The Harmony of the Divine Attributes in Mans Redemption, Chapter 4
CHAP. IV.
The impossibility of Mans Recovery, by his Natural Power. He cannot regain his Primitive Holiness. The Understanding and Will, the superiour Faculties are deprav'd. The Mind is ignorant and insensible of our Corruption. The Will is more deprav'd than the Mind. It embraces only Sensual Good. Carnal Objects are wounding to the Conscience, and unsatisfying to the Affections, yet the Will eagerly pursues them. The moral Impotence, that ariseth from a perverse Disposition of the Will, is culpable. Neither the Beauty, nor the Reward of Holiness can prevail upon the unrenewed Will. Guilty Man cannot recover the Favour of God. He is unable to make Satisfaction to Justice. He is incapable of real Repentance, which might qualifie him for Pardon.
WHen Adam was expell'd from Paradise, the entrance was guarded by a flaming Sword, to signifie, That all hopes of Return by the way of Nature are cut off for ever. He lost his Right, and could not recover it by Power. The chiefest ornaments of Paradise are the Image and Favour of God, of which he is justly depriv'd: and there is no possibility for him to regain them. What can he expect from his own Reason that betrayed him to ruin? If it did not support him when he stood, how can it raise him when he is fallen? If there were a power in lapsed Man to restore himself, it would exceed the original Power he had to will and obey: It being infinitely more difficult for a dead man to rise, than for a living man to put forth vital Actions.
For the clearer opening of this Poin…, concerning Mans absolute Disability to recover his Primitive State, I will distinctly consider it, with respect to the Image and Favour of God, upon which his Blessedness depends.
1. He cannot recover his Primitive Holiness. This will appear by considering, that whatsoever is corrupted in its noble parts, can never restore it self; the power of an external agent is requisite for the recovering of its Integrity. This is verified by innumerable instances, in things artificial and natural. If a Clock be disorder'd by a fall, the Workman must mend it, before it can be useful. If Wine that is rich and generous declines by the loss of spirits, it can never be revived without a new supply. In the humane Body, where there is a more nobl… form, and more powerful to redress any evil that may happen to the parts, if a Gangrene seize on any Member, nothing can resist its course, but the application of outward means; it cannot be cured by the internal principles of its constitution. And proportionably in moral Agents, when the Faculties which are the principles of action are corrupted, it is impossible, without the virtue of a Divine cause, they should ever be restor'd to their original Rectitude. As the Image of God was at first imprinted on the Humane Nature by Creation, so the renewed Image is wrought in him by the same creating Power. This will be more evident by considering that inward and deep depravation of the Understanding and Will,Ephes. 4.24. the two Superiour Faculties which command the rest.
1. The Understanding hath lost the right apprehension of things. As Sin began in the darkness of the Mind, so one of its worst effects is, the encreasing that Darkness, which can only be dispell'd by a supernatural Light. Now what the Eye is to the Body, that is the Mind for the directing the Will and conducting the Life. And if the light that is in us be darkness, how great is that darkness? Mat. 6.23.How irregular and dangerous must our motions be? Not only the lower part of the Soul▪ is under a dreadful disorder; but the Spirit of the mind, Ephes. 4.23.the divinest part is depraved with Ignorance and Error. The Light of Reason is not pure; But as the Sun when with its beams it sends down pestilential Influences, and corrupts the Air in the enlightning it, so the carnal Mind corrupts the whole Man, by representing good as evil, and evil as good. The Wisdome of the flesh is enmity against God. Rom. 11 7.And the Apostle describes the state of the Gentile World,Ephes. 4.11. That their understandings were darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts. The corruption of their Manners proceeded from their Minds. For all Vertues are directed by Reason in their Exercise, so that if the Understanding be darken'd, all vertuous Operations cease.
Besides, corrupt Man being without Light and Life can neither discern, nor feel his Misery;Eph. 4.19. 1 Cor. 2.14. 2 Cor. 4.6. The carnal Mind is insensible of its Infirmity, ignorant of its Ignorance, and suffers under the incurable extremes of being blind, and imagining that 'tis very clear-sighted. More particularly the Reasons why the carnal Mind hath not a due sense of sinful Corruption are,
1. Because 'tis natural, and cleaves to the principles of our being, from the Birth and Conception, and natural things do not affect us.
2. 'Tis confirm'd by Custome, which is a second Nature, and hath a strange power to stupifie Conscience and render it insensible. As the Historian observed concerning the Roman Soldiers, that by constant use, their Arms were no more a burthen to them than their natural Members.
