Chapter III
How our inclinations and desires lost that rectitude with which at first they were created. Wherein the sinfillness of our lusts consists. That all our in
clinations and desires are not only averted from God, hut turned to all things besides him, and carried out after them, as our chiefest good. Tiiat we make
ourselves, and pleasing ourselves, our utmost end. That ice delight in things contrary to God, in things that are evil. That we should take notice of the
vileness and baseness of our natures in all this.
If you ask me how our inclinations, pointed or touched with this rectitude, come to lose it ? this continued similitude may help to convey it to your minds, though not fully answering in all, as none do. God launched man into this world, as one of his navy-royal, though empty of itself of happi ness, yet bound to that right haven where it was to be had, viz., God him
self: furnished to that end with an understanding as a factor, to deal for God even in seeking its own good ; with a will as a rudder, to be guided by the understanding, and so steer aright ; with an active principle to move
itself without either wind or tide, if steered aright, to that port. To direct
all in which voyage, God furnished him also with a needle and compass, his image or divine nature, informing all, still looking God-ward, as a mariner s compass doth northward, which had he steered by, he had certainly come to the true haven, and there rested for ever. But this merchant, apprehend ing a possibility of making a better voyage at another port than this needle directed and pointed him unto, he jogs and moves the rudder of his will
wrong, by reason that though that inclination at first had set it right, VOL. X. T
290 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK VIII.
yet so as it was moveable, and free to turn the other way, and so he did. As a punishment of which error, that needle lost its virtue, was deprived of God s image, and that rectitude wherein at first it was created, and now turns
every way, as man s inclinations do, but only the right
: and he now sailing by this which now whirls every way, arrives sometimes at the port of honour, sometimes of riches, as the needle turns, and his lusts, now set wrong, do
guide him ; and though freedom of will still remains, so as he may turn the rudder this way or that way, yet so as never more unto the right ; and as such a needle and compass may be called deceitful, or ryg ce>7rar?j$ ; so also
are man s inclinations now in the same sense. But this is but a similitude. Now to shew you wherein this avdrr,, or aberration lies ; as I said before,
it is easily discovered, if you review but wherein the rectitude lay. For con
ceive but the clean contrary to be now in them to that their first rectitude, and you have the main essentials wherein this aberration lies ; I say the
essentials, because the aggravations of their sinfulness and aberration is after wards to be added in the second place. I will first give you the entire
description of the irrectitude of them, with all the severals of it set together ;
which, secondly, I will take in pieces, and handle by themselves.
First, For the entire description of it, it lies in this, that now all the in
clinations and lustings of man s mind are not only taken off, and clean averted from God, as their chiefest good and utmost end, but also are prone to be
carried to anything besides God, as more agreeable to them, and as their
chiefest good, yea, and to all things most contrary unto God, merely to please themselves, as their utmost end ; and which is more also, they "are prone to
carry and move all in man s mind against God, and all that tend to reduce and bring them right to God again. This is the description of it in the
gross. Let us view the parts of it, which are three, expressed in three words,
aversa, conversa, adversa : aversion from God ; conversion to all things else,
yea, to what is contrary to him ; and adverseness to all that might turn us
to God again ; whereof one hangs and depends upon, and is a consequent of
the other, as you will see afterwards.
1st. All our inclinations now are turned away from God; and in this
regard they are called ungodly lusts : Jude 18, How that they told you, there shall be mockerg in the last time, who should walk after their own
ungodly lusts, r%v affs(3nZiv, So as now, when any inclination or lust stirs
in us, it doth draw us away, as James says, chap. i. 14, or as in the original,
e%e\xofMvo$ t draw out of its natural place appointed for it. Now, the natural
centre of our souls, both when our greatest rest and delight of mind was in
God, as in our chiefest good, and the utmost end of all our actions and
motions, was God, whom David calls his rest : Ps. cxvi. 7, Return, my
soul, unto thy rest ; out of which now our inclinations or lusts draw and
* draw
hale us, and cause us to depart from the living God, Heb. iii. 12 ; to
back from him, Heb. x. 38. And then follows the other, which is 8iXMt;
ftzvos, to carry us to some bait of pleasure elsewhere, as in James i. 14. And as the rectitude of our inclinations had two main parts, to carry us to, and rest in God as our chiefest good and chiefest end, so these lusts turn
us away from God in both regards.
