poifon is conveyed from man to man in all gene THAT all men are not equally wicked, riotous, and immoral, is manifeft, and we allow it; which is probably owing to the difference of their bodily conftitutions, education, and temptations; many alfo are withheld under various reftraints, and fo prevented from doing the evil, and committing the fin which their natures incline them to thus for want of power, or opportunity they cannot do the evil which they otherwife would. By these means the end of God's eternal providence in his wife government of the world is fully answered, he hath made all things for himself, even the wicked for the day of evil; therefore he hath left no part of his univerfal government, in the hands of any creature, abfolutely to do as he pleafes; all the abominations which he fuffers in the world are fubfervient to his great defign. The wrath of man shall praise thee; the righteous fhall be recompenfed in the earth; and the fervants of CHRIST must be hated of the world, as he alfo was, that the fcripture may be fulfilled; whereby the children of the wicked one, fill up the measure of their iniquity, as veffels of wrath fitted to deftruction F 3 IN Prov. xvi. 4. + Pfal. Ixxvi. 10. + Prov. xi. 31. In this depravity of man's nature, the effect of imputed fin, are evidently contained. 1. AN inclination or proneness to all evil, and that continually ;---fin wrought in me all manner of concupifcence *; every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart is only evil continually. 2. ENMITY against GoD, and his law; the carnal mind is enmity against GOD †, enemies in your minds by wicked works ‡. 3. BLINDNESS and darkness in the understanding, ye were fometimes darkness \---alienated from the life of GOD through the ignorance that is in them §. 4. A WILL free, and apt to evil; but to that which is good averfe and rebellious: ye will not come unto me that ye might have life **---it is not of him that willeth ¶, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power §§; it is Gon that worketh in us both to will, and to do ‡‡. By God's promifing, and giving a new heart and will to his chofen in CHRIST; it is plain that man's natural heart, and will is wholly bent upon evil, and CAN do no good because he will not. 5. The affections are difordered, and corrupt: when we walked in excess of lufts, inordinate affec tions +.-The natural man's love and hatred, fear and hope, forrow and joy; are all fet upon vain,. and finful objects; or are not rightly fet on those that are good, and lawful. 6. EVERY member of the body is readily difpofed to evil, freely offering themselves as fervants to fin; thus fulfilling the defires of the flesh and of the mind §. In this fenfe, and after this manner, fallen man hath a free will, and is a creature rationally free; he is free to fin continually; but any other kind of freedom he is utterly deftitute and ignorant of: he may indeed conceit that he is free to do good, and talk largely of his free agency, even as the poor lunatic imagines himself to be a prince, and boasts of his royal dignity, whilst closely confined in his dark and loathfome cell; whofe madness and infatuation is no way inferior to that of those vain dreamers, who fancy themselves to be free to will, and practise righteousness, whilst they are notoriously bound with the fetters, and chains of curfed pride, and vanity, covetoufness, excess of paffion, and worldly lufts.---Until these chains are broken, and thofe fetters loofed ; (whatever they dream of themfelves) by others who are fober minded, they will be counted no better than F 4 Pet. iv. 3. Col. iii. 5. Rom. vi. 19. § Eph. ii.3. than confined madmen, infatuated and enflaved by fin, and Satan. And were it not that Go», in his long-fuffering and compaffion towards man, reftrained the adverfary's power, by whom they are led continually captive, they would inftantly know that they are not free to will even their own being in the world; but, from the horrors of a guilty confcience, would feek refuge in death:thus did Judas; ignorance is a principal caufe of hardness of heart, and that of prefumption, self. confidence, or defpair. BUT whofoever is born of GOD, although he is thereby made free from fin, and become the fervant of righteousness, yet knows of a truth, that without the grace and spirit of GoD,he can no more will, or do, that which is right in his fight, than he can remove a mountain, or reach heaven with his hand whereby he is taught to work out his own falvation with fear and trembling; ever looking unto JESUS, the author and finisher of his faith; thus the true believer is led to walk humbly with God, who worketh in us both to will, and to do, of his good pleasure. Thirdly; I SHALL produce fome authorities for the confirmation of this doctrine, from the public ftandard of Chriftian faith among antient protestants; and from learned and godly men. I SHALL 1-SHALL begin with the judgment of the Englif church as by law established OF original, or birth fin, it speaks thus: "ORIGINAL fin ftandeth not in the following of Adam, (as the Pelagians do vainly talk) but it is the fault and corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam; whereby man is very far gone from original righteoufnefs, and is of his own nature inclined to evil; fo that the flesh lufteth always contrary to the fpirit; and therefore in every person born into this world, it deferveth God's wrath and damnation *" "OF ourselves, and by ourselves, we have no goodnefs, help, or falvation; but contrariwise, fin, damnation, and death everlasting; which if we deeply weigh and confider, we shall the better understand the great mercy of GOD, and how our falvation cometh only by CHRIST. For in ourselves, (as of ourselves) we find nothing whereby we may be delivered from this miferable captivity, into the which we are caft, through the envy of the Devil, by breaking of GOD's commandment in our first parent Adam. We are all become unclean, but we are not able to cleanfe ourselves, * Art. ix. nor |