my part I think this must be understood generally both of the good will and bad also For the Apostle
and death So that they conclude it injurious and contumelious to Paul reproachfull to the grace of the Gospel and a palpable incouragement to sinne and wickedness to interpret the 7th of the Rom. of a regenerate person But because this is a truth of so special concernement we shall take these things in a more particular consideration for it would be found an heavy sinne lying upon most orthodox Teachers in the Reformed Church if they have constantly preached such a Doctrine as is injurious to Gods grace and an incentive to sinne as also slothfulness and negligence in holy duties for the present this Text will bear us out sufficiently that where ever the Spirit of God is in persons while in the way to heaven they have a contrary principle of the flesh within them whereby they are more humbled in themselves and do the more earnestly make their applications to the throne of grace and that all have such a conflict within them may appear by these following Reasons yea we may with Luther say so farre is it that any do attain to such a measure of grace as to be without this combate that the more holy and spiritual any are the more sensible they are of it for they have more illumination and so discover the exactness and spiritual latitude of the law more then formerly they did and also their hearts are more tender whereby they grow more sensible even of the least weight of any sinful motion though never so transient It is true the godly do grow in grace they get more mastery and power over the lustings of sinne within yet withall they grow in light and discovery about holiness they see it a more exact and perfect thing then they thought of they find the Law of God to be more comprehensive then they were aware of and therefore they are ready to cry out as Ignatius when ready to suffer Nunc incipio esse Christians Oh me never godly but beginning to be godly I believe but how great is my unbelief This Paul declareth Phil. 3. 12. Not as if I had already attained either were already perfect but I follow after c. Thus Paul is farre from owning such commendations which happily others may put upon him It is true indeed Amyraldus denyeth that any are absolutely perfect but yet he goeth beyond the bounds of truth in attributing too much to Paul or other Apostles which will appear First Because the most holy that are have used all meanes to mortifie and keep down the cause of these sinful motions If they did not continually throw water as it were upon those sparks within the most holy man would quickly be in a flame Even this Apostle Paul doth not he confess this of himself 1 Cor. 9. 27. I keep down my body and bring it into subjection c. He doth not mean the body as it is a meer natural substance for the glorified Saints will not keep down their bodyes but as it is corrupted and made a ready instrument to sin for though the Apostle call it not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet these are not opposite but suppose one another as Rom. 6. 12. Let not sinne reign in your mortal body and it is a very frigid and forced Exposition of Amyraldus as if the Apostle did understand it of the exposing his body to hunger and thirst and all dangerous persecutioâ—s for the Gospels sake For this was not Paul's voluntary keeping down of his body those persecutions and hardships to his body were against his will though he submitted to them when by Gods providence he was called thereunto but he speaketh here of that which he did readily and voluntarily lest from within should arise such motions to sinne as might destroy him yea it is plain that even in Paul there was a danger of the breakings forth of such lusts because 2 Cor. 12. God did in a special manner suffer him to be buffetted and exercised by Satan that he might not be lifted up through pride neither is this any excuse to say with Amyraldus That such sinnes are apt to breed in the most excellent dispositions for it is acknowledged by all that such sinnes have more guilt in them then bodily sinnes though not such infamy and disgrace amongst men Luther calleth them the sublimia peccat the sublime and high sins such the Devil was guilty of and they were the cause of his final overthrow and damnation If then the most godly have used all means to mortifie sinne within them it is plain they found a combate and that if sinne were let alone it would quickly get the upper hand Secondly That there is a conflict of sinne appeareth in those duties enjoyned to all the godly that they watch and pray that they put on the whole armour of Christ Yea the Disciples are commanded to take heed of drunkenness and surfetting and the cares of this world Luke 21. 34. and generally Paul's Epistles are full of admonitions and exhortations to give all diligence in the wayes of holinesse especially that command is very observable 2 Cor. 7. 1. Having these promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthinesse of flesh and spirits perfecting holinesse in the fear of God Here you see both flesh and spirit that is the rational and sensitive part have filthiness and that those who are truly godly are to be continually cleansing away this filthiness and to perfect what is out of order What godly man is there that can say This command doth not belong to me I am above it I need it not No lesse considerable is that command of Peter 1 Pet. 2. 11. Dearly beloved I beseech you as pilgrims and strangers abstain from fleshly lusts which warre against the soul Not as if this were wholly parallel with my Text as Carthusian is said to bring it in thereby proving that by flesh is meant the body and by spirit the soul but onely it sheweth that no godly man in this life is freed from a militant condition and that with his own flesh his own self which maketh the combate to be the more dangerous For this cause David though a man after Gods own heart though Gods servant in a special consideration yet prayeth Psal 19. 13. Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins which expression denoteth that even a godly man hath lust within him that would carry him out like an untamed horse to presumptuous sins did not the Lord keep him back But we need not bring more reasons to confirm that which experience doth so sadly testifie SECT III. A Consideration of that part of the seventh Chapter to the Romans which treats of the Conflict within a man Shewing against Amyraldus and others that it must be a regenerate person onely of whom those things are spoken ¶ 1. THe next Proposition that may give light to the weighty truth about the spiritual conflict that is in the most regenerate persons is this That besides the