1. From him as the chiefest good to be delighted in; so that place in Jer.
ii. 13 is principally to be understood, forsaking God as the fountain of
living waters ; for he is so called, as being the fresh continual spring of
happiness and comfort. So that now a man cannot delight in him, nor in the
thoughts of him, or communion with him, or anything that relisheth of his
holiness, because now he wants that image of his that made us like him ; and so, yaudere simili, to rejoice in what is like. So that it may be said ot
I CHAP. HI.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 291
all men what is said in Job xxvii. 10, Will he delight himself in the Al
mighty ? Will he always call upon God ?
2. They are turned from making him their chiefest end. So doth that
speech of men corrupted in Job argue, chap. xxi. 15, What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him ? Now, to serve* him, is to make him our end in all our actions, and to do all for his advantage and profit. Now they acknowledge no such
service due to him in deed and in truth, though in words they may, Titus i. 16. For they have made profit and advantage to themselves their end, and there
fore serve God but to that end; for it follows in Job xxi. 15, If we pray, what profit shall we have ?
2d. But this is indeed but the privative part of their aberration, and I shewed
it when I handled the ungodliness of our natures. And we have now to do
only with their positive aberration, which is the consequent of this, and which lies in two main parts, whereof the one is the consequent of the other.
(1.) An inordinate conversion to other things, joined
(2.) With a positive averseness or lusting against God ; for that is to be added as an appendix and consequent of the former. So that as the priva tive part of our sinfulness had two parts, as I shewed out of Rom. v. 6, so
also hath the positive sinfulness of our inclinations, in that we are called
sinners, ver. 8 ; and also enemies, ver. 10 ; namely, as we have an inclina
tion to sin, so against what is good, which is the second thing we have now
in hand.
First, then, to speak of the aberration of our lusts, not only as averted from God, but converted to other things inordinately, which is the first part
positive. That they were prone to be carried to anything besides God as more agreeable to them, and a chief good, yea, and to all things most con
trary to God, merely to please themselves as their utmost end. So that
whereas, as I told you before, man s inclinations, whilst right, are inclined
to other good things besides God, created for man s comfort, yet so as,
First, To nothing equally to him, making him still the chiefest good. Now, many inclinations are carried to all those things rather than to him, so as to make them their chiefest good.
Secondly, Whereas before, though they were carried tfut to other things, they still made God the utmost end in all ; now they are carried out to all other things agreeable to them, to please themselves, as their utmost end.
Thirdly, And whereas they were carried out whilst right, only to good
things, and in this subordinate manner also ; now they are carried out thus
inordinately to things simply evil, such as God never created, but forbids and hates, viz. all manner of sins whatever. To demonstrate these three particulars to you.
First, Man s inclinations are carried to anything but God as his chiefest
good, and finds more pleasure in anything than in God ; why else is it said, 2 Tim. iii. 2, For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters,
proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy ; that is, of
pleasures which are to be had out of him, more than those which are to be had in him, as the opposition shews ? Why else is it said, Eccles. vii. 29,
* Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright ; but they have sought out many inventions, i. e. man having lost that rectitude which he was created in, he seeks out many inventions? which carries this meaning with it, that the soul being put off of God to delight in, is now fain to seek to
go up and down all the world for pleasure ; yea, arid so hard it is to come by, so unsatisfactory all vain things here below are ; and therefore are men so often put to shifts that they are fain to use their wits, as men that live a
292 AN UNREGENERATE MAN*S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK VIII.
sharking life by their wits, to find out new inventions, to get pleasure from that which God never created; from envy, murder, &c., which he never
ordained, nor came into his heart to ordain ; as he says of that invention of
sacrificing their children to Moloch, Jer. vii. 30; and content they are to
seek, and go all the world over, as the Israelites, for straw and stubble, for
fuel for their pleasures, and will bring new strange inventions into the world rather than go to God, to the land of Canaan flowing with milk and
honey. They are willing to dig for water all the earth over, as it is said, Jer. ii. 13, to look for comfort in the creature, where they are not sure to
find it, rather than go to the spring and fountain where it is to be had. So
long as they can have but an husk, though empty of the kernel of true
happiness, yet, as the prodigal would have been contented with them, and not have gone home to his father, where was bread enough, Luke xv. 16, so also they will be satisfied with anything rather than go to God ; all which shews they are carried to anything rather than to God. Neither is there
any comfort so poor, mean, and contemptible, which a man s soul will not
stoop to, and inclinations prey upon it, rather than return to God. They will transgress for pieces of bread, Ezek. xiii. 19 ; they will leap like dogs at a crust ; they will sin even for old shoes : Amos ii. 6,
* Thus saith the
Lord, For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof ; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the
poor for a pair of shoes ; that is, they will do wickedly for trifling pleasures,
things of no worth in comparison, so the Scripture speaks of them ; which shews that anything, though never so mean, they prefer before God and
happiness in him.