3. In the transition from the Infant state, … the age of discerning, Man is incapable of observing his native Corruption: since at first he acts evilly, and is in constant conversation with Sinners, who bring Vice into his acquaintance; and by making it familiar, lessen the horrour and aversation from it. Besides, those corrupt and numerous examples wherewith he is encompast, call forth his sinful inclinations, which as they are heightened by repeated acts, and become more strong and obstinate, so less sensible to him. And by this we may understand how irrecoverable Man is by his own Reason. The first step to our Cure is begun in the knowledge of our Disease, and this discovery is made by the Understanding, when 'tis seeing and vigilant, not when 'tis blind. A Disease in the Body is perceived by the Mind, but when the Soul is the affected part, and the rectitude of Reason is lost, there is no remaining principle to give notice of it. And as that Disease is most dangerous which strikes at the Life, and is without Pain: for Pain is not the chief evil but supposes it, 'tis the spur of Nature ▪ urging us to seek for Cure: So the corruption of the Understanding is very fatal to Man; for although he labours under many pernicious Lusts which in the issue will prove deadly, yet he is insensible of them, and from thence fol…s a Carelesness and Contempt of the means for his Recovery.
2. The Corruption of the Will is more incurable than that of the Mind. For 'tis full not only of Impotence, but contrariety to what is spiritually good. There are some weak strictures of Truth in lapsed Man, but they dye in the Brain, and are powerless and ineffectual as to the Will, which rushes into the embraces of worldly Objects. This the universal Experience of Mankind since the Fall, doth evidently prove, and the account of it is in the following Considerations.
1. There is a strong inclination in Man to Happiness. This desire is born and brought up with him, and is common to all that partake of the reasonable Nature. From the Prince to the poorest wretch; from the most knowing, to the meanest in understanding, every one desires to be happy: As the great flames and the little sparks of fire all naturally ascend to their sphere.
2. The constituting of any thing to be our Happiness, is the first and universal Maxime, from whence all moral consequences are deriv'd. 'Tis the rule of our Desires, and the end of our actions. As in natural things, the principles of their production operate according to their quality, so in moral things the end is as powerful to form the Soul for its Operations in order to it. Therefore as all desire to be happy, so they apply themselves to those means, which appear to be convenient for the obtaining of it.
foreign· Arist. Lib. 3. Ethic.3. Every one frames a Happiness according to his temper. The apprehensions of it are answerable to the dispositions of the person. For Felicity is the pleasure which arises … the harmonious agreement between the Object and the Appetite. Now Man by his original and contracted corruption, is altogether carnal, he inherits the Serpents curse to creep on the earth, he cleaves to defiling and debasing objects, and is only qualified for sensual satisfactions. The Soul is incarnated, and it shapes a Happiness to it self, in the enjoyment of those things which are delicious to the Senses. The shadow of felicity is pursued with equal ardour, as that which is real and substantial. The supreme part of Man, the Understanding, is employ'd to serve the lower Faculties, Reason is used to make him more ingenious and luxurious in Sensuality: So much more brutish than the Brutes is he become, when besides that part which is so by its natural conditions, the most noble part is made so by unnatural choice and corruption. From hence the Apostle gives an universal Character of Men in their corrupt state, That they are foolish and disobedient, Tit. 3.3.deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures. This pursuit of Sensual pleasure, is the service of a Slave ▪ which hath no other Law of his Life but the Will of his Master. The Servitude is divers, but all are Slaves, the chains are not the same, some are more glittering but not less weighty, and every one is deprived of true Liberty.
But the Bondage is so pleasing, that corrupted Man prefers it before spiritual and real Freedom. Sensual Lusts blind the Understanding, and bind the Will so that he is unable because unwilling to rescue himself. He is deluded with the false appearance of Liberty, and imagines that to live according to Rule, is a slavish Confinement. As if the Horse were free, because his Rider allowes him a full career in a pleasant Road, when the bridle is in his mouth, and he is under its imperious check at pleasure. Or a Galley-slave were free, because the Vessel wherein he rows with so much toil, roams over the vast Ocean. And whereas there are two Considerations which are proper to convince Man that the full and unconfin'd enjoyment of Worldly things, cannot make him happy, because they are wounding to the Conscience, and unsatisfying to the Affections; yet these are ineffectual to take him off from an eager pursuit of them. I will particularly consider this, to shew how unable Man in his lapsed condition is to disintangle himself from miserable vanities, and consequently to recover his lost Holiness.
