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
posse mori is known by all It is not then an absolute but a conditional immortality we speak of ¶ 3. Propos 3. ALthough we say that God made man immortal yet we grant that his body being made of the dust of the earth and compounded of contrary element it had therefore a remote power of death It was mortal in a remote sense only God making him in such an eminent manner and for so glorious an end there was no proxim and immediate disposition to death God indeed gave Adam his name whereas Adam imposed a name upon all other creatures but not himself and that from the originals he was made of to teach him humility even in that excellent estate yet he was not in an immediate disposition to death When Adam had transgressed Gods Law though he did not actually die upon it yet then he was put into a mortal state having the prepared causes of death within him but it was not so while he stood in the state of integrity then it was an immortal state now it is a mortal one I say state because even now though Adam hath brought sinne and death upon us yet in respect of the soul a man may be said to be immortal but then there was immortality in respect of soul and body the state he was created in did require it So that although death be the King of terrors yet indeed original sinne which is the cause of it should be more terrible unto us Now man by sinne is fallen the beasts could they speak would say Man is become like one of us yea worse for he carrieth about with him a sinfull soul and a mortal body ¶ 4. Distinctions about Mortality and that in several respects Adam may be said to be created mortal and immortal THe fourth Proposition is That from the former premisses it may be deducted that in several respects Adam may be said to be created mortal and immortal yet if we would speak absolutely to the question when demanding how Adam was created we must return Immortall Some indeed because mans mortalilty and immortality depended wholy upon his will as he did will to sinne or not to sinne so they have said he was neither made mortal or immortal but capable of either but that is not to speak consonantly to that excellency of state which Adam was created in for as Adam was created righteous not indifferent as the Socinians say neither good or bad but capacious of either qualification so he was also made immortal not in a neutral or middle state between mortal and immortal so that he had inchoate immortality upon his creation but not consummate or confirmed without respect to perseverance in his obedience for the state of integrity was as it were the beginning of that future state of glory Again Adam might be called mortal in respect of the orginals of his body being taken out of the dust of the earth but that was only in a remote power so God did so adorne him with excellent qualifications in soul and body that the remote power could never be brought into a proxime and immediate disposition much less into an actual death for a thin◠may be said to be mortal 1. In respect of the matter and thus indeed Adams body in a remote sence was corruptible 2. In respect of the forme Thus Philosophers say sublunary things are corruptible because the matter of them hath respect to divers formes whereas they call the heavens incorruptible because the matter is sufficiently actuated by one forme and hath no inclination to another and thus Adam might truly be said to be immortal for it was very congruous that a body should be united to the soul that was sutable to it for that being the form of a man and having an inclination or appetite to the body if man had been made mortal at first the natural appetite would in a great measure have been frustrated it being for a little season only united to the body and perpetually ever afterwards seperated from it Surely as an Artificer doth not use to put a precious Diamond or Pearl into a leaden Ring so neither would God at first joyn such a corruptible body to so glorious and an immortal soul 3. A thing may be said to be mortal in respect of efficiency and thus it is plain Adam was not made mortal for he might through the grace of God assisting have procured immortality to himself that threatening to Adam In the day he should eat of that forbidden fruit he should die the death Gen. 2 17. doth plainly demonstrate that had he not transgressed Gods command he should never have died 4. A thing may be said to be mortal in respect of its end Thus all the beasts of the field whatsoever Puccius thought are mortal because their end was for man to serve him so that it is a wild position to affirm as he doth that there shall be a resurrection of beasts as well as of men for they were made both in respect of matter form and end altogether mortal whereas Adam was made after the Image of God to have communion and fellowship with God and that for ever which could not be without immortality ¶ 5. Prop. 5. THe true causes of death are only revealed in Gods Word All Philosophers and Physitians they searched no further then into the proxim immediate causes of death which are either external or internal they looked no further and knew of no other thing but now by the Word of God we Christians come to know that there are three principal causes of death so that had not they been those intermedious and proxime causes of death had never been The first cause is only by occasion and temptation and that was the Devil he tempted our first parents and thereby was an occasion to let death into the world for this cause the Devil is called Joh. 8. 44. a murderer from the beginning it doth not so much relate to Cain as to Adams transgression yet the Scripture Rom. 5. doth not attribute death to the Devil but to one mans disobedience because Adams will was not forced by Satan he had power to have resisted his temptations only the Devil was the tempting cause The second and most proper cause of death was Adams disobedience so that death is a punishment of that sinne not a natural consequent of mans constitution The History of Adam as related by Moses doth evidently confirme this that there was no footstep of death till he transgressed Gods Law and upon that it was most just that he who had deprived himself of Gods Image which is the life of the soul should also be deprived of his soul which is the life of the body that as when he rebelled against God he presently felt an internal rebellion by lusts within and an external disobedience of all creatures whom he did rule over before by a pacifical dominion so also it was just that he who had deprived himself
its nature If you look upon a Cain a Judas though his outside be so detestable yet his inwards are much more abominable so that a mans heart is like Peters great sheet which he saw in a vision Acts 11. 6. which was full of four-footed beasts and wild beasts and creeping things all unclean such a receptacle is mans soul of all impiety A man cannot tell what is in the sea what monsters are in the bottom of it by looking upon the superficies of the water which covers it so neither canst thou tell all that horrid deformity and wretchedness which is in thy heart by beholding thine outward impieties Oh then that you would turn your eyes inward as it were an introversion is necessary Then you will say O Lord before I knew the Nature of original sinne I was not perswaded of my vileness of my foulness Oh now I see that I am beyond all expression sinfull now I see every day I am more and more abominable O Lord formerly I thought all my sinne was in some words in some actions or in some vile thoughts but now I see this was the least part of all that evil that was in me Now I am amazed astonished to see what a sea of corruption is within me now I can never go to the bottom now I find something like hell within me sparks of lust that are unquenchable Fourthly Where there is not a true knowledge of this native corruption there our Humiliation and Repentance can never be deep enough for it 's not enough to be humbled for our actual sinnes unless also we go to the cause and root of all When a godly man would repent of his lusts of his unbelief or any other actual transgression he stayeth not in the confession of and bewailing those particular sins but he goeth to the polluted fountain to the bitter spring from whence those bitter streams flow and commonly this is a difference between an Ahabs Humiliation and a Davids Ahab humbleth himself only for his actual impieties and that because of judgments threatned and impending over him but David even when he heareth God had forgiven his iniquity yet hath great humiliation for his sinnes and Psal 51. thinketh it not enough to bewail his adultery and murder but to confess That in iniquity he was conceived his actual sinnes carried him to the original Thus Paul also Rom. 7 when he miserably complaineth of that impotency in him to do good that he could never do any good as perfectly fully purely and cheerfully as he ought to do presently he goeth to the cause of all this deordination the Law of sinne within him that original sinne which was like a Law within him commanding him to think to desire to do sinfully and obeyed it in all though against his will insomuch that he saith He was carnal and sold under sinne This the Apostle doth complain of as the heaviest burden of all So that an unregenerate man may by the light of nature bewail and complain of his actual impieties he may cry out Oh wretched man that I am for being such a beast such a devil so exorbitant and excessive but whether he can do this for the body of sinne within him as Paul did that may justly be questioned And therefore you see then the troubles and workings of conscience in some men to miscarry greatly They seem to be in pain and travails of soul but all cometh to nothing Oh how many in times of danger and under fear of death do sadly cry out of such sins they have committed Oh the promises and resolutions they make if ever God give them recovery again But all this passeth away even as mans life it self like a vapour like a tale that is told And one cause of the rottenness and defect of this humiliation is because it did not go to the bottom of the soare there was the inward and deep corruption of original sin that such never took any notice of and so in all his sorrow did omit that which is the most aggravating cause of all grief and trembling O Lord I have not only done this wicked thing but I had an heart an inclination of soul to carry me to it and therefore actual sinnes though ten thousands of them they pass away the guilt only remaining but this original pravity continueth in the pollution of it Fifthly Ignorance of original sinne makes us also mistake in the crucifying and mortifying of sinne No man can truly and spiritually leave a sinne unless he doth conquer it and subdue it in some measure in the original and root of it and this is a sure difference between a regenerate and unregenerate man about leaving or forsaking of sinne They both may give over their wonted actual impieties They both may have escaped the pollution of the world and that through the knowledge of the Gospel 2 Pet. 2. 20. but the one leaveth only the acts of sinne the other mortifieth it gradually though not totally in the cause and inclination of the soul Thus Paul Rom. 7. though he complain of those actual stirrings and impetuous motions of sinne yet withall he can truly say I delight in the Law of God in the inner man Now no hypocrite or unregenerate man can say so Though he be outwardly washed yet he hath a swinish nature still his inward parts are as loathsom as noisom as ever before Though there be a fair skinne drawn over the wound yet in the bottom there is as much corruption and putrefaction as ever before Samson's hair is only cut it 's not plucked up by the root so that it 's not enough to have given over thy former profaneness Thou thankest God thou art not the man once thou wert Oh but consider whether sinne in the root of it as well as in the branches of it doth wither and die daily A disease is not cured till the cause of it be in some measure at least removed As long as originall sinne is not in some degree mortified thy old sins or some other will break out as violently as ever here is the fountain and root of all within thee Sixthly He that is ignorant of the nature and extent of this natural defilement he must needs grosly mistake about the nature of conversion and be wholly ignorant of what regeneration is As you see in Nicodemus John 3. 6. though a master in Israel yet grosly mistaking about a new-birth and what was the reason of it That appeareth by our Saviours argument to prove the necessity of it Whatsoever is born of the flesh is flesh implying by this That if Nicodemus had known that by natural generation he was nothing but flesh that is sinne and evil his soul his mind his conscience all was flesh in this sense as well as his body then he would quickly have discerned the necessity of being born again then he would not have continued a day an hour a moment in such a dangerous condition And what
of it or like one Intellectus agens as some Philosophers dreamed but it is in every man that cometh in the world every one that is born hath his birth-corruption Therefore David doth not speak of that iniquity as it is in all mankind but as it was his case and as he was born in it So that it is not enough for you to say It is true it cannot be denied but that all are sinfull by nature but you must come home to your own heart you must take notice of the dung-hill and hell that is in your own hearts Thus the Apostle Paul as you heard Ephes 2. 3. to humble them and to lay them low that they might see all the unworthiness and guilt that was upon them before the grace of God was effectual in them he informeth them not onely of those grosse actual impieties they had walked in but that they were by nature the children of wrath But you may see this duty of bitter and deep humiliation because of original sinne notably expressed in Paul Rom. 7. most of that Chapter is spent in sad groans and complaints because of its still working and acting in him It was the sense of this made him cry out Oh miserable man that I am Dost thou therefore flatter thy self as if there were no such law of sinne prevailing upon thee when thou shalt see Paul thus sadly afflicted because of it Therefore it is that I added in the Doctrine We are to bewail and acknowledge it all our lives For Paul speaks here whatsoever Papists and Arminians say to the contrary in the person of a regenerate man Who did delight in the Law of God in the inward man and yet these thorns were in his side Original sinne in the lusts thereof was too active whereby he could not do the good he would and when he did he did it not so purely and perfectly as he ought So that you see the work you are to do as long as you live Though regenerated though sanctified you are to bewail this sinne yea none but the truly godly do lay it seriously to heart Natural men they either do not believe such a thing or they have not the sense of it which would wound them at the very heart Therefore we read only of regenerate men as David Job and Paul who because of this birth-pollution do humble themselves so low under Gods hand But let us search into this truth SECT V. Which needed not to have been if Adam had stood FIrst Take notice That had Adam stood in the integrity God made him in had he preserved the Image of God for himself and for his posterity then there had been no occasion no just cause for such self-abhorrency as doth now necessarily lie upon us Adam did not hide himself and runne from God neither was he ashamed of himself till sinne had made this dreadfull breach In that happy time of mans innocency there was no place for tears or repentance There was no complaining or grieving because of a Law of sinne hurrying them whither they would not then Adam's heart was in his own power he could joy and delight in God as he pleased but since that first transgression there hath become that grievous ataxy and sad disorder and confusion under which we are to mourn and groan as long as we live for as we necessarily have corruptible bodies which will be pained and diseased as long as we are on the earth so we have also defiled and depraved soules which will alwaies be matter of grief and sorrow to every gracious heart so that they must necessarily cry out Oh Lord I would fain be better I desire to be better but this corrupted heart and nature of mine will not let me The Socinians who affirm That Adam even in the first Creation had such a repugnancy planted in him and a contrariety between the mind and the sensible part that this prevailing made him thereby to commit that transgression do reproach God the maker of man and make him the Author of sinne So then this necessity of confession and acknowledgment of our native pollution was not from the beginning but upon Adam's transgression SECT VI. We must be humbled for a two-fold Original sinne and seek from Christ a two-fold Righteousness SEcondly When we say That original sinne is to be matter of our humiliation and sorrow we must understand that two-fold Original sinne heretofore mentioned viz. Adam 's actual sin imputed to us and that inherent or in-dwelling sin we are born in For seeing the guilt of both doth redound upon our persons accordingly ought our humiliation and debasement to be Yea Piscator thinketh David confesseth both these in this verse In the first place In iniquity was I shapen or born as he interprets it viz. in Adam's iniquity And in the second place in or with for so some render it sinne did my mother conceive me which is to be understood of that imbred pollution howsoever it be here it is plain Rom. 5. that the Apostle debaseth and humbleth us under this two-fold consideration first That we all sinned in him there is the imputed sinne And secondly That by his disobedience we are made sinners there is our birth-sin So that those who would hunger and thirst after Christ finding a need of him must seek for a two-fold benefit by Christ answering this two-fold evil First the grace of Justification to take away the guilt of all sinne and then of Sanctification in some measure to overcome the power of it that as we have by the first Adam imputed and inherent sinne so by the second Adam imputed and inherent righteousness SECT VII The Different Opinions of Men about Humiliation for Original Sinne. THirdly There are those who make such an humiliation and debasement as David here professeth altogether needless and superfluous but they go upon different grounds For First All such who do absolutely deny any such thing they must needs acknowledge all such confessions to be lies and falshoods that it is but taking of Gods name in vain when we confess such a thing by our selves if it be not indeed in us For if Adam should have said Behold God created me in iniquity and formed me in sinne would not this have been horrible lying to God and blaspheming of his Name No less is it If their Position be true That we are born in the same condition and estate that Adam was created in derogatory to God and a bold presumptuous lie for men in their prayers to acknowledge such a sinne dwelling in them when indeed it doth not So then if this be true That we are not born in original sinne then David doth in this penitential Psalm fearfully abuse the Name of God speaking that which is a lie and a most abominable untruth But whose fore-head is so hardned as to affirm this Yet all such who deny there is any birth-sinne they must also say there is no confession to be made
is the Image of God but as he is the second Person in the Trinity in respect of the Father but that is adequately and essentially so we are not the image of God but in great imperfection because we do not essentially participate of it Christ in respect of the Divine Nature is the Image of God but never said in Scripture to be made after it for that would be an imperfection yet if we speak of the humane nature of Christ we may say that it is created after Gods Image because God filled it with holinesse Hence some Durat de Imag. Dei lib. 1. pag. 7. expound that Ephes 4. of putting on the new man to be meant of Christ Christ say they is the new man paralleling it with Rom. 13. where we are exhorted to put on the Lord Jesus Christ Now howsoever some of the Ancients have made it very dangerous to say Adam and in him all mankind lost the Image of God yet that hath its truth no further than if we limit the Image of God to the essentials of mans soul as endowed with intelligence and immortality for it we take it in respect of gracious qualifications so it cannot be denied but that Adam was not more naked bodily in his Creation than after his fall his soul was made naked of all righteousness only Adam did blush and was ashamed after his sinne at his nakedness running from God because afraid whereas at our soul-poverty and nakedness we have no sad and grievous thoughts thinking with our selves How shall we come in our spiritual nakedness unto the most great and holy God That therefore we may be the more affectionately possessed in our thoughts about this loss Let us consider the several aggravations of it SECT II. The Ends for which God made Man lost by the losse of Original Righteousnesse FIrst The losse of this righteousness doth deprive us of the end for which God made us So that whereas before sinne God looked on Adam and saw he was exceeding good after his fall he seeth him to be exceeding evil and full of sinne Let us instance in some choice ends for which God made man in his own Image thus with righteousness and holiness As 1. Therefore was he made thus holy To have communion with and enjoyment of so holy a God When God had made all the creatures yet he saith There was not a meet help and comfort for him one in his own Image and likeness therefore he makes a woman of the same nature with him yet still among all creatures though we adde Angels to them there was not an adequate and sufficient object to fill his heart with delight therefore God was his utmost end So that although he had Paradise a place of delight to live in Though his state was not capable of any misery or fear from the creature yet that which was Adam's happiness was to enjoy God in these Now who can bewail our loss in this respect We are now propense to the contrary end of our Creation we wholly descend downwards who were made to ascend upwards Adam found the favour of God in all the creatures It was not this or that comfort but God in and by them that did draw out his heart But oh the misery and captivity we are in to self-love to the love of the creature Neither are we able by nature to lift up the heart above them to God in them no more than the worm can flie like an Eagle towards Heaven Oh groan under this and say My heart was not once such a lump of earth such an heavy stone as now I find it There was not then any such complaints heard Lord I can love Paradise I can love my wife but I cannot love thee but the clean contrary I love them because I love thee and I could not love them but because I love thee This Captivity and bondage our souls are in to the creature should make us mourn more grievously than ever the Israelites did under the Egyptians oppression What a shame is it to have a body that looketh upward to Heaven and a soul that looketh downward to earth How doth the constitution of thy body agree with the condition of thy soul Thy face is upward Os homini sublime dedit Coelumque tueri But thy soul that is pressed down in all its propensions and affections to the creatures and how contrary then are we to the end of our Creation which is the enjoying of God Adam had that which Alexander so ambitiously desired viz. the dominion over the whole world and yet he had as great dominion also over his own heart so that God was all in all to him If David though of the corrupted posterity of Adam but regenerated could say Whom have I in haven but thee and there is none in earth in comparison of thee How much more could Adam in that glorious state of integrity 2. Another end in Adam's Creation after the Image of God was to be is the glory and praise of Gods Name For as the Angels who also were made after Gods Image their constant work was to praise and glorifie God Thus Adam being made like another Angel was made full of holiness that upon the Earth he might as the Angels do in Heaven sing holy holy holy unto the Lord As some great Kings of the Earth when they have built some great City or Town they cause their Image or Picture to be set up in some eminent place for the monument of themselves who were such great Benefactors Thus God when he had made this great and glorious world he puts man into it as his Image that thereby his praise and goodness should be constantly declared but since Adam his fall all mankind is now a reproach and dishonour to God Their thoughts their affections their lives are so many dishonourable and reproachfull passages against him God doth not look upon us now as his workmanship but as the devils he feeth not his Image but the Devils in us Moses saith that when God saw how all men had corrupted themselves it repented him that be made man and it grieved him at his heart Gen. 6. 6. What a wonderfull expression is this God cannot repent or grieve at any thing properly but the Scripture speaketh thus after the manner of men to shew how exceedingly displeasing and offensive mans fall was that it had been better he had never been created than prove such an Apostate It is true God knew how to work a greater good out of sinne than sinne could be an evil but this no thank to Adam's sin and disobedience The good wrought thereby cometh wholly from the gracious power of God so that Adam's sinne of it self did disanull the end of his Creation and brought all things into confusion Take every man by nature what a beast and devil is he what an enemy to God what an adversary to every thing of God so that whereas he was made to
of men had committed some crimes for which they were adjudged to bodies as unto prisons and dungeons How comes it about that the rational part of a man which was made to be the guide and called by Philosophers the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it should follow after the inferiour lusts of the soul That this candle should be put not under a bushel but a dunghill That the elder should serve the younger That the tail should lead the head we are not carried out to what reason by the word of God commands but by what every sinfull affection doth suggest Those that say this rebellion between the mind and affections was from the Creation that God made man with this contrariety in himself must needs make God the author of sin but God saw every thing that he had made and it was exceeding good If then thou doubtest whether this universal pollution be upon thee look into thy self observe the rebellion the repugnancy there unto all light whether natural or supernatural and this will make thee readily confess it SECT VI. 6. THe incurvation of the soul unto all earthly and worldly objects this also makes it plain we came with original sin into the world The very making of the body different from other creatures who look downwards doth denote that therfore God created us that both soul and body should look upwards But is not every mans soul till rectified by grace bowed down to these earthly vanities no more able to soar up to Heaven than the worm can flie Now this is a plain sign of thy sinful apostate condition It is one of Hippocrates his rules That when a sick man catcheth inordinatly at the feathers of his pillow or at straws and any such light matter it is a sign of death and truly to see men by nature so immoderatly snatching and catching at these worldly things argue thou art a dying a perishing man unless Gods grace doth interpose As the Sun though with its beams it shine upon the earth yet it is not thereby defiled So man ought though he meddle in all outward affairs though he marry though he buy and sell and use this world yet he ought not in the least manner to soil and pollute his soul thereby But as the body deprived of the soul fals prostrate on the ground thus doth man deprived of Gods Image so that he is never able to get above the creatures but is vassaliz'd to them SECT VII THe work remaining is to give further reasons the Scripture being first laid as a foundation to demonstrate this truth That we are by nature originally defiled For though man be unwilling to be found thus a sinner and the entertaining of this truth seemeth to strike down all the hopes and comforts that a naturall man hath Believe this and all men as in respect of defect are so many damned men so that flesh and blood must needs deny cavill distinguish and turn it self into a thousand shapes ere it will acknowledge it yet look we into our selves diligently and compare our selves with the glass of Gods Word we cannot but say That all we have heard by the Ministers all that Sermons and Books tell us come not up to what we feel in our selves So that as the Apostle when he said This corruption shall put on incorruption he did cutem tangere did lay his hand upon his body as Tertullian thought so do thou strike upon thy thigh and smite upon thy breast and say within this body lieth a soul covered all over with sinne and damnable guilt To assure us more herein these further discoveries may be added First That spirituall death in sinne which we are all plunged into whereby we do become altogether senseless and stupid as to any spirituall concernement The death threatned upon Adam's trangression was spirituall as well as corporall and therefore Ephes 2. We are said to be dead in sinnes till Christ quicken us by his power Now this is a full discovery that we have lost Gods Image and all spiritual life otherwise why should not spirituall life be as quick active and moving towards spirituall objects as our naturall and corporall life is to corporall things Why is it that when any do threaten corporall death and outward misery we are afraid and will give all we have for this corporall life But when the Devil tempts and the world tempts so that we are in danger of loosing eternal life we have no trembling or horror taking hold upon us Nebuchadnezzar made a law that whosoever would not worship his Image should be cast into a fiery furnace and unless the three Worthies none refused so great a matter is the fear of a naturall death But hath not God threatned hell which is ten thousand times more dreadfull then that fiery fornace to every one that goeth on wickedly yet none trembleth because of this Is not this plain then that thou art a dead man in sinne Further concerning our corporall life how sollicitous are we about the preserving of it what carking and caring for meat and raiment what labour for the back and the belly Is not the greatest imployment in the world for these two things and all this is that our frail perishing life may yet be continued But do men naturally manifest any such thoughts and diligence about the meanes of a spirituall life The preaching of the Word the Ordinances these God hath appointed to be spirituall food by these our heavenly life is maintained these are the oyl to keep that lamp burning But do not all men by nature loath these are they not a burden to them do they ever pant and thirst or hunger after these things as men do for meat or drink now why is all this but because we have no spirituall life in us So that if you do consider the insensibleness and stupidity of every naturall man as to things of an heavenly aspect you need no more to perswade you that Gods Image is lost and we are dead in sinne When the body needeth food needeth raiment all is supplyed but so thy soul needeth Christ needeth grace and there is not the least thought to have a supply yea we are not only dead in sinne but have been a long while thus dead and if she said of Lazarus Joh. 11. 39. Lord by this time he stinketh for he hath been dead four dayes How much more may we say this in a spirituall sense of thee who it may be hast been dead fourty or fifty years Secondly This may be further inlarged by a consectary from the former will not this abundantly declare we are all over sinfull Because heavenly things are not such objects of delight and pleasure to us as carnall and worldly things are This is a palpable demonstration of our wretched pollution That we cannot feel any sweetness any pleasure or joy in those things which immediately concern God Adam in his state of integrity was like Jacob's ladder the foot whereof
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
that children and life are made blessings certainly to be kept in a prison or adjudged thereunto is a curse not a blessing But Secondly This opinion doth not at all heal the wound that the mentioned Objection giveth for the doubt is how our souls are infected because of Adam if they were not causally in him And this speaketh to another matter that they sinned before they were incarnated and therefore have such a troublesome and noisome lodging Again this contradicts the Apostle and doth indeed take away the subject of the question for Rom. 5. The Apostle maketh Adam's disobedience to be the cause of all the sinne that we have as soon as we are born It is not then the souls sinning before its union to the body but Adam the first man and the common head in whom we all sinned and seeing the souls of men were 〈◊〉 Adam as their bodies are the stone still remaineth unremoved In the next place Therefore there are those of a later hatch but few yet would be if not in the number of the first worthies yet of the second Papists I mean Pighius and Catharinus against whom the Papists do as largely dispute in this controversie of original sinne almost as they do against the Protestants These lay down their opinion in two things First That the soul of a man cometh into the world pure and holy without any inherent filth of sinne and that till there be actual sinnes there is nothing in man but what is of God and for this they bring all the Arguments which the Pelagians of old use to do But then In the second place That they may not be anathematized as pelagianizing They say Adams actual disobedience is made our sinne by imputation so that they deny any original sinne inherent in us only all the original sinne we have is Adams first sinne of disobedience which is made ours hence they deny that every one hath his proper original sinne as if there were as many original sinnes as persons born but they say Adams actual disobedience being made ours is the one original sinne of all mankind Thus as one sun serveth to inlighten all the starres and as some Philosophers say that there is one intellectus agens common and universal to all men so they make one original sinne to be common to all and this only Adams posterity is guilty of This opinion they press as hereby making every thing easie and clear Then there needeth no disputation about the original of the soul or how it can be infected if this be true say they then here is no occasion for these intricate disputes about the propagation of original sinne To which the most learned are never able to give a satisfactory Answer Although this opinion of imputation doth no waies remove the doubt about the Creation of the soul for if the soul be by Creation how cometh Adam's sinne to be imputed to man born of Adam if his soul was never causally in Adam so that the difficulty doth still continue as great notwithstanding this opinion But as this opinion hath some truth in it so also much more error and therefore though it be sweet in the mouth yet it proveth wormewood in the belly The truth is this That Adams actual sinne is made ours by imputation this must be constantly affirmed because denied by those who also deny the imputation of Christs righteousness as if thereby we were justified we grant therefore that Adams one sinne is made all mankinds Hence the Apostle doth still speak of one man though there be many immediate parents by whom we are not only made sinners but in whom also we did sinne and this doth arise wholly from Gods ordination and appointment of it for although Scoto and others do call the Covenant in this respect fabula a meer fable yet Suarez doth confess the necessity of it and indeed it must be for though Adam had a thousand times over wilâ—ed that his sinne should be the sinne of all his posterity yet they could not have been guilty of it had not that Covenant involved them so that if the patrones of this imputation had not stayed here but acknowledged also an inherent pollution they would not have been so justly censured But we have already proved by Scripture reason and experience that mankind is involved in an inherent pollution of their own as well as guilty of imputed sinne and indeed how could man be obnoxious to eternal wrath if there were not damnable matter within as well as without can they go to hell with souls pure and holy But if this imputation be granted then the pelagians Objection seemeth to be of force That as Adams sinne could hurt those that have not actually sinned so Christs righteousness may profit those that do not believe This Objection 〈…〉 rather to be answered because the Antinomian thinketh from hence 〈…〉 answerable argument to prove that we are justified before we 〈…〉 That the elect are accepted of having their sinnes pardoned 〈◊〉 they do repent yea before their sinnes are committed because we are in 〈◊〉 the second Adam To this Argument Austin answered of old the Pelagians That Christs righteousness did not profit any but believers and therefore Infants they were saved alienâ side by the faith of their Parents Even as we are condemned alieno peccato by the sinne of another although it be so alienum as that it is also proprium but this is not satisfactory Therefore to the Antinomian we answer That although we are all said to sinne in Adam and his disobedience is imputed to all yet the condition or the medium by which we come to partake of this imputation is naturall generation and therefore till we have an actual being we cannot be said to sinne in him potentially indeed we may but natural generation supposing Gods Covenant as the reason of the conveighance of it in this way Even as in the state of integrity the Covenant would have been the cause of transmitting original righteousness to Adams posterity though natural generation would have been the way of communicating of it is that only which maketh us actually to participate of his guilt Therefore it is a feeble thing in a late writer Eire to oppose the natural generation or discent from Adam to the Covenant for both are requisite the latter as the cause the former as the medium And thus it is in regard of Christs righteousness that is the cause of our justification in Christ we are made righteous as in Adam sinners yet the medium to apply this and to make it ours is faith so that none are justified till they do believe as none are condemned for Adams sinne till they have an actual being faith is the same in a supernatural way to partake of Christ as natural propagation and discent from Adam is to be made a sinner in him Although we may say truly that Christ doth profit the non-believers who belong to grace for by him
to prove the Creation of the soul shall be from Eccl. 12. 7. Then shall dust returne to the earth as it was and the spirit shall returne to God who gave it This seemeth to be very clear for he speaketh of every man that dieth he considers the two essential parts of man his body which he calleth dust because it was made of dust and then his soul which he cals a spirit because of its simple and incorporeal nature again which strengthens the Argument he compareth these two in their contrary or divers originals The body returneth to the earth the Spirit unto God that gave it Though we would think this might satisfie yet Austin of old and those that are Traducians they say God indeed giveth the soul by propagation as well as by Creation God giveth two wayes by Creation or by Propagation as saith Austin God is said 1 Cor. 15. 38. to give every several grain its body yet it is by seminal propagation and God is often in the Scripture said to give us our eyes and our ears and our bodies yet they are by natural generation or if this will not serve then they say This is true onely of Adam not his posterity because Adam's body was only made of the dust not ours and God did breath a soul into him at first But every one may see these are weak exceptions as for the later it 's plain he doth not speak of Adam but every man that dieth For having advised the young man to improve his youth for God he tels him old-age is coming and then death then shall he return How can this be applied to Adam who had returned to the earth many hundreds of years before that was spoken And whereas it is said That only Adam's body was made of dust The answer is easie That though our bodies be of flesh and bone immediately yet the remote principle is dust and therefore Abraham though his body was not made as Adams yet he said 〈◊〉 was but dust and ashes Thus this Text stands firm for the immediate Creation of the soul Though let me by the way give you rightly to understand that later clause The spirit returneth to him that gave it The meaning is not as if the soul of every man was saved but that it goeth into the hands of God as a Judge to dispose of it according to what hath been done in the flesh As for the next exception that will be answered in the following Argument only in the general this may be said That if God gave the soul onely mediately by propagation then the body might be said to return to him as well as the soul SECT II. WE will proceed to a second and that is from Zech. 12. 1. The Lord which stretcheth forth the Heavens and layeth the foundation of the earth and formeth the spirit of man within him Here we see the Lords power described by a three-fold effect the making of the Heavens the laying of the earths foundation and making the spirit of man Now it is plain that the two former were by Gods immediate Creation therefore the later must be So that the Context doth evidently shew That Gods making of the soul of a man within him is no lesse wonderfull then the making Heaven and earth This Text was also of old agitated by Austin in this controversie and to answer it he runneth to his old refuge of forming a thing immediately and by natural propagation God is not to be excluded saith he from having a special hand in giving being to the soul yet it doth not follow that therefore it must be by creation out of nothing To this purpose they bring that of Job Chap. 10. 10 11. where Job attributeth the making and forming of his body to God Hast thou not poured me out like milk c Thou hast cloathed me with skin and flesh So Psal 139. 13 14 15. where David acknowledgeth the wonderfull wisdom and power of God in making his body Then hast curiously wrought me As the curious needle-woman doth some choice piece now we cannot from hence prove that therefore the body is of God by immediate Creation But this cannot weaken the Text for we told you That the Argument is not meerly from that expressing of forming the spirit of man within him but from the upper two Attributes Besides the Scripture tels us plainly of what materials the body is formed of whereas they who hold the propagation of the soul are extreamly streightned and difficultated to say what the soul is made of They say it is not ex animâ but ab animâ not of the soul but from the soul of the Parent but then are divided amongst themselves when they go to explicate how the soul hath its being if not from Creation Some say it hath its being by a corporal seminal manner but then it must be a body which Austin would constantly deny for he dissents from Tertullian in that though both held the natural Traduction of the soul Austin I mean only suppositively but Tertullian positively yet he professeth his dissent from Tertullian who made it a body This therefore being thought absurd others they tell us of an incorporeal and immaterial seed from the soul of the Parents which causeth the soul of the child To this purpose Tertullian in his book de animâ distinguisheth of semen animale which cometh from the soul and semen corporeum which cometh from the body But this may easily be judged as absurd as the former If therefore the Scripture when it speaketh of the forming of mans spirit within him had discovered the materials of which it is formed as well as when it speaketh of the forming of the body there would have been some pretence for the Argument But calling it a spirit and as you see in the Text comparing the forming of it with the making of the Heavens and the Earth this makes the creation of the soul more than probable Tarnavius the Lutheran would likewise avoid this place Comment in loc by saying the Hebrew word Jahac doth most commonly signifie not an immediate creation out of nothing for so the Hebrew word Barah doth for the most but a mediate out of some prejacent matter yet indisposed but this Rule being not universal it hath no strength in it Besides the Hebrew word is in the Present tense who formeth so that it cannot relate to the making of Adam's soul at first Indeed the fore-named Tarnavius doth from the participle Benani draw an Argument against us saying It doth not alwayes signifie actum secundum but habitum and potentiam and so maketh the sense to be God who hath this power immediately to create the soul if he will but all will confess this to be forced That is more considerable when he saith As God in stretching out the Heavens and laying the foundation of the earth is not thereby declared to create new Heavens and a new earth every day so neither is it
none of the Adversaries to the souls immediate Creation do deny it Now then If the soul of Adam was by creation Is it not probable that all other souls were in the like manner What a great disproportion would there be between Adam and us if his soul was by creation and ours by generation Some have questioned Whether it would not make a specifical difference between Adam and us But that is not to be affirmed For Christ as man was of the same species with other men though his Conception and Nativity were miraculous But the Argument from the Creation of Adam's soul to the Creation of ours though it be not cogent yet it maketh it more then probable because God at first did appoint that order which afterwards was to continue So he appointed the animate creatures to multiply in their way making their bodies and forms to be educed out of the power of the matter as Philosophers expresse it though very obscurely but he did not do so with Adam's soul Can we think that our souls are lesse glorious and precious before God I mean as meet creatures then Adam's was It is true There was a necessity that Adam 's body should be otherwise made then ours because he was the first Parent and so he could not be bygeneration Thus the other living creatures they had their bodies at first out of the earth or out of the water not by generation as afterwards Thus for the body there was a necessity but then for the soul there was none at all Why might not Adam's soul have been with his body out of the prejacent matter as well as it was with other living creatures But because the soul of man is of an higher nature coming from God alone This Argument will appear in further strength if you consider that Eve though she was made in such an extraordinary manner out of Adam yet she had not her soul from him but her body only For when he awakened see what he saith This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh He doth not say This is soul of my soul and yet as Austin in this matter though doubting doth well argue That if Eve had had her soul from Adam Quid charius potuit dicere saith he This would have been a more indeared and affectionate expression to have called her soul of his soul then flesh of his flesh It is true some say it is a synecdochical speech By flesh they say is meant whole Eve her whole person soul and body but that is easier said than proved No doubt if it had been so Adam would have expressed it as being a manifestation of greater unity then what was in the body only If you say But why is it not said then that God created Eve 's soul as well as Adam ' s If God had so immediately breathed a soul into her would not the Scripture have mentioned it No that is not necessary it 's enough that we read what God did to Adam about his soul and the Scripture saith Genes 1. 27. God created man in his Image male and female created he them Thus you see they were both as in respect of Gods Image made alike So Chap. 5. 2. Male and female created he them and called their name Adam And thus much for the first Reason The second is more cogent and that is taken from the soul of Christ If Christ had his soul by creation then we had ours also The consequence is clear because Christ is said to be like us in all things sinne onely excepted Hence it is that he also would have assumed our humane Nature in an ordinary way of generation but that it could not be without sinne If then Christ became like us in all things wherein sin was not necessarily adherent then if he had his soul by immediate Creation we had ours also This Argument doth divide the Adversaries to the Creation of the soul For some say Christ had not his soul by immediate Creation no more then we but from his mother But the most wary will not say so Austin in this controversie doth alwaies except Christs soul and indeed there is this Argument which may nforce us to it taken from the comparison that the Apostle maketh between Levi and Christ affirming Levi did pay tythes in Abraham's loynes but not Christ Heb. 7. 9. Now if Christ was every way in Abraham's loynes as Levi was then must Christ have paid tythes in Abraham as well as Levi and so the Apostles Argument would be without any force But it may be and indeed it is urged by Austin and others This will prove Levi's soul to have been in Abraham else Levi could not have been said to have paid tythes in him but as because Christs soul was not in Abraham originally therefore he did not pay tith so neither might Levi To this therefore the solid Answer is That the reason why Christ did not pay tythes in Abraham in the Apostles sence was not because his soul was immediately from God for so also was Levi's but because Christ was of Abraham only Quoad corpulentam substantiam not seminatam rationem his fleshly substance was from Abraham but not by natural propagation he was from Abraham only materialiter not effectivè whereas Levi was both waies and hence he cometh short of Christ Thirdly If so be that the soul of the parents did beget or multiply the souls of children then this would hold also in Angels for the multiplication of another must needs be acknowledged a perfection where the subject is capable of it Certainly generation of another is not in it self an imperfection for then in the blessed Trinity the Sonne could not be begotten of the Father but generation as in creatures denoteth imperfection If then souls may come from souls why not Angels from Angels but this is acknowleged by all That no Angel can produce another but that there are as many and no more or less then was at first Creation As for that example of the soul producing another as we see one candle light another that is nothing to this purpose for therefore doth the candle inlighten another because there is prepared and fitted matter to receive this light so that its from prejacent materials the light is produced but how can this be applied to the soul which is wholly spiritual what preexistent matter that can be made of Fourthly If so be the soul be not by immediate Creation then it must be material corporal and mortal for although this consequence is denied yet the evidence of natural reason will commend this It s traduced saith Tertullian and is a body yet is immortal It is by propagation say the Lutheran Divines and yet is not a body but a spirit and immortal But above all those abominable Mortalists they make it to be only the crusis of the body of which opinion Galen also is said to be and so they make it mortal We see
