Part II
PART II
OF THE BREACH OF THE COVENANT OF
WORKS
HOSEA 6:7
But they like men have transgressed the covenant.
IN the beginning of this chapter, we have the Jews brought in repenting and turning to the Lord; which looks to that conversion of theirs that is yet to come, and hereby is insured, and that by virtue of the resurrection of Christ. Meanwhile they were to be laid under heavy strokes, and after a sort rejected. They were to be under a long eclipse of God's favour, the valley of vision being turned into a land of darkness. This looks to the Assyrian and Babylonish captivity, and further, to the ruin of the whole nation by the Romans, and their long rejection, which they are under to this day.
The causes of this are specified, to justify God's proceedings against them (1.) Their inconstancy in that which is good, ver. 4, "Your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away." Sometimes they seemed to promise fair for reformation, but all their fair blossoms quickly fell off. Such was the promising appearance Israel made when Jehu came to the kingdom, and such was that
made by Judah in the days of Hezekiah and Josiah. Such too were the hosannas and loud shouts made at Christ's triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, which were soon changed into "Crucify him, crucify him." Therefore did the prophets and apostles testify against them, and denounce the judgments of God against them, and thereby ministerially hew and slay them; ver. 5, "Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth." (2.) Their breach of covenant with God; quite slighting and perverting, instead of pursuing the ends of the covenant; vers. 6, 7, "For I desired mercy and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offering. But they like men have transgressed the covenant; there they have dealt treacherously against me." (3.) An universal deluge of sin and defection from God, that had spread itself over all ranks. Israel and Judah both were carried away with it, "Israel was defiled," ver. 10, &c.; and Judah was ripe for destruction; ver. 11, "Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee," &c. Priest and people were quite wrong, vers. 9, 10, magistrates and ministers, church and state; Ramoth-Gilead, a city of refuge, protecting wilful murderers, or delivering up those they ought to have protected; the priests profane, no better than robbers and murderers, vers. 8, 9. General defection is a cause and presage of a sweeping stroke. It is the second of these that concerns our purpose; "They like men have transgressed the Covenant." Wherein two things may be considered.
1. The crime charged on them, transgressing the covenant, covenantbreaking. This is a crime of a high nature; it strikes at the root of society among men, and therefore is scandalous and punishable though it be but a man's covenant. How much more atrocious is the crime where God is the one party? God took the Israelites into covenant with himself when he brought them out of Egypt. It was entered into with awful solemnity, Exod. 24. The design and ends of it were to lead them to Christ, and so to real holiness in the practise of the duties of the moral law. But, instead of this, they rejected Christ and sat down upon the poor performances of the ceremonial law, ver. 6, without faith and love. So they transgressed the covenant, and broke it, Jer. 31:32; Heb. 8:9.
2. Whom they resembled in breach of covenant. In this they acted like men, as our translators and others turn it; that is vain, light, fickle, and inconstant as man. But the Vulgate, Tigurine, Castalio, Arias Montanus, Rabbi Solomon, Grotius, and the Dutch translation and our own translation in the margin, read, like Adam. There is nothing about the Hebrew word to weaken this; on the contrary, at this rate the word is taken in the proper sense, and this reading is evidently the more forcible of the two; and therefore is the preferable and genuine one, agreeably enough to the context. Besides, as I shewed before, the original word does but twice more occur in the scripture, viz., Job 31:33; Psalm 82:17; and in both these places is taken the same way. So the sense is, "They like their father Adam, have transgressed the covenant," for so the word is. He broke covenant with God, and so have they; he the covenant of works, they the covenant of grace, which they externally entered into. God set down Adam in paradise in covenant with him, the end of which was to make him completely happy; but he perverted the end of the covenant, preferred the fruit of a tree to his moral duty to God, so broke the covenant, and was cast out of paradise; and God set Israel down in Canaan, in covenant with him, the end of which was to lead them to Christ, as the end of the law; but they perverted the end of that covenant, and, preferring ceremonial observances to Christ and moral duty, transgressed the covenant, and therefore must be cast out of Canaan. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was, by God's appointment, a seal of the covenant, fitted to help man to the keeping of it; but he used it the quite contrary way; the ceremonial law was, by God's appointment, for sealing the covenant of grace, and leading the Jews to Christ; but they used it the quite contrary way; and so it was a stumbling-block to them.