1. Sensual Pleasures are wounding to the Conscience. There is a secret acknowledgment in every Mans breast of a Superiour Power to whom he must give an account, and though Conscience is much impair'd in its Integrity, yet somtimes it recoils upon the Sinner by the foulness of his actions, and its testimony brings such terrour, as makes Sin very unpleasant. The Poet tells us, that of all the Torments of Hell, the most cruel and that which exceeds the rest is, Nocte dieque suum gestare in pectore testem.
And how can the Sinner delight freely in that which vexes and frets the most vital and tender part. He cannot enjoy his charming Lusts without guilt, nor embrace them without the reluctancy of a contradicting Principle within him. As the fear of Poison will imbitter the sweetest Cup, so the purest Pleasures are allayed with afflicting apprehensions of the future, and the presage of Judgment to come. Now Man in his Sensual state tries all waies to disarm Conscience, that he may please the lower appetites without regret. I will instance in the principal.
1. He uses many pleas and pretexts to justifie, or extenuate the evil, and if possible to satisfie carnality, and Conscience too. Self-love, which is the eloquent advocate of Sence, puts a varnish upon Sin, to take off from its horrid appearance; and endeavors not only to colour the object, but to corrupt the Eye by a disguising tincture, that the sight of things may not be according to truth, but the desire. Thus the Heathens allowed Intemperance, Uncleanness, and other infamous Vices as innocent gratifications of Nature. Now if the Principles in Man are poisoned, so that evil is esteemed good, he then lives in the quiet practice of Sin without reflection or remorse. There is no sting remains to awaken him out of Security. But if he cannot so far bribe Conscience as to make it silent, or favourable to that which delights the Sence, if he cannot escape its internal condemnation, the next method is by a strong diversion to lessen the trouble.
2. When the carnal Mind sees nothing within but what torments, and finds an intollerable pain in conversing with it self, it runs abroad, and uses all the arts of oblivion to lose the remembrance of its true state. As Cain, to drown the voice of Conscience, fell a building Cities; and Saul, to dispel his Melancholy, call'd for Musick: The business and pleasures of this life are dangerous amusements to divert the Soul, by the representation of what is profitable or pleasant, from considering the moral qualities of good and evil. Thus Conscience, like an intermitting Pulse, ceases for a while. Miserable consolation! which doth not remove, but conceal the evil till it be past remedy. But if Conscience, notwithstanding all these evasions, still pursues a Sinner, and at times something disturbs his reason, and his rest, yet he will not part with carnal Pleasures. For being only acquainted with those things that affect the Senses, & having no relish of that Happiness which is sublime and supernatural, if he parts with them he is deprived of all delight, which is to him a state more intollerable than that wherein there is a mixture of delight and torment. From hence it appears that the interposition of Conscience, though with a flaming sword between Man carnal, and his beloved objects, is not effectual to restrain him.
2. All worldly things are unsatisfying to the Affections. There are three Considerations which depreciate and lessen the value of any good.
1. The shortness of its duration.
2. If it brings only a slight pleasure.
3. If that pleasure be attended with torments.
All which are contrary to the essential properties of the supreme Good, which is perpetual, and sincere without the least mixture of evil, and produces the highest delight to the Soul. Now all these concur to vilifie worldly things:Isa. 40.6, 7. 1 Pet. 1.24, 25. foreign· Pindar. 1. They are short in their duration: Not only the voice of Heaven but of the Earth declares this, That all flesh is grass, and the glory of it as the flower of the grass. Life the foundation of all Temporal enjoyments is but a Span: The longest Liver can measure in a thought the space of time between his Infant-state and the present hour: how long soever, it seems as short to him as the twinkling of an eye. And all the glory of the flesh, as Titles, Treasures, Delights, are as the flower of the grass, which is the most tender amongst Vegetables, and of so weak a subsistance, that a little breath of Wind, the hand of an Infant, the teeth of a Worm can destroy it. The pleasures of Sin (under which Secular Greatness and Wealth are comprehended) are but for a season. Heb. 11.25.They are so short liv'd, that they expire in the birth, and die whilst they are tasted. Again; they bring only a slight pleasure, being disproportionable to the desires of the Soul. They are confin'd to the Senses, wherein the Beasts are more accurate than Man, but can't reach to the upper and more comprehensive Faculties. Nay they cannot satisfie the greedy Senses, Eccles. 1.much less quiet the spiritual and immortal Appetite. What the Poet speaks with astonishment of Alexander's insatiable Ambition, Aestuat infelix angusto limite mundi,
That the whole World seem'd to him as a narrow Prison, wherein he was miserable, and as it were suffocated, is true of every one. If the World was seated in the Heart of Man, it can no more satisfie it, than the Picture of a Feast can fill the Stomach. Besides, vexation is added to the vanity of worldly things. And that either because the vehement delights of Sense corrupt the temperament of the Body in which the vital complexion consists, and expose it to those sharp Diseases, that it may be said without an Hyperbole, That a thousand Pleasures are not equal to one Hours pain that attends them: or, because of the inward torture of the Mind, arising from the sence of Guilt and Folly, which is the anticipation of Hell it self, the beginning of eternal Sorrows.