And which is to be added as an appendix of the irreetitude to discover
it, they are carried to these things as their chiefest good. So the rich man
is brought in, saying to his soul, Go, take thine ease in thy goods laid up for many years. As if he should have said, Here is all the comfort thou
art like to enjoy, and as many years as these last thou shalt do well enough.
* Eat and drink, for to-morrow we
So also are the epicures
: 1 Oor. xv. 32,
shall die. As if they had reasoned thus, Take it out, whilst you may, as much as you can, for you are not like to stay long by it; therefore these
worldly enjoyments are called wicked men s dainties, Ps. cxli. 4, as being the sweetest bit they desire ; their treasure, Mat. vi. 19, as the choicest of
things they care for ; their god, Philip, iii. ID, which they set up in that
room, which God once had in them, to be the fountain of their happiness ; and therefore they are called, as idolaters, Col. iii. 5, Eph. v. 5, so adulterers, James iv. 4, as placing that affection on the world, and things of it, that they should fix upon God as their husband chiefly to be delighted in ; and they use that that is their chiefest good, which they ought to use as a servant
* And they that weep, as though they wept not ; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not ; and they that buy, as
only: 1 Cor. vii. 30, 81,
though they possessed not ; arid they that use this world, as not abusing it :
for the fashion of this world passeth away. This is the first part of that
irreetitude in our lusts, which is, as Augustine* says, utendis velle frui, to
seek to enjoy chief happiness in those things we should but use.
The second thing wherein the inordinate aberration of our lusts, in regard of their conversion to other things besides God, lies, is that as they are
carried thus to them, as their chiefest good, so also merely for pleasure or
self-love s sake as the utmost end ; which is an aberration from that mark
they were first aimed at, and ordained to carry their actions to. For where
as God, the author of all, had made the soul for action, and ordained all its
* August, de Trinit. lib. x. cap. 10.
CHAP. III.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT.
actions to his glory, as their end and pleasure (which accompanies their
motions, when conversant about things agreeable to them), only as the oil to
the wheel to further action, to make it move the more nimbly and cheerfully
about, without retardation and trouble ; and as sauce to stir up appetite, and
whet on a little our inclinations ; so as p easure was but a subordinate thing
to our actions and inclinations, as they also to God s glory. Now for
pleasure to be made the ultimate end of all, what a confusion is this 1 such
an error as Solomon saw in states, Eccles. x. 6, 7, to exalt the servant to be
above his master. Now, that our lusts are thus inordinate in regard of their
end, also appears by that in James iv. 3, Ye ask, and receive not, because
ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. He challengeth them of an irrectitude in their lusts, not only in making the things of the
world in the place of a husband, or the chief good, ver. 4, but in the end
of seeking them. Ye seek amiss, that is, to a wrong end, to spend it on
your pleasures ; so the word in the original, ev raTc r,bova7$, and so it is in
the margin varied, as noting out the final cause, as Beza notes, for e?g rdg
ridovag ; and Titus iii. 3, they are said to serve lusts and pleasures, pleasure
fbawd to bring them together ; and therefore the great aberration which God at the latter
being the business the lust aims at, and useth actions as the;
days shall punish (James v. 3, 5 compared) is, that they had lived in
pleasure, aimed at nothing else in their lives but to please themselves, and
to nourish their own hearts, and feed them fat ; and therefore the rule God
goes by in punishing is this, so much pleasure, so much torment : Rev.
