OF THE FALL OF OUR FIRST PARENTS
GEN. 3: 6,
7.
And when the
woman saw
that the
tree was
good for
food, and
that it was
pleasant to
the eyes,
and a tree
to be
desired to
make one
wise, she
took of the
fruit
thereof, and
did eat, and
gave also
unto her
husband with
her, and he
did eat. And
the eyes of
them both
were opened,
and they
knew that
they were
naked : and
they sewed
fig-leaves
together,
and made
themselves
aprons.
GOD made man
upright, but
he sought
out many
inventions.
Man being in
honour,
abode not.
He soon fell
from the
happy and
holy state
in which he
was created.
In the text
we have
three things
to be
considered.
1.
The fall of
our first
parents from
their state
of primitive
integrity ;
it was by
their both
eating of
the
forbidden
fruit, and
consequently
sinning
against God,
ver. 6. And
they were
immediately
sensible
that they
were fallen
from that
holy and
happy state,
ver. 7. This
appears two
ways. (1.)
By their
knowledge of
their
nakedness.
Some
suppose,
that their
bodies,
before their
fall, had a
divine glory
and lustre
on them,
which was
immediately
taken away
when they
sinned, and
they saw
that this
beautiful
covering was
now gone.
Most part of
interpreters
understand
it of their
seeing their
nakedness
with grief
and shame,
from a sense
of their
guilt
contracted,
and of that
sinful
concupiscence
they found
now working
in them.
Thus the
eyes of
their minds
were opened,
which Satan
had blinded
before. (2.)
By their
going about
to cover
their bodies
with the
broad leaves
of the
fig-tree.
All this
clearly
holds forth
their sense,
though it
was no holy
sense, of
their
shameful
fall.
2.
That action
by which
they fell,
their
sinning
against God,
ver. 6. viz.
by eating
the
forbidden
fruit. They
broke God's
express
command,
forbidding
them, under
pain of
death, to
eat of the
tree of the
knowledge of
good and
evil. And
immediately
after this
wicked deed
they saw
they were
naked.
3.
How they
fell. They
fell of
their own
free-will
being left
to their
freedom, ver.
6. The
woman saw
that the
tree was
good for
food,
&c. There
was no force
or
compulsion
here ; all
proceeded
from free
choice.
Their eyes
saw the
fruit, their
hearts
coveted it,
their hands
took it, and
their mouths
ate it.
The doctrinal truth deducible from the text is,
DOCT. ' Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created by sinning against God.'
Two things are here to be considered.
I. The fall of our first parents.
II. How or what way they fell.
I. Let us consider the fall of our first parents. And here I will
shew,
1. That man is fallen.
2. W hereby He fell, or what cast him down.
3. What He fell from.
First,
I am to shew
that man is
fallen, and
that our
first
parents did
not continue
in the
estate
wherein they
were
created, but
fell from
it. This is
clear,
1.
From the
express
narrative of
this fatal
event given
by Moses,
Gen. iii.
from which
it appears,
that the
devil
entering
into a
serpent,
artfully
tempted Eve
to eat of
the
forbidden
fruit, in
direct
opposition
to the
express
command of
God,
prohibiting
it under a
dreadful
penalty;
that she
prevailed
upon Adam to
follow her
example ;
that they
were both
immediately
stung with
remorse and
horror for
what they
had done ;
and
perceiving
themselves
to be naked,
they fell
a-sewing
fig-leaves
together for
a covering
to their
bodies; that
hearing the
voice of
the. Lord
God in the
garden, they
did, as an
evidence of
their guilt,
and of the
privation of
light in
their minds,
hide
themselves
from the
presence of
the Lord
among the
trees of the
garden ;
that being
called to
account for
their
conduct, the
woman threw
the blame on
the serpent,
and the man
on the
woman; and
that both
received
sentence
from their
offended
Creator and
Judge,
expressive
of their
future
misery;
though at
the same
time God was
pleased to
give them a
revelation
of the
method of
salvation by
a Redeemer,
in the
promise
respecting
the seed of
the woman
bruising the
serpent's
head. All
this amounts
to a plain
proof that
man has
fallen from
the holy and
happy state
he was
placed in at
his
creation.
2. From
the doleful
experience
of their
posterity,
Rom. v. 12.
'As by one
man sin
entered into
the world,
and death by
sin, so
death passed
upon all
man, for
that all
have
sinned.'
When we see
the whole
race of
mankind born
beggars,
surely we
may conclude
that their
father
became
bankrupt ;
for he once
had a happy
portion to
transmit to
his
posterity,
which he
foolishly
squandered
away. And
the misery
attending
upon us now,
is, that we
are pursued
for our
father's
debt as well
as our own,
without
having a
farthing to
pay.