be an occasion to â—ull men a sleep in their lazinesse that hereby they do not content themselves with incompleat and sluggish wishes in the wayes of holinesse If any do abuse this Doctrine to lukewarmness or indulgence in sinfull wayes saying their estate is like Paul's the evil they would not do they do This is not the fault of the Doctrine but either of the Minister who doth not wisely dispense it or of the hearer who doth wilfully suck poison out of the sweet herb Even as the whole Doctrine of the Gospel and Gods grace may be abused to licentiousness It is true that the proper character of Christianity is That it is an acknowledgement of the truth which is after godlinesse Tit. 1. 1. And certainly there is no point may more quicken up to godliness sâ—ur on the most holy to greater growth in piety then this truth about the imperfection of the graces that are in the best and also that we have a treacherous enemy within us the reliques of original sinne which without daily watching and praying will quickly plunge us into confusion Now the Minister of Christ will so handle this Exposition though of a regenerate person very profitably and advantagiously to the increase of godliness if he adde these qualifications to his Interpretation 1. That the evil which this person is said to do is not to be understood of grosse and enormieus crimes but partly of the very motions to sinne within us and sometimes a consent thereunto and it may fall out so as to be an acting of them in our lives but this is not of grosse sinnes or if of a foul sinne yet not continued in but with repentance and greater hatred recovered out of it Unlesse the Preacher do thus limit his Exposition he leaveth the battlements without rails he doth not fence against the pit wherein some may fall Let no man therefore think that this passage of Pauls is to be extended to grosse sinnes as if many prophane sinners who sinne and their consciences check them and then they sinne again and have remorse again could take any comfort from these places as if they might say with Paul It is not I but sinne that dwelleth in me The evil that I would not that I grieve for in the temptation I do Oh take heed of abusing the holy Word of God to such corrupt ends Austin some where speaketh to this occasion when this part of Paul's Epistle was read I fear saith he left this may be ill understood but let none think as if Paul 's meaning was he would be chaste but he was an adulterer he would be mercifull but he was cruel c. Thus it would be very dangerous to interpret this passage of grosse sinnes and yet it cannot be denied but that men who sinne grosly yet with some remorse and grief of conscience are apt to cover themselves with these fig-leaves and think this is sanctuary safe enough to runne unto that though they do sinne yet it is not with full consent and delight Arminius affirmeth in cap. 7. ad Rom. pag. 753. as he saith Verè sanctè That he had sometimes the experience of this that when some have been admonished that they would take heed of committing such a sin which they knew was forbidden by the Law They would answer with the Apostle To will was present with them but they knew not how to perform what they willed Yea he addeth He had this answer from one not when the sinne was committed but when he was forewarned that he should not commit it But the same Author goeth on and saith he knew both men and women young and old who when he had explained this Chapter in the sense he defendeth did plainly confess to him that they hitherto had been in this opinion that if they committed any sinne with reluctancy of their mind or omitted any duty the same regreeting of them they were not greatly to trouble themselves or grieve in this matter seeing they thought themselves like Paul therein and therefore gave him hearty thanks that he delivered him from that errour by his interpretation But what needeth all this if any read Calvins or other Expositions upon this place might they not have been fully satisfied that such persons offending in that manner viz. sinning having only terrour and contradiction from their conscience against the sinne they commit but their hearts otherwise carry them out to it do no wayes agree with the person here described whose heare and will is said to be against sinne as well as his mind and conscience We must not therefore understand it of gross sins especially of a continual custom therein No doubt but David did commit the adultery and murder he would not have done No doubt when Peter denied Christ he could say the evil that he would not do that he did but this was in suddain temptations This was not often or customary therefore they did recover out of them with bitter tears and sorrow We must therefore understand it chiefly of the motions and lustings of the heart to sinne and oftentimes a consenting thereunto yea and in lesser sinnes an acting thereupon so that it is no more in sense then what the Apostle Jam's saith In many things we offend all Chap. 3. 2. So that howsoever the Jesuites and Arminians would make Austins and the later Expositions to differ as if Austins were more innocent because he understood it only of motions to sinne which the godly man did suffer against his will within him but the later apply it even to actions yet who so diligently compareth them together cannot find any real difference for the summe of their Exposition is That the Law requiring such a perfect and pure holiness that is doth not allow of the least spot or blemish the most godly do find themselves so depressed and weighed down with that remainder of corruption that is within them that they come exceeding short of that excellent and perfect holiness and therefore do abhorre and loath themselves and judge themselves miserable while they carry about with them such a body of sinne Secondly and lastly This Exposition will be advantagiously managed for godliness 〈…〉 also inform That Paul doth not here speak of every particular temptation as if in every conflict he had the worse and the flesh had the better but he speaks of good and evil in the general and that in the whole course of his conversation In the general his heart was set upon the good commanded and against the evil forbidden but yet he could never attain to his fulness of desire though in several combars the spirit might and did conquer the flesh And certainly the Arminians who will hold us to the rigid letter as if this person never had he better no not at any time in any sinne must take heed of that fault they charge upon us viz. that they be not injurious to the grace of God even according to their own
past time We grant it therefore that Paul saith this of himself though regenerated that he was sold under sin But then we say The expressions above named and this is not a like here it is in a passive sense there in an active sense of those wicked men it is said They sold themselves which denoteth their wilfulnes and obstinacy of this he was sold which implieth it to be done against his will as captives are there it is absolutely here it is limited to the flesh And if this phrase did denote a wicked man in an high degree then how can they apply it to a man under legal convictions and in a preparatory way to conversion It would be very hard to say of such men that they sold themselves to do evil Besides there is a two-fold bondage and captivity under sin even as the Israelites had a two-fold one they were born in that of Egypt and another they voluntarily by their sin sell into which was that of Babylon Thus there is a bondage unto sin we are all born in for in Adam we were all sold to sinne and so needed a Christ Redermer And secondly there is a bondage unto sinne by our own voluntary transgressions It is true a regenerate person cannot be sold under sinne in this later sence but he is in the former and so it is no more injurious unto the grace of God as Austin