SOLOMON, when engaged in many puzzling Disquisitions, which his Soul sought to find out, but could not, arrived to certain­ty in a Point of greater Impor­tance, The original State of Man. And he seems enraptur'd with the Discovery, and cries out with the old Mathematician, [...], I have found it! I have found it! Lo, this have I found as the true State of Man at first, and as the best Help to account for all that moral Evil wherewith the World is inundated, without any criminal Imputation to the CREA­TOR,— That GOD made Man upright.

THESE Words present to us a View of Man's primitive State; which it is my Pro­vince at present to consider: And therefore, [Page 4]pretermitting a critical Explication of them, which their intrinsic plainness admits not of; and extending them so as to include our present Scope, we shall take occasion from them to consider Man.

I. PHYSICALLY, or in Genere Entis, (if modern Politeness will indulge such a Scho­lasticism) as to his Being and temporal Circum­stances.

II. MORALLY, or in Genere Moris, as to his Conformity to the moral Perfections of his all-holy Creator, transcribed in the Law of Nature. And

III. RELATIVELY, as to the Foederal Oeconomy under which he was,

I. CONSIDERING Man Physically, we take Notice of his Person, consisting of Body and Soul:—His blissful Situation in the Garden of Eden:—His conjugal Happiness in Eve his Wife: And his Dominion over the inferior Creation.

IF we consider the Person of Man, we shall find, that he is wonderfully and fearfully made:—A Work worthy not only of the di­vine Hands, but of the deliberating Wisdom of the Trinity Sitting in Council.

IF we take a View of his Body, the meaner Part of his Person, we shall find it curiously wrought, as the Psalmist speaks.—The Matter indeed was mean, the Dust of the Earth; as his Name Adam indicates; but materiam su­perebat opus; it is a s [...]il to the amazing Ma­chine.

WOULD Time allow us, or Skill qualify us to survey and anatomize the human Body, a thousand Excellencies and Wonders would appear in it.

IT'S upright Posture; the Organs of Sense; the Instruments of Motion and Activity; their Make and Situation; their mutual Subserviency to one another, and conjunct Subserviency to the Whole, are all Objects of wonder.

HOW wisely are those Parts that are more essential to the human Frame, and the principal Seats of Life and Activity, defended from ex­ternal Injuries by various Inclosures! As the Brain by a Wall of Soull; the Marrow by Bones; the Heart, Lungs and Liver placed in the midst; and the Whole overlaid with a soft and neat Covering of Skin.

HOW amazing the continued Motion of the Lungs! the constant and regular Circulation of the Blood and Juices, even when the Man is asleep! The Continuance of vital Heat for so long a Time! Much more amazing this, than that the Frame is so soon dissolved by Death.

BUT his Soul, the other Constituent of his Person, is of a yet more excellent Nature and Endowments. And indeed the principal Excellencies of his Body, indicate the superior Excellency of this Principle of Activity within.

AS to it's Nature, it is immaterial, or spiri­tual.—Moses tells us, 'tis the Breath of the im­material Deity— He breathed into his Nostrils the Breath of Life; and Man became a living [Page 6]Soul. Gen. ii. 7. And consequently it cannot be material.

FROM its Immateriality or Spirituality may be inferred it's Immortality, and intrinsic Ten­dency to exist.—But these two Particulars having been already fully evinc'd by one of my Brethren, I shall not insinuate the Contrary by a tedious Prosecution of them here.

FROM its Spirituality results also its Vitality or Activity;—Its amazing Activity we still ex­perience; and Adam no doubt experienced in a vastly superior Degree,—What a vast Num­ber of Ideas does it receive or form in a little Time! With what amazing Celerity does it fly from Object to Object! How unwearied in Ope­ration, and vigorous in it's Contemplations of a thousand Things successively! With what Vigour and Sprightliness does the Will clasp about an apprehended Good! And recoil and start back from an apparent Evil!

THIS Activity or Capacity of acting, receives different Denominations from the different Ob­jects about which it is versant; from which objec­tive Diversity there arises a Diversity of Operations.

ALL the Objects about which it can be versant may in general be considered either as I [...]gibles, or Eligibles and Non-eligibles,—That the Soul may be capable of being ver­sant about the [...], it is endowed with an Understanding; and about the [...]ter, with a [...] [...]en of which are capable of sundry Mo­difications.

AS the first Step to the Knowledge of things, that are the proper Objects of it, the Under­standing is capable of forming or receiving those Images or Impressions of things which are commonly called Ideas: These Ideas it can join or disjoin as they agree or disagree, by an Act of Judgment; and this Agreement or Dis­agreement, when it is self-evident, it can per­ceive by Intuition; and when it is not so, by Argumentation: It can survey things in their general Nature by Abstraction: Dwell upon things known at present by Contemplation; and recall things known in Time past by an Act of Memory.

Adam's Will was capable of choosing or re­fusing an Object according to it's apparent Goodness or Badness. Some of its Acts were more refin'd and spiritual, and less dependent on the Body; others, exerted with special Vi­gour, occasioned a Commotion in animal Nature, and are therefore called Passions or Affections.

GOOD was the Object of his Love, and Evil, of Hatred. The present Enjoyment of Good excited Joy; and the Loss of it would have occasioned Sorrow: An absent attainable Good was a fit Object of Desire and Hope; and an absent Evil to which he might be exposed, of Aversion and Fear.

NOW the Soul of Adam in this View bore the physical or natural Image of GOD, the Fa­ther of Spirits. As he is by Nature an imma­terial, immortal, vital, and rational Spirit; so is the Soul in its Degree.

THESE two wonderful Things, of a quite opposite Nature, were united in one Person by an Union as wonderful as either; their mutual Influence, Dependance on, and Subserviency to each other, in this present State, we are con­scious of: But what that Tie or Bond of Uni­on is, whether it consists in their mutual Influ­ence; or in that Law of Creation from which this Influence results, or in something else that we can't so much as imagine, is perhaps what cannot be known but by the Light of primitive Innocence, or future Glory, neither of which we now enjoy.

