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hath note man upright. By man here, we are to understand cor Aparents; the archetypal pair, the root of mankinc compendized world, and the fountain from whence all genre ons have ftreamed; as may appear by comparing 6. verfe 1 and 2. I In the day that God created man, on the akeness of God made l» him, male and female created be them, and blessed them, (as the root of mankind) and called their name Adam. The original words is the fame in this fenfe, man was made right, (agreeable to the part of God, whofe work is perfect) without any imperfection, corruption, or principle of corruption in his body or foul. He was made upright, that is, ftraight with the wilt and law of God, without any irregularity in his foul. By the fet it got in its creation, it directly pointed towards Gind, as his chief end; which ftraight inclination was reprefented, as in an emblem, by the erect figure of his body, igure that no other living creature partakes of. What David was in a gofpel fenfe, that was he in a legal fente; one according to God's own heart, altogether righrecus, pore and holy. God made him thus: he did not Quit cake him, and then make him righteous: but in the very making of him, he made him righteous. Original righteoufels was concreated with him; fo that in the fame moment he was a man, he was a righteous man, morally good with the fame breath that God breathed in him a livying oul, he breathed in him a righteous foul.

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2. Here is a man's fallen ftate; but they have fought out many inventions. They fell off from their reft in God, and fel upga feeking inventions of their own, to mend their celay sad they quite marred it. Their ruin was from their own per motion; they would not abide as God had made room; but they fought out inventions to deform and udo themfelves.

Coferve here the certainty and importance of thofe thing Lo, this only have I found, &c. Believe them, they are the refult of a narrow fearch, and a ferious inquiry pe ford by the wifeft of men. In the two preceding verfes,

3 represents himself as in queft of goodnels in the but the iflus of it was, he could find no fat sfying his fearch after it; though it was not for want of for he counted one by one to find out the account. Be

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held this have I found, (faith the Preacher)-to wit, that (as the fame word is read in our text) yet my foul fecketh but I find not. He could make no fatisfying discovery of it, which might stay his enquiry. He found good men very rare, one as it were among a thoujand; good women more rare, not one good among his thoufand wives and concubines, Kings 11. 3. But could that fatisfy the grand query, Where fhall wilden be found? No, it could not; (and if the experience of ors in this point, run counter to Solomen's, as 'tis no reflections his difcerning, it can as little decide the question; which will remain undetermined till the last day.) But, amict all this uncertainty, there is one point found out, and axed: This have I found. Ye may depend upon it as mo certain truth, and be fully fatisfied in it: Lo, this; fix your eyes upon it, as a matter worthy of molt deep and ferious regard; to wit, that man's nature is now depraved, but that depravation was not from God, for be made man upright; but from themfelves, they have fought out many inventions.

DOCTRINE, God made man altogether righteous.

THIS

HIS is that ftate of innocence in which God fet man down in the world. 'Tis defcribed in the holy fcriptures, with a running pen, in compariton of the following ftates; for it was of no continuance, but paffed as a flying shadow, by man's abufing the freedom of his own will, I fhall,

First, Inquire into the righteoufnefs of this ftate wherein man was created.

Secondly, Lay before you fome of the happy concomitants, and confequents thereof.

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the fupreme rule; fo all created righteouínefs, whethe men er angels, hath a respect to a law as its rule, and conformity thereunto A creature can no more be mo

independent on Ged, in its actions and powers, than it be naturally independent on him. A creature, as a ture, must acknowledge the Creator's will as its fup Jaw; for as it cannot be without him, so it must not b for him, and according to his will: yet no law obliges, it be revealed. And hence it follows, that there.v law which man, as a rational creature, was fubjected his creation; and that this law was revealed to him made man upright, fays the text This prefuppofeth a to which he was conformed in his creation; as when thing is made regular, or according to rule, of neceflit rule itfelf is prefuppofed. Whence we may gather, this law was no other than the eternal, indifpenfible righteoufnels, obferved in all points by the fecond oppofed by the carnal mind; fome notions of which yet among the Pagans, who, having not the law, are unto themfelves, Rom. ii. 15. In a word, this law i very fame which was afterwards fummed up in the tea mandments and promulgate on mount Sinai to the Ifrae called by us the moral law: and man's righteousness co ed in conformity to this law or rule. More particularly, is a twofold conformity required of a man: a conform the pewers of his foul to the law, which you may call tual righteousness; and a conformity of all his actions which is actual righteoufnefs. Now, God made ma bitually righteous; man was to make himself actually ri ous the former was the flock God put into his hand . latter, the improvement he fhould have made of it fum of what I have faid is, that the righteoufnefs wh mea was created, was the conformity of all the fac 206 powers of his foul to the moral law This is wh call riginalrighteouiness, which man was originally e We may take it up in these three things.

with.