noteth then that he is yet mortal and corruptible Thus you have this great and necessary truth established Paul speaketh here of a regenerate person and that not only of him as he is in the lowest estate and initials of grace as Musculus thinketh but of every godly person while in this life even the most perfect that is though this conflict be more applicable to some then others yea if we do regard the exact purity of the law the most holy do most humble themselves under it ¶ 4. The several Wayes whereby Original Sinne doth hinder the godly in their Religious Progress whereby they are sinful and imperfect THe next Proposition in order is That this flesh this original sinne in a man doth several wayes hinder the godly in their religious progress whereby they are sinful and imperfect whereby every one is forced to cry out as he O me nunquam sapientem so O me nunquam pium Oh me never godly never believing never answering the holy Law of God! This treacherous enemy within us is so multiforme putteth it self Chamelion-like into so many shapes that the most holy men have cause to be alwayes on their guard to keep continual watch lest sometime or other this Daliah betray them into the hands of the Philistines How were it possible that some eminent servants of God as David and Peter have fallen so grievously and committed such sinnes which some Heathens by the light of nature would have abhorred but that there is this fuel and spawn of sinne abiding in every regenerate person It may well be affirmed that the reliquiae peccati originalis the reliques of original sinne are in the most holy for as when an house hath been for the greatest part consumed but at last the fire is quenched yet there remains some little sparks and embers which cause a constant watch lest they kindle and consume whatsoever is left yet undestroyed Such care and fear ought the godly to have lest the remaining corruption break out suddainly and so destroy them I shall instance in some particulars whereby original sinne doth thus hinder and retard the work of grace in us As First This flesh within the godly maketh us imperfect in this life by its strong opposition and contrary thwarting it hath to the grace of God within us These two saith the Text are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are two adversaries daily combating with one another Insomuch that what the Spirit saith do the flesh saith do it not Thus original corruption is like Solomons brawling woman whose contentions are a continual dropping Prov. 19. 13. What rest can such a man have no more then he that lyeth in his bed and hath constant droppings of rain upon him Such a disturber and farre more troublesome inmate is original sinne to a believer grace hath no rest no quietnes but the flesh is alwayes raising up oppositions against it alwayes crossing it what the Spirit would not that the flesh would Therefore Rom. 7. 23. the Apostle expresseth the violent actings thereof by military termes it warreth and it bringeth into captivity In this sence we may say the flesh is Satan for that is an adversary in our way that riseth up and stoppeth us in our spiritual progress It is true the natural and carnal man findeth no such opposition he never cryeth out Oh how hard a thing is it to be heavenly minded to be godly indeed to live a life of faith how difficult to live and die upon Scripture and spiritual grounds for all is flesh within dead men feel no pain they find no opposition Mortuus non belligerat is the Proverb but the godly are in continual exercises no sooner doth grace begin to work but the flesh presently beginneth to counter-work Secondly The flesh doth retard and hinder the work of grace by subtil allurements and enticements Thus as the Devil sometimes appeareth as a roaring Lion and sometimes again as a glistering Serpent and in this latter way is most dangerous so it is with this flesh within us sometimes it grosly and violently opposeth the grace of God at other times it craftily insinuateth It readily interposeth it propounds many sweet baits thus what it cannot do as a Lion it accomplisheth as a Fox so that what counsell is given Mis. 75. Keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lyeth in thy bosome implying there would be treachery in the nearest relations This is much more to be observed against original sinne that lyeth in thy own bosome yea it is thy own self and therefore how easily may it perswade thee yea no temptations without could do thee any hurt did not this flesh within betray all Thus it craftily insinuateth and surprizeth the strongesth holds of the soul before we are aware so you heard from that of James 1. 17. Every man is tempted and drawen aside with his own lust Sweet poison doth more easily destroy white powder that giveth no noise more certainly kills and this is the Reason why the godly may be carried away to sinne of profit and pleasure and not judge them to be so their hearts may not condemne them and all because the flesh can so bewitch us it doth cast such mists before our eyes that we are not able to discern between things that differ Thirdly The flesh within us doth keep off grace from its perfect work by depressing it and weighing it down that when grace would lift up the soul to heaven that is like a milstone about our neck and pulleth us back again it is lime to the birds wings it
is usually objected against this truth And First The command of God requiring we should not lust and that we should love God with all our heart and all our soul and might From hence they argue if these two commands cannot be perfectly fullfilled why are they required of us To this it is answered that it must be granted no man living is able to answer the perfection and exactness of this law who can say he loveth God as much as the command requireth that he never faileth in the least degree who can say that he never finds any sinful motions any irregular workings of heart though he do not consent to them suppose that were alwayes true which is not to be granted yet such motions being in the heart the very having of them maketh us to fall short of the exactness of the law But yet these commands are necessary for the rule must alwayes be perfect not wanting or failing in any thing The command doth represent the perfect Idea of compleat righteousness as Statues that are erected up in high and eminent places are commonly of greater length then the ordinary stature of men is Thus it is one thing the righteousness commanded in the law and the participation of it in the subject that receiveth it according to its proper capacity The law then is perfect but we are imperfect true obedience and imperfect must not be confounded as Castellio most ignorantly doth and therefore abandoneth that opinion De Justificat pag. 46. which maketh imperfection a sinne but he calumniateth the orthodox when he saith we hold nothing a vertue but what is chiefest ibid. pag. 43. neither do we call that imperfection which may have a greater degree Adam was not imperfect because he had not so much holiness as the Angles have In heaven it may be judged that one Saint shall have more grace then another yet every one perfected in their measure and though it be so he that hath not so much holiness as the chiefest shall not be judged sinfully imperfect there