The doctrine clearly arising from the text is,
DOCTRINE. Our father Adam broke the Covenant of Works.
In discoursing from this doctrine, I shall,
I. Consider the fatal step by which that covenant was transgressed and broken.
II. How this fatal step was brought about.
III. How the covenant of works was broken by it.
IV. Apply the subject.
The Fatal Step by which the Covenant of Works was broken
I. I shall consider the fatal step by which that covenant was transgressed and broken. I think I need not stand to prove that this covenant was broken by Adam. The truth of Moses' narration, Gen. 3, puts it beyond controversy; as also doth the doleful experience of his posterity, Rom. 5:12. Our father Adam was once in a flourishing condition, had in his hand a noble portion of holiness and happiness for every one of his children; and he had more in hope for himself and them, which would have made them eternally and completely happy. He had a goodly stock to set up with at first; and a trade with heaven to improve his stock in, which, rightly managed, would have made all his family happy for ever; the which trade was opened to him by this covenant. But, alas! the whole family is ruined, we are all born beggars, we have nothing left us; nay, we are pursued for our father's debt as well as our own, Rom. 5:18, "By the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation;" and we are in hazard of dying in prison for evermore. A plain evidence that our father was broke, his trade mismanaged, and he run in debt, the communication with heaven stopt; and so the covenant was broken. Besides the Lord's making a new covenant, a covenant of grace, with Christ, as the second Adam, for the salvation of lost sinners of Adam's family, is a plain proof that the covenant of works was broken, and the transgressors thereof ruined by the first Adam. And what was the fatal step?
It was the eating of the forbidden fruit, Gen. 3:6, "When the woman saw that the tree was good, &c. she took of the fruit thereof, and did
eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and be did eat." This was that by which the covenant was broken, and man ruined. No wonder eating and drinking is the destruction of many to this day; this engine of ruin had too much success in the hand of the great deceiver, not to ply it still. God gave Adam a dominion over the creatures, to use them soberly for his own comfort and God's glory. He "put all things under his feet;" he only kept one tree from him, that he might not eat of the fruit thereof, and that for the trial of his obedience. He was discharged, under the pain of death, to meddle with it; to which prohibition he consented; and yet, over the belly of the solemn covenant, he laid hand on it, ate of it, and broke the covenant. Here, for the understanding of this sin aright, consider the progress, the ingredients, and the aggravations of it.
The Progress of the Sin of breaking the Covenant of Works
First, Consider the progress of this sin. It is not to be imagined, that Adam and Eve were innocent till they had the forbidden fruit in their mouths; the coveting of it in their hearts behoved of necessity to be before that; but the eating of it was that whereby sin and apostasy from God was completed. The beginning of their sin was unbelief and doubting. At the suggestion of Satan they doubted the truth of God in the threatening, Gen. 3:3–6. So, in this fatal battle, their faith got the first stroke. And it being once foundered, their heart plied to the temptation, and the lust after the forbidden fruit arose, and then the sin was completed by actual eating, Gen. 3:6. The eye of the mind was first blemished; a mist arose from hell, which they admitted, that by degrees darkened their understanding, so that they first doubted, and then disbelieved the threatening of the covenant. Then their will was easily conquered to a compliance with the temptation, and turned away from the command, the rule of duty. A last and corrupt affection to the tree seized them, discovering itself at the eye, in a lustful looking at it, Gen. 3:6. So the hand took it, and the mouth ate it, and the fatal morsel was lodged within the body.
Thus the cool of temptation raised a flame, which quickly spread itself over the whole soul and body. The which is often reached in the case of their sinful posterity, who by these means are frequently cast down from their excellency as it were in a moment, and plunged into a gulf of misery.
There is more ill in doubting and unbelief than men are aware of. It was the devil's master-piece for the ruin of souls under the covenant of works; and so it is still under the covenant of grace; Mark 16:16, "He that believeth not shall be damned." Men were first ruined by their doubting and unbelief of the threatening of the first covenant; now men are ruined by their doubting and unbelief of the promise of the second covenant; Isa. 53:1, "Who hath believed our report?" says the prophet. And what that report is, see 1 John 5:10, 11, "He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in himself; he that believeth not God, hath made him a liar, because he believed not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life; and this life is in his Son." Though doubting may consist with faith, so that it be not reigning; yet it belongs not but is contrary, to the nature of faith, which in itself is a firm persuasion, more or less firm, according to the strength of it.