Secondly,
We may
inquire, How
did Adam
fall, or
what cast
him down ?
It was his
sinning
against God.
While our
first
parents held
with God,
they stood ;
but when
they
departed
from him,
they fell.
What their
sin was more
particularly,
will fall to
be shewn
afterwards.
They thought
to rise by
their sin,
affecting to
be as gods,
Gen. iii. 5,
6. but it
was their
ruin.
Seeking more
they lost
what they
had.
Thirdly,
It may be
asked, What
did they
fall from?
The state
wherein they
were
created.
Now, this
was a state
of the
greatest
holiness and
felicity.
When they
sinned,
1.
They fell
from a holy
into a
sinful
state. They
lost the
image of
God. Observe
the
opposition
betwixt the
image of God
and that of
Adam, Gen.
v. 1, 3.
There we are
told, 'that
God made man
in his own
likeness,'
or image ;
and that
Adam beget a
son 'in his
own
likeness,'
even Seth,
from whom
the whole
human race
is sprung.
Sin was a
turning from
God as their
chief end,
and making
themselves
their chief
end; whereby
all their
uprightness
behoved to
be lost. It
broke the
whole law of
God at one
touch, and
violently
struck
against God
and man's
neighbour,
that is, his
posterity;
and so could
not but
waste and
defile the
conscience.
This was the
sense of the
threatening,
' In the day
that thou
eatest
thereof,
thou shalt
surely die.'
And in this
unholy state
are all born
of the first
man.
(1.) They
lost their
knowledge,
and fell
under
horrible
blindness.
Witness
their
fig-leaf
cover for
shrouding
their
nakedness,
and their
hiding
themselves
from the
presence of
the Lord,
Gen. iii. 7,
8. A plain
indication
of their
falling into
dreadful
ignorance of
the Divine
Being, the
opposite of
that great
knowledge
they had of
him in their
primitive
state of
integrity.
(2.) They
lost the
righteousness
of their
will, Eccl.
vii. 29. And
they fell
under an
aversion to
God. Witness
their
running away
from him,
ver. 8.
their
excusing
their sin,
transferring
the guilt
every one
off them
selves,'till
it landed at
length on
God himself,
ver. 12.
(3.) They
lost the
holiness of
their
affections,
which
immediately
fell into
confusion
and
disorder.
Witness
their
covering
their
nakedness.
While they
were
innocent,
though
naked, they
were not
ashamed; but
that jewel
being gone,
the
irregularity
of their
affections
began to
appear in
discovering
themselves
to be naked,
by the evil
operation of
concupiscence
in their
minds.
2. They
fell from
their happy
state into a
miserable
one. 0 what
a fearful
overturn was
made by
their sin.
(1.) Horror
of
conscience
seizes them,
ver. 8.
appearing in
flying from
the divine
presence;
which
nothing but
guilt,
clasping as
a serpent
about them,
could have
induced them
to do. Death
was
threatened
in case of
transgression,
Gen. ii. 17.
They both
died
spiritually,
and were
bound with
the cords of
temporal and
eternal
death.
(2.) They
are driven
out of
paradise,
excommunicated
and declared
incapable of
communion
with God in
the tree of
life in the
garden, Gen.
iii. 23.
`The Lord
God sent him
forth from
the garden
of Eden,' as
a divorced
woman out of
the house of
her husband,
as the word
signifies.
Nay, God
drove out
the man,
expelling
him from
that
pleasant and
delightful
place, which
he had
forfeited by
his
transgression,
ver. 24.
(3.) The.
woman, the
first
transgressor,
is condemned
to sorrow
and pain in
breeding,
bearing, and
bringing
forth
children,
ver. 16.
which, as
some
observe, is
greater in
women than
other
creatures.
And
frequently
women lose
their lives
in the case.
(4.) She is
put under a
yoke of
subjection
to her
husband, ver.
16. Not but
that the
woman was
subject to
him before,
but it was
to a gentle
and loving
guide : but
now all her
desires are
subjected to
her husband,
to grant
them or deny
them as he
sees fit,
because she
ate of the
forbidden
fruit
without
asking his
advice,
which now,
because of
his and her
corruption,
becomes a
heavy yoke.
(5.) The
ground is
cursed for
man's sake ;
under the
influence of
which curse
it is barren
of wholesome
fruits,
which it
does not
yield
without
heavy labour
and diligent
cultivation,
but fruitful
in noxious
plants, as
thorns and
thistles,
ver. 17.
(6.) Man is
condemned to
singular
anxiety, to
weary,
toilsome,
and
oftentimes
fruitless
labour,
whether it
be the
labour of
the hands or
of the mind,
ver. 17, 19.
