to the EPHE S I A N S.- SERMON I X. EPH£5. 2. l· ~---- .And were b) 'NattJre tbe Chi/Jrm of Wrat/1, ewn as ot!Jers. THefe words are the general Conclufion and winding up of what the Apo– f\Je had laid concerning our fiate by Nature ; which he h~d largely and punctually let forth in the words before. And unto all that he had·raid before, there is in thefe words the addition ofthree things. 1. Ofthe Caufe, and the firfi Caufe, or at leafi the fundamental Caufe, of all the Corruption that is in our Hearts, and ofall thole Lufis, and ofall that Fle!h ·and Corruption which he had fpoken ofimmediatly before. And were hy Nature. 2. Ofthat Puni!bment which is due to Men in their natural fiate; and for their Natures, and for all the Sins committed in that fiate. The Children ofWrath. . 3: OfUniverfality, it is every man's cafe, both Jew and Gentile, Even "'othm. I opened formerly the Phr'!Jiologie of thefe words. As, I ~"What was meant hy Nature here. I told you hyNature was meant here, . ·'I' r. Natural difpofitions. The.inlet of Sin, the ground and the root of it, was · not cufiom and imitation, but it was OUI natural difpofitions. 2. ByNat11re, thatis,byBirth. So it istakenin Rom. 2. 22, · 3·. By Natttre: it imports that whole efiate ofNature, which while men live in; they live in the Lulls ofthe Flclb, they are dead in Sins and trefpaf!es, and they are Children ofWrath. ll. What was meant by Children ofWrath. i lbewed you the phrafe was taken both Al tively, and Paffively. Actively, for what one is addicted to: fo they are called Children ofWifliom, Children ofObedience, and in the words before, Chfldren ofD!fobedience. Paffively, fo it is taken here, Children o[Wratb; or,as Peter bath it, Curftd Children; or, as it is in the Original, Childrtn ofthe Curfe. III. What was meant by that phrafe, Even a< others, I told you it lmpl!ed two things. · r. That it is the common condition of all Men. 2. That it is equally the condition of all Men. Anfwerable to thefe three phrafes, I pitch'd upon three things to be explained. Of the firll f have fpoken at large. 1 made entrance·into the fecond, ( vh. That the Corruption which is in us, we have it by Birth, and by the Law ofNature) But I fini!hed it not. I !hall give you a brief Account of what I then delivered, and fo I !ball proceed. 1explained this unto you both by Come Generals, and alfo I began to enter into Particubrs. The Generals are thefe. · 1. We have· it by Birth and not by imitation: For then we lbonld have the· fountain ofour Corruption afcribed unt-o the Devil, for he was the firfi Sinner; and unto Eve, for !he was firfl: in the tranfgreffion, . r Ti111. 2. 14. But you !hall find Ill
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