xviii. 7, How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much
torment and sorrow given her : for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. And why doth God go by this rule, but because pleasure is the utmost end which caused men in all actions to
err? Now when I say, pleasure is made their utmost end, it is all one as
if I should say, They make themselves their utmost end ; that is, all man s
inclinations carry him to move, or to act nothing which doth not please him
self, advance and profit himself some way ; yea, and otherwise he hath no
inclination to stir one jot, to bring any glory to God, or to do any man the
greatest good in the world, otherwise than it some way reflects on himself, and for to advance himself; otherwise he cares not if all the world, God and
Christ, heaven and earth, should perish, as Judas did not, and the devil doth
not, whose lusts we have in us, John viii. 44 ; I say, it is self-love, and
pleasing ourselves is that which guides all; and indeed these two are all one. And 2 Tim. iii. 2, reckoning up a bead-roll of evils should abound in men s
lives in the last days, that which he brings in as the captain of this army, in the beginning or forefront, that rules them all, and they stir not with
out his command, is self-love, men shall be lovers of themselves; and that which he brings in as the captain s lieutenant at the end, is the loving of
pleasures ; so as you see they are all one, and have the same rule in the
heart. And so predominant shall that end be in them to please themselves, that they shall break all bands of friendship, society, nature, grace, and do
any mischief but to please themselves. As now, whereas men are tied in
dearest bonds to parents, and to please them all they may, to whom they owe their lives, yet to please themselves they care not to become disobedient
to them, ver. 2. And whereas nature ties us strongly to our children, to
love them, and do them all the good we can, if so that at any time their
good reflects not on ourselves some way, it makes us without natural affec
tion, ver. 3. If we have bound ourselves never so strongly in covenant to
others, yet if we shall receive such a damage by it, as is not helped some
other way, in credit, &c., we prove truce breakers; if tied in civil society,
? S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK VIII.
294 AN UNREGENERATE MAN
and common bond of superiors, for good of the whole, we prove traitors when it is for our advantage, so as no right or ties of obligation can hold us ; and if we deal thus with men, we care not to blaspheme God, ver. 2, and
live ungodly, and despise those that are good, &c., for every man seeks his own things, Philip, ii. 21. And as true love of God seeks not its own, 1 Cor. xiii. 5, so self-love only their own: Isa Ivi. 11, 12, They all look
to their own way, every one to his gain. And with this principle are our
lasts now wholly guided and inspired, being indeed but branches of that
great vena cava, and therefore are called our own ungodly lusts, Jude 18, as
making God no longer, but ourselves, our chief end ; and therefore on the other
side too, denying of ourselves, and mortifying our lusts, is the same thing. Now then, the third thing wherein the aberration of our lusts are turned
to other things, lies in this, that they are carried out thus inordinately, even
to take pleasure in things contrary unto God, which are simply evil, whereas, when right, they were carried out only to good things of this life, still in
subordination ; but now there is an inclination not to make riches, honours,
&c., our chiefest good, but that whichjs truly and simply wickedness : 1 Cor.
x. 6, Lusting after evil things ; 2 Thes. ii. 12, Pleasure in unrighteous ness, as envy, lying, murder, blasphemy, &c. So you read, James iv., that men s lusts carry them out, not only to good things of the world, as chiefest
good, vers. 2-4, but lusteth, ver. 5, after envy, &c., that is, to repine at the good of another, as Christ describes it, Mat. xx. 15, our eye being evil, because God is good to another. So Rachel envied Leah, she being barren, Gen. xxx. 3, so that she would have her husband defile his maid, that Leah
might not have all the children, though she still should have none. And as men repine at the good of another, so rejoice at the hurt also ; so Edom, Obadiah 12, rejoiced over Jerusalem in the day of their destruction; and Ezek. xxv. 6, stamped with the feet, clapped the hands, shews all signs of
joy, and rejoiced in soul, and manifested all despite against the land of
Israel. And a man comforts himself in revenging himself upon another in the greatest discomforts; so Esau, Gen. xxvii. 42, when disconsolate for the
loss of his birthright, yet comforted himself that he would be revenged on
Jacob, yea, and bears this long in mind ; as Edom, Ezek. xxv. 15, to
destroy it for old or perpetual hatred ; yea, and this also, when there is no
real cause given: Ps. xxxv. 19, Let not mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me, that hate me without a cause, and would wink with their eyes if
any evil befel him. In a word, the devil s lusts, as called so, John viii. 44, murder, malice to God and men, and that when when they do them no hurt,
are in us ; His lusts ye will do, they are called his lusts, because he only takes pleasure in such things, and having no creatures to delight in as we, and having before had nothing but God, now turned from God, he hath
nothing but simply mischief to delight in, which also men delight in : Ps.