The Ingredients of this Sin
Secondly, Let us consider the ingredients of this sin. If it is opened up, one may see it to be a complication of evils; not a little sin, but a great one, and in some sort the greatest sin.
1. Horrid unbelief was in it. By it the truth and faithfulness of God to his word was questioned, disbelieved, and denied; the lie was given to the God of truth, 1 John 5:11, forecited. And to make the affront the blacker, the devil was believed in his contradiction to God. God said, Yea; Satan said, No; and the decision was in favour of the latter.
2. Pride, ambition, bold presumption, and curiosity, took place in this sin. No less was attempted by it, than to be like God himself;
Gen. 3:5, "Ye shall be as gods," said the old serpent. God had set them in paradise; but they would, in a manner, ascend above the height of the clouds, and set their throne above the stars, as the proud monarch of Babylon did, Isa. 14:13, 14. They had full liberty as to the use of all that was in paradise; only God looked up from them that one tree; and they boldly forced the lock, and ate that which God forbade them to touch; as if nothing was to be bid to them.
3. There was in this sin monstrous ingratitude, and discontent with their condition. They wanted nothing for necessity, convenience, or delight, beseeming their state of trial. A bountiful God had heaped favours on them; they bore God's image, were fit to be companions of angels, were the envy of devils, had the dominion of the lower world, and were God's confederates. But all this was sunk and lost in unthankfulness; and they were so little contented, that they would needs have that in very deed which they had no want of, as is often the case with their children.
4. This sin contained in it contempt of God, rebellion against him, and downright apostasy from him, going over to the devil's side. Thus it was a renouncing of the covenant, and a conspiring with Satan against God. They carry themselves as if they had been decoyed into a foolish bargain; and, forgetting the majesty of God, and their own dependence on him, they break his bands, and cast his cords from them; pretending they would see better to themselves, and so they cast oft his yoke at one touch.
5. Lastly, In one word, this sin was a breaking of the whole law of God at once. By this one deed, not only was the positive law trampled under foot, but the natural law written in their hearts was broken in all the ten commandments of it at once, as I have shewn elsewhere.
The Aggravations of this Sin
Thirdly, Let us view the aggravations of this sin. Consider,
1. The person who did it; righteous Adam; one who was not tainted with original sin, as others now are, but was endued with original righteousness; one in whom Satan had nothing, till he winded it in by his subtilty. There was no blindness of mind, perverseness of will, or unholiness of affections, to graft his temptation on. So having these advantages, the sin was in that respect of all sins the most heinous. And therefore he having found mercy, is a pattern of mercy to all who will believe in Christ.
2. The object by which he was enticed, and for which he broke God's law. It was not a wedge of gold, as in Achan's case; nor thirty pieces of silver, as in that of Judas; but a morsel of fruit. The smaller the thing was, the greater the sin; and the more inexcusable the sinner, whom Satan catched with so sorry a bait. What need had he of that, who had enough besides? But when once the mind is bewitched with temptation, if it enough to stir up a longing after fruit, if it be but forbidden; as the wayfaring man in Nathan's parable was entertained by the rich man with his poor neighbour's lamb, though he had a flock of his own.
3. The nature of the thing. Though it was a small thing, yet it was a sacred thing, set apart for a holy use, not to be touched. This sin was theft, and theft of the worst kind, namely, sacrilege. It was a profanation of holy things, and that of the worst kind; profanation of a sacrament, a seal of the covenant. No wonder it brought on a curse.
4. The place where it was committed. In paradise, where every flower was proclaiming the glory of God, where he wanted nothing necessary for him, but was surrounded on every hand with tokens of the Lord's kindness to him. Eden was the pleasantest spot of the virgin earth, and paradise the pleasantest spot of Eden. But there the rebellion was begun against God, who set him in that delightful place. In the presence-chamber, as it were, rebel man, by this act of his, struck at his sovereign Lord. So it was aggravated like the murder of Zacharias, who was slain between the temple and the altar, Matth. 23:35.
