Chapter VII
The sorrow and repentance which we should have for original sin, more ampli
fied from the effects which godly sorrow wrought in the Corinthians.
For godly sorrow tvorketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of : but
the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this self-same thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what
vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what tevenge! In all things ye have
approved youvselves to be clear in this matter. 2 COR. VII. 10, 11.
I shall endeavour to make a farther essay upon all those particular acts of
repentance, which are set out to have been the effects and consequents of
godly sorrow in those Corinthians, -if we understand that passage of what
repentance was wrought in them, for that part of the guilt which themselves,
as a church, had contracted, and for which he had reproved them in the 5th
chapter of his former epistle, as these which had not mourned; which occa
sioned this their repentance here, as ver. 8 informs, and therefore that
personal repentance for themselves must be taken in as there intended, and
hath also been before animadverted. And so understood, I shall attempt to
go over all those particular effects there specified, and demonstrate that they
all may as naturally flow from a true godly conviction and sorrow for our
share in the guilt of Adam s sin, as upon the guilt of any personal sin of our own committing. The apostle s words are these :
* Godly sorrow worketh
repentance, ver. 10 ; and the effects thereof do follow : ver. 11, For this
CHAP. VII.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 857
self-same thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, or for God, 1, What
* what apology, AcroXoy/av, or plead
carefulness wrought it in you ; yea, 2,
* what vehe ment desire; 6, what zeal; 7, * what revenge. These are spiritually natural effects of godly sorrow for any grievous sin, and acts of repentance
* what fear ; 5,
ing for yourselves ; 3, what indignation ; 4,
relating unto time to come ; for as Bellarmine well says, There cannot be a
true sorrow of heart for a sin that is past, but presently there doth arise a
purpose not to sin for the future.
In going over these, I shall couple those of them that are more symbolical and congenial one with another, and so shortly speak of them in the force of what hath been hitherto said.
The first conple shall be care and fear, both which respect avoiding sin
for time to eome, that we fall not into the like.
1. Care. Let any soul but view the transactions of Satan with Eve, and
hers with Adam, and how easily that their feet slipped, and they turned thither
(as the psalmist s phrase is, Ps. Ixxiii. 2), and were eternally lost and gone, and let that soul withal but interest himself irt that act of Adam s first sin, and he may find it gives him as great a monition of watchfulness as any of
his own sins are like to do against all temptations of Satan, not somuch as
to listen to them, or to any other motions of sin.
2. What fear. Fear imports a carefulness arising from the sense of a
danger, against security or confidence in ourselves. There is no instance
will prompt more heedfully for ever to stand upon our guard than this of Adam s sinning ; for if thou hast put thyself into Adam s case and condition,
&c., thou wilt consider how, though thou hadst in him a fulness of perfect holiness, and nothing within to tempt thee, that yet thou then didst fall in
him, and he that was so completely armed then fell, and thou in him ; how much more then now, when thou hast so little of grace to preserve thee, and
so much of corruption to tempt thee, may it cause thee to work out thy sal
vation with fear and trembling ? Let him that standeth take heed lest he
fall, is a natural lesson from hence; and Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand, &c. And this is holy fear and jealousy of our
selves. This for the first couple. A second pair or couple are indignation and revenge. The first speaks a throwing away of sin in a chafe :
* What have I to do
any more with idols ? as Ephraim, Hosea xiv. 9. Or such an indignation as Asaph had at himself : Ps. Ixxiii. 22, So foolish was I, and as a beast
before thee. And if ever any sin (take the consequents of it) would raise up indignation in the heart of one supposed guilty of it, this will, to think how triflingly the whole world was lost and cast away, myself and all man
kind, at one throw, for less than a mess of pottage. Oh this shews what we
are at best, even but creatures ; and this is our creation grace, on which a man would not venture the smallest piece of a soul, much less the blessed ness of all mankind. We are apt enough, indeed, to have our spirits fume, at Adam and Eve (as no question, they repenting, did against themselves) for so great an unworthiness, that man in honour should so easily become a beast that perisheth, yea, a devil. But the indignation I call upon thee
for is of another kind, to which purpose put thyself into Adam s case, and
first think with thyself, If I had been in his stead, I with my creature free
will grace should, vice versa, have served Adam so, and lost all for myself and him, even as he did. And then again, think also that this act of his
sin is thy sin, and this will both turn thy indignation against thyself, and set
thy heart to be more resolved against all sin for time to come, for any sin as well as that of eating the forbidden fruit, if it had been committed by
358 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK IX.