Now these things are not obscure Articles of Faith, nor abstracted Doctrines, to be consider'd only by refined Reason, but are manifest and clear as the Light, and verified by continual Experience: 'Tis therefore strange to amazement, that Man should search after Happiness in these things where he knows 'tis not to be found▪ and court real Infelicity under a deceitful appearance, when the Fallacy is transparent. Who from a principle of Reason would choose for his Happiness a real Good, which after a little time he should be depriv'd of for ever: or a slight good for ever; as the sight of a Picture, or the hearing of Musick. Yet thus unreasonable is Man in his lapsed state, whose Soul is truely immortal, and capable of infinite Blessedness, yet he chooses those delights which are neither satisfying, nor lasting. And because the Humane Understanding from time to time is convinc'd of the vanity of all sublunary things, therefore to lessen the vexation which arises from Disappointment, and that the Appetite may not be taken off from them, corrupted Man tries;
1. By variety of objects to preserve uniformity in Delight. The most pleasing if confin'd to them grow nauseous and insipid, after the expiring of a few moments there remains nothing but satiety and sickly resentments: and then changes are the remedies, to take off the weariness of one pleasure by another. The Humane Soul is under a perpetual instability of restless desires, it despises what it enjoyes, and values what is new, as if Novelty and Goodness were the same in all temporal things. And as the Birds remain in the Air by constant motion, without which they would quickly fall to the Earth as other heavy bodies, there being nothing solid to support them; so the Spirit of Man, by many unquiet agitations and continual changes subsists for a time, till at last it falls into Discontent and Despair, the center of corrupt Nature.
2. When present things are unsatisfactory, he entertains himself with Hope: for that being terminated on a future Object which is of a doubtful nature, the Mind attends to those Arguments which produce a pleasant belief, to find that in several objects ▪ which it cannot in any single one, and to make up in number, what is wanting in measure, whereas the present is manifest and takes away all liberty of thinking. Upon this ground Sensual Pleasure is more in expectation than fruition: For Hope by a marvellous enchantment not only makes that which is future present, but representing in one view that which cannot be enjoyed but in the intervals of time, it unites all the successive parts in one point, so that what is divided and lessen'd in the fruition, which is alwaies gradual, is offer'd at once and entire. Thus Man carnal deceived by the imperfect light of Fancy, and the false glass of Hope, Psal. 3.6.chooses a fictitious felicity. Man walks in a vain shew. His original Errour hath produced this in its own image. And although the complacency he takes in sensual objects is like the joy of a distracted Person, the issue of folly and illusion, and Experience discovers the deceit that is in them; as smelling to an artificial Rose, undeceives the Eye; yet he will embrace his Error. Man is in a voluntary Dream, which represents to him the World as his Happiness, and when he is awakened, he dreams again, choosing to be deceiv'd with delight rather than to discover the truth without it. This is set forth by the Prophet, Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way, yet saidst thou not there is no hope: Isa. 57.10.that is, Thou art tired in the chase of satisfaction from one thing to another, yet thou wouldst not give over, but still pursuest those shadows which can never be brought nearer to thee. And the true reason of it is, that in the humane Nature there is an intense and continual desire of Pleasure, without which Life itself hath no satisfaction. For Life consisting in the operations of the Soul, either the external of the Senses, or the internal of the Mind, 'tis sweetned by those delights which are suitable to them. So that if all pleasant operations cease, without possibility of returning▪ Death is more desireable than Life. And in the corrupt state there is so strict an alliance between the Flesh and Spirit, that there is but one appetite between them, and that is of the flesh.