; for this
last is to
be taken
into the
account too,
as appears
from Eccl. i.
13, 18. ` I
gave my
heart (says
the
preacher),
to seek and
search out
by wisdom
concerning
all things
that are
done under
heaven :
this sore
travail bath
God given to
the sons of
man to be
exercised
therewith.
For in much
wisdom is
much grief:
and he that
increaseth
knowledge
increaseth
sorrow.'
II. Let us
next
consider,
how or what
way upright
man fell. It
was so that
our first
parents
sinned,
being left
to the
freedom of
their own
will. For
understanding
of this let
us consider
the
following
things.
1.
That our
first
parents had
a freedom of
will.
Freedom of
will is a
liberty in
the will,
whereby of
its own
accord,
freely and
spontaneously,
without any
force upon
it, it
chuses or
refuses what
is proposed
to it by the
understanding.
And this
freedom of
will man
bath in
whatever
state he be.
But there is
a great
difference
of the
freedom of
the will in
the
different
states of
man. In the
natural
corrupt
state, man
has a free
will only to
evil, Gen.
vi. 5. `
Every
imagination
of the
thoughts of
his heart is
only evil
continually.'
Eph. ii. 1.
'He is dead
in
trespasses
and sins.'
He freely
chuseth evil
without any
force on his
will ; and
he cannot do
otherwise,
being under
the bondage
of sin. In
the state of
grace, man
has a
freewill,
partly to
good and
partly to
evil. Hence
the apostle
says, Rom.
vii. 22, 24.
` I delight
in the law
of God after
the inward
man. 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.' In
this state
the will
sometimes
chuses that
which is
good, and
sometimes
that which
is evil.
This freedom
of will is
in all
regenerate
persons who
have in some
measure
recovered
the image of
God. They
chuse good
freely by
virtue of a
principle of
grace
wrought in
them by the
sanctifying
operations
of the
Divine
Spirit ; yet
through the
remainders
of
corruption
that abides
in them,
their wills
are
sometimes
inclined to
that which
is evil. In
the state of
glory, man
has a free
will to good
only. In
this state
the blessed
chuse good
freely ; and
being
confirmed in
a holy
state, they
cannot sin.
The freedom
of will that
man had in
the state of
innocence
was
different
from all
these. In
that state
he had a
freedom of
will both to
good and
evil; and so
had a power
wholly to
chuse good,
or wholly to
chuse evil :
which
differences
it from the
freedom of
will in the
state of
grace. He
had a free
will to
good, yea,
the natural
set of his
will was to
good only,
Eccl. vii.
29. being '
made upright
;' but it
was liable
to change
through the
power of
temptation,
and so free
to evil
also, as
mournful
experience
has
evidenced.
Alan was
created holy
and
righteous,
and received
a power from
God
constantly
to persevere
in goodness,
if he would
? yet the
act of
perseverance
was left to
the choice
and liberty
of his own
will. To
illustrate
this a
little, we
may observe
some
resemblance
of it in
nature. God
creates the
eye, says
one, and
puts into it
the faculty
of seeing,
and withal
he adds to
the eye
necessary
helps by the
light of the
sun. As for
the act of
seeing, it
is left to
man's
liberty ;
for he may
see if he
will, and if
he will he
may shut his
eyes. The
physician,
again, by
his art
procures an
appetite,
and provides
convenient
food for the
patient :
but the act
of eating is
in the plea,
sure of the
patient ;
for he may
eat, or
abstain from
it if be
will. Thus
God gave
Adam
strength and
power to
persevere in
righteousness,
but the will
he left to
himself.
Let no man
quarrel,
that God
made Adam
liable to
change in
his goodness
; for if he
had been
unchangeably
holy, he
behoved to
be so either
by nature or
by free
grace ; if
by nature,
that were to
make him
God; if of
free grace,
then there
was no wrong
done him in
with-holding
what was not
due. And he
would have
got the
grace of
confirmation,
if he had
stood the
time of his
trial.
Secondly,
God left our
first
parents to
the freedom
of their own
will ; and
was in no
respect the
cause of
their
falling.
1.
The Lord did
not withdraw
any of that
strength and
ability
which he had
bestowed
upon them in
their
creation.
There was no
subtraction
of any grace
that was
requisite
for their
standing.
God is not
like man to
give and
recall again
; for his
gifts are
without
repentance.
Adam left
God before
lie was
forsaken by
him.
2. The
Lord did not
infuse any
vicious
inclinations
into man.
