III.

CHAP. fection, lust and wantonness-instead of condescen sion and obedience, pride and self-will-instead of tenderness and mercy, oppression and cruelty-instead of justice and equity, partiality and fraud-instead of peace and harmony, wars and tumults, se ditions and bloodshed, and all manner of sin and con fusion.

36. Such are the dire consequences of man's fall. And as man was tempted and overcome by the ser pent, who was below him in the order of the crea tion, he of course fell below the order of the brutes, Rom. vi being servant to that to which he yielded himself servant to obey.

16.

37. And hence it is, that the human species are become devilish, beastly and unclean, in their nature and disposition. And therefore it is said of them, Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers! And again, xxi. 33. What they know naturally, as brute beasts, in thost things they corrupt themselves.

Matt.

Jude 10.

38. Unto whatever this subversion of the true of der of God may be likened, whether to a beautiful garden that is laid waste and grown over with thorns, or to a tree that becomes degenerate and corrupt, by being neglected, or transplanted into a bad soil, it is certain that the knowledge of good and evil does exist in the mind of man.

39. For the creation remaining united in that which is corrupt, the soul of man, though a lost captive, cannot but know the difference between the good, which the dignity of his order requires him to do, and the evil to which he is enslaved by the low and beastly appetites of an inferior nature.

40. That which cannot bear the light of men, how shall it bear the light of a perfectly pure and holy God? The soul of every rational creature must there fore ascribe to the agency and influence of the devil, every act that will not bear the inspection of a fellow creature, as well as the nature of that insatiable propensity to such an act.

41. The soul cannot but know that a just, righteous and holy God, never was the original cause of that law or instinct which would destroy the dignity and superiority of man, and lead him to corrupt him

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self, or to corrupt others, below the order of the bru- CHAP. tal creation.

42. And therefore the creation groaneth in pain, under all these things that are unclean and abominable in the sight of the Creator. The works of men have become the unfruitful works of darkness: So

111.

that, as it is written, It is a shame to speak of those Eph.v.12 things which are done of them in secret. How then will

every secret action appear openly in judgment?

43. It was LUST, even the LUST OF THE FLESH, =that was imbibed by obedience to the serpent, which corrupted the nature and disposition, and degraded the dignity of man. Here was the fountain head, from which all manner of sin and iniquity, like a mighty torrent, came rolling along down through the fallen race, corrupting the earth, and teeming with ten thousand evils.

:

44. From hence proceeded the greatest of all evils, as well as the least and what still remains as the most striking evidence of man's fall and depravity, is the shedding of each other's blood. As it is written, From whence come wars and fightings among you? James iv, come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in ↳ your members ?

45. All fleshly, sensual, carnal and wanton thoughts and desires, which captivate the mind, and place it upon any other object but the perfect will of God, proceeded, through the serpent, from the source of all evil, are the effects of the fall, destructive to the soul, and a fatal bar to man's eternal peace and hap. piness.

46. All selfish and fleshly gratifications, and works of uncleanness, and all actions, of whatever shape or kind, that require to be performed secretly and in the dark, to prevent them from being seen and judged by the eye of God or man, originated with the prince of darkness, are influenced by a base and foul spirit, are the effects of guilt, entered by the fall, and degrade the dignity of man below the order of the brutes of the field.

47. And that all the hidden works of darkness are of such a base nature, would immediately appear, were all the secret actions of the human species to be

III.

CHAP. performed openly and in the sight of all men. Surely then, the sins of the present generation would be found to exceed those of Sodom, and their cry immediately ascend up to heaven!

1 John i

T.

33, 34.

48. And as God is a God of perfect light and purity, and in him is no sin or darkness at all, therefore, every work or action that requires to be performed secretly and in the dark, as well as every sin that men commit, whether secretly or openly, are all directly contrary to his purity and holiness, are condemned by the light of his presence as evil, and exposed to his righteous indignation.

49. All tyranny and oppression, of whatever name or kind under heaven; all wars and fightings; all slavery and involuntary servitude, of whatever sex, grade or colour, barbarous or civilized, proceeded from the devil, that old enemy to the peace and happiness of mankind, and entered by the fall, and is a present and direct violation of the just and righteous laws of heaven.