is a negative imperfection and a privative this later is when the subiect doth not partake of what degrees it ought to do and then it is alwayes a sinne The starre hath not as much light as the Sunne but this is no privative imperfection because it is not bound to be the Sunne Now the command of God requireth of us the chiefest love that we can by grace put forth not the highest degree of love which is possible but what we are bound to do and any defect herein is a sinne We admit that all graces are not alike no more then all sinnes one may be more holy then another yet he that is the highest attainer doth not reach to the utmost of the command and therefore whatever falleth short of that is damnable deserving wrath of God Secondly When we say no man is able to fullfill the Law of God in this life because the flesh doth still abide in us We mean not as if this were so because God could not subdue it or sinne and the Devil were more potent then Christ but he hath in his Word declared that he will not give such a measure of grace in this life by the righteousness whereof we should be justified So that Castellio's exclamations in this case are ridiculous here is no injury done to the Spirit of God we do not make Christ a semi-Saviour for we readily grant That the Spirit of God could make us absolutely free from sinne in the twinkling of an eye In the hour of death we are immediately purged from all evil So that it 's plain the Spirit of God could make us thus compleat but he will not neither doth this tend to his dishonour no more than that we die that we are â—â—ck and carry about with us corruptible bodies For did not Christ die that we might have glorious bodies that we might be redeemed from this corruption Yet this is not done immediately Seeing then Christ hath assured us that both soul and body shall be made perfectly holy and happy in time though it be not done as soon as we would have it we are not to cavil herein but satisfie our selves with the wisdom of God who doth every thing beautifull in his season It is true Christ when he cured bodily diseases he did perfectly cure them but doth it therefore follow that he must do so in soul-diseases as Castellio urgeth No certainly but rather as Christ though he healed some perfectly of their diseases yet he did not take away their mortality from them So though by the grace of God we have strength to overcome gross sinnes yet we are not made impeccable as the glorified Saints in Heaven are but there remaineth the fuell of sinne still within us not but that God could remove it as he could have inabled the Israelites to have conquered all the Canaanites but because he will not God could have made all the world at once but he proceeded by degrees and thus he doth in our sanctification So that herein we are daily taught to be humble in our selves and to depend alone upon the grace of God It is true if all sinne were removed and we confirmed in a state of grace then there would be no danger of pride as there is not in those who are made glorious in Heaven But were were we made perfect and delivered from all sinne yet abiding still in a mutable condition we should quickly be drunken with the thoughts of our own excellencies so that perfection while we are in the way would not be so advantagious unto us unless to perfection God should also add confirmation and this would be to confound Heaven and earth together And thus much for the first Objection ¶ 6. I Shall onely name a second Objection made in the general against the reliques of original corruption in a man though regenerated and thereby the imperfection of our renovation because this doth more properly belong to another head in Divinity which is much disputed viz. De Perfectione Justitia Of the Perfection of righteousness in this life The Objection which is plausibly and speciously urged against this truth is That this Doctrine is an enemy to a holy life it is pernicious to godlinesse that it is a pleading for sinne and an encouragement to men to content themselves in their formal and sluggish way because they cannot be perfect Thus it is thought we bring up an ill report about the way to Heaven as those Spies did about Canaan we discourage people making their hearts faint because of great Gyants that we say are in the way In this manner Julian the Pelagian old of calumniated Austin that he did in naturae invidiam malae conversationis sordes refundere that he did Peccantibus metum demere quorum obscenitatum Apostolorum sanctorum omnium injuriis he did consolari because he made Paul to speak those words The evil that I hate that I do of his
a two-fold part of the soul the rational and that which hath not reason or which doth repugn reason The rational part saith he Lib. 1. Ethic. cap. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth provoke and incite to what is good but the rebellious part gain-sayeth Even as in the paralytical parts of the body when a man would move such to the right side they fall to the left side Now this Discourse of Aristotles we acknowledge as having some truth for even Heathens have by nature their consciences accusing or excusing of them Rom. 2. 15. But Papists and others do horribly perveâ—t this when they bring it into Divinity and so put a new piece of garment into the old thereby making a rent because there is no agreement with them otherwise we grant such a combate yea it is in too many men whose convictions are strong but their lusts stronger and no doubt this is in a regenerate person so farre as nature still abideth in him but such mens dislike and renitency of conscience doth not excuse them though they be not such great sinners as those that sinne without any remorse yet their condition is damnable Though such have many good sentences and you shall hear many good speeches come from them yet they are still under the bondage of sinne for though they have a knowledge condemning their sinne yet it is but universal when they come to the particular then they are carried away or their knowledge is but habitually in them not actually as with drunken men or men in a sleep so that the good sayings they utter they have no practical application of them and therefore compared by Aristotle Lib. 7. to a City which was derided by this saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The City consulteth and adviseth that yet regardeth not Laws or like such who did utter Empedocles his grave sentences A sad thing it is And oh how often is it for some men to speak excellent religious truths in discourse of which they have no practical power Solomon hath two excellent expressions to this purpose Prov. 26. 7. The legs of the lame are not equal so is a parable in the mouth of fools As the legs of a lame man being not equal make the going uncomely so it is when a man hath good speeches but evil actions Again vers 9. As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard so is a parable in the mouth of fools As a drunkard feeleth not the sharpness of a thorn running into his hand so neither doth such an incontinent person the power and efficacy of the most excellent and savoury truths which he speaketh yet all the while such convictions of light are upon man there is the more hope and he may be the more easily cured insomuch that he is not as evil as a man habituated and sensless in his sinne Hence Aristotle saith That though an incontinent person doth the same things with an intemperate yet he is not an intemperate person as was said of the Milesians They are not fools but they do the things that fools do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. 