BY virtue of this Union Man is surprizingly capable of being versant about the two grand Speices into which Being may be distributed, Body and Spirit, and of receiving Happiness from them; he partakes of both, and links them together in the Chain of Being.

BUT alas! instead of describing Adam's Per­son, we have insensibly glided into a Description of our own, which are but the Ruins of that stately Fabric, and indeed our Description can­not but be imperfect, for we have no perfect Pattern to draw it by; the shatter'd Remains and Rubbish are scatter'd all round us; but alas, we cannot re-edify them into a perfect Man: Their primitive Beauty, Proportion and harmonious Connection are lost! The Linea­ments of Deformity are drawn in our Coun­tenances, and the Seeds of Diseases and Death sown in our Constitutions: Darkness and Weak­ness [Page 9]obscures and enfeebles our Souls! But Adam's were not so; his Body was graceful, vigorous and healthful; and his Soul full of Light, Strength, and Harmony. Let us next consider his blissful Situation in the Garden of Eden: Being form'd King of the lower World, a Pa­lace was prepared for him, furnished with all the Necessaries of Life, and adorned with all the Excitements of Pleasure: The Productions of the Earth in general were at his Service, for GOD said, behold, I have given you every Herb bearing Seed, which is upon the Face of all the Earth; and every Tree in which is the Fruit of a Tree yielding Seed: To you it shall be for Meat, Gen. i. 29. But, for his better Con­veniency, all that was fit for Food or Delight was epitomized, and collected into one Place: For the Lord GOD planted a Garden Eastward in Eden; and there he put the Man whom he had formed. And out of the Ground made the Lord GOD to grow every Tree that is pleasant to the Sight, and good for Food, Gen. ii. 8, 9. All these Trees he had free Liberty to use, with the Exception hereafter mentioned; for the Lord GOD commanded the Man, saying, Of every Tree of the Garden thou mayest free­ly eat, Gen. ii. 16.

This rural Simplicity was better adapted for his Entertainment than all the Dainties of the most sumptuous Table: Every Branch bowed with the Supports of Life, and reach'd the [...] to his Hand. The Situation, Height, Colo [...] and other Beauties of this fruitful [...] [Page 10]Walk; the agreeable Fragrance of such a charming variety of Flowers; the Music of the winged Tribe; the Flowings of the four great Rivers, and Streams issuing from them, and a thousand other Pleasures of Paradise, were fitted to entertain him with the most ex­quisite Delight thro' every Sense.

LET us next view him in a conjugal Relation.

GOD saw, that it was not good for Man to be alone;—To advance him to hold perpetual Conversation with Angels would not have com­ported well with his probationary State, and his animal Nature; and to herd him among Irrationals, would have been to degrade his ra­tional Nature, and deprieve him of the Happi­ness of Society which he was form'd capable of, therefore we are told, GOD created Man, Male and Female; that they might be capable of conjugal Union and Procreation; the Man of the Dust of the Earth, and the Woman afterwards of the Rib of the Man: From whence St. Paul infers the Inferiority of the Female Sex, 1 Tim. ii. 11, 13. 1 Cor. xi. 8, 9. And Adam justly inferred from it, the Near­ness of their Relation: This is now Bone of my Bones, and Flesh of my Flesh, Gen. ii. 23. which CHRIST refers to as a Reason for the Continu­ance of the Relation, and against causeless Sepa­ration, Matt. xix 4-10.

THE Designs of the early Institution of Mar­riage were these,

THAT they might be mutual Comforters, and Assistants to each other in the Affairs of Life [Page 11]and those of Religion: That the human Race might be legitimately procreated, Matt. ii. 15 Did he not make one? Yet had he the Residue of the Spirit; And therefore could have made more. And wherefore one?—That he might seek a godly Seed.

AND finally to teach us, that Marriage was to be, and continued between one Man and one Woman, in Opposition to Polygamy and cause­less Divorce, as CHRIST intimates in the fore­cited 19th Chapter of St. Matthew.

HIS Dominion over the Creatures is to be considered lastly under this Head.

WE find him commission'd to be his Vice-Gerent, or Lieutenant-Governor by GOD him­self, Gen. i. 28. Have Dominion▪ over the Fish of the Sea, and over the Fowle of the Air, and over every living Thing that moveth upon the Earth: And the Psalmist makes particular mention of the Subjection of other Creatures to Man, in the 8th Psalm. Perhaps their coming to him to receive Names was design'd as a Token and Instance of it, for it seems an Act of Authority to impose Names; and indeed the Remains of that Subjection still continued by the kind Pro­vidence of Heaven for the Safety of Mankind, plainly intimate, that when every thing was in the Perfection peculiar to the State of Innocence, this was so too; in this respect, Man was the Representative of the Universal King, and bore the Image of his Authority.

THE Advantages of it to Man were un­doubtedly [Page 12]numerous, tho' for want of Experi­ence, we cannot perhaps enumerate them all.

WE know, however, that hereby he was exempted from Injuries from other Creatures; who, since his Rebellion carry Arms, as the Hosts of GOD to maintain the Rights of their Sovereign.

II. LET us now take a View of Man as to the Principle of moral Uprightness in his Souls; the Principle of moral Uprightness, I say, for neither the Uprightness of his Life, nor the upright Actings of his Soul can be so imme­diately design'd by the Term Upright in the Text, or the Image of GOD, after which Man was created, as the Principle thereof in his Soul; for the latter only could be concreated with him, the former being the Adjuncts of a Being after Creation.

WE are told, that GOD created Man in his own Likeness, Gen. i. 27. It was not the Up­rightness of GOD itself, but only the Image of it; the Image and Superscription of GOD upon him indicated who was his Author and Pro­prietor; and it was his principal Ornament, as well as the chief Source of his Felicity.