by the power of God detained here on earth that the glory of Christ might be exalted he doth unite this soul though with pollution to the body Now Gods uniting of the sinfull soul to the body did not make him the cause of any sinne therein Because he united it as part of that man who yet was not wholly purged from sinne Now the reason why the soul is created not as a perfect substance in it self is Because it 's the forme of man not an assisting forme and therefore is not in the body as when an Angel did assume bodies or as a man in his house or as a Musician useth an Instrument but a form informing whereby it is made an intrinsecal essential part of a man The truth of this will give much light to our point in hand the soul is created by God The informing forme of a man and so hath no other consideration but as an essential part of him and therefore seeing the man is in Adam whose soul this is that is thereby exposed to all the sinne of Adam Hence it is that there is some difference between the creation of Angles and the Chaos at first which were made absolutely of nothing and of the soul For the soul though it be created of nothing yet because a form hath an essential respect to its matter for which cause Contarenus as Zanchy saith affirmed The soul had a middle way of being between Creation and Generation and therefore is that distinction of some learned men that though the soul be not ex materiâ yet it is in materiâ God did not create it but in the body though not of the body and thus farre it may be said to be of man as that he is the cause though not of the being of the soul yet of the being of it n this body The third Proposition The soul being thus created an essential part of a man and the form informing of him Hence it is That we must not conceive the soul to be first created as it were of it self subsisting and then infused into the body but when the materials are sufficiently prepared then as the Schoolmen expresse it well Infundendo creatur and creando infuditur it 's infused by the creating of it and created by infusing So that the soul is made in the body organized not without it so the Scripture Zech. 12. 1. Who formeth the spirit of man with him and because of the souls unon to the body when thus disposed Hence it is that man may truly and univocally be said to beget a man though his soul be created for seeing man who is the compositum is the Terminus generationis Hence it is that man begets man as well as a beast though the soul of a beast be from the matter as we see in Christ the Virgin Mary is truly said to be the mother of Christ though she was not the mother of his Divine Nature nor of his soul Thus man doth properly beget another man though the soul be by Creation as the matter also according to Philosophy is ingenerable because the soul is united to the body prepared and disposed for it by man from which union resulteth the whole person or compositum consisting of soul and body So that although man be not the cause of his childs souls being yet that it hath a being in this body and thereby such a person produced he is the cause of it and by this if well understood you may see original sinne communicated to every one though the soul be created In that way which the humane nature is communicated to every one So that if we truly know how a man is made a man from his parents we may also know how sin is thereby also communicated The fourth Proposition is Although God doth daily create new souls yet his Decree and Purpose to do so was from all eternity And therefore in this respect we may say all men consisting of souls and bodies were present to God in Adam in respect of Gods Decree and also his Covenant with Adam so that although there be a new Creation yet there is no new institution or ordination on Gods part Whereas therefore it 's thought hard that because Adam was so many thousand years ago the soul created now should partake of his sinne The Answer is That in respect of Gods Decree and Covenant we were all present to God in Adam There is no man hath his being De Novo but unto God he was present from eternity so that though the things in time have a succession of being yet to God all are present in eternity Not that we can say they were actually sinners or actually justified but in respect of Gods purpose all were present and this will help much to facilitate this difficulty we are as present to God in respect of his Decree and knowledge as if we had been then actually in Adam in which sense it 's said Omnes fuerunt ille unus homo and Act. 15. 18. Known to God are all his works from the beginning The fifth Proposition Hence it is that the just and wise God is not to alter and change that course of nature because man hath sinned It is vain to say Why will God unite this soul to the body when thereby both shall be polluted For though man hath by his sinne deserved that this should be yet God is not therefore to cease of the continuing and multiplying of mankind God doth keep to the fixed course of nature notwithstanding mans sinne And therefore we see that even to those who are begot in fornication and whoredome yet even to such in that unlawfull act God giveth souls because he will not interrupt the course of nature The sixth Proposition Adam by his first transgression did deserve that all who should be of him should be deprived of the Image of God and the privation of that doth necessarily inferre the presence of all sinne in a subject susceptible As take away light from the air and it must be dark so that this Proposition answereth the whole difficulty Adam deserved by his transgression that all his posterity should become dead in sinne and as he had thus deserved it so God had ordained it and appointed it The soul then of every one being made part of that man who is thus cursed in Adam it becomes deprived of the Image of God and so full of sinne So that although God create the soul naturally good yet because part of man condemned by his sentence he denieth it that original righteousnesse it once had God doth not infuse any evil into the soul nor is the Author of any sinne therein but as a just Judge denieth that righteousnesse which otherwise the soul might have had So that you must not look for an efficient cause of original sinne in the soul but a deficient and a meritorious cause So that the Summe is this If you ask How cometh the soul defiled if created of
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
notorious and most ungodly enemies of the Church because the seed and root of these is in all so we may appropriate this feared conscience to every man naturally whereby a man commits gross and foul sinnes and yet finds not one prick or stab at his heart for it What made David when he had numbered the people to have his heart smite him presently but because his conscience was sanctified and made tender by God whereas thou canst a thousand times fall into the same gross-sinnes and thy conscience giveth thee not one lash for it Is not this because thy conscience is stupified so that it hath made thee in all thy sinnes as Lot was when made drunk by his daughters He knew not in the morning what he had done Thus with the same stupidity and sottishness dost thou act sinne it cometh from thee as excrements from a dying person and thou hast no apprehension of them as in sleep the stomack doth digest that meat which if waking would so molest it that there would be no ease till exonerated Thus while conscience is asleep those things are committed which if it were tender it would with fear and trembling fly from O men bitterly to be lamented and mourned over Conscience which is set as a schoolemaster to direct and reproove thee is become a flatterer or rather lieth stark dead within thee that the Devil and sinne in all the lusts thereof may hurry thee whether they please and conscience doth not contradict so that you may as well offer light to the blind speech to the deaf wisedome to the bruit beast as publish the great truths and commands of God to them while conscience is thus stupified within them Therefore in conversion the first work of grace is to make this tender and sensible even of the least sinne SECT III. The Blindness and Stupidity of Conscience discovered in the several Offices and actings of it THirdly Because this pollution of the conscience is expressed in the general viz. blindness and stupidity Let us examine how this sinfullness is seen in the several offices and actings of conscience for which God hath placed it in the soul And 1. One main work of conscience is to apply what we read in the Scripture as generally spoken conscience is to apply it in particular When it readeth the threatnings and cursings of the law to such sinnes as thou art guilty of then conscience is to say This belongeth to me This curse This burden is my curse it 's my burden Because David did not let his conscience do its duty in application David could condemne sinne in general His wrath is kindled against such sinners as himself in the general Nathan was forced to be in stead of conscience to him saying Thou art the man Thus conscience if not polluted when it heareth any woe denounced against such and such sinnes then that stands up and saith Thou art the man hence God giveth the commands by particular application Thou shalt not commit adultery Thou shalt not steal that conscience may say This Commandment belongs to me As natural bodies they act by a corporal contact so the Scripture worketh upon the soul by a spiritual contact and that is the application of conscience Insomuch that if we do a thousand times read over the Scriptures if we hear Sermons upon Sermons all our life if conscience doth not apply all becomes ineffectual And this may answer that Question How it cometh to pass that a man can commit those sinnes which he knoweth to be sinnes which his conscience tells him are sinnes Who are there so much stupified and besotted by sinne that do not in the general know that the waies they live in are wicked that they provoke God that they ought not to do so How then is it possible that they should close with those sinnes that they know to be so seeing the will cannot will evil as it is evil Now the Answer is This ariseth from the defect of conscience she doth not particularly make such a powerfull application pro hic nunc as it ought to do There is therefore a general knowledge an habitual knowledge of such things to be sinnes yea it may be a particular apprehension that they are now sinning and offending God but this is onely a speculative apprehension it 's not a practical one produced by conscience in thee Oh therefore that all our Auditors were delivered from this original pollution of conscience for therefore we preach in vain and you hear in vain because no application is made to your own hearts None brings the truth the command the threatning to his own soul saying This is my portion none so guilty as I am in this particular and thus as she said to the Prophet Thou hast brought my sinnes to my mind or as the woman of Samaria concerning Christ He had told her of all that she had done Thus faith the applying conscience This Sermon brings my sinnes to my mind This Sermon tels me of the wickednesse at such a time committed by me It was the Prophets complaint of his hearers None said What have I done They did not make a particular application Therefore till the grace of God quicken the conscience making thee to cry out What shall I do I have sinned Gods Word hath found me out It is me the Law condemneth It is me that the curses belong to as if I were mentioned and named as if I had heard a voice from Heaven saying Thou Thomas Thou John here is thy sin here is thy doom Till I say this be done all thy knowledge in the general all the Texts of Scripture in thy memory they have no influence at all Secondly Herein is the corruption of the conscience naturally seen That though it doth apply yet it is in so weak and cold a manner that it hath lost its activity and predominancy over the affections and the will of a man insomuch that though conscience do speak do rebuke do apply yet a man careth not for it The affections and the will are not kept in awe by it Thus although conscience in many doth not so much as stirre it is stark dead yet in many it doth sometimes apply bringing home the Word of God to the heart so that he cannot but confesse if he doth thus and thus he sinneth but then conscience is too weak affections and passions like Amnon to Tamar are too strong and consuperate her whether she will or no Is not this the dreadfull condition of many who frequent our Congregations whose consciences condemn them daily Thou art such a sinner thy wayes are damnable but they slight and despise these applications of conscience as rude Scholars the authority of their Master what care they for the Monitor in their breast Like Balaam they will press forward to their wickedness though conscience stand like an Angel with a sword in his hand to stop in the way Rom. 1. 18. The Apostle speaketh excellently to this
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
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
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
former particular our bodies had some kind of efficiency and working in those sinnes but here it is passive as it were an object that doth allure and draw out the soul inordinately to it so that we mind the body look to the body provide for the body more than the soul so that whereas the soul is farre more excellent and worthy than the body so that our thoughts and studies should be infinitely more zealous to save that then the body yet till grace doth sanctifie and life us up to the enjoyment of God who doth not look after his body more than his soul which yet is as if saith Chrysostom a man should look to his house to see that be repaired and that be in good order but neglect his own self The soul that is properly a man the body is but his house and a vile one also is an house of clay it is but a garment to the soul and a ragged tottered one Now it is good to take notice in what particulars our bodies are thus objectively a cause of sinne to us And First It is evident in that diligent and thoughtfull way of car we have about the feeding and cloathing of it Doth not our Saviour even to his very Disciples prohibit this perplexing care Matth. 6. 25. Take no thought for your life what ye shall eat nor for your body what ye shall put on but how faulty are we here comparatively to our souls we that have so many thoughts to provide for the body how few have we about the soul Is not the body well fed when the soul is starved Is not the body well cloathed when the soul is naked How justly may thy soul cry out murder murder for thou art destroying and damning that every day Will not thy soul witness against thee at the day of judgement the body was taken care for the body was looked to but I was neglected Will it not cry out in hell Oh if I had been as diligently attended unto as the body I had not been roaring in these eternal torments The second particular wherein the body doth objectively and occasionally tempt the soul to sinne is about the adorning and trimming of it not only the care to provide for it but the curiosity to adorn it doth provoke the soul to much sinni And whereas our very garments should put us in constant mind of our original pollution for there was no shame uponnakedness till that first transgression and thereby greatly humble us we now grow proud and vain from the very effect of the first disobedience Every morning we put on our garments we should remember our original sinne The body before sinne was not exposed to any danger by cold and other damages neither was the nakedness thereof any cause of blushing but all this and more also is the fruit of the first sinne and if so how inexcusable is it to be curious and diligent in trimming up and adorning our bodies by those very garments the thoughts whereof should greatly debase us but this is not all The great attendance to the glory of the body doth wholly take off from the care of the soul How happy were it if persons did take as much pains to have their souls cloathed with the robes of righteousness to have them washed and cleansed from all filth as they do about their bodies one spot one wrinkle in the garment is presently spied out when the soul at the same time though full of loathsomness is altogether neglected as if our souls were for our bodies and not our bodies for our souls The Platonists indeed had such high thoughts of the soul and so low of the body that their opinion was Anima est homo the soul is the man they made the body but a meer instrument as the Ship is to the Pilate or musical instruments to an Artificer This is not true in Philosophy though in a moral sense it may have some affinity with truth but if we do regard the affections and actions of all by nature we may rather say The body 〈◊〉 man Yea the Apostle goeth higher he maketh it some mens God Phil. 3. 19. Whose belly is their God Why their God Because all they look at in Religion all they mind is only to satisfie that The Monks belly in Luther's time was their god When then a man liveth his natural civil and religious life onely to have his belly satisfied this man maketh his belly his god And again there are persons whose backs are their god For never did Heathens or Papists bestow more cost upon their Idols and Images to make them glorious then they do on their backs little remembring that we came naked into the world and that we shall not carry any thing out with us If this care were for soul-ornaments if thou didst spend as much time in prayer to God and reading the Scriptures whereby thy soul might be made comely and beautifull as thou doest about thy body this would prove more comfortable If thou didst as often look into the glass of Gods word to find out every sinne thou doest commit and to reform it as thou doest into the material glasse to behold thy countenance and to amend the defilements there thou wouldst find that the hours and day so spent will never grieve thee whereas upon the review of thy life spent in this world thou wilt at the day of judgement cry out of and bewail all those hours all that time in unnecessary adorning of the body The Apostle giveth an excellent exhortation 1 Pet. 3. 3 Whose adorning let it not be of plating the hair or of wearing of gold but let it be the hidden men of the heart in that which is not corruptible The Apostle doth not there simply and absolutely forbid the wearing of gold in such who by their places and calling may do it for Isaac gave Rebâ—ccah earings of gold but he speaketh comparatively rather look to the adorning of the soul then of the body spend more time about one then the other It is a known History of that Pambo who seeing a woman very industriously trimming her self to please that man with whom she intended naughtinesse wept thereupon because he could not be as carefull to dresse up his soul in such a posture as to please God Oh then look to thy body hereafter Let it not steal so much time from thee as thereby to neglect thy soul and to lose those opportunities thou mayest have of humbling thy self before God! Thirdly The body doth objectively draw out sinne from the soul In that the fear of any danger to that especially the death thereof will make us damne our soules and greatly offend God which doth plainly discover that our bodies are more to us then God or heaven or our soules are Therefore we have our Saviour pressing his Disciples against this fear if fear about hurt to the body may insnare the godly and keep them from their duty no wonder if
it totally prevail with the natural man Mat. 10. 28. Luk. 12. 4. I say to you may friends fear not them which can kill the body only but fear him who can cast both body and soul into hell But what Apostacies what sad perfidiousness in religion hath this love to the body caused the inordinate fear of the death thereof hath made many men wound and damne their soules Times then of dangers and persecutions do abundantly discover how inordinate men are in their love to their bodies looking upon bodily death worse then eternal damnation in hell although our Saviour hath spoken so expresly What will it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul Mark 8. 36. It is the Scriptures command that we should glorifie God in soul and body which are Gods our body is Gods that is bought with a price as well as your soul so that it ought to be our study how we should glorifie God by our eies by our ears by our tongues It is not enough to say thou hast a good heart and an honest heart if thou hast a sinful body now though there be many wayes wherein we may glorifie God by our bodies yet there is none so signal and eminent as when we do willingly at the call of God give our bodies to be disgraced tormented and killed for his sake then God saith to thee as he did to Abraham upon his willingness to offer up his son Isaac Now I know thou lovest me Thus you have Paul professing Gal. 6. 17. I bear in my body the marks of the Lords Jesus The Greek word signifieth such markes of ignominy as they did use to their servants or fugitives or evil doers now though in the eies of the world such were reproachfull yet Paul gloryed in them and therefore he giveth this as a reason why noue should trouble and molest him in the work of the Ministery this ought to be a demonstration to them of his sincerity and that he seeketh not himself but Christ hence also he saith Phil. 1. 20. Christ shall be magnified in his body whether by life or by death By this it is evident that we owe our bodies to Christ as well as our souls and that any fear to suffer in them for his sake argueth we love our bodies more then his glory ¶ 6. The Bodies indisposition to any service of God a Demonstration of its original Pollution BUt let us proceed to another particular wherein the original pollution of the body may be manifested and that is by the indisposition that is in the body to any service for God though it may be the soul is willing and desirous The drousinesse dulnesse and sleepinesse of the body doth many times cause the soul to be very unfit for any approaches unto God Our Saviour observed this even in his very Disciples when he said The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak Matth. 26. 41. when our Saviour was in those great agonies making earnest prayer unto God and commanding his Disciples To watch and pray that they might not enter into temptation yet they were heavy and dull and therefore were twice reproved for their sleep and this sleepinesse of theirs was at that time when if ever they should have been throughly awakened but thus it falleth out often that in those duties and at those times when we ought most to watch and attend then commonly the body is most heavy and dull Hence is that drousinesse and sleepinesse while the Word is preached whereas at thy meals or at thy recreations and in wordly businesses there is no such dulnesse falleth upon thee This ariseth partly from the soul and partly from the body The soul that is not spiritual and heavenly therefore it doth not with delight and joy approach unto God and then the body is like an instrument out of tune as earth is the most predominant element in it so it is a clog and a burden to the soul Therefore bewail thy natural condition herein Adams body was expedite and ready he found no indisposition in his body to serve the Lord but how often even when the heart desireth it yet is thy body a weight and trouble to thee Nazianzene doth excellently bewail this How I am joyned to this body I know not saith he how at the same time I should be the Image of God and roll in this dirt so he calleth the body It is a kind enemy a deceitfull friend How strange is this conjunction Quod vereor amplector quod amo perhorresco Doth not God suffer this wrestling of the body with the soul to humble us that we may understand that we are noble or base heavenly or earthly as we propend to either of these Orat. de pauperum curâ This should also make thee earnestly long for the coming of Christ when all this bodily sinfulnesse shall be done away Oh what a blessed change will there then be of this vile heavy dull and indisposed body to an immortal glorious and spiritual body then there will be no more complaints of this body of thine then that will cause no jarre or disturbance in the glorious service of God ¶ 7. How easily the Body is moved and stirred by the passions and affections thereof FOurthly The body is from the original defiled in that it is easily and readily moved and stirred by the passios and affections thereof It cannot be denied but that Heathens and Heretiques have declamed against and reviled the body of man as appeareth by Tertul de Resurrect Carmi. as if it were an evil substance made from some evil principle hence it is written of Piotinus the great Platenist that he was ashamed his soul was in a body and therefore would by no means yeeld to have the picture of it drawn neither would he regard parents or kindred or countrey because his body was from them but we proceed not upon these mens account we follow the Scripture-light and by that we see the body consociated with the soul in evil whereof this of the passions is not the least The passions they are seated in the sensitive and material part of a man and therefore have an immediate operation upon the body being therefore called passions because they make the body to suffer they work a corporal alteration Hence anger is defined from its effect an ebullition or bubling forth of bloud about the heart and thus grief because it is so immediately seated in the body is therefore said to be rottennesse to the bones and it is said to work death 2 Cor. 7. 10. But it was not thus with the body from the beginning Adam indeed had such passions as do suppose good in the object such as love and delight though they were bounded and did not transgresse their limits but then he was not capable of those passions which do suppose evil and hurt as anger fear and grief for these would have repugned the blessed estate he was created in
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
it Is Sanctification a Condition of Justification because they are inseparable one from another That distinction of Faith justifying quae viva but not quâ viva which IS lively and working but not AS lively and working is not trifling as the Remonstrants say nor is there any cheat in it Most of the Fundamentals of Religion are distinguished from confining errours by such distinctions If a man say Christus qui Deus mortuus est saith true but if he should say Quâ Deus would he not speak blasphemy And this I bring in the rather because there are some who affect and glory in a moderating way thinking the Papists and Protestants do not so Fundamentally differ in the Point of Justification but that they may be reconciled whereas our learned Worthies at first declared that if the Romanists and we differed in no other point but this this were enough to have no Communion with them Spalatensis one of the unhappy Catholique Moderators writing of the Protestants who affirm that Faith alone Justifieth yet such a Faith as is lively and worketh by love so that although Faith Justifieth yet other graces are present though not proximely attingent of Justification Ecce saith he Formalitates Theologicas adding that the Romanists may grant to the Reformed that the dispositions to Justification are not merits And again the Reformed grant to the Romanists that by these dispositions being joyned with Faith Justification is acquired not from merit but Divine mercy alone It is true he declareth his own notion how Faith Justifieth alone viz. Absque necessitate ullius alterius humanae positivae actionis non tamen absque negativâ illa dispositione non faciendi quicquam quod sit á Deo vetitum But in the protract of his Discourse he maketh our differences herein to be pura quaedam metaphysicalia ad salutem nihil necessaria sed Galaticamur planè fratres as Tertullian of old There is a propensity in all to Galatize to joyn Faith and Works under some notion or other as to our Justification whereas the Apostle maketh an immediatie opposition between them not in the person Justified but as to the manner of Justification The learned Brother alledgeth a place out of Doctor Twisse in the title page with a signall accent upon it The words are Verum in diverso genere ad justitiam Dei refertur Christi satisfactio fides nostra Christi satisfactio ad eandem refertur per modum meriti condignitatis nostra verò fides ad eandem refertur per modum congruae dispositionis Who would not think by this passage thus barely quoted that the Doctor was speaking of Justification that Christs satisfaction is meritorious of it and our Faith a congruous disposition to it But my Brothers oversight is very great in this allegation for the learned Twisse is there speaking of Gods Justice and Mercy tempered together in Election taken terminativè as it effectually comprehends Salvation Therefore he said before Electionem ad salutem non fieri sine intuitu miseriae nostrae satisfactionis Christi fidei nostrae resipiscentiae c. So that his words oppose Doctor Hammond and Mr Pierce with others who odiously charge the Calvinists as if they held irrespective Decrees in Election and Reprobation either to sinne or holiness Whereas the excellent Doctor sheweth that Salvation the terminus of Election is not accomplished without the satisfaction of Christ and our Faith and Repentance as fit dispositions to Salvation he doth not say to Justification The Doctrine of Justification hath been greatly polluted of old by Platonicall and Aristoteticall Philosophy and we must take heed we do not defile it in a new way by running to the Civil Law and deductions from it What are Bartolus and Baldus in this point As Justification is a mercy wholly revealed in Scripture and supernaturally vouchsafed so the Words and Phrases are observed by the Learned to be peculiar as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So that the Scripture expressions being compared together will best discover the manner how we are justified for it is wholly at Gods appointment what way he will take therein and from them we shall only discover a righteousness of Faith not of Love or any other particular grace It was the ruine of Socinus to conclude of the Truths of Divinity according to principles of the Civil Law this made him deny Christs satisfaction The Discourse of the Apostle James concerning Justification by Works doth not at all patrocinate the Reverend Brothers Opinion For first It is to be observed that the Apostle doth not mention any particular grace but Works in the generall as externally and visibly practised Had the Apostle said Abraham was justified not only by Faith but love then there had been some colour for his Assertion And secondly The expressions used by the Apostle concerning Justification by Works comply not with a conditio sine quâ non For ver 26. he saith As the body without the spirit is dead so is faith without Works Is the soul a conditio sine quâ non of life Again ver 22. By Abrahams Works his Faith was made perfect and his Works did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with his Faith Doth a condition sine quâ non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I urge not this as owning the Papists Expositions of Causality of Works and Merit only they make not for a conditio sine quâ non We must take Justification and Faith in another sense then the Papists do When the learned Brother explicateth that passage of the Apostle Faith is dead being alone after this manner That Faith is dead as to the use and purpose of Justifying for in it self it hath life according to its quality still Adding afterwards that Works make Faith alive as to the attainment of its end of Justification Can this be applyed to a conditio sine quâ non But the Discourse swelleth too big I have done what I thought sufficient in this matter The good Spirit of the Lord so lead us into his Truth that we may serve him with one heart and one way and wherein we have not yet attained reveal such Truths unto us A CATALOGUE Of the Chiefest of those Books as are Printed FOR THOMAS UNDERHILL By Col. Edw. Leigh Esquire A Treatise of the Divine Promises in Five Books The Saints Encouragement in Evil Times Critica Sacra or Observations on all the Radiees or Primitive Hebrew words of the old Testament in order Alphabetical Critica Sacra or Philological and Theological Observations upon all Greek words of the New-Testament in order Alphabetical By Samuel Gott Esquire Nova Solymae Librisex Sive Institutio Christiani 1. De Pueritia 2. De Creatione Mundi 3. De Juventute 4. De Peccato 5. De Virili Aetate 6. De Redemptione Hominis Essayes concerning Mans true Happiness Parabolae Evangelicae Litinè redditae Carmine Paraphrastico varii generis Morton His Touchstone of
Bondage is It s being carried out unto sinne voluntarily and with delight ¶ 9. Thirdly It is evident by its utter impotency to any thing that is spiritual Here is shewed wherein that inability consists ¶ 10. That man naturally loves his thraldom to sin and contradicts the means of Deliverance ¶ 11. It s Bondage is seen in its Concupiscential Affection to some creature or other never being able to lift it self up to God ¶ 12. That when it doth endeavour to overcome any sinne it is by falling into another ¶ 13. The more means of grace to free us the more our slavery appears ¶ 14. The Necessity of a Redeemer demonstrates our thraldome to sinne ¶ 15. An Examination of the Descriptions and Definitions of Freedom or Liberty of Will which many Writers give it Shewing That none of them are any wayes agreeing to the Will unsanctified CHAP. V. Of the Pollution of the Affections Col. 3. 2. Set your Affections upon things above not on things on the earth SECT I. The Text opened SECT II. Of the Nature of the Affections SECT III. How the Affections are treated of severally by the Philosopher the Physician the Oratour and the Divine SECT IV. The Natural Pollution of the Affections is manifested 1. In the Dominion and Tyranny they have over the Understanding and Will ¶ 2. Secondly In regard of the first motions and risings of them ¶ 3. Thirdly In respect of their Progress and Degrees ¶ 4. Fourthly In respect of the Continuance or Duration of them SECT V. They are wholly displaced from their right Object SECT VI. Their sinfulness is discovered in respect of the End and Use for which God ingraffed them in our Natures SECT VII And in their Motion and Tendency thereunto SECT VIII In respect of the Contrariety and Opposition of them one to another SECT IX The Pollution of the Affections in respect of the Conflict between the natural Conscience and them SECT X. In respect of the great Distractions they fill us with in holy Duties SECT XI Their Deformity and Contrariety to the Rule and Exemplary Patern SECT XII Their Dulness and senslesness though the Understanding declare the good to be imbraced SECT XIII The Affections being drawn out in holy Duties from corrupt Motiveâ— shews the Pollution of them SECT XIV That they are more zealously carried out to any false way than to the Truths of God SECT XV. They are for the most part in-lets to all sinne in the Soul SECT XVI The Privacy of them SECT XVII Their hurtfull Effects upon a mans Body SECT XVIII The sad Effects they have upon others SECT XIX And how readily they receive the Devils Temptations CHAP. VI. The Sinfulness of the Imaginative Power of the Soul Gen. 6. 5. And God saw that every Imagination of the thoughts of mans heart was only evil and that continually SECT 1. The Text explained and vindicated against D. J. Taylor Grotius the Papists and Socinians SECT II. Of the Nature of the Imagination in a man SECT III. 1. The Natural Sinfulnesse of the Imagination appears in its making Idols Supports and vain Conceits whereby it pleaseth it self SECT IV. 2. In respect of its Defect from that end and use which God did intend in the Creation of man with such a power SECT V. 3. Restlesnesse SECT VI. 4. Universality Multitude and Disorder of the Imaginations SECT VII 5. Their Roving and Wandring up and down without any fixed way SECT VIII 6. Their Impertinency and Unreasonableness SECT IX 7. The Imagination eclypseth and for the most part keeps out the Understanding SECT IX In the Imaginations for the most part are conceived all actual impieties SECT X. That many times Sinne is acted by the Imagination with Delight and Content without any relation at all to the external actings of Sinne. SECT XI It s Propensity to all evil both towards God and man SECT XII It continually invents new sins or occasions of sins SECT XIII The Sinfulness of the Imagination manifesteth it self in reference to the Word of God and the ministerial preaching thereof SECT XIV It is more affected with Appearances then Realities SECT XV. It s Sinfulness in respect of fear and the workings of Conscience SECT XVI Of the Actings of the Imagination in Dreams SECT XVII The Imagination is not in that orderly Subordination to the rational part of man as it was in the Primitive Condition SECT XVIII It is according to Austin's Judgement the great instrument of conveying Original Sinne to the Child SECT XIX How prone it is to receive the Devils Impressions and Suggestions SECT XX. Some Corollaries from the Premisses CHAP. VII Of the last Subject of Inhesion or seat of Original Sinne viz. the Body of a man 1 Thess 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 SECT II. The Text explained SECT III. Scripture-proofs of the sinfull Pollution of the Body SECT IV. The sinfulness of the Body discovered in particulars ¶ 1. It is not now instrumental and serviceable to the Soul in holy Approaches to God but on the contrary a clog and burden ¶ 2. It doth positively affect and defile the Soul ¶ 3. A man acts more according to the Body and the Inclinations thereof then the mind with the Dictates thereof ¶ 4. The Body by Original Sinne is made a Tempter and a Seducer ¶ 5. It doth objectively occasion much sinne to the Soul ¶ 6. It s indisposition to any service of God ¶ 7. How easily the Body is moved and stirred by the passions and affections thereof ¶ 8. The Body when sanctified is become no lesse glorious then the Temple of the holy Ghost CHAP. VIII Of the Subject of Predication Shewing that every one of mankind Christ only excepted is involved in this sinne and misery Luk. 1. 35 Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God SECT I. The Text explained SECT II. The Aggravations of Original Sinne. ¶ 1. The Aggravation of Adam's Actual Transgression ¶ 2. The Aggravation of Original Sinne inherent ¶ 3. An Objection Answered SECT III. That every one by Nature hath his peculiar Original Sinne. SECT IV. That Original Sinne in every one doth vent it self betimes SECT V. How soon a Child may commit Actual Sinne. SECT VI. Whether Original Sinne be alike in all CHAP. X. A Justification of Gods shutting up all under Sinne for the Sinne of Adam in the sense of the Reformed Churches against the Exceptions of D. J. Taylor and others Gal. 3. 24. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sinne that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe SECT I. The Text explained SECT II. Prâ—positions to direct us in this great Point of Gods Proceedings as to the matter of Original Sinne. SECT III. Objections Answered The Contents of the
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
not the effect of it Because we are thus sinful and polluted by nature therefore all our actions are likewise so polluted Now then if the Scripture make it such an impossible thing for a man accustomed only to evil to become a changed man that impossibility lieth upon a man who is naturally so For though custom be called a second Nature yet certainly the first Nature is more implanted and so more active in a man This particular therefore may greatly humble a man in that sinne is so deeply rooted in him it 's worse than an habit or custom of sinning It goeth as neer to thy very essence and substance as it can do and yet not be thy substance Therefore the Scripture cals it Flesh and blood The members of a man The Law of sinne in his flesh If a man hath a thorn in his flesh how restless and pained is he Paul compared that heavy temptation he grapled with to a Thorn in the flesh but although by nature we have this thorn not only in our sides but even all over the whole man yet we can lie down in ease and live in pleasure as if nothing ailed us but this is one deadly effect of original sinne that it takes away all sense and feeling whether there be any such thing or no. Oh then let the thoughts of this sinne go as deep into thee as the sinne it self Sinne is got into thy heart let sorrow get thither Sinne hath entred into thy bowels and filled the whole man brimme full as we say Oh let shame and holy confusion be as deep and as complete in thee SECT VIII SEventhly This naturality will appear If we consider that original righteousness which God created man in For our original sinne comes in the place thereof and such a perfection as that was to the soul such a defect is this to us Now the Orthodox do maintain against Papists That that original righteousness was not a supernatural perfection superadded to mans nature but a due and natural perfection concreated with him For as Adam being made to glorifie God was thereby to have a rational soul so also such perfection in that soul which might make him capable of his end otherwise man would have been created in a more imperfect and ignoble condition than any creature It is true indeed That Righteousness and Holiness Adam had which the Scripture cals Gods Image did not flow from the principles of nature neither was it a natural consequent thereof but yet it was a moral condition or perfection due to Adam supposing God created him to such an end and therefore we are not to conceive of that Image of God as an infused habit or habits which were to rectifie and guide the natural faculties and affections of the soul which otherwise would move in repugnancy and contrariety to one another but as a natural rectitude and innate ability of those powers and affections of the soul to move regularly and subordinately to Gods will Though therefore in respect of God that Righteousness Adam had might be called supernatural because it was his gift yet in respect of man the subject so it was connatural and a suitable perfection to his nature This being taken for a sure Truth then it will exceedingly help us to the true understanding of the naturality of this evil for original sinne succeeding in the stead thereof is not as some Papists affirm like the taking of cloaths from a man and so leaving him naked or like the taking away of a bridle from an horse all which are superadded and external helps as it were but it 's like death that takes away the life of a man in respect of what is holy and godly and like an heavy disease that doth much hinder and debilitate even the natural operations This original sinne then is like the spoiling of an instrument of Musick or the deordination of a Clock or Watch when not able to perform their proper service they were made for So that original sinne is partly the want of this original Righteousness that was so connatural and partly thereby a propensity and inclination to all evil For as when the harmony of the humours is dissolved presently diseases arise in the body Thus when that admirable rectitude which was at first in the whole man was broken then all inordinacy all perversness and crookedness presently began to possess the whole man As then original Righteousness was not as an infused habit but the faculties of the soul duly constituted whereby they did regularly move in their several wayes so original sin is not to be conceived like some acquired habit polluting the powers of the soul but as the internal defect and imperfection that is cleaving to them Even as the paralitical hand whensoever it moveth doth it with feebleness and trembling wanting some strength within If therefore we would truly judge of the horrible nature of this sinne we must throughly understand the excellency and wonderful nature of that original Righteousness which is now lost then all things in the soul were in an admirable subordination to that which is holy and although the sensitive appetite was then carried out to some sensible object yet it was with a subordination to the understanding so that in that state of integrity there did not need as the Papists say Righteousness as a bridle to curb in the passions and affections which otherwise would be inordinate for this were to attribute a proneness to sinne in us to God himself for he is the author of every thing which is natural in us but all the affections and sensitive motions were then subjected to the command of reason so that Adam had power to love when and as long and in what measure he pleased All the affections of his soul were both quoad originem gradum and progressum under his dominion Even as the Artificer can make his Clock strike when and as many times as he pleaseth But wo be unto us all this excellent harmony and subordination is now lost and our affections they captivate and rule over our judgments and all this is because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there wants something within as he said of his Image that he could not make stand because it wanted life within SECT IX EIghthly That this original sinne is a natural evil appeareth From the work of grace sanctifying which is the proper remedy to cure this imbred defilement For the grace of Regeneration is chiefly and principally intended to subdue sinne as it did corrupt the nature and so by consequence as we were personally corrupted Therefore the tree must first be made good ere the fruit can be good as the tree is in its nature evil and then it brings forth evil fruit So that God in vouchsafing of this grace of Regeneration doth not principally intend to make thee leave thy actual sinnes for that is by consequence only but to make thy nature better to repair his Image in thee
some kind of confused knowledge about this as in time may be shewed for they had a custom with them of expiating and cleansing of their Infants as being unclean Fifthly This expression of uncleanness doth denote our unfitness and unworthiness to come into Gods presence or to perform any holy duty no more than a person full of his vomit or loathsomness or a man with the noisom plague fores is fit to come into the presence of a great King As the legal unclean person was not to come into the Temple or to touch any holy things And this was typified in Adam when he was cast out of Paradise and flaming swords set to keep him out all this denoted That God had excommunicated Adam and as it were all mankind in him so that now they have no fitness or decency no worth or suitableness to any holy duty And certainly this should deeply humble us yea at this our hearts should tremble and move out of their places to consider that though none need God more than we do none have more need to pray incessantly to him yet such is our pollution that we are not fit to pray or to draw nigh to God yea our duties while performed by us in this our original condition are a provocation to God and they become new sinnes for if no clean thing can be brought out of an unclean then no clean prayer no clean holy duty can come from thee who art unclean It is true though we are thus polluted it is our duty to pray by our original Apostasie we are not freed from Gods commands we are bound to pray and to pray with as holy and heavenly frame of heart as Adam in his integrity but though it be our duty yet we have lost all power and ability Yea and besides this there is an unfitness and unworthiness even as when the frogs crept into Pharaoh's chamber And to this Bernard aâ—luded when he called himself Ranuncula repens in conspectu Dei How dare such a loathsom frog as he creep into the presence of so holy a God Certainly if the Angels though without any such blemish yea not having the least spot do yet not cover their feet but their faces the noblest part as it were because of the glorious and holy Majesty of God how much more must sinfull and unclean man Isa 6. When the Prophet had beheld God in his glory he crieth out though a regenerated man Woe be unto me for I am of pollutea lips This made him afraid to make mention of God How then may every natural corrupt man cry out Wo be to me for I am not only a man of polluted lips but also of a polluted mind and heart Sixthly This title of being naturally unclean maketh us to be in the most immediate 〈◊〉 to God that can be To say Man that is born of woman had been miserable frail subject to dangers and outward evils would not have denoted any immediate opposition to God but calling him unclean and unholy This sheweth that we are by nature in direct contrariety to what he is for he is by nature pure and holy yea it is that glorious Attribute which makes all others glorious because his Wisdom is holy Wisdom because his Power is holy Power therefore it 's admirable Wisdom and Power Hence those Angels Isa 6. of all the Attributes of God single out that to celebrate when they cry out Holy holy holy Now man is born unclean and unholy being herein directly contrary to God So that though man be indowed with many natural perfections yet this original uncleanness defileth them all he hath reason but it 's unclean reason he hath an understanding but it is an unclean understanding he hath a will but it 's an impure and unclean will So that of all the several Arguments which man hath to humble him he may chuse out this as the chiefest of all crying out unclean unclean unclean why is it that upon the discovery of this contrariety to God we do not more abhor our selves Seventhly This attribute of uncleanness proclaimeth the absolute necessity of Gods grace and of Christs blood for these only can make us clean Did a man truly consider how it is with him in regard of his birth-estate he would tremble to stay an hour in it he would neither eat drink or sleep till he be delivered out of it for being wholly unclean he can never while so enter into the kingdom of Heaven So that as no legal uncleanness was removed but with some sprinkling and washing much less can any moral uncleanness be washed away without Christs bloud therefore that is said to cleanse us from all our sinnes 1 Joh. 1. 7. and without shedding of blood there is no remission of sinne Heb. 9. 22. Oh then this natural uncleanness should teach us highly to esteem Christs blood for we could never weep water enough though our heads were fountains to wash us nothing can get out this spot but Christs blood and this every Infant though but a day old needeth Christs bloud then must purifie us else we perish and with this also there is requisite grace both justifying and sanctifying for these also tend to the cleansing of us Justification that is partly a cleansing and awashing away of our iniquities as God promiseth Zech. 13. 1. He would set open a fountain for sinne and uncleanness a fountain so that there is plenty and fulness of grace to wash away this filthiness Thus also Ezek. 36. 25. I will sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness Besides this there is also grace sanctifying necessary and this is a formal internal cleansing of us so that because of this work of grace we are made clean yet not so but that we need some washing daily as Joh. 13. 10. He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet for this uncleanness will not in this life be quite taken away but is like that of the Leprosie which stuck so to the wals of the house that though it were scraped off yet it would rise again and so could not be removed till the very house was demolished Thus while death lay this house of clay in the grave there will alwayes be some uncleanness adhering to thee Vse Of Instruction Can none bring a clean thing out of an unclean Then this sheweth That those who from the youth up have lived civil ingenuous and chaste lives are not to rest in this for thy nature is foul and loathsom as well as of all others though thy life may be cleaner The Snake hath a glistering skinne though she hath a poisoned body Thus thou hast a defiled soul an heart full of filthiness though thy outward conversation be unblameable Certainly if an Infant but a day old be thus unclean and needeth the bloud of Christ to cleanse it Doest thou flatter thy self with ingenuity and civility Thou hast not lesse sinnefulnesse and guilt in
