in Contriving Man's Redemption. i ')I_ feUs hinifelf to do evil, Ifa. 28. I 5· As that which is fo ld patfes i~to the.Polfdffio.n ~the~ Buyer,--fo the Sinner exchanging himfelf fort he Plea(ures of Sin, ." un e~ tts. o~- ~· er Original Sin took Polfdlion of our Natu re, aud All:ual of our Ltves. h e 15 1 • 1 e Se~vant of Corruption by yield ing to it : For of whon/ a "'"" is overcome, of 1 '~H"" ~e is brought in Bodagc, 2 Pet. 2. I9. The condition of the moll wretched Boo av~fi ~ more f1veet aod lefs fervile than that of a Sinner. f'or . rhe feverell Tyranny IS exerc; 1 e l only upon the Body, the Soul remains free in the midll of Chains; SlavcH~Ha b~~ u~1=-.z Bodies, Rev. 1-8. q. but the Power of Sin opprelfes the Soul, .<he !" 0 . no he Part and defaces the b,right Charall:er of the Deity that was llampt upon Its Vtfage. T worh Slavery is terminated with this prefem Life. 1n tbe Grave the Prifonm •·e1 '"/ether they hear not the Voice of the Opprejfor. The fiJJaU and the great •.re there, ant· t '~ e~ van;hfreefro»thisMtJ(ier. Job. 3· 18, 19. But ~here is no exemption from t IS ervttu~~ ~a~e~~~~ ~i:~:ad:,itu~~~:~~re_;:.~;[~ny of Satan, who is call'd th_e God a[ this World, and is more abfolute than all temporal Princes, his Dominion bemil'. ,over ;~e Will. He overcame Man in Paradife, and by the right of War rules over h1m. e Soul is kept in his Bondage by fubtile Chains, of which the fpiriru.al Na~ure •: capable. The tlnderflanding inaptivated by Ignorance·and Errors; the Wtll by tnordmat~ and dange rous Lulls; the Memory by the Images of finful Pleafures, thofe. mortal Vt~ons which inchant the Soul, and make it not defirous of Liberty. Never dtd. cruel Ptrate fo incompafliona tely urge his Slaves to play their Oars in charging, or_.Aymg from an Enemy, as Satan incites thofe who are his Capti\'es to do his lYiU, 2 l 1m. 2. ~ 26. f\nd can there be a more at!lill:iog Calamity, than to be the Slave of ones Enemy, efpectally if ba[c and cruel?' This is the Condition of Man, he is a CaptiVe to the Dev1 l, ':'ho ~as a Liar, aud a Ll111rdererjrom the Beghming. He is under the ~age of t!l~t ~loody Tyrant, whofe Ambiri on was to render Man as miferable as himfelf, who m trmmph upbra;~sf'~~~JM~~si,r~~~~r ~~~ ~du~~ed:~f~:~~o~:~so~r~!tw. f'i:ir b.eing guilty, he is jullly expofed to the Puoi lhment threatned againll Tranfgretfors, wtthout the allowance of Repentance to obtain Pardon. And Confcience, \9hi: h is the .Eceho of the Law in his Bofom, repeats the dreadful Sentence. This is an A:ccufer whtch 'IlOne -.:an lilence, a Judge that none decline: And from hence it is·that N1en all their Life a:re fitbjetl to Bondage, Heb. 2. be ing obnoxious to the Wrath of God, ~vhith the awakened Confcience fearfully fets before them. This complicated Servitude of a Sinner the Scripture reprefents under great V;u'iety of Similitlfdes, that theDefeltsofonemaybefuppliedbyanother. Every Sinner IS a Servant, ]oh . 8. 34· Now a Servant by flight may recover his Liberty: But the Sinner is a Captive in Chains 2 Tim. 2. ult. A Captive may be freed by laying down a Ranfom; but the Sinner is deeply in Debt: Every Debtor is not miferable by his own Fault, (Mat. I 8.) it may be his Infelicity, not his Crime, that he is poor; but the Sinner is guilty of the highefl Offences, lfo. 1. 6. A guilty Perfon may enjoy his H'ealth; b~t the Sinner is fick of a deadly Difeafe, an incurable Wound: He that is fick and wounded may fend for the Phyfidm in order to his Recovery; but the Sinner is in a deep Sleep, 2 Iim. 2• 26. The l!pojlle fets forth the Converfon of a Sinner by the Word J,,z,~~. which fignifies an awaking out of Oeep, caufed by the Fumes of Wine or Jl.rong Liquor; which is an excellent Refemblance of the Sinner's State, wherein the fptritual Senfes are bound up, and the P11jfions, as thick and malignantVapo11rs, cloud the Mind, that it cannot reflell: - upon his Miferies. He that is aOeep may awake; bur the Sinner is in a State of Death, which implies not only a Cejfotion from all vital AtJions, but an abfolute difability to perform them. The Underllanding is difabled for any fpiritual Perception, the Will for ' ?ny holy Inclinations, the whole Man is difabled for the fenfe of his wretched State. This is thefpiritual Death which jullly expofes the Sinner to Death temporal and eternal. 4· Every Man as defcending from Adnm, is borri a Sacrifice to Death. His condition in this World is fo wretched and unworthy the original Excellency of his Nature, that tt deferves not the name of Life: 'Tis a continual Exercife of finful All:iohs difhonourable to God, and damning to himfelf, and after the Succeffion of a few Years in the Defilements of S!n, and t~e Accidents o!' this frail State, in doing and fuffering ~vil, Man comes to hrs .fatal Penod, and fa!ls. mto the bottomlefs Pit, the place of Pollutwns and Horrors, of Stn and Torments. TtS there that the Wrath ofGod nbidesimhim; and !"ha k.t>ows the Power of his Wrath? According to his Fear, fois his Wtath,J'fal.9o.I2. Fear IS a~ unbounded Paffion, and can extend it felf to the Apprehenfiori of fuch Torments, whtch n~.finitc P01~er can inflill:: But the Wrath of Gad exceeds the moll jealous Fears ofthe gtHlty Confctence. It proceeds from i~finite Juflice, and is executed by Almighty Power,
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