IN order at once both to explain this moral Rectitude, and prove that Adam was endow'd therewith; it may be expedient to enquire more abstractly, What those Qualifications are, which must necessarily be concreated with a rational Creature, under no Imputation of Guilt, that he may answer the Design of his Creation, and be capable to perform those Obligations which are founded on his very Essence.

THAT Man as a rational Creature is under Law t [...] [...]OD, and cannot but be so, and there­fore owes Duty to him, has been already de­monstrated by an abler Hand.

THAT it would be a piece of Weakness and Folly to make a rational Creature without en­dowing him with a Capacity to perform that Law which is founded in his very Nature, is very demonstrable: For, if the Existence of a rational Creature infers its Duty to its Crea­tor, then the End of its Creation must be, that it may perform that Duty; for sure in its Creation it was design'd for the Performance of all that which its very Creation obliges it to.

NOW to form such a Creature for such an End without giving it Ability to obtain it, is manifest silly Weakness, unbecoming the infi­nitely wise Creator; as to make a Watch, that answers not its proper End, reflects Dishonour on the Maker.

AGAIN, if moral Obligations to GOD result from his being a rational Creature, what a Mon­ster would he have been, had he been created without Ability to perform them! Why was he endowed with Reason, if he was not endow'd with Ability to perform the Obligations that necessarily result from it? His Reason then would be a more monstruous Superfluity in his Soul, than a superfluous Member could be in his Bo­dy: If his Reason must be the Source of im­practicable Obligations, it would have been an Act of Tyranny, and not of Goodness, to endow [Page 14]him with it. Better be a stupid Brute than an active Rational, if he must be bound by no less Obligation than the invariable Nature of Things and his very Essence to perform Im­possibilities! Such a Production would have been a greater Blunder in Creation, than that if his Body had been form'd with Eyes incapable of Seeing, or Legs of Walking.

AND may we not strongly presume this from the divine Goodness? Can we think, that when his Justice was so strict as that it could not but require Obedience, his Goodness would be so illiberal as not to afford Strength to yield it? Must the unhappy Innocent groan under im­performable Obligations, and Goodness never assist?

NOW it being demonstrated, that Man must have been created with a Principle of moral Rectitude whereby he was able to fullfil the Law: It also follows, that by Virtue thereof he was able to fullfil the Law perfectly; for there is the same Reason that he should be able to fullfil the Law perfectly, as there is that he should be able to keep it in any Measure, or in any Part of it: From all which it follows.

1. THAT Man's Understanding was en­dow'd with such a Degree of Knowledge as was necessary for the perfect fullfilling of the Law under which he was; this implies, that he knew GOD as a Law-giver; knew, in a compe­tent Degree, the intrinsic Excellencies of his Nature; that he was the Creator and Conserver [Page 15]of all Things and of him in particular; and had a Right on these Accounts, to demand his Obedience; for without such a Knowledge he could not rationally look upon himself as bound to obey him.

HE must know the Precepts of the Law as the Rule of his Obedience; Otherwise he could not know wherein to obey him:—Must know, that there is an eternal Difference, and imme­diate Contrariety between moral Good and Evil: That the former is immutably amiable and congruous, and the latter infinitely base, unrea­sonable and detestable.

HE must also have a Knowledge of such Mo­tives as would be sufficient rational Excitements to Obedience; for to obey without them by a kind of Impetus would be to act irrationally. It was therefore fit he should be convinced, not only of the infinite Excellencies of the divine Nature, as has been hinted, which are disco­verable in the Works of GOD in every Part of the Universe, into which therefore no Doubt Adam had a clear View, but also that his Hap­piness consisted in the Enjoyment of GOD, and could not be compleat in the midst of created Enjoyments; That the only Way to be conti­nued in present, and advanc'd to greater fu­ture Happiness, was Conformity and Obedience to him: That to offend him would be to break infinite Obligations! To hate supreme Goodness, the Object of supreme Love! To rebell against absolute rightful Sovereignity! To run counter [Page 16]to the Nature of Things, and blind and con­found their eternal Order and Harmony! That by so doing he would forfeit all his Happiness, and ingulph himself in tremenduous Destruction and Misery.

AND some Sort of Knowledge would not suf­fice; it must be clear, distinct, regular and af­fecting: To have an obscure, confus'd, disor­derly and unaffecting Notion of these Things, hovering in the Head, never impressing the Heart, nor discovering itself in Practice, is not to know them at all for the Purposes they ought to be known for.

THUS largely endow'd was Adam's Intellect, and in this he bore the Image of the infinite Intelligent, which St. Paul intimates when he speaks (Coll. iii. 10.) of being renew'd in Knowledge after the Image of him that created him: Where it is implied, that Man was once endow'd with Knowledge, otherwise he could not be restored thereto by Renovation; and ex­prest, that the Creator's Image consisted in Knowledge.

WHAT St. Paul says of the Heathens after the Fall, ( Rom. ii. 14, 15.) These not having the Law, are a Law unto themselves; and shew the Work of the Law written in their Hearts; may with greater Comprehension be apply'd to Man in Innocence; every Duty was discovered by him with as much Certainty and Ease, as we discover the Duty of Self-Preser­vation, or the Sin of Patricide: His Knowledge [Page 17]of moral Duties was not borrowed from ob­jective Revelation, nor obtain'd by a tedious, perplext, uncertain Procedure from Consequence to Consequence; but was interwoven with his Knowledge of other Things; his Reason dic­tated the Rule of Duty, and discovered to him every moral Obligation under which he was.

2. HIS Will must have been inclined to keep the Law, and propense to chose it as the Rule of his Walk; his Knowledge, without this would have but rendered him Self-inconsistent, and expos'd him to the Perplexities of perpetual in­testine Tumults and Broils between his Under­standing and Will. His Will would have per­petually reluctated and struggled against the Dictates of his Reason.