Behold and take heed of it for you see even David betrayed by it the holiest man that liveth may quickly and suddenly fall into the most enormous sins because of it In the next place we have the thing it self confessed and that is in two things He was shapen in iniquity that is the first The word is many times applied to the bringing forth of a child and doth properly signifie to bring forth with sorrow and pain Hence some render it I was born in iniquity and so it may very well be translated but if we render it shapen or formed then this sheweth That in the forming of the parts of the body and disposing of it for animation even then sinne is there initially so that before we are born as soon as that mass is enlivened and animated so soon is original sinne in a man The other expression is That in sinne did his mother conceive him The Hebrew word is Did warm him or nourish him So that this doth not so much relate to the actual conception as to that whole time his mother did bear him in the womb all that while this pollution was in him Hence Aquila renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which though happily some might think it a fault in writing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet there are those who make that word emphatical and say it 's a metaphor from the fowl that is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pica the Pie that while building of her nest is with great vehemency and violence compiling of it breaking off the tops of twigs and flying from place to place as if some inward heat did transport her Others make it to signifie a multiform appetite from the colour of that Bird. Well howsoever it be the word from the Hebrew is to be extended to that whole time the child is carried in the mothers womb being warmed and nourished there So that not only as Ambrose of old we may say Hominis ortus in vitio est a mans birth is in sinne but as soon as ever that mass of flesh in the womb is informed and animated so soon it becomes sinfull It is true indeed the parts of the body are along while in forming before the soul be inspired and sinne is not properly till the soul be united to the body yet because that is part of man and tends to it we may say sinne is there inchoatively and imperfectly because it is in tendency to make up man and therefore it was that Christ being to be man yet without sin was to be conceived by the holy Ghost The very corpulent substance of the Virgin Mary from which his body was made to be purified and sanctified by the holy Ghost In the last place we are to take notice in what he is thus formed and born and that is also in two words Gnanon and Cheteh both which signifie that which is truly and properly a sin So that it 's plain when David could have no actual will or consent of his own yet then sin and iniquity was truly in him This place therefore is very evident and unanswerable to prove this That all by nature are born in sin The Fathers of old before Pelagius arose did expound it so and generally after Austin's time The Popish Interpreters also grant it a clear place to prove this truth yea the Rabbins they from hence also prove original sinne and say it hath seven names in the Old Testament whereof two that they mention viz. The fore-skin of the heart and an heart of stone are without all doubt applicable unto it Insomuch that they who deny this Doctrine in these dayes must needs wilfully put a veil before their eyes It is true Clemens Alexandrinus hath a passage which would seem to enervate the force of this place which the late Writer Vnum Necessar pag. 395. maketh use of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. Stromat 3. sub finem But how much his Authority herein is to be regarded appeareth in that he maketh the mother here spoken of to be Eve he calleth his mother Eve prophetically saith he though happily that doth hint something of original sinne else why should he name Eve Besides this Clemens doth a little before speak strangely which passage is taken notice of by the same Author as speaking home to the point 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Let them tell us Where an Infant did fornicate Or how he who had done nothing could fall under the curse of Adam Bellarmine thinketh these words to be the objection of Hereticks and truly those books do well deserve their name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for there is so much confusion we can hardly tell when the Author himself speaketh Some would interpret him of actual sins but the learned Vossius Histor Pelag. l. 2. pars 1. pag. 160. saith Clemens did not fully understand the Doctrine of original sinne And Coccius Tom. 2. Artic. 2. the Catholick-Treasurer from this very passage saith Clemens parum novisse de peccato originali videtur SECT II. Objections against this Ineerpretation answered BUt let us hear what is objected by the Adversaries to this clear Text And First It 's said by some That David doth not here bewail his own sins but his parents in begetting of him as if it was their sinne he acknowledged and not his own This is a miserable shift for First David was not begotten in adultery neither were his parents unlawfully joyned together therefore in begetting of him they did not sinne for Marriage is honourable if the bed be not defiled with adultery or fornication Therefore if Adam had stood in the state of integrity there would have been procreation of children so that his parents did no more sinne in this than in eating and drinking or any other lawfull act God hath appointed either for the propagating of the species or conservation of the individuums Secondly This Interpretation is against the scope of David in this Psalm which is to debase himself to humble himself from what is in him not what is in others I will acknowledge my sinne and my iniquity is alwayes before me and so proceedeth to bewail this original or birth-sinne Thirdly If his intent were to confess his parents sins why doth he instance in his mother only In sinne did my mother conceive me he saith Why did he not rather bewail the sinne of his father who begat him who would have been a greater sinner than his mother in that matter if it had been a sinne at all Lastly It 's good to take notice of what Bellarmine in the Exposition of this place though a Papist saith It may be to prevent such calumnies that future Hereticks would raise the holy Ghost in this Text would use no word that did properly and directly relate either to the fathers begetting or the mothers immediately conceiving thereupon for this might seem to attribute sinne to
pollution of all the whole man So that whereas sometimes the word Old is used absolutely as the old Serpent there is no new Serpent which is the Devil So here it s used comparatively and called Old in respect of the New man the work of grace succeeding therein SECT II. HAving therefore hitherto shewed the Quod sit of original sinne That there is such a thing maugre all adversaries and that by the mouth of two witnesses out of the New Testament and two out of the Old not but that there are many more only I shall God willing treat on them upon some different notions I now come to inform you of the Quid sit What it is for here is much opposition likewise And because in knowing what a thing is there is the Quid nominis and Quid rei what the name is and what the thing is I shall first beginne with what the Name is for that way Socrates did use to commend from the name to go to the nature of a thing And whereas this native-pollution hath Scripture names Ecclesiastical used by the Fathers and Scholastical used by the Schoolmen yea the Rabbins say it hath seven names in the Old Testament I shall only pitch on the Bible names and that not universally but upon some eminent and chief ones which it hath in the Scripture from which alone we shall be best able to discern the nature of it The first whereof is here in the Text wherein it is called the Old man From whence observe That the natural or birth-pollution we are barn in is called by the Scripture The Old man that is in us Several names indeed the Scripture giveth it and some are applied to it by Divines of which yet some question may be made as when Christ is said to be the Lamb that takes away the sinne of the world John 1. 29. By that they say is meant original sinne for that is not so much my sinne or thy sinne as the sinne of the world and therefore he speaketh in the singular number The sinne not the sins of the world but this is not so probable for Christ came into the world to take away not only original sinne as some Papists have thought but actual also Others apply that of Heb. 10. to it The sinne that doth so easily beset us And indeed that is a very proper word to explain original sinne but whether the Apostles scope be so immediately to point at that may be further enquired into I shall therefore take only some few clear and undoubted Titles that the Scripture giveth to it of which this in the Text is a notable one The old man And before we inform you how comprehensive this is let us remove a twofold mistake or erroneous apprehension that may be about it SECT III. Two Mistakes removed THe first is that of Flaccius Illyricus who because the Scripture useth such concrete and substantive terms about original sinne calling it a man a body therefore he erred in a contrary extremity to the Pelagians and some Pontificians making original sinne not to be an accident but the essence and substance of the soul but of this more when we come to search out the nature of it only you must know that original sinne is not the substance of a man but an universal disease adhering to it as the Leprosie in a Leper it 's not his body it 's not his corpulent essence the body is one thing the Leprosie is another thing and thus in man his soul and body are one thing his original corruption is another thing Though as in an universal Leprosie you cannot touch one part of the body but it is infected so neither can we name one part of the soul but it is polluted we must therefore distinguish between nature and sinne to avoid Flaccianism yet we must not separate or divide one from the other to avoid Pelagianism but of this more in its time Secondly We must not conceive that it 's called the Old man because of any impotency or weakness as if it were not able to put forth into vigorous acts and lively lustings of sinne as old men have all their natural strength and vigour decaying No though it be called the Old man in us yet it 's constantly working drawing aside captivating and enflaming of us yea making warre daily against any thing of God within us These things premised let us consider why the Scripture giveth it such a name for it might seem a very harsh exposition to call that which is an accident or a quality in a man by the name of an Old man SECT IV. Why Original Sinne is called Man THerefore let us see the reason why it 's called Man and then the Old man original sinne may be called a Man First Because that so farre as we are men quanti sumus we are all over polluted So that the old man is the whole man polluted in this sinne before he be regenerated Insomuch that this phrase may sadly and deeply humble us that the Scripture gives the name of man to sinne as if that were all we are Hence as you have heard to walk as a man to speak as a man is to do a thing sinfully as farre as thy humanity reacheth so farre thy pollution reacheth So that the very calling of thee a man may greatly debase thee for though thou art a rich man a great man yet this Old man doth infect thee Secondly In that original sinne is called a Man there is implied the Subject of it to be every man as well as every part of man Totus homo and totum hominis yea ad omnis homo not one exempted that is by natural propagation So that every little Infant hath this Man in it Every one that needeth a Christ that wanteth a Saviour hath this Old man abiding in him Thirdly It 's called Man Because of the heap or collection of all sinne that is in it For as a man is not one part of the body the finger the eye or the hand but the whole Compages and Fabrick of all the parts united together Thus original sinne is not one particular sinne but the mass or spawn of all It 's not a stream but the ocean and therefore this sheweth the horridness also of it that it is the womb wherein all sinne is conceived Let a man be totally cleansed from this as the glorified Saints in Heaven are and then no actual sin can come from him Lastly It 's called a Man Because of the intimate and tenacious adhesion of it to the whole man there being no way to sever our Natures and that while we abide in these mortal bodies So that it supposeth sinne to be in us as fire in the iron when it is red hot though there is some dissimilitude also that we cannot see the colour and substance of the iron for the fire nothing appeareth but fire Iron though of it self black and cold yet by the fire in
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
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
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
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
that we are no wayes sensible of I shall not at large in this place treat De Imagine Dei of the Image of God in man I shall say onely so much as will make us the better discover the Nature of original sinne And First We are to know That howsoever there be hot and fervent Disputes about this Image of God what it is wherein it doth consist and according as they take it more largely or strictly so they conclude the Image of God is lost or not lost yet we may by Scripture-light make it to consist in these things CHAP. IX Wherein the making Man after Gods Image did consist SECT I. FIrst In the soul as it is endowed with reason and understanding For herein man did transcend all other visible creatures that God made him with a rational soul investing him with reason and free-will and in this respect the Image of God is not totally lost For though by it we have lost all our power and understanding in holy things yet we have not lost our souls and the natural faculties thereof we are not made bruit beasts we are men still Hence it is that still the reason holds Why a man should not kill another Gen. 9. 6. For in the image of God made he man If there were not yet the Image of God in some respect the reason would not be so forcible For what weight would it carry to say Thou shalt not kill a man because once he had the Image of God but now he hath lost it God speaketh of what he will require of every man that hath slain another and that because in the Image of God he made him Thus Jame 3. 9. aggravateth the sinne of cursing any man because man is made after the similitude of God To this we may appropriate that of the Poet confirmed Act. 17. by the Apostle himself We are his off spring We will grant then That the Image of God so farre as it consists in the soul and the natural faculties is not lost though in regard of the actings thereof even about natural things they are made infirm and weak Secondly The Image of God did consist in that holinesse and righteousness which God did adorn the soul with And this indeed is the most noble and principal part of Gods Image to be made like God in righteousnesse and holinesse Therefore Col. 3. 10. Ephes 4 24. we read the Image of God is said to be in righteousnesse and true holinesse Insomuch that many learned Divines do make this the onely Image of God though not so probably This indeed is the principal and chief the other is but remote and secundary for the later abideth even in the Devils and the damned in hell They have reason and understanding yet they cannot do the least good action no not for a moment although they have so much light in them This holinesse and righteousnesse then in the whole man was the chiefest resemblance of God he being holy as God was holy not by equality but similitude But alas who is able to apprehend aright of this Who can now tell being plunged into all evil and sinne what it is to be altogether holy what it is to be without any blemish or spot Yet in such a glorious and admirable manner we were created Thirdly The Image of God did not only comprehend this holinesse actually dwelling in us but a power and strength also to persevere in this holinesse for if God had been never so bountifull in one yet if he had denied the other he would have made us happy that thereby we might become more miserable But this is not to be thought of that God who shewed so much love and bounty in our first Creation Adam therefore had the Law of God written in his heart having strength and ability from within to withstand all temptations and to perform any holy auty so that we cannot instance in any holy action which he had not power to perform Indeed to believe in Christ as a Saviour to repent of sinne he could not actually do them because they do necessarily imply the subject sinfull and in a miserable estate and condition but eminently and transcendently these things were in his power yea this power of his did extend to keep all the Commandments of God and that without any imperfection Insomuch that being under the Covenant of works he might have obtained justification by them though not meritoriousty This glory did God at first put upon us who now have nothing but a cursed slavery unto sinne and an utter impotency to any thing that is holy As for resisting any temptation he had strength and ability enough to gainsay it though it had been in many degrees more violent than that which 〈◊〉 him It is true he was overcome by a temptation and in that which might have easily been repulsed as we would judge but this was to shew That although he was created holy yet he was also mutable Though he had power to persevere yet he had not that grace which did make him actually to persevere as the confirmed Angels have So that what Historians say of the Marsi in Italy and the 〈◊〉 in Africa That they had such a temper of body that no Serpents could hurt them or poison them Such an admitable temperament was Adams soul in that the Serpent would not have deceived them had not they given consent For if while we are in this corrupted estate yet the Devil cannot force us to sinne be cannot make us sinne whether we will or no but it is lust within us that betrayeth all to him No wonder then if in that state of integrity there was no 〈…〉 to sinne either from within or without Fourthly This Image of God in the holinesse of it was not only in the mind and the will with a clear knowledge of God and love of him but it did extend also to the affections so that they were made with a regular subordination to the rule of holinesse within a man These wild horses for our possions are no better were then all tamed and as much subject to mans will as the winds and tempells were to Christs Anger grief love and desire these did not rise or continue in our soul any longer or otherwise but as they were conducted by the light of God shining in the mind This must necessarily be comprehended in that expression Eccles 7. when God is said to make man right rectitude is an universal harmony and congruity of all the parts of the soul unto the rule Austin did once wonder at that disobedience which now man finds in himself Superat animu corperi c. Confes lib. 8. cap. 9. The soul commands the body and presently it obeyeth but saith he Imperat sibi ipsi it commands it self and then there is rebellion but it was not thus from the beginning Therefore the Papists and Socinians they do blaspheme in some sense God our holy Maker whale they affirm That
the repugnancy and rebellion of the sensitive appetite to the reason ariseth from the very internal constitution of a man And therefore the Papists they make original righteousness to be the bridle only to curb this appetite or an antidore to prevent this infection And as for the Socinian he denieth that Adam had any such righteousness at all and therefore they say he sinned Because his sensitive appetite did prevail against the rational Thus they make man even while he was in honour and before his fall to be like the beast that perisheth and to have no understanding comparatively even in that place of Paradise But this errour is so dangerous that we are not to give place to it no not for a moment In that holy estate the soul commanded the body and all the affections They did goe when he bade them goe and stood still when they were commanded Oh but now in what a warre in what a confusion and distraction are we plunged now we cannot be angry but we sinne now we cannot grieve or love but we sinne Thou that deniest original sinne let the exorbitancy of thy passions the inordinacy of thy affections convince thee Is thy heart in thy own power Canst thou have every thing stirre and move in thy soul how and when thou pleasest Canst thou say in respect of thy heart and all the stirrings of thy soul as the Centurion did of his servants that were at his command How is experience a mistress of us fools in this particular Wherein doth our weakness our sinfulness more appear than in our passions and affections As Alexander when his flatterers exalted him as a God he derided at it when he saw blood come from his body Thus when men cry up free-will power to do what is good deny original sinne and make us in our birth free from all evil With what indignation mayest thou reject it when thou seest the Chaos and confusion that is in thy soul when thou findest not any affection moving in thee but it overfloweth it's banks presently Whereas original righteousness gave Adam as much power over those as he had over all the beasts of the field but as the ground hath now thorns and thistles in stead of those pleasant herbs and plants it would have produced of its own self Thus also man now hath all his heart and affections grown wild and luxuriant so that Solomons observation in other things in here made true Servants ride on hors-back and Princes go on foot Fifthly This Image of God was partly in respect of the glory honour and immortality God created him in Adam was made after the Image of God not only in holiness but also in happiness he was not subject to any fears or tears nothing from within or from without could cause pain and grief to him Hence death by which is meant all kind of evil and misery was threatned unto him as a reward of his disobedience but Adam did not beget Seth after this Image we are now made dust and in a necessity of dying which is the effect of our original sin Lastly The Image of God doth consist by way of consequence in dominion and superiority The Socinians indeed because when it 's said God made man after his own Image Gen. 1. 26. it 's added And let him have dominion over the beasts of the field c. make it the only thing wherein it doth consist But we are to believe the Apostle Ephes 4. Col. 3. expounding this Image of God more than they who applieth it to righteousness and true holiness yet it cannot be denied but from this Image of God did flow that Dominion and Sovereignty which the woman also was created in for though she was made in subjection to her husband and so is called The Image of her husband as the husband is the Image of God yet in respect of the creatures so she had power over them and they were subject to Eve as well as to Adam Thus you see what this Image of God in a brief manner is the next work is to amplifie our losse of it is taken away both meritoriously and efficiently meritoriously our Apostasie deserved that God of a Father and a friend should become a Judge and an Adversary to us it deserved that we should be children of wrath by nauture who were children of love by Creation What tongue of men and Angels can express the dreadfulness of this condition viz. of coming into the world under Gods wrath and vengeance God is not to us what he was in the state of integrity not that any change is in God but in us Again This friendship and love of God is expelled efficiently for fallen man hath no suitableness and fitness no proportion or ability to have communion with God Darkness cannot delight in light neither bitterness in sweetness The swine cannot love pearl and precious flowers man corrupt cannot love or delight in the enjoyment of God so that the guilt of sinne did presently make Adam afraid of God so as to runne from him SECT IV. 4. THis privation of Gods Image is more than like the spoiling of a man of his cloaths or like the taking of a bridle from the horses mouth or removing the bonds and chains a man might be in Which when taken off he can walk well enough For the Popish party though they grant Man fallen hath much hurt by Adam yet they make the privation of original righteousnesse to be no more than the spoiling of a man of his garments so that as a man without his cloaths is a man still though naked and exposed to many difficulties Thus they say man still hath his naturals though he hath lost his supernaturals Original righteousness was like an antidote or a bridle against the inferiour parts of the soul they say so that what man is deprived of is only what was supernatural and meerly superadded to humane nature By these subtilties of theirs a mans losse is made to be far lesse than indeed it is Hence they do so often apply that Parable of the man going to Jericho that was wounded and left half dead to Adam fallen to all mankind in him as if we were but dangerously wounded and not throughly dead But the scope of that Parable is wholly to a different purpose Original righteousness is not to be conceived as a supernatural excellency bestowed upon man after his Creation but as a concreated perfection in all the parts of his soul So that the losing of this is not like the losing of some accidental glory and ornaments but even those concreated perfections in the soul are also lost The misunderstanding of this breedeth a dangerous errour as if by original sinne we onely had lost these superadded ornaments but did retain our pure naturals still as they call it which are indeed altogether impute Eccl. 7. God made man right Even as all other creatures were exceeding good Now God had made man the more
noble creature worse than other creatures if he had not created him with such perfect and suitable qualifications as would inable him to obtain true blessedness for every creature else had an implanted ability in it to accomplish his end and why then should God do lesse bountifully with man one of the chiefest instances of his glorious workmanship But of this I must necessarily speak more because of the Socinian who cals this Doctrine of original righteousness Faetida fabula an old stinking fable SECT V. 5. ORiginal sinne is a privation not only of that righteousness which was a natural perfection due to him upon supposition of his Creation for the enjoyment of God but also of whatsoever supernatural and gracious favour Adam had We do not say That Adam had nothing supernatural in him for assisting and co-operating 〈◊〉 supernatural as also that prophetical light he had concerning 〈…〉 God did superadde many glorious ornaments which were 〈…〉 and which he did not absolutely need as means to make him 〈…〉 and such likewise were those consequents of holinesse mentioned before 〈◊〉 to be the Sonne of God and to be the Temple of the holy Ghost Now all these gratuita are lost as well as the naturalia we are no more the children of God or the Temple of God but our souls are possest with Satan and he ruleth in our hearts as in his proper possession Some Divines call original righteousnesse the absolute Image of God and our sonship and filial relation to God for Adam is called the Sonne of God Luke 3. ult the relative Image now whether absolute or relative Image all is lost and therefore that assisting grace which was then ready at hand for Adam to enjoy that thereby he might bâ—â—nabled to do any good action we are naturally without Oh then the 〈◊〉 and undone estate we are in being without inberent grace dwelling in us and assisting grace from God without us without eyes and the light of the Sun also Who can think that God at first made us such sinfull mortal and wretched creatures It would be much against the wisdom and goodness of God he would then have done worse with man than with any flie or worm SECT VI. What are the most excellent and choice parts of that Original Righteousness that we are deprived of BUt because the greatest part of the privative way of original corruption is in losing that Image of God and concreated holinesse and we have onely spokan in the general of that that we may be the more affected with it and the losse thereof may pierce to our very hearts Let us consider what are the most excellent and choice parts of this original righteousnesse that we are deprived of that so we may not only see our losse in the bulk but be able to account of every particular in this and that we have lost And the first particular to be insisted on is that great dignity God put on man making him with a Free will to do what is holy Free-will is a great perfection though the mutability in it as in Adam was a negative Imperfection this was admirable in Adam that he had power if he willed to doe any holy action whatsoever There was not in him any clog any impediment to stop the exercise of this Free will but as he had dominion over all creatures so also over hiâ— whole soul and indeed if God had not created him with this dominion over his actions his obedience had not been so eminent nor his disobedience so culpable But this flower is withered this Crown is fallen to the ground Man hath now no free will no power to do any thing that is holy He hath power to eat and drink he hath power to do civil moral actions he hath power to do actions externally religious to come to the Congregation to hear but for those things that are internally holy to love God to believe on him to repent of sin This the Scripture doth in many places deny to him making him to be dead in sinne and untill born again by the Spirit unable to do any holy duty This Raymundus Theol. Natur. de lapsu hominis doth well urge That the soul as to spiritual actions and in reference to God is wholly dead so that as a dead man is not able to produce any vital actions so neither can any natural man spiritual actions and because man being dead is not sensible of this losse therefore doth the same man compare him to a mad man that knoweth not how it is with him yea he much pursueth that similitude of wine degenerated into vinegar saying That as vinegar retaineth nothing of the sweetnesse or goodnesse it had when it was wine Thus neither doth man retain any thing of that light in his mind or love in his heart which once he had Man saith he is not become of good wine bad which though bad retaineth some taste and hath a little relish of the nature of wine but he is as when Wine is degenerated into vinegar which hath all clean contrary to what is had when once wine This comparison he the rather urgeth Because saith he man doth not or cannot discern in himself the difference between his created condition and his fallen therefore he must see how it is with him in similitude by other things We may adde to this similitude another of the body of man while living and an instrument of the soul with it self when dead and separated from it that body then though formerly never so beautifull and comely never so lively and active now is loathsome and hath the clean contrary qualities Such a thing is man now fallen if compared with his Creation SECT VII A Second instance of a particular in this Image of God which we have lost is Faith and dependance upon God as a Father As God made Adam his son in holinesse so Adam had a filial dependance and belief on him resting alone in Gods protection and preservation and thereby was not subject to any fears grief or troublesom dejections of mind about his soul or body This was an excellent pearl in that Crown of glory which God set on mans head but how totally is this lost Every man by this original sinne may justly go up and down trembling like a Cain fearing that every thing should not only kill him but damn him Yea whence is it that the Sea is not fuller of monsters than thy heart is of unbelieving doubting and diffident thoughts about God Why art thou so fearfull suspicious and despairing about God naturally Is not this because God and thy soul are separated Doth not thy conscience secretly suggest to thee that God is offended with thee Is not this a plain discovery of thy losse of God and his Image that thou hast naturally fears and doubts within thy self Thou thinkest of God and art troubled as Adam when he heard Gods voice ran and hid himself All the natural tremblings and
the very first yeeld themselves up to the Devil but they did repell the Devils temptations awbile neither was it the inordinate desire of the forbidden fruit that was his first sinne but pride and unbelief not believing the threatnings of God and affecting to be like God and such sinnes do quickly and easily penetrate into the best and noblest subjects as you see in the Angels themselves those sublime and admirable spiritual substances yet how quickly did such kind of sinnes enter into them and defile them all over So that we are to look to those spiritual secret sinnes which did induce Adam to eat of the forbidden fruit Lastly It 's objected by them and the same Argument also is improved by Bellarmine That man consisting of a soul a spiritual substance and of a body which is a sensible corporeal substance when these two are united in one person it 's impossible but the spiritual part should incline one way and the sensitive another The rational part that desireth a spiritual good and the sensitive part that which is sensible and these are contrary But the answer is that though these inclinations are divers yet they are not contrary but where sin hath made an Ataxy As God at first ordained the will which is appetitus rationalis to follow the understanding so he did also our affections to follow both of them so that there was an essential subordination of the affectionate part to the rational even as we see the members of the body do readily move at the command of the soul or as in perfect mixt bodies though there be contrary qualities yet by the temperament of that body their contrariety is removed and certainly the Angels sinned who yet had not any sensitive appetite to rebell against the rational therefore it was not from this necessarily that Adam did sinne Thus in Christ there was no repugnancy between grace and nature for when he said Father if it be possible let this Cup passe away This was not an absolute desire of his humane nature but a conditional one and still with submission therefore he addeth Neverthelesse thy will be done and the Saints in Heaven when they shall have re-assumed their bodies will not find any contrariety between the rational and sensitive appetite And thus you see that Adam was created in this holy estate Lastly This holiness and righteousness in a well explained sense was not supernatural but natural The Remonstrants they make this dispute about original righteousnesse inepta absurda absurd and foolish Therefore they deny any infused or concreated habits also and say The rectitude of the faculties was enough But the Orthodox say Adam could not be created without such habits or principles of holinesse within him because he was created for the enjoyment of God and therefore they call it natural not as flowing from the principles of nature but as a moral condition necessary to qualifie him for his end and therefore it was given to whole mankind in Adam and would have been naturally propagated and whereas the Remonstrants ask To what purpose or use is such original righteousnesse For if it did not necessarily and immutably determine Adams will to good than this original righteousnesse did need another and so in infinitum or if it did then How came it about that Adam did sinne To this subtilty it is answered That this original righteousnesse was not to determine the will of Adam necessarily but to incline and sortifie Adams will the more strongly and easily to do what was good So that although it did not absolutely take away Adams mutability and liberty yet it did heighten and raise up the faculties of his soul to what was good yet this was not a superadded grace to Adam as actual confirmation in holines would have been but a natural and due qualification preparing him for communion with God So that the discourse about man in his pure naturals without this original righteousnesse is an house that hath not so much as a sandy foundation it being without any foundation at all God having put his Image into man as Phydias did his into Minerva's shield that none could take that out but he must also destroy that shield Thus the Devil could not prevail with Adam to sinne but by the losse of Gods Image CHAP. XII A further Consideration of the Image of God which Man was created in Shewing what particular Graces Adam's Soul was adorn'd with SECT I. WE are discovering the Nature of that Image God created us in at first that so we may see how great our losse is The last particular was The naturality and supernaturality of it in divers respects And this is the more to be observed because while the Orthodox oppose the Socinians who affirm Nothing but a natural and simple innocency in Adam without any infused or concreated habits of holinesse or any thing supernatural in him You would think they joyn with the Papists who dogmatize That all the holinesse Adam had was supernatural Again while the same Orthodox oppose Papists because of this opinion one would think they joyned with the Socinians who say Adam had nothing in him but what was natural whereas the truth consists between these and therefore original righteousnesse was supernatural to Adam if you respect the principle from whence it did flow it was immediately from God not from principles of nature and this opposeth the Socinian yet if you do consider Adam the subject of this righteousnesse and the end for which he was created so it was a perfection due to him and in that respect called natural otherwise had not God invested mans nature with this and concreated this perfection with him the noblest of visible creatures had been dealt worst with SECT II. YEt in the second place Though this Image of God was natural to Adam yet we must not say that he had nothing supernatural that there was nothing by way of superadded grace to him Even as in Adam although we deny that he was created in pure naturals yet we say that Adam in some respect may be said in Paradise to live an animal life as well as he was created immortal Adam was made free from death he had not any proxim or immediate cause of death yet he was not made immortal as the glorified Saints in Heaven shall be for their bodies are made then spiritual not animal as the Apostle distinguisheth whereas Adam's body was in this sense animal that it did need meat and drink as also it was for generation to procreate and propagate a posterity which argued the animality of Adams body but not the mortality of it as the Socinians say unless we mean such an immortality as our bodies shall have in Heaven Thus though Adam was created immortal upon supposition of his obedience yet that doth not exclude wholly an animal life or natural as the Apostle expresly saith 1 Cor. 15 46. That was not first which is spiritual but that
put forth those acts from the habits of faith and repentance he was created in as some have said but the whole Image of God being lost every gracious habit or act was then supernatural to him which before was natural Yet Suarez in his Disputations concerning the Creation of man saith That even the habits of repentance and mercy were in the state of integrity reducible into some acts though not into all as if I should sin I would abhorre it and bewail it if there were any miserable I would relieve him which saith he are not meer conditional acts in the understanding but presuppose a purpose in the will Again saith he Adam from those habits had a complacency in his mind and an approbation of such acts when they could be performed by him in a sutable state But I presse not these things Now although the habit of justifying Faith and Repentance were in Adam yet we cannot say They were in the Angels or in Christ because these were in a condition that did repugne the very habit of such acts as well as the acts themselves Thus by these Rules we see there is no kinde of grace imaginable but Adam's soul was adorned with it one way or other Oh then take up bitter lamentation and like Rachel refuse to be comforted because our loss is unspeakably greater than hers There remaineth not one grace of those glorious ones mentioned now in us and in stead of a power to any thing that was good we have an utter impotency thereunto and a proneness unto evil But you may ask How can original six be said to consist in this privation of original righteousnesse seeing that seemeth to be Gods act to deprive us of it and not ours To this the Answer is That we are not to conceive of God taking away this righteousnesse from us as if one man should spoil another of his garments but man by sinning did exclude and shut it out from his soul and having thus provoked God then God doth not continue and vouchsafe that grace to him which Adam had thus repelled so that God is not as an efficient infusing wickednesse into Adam's heart but he denieth that holinesse to him which by sinne was repelled as if a man should shut out the light from him and keep himself in the dark But I have spoken more fully already to this Objection CHAP. XIII Reason to prove That the Privation of Original Righteousnesse is truly and properly a Sinne in us SECT I. I Shall adde that there are four Reasons why this Privation of Original Righteousnesse is truly and properly a sinne in us And First Because the soul is a Subject fit and prepared for to receive this Righteousnesse This rectitude you heard was a moral perfection necessarily required in man The soul of a man cannot be in a neutral condition it must either have holiness or sinne in it As the air doth necessarily receive either light or darkness The body is either sick or well if then the soul be such a fit and capable subject of holiness when it is deprived of it it wants that which is sutable and connatural to it Insomuch that for the soul to be without this holiness it 's against the nature of it Why should such a spot and a blemish be in so glorious a creature How came spots in this Sunne As Idolaters are condemned because they turned the glory of God into the Image of a beast that eateth hay No lesse is done by Adam's Apostasie upon us all for we who were made Gods Image are now become like beast without understanding and yet this consideration will not debase and humble us Secondly This Privation is a sinne Because it is against the Law of God which requireth habitual holinesse in us It requireth the continuance in that state which God created us in This Definition of original sinne that it is a Privation of that rectitude which ought to be in us was first assigned by Anselme and Occham thought it insufficient unlesse there was added 〈◊〉 the Description a Privation arising from the sinne of another Because saith he Adam upon his sinne lost this Righteousnesse which ought to be in him yet we cannot say he had original sinne because it did not arise from a sinne of another but from his own transgression This is a needlesse subtilty for it was original sinne in Adam yea and in Eve though they did not derive it from one another because they did actively communicate this unto all their Posterity This Privation then of all glorious holinesse being against the Law of God as we have formerly shewed therefore it makes a man truly sinfull Thirdly It is a sinne Because Adam our Head and common Trustes once had this Righteousnesse So that it is a Righteousnesse which we were once actually possessed of in our Head God did not only say Let us make man after our Image but he did put it into execution he did make him after his image So that it 's a righteousnesse that we once had which now we have lost Lastly It is a sinne Because by Adam our Head we were deprived of it The Apostle saith positively Rom. 5 That by one sinne came upon all inasmuch as all have sinned viz. in him and by him Hence it is That his losing of this Image is our losing of it as really as if we had actually and personally deprived our selves of it And thus much shall suffice for the Doctrinal part of it but because it 's good to have our affections wrought upon as well as our judgements informed The next work shall be to give the Aggravations of this losse that so we may make a full improvement of this Truth CHAP. XIV The Aggravations of our Losse of GODS Image SECT I. I Shall conclude this Text with that particular Observation about it that relateth to the privative part in original corruption for we have abbreviated that vast and large Subject of original righteousnesse into a little compasse briefly informing concerning the Nature of it For howsoever Epiphanius as Pererius and Suarez say thought that it was impossible for any to determine wherein the Image of God doth consist yet Paul doth sufficiently explain Moses in this particular So that we need not run to those forced expositions of some who will have man in respect of his bodily constitution to bear the Image of God Therefore some say God did assume an humane shape and in that did make man whereby man in a bodily manner was made after his Image Others That it was so said Let us make man after our own Image in reference to the Incarnation of Christ who was in time to be made man For we have already heard that it was righteousnesse and holinesse in the soul which made man to be after Gods Image So that the Image of God was not in the body but as in signe a sign and demonstration of that Image in the soul It is true Christ
glorifie and honour God all his whole work and life is now to dishonour him and reproach his holy Name Herein then lieth the misery of this losse of the Image of God that we are fallen from our end we are of our selves salt that hath lost its favourinesse we are fit for nothing but eternal torments SECT III. The Harmony and Subordination in Mans Nature dissolved by the loss of Gods Image IN the second place This losse is to be aggravated because of the Nature of it which is the deordination and dissolution of all that Harmony and Subordination which was in mans nature That admirable and composed order which was in the whole man is now wholly broken so that the mind and will is against God and the affections and passions against them A three-fold Subordination there was in man The first of the intellectual and rational part unto God The mind clearly knowing him and the will readily submitting unto him The second was A regular Subordination of all the passions and affections unto the mind so that there did not from the sensible part arise any thing that was unbeseeming and contrary to the rational Hence it was that the Scripture taketh notice of Adam and Eve in their privitive Condition that though naked yet they were not ashamed There being a full purity and simplicity in their natures whereby nothing could arise to disturb all those superiour operations At sin expresseth it well Even saith he as Paradise the place wherein Adam was created had neither heat or cold but an excellent temperament excluding the hurtfull excess of either so also the soul of Adam was without any excessive passion or inordinate motion but all things did sweetly and amicably concur in obedience to the mind The third and last Subordination was of the body both to the rationall and sensitive principles There was a preparednesse in the body of Adam as there was in Christ whereby he did readily do the Will of God and sound the body not obstructing or weighing of it down Now let us consider this three-fold cord which did bind Adam's whole man unto that which is good which was easily broken and then as when the flood-gates are open the streams of water violently rush forth hurrying all away Thus it is with mankind This order being dissolved the whole heart of man is as unruly as the Sea and whereas that hath its natural bounds Hitherto it shall go and no further The heart of man is boundlesse and hath no stops of it self only the infinite God of Heaven he ruleth and ordereth it as he pleaseth Consider the first breach and mourn under that Is it nothing to have the mind of man which hath as many thoughts almost as there are sands upon the Sea shore and yet not to have one of these rise in the soul with subordination to God What a sad bondage is this that our thoughts are no more under our command than the flying birds in the air Do not either sinfull thoughts or if good come in so unseasonably upon thee that they carry away thy soul prisoner Oh this losse of the obedience of the mind to Gods Law in all the thoughts thereof ought to be no mean matter of debasement Not to find one good thought of all those Iliades Chiliades and Myriades of thoughts which thou hast but to have rebellion in them against God What sad impression should it make on thee In the will also those motion and incompleat velleities yea acts of consent in the will which arise in the soul as so many swarms of flies in the air Are not these also so many armies of lusts against God whereas in the state of integrity there would not have risen the least distemper The second breach Is not that also as terrible and powerfull For are not all our affections and passions like so many dogs to Action like so many Locusts and Caterpillers in Egypt like so many flies and hornets till by grace they are crucified What man is there in whom if God should let any one passion or affection have dominion over him that it would not immediately destroy him So that the power of original corruption is more manifested in the affections and passions than any subject else Lastly The disorder which is in the body in respect of its instrumental serviceablenesse unto God can never be enough lamented Do not pains and diseases in the body much indispose in holy things Do not dulnesse drousinesse and wearinesse hinder a man so that when he would religiously serve the Lord this body will not let him Now all this evil and misery is come upon us because we have lost the Image of God As God in nature doth not suffer any vocuum or redundans so neither did he in respect of the frame of the soul at the first There was nothing defective and nothing excessive SECT IV. The Properties of this Losse THirdly This losse by original corruption of Gods Image is exceeding great in the properties of it For 1. It is a spiritual losse principally and chiefly The loss of Gods favour of all holiness is wholly spiritual and did tend to make a man spiritually happy So that if you should compare all the temporal losses that ever have been in the world with this first and spiritual one it would be but as the mole-hill to an high mountain If then our eyes were opened if we were able rightly to judge or losses for this we should mourn more than for any evil that ever befell us or others 〈◊〉 messengers that came with such sad tidings one upon another is nothing to this message that we bring thee But who will believe this report 2. As it is a spiritual loss so it is an universal loss The whole world is in a lost state by losing this Image of God Every creature hath lost in this universal losse The earth hath lost its fruitfulness yea the whole Creation groaneth and is in bondage subject to vanity because of this Thus all the creatures they lose by it yea every thing in man loseth The mind its light the will its holiness the affections their order and the body its soundness and immortality If all the creatures were turned into tongues they would proclaim the loss of their primitive glory and beauty because of this sinne 3. It 's not only universal But it 's the cause of all the temporal losses that we have For death in which is comprehended all kind of evil came in upon the loss of this Image So that if we are sensible of any temporal loss How much more of this spiritual one which is the cause and root of all Therefore is the body pained therefore it dieth because this Image of God is lost therefore do we loose parents and children therefore is the whole world a valley of tears because of this losse If then any private losse be so bitter unto thee how much more ought this to be which putteth a
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