There was no
internal
impulsion
from God,
exciting him
to eat the
forbidden
fruit. He
neither
moved him to
sin, nor
approved of
it, but
forbade it
under the
severest
penalty. It
is
altogether
inconsistent
with the
divine
purity to
incline the
creature to
sin. As God
cannot be
tempted to
evil,
neither
tempteth he
any man. It
is extremely
injurious to
his infinite
wisdom to
think, that
lie would
deface and
spoil that
admirable
work which
he had
composed
with so much
design and
counsel. And
it is highly
dishonourable
to his
immense
goodness. He
loved his
creature,
the master
piece of his
works ; and
love is an
inclination
to do good.
It was
impossible
therefore,
that God
should
induce man
to sin, or
withdraw
that power
from him
which was
necessary to
resist the
temptation,
when the
consequence
must be his
inevitable
ruin.
But by their
being left
to the
freedom of
their own
will, we are
to
understand
God's
with-holding
of that
further
grace (which
he was
nowise bound
to give
them) that
would have
infallibly
prevented
their
falling into
sin. God
only
permitted
this fall.
No doubt be
could have
hindered
either Satan
to tempt, or
man to have
yielded ;
but in his
holy wise
providence,
without
which a
sparrow
cannot fall,
far less all
mankind, he
permitted
Satan to
tempt, that
is, he did
not hinder
him, which
he was not
obliged to
do. It was
in man's
power to
continue in
his
obedience or
not. God was
not obliged
to hinder
his fall. As
he brings
light out of
darkness,
order out of
confusion
and life out
of death, so
he knew how
to bring
good out of
evil, and
glory to
himself out
of man's
fall. Adam's
fall was
perfectly
voluntary ;
his own will
was the sole
cause of it,
as will
plainly
appear, if
you
consider.
(1.) That
while he
continued
innocent, he
had a
sufficient
power to
persevere in
his holy
state. God
created him
with a
perfection
of grace. If
he bad
pleased, he
might have
effectually
resisted the
temptation
and
continued
stedfast in
his duty to
God; and God
was under no
obligation
to give him
that further
actual grace
which would
have
effectually
kept him up.
And this
grace be was
bound
neither to
give nor
continue
with him.
(2.) That
the devil
did only
allure, he
could not
ravish his
consent.
Though his
malice be
infinite,
yet his
power is
restrained
and limited
by the
omnipotent
hand of
Jehovah,
that he
cannot
fasten an
immediate,
much less an
irresistible,
impression
on the will.
He therefore
made use of
an external
object to
invite man
to sin. Now,
objects have
no
constraining
force : they
are but
partial
agents, and
derive all
their
efficacy
from the
faculty unto
which they
are
agreeable.
And although
now, in our
fallen
state, sin
hath so
disordered
the flesh,
that there
is great
difficulty
in resisting
those
objects that
pleasantly
insinuate
themselves ;
yet, in the
state of
innocence,
there was
such an
universal
rectitude in
Adam, and so
entire a
subjection
of the
sensual
appetite to
the superior
power of
reason, that
he might
have
obtained an
easy
conquest. A
resolute
negative bad
made him
victorious ;
by a strong
denial, he
had baffled
that proud
spirit.
(3.) That
Adam's
disobedience
was the
effect of
his own
choice. For
a specious
object was
conveyed
through the
unguarded
sense to his
fancy, and
from that to
his
understanding,
which, by a
vicious
careless
neglecting
to consider
the danger,
commended it
to the will,
and that
resolved to
embrace it.
Now, it is
plain and
undeniable,
that the
action which
resulted
from the
direction of
the mind,
and the
choice of
the will,
was
absolutely
free.
Besides, as
the regret
that is
mixed 'with
an action is
a certain
character
that the
person is
under
restraint;
so the
delight that
attends it
is a clear
evidence
that he is
free. When
the appetite
is drawn by
the lure of
pleasure,
the more
violent, the
more
voluntary is
its motion.
Now, the
representation
of the
forbidden
fruit was
under the
notion of
pleasure :
The woman
saw that the
fruit was
good for
food,
(that is,
pleasurable
to the
palate),
pleasant to
the eye, and
to be
desired to
make one
wise,
that is, to
increase
knowledge,
which is the
pleasure of
the mind ;
and these
electives
drew her
into the
snare. Man
was under no
necessity to
sin. Force
and
co-action
are
inconsistent
with the
nature of
the will,
and entirely
destroys it.
Adam might
have
continued in
his
obedience if
he had
pleased. The
devil had no
power over
him to
disturb his
Felicity. He
prevailed
against him
by simple
suasion.
Thirdly,
The devil
tempted our
first
parents to
sin. The
devil in the
serpent set
on man while
he stood.
Where
observe,
1. It
was a true
serpent
which the
devil
appeared in.
