to the E P H E S I ANS. ' I::! I The 'Papifis luitable to their Doil:rine, as they hold that original Sin hath no- ?-~ thing po!itive i~ it, they fay it is but a meer privation, a meer emptincfs; fo an- ~ 1\verably they put Children into ,a !l:ate not of po!iuve Pat~, not ofWrath, but they put them into a !l:ate call d Limb111 lnjimtum, wherem they do as 1t were eternally fleep, 'there is a privation, but no torment, no wrath.. But you fee that here we are (; 1 id plainly to be Children of Wratb, and Wrath tmphes more than a mcer privati<m ; it implies not only a punifhmtnt of lofs, but a punifhment of fenfe, and ofthe fenfe of that lofs. This you tba\1 fee plainly in '}olm 3· 36. He that believeth not the Son, fba/1 notfee Lift, but the Wrath ofGod <~hidetb on hmt, Shall not fee Life, there is the privation; and the Wro~th o(God abideth on /;w,, there is the is the punifi1ment of fenCe too, there ts the Wrath ofGod, as the Text hete hath it. I told you there is a third Interpretation of thefe words, Children of Wrath by Nature. Tt implied a fiate, the whole a ate as "'ell as their Birch. Now the Ob– fervation from thence is thi•, That the great thing that fi10uld atfel.l: the HeartS and Spirits of Men, is their bein~ in a !inful fiate ; till fuch time as God doth in– graft them into Jefits Chrifl:, and Cave them. 1t is plainly the Apo(}le·s fcope, for • he oppofeth here [by Natm·e J to [by Grace] in the 5th and 6th verfes that fol– low. Jr is the great Error of multitudes ofCarnal Men, they fay we are all born by Nature Children ofWrath, never con!idering that till fuch time as they are turned unto God, and ingrafted into Chrifi, they remain in that !late : Ton were (faith he) CN!drw of Wrath ; he !peaks in relation to the whole condition from the very fir a moment of their conception, till God called them, and turned theni to him. This is it whicl1 the Apol1le would hold forth to thefe Ephe{ia~tJ, and the want of-the right undcrfianding ofthis Truth, undoes thoufandsofSouls: for they put off the fiate of Nature, they fay it is but the condition of all Men; and they are humbled for al:ts ofSin, but never con!ider the !l:ate they are in, which while a Man continues in, he is a Child of Wrath ; after Converlion, tho he commit afrs ofSin, he is not a Child ofWrath. But what is this aate of Nature ? A Child of Wrath: It is as if a Man fhould be condemned to die, we fay then he is a Child of Death; tho he dot\1 many ailsofLife, and lives long af– terwards, yet put him into what Clothes you will, let him eat what Meat ye will, let him have a thouland Changes, he is !l:ill in a !late of Death : So have what Changes thou wilt in this condition ; if thou growefi rich, or noble, or honour· able, thou mayefl have a great many Changes in thy Spirit, even till thou growefi good, yet till fuch time as this fiate is altered, thou art a Child ofWrath. There– fore when 'John would convince a carnal ProfeiTor, and let upon him r,he confide– ration thereof, faith he in I ]oh.2.9. He that faith he 11 in the light, and hateth hn B>'Nher, 11 in darkpefi even tmtil now; that is, he is not only to take upon hi<J< the guilt of that Sin, but even from the very fir(} time ofhis Birth to this day, he hath been in darknefs, he hath been in his firO: condition. And as men fhould lay it to heart, that they have been firfi in the fiate of Nature even until now, fo it is a great Argument that there is no falling from Grace, for it is but >mtifnow, faith he. But, I f.1y, it is the Apoftl's fcope to fhew them the O:ate wherein they were, the more to atfeCl: their hearts and fpirits. The !l:ate of Nature is the fiate in which all your Sins come upon you. There• fore the Scripture puts much upon it. John doth the like, he calls Convcrfion therefore a paJ!ing from Death to Life ; that i•, from a fiate of Death to a !l:ate of Life. And in 'John the jd chap. and lafi verf. He that believeth not, 11 condenmed already, and the Wrath of God abideth on him; though the Sentence "not executed, is not h11len upon him, yet it is -\:or<p, it is above him, (as the word. is) hangs over his head. And the word nbideth, it noteth, as Aujlin well obfer– veth, perpet11ity, it hath been upon him from his Birth, and remains to this day upon him; and tho it hath not feized on him, yet the Wrath of God cometh up– on him, it fleepeth not, as 'Peter faith. Now therefore this is that which Men fhould lay to heart, not only actual Sin, but a fiate of Sin, in which whiHl: they rem~m unchanged, unjufl:ified, unC1nCl:ified, and not umted to the Lord Jefus Chn(r, ttll they enter into another fiate, all that while they are in their Sins, they fhall anfwcr for every Sm themfi:lves, the Wrath ofGod cloth all that while abide * Q upon
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