iCor.ij. 22. Gen. 3.8. The Vail fpreadover All Nations, and it is called a Covering, becaufe it hides and keeps away the light that fo Haan cannot fee himfelf as he is, turfed, and helli_fh,and infinitly miferable. Now this hail wil not fuller the light to come uponhim, to fee himfelfas he is , becaufe manby all means and wayes labours to maintain a good o- pinion ofhimfelf, and for others to have thefame, andwould by nomeans fee hinifelfloJt and undone ; this Vail hides that darkrefs and gulfoffan that is inhim, and tels him that it is not fo,nor fo withhim, but he is holy and righteous, and bath wifdomeandpower, and the like : This is the Vaile that is upon the heart, which muff be rent, ifever nian come to be happy ; if ever he hopes tofeafi in this mountain offat things. You know we ufe Vailes, that the defe(ts and defor- mity of things maynot appear : and fo man doth by his own heart ; he would by nomeans fee theuglinefs, the mon fierous deformity thereof, hewould byno means oncethink that hell and the bottomlefs pit is in him ; he wouldby no meanes fee thefinoak of that bottomlefs pit arife out of his own heart : but tis certain, though men hide this from their fight andBeholding ; yet all men have covered thebdelves with this Vail, and 'cis the covering of all Nations ; In Adam all die : not a man upon the face of the earth, but all have eaten of thisforbidden tree : and becaufe we have eaten, all the endeavour ofman now is tokeepaway the fight ofguilt; he wouldnot fee his deformity, his loft condition ; but with Adam he runs among the Endives and hides himfelf among the treesfrom the prefence of the Lord ; lie labours to keep a- way the light, thathe may not fee his own blacknefs and deformity. What (ayes he, Have I no wifdome; no power, no halinefs, no love, no faith, no power to repent, no ability to a- ny good thin; ? this he cannot endure to hear of, this he runs awayfrom, as from deathand the dezil ; this cuts him to the very heart. Therefore all his endeavour is, to keep this Vail whole, that it may fail remaiin : thus he remains under the Old7efiament . and the Vail is tinrent, and it fill upon the heart. But in the day that thefoule turns to the Lord, -it is content to lee and acknowledge its own mifèry, its owndark . nefs; then is theCaul ofhis heart rent; then is hell laid open in him
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