Influences of the Life of Grace, Part 2 · Chapter 2
CHAP. II.
1. What the natural man can doe to get influences; the natural man can doe more then he does, and can exerciſe the natural powers to come within the boſome of the net, though he cannot hale himſelf to land. 2. How the Lord can command the naturally blind to ſee and believe. 3. How ſin original deſerves eternal wrath. 4. Its ſuch a ſin in infants. 5. The want of original righteouſneſſe and a power of believing is a ſin in us. 5. How the Lord commands impotent men.
THe greater doubt is how the Lord can command ſupernatural acts to a man drowned in nature:How the Lord can lay by a command, ſupernatural duties on men impotent and dead in ſin. but its not here as when a Tyrant commands a child to wheel about the firſt heaven, elſe he ſhall kill him: for the ſo moving of the heaven is neither a moral duty, nor was it ever a duty compaſſible by the phyſical power of the arm of a child or a ſtrong man. But the main intent of our Lord in laying on ſupernatural commands upon man unable to believe, is that men may know what they can pay, and what they owe and can never pay, but not of their own pay the debt of faith: the precept is not unrational where the end is rational. 2. Not that the natural man may ſatisfie, but that he may come and compone, and acquieſce to a friendly Goſpel treaty; for nothing heightneth the price and worth of Chriſt more in the ſhining of free grace, nothing kills and renders ſelf-condemned the man more then a ſeen neceſſity of forgiving love; yea, the reading of the writ of the Law-debt with tears, when this is holden out to us (the Lord gave a bill of grace to thoſe who had nothing to pay and he forgave them frankly) is a ſtrongly convincing diſpenſation.
2. Something which is really little or nothing, a natural man may doe to fetch the wind when he cannot command it, and cannot ſayl, he may and often doth exerciſe the natural faculty of moving from place to place, and comes as a meer natural man, upon a meer natural motive, ſinfull curioſity,We may uſe the loco-motive faculty in hearing and God convert men beyond their intention. and a purpoſe violently to apprehend Chriſt, as the ſouldiers doe, John 7. 45, 46, 47. yea, with bloudy hearts and a purpoſe to perſecute as the hearers of Peter doe, Acts 2. and yet beſide and contrary to the will and intent, the man is wrought upon, and converted before he go away; as ſome go to Sea and ſayl to India poor with no intention to be enriched with gold, but only to get bread, and yet they come again from India rich with Indian gold, and many precious ſtones far beſide their intention. A man rude and ignorant goes to Athens upon no purpoſe to become learned, yet providence ſo diſpoſeth that he falls in love with learning, and ſtudying many years, he returns from Athens a moſt learned man. Now no man can ſay that either the Indian gold, or the learning of Athens did contribute any real or phyſical ſtrength to his loco-motive and natural faculty of journeying to India or Athens: ſo neither can it be ſaid the Spirit of grace or the Goſpel of grace did add any new real and phyſical ſtrength to Peter's hearers to cauſe them to come in under the ſtroke of the preached Goſpel. Now the Goſpel is the power of God to ſalvation; the Apoſtle uſeth ſuch ſpiritual weapons of warefare to caſt down ſtrong holds; its the arm of the Lord, Rom. 1. 16. 2 Cor. 10. 56. Iſa. 53. 1. and the preached Goſpel is the triumphing chariot of Chriſt conquering, Chriſt's office-houſe of free grace. Now a man on his own feet, and by his own ſtrength, though ſick, may come to the Phyſicians office-houſe where all his medicine boxes and helps and remedies of health are, and be cured ere he goe a way, and may go away with perfect ſtrength and health; yet he came to the Phyſicians houſe in no ſtrength nor health, which he received from his art and medicine. The Word is the net, the Fiſh may come in its own natural motion within the boſome of the net; but its the ſtrength of the arms of the Fiſher, that hales the Fiſh to land; the Fiſh catcheth not it ſelf. The word of God is a ſharp two-edged ſword, and doth the work by the Spiri… Heb. 4. 12. The mouth of Chriſt is like a ſharp ſword, Iſa. 49. 2. His arrows are ſharp in the heart of the Kings enemies, whereby the people fall under him, Iſa. 45. 5. A man may in his own natural ſtrength come in within the ſhoot of Chriſt's arrow, and under the ſmiting and ſtroke of the drawn ſword of the Goſpel; for Chriſt puts forth his power in his Miniſters, and renewed and unrenewed may come and hear.
