Prototypes, or, The primary precedent presidents out of the book of Genesis showing, the…Prototypes, or, The primarie precedent presidents out of the booke of Genesis shewing, the…

And Brethren let me yet make one use of Adam and Eves great sin, to warn you, that you take heed of presuming of your own strength, and of boasting that you will never commit such and such a sin, for if these two in their innocency could not escape when they neglected to sue to God for strength, O how much more shall not we stand if we adventure to brag and boast, and promise much of our selves, but when sin begins to gather upon you, and Satan to tempt, then fly to prayers and to requests, and to the threats and Commandments, and apply those threats, and pray God to enable you to keep the Commandments, then shall you do so well as you can wish, else large promises will bring forth nothing but sorry performances. Thus should Eve have done, and then she should have had her prayers granted, and her faith stablished, and escaped the fault. And as I think the first of all the faults of Eve was,¹ that she was led away by the wary speeches of the Serpent (by which he sought by step and step to descend to this solicitation,) that then she did not revive in her mind the consideration of Gods presence, and of her dependence upon him, and of his readiness to give her help on her seeking it, and of her own imbecility as being a creature, to stand without continual support from him. For sure the Moral Law lay upon Adam and Eve as well as upon us, and they ought thus to have behaved themselves in temptation; here therefore I say was her first failing. For we must not think that there was no sin precedent to the actual eating of the forbidden fruit, yea her being enticed and drawn away to distrust Gods Truth, to deny his threats, to affect knowledge against Gods allowance, and to be bold to sin, when she conceived that no danger would grow from it but much benefit: all these were faults and preparations to the great actual fault. Indeed it is probable, that if she had taken her self in these slips, and set her self and graces on work to have resisted them before they had come to such an head, that then she should not have been corrupted by them, so as to fall into sinfulness and mortality, ⟨p. 12⟩because the Lord had limited the threat of death to actual eating:

And Brethren let mee yet make one use of Adam and Eves great sinne, to warne you, that you take heed of presuming of your owne strength, and of boasting that you will never commit such and such a sinne, for if these two in their innocency could not escape when they neglected to sue to God for strength, O how much more shall not we stand if we adventure to bragg and boast, and promise much of our selves, but when sinne begins to gather upon you, and Satan to tempt, then flie to prayers and to requests, and to the threats and Commandements, and apply those threats, and pray God to inable you to keep the Commandements, then shall you doe so well as you can wish, else large promises will bring forth nothing but sorry performances. Thus should Eve have done, and then shee should have had her prayers granted, and her faith stablished, and escaped the fault. And as I thinke the first of all the faults of Evah was,