that whereas in some the fleshly mind of man runneth out into superstitious and excessive wayes of devotion which God never required so in others again it acteth the clean contrary way pretending to Enthusiasts Revelations and strange raptures and impulses of soul and herein they think they are the only spiritual men and that all others are in the flesh but strong delusions under the pretence of Revelations Apparitions and visions have been no new thing in the Church of God neither are we to stagger in our saith because of these things for the flesh excited by the Devil may vent it self in these extasies and raptures as well as in superstitions yea which is further to be observed a man may be altogether fleshly while he pretends to an high spiritual way of subduing and keeping down the flesh Col. 2. 23. Those who were puft up in their fleshly minds about Angel-worship yet are said to have a shew of humility in not sparing the body and this we may say to those deluded Papists who macerate and excruciate the flesh of the body it would be better if they did cast out at the same time their fleshly mind Seventhly A natural man in his most religious deportment is only fleshly Because whatsoever he doth in these things he is furthered only by natural strength For being without the grace of God either in his understanding or his will hence it is that he can rise no higher than natural reason natural conscience and natural will doth enable him unto and these being altogether polluted by sinne in stead of furthering they are an hindrance and opposition to him If therefore you ask From what principles and by what strength doth a natural man draw nigh to God The answer is only by that power which he hath of himself The grace of God which alone can elevate the soul to God that he is wholly destitute of And although it must be granted that there are some common principles and dictates in all about God and moral good things yet these are never improved any otherwise but from carnal principles and to carnal ends And thus much may suffice for this branch viz. The carnality of a man by original sinne in his most religious offices and duties In the last general place Man may justly be said to be all over sinfull and flesh only Because all his care his thoughts are only for his body and sensible things in the mean while neglecting God and his immortal soul I shall conclude with this because all else comprehended in this name will come in at some other seasonable time By nature we are in the flesh we walk after it we make provision for it so that we willingly lose God and our souls to save and preserve that Who is there that will believe our Saviour saying What will it profit a man to winne the whole world and lose his own soul Mat. 16. 26. What complaints and accusations may the soul make against us when the body hath said Feed me Cloath me you have done it But when the soul hath famished and been perishing you have not heard the cries of it Oh men only flesh and utterly devoid of all spiritual power CHAP. XVI Reasons demonstrating the Positive Part of Original Sinne. SECT I. HItherto we have been informed out of this Text what is comprehended in the word Flesh attributed to every one that is in a natural way born of mankind We now proceed to that Truth for which it was designedly pitcht upon viz. That Original sin is not only a Privation of Gods Image but doth cannote also a Positive inclination and an impetuous propensity to every thing that is evil For this Question is agitated between some Papists and the Protestants They asserting That the whole nature of original sinne lieth in the privation of Gods Image But the Orthodox they say That although original sinne is privative yet it is not meerly privative but doth include in it as the materiale that habitual crookedness and perversnes which is in all the faculties of the soul And thus the Protestants do almost in effect say the same with Aquinas who calleth original corruption a corrupt habit not a meer privation for privations are of two sorts either simple that imply onely a privation as blindnesse and death or compounded and mixed which besides the meer privation do denote some materiale or substratum with it Thus Aquinas compareth original sinne to a sickness or disease which doth not only signifie a privation of health but also the humours excessively overflowing and thereby dissolving the due temperament of the body Such a privation is original sinne a mixt or compounded privation that besides the absence of what righteousness is due denoteth also a propensity and violent inclination unto that which is evil It is true indeed if we come punctually to examine how the will is disobedient and how the affections are so disorderly we cannot resolve into any thing but this privation the understanding is therefore darkness and erroneous because without its primitive light The will is crooked and perverse because without its primitive rectitude So that Calvin saith well He that cals it the privation of Gods Image saith the whole nature of it yet when we speak of the privative part of it only we do not so fully and significantly expresse the dreadfull pollution of it Even as concerning vicious habits in morality intemperance injustice it is not enough to say they are the privation of those virtues which are immediately contrary to them but they do denote also such an inclination in a man that thereby he is carried out to those vicious of such habits constantly and with delight SECT II. Why Divines make Original Sinne to have its Positive as well as Privative Part. THe Reason why our Divines make original sinne to have its Positive as well as Privative part is to obviate that errour of the Papists who supposing original righteousness to be only by way of a bridle in Adam to curb and subjugate the inferiour part to the superiour of the soul when Adam lost this they conceive mankind hath not any further pollution upon it but that meer losse Insomuch that they say Man is now as if God had created him in his pure naturals without any supernaturals The Socinians likewise they deny any such pollution and make us to be born in the same condition Adam was created in death as a punishment only accepted meerly without either sinne or righteousnesse like Aristotles Obrasa Tabula in a neutral indifferent way Now to confront such dangerous opinions we say That by our birth-sinne we are not only deprived of Gods Image but are in an habitual inclination to all evil which is also active and repugnant to all good SECT III. Reasons to evince the Positive part of Original Sinne. NOw that we are to judge of it thus will appear from Scripture upon these grounds First The names that the Scripture attributeth to
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
bodily part and the soul part and from the soul doth this poison fall to all the inferiour parts Therefore do not only complain of sinne and lust in thy material and sensitive part but look upon the strength and chief power of it as in thy immaterial and soul part for in all these this original lust this Law of sinne doth constantly dwel The Schoolmen they call this Fomes peccati because it doth fovere it 's like the cinders and ashes that keep alive the fire of sin within a man and the more dangerous and damnable it is by how much the more close and latent it is SECT VIII A Consideration of this Concupiscence in reference to the four-fold Estate of man 5. VVE are to consider this concupiscence or concupiscibili'y for we speak of the principle of lusting not actual lusting according to several states that man may be looked upon in AS First There was his Natura instituta his instituted nature at first and that was right and holy There was concupiscence and desiring of the several powers of his soul but in a good and orderly way It was not then as now the Superiora did not turpiter servire inferioribus or the inferiora contumaciter rebel against the superiour parts as is to be shewed in the next place In Adam there was no concupiscence in this sense The inferiour parts though they did desire a sensible object yet it was wholly in subordination and under the command of the superiour It 's true indeed Eve did look upon the forbidden fruit and saw it was good and pleasant whereupon she was tempted to eat of it but this did not arise from any original lust in her but from the mutability of her will being not confirmed in what was good Even as we see the Angels before their Apostasie had sinfull desires in their will through pride and affectation to be higher than they were yet this did not arise from original lust in them Although therefore both Socinians and some Papists do acknowledge man made with such a repugnancy of the sensitive appetite to the rational yea the former making it to be in Christ himself yet this is highly to dishonour God in the Creation of man Oh happy and blessed estate when there was such an universal harmony and due proportion in all the powers of the soul but miserum est illud verbum snisse may all mankind cry out in this particular Secondly There is Natura infecta and destituta infected Nature stript and denuded of all former holiness and excellency and here concupiscence is not onely in us but it doth reign and predominate over the whole man The harmony is totally dissolved and now the choice and sublime parts of the foul are made prostrate to the affectionate part as loathsom and abominable as when the Law forbiddeth to lie with a beast Now the mind and understanding is wholly set on work to dispute and argue for the carnal part Now the motions of the soule beginne in the carnal part and end in the intellectual whereas in the state of integrity the beginning and rise would first have been in the intellectual and so have descended to the sensitive part The motions thereof antecede all deliberation in the mind and a rectified choice in the will Thus the feet they guide the head and in this little world of man the earth moveth and the Heavens they stand still as some fancied in the great world now lust is by way of a Law ruling and commanding all things This is the unspeakable misery and bondage we are now plunged into Thirdly There is Natura restituta repaired nature by grace which the regenerate attain unto and these though they have not obtained concerning lust ne sit yet that ne regnet in them as Austin expresseth it though they cannot perfectly fulfill that command ne concupiscas yet they obey another post concupiscentias ne â—as hence it is because of the actings and workings of original sinne still in the godly they are in a continual conflict they cannot do any thing perfectly they feel a clogge pressing them down when they are elevating themselves as Paul Rom 7. doth abundantly manifest The good he would do he cannot do Original sinne is like that Tree in Daniel Chap. 4. 23. Though there was a watcher from Heaven coming down to cut it down yet the stumps and root of the Tree were left with a band of iron and brass to denote the firm and immovable abiding of it Thus though the grace of God be still mortifying and subduing the lusts of the flesh yet the stumps seem to be bound with brasse and iron to us we are never able in this life wholly to extinguish it Lastly If you consider the perfected and glorified estate of the godly in Heaven then there will be a full and utter extirpation of this original sin The glorified bodies in Heaven though naked shall not be subject to shame and confusion as Adam and Eve were after their fall And among other reasons therefore doth the Lord suffer these reliques of corruption to abide in the most holy that so we may the more ardently and zealously long after that kingdom of glory when we shall be delivered from this sinfull soul and mortal body Then this command Thou shalt not lust will be perfectly accomplished whereas in this life it is a perpetual hand writing against us The Papists indeed do confess our lusts to be against this command but not ut praecipienti but ut indicanti as if God did not so much command us what we should do as by Doctrine inform what is good and excellent in it self Thus rather than they will be found guilty by this Law they will make it no Law and turn it from a precept into a meer doctrinal information But seeing one end of the Law is to convince us and aggravate our sinfulness to make us see our desperate diseased estate that thereby we may flie to Christ as the malefactor to the City of refuge let it be farre from us to extenuate or to lessen our sinfulness The Pharisees of old and all their successors in endeavouring to establish a righteousness by the Law have split themselves on this rock as if the Law had not holiness enough to command them but they were able to do more than that required But whence doth this Blind presumption arise Even from the ignorance of the power of original siane in us SECT IX 6 FRom these things concluded on we may see that the Scripture giveth us a better discovery of our selves than ever the light of nature or moral Philosophy could acquaint us with Aristotle teacheth us out of his School clean contrary Doctrine to this That we come into the world without virtue or vice Even as Pelagius said of old and the Schoolmen though they hold original sinne yet most of them by cleaving to Aristole's principles and so leaving the Scripture have advanced nature to
there is no love and also no hatred So that if we do not know how loathsom and vile this sinne is we are never able to bewail it and to humble our selves under it There are many Descriptions of it given by several Authors but that we may in a large and popular way comprehend all things in one Description that is necessary to understand the full nature of it we may take this delineation of it SECT II. ORiginal sinne is an horrid depravation and defilement of the whole man caused by the Devils temptation and our first Parents obedience thereunto and from them descending by propagation to all his Posterity being stript of Gods glorious Image whereby they are prone to all evil and so are under the bondage of the Devil and obnoxious to eternal wrath It is not my purpose in making this draught of it to attend unto the exact rules of Logick but so to compose it that every thing considerable to give the true knowledge of it may be comprized therein And First We say It 's a depravation and defilement which implieth the sinfulness of it that it is truly and properly a sinne And therefore sinne is truly and univocally divided into original and actual so that they who make it onely to be guilt without any inward contagion they do wholly erre from the Scripture they say not enough It is true Adam's sinne in the guilt of it is imputed unto us which made Ambrose of old say as Austin alledgeth him against the â—elagians Morinus sum in Adamo ejectus sum in Paradiso in Adamo c. I am dead in Adam I am cast out of Paradise in Adam But we are not disputing of original imputed sinne but original inhering Therefore original inherent sinne is truly and properly a defilement upon us against the Law of God and this sinfull estate of all by nature should be farre more terrible unto us then our miserable and mortal estate Again When we call it a defilement we oppose their opinion who make it only morbus and not truly a sinne As also those who say It is the substance of a man for if so then Christ could not have taken our nature without sinne neither could there be glorified bodies in Heaven without sinne for all these have the humane nature of a man Further we say It 's an horrid depravation This Epithete is necessary to be added to awaken pharisaical and self-righteous persons it being so dreadfull an evil that we are never able to go to the depth of it Never therefore think of speak of original sinne but let thy heart tremble and let horrour and amazement take hold of thee because of it and this is put in the Description to obviate those opinions that make it the least of all sinnes Some complain That we are too severe and tragical in the aggravation of it but enough hath been already spoken out of Scripture to shew that neither heart can conceive or tongue express the foulness of it This is the general part of the Description Secondly You have the Subject of it and because the Subject thereof is twofold of Inhesion and of Predication In this part we have the Subject wherein it is and that is totus homo and totum hominis the whole man and the whole of man there being no part free from this contagion so that it 's repletively and diffusively in all the parts of soul and body though eminently and principally in the mind and will and the whole heart It 's true sinne is not properly seated in the body the eyes or hand or in the sensitive part yet participatively and subordinately as they are instruments to the soul in its actings so they are said to be sinfull Thus there are lustfull eyes cursing tongues unclean bodies There are sinfull imaginations and fancies because these are the organs by which the soul putteth forth its wickedness So that the body is like a broken spoiled instrument of musick and the soul like an unskilfull Artificer playing on it which causeth horrid and harsh sounds for pleasant melody But as God is every where yet in Heaven after a more glorious and signal manifestation of himself So on the contrary though original sinne be a Leprosie infecting the whole man yet it 's most principally in the intellectual and immaterial parts of the soul It 's horrible darknesse in the mind aversnesse in the will to all that is good and contumacy in the heart to whatsoever is holy And this part doth directly oppose all those who grant indeed original sinne but yet grant it wholly in the inferiour and sensitive part as if our reason and mind were like the Heavens of a quintessential frame in respect of any unholy contagion whereas indeed because these eyes of the soul are dark therefore is the whole body dark Because the Sunne and Moon and Starres as it were of this little world of man are turned into bloud therefore every part else is also become blood defiled and loathsom and this is the reason why so few do either believe or know this natural corruption because it benummeth us yea it taketh away all spiritual life so that we cannot discern of it The declaration of the cause of it followeth in this description where we have the external efficient cause and the internal The external was the Devil after his all and apostasie he endeavoured being a murderer from the beginning to destroy man also and accordingly he did prevail and thus by the Devil sinne came into the world yet he is the external cause onely he could not force or compel our first parents to sinne he did onely perswade and entice them Therefore the internal cause was the freedom of their will God created them in whereby they might either imbrace good or chuse evil which mutability was the cause of their apostasie It is true the dispute is very curious How Adam being created perfect could yeeld to sinne Whether did the defect arise in his will or understanding first But seeing it 's clear by Scripture that he did sinne and we feel the wofull effect of it Let us not busie our heads in metaphysical curiosities although I see the soundest Authors make the beginning of his sinne to be in inadvertency for his soul being finite while he earnestly intended to one thing he did not attend to another and so sinne was inchoatively first in his understanding not by errour or ignorance for Adam's understanding was free from that but by not attendency to all considerations and arguments as he ought to do Although it must be confest that the root and foundation of his sin was the vertibility of his will for as he might not sin so also he might sin he had then a posse peccare in him and so a defectibility from the Rule Thus although efficient causes use not to be put into exact definitions neither hath sin so properly efficient as deficient causes yet in large descriptions it is
very usefull to name them for hereby God is wholly cleared although he created man and fore-knew he would fall yea permitted him to fall yet he was no cause of his fall neither did God make Adam that he might sinne as some would calumniate the Orthodox Doctrine with such consequences Even as Austin's adversaries said he did Sub nomine gratiae asserere fatum because we do not make God an idle Spectator as it were of Adam's fall or make it wholly uncertain and casual as it were to God but acknowledge his permission and ordination of Adam's evil to a better good than his evil could be evil therefore it is that some do so paratragediate Take we heed then that in the acknowledging of this Doctrine we have no froward or foolish though â—s rising against God Adam's destruction and of all his posterity was of and through himself The next thing considerable in the Description is the propagating and communicating of it to all his posterity that naturally descend from our first Parents This also is very material to open the nature of this sinne that it 's by propagation Adam's sinne was not personal as ours are but common to the whole nature Therefore the Apostle Rom. 5. putteth it upon one sinne or offence and that by one man The Pelagians were vehement opposers of this and therefore called the Orthodox Traduciani because they hold the traduction of this original sinne Adam being a common person and he as our Head being in Covenant with God when he became a Covenant-breaker then we all forfeited all in and by him So that it 's the Covenant of God that is the foundation of communicating original sinne as farre as sinne can be communicated to all mankind yet natural generation is the medium or way of conveying it But of this more in it's time It followeth in the Description That this original sinne as it is by propagation so to all and every one of mankind who were in his loins for Christ was not properly in Adam 's loins and so his sinne could not be imputed to Christ because Adam was not in Covenant for him otherwise not the Virgin Mary or any other is exempted from this universal pollution So that here we have the Subjectum praedicationis as formerly inhaesonis that subject of whom this sinne may be predicated and that is every Infant new born as soon as he hath a being so soon doth he become thus all over stained and abominable and this should make Parents have sad and serious thoughts about their children there is that corruption planted in their souls which no instruction no discipline can eradicate nay the grace of God sanctifying doth not wholly expel in this life Although the grace of God in some Obed-Edoms and Timothies appear in them from the youth yet these were by nature dead in sinne and children of wrath onely Gods grace was very wonderfully conveyed unto them in their youth or infancy Do not therefore think that because thou hast a more ingenuous civil and moral nature that therefore original sinne is not in thee yea many times the actings and workings of it are more mortiferous and pestilential than in grosse sinners But let us proceed to the parts as it were essential and intrinsecally constituent of this depravation and that is said to be the losse of Gods glorious Image and thereby a proneness to all evil we need not say more to explicate these particulars As in hell there is a privative part the losse of the enjoying of God and then a positive punishment through the torments of hell fire Thus in original sinne we are without the Image of God There is not that light or holiness he created us in and withall an impetuous inclination to whatsoever is evil So that now all the powers of the soul they move inordinately and with great precipitancy as Seneca saith of old men because of their feebleness Dum ambulare volunt currunt they do not walk but runne Thus our affections our will they do not so much go as tumble headlong to their objects Hence Tanrellus Tryumphus Philos pag. 18. maketh original sinne to be nothing but impotentia naturam cohibendi that we cannot stop nature in the impetuous motions thereof to sinne no more than we can the violent torrents and streams of water in excessive floods In these two things then lieth the whole venom and poison of this natural filthiness we are without all good and under the dominion of all evil and this is to speak all the misery that possibly a man can be capable of In the last part we adde in the description a two-fold effect of this natural defilement which although they are to be treated of in a more large manner with all the particular effects of this sinne or some of them at least yet in the general something is to be said that we may affect our souls with them And First Hereby we are made obnoxious to the curse and wrath of God Even before any actual sin is ever committed for this Infants dying immediately upon their birth may justly be damned to all eternity This is that which carnal reason strometh at This is that which the nature of man will hardly yeeld to Therefore the position of many have been That there is nothing damnable in Infants And although some would not admit them into the Kingdom of Heaven yet freed them from the place of the damned but we must submit our humane reason and our humane affections to the Scripture if so be that Gods word saith We are by nature children of wrath If Jesus Christ be a Saviour to Infants as well as to men if he came to redeem them as well as actual sinners then of themselves their condition was damnable for Christ came to seek that which was lost and the whole need not the Physitian but the sick Oh then let us all humble our selves under this sentence of condemnation passed upon us God might say of every Infant In the day thou art born thou shalt be damned and it is the meer gracious favour of God that deferreth the execution of this sentence for till a man be in Christ he is not freed from this curse only God in much patience doth put off the execution The second effect is To be under the power and dominion of the Devil Eph. 2. The Devil is said to rule in the hearts of men and is therefore called The Prince of this world regeneration is not only subduing of corruption in us not only repairing the glorious Image of God which we have lost but also a dispossessing of the devil who had a throne in every mans soul By nature therefore because thus polluted we are vassals and bondslaves to Satan we are of him we do his works The bodily possessed by Satan were not more miserably agitated by him then our souls are spiritually by him what he tempts us to we obey what he suggests to us we
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
know lust to be sinne that is not so clearly so fully so experimentally as now he did since the grace of God had both enlightned and sanctified him How many have with great orthodoxy maintained this Truth against Pelagians and all the enemies of Gods grace shrouding themselves under the praise of nature but it is rare to see those that do not onely theoretically believe it but practically walk with broken and contrite hearts under it Examine then thy self Doest thou believe this is Gods Truth that thou camest into the world all over polluted Doest thou think that thou as well as any other though never so civil and unblameable in respect of actual sinnes art by nature a child of the Devil prepared fuel for the eternal flames of Hell And doest thou not onely believe this to be thy particular case but withall thou art so affected with an holy fear and trembling thou hast no quietnesse or rest in thy soul because of it then thou art come to a true and right knowledge of it For the end of our preaching on this Subject is not onely to establish your minds in this Truth against all errours therein but also to mollifie and soften your hearts that you may all your life time loath your self and advance the fulnesse of Christ And seeing that natural light is dimme and confused in this matter keep close to the Word and not only so but implore the Spirit of God that in and through the Word this Truth may enter like a two-edged sword into thy bowels knowing that without this foundation laid there cannot be any esteem of Christ CHAP. XXI That Reason when once enlightned by the Scripture may be very powerfull to convince us of this Natural Pollution SECT I. A Clear and full knowledge of original sinne can be obtained onely by Scripture light Although as you heard some Heathens have had a confused apprehension about it My work at this time shall be to shew That even Reason where once enlightned by the Scripture may be very powerfull to convince us of this natural pollution So that when Scripture Reason and Experience shall come in to confirm this Truth we may then say there needeth no further disquisition in this point And First This may abundantly convince us That the hearts of men are naturally evil Because of the overflowing of all wickednesse in all ages over the whole world How could such weeds such bryers and thorns grow up every where were not the soil bad It 's true in some ages some kind of sinnes have abounded more than others and so in some places But there was never any generation wherein impiety did not cover the earth as the waters do the Sea Insomuch that if we should with zeal undertake to reprove them according to their desert Non tam irascendum quà m insaniendum est as Seneca of the vices of his time Erasmus in his Epistle to Othusius complaineth That since Christ's time there was not a more wicked age then that he lived in Christ saith he crieth I have overcome the world but the world seemeth as if it would say shortly I have overcome Christ because of the wickedness abounding and that among those who profess themselves the salt and light of the world Now how were it possible that the whole world should thus lie in wickedness 1 Joh. 5. 19 as the Apostle affirmeth but that all mankind by nature is like so many Serpents and Toads of which there is none without poison If this wickedness did abound only in some places we might blame the Clymate the Countrey or their Education but it is in all places under the Equator as well as the Tropick in all ages former times as well as later have been all groaning under ungodliness and whereas you might say The world is in its old age now and the continual habituated customary wayes of wickedness have made us drink the dregs of impiety yet the Scripture telleth us That not long after the Creation of the world when we might judge greater innocency and freedom from sinne to have been every where yet then all flesh had corrupted their wayes Gen. 6. 12. which provoked God to bring that wonderfull and extraordinary judgement of drowning it with water as if it were become like a noisom dunghill that was to be cleansed And lest you should think this was only because of their actual impieties we see God himself charging it upon this because the imaginations of a mans heart were only evil and that from his youth up So that there is no man who considers the wayes and manners of all the inhabitants of the world but must conclude had there not been poisonous fountains within there had never been such poisoned streams The warres the rapines the uncleannesses and all the horrid transgressions that have filled the earth as the vermine did Aegypt do plainly declare That all men have hearts full of evil And lest you might think this deluge of impiety is only in the Heathenish Paganish and bruitish part of the world The Psalmist complaineth of that people who were the Church of God and enjoyed the light of the Word That there was none righteous that there was none that did good no not one Psal 14. 3. So that as graves and dead mens bones the Sepulchres and monuments every where do fully manifest men are mortal no lesse do the actual impieries that fill all Cities Towns and Villages discover that all are by nature prone to that which is sinfull SECT II. SEcondly This original sinne may be proved by reason yea and experience thus If you consider all the miseries troubles and vexations man is subject unto and at last death it self and that not only men grown up who have actual sinnes but even new born Infants will not this plainly inform us That all mankind hath sinned and is cast out of the favour of God How can it enter into any mans heart to think that God the wise Creator so full of goodness to man that he made him little lower than Angels should yet make him more miserable than all creatures It was Theophrastus his complaint when he lay a dying That man had such a short time of life prefixed him who yet could have been serviceable and by long age and experience found out many observable usefull things when Crows and Harts and other creatures of no consideration have a long life vouchsafed to them Yea all the Heathens even the most learned of them complained much concerning this Theme of mans misery being never able to satisfie themselves in the cause of it But now by the Scripture we see it 's no wonder the race of mankind is thus adjudged to all misery seeing it 's all guilty of sinne before God so that if there had been no actual sinnes committed by the sonnes of men yet the ground would have been cursed to bring forth bryers and thorns man would have been miserable and mortal So that this doth
Conclusion from the former Discourse Some have read the words preceptively as if the sense were As we have born the Image of the first Adam so let us bear the Image of the heavenly But the most solid Interpreters read it affirmatively as in the Text we render it and this seemeth to be more consonant because the Apostle is still in the Didactical and Doctrinal point about our Resurrection The particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is for the and so better translated illatively Therefore The Text then affirmeth two things 1. That all bear the Image of Adam who came from him 2. Those who are of Christ shall bear his Image Having therefore treated of original sin the Quod sit and the Quid sit we come to that which is deservedly thought the most difficult and hard to conceive and explain in this point Which is the manner of propagating it and this shal be soberly and modestly discussed out of these words For from the 45th verse Austin takes an occasion to dispute as Paraeus relateth about the souls traduction from Adam as well as the body Although to speak the truth that which is principally and apparently affirmed by the Apostle here is That we have mortal bodies propagated to us from Adam which is easier to conceive of then to have also sinfull souls from him yet because the Text speaketh of Adam's Image in us and that doth necessarilly suppose a sinfull soul as well as a mortal body We shall therefore declare the truth as of them conjoyned together Observe That all who come of Adam do thereby bear his Image Our natural descension from him maketh us to be wholly like him when he was corrupted That as those who are of Christ are renewed after his Image in righteousness and true holiness so all of Adam are corrupted in sin and ungodliness SECT IV. WHat this Image is you have heard already at large our main work is to examine How we come to be made partakers of it Yet it is good summarily to say something of this Image of Adams we all bear about with us And First Man who was not only made after the Image of God Gen. 1. 26. but is said absolutely to be the Image of God 1. Cor. 11. 7. by his apostasie became not only like the beasts that perish but also like the Devils that are damned Insomuch that now this glorious Image of God being defaced If you ask Whose Image and Superscription he beareth We answer of corrupted sinfull and mortal Adam an Image we are to be ashamed of and to mourn under all the dayes of our life Who can look upon man but may behold sinne and misery folly and mortality Now this Image of the first Adam comprehended the things of the soul and the body In the body we have pains diseases and a necessity of death at last In the soul there is horrible blackness and confusion upon it that as devils are represented in the most horrid and black manner that can be such things are our souls now become Although therefore the Text speaketh of Adam's Image in the bodily part that we are thereby corruptible and mortal and so need a Resurrection to make us happy yet I shall chiefly speak of this Image in the soul as it is infected and polluted with sinne from him This is the Image we bear but there is exceeding great comfort to the godly that they being in Christ the second Adam they shall be made perfectly conformable to him they shall bear that heavenly Image and at last shall have no cause to complain that their souls are bowed down with sinfull earthly and heavy affections weighing us down to the ground were it not for hope of this at our Resurrection the Doctrine about Adam's fall and our hurt thereby would utterly discourage us but there is a second Adam as well as a first if he had been the first and last too that no Adam would have answered him in the way of righteousness and life as he was in the way of sinne and death nothing but horrour and damnation could have taken hold of us Let us be more deeply affected with the first Adam and so shall we come more highly to prize and esteem the second Adam Secondly Adam 's Image as it is sinfull in the general is not only born by us but there seemeth to be a stamp and impression upon us of those very sins he committed As those women who have inordinate desire after some things do sometimes leave marks and impressions thereof upon the body Thus it is spiritually Those very sins which Adam particularly committed in eating the forbidden fruit all men seem most universally to incline unto As 1. A curiosity and affectation of knowing that which is not to be known An inordinate desire was in Eve to eat of the Tree of knowledge because the Devil told her It would make her wise therefore she must eat of it And is not this a very natural sinne in all a curiosity in knowledge Do not all desire to eat of the Tree of knowledge but few of the Tree of life especially Scholars and such who are busied in learning What an incurable itch is there to be wise above Scripture and to know such things God hath hidden And this is a good Item to us to content our selves with sobriety in questioning How Adam's sinne can be ours How the soul can come to be polluted To desire to know this is like the eating of the forbidden fruit While thou art thus curious remember Adam's sinne that thou art acting it while thou enquirest how we are guilty of it A second thing remarkable in the first sinne was Their mincing about the word of God yea plainly lying that God had said they should not touch it which though some say is put for eating Others that Eve did say so for caution sake Whence Ambrose hath a good saying Nihil quod bonum videtur c. we must adde nothing to Gods precept though it seem very good and make much for godliness yet others make Eve plainly to lie and so to accuse God as if he envied them further knowledge Now this sinne of lying how natural is it We see it in children before they can move their feet to go their tongues can stir to lie as if they had been taught they are so subtil in it 3. Adam did excuse and cover his sinne as much as may be putting it off from himself to others and herein also we have a natural resemblance of him for how prone are we to clear our selves to lay the fault any where rather than on our selves Thus we bear Adam's Image CHAP. XXIII The various Opinions Objections and Doubts about the manner how the Soul comes to be polluted SECT I. THe next work is to consider of the manner how we come to bear this Image As for the body to have a mortal and a corruptible one from Adam is easily to be conceived because the body
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
they are brought to believe they are brought out of the bondage of sinne only Justification and such Gospel-priveledges are actually bestowed upon none till they do beleive we have not time to proceed in the discovery of other waies and opinions of the learned to answer this doubt only thus much we have heard that may make us therefore to bewail original sinne that we are in such a dark ignorance that we do but grope about the propagation had Adam continued in integrity he would not have only communicated righteousness to his posterity but they would also have certainly known the manner how but now we are wholly miserable and know not exactly the manner how we know little about the soul so that the soul which only is knowing in man knoweth very little of it self of its nature of its original like the eie that seeth other things but not it self Let us then be more sollicitous about our going out of the world then how we came into it Be more desirous to come out of this pit then to stand wondring how thou didst fall into it dost thou not observe more ready to inquire curiously about the one then daily to pray about the other SECT V. HItherto the expedients thought upon to ease that great difficulty about the propagation of original sinne have appeared very improbable and in some respect very absurd like unwise Chyrurgians not healing but vexing the wound worse We shall now proceed to some more probable ones and dispatch them with convenient speed lest you should think these are such 〈◊〉 upon which no grapes can grow of more difficulty then usefulness although you shall find that even in this wilderness we may meet with Mâ—ona The truth discussed will not only be for doctrinal Information 〈◊〉 doctrinate Application The next therefore that I shall instance in is 〈…〉 of those who hold The soul is not by the immediate Creation of God but 〈◊〉 or multiplication and this they are so confident in That they 〈◊〉 Doctrine of original corruption cannot be maintained unless we affirme so Thus you heard Austin affirming That neither by reading praier or disputing could he find out how one could be defended without the other It is true Bellermine saith That the opinion of the traduction of the soul from the parents doth no way at all either advantage or incommodate the Doctrine of original sinne but that the difficulty will still be as great so also Arminius Thes pri de primo peccato maketh the dispute about the original of the soul in the matter of the propagation of this hereditary defilement unusefull and needless But certainly the clearing of the souls original is very influential into this point especially because we are forced to it by the adversaries of this truth for it seemeth very probable that Austin would readily have believed the immediate creation of every of every soul but that the dispute about original corruption was the remora for he regarded not any other Objection This opinion then That the soul cometh originally from the parents as well as the body hath had its grave and learned abettors Tertullian of old who wrote a book De animâ And as for Austin it is true he did not defend this opinion neither did he deny it he wrote four Books De origine animae against one Vincentius Victor who blamed Austin for his hesitancy in this point and in those Austin doth still persist in the same doubt and doth answer those Arguments which are usually brought out of the Scripture yet so as that he doth not determine against the souls Creation but desired stronger Arguments and therefore doth rebuke that young man for his bold presumption in determining that controversie so confidently Austin also in his tenth Book upon Genesis ad literam doth shew the same doubting mind within him as also in his Epistle to Hierom wholly about the original of the soul wherein he doth earnestly desire of Hierom that he would teach him and satisfie him in this point by strong and sure evidence likewise he maketh the original of the soâ—â— the subject of this Epistle to Optatus It appeareth that Austin did more incline to hold the Creation of the soul therefore he saith to Hierom That although none can by wishing make a thing to be true yet if it could he would by wishing have the Doctrine of the Creation of the soul to be the truth No wonder that Austin thus doubted seeing Hierom saith the greatest part of the western Doctors were for the traduction of the soul But the eastern the greek Fathers they did generally hold the immediate Creation of it In the latter daies of the Church since the Reformation there have also been eminent and able Divines asserting the traduction of the soul from the parents and thereby original sinne Vostius mentioneth Johnius and Marnixius The Lutheran Divines seem generally to be of this opinion as appeareth by Brechword and Meisner The latter whereof relateth of Luther that he should say He would never trouble the Church about any opinion about the original of the soul yet his private opinion was that it was not by Creation and they do pitch on this as holding it most convenient to remove all doubts although Meisner confesseth there are even unanswerable Objections if they do hold the generation of it from the parents But I must tell you that those who affirm the soul to be from the parents as well as the body differ amongst themselves for some say it is by eduction out of the matter that it is generated as the body Others they say by traduction that the soul is not corporally begotten but the parents soul doth multiply the infants soul even say they as you see one candle doth inlighten another In the confession of the Aethiopick Faith as Hornebeck summa Cont. de Gracis relateth it is affirmed Omnes sine ullâ hesitantiâ in hâc sententiâ versamur c. All of us are in this opinion without any hesitancy that all our souls come of Adam as well as our flesh and that we are all Adam's seed both in flesh and soul CHAP. XXIV That the Soul is neither by Eduction or Traduction but by Introduction or immediate Infusion proved by Texts of Scripture SECT I. BUt whatsoever learned men have thought therein we may say That it is against Scripture and true reason that the soul is either by Eduction or Traduction but by Introduction or immediate Infusion and that by God himself And I shall instance in some Texts of Scripture to which though they give exceptions yet I suppose the Truth stands immoveable neither do you think this work needless for it 's worth the while if there were no other use but to informe you against a dangerous sect that are called Mortalists who hold the soul is nothing but the temperament of the body and that it is mortal to which abominable opinion the Socinians also do strongly incline The first Text
then that its necessary to have a sound judgement about the original of the soul for the Mortalists have fallen into that deep pit of heresy because they erred in this first It is with men as they say of Fishes they begin to putrify in the head first and so commonly men fall into loose opinions and then into loose practises But this rule must be acknowledged That whatsoever depends upon matter in being doth also depend upon it in existency It 's Aquinas his rule as you heard Quicquid dependet à materiâ in fieri depend quoad esse et existere That is the reason why the souls of all beasts are mortal because they depend upon the matter in being They cannot be produced but dependently on that and therefore their souls cannot subsist without their bodies As it is plain the souls of men do after death till the resurrection So that this Doctrine is injurious and derogatory to our spiritual and immortal souls Fifthly If souls were not by immediate Creation but by natural propagation from the parents then either from the mother alone or from the father alone or from both together This Argument Lactantius of old as Cerda in Tertull. alledgeth him formed to himself and answers it 's neither of those waies but from God Not from the Father alone because David doth bewail his mothers co operation hereunto Psal 51 Iniquity did my Mother conceive me Not the Mother alone because the Father is made the chief cause of conveighing this original sinne by the Apostle he layeth it upon Adam more then Eve though Eve is not excluded Not from both together for then the soul must be partible and divisible part from the Father and part from the Mother and so it cannot be a simple substance Under this Argument Meisuer doth labour and confesseth it is inexplicable how the soul should come from the parents though he assaieth to give some satisfaction Lastly There is something even of nature implanted in us to believe our soules come from God who hath not almost some impression upon his conscience to think that he had not his soul from his parents even nature doth almost teach us in this thing Hence the wisest Heathens have concluded of it as Plato and also Aristotle who confuteth the several false opinions of Philosophers about the soul for it was a doubt as Tertullian lib de animâ expresseth it whether Aristotle was parasior sua implera aut aliena inantre and affirmes it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to come from without and that it is a divine thing Thus it was with some Heathens though destitute of the Light of Gods Word yet in somethings they did fall upon the truth as saith Tertullian The Pilot in a tempestuous black night puts into a good haven sometimes prospero errore and a man in a dark place gropeth and finds the way out sometimes caecâ quâdam felicitate Thus did some Heathens in some things SECT IV. IF you aske What Arguments have they who hold the traduction of the Soul I answer There is none out of Scripture that is worth the answering The two things they urge are First If the soul be not propagated then man doth not beget a man as a beast doth a beast and he is more imperfect then other creatures but this is to be answered hereafter The other is Because original sinne cannot else be maintained but this is to be answered in the Explication how we come to pertake of it Let us proceed to the Uses Vse 1. Doth God create the soul then he must know all the thoughts all the inward workings and motions of thy soul As he that maketh a Clock or a Watch knoweth all the motions of it Therefore take heed of soul-sinnes of spirit-sinnes What though men know not your unclean thoughts your proud thoughts your malicious thoughts yet God who made thy soul doth and therefore this should make us attend to Gods eie upon us Vse 2. Did God make and create the soul then he also can regenerate it and make it new again he made it as a Creator and he only in the way of regeneration can make it again This may comfort the godly that mourn and pray Oh they would have more heavenly holy souls They would not have such vain thoughts such sinnefull motions Remember God made thy heart and he can spiritualize it 3. Doth God create the souls then here we see that it 's our duty to give our souls to him in the first place John 4. God is a Spirit and will be worshipped in spirit This hath been alwaies a complaint men have drawed nigh to God bodily but their hearts have been farre from him God made thy soul more then thy body and therefore let that be in every duty Lastly If Parents do not make our souls then here we see Children must obey Parents but in the Lord Should thy Parents command thee to doe any sinfull action to break the Sabbath you must not obey you may say My father and mother they help me but to my body God doth give me my soul and therefore they are but parents of your bodies not of your conscience and souls SECT V. The Authors Apologie for his handling this great Question THe false wayes which some have wandered in to maintain the Propagation of Original Corruption to all mankind being detected our work is now to explicate that Doctrine which seemeth most consonant to solid Reason and Scripture But before we essay that we are to informe you of one sort of learned Authors who because of the difficulty attending this Point Whether we hold the Traduction or Creation of the soul have thought it the most wife and sober way to acknowledge the Propagation of original Sinne But as for the manner How there to have a modest suspense of our judgement to professe a learned ignorance herein to believe That it is though How it is so we know not And Tertullian concerning the original of the soul Lib. de Animâ hath this known saying Praestat per Deum nescire quae ipse non revelaverit quà m per hominem scire quae ipse praesumpserit In this way of suspense Austin continued as long as he lived thinking that this might be one of those Truths we shall not know till we come into the Academy of Heaven and to this modest silence we have one place of Scripture which might much incline us Eccles 11. 5. As thou knowest not the way of the Spirit nor how the bones doe grow in the womb c. This Text should teach us not to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to venture too farre but to observe the light of the Scripture as they did the Pillar and Cloud in the wildernesse to stand still where that stands still And indeed the Disputes about the Modes of things is very intricate The known saying is Motum sometimes Modum nescimus the manner of Gods working in conversion The manner of Christs presence in