3. The difference betwixt the Law and Goſpel is, that the Law neither promiſes nor gives ſtrength, but preſuppoſeth that the man hath ſtrength: but the Goſpel promiſeth a new heart, and the Law engraven in the heart; therefore Chriſt doth reign in the New Teſtament in the actual Omnipotency of grace, and men by a meer local motion of nature or ſome ſuperadded morality good or bad, come in to wiſedoms houſe of wine, and bring themſelves in under the ſcattered fire coals of Goſpel-adminiſtration, with no intention ſpiritual to believe and be ſaved; and ſo the coming in to hear, and the applying of the natural organ of hearing, the ſetting on work the unrenewed mind, judgment, conſcience, heart and affections to the literal conſidering and weighing of the ſtrong reaſons that are in the Goſpel caſteth the man and his ſoul by a good and inevitable conſequent under ſuch heavenly flamings of quickning influences as convey the preached Goſpel by an Ordinance of God, in due order, to cauſe ſuch as are choſen of God believe: its in a mans free will to draw near to the fire, or not to draw near, but when he is come to the fire ſide, the fire can make him hot, whether he will or no. By a free election a man caſts timber in the fire; but without any election, a ſtrong fire cannot chooſe but burn dry fewel. Its true, the ſea-man cannot create winds, nor change the blowing of the wind from Eaſt to Weſt; yet he can prepare his veſſel, hoiſe the ſayls, and fit the ſhip for receiving the winds. The husband-man hath no command of winds, of rain, of clouds, of ſummer Sun; yet may he dreſs, labour, and ſit and prepare his rigs and garden to lie under the ſeaſonable influences of ſuch Summer air, rain, dew and impreſſions of the heaven and the clouds, as the Lord of nature ſhall afford. Now as all the Kings and duplicate page duplicate page Powers on earth cannot command wind and rain; ſo is there no induſtry required of the husband-man to procure ſummer or calm ſeaſons: nor can the Plough act upon the Sun and clouds; nor is the blame to be laid upon the Seamans ſleepineſs, that the wind is not fair for ſayling, and that the Sea flows not ſo high; yet hath the Lord of purpoſe left to all unrenewed men born where the Goſpel is preached, the gates and ports of wiſedoms houſe open, that they may come and hear, and paſs their judgement what they think of Emanuel's land, that runs with wine and milk; yea and the entry to this houſe is feazable and acceſſible, by natural ſtrength, to fools and ideots, to learned and unlearned; ſo that they need not ſay, Who ſhall aſcend up to heaven? That is, to bring Chriſt again from above: Or, who ſhall deſcend into the deep? That is, to bring up Chriſt again from the dead. But the word is now near even in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that is, the word of faith which we preach, Rom. 10. 7, 8, 9, 10. Deut. 13. 14. The preached Law leading pedagogically to Chriſt in Moſes time, and the plainly preached Goſpel offered to all in Paul's time, is an open door to all, who love to come near to Chriſt and to be warmed by him; in which conſideration there is a key put in every mans hand. 1. The unrenewed man turns away his ear from the Law, and will not let the news of the Goſpel lodge in his ear, or the outer room of his ſoul; ye ſet not a work the literal actings and cogitations of the heart, to think whether Chriſt, and Heaven and Hell conconcerns you, or no. So 2. The believer under deadneſſe and ſaddeſt deſertion, when he is at this, All is but counterfeit work I had before, Pſal. 31. 22. Jer. 2. 4. Job 13. 24. God reputes me as an enemy; He may read the word, hear the Goſpel preached, and caſt himſelf in Chriſt's way, and come in under the caſt of his ſaving influences, and ſo the fire may be kindled of new: the ſin is that the natural man uſeth wit, judgment, memory, for a worldly bargain of gain, but not for ſalvation. 3. Chriſt is in his own ordinance: never man before he be converted, can ſavingly intend his own converſion; Peter and John, and Matthew, when Chriſt ſpoke to them, minded no ſaving work on their ſpirits; nor did the three thouſand, Acts 2. nor the Jaylor, Acts 16. mind ſo much as they met with. Many came to Chriſt for bodily health, and to be freed of Satan in a bodily poſſeſſion; yet when they ſee and hear Chriſt lying at wait, in ambuſh, in the preached Goſpel, they are beyond their intentions taken captives. There is a great difference betwixt the doing of the bulk and body of an action, and the action commanded by the higheſt authority of God; even though the man perform not the action upon the account of a divine command. Suppoſe Naaman had ſeven times and ſeventy ſeven times waſhed himſelf in Jordan, ſome days before the Prophet of the Lord commanded him to waſh, it had been to no purpoſe, he had not been cleanſed from his Leproſie. It were good we prize more that which men call the fooliſhneſs of preaching: the Spirit breaths in, and through his own ordinance, when we know not.