5. The time when it was committed. He had not been long in the world, till he lifted up his heel against his Creator. He had stood short while, till, being giddy with pride and ambition, he fell into disgrace. What time Adam fell, is a question. It is the common opinion, that he fell the same day he was created. Some think he stood longer, supposing the events recorded about him. Gen 2 and 3 to require more time than one day. And the deists improve that against the credit of Moses' history, but entirely without ground, I think the common opinion is true. The devil's envy and malice would set him a-work on the first occasion to ruin man; and, for all that appears, whenever he tried it, he carried his point. If our first parents had stood longer, the blessing of marriage would have taken place in a state of innocence. The scripture says, Satan was "a liar, and a murderer from the beginning," John 8:44. Let "Adam in honour could not night; he became like as the beasts, they were alike," Psalm 49:12. From this text the Hebrew doctors gather, that the glory of the first man did not night with him; and the ancient translators understand it of Adam. The work of redemption is the more illustrious, that man could not stand one day without the Mediator's help.
6. Lastly, The effects and consequents of this sin. These are all evils that came on Adam himself, and on his posterity to this day, and that will come, even to the end of the world. Hereby all mankind were ruined. That sin was the wide gate at which sin and death entered into the world. It spread its malignant influence over the creation, loosed the pins of the fabric of the world, which it will pull down at length altogether, according to the import of the threatening.
How the Fatal step, in the breach of the covenant of works, was brought about
II. I shall consider how this fatal step was brought about. For clearing of this, three things are to be considered; Satan's tempting to it; God's leaving man to the freedom of his own will in the matter;
and man's abusing this freedom of will, and complying with the temptation.
Of Satan's tempting to this Sin
First, Satan tempted to it. God created all the angels holy spirits, yet mutable, as the event in some of them has proved. Some of them were elected to eternal happiness from eternity, and some of them not elected, 1 Tim. 5:21, where the apostle speaks of elect angels. They were all created the first day, as appears from Gen. 1:1, 2, compared with Job 38:7. In the former it is said, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." And in the latter place it is said that, when God "laid the foundations of the earth, the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy;" by whom are most certainly to be understood the angels. The reprobate angels were not fallen before the sixth day; for it is said, Gen. 1:31, that, on that day, "God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good." On the sixth day man was made, and the same day he fell, as has been shewn before. The reprobate angels were fallen before him, and therefore they fell the same day too. And it seems they lost no time, but immediately, with the first occasion, one of them sets to work against man, and gained his point by temptation, John 8:44, forecited.
Concerning this temptation we may remark
1. The instrument of the temptation was a serpent, Gen. 3:1. And,
1st, It was a true and real serpent, as appears from Moses comparing it with the rest of the beasts; Gen. 3:1, "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field." What sort of a serpent it was is not determined. Some think it to have been a beautiful creature of a shining colour; for there are serpents mentioned. Deut. 8:15, called in the original text Seraphim, which is a name given to angels. And so possibly Eve might take the serpent to have been acted by one of the good angels, or Seraphims. What, ever sort it was of, serpents
have been of great note in the kingdom of the devil since. The Egyptians worshipped serpents. The genius of a place was painted as a serpent. And in the old Greek mysteries they were wont to carry about a serpent, and cry, Evah—a memorial of the extraordinary service it had done the devil.
2dly, It was acted by the devil. For since serpents could not-speak, and far less reason, neither of which was wanting in this case, one may surely conclude, that it was the devil who abused the body of the serpent to his wicked purpose, and therefore is called that old serpent the devil and Satan, Rev. 12:9, and chap. 20:2.
2. Satan set upon the woman first, the woman the weaker vessel, that having once overcome her, he might by her means the more easily conquer the man. And thus he readily manages his temptations still, observing where the wall is weakest, that there he may make his attack with the more success. And he chose the time when she was alone, not with her husband, from whom she seems to have had the knowledge of the covenant God entered into with him. Had they been together, they might have jointly withstood him who conquered both, one after another.
3. He moveth a doubt concerning the command; Gen. 3:1, "Yea hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" And thus he does subtilly and ambiguously. He does not at first bring forth the whole venom of the temptation, but pretends, as one in doubt, that he would be informed by the woman. It is hard to tell whether he meant this of God's forbidding to eat of any, or only not of every tree of the garden. It is the design of the tempter to draw us unto a contempt of the commands of God. The woman, however, gives him a round answer, wherein she makes a very ample profession of the truth; vers. 2, 3, "And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." They may resist at first, who are afterwards overcome.