What sort of
a serpent it
was, is not
determined :
but it seems
to have been
a beautiful
creature of
a shining
colour : for
in Dent.
viii. 15.
there are
serpents
spoken of
that are in
the Hebrew
called
Seraphim,
the very
name given
to angels,
which were
wont to
appear in a
splendid
form, it may
be like
these
seraphim ;
and so Eve
might take
the serpent
for one of
these good
angels. But
Moses' plain
historical
narrative
leaves no
room to
doubt that
it was a
real
serpent,
representing
it to be
more subtile
than any
beast of the
field, and
as cursed
above all
cattle, and
above every
beast of the
field, after
the
transgression,
when it was
condemned to
go upon its
belly, and
to eat dust
all the days
of its life,
Gen. iii. 1,
14. And it
is known
that the
Egyptians,
by the
devil's
instigation,
worshipped
serpents.
And in the
old Greek
mysteries
they used to
carry about
a serpent,
and cry Evah
: A sign of
the
extraordinary
service it
had done to
the devil.
2.
Though Moses
makes no
mention of
the devil in
this affair,
yet surely
lie was the
prime
instrument
in this fate
seduction.
For seeing
serpents
cannot
speak, and
far less
reason, we
may easily
conclude it
was the
devil, who
therefore is
called `the
old serpent,
and a liar
and murderer
from the
beginning,'
John viii.
44. See Gen.
iii. 15.
Compare Heb.
ii. 14. The
devil then,
one, perhaps
the chief,
of those
rebellious
spirits, who
by a furious
ambition had
raised a war
in heaven,
and were
fallen from
their
obedience
and glorious
state,
designing to
corrupt man,
and make him
a companion
with them in
their
revolt, set
about this
work, urged
by two
strong and
powerful
passions,
hatred and
envy.
(1.) The
devil was
prompted to
this action
by an
implacable
hatred
against God.
For being
fallen under
a fine and
irrevocable
doom, he
looked upon
God as an
irreconcilable
enemy ; and
not being
able to
injure his
essence, he
struck at
his image ;
as the fury
of some
beast
discharges
itself at
the picture
of a man. He
singled out
Adam as the
mark of his
malice,
that, by
seducing him
from his
duty, he
might defeat
God's
design,
which was to
be honoured
by man's
free and
cheerful
obedience ;
and so to
eclipse the
lustre of
his
excellencies
as though he
had made man
in vain.
(2.) He was
solicited by
envy, the
first native
of hell. For
having lost
the
friendship
and favour
of God, and
being cast
out of
heaven, the
happy region
of
blessedness
and joy, the
sight of
Adam's
felicity
highly
exasperated
and accented
his grief,
that man,
who by the
condition of
his nature
was inferior
to him,
should be
prince of
the world,
and the
special
friend and
favourite of
heaven,
whilst he
himself was
a miserable
prisoner,
under those
fatal chains
which
restrained
and
tormented
him, the
power and
the wrath of
God. This
made his
state and
condition
more
intolerable.
His torment
was
incapable of
any allay,
but by
rendering
man as
miserable as
himself. And
as hatred
excited his
envy, so
envy
inflamed his
hatred, and
both joined
together in
mischief.
And being
thus pushed
on, his
subtilty
being equal
to his
malice, he
contrives a
temptation
which might
be most
taking and
dangerous to
man in his
raised and
happy state.
As soon as
Adam was
invested
with all his
glory, the
devil, as it
were, would
dethrone him
on the day
of his
coronation,
and bring
both him and
all his
posterity
under a
curse. Here
I shall
consider the
temptation
which was
the occasion
of man's
fall, and
the devil's
subtilty in
managing it.
1. As
to the
temptation
itself, it
was very
suitable and
promising.
The devil
attempted to
seduce him
by art, in
his
propounding
the lure of
knowledge
and
pleasure, to
inveigle the
spiritual
and
sensitive
appetites at
once. There
were three
things in
which the
desirableness
of this
fruit was
represented,
which sets
forth the
great art
and sagacity
of Satan.
(1.) Its agreeableness to the palate. It is said, The woman saw the fruit that it was good for food. Satan told her that it was of a most sweet and delicious taste, and would highly gratify her sensual appetite.
(2.) It was pleasant to the eye; a charming and beautiful fruit, which had an inviting aspect.
(3.) There was a desirableness in it to the rational appetite. It was a tree to be desired to make one wise. And the serpent told her, ver. 5. that, upon eating it, their eyes should be opened, and they should be as gods, knowing good and evil. He made Eve believe, that, upon her eating the fruit of that tree, she would be raised and elevated from the human to a kind of divine nature and condition. This was the temptation with which the devil assaulted our first parents in paradise, and prevailed against them.
2. I
shall take
notice of
Satan's
subtilty in
managing
this
temptation.
We read of
his wiles in
scripture ;
and indeed
they are
worse than
his darts.