50. And also all treachery, or breach of faith in point of office or trust, relating to the benefit of society; all negligence of moral duty in parents to children, and of disobedience in children to parents; al unjust and unfair dealing with friend or foe; all civil fraud, and sacred hypocrisy ; all indolence and sloth, deceit and lying.

51. All these, and every other evil are the effects of the fall, through the violation of the righteous laws of God, are degrading to the dignity of man, and are the fruits of an evil and corrupt tree, implanted by the serpent in man's very heart and disposition. As it is written.

52. Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; Matt. xi. or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers! how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

21, 22, 23.

53. For from within, out of the heart of men, pro- p Mark vi ceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these come from within, and defile the man.

54. Although the root and fountain of all sin and CHAP. iniquity, which entered into the nature, and captivated the soul of man by the fall, was not to be fully revealed until Christ should make his second appearing; yet more or less in every age since his first appearing, there have been those who have borne a testimony against the root of sin, according to that measure of light which they possessed.

Isa. xai

15.

55. For every degree of light that goes to discover sin, be it more or less, is of God; and every spirit, Jam.i.17. that goes to conceal it, is a spirit of darkness, and arises from a contrary source. And here it may not be improper to add a few sentences from the writings of Thomas Boston.

State.

p. 40, 41,

&e.

56. "Man certainly is sunk very low now, in com- Four-fold parison of what he once was, God made him but a little lower than the angels: but now we find him 'kikened to the beasts that perish: he hearkened to a brute; and is now become like one of them-mind- Phil. ing only earthly things. Nay, brutes, in some sort, • have the advantage of the natural man, who is sunk a degree below them: He is more witless in what ' concerns him most-He is more stupid than the ox Isa. i. 3. or ass."

4

19.

57. "Nay more than all this, the scripture holds < out the natural man, not only as wanting the good qualities of those creatures; but as a compound of the evil qualities of the worst of the creatures-the fierceness of the lion, the filthiness of the dog and swine, the poison of the asp, and such like. Truth Matt. itself calls them serpents, a generation of vipers; Juba vi yea, more, even children of the devil. Surely then 44. man's nature is miserably corrupted."

Xm. 33.

58. "Cast your eye upon these terrible convulsions the world is thrown into by the lust of men: Lions * make not a prey of lions, nor wolves of wolves; but * men are turned wolves to one another, biting and devouring one another! Upon how slight occasions * will men sheath their swords in one another's bowels! These violent heats among Adam's sons, speak the whole body to be distempered-They surely pro*ceed from an inward cause, Lusts that war in the Jamint members."

F

CHAP.

IV.

5, 13.

59. "Laws are often made to yield to men's lusts→→→ And seldom is there a time wherein there are not some persons so great and daring, that the laws dare 'not look their impetuous lusts in the face."

60. "Men live as if they were nothing but a lump Rom.v. of flesh-They are flesh, they mind the things of the 'flesh, and they live after the flesh-If the consent of 'the flesh be got to an action, the consent of the conscience is rarely waited for: yea, the body is often 'served, when the conscience has entered a dissent." 61. "The mind of man has a natural dexterity to devise mischief: none are so simple as to want skill 'to contrive ways to gratify their lusts, and ruin their 'souls-None needs to be taught this black art; but as weeds grow up, of their own accord, in the neglected ground, so doth this wisdom, (Which is earthly, sensual, devilish) grow up in the minds of men, by virtue of the corruption of their nature." 62. "Doth not the carnal mind naturally strive to grasp spiritual things in imagination, as if the soul were quite immersed in flesh and blood, and would See Ros-turn every thing into its own shape? And hence are Four-fold horrible, monstrous, and misshapen thoughts of God, State Christ, the glory above, and all spiritual things." 63. Such then, are the evil, and deplorable effects of man's fall from his first rectitude, to which the heavens and the earth bear witness.

ton's

40-53.

CHAPTER IV.

The Mystery of Iniquity, or the Man of Sin revealed: His Rise in the Fall of Man; by the Subversion of the Original Order and Law of God.

ing soul, in which was implanted the image and law of an all-wise, and perfectly holy God; and being united to a terrestrial body, endowed with animal faculties, sensations and affections, which all originated from the fountain of true happiness and everlasting