them, would have done it. I will never trust creature grace or free-will grace more, for this foul failure of it in him. what indignation
! The second is revenue. There is a question among the schoolmen,* whether repentance be only an act of love to God, or withal an act of justice, or doing a justice unto God again, by way of recompence for sin, as it is a
wrong and an injury to him, by endeavouring what in us lies to destroy the
injury done to God, and restore unto God his right ? Thus they. This
notion they would put upon repentance s revenge, with an intention thereon
to found a compensation, a satisfaction made unto God by repentance (such as the creatures can make), and withal thereby to make up a reconciliation with God again, injunam resarciendo, by making God amends. Thus they
philosophise. Yet sever this notion of theirs from this blasphemous affront
given unto the satisfaction of Christ alone made for us, instead of which they would set up their satisfactions in penances, &c., and understand this ana
logically or similitudinarily, and there is a revenge a penitent soul takes of
itself for sin, or rather upon sin ; and there is an endeavour to make God an amends, that by how much a man hath the more sinned, by so much the more he would be obedient, and do contrary unto what formerly he hath done ; which you see to have been in Paul, who had been so violent in per
secuting the church ; in the woman of Nain, &c., Luke vii. 37 ; and in the
Christians at Epbesus, that burnt their books of curious arts, &c., Acts xix.
19. And such a revenge is not simply intended as against ourselves (we leave that to the papists), but against our sins ; and those not simply as
having done ourselves such mischief, but as against God ; for as it is sorrow
to God, or for God s interest, from whence this revenge here ariseth, so as
there is a revenge done on sin for God s sake, wherein the penitent soul can
rest satisfied with nothing but the utter destruction of it, for that revenge doth always import. Jealousy is the rage or revenge of a man : Prov. vi.
34, For jealousy is the rage of a man ; therefore he will not spare in the
day of vengeance.
Now, as to this of revenge against sin thus understood, how it should be
stirred up in us, by the consideration of our guilt of that act of Adam s sin, or upon what thing or sin this revenge should wreak or vent itself ? That is
the query. Upon that act of sin past ? That cannot be ; and to revenge ourselves upon some lawful liberty that holds an appearance to that of their
eating the forbidden fruit, in the contemplation of this sin, is easily imagin able.
I shall only say as to this point these two things :
1. If a man would have hatred stirred up to purpose against sin (which is
the ground and provocative of revenge), let him view but sin in that glass of Adam s fall, and consider but how heinously God took it, and how highly he was displeased at it, and hath shown it in the miserable consequents of it, so as never the like, it being the spoil of all his workmanship, which in the end of the sixth and seventh day he was so refreshed withal, and a turning the whole wheel and way of the old creation (of man especially) into a con
trariety unto him for ever.
There are two great glasses to view the deformity of sin in : the first in
this of Adam s fact in paradise ; the second in that of Christ s suffering for sin upon the cross. God laid upon him the iniquities of us all, revenge
being thus stirred up.
2. Wouldst thou be revenged for this mischief done to God and thee, &c., and know where and how, in a proper way, to point and direct the sword s
point of thy revenge against it ? Then look as David when he would study * See Bellarm. 1. ii. de Poenit. c. 7, and Suarez in 3, Tom. iv. disp. 2, sec. 3.