(1.) That he
might the
better
succeed in
his hellish
design, he
addressed
himself to
the woman,
the weakest
person, and
most liable
to
seduction.
He reckoned,
and that
justly
enough, that
his attempt
would be
most
successful
here, and
that she was
less able to
resist him.
He broke
over the
hedge where
it was
weakest. He
knew very
well that he
could more
easily
insinuate
and wind
himself into
her by a
temptation.
An old
experienced
soldier,
when he is
to storm and
enter a
castle,
observes
carefully
where there
is a breach,
or how he
may enter
with most
facility :
so did Satan
here when he
assaulted
Eve, the
weaker
vessel. And
he tempted
the woman
first,
because he
knew, if
once he
could
prevail with
her, she
would easily
entice and
draw on her
husband.
Satan knew
very well,
that a
temptation
coming to
Adam from
Eve, his
wife, in
this the
infancy of
their
married
state, would
be more
prevailing
and less
suspected.
Sometimes
near
relations
prove strong
temptations.
A wife may
be a snare,
when she
dissuades
her husband
from his
duty, or
entices him
to sin. It
is said of
Ahab, 1
Kings xxi.
25. that
there was
none like
unto him,
which did
sell himself
to work
wickedness
in the sight
of the Lord,
whom Jezebel
his wife
stirred up.'
She blew the
coals, and
made his sin
flame out
with the
greater
violence.
Satan
discovered
his great
subtilty in
tempting
Adam by his
wife ; for
lie with
complacency
received the
temptation,
and, by the
enticement
of this old
serpent,
committed
adultery
with the
creature,
from whence
the cursed
race of sin
and all
miseries
proceed.
(2.) He
assaulted
her when
alone, in
the absence
of her
husband, and
so did the
more easily
prevail. For
'two are
better than
one;' and,
as Solomon
observes, '
a threefold
cord is not
easily
broken.' Had
Adam been
present at
this fatal
congress, it
is like the
attempt had
not been so
easily
successful.
(3.) The
devil's
subtilty may
be seen here
in hiding
himself in
the body of
a serpent,
which,
before sin
entered into
the world
was not
terrible to
Eve. Satan
crept into a
serpent, and
spake in it,
as the angel
did
afterwards
in Balaam's
ass. She was
not afraid
of this
apparition ;
for she knew
no guilt,
and
therefore
was not
subject to
any fear.
She might
look upon
this as one
of the
angels or
blessed
spirits,
which, as
they used
after this
to appear in
the shape of
men, why
might not
one of them
appear now,
and converse
with her in
the shape of
a beautiful
serpent; why
might not
she freely
discourse
with this,
which she
reckoned one
of those
good angels,
to whose
care and
tuition both
she and her
husband were
committed?
For we may
suppose the,
fall of the
angels was
not yet
revealed to
her, and she
thought this
to be a good
spirit,
otherwise
she would
certainly
have
declined all
conversation
with an
apostate
angel. Some
have
supposed,
and that not
very
improbably,
that more
discourse
passed
between the
serpent and
Eve than is
recorded,
Gen. iii.
and
represent
the matter
thus : The
serpent,
catching the
opportunity
of the
woman's
being at a
distance
from her
husband,
makes his
address to
her with a
short
speech,
saluting her
as empress
of the
world, and
giving her a
great many
encomiums
and
dignifying
titles : She
wonders, and
inquires
what this
meant ? and
whether lie
was not a
brute
creature ?
and how he
came to be
endowed with
understanding
and speech ?
The serpent
replies,
that lie was
nobler than
a brute, and
did indeed
once want
both these
gifts ; but
by eating a
certain
fruit in
this garden,
he had got
both. She
immediately
asks what
fruit and
tree that
was which
had such a
surprising
influence
and virtue.
Which when
he had
shewed her;
she replied,
This no
doubt is an
excellent
fruit, but
God hath
strictly
forbidden us
the use of
it. To which
the serpent
presently
replies, as
in the close
of ver. 1.
`Yea, hath
God said, Ye
shall not
eat of every
tree of the
garden?' The
way how
these words
are
introduced
plainly
spews that
something
had passed
previous
thereto. And
some
suppose,
that the
serpent, to
confirm the
truth of his
assertion,
pulled, off
some of the
fruits of
the tree,
ate one in
her
presence,
and
presented
another to
Eve, who,
before
eating it,
had the
discourse
with the
serpent
recorded in
the
subsequent
verses.
(4.) The
devil's
subtilty
appears in
accosting
our first
parents so
early,
before they
were
confirmed in
their course
of
obedience.
