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STATE I.

NAMELY,

THE STATE OF INNOCENCE, OR PRIMITIVE INTEGRITY, IN WHICH MAN WAS CREATED.

ECCLES. vii. 29.

Lo, this only have I found, That God hath made Man upright: But they have sought out many Inventions.

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HERE are four things very necessary to be known by all that would see heaven. First, What man was in the state of innocence, as God made him. Secondly, What he is in the state of corrupt nature, as he hath unmade himself. Thirdly, What he must be in the state grace, as created in Christ Jesus unto good works, if ever he be made a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. And, Lastly, What he shall be in his eternal state, as made by the Judge of all, either perfectly happy, or completely miserable, and that for ever. These are weighty points, that touch the vitals of practical godliness, from which most men, and even many professors, in these dregs of time, are quite estranged. I design, therefore, under the divine conduct, to open up these things, and apply them.

I begin with the first of them, namely, The state of innocence: That, beholding man polished after the similitude of a palace, the ruins may the more affect us; we may the more prize that matchless Person, whom the Father has appointed the repairer of the breach; and that we may with fixed resolves, betake ourselves to that way which leadeth to the city that hath immoveable foundations. In the text we have three things:

1. The state of innocence wherein man was created. God hath made man upright. By man here we are to understand our first parents; the archetypal pair, the root of mankind, the compendized world, and the fountain from

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whence all generations have streamed; as may appear by comparing Gen. v. 1. 2. "In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him, male and female created he them, and blessed them," (as the root of mankind,)" and called their name Adam." The original words are the same in our text, in this sense, man was made right, (agreeable to the nature of God, whose work is perfect,) without any imperfection, corruption, or principle of corruption in his body or soul. He was made upright, that is, straight with the will and law of God, without any irregularity in his soul. By the set it got in its creation, it directly pointed towards God, as his chief end; which straight inclination was represented, as in an emblem, by the erect figure of his body, a figure that no other living creature partakes of. What David was in a gospel sense, that was he in a legal sense: One according to God's own heart, altogether righteous, pure, and holy. God made him thus: He did not first make him, and then make him righteous; but in the very making of him, he made him righteous. Original righteousness was concreated with him; so that in the same moment he was a man, he was a righteous man, morally good; with the same breath that God breathed in him a living soul, he breathed in him a righteous soul.

2. Here is man's fallen state; but they have sought out many inventions. They fell off from their rest in God, dna fell upon seeking inventions of their own, to mend their case; and they quite marred it. Their ruin was from their own proper motion; they would not abide as God had made them; but they sought out many inventions to deform and undo themselves.

3. Observe here the certainty and importance of those things; Lo, this only have I found, &c. Believe them, they are the result of a narrow search, and a serious inquiry, performed by the wisest of men. In the two preceding verses, Solomon represents himself as in quest of goodness in the world: But the issue of it was, he,could find no satisfying issue in his search after it; though it was not for want of pains; for he counted one by one to find out the account. Behold thus have I found, (saith the Preacher,)— to wit, that (as the same word is read in our text) yet my soul seeketh, but I find not. He could make no satisfying

discovery of it, which might stay his enquiry. He found good men very rare, one, as it were, among a thousand; good women more rare, not one good among his thousand wives and concubines, 2 Kings xi. 3. But could that satisfy the grand query, Where shall wisdom be found? No, it could not; (and if the experience of others in this point run counter to Solomon's, as it is no reflection on his discerning, it can as little decide the question; which will remain undetermined till the last day.) But amidst all this uncertainty, there is one point found out, and fixed: This have I found. Ye may depend upon it as most certain truth, and be fully satisfied in it: Lo this: fix your eyes upon it, as a matter worthy of most deep and serious regard to wit, that man's nature is now depraved, but that depravation was not from God, for he made man upright: but for themselves, they have sought out many inventions.

DOCTRINE, God made man altogether righteous. >

THIS is that state of in It

down in the world. It is described in the holy scriptures with a running pen, in comparison of the following states, for it was of no continuance, but passed as a flying shadow, by man's abusing the freedom of his own will. I shall,

FIRST, Inquire into the righteousness of this state wherein man was created.

SECONDLY, Lay before you some of the happy concom itants, and consequents thereof. LASTLY, Apply the whole.

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Of Man's Original Righteousness.

FIRST, AS to the righteousness of this state, consider, that as uncreatcl righteousness, the righteousness of God is the supreme rule; so all created righteousness, whether of men or angels, hath respect to a law as its rule, and is a conformity thereunto. A creature can no more be morally independent on God, in its actions and powers, than it can be naturally independent on him. A creature, as a creature, must acknowledge the Creator's will as its su

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