CHAP. VII.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 359
how to shew a kindness unto Jonathan who was dead, and so out of a
capacity, or the reach of a kindness himself (as the act of this sin also is to
* Is there any left of the house of Saul, that I may shew kindness to him for Jonathan s sake ? 2 Sam. ix. 1. And they told him he had a son Mephibosheth, ver. 3, &c. Thus say I, wouldst thou
ours), yet as David inquired,
be revenged for the loss, not of thy two eyes only (as Samson, Judges xvi.
* created in
28), but for the loss of the whole image of God, &c., which was
knowledge, &c., as the apostle speaks ? I say, wouldst thou be avenged for
this and other mischiefs on this sin ? Look first if there be any of its brood
left behind it, whom thou mayest fairly wreak thy vengeance on. And for
that thou needest to go no farther than thine own heart ; behold a whole
body of sins, all sorts of lusts therein, that are the brood it hath left behind
it, that sin was the father of, besides all the actual sins which are begotten by it, the grandchildren of that grand sin ; and if these be not large enough to satiate thy vengeance, thou hast the sins of all the sons of men thou con-
versest with, that come within thy cognisance, to endeavour to extirpate these in them by all ways and means wherein thy duty lies. These are all
of the same stock and lineage, and descended from this root, and cousin-
germans to thine own sin. But if thou thinkest these too remote and too
far off in kindred, look upon thine own children who came out of thine own
loins, and all the sins in them, which are all nearer akin unto that corruption in thyself, and next unto thine own. In all these thou hast field enough before
thee for revenge to forage in. Only first begin this thy revenge at home ; thou hast enough to satiate thy hatred upon there. Slash and cut, ard
spare not ; hew and cut down, and lay the axe to the root of the tree. Oh what revenge
! But on a revenge hereon I shall enlarge when I come to the acts of repentance for inherent corruption.
There is a third pair or couple, what desire ! what zeal ! Those latter
fruits of repentance do, to be sure, spring from pure love to God. What
desires to be rid of sin and to be holy, which are the best fruits of thy grace in this life ? And then thy sense of the guilt of this act of sinning will put thee upon hungering and thirsting after righteousness, especially that right eousness of that other Adam, Christ, of which by and by ; and it will stir
desires also after the favour of God, for this was the first sin that separated betwixt God and thee. And zeal is but love and desire, and other affections
intended.* Desire is smoke, and zeal is flame. And for a man to consider, I am guilty of the first sin that ever was committed in the world, and one of
the greatest that ever was or will be, this may well provoke him to desire, and to say, That was the alpha of my sins ; would to God that which I com mitted last might be the omega. Again, did I bring sins enough into the
world, even of the guilt of that sin, if I had added no more, to have found me work to repent of as long as I have been or am to be in the world ; yea, to find me work enough of that kind, if I did nothing else ? And shall I sin
any one sin more ? Oh, if it were possible, not so much as one ! Oh what
desire, what zeal should this provoke us to ?
There is one thing more in that text, 2 Cor. vii., a single seventh, which
will not so well yoke with any of the other, a clearing ourselves, or apology in defence of ourselves ; and what may that be supposed to have to do with our sense of the guilt of this act ? We will be ready to say, that of all sins
else we can the best apologise for this, and clear ourselves, and wash our hands of that, and plead in defence of ourselves. It was the sin of another, and not our own ; guce nonfecimm ipsi, vir, ea nostra voco. That which I did
not can hardly be styled mine. This was Adam s fault indeed, in seeking * That is, stretched or intensified. ED.
360 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK IX.
to excuse himself, by laying his sin on his wife, yea, at God s door, Gen. iii. which Job alludes to, chap. xxxi. 33. But as to the Corinthians clearing themselves for that personal share of theirs in that sin (which the apostle had reproved in these Corinthians, 2 Cor. v. 3), that true godly sorrow which
their hearts were yet bedewed with, and had brought forth, this apology here was joined with a putting their mouths in the dust, and a taking shame and guilt to themselves, to the utmost grain of weight it will bear. The word here used is an apology, or pleading for pardon and forgiveness, hav
ing first taken a sin upon us ;* for, as I observed before, true faith is always
intermingled with repentance which is evangelical, yea, and causeth it ; and
the more it is made sensible of its sin through its working, the more it puts the soul upon further exercises of faith, and to seek after the attainment of
fresh assurance of forgiveness. This apology the apostle terms elsewhere, the
* answer or speakings of a good conscience, when through faith the soul
is enabled to plead Christ s resurrection for the justification of itself, 1 Pet.
iii. 21, which is done, whilst a penitent soul approacheth with fresh and
louder cries the throne of grace for God s absolution and forgiveness, and
clearing of them to their own sense, for a sin repented of and sorrowed for ; as we saw in David, who, though God had, by the prophet s outward message sent him, declared he had forgiven his sin, 2 Sam. xii. 13, yet David s soul must hear God himself speak that word over anew to his own soul ; and
therefore you heard of his pleadings and apologies for mercy and pardon, out of Ps. li. 7. I shewed before, out of Eom. v. 25, that it is and must be the free grace in
God, that only must quit and discharge us of the guilt of this sin, as well as from any other sins ; yea, and an abundant grace it is to forgive that sin, as well as the many of our other offences, ver. 15, 16. Unto which, as to
that other of David s, I add, as I then said, two more scriptures to confirm
this. And it is very observable, that in so many places, take them all, where
this sin is spoken of, God s free grace in pardoning and saving is eminently spoken of also, as to the forgiveness of them.
The first is Isa. xliii. 27, Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me. There you have this disobedience of Adam
laid to their charge to humble them, as generally, says Calvin, interpreters expound it, and not their forefathers, as to their birth, because he speaks of some one father singly and eminently, which that word first father indigitates, and who was the primo primus, the firstfirst, whose sin also was so famed and notorious, and the cause of all sin, as Adam is the common father of all; but withal free grace to pardon that and all other their sins, is not far off,
yea, had been aforehand set down in ver. 25, I, even I, am he that blotteth
out thy transgressions for my own sake, and will remember them no more :
a scripture which speaks mere free grace as amply and as loudly as any
place whatever, and speaks it not under the language of that redemption from
captivity (though including it), but of blotting out transgressions, and re
membering them no more, which is made the proper language of the cove nant of grace unto the elect out of mankind. And so he speaks to the godly of that nation personally, and he instanceth in such sins, as they might other
wise think they least needed pardon for, not their own personally committed
by themselves, but first that guilt common with them to all mankind, com
mitted in Adam ; and then their public guilt, in respect of the relation of
their priests, who were the intercessors for them to God, and yet had styled these thy sins in ver. 25, which you are to be humbled for, as for your own,
every one of you. And lo, says he, I am he that blots out these and all * See Dyke on Kepent. chap. xiv.
CHAP. VIII.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT.
* for my own name sake, that is, freely; and it must
other thy transgressions
be my grace which must forgive these thy sins, as well as any other of thine
own, and therefore look up unto me, I, even I, am he that pardoneth them.
Neither canst thou find out, saith God, or enter on any plea or apology (as the word is here) for pardon, but this alone of my name, which I have so
long ago proclaimed unto thee, The Lord gracious, &c. Thus in ver. 26, Put me in remembrance ; let us plead together ; declare thou that thou mayest be justified
: justified for these guilts, which are thine but by imputation, as
the first sin of thy fore-father, or national relation, as the sin of thy teachers.
The second scripture added is Eph. ii. 1, 5, Ye were dead in sins and
trespasses, and by nature children of wrath : and they were by nature, or
born dead, as well in respect of the guilt of their first father Adam s dis
obedience, being condemned in him, Rom. v. 18 as of inherent corruption. But what then is it he points them unto alone, whereby they had obtained,
or were to obtain, pardon and salvation from ? Ver. 4, 5, God, who is
rich in mercy, &c. when ye were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved.
And thus much for the first part of this discourse, the humbling ourselves
for our guilt of the act of Adam s disobedience.