Queſt. How can it ſtand with juſtice to command us, to make our ſelves a new heart and a new Spirit, ſince we are unable to make to our ſelves a new heart? Ezech. 18. 51. for ſaith Pelagius, inability to obey cannot be both a ſin and a puniſhment of ſin.
Anſ. Goſpel-commands ſtand well with divine juſtice. Pelagius to heighten this, ſaid, if our inability to obey be a puniſhment, its not a ſin, and if a ſin, its no puniſhment; for puniſhment cures ſin. Auguſtin. de natura & gratia, cap. 29. Quid amplius dicam (inquit Pelagius, non ipſe Auguſtinus, ut peſſime Jeſuitae) niſi quia poteſt credi, quod ignes ignibus extinquuntur, ſi credi poteſt, quod peccata peccatis curentur? Now we may believe (ſaid the Pelagians) that fire may be extinguiſhed by fire, if ſin be cured by ſin; and if God command both obedience and our impotency to obey be both a ſin and a puniſhment? ſo Julianus a diſciple groſſer then the maſter. Auguſt. lib. 5. contra Julian. c. 4.1. The commands of circumciſing our ſelves to the Lord, and of making a new heart, which are laid upon us, are materially Evangelick; but as they are charged upon unrenewed men they are formally legal, upon the Lord's intention alſo Evangelick to the choſen to fit them for Chriſt: Nor can theſe commands have this ſenſe; I command and enjoyn to you the omnipotent infuſion of a new heart. 1. God lays no acts of the infinite and omnipotent God upon the finite creature. 2. It is not his intention, nay nor his will, that reprobates create in themſelves, new vital principles of life, ſince no ſuch ſupernatural principles of the life of Chriſt, was merited to them by the death of Chriſt. 3. Its not phyſically poſſible to the Elect or to any to create a new heart to themſelves from the very ſame principles in number, which they loſt in Adam: for its a contradiction, that what is done, ſhould not be done, and what is loſt, ſhould not be loſt. Nor can the Lord command the glorified in Heaven, in whom the habit of holineſſe is perfected, to be now in glory juſtified by works; for as its a contradiction, that ſuch as once broke the Law, can be ſaid never to have broken the Law, ſo is it a contradiction, that ſuch as have once ſinned and fallen from Lawrighteouſneſs, ſhould ever after,So Pelagians taught that the godly before Moſes Law were ſaved by the law of nature. Epiſt. ad Demetrium. Hac lege naturae (verba Pelagii ſunt) uſi ſunt omnes quos inter Adamum at que Moſem ſancte vixiſſe, at que placuiſſe Deo Scriptura commemorat. Auguſt. l. 2. imperfect. operis cont. Julianum. Quid timetis magnum populum & Chriſti Judicium magnum non timetis? aperte dicite, juſtificari natura, juſtificari lege poſſumus? gratis mortuus eſt Chriſtus. lib. 2. cont. Juli c. 8. Epiſtol. 95. Serm. 36. de verbis Domini. Non ſolum ad facienda, verumetiam ad perficienda mandata divina per liberum arbitrium humana ſufficit natura. Tu nos feciſti homines, juſtos autem ipſi nos fecimus. Aug. l. de Geſtis, Pelag. c. 14. Lib. 4. ad Bonefac. c. 11. l. 2. imperf. operis, l. de ſpiritu & litera, c. 1. Pelagius l. 2. de lib. arb. apud Auguſt. l. de grat. Chriſti, c. 4. Nos ſic tria iſta diſtinguimus, & certum velut in ordinem digeſta partimur, pri…o loco poſſe (Cornel. Janſen. tom. 1. de haereſi Pelag. l. 4. c. 13. p. 87.) eſſe ſine peccato ſtatuimus, ſecundo, velle; tertio eſſe; primum illud, id eſt poſſe, ad Deum proprie pertinet, qui illud creaturae ſuae contulit, Duo vero reliqua, hoc eſt velle & eſſe ad hominem referenda ſunt, quia de arbitrii fonte deſcendunt. even for eternity be juſtified by that Law-righteouſneſs which once they loſt, or that they ſhould be juſtified both by grace, or by the redemption that is in Jeſus without works, Rom. 3. 15. Rom. 4. 1, 2, 3. and alſo ſhould be juſtified by debt and hire and by works, as Paul oppoſeth the one to the other, Rom. 4. and no doubt all the glorified were once juſtified by grace without works; even Abraham, David, and all like them▪ how then can they be juſtified by works for ever and ever in Heaven? ſee Rom. 11. 6.