All the Designs and Endeavors of the carnal Man are by fit means to obtain satisfaction to his Senses: as if the Contentment of the Flesh and the Happiness of the Soul were the same thing; or as if the Soul were to die with the Body, and with both, all Hopes and Fears, all Joys and Sorrows were at an end. The Flesh is now grown absolute, and hath acquir'd a perfect Empire, and taken a full possession of all the Faculties. For this reason the Apostle tells us,Rom. 8.7, 8. They that are in the Flesh cannot please God. And the carnal will is enmity against God, 'tis not subject, neither can it be. 'Tis insnar'd in the cords of Concupiscence, and cannot recover it self from its foolish bondage. But that doth not lessen the guilt; which will appear by considering, there is a twofold Impotence.
1. There is a natural Impotence which protects from the severity of Justice. No Man is bound to stop the Sun in its course, or to remove Mountains: For the humane Nature was never endued with Faculties to do those things. They are inculpably without our power. Now the Law enjoins nothing but what Man had in his Creation an original Power to perform.
2. There is a moral Impotence, which arises from a perverse disposition of the Will, and is join'd with a delight to Sin, and a strong aversion from the holy Commands of God; and the more deep and inveterate this is, the more worthy 'tis of punishment. Aristotle asserts,Ethic. 3. That those who contract invincible Habits by Custome, are inexcusable though they cannot abstain from evil. For since Liberty consists in doing what one wils, this impossibility doth not destroy Liberty; the depravation of the Faculties doth not hinder their voluntary operations. The Understanding conceives, the Will chooses, the Appetite desires freely. A distracted Person that kils is not guilty of Murder, and therefore secure from the Sentence of the Law. For his Understanding being distemper'd by the disorder of the images in his Fancy, it doth not judg aright, so that the action is involuntary, and therefore not culpable. But there is a vast difference between the causes of Distraction, and those which induce a carnal Man to sin. The first are seated in the distemper of the Brain, over which the Will hath no Power: whereas there should be a regular subjection of the lower appetite to the Will enlightned and directed by the Mind. The Will it self is corrupted and brought into captivity by things pleasing to the lower Faculties: It cannot disintangle it self, but its impotence lies in its obstinacy. This is the meaning of St. Peter, speaking concerning unclean Persons, That their eyes are full of adultery, and they cannot cease from Sin. 'Tis from their fault alone that they are without power. Therefore the Scripture represents Man to be foreign and foreign, weak but wicked. His disability to supernatural Good, arises from an inordinate Affection to that which is sensual. So that 'tis so far from excusing, that it renders inexcusable, being voluntary and vitious. And in this the Diseases of the Body are different from those of the Soul. In the first the desire of healing is ineffectual, through want of knowledg or power to apply Sovereign Remedies. Whereas in the second, the sincere desire of their Cure is sufficient, for the Diseases are corrupt desires.
The Natural Man is wholly led by Sence, by Fancy, and the Passions, and he esteems it his infelicity to be otherwise; as the degenerous Slave, who was displeased with a Jubile, and refused Liberty. Servitude is his Sensuality. He is not only in love with the unworthy object, but with the vitious affection, and abhors the cure of it. As one in the Poet that was so delighted in his pleasant Madness, that he was offended at his Recovery;
—Cui sic extorta voluptas
Et demptus per vim mentis gratissimus error.
This is acknowledged by St. Austin in his Confessions, where he describes the conflict between Conviction and Corruption in his Soul. He tells us in the strife between Reason and Lust, that he had recourse to God, and his Prayer was, Da mihi continentiam, sed noli modo, he desired Chastity, but not too soon. This is the general sence though not the general discourse of men. As the Sick Person that desired his Physician to remove his Fever, but not his thirst, which made his drink very pleasing to him: So Man in his sensual state would fain be freed from the aestuations of Conscience, but he cherishes those carnal desires, which give a high tast to objects suitable to them.Inter caetera Mortalitatis incommoda, hoc est, errandi necessitas, & erroris amor. Senec. From hence it appears, that although in the corrupt Nature there is no liberty of indifferency to good and evil, yet there is a liberty of delight in evil; and though the Will in its natural capacity may choose good, yet 'tis morally determin'd by its love to evil·
In short, There is so much power not to sin as is sufficient to sin; that is, that the forbidden action be free, and so become a Sin. Which strange combination of Liberty and Necessity is excellently exprest by St. Bernard, That the Soul which fell by its own choice,Quod surgere Anima per se non po…est, quae per se cadere potuit, voluntas in causa est, quae corruptè corporis vitioso amore languescens, & jacens, amorem justitiae non admit…it: Ita nescio quo pravo, sed mi…o modo, ipsa sibi voluntas, peccato quidem in deterius mutata, necessitatem facit, ut nec necessitas cùm voluntaria fit, excusare valeat voluntatem, nec voluntas cùm fit illecta, excludere necessitatem. can't recover it self, is from the corruption of the Will, which overcome by the vitious love of the Body, rejects the love of Righteousness, so that in a manner as strange as evil, the Will being corrupted with Sin, makes a necessity to it self, yet so that the necessity being voluntary, doth not excuse the Will, nor the Will being pleasantly and powerfully allur'd exclude Necessity. The Law therefore remains in its full force, and God is righteous in the commanding and condemning Sinners. From all that hath been discours'd 'tis evident, how impossible it is for corrupt Man to recover his lost Holiness: For there are only two Motives to induce the reasonable Creature to seek after it.