7. Ethic. cap. 9. ¶ 9. Another Combate in those within the Church which yet may not be godly IN the second place There is a second Conflict that is in those who are in the Church of God and are in a preparatory way to conversion These besides the natural light of conscience have the supernatural light of the Word which doth powerfully awaken them enlighten and humble them so that they feel a troublesome warre within themselves yet for the present obtain not that grace which setteth them at full freedom Many men before their conversion have been in this soul-fight a long time Prudentius the Christian Poet hath his Psycomachia wherein some sins and virtue as chastity and uncleanness covetousness and liberality are brought in combating with one another And thus many times some godly persons in their unregenerate time have been entangled in some special lust or other There are many assaults and skirmishes ere the work of grace doth take full possession Austin doth excellently declare this in his own experience lib. 8. Confess Velle meum tenebat inimicus meus c. My enemy did take hold of my will and made a chain thereof whereby he was fast bound and hereupon he did sigh and groan to be delivered being ligatus non ferro alieno but ferreâ meâ voluntate bound with his iron will In these aestuations of spirit he lay wearying himself till at last the grace of God came in with full power upon him making a through change cutting off the fetters that were upon his soul ¶ 10. Of the Combate in the godly between the Flesh and the Spirit and how it may be discerned from the former IN the third place There is the Combate in regenerate persons between the work of grace and the flesh in them The former was only between the natural conscience and lust The second between the Spirit of God but moving and working only in a man and his corruption The last between the Spirit of God inhabiting and dwelling in a man and the flesh in him So that if a Christian ask How shall I know whether the combate I feel be between the Spirit and the flesh or conscience and my lust Though practical Divines give many differences yet briefly in these three particulars one conflict may be discovered from the other 1. From the principle and root In the godly this ariseth from a total renovation or the Image of God placed in a man In the other it is only from partial illumination or natural light 2. In the motive This combate in the godly is upon holy grounds out of hatred to sinne out of love to that which is holy In the other it is out of terrour and slavish fear it is because they would not be damned it is because of horrour upon them not any delight in God 3. In the manner In the other the fight is between two parts of the soul only the mind against the appetite or if there be any work upon the heart it is but transitory and vanishing whereas in the godly man this combate is universal he hath will against will love against love as well as his mind against these Thus Austin ibidem speaketh of the two wils he had his carnal will and his spiritual will his meaning is that because his will was not so full and efficacious as it should therefore he had two wils as it were Non igitur monstrum c. saith he It is not therefore a monster partly to will and partly to will but the sickness of the mind that cannot rise up fully to what is good and therefore there are two wils because one is not wholly and fully carried out to that which is good This expression of Austin fully answereth that Objection when they demand How can the will will and nill at the same time It is a contradiction
in this matter Annotat in cap. 5. of the Romans for in his paraphrase on the 12 Verse he makes death and mortality to come upon all men by Adam's disobedience because all that were born after were sinners that is born after the likeness and image of Adam And again on Verse 14 death came on the world because all men are Adam 's posterity and begotten after the image and similitude of a sinful parent By this we see the cause of death is put upon that image and likeness we are now born in to our sinful parent which is nothing els but our original corruption Let not this consideration of our sinful soules and mortal bodies pass away before it hath wrought some affectionate influence upon our soules Cogita temcrtuum brevi moriturum Every pain every â—ch is a memento to esse hominem That is an effectual expression of Job cap. 17. 14. I said to corruption thou art my father and to the worm thou art my mother and sister You see your alliance and kindred though never so great it is your brother-worm your sister-worm Job giveth the wormes this title because his body was shortly to be consumed by them and thereby a most intimate conjunction with them would follow Post Genesim sequitur Exodui was an elegant allusion of one of the Ancients yea the life that we do live is so full of miseries that Solomon accounteth it better not to have been born and the Heathen said Quem Deus amat moritur juvenis which should humble us under the cause of this sinne SECT VI. Q. Whether Death may not be attributed to mans constitution considered in his meer naturalls I Proceed to the second and last Question which is May not death be attributed to mans constitution considered in his meer naturals Is there not a middle state to be conceived between a state of grace and sinne viz. a state of pure naturals by which death would have come upon mankind though there had been no sinne at all This indeed is the sigment of some Popish Writers who make Adam upon his transgression to be deprived of his supernaturals and so cast into his naturals although generally with the Papists this state of pure naturals is but in the imagination only they dispute of such things as possible but de facto they say man was created in holiness and after his fall he was plunged into original sinne Now the Socinians they do peremptorily dispute for this condition of meer naturals de facto that Adam was created a meer man without either sinne or holiness but in a middle neutral way being capable of either as his free will should determine him This state of meer nature is likewise a very pleasing Doctrine to the late Writer so oftern mentioned it helpeth him in many difficulties Death passed upon all men that is the generality of mankind all that lived in their sinne The others that died before died in their nature not in their sinne neither Adam's nor their own save only that Adam brought it upon them or rather lest it to them himself being disrobed of all that which could hinder it Thus he Answer to a Letter pag. 49. This is consonant to those who say as Bellarmine and others that man fallen and man standing differ as a cloathed and and naked man Adam was cloathed with grace and other supernatural endowments but when sinning he was divested of all these and so left naked in his meer natural Thus they hold this state of meer naturals to be a state of negation not privation God taking from man not that which was a connatural perfection