WITHOUT this, he could not have been denominated Upright; for to perceive the Ex­cellencies of moral Goodness without being strong­ly inclined to it, or the Baseness of moral Evil without detesting it, is a more aggravated De­pravity, than when this Indifferency flows from meer nescience or ignorance. St. Paul also as­serts, that to be created after GOD (as cer­tainly Adam was) is to be created in Righteous­ness and true Holiness: But Holiness, sure, can­not consist with an Indifferency towards known Good and Evil, much less with a Propensity to the latter, and an Aversion to the former.

WHEREFORE, tho' in many Things he had a Liberty of Indifferency, the Uprightness of his Will must include something more: It could not [Page 18]be a necessary unchangeable Determination of his Will to Holiness, for that would not have comported with his State of Trial, and the Event shew'd he had it not. It must then have been some Medium between a meer Indifferency and an absolute Determination.

THAT Liberty of Will which is essential to a rational Creature, Adam undoubtedly had; but then, that may be where there is not the Liberty which Uprightness includes, as is plain by the Instance of damned Ghosts, and where there is not that Liberty which is requisite to a State of Trial, as in glorified Saints. But as Adam as not only a rational Being, but also an upright Probationer, he must have such Liberty as was requisite to him under all these Views, which I conceive included these two Things,

A CAPACITY and strong intrinsic Propen­sity to choose Good, when apprehended, attended with a rational Complacence in the Choice; this his Uprightness required.

AND a Power of choosing otherwise notwith­standing; this seem'd a meer Power of Capa­city, without any intrinsic Propensity to exert it; and this his State of Probation required.

TO compleat his Power of Obedience.

3. ALL his Affections must be regular and governable, otherwise he cou'd not keep the Law; which requires that they should be regular and governable; and which, were they not so, would be perpetually violated by their Perturbations [Page 19]and Eruptions; otherwise he cou'd not be called an upright Man: For is he upright whose in­ferior Powers rebel against the Superior? Whose Love, for instance, is fix'd on Evil, the the proper Object of Hatred? On the Supreme Good in a small Degree? Or on a lesser Good in an excessive Degree?

MOREOVER, the Holiness of his Affections may be inferred from the Light of his Under­standing, the Rectitude of his Will, and the due Temperament of his Body: For the Affec­tions being only the more violent and vigorous Acts of the Will towards an Object represented by the Understanding, attended with some strong Commotions in the animal Frame; it fol­lows, that if the Understanding rightly repre­sent an Object, and the Will act towards it according to that Representation, and the Body contribute nothing to confuse the former, or pervert the latter, then the Affections also can­not but be regular and holy.

The Uprightness of his Will and Affections was another Part, and indeed the principal one, of the moral Image of GOD; who with infinite Complacence and rational Liberty ac­quiesces in moral Goodness, and bears a perpe­tual dispassionate Aversion to all Evil.

BUT here I would observe, that as moral Rectitude, abstractly considered, consists in such a Knowledge, and complacential Approbation of the Nature and Relations of Things that come under a moral Consideration, and prac­tising [Page 20]accordingly, as their Nature and Rela­tions require, moral Rectitude in the abstract is every where the same. But as the Circum­stances and Relations of different Beings with regard to one another, and consequently with regard to Things of a moral Consideration, are different; so this Principle must be diversi­fied in its Operations according to the different Circumstances and Relations of the Subjects in which it is. Hence, for GOD to act in that Manner formally which this Principle excites Man to act in; or to have Dispositions formally the same with those which this Principle in Man includes; as, a Sense of Dependance on an Efficient, of Duty to a Superior, or of Grati­tude to a Benefactor, would be incongruous and inconsistent; for tho' they comport well with the Relations of a Creature and Subject, they are perfectly contrary to the Relations of the independent Creator, and supreme Sovereign.

AND for Man to delight in himself as the Summum Bonum, an Object worthy of all Ado­ration, &c. would be entirely inconsistent with moral Uprightness, because inconsistent with his Circumstances and Relations.

ONE Thing yet remains to be considered under this Head; The Happiness of the first Man resulting from the Contemplation of his State, which, I conceive, we may justly look upon as a Part of his Maker's Image; tho' it be not commonly so called; for in this lower World there could not be so near a Likeness [Page 21]of the all-sufficient GOD, whose Happiness con­sists in surveying and contemplating the infinite Excellencies of his all-perfect Nature, and in eternal Complacence in what is Good and Right, as Adam was in his primitive State.

NO doubt the Nature and Activity, the strong Powers and comprehensive Capacities of his Soul Physically consider'd, were the Objects of his delightful Contemplation; but into what Extasy must his Mind be carried, when he be­held the divine Light, and penetration of his Judgement; the sacred Propensities of his Will; the undisturbed Order and due Governableness of his Affections; the Uprightness of his whole Soul! To conceive of GOD as delighting in him! To feel him refreshing his Heart with plentiful Effusions of divine Consolations! To hold Communion with the celestial Majesty without being chargeable with presumptuous Intrusion, or affrighted with the Horrors of Guilt! These are Pleasures worthy an immor­tal Spirit! Sufficient to distend its comprehen­sive Capacities! Becoming a State of perfect Holiness!

HAIL happy Adam! Hail thou that art highly favoured! All within thee, all around thee, all above thee present thee with Scenes of exquisite Delectation and consumate Bliss! Within, thy Maker's Image shines! Thy Soul, all Light, all Holiness, all Harmony! Thy Un­derstanding without a Cloud! Thy Will without a vicious Byass! Thy Affections calm, without [Page 22]the least Perturbation! No Guilt on thy Con­science to disturb thee with frightful Images.

THY Body comely, lively and active, not infected with the lurking Principle of Death!

