1. A natural Man being estranged from God the Fountain of Life, must ⟨p. 349⟩needs be a dead Man, dead in sins and trespasses, Eph. 2. 1. because alienated from the Life of God; he is not only as the man in the Gospel, half dead, Luk. 10. 30. (who is there set forth not as a figure of Original Corruption, but as an Object of Charity, as is very evident by the scope of the Parable, which is ushered in with that Question, And who is my neighbour, Ver. 29? and at last closed up with the like, Which of the three was neighbour to him Ver. 36?) but he is altogether dead in Spirituals; there are no true vital Spirits of Faith in him, no true motions of Obedience, no pulse of heavenly Affections, no breath of Spiritual Prayer, no taste of the Gospel-wine and Marrow, no feeling of all that massy Sin and Wrath which lies upon him; all his Life is a Death-wandering, all his rest is in the Congregation of the dead, Prov. 21. 16. Give him all the Statures of natural Excellencies, strew him over with the flowers of sweetest Morality, and spangle him with the Notions of sublime Theology, yet still he is but a dead man, his Soul a dead Soul, his Faith a dead Faith, his Works dead works, and his Hopes and Comforts but as the giving up of the Ghost. But you'll say, Is not Man ⟨p. 350⟩a living Creature? Hath he not a Reason and relics of Light in it? Hath he not a free Will and Seeds of Moral Virtue in it? And why then do you call him dead? I answer; Man is a living Creature, alive in Naturals, but dead in Spirituals; he hath a Reason