Qu. What then requires the Lord in theſe (believe ye in Chriſt) [make you a new heart] except we ſay we have ſtrength natural to obey, and that by natures law many were ſaved?
Anſ. 1. He requires the free act of believing, but withall he requires what is our duty and moral obligation, but not what is our phyſical ſtrength to perform.
2. He ſhews our impotency to wreſtle out of the pit of miſery, except he give us Evangelick ſtrength to eſcape: nor is it the Lord's intention or decree that ſuch as have fallen in the firſt Adam ſhould riſe again by the firſt Adam, or their own ſtrength; or ſhould pay of their own, the money that they waſted in Adam.
Or 3. That they ſhould have, or get again the ſame individual ſanctified power, which they loſt in Adam.
Or 4. That they ſhould have theſe influences of God they once loſt.
Object. They are either condemned, becauſe they believe not by their own ſtrength, or becauſe they believe not by a ſupernatural grace, but both are phyſically impoſſible. Now we can all keep the Law whole our ſelves, juſtifie our ſelves, live without ſin.
Anſ. 1. They are condemned, becauſe they believe not through a ſupernatural power, which power all are obliged to have; for it was once a concreated and gifted power: and the want of the power of believing is a culpable and ſinful want of that image of God, which man is obliged to have, Rom. 3. 23.
2. Whatever principle and power of believing be the ground of Goſpel-unbelief which condemns men, the ſons of Adam love that want, and ſuch as are within the viſible Church are condemned for their voluntary unbelief, John 5. 24. and John 5. 40. Ye will not come to me, that ye may be ſaved, foreign; As for the want of the power of believing, it is common to all mankind, to ſuch as hear the Goſpel, and to all the Heathen, and therefore cannot be the neareſt formal principle of that Goſpel-unbelief, for which they are condemned, who being within the viſible Church, do not believe. And upon the ſame ground the culpable want of the power of believing, as of the reſt of the parts of the image of God, muſt be a ſin againſt the covenant of works, common to all mankind: now ſuch as never heard the Goſpel cannot be guilty of a ſin proper to the covenant of grace.
Qu. What then? is that a juſt command that the Lord ſhould charge, under the higheſt pain, even of the ſecond death, the blind to ſee; that is, that the natural man believe, and in the mean time,Q What power of believing we want. In what ſenſe the Lord may charge men to believe who now in Adam have loſed power of believing. God judicially puts out his eyes, and out of his abſolute freedome refuſes to reſtore to him the faculty of ſeeing.
Anſ. Suppoſe 1. That the want of ſoul power to ſee is both a ſin, (the contrary of it being moral goodneſs a part of original righteouſneſſe and of the concreated image of God, to wit, of righteouſneſs and holineſs, Epheſ. 4. 23, 24. Coloſ. 3. 10. which makes a man lovely to God;) as alſo a puniſhment inflicted, as Pharaoh's obſtinate hardneſs is both a hainous ſin, and alſo judicially afflicted for former ſins: And then the holy Law may as well charge men to be holy and able to believe, though they be judicially blind: As God may charge Pharaoh's heart to be ſoft, and moved with rods, and to yield to the command, (Let my people go) when God judicially hardens the heart.
2. Suppoſe that man loves willingly to be blind, as all love their native blindneſſe.
3. Suppoſe the blind man to be under the moral debt of having his ſeeing faculty, even the compleat image of God, and of loving, & not hating his Phyſitian Chriſt (when revealed and preached) who only can reſtore his faculty of ſeeing. Now man remaining after the Fall a reaſonable creature, is obliged by the firſt command to believe God in all he ſaith, and to love Chriſt, God incarnate or not incarnate. He from whom the eyes are plucked, cannot be under a moral obligation to ſee, becauſe the eye ſeeth not by freedome, that is, inherent in the eye: But a man within the viſible Church is obliged to perform all free obedience of believing in Chriſt revealed, whether habitual or actual, which his Creator commands; ſo the compariſon halts widely.