The holy
angels in
heaven are
fully
confirmed in
righteousness
and holiness
; they are
called
morning
stars ; Job
xxxviii. 7.
and are all
fixed, not
wandering
stars. But
our first
parents were
not
confirmed in
their
obedience,
they were
not yet
fixed in
their orb of
holiness.
Though they
had a
possibility
of standing,
yet they had
not an
impossibility
of falling.
They were
holy but
mutable. It
was possible
for them to
change their
state. Now,
Satan's
subtilty was
eminently
manifested
here.
(5.) He
first
allures with
the hope of
impunity,
and then he
promises an
universal
knowledge of
good and
evil.
(1.) He
persuades
Eve, that
though she
did eat of
the
forbidden
tree, yet
she should
not die, ver.
4. `Ye shall
not surely
die.' `God
indeed did
say so for
your terror,
to keep you
in awe. But
do not
entertain
such hard
and unworthy
thoughts of
that God who
is
infinitely
good and
gracious. Do
not think
that, for
such a
trifle as
the eating
of a little
fruit, he
will undo
you and all
your
posterity
for ever,
and so
suddenly
destroy the
most
excellent
piece of his
own
workmanship,
wherein his
image shines
in a most
resplendent
manner.'
(2.) He
promiseth
them an
universal
knowledge,
as the
effect of
eating this
fruit, ver.
5. "For God
doth know,
that in the
day ye eat
thereof,
then your
eves shall
be opened :
and ye shall
be as gods,
knowing good
and evil.' '
God's design
in that
prohibition
is only this
: he knows
that you
shall be so
far from
dying, that
thereby you
shall
certainly be
entered into
a new and
more noble
and
excellent
kind of
life. The
eyes of your
understanding,
which are
now shit in
a great
measure as
to the
knowledge of
many things,
shall then
be wide
opened, and
ye shall see
more clearly
and
distinctly
than now you
do. You
shall be as
God, and
shall attain
to a hind of
Omniscience.,
(6.) Satan's
subtilty was
manifested
here, in
assaulting
Eve's faith.
He would
persuade
her, that
God had not
spoken truth
in that
threatening.
He managed
the whole
business
with a lie ;
yea, he adds
one lie to
another. 'Ye
shall not
surely die,'
says he; and
then he
represents
God as
envying our
first
parents that
great honour
and
happiness
that was
attainable
by them, ver.
5. and
himself as
one that
wished their
happiness,
and would
tell her
flow to
arrive at
it; and
alleges they
might easily
understand,
by the very
name of the
tree, the
truth of
what he says
to her. ' It
is (says he)
because God
envies your
felicity
that he hath
forbidden
you the use
of this
tree. But
know ye, if
ye eat of
it, ye shall
he is gods.'
here was
subtilty
indeed. The
devil was
first a
liar, and
then a
murderer.
This was
Satan's
master-piece,
to weaken
her faith :
for when he
had shaken
that, and
brought her
once to
distrust,
then she was
easily
Overcome:
and
presently
put forth
her hand to
pluck the
forbidden
fruit. By
these
pretences he
ruined
innocence
itself': for
the woman
being
deceived by
these
allectives,
swallowed
down the
poison of
the serpent;
and having
tasted death
herself, she
betook
herself to
her husband,
and
persuaded
him by the
same means
to despise
the law of
their
Creator.
Thus sin
made its
entrance
into the
world, and
brought an
universal
confusion
into it. For
the moral
harmony of
the world
consisting
in the just
subordination
of the
several mils
of beings to
one another,
and of all
to God, when
man, who was
placed next
to him,
broke the
union, his
fail brought
a desperate
disorder
into God's
government.
And though
the matter
of the
offence may
seem small,
yet the
disobedience
was
infinitely
great; it
being the
transgression
of that
command
which was
given to be
the real
proof of
man's
subjection
to God. The
honour and
majesty of
the whole
law was
violated in
the breach
of that
symbolical
precept. But
this will
fall to be
more fully
illustrated
in a
subsequent
discourse.
Fourthly,
Man being
thus left to
the freedom
of his own
will, abused
his liberty
in complying
with the
temptation,
and freely
apostatised
from God.
And so man
himself, and
he only, was
the true and
proper cause
of his own
sinning. Not
God, for lie
is
unchangeably
holy; not
the devil,
for lie
could only
tempt, not
force
therefore
man himself
only is to
blame, Eccl.
vii. 29.
'God made
man upright,
but they
have sought
out many
inventions.'
I shall
conclude
this subject
with a few
inferences.
1.
Hence see
the great
weakness,
yea the
nothingness
of the
creature
when left to
itself. When
Adam was in
the state of
integrity,
lie quickly
made a
defection
from God, he
soon lost
the robe of
his
primitive
innocence,
and all the
blessedness
of paradise.