Hi. 1, Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, mighty man ? the goodness of God endureth continually. Wanting charity, 1 Cor. xiii. 6, and true
love to God, they do rejoice in iniquity, and make it a sport to do mischief: Prov. x. 23,
* It is a sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of under
standing hath wisdom. They love swearing and lying more than true and
* deceitful tongue, that lovest evil more than
: Ps. Hi. 3, 4,
holy speeches
good, and lying rather than to speak righteousness, and love all-devouring words, ver. 4. Yea, and which is the highest that can be, men have dis
positions in them, would carry them to delight in sin as sin, because it
offends God, not only because some pleasure or other cannot be had but by
sinning, but sub hac notione, under this notion, because it provokes and
angers the Lord. So they that sin against the Holy Ghost, they despite-
CHAP. III.] IN EESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 295
fully sin, and cast a contumely on the Spirit: Heb. x. 29, Of how much
sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto
the Spirit of grace ? This is called blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, Mat. xii. 31, 82,
* Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blas phemy shall be forgiven unto men : but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word
against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him : but whosoever speaketh
against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. And it is an endeavouring to put Christ to
* If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance ; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. Now to this sin we are all prone, else David would not have prayed to be kept from it, as he seems to do : Ps.
open shame, as in Heb. vi. 6,
xix. 13, Keep me from presumptuous sins, so shall I be free from the great
offence, in the singular number, as noting out that sin which is above the
sin of presumption, to which yet that is a step.
Use. Take notice of the vileness and baseness of our natures, as thus
guided by lusts, that we may become vile in our own eyes, and truly out of
conceit with ourselves. We judge basely of those creatures that feed and
delight only in excrements and filth ; of a swine, because it will rather eat
dung than any food else ; of a dog, because he licks up his vomit ; of a ser
pent, because it eats the dust of the earth. Men that lived upon juniper
roots, Job xxx. 4, he calls base and vile men, ver. 8 ; so, when we may go to the spring and fountain of living waters, to drink rather puddle-water, to
eat dogs meat, as the apostle calls all things in comparison of God, Philip,
iii. 8, <Txu/3ccXa, to eat dust, as earth-worms and covetous men do, and husks, rather than go to God, with whom there are rivers of pleasure and bread
enough, it argues a base nature. So for one that hath a fair husband, to run
away with every varlet, and prostitute her body to all comers rather, shews her a base quean. But especially adding to this the self-love that is in us, that we should admire, and doat upon, and value our cursed selves above
God, Christ, and all the world besides ; that we who were the other day mere nothing, and but lately admitted into the world, deserving to be kicked
out and expelled the first day, should yet begin to prog only for ourselves
the first hour ; regard none in it but ourselves ; take upon us, as if all the
world, that had been made so long before we were, and shall stand when we
gone, were only made for us ; and like ants or caterpillars in an orchard,
caring not to spoil all the fruits, to lay up for and maintain a little mite of
being, which is scarce crept into the world. And whereas we were admitted
into the world, to be profitable to God and men, to use all our wisdom, &c.,
for this end, we have, and do employ it only to be profitable to ourselves, as Job xxii. 2, to seek our own things ; Philip, ii. 4, make ourselves the centre
of all actions ; that whereas we should take but the set fee allowed us by God, and be content with our wages, and do service freely, and still think it
is more than our work ; for us not to be willing to stir or do a jot of service
for God or any other creature, but we must have a feeling,* an underhand
bribe out of it; not grind a whit unless we may have toll; and being appointed but public stewards in all the talents we enjoy, which in 1 John iii. 17 are
there called this world s good, not ours ; for us to employ it all only for
our own advantage, and are sorry that any water should go by our mills, that any should share in the honours or pleasures of the world, otherwise
* Qu. feeing
; ? Eu.