4. Suppoſe the man does firſt with his own hand put out his own eyes, as we did in Adam; and that the relation of penalty follows this blindneſſe, by the will of the juſt Creator, as its here.
5. Suppoſe the blind man gave virtual conſent to the voluntarily loved want of the lovely and gracious art of the onelyonly Phyſician, who can reſtore his ſight, as the caſe is here.
6. Suppoſe that the Creator of eyes hath once given the facultie of ſeeing, and that he is not obliged to reſtore it ever when the man caſts it away; and that the man a thouſand times winks,Original ſin is ſin properly ſo called. and ſhuts his eyes, and hates to be anointed; and you ſhall ſee there is no ground to quarrel with the juſt and holy Lord.
Q. Whereas the contrary opinion that denies original fin to be ſin, as Pelagians, Arminians, Socinians, 1. Contradicts Scripture, which calls it both ſin and iniquity, Pſal.Author Imperf. operis l. 1. cont. Julianum, nihil eſſe peccati in homine, ſi nihil eſt propriae voluntais, vel aſſenſionis, hoc mihi hominum genus quod vel leviter ſapit ſine dubitatatione conſentit. Lib. Imperfec. operis. 2. Quod admoneri non potest ut caveatur, imputari non poteſt ut puniatur: nunquam autem Legiſlator ad hanc venit amentiam, ut praeceperit cuiquam, noli ita, vel ita naſci. Lib. de peccato merit. & remiſ. c. 9. &c. 26. ſi peccator genuit peccatorem juſtum quoque juſtum gignere debuiſſe. Item Deum qui propria peccata remittit aliena non imputare, item parvulis melius eſſe ex parentibus non naſci. Ʋt jure damnabiles eſſe imo comparari parricidis, in quibus ſit cauſa ut filii naſcantur ad damnationem. Vide l. 3. cont. Julian c. ultimo. Item lib. 5. cont. Julian. c. 11. & lib. 5. 1. & oper. imperfec. lib. 1. & cae. Mr. Baxter's Preface to his Confeſſion God will judge none on the meer terms of the law of nature, nor condemn them only for original ſin. They that ſay otherwiſe, do too injuriouſly extenuate both the grace of God, and the ſin of man. Are not Infants condemned to death, and condemned heirs of wrath? Rom. 5. Eph. 2. 1, 2. 3. 2. Where hath the grace of God made original ſin to be no ſin, or pardoned ſinne? Hath Chriſt waſhed all Infants in his blood? Is that a ſuppoſed wrath? Eph. 2. Inſants are not waſhed in Chriſts blood according to Pelagians and Arminians, but muſt be ſaved by ſome other name then by the name of Jeſus. 51. 5. Ʋncleanneſſe, Job 14. 4. The frame of the heart evil. 2. Only evil. 3. Continually. 4. From the wombe, Gen. 6. 5. Gen. 8. 21. Offence, Rom. 5. 15, 17, 18. Diſobedience by which many are made ſinners, 19. Indwelling ſin, even when Paul is juſtified. A body of ſin, Rom. 7. 17. 23, 24. The ſin that doth ſo eaſily beſet us, Heb. 12. 1. Shall we teach the Lord to ſpeak?
2. The Lord ſaith it is an offence by which many be dead, Rom. 5. 15. By which the judgment is, by one, unto condemnation foreign. It is the condemnation to the firſt and ſecond death, from which we are delivered in Jeſus Chriſt, Rom. 5. 16. Rom. 8. 1. It's an offence by which death reigned as a King. Now if this death be but a temporary death, how is it oppoſed to the reigning in life by one Jeſus Chriſt, Rom. 5. 17? And as ſin reigned unto death, even ſo grace reigns through righteouſneſſe unto eternal life through Jeſus Chriſt our Lord, Rom. 5. 21. Now except the Scripture had taught us that there is one ſort of ſin that deſerves temporal death, another that deſerves eternal death, we cannot believe Mr. Baxter.