to him but what was meerly gratuitous The late Writer useth this comperison of Moses his face shining and then afterwards the withdrawing of this lustre Now as Moses his face had the natural perfection of a face though the glorious superadditaments were removed thus it is with man though fallen he hath his meer naturals still and so is not in a death of sinne or necessity of transgressing the Law of God but though without the aid of supernaturals he cannot obtain the kingome of heaven yet by these pure naturals he is free in his birth from any sinful pollution saith the known Adversary to this truth Thus he that calleth original sinne a meer non ens he layeth the foundation of his Discourse upon a meer non entity Now if you ask what cometh to man by these meer naturals he will answer death Yea that which is remarkable is the long Catalogue of many sad imperfections containing three or four Pages that is brought in by him Vnum Necessar cap. 6. Sect. 7. a great part whereof he saith is our natural impotency and the other brought in by our own folly As for that which is our natural impotency man being thereby in body and soul so imperfect it is he saith as if a man should describe the condition of a Mole or a Bat concerning whose imperfections no other cause is to be enquired of but the Will of God who giveth his gifts as he pleaseth and is unjust to no man by giving or not giving any certain proportion of good things To the same purpose he speaketh also in another place further explicat pag. 475. Adam's sinne left us in pure naturals disrobed of such aides extraordinary as Adam had But certainly there are few Readers who shall consider what is by him made to be the natural impotency of man in soul and body but must conclude he is most injurious to the goodness wisdomè and justice of God in making man of such miserable pure naturals yea that it is a position worse then Manicheisme for the Manichees seeing such evils upon mankind attributed them to some evil principle but this man layeth all upon the good and most holy God It is Gods will alone not mans inherent corruption that exposeth him to so many unspeakable imperfections It is well observed by Jansenius who hath one Book only de statu purae nature opposing the Jesuites and old Schoolmen in their sigment upon a state of meer naturals that this opinion was brought into the Church of God out of Aristotle and that it is the principles of his Philosophy which have thus obscured the true Doctrine of original sinne I shall breifly lay down some Arguments against any such supposed condition of meer nature from whence they say we have ignorance in the mind rebellion against the Spirit and also death it self but without sinne And Arg. 1. The first is grounded upon a rule in reason That every subject capable of two immediate contraries must necessarily have one or the other A man must either be sick or well either alive or dead there is no middle estate between them thus it is with man he must either be holy or sinful he must either be in a state of grace or a state of iniquity The Scripture giveth not the least hint of any such pure naturals Indeed a man may in
a metaphysical manner have abstracted thoughts of man neither considering him as good or evil in which sense it is disputed between Junius and Arminius whether man in his meer naturals or in a common consideration as man neither looked upon as good or evil be the object of predestination but if we speak of existency then there never was or will be a man but either must be a good tree or bad for in such a susceptive subject one of the immediate contraryes must needs inexist Secondly The Scripture speaketh of mans condition since Adam's fall as a state of privation not negation When David confessed he was born in sinne Credo saith learned Davenant on Col. cap. 2. 2. hac verba non ferent commentum Jesuiticum in pur is naturalibus conceptus sum c. for the Word of God describeth us as blinded in our mind that we are dead in sinne that we have a stony heart all which argue that we have only impure naturals Thirdly To hold death diseases and soul miseries such as grief ignorance difficulty to do good c. consequentiall of nature is to attribute cruelty and injustice to God This Austin of old urged the Pelagians with How can an Infant new born be exposed to such miseries if there be no sinne deserving of it What God may do to an innocent creature how farre he may afflict him per modum simplicis cruciatus though not poenae by his sovereign dominion is not here to be disputed It is certain all these miseries of mankind are by the Scripture attributed to sinne and shall we have such hard thoughts of God that the world shall be full of miseries before sinne 4. Man as he is a man hath an inward desire to be happy and God onely can be the happiness of a rational soul There is by nature an imbred desire to an ultimate end and therefore that God at first planted in man such an appetite vouchsafed him also a power to obtain this end So that as we cannot conceive a man made at first without an inclination to this happiness so neither without inherent qualifications that would dispose him thereunto and this maketh any such state of pure naturals to be an impossible thing for then God would not be the ultimate end of such a man And whereas the Schoolmen have brought in a distinction of finis naturalis and supernaturalis of amor naturalis and supernaturalis that God is the natural end but not supernatural that he may be loved with a natural love or supernatural These are meer cobwebs and niceties for God is the ultimate end of man from his creation and as the creatures were made for man so man for God neither can man love God but by the help of Gods Spirit even Adam in his integrity was inabled to love God by his grace assisting of him and he that doth not love God upon such motives as the Scripture requireth sinneth and so this amor naturalis is no more than a sinne it is cupiditas not charitas it is not a loving of God as he ought to be loved Lastly This opinion of a third estate of meer naturals between holiness and sinne must necessarily infer a third place after death that is neither heaven or hell For I would ask this Writer whether one dying in his nature doth go to Heaven he cannot for he hath no holiness to hell he cannot because he hath no sin This puzzleth him exceedingly Furth Explic. p. 471. for though he is favourable to that opinion of a third place yet he dare not determine of any such thing To be sure the Scripture is clear enough that there are only two places after a mans death that are our receptacles either heaven or hell This may suffice to inform our judgements herein Let us hear something from this that may affect our hearts for more is to be spoken to this point in the ensuing Discourse Is all mankind thus sentenced to death Are we as so many dead corpse This should humble us and make us low in our eyes though a rich man though a great man yet a mortal man Xerxes that potent King looking from an high hill upon his numerous Army fell a weeping while he thought that within an hundred years there would not be one of them left Oh saith Hicrom in allusion to this that we could get up into some high Tower and behold all the Kingdoms and Nations in the world with every Inhabitant therin and then consider that within a short time there will not be one left Mankind runneth in a torrent one generation passeth away and another succeedeth yet how do these Ants busie themselves upon the earth as if they were immortal As men in a ship whether they sit or stand they are still drawing nigh to the haven Thus it is with us whether eating drinking buying or selling we are hastening to the grave Hence In the second place prepare and provide for death happy is that man upon whom it may be said he doth patienter vivere delectabiliter mori live patiently but die with delight Think every day yea hour that is said to thee which was to Hezekiah Set thy house and much more thy soul in order for thou shalt die and not live for though we die yet our sins nor our good and holy works die not but will go to the grave with us will go to hell or to Heaven with us CHAP. V. Eternal Damnation another Effect of Original Sinne. SECT I. What is meant by Wrath in this Text. EPHES. 