Vita. 14,1f. Epijile to the H EB R E W sr 2.65 Secondly, The firfl effeá and confequent ofthis obnoxioufnefl unto death concurri ng unto their [late and condition is, that they were filled with fear of it : for fear ofdeath. Fear is a perturbationofmind, arifing from theapprehenfion ofafuture imminent evil. And the greater this evil is, the greater will the perturbation of the mindbe ; provided the apprehenfionofit be anfwerable. Thefear ofdeath then here intended is that trou- ble ofmind which men have in the expe&ationof death to be inflidled on them, as a punifh[nent dueunto their fins. And this apprehenfion is common to all men, arifing from a general prefumption that death is prenal, and that it is the judgment of God that they which commit fin are worthyofdeath, as Rom. t. 3z. chap. a. rg. But it is cleared and confirmed by the Law, whofe known fentence it is, Thefoul that finneth jhall die. And the troublefome expeóiation of the event of this apprehenfion is the fear ofdeath here intended. And accordingunto the means that men haveto come unto the knowledgeofthe righteoufnefs ofGod, are, or ought to be their apprehenfions of the evil that is in death. But even thofe who had loft all clear knowledge of the confeguents ofdeath natural, or the diffolutionof their prefent mortal condition, yet on a confufedapprehenfion of its being land, always etieemed it, cacep&e oagietaaTO°, the molldreadful ofall things that are founto humane nature. And in fome this is hcightned and increafed, until it come tobe coßrpb b,ofoxñ :okras, 5 suers zÿa , i.3í«1 t<ÉMOVTOS Tés itnardlTiet, as our Apofile fpeaks, chap. so. 27. A fearful expectation of judgment andfiery indignation, whichfhalldevour the adverfarier. And this is the fecond thing that is in this defcription of the eftate and condition of the children to be brought unto glory ; being obnoxious unto thefentenceof death, they could not but live infear of the execution ofit. Thirdly, They are by this meansbrought into bondage. The troublefome expedta- tion ofdeath as pirnal, brings them into bondage; intothe nature whereofwe mutt a little enquire. Sundry things concur to make any fiate a Hate ofbondage; as, a. That it be involuntary ; no man ism bondage by his will, that which a man chufeth is not bondage untohim. A man that would have his ear bored, though he werealways a fervant was never in bondage, for -he enjoyed the condition that pleated him. Pro- perly all bondage is involuntary. 2. Bondage ingenerates ftrongdefires after, and puts men onall manner ofattempts for liberty. Yokesgall, and make them on whom they are,defire tale. So long as men are fenfible ofbondage, which is againft nature, ( for that which is not fo is not bondage) theywill defire and labour for liberty. When fome in theRoman Senate asked an Ambaffador of the Priernates, after they were overthrown inbattel, iftheygranted-them peace, how they would keep ir, what peace they fhould have with them ? He anfwered, Si bonamdederitf, fidam t3' perpe- tuam ; fmalambaud diuturnam. Whereat when fome in the Senate flormed, as ifhe had threatned them with War and Rebellion, the wifer fort commended him, as one that fpakelike a man and a free-man ; adding as their reafon, An eredi poi ullum popu- lum, aut hominem dengue in ea conditione, cujus earnpeeniteat, diatiat guam necef fit manfurum, Liv. lib. 8. So certain it is, that bondage wearieth and flirreth up refuels defiresin all, endeavours incomeafter liberty. 3. Bondage perplexed) the mind. It ari- feth from fear, the greateftperturbation of the mind, and is attended with wearinefs and diftruft, all which are perplexing. 4. Where bondage is con pleat, it lies in a ten- dency untofuture and greaterevils. Such is the bondage of condemnedmalefaïiors, re- feeved for the dayofexecution ; fuch is the bondage ofSat ban, who is kept in chains ofdarknefl forthe judgment ofthe great day. And all thefe things concur in the bon- dage here intended ; which is, a dejeeted troublefome hate and condition of mind, anfing from the apprehenfion and fear ofdeath to beinflióted, and their difability in whom it is to avoid it, attended with fruitlefldefiresand vain attempts to bedelivered- from it, and to efcape the evil feared. And thisis the condition offinners out ofatilt, whereof there are various degrees, anfwerable unto their convitions. For the Apoftle treats not here ofmens being fervants unto fin, which is voluntary ; but of their fence ofthe guiltof fin, which is wroughtin them even whether theywill or no and by any means they would call offthe yoke of it, though by none .are they able fo to . do : for, Fourthly,They are Paid to continue in this efiateall their lives. Not that they were always perplexed with this bondage, but that they could neverbe utterly freed from it. For the Apatite doth not fay, that they were thus in bondage all their days, but that they wereobnoxious andfubjeet unto it. Theyhad no ways to free or deliver them- felves from-it, but that at any time they might righteoufly be brought under its power,
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