3. It makes us children of wrath (Eph. 2. 3.) by nature, as others are. If it be temporary wrath only, and Infants be free of ſin that condemnes to the ſecond death; Chriſt bare in his body the ſin of no Infants; Chriſt died for ſinners only, the juſt for the unjuſt, 1 Pet. 3. 18. Rom. 4. 25. Iſa. 53. 6, 10. Infants are not ſinners, nor are ſucking Infants laved and waſhed in his blood, as others, Rev. 1. 5. Nor are they ſinners whom Chriſt came to ſave, 1 Tim. 1. 15.Infants are not waſhed in Chriſt's bloud according to Pelagians and Arminians, but muſt be ſaved by ſome other name then by the name of Jeſus. Nor are Infants any of the many, or of the all, for whom Chriſt gave himſelf a ranſome, Mat. 20. 28. 1 Tim. 2. 6. And ſince the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to Infants, and they are to be baptized, Act. 2. 38, 39. there muſt be ſome other name by which Infants muſt be ſaved, then by the name of Jeſus Chriſt, contrary to Act. 4. 12. For what need is there of Chriſt's righteouſneſſe, and of remiſſion of ſins, and redemption in Chriſt's blood, Rom. 3. 25. Epheſ. 1. 7. Col. 1. 13, 14. to Infants, if ſin original be no ſin.
4. Heathens, ignorant of ſin original, are ſtill left by ſuch maſters to accuſe Juſtice. If Infants be free of ſin, why is nature called by them a ſtep-dame, which hath brought forth men in ſuch miſery when they enter in the world? Why do Infants ſuffer death, burning, drowning, ripping up, and wounding in the wombe? Why ſuffer they ſuch wrath of pining ſickneſſe, incurſions of Devils, if all theſe be free of ſin? Some ſay theſe are temporary evils, but it proves not any ſin deſerving eternal burning to be in Infants. The Lord needs not my lye; but let any man anſwer me in point of holy ſpotleſſe juſtice, how a puniſhment of ten degrees can more be inflicted for that which is no ſin, nor any tranſgreſſion of a Law, then a puniſhment of a thouſand degrees? See how Mr. Baxter, with Arminians and Pelagians, can from Scripture teach us of whole ſins and half ſins, whole wrath and hell, and half wrath and half condemnation, or half hell.
Q. But what Law is there that we ſhould have the power of believing, or the image of God? The covenant of works doth preſuppoſe that image to be in man; otherwiſe he is not in a capacitie to be in covenant with God, therefore it could not be injoyned and commanded in the covenant of works that Adam ſhould have this Image of God. And if ſo, the want of it muſt be a meer puniſhment, not a ſin.
Anſ. God in creating man is both a creator and alſo a law-giver.The Lord in creating Adam muſt neceſſarily have a two-fold Conſideration. One 1. of a Creator. 2. Another of a Law-giver. In the firſt the Lord creates Being; but in the latter he is ſuch a ſpecial Creator, to wit, a Law-giving Creator, who, while he creates Being, does concreate theſe noble Principles, and write and by nature ingrave the Law of the Image of God, the natural knowledge of God, his holineſſe, juſtice, merciemercy, &c. and of right and wrong, and a natural holineſſe and innate conformitie of the heart to the eternal Law of God in mans ſoul. A Painter drawes the portraict of a living beautiful heroick King, according to the living man; the Painter both gives being to the painted image, and ſuch a being, according to the law and art of painting; he followes exactly and accurately his copie and living ſamplar, and ſo gives a law to his own acts of painting. And therefore God, in one and the ſame act, both creates man, and gives him a being, even holineſſe, his image, and holy being; and in creating of man, gives, and concreates, and ingraves the image of GOD, ſound knowledge, right inclinations; and while the Lord creates, he gives and ingraves a Law; and while he gives and ingraves a Law, he creates man. And therefore it follows not that the covenant of works does not preſuppoſe the image of God in man; and it does not follow but the very act of God in ſtamping and ingraving his image in Adam, is alſo a giving of him a Law. Yea, God in creating any creature of nothing, does alſo concreate, as a ſort of Law-giver, ſuch a natural Law. Every creature, Sun, Moon, Heaven, Earth, Sea, Man, Angel, ought to be ſubject as a creature to God Creator in being and operation. Here is both the act of a Creator, and alſo the act of a Law-giver.
Now the eternal Law of God requires that mans ſoul ſhould be, by creation, indued with the image of God; and Adam and Evah by that image ſaid Amen to that Law for a time, Eat not, leſt ye die. They knew the Law was juſt, and they knew it was their natural obligation to obey; and how can it be denied but this knowledge was a part of the mans natural goodneſſe and holineſſe, and ſo agreeable to the eternal Law of God; and that the contrary of this, to doubt of the truth of this, as Satan induced them to doe, Gen. 3. was a blacking of that fair image, and contrary to the law of nature?