the Sacrament what endlesse controversies hath it begotten And therefore it was the King of Navarr's counsel to the Divines when the Lutherans and Calvinists were upon pacification about the Sacrament that they should not De modo ultra modum disputare Now although this be good counsel yet when heretical and erroneous opinions have invaded the Modus then it is our duty to maintain not onely the truth of a thing but the manner of it also What is a greater mystery then the Sonne of God having his being from the Father He that will touch this mystery with meer natural reason doth as if the Smith should handle his live-coals with his hands and not the Tongs saith Chrysostome yet because of the Socinians who say He is onely a made God in time and hath his Deity by donation We are forced not to be content onely to believe that he is the Sonne of God but also how viz. By eternal Generation So in the great Controversie with the Arminians about the conversion of man It is not enough to say we are converted by grace but are necessitated also to expresse the manner How not by a moral suasion or per modum sapientiae onely but by invincible efficacy and power also Thus the manner of Christs presence in the Sacrament was necessarily to be determined against the Lutherans Thus it is in our point in hand we might well enough sit down with this Truth That original sinne is communicated to every sonne of Adam and enquire no further as the primitive Church did till Austin's time in a great measure But when Heretiques will deny the true Doctrine because the manner is difficult to expresse or when men will deny the Creation of the soul then it 's our duty in a sober manner to search into the way how we partake of it Neither doth the fore mentioned Text contradict this For though we know not how the bones grow in the womb exactly and punctually yet we know in the general that they do by virtue of generation So although we know not particularly how the soul cometh to have its being in the body yet in the general that it is by Creation we have had Scripture light fully to convince us therein This then premised Let us proceed to clear the Doctrine of the Propagation of original sinne and that by several Propositions which will be as so many steps and degrees to the main Truth SECT VII Propositions to clear the Doctrine of the Propagation of Original Sinne by the Souls Creation FIrst We lay this for a foundation That God doth create the soul of every man a spiritual substance This Proposition must be the foundation-stone to build upon That God doth create the soul immediately you have heard several Texts attesting thereunto So that Bellarmine was too dissident when moved it seemed by Austin doth wave all Texts of Scripture for the creation of the soul and so proceedeth to other Arguments Perierius on 2 Chap. of Genes vers 7. giveth a better censure of Austin for having produced some Texts for the Creation of the soul he saith Conatur Augustinus sed frustra hos locos elidere I shall adde one more fit for that purpose also The Text is 1 Pet. 4. 19. Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls unto God as to a faithfull Creator Here the afflicted children of God are required as Christ did to commend their souls to God and the reason is Because he is a faithfull Creator of them So that Gods Creation of them is here made an engagement to God to keep them they being now sanctified and made holy Our souls then are created In the next place I say they are created Substances This is to obviate those that make the soul onely an accident or the crasis and temperament of the humours Galen as Cerda on Tertull de animâ alledgeth him in his second Book of prediction by the pulses hath this passage Hitherto I have doubted what should be the substance of the soul but by age and experience being made wiser I dare be bold to affirm it is no other thing then the temperament He was not made wiser but more absurd and foolish in this thing Yea there is one Dicaearchus much spoken of that said The soul was nothing it was but an opinion And the Mortalists they directly joyn with Galen's opinion Who would think that when we have the Scripture speaking so plainly about the soul that it is a spirit that it removeth when the body is killed that any should be delivered up to such licentious and abominable Doctrines Again I adde God createth it a spiritual substance This opposeth the Sadduces who denied any spirits It is plaine by Scripture that they are substances and spiritual ones because they subsist without the body Tertullian though he doth so acutely perstringe the Philosophers about the soul yet some of them were more sound then he Men saith he have thought about the soul either as Platonis honor Zenonis vigor Aristotelis tenor Epicuri stupor Heracliti maestor Empedoclis furor persuaserint It is true some of these thought the souls to be bodies and so doth Tertullian and happily he might have been excused by taking body largely for that which is not nihil in which sense he attributeth a body to God but that he saith the soul is not only a body but effigiated and shaped also yea that the souls differ in sex which is very irrational We may then conclude this with a saying of Numertus That if any souls are corporeal it is of those who say souls are corporeal A second Proposition is That though God doth create immediately the souls of all men spiritual substances yet they are not compleat and perfect substances as Angles are but the essential parts of men Upon this Proposition depends much weight of this Truth about the communicating of original sinne for we are apt to think God createth our souls like Angels perfect and having subsistency of themselves whereas they are created as parts of a man neither do they come from God any otherwise If God should create a soul to subsist of it self and not to be united to the body to constitute a man that soul would not be polluted But because every soul is created as an essential part of man and so hath its being Hence it is That it cometh into the world part of Adam and so obnoxious to that curse which he had deserved whatsoever then in its first being is part of man that is partaker of Adam's sinne and curse But the soul in its first instant of being is part of man therefore no wonder if it became polluted and cursed The example of that miraculous Resurrection of Lazarus and others may something clear this they were fully dead their souls and bodies union dissolved yet because their souls were not made perfect and pure without sinne and translated into Heaven but
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
a vanity upon mans mind To be pleased with stories and merry tales more then a powerfull and divine Sermon Is not this because mans mind is vain Since mans fall as the will though a noble part of the soul yet doth act dependently and slavishly to the sensitive appetite we will not what is good and the acceptable will of God but what our sinful affections suggest to us so the understanding though the satred faculty as it were of the soul yet acts dependently on the fancie and so what tickleth and pleaseth that the mind also is most affected with Austin did much confess and bewail this vanity of his mind whereby he did disdain the simplicity of the Scripture and desired to hear that eloquent Ambrose not out of love to matter but to words This is a childish vanity like Children that delight in a Book for the pictures that are in it not the matter contained therein This vain mind hath sometimes affected both Preacher and Hearer what applauded Sermons have there been and yet nothing in them but descanting upon words and affecting a verbal pomp being like the Nightingale Vox preterea nihil like Puppets stuft with bumbast having no life at all within them and all was accounted prating that was not such a wordy preaching And truely this vanity hath much infected the mind of hearers men coming to the Word preached not as to hear the Oracles of God with fear and trembling but as to the Schooles of oratory looking to the powdring of their words and the dressing of the language as much as to the setting and ordering of their own hair Is not this a great evil and vanity thus to regard the healing of the finger when the heart is deadly sick If thy mind be renewed in this it will also appear and for that vanity there will be solid gravity Fifthly Original sinne filleth the mind with exceeding great folly So that no man born a natural fool is more to be pitied then every man who by nature is a spiritual fool Those conceited wise ones of the world who condemne the godly for a company of fools they are fools in the highest degree as may easily be evinced If so be Job 4. 18. God is said To charge his Angels with folly and that as some expound even the good Angels themselves because that wisedome they have comparatively to Gods is but folly how much more is this true of man fallen who hath lost that wisedome God once bestowed upon him If you ask Wherein doth a natural mans folly appear Truly in every thing he doth Eccl. 10. 3 His wisdom faileth him and he saith to every one he is a fool Every oath every lie every drunken fit proclaimeth a man to be but a fool If he had the wisedome of Gods Word he could never do so especially the folly of man by nature is seen these waies 1. In making himself merry with sinne It is jollity and sport to him to be fullfilling the lusts of the flesh and is not this folly to be playing with the flames of hell as you see fools go laughing to the stocks so do they to hell Prov. 10. 23 It is a sport to a fool to do mischief herein then thy foolish mind is seen that thou canst laugh and sport it so in the actings of sinne which are the preparatoryes to those everlasting burnings in hell 2. Thy folly by nature is seen In preferring a creature before God what is this but the fools bable before the Tower of London as the Proverb is yet this folly is bound up in every man till grace make him wiser he loveth the creature more then God he had rather have a drop then the ocean earth then heaven dirt then gold Is not this greater folly then can be expressed yet till regenerated such a fool thou art though thou art never so wise in thy own conceit 3. We are naturally foolish In that we attend only to those things that are for the present and never at all look to eternity becoming herein like bruit beasts that regard only what is before them Moses doth in the name of God wish Oh that my people were wise Deut. 32. 29. that they would understand their latter end It is wisdome to look to the future hence they say Prudens is qussi porro videns he seeth a farre off but take any natural man doth all the wisdome he hath ever make him to attend to eternity what will become of him at the day of judgement now he is at ease and in good liking but what shall he do when that great day shall come he is farre from Hierem's temper thinking he heard alwaies that terrible noise sounding in his eares Arise and come to judgement Oh thy folly then who dost in effect say Give me that which is sweet here though hereafter I be tormented to all eternity 4. Thy folly is abundantly discovered in this that thou takest no paines to know the best things the chiefest things the things that most concerne thee Naturally thou knowest nothing of God or Christ or the way to heaven which yet is the proper end for which God made thee if folly did not reign in thy understanding thou wouldst not be so careless herein Thou art carefull to know how to live in this world but not how to live eternally in the world to come Thou knowest how to buy and sell how to plough and sow but knowest not the principles of Religion which must save thee Doth not this proclaim thy folly 5. Original sinne is discovered in our foolish mind By the inconsiderateness that it is guilty of It 's want of consideration that damneth a man Intellectus cogitabundus est principium omnis boni Psal 50. Oh consider this ye that forget God Did a man consider the majesty of God the dreadfullness of hell â—he shortness of the pleasures of sinne the mortality of the body and the immortality of the soul How could he sinne This foolish inconsiderateness maketh man though mortal to procrastinate his conversion he is alwaies beginning to repent beginning to reforme Inter caetera mala hoc habet stultitia seâ—per incipit vivere 6. Not to inlarge in this Thy folly in thy mind is seen By thy imprudence and injudiciousness Thou dost not judge godliness the favour of God and grace better then the whole world as the child thinketh his nut better then gold Sapiens est cui res sapiunt prout sunt if thou wert wise things would savour to thee as they are earthly as earthly heavenly as heavenly so that the folly of man naturally is seen in this that he savoureth not the things of God he hath no judgement to esteem of the true pearl and therefore will not part with the least thing to obtain it Sixthly The mind hath lost its superiority in respect of the other parts of the soul and its subordination to God both which were the great perfections thereof For
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
Some say therefore it 's an habit others as Aquinas and Dr Ames answering Mr Perkins his Objection Why it cannot be an act that it is an act But certainly as scientia is sometimes taken for that which is by way of a principle or habit in man and sometimes for that which is by way of act So also it is with conscience it taketh into its nature both that practical habit called by Aristotle Intellectus or the habit of first principles and also the actual application of them for if conscience were not habitual as well as in act There were no conscience in men when they are asleep which yet cannot be denied unto regenerate persons So that as in Scripture saith and love are taken sometimes for the habit of those graces sometimes for the acts of them so also conscience is taken both for the principle and the act it self For to the acting of conscience there is required as all observe a practical Syllogisme Thus Whosoever is a fornicator a drunkard a curser cannot inherit the kingdom of God But I am such a sinner Therefore I cannot inherit the kingdom of God Or on the contrary To him that believeth and is of a broken contrite heart pardon of sinne is promised But I believe and am of a broken heart Therefore to me pardon of sinne is promised Thus conscience is well called the practical understanding for whereas the speculative hath for its object that which is meerly true this looketh upon it as ordinable to action as such a truth is to be brought into particular application To every acting then of conscience compleatly there is required a Syllogisme either interpretative or formal And as Dr. Ames saith well Conscience in the major Proposition is Lex in the Assumption it is Testis in the Conclusion it is Judex In the first Proposition there it is by way of a Law dictating such a thing to be true In the Minor it is a Witnesse bearing witness either against or for our selves And lastly it is a Judge passing sentence according to the premisses And in that it is called conscience it doth relate to another a knowledge with another that is either our selves so that conscience in its actings is conceived as a person as it were distinct from us and so that witnesseth with our hearts what we are and what we have done Hence if a mans conscience lay a sinne to his charge though all the world free him yet he beareth guilt and terrour about with him Quid proderit tibi non habere conscium habenti conscientiam or else which is more probable it is called conscience or knowledge with in respect of God So that in the actings of conscience there is a sense and apprehension of the knowledge of God and his presence Therefore conscience doth alwayes bear some aspect to God this God will see this God will punish this God hath forbidden and therefore let me betime take heed how I do it So that while conscience hath any stirrings and vigorous actings there is some hope in a man Although it be thus generally received by all that conscience belongs to the understanding yet Durand makes it something probable Lib. 2. Distinct 39. Quast 4. That if it be not the will yet the will is necessarily included in the workings of conscience so that conscience doth denote understanding and will also For that act of conscience which is called remordere to bite and sting a man to make him grieve and be sad upon the committing of sinne must flow from the will Secondly Although man hath lost the Image of God and be thus all over polluted Yet he hath not lest neither his soul or the faculties thereof with some imbred principles both speculative and practical which can no more be separated from the soul then the beams from the Sunne Hence that habit of practical principles such as that there is a God that he is to be worshipped that Parents are to be honoured is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 à conservando because these are kept and preserved still or rather as Martinius in his Lexicon out of Hierom because these do instigate and incline to keep us from sinne in our actions The Scholmen commonly call it Synderisis and say It is as much as con-electio but this is because of their ignorance of the Greek tongue These Reliques of Gods Image are lest in us still even as after some great fire of a stately Pallace there remain some sparks long after or in the demolishing of glorious Towns there will some rudera some remnants appear of such a building It is true This is questioned by some Illyricus out of his vehement desire to aggravate sinne denieth there is any sense or knowledge of a God left in a man more then in a bruit and endeavoureth to answer those places of Scripture which are brought to prove those common principles or implanted knowledge in a man by nature The Socinians also though plowing with another heifer do deny any implanted knowledge by a God but that it comes by same and tradition On the other side Pelagians Arminians and some Papists fall into another extream for they hold such principles about God and what is good that they may be light enough to guide us to salvation It is not my work now to examine either of these for the truth is between these two There are some implanted practical notions in us about God and what is good agaist those that erre in the defect and yet they are no wayes able to conduct to eternal happiness against those that erre in the excesse To prove this will be to anticipate my self in the protract of this Discourse about original sinne Therefore here only we take it for granted That there are such principles as also a conscience to discern between good and evil which though it be greatly polluted Yet this candle of the Lord as it is called Prov 20. 27. searching the inward things of a man is not quite extinct Whether these common principles are naturally propagated as the body is as the Lutherans say who hold the Traduction of souls from parents or whether they are De Novo created in the creation of the soul as the dissentient party from that opinion must hold is not here to be debated we may conclude That the soul hath a natural testimony in it self about God and therefore in sudden calamities doth immediately cry out to him which made Tortullian say O anima naturaliter Christiana Thirdly Because conscience doth thus witnes with God and as it were in Gods stead Hence it is That is hath such a command and power over a man that we must not go against conscience We may go against our wils against our affection but we must not go against our consciences no not when they are erroneous and though they dictate sinne as Rom. 14. ult Whatsoever is not of faith is sinne and be that doubteth is condemned conscience is but an
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
24. So that this supposeth even the memories of the most godly to be as it were dull and sleepy very heavy and negligent about what they ought to be diligently exercised with But yet the Apostle hath not said all his mind herein for vers 15. he professeth this care of his for the good of their memories shall extend even after his death I will endeavour that after my decease you may have these things alwayes in remembrance Now that would be done by these very Epistles they would be as continual memento's to them See then here the godly zeal and faithfull diligence of a godly Pastor it extends to the future as well as the present he is afraid after his decease all he had preached should be forgotten And doth not experience sadly confirm this After the death of a godly Minister How quickly are all his labours all whose precious truths he had made known forgotten as if they never had such a Preacher amongst them However if these soul-saving truths be forgotten Peter will take care that the sinne should not lie at his door he will be faithfull to do his duty And Chap. 3. 1. take notice how again he taketh up this profession of his care and zeal to help their memories He wrote both these Epistles to stirre up their pure minds by way of remembrance Their pure minds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as are discovered and tried as it were by the Sunne-beams the least more any vain thoughts or sinfull motions are discovered and abandoned yet though they have such pure minds he writeth Epistle upon Epistle to stirre them up by remembrance and as if all this were not enough to quicken up their memory the Apostle Jude writing to the same persons doth almost write the same things verbatim which the Apostle Peter had written in this second Epistle and vers 4. he proclaimeth this to be his end To put them in remembrance though once they knew this It was for their memories sake by way of exhortation not for their understandings by way of instruction Now from all this we may gather That such is the weaknesse and sinfulnesse of the memory and that even in the regenerate that they need daily divine helps to provoke it to its duty And whereas the sinfulness of our memory may be two wayes either actually by a wilfull forgetting of holy things and a carelesse neglect of them or original whereby the memory through Adam's fall as well as the other parts of the soul are become all over unsanctified and hath no sutablenesse or proportion to divine objects and holy duties I shall speak of this later though as expressing and emptying it self into actual and wilfull forgetfulnesse for of this original and native pollution of the memory must we understand this Text in a great measure which the Apostle by frequent filing would get off as so much rust seeing he writeth to those that are sanctified and as also he speaketh of this as a permanent and an abiding weaknesse in them Now in the regenerate all contracted habits of sinne are expelled by vertue of the new birth And as for actual sinnes they are transient so that there remaineth no other defilement but original and the reliques or immediate products thereof If then the most holy do need quickning helps to their memory because of the dulnesse and slownesse in it about holy things It is plain the memory as well as the other faculties of the soul is depraved by original sinne and if in the sanctified person the memory hath this partial and gradual sinfulnesse in the unregenerate and natural man it must be all over polluted and made unsavoury about any good thing Observe That the memory of every man by nature is wholly polluted by original sinne It cannot perform those offices and acts for these holy ends as it was at first inabled to do in the state of integrity It will be very usefull and profitable to anatomize the sinfulnesse of the memory as we have done of the other intellectual powers for it is from the pollution of this part that all wickednesse is committed The Scripture makes this the character of all wicked men That they forget God Psal 9. 17. implying That if we did remember God his Greatnesse his Power his holy Will we should not fall into any sinne Insomuch that we may in some sense say All they evil is committed because of thy evil and sinfull memory hadst thou remembred such and such threatnings such and such places of Scripture they would have preserved thee from this impiety SECT II. What we mean by Memory TWo things must be premised before we enter into the main matter First What we mean by the memory Aristotle wrote a little Book about Memory and Remembrance De Memoriâ Reminiscentiâ and from him many have taken up large and uselesse Disputes herein It is not my purpose to teach you with these thorns it is enough that there is acknowledged a sensitive memory which is common to men with beasts and an intellective though that be questioned but against all reason for the soul separated doth remember as appeareth in that Parable where Abraham said to Dives Sonne remember thou hast received the good things of this life Luk. 16. 25. Angels also must necessarily remember because all things are not present to them therefore past things they cannot know but by way of memory God is said in the Scripture often to remember but that cannot be properly because to him all things past and future are as present so that he cannot be said to remember properly no more then to fore-know onely such expressions are used by condescension to our capacity Aristotle distinguisheth between Memory and Remembrance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and this he saith as farre as is yet observed no creature can do but man When therefore I shall speak of the Memory I shall understand it as it is Remembrance and as it is Intellectual for in man we may say his memory is in a great part the understanding knowing things as they are past Therefore Austin and the Master of Sentences following him though this be disclaimed by many that came after make three powers or faculties in the rational part of a man his Vnderstanding his will and Memory which they call the created Trinity and by it they say is resembled the blessed and increated Trinity But I shall not dispute this for I shall speak of Memory as the same with the understanding onely in this particular as it is carried out to things that are past for that is the necessary object of Memory that it must be past we do not remember a thing present or a thing future SECT III. A two-fold weaknesse of Memory IN the second place While we speak of the weaknesse of the Memory about good things we must take notice of a two-fold weaknesse a Natural weaknesse and a sinfull weaknesse a Natural weaknesse is that which ariseth from the
constitution of the body and unfit temperature of the brain for though the actions of the understanding be immaterial to know and to remember yet they require the body as the Organ and the Instrument So that as the most artificial Musician cannot discover his skill upon an Instrument whose strings are out of order so neither can the understanding of a man put forth its noble actions when the body is out of order Hence we read that some diseases or other events have deprived men of their memory so that they have forgot their own name By this we see That the soul doth act dependently upon the body being the form informing of a man and giving his being and operations to him Now it 's usefull to know this distinction for many good people especially when grown in year do much complain that their memory is gone They cannot carry away so much of a Sermon or from good Books as once they did and this doth much grieve them they look upon themselves as drones and not Bees that carry home honey from every flower but this may support them that this is a natural affect in the memory not a sinfull one For as Aristotle observeth Lib. de Memoriâ Reminiscentiâ neither in children or in old men is there such a capacity for memory in children because of the too much moisture And therefore it is saith he as if a man should imprint a Seal in the water which because of its fluid nature would receive no impression nor in old men is there such a capacity of memory because of their drinesse and siccity as if a man should imprint a seal upon a dry peice of wood it would not receive any forme or character If then in thy old age thy memory faileth know this is a natural imbecillity as sickness and pain is not a sinne Others again they abuse this distinction for when they are urged to holy duties called upon to remember what hath been preached then they excuse themselvs with their bad memory God help them they have an ill memory but if thou hast a memory for other things jests and merry tales or businesses of profit and no memory for holy things This is thy sinne thou hast no memory in the these good things because thou hast no heart no delight about them as is more to be shewed Yea I must adde that though a natural weaknesse in the memory be not a sinne yet it is the fruit of sinne and so ought deeply to humble thee for thy memory would have had no such defects and weaknesses if Adam had not fallen As therefore diseases and death though they be not sinne yet are the effects of sinne and therefore we are to humble our selves under them so thou art to do under thy imperfect memory though sicknesse or old-age hath much impaired it SECT IV. OUr work is to discover the sad and universal pollution of the Memory And by the Memory we mean only the mind as it extends its actions to things that are past And thus the Scripture speaketh 2 Pet. 3. 1. To stirre up your pure minds by remembrance Tit. 3. 1. Put them in mind to be subject c. Mind is there for memory Thus Austin also maketh memory in a man to be either the soul or the power and faculty of the soul Thus the Latine Etymologers make Memini reminiscere to come of Mens yea Minerva made the goddesse of learning is Quasi Mineriva à memini And common speech amongst us maketh mind and memory all one as when we say It was quite out of my mind c. So that both the Scripture and the judgement of the learned yea and the use of the vulgar will allow us to speak of the memory as nothing else but the mind considering of things as past SECT V. The great Usefulnesse of the Memory BUt before we speak to the discovery of this Memory it is good to take notice of what use and consequence it is that so when we shall consider the dignity and serviceablenesse of the memory we may then bewail the sinfulnesse thereof for when that is made sinfull it is as if a fountain were poisoned of which all must drink or as the air pestilential which all must receive in their nostrils if the memory be corrupted then all is corrupted Hence as you heard all wicked men are said to forget God Memory is of so great use as the Heathens made a goddesse of it yea they make it to be the mother of the Muses of all Arts of all Wisdome and Prudence No tongue can either expresse the serviceablenesse of it or the nature of it not the serviceablenesse of it For if there were no memory there could be no discourse no civil society if there were no memory a man could not take heed of any danger or prevent any mischief hence they attribute it to the forgetfulnesse and stupidity of the Flie that when it is flapt off from the meat and was in danger of death yet it will immediately flie to it again Thus would man without memory plunge himself into all misery If there were no memory there could be no learning no humane sciences for memory is made the mother of them Yea if there were no memory there would be no Religion no Worship of God or service of him Thus both the natural civil and religious life of a man would be destroyed were there not a memory So that we are infinitely bound to praise God for this power left in us and as deeply to humble our selves that it is so corrupted that it cannot do its proper acts in a spiritual way at last thereby to promote our happinesse our memory helpeth to damn us not to save us SECT VI. Of the Nature of it ANd as for the Nature of memory though Aristotle and others after him have undertaken to say much about it yet Austin doth much bewail the ignorance and weaknesse of a man in this thing l. 10. conf calling it the unsearchable recesses and vast concavities of the memory saying It is in vain for a man to think to understand the nature of the Heavens when he cannot know what his memory is Under this difficulty he saith he did labour and toil and yet could not come to any sure knowledge This is certain that the things we remember are not in our souls themselves when we remember such a tree or stone the tree or stone is not really in us Hence saith Austin we may Doloris laeti reminisci and Laetitiae dolentes reminisci Remember with joy former sorrow or with sorrow former joy Yea he saith we may Oblivionis reminisci we may remember our forgetfulnesse Now if these things were really in us it could not be but that sorrow remembred would make us sorrowfull or forgetfulnesse remembred make us forgetfull The objects then remembred are in us by way of Species or Images the Phantasmata are there conserved and when by them we come to
alwayes be in our minds Such signal and transcendent expressions of love would be with us rising and waking and going to bed That though the Devil and the world did never so importunately crowd in with their suggestions yet this should alwayes be uppermost in our hearts and affections but Christ by this very institution doth hereby manifest what dull and stupid memories we have and that about the greatest mercies that we are capable of Would it not be strange if a malefactor should forget his pardon or Rahab forget the scarlet threed in the window that was to be the preservative of her life yet our forgetfullness is greater when we do not remember our Saviour and his sufferings for us And for the other Sacrament of Baptism how greatly is our obligation by it forgotten how grosly we do forget that covenant with God and the dedication of us unto God renouncing the Devil and his lusts That was appointed to be a commemorative sign But how sinfull is our memory for we do as it were need another sign to put us in mind of that and so in infinitum what little power hath the memory of these Sacraments upon us Yea how little do they come in our mind thereby to improve our duties and consolations Lastly That our memories are naturally sinfull will appear If we consider how it was with Adam in the state of integrity he was made right Eccl. 7. which doth extend to the spiritual perfection of all the parts of his soul As his mind was indowed with all necessary light and knowledge so his memory also with all strength and vigor so that forgetfullness of any thing that was his duty was no more incident unto him then any other sinne It was not because naturally he had a bad or a forgetfull memory that made him break the Law of God for if God had created him found and perfect in all other parts of his soul only left him to a weak and frail memory he could not have been happy either in temporal or spiritual considerations As his soul was thus perfected so his body was in a found and well tempered constitution having no redundancy of humors thereby to hinder the operations of the soul by memory he was not subject to diseases or old age or any thing else that doth empair the memory of man but now our sun is become a dunghill and our gold dross As original sinne hath pestilentially insected all parts of the soul so the memory hath not escaped this pollution for where it is naturally able there it is spiritually impotent when it might remember if improved and put upon there is it negligent and careless how many say They cannot remember any good thing delivered to them press them about the Scripture and the good truths of God preached to them and they will justify themselves by pleading the badness of their memory whereas it is for want of a good heart and a good will if thy affections were ardent and burning about these things thy memory would be more retentive of good things then they are Besides little do you know what your memory would do if you did put it upon frequent exercise few know what their memories could do if exercised about holy things because few are industrious and active to put it on work Austin lib. 4 to de origine animae relateth of his friend Simplicius how he was desired to repeat verses out of Virgil backwards and forwards and also the Prose of Tully with an inversed order and this he did to their great admiration yet Austin saith That Simplicius did solemnly protest that he never did so before neither had he ever tried whether his memory were able for such an exercise or no. By this example we see that none know what their memories would do if they did more carefully and diligently put them upon it But grant that the memory be naturally impotent though this you heard be not formally a sinne yet it is the fruit of it and so matter of humiliation Learned men say That what fit constitution and temperature is required in the brain for a sound and solid judgement the contrary is for a good and strong memory and therefore they say it is that a strong judgement and a strong memory seldom go together As saith Erasmus the beast Lynx hath a most acute sight but is a most stupid and forgetfull creature Now if this be so then this ariseth from Adam's fall for no doubt Adam had both a perfect judgement and a perfect memory and it cometh through original sinne that the body is so distempered that what helpeth for one faculty of the soul impedeth and hindreth the other The Summe of this particular is That wherein our memories do now come short of that which Adam's memory while perfect was able to do that is either expresly and formally a sinne or the immediate issue and punishment of sinne SECT VIII Wherein the memory of man is polluted THis sure foundation then being said Let us proceed to shew Wherein the memory of man is so greatly polluted And that will appear First Very remarkably If you consider all the several objects which by the Scripture we are daily to have in our memory and we are naturally in a constant and daily forgetfulnesse of them Onely it is good to take notice of a distinction which Vossius De Origine Idolat lib. 1. cap. 11. observeth out of Bonaventure That there is a two-fold forgetfulnesse 1. When the very Species or Images of things are quite obliterated and deleted this may be called a natural forgetfulnesse 2. When though the Species be reteined and we do remember yet through carelesnesse and negligence we do not attend to that duty which should flow from our memory and this may be called a moral forgetfulnesse And indeed we have too much experience of this later kind of forgetfulnesse for how many are there that do remember Sermons that do carry in their minds several Texts of Scripture and that against those very sinnes they do commit daily Now in the Scripture language this is forgetfulnesse such are said not to remember because they do not what they ought to do upon their memory In both these considerations I shall speak of the pollution of the memory The first and most signal object of our memory which the Scripture speaketh of is God himself God is not only the object of our faith and of our love of our minds and wils but also of our memory We should alwaies keep up the remembrance of God in our thoughts and this would be a most potent Antidote against all kind of sinne Therefore is all evil committed because we do not remember God at that time Deut. 8. 18. Moses doth there command the people of Israel to take heed of trusting in their own righteousnesse and goodnesse or of attributing their wealth and riches to their own power But saith he thou shalt remember the Lord thy
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
and that from this Text which because of the different thoughts of learned Interpreters doth deserve a diligent explication And For the Coherence of it you may take notice of the sad and bitter event described by the Evangelist of Christs coming as light into the world Though he came to his own and that as a Physician to the sick as a Saviour to such who were lost yet his own received him not Now lest it might be thought this rejection of Christ was universal he addeth Some did receive him and 〈…〉 dclareth the unspeakable benefit and priviledge vouchsafed to such So that in the words we may take notice 1. Of the Subject who are thus honoured and highly blessed by Christ Such as received him and what this is is explained viz. Such who believe on his Name In this is comprehended all our Evangelical Duty and that both inwardly and outwardly onely faith is expressed because this is virtually all This is the seed and the root the soul and life the salt that seasoneth the whole man 2. We have the Priviledge or Benefit which is said to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the right or dignity of being the sonnes of God for so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to be understood and therefore Popish Disputes about the power of free-will in holy things from this place is wholly impertinent onely the difficulty is Quest How they who believe in Christ can be said to have this priviledge given them of Sonship seeing that they could not believe unlesse they were first born of God and so the sons of God Answ Some therefore do understand this Sonship in respect of that future glory which in Scripture is sometimes called Adoption and 1 John 3. 1. Then it will properly appear that we are sonnes of God But we may well enough understand it of our Adoption and Sonship even in this life and this is said to be obtained by faith because in our sense and feeling there must be believing before we come to know this priviledge doth belong to us or else though faith and Sonship be together in time yet in order of nature one precedeth the other Thus we have the Subject and the Priviledge But in the next place we have the Description of the efficient cause for it was not their own power and free-will that made them believe Therefore the efficient cause is set down first Negatively and then Positively Negatively by removing those false causes that men might imagine and we have a three-fold enumeration of them Not of blood not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man Divers Interpreters go divers wayes though much to the same sense Some think the Evangelist by blood doth not in the general mean natural generation and then afterwards distribute it into two particulars not of the will of the flesh that is of the woman Nor of the will of man that is not of the man Others supposing the general interpret the distribution thus Not of the will of the flesh that is not naturally Nor by the will of man that is not by humane adoption for so some are made legal sonnes amongst man Others they think all these enumerations are but to signifie one thing and therefore the opposition to all is God But we may not think the holy Ghost doth so industriously reckon up these several wayes but that some special thing is intended by every one Although as Erasmus observeth the emphatical Article is not in the original By blood therefore we understand any dignity or excellency of birth it's bloods in the plural number either by an Enallage and so an Hebraism as Maldenate Or else because of the long succession by birth And this may well oppose the carnal opinion reigning both with Jew and Gentile for all know how the Jew boasted in his birth because he was the seed of Abraham therefore he thought the favour of God necessarily annected to him And for the Gentile What a vanity and sinfull humour is in persons to be proud of their birth that they come of noble parents For although this be an outward civil dignity amongst men yet it maketh nothing at all to their spiritual dignity yea many times hindereth it according to that observation Heroum filiinoxae Regeneration then doth not come according to such civil and political respects 2. Not of the will of the flesh that is not of the natural will and choice of 〈◊〉 he hath no power or ability in him so much as to will a better condition then 〈◊〉 is in Lastly Not of the will of man that is not by the will of man though perfected and adorned with many acquired perfections Not by the will of a Plato or an Aristotle or a Seneca So that here is a two-fold will denied from efficacy in grace the will considered in its natural abilities or in its acquired abilities Thus 2 Pet. 1. 21. The prophesie in old time is said Not to come by the will of man but the will of God The will of man is there supposed to be in some raised and eminent ability above what it naturally hath and therefore opposed to the will of God in a more peculiar and extraordinary manner putting forth it self Thus we have all false causes removed and the true one affirmed which is God himself So that this Text doth plainly triumph over all the proud opinions of Pelagians Socinians Arminians and Papists who either give whole or part of the work of conversion to the will of man For the Evangelist is very diligent to exclude the will from any efficiency herein under any respect whatsoever Observe The will of every man is naturally so polluted that it cannot produce or cause our regeneration It is not by the will of the flesh or by the will of man that we are born again SECT II. Propositions concerning the Nature of the Will BEfore we come to lanch into this ocean of wormwood and gall for the polluted will polluteth all other things Let us say something to the nature of the will not enlarging our selves either as Philosophers or Divines do in this point but select only what is fit for our purpose First Therefore consider That God hath appointed and ordered in nature that every apprehensive power should have an appetitive power proportionable thereunto The apprehensive being like the eye to discern and discover the object The appetitive like the hand to imbrace it Thus the Angels as they have an understanding to know things so they have a will to desire them In beasts there is a sensitive apprehension by imagination and a sensitive appetite accordingly Now because man in his soul is like an Angel and in his body communicateth with beasts therefore he hath both a two-fold apprehension intellectual and sensitive understanding and imagination and also a two-fold appetite a rational one which is the will and a sensitive one which is the sensitive appetite in a man wherein the passions
and affections are seated The will then is in a man his rational appetite following the proposition and manifestation of the understanding For if a man did know what was good or what is evil and no appetite to imbrace the one or avoid the other he would be no better than a stone or a statue for all his reason We see then why God hath placed such a power in the soul as the will is It is that the good which the understanding manifesteth may be imbraced and entertained and the evil it doth discover may be shunned Whether this will be distinct really from the soul it self and from the understanding is a Philosophical Dispute and will not tend to your edification Secondly Though it be the appetite in a man yet it is a rational appetite it is subjected in the rational soul There is a three-fold appetite 1. Natural which is in the motion of inanimate things as in the stone to descend downwards this is called an appetite though properly it is not so because it doth not follow knowledge but is consequent upon the forme immediately 2. There is the sensitive appetite which moveth upon the knowledge of sense and this is both in beasts and also in men yea naturally we live and desire even all the motions of the soul are according to sense and so in this respect man is become like the bruit beast But of this afterwards 3. There is the rational appetite and that is called the will and this is in man onely a beast hath not properly any will no more then he hath understanding so that the will of a man is a noble and high faculty in him appointed to follow reason and to be regulated by it in all things and therefore Austin saith Voluntas tantum est in bonis The will is only in good things If a man love evil or desire evil this is not voluntas saith he but cupiditas It doth not deserve the name of the will but of lust but common speech is otherwise there is a bad will a corrupted will as well as a good will only when we say the will is a rational appetite that must not be understood formaliter but participativè as they say that is the will doth not know doth not reason but is directed thereby therefore it is called coeca potentia a blind power and if you say it is blind How then can it see the good proposed I answer it followeth the good proposed not because it knoweth it but because of its essential subordination to the understanding Hence it is that to have a good will it is so requisite to have a sound mind Ignorant and blind minds are alwayes accompanied with corrupt and polluted wils There cannot be a sanctified will where there is not an enlightened mind This should make the ignorant and stupid to tremble in their estate they live in This should make you prize knowledge above gold and pearls as also to wait upon the Ministery with diligence seeing that by knowledge the will cometh to be made holy Fourthly we are the more to inform our selves about its depravation by how much the more noble and excellent it is It is hotly disputed between the two factions of Thomists and Scotists which is the more excellent faculty the understanding or the will The Thomists are for the understanding the Scotists for the will but these two cannot absolutely and in every respect be commended before each other only in respect of power and efficacy the will is more eminent for the understanding it self in respect of its exercise is subject to the dominion of the will and the will also is properly the original and fountain of all good or evil in a man for though the understanding hath actual sinfulnesse and the affections yet this is because of the will either directly or indirectly so that to an actual deliberate sinne there is required some kind of voluntarinesse either expresly or interpretatively either in se or in causâ Original sinne you heard was voluntary in some sense although we need not judge of that by Aristotle's rules who was ignorant of any such thing Therefore Julian the Pelagian triumphed in his Aristotelical Philosophy against original sinne despising his Ecclesiastical Judges as not knowing Aristotle's Categories as if saith Austin he desired a Synod of Peripateticks rather than Judges in the Church but though original sinne with the indeliberate motions thereof have not the actual personal will of a man yet all other sinnes have so that the pollution of the will is in effect the pollution of the whole man Hence In the fifth place There is this difference between the understanding and the wil in relation to its objects The understanding doth receive the species of the object to it self not the objects themselves and therefore when we know or understand evil as an object this doth not defile the understanding but is a perfection of it Thus Godknoweth all the evil committed in the world yet his knowledge is not polluted thereby Scire malum non est malum but the will that goeth out to the objects as they are in themselves and thereby loving of them is what the object is Thus if we will sinne it is sinne and not if we know sin because the will goeth out to a sinfull object as it is in it self so that above all keepings we are to keep the will for what that is placed upon it presently becomes like it If thou lovest the world or earth thou art earth thou art of the world Hence all the while sinne is kept out from the will though it be in thy mind though it be by suggestion to thee yet because there is no consent it is not thy sinne but thy misery I speak not of the motus principatus which are antecedent to our will but of suggestions only offered from without but when the will yeeldeth when that consencs it becometh thy evil immediately as poison while it is in the remote parts of the body may not kill but when it striketh to the heart then it is mortall Thus sinne in temptation sinne in suggestion doth not destroy till the will receive it so great a matter is it to look to this power of the soul For In the sixth place Because of this rule and dominion the will hath therefore it is called the universall appetite of the whole man We see all the other powers of the soul have their peculiar and proper inclination The eye to see the ear to hear the understand to know but the will is to will the good for the whole person therefore it is not limited to one good object more then another but bonum in communi the good in general is the object of it so that the will is the universall appetite and inclination of the whole man now if this great wheel that moveth all be irregular and out of order what good can be expected in the less wheeles if the foundation