4. Quitting the attack on the command, which he perceived her to adhere to, Satan falls on the threatening, and contradicts it, Gen. 3:4, "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die." He tells her it was not so sure as she imagined, that God would punish them at that rate. He puts her in hope of escaping punishment. Thus Satan resisted, flies; but where one method fails he will try another, and, through hopes of impunity entertained in one's heart, he often gains his purpose.
5. He proceeds as one that wished well to her and her husband, and pretends to shew how they might both arrive at a high pitch of happiness speedily: even to be as gods, and that in knowledge or intellectual delights; insinuating withal, that, by the very name of the tree, the truth of what he said might appear. For (said the serpent) "God doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened; and ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil." Thus the liar and murderer still ruins men, pretending to make them happy, while he carries on their destruction.
6. Lastly, She being ensnared, he makes use of her to tempt her husband, and prevails, Gen. 3:6, "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise; she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat." And thus he often conveys his temptations to us, by those whose interest in us and affection to us, we doubt not, and whom therefore we suspect not; and so he rends men with wedges of their own timber, making one a snare to another.
God left Man to the Freedom of his own Will
Secondly, God left man to the freedom of his own will in this matter. He was not the cause of his fall; he moved him not, nor could he move him to it; James 3:13, "For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." Such is the holiness of his nature. He gave him a power to stand if he would, and he took not away from
him any grace given; but, for his trial, left him to his freedom of will, with which he was created. God made him good and righteous, and the natural set of his will was to good only, Eccl. 7:26. But it was liable to change, yet only to change by himself; he could only be made evil or sinful by his own choice.
If it be asked, why man was not set beyond the possibility of change. It is to be remembered, that absolute immutability is the peculiar prerogative of God himself, and every creature, in as far as it is a creature, is incapable of being so immutable. Yet the creature may be in some sense made immutable, that is, so as it shall not be possible for it actually to fall from its goodness, though there is still a, changeableness in its nature. Now, if man had been created without so much as a remote power in himself to change himself, he had not been a free agent; but God might have so established him, as that he could not actually have fallen; yet that would have been owing to confirming grace. The which why the Lord did not bestow on him, it belongs not to us to define; only he was no debtor to him for it.
Man abused the Freedom of his Will
Thirdly, Man abused his own liberty or freedom of will, and complied with the temptation, and so broke the covenant. He only himself was the true and proper cause of his own falling; not God, for he can never be the author of sin; not the devil, nor Eve, for they could only tempt and entice, but not force him. It was his own choice, he did it freely without coaction or compulsion; and he could have stood if he would. And thus was the fatal step made, whereby the covenant was broken.
How the Covenant of Works was Broken
III. I shall consider how the covenant of works was broken by this fatal step. We may take up this in three things.
1. The command was violated. The covenant required perfect obedience, but it was not given; perpetual obedience, but man did
soon come to a stand in the course of obedience, and went no farther. Here he disobeyed, here he shook off the yoke, here he sinned against his God. Thus the condition of the covenant of works was broken.
2. The right and title to the promised benefit by that covenant was undermined. The promised life was lost, man had no more any pretensions to it; he could no more plead the reward, which was to be given him in hand; and the prospect of the reward, which before his disobedience he had in hope, was entirely cut off. Thus failing in his performance of the condition of the covenant, he rendered the promise of the covenant null and void, as if it had never been made.
3. He fell under the penalty of the covenant, became liable to death in its utmost extent. As he had no more ado with the promise, the threatening now bound him to bear the wrath threatened for the satisfaction of divine justice. The blessing of the covenant being lost, the curse of it seized him, and he was bound with the cords of death; the which was let out as a flood, at that breach which was made in the covenant, and overflowed.
(1.) The soul of man, so that it died spiritually, losing the image of God, and losing the favour of God. Man turning from God as his chief end, the image of God in his soul was defaced, Gen 5:1, 3, His saving knowledge was lost; witness the cover of fig-leaves which our first parents prepared for covering of their nakedness, and their pretending to hide themselves from the presence of God, Gen. 3:7. The righteousness of his will was lost; witness their aversion to God, hiding themselves from him, their excusing of their sin, transferring of their guilt, the man laying the blame on the woman, the woman on the serpent; nay, Adam not obscurely reflected on God himself. The holiness and regularity of their affections went off; they were filled with disorder, confusion, and shame. They lost God's favour, were seized with horror of conscience, Gen. 3:8, were driven out of paradise, like a divorced woman out of the house of her husband,
declared incapable of communion with God, and debarred from the tree of life, the seal of the covenant.