1. Its Beau…y and Loveliness.
2. The Reward that attends it. And both these Arguments are ineffectual to work upon him.
1. The Beauty of Holiness, which excels all other created Perfections, it being a conformity to the most glorious Attribute of the Deity, doth not allure him; For, Unusquisque ut affectus est ita judicat; Man understands according to his Affections. The renewed Mind can only see the essential and intimate Beauty of Holiness.
Now in faln Man the clearness of the discerning power is lost. As the natural Eye till 'tis purged from vicious qualities, can't look on things that are bright and sublime, and if it hath been long in darkness, it suffers by the most pleasing Object the light: so the internal eye of the Mind, that it may see the lively lustre of Holiness, it must be cleansed from the filthiness of carnal Affections, and having been so long under thick darkness it must be strengthned, before it can sustain the brightness of things spiritual. Till it be prepar'd, it can see nothing amiable and desireable in the Image of God.
2. The Reward of Holiness hath no attractive power on the carnal Will; because 'tis Future, and Spiritual.
1. 'Tis Future, and therefore the conceptions of it are very dark and imperfect: The Soul is sunk down into the Senses, and they are short-sighted and can't look beyond what is present, to the next life. And as the images of things are weaken'd and confus'd proportionably to their distance, and make a fainter impression upon the Faculty; so the representation of Heaven and Blessedness, as a Happiness to come hereafter, and therefore remote, doth but coldly affect the Will. A present vanity, in the judgment of the carnal Soul, outweighs the most glorious futurity. 'Till there be taken from before its eyes the (in Tertullian's language) thick curtain of the visible World,Quae illi dispositioni aeternitatis, aul…ei vice oppansa est. Apolog. it cannot discern the difference between them, nor value the reward for its excellency and duration.
2. 'Tis Spiritual, and there must be a divine Disposition of the Soul, before it is capable of it. The pure in heart can only see the pure God. The Felicity above is that which Eye hath not seen, Mat. 5.8.nor Ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive. 1 Cor. 2.9.Now the carnal Man is only affected with gross and corporeal things. The certainty, immensity, and immortality of the Heavenly Reward, doth not prevail with him to seek after it. He hath no palate for Spiritual Pleasures, 'tis vitiated by luscious Vanities, and can't rellish rational and refined Joys. 'Till the temper of the Soul be altered, the bread of Angels is distastful to it. For the Appetite is according to the disposition of the Stomack, and when that is corrupted, it longs for things hurtful and rejects wholsome food. If a carnal Man were translated to Heaven, where the Love of God reigns, and where the brightest and sweetest discoveries of his Glory appear, he would not find Paradise in Heaven it self. For Delight arises not meerly from the excellency of the object, but from the proportionableness to the Faculty. Though God is an infinite Good in himself, yet if he is not conceiv'd as the Supreme Good to Man, he cannot make him happy.
Suppose some slight Convictions to be in the Mind, that Happiness consists in the enjoyment of God, yet this being offer…d upon the terms of quitting all sensual Lusts, the carnal Man esteems the condition impossible and therefore is discourag'd from using any endeavours to obtain it. For to excite Hope, 'tis not sufficient to propose a Reward that is real and excellent, but that is attainable. For although Hope hath its tendency to a difficult Good, as its proper object, and the difficulty is so far from discouraging, that it quickens the Soul, and draws forth all the active Powers, by rendering it greater in our esteem, yet when the difficulty is excessive and confines upon impossibility, it dejects the Soul and enclines it to despair: Thus when the condition of obtaining some good is necessary, but insufferable, it takes off from all endeavours in order to it.