record this day against you that I have set before you life and eath cursing and blessing therefore choose life Observe what should direct us in choosing viz. That which the servants of God deliver from the Word and so that which the mind of a man enlightned from thence doth declare to us and for defect herein it is that we choose evil and death for how often doth the Minister of the Gospel yea thy own conscience it may be within thee obtest and adjure thy will as herein the Text Moses did the people of Israel I call heaven and earth to witness saith conscience that I have shewed thee the good thou wert to do I have terrified and threatned thee with hell and that vengeance of God which will follow thee upon the commission of such sinnes Therefore look to thy election see again and again what it is that thou choosest But though all this be done yet the will will choose what affections say what sense suggesteth dealing herein like Rehoboam who would not hearken to the advice and direction of the ancient grave and wise counsellors thou plus valet umbrasenis quam gladius juvenus as the expression is in the civil law but he gave his ear to the yong men that flattered him and were brought up with him which proved to his desiruction Thus the will in its choice it maketh listneth not to what the mind doth with deliberation and prudence direct to but what the inferior appetite doth move unto that it followeth And this is the foundation of all those sad and unsuccesfull choices we make in the world this layeth work for that bitter repentance and confusion of soul which many fall into afterward Oh that I had never choosen this way Oh that I had never used such meanes Oh me never wise Oh foolish and wretched man that I am Especially this bitter bewailing and howling about what we have chosen will be discovered in hell what will those eternal yellings and everlasting roarings of soul be but to cry out Oh that I had never chosen to commit such sinnes Oh that I had never chosen such companions to acquaint with Thus the foolish and sinnefull choice thou makest in this life will be the oil as it were poured into those flames of fire in hell to make them burne seven times hotter Secondly The other particular wherein this corrupt frame of the will in election is seen is That in the meanes it doth choose it never considereth how just and lawfull and warrantable the meanes are but how usefull and therefore though God be offended though his Law be broken yet he will choose to do such things whereas we must know that God hath not only required the goodness of an end but also the lawfulness and goodness of the meanes and the sanctified will dareth not use an unlawfull medium to bring about the most desired good that is but the carnal heart taketh up that rule of the Atheistical Politian Quod utile est illud justum est That which is profitable that is just and righteous That famous act of the Athenians being provoked to it by Aristides the Just may shame many Christians when Themistocles had a stratagem in his head against their enemies telling the people he had a matter of great weight in his mind but it was not fit to be communicated to the people The people required him to impart it to Aristides who being acquainted with it declareth it to the people That Themistocle's counsell was utile but injustum profitable but unjust by which meanes the people would not pursue it Here was some restraint upon men by the very principles of a natural conscience but if the will be left to it self and God neither sanctifying or restrayning it it looketh only to the goodness and profitableness in means never to the lawfulness of them Some have disputed Whether it be not lawfull to perswade to use a less evil that a greater may be avoided They instance in Lot offering his daughters to the Sodomites to be abused by them rather then commit a more horrid impiety by abusing themselves with mankind as they thought those strangers to be but the Scripture rule is evident and undeniable We must not do evil that good may come of it Rom. 3. 8. Neither doth a less evil cease to be an evil though compared with a greater and therefore as in a Syllogisme if one of the premises be false there cannot be inferred a true conclusion è falso nil nisi falsum so also è malo nil nisi malum from an evil meanes there can never come but that which is evil though indeed God may by his omnipotent Power work good out of evil know then that it cometh from the pollution of thy will that thou darest make choice of means not because just or righteous but because profitable for that end thou desirest ¶ 8. The Pollution of the Will in its Acts of Consent VVE proceed to another act of the Will as it is exercised about the meanes which is called Consent for though in order of nature this doth precced election yet because I intend not to say much about it at this time because more will be spoken to it when I shall treat of the immediate effects of original sinne I therefore bring it in in this place And for to discover the sinfulness hereof we must know That the will hath a two-fold operation or motion in this respect for there are motus primo primi the immediate and first stirrings of the will antecedently to any deliberation or consent The natural man being wholly carnal cannot feel these no more then a blind man can discern the motes in the air when the Sunne-beames do enlighten it but the godly man as appeareth Rom. 7. he findeth such motions and insurrections of sinne within him and that against his will Now although it be true when there are such motions of the will but resisted and gainsayed they are not such sinnes as shall be imputed unto us and thus far Bernards expression is to be received Non necet sensus rei deest consensus yet they are in themselves truely and properly sinnes The Papists and Protestants are at great difference in this point The Romanists denying all such indeliberate motions antecedent to our consent to be properly sinnes but the Reformed do positively conclude they are and that because the Apostle Rom. 7. calleth them often sinnes and sinnes that are against the law and which ought to be mortified It is true we further adde when the sanctified soul doth withstand them cry out to God for aid against them as the maid in danger to be defloured if she called out for her help the Law of God did then free her so God also will through Christ forgive such sinfull motions of thy soul which appear in thy heart whether thou wilt or no yet for all this these stirrings of the will being inordinate and against the Law of God
is by the grace of God that we come to acknowledge the grace of God Error in mind is part of our bondage as well as lust in our heart It is therefore by th◠grace of God that we are delivered from both these thraldoms we have a freed mind from ignorance and a freed will from concupiscence It is the Spirit of God that leadeth us into all truth called therefore the Spirit of truth John 14. 17. It is by the grace of God that thou fallest not in this errour of advancing free-will It 's by the grace of God that thou art no Pelagian or Arminian It is this that maketh thee to differ from them Thy judgment thy heart would be self-confident herein did not the Spirit of God teach thee Lastly Consider that the grace of God is necessary to guide us in this point Because this Question hath alwayes seemed very difficult Austin acknowledged it so Hence he saith That when grace is defended we are thought to destroy free-will and when a free-will is acknowledged though in some sense onely we are thought to deny free-grace Indeed the Truth is not so difficult viz. that we have no spiritual liberty to what is good or that grace onely maketh the will free but how to reconcile this with the natural liberty of the will that it shall not be as a stock or stone that hath seemed to some even insoluble and therefore they advise to captivate our understandings in this point as we doe in the Doctrine of the Trinity however whether soluble or insoluble the difficulty argueth the necessity of Gods assistance while we preach and you hear about it ¶ 6. The first Demonstration of the slavery of the Will is from the Necessity of sinning that every man is plunged into SEveral particulars being premised as introductory to our intended matter our next work is to shew Wherein this servitude slavery of the will doth consist Not that you are to conceive of the will as some prisoner who is chained up in a dungeon that hath power to walk and run only those external impediments do hinder him which is Bellarmine's similitude about the inability of a natural man to supernatural good So the will hath some inward power and ability to do that which is holy onely there are lusts which are vincentes and vincientes as Austin expresseth conquering and binding this will that it cannot actually perform what internally it hath a power to do here is no such thing for we must conceive of this habitual depravation and defilement of the will in its state and condition more inward and deeply rooted in it First therefore That the will of man is destitute of any freedome to what is good appeareth In the Necessity of sinning that every man is plunged into that he cannot but sinne in all that he doth That as the Angels and Saints in Heaven have Beata Necessitas a blessed necessity of loving of God and delighting in him so that no temptation in the world can draw them off Thus every man by nature is in an unhappy and wretched necessity of sinning Dura Necessitas as Austin called it Insomuch that though the Scripture doth represent the things of Heaven in a most glorious manner to affect us yet we cannot be taken off from our sinne to love that Hence it is that every man till regenerated is compared to an evil tree and Tit. 1. they are said to be unclean and every thing made unclean to them The person being not accepted neither can any duties be This is our sad and miserable condition by nature But whose heart is throughly affected with it Thy eating thy drinking thy buying and selling yea thy praying and all other duties as they come from a man not sanctified by grace are sinnes in the eyes of God Think then to what an infinite aggravation they will arise and whether thou mayest not truly complain they are more then the sands upon the Sea-shore so that as the Toad and Serpent do necessarily vent what is poison and can never do that which is sweet and wholsom Thus no man in his natural estate can ever do any thing but be sinning and so damning of himself all the day long Onely when we say it is thus naturally necessary to a man to sinne in all things he doth you must know that we do not herein make him absolutely like a bruit beast which is not capable either of vice or virtue for this necessity is voluntarily brought by man upon himself he did wilfully strip himself of all power and ability to do that which is good and so having shut out the light from himself he doth necessarily remain in the dark having chaced away the Spirit and presence of God from his soul which is the life thereof he becometh spiritually dead and so in a necessity of sinning But it is not thus with Serpents and Toads for whether they were at first created solely with such a poisonous nature or whether upon Adam's fall it was inflicted upon those creatures as a curse it is plain that these creatures could not with any will or consent bring themselves into this estate but man did voluntarily at first having no seed of evil or inward propensity to sinne transgress the Commandment whereupon his soul became more shamefully naked then his body This necessity therefore whereby he is determined onely to sinne ariseth from his own free and voluntary impiety As a man that hath wilfully put out his own eyes must blame himself for ever if he cannot see If then this bondage be upon thee that in all things thou sinnest whatsoever thou undertakest evil is presently over ruling of thee blame not God or any providence of his no nor the Devil neither for though he doth tempt yet he doth not necessitate to sinne but thy own self for from thy own bowels this destruction doth arise ¶ 7. That a Necessary Determination may arise several wayes some whereof are very consistent with Liberty yea the more necessary the more free IT is good to observe and it may clear many difficulties in this point That a necessary determination may arise several wayes some whereof are very consistent with liberty yea the more necessary the more free Thus God himself doth necessarily will that which is good and yet freely also And if you ask Whence doth it arise that God is thus determined to what is good I answer It is from the infinite and absolute perfection of his holinesse whereby he is not nor cannot be a God that willeth iniquity Arminius indeed maketh it little lesse than blasphemy to say God is liberè bonus but that is because he cannot part with his Helena or Dalilah viz. That liberty consists in an indifferency to good and evil and in this sense to say God doth so freely will good that he can as freely will evil would be blasphemy but to will evil is no part at all of freedome it is a defect in
Not on things on the earth By these some mean those humane and superstitious Ordinances that the Apostle mentioned before for these were not of the Fathers heavenly planting and indeed it is true the more a man is made spiritual and hath had the experience of that wonderfull resurrection of his soul from the state of sinne in which it was dead the more doth he nauseate and reject all superstition and humane wayes of devotion rejoycing in the purity and simplicity of Christs Institutions as those alone by which he can obtain any spiritual proficiency But the Context seemeth to extend this Object further to all sinfull objects yea and to lawfull objects that we are not in an immoderate and inordinate manner to let our hearts runne out upon them So then we have in the Text a most divine Injunction imposed on us To set our affections upon things above alwayes to put in practice that Exhortation Sursum corda but such is the horrible corruption of these affections by nature that they can no more ascend up to them then a worm can flie upwards like a Lark Therefore the Apostle supposeth that ere this be done there must be the foundation laid of a spiritual Resurrection If ye be risen with Christ seek those things that be above Our spiritual Regeneration and Resurrection is both a cause of our heavenly affections and also it is a motive and obligation it being contrary to the nature of such things that ascend upwards that they should descend downwards How can fire fall like a stone to the center From the Text then we may observe That such is the corruption of the affections of man by nature that till the grace of regeneration come they are placed only on earthly objects and cannot move towards heavenly SECT II. Of the Nature of the Affections BEfore we come to anatomize their evil and sinfulness let us take notice a little of The Nature of these Affections And First You must know that in man besides his understanding and will which are either the same with the rational soul or powers seated in it there is also a sensitive appetite placed in the body from whence arise those motions of the soul which we call affections and passions such as anger love joy fear and sorrow c. It is true indeed many learned men place affections in the will also they say The will hath these affections of joy and sorrow and so Angels also have onely they say these are spiritual and incorporeal and this must necessarily be acknowledged But then in men besides those affections in the will there are also material ones seated in the sensitive appetite for man being compounded of soul and body hereupon it is that as in his rational part he doth agree with Angels so in his sensitive part with the bruits Therefore in man there are three principles of actions that are internal his Vnderstanding Will and Affections these later are implanted in us only to be servants and helps but through our corruption they are become tryants and usurpers over the more noble powers of the soul so that man is not now as reason much lesse as grace but as affections do predominate The Scripture you heard calleth these affections by the name of the heart though sometime that comprehendeth the mind and will also The common Greek word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is rendered passions and they are so called because of the effect of them for when put forth they make a corporeal transmutation and change in a man Some make this difference between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word that Quintilian saith there is no proper Latine expression for Vide Voss de institut Orat. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they make passions to be when in a mild and moderate motion of the soul without any violence or excess and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when they are turbulent and troublesome but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth rather signifie the manners of men then their affections These passions have several names sometimes they are called perturbations but that is most properly when they have cast off the dominion of reason Sometimes the motions and commotions of the soul sometimes passions which expression is disliked by some That which seemeth to be most proper and full is to call them affections because the soul of a man is affected in the exercise of them So that by these we mean no more then that whereby a man about good or evil is carried out with some affection and commotion of his soul onely you must know that when we call them passions it is not to be understood formally but causally In their nature they are not passions but motions and actings of the soul onely they cause a passion and suffering by some alteration in the body Secondly These affections in the soul are of a various nature yet by Philosophers they are reduced into two heads according to the subject they are seated viz. The appetite concupiscible and the appetite irascible not that this is a two-fold distinct appetite onely the same appetite is distinguished according to its diversity of objects The appetite concupiscible doth contain those affections that relate to good or evil absolutely considered For if it be good that is propounded then there is first the affection of love if this good be not enjoyed then there is the affection of desire if it be obtained and enjoyed then it is the affection of joy if it be evil that is presented then there is the affection of hatred whereby we distast it and hereupon we flie from it This is called Fuga or abomination but if we cannot escape it then there is the affection of sorrow Thus there are six affections in the concupiscible part The object of the irasible appetite is good as difficult or evil as hardly to be avoided good if it be possible to be obtained then there followeth the affection of hope if it be not possible then of despair and as for the evil that is difficulty overcome if we can master it then there ariseth the affection of boldness or confidence if we cannot then of fear if the evil presse us hard that we cannot obtain what we would have then ariseth the affection of anger Thus there are five affections in the irascible appetite so that in all there are eleven passions although from these come many other affections of the soul that we may call mixt ones as Errour Zeal Pity c. in which many and several affections are ingredient If then there be so great a number of these in man and they all corrupted yea predominating over a man what sea is more troubled and tossed up and down with storms and tempests then the heart of a man What a miserable wretched creature is man who hath every one of these passions tyrannizing over him if God leave thee to an inordinate love of any thing What unspeakable bondage doth it put thee into if
to excessive anger What torments and vexations doth it work making thy soul like an hell for the present if to excessive fear and sorrow Will not these be like rottennesse in thy bones immediately In how many particulars may thy condemnation arise Thy love may damn thee thy fear may damn thee thy anger may damn thee or any other affection which yet do continually work in thy soul SECT III. How the Affections are treated of severally by the Philosopher the Physitian the Oratour and the Divine THirdly These affections may be treated of in several respects but what is most advantagious to the soul is to handle them as a Divine enlightned and directed by the Word of God 1. The Natural Philosopher he is to treat of them while he writeth De animâ of the soul and certainly the nature of them is as necessary to be known as any other part of men Hence it is said Aristotle did write a book of these nature affections but it is lost The Philosopher he discourseth of them but as to their natural being not at all regarding the holy mortifying of them and therefore a man may be an excellent Philosopher but yet a slave to his corrupt affections 2. The Physitian he also treateth of the affections Galen wrote a Book concerning the curing of them but he also considers them onely as they make for or against the health of the body they attend not to the souls hurt how much the salvation of that is indamaged thereby onely they treat of them as they are hurtfull in the body Erasistratus discovered the inordinate love of a great man by his pulse Amnon did pine and consume away by his inordinate affection to Tamar Therefore the Physitian he considers them no further then how they may be cured that the health of the body may be preserved And indeed this is also a good Argument in Divinity to urge that you must take heed of the sinnes of the passions for they torment the body indispose the body they kill they body Worldly sorrow worketh death so doth worldly anger and worldly fear But of this hereafter 3. The Rhetorician and Oratour he also writeth of the affections as Aristotle in his Rhetoricks Now the Oratour he discourses of them no further than as they may be stirred up or composed by Rhetorical speeches how to put his Auditors into love anger fear and grief as he pleaseth for it is a special part in Oratory to bow the affections This was represented in Orphens harp which is said to make beasts follow him yea very trees and stones that is Oratory doth civilize and perswade the most rude and savage Now although those who write of the method of preaching do much commend this gift in a Minister of the Gospel to be able to stirre up and quicken the affectionate part yet the grace of God is required to go along herein For it is easie for a Tully or Demosthenes to stirre up the affections of their Auditors when they declaimed about such civil and temporal matters that they saw themselves deeply concerned in The very principles of nature did instigate them to this but we preach of supernatural things and the matters we press are distastfull and contrary to flesh and bloud therefore no wonder if men hear without affection and go away without any raised affection at all 4. There is the Moral Philosopher and he looketh upon it as his most proper work to handle the affections for what hath moral virtue to do but to moderate the affections that we do not over-love or over-fear This is the proper work of the Moral Philosopher but neither is this handling of them high enough for a Divine The curing and ordering of them which Moralists do prescribe is but to drive out one sinne with another so that their virtues were but vices if you regard the principles and ends of their actions Therefore In the last place The Divine or Minister of God he is to preach of them and he only can do it satisfactorily having Gods Word to direct him for by that we find they are out of all order by that we find they are to be mortified by that we find only the Spirit of Christ not the power of nature is able to subdue them The true knowledge therefore about the pollution of them will greatly conduce to our humiliation and sanctification SECT IV. The Natural Pollution of the Affections is manifest in the Dominion and Tyranny they have over the Understanding and Will ¶ 1. SOmething being already premised about the nature of the Affections we shall in the next place consider the horrible and general depravation of them and that originally First The great pollution of them is evidently and palpably manifested in the dominion and tyranny they have over the understanding and will which are the superiour magistrates as it were in the soul Thus the Sunne and Starres in the souls orbs are obscured and obnubilated by the misty vapours and fogs which arise from this dung-hill A man doth now for the most part reason believe and will according to his affections and passions Aristotle observed this That Prout quisque affectus est it a judicat As every man is affected so he judgeth They are sinfull affections which make the erroneous and heretical judgements that are they are sinfull affections which make the rash corrupt and uncharitable judgements that are Thus the vanity may be observed in the soul which Solomon took notice of to be sometimes in the world Princes go on foot and servants ride on horsback God did at first implant affections in us for great usefulness and serviceableness that thereby we might be more inflamed and quickned up in the service of God They were appointed to be hand-maidens to the rational powers of the soul but now they are become Hagars to this Sarab yea they are become like Antichrist for they lift themselves up above all that is called God in the soul The understanding and conscience is made to us as God appointed Moses to Pharaoh it is ordained as a god to us but these passions will be exalted above it and so man is led not by reason not by conscience but by affections This is the very reason why either in matters of faith towards God or in matters of transactions with men our judgements are seldome partly and sincerely carried out to the truth but some affection or other doth turn the balance in all things Therefore as Abraham was to go out of his own Countrey and so to worship God in a right manner Thus if we would ever have a sound faith a right judgement we must come out of all affections that may prepossess us What a wofull aggravation of our sinfull misery is this that our affections should come thus boldly and set themselves in the throne of the soul that they should bid us judge and we judge that they should bid us believe and we believe So that we
most justly in a spiritual sense complain as the Jews in a temporal one Servants have ruled over us Is not this a more troublesome judgement then that of the Aegyptians when Frogs came croaking into their very chambers or when vermine and lice assaulted them every where But who it there by nature that though he be tossed up and down by these storms and tempests and ready to sink into hell yet doth not lie fast asleep not thinking he is ready to perish ¶ 2. 2. In regard of the first Motions and Risings of them SEcondly The sinfulness of these passions is seen In regard of the first motions and risings of them whereas God made them at first to serve the more noble parts of the soul and to stirre at their command Now upon every temptation presented they flie about us as so many Hornets and we cannot keep them down Adam being made in integrity as he had a command over all the beasts of the field and birds of the air so also much more over his affections and passions which were the bruitish part in him He was as the Poets seign of their Aeolus who had all the winds in a bladder and so could make them blow when he pleased and no longer Thus Adam could love desire as he pleased These did not move in him till he commanded But now wo and again wo to us who are brought into such vassalage that we are indeed Servi servorum slaves to slaves Now our love riseth whether we will or no now our fear our anger breaketh into the soul and it cannot resist it Now that which Aristotle said of anger is true of the other passions that they are like an unnurtured dog which runneth and fastens upon an object before his master setteth him on or like an over-hasty servant that runneth upon his errand before he doth understand it This then is greatly to be bewailed that our affections rise first in us they move before our understanding moveth These swarms flie out before the King-Bee leadeth them the way That expression concerning Christ where it is said He was troubled is noted to be in the active sense in the original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 John 11. 33. He troubled or moved himself for it was not with the holy humane nature of Christ as it is with ours he being without sinne had the Sovereign power over every affection that was in him he loved and grieved as he pleased they were under the free exercise of his will but we are sold under these affections they bind us and lead us whether we would not Oh what an unspeakable glorious priviledge are we deprived of What an admirable honour is it to have a command and power over our own selves our own affections Doth not Solomon say Prov. 16 32. He that ruleth his spirit is better then he that winneth a City He is more then the mighty ones of the world that can master his affections How many that have conquered others in the world have yet themselves been conquered by their inordinate affections The very Heathens did give testimony to this that it was Melius imperat re sibi quam aliis to have command over himself then over all the world Luther that great Reformer who removed the Mass Indulgences and many other soul abominations out of the Church yet could not sometimes remove sinfull passions especially anger from his own breast which made Melancthon of a more moderate spirit speak in an Ex temporary verse to him when he was once in a great passion Vince Animos irasque tuas qui caetera vincis This Pope in Luther's belly as he would call it was more difficultly ovecome then the Pope of Rome ¶ 3. 3. In respect of their Progress and Degrees THirdly As these affections are not in subjection to the noble power of the soul in respect of their rise so neither in respect of their Progress or Degrees but they grow hotter and more vehement sometimes even like Nebuchadnezzar's furnace and we cannot repress them so that in all things wherein they put forth themselves there is an excesse we over-love we over-fear we are over-angry Indeed the having of affections is not a sinne no nor the workings of them but the immoderate excess of them It was a great Dispute between the Stoicks and the Peripateticks about these passions The Stoicks said They were to be wholly eradicated they were not to be moderated but to be extirpated therefore they pressed their wise and good men to an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be without affection which yet the Apostle reckoneth amongst the notorious sinnes And we know Christ himself wept These held all affections to be sinnes The Peripateticks held the excess onely to be a sinne when they did go beyond the bounds of Reason but some learned men think there was but a meer Logomachy between those two great Sects that they did agree in the same thing onely quarrelled about words Howsoever all agree in this That when the affections do overflow the banks when they swell higher than they ought to do then sinne lieth at the door But who can command these winds and waves to be still Do not these passions like armed men prevail over us that as it is with paralitical bodies the members do continually shake and trepidate because of some corporeal infirmity that they cannot keep them in uniform and equal motions Thus it is with us in regard of these commotions of the soul as they begin not at the command so neither do they stop at the guidance of reason but from a natural they turn into a preternatural and feavourish heat immediately ¶ 4. Those Affections are not subject to the more noble guiding parts of the Soul in respect of the Continuance or Duration of them FOurthly These affections are not subject to the more noble guiding parts of the soul in respect of the continuance or duration of them We are commanded not to let the Sunne go down upon our wrath and this holdeth true also in any other affection when immoderate we are not to let it continue burning lest at last it consume The Church indeed doth often complain of the continuance of Gods anger Will the Lord be angry for ever and will he shew mercy no more But Gods anger though never so continuing though lasting to eternity it self yet it is just and holy but we have a time prefixed to our affections hitherto and thus farre they must go and no further Thus you see how unspeakable our thraldome is by reason of pollution in our affections that we can neither command them in the rise degree or duration of them we have power over the members of our body we bid them move and they move we command them to cease from motion and they cease but now when we speak to these affections to lie still and be quiet it is as ridiculous as when Xerxes threatned the Sea to come no higher or commanded Mount Athos
to remove SECT V. They are wholly displaced from their right Objects THirdly The great sinfulness of the affections is seen In that they are wholly displaced from their right Objects The objects for which they were made and on which they were to settle is God himself and all other things in reference to him our love God onely challengeth in that command Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart and soul c. Our hatred that is properly to be against sin because it dishonours God our sorrow it is principally to be because of our offences to him so that there is not any affection we have but it doth either primarily or secondarily relate to God but who can bewail the great desolation that is now fallen upon us Every affection is now taken off its proper center In stead of loving of God we love the world we love our pleasures rather then God Instead of hating of sinne we hate God and cannot abide his pure and holy Law and Nature Thus we fear not whom we ought to fear viz. God That can destroy both soul and body in hell and what we ought not to fear there we are afraid as the frowns and displeasure of men when we are to do our duties Our sorrow likewise is not that also corrupted How melting and grieved are we in any temporal loss in any worldly evil but then for the loss of God and his favour by our iniquities there our bowels never move within us Thus our affections out of all order to their proper objects ought to be groaned under more than if all our bones were out of joynt for that is only a bodily evil hindring a natural motion this is a spiritual one depriving us of our enjoyment of God This particular pollution it is that the Text doth immediately drive at when it commands us To set our affections above it plainly sheweth where they are naturally viz. upon things of the earth and therefore as it was Christs divine power that made the woman bowed down with her infirmity for so many years to be strait Thus it must also be the mighty and gracious power of God to raise up these affections that are crawling on the ground to heavenly things Possess then thy soul throughly with this great evil that thou hast not one affection within thee that can go to its proper object but some thing moveth it from Go to the vain and fading creatures If these affections be the pedes animae the feet of the soul then with Asa thou hast a sad disease in thy feet and if thy whole body else were clean these feet would need a daily purifying SECT VI. The sinfulness of the Affections is discovered in respect of the End and Use for which God ingraffed them in our Natures FOurthly Their sinfulness is discovered in respect of the object about which So also in respect of the end and use for which God first ingraffed them into our Natures They were given at first to be like the wheels to the Chariots like wings to the bird To facilitate and make easie our approaches to God the soul had these to be like Elijah's fiery chariot to mount to Heaven and therefore we see where the affections of men are vehement and hot they conquer all difficulties that Adam might in body and soul draw nigh to God that God might be glorified in both therefore had he these bodily affections And we see David though restored to this holy Image but in part yet he could say His soul and his flesh did rejoyce in the Lord his flesh desired God as well as his soul that is his affections were exceedingly moved after God as Psal 84. 2. For the soul being the form of the body whatsoever that doth intensly desire by way of a sympathy or subordination there is a proportionable effect wrought in the inferiour sensitive part As Aaron's oyl poured on his head did descend to his skirts Thus by way of redundancy what the superiour part of the soul is affected with the inferiour also doth receive and by this means the work of grace in the superiour part is more confirmed and strengthned and the heat below doth encrease the heat above Thus you see that these affections had by their primitive nature a great serviceablenesse to promote the glory of God to prepare and raise up men to that duty But now these affections are the great impediments and clogs to the soul that if at any time it would sâ—ar up to Heaven if light within doth instigate to draw nigh to God These affections do immediately contradict and interpose and the reason is because they are ingaged to contrary objects so that when we would love God love to the world that presently stoppeth and hinders it when we should delight and rejoyce in holy things worldly and earthly delights they do immediately like the string to the birds feet pull down to the ground again Hence it is that you many times see men have great light in their minds great convictions upon their consciences they know they live in sinfull wayes they know they do what they ought not to do yea they will sometimes complain and grieve bitterly because they are thus captivated to those lusts which they are convinced will damn them at last but what is the snare that holdeth them so fast What are the chains upon them that bind them thus hand and soot even their sinfull and inordinate affections their carnal love their carnal delight keepeth conscience prisoner and will not let it do its duty Oh that we could humble our selves under this that what was wine is now become poison that what we had to further us to Heaven doth hurry us to hell that our affections should carry us to sinne that were for God that they should drive us to hell which were to further us to Heaven Oh think of this consider it and bewail it Many things lose their use and they only become unprofitable they do not hurt by that degeneration as salt when it hath lost its seasoning but now these affections are not onely unprofitable they will not help to what is good but are pernicious and damnable we that were of our selves falling into hell they thrust us and move us headlong to it so that they seem to be in us what the Devils were in the herd of Swine These are the wild horses that tare thy soul in so many pieces Thus our gold is become dross SECT VII When the Affections are set upon inferiour objects that are lawfull yet they are greatly corrupted in their Motion and Tendency thereunto IN the next place If the inferiour objects they are placed upon be lawfull and allowable yet they are greatly corrupted in their motion and tendency thereunto For they are carried out excessively and immederately They do unlawfully move to lawful things As man â—ands corrupted by nature his affections are defiled two wayes in respect of the objects For sometimes
thousand of us How much more may we say to God his glory his honour his truth is worth all our estates all our lives yea such ought to be our affections to Gods honour that we ought to preferre it above our own salvation so although through the goodnesse of God his honour and our salvation are so inseparably joyned together that one cannot be parted from the other yet in our mindes we are to esteem of one above the other Gods glory above our own happinesse But the highest degree of grace in this life doth hardly carry a man to this much lesse can nature elevate him thus high The second particular wherein the privacy of our affections is to be lamented is in respect of the publique good we are not onely to preferre the glory of God above our selves but also The publique good of the Church yea the publique good of the Commonwealth above our particular advantages What a notable demonstration of this publique affection do we find in Moses and Paul which may make us ashamed of all our self-affections We have Moses his self-denial mentioned Exod. 32. 32. where he desireth to be blotted out of the book of life then that the sins of the people should destroy them he had rather be undone in his own particular then have the general ruined and when God profered to make him a great name by consuming the Israelites he would not accept of it It was Tullie's boast That he would not accept of immortality it self to the hurt of the publique but this was breath and sound of words only Moses is real and cordial in what he saith As for Paul's publique affections to the salvation of others viz. his kinsmen after the flesh Rom. 9. 3. they break out into such flaming expressions that great are the disputes of the learned about the lawfulness of Paul's wish herein however we find it recorded as a duty that we ought to love our brethren so much that we are to lay down our lives for them 1 Joh. 3. 16. Now how can this ever be performed while these selfish-affections like Pharaoh's lean kine devour all things else Groan then under these streightned and narrow affections of thine thou canst never preferre Jerusalem above all the joy while it is thus with thee SECT XVII The hurtfull Effects of the Affections upon a mans body THirdly The sinfulnesse of our affections naturally is perceived by the hurtfull and destructive effects which they make upon a man Therefore you heard they were called passions These affections immoderately put forth do greatly hasten death and much indispose the body about a comfortable life 2 Cor. 7. 10. The sorrow of the world is said to work death Thus also doth all worldly love all worldly fear and anger they work death in those where they do prevail If Adam had stood they would not have been to his soul as they are to us nor to the body like storms and tempests upon the Sea They would not have been passions or at least not made any corruptive alteration upon a man whereas now they make violent impressions upon the body so that thereby we sinne not onely against our own souls but our own bodies also which the Apostle maketh an aggravation in the guilt of fornication 1 Cor. 6. 18. Instances might be given of the sad and dreadfull effects which inordinate passions have put men upon and never plead that this is the case onely of some few we cannot charge all with this for its only the sanctifying or restraining grace of God that keepeth in these passions of thine should God leave thee to any one affection as well tempered as thou thinkest thy self to be it would be like fire let alone in combustible matter which would presently consume all to ashes of thy own self having nomore strength than thy own and meeting with such temptations as would be like a tempestuous wind to the fire thou wouldst quickly be overwhelmed thereby SECT XVIII The sad Effects they have upon others FOurthly The sinfulness of these affections are seen not only in the sad effect they have upon our selves but what they produce upon others also They are like a thron in the hedge to prick all others that passe by Violent affections do not only disturb those that are led away with them but they do greatly annoy the comfort and peace of others The Prophet complained of living among scorpions and briars and truly such are our affections if not sanctified they are like honey in our gall they imbitter all our comforts all our relations They disturb families Towns yea sometimes whole Nations so unruly are our affections naturally Why is it that the tongue Jam. 2. is such an unruly member that there is a World of evil in it It is because sinfull affections make sinfull tongues SECT XIX They readily receive the Devils Temptations LAstly In that they are so readily receptive of the Devils temptations Herein doth appear the pollution of them The Devil did not more powerfully possess the bodies of some men then he doth the affections of men by nature Are not all those delusions in religious wayes and in superstitious wayes because the Devil is in the affections Hath not the Devil exalted much error and much fals-worship by such who have been very affectionate Many eminent persons for a while in Religion as Tertullian have greatly apostatized from the truth by being too credulous to such women who have great affections in Religion So that it is very sad to consider how greatly our very affections in religious things may be abused how busie the Devil is to tempt such above all into errour because they will do him the more service affections being among other powers of the soul like fire among the elements They are the Chariot-wheels of the soul and therefore the more danger of them if running into a false way The Devil hath his false joy his false sorrow and by these he doth detain many in false and damnable wayes Hence the Scripture observeth the subtilty of the Devils instruments false teachers how busie they are to pervert women as being more affectionate and so the easilier seduced Matth 23. 14. The Pharisees devoured widows houses by their seeming devotions Thus false teachers 1 Tim. 3. 6. did lead captive filly women by which it appeareth how dangerous our affections are what strong impressions Satan can make upon them So that it is hard to say whether the Devils kingdome be more promoted by the subtilty of learned men or the affections of weak men CHAP. VI. The Sinfullnesse of the Imaginative Power of the Soul SECT I. This Text explained and vindicated against D. J. Taylor Grotius the Papists and Socinians GEN. 6. 5. And God saw that every imagination of the thoughts of mans heart was only evil and that continually WE have at large discovered the universal pollution of the Affections which we have by nature and handled them in this order though the
learned men have said all they can they must confess their ignorance of onely you must know that as the affections are very potent in a man to turn him this way or that way so also is the imagination and fancy of a man Insomuch that it is a great happiness to have a sanctified fancy that is commonly in men the womb wherein much iniquity is conceived It is greatly disputed in Philosophy What the power and strength of imagination is Some have gone so farre as to attribute all miracles whether Divine or Diabolical to the strength of imagination Yea Abilardus his position was That fides was estimatio Faith was nothing but a strong fancy but these are absurd Onely it is granted that some strong impressions it may make on the party himself as also on the fruit of the womb in conception As for Jacob's art of laying parti-coloured sticks before sheep when they came to be watered that in the time of gendring they might bring such coloured lambs though imagination might be something conducible thereunto yet rather ascribe this with some learned men to a miracle and the peculiar blessing and power of God towards Jacob. But I shall not hold you any longer here let us proceed to the discovery of the natural sinfulness thereof SECT III. The Natural Sinfulnesse of the Imagination appeares in making Idols daily Supports and vain Conceits whereby it pleaseth it self FIrst The metaphorical expression in the Text doth fully declare it For as the Potter doth make vessels upon the wheel daily or as some explain it as the Artificer doth of his wood and other materials make Idols which he worshippeth as gods though they be vanities Thus the imagination of man doth daily fabricate such fancies and Idols to it self making gods of them and putting confidence therein And if you observe what riseth daily in the heart of a man devoid of grace you shall find That it is a continual Idol-maker it maketh daily puppets and vain conceits whereby it pleaseth it self and accounteth it self happy therein Thus we see what shops as it were our hearts are The imagination having that sinfull artifice as to make and erect Idols all the day long Even as children naturally delight to make babies and then to play with them so do all men by nature How many vain Idols do the ambitious men the unclean men of the world daily build up in their fancies Hence it is that the glorious things the pleasant things they please themselves with are more in the imagination then in any real possession as is more to be dilated upon In the mean while let us sadly mourn under this horrible corruption of the imaginative part of a man that it should be daily making new gods continually erecting Idols in which we are apt to put our confidence Lapide on the 8th Chapter and Verse 21. where we have the like expression and metaphor doth offer ntollerable ' violence to the sacred Text for whereas it saith The imagination is only set to evil he would make two shops as it were wherein this imagination doth work a shop of sinne wherein it only fabricateth evil and a shop of vertue wherein it imagineth good things but what can be directly to confront a Text and to put the lie upon it if this be not Let us then be willing to be found out in all this evil Let us acknowledge that our imagination doth continually set up vanities Idols we make to our selves gods and so leave the only true God We have made some entrance already upon the discovery of that wound and deadly blow the imaginative power of man hath received by original sinne and wonder not if in the managing of this point we often mention thoughts discourse invention and apprehensions attributing these to the Imagination for although the understanding be properly the power of the soul from whence these operations do proceed yet because as you have heard the imaginative faculty is so near to the inteliectual that in all is operations it hath some dependance on it so that it is hard to know or perceive when some internal parts of the soul are the operations of the fancy or of the mind Though indeed sometimes reason doth correct our imaginations even as they do sense Yea Divines and Philosophers do commonly attribute some kind of opinion and judgement yea imperfect discourse unto it and this difference is given between the common internal sense and the imagination The common sense doth receive the simple impressions of things as of a stone of bread as the wax receiving the impression of a seal not the seal it self but the image of it Thus doth the common sense receive the species of things and retaineth them But the fancy doth go higher it doth compound these single species together witness those many dreames and also Chimeraes which many do Imagine that never had any existence in the world Therefore by this office it hath we see how near it is to the understanding yea Suidas saith That Aristotle calleth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it hath in it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it is with formes and species that it doth apprehend things and therefore saith Suidas it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make those forms and appearances to consist however this be we may conclude because of the immediate subserviency to the understanding and conjunction with it we may without any absurdity say The thoughts the opinion the judgement thereof And so I proceed to the further manifestation of its pollution SECT IV. In respect of its Defect from that end and use which God did intend in the Creation of man by making him with this Imaginative Power SEcondly In respect of its defect from that end and use which God did intend in the Creation of man by making him with this imaginative power We must readily yeeld that as God did shew his wonderfull wisdome and power in making of man which the Scripture often observeth comparing the workmanship of our body to the curious needle work of some skilfull woman Psal 139. 15. so all these powers and parts of the soul were made for singular and admirable use and therefore the imagination as well as the rest yea we are to know that in all those visions and dreames by which God did appear to the Prophets and others it was by exciting and working upon their imagination so that God hath exceedingly honoured that part of the soul in this way The use of this imaginative power is two-fold as of the other senses The one proxime and immediate which is to performe their operations for which they were given to men The other remote and more general which is to be instrumental to the salvation of the soul and also to the glorifying of God For by the imagination we are
