An Expojition of the Epijlle ~ all good; as you have it, Ram. 8. He faith, that tbe flcfhly Mind, or cppir•"t-"" ~ the Jeaft ftirrings of the Fle!h in any Act, if Enmity ag<liii_/1 God. And, ' 3· It containeth in it the MafS, it is the Seed, the Seininaty of all fort of Sin whatfoever. For that I Will grve you that place, In Col. 2. I I. The Body of the Si 11 s of tbe Flejh. It IS a whole Body of Sm. What IS the meaning of that> In a word thus, Go take a Child's Body, and it bath all the parts; tho they ar~ not fq big asa Man's that is grown up, yet it bath all the parts of a Man: So go take that Corruption, thatliesin the Heart of every Child, it is a whole Body of Sin, it 1s perfeB: for parts, mdeed the L1mbs may grow greater and greater, as Men gro~ w1cked~r ; for this Ongmal Corrnpnon, I mean, this vicious Difpo– fition, IS mcrcafed mMen: But :yet notwnhfbndmg, 1t IS not increafed by ad– din~ new parts of Corruption to lt; but the Seeds of all were at the firll, and it llill groweth greater and greater. So yon fee here, as briefly as I con, what· [Flejb] is. That which hath exerci(ectmy thoughts mof\, is, Why it 1s called Flejh ? i find, thattheOldTellamentdidufe 1t from the very firll, Gen.6r7. When God gives the reafon there, why he would dellroy Man, and indeed the verv Sons of God, they that profcfs'd themfelves to be the Sons of God, but were al! generally unregenerate, but Noah, and one or two c;>rc that belonged to his Family, he g1ves tlliS reafon for tt, expreffcth 1t thus, 1"he Lord foid, My Spirit Jba/J 1101 always Jlrive with Mm1, for· th<lt he alfo if Flejh. By Flejb here, he cloth not mean, that Man is a frail Creature; but he fpeaks of him, ashe is finful as he is corrupt, and his meaning is this: I lee, faith he, that Man is nothin<> 1 but Flefh, that his whole Nature is nothing, but a refilling and an oppofing ~f my Spirit; and therefore my Spmt fhall not always ftnve wtth hrm for that he is Flefh: Yet, His D<IJS foal/ be all hundred and t~renty Year I, notwithllandiAg they were fo generally corrupt. And that he meaneth by Flejb, the corrupt Nature· of Man, I have much to make it plain, but I fhall in a word manifell it. It is not only becaufe it is alledged as aCaufe of the Flood, aod becaufc it is brough; in, as oppofite to the Spmt; but m the 5th Verfe, he 01eweth the Fnuts of this Flefh, God fow, that the Wiclzednefl of Mall wa1 great in theEarth, and that every Imagination ofthe Thoughts of bii Heart wtH only evil contimta/Jy. A.nd then compare with it chap. 8. verf 2 r. He had given a reafon here in this 6th Chap. why he would bring the Flood; and mark it, the rcafon mull be general, for the Flood dellroyed Infants, as well as thofe of riper years, and therefore he gives a Rea!On that fhall reach Infants, and all; ·and he faith, they were Flefh. Now in the 8th Chapter, verf 2 r. he giveth a Reafon, why he would not any mor<;> bring the Flood, and what is it ? The Lord foid in hi< Heart, I rvi/1 not mrft the GJ'ou11d any ntore for Matt's ji1~; for tbe lmagiuatio11 of Mtut'J Heart is e-t·il fi·o,n hi< Yo11th, or Infancy. There are fome Interpreters that read it thus: I will not dellroy it, altho the Imaginalion of Mans Heart is evil; bcfor~ indeed I dellroy– cd the World, becaufe Man IS Flefh, and bccaufe the Imagmanon of lliS Heart is continually evil from his Youth ; yet, altho I d·id it once, I will not do it again. It comes aUto one, the mea11ing is this: I have now received a Sacrifice, I fmell the Savour of the Bloodof Chrill in Noah's Sacrifice; therefore for his Sacrifice fake, I will be patient with Man; for he is corrupt, and I mull bring I knmv not how many Floods towafh away his Corruption, therefore I will be patient; I only bring it for this, to fhew, that the Word [ Flejb] is ufed for Original Sin. I might be large in this. Only by the way, let me obferve thi~ one thing tl!'On it: That the old World, you fee, was well inllrul.ted in the Dol.trine of Original Corruption. God reveals it plainly to Noah, gives it for a rcafon of the Flood. And there was good reafon, why it iliould be then well known; becaufe thatthe World had fallen not JDany hundred years before Ill Aclam, and Adam )1vcd mne hundred of them, to tell the Story of it. So that indeed the Dol.trine _of Man·'s Corruption was perhaps more rife and quick Ill thole Tw1cs, than 111 after- Ttmes 1t was unto the very Jews themftlvcs. Now then, the Old Tellamcnt having ufCd the word Flefo,
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