To consider it in a temporal Case, will make it more clear. As one that labours under a Dropsie, and is vext with an intollerable and insatiable thirst, if a Physician should assure him of Cure upon condition he would abstain from drinking, he could not conceive any real hope of being healed, judging it impossible to resist the importunity of his drought, he therefore neglects the means, he drinks and dies. Thus the corrupt Heart of Man, that is under a perpetual thirst of carnal Pleasures, and is more inflamed by the satisfaction it receives, judges it an insuperable condition to part with them for the acquiring of spiritual Happiness: And this sensual and sottish Despair causes a total neglect of the means. 'Tis thus exp…est by the Israelites, when God commanded them to return from the evil of their waies in order to their Happiness, and they said, There is no hope, but we will walk after our own devices, Abstinere nequeo. Grot. Jer. 18.12.and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart. They were Slaves to their domineering Appetites, and resolved to make no trial about that they judg'd impossible. Briefly, In faln Man there is somthing predominant, which he values above the favour and fruition of God, and that is the World. As in the Parable, where Happiness is set for…h under the familiar representation of a Feast, those who were invited to it, excuse themselves by such reasons as clearly discover that some amiable Lust charm'd them so strongly, that in the competition 'twas prefer'd before Heaven. One saith, I have bought a piece of ground, Luk. 14.18.and I must needs go see it; and another, I have bought a yoke of oxen, and must go to prove them; and a third, I have married a wife and cannot come. The objects of their Passions are different but they all produce the same effect, they reject Happiness. The sum of all is, That as Man fell from his Obedience, and lost the Image of God, by seeking Perfection and Satisfaction, that is, Happiness in the creature; so he can never return to his Obedience, and acknowledg God as his Supreme Lord, till he chooses him for his Happiness. And this he can never entirely do, till he is born again, and hath a new principle of Life that may change the complexion of the Soul, and qualifie it for those delights which are sublime and spiritual.
Secondly, Faln Man can never recover the Favour of God; And this is evident upon a double account.
1. He is not able to make satisfaction to Gods Justice, for the dishonour brought to him.
2. He is incapable of real Repentance, which might qualifie him for Pardon.
First, He is unable to satisfie Justice for his offence, either by exact obedience for the future, or by enduring the punishment that is due to Sin.
1. Supposing that Man could perform exact Obedience after his Fall, yet that could not be satisfaction. 'Tis essential to Satisfaction, that the action by which 'tis made, be in the power of the person that satisfies. A Servant as a Servant cannot make satisfaction for an injury done to his Lord, for whatsoever service he performs was due before the offence, and is not properly a restitution, because 'tis not of his own. Now the compleat Obedience of the Creature is due to God. He is the Lord of all our Actions, and whatever Man doth is but the payment of the original Debt. The Law requires a perpetual reverence of the Law-giver, and express Obedience to his Will in all things. So that 'tis impossible that the highest respect to it afterwards, should compensate for the least violation of it.
Besides, To make Satisfaction for a Fault, 'tis necessary the Offender do some voluntary act, that may be as honourable to the person, and as much above what he was before obliged to, as the contempt was dishonourable and below that which was due. Unless God receive that which is as estimable in the nature of Obedience, as the injury he received is in the nature of Contempt, there can be no Satisfaction. Now there is a greater dishonour brought to God by the commission of one Sin, than there is honour by the perfect Obedience of all the Angels: For in their Obedience God is preferr'd by the Creature, before things infinitely beneath him, which is but a small honour, but by one Sin he is disvalued in the comparison, which is infinite Contempt.
2. Man cannot make satisfaction by Suffering. For the Punishment must be equal to the Offence, which derives its guilt from the dignity of the Person offended, and the indignity of the offender. Now God is the Universal King, his Justice is Infinite, which Man hath injur'd, and his Glory, which Man hath obscur'd; and Man is finite. And what proportion is there between finite and infinite? How can a worthless Rebel that is hateful to God expiate the offence of so excellent a Majesty? If he sacrifice himself, he can never appease the Divine Displeasure, for what doth he offer but a lump of Rebellion and Ingratitude? He can make no other Satisfaction but that of the Devils, which continues for ever, and is not compleated.
Secondly, Faln Man considered only in his corrupt and miserable state is incapable of real Repentance, which is a necessary Condition to qualifie him for Pardon. For whereas Repentance includes an ingenuous sorrow for Sin past, and a sincere forsaking of it, he is utterly indispos'd for both.
