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ed from him, and he felt in the day, the difmal day of difobedience, that in his foul he died.

2d. When the righteous judge had fummoned the offenders to his bar, and had convicted them out of their own mouths; he proceeds to pass the folemn fentence; which as it had refpect unto bodily death, was delivered in thefe words. Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, faying, thou shalt not cat of it, curfed is the ground for thy fake; "in bleffing thee, all creat,ed things were bleffed with thee, and because "of thee. The ground had received a command, "and a power purfuant, to yield thee a rich fupply of all things neceffary for thy food, with

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out thy care and toil; thou fhouldeft have ga"thered life and immortality from every flower of the field, nor brier, nor pricking thorn, nor

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dry and barren lands throughout thy extenfive "dominions fhould ever have been known. But "now, the curfe and death, thou haft deferved "and art obnoxious to, fhall fall upon the whole "creation with thee, and because of thee; yea,

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curfed is the ground for thy fake; which fhall "be fo far from yielding it's free increase for thy supply; that thou fhalt labour and till it in the "fweat of thy face, but almoft in vain. Thou "fhalt not any longer eat from the life-giving "trees, and herbs of this happy garden; but, "thou shalt eat the herb of the field, produced. "and made to grow with inceffant toil and in"duftry. Thorns and thistles fhall the ground

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fubjected to the curfe, bring forth to thee, fad " emblem of thy barren wretched foul; and in forrow shalt thou eat of it, until thou return

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"unto it. Thy body was indeed created of the "duft of the earth, but hadst thou been obedient, "would have been incorruptible, and immortal, "fuch was my will and word; but henceforth it “is subject to mortality; the feeds are already "fown, which in fpight of all thy fkill to prevent, will grow up to an harvest of corruption; 66 my unalterable decree fhall make the fentence "firm, for dust thou art, and unto dust thou sbalt "return."——Pursuant to this decree, and aw♣ ful declaration; we are prefented in chap. v. with a long bill of mortality; wherein we fee the certain fulfillment of those words, unto dust shalt thou return; and the feeds of mortality fown in the human nature, in the very pronunciation of the ftedfast decree; had, although by a flow, and filent, yet by a fure, and certain growth, been ripening for corruption, even in Adam and thefe his fons.

Hence it appears to little purpose, that fome have objected against the truth of what God had threatened; and that becaufe Adam lived to the age of nine hundred and thirty years; therefore the penalty was not inflicted according to the time fpoken of in the day, fince he loft the divine and fpiritual life ipfo fatto, in the very commiffion of the crime; and his body in the fame day was dead by the law of God, and by the fentence of his judge; and as certainly fubjected to corruption, as if his dufty tabernacle had immediately dropped into it's primitive particles.

Let not stubborn finners prefume, and because vengeance appears not to be executed speedily on an offender, conclude that God is too merciful to punish, and too great and high to regard what is

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tranfacted among the fons of men; for he is juft and holy, and will by no means clear the guilty. Ifhould now proceed to the fourth thing pro pofed, but must beg leave to poftpone the enlarging on that, and the following propofition, to another opportunity. And what has already been spoken to, let us try to make fome improvement of. And in order to this, I I would for a moment, call back your thoughts into the happy garden; a place of happiness while God was there, but no longer; his prefence only makes a paradife; and without this it would be hell in heaven. How should we then prize and value the place where the Lord has promifed to be prefent; holy David knew so well what happiness was with him, that I bad rather, faid he, be a door-keeper in the boufe of my God, than dwell in the tents of wickedness. Let us therefore cleave unto him with full purpose of heart, let us everbe found in his houfe, together with his people, that we may rejoice before him, and give to him the glory due unto his name. While we live under the fmiles of heaven, the frowns of earthborn creatures can never hurt us; if we are at peace with God, we need not be difcouraged although the powers of earth and hell fhould be at war with us; and while our eyes are fixed upon the great author of our being, and our hearts are bowed in obedience to his precepts, nothing shall be able to harm us, or make us afraid.But O my brethren, learn an inftructive leffon from the mifcarriage of our common father. God had faid unto him, in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt furely die; the devil in the ferpent contradicts it, and fays, ye shall not die, now whom should Adam have

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believed? The God of truth, or the father of lies? The answer is given in the fatal confequence. Hence we should learn to look upon, and rejec every faying, every doctrine, every thing, or thought, that contradicts the word of God, as devilish and dangerous; no fair enticing fruit of fin because it is goodly in our eyes to look upon, fhould tempt us to taste or touch it, left we die; it is forbidden fruit. No foothing, flattering fpeeches; no fair, and pleafing promifes, fhould beguile our hearts, or lead us to put forth our hands to any accursed thing.

Again, we are not in paradife, but are driven out by the righteous fentence of the judge of all the earth; and if the tempter entered there, have we not much greater reafon to fuppofe he lies in wait to feduce and draw away our hearts from God? Yea we are affured he does, for the devil, as a roaring licn, walks about feeking whom he may devour. It is not çertain to us, whether Adam before his fall, had any knowledge that fuch an enemy would lie in wait to deftroy him; and therefore not fufpecting any harm, where all was very good, might the more eafily fall by the temptation: but we have fair warning given us, we know that we have an adverfary who is wily as a ferpent to beguile and feduce; fierce as a lion to tear and destroy; and defirous of our ruin as the roaring lion of it's prey.

Let us therefore be always on our guard, forewarned, fore-armed. Adam might fuppofe himfelf at peace with all created beings, and in a land of fafety; but we, (I speak of true believers) have openly declared war against the devil, and all the powers of darkness, and are while in the body, in

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an enemy's country. advert to the apostle's advice, and put on the whole armour of God; we have not only flesh and blood to conflict with, but principalities, and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places. We are utterly unable to cope with the God of this world; we have no wisdom, or might to go out against fo formidable a foe; without Jefus Chrift we can do nothing; faith only, can be a fhield for us, against the force of fatan, and defend us from his fiery darts.

We have need therefore to

2d. Permit me to remind you of the mifery and ruin brought upon our common parents, by their fin; that we through grace may avoid the rock on which they split, and having the bleffed fpirit for our pilot, may fafely ride out all the ftorms of life, and before a gale of all-atoning merit, may at last be brought with gladnefs to the peaceful port. When coming from the hands of God, how beautiful, how fair! Behold all was very good; man was made in the image of God, God cannot but love his image; and whom God loves muft needs be happy. But no fooner did

fin get a place in the heart, by which the hand is directed to take from the forbidden tree; but the flower of their beauty, immediately faded, the glorious image of their maker, which rendered them amiable in his eyes, was totally defaced; and the happiness they enjoyed under the fmiles of his countenance, quickly departed from them. Learn we from hence the odioufnefs of fin; it ftamps upon the foul, the image of the devil, enmity against God. A man by fin degenerates into a beaft, hence the fcripture calls them dogs and fwine; and the creatures God had made for his

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