2. The more of this image that is left in the ſoules of men by nature, as the more knowledge, natural juſtice, and vertue remain in Ariſtides, Regulus, Seneca, Tullius, &c. the more lovely they are, and ſo muſt their [ſouls have a more natural conformitie with the law of nature then other Heathens, who kil'd their aged Fathers, ſacrificed their ſons to Devils,We are to be humbled for ſin original. uſed wives promiſcuouſly. Then, what God condemnes in us, that we ſhould condemn in our ſelves, and therefore are to be humbled for our ſtate we are in by nature. For we are dead in ſins and treſpaſſes, by nature the children of wrath, as well as others, Eph. 2. 1, 4, We our ſelves were ſometimes fooliſh, diſobedient, deceived, ſerving divers luſts and pleaſures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. Pſal. 51. 5. Behold I was ſhapen in iniquity, and in ſin did my mother warm me. Upon this account the Lord ſuffers his own to fall and lye in the duſt, and to know what beaſts they are, as the godly confeſſe, Pſal. 73. 23. Prov. 30. 2. themſelves to be. Nothing men are more aſhamed of then that they are deſcended of a traiterous and bloody Family, that ſucked the paps of the bear or the wolfe, that the father and mother were dogs and ſwine, and they born of leprous parents: the houſe of ſinful Adam, that we lay claim unto, is a botch-houſe, and leper-houſe, and worſe: And this is more vile then if there were none of the world that we could claim kindred unto but ſerpents, dogs, ſwine and wolves.
2. How proud and ſhameleſſe are we to deny this running botch of ſin original, and ſay it is no ſin? would it cure a man of a raging peſt-boile, to ſay it was no peſt, to give it another name? It's a part of original ſin in our Atheiſm to belye the Lord, and ſay it is ſoul-ſickneſſe, but it is not ſin; it deſerves not the ſecond death. Infants then, dying Infants, are no debtors to the compleat ranſome of blood that Chriſt gave to deliver them from the wrath: And when our Saviour bleſſed Infants, and ſaid, Of ſuch is the kingdom of heaven, his ſenſe muſt be, that infants departing this life in infancie, hold heaven by no Charter of Chriſt, the heir of all; are not waſhed from ſin, are not delivered from wrath to come, nor obtain ſalvation by our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, as it is in 1 Theſſal. 5. 9.
3. What debt is this; who of Angels or men can pay the hire of free love to Chriſt? ye were born beaſts, Tigers, Lions, Dogs, and broods of Satan and the Serpents ſeed, and Chriſt hath made you ſons of God, Kings and Prieſts to God, heirs of life, co-heirs with Chriſt, partakers of the divine nature, the firſt-born of God written in heaven.
4.No man can bring himſelf in a ſpiritual capacity to receive grace. Never dream that your own ſtrength, or good parts of nature can fit and ſpiritually capacitate you for receiving influences for ſpiritual duties; nature cannot more prepare it ſelf for grace, and a gracious ſtate, then a Thiſtle can change it ſelf into a Vine-tree: Chriſt is good at all indiſpoſitions of deadneſſe, of a natural ſtate; whom he quickens that man and he only ſhall live; who can help a dead heart, but he that is the reſurrection and the life, and he who raiſes the dead only can quicken ſuch dead ones.
5. Its a bold and proud Pen that would plead and advocate for ſuch a helliſh nature, and except Satan and his ſons Pelagians; what do they but depoſe Chriſt from his office of the Phyſician of ſinners, and bid him go back to Heaven with his Medicaments of free grace? There be here no ſick folks, free will is ſtrong enough, new habits of grace are uſeleſs, the letter and moral acting of the word can raiſe dead ſouls? ſhall we thus requite Chriſt for his free grace.
6. Though there be no merit in diligent ſeeking and hearing the preached Goſpel, its good to lie near the fountain for all that; as motion begets and augments vital heat and activity to move, frequent ſeeking brings home influences; ſo we are here in uſing means, compare Cant. 3. 1, 2, 3. with v. 4. and Pſal. 22. 2. with Pſal. 18. 6. Gen. 32. 26, 27, 28. But of this hereafter.