1. He cannot be ingenuously sorrowful for his offence. 'Tis true, when the circumstances are changed, that which was pleasing will cause trouble of Spirit; As when a Malefactor suffers for his Crimes, he reflects upon his Actions with Sorrow. But this hath no moral worth in it: For 'tis a forc'd act, proceeding from a violent Principle,1 Cor. 7.10. foreign· and is consistent with as great a love to Sin as he had before, and is intirely terminated on himself. But that grief which is divine, and is accompanied with a change in heart and life, respects the stain more than the punishment of Sin: and arises from Love to God, who is disobeyed and dishonored by it: Now 'tis not conceivable, that the guilty Creature can love God, whilst he looks on him as an irreconcileable enemy. Distrust of the favour of a person, which is a degree of fear, is attended with coldness of affection, a strong fear, which still intimates an uncertainty in the event, inclines to hatred: But when fear is turn'd into despair, it causeth direct hatred. An instance of this we have in the Devils, who curse the Fountain of Blessedness. If the Evil be past Remedy, the sence of it is attended with rage and transports of blasphemy against God himself.Rev. 16.21. A despairing Sinner begins in this life the gnashing of teeth against his Judg, and kindles the fire that shall torment him for ever.
'Tis for this reason the Scripture propounds the Goodness of God, as the most powerful persuasive to lead men to Repentance. Rom. 2.4.There can be no kindly relentings without filial Affection, and that is alwaies temper'd with the expectation of favour. Without hope of Pardon, all other motives are ineffectual to melt the heart.
Now the first Covenant obliged Man to Obedience or Punishment: It required Innocence, and did not accept of Repentance. The final voice of the Law is, Do, or Die. Guilty Man cannot look on God with comfort under the notion of a Holy Creator, that delights to view his own resemblance in the innocent creature, nor of a compassionate Father that spares an offending Son, but he apprehends him to be an inexorable Judge, who hath Right and Power to revenge the Disobedience. He …an find no expedient for his Deliverance, nor conceive how Mercy can save him, without the violation of Justice, an Attribute as essential to the Divine Nature as Mercy. And what can induce him to make an humble confession of his fault, when he expected nothing but an irrevocable Doom: An instance of this we have in Adam, who being under the conviction of his Sin, and an apprehension that God would be severe, did not sollicite for Mercy, but endeavour'd to transfer the guilt on God himself. The woman thou gavest me, Gen. 3.12.she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. As if she had been design'd for a snare, and not to be an aid in his innocent state.
2. A sincere Resolution to forsake Sin, is built on the hopes of Mercy. Till the reasonable Creature know that Heaven is open to Repentance, to his second and better thoughts, he is irreclaimable. He that never hopes to receive any good, will continue in doing evil. Despair of Mercy causeth a despising of the Law. The Apostate Angels who are without the reserves of Pardon, are confirm'd in their Rebellion: their Guilt is mixt with Fury, they persist in their war against God, though they know the issue will be deadly to them. And had there not been an early revelation of Mercy to Adam, he had been incorrigibly wicked as the Devils. For despair had inflam'd his hatred against God, which is of all the Passions the most incureable.
Those vicious Affections that depend on the humours of the Body which are mutable, alter with them: But Hatred is seated in the superiour part of the Soul, which is of a Spiritual nature and Diabolical in obstinacy.
In short, When the reasonable Creature is guilty and vitious, and knows that God is Just and Holy, and that He will be severe in revenging all Disobedience, he hath no Care nor Desire to reform himself. He will not lay a restraint on his pleasing Appetites, when he expects no recompence: he esteems it lost labour to abstain: And all his design is to allay and sweeten the fear of future Evils by present enjoyments. When he is scorcht with the apprehensions of wrath to come, he plunges himself into sensual excesses for some relief. He resolves to make his best of Sin for a time: according to the Principle of the Epicures, 1 Cor. 15.Let us eat and drink while we may, to morrow we shall die.
The Sum of all is this, that an unrelenting and unreformed Sinner is incapable of Pardon▪ For unless God should renounce his own Nature, and deny his Deity, He cannot receive him to favour. And it is inconceivable how the rational Creature once lapsed, should ever be encourag'd to Repentance without the expectation of Mercy: And there being an inseparable alliance between the integrity and felicity of Man by the terms of the first Covenant, the one failing, he could not entertain the least degree of Hope concerning the other.
By all which it appears he is under an invincible necessity of sinning and suffering for ever; his Misery is compleat and desperate.