moment wherein thy fancy is not busied about some object or other And whereas other parts of the soul are subject to sinne while we are awake only The will the mind they only sinne at that time this fancy is many times very sinful in the night time how many polluted and wicked dreames do men fall into at such a time at which they tremble and abhorre themselves when awakened Thus though all sleep yet sinne doth not but liveth and acteth in the imagination But of the sinfulness of dreames by the corrupt imagination more afterwards Only for the present let us humble our selves under the perpetual and incessant motion of our sinful fancy there being no hour or moment wherein we are free from the corrupt stirrings thereof If there could be a breathing time or a respite from sinne this would at least lessen the damnable guilt thereof but to be daily minting and fashioning corrupt imaginations without any intermission how heavily should it presse us down and make us to judge our selves worse then beasts yea equal to the apostate Angels in perpetuity of sinning For whereas it is said that in this particular mans wickedness is not so great as the Devils because the Devils sinne continually they neither slumber or sleep as God who keepeth Israel doth not so neither they who oppose Israel The Devil doth vent his enmity and never hath any stop therein by any natural impediment Now whereas in man by reason of sleep there is to be a natural intermission and interruption of evil the imagination being corrupted doth thereby keep the fire of sinne like that of hell from going out Cry out then unto God because of this daily oppression that is upon thy soul yea how happy would it be if thou couldst judge it to be an oppression and a slavery but these sinful imaginations are matter of delight and titillation to thee thou art pleased and ravished as it were with them all the day long SECT VI. The Universallity Multitude and Disorder of them FOurthly As the perpetual sinful actings of them may humble us so the universallity and multitude of them They do extend themselves to ens and non ens to every thing and to nothing Insomuch that the multitude of thy imaginations do even overwhelm thee for this being the difference between the external senses and the imagination that the outward senses they are never moved or excited but by the present objects The imagination that is constantly working about absent objects hence it is that your fancyes they are many times roving and wandring about those objects that are many hundred miles distant from thee as God complained of the people of Israel That they drew nigh with their lips but their heart was afarre off They shewed much love but their heart went after their covetousness Ezek. 33. 31. Thus it is with us continually when we pray when we hear our imaginations are running many miles off They are like Cain vagabonds and have no setled abode which brings in the next instance of their sinfulness SECT VII Their roving and wandring up and down without any fixed way FIfthly Their roving and wandring up and down without any fixed and setled way They fly up and down and frisk here and there so that although they were a multitude yet if in a setled ordered way ther might be some spiritual advantage made of them As a great Army if well marshalled may be usefull but now here is nothing but confusion and disorders in thy imagination so that sometimes many fancyes come into thy head at the same time that thy head and heart is all in uproar which breedeth another particular of sinfulness and that is The hurry and continuall noise that a man hath daily within him as if a swarme of Bees were in his soul Christ told Martha She was troubled about many things but one thing was necessary Luk. 10. 41 The word signifieth she was in a crowd as it were There was a great noise within her as men make in a market or some common meeting As those in a Mill have such a noise within that they cannot hear any speaking to them without Thus it is here the imagination fils thy soul with cumbersome thoughts with confused noises so that thou canst seldome make quiet and calme approaches unto God in any holy duty and if so be the ground tilled and dressed doth bring forth such bryars and thornes is it any wonder that the wilderness doth If in a godly man there be nothing so much annoyeth him which is so constant a burden and complaint to him as these tumulâ—ouns imaginations these roving fancyes flying up and down like so many feathers in a stormy wind what can we think is continually in the imagination of a natural man SECT VIII The Impertinency and Unseasonableness of the Imaginations SIxthly The impertinency and unseasonableness of thy imagination this is also to be bewailed Indeed the unregenerate man findeth no load or burden here therefore if these weeds choak up all the corn if sinful imaginations fill his heart full all the while that religious duties are performing he never mattereth it he had rather his heart should be full of dung and earth then of pearles he is more desirous that his soul should be fraughted with pleasing imaginations then attentive to those things that are spiritual and heavenly But oh the sad complaints the people of God make in this particular the unseasonableness of their fancy in heavenly approaches to God commonly in religious duties more then at any other time do roving imaginations obtrude themselves which even the children of God can no more hinder then the birds flying in the air This is the sad temptation that you have most of Gods people exercised with and for redemption out of this bondage they do earnestly pray to God but as long as the soul though sanctified is thus joyned to the body and acts dependently upon the organs thereof it cannot be otherwise but as when a stone cast into the water maketh one circle and that maketh another This it is in mans imagination one fancy causeth another and that another whereby the soul is scarce ever quiet in any duty but these phantasmes lie knocking at the door and do breed great disturbance and which is saddest of all the Devil as is to be shewed doth usually at such times cast in his fiery darts his blasphemous injections do oftentimes violate the soul so that in stead of drawing nigh to God it is filled with doleful and terrifying imaginations SECT VIII It eclipseth and for the most part keeps out the Understanding With many instances thereof SIxthly Herein doth the sinfulnesse of it appear that it doth eclipse yea for the most part exclude and keep out the understanding which is the more noble light and to which it ought to be subservient so that men whether in religions or civil affairs are more led by fancy then by reason there imagination is
yet because as you heard the mind acteth dependently upon the imagination therefore we conjoyn them together How polluted then must that fountain be which sends forth so many polluted streams Sinne as we told you may be a long while breeding here before it be compleatly formed and actuated yea and God beholdeth and taketh notice of thy sinnes thus prepared in thy imagination long before the commission of them We have a notable instance for this Deut. 31. 21. where Moses in the name of God testifying against the people of Israel that when they come into Canaan they do not fall off from God useth this expression For I know their imagination which they go about even now before I have brought them into the Land which I sware unto them God did before they come into Aegypt see what was working in their imaginations what they were making and fashioning in their hearts in which sense some expound that place of the Psalmist Thou knowest my thoughts afarre off Psal 139. 2. And this is good and profitable for us to consider we many times wonder to see how such gross and loathsom sinnes can come even from the godly themselves Alas marvel not at it these Serpents and Toads were a long while breeding in the imagination The pleasure or profit of such a sinne was often fancied before It was again and again committed in thy thoughts before it was expressed in thy life so that a man can never live unblameably in his life that doth not keep his imagination pure and clean Hence you have so often evil thoughts complained of as the root of all bitterness Jer. 4. 14. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge in thee Mark 15. 19. Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts As exhalations and vapours ascending from the earth which are scarce perceptible yet at last are congealed into thick and dismal clouds so those sins which while in the thoughts and imagination were scarce taken notice of do at last grow into soul and enormous transgressions SECT X. That many times sinne is acted by the Imagination with delight and content without any relation at all to the external Actings of sinne THirdly The sinfulness of the Imagination is further to be amplified In that many times sinne is acted with delight and content there without any relation at all to the external actings of sinne So that a man while unblameable in his life may yet have his imagination like a cage of unclean birds and this is commonly done when there are external impediments or some hinderances of committing the sinne outwardly The fear of mens laws outward reproach and shame want of opportunity may keep men off from the outward committing of some lust when yet at the same time their imaginations have the strong impressions of sinne upon them and so in their souls they become guilty before God The Adulterous man Is not his imagination full of uncleanness The proud man Is not his fancy lifted with high and towring conceits As the Apostle Peter speaketh of some whose eyes were full of adultery and that cannot cease from sinne 2 Pet. 2. 14. or as some read it according to the original Adulteresse imagination made them have her in their eyes continually though absent for if their eyes were their imaginations also must necessarily be because of the immediate natural connexion between them so then when there are no outward sores or ulcers to be seen upon a mans life yet his imagination may be a noisom dunghill what uncleanness fancied what high honours imagined that whereas thou art restrained from the actings of sinne yet thy heart burneth like an oven with lusts inwardly It is the emphatical similitude that the holy Ghost useth Hos 7. 8. They have made ready their heart like an oven The meaning is that as the oven heated is ready to bake any thing put therein so was the heart of those evil men prepared for any kind of naughtiness Some understand it of the adultery of the body only as if that were the sinne intended by the Prophet Others of the spiritual adultery of the soul by which name Idolatry is often called in Scripture Others referre it to both we may take it to be a proverbial expression denoting the readiness of a mans heart to commit any sinne that it lieth in the heart and the imagination day and night men highly sinning against God inwardly when outwardly they are restrained Know then that when the grace of sanctification shall renew thy spirit soul and body thou wilt then be very carefull to look to thy very imagination that no tickling fancies or conceits of any lust do defile thee thou wilt keep thy imagination as a precious Cabinet wherein precious pearls shall be treasured up not dirt and filth As we fitly use an expression concerning delight in sinne that it is the rolling of honey under the tongue so there is a rolling of sinne in the imagination with great titillation and pleasure when sinne cannot be committed in action we do it in our imagination Hence it is that by the imagination old men become guilty of their youthfull lusts when they have not bodies to be as instrumental to filthiness as they have been yet in their imaginations they can revive their by-past sinnes many years ago committed Thus men became as it were perpetual sinners in their imaginations Consider of this more seriously and pray for an holy chaste and pure imagination knowing thou hast to do with an omniscient God that knoweth what is working therein though it be hid from the world besides think not sinfull imaginations will escape the vengeance of God though no sutable operations of impiety do accompany them SECT XI It s Propensity to all evil both towards God and towards man NInthly Our Imagination is naturally corrupted Because of its propensity to all evil both towards God and towards man And First Towards God Let us take up that which was but glanced at before and that is How prone we are to provoke God in his worship declining from the true Rule and meerly because of our Imaginations The pleasing of them hath been the cause of all that displeasure which God ever had in his Church concerning the worshipping of him No sinne doth more provoke God then the corrupting of his worship to adulterate this is to meddle with the apple of his eye God beareth other sinnes a long while till his worship become to be corrupted and then he will endure no longer Now the original of all sinfulness in this kind hath been our imagination we have not attended to what God hath commanded we regard not his institutions but our own fancies the pleasing of them Hence when God promiseth a restauration to the people of Israel and a reformation from their former Idolatries he saith Neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart Jer. 3. 17. It was this Imagination carried them out to Idolatry whence came those goodly
gloried in humane literature 1 Cor. 1. 23. Though it is true God will by these weak things bring to nought the great admired things of the world Thus 2 Cor. 10. 5. The ministerial weapons of the Gospel are mighty through God to pull down strong holds and to cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self as Cannon-shot doth strong Castles By this of the Apostle you see the imaginations of men raise up strong and mighty opposition against the Word preached though the Word of God set home by his own power overcometh every thing that doth withstand it It is good then especially for men of quick parts and raised fancies to suspect themselves to fear lest from them arise all their destruction lest these be the bolts and barres that keep Christ out from possessing of their hearts SECT XIV It is more affected with Appearances then Realities TWelfthly The sinfulnesse of the Imagination is seen in that it is more affected with the appearance of things then the reality yea we do wholly satisfie our selves with things as they are in our fancy only and never attain to what is really good or happy Our comforts are but imaginary comforts our delights but imaginary delight yea our wealth our honours are but in imagination onely It 's usual with the Scripture to speak of the Nations of the world comparatively to God as a drop as a little dust How often is a mans life compared to a shadow Insomuch that neither our life and delight are worthy of the name All the things of this world are but in imagination What seemeth to be more substantial than wealth which is said to answer all things yet Solomon saith Why doest thou set thy eyes upon that which is not Prov. 23. 5. Wilt thou cause thine eyes to flie upon it is in the original It sheweth our ardent desires after that thing which is not Hence a wicked man in his greatest triumph and glory is compared but to a dream Job 20 8. He shall flee away as a dream and shall not be All the while we pursue riches honours all the while our hearts are hastening after the creatures we are but in a dream What is true riches What is true food What is true glory We misse and imbrace onely a shadow This is notably represented by the Prophet Isa 29. 8. The enemies of the Church that had in their hopes and expectations devoured Zion are compared to an hungry man that dreameth he eateth but when he is awakened his soul is empty Thus it is in all these worldly enjoyments this life is but a dream we are not awaked till we come within the borders of eternity Oh that this were truly considered how greatly would it mortifie that inordinacy in us to these sading things When the child rejoyceth in his bauble it is but his Imagination that is pleased his counters he taketh for money it is but his fancy that contents him and truly no more are all the great things of the world in respect of God and eternal things SECT XV. The sinfulness of the Imagination in respect of fear and the workings of Conscience 13. AS the Imagination makes us rejoyce and account our selves happy when there is no solid foundation for it so on the other side When the conscience is awakened for sinne many times the imagination doth work so terribly and filleth us with such sad apprehensions that we fear where no fear is we flee when none pursueth So that a disturbed imagination doth many times work with the troubles of conscience hindering both the working of our judgement and of faith representing God and Christ to us farre otherwise then they are Job complaineth Chap. 7. 14. that God did scare him with dreams Oh it is very sad and a grievous condition when God shall turn a mans fancy against his own self To have our conscience against us and our imaginations against us is an hell upon an earth and it is just with God to fill these Imaginations that once received nothing but lustfull and pleasant impressions with terrible and dreadfull ones and both these wayes draw from God both joyfull delights and terrible apprehensions That great change which we read made upon Nebuchadnezzar who from a great Monarch of the world is become like a beast living amongst them his haires being growne like Eagles feathers and his nailes like birds clawes was nothing else as many Expositours judge but a judgement brought upon his Reason and Imagination by a deep melancholly So that the terrours of a troubled Imagination especially when joyned with troubles of conscience doe drive from Christ oppose the comfortable way of the Gospel as well as proud and unclean motions do the pure and holy way thereof SECT XVI Of the Actings of the Imagination in Dreams IN the fourteenth place Herein the pollution of it doth manifest it self That when the senses and the rational part are bound up so that they cease from operation even then that is acting and most commonly in a sinfull manner by dreams Dreams are the proper work of the Imagination and Divines do make three sorts of them Natural Dreams which arise from natural causes and these commonly either have much sinfulness in them or great troublesomness Diabolical such as are cast into the imagination by the Devil or Divine such as are caused by God for the Spirit of God hath used the imagination in some operations thereof Thus Joseph and others were warned by God in a dream And Joel 2. the promise is That their young men should dream dreams These Divine dreams Tertullian Lib. 3. de animâ doth divide into Prophetica such as are meerly fore-telling things to come Revelatoria such as reveal something to be done as Peters vision concerning Cornelius Aedificatoria such as build up to any holy duty And Vocatoria that call to some spiritual service as that vision of Paul inviting him to come into Macedonia Concerning Diabolical Dreams they are not a mans sinnes but afflictions unless a man doth directly or indirectly consent thereunto or walk so that he deserveth God should leave him to such unclean or polluted apprehensions But we speak of Natural Dreams and not such as are meerly natural that arise from some natural cause but such as have had some voluntariness antecedent thereunto while waking such now are proud dreames malicious dreams unclean and unjust dreams All these do either expresly or virtually come from a polluted Imagination while we are awake though happily we cannot remember any such thoughts we had The sinfulness then of our dreams we are to be humbled under as coming from sinne the cause and being also sinnes in themselves No doubt but Adam would have dreamed it being common to all mankind onely it is said of Nero That he seldome or never dreamed till after the murder of Agrippina after which he was afrighted with terrible ones As also of the Atalantes that none dream amongst them Though
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
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
Hysichius rendereth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an humiliation of the body this was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to speak of those who read it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Corinth was well acquainted with these exercises of the body and although there were five kinds of them yet the Apostle instanceth in two only viz. of racers and of wrestlers as being most suitable to his purpose Now by this Metaphor the Apostle would teach us what an enemy and adversary the body is to the soul what snares it layeth for us what great danger may arise to us from it alone He doth not name his fighting with the world and the Devil though these be potent enemies but the body only because these adversaries cannot do us any hurt till this domestical enemy and home-adversary do betray us and as it signifieth that the body is an enemy so it declareth also with what austerity and mortification we are to observe our bodies for they are like our beasts if we take not their provender from them they will quickly grow too unruly as is implied in the next word It is true the Apostle doth not say I kill my body nor I mutilate my body for that had been unlawfull neither doth this Text give any encouragement to those Popish Penances and Discipline they use to their bodies although their learned men think this place alone to be enough to justifie their flagellations their whippings and scourgings of the body but commands such an abstinence about our bodies that thereby they may be the more prepared and usefull for any spiritual duty for such who live in bodily excess they make their bodies a very noisom sink or dunghill to the soul Hence the word is to be understood metaphorically as Luke 18. 5. where it is applied to the importunate widow that troubled the Judge And although the Apostle by the body doth chiefly mean the carnal and sinfull part of a man yet he nameth the body because that if not diligently watched unto and observed will quickly produce many carnal lusts The other Greek word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I bring it into subjection by this is denoted That the body is like some rebellious and stubborn servant or some pampered and untuly horse which with much art and strength must be brought under Thus also the body is it is unruly and masterfull it will prevail over the soul and even overcome the workings of grace if we do not carefully attend As in deep mines there do sometimes arise such foggy vapours that put their light out who are digging there and so endanger them if they do not diligently observe them Lusts then and sinnes lie in the body as it were like fire in the slint any temptation will draw them out It was the speech of one who though sick yet would not have the temptation come nigh him saying Auferte ignem adhuc enim paleas habeo Take away the fire for I have yet chaff within me Thus if Paul be afraid of his body if he fear himself lest temptations arise from thence what should we do if the Ramme fear so what should the Lamb do as Austin upon this point If the green tree thus fear burning what should the dry one do Though bodily sinnes are very many in number so that it would be too tedious to reckon up all yet I must not pass by one more which the Apostle is so large in and that is the sinfulness of the tongue that is one part of the body yet the Apostle saith a world of evil is in that how many worlds of evil are then in the whole man James 1. 4 5 6 7. The Apostle from his former councel given that they should not be many masters that is as some expound it and that most probable Do not affect to produce new opinions and so to create many Disciples to follow you as if you only found out this or that Doctrine Like that of our Saviour Matth. 23. 10. And be ye not called Masters for one is your Master even Christ and that they must depend upon your authority only From this councel I say he doth occasionally declare the evil and general wickedness of the tongue because where there are contrary masters and they hold contrary opinions commonly these are maintained by them with much pride and arrogancy with bitter censuring and condemning of one another Therefore the Apostle doth fully inform us what an instrument of evil the tongue is that it setteth on fire the course of nature It is from the tongue that houses Towns Cities yea the whole world is set into combustion and no wonder for that is set on fire from Hell that is from the Devil who by the corruption of man doth now reign and rule in him yea it is so full of deadly poison and such an unruly evil that no man can tame it From which expression Austin did well gather the necessity of Gods grace for the tongue only is so ready to evil one way or other that without Gods grace it cannot be tamed and though nature hath given teeth and lips as so many barres to keep in the tongue yet grace only must over rule it As then the Physician by looking on the tongue doth discover the heat and disease of the body within so by thy tongue thy passionate tongue thy unruly tongue thy raging tongue original sinne which is in the whole man is notoriously manifested How quickly is the poison in the heart emptied into the tongue Neither may you object saying That drunkenness adultery and evil bitter words are actual sinnes and what is this to original Yes very much as the fruit to the root as the streams to the fountain For were not the body thus originally polluted with the soul the fruit would be then answerable to a pure and perfect root And well may we discourse after this manner seeing we have the Apostle a President herein for Rom. 3. 9 10 11 12. having asserted both Jew and Gentile to be under sinne so that there is not one good of all mankind by nature he demonstrateth this both by the soul-sinfulness and the body sinfulness and that by actual impieties Their throat is an open sepulchre the poison of Asps is under their lips their feet are swift to shed bloud Thus it is plain that original sinne lying latent in the heart of a man is discovered by the actual impieties of the body and all the parts of the body are one way or other executive of the fruit of this sinne ¶ 5. It doth objectively occasion much sinne to the Soul FIfthly The body is not only a tempter thus to sinne and so as Saul purposed about Michal is become a snare to us a worse evil then is in that imprecation Let their table become a snare to them for our body which is so dear and so intimate that is also become a snare But then objectively it doth occasion much sinne to the soul In the
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
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
thee see the dunghill in thy heart the general pollution of thy soul thou wilt cry out Oh how blind was I till now how sensless till this time Oh I am a damned man an undone man if God do not recover by his grace Therefore that of Austin though formerly mentioned can never enough be inculcated That in their controversie with Pelagians there is more need of prayer then syllogismes The truth of this Doctrine as it is primarily discovered by the Scripture so secondarily by the experience of the regenerated who as Paul said were alive once secure and blessed according to their own thoughts in the state they were in but when once convinced of the spirituality of the Law and their own carnality and contrariety therunto then sinne becometh out of measure sinfull and they die and are undone in their own thoughts Therefore concerning the Writers in this Controversie we are not only to enquire what acquired learning they have but what inspired grace what experimental workings of Gods Spirit in the humbling of them and to make them renounce all their own righteousness and fullness that Christ may be all in all Thus Austin who of all the Fathers hath most orthodoxly propugned this truth so none of them discover such an experimental conversion to God and a gracious change upon their hearts as he doth in his Books of Confessions I do not detract from the piety of the other Ancients only it is plain Austin discovereth a more peculiar and higher degree of an experimental knowledge of his own unworthiness and Gods gracious power in bringing him out of darkness into light and no question but the efficacy and power of this experience made him so orthodox and couragious in maintaining that truth which political and phylosophical principles did much gainsay but this is the wofull effect of original sinne that it taketh away all power to discover it self and as those deseases are most dangerous which take away the sense of them so is original sinne to be aggravated in this respect that it maketh a man insensible of it Fifthly The aggravation of this sinne is seen That it is the habituall aversion of the soul from God and conversion to the creature It is true original sinne is not an habitual acquired sinne but yet it is per modum habitus as Aquinas expresseth it That is the soul of every Infant born into the world cometh with an innate and habitual averseness to God and what is holy as also a concupiscential conversion to the creature so that the two parts expressed in an actual sinne of commission mentioned by the Prophet Jermiah Chap. 2. 13. My people have committed two evils they have forsaken me the fountain of life there is the aversio à Creatore and have hewed to themselves broken cisterns there is the conversio ad creaturam the same hath some representation in original sinne for every man by this hereditary pollution stands with his back upon God and his face to the creature Even as the child cometh bodily into the world with his face downwards and his back upon the heavens so it is with the soul of a man and this maketh our sinne of native pollution to be out of measure sinfull in that a man standing thus at a distance yea at enmity against God can never turn his face again towards God but by a supervenient grace from above Sixthly The great heightening of this sinne is In the deep radication of it It is so intimately and deeply rooted in all the powers of the soul that while a man is in this life he can never be freed from it hence it is that the ordinary determination of the Protestant Writers concerning original sinne even in regenerate persons is That it is taken away Quoad reatum though not Quoad actum There is original sinne in every man living yea in the most holy only it is removed from them Quoad reatum the guilt shall not be imputed and Quoad Dominum though it be in them yet it doth not reign in them only it is in some degree present there and therefore called by the same Divines Reliquiae peccati which expression though scorned by Corvinus yet both Scripture and some experience doth justly confirme such a phrase And although the late Adversary against original sinne Tayl. a further Explication of the Doct. of Orig. pag. 501. doth positively and magisterially according to his custome dogmatize that it is a contradiction to say sinne remaineth and the guilt is taken away and that in the justified no sinne can be inherent yet herein he betrayeth his symbolizing with Papists for all our learned Protestants have maintained this Position against Papists Bishops and others distinguishing between reatus simplex that is inseperable from sinne or the merit of damnation and Reatus redundans in personam which is when this is imputed There is therefore alwayes abiding in every man though justified original sinne in some measure it is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The sinne dwelling in us as the Apostle calleth it Rom 7. and therefore in regard of the immobility and inseperability of it from mans nature while here on the earth it is more to be aggravated then all actual and habitual sins For though in Regeneration there is an infusion of gracious habits whereby the habits of sinne are expelled yet this original depravation is not totally conquered by it And thus much may suffice for the aggravating of it because something hath already been spoken to this Point ¶ 3. An Objection Answered THere remaineth one great Objection against the hainousness of this sinne That it is wholly involuntary and therefore we are traduced in this particular that we charge our sinnes hereby upon Adam or God himself freeing our selves Thus we accuse others and excuse our selves Is not this to do as Adam who put off all to the woman whom God had given him so we to clear our selves put all upon Adam's score Therefore many Papists and others complain of us as aggravating it too much whereas one of them saith Rundus Tappor Disp de peccato origin that it is minus minimo peccato veniali lesse then the most least venial sinne But to answer this First As this Doctrine about original sinne is wholly by revelation so we are to judge of the hainousness of it according to Scripture-principles It is true as hath been said formerly the Heathens did complain of the effects of this original sinne but they did not know the cause so that as by the Word we come to know that from our descendency from Adam we do contract this original pollution thus also by the Word we are to passe sentence about the greatness of the sinne If the Scripture saith We are by nature the children of wrath If God in destroying of the world doth not simply look to actual sins but as they flow from such a polluted principle If by this we are in bondage to Satan and are
in every one by nature to what is good To consider this more throughly we are to take notice that original sinne doth not lye in a man asleep or like a sluggish and muddy pool that doth not send forth its noisome streames but by the Apostle Rom. 7. is described as a sinne that is alwayes acting and rebelling against the Law of God and therefore as soon as ever a child is capable of such sinfull actings this original sinne doth put forth it self it is not to be limited to yeares of discretion but even in the childhood of man much folly and vanity many actual motions of sinne do put forth themselves It 's often said by Divines that original sinne is peccatum actuosum though not actuale an active sinne though not an actual and this should make us look back to our very childhood and to mourn for all that folly and vanity we then committed How quickly did thy enmity to holy things begin to appear What a wild Asses Colt or what a young Serpent wast thou plainly manifesting that as thy parts of mind and strength of body should encrease so also would thy corruption break forth more powerfully But of this childhood-sinfulness more is to be spoken SECT V. How soon a Child may commit actual Sinne. WE are treating upon the second part of the Doctrine which is That the proper original sinne that is in every man doth break forth into actual evil betimes From the youth The word is observed by learned men to be used in the Plural number for Emphasis sake and therefore is not to be limited to such a time as when one cometh to years of discretion but even to our childhood therefore the Hebrew word is used of Infants as Moses Exod. 2. 6. and Sampson Jud. 13. 5. although we deny not but that it is also in Scripture applyed to those that are grown up Hence Divines have a Rule Secundum Hebraorum idioma Infans vocatur emnis filius ad comparationem parentum according to the Hebrew custome every son is called an Infant comparatively to his parents and happily we may adde a Disciple and servant respectly to their Superiours This word Obadiah applyeth to himself 1 Kings 18. 12. Thy servant feareth God from his youth This time then of sinning is to be extended further then usually it is imagined for commonly we look not upon the actions of young ones as sinnes till they come to some discretion or if we do we count them very little and venial they are matter of delight more then of humiliation so few are there who do rightly affect themselves with the vanity and folly as also enmity to holy things that they were guilty of even while little children But because this truth hath some difficulty in the doctrinal part thereof let us more exactly enquire into the nature of it which will be seen in several Propositions And First The Lutherans have a peculiar opinion that even Infants whether in the mothers womb or new born are guilty of actual sinnes for whereas they make the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Steg Photin dis de peccato Orig. Fewrborn disput 1a. to be applyed sometimes to the Infant in the womb Luk. 1. 41. sometimes to Infants new born 1 Pet. 2. 2. They conclude that even such as these before they have any use of reason are guilty of actual sinnes only concerning actual sinnes they distinguish that such are either taken strictly and precisely for those that came from deliberation and the will or largely for any motions or stirrings of the soul against Gods Law though without the act of will and reason and in this latter sense they say Infants partake of actual sinnes But although original sinne is an active quality in a man and doth begin to work very early yet it cannot be thought to produce actual sinne till the soul by its powers and faculties is able to produce operatins It is true we read of Timothy that he is said to know the Scriptures from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but that doth signifie Timothy something grown up and attaining to some understanding for the Lutherans are too peremptory who think a place cannot be brought where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie a child something grown up Timothy therefore is said 2 Tim. 35. To know the Scriptures from a child because his godly Mother and Grandmother did as soon as he was able to receive instruct him in the faith which could not be while a meer Infant Therefore In the next place A second Proposition is That even in the state of integrity had not Adam fallen children new born would have been without actual knowledge as well as in corrupted nature they would not have been born with perfect use of their reason no more then they would have been born with perfect and compleat bodies for such could not have been contained in the womb We take it for granted though some have been for the negative that in the state of innocency there would have been multiplication of children by generation which appeareth in the Creation of a woman for a man and if so then that the children at that time born though they would have been free from original sinne and all the general effects thereof yet would not have been born in a perfect ability actually to use their reason Indeed the Scripture is wholly silent what would have been done if man had not fallen and therefore nothing can be certainly determined unless we had some divine revelation about it yet there is a good Rule given that we must think God would then keep to that ordinary way of nature which we now find except where sinne and the effects thereof have made a difference we are not to make miracles and extraordinary workings of God unless some necessity of reason compell thereunto and thus it would be here if children new born should have had perfect actual knowledge It is true Austin doth seem to incline Vide Augustin de peccator Mer. Rmeist lib. 1. cap. 35 36. especially cap. 37. that as soon as ever the children were come forth from the womb God would have made them great and perfect bodies as he did Eve of Adam's rib immediately or at least made them fit for all motions of the body but this is so improbable that Austin cannot be excused unless we think he spake it doubtingly and by way of inquisition yea not only concerning the body but even the soul also that a child is so long without the use of reason he seemeth to make it not from meer nature but vitiated and polluted This we say hath no probability for we must not think that God would have alwayes in the state of innocency wrought miraculously in the constant propagation of mankind It is true the blindness that is habitually upon the mind of every Infant whereby it is indisposed to receive the Truths of God when grown up would not then have been in Infants There
would not have been any privation of such light as was necessary but it would have been meer nesciency and so no sinne and therefore such a nesciency was in Christs humane nature while and Infant Luk. 2. 52. He encreased in wisdome and stature as also Isa 7. 15. Butter and honey shall be eat that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good that is he should eat on childrens usuall food till he did encrease in knowledge but all this was without sinne This Proposition may satisfie that Infants cannot have any actual sinne while meerly so because the want of use of reason in them is no sinfull imperfection neither are they under the commands of God to beleive and know him as also to love him with all their soul Therefore it is absurd in the Lutherans to say that these commands of actual knowledge fear or love do bind them while thus under a natural nesciency that floweth from their very nature as nature not as vitiated and defiled Prop. 3. The reason why Infants have not the actual use of reason as soon as they are born ariseth not from their soult but the constitution of their bodies As in natural fools mad men or men in sleep there is no defect in their souls but in the body which is the organical instrument of the soul Therefore when Infants die as soon as ever their souls are seperated from the body they have perfect knowledge and reason but the want of the use of reason ariseth from the abundance and overflowing of humours whereby the sensitive powers of the soul are make indisposed for their operations Prop. 4. Seeing therefore that the soul cometh to work rationally by the successive alteration of the complexion of the body as the organs are disposed which in some is sooner in some later it is impossible to give not only the metaphysical indivisible instant but even the moral time wherein a child doth first begin to have an actual sinne As we cannot observe it in our selves when we first had any use of reason so neither can we in another and therefore the limiting of the works of understanding to the fourth sixth or seven years is altogether uncertain only we are to conclude That children sinne long before they know what sinne is or can understand what it is to offend God for those peevish 〈◊〉 vexations which are in little ones even while sucking are not to be freed 〈◊〉 some kind of guilt for such things would not have been in the state of innocent◠And if you say Why should we think those are sins seeing they do not flew from the use of reason and free-will Therefore The fifth Proposition is That contrariety to the Law of God is of the essence of a sinne not voluntariness in actu secundo as they say as if immediately elicited by the will For habitual sins are not voluntary in that but because they are the effect produced by voluntary acts of sinning that did precede therefore they have as much voluntariness as is required to make an habitual sinne and thus original sinne with the immediate effects that flow thence have as much voluntarness as is required to make them sinnes for as habitual sinnes are therefore sins because contracted by our own personal will so original sinne is voluntary because descending upon as by his will who was our Head both quoad esse naturale and morale as it is in time more to be explained Therefore that Position of Socinians and others That nothing can be a sinne which is not committed by the voluntary consent of our own personal will is to be rejected as that false foundation upon which they build so many erroneous Doctrines The sixth Proposition is That even young children very early have imperfect workings of understanding and will So that those obscure actings of a rational soul begin farre sooner to put themselves forth then many do think Hence it is that they know and love those that give them suck we must then consider that there are imperfect workings of reason and perfect formed ones These later indeed are not so soon but the former are very early Lapide in Psal 25. speaketh out of Gregory of a child but five year old guilty of blasphemy And certainly Austin in his Confessions doth much bewail his sins while he was a child he was but tantillus puer yet tantus peccator a little boy but a great sinner This truth is very usefull not only to confute Pelagiant and Socinians who make in a child an indifferency to good or evil or with Aristotle a blank table to receive any impression but especially to quicken up Parents to their duty in diligent admonition and institution of them For Solamon wiser than any Pelagian saith Prov. 22. 15. Folly is bound up in the heart of a child The word signifieth is close bound to his soul as if it were with ropes Now if besides this natural folly there be wicked education and evil example this will be such a three-fold cord that will not easily be broken Oh then do not think it is no matter what children do their sins are but sports and jests you will not have them displeased or corrected for this is contrary also to Solomon's counsel Prov. 22. 5. Train up a child in the way he should go c. Some render it dedicate some instruct it cometh all to one sense but who must be thus trained Even a child in the Hebrew it is Gnal pene super es viae which causeth divers Interpretations Some understand it of the very first beginnings of a childs course when he in bivio whether he shall take to virtue or vice Some for the very time that any entrance can be made upon them for children are to learn many things by meer memory before they have understanding neither is that though in holy things a taking of Gods name in vain but a serving of God according to their capacity Some understand it according to the capacity of the child as a vessel with a narrow mouth must have liquour poured into it by degrees all these senses tend to the same purpose viz. that Parents should not put off the instruction of their children or to think because they are children therefore their sins are not to be much regarded for you have Job sharply bewailing these Job 13. 23. What were those iniquities for which God did so severely chastice Job Why did God write such bitter things against him it was because of the sins of his youth the same word in the Text And Psal 25. 7. David in great affection prayeth God would not remember the sins of his youth the same word also in the original as is in my Text And certainly we have a dreadfull example of Gods anger even against the sins of little children 2 King 2. 23. for such came out of the City and mocked the Prophet saying Go up thou bald head and there presently came two she-bears
how much more should the command of God and Christ when we can say here Christ hath commanded us to enquire no further It is not therefore with divine truths as it is with philosophical for with the latter though we know Aristotle saith so yet we may enquire into the truth of it but in Theological things if it appear God hath said this then we must not judge but believe so that it is a learned ignorance when we affect not to know above what is written It is a good resolution of Luthers In cup. Genes 6. I follow saith he alwayes this rule that I may avoid those Questions which may draw me up to the throne of Gods supreme Majesty Melius tutius est ad praesepe Christ hominis consistere It is better and safer to stand at the manager of Christ as man For this end we have Elihu and God himself at last humbling Job who had disputed the righteous proceedings of God too presumptuously by the consideration of Gods transcendent greatness to mans capacity yea by these natural things convincing him of his infirmity which we see very day as the rain and thunder c. Now certainly if we cannot behold a starre much less the Sunne if we cannot find out the reason of Gods proceedings in natural things how much more in supernatural Therefore Fourthly This is alwayes to be laid down as a foundation there is no unrighteousness with God whatsoever he doth is very just though many times this is secret and hidden to us Even as David while estuating in his soul and perplexed about Gods dispensations in this world thinking that equality of administrations to those that were not equall was inequallity yet least this sour leaven should imbitter him too much he layeth down as a sure principle and foundation and that in the very beginning Truly God is good to Israel even to such as are of a clean heart Psal 73. 1. And the Apostle in those sublime mysteries about Election and Reprobation doth check the presumptuous Disputations of men Who will contend with God in such cases Rom 9. And Elihu argueth against Job Chap 34. 18. Is it fit to say to a King thou art wicked and to Princes ye are ungodly he meaneth of such whose righteousness and integrity is universally approved of for the Prophets did many times rereprove ungodly Kings and informe them of their impieties though we are to do our duties even to such with acknowlengement of their eminent place Then how much more unsufferable is it concerning God of whom all men have this inbred notion that he is optimus as well as maximus for any if God do thus and thus when yet the Scripture declareth that he doth so to accuse it for unrighteousness Our work then is to shew that such Truths are revealed in Scripture That God taketh such and such wayes in his dealings with mankind and when this is established then let us say God is true and every man is a liar Then let us proclaime the righteousness of God though we cannot satisfie every curious Objection yea our duty were to pass them by with contempt and silence did not the importunity of the Adversaries provokens so that we are to answer a fool in his solly lest he be wise in his own conceit Prov. 26. 5. And indeed excepting one particular there is not any thing scarce of any moment that may make a man so much as doubt about the righteousness of God in this Doctrine of original sinne as it is delivered by Protestant Writers who follow the pattern in the Mount which that it may appear in its harmony and not judge of a piece by it self but in its compleat proportion I shall proceed to adde further Propositions Hence In the fourth place observe God made made man at first perfect both in soul and body as his body was not subject to diseases and death so neither his soul to ignorance and passions God made him right Eccles 7. yea in his own image righteousness and true holiness not as the Socinians say that he was created in a meer innocency that is indifferency to good or evil not being made righteous till man should make himself Man with simplicity in his understanding and childishness as if he differed but a little from an Ideot it is wonder they do not also say he was created blind as Suarez reporteth Disput de statu innocentiae of some who held so because it is said after his fall That their eyes were opened Certainly the Image of God he was created in and with such a peculiar expression which the Scripture taketh notice of Let us make man after our own Image Gen. 1. 26. doth denote nothing but excellency and perfection in him both for natural and spiritual things and shall we think that God who made his body perfect and in full stature would not do the like for his soul The end also for which God made him necessarily presupposeth him indued with all wisdom and holiness for he was made the head of mankind he was made to be the Governour and Lord of the world he imposed names on the beasts which argued both his knowledge and superiority he was made to glorifie and praise God to have constant communion with him and enjoyment of him and who can think God created him for such a sublime end without proportionable ability thereunto and the rather considering how God created every thing in its kind as good yea very good Every creature was made perfect by its natural operations to attain its natural end and shall man only be made imperfect So that we are fully to believe this good and glorious estate that God made Adam in for Pelagian and Socinians begin to erre here This is the first step to all their future abominations Prop. 5. God did not only create man thus with an internal sufficiency of ability to persevere in this holy and blessed estate but did also vouchsafe all other auxiliaries of grace that might inable him to hold out Even Adam in the state of integrity could do no good thing without the help of God and therefore though whole yet he needed the Physician not indeed to heal him or recover him but to preserve him from falling and no wonder Adam needed this grace of God seeing the very Angels likewise did So that the very difference why some did fall and the others stand was the grace of God insomuch that that of Paul may be applied even to Angels as well as men 1 Cor. 4. 7. Who made thee to differ from another and what hast thou that thou hast not received Hence the Scripture maketh their election the cause of their standing being therefore called the elect Angels 1 Tim. 5. 21. Adam then was created thus sufficient within and wanting nothing without either of directing or preserving grace to continue him in this blessed estate and which is the greater aggravation of that full and sufficient estate God created him