2. 3. And were by nature the children of wrath as well as others AS I began this Subject of original sinne with the Text in hand so I shall conclude with it My purpose in re-assuming of it is to treat of the last and most dreadfull effect of our native pollution which is The desert of everlasting damnation From this alone had we no actual sins we are made heirs of Gods wrath as this verse doth fully evince I shall not insist upon the Coherence and Explication of the words that work is done already I shall only adde some observable particulars that were not formerly taken notice of and that will be done in answering of two Questions 1. What is meant by wrath here And 2. What is meant by nature For the first no doubt we are to mean Gods wrath Therefore Tertullian's Exposition of this place is singular and much forced he understands wrath here subjectively as if it were mans wrath making the sense to be We are all by nature subject to passions especially that of anger is predominant When it is said Lib. 3. de anima cap. 16. saith he that we were by nature the children of wrath â—rationale indignativum suggillat c. he reproveth that irrational anger we are subject to which is not nature as it cometh from God but of that which the Devil hath brought in Tertullian affirming these three parts or powers of the
that this man hath for this errour is because the Scripture useth substantive expressions it is called an evil heart a stony heart c. But this is because of the corruption adhering to it As we say a rotten tree or a poisoned fountain The heart as it is a fleshly substance is not evil but as it is the principle of our motions and actions not in a physical but moral sense It is true we say That through original sinne man cometh short of his end And so as the hand when its dead cannot do the works of an band or salt when it hath lost its seasoning is good for nothing Thus it is with man in regard of any supernatural actions yet he hath not lost any thing that was substantial and essential Only the power of the soul want the primitive rectitude they once had and therefore whensoever they act it is with deordination Indeed we will grant That Illyricus his adversary Victorinus Strigelius did not fully express original corruption in the Disputation between them who compared a man to a Loadstone of which they say when rubbed with Garlick it will not draw iron but if that be wip'd off by Goats bloud it will be as attractive as before For this similitude is not full enough because original sin doth not only hinder the doing of good actions but infecteth the very powers and principles of them It is true there are those as Contzen in Rom. 5. that say because the Calvinists hold That concupiscence is sinne they cannot avoid Flaccianism but that is a meer calumny We alwayes distinguish between the nature and substance of a man and the ataxy and disorder that doth now accompany it Neither when we call it an accident do we thereby extenuate the nature of original sinne for we do not make it a light superficial one but which is inbred with us and doth diffuse it self over all the parts and powers of the soul Neither do we say it is a transient temporary accident but that which is fixed and permanent in us Thus we see in what sense there may be excessive expressions about original sinne otherwise we cannot say enough to affect our hearts with the loathsomness of it provided we keep close to the Scripture directions herein Thus at last by the good hand of God we are come out of these deeps into the haven we have waded through all the several parts of this vast Subject and are now come to the shore It remaineth as a duty upon every one to hasten out of this captivity and bondage not to stay a day or hour in this damnable estate and above all things to take heed of such opinions that do either lessen or nullifie this sinne for this is to erre in the foundation Christ and grace and regeneration can never be built thereupon This Doctrine hath stood as a firm 〈◊〉 in all ages upon which the contrary errors have dashed and broken themselves and without this we are never able to performe those two necessary duties To know our selves and to know Christ This hath alwayes been the Catholique Doctrine of the Church of God Neither did the Fathers before Austin's time generally speak otherwise as late Writers would make us believe Even as the Socinians say the Ancients affirmed otherwise about Christ than after Athanasius his time and the Council of Nice was usually done in the Church Scripture the Consent of the Church and every mans own experience doth proclaim this truth Quis ante prodigiosum diâ—cipulum Pelagii Coelestium reatu praevaricationis Adae omne genus humanum negavit astrictum Lyr. cont Haeres c. 24. FINIS AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE A Actions MEns best Actions carnal pag. 139 Bad Actions are not justified by good intentions 280 The will hath not power over all its Actions 323 Adam Adam had full power over himself 20 Made upright 23 Yet free and changeable ib. 114 He sinned not after the same manner that we sinne against Socinians ib. A common head 25 His sin was disobedience 27 His sin imputed to all ib. His disobedience makes us sinners by propagation not by imitation 28 He had power to stand 114 And to repent and believe while in innocency transcendently ib. Deprived by his fall of more then was meerly supernatural 118 And of supernaturals also ib. Had free-will to good before his fall not after 119 Had faith 120 128 Loved God above all before his fall ib. And delighted in him 121 Not made in a neutral indifferent state 123 How original righteousnesse was natural to him 125 What was supernatural to Adam 127 Had all graces either actually or habitually 128 129 Had his affections subject to his mind 134 A comparison between the first and second Adam 181 Affections The pollution of them 325 The nature of them 327 How variously they may be considered 328 Their tyranny over the understanding and will 329 Sinfull in their first motions 330 And in their progress and degrees 331 And in their duration and in respect of their objects 332 And in respect of their end and use 333 And in their motion to lawfull objects 334 And in respect of their opposition to one another 336 Affections polluted in respect of the conflict between them and