—WITHOUT, the Works of GOD allure thy contemplative Mind to the delightful Study of them. The Earth offers thee all her Pro­ducts, and collects them to thy Hand in to the Garden of Eden! the Beasts, the Birds, the Fishes are the willing Subjects! Thy Hap­piness doubled in Eve, the Co-partner of thy Nature, thy Labour, and thy Bliss! But say, amid this Exuberancy of Pleasures, don't thy sweetest, thy most refin'd Joys flow from above! Above, where Jehovah dwells, and whence he descends at Times to entertain thee with celestial Conversation! How willing thou to meet him, and prostrate thyself at his Feet to welcome him!

But are we not by this Time ready to cry out, O for some probable Method to perpe­tuate this Felicity to him, and convey it to his Posterity! The Happiness is lessen'd while it is in suspence: The Request was answered, as we shall see, when

III. We take a View of Man with Rela­tion to the Oeconomy under which he was.

UNDER this Head we have only to consider, The Covenant itself; and the Part Adam bore therein.

WITH respect to the Covenant itself, we promise,

THO' there are no Transactions between Man and Man which in every Respect perfect­ly resemble the Transactions of GOD with Man, yet such is our Ignorance of a divine Dialect, that we are obliged to borrow Terms from the former to express the latter; and undoubtedly the best Rule in so doing is this; That those Terms be transferred from human Transactions to divine, which are used to signify such human Transactions as are most like to the Divine.

THEREFORE, tho' it is hardly worth while to contend about Words, yet, if we find the Transaction between GOD and Adam, more like to what is call'd a Covenant among Men, than what is call'd a Law; 'tis more proper to call it a Covenant, than a Law, which I think is the only Term that some wou'd ob­trude into its Place.

THAT Adam was, and cou'd not but be under a Law, has been already evinced. But whether this Law had such Appendencies and Additions as rendered it more properly a Cove­nant, we are now to enquire.

A Law requires the Preformance of it's Pre­cepts, and so does a Covenant the Performance of it's Condition, wherefore in this they agree, with this small Diversity, that what is a Precept with respect to a Law, is a Condition with re­spect to a Covenant.

A Law enforces it's Precepts with penal Sanctions, and a Covenant enforces its Condi­tion with the same; thus far they agree.

BUT a Law promises no [...]dditional Happi­ness in Case of Obedience, but only Indemnity, and the continued Possession of present Enjoy­ments and Priviledges; and in this it differs from a Covenant, which promises some su­peradded Happiness upon the Performance of the Condition.

SUCH was the Dispensation of GOD towards Adam: Therein GOD engaged, in Case of perfect Obedience, not only to continue to him the Possession of all the Blessings he enjoy'd previous to this Dispensation according to the Laws of his Creation; to which therefore he might be said to have a natural Right: But also that he and his Posterity should be advanced to a State of immutable Holiness, after his State of Probation was ended, and finally to superior and everlasting Felicity in the heavenly World; which Blessings he could have no Right to but by some gracious Grant of his Creator, superadded to his natural Rights.

SUNDRY Arguments concur for the Proof of this.

THE Threatening of Death, (Gen. ii. 27.) In the Day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die, implied a Promise of Life in case of Obe­dience; for if Adam would have died, not­withstanding his Obedience; the Threatning of Death could not have been annext as an Ex­citement [Page 25]to Obedience, and a Dissuasive from Disobedience.

NOW Death in the Commination included the Loss of temporal, spiritual and eternal Blessings; and therefore it was but reasonable, that the Life implicitly promised, opposed there­to, should be equally comprehensive, including temporal, spiritual and eternal Blessings; in which Latitude the Terms Life and Death are frequently taken in Scripture.

FURTHER, the Blessings purchased by CHRIST are substantially the same with those which Adam lost and forfeited; this the Words Sal­vation, Redemption, Renovation, and the like, intimate; for that cannot be saved which was never lost, nor that lost which was never pos­sessed: Nothing can be redeemed that was ne­ver forfeited, nor that forfeited which Man never had a Right to: Renovation signifies a Restoration to a former State. Wherefore since these Terms imply spiritual and eternal Blessings, it must be that they were promised in the FIRST COVENANT.

WE are also expressly told in Rom. viii. 3. that GOD sent his Son to do that which the Law could not do, because it was weak thro' the Flesh; and that doubtless was, to confer spi­ritual Blessings and everlasting Life in Hea­ven: But if these were never annexed to it, it was weak in itself, and not thro' the Flesh.

AGAIN, we are informed, Gal. iii. 12. The Law is not of Faith, but the Man that doth [Page 26]them shall live in them: And to the same Purpose in Rom. x. 5. and in CHRIST'S An­swer to the Lawyer's Question, What must I do to inherit eternal Life? ( Luke x. 25,—28.) In the two first of which Places, 'tis plain the Term Life signifies eternal Life; for so it is always taken in the Controversy con­cerning Justification, which the Apostle is there treating of; and in the latter, the Question is expressly concerning eternal Life only; and therefore CHRIST'S Answer refers to the same, or it is nothing to the Purpose.

NOW these Place assert, That eternal Life is the certain Consequence of Doing the Things commanded in the Law: Which would not be, were it only a Law, and n [...] [...] the Form of a Covenant.

IT may seem preposterous that we have spoken of the promissary Sanction before the Condition, but this was necessary in order to prove, that there was a Covenant, which a Condition presupposes.

BUT we now address ourselves to consider the Condition and penal Sanction.

THE Condition was the preceptive Part of the moral Law, with the Appendix of a posi­tive Commandment, Not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

THAT the Condition included the precep­tive Part of the moral Law, is most certain; for this being the Law of Nature, and of eter­nal and indisputable Obligation, he could not [Page 27]but be under it by Nature: And how absurd is the Supposition that would follow upon the Denial of it, That if he had broken the Pre­cepts of the moral Law, e. g. declined to Ido­latry, he would notwithstanding have obtained Life only by keeping a particular positive Com­mandment!