Fich, Man's understanding was a lamp of light. H perfed ku wiedge of the law, and of his duty accordi he was made after God's image, and confiquently not want knowledge, which is a part thereof, Col. I The new man is renewed in knowledge, after the im

bim that created him. And indeed this was neceffary, to fit him for univerfal obedience; feeing no obedience can be according to the law, unless it proceed from a fenfe of the commandment of God requiring it 'Tis true, Adam had not the law written upon tables of tone: but it was written pon bis mind, the knowledge thereof being concreated with him. God impreffed it upon his foul, and made him a law to bimfelf, as the remains of it among the heathens dotef tify, Rom. ii, 14, 15. And fecing man was made to be the mouth of the creation, to glonly God in his works; we have ground to believe he had naturally an exquifite knarvledge of the works of God. We have a proof of this. in Lis giving names to the beats of the Geid, an the fowls of the air, and thefe fuch as exprefs their nature Whatsoever

Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof, Gen. 9. And the dominion which God gave him over the creatures, foberly to ufe anu difpofe of theth according to his will (fill in fubordination to the will of God) feems to require no less than a knowledge of their natures. And befides all this, his perfect knowledge of the law proves his knowledge in the management of civil affairs, which, in refpect of the law of God, a good man will guide with difcretion, Pfal. cxii. 5.

Secondly, His will lay ftraight with the will of God, Eph. iv 24. There was no corruption in his will, no beat nor inclination to evil; for that is fin properly and truly to called: hence the apoftle fays. Rom vii. 7 I had not known fin, but by the law, for I had not known luft, except the law had laid, Thou shalt not covet. An inclination to evil, is really a fountain of fin, and therefore inconfiftent with that rectitude and uprighthefs which the text exprefly fays he was endued with at his creation. The will of man then was directed, and naturally inclined to God and goodness tho' mutably. It was diffed, by its original make, to follow the reator's will, as the fhadow does the body; and was not left in an equal ballance to good and evil; for at that rate he had not been upright, no habitually conform to the law; which in no momento allow the creature, nor to be inclined towards as his chief end, more than it can allow man to

god to himself. The law was imprefied upon Adam's foul: now this according to the new covenant, by whicła A 3

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the image of God is repaired, confifts in two things: 1. ting the law into the mind, denoting the knowledge of 2. Writing it in the heart, denoting inclinations in the anfwerable to the commands of the law, Heb. viii 10 that, as the will, when we confider it as renewed by gr is by that grace natively inclined to the fame holiness i its parts which the law requires; fo was the will of (when we confider him as God made him at first) end with natural inclinations to every thing commanded by law For if the regenerate are partakers of the diving ture, as undoubtedly they are; for fo fays the fcript 2 Pet. i. 4. And if this divine nature can import no than inclinations of the heart to holiness: then furely Ad will could not want this inclination; for in him the of God was perfect. It is true, 'tis faid, Rom. ii. 14. That the Gentiles fhew the work of the law writtenin hearts: but this denotes only their knowledge of that fuch as it is; but the apoftle to the Hebrews, in the cited, takes the word heart, in another fenfe, diffingui it plainly from the mind And it must be granted, when God promised in the new covenant. To write his in the hearts of his people, is imports quite another thing what Heathens have: for tho' they have notions of it in minds, yet their hearts go another way; their will hes fet and a bi fs quite contrary to that law; and therefore expreffion fuitable to the prefent purpofe, mult nee is port, befides the fe notions of the mind, inclinations o will going along therewith; which inclinations, tho' n with corruption in the regenerate, were pure and unn in upright Adam. In a word, as Adam knew his ma pleafure in the matter of duty, fo his will ftood inclin what he knew.

Thirdly, His affections were orderly, pure and holy; w is a neceffary part of that uprightnefs wherein mar

ted The apoftle has a pethion, 2 The iii. 5. The direct your hearts unto the love of God; that is, The Araighten your hearts, or make them ly Graight to the of God: and our text tells us, man was thus iade fira The new man is created in righteousness and true hel Ephef. iv. 24 Now this holinels as it is diftingu from rightcoufnefs, may import the purity and order

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