(2.) The body of man became mortal, death working within it and without it, from that moment the covenant was broken. He was condemned to toil and weariness for life, and then to return to the dust at length, the frame and constitution of man's body having become deadly from the moment of his breaking the covenant. And sorrow and pain in breeding and bringing forth of children, was laid on the female sex, as a particular mark of displeasure with the first sin; and the ground was cursed for man's sake, because of the dependance of the life of man upon it.
(3.) Lastly, Soul and body were subjected and bound over to eternal death in hell. For this was comprehended in the threatening of the covenant of works, as has been already shewn.
Thus was the covenant of works broken. Yet man was not, and could not thereby be freed from that covenant; still he was bound to obedience, according to the command of it; and to satisfaction, according to the threatening. Only God was no more obliged to fulfil his promise, since it was conditional, and the condition was broken.
Application of the Doctrine of the Breach of the Covenant of Works
USE I. Here is a memorial which we have need ever to carry about with us, while we live in this world; A memorial,
1. Of the nothingness of the creature, when left to itself. God left some of the angels to themselves and they turned devils; he left innocent Adam to himself, and he turned apostate. O the need of continual supplies of grace! There was no bent and inclination to evil naturally in them; but in us there is a natural propensity to turn from God. What need have we then to cry, "Lead us not into temptation?" What need of continual dependence upon the Lord?
2. Of the hopelessness of salvation by works. That was the way which man was first set on, and that is the way which man naturally is set to follow unto this day. But what hope can there be that way? Adam was able to work for life, having sufficient strength laid to his hand, and yet he miscarried in it; how can it prosper in our hands, who are without strength, and whose work-arm is broken; he had less to do than we have now, only perfect obedience was required of him at first; but of us now is required not only perfect obedience, but satisfaction for sin done. We have more work and less strength than Adam had. When he fell a-working for heaven, which work was marred in his hand, it may justly make us to despair of salvation that way. He could not stand, how shall we that are fallen raise up ourselves? How unlikely is it that self-destroyers shall be their own saviours?
USE II. Here is a watchword which we ought never to forget.
1. Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The devil still goes about seeking whom he may devour. No state, while ye are here, can secure you from temptation. Though ye be in a state of friendship with God, he will attack you. No place, though a paradise can protect you. He has malice enough to drive you to the greatest sins; subtilty and long experience to manage the temptation so as it may best take. Do not parley with temptation, listening to the tempter may bring on doubting, doubting will bring on disbelieving, and disbelieving will bring on full compliance. O therefore watch!
2. Take heed of forgetting the covenant of your God. When men lose the sense of the bond of the covenant, they cannot long forbear the breaking of it. We see this in Adam our father, and we may see it daily in men's personal covenants, and the national covenants these lands are under the bonds of. The impression of them is worn off, and so the duties of them are cast behind men's backs. No wonder that this is the sin of the land, and of particular persons, seeing we are all children of the great covenant transgressor, Adam.
USE III. Lastly, Here is a demonstration of the absolute necessity of being united to the second Adam, who kept the second covenant, and thereby fulfilled the demands of the first covenant. See your absolute need of him; prize him, and fiee to him by faith, behold him with an eye of faith who has repaired the breach. The first Adam broke the first covenant, by eating of the fruit of the forbidden tree; Christ has repaired the breach by hanging on a tree and bearing the curse for his people. Adam's preposterons love to his wife made him sin; Christ's love to his spouse made him suffer and satisfy. In a garden Adam sinned, and therefore in a garden Christ was buried. Eating ruined man, and by eating he is saved again. By eating the forbidden fruit all died; and by eating Christ's flesh and drinking his blood by faith, the soul gets life again, John 6:57. O then have recourse to Christ; and thus shall you be saved from the ruins of the fall and have an interest in the covenant made with Christ, the condition of which being already fulfilled by him, can never be broken, or they who are once in it ever fall out of it again.