If our
nature was
so weak when
at the best,
then how
miserably
weak is it
now when it
is at its
worst ? If
Adam did not
stand when
he was
perfectly
holy and
righteous,
how unable
are we to
stand when
sin has
entirely
disabled us
? If
purified
nature could
not resist
the
temptation,
but was
quite
overturned
at the first
blast, how
shall
corrupt
nature
stand, when
besieged and
stormed with
a long
succession
of strong
and violent
assaults ?
If Adam in a
few hours
sinned
himself out
of paradise,
0 how
quickly
would even
those who
are
regenerated
sin
themselves
into hell,
if they were
not
preserved by
a greater
power than
their own ;
nay
kept by the
power of God
through
faith unto
salvation ?'
God left
some of the
angels to
themselves,
and they
turned
devils ; and
he left
innocent
Adam, and he
fell into a
gulf of
misery. May
we not then
much more
say, `Let
him that
standeth
take heed
lest he
fall;'
especially
seeing we
have a
violent bent
and strong
propensity
of heart and
will to go
away from
God, which
Adam had
not.
2.
There is no
reason to
blame God
for the
misery of
the fall. He
gave man
sufficient
power and
ability to
stand if he
would,
promised-a
large reward
to excite
his
obedience,
and severely
threatened
disobedience
: but man
would needs
try
experiments
to make his
case better
than God
made it; and
so fell by
his own
inventions.
The fault
then was his
own, he
alone was
culpable,
and lie was
the author
of his own
ruin.
3.
Watch and
pray that ye
enter not
into
temptation.
You see that
you have to
do with an
impudent
devil, who
is still
going about
seeking whom
he may
devour. No
state, while
ye are in
this world,
can secure
you from his
temptations.
Though ye be
in a state
of
reconciliation
and
friendship
with God, ye
are not
secure from
his
assaults. No
place,
though it
were a
paradise.
can protect
You. He has
malice
enough to
push you on
to the most
atrocious
sins ;
subtilty and
experience,
acquired by
hellish art
in the
course of
some
thousand
years, to
suit his
baits so as
they may
best take
with you. Do
not parley
with the
tempter :
listening to
him may
bring on
doubting,
and doubting
may bring on
the denial
of God's
truths, and
so end in
full
compliance
with his
horrid
temptations,
as it did
with our
first
mother.
4. If
Adam fell so
soon after
he was
created, and
could not be
his own
keeper, then
certainly he
can much
less be his
own saviour.
If lie could
not preserve
himself from
falling into
the gulf,
much less
can he pull
himself out
of it again.
We are by
nature
without
strength,
and have no
inclination
to that
which is
good ; and
therefore
God must
work
powerfully
and
efficaciously
in us. We
cannot break
the chains
and knock
off the
fetters of
sin and
Satan, by
which we are
held. We can
make no
reparation
to the
honour of
God for the
wrongs and
indignities
we have done
him. To
Christ alone
we must be
indebted for
all this. W
e have
destroyed
ourselves,
but in him
is our help.
5.
There is no
justification
by the works
of the law.
Adam broke
the covenant
of works,
and so
rendered it
impracticable
for him or
his
posterity to
attain to
life and
happiness by
it. For it
is written,
' Cursed is
every one
that
continueth
not in all
things which
are written
in the book
of the law
to do them,'
Gal. iii.
10. ` As
many as are
of the works
of the law
are under
the curse.'
The law
requires a
perfect
spotless
righteousness,
but the best
righteousness
of fallen
man is but
filthy rags.
It is not
only torn
and ragged,
but polluted
and defiled.
We have all
sinned and
come short
of the glory
of God : and
there is no
possibility
of obtaining
justification
by the works
of the law
now ; ` for
by the works
of the law
(says Paul)
shall no
flesh be
justified.'
6.
Lastly,
See your
absolute
need of
Christ ; for
there is no
other name
under heaven
given among
men, whereby
ye can be
saved. Go
not about to
establish a
righteousness
of your own,
or to seek
to get to
heaven by
any works of
your own.
That is
indeed still
the thing
man aims at.
First lie
sins, and
then, like
Adam, sets
to work to
cover
himself with
a cover of
his own
making, to
procure a
title to
eternal life
by his own
works. But
is it easier
to recover
yourselves
from the
ruins of the
fall, than
to stand
while yet in
an innocent
and upright
state ? Have
ye gathered
strength by
sinning, and
are ye able
to walk to
heaven on
your own
legs ? Come
then to
Christ, who
by his
obedience
and death
bath
procured a
righteousness
which alone
can stand
yon in
stead, and
by which
alone you
call obtain
a right to
eternal
life. You
must then
either come
to Christ,
or perish
for ever.
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