is described by the immediate effect from this cursed cause being thus abominable and filthy what doth necessarily flow from hence even to drink iniquity like water This expression sheweth the vehement inclination in man to sinne and that with delight as a man who is greatly thirsty doth earnestly desire to drink that the heat within may be refrigerated Of this expression more in the Doctrine This is enough to shew how it is with man relatively to sinne even as with a feavourish or hydropical person that is continually calling for some drink to cool the heat within Thus this Text sheweth us what is one immediate and inseperable effect of mans nature through original corruption that it doth propend and incline with all greediness to evil and only evil continually Yet although this be so pregnant and clear a place Socinians have laboured to obscure it And 1. They say It is an Hyperbole This is their constant refuge whensoever the Scripture saith any thing to exalt Christ or debaâ—e man they make it an Hyperbole but how can that be accounted an Hyperbole which experience doth confirme And the Adversaries to original sinne grant that mankind is very prone to sinne and all are very ready to offend though they attribute this to other causes rather then original sinne This Answer of theirs hath been fully consuted when we treated on Psal 51. 2. They say Such an impurity is noted to be in man as is in the Angels and the Heavens but they have no original sinne The Answer is That there is more attributed to man how much more abominable is man So that the Argument is taken from the less to the greater 3. They say These words are not to be taken universally or understood of every man but the expression is universal it excludeth or exempteth no man man and born of a woman are universals not particulars 4. They say These are the words of Eliphaz one of Jobs friends and they did not alwayes speak right It is true they did not alwayes rightly apply the Doctrine they spake they mistook about Job but the Doctrine it self in the general was true and therefore we see that quoted in the new Testament as the word of God which Eliphaz spake as that passage 1 Cor. 3. 13. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness is Eliphaz his speech Job 5. 13. but for this particular truth you have heard Job also as well as Eliphaz confirming of it Job 14. 3. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean not one Which is not to be understood of bodily filthiness as the Pelagians of old but spiritual uncleanness as appeareth by the opposite to it in other places which is unrighteousness for it is worth our observing that this natural pollution and sinfulness of man is mentioned four times in this Book of Job with the aggravation of it The first is Chap. 4. 18 19. Behold he put no trust in his servants c. how much less on them that dwell in houses of clay whose foundation is in the dust c. This special truth Eliphaz saith he had in a Vision and by special revelation from God and therefore it was the more to be attended unto if Angels are not able to stand in the presence of God but cover even their very faces the noblest part as conscious of their imperfection comparatively to God then no wonder if sinful mortal man be affected with his distance from yea and contrariety to God In the next place We have this truth witnessed unto by Job and that on purpose to debase himself under God that if God do search into him he cannot find any thing but what is filthy and unclean Chap. 14. 4. of which we have largely treated The third time we meet with is here in my Text where Eliphaz repeateth it again making use thereof to Job that he should acknowledge impurity and uncleanness adhering unto every thing he doth though never so holy And The fourth or last time is Chap 25 45 6. Where Bildad agreeth both with Job and Eliphaz in this truth How can hâ— be clean that is born of a woman The starres are not pure in his sight how much less man that is a worme c. Thus you see in the mouth of three witnesses we have this Doctrine assured to us that man of himself is very abominable and filthy we might think such clear Texts might for ever convince men that they should not speak of such a thing as natural is quaedem sanctitas and probitas a natural kind of holiness and probity no though it were among deaf men the matter is so abominable and grossely repugnant to Scripture-light The last exception put in against this place by the pure Naturalists is That this Text speaketh of actual sinne and therefore it maketh nothing for original To drink down iniquity like water is say they nothing but the 〈◊〉 exercising of impiety But this is readily granted for we bring this Text to declare the immediate issue of original sinne because man is thus abominable by nature therefore he drinketh down iniquity like water he doth not speak here of men who by custom have habituated themselves in an evil way which is become like a second nature to them but of man originally and nakedly in himself till the grace of God make a change upon him So that as to drink though an action doth denote thirst a natural appetite within Thus the acting of iniquity with delight and content doth necessarily suppose a corrupted and perverted principle within from whence all actual evil doth flow Thus the Text being fully explained and vindicated from all exceptions we may observe That man being originally corrupted is therefore prone to all sinne with delight Because he is abominable and filthy therefore he swalloweth down iniquity like water As in every mans body there is a mortal and corruptible principle within which exposeth to diseases and at last death it self So in the soul there is a vehement inclination unto every thing that is evil it 's most sutable and connatural to him As the feavourish man with greedinesse and delight doth swallow down cold liquour thinking he never hath enough Thus it is with man by nature That there is in all mankind a propensity to sinne not onely the Adversaries to original sinne but even Heathens have acknowledged and bewailed and we have the Scripture Rom. 3. at large describing of it Now if it were not by original sinne How and whence should a sinfull inclination be in all men if there were an innocency and neutrality meerly in man to good or evil yea an inclination rather to good because as they say the seeds of vertue are naturally in all How cometh it about that the greater part of mankind is not good rather than evil Why should it not be that to sinne is difficult but to do good is easie But besides experience and many Texts of Scripture that may confound this
time of the cause of such evil customs and examples How came they at first Whence did they arise but from polluted originals This will not answer the Text in hand for that speaketh of the first age before the drowning of the world which yet is called the world of the ungodly 2 Pet. 2. 5. It was the world of ungodly in the first age and still in the later ages it is the world of ungodly Yea this is still applied to that remnant of mankind which escaped the deluge when there were but eight persons Gen. 8. It 's there said That the imagination of mans heart was 〈◊〉 his youth It is strange therefore that if good seed was naturally sown in 〈◊〉 that nothing but tares should come up every where in stead thereof But let us take notice of another place of Scripture confirming the universal overslowing of iniquity and that is David's complaint which he so sadly poureth forth calling upon God to help and to redress it Psal 12. 1. Help Lord for the godlyman ceaseth the faithfull fail from among the children of man They speak vanity every one with his neighbour It is true here are some supposed to be godly and faithfull but they are few comparatively to the ungodly as flowers to the weeds as jewels to the sand on the seashore and those that were so it was not from nature but the grace of God that sanctified and prepared them But if you do regard the general the Psalmist is so affectionately moved with the overflowing of evil that he seeth no help but in God himself and this is the more to be aggravated because the people of Israel were the Church of God they had the Prophets of God they had Gods wonderfull presence amongst them and yet for all that this garden so planted and dressed by God did become a wildernesse If then where there are many external and powerfull means to subdue and conquer that innate corruption yet it break out so violently What if man were left to himself How abominable and vile would he prove And was not this the perpetual complaint of all the Prophets successively that every one did turn aside to their evil wayes that they did preach in vain that there was no soundnesse amongst them a sinfull Nation a seed of evil-doers The more they were stricken the more they revolted The whole head was sick and the whole heart faint as Isaiah most affectionately bewalleth it Chap. 1. 4 5. What a strong demonstration then is this of the imbred corruption of mankind that under all the means of grace doth yet overflow in impicties I shall not mention any more Texts for this purpose The whole scope of the Scripture being to declare mans sinfulness and extoll Gods grace Secondly This universal propensity to sinne in all mankind is likewise attested unto even by the very Heathens It 's true they knew nothing of Adams tall nor of the propagation of this hereditary pollution yet the sinfulness it self they perceived and groaned under it Even Grotius himself who would elude the pregnant Texts of Scripture for original sinne by the Rhetoricians trope of Hyperbole yet doth bring in many passages out of the Heathens acknowledging such a depravation of mans nature out of Heriocles the Philosopher Jamblichus that it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it 's implanted and ingraffed in us to sinne Comment in Luc. cap. 2. ver 22. as also De Jure botli as paci lib. 2. Yea out of Aristotle who held this indifferency in mans nature he brings that expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is imbred in a man to gain-say reason Thus the very Heathens though they knew not the cause yet could not but confess that vitium ingenita infirmitatis the vitious imbred infirmity that is in every man Yea their Poets have acknowledged better Divinity then some later writers in the Church witness those sayings Quantuns mortalia peceatora coecae noctis habent and another Vitiis neme sine nascitur A third Terras Astraeae reliquit fergning our originals to be of stones Inde genus duri sumus Homines suâ naturâ sunt malis as Plato We might be large also in bringing the witnesses of others Nihil homine miserius superbius said Pliny simul atque ediâ—i sumus and Tully In omni continuò pravitate versamur c. And what is that saying Humanum est errare but according to Divinity Humanum est peccare Thus the light of nature though but like that of the Owl to the Sunne could perceive something in this kind Now this testimony is the more to be regarded because it is so imbred a desire in us to make our selves as lovely as may be and to hide every thing that is deformed Thirdly 〈◊〉 principle also in all Nations to have Magistrates and Laws to have prisonâ—â—â—gibbets whereby punishment may be inflicted upon offenders doth palpably demonstrate what a pronenesse there is in man to sinne For those provisoes do suppose that man doth restrain himself from evil only for fear of punishment If so be that there were such a natural purity in man Why should there be such jealousies such fears of man Homo homini lupus Why are there provided such severe punishments to awe wicked men but that mans nature is out of credit it is supposed to do all the evil it can if it have any impunity Certainly it is not for good that Mastives are tied up that Bears and Lions are kept up in grates This argueth how cruel they would be if let loose Thus also it is with mankind all the severe Laws and punishments which are in all estates established do demonstrate how wild and outragious man is if left alone to himself In his younger yeares he hath the rod when growne up prisons and gallows and in his old age death and hell to awe him against sinne Fourthly The necessary of Education and Chastisement to young children doth also declare that they are prone to vice It cannot be denied but supposing Adam had continued in integrity and procreated children they would have needed instruction and information but then withall it must be granted that this was a meer innocent nesciency in them and therefore as the body had been prepared so the soul without any difficulty would with all aptnesse and readinesse have received all the good seed sown into it whereas now in young ones there is a difficulty to understand holy things they are unteachable and untractable yea there is also a contrariety and an aversnesse to that which is good Now if they were in a meer purity of nature as the Adversaries suggest it they were in such an equal indifferency and capacity of virtue or vice Why should not they need education and Masters to teach them evil as well as good Yea why should they not be more ready to good then evil seeing they say there are igniculi virtutum sparks of virtue lying
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
hinder the superiour Whether Adam in the state of integrity would have had dreames is uncertain but if he had learned men conclude they would alwayes have been good and not without the present use of reason as Rivet thinketh in cap. 3. Genes However this is enough for our purpose to shew that we are tempted to sinne in a different way from Adam Hence the fifth Proposition is That because there is such an internal Insting principle within a man is carried out to sinne though there be no external temptations by Satan or wicked men But even as the Devil who sinned first had no tempter but was carried out by his meer free-will to evil So much more must man who hath this corrupt principle within him be carried out to sinne though there be no Devil to tempt us or wicked men Hence the Apostle doth in this Text name lust onely as the inward cause not mentioning Devils or wicked men But yet it is disputed That although the lust of a man within be a sufficient cause and principle to carry a man out to all evil whether for all that the Devil also doth not help to the committing of every sinne They question Whether original lust be the cause only and that the Devil also doth not excite and stirre this up Some think because wicked men are said to do what they see their father the Devil do and because he is called the tempter 1 Thess 3. 4. That therefore though we sinne alwayes of our selves yet it is by the instigation of the Devil but because the Scripture maketh the imagination of mans heart to be only evil Gen. 8. 21. And because our corruption within is generally said to be the cause of a mans sinne therefore we cannot say that the Devil tempteth to every evil action that we do commit although in some particular hainous sins as in Judas and Ananias and Sapphira he entered into their hearts and filled them with his temptations but at that very time observe how Peter doth reprove Ananias for letting Satan have such admission into his heart Acts 5 3. Why hath Satan filled thy heart So that the Devil doth not compell any man to sinne it will be no excuse to say Satan tempted me for this could not be if thy lust did not consent to him and entetain him he throweth his fiery darts and thy heart is like thatch or straw that quickly is inflamed The last Proposition is That the effects of this inhereâ—t lust within us are of two sorts immediate and mediate Immediate are those first motions and workings of soul to any evil object though not consented unto yea it may be abhorred and humbled for The mediate effects are lusts consented unto in the heart and many times externally committed in our lives For that original sinne hath an influence into grosse sinnes appeareth by David's confession Psal 51 when he bewails his birth-pollution in his penitential humiliation for those foul sins committed by him But I shall enlarge my self only concerning those sinfull motions and stirrings of the heart unto evil which though the ungodly man taketh no notice of yet the constant and perpetual work of a godly man is to conflict with as appeareth Rom. 7. They are those perpetual restlesse workings of his heart inordinately one way or other that make his condition so bitter and therefore it is good to consider what may be said for our information herein ¶ 2. Of the Motions of the Heart to sinne not consented unto as an immediate Effect of Original Sin THe last Proposition we mentioned contained a division of the effects of original sinne within us which were either immediate such as the motions of the heart to sinne with the pleasures therof not consented unto Or mediate which are lusts consented unto and the external actings of sinne thus imbraced I shall only enlarge my self upon the former and for your information therein take these considerations First That these motions to sinne may be divided according to the subject they are in Now the powers of the soul are usually divided into the apprehensive and appetitive the cognitive and affective that is either such as know or understand or such as are carried out by love and desire These are the Jachin and Beaz as it were the two pillars of the temple of the soul and respectively to these two so are the stirrings of sinne within us In the mind or knowing part of the soul the workings of sinne are by apprehensions and thoughts In the affective part by way of delight and love And in both these the heart of a godly man is many times sadly exercised For thoughts How many vain idle foolish ones do arise in his soul like the sand upon the sea-shore The flies and Locusts in Aegypt did not more annoy then these do molest and trouble a gracious heart These thoughts come like so many swarms upon thee before thou hast time to recollect thy self They are got into the souls closet before they were ever perceived knocking at the door Nay these thoughts are not only roving wandring and restlesse but sometimes horrid black ones blasphemous atheistical diabolical which put the soul into an holy trembling and they know not what to do they think none like them no such vile wretches in the world as they are Indeed there are blasphemous injections of Satan such as are suggested to the soul importunately by him to which the soul giveth no consent but like the maid in the judicial Law that was ready to be ravished cryeth out against them or as the people when they heard Rabshakeh rail and blaspheme the God of Israel so horribly They answered him not a word Thus the people of God in such temptations give no consent or approbation to them now these are afflictions not sinnes they are sad exercises but not our corruptions because they are wholly external and cast in upon us as if we were in a room where we could not get out hearing men curse and blaspheme this would torment our souls but they do not make us guilty They are compared to the Cup in Benjamen's sack it was found there but it was not his fault it came there without his knowledge and consent And although they be foul and loathsom to a gracious heart yet God usually keepeth his people hereby humble and lowly yea he maketh them more spiritual and fruitfull as the black and noisom dung maketh the field more fertile and fruitfull but I speak not of these The thoughts we are treating of are such as arise from our own hearts for seeing original sinne is the seed of all evil the most erroneous and flagitious that can be therefore atheistical blasphemous lascivious and other evil thoughts may come out of our own hearts It is indeed a special part of heavenly skill and wisdom experimentally to make a difference between what thoughts are our own and what are meerly of diabolical â—â—jections to discover when our own corrupt
nature worketh and when the Devil doth only assault and annoy us But that is not my business now It is enough to know That even from thy own unsanctified heart may arise vain thoughts blasphemous thoughts So that thy soul seemeth unto thee to be not only like a dunghill but an hell it self To these evil stirrings of sinne in the apprehensive part we may referre our sinful dreames even for them God might damn us Austin bewaileth and confesseth his dreames and yet our understanding and will do not so properly work at that time The other sort of workings of soul are such as are by way of love and desire when there arise in the heart some motions and affections to such an object Our hearts being now wholly destitute of the Image of God and sinne having full dominion over us no sooner doth any sinful object present it self but immediately the heart maketh towards it there is a propensity to embrace it Secondly These motions that do thus stirre in the heart are either such as they call motus primo primi or secundo primi the absolute meer first or first in a secondary order There may be difference in the explaining of these but the summe is this These motions are either such which do rise up in our hearts antecedently to any actings of the reason or will at all It was not in our power to repress them or to prevent them for original sin in a man doth not lie sluggish and bound up it is alwayes acting and moving and the immediate motions or first born of the soul are these first stirrings of heart preventing all deliberation and consultation Such a state indeed Adam was not created in nothing did rise up in him before his will and consent and so it was also with Christ But since we are plunged into this corrupt condition sinne hath got the whole mastery over us we are in a Babel and spiritual confusion Every sinful lust riseth in us before we have time to withstand it although if we had time such is our impotency and corruption now that we neither can or will gainsay the torrent of these motions It is true the Papists say they are no sinnes they are matter of exercise to us but they are not sinnes if not consented unto But the Apostle Rom. 7. doth often call them so and they are such as are contrary to the Law of God they are such as make a godly man groan under them and judge himself miserable thereby they are such as are to be crucified and mortified all which shew they have the true and proper nature of sinne So that it is a wonder those should deny these indeliberate motions to be sinne who hold original sinne to be properly and not equivocally a sinne For as it is enough to make original sinne voluntary because it is voluntarium voluntate ejus à quo not in quo est with the will of Adam from whence it descendeth though not with the will of him in which it inhereth Thus also it may be said of these involuntary motions they are of the same nature with original sinne For though they be actual yet flowing necessarily from the mother sinne and being withall a privation of that righteousness which ought to be in us they must be called sinnes as well as original And thus farre Henricus the Schooleman proceedeth as Vasquez alledgeth him Tom. 10. disput 106. to say That these first motions in persons not baptized are sinnes and that they want not such a voluntariness as is requisite to the nature of sinne partly because of the will of the first parents and partly because of the proper will of the man who hath them not because he doth not hinder these motions because he cannot alwayes do this but because he will not by baptisme be expiated from original sinne and consequently from the guilt of these sinnes This later reason we matter not the former hath good strength and is the same in effect with what we say Oh then that we were rightly considering of these things Those millions of thoughts and stirrings of heart which arise before reason and will are able to do any thing these are all sinnes these are contrary to the holy Law of God Adam had them not neither shall the glorified Saints in heaven be in the least manner molested with them How low and debased must thou be in thy own eyes For this it is that the godly go bowed down for this they mourn and pray these afflict them more then gross loathsome sinnes do prophane men the meer civil and formal man the self-righteous and confident man he knoweth none of these things he feeleth not this evil impure frame of his heart this maketh the way of godliness to be such a mystery such an unknown thing but to those that are believers indeed as they have other joyes other comforts then the world knoweth of so they have other motives of sorrow and humiliation then the natural man can understand But as for the first motions of the second sort they have some imperfect consent and complacency and therefore acknowledged by Gerson Compend Theol. to be sinnes yea the former kind of motions though so suddain are affirmed to be sinnes by several Schoolemn upon different reasons but venial as they call them For Henricus held they were mortal now to us all sinnes in their own nature are mortal Therefore all these motions which arise in the soul whether first or second being contrary to the holy Law of God which requireth pure streames and also a pure fountain and also being opposite to the Image of God we were created in must needs be truly sinnes for which we are to humble our selves and to pray continually for the mortification of them Thirdly These motions though they flow from original sinne as the universal cause yet there are particular causes that do excite and draw them forth And it is good to observe how many wayes original sinne being awakened doth produce these sinful motions thereof And 1. Sometimes they arise from the present sensible object that doth affect us Every object either of the eye or ear or touching doth presently work upon the soul not indeed efficiently as some have thought but only by way of alluring and enticing so that it is almost impossible for us either to hear or see any object and not have the first motions of the soul as suddain so sinful about them Oh the miserable depravation of mankind who hath sinne and hell entring into the soul by evey sense it hath there is not any sensible object but it is a snare to thee it stirreth up some sinful motion or other either love or anger joy or fear and all this before grace can work Hence the great work of Christianity is inward and spiritual it is soul-work to set a watch before eyes eares tongue and all the outward parts of the body that the soul be not sinfully disquieted For every
object is to our corrupt hearts one way or other as the forbidden fruit was to Eve not that God doth forbid us to see or hear such things but because the soul cannot be excited by those objects and affected with them but it is in a sinful manner If then thy head were a fountain of teares it could not weep enough for the desolation that is upon thee Thy eye maketh thee sinne thy ear maketh thee sinne Thus thou art compassed about with sinne from evening and morning 2. These suddain motions of sinne sometimes arise from the imagination and fancy of a man And truly how often do displeasing and sinful imaginations disturb the peace and quiet of thy soul Is it not thy fancy thou complainest of how volatique and roving is that It stayeth no where it is not fixed in holy duties It is like a market place where there is a croud of people so that the imagination doth very often help this original lust and sinne to bring forth What a quiet srene and blessed life should a man live if his imagination could be kept in an holy fixed frame if he could bid it go and it goeth do this and it did it 3. The perturbation of the body by distempers that many times causeth this original sinne to be working in us Though the body be corporeal and the soul a spirit and so cannot act physically upon it yet because they are both the essential parts of a man immediately united together there is by sympathy an acting and affecting of one another especially the body being instrumental to the soul in many operations Hence it is when that is disturbed and indisposed the soul also is hindred in its operations and therefore from the distemper of the body we are easily moved to anger to sorrow to fear to lusts So that the motions of the soul are many times according to the motions of the body as Gerson instanceth Compend Theol. in a simile which he saith some use concerning the water when the Sunne-beams are upon it as the water moveth or danceth up and down so do the Sunne-beams which are upon the water Thus as the body is in any commotion so the soul which is more immediately united to the body then the beams of the Sunne are to the water doth work according as it finds this instrument disposed Fourthly This original lust is often stirred up to entice us by the sensitive appetite by the passions and affections that are in us This we told you some did limit lust to in the Text but very unsoundly yet it cannot be denied but because the affectionate part of a man is so prevalent and operative that very often sinne is committed here even without the consent of the will These affections doe suddenly transport us and we can no more command them to be quiet then we are able to compose the waves of the Sea Now though we would withstand and gain-say them yet they are our sinnes for all that as we see Paul sadly complaining herein Rom. 7. Austin delighteth De Trinit lib. 13. to expresse our manner of sinning by allusion to the first sinne When any object doth present it self to allure and affect us then the Serpent saith he sheweth us the forbidden fruit When the sensitive appetite of a man is drawn out to consent unto it then Eve doth eat of this forbidden fruit when the rational part of the soul is enticed likewise to consent to this sinne then Eve giveth of this fruit to Adam and he eateth Thus Reason is like Adam Eve like the sensitive part and as Eve when she did eat the forbidden fruit alone did thereby grow mortal and would have died though Adam had not consented to eat Thus the affectionate part of a man carrying us away to sinne though the superiour part of the soul will not agree thereunto yet this maketh us to be in a state of damnation This maketh the action to be damnable Lastly When none of these wayes doe stirre up original sinne then the thoughts and apprehensions of a man in the intellectual part they may And indeed the former provoking causes were most conspicuous in grosse and carnal sinnes but this is influential in spiritual sinnes from the minde come vain thoughts ambitious proud malicious thoughts from the mind arise blasphemous atheistical and unbelieving thoughts Thus you see how poor and wretched man is become in his soul as Laezarus was in his body all over with ulcers and sores no place is free from sinne Oh that God would deliver us from our blindnesse of minde from our self-fulnesse whereby we are so apt to fall in love with our selves so as to think we want nothing when we are without God without Christ without the Image of God without all holinesse and peace within either of soul or body How should it pity thee to see this glorious building thus lying in its own ruines and rubbidge Now from all these particulars thus joyned together you may observe how sinne carrieth us away in a pleasing enticing manner So that although we cannot but sinne yet this is very delightsome and satisfactory insomuch that man is drawn aside to sinne as he said Trahit sua quemque voluptas And this is more to be observed because the adversaries do so tragically exclaim against us in affirming that we lie under a necessity of sinning we cannot but sin Why then say they Why should God damn us for sinning any more than for being thirsty or hungry which do necessarily affect us But the Answer is two-fold 1. This necessity of sinning is voluntarily contracted and brought upon us it is not as hunger or thirst which were necessary properties of man at his Creation though without that grief and pain which now we feel And 2. This necessity is also voluntary and pleasing it seizeth upon the mind will affections and the whole man and therefore as we cannot help it so neither will we help it We love and delight to eat this poison Lastly There are these three degrees whereby it 's said Lust cometh to be accomplished Though some differ in their expressions herein The first is Suggestion and that is when any lust doth begin to arise in the soul This is very imperceptible and undiscerned but by those who are exact in the spiritual exercises of thier soul It is true some say this word Suggestion is not proper because that doth properly come from without the Devil or the world but this is internal arising of our selves But we need not strive about words The second is Delight From this motion the soul presently findeth some secret pleasure and accordingly thinketh of it with delight receiveth it with delight Lastly There is the consent unto these to will them to be joyned to them And thus when sinne hath made this progresse a man is an adulterer a murderer before God though not actually done in the eyes of men as our Saviour witnesseth Matth. 5. 28. for
many do consent to sinne within their heart which yet do not consent to the outward acting of it sometimes because of the shame that it will bring sometimes because of the punishment that it doth deserve or for some unworthy respect or other not because they fear and love God not because they desire a pure holy heart as well as an unspotted life And truly this is a good discovery of uprightnesse of our hearts when we dare not own sin in our thoughts when the we dare not respect iniquity in our hearts when we labour to keep a pure soul as well as a pure body ¶ 3. More Propositions concerning evil Thoughts and Motions that arise continually from the heart as the Immediate Effect of Original Sinne Shewing how many wayes the Soul may become guilty of sinne about them WE are now to finish this Discourse about that Immediate Effect of original sinne in causing evil thoughts and motions to arise continually from the heart as vapours do constantly from the earth and as they in their first ascension are imperceptible till they come to be congealed into clouds which are plainly visible Thus all sinne while it is but in these motions and stirrings of the heart is difficulty discerned but when it cometh to be formed by express consent and accomplished in outward practice then it is grosse and palpable But to proceed in more Propositions First These motions and stirrings of heart they are either sudden and transitory 〈◊〉 abiding and mansory in the soul Sometimes these sinfull stirrings of the heart are like a sudden whirlwind in the soul that presently vanisheth though they be very troublesom for the time or they come like a flash of lightning and thunder which though terrible yet is but of short continuance now although they make no longer abode in our soul yet they pollute and defile it We are not to give place to them no not for an hour as Paul would not to the false brethren Gal. 2. 5. but we are with holy zeal and indignation to thrust them out and bolt the doors upon them as they did to Thamar Thus in the very twinkling of an eye if we do not watchfully attend thereunto we may destroy our own souls over and over again That is a prophane speech to say Thoughts are free no God hath laid an holy command upon our very thoughts and the first motions and stirrings of our hearts that nothing should arise there but what is agreeable to Gods holy Word When water is in a pure glass though it be moved and shaken often yet no noisom thing ariseth thereby but if in a soul one then the more it is stirred the more filthy are the bubbles thereof Thus in man while enjoying the Image of God whatsoever did move or stir his heart it was altogether holy and pure but since man is thus corrupted there cannot be any motions of his soul but they are wholly defiled and sinfull one way or other Secondly These mansory thoughts which the Schoolmen call morosae because they do morari abide some time in the soul they are likewise divided for they are so continning in us either morâ temporis or morâ consensus as they expresse it Gerson Compend Theol. The continuance of time is when they may for a long while infect sollicit and annoy us but yet we strive and gainsay We do by no means give our consent thereunto as Joseph's Mistress did often importune him yet all that while he kept up the fear of God and would not sinne in that way against him So that although the people of God may be followed from week to week with loathsom and perplexing thoughts yet because they cry unto God they go and pray to him as Hezekiah did upon Rabshakeh's railing and blaspheming of God they are not to be discouraged Thou hast not betrayed thy strength to these Dalilahs all the while Yea from these spiritual exercises and conflicts thou wilt increase thy glory Hereby thou hast an opportunity to discover thy faith thy self emptiness and to get heavenly skill and compassion whereby thou art able to succour those that are in the like manner tempted But then 2. There are thoughts that are continuing morâ consensus and these are farre more dangerous and damnable then the former for if sinfull thoughts and motions arise in thy soul though they are but for a very short time yet if thou hast yeelded to them then thy soul hath committed fornication Consensisti said Austin concubuisti in corde tuo so that the consent to them is farre more dangerous then the length of time they may afflict thee in Any sinfull motion consented unto though it be but for a moment is more destructive then such as follow thee from day to day yea it may be from year to year but thou givest no entertainment to them This is good for the practical Christian to observe it is the long time that troubleth them Oh say they ever since God hath first wrought upon my soul I have been exercised with these thoughts such dreadfull suggestions and to this day I am not yet delivered from them Be of good comfort though it be grievous to thee to feel such things in thy soul yet because withstood they shall not be imputed to thee Those that have the like temptations but for an hour and imbracing of them have more offended God and endangered their own souls Propos 3. It is good to take notice how many wayes the soul may become guilty of sinne about these thoughts and motions within us A truth â—â—â—deed it is that no natural man no civil or formal man doth understand or can be affected with Can a blind man that doth not behold the Sunne see the atoms in the Sun-beams They who are not affected or grieved about great and actual sins will they find these inward motions to be burden If they can swallow a Camel will they not a mote 1. Therefore we come to sinne by these motions and thoughts of soul by the very being of them there The very having of them there is contrary to the Image of God we were first created in As in Heaven there is no unclean thing that can enter so where the Image of God is full and compleat the least vain thought the least sinfull stirring can no more consist with it then darkness with light or as at the first creation we could not have found one weed or thistle on the ground but these came by the curse for sinne so at first in mans soul there would not have appeared the least irregular and inordinate motion of the heart not one thought would have been out of its place Adam was Gods book coming immediately from him wherein no errata could be found but now in stead of wheat come up cockles Now what ever we think we imagine we move to all doth become sinne unto us Oh then let the godly soul mourn and humble it self because such motions are
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Cor. 11. This is not to eat the Lords Supper yea unworthy receivers eat and drink their own salvation Thus the Scripture when it attends to mens either resting upon them as if they could save or the sinful abuse of them by not attending to the grace signified doth speak in an undervaluing way of them But then at other times when it doth respect the institution of Christ and the effects thereof then glorious and great things are spoken of them yet though the Scripture commends and commandeth them as the institution of Christ for supernatural effects notwithstanding that old Rule is to be received that not the privation but the contempt of Sacraments doth damn so that the after ages of the Church which came to idolize Baptisme and to put so much vertue even in the very external act done can no wayes be justified yea so greatly did superstition grow in this kind that they thought Baptisme did also work some wonderfull temporal effects for whereas there is a traditon though it be justly reckoned among the vulgar errours that the Jewes have by way of punishment an offensive smell or stink inflicted upon their body they instance in Jewes baptized that therby were cleansed from this filthiness The Poet Fortunatus said Sanct. Comment in Jer. 31. 29. Abluitur Judeus odor Baptismate divo Thus absurd did many grow in their thoughts about the efficacy of Baptisme but the truth is That although Baptism be an Ordinance appointed by God for the sealing of the remission of original sinne yet it hath not this effect in all neither is the benefit of Baptisme to be limited to that time only but it extendeth it self to our whole life so that we are daily to make an improvement of it both for duty and comfort And thus much may suffice for the deciding of this Question with sobriety and modesty Now if any shall say upon the hearing of this damnable estate that we are plunged into by sinne as the Disciples in another case It is good not to marry yea that it is good to have no children it is good to be no Parents because our Infants do thus come into the world upon worse terms then the young ones of bruit beasts because they are the children of Gods wrath whereas the creatures are not the creatures of Gods wrath To such as shall thus conclude I shall propound these ensuing particulars First That it is just and righteous with God to continue the propagation of mankind though man hath thus corrupted his nature Because Adam fell and so all his postcrity would be propagated in a damnable estate shall he therefore destroy the whele species of men and raze out every individuum Seeing then its Gods will that men should increase and multiply that there should be parents and children for which end he hath instituted marriage we are to regard the will of God in this way more than the adherent corruption and the rather because this damnable guilt doth adhere to our natures not from Gods primitive Institution but by Adam's voluntary transgression It being then a duty to some to marry it being by God appointed a remedy against sinne for thee to abstain from that way and to desire no children under pretence of original sinne is a meer delusion Secondly You are to know That though children be born in this defiled and cursed estate yet they are in themselves mercies and comforts which mace our Saviour say That a woman because of the joy that a man child is born she forgetteth all her sorrow and pangs that she was in John 16. 21. So that at the same time they may be by nature children of wrath and yet in another respect comforts and mercies in themselves for which end God promiseth children as a mercy and threatneth it as a punishment to be barren and childless Thirdly Thou that art a believing parent and hast thy child dying in its infancy thou hast cause to assure thy self of the mercy of God to thy child because he taketh parents and children into the same promise Oh but I know not that God hath elected him So neither canst thou thy own à priori I you must begin at the lower round of the ladder in Gods Election The effects and fruits thereof And now what greater pledge and argument canst thou have of his salvation then being born under the Covenant of grace You cannot expect actual expressions of regeneration and grace from a dying Infant therefore thou must runne to the Covenant of grace whereby God doth receive such as his members yea thou hast cause to admire the goodness of God to thy child and his mercy when so many thousands and thousands of Pagans children dying have no visible way of salvation we cannot by the Scripture as you heard see any Ark provided for them as God in mercy hath done for thee Fourthly The consideration of Gods just and severe proceedings against Pagans and their children may make thee the more admire the grace of God in saving of thee For how many Heathens perish in hell who it may be never committed such gross and soul sins in their life time as thou hast done To be sure their Infants never committed such actual inquities as thou hast done yet they appear according to Gods ordinary way of proceedings to be left in that lost estate of nature And therefore that is a good quickning meditation which Vedâ—lius 〈◊〉 Hilar. cap 3. pag. 119. To make a godly man thankfull for Gods grace seeing by nature we deserve otherwise Ah quot sunt erunt in inferno miselli infantuli c. Ah how many little Infants are and shall be in hell who never had the knowledge of good and evil and might not God have left thee in the same misery This I say is a pious meditation Though that scoffing Remonstrant prefix this expression amongst others in the front of his Book as if it were no lesse then blasphemy Vedel Rhapsod Fifthly Thou who art a parent exercised with this temptation about thy children it grieveth thee to think thou bringest them forth to be Gods enemies and the Devils children Let not this discourage thee but provoke thee the more earnestly to be much in prayer for them and to be more carefull in their education Let them be the children of thy prayers and tears the children of thy care and godly discipline and thou mayest comfort thy self that such shall not perish however thou hast done thy duty and so art to leave all to the wise and righteous God who is not accountable to man for any of his proceedings That the encouragement and hopes of parents are great in the faithfull discharge of their duties notwithstanding the guilt of original sinne may further appear as to the woman in that famous and noble Text 1 Tim. 2. 14 15. But the woman being deceived was in the transgression Notwithstanding she shall be saved in child-bearing if they continue in the faith c.
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
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
sense voluntary 38 When a punishment how from God 42 One Sin may suddenly and formally deprive the subject of all grace yet it doth not so alwayes 58 Three sorts of Sin original habitual and actual 89 The first motions of the heart though never so involuntary and indeliberate are sinfull 94 All Sin is potentially and seminally in every mans heart 103 Every man would commit all Sin if not restrained 147 Sin rightly divided into original and actual 164 Whence it comes to passe that men commit known Sins 227 Why men chuse Sin rather than affliction 283 Every man lieth under a necessity of sinning 311 Sinners To be made a Sinner by Adam is more than to be made subject to death as a curse 31 And more than to be obnoxious to eternal wrath ib. All mad truly and properly Sinners by Adam 31 34 Every man Christ excepted 387 393 Socinians Wherein Socinians do make God the author of sin 66 Socinians and Papists blasphemy 114 Socinians deny both original sin and original righteousnesse 121 The rocks they stumble at ib. 122 Soul The arguments of those that hold the Souls traduction 197 Souls not by eduction or traduction but creation and introduction 191 Soul not generated 189 Souls created 194 Origen and Plato's opinion of the Soul 186 Confuted 187 The Soul cannot be neutral 130 Inclined to earthly objects 175 Souls not created before the bodies 187 Souls come not into the world pure and holy ib. Souls not perfect substances 200 The Soul infused by creating and created by infusing 21 How it comes to be infected 393 T Taylor A Character of Doctor J. Taylor 30 He is answered in these places 62 398 407 409 422 430 449 450 452 461 476 485 518 520 521 522 523 524 525 527 528 534 535 V Vanity OF the natural Vanity of our minds 213 Virgin Virgin Mary born in original sin 398 Uncleanness A three-fold Uncleanness corporal ceremonial and moral 50 Understanding Our Understandings very weak in respect of natural things 179 219 And uncapable of holy and spiritual things 212 Voluntariness Voluntariness not requisite to every sin 39 W Wickedness OF the extream Wickedness of the world 172 Will. Willeth No man Willeth sin and damnation as such 38 Adams Will how ours 39 The Nature of the Will 270 The difference between the Will and understanding 271 Will taken ambiguonsly 272 The Will the seat of obedience and disobedience 273 Good is the proper object of the Will. ib. The several operations of the Will 274 The difference between a wicked mans and a good mans doing what he allows not 88 Free Will how far we are deprived of it 116 The corruption of the Will in volition 275 And in efficacious Willing a thing 276 And in fruition 277 And in its act of intention 279 And in election 282 Whence it is that the Will is backward to to follow the understanding 284 The pollution of the Will in its act of consent 286 The first motions of the Will are evil ib. The pollution of the Will in its affections and properties 289 The degeneracy of the Will 293 The Will wholly perverted about the ultimate end ib. The Will naturally inclineth to be independent on God 295 The contumacy and refractoriness of the Will 297 The enmity and contrariety of the Will to Gods will 298 The rebellion of the Will against the light of the mind and the slavery of it to the sensitive part 299 The mutability and inconstancy of the Will 300 The bondage of the Will and of free will 302 No man before grace hath free will to good 305 The Will impotent to spiritual things 313 Free will how call'd in Scripture 307 Exalted by erroneous persons 308 The different effects of free will and free grace in mens lives 310 The difficulty of the question 311 Demonstrations against it ib. The definitions and descriptions of it 320 Doth not consist in an active indifferency to good or evil 321 FINIS TO THE READER A Digressive Epistle concerning Justification by Faith alone excluding the Conditionality of Works in that Act either begun or continued Tending to a friendly debate between a Reverend Learned and godly Brother and my self in that Point THe Doctrine of Original sinne and Justification by Faith alone are not altogether heterogeneous Yea Stapleton maketh the former the Mother and the latter the Daughter as they are avouched in the Protestant way I shall therefore here take the occasion to lay down severall Propositions that may conduce to the further discovery of the Contents of that amicable collation between my learned Brother and my self in this particular Not that my purpose is to vindicate those Arguments I have formerly in a Treatise of Righteousness produced against conditionality of Works in the Act of Justification from the Exceptions and Answers he hath pleased lately to give in unto them for I shall venture their credit and strength notwithstanding all that he hath said to the contrary with the intelligent and impartiall Readers till I am advised by the judicious and Learned there is a necessity of rescuing them from his assaults The generation of Divines which shall arise that knew Joseph who are aquainted with the Doctrine and Spirit of the first Reformers in this matter they will not take up their perswasions from one or two English Writers in this case It is true Aristole saith lib. 1. Rhetor. cap. 11. that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Contentions are pleasant and Conqest in them sweet But that is true in reference to the Philosophers and Oratours of old who were animals of glory and had a libidinous appetite after applause 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Justin Martyr alludeth and the Oratours so insatiable after praise that rather then want it they would hire their Laudicenes to applaud them with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But in Theologicall contests we ought to have more mortified and sanctified hearts for when we have watched over our souls with the greatest diligence we can yet we have cause to pray that God would forgive us our Book-sins and preserve us from loosing the comfortable sense and enjoyment of Justification while we dispute about it Not therefore from a spirit of contention or opposition to my learned Brother whom I highly honour but love to that precious and antient Truth as I judge it to be which through infirmity is opposed by him happily inclined thereunto by his laudable Zeal against Antinomian dotages I proceed to lay down severall Propositions which when I have done my thoughts are to say Ite missa est The Reformers in their first Conflicts with the Popish Adversaries about Justification among the controversall Points therein judged this none of the least The Meanes or Manner how we are justified Indeed Justification being the heart as it were of Religion a little prick therein is dangerous It being the eye of Christianity a little