296 AN UNREGENERATE MAN*S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK VIII.
than they might hold of us, or as some way they may prop up our estates and credits, or be shadows to add lustre to us ; yea, so as not to care to pull down others credits and estates, to build up our own a little ; hence all the
defaming, and oppression, and detracting from others that are in the world
(as Nero, they say, did burn all Rome to make himself a large palace, and that he might have the credit of building it up again ; and he that set Diana s
temple on fire, to get himself a name), not caring what inconvenience we put others to, to advantage ourselves never so little ; not to care though we set another s house on fire to roast but our own eggs ; or so we may have safe and sure, and easy standing to see, and to be seen in the world (like men in a crowd), we care not how sore we lean upon the shoulders of, and oppress those that are under us, and throw down those that overtop us, not willing to put ourselves to any inconvenience for another s good. If any public good be to be done, or any public evil hindered, which will endamage our parti cular, contrary to Caiaphas s principle, we are too apt to say in our hearts, Better a whole people perish than that I should be prejudiced ; yea, if any good be to be done, wherein we have not an hand, or wherein we are not the
chief, how sorry are we, and ready to hinder it, and speak against it, and will not draw unless we be the fore-horse, and have all the feathers and the trap pings
: yea, as Judas cared not to hazard the salvation of all the world, in the death of Christ (which, as I think, he then knew not to be the means
of saving them), so he might gain but thirty pieces ; so also if we are poor, we wish all the world were so ; if we be despised, yea, if we perish, as one
said on his deathbed, let wife, children, and all the world perish also. These and many more are the natural dispositions of self-love in us, which
are most base and accursed ; and he that sees not his inclinations towards
these, it is because he knows not his heart, but self-love hath blinded his
eyes, and made him think too highly of himself, as Hazael said to the pro
phet, Am I a dog, that I should do this? 2 Kings viii. 13. No, my
brethren, grace only makes you profitable men, content to spend and to be
spent, to let go your own sweetness and fatness for the good of others. Cha
rity seeks not her own, rejoiceth not in evil, is not envious: 1 Cor. xiii. 4-6,
* Charity suffereth long, and is kind ; charity envieth not ; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her
own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil ; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but
rejoiceth in the truth. Therefore learn to esteem grace and good men
highly, and regard corrupt nature and wicked men as vile and base, and rest not till you have a principle in you to deny yourselves, &c.
3d. The third essential part, which goes to make up the avary of lust, is
averseness, enmity, opposition against God, and what might reduce us to communion with him again. We are not only thus turned to the creature, and what is contrary to God, but it is accompanied with an enmity to God : Job xxi. 12-14,
* They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound
of the organ. They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down
to the grave. Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us ; for we desire
not the knowledge of thy ways. They do not only spend their days in wealth,
delight in timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ ; but,
ver. 14, they say to God, Depart from us. If God at any time present and
offer himself, and the communion of himself to them, they put him away, they say, Depart, as one they care not for, as one they care not to have to do withal ; nay, cannot endure the knowledge of him ; we desire not the
knowledge or sight of him, and that not of him only, but also not of his
ways, or of anything that leads to him. And so, Eom. i. 28, And even
as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over
CHAP. IV.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 297
to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient. They liked not, or thought it not good for them, ou/c idexfpafw, visam non fuit
its ; they did not judge it good for them to return and receive God in their
knowledge. And if this be thought not to argue averseness and opposition to him, thus not to endure the sight of him, ver. 30, it is expressly added,
ver. 30, they hated God : there is not only an estrangement from God, dvnjX-
XoT/wgvo/, Col. i. 21, but also enemies, and that not by outward unkind-
ness, but in minds ; and not to God only, but to all righteousness, Acts
xiii. 10, and not enemies only, but enmity, Rom. viii. 7, the wisdom of the
flesh is enmity against God and his laws ; and, therefore, in a man s own
: Gal. v. 17, The flesh lusteth against the spirit, for they are contrary ; so as all the lusts of the flesh are contrary against the spirit, as they are called : Rom. vii. 23,
heart they fight together
* But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members ; i. e. a law, dmtfrfarm/Mwv, fight
ing against ; neither is this enmity in our nature only, but our nature and
all inclinations are said to be in it : Acts viii. 23, Thou art in the gall of
bitterness ; that is, a bitter spirit against God and goodness. As a man is
said to be in love with that which he loves most, and is wholly taken up with ; so in the gall of bitterness, to that which he hates most of all things else.