BUT yet this positive Commandment was more expressly the Condition of the Covenant, and more immediately the Test of his Obedi­ence. And a positive Precept, founded only on the Sovereign Pleasure of the Legislator, was better adapted to try his perfect Sub­mission to his commanding Will, than moral Precepts, which are founded on the Nature of Things as well as on the divine Pleasure.

THIS Prohibition was also well adapted to teach him, That GOD was the Proprietor of the World, and therefore without his Permission he had no Title to any of its Enjoyments: That he should duly govern his Appetites, and prefer Obedience to GOD to the Gratification of them.

WHETHER any positive Precepts besides this was given to Adam in Innocence, we cannot, I think, certainly determine, unless we look on GOD'S ordering him to be fruitful; to have Dominion over other Creatures; to feed on the Products of the Earth, &c. not only as a Grant of Priviledges, but also as an Injunction of Duties.

THE Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was so called, because there was a par­ticular Revelation from GOD concerning it, whereby he might know Good Evil; that it was Good not to eat of that Tree, and Evil to eat of it; end especially as by not eating of it he had the experimental Knowledge of Good, and by eating of it, would have of Evil.

TO perform the Condition in any Sort was not sufficient; but Man was obliged to yield perfect and personal Obedience both to the positive and moral Parts of the Condition; and to the moral Part, perpetual.

THERE was the same Reason that he should obey it perfectly, as there was that he should obey it at all; for if imperfect Obedience was allowable, no Obedience at all, or perfect Disobedience might be so too; for as far as Obedience is imperfect, it is no Obedience at all, it is perfect Disobedience.

FURTHER, GOD was perfectly his Crea­tor and Law-giver: He was under the most perfect Obligations to obey him; Obedience was perfectly becoming; he was able perfectly to yield it, and therefore he was bound to yield perfect Obedience.

FINALLY, Every Law requires perfect Obe­dience to itself, and to deny it is to deny, that it requires all that it does requires; for all that which it does require is perfect Obe­dience with respect to itself; and since it re­quires [Page 29]all that, it requires perfect Obedience: Therefore Man was obliged to yield perfect Obedience to the Condition, which, as has been observed, was also a Law.

HE was obliged moreover, to yield Obedi­ence to it in his own Person, there was no Al­lowance for the Righteousness of a Surety in this Covenant; tho' it did not so require per­sonal Obedience? to render it impossible that another Covenant should be made, in which the imputed Obedience of another would be accepted, as the Event happily shews.

AGAIN, he was bound to yield perpetual Obedience to the moral Part of the Condition; the moral Part, I say: For whether the posi­tive would have perpetually continued in Force, or whether rather GOD would have abrogated it, when Adam's probationary State was ac­complished, is not certain to us: This we are certain of, That while it continued in Force, his Obedience would have been still due.

BUT the moral Part he must be bound per­petually to obey, while in a State of Proba­tion, under the Notion of a Condition of Life; and when confirm'd in Holiness and assur'd of Life, under the Notion of a Law-Obligation invariably and eternally binding; for tho' when the Blessing promis'd was ensured, he could not obey it under the Notion of a Federal Condition, yet this hinder'd not but he might obey it considered as a Law-Obligation.

THERE is the same Reason that we should obey always, as that we should obey at any Time. GOD is as much our Creator and Law-giver, and we his Creatures and Subjects at every Time as at any Time: The Opposition between moral Good and Evil, between Obe­dience and Disobedience is as great at one Time as another; and consequently our Obligations to Obedience, founded on these Things, are substantially the same at all Times, with this advantagious Difference, that the longer we are supported in Existence, and enjoy a Confluence of Blessings, the stronger they grow; and therefore, if Adam was under Obligations to obey in the first Moment of his actual Ex­istence, he must be much more so ever after.

HE must CONTINUE in all Things that are written in the Book of the Law to do them, or be subject to the Curse. Gal. iii. 10.

THE penal Sanction, which comes next to be considered, is exprest in these Words, Gen. ii. 17. In the Day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Which included a dread­ful Commination to the least Failure; as is more fully expressed in Gal. iii. 10. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all Things that are written in the Book of the Law, to do them.

THIS Curse must include not only natural, but also spiritual and eternal Death; seeing it was from Death in the latter Senses especially that CHRIST redeemed us, when he redeemed us from the Curse of the Law.

AS it would have been inconsistent with the Nature of a Law, and injurious to GOD'S Cha­racter as the moral Ruler and Judge of the ra­tional World, not to have annex'd a Threaten­ing to the Breach of his Law; it would have been equally so to have annex'd a Threaten­ing of finite Punishment to an infinite Evil: And therefore Death in the Threatning must include an infinite Punishment,

TO have separated what are joined in the Nature of Things, moral and penal Evil; or to have joined them with no becoming Propor­tion, so that moral Evil should not bring on the Guilty an equal Degree of Penal, would have been offering Violence to the Nature of Things; separating them without any Regard to their indissoluble Connection and eternal Con­sistency; or blending them together indistin­guishably without any Regard to their infinite Contrariety or just Proportion, and would have been as inconsistent with the Character of the supreme Governor of the Universe, as it is with the Character of an earthly King to annex no Penalty to a Law forbidding Homicide or Mur­der; or only the Penalty of losing the little Finger. For our Obligations to GOD are so much stronger than those to our Fellow-Mortals, that the least Violation of the former, has more Evil, Baseness, and Ingratitude in it, than the greatest Violation of the latter; as the least Injury done to a Man is worse than the great­est [Page 32]done to a Dunghil-Worm. To destroy the Nature of the Divine Law, by not annexing a Penalty, or to contradict the Nature of Things by not annexing a Penalty adequate to the Crime, would reflect Dishonour on the Wisdom and Equity of the celestial Majesty; and therefore a Penalty comprehensive of all the Misery that Sin deserves was annex'd to the first Covenant.