natural conscience 336 And in their distracting us in duties 338 And in their contrariety to the example of God ib. How they are in God 339 Their dulness toward good 340 Drawn to holy duties from corrupt motives 341 Zealously drawn out to false wayes 342 Inlets to all sin 343 The privacy of the Affections 345 The hurtfull effects on our own bodies 346 And others 347 They readily receive temptations ib. All. All sinfull that come of Adam sinfull by nature though the children of the most godly 394 And how absurd to exempt any 400 God justified for shutting up All under sin for the sin of Adam 421 Amyraldus Amyraldus and other sense upon the conflict in Rom. 7. examined 483 Angels Angels not generated 196 Appetite Of the three-fold Appetite in man 158 B Beleeve NO man can Beleeve by the power of nature 315 Blasphemies What devilish Blasphemies have been received 219 Body Body of man defiled with sin 372 Is not serviceable to the soul in holy approaches but a clog 376 Doth positively affect and defile the soul 377 Man acts more according to the inclinations of the Body then the dictates of the mind ib. It s a tempter and seducer 378 Doth objectively occasion much sin to the soul 381 Its indisposition to serve God 392 Easily moved by its passions 384 When sanctified it is the temple of God 385 C Children CHildren suffer for parents sinnes 46 Arminians make the Children of Heathens and believers alike 67 How soon a Child may commit actual sin 416 Christ Whether upon Christ's death there be a universal removal of the guilt of original sinne 539 Combate Combate between the flesh and the spirit 474 Conflict No spiritual Conflict in the state
Conversion Mr Hezekiah Woodward Of Education of Youth or The Childs Patrimony The Lives and Acts of the good and bad Kings of Judah A Treatise of Fear A-Thank-offering Mr Samuel Fisher A Love-Token for Mourners being two Funeral Sermons with Meditations preparatory to his own expected Death in a time and place of great Mortality Mr Herbert Palmer and Mr Daniel Cawdry A Treatise of the Sabbath in 4 parts Memorials of Godliness and Christianity in seven Treatises 1. Of making Religion ones Business With an Appendix applied to the Calling of a Minister 2. The Character of a Christian in Paradoxes 3. The Character of visible Godliness 4. Considerations to excite to Watchfulness and to shake of spiritual Drowsiness 5. Remedies against Carelesness 6. The Soul of Fasting 7. Brief Rules for daily Conversation and particular Directions for the Lords-day His Sermon entituled The Glass of Gods Providence toward his faithfull ones His Sermon entituled The duty and Honours of Church-Rest Mr William Barton His Psalms His Catalogue of Sins and Duties implied in each Commandement in verse Mr Vicars Chronicle in four parts Mr Samuel Clark A generall Martyrology or A History of all the great Persecutions that have been in the world to this time Together with the Lives of many eminent Modern Divines His Sermon at the Warwickshire mens Feast entituled Christian God fellowship Mr Kings Marriage of the Lamb. Mr Shorts Theological Poems The French Alphabet Jus Divinum Ministerii by the Provincial-Assemly of London Mr Thomas Blake His Answer to Blackwood of Baptism Birth-Priviledge Mr Cook His Font uncovered Dr John Wallis His explanation of the Assemblies Catechism 〈◊〉 Austin's Catechism 〈◊〉 Vicar's Catechism Mr Pagit's Defence of Church-Government by Presbyterial Classical and Synodal Assemblies Mr Tho Paget A Demonstration of Family-Duties Mr Anthony Burgess Vindiciae Legis or A Vindication of the Law and Covenants from the Errors of Papists Socinians and Antinomians A Treatise of Justification in two Parts Spiritual Refining Part 1. or A Treatise of Grace and Assurance Handâ—ling the Doctrine of Assurance the Use of Signs in Self examination how true Graces may be distinguished from counterfeit several true Signs of Grace and many false ones The Nature of Grace under divers Scripture Notions viz. Regeneration the New Creature the Heart of Flesh Vocation Sanctification c. Spiritual Refining the Second Part or A Treatise of Sinne with its Causes Differences Mitigations and Aggravations specially of the Deceitfulness of the Heart of Presumptious and Reigning Sinnes and of Hypocrisie and Formality in Religion All tending to unmask Counterfeit Christians Terrifie the ungodly Comfort doubting Saints Humble man and Exalt the Grace of God His CXLV Sermons upon the whole 17th Chapter of St John being Christs Prayer before his Passion The Difficulty of and Encourageâ—â—â—â— to Reformation a Sermon upon Mark. 1. vers 2 4. before the House of Commons A Sermon before the Court Marshal Psal 106 30 31. The Magistrates Commission upon Rom. 13. 4. at the Election of a Lord Maior Romes Cruelty and Apostasie upon Revel 19. 2. preached before the House of Commons on the 5th of November The Reformation of the Church to be endeavoured more then the Commonwealth upon Judg. 6. 27. 28 29. preached before the House of Lords Publique Affections pressed upon Numb 11. 12. before the House of Commons Self judging in order to the Sacrament with a Sermon of the Day of Judgment A Treatise of Original Sinne. Mr Richard Baxter Plain Scripture-proof of Infant Baptism The Right Method for getting and keeping Spiritual Peace and Comfort The unreasonableness of Infidelity in four Parts 1. The Spirits Intrinsick witness to the truth of Christianity with a Determination of this Question Whether the Miracles of Christ and hic Apostles do oblige those to believe who never saw them 2. The Spirits Internal witness of the truth of Christianity 3. A Treatise of the Sin against the holy Ghost 4. The Arrogancy of Reason against Divine Revelation repressed The Christian-Concord or The Agreement of the Associated Ministers of Worcestershire with Mr Baxters Explication of it A Defence of the Worcestershire Petition for the Ministry and Maintenace The Quakers Catechism An Apology against Mr Blake Dr Kendal Mr Lodovicus Molineus Mr Aires and Mr Crandon His Confession of Faith The Saints Everlasting Rest The safe Religion a piece against Popery Hiâ—â—â—esent Thoughts about Perseveran◠〈…〉 Practice of Godliness Mr Langly His Catechiâ—◠〈…〉 A Treatise 〈…〉 Dr Teate His 〈…〉 at the Funeral of Sr. Charles Cooâ— Mr Dury The desires of forrain Divines of a Body of Divinity from English Divines with an Essay of a Modell Ford. Three common mistakes about the work of Grace Object Answ Object Answ Object Answ Object Answ Object Answ Object Answ Object Answ Doct. Observ Obj Answ Object Answ Object Answ Object Answ Origen and Plato's opinion The Jews Some Papists Arg. 3. Arg. 4. Arg. 5. Argum. 6. It 's covered over with the veil of Blindness Vid. Cerd iâ— Tert. de presc II. With Senslesness and Stupidity Superiour objects 1. God 3. The Scripture 4. The works of God 1. Sinne past 2. Examples of others 3. The former work of Gods Spirit upon us 4. Our end and the day of Judgement 5. The afflictions of others 〈…〉 Apol. Confes c. de Trin. Propos 2. Quest Answ Prop. 4. Prop. 1. Cathol Refor Controv. 4. Cap. 1. Exam. Concil Trid. de fide Justific Prop. 2. Sex sessiois Antidot Prop. 3. Prop. 4. Prop. 5. Prop. 6. Spalat de Repub. Eccl. lib. 7. cap 11. Vindic. Grat. lib. 1. pars tertia vol. Mai. pag. 218. Prop. 7. Prop. 8. Aphorismes of Justification pag. 300.