Ver. r 2. the 8th Chapter of the ROM ANS. ;<o9 not the knowledg of hy mays,, That they may fpend their days in mirth 5 that God fhould banifh them out of his pretence wish a curle,never to be reverted 5 they do in effe& bid God be gone, the very thoughts of him are an interruption to that fort of life they have chafen, that he lhould bid them depart ye curled , who bid him depart firfr. In (bort, that the carnal life, which is but a fpiritual death,lhould be puni(hed witheter- nal death, r Tim. 3. 6. She that liveth in pleafrrre is dead while fhe liveth. A kind of caseate, or rather a living creature dead, eftranged -from the life of God, and then de- prived of eternal life. 2. They refufe the remedy. The great bufinefs of the Chriflian Religion, is to difpol fets us of the bruti(h Nature which is gotten into us. I fay, this is the drift and tenure of Chri(lianity, to recover us from the fle(h, toGod: To turn man into man again , that was become a beat(; to draw him off from the Animal life, to life Spiritual and Eter- nal : To drive out the Spirit of the World, and introduce a Divine and Heavenly Spi- rit purchafed by Jefus Chrift, and offered to us in the promifes of the Gofpel. The World is mad, and brutifh, enflaved to lower things 5 but this healing inflitution of Chrill, is to make us Wife and Heavenly ; to recover the immortal Soul, that was Im- bondaged to earthly things, and depreffed and tainted by the obje &s of fence, into its former liberty and pe ^fe &ion, that the Spirit might command the flefh,and man may leek his happinefs and bleffednefs in tome higher and tranfcending good, than the bealts are capable of. In (bort, as fin was the transforming of a man into a beat(; fo Chri(lianity is the transforming of bea(ls into man again : To re (lore humanity, and elivate it from the (late of fubje&ion to the fleth 5 Joh: 3.6. That which is born of the flefb it f eft, and that which is born of the fpirit is fpirit. 2 Pet. i. ¢. Whereby are given us great and preci- our promifes, that by theft you might be partakers of the divine nature 5 having efcaped the corruption that is in the world through loft. t Cor. 2. 12. Now we have received not the fpi- rit cf the world, but the fpirit which is of God, that we may /Inow the things that are fïee- ly given us of God. Now after this is done with fuch coif and care, if men will love their bondage, defpife their remedy, furely they are worthy of the fevere(l puni(hment, Joh. 3. to. And thin is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darhnefs rather than light, becaufe their deeds are evil. If they refufe this Spirit that is offered to change our natures, and lift us up from earth to Heaven, and we will not be changed, and healed, but wallow in this filth and puddle (till, we are doubly culpable for not doing our duty, and refuting our remedy. But you will fay, The punifhment is Eternal5 how will that (land with the ju (lice of God to infliet it, for temporal offences? ì. Anfwer. 'Till the carnal life ceafeth, the full puuithment Both not begin or take place 5 as when men have done their work they receive their wages. 'Tis not infli&ed till after death, and in the other world there is no change of (late : our tryal is over, our fentence is pall, the gulph is fixed between Hell and Heaven, that the inhabitants of the one cannot come into the other place, Luke t6. 26. z. There was Eternal life in the offer. Now if men will part with this for one mor- lel of meat, this is prophanefs indeed. Feb. 12. 1;, 16. The things propounded to their choice, are Eternal happinefs, and Eternal mifery; if they refufe the one, they in ju (lice deferve the other. 3. If they be Chri(tians, they do not pay their great debt, or fulfil their Covenant. Vow, and fo make the forfeiture. The Apoffle here inferreth the great danger out of the debt, Te are debtors; that if we live after the flefh, we (hall die; they are entered into the bond of the holy oath. So elfewhere, Gal. 5.24. They that are Thrifir, have crucified the flefb with the afeilionr and huffs thereof How are we Chrifts ? as dedicated to him in Baptifm, they have renounced the Devil the World, and the flesh ? they are Chrifts not only de jure they ought to do to 5 but de faflo, they have crucified the fle(h: 'Tis hypocrifte and perjury that the carnal and brui. ti(h nature fbould reign in us; baptifm tmplyeth a vow, we are baptized into the likenefs of his death Rom. 6. 3. Chrift bound himfelf to communicate the vertue of his death; and we bind our felves to die unto fin, and to ufe all Chris infituted means to that end and purpofe 5 now if after that we are waffled, we (till wallow in the mire, and affeét that life which we have renounced, and gratifie what we ihonld cru- cifie ; cherish the fle(h, rather than ufe Chrifis healing means to fubdue it,, and purge it out, our very baptifm will follicite the more fevere vengeance, and be a fwifi witnefs again(( us. It were better fcalding oyl hadlibeen poured upon us, than the water of baptifm; and if there be any place in hell hotter than others, 'cis for hypocritesand perjured perfons' that have broken the vow of their God which is upon them ; this tlrould
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