AND indeed a Penalty of such a dreadful Comprehension expressly threatned, had a di­rect Tendency to deter Adam from every In­stance of Disobedience; and therefore, without it, his Advantage would not have been so well consulted.

BUT we need not tarry long in the Proof of this, which every Threatning in Scripture is a sufficient Proof of.

A PARTICULAR Tree in the Garden of Eden was instituted by GOD as a Sacramental Seal and sensible Sign of this Covenant; which was called the Tree of Life, not probably because it had any uncommon Virtue to preserve na­tural Life, much less to confer eternal Life; but because Adam's Right to eat of it was de­signed to signifie and confirm to him his Right to the Blessings of the Covenant, upon his Obe­dience, and his losing that Right, to signify his Forfeiture of the Blessings promis'd, by Dis­obedience.

WE see by this Survey that the Essentials of a Covenant were contained in this Dispen­sation [Page 33]of GOD towards Adam; and no doubt but he consented voluntarily to it as such; nor could he, consistenly with his State of In­nocence and Uprightness, have done otherwise; for he was under previous Obligations to per­form all that this Covenant required: And if he had previously consented to it in the Form of a Law, which required Obedience, and en­forced it only with a penal Sanction, sure he would consent to it in the Form of a Covenant, recommended with the Promise of superadded eternal Happiness.

IT now remains that we enquire, What Part Adam bore in it?

THE true Answer is, That he bore the Part of a federal Representative, and was to act for his Posterity as well as for himself; so that in Case he perform'd the Condition, he and they would be entitled to the Reward promis'd; and, in Case he did not, both should be exposed to the Penalty threatened.

IT was but reasonable it should be so; for, sure, that Method was most reasonable which had the greatest probable Tendency to excite Adam to stand, and to perpetuate to him, and convey to his Posterity, the Happiness he would have been entitled to thereby.

NOW that this Method was such, might be demonstrated from these Positions, had we Time to enlarge on them.

ADAM had sufficient Power, as was already [Page 34]proven, to yield perfect Obedience to the Con­dition of the Covenant.

ACCORDING to the Hypothesis, That he was the Representative of his Posterity, he was bound to yield no more than perfect Obedience to secure their Happiness as well as his own: The same Obedience that was requisite to his own personal Happiness, would have been sufficient also to secure the Happiness of all his Posterity.

FROM both which Positions it follows,

THAT Adam was as able to stand for him­self and all his Posterity conjunctly, as for him­self separately and alone; since he was able to yield that Obedience which was necessary to his own Happiness; and since that same Obe­dience would have been sufficient to secure their Happiness also; he was as able to yield it for both as for himself alone: From whence it follows;

THAT there was the same rational Proba­bility of his standing as the Representative of all Mankind, as there would have been had he acted only for himself.

IF therefore two Ends, his Happiness and that of his Posterity, might be secured with as much Ease and Probability by his Obedience as the least of them, his personal Happiness; and if it be more reasonable and wise to appoint that the Mean of obtaining two good Ends, which is as capable of obtaining both, as one of them, than to appoint it to be the Mean of obtain­ing one of them, exclusive of the more im­portant End and greater Good, equally attain­able; [Page 35]then it was more reasonable and wise to appoint Adam's Performance of the Condition a Mean of securing Happiness to his Posterity and himself too, than to himself alone.

AND no doubt had he perform'd the Con­dition, and were we enjoying the happy Fruits of it To-day, we would highly approve the Wisdom and Goodness of the Constitution.

BUT if he had other and greater Motives to stand, as the Representative of Mankind, than he could have had, consider'd as a pri­vate Person; it follows further, That there was a greater rational Probability of his standing in the former Capacity than in the latter, for, ac­cording to the Nature of a rational Creature, who is induced to exert it's Power by rational Motives according to their Weight and Number, there is a greater Probability, that a Man will exert his Ability, when he has greater and more Motives to induce him, than when he has lesser and fewer Motives, tho' he have the same Strength.

NOW this was really the Case with respect to Adam; for, in the Capacity of a private Person, his only Motive to stand, was his own Well-fare; but in the Capacity of a Represen­tative, he had not only the former Motive in the same Weight as if he had acted for him­self, but also the Well-fare of all his dear and numerous Posterity: Here is an additional Mo­tive of inexpressible Importance; the Bowels of an affectionate Father could not but be mov'd [Page 36]with it: What a strong Inducement to Obedience to think, That by his Obedience all his nume­rous Offspring would be advanc'd beyond the Possibility of Sinning! Be the everlasting Fa­vourites of Heaven! And finally, inherit supe­rior inconceivable Bliss in the Perfection of Ho­liness, and the Enjoyment of the ever-blessed GOD!

AND how strong a Dissuasive on the other Hand, from Disobedience to think, That by his Disobedience they would be deprived of all Felicity enjoy'd or hop'd for! Be Subject to the most exquisite Miseries! And expos'd to the most tremenduous Infliction of Death in all it's Views, and with all it's Horrors!

MUST not any reasonable Man therefore con­clude, That there was a greater Probability of his standing with these Motives than without them? And that if it was most reasonable to take that Method in which there was the great­est rational Likelihood of Adam's standing; then undoubtedly this Method should have been taken?

AGAIN, There was a greater Probability in the View of Reason, that Adam would have stood in the Capacity of a publick Representative, than that any of his Posterity, according to the contrary Hypothesis, would have stood for them­selves in a private Capacity: For.

ADAM was as able to perform the Con­dition of the Covenant for himself and his Posterity, as any one of them would have been [Page 37]to perform it for himself: He was created as holy, and endow'd with as much Power to obey, as any of them would have been; and the Obedience exacted of him was no greater than that which would have been exacted of each of them.

HE had more and stronger Excitements than any of them could have, viz. The Well-fare of all Mankind beside his own; whereas they could have but their own.

HERE again therefore, let any rational Man judge, Whether it was most likely than Adam, with vastly greater Excitements, and no less Strength, would stand: Or any one of his Poste­rity, with far less Excitements, and no more Strength? Sure the Conclusion must be, That if that Plan was most reasonable, which was most likely to secure the standing of all Mankind; then it was most reasonable that he should be constituted their Representative,

AND this View of the Case is as Scriptural as it is reasonable.

IT might perhaps, be not unreasonably pre­sum'd from hence, That every Permission, In­junction, and Institution given him in Innocence, had a Reference to his Offspring, and was given to him in their Name; as, The Permission to eat of the Fruits and Products of the Earth: The Institution of Marriage, and of the Sab­bath on the seventh Day: The Injunctions to be fruitful, and multiply; to dress and till the Ground, to rule over other Creatures.

BUT we are not so straitened for Arguments as to be obliged to lay the Stress of the Matter on this: For,

THE Apostle proves [...], Rom. 5. Where he draws the Parall [...] between Adam and CHRIST, and calls him [...], the Type of him that is to come (ver. 14.) which he could not be, had he not been constituted the federal Head of his natural Seed, as CHRIST is of his spiritual Seed. From the 15 ver. to the 20. he asserts the Justification of Sinners by the Im­putation of CHRIST'S Righteousness, which pre­supposes, that he is their Representative, and acts for them; for otherwise his Righteousness could not possibly be imputed to them; and he il­lustrates this by an Instance well known, 'tis like, among the Jews, viz. The Condemnation of all Mankind by the Imputation of Adam's Sin.

NOW if our Justification by CHRIST'S Righte­ousness presupposes that he is our Represen­tative, by a Parity of Reason our Condemnation by Adam's Sin presupposes that he is our Re­presentative; otherwise his Sin could not be im­puted to us, and the Apostle's Illustration is no­thing to the Purpose.

AND indeed the many Arguments that prove the Doctrine of Original Sin, do also prove Adam's Representativeship, as the Proof of this evinces that; for in no other Way can we ac­count for it.

THE same Parallel is drawn in the 15 Chap. of the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians and 21, 22.45-48. ver. where he infers the Resur­rection of Believers (for such he has principally in View in this Chap.) from the Resurrection of CHRIST as their federal Head, or (which is the Phrase here used) as the First-Fruits: This he illustrates by our dying in Adam as our fe­deral Head; as our federal Head, I say, for in no other View could we die in him; and otherwise the Apostle's Illustration would but darken his Point.

LET us but invert his Words, and methinks the Matter will glare with irresistable Evidence, As in CHRIST all shall be made alive; so (i. e. in the same Manner) in Adam all die: In CHRIST all shall be made alive by Virtue of his being their federal Head. Therefore in Adam all die by Virtue of his sustaining the same Relation: As by Man came the Resurrec­tion of the Dead, so by Man came Death. The Resurrection of the Dead came by CHRIST'S Representativeship; therefore Death came by Adam's.

LET us in the last Place very briefly improve what has been said.

1. FROM the Structure of Adam's Person we infer, the infinite Wisdom, Power and Good­ness of GOD. How surprizing the Wisdom that could contrive an organiz'd human Body of a Lump of Earth! How irresistable the [Page 40] Power that could affect it! And how unbound­ed the Goodness that would effect it! His Soul! 'tis the Master-piece of the lower Creation! Capable of enjoying the infinite Deity; and yet of contemplating an Atom! Of conceiving of Things as distant as the highest Heaven, and as near as it's very self! His Person, a surpri­zing Compositum! Matter and Spirit united! How quickly and highly advanced! This Mo­ment, Nothing! The next, a rational Creature endow'd with vast Capacities!

2. FROM his temporal Conveniencies, we in­fer, The Divine Bounty, which supplied him with Entertainments suited to his exalted Na­ture and State; and plac'd him in such a Pro­fusion of created Blessings, that he had Oppor­tunity to make an Experiment, whether per­fect Happiness was attainable in them.

3. FROM his being made Upright, we in­fer, That Mankind are fallen; for alas! they are not so now. The Glory is departed! Dark­ness obscures the Mind! Perverse Byasses viti­ate the Will! Confusion and wild Perturba­tion reign in the Affections! The Law of GOD is not known, much less delighted in!

AND that GOD may exact perfect Obedi­ence of us, tho' we cannot yield it; since he once gave us Ability, and never took it away, 'till we had forfeited it by willful Misconduct. Surely our sinfully disabling ourselves will never make it absurd or unjust in him to demand [Page 41]such Obedience as his supreme Excellencies claim, the Nature of Things requires, and the Relation of a Subject infers; any more than a Debtor's willful Bankruptcy nullifies his Cre­ditor's Right, or a Man's being so habituated to excessive Drinking that he can't abstain from it, renders a civil Law prohibiting that Ex­cess unjust or tyrannical.

4. FROM GOD's entring into Covenant with Man, we infer, His Condescension and Grace. He might have demanded Obedience upon Pain of Death, without any Promise of superadded Blessings: But lo! He chos [...] exercise Legislation with Beneficence, and cast his Law into the Mould of a Covenant. Ama­zing Condescention, that the Celestial Majesty should article with his Creature, and capitulate with Dust and Ashes.

5. FROM the Demand of perfect, personal and perpetual Obedience, we infer, That by the Works of the Law, there shall no Flesh be justi­fied in his Sight. For, Who can say, I have made my Hands clean? I am pure from my Sin? Who can pretend to be able to yield perfect, perpetual Obedience in his own Person to the Law? Or who dare claim the Reward without it?

6. FROM the Happiness of Adam, we infer, The Happiness of Believers, who are restor'd to it all with Advantage by CHRIST. And

7 FROM the penal Sanction, we infer, [Page 42]The Misery of Sinners, who are still under it [...] But we cannot enlarge.—

UPON the Whole, whatever we are ignorant of, Lo, this have we found, That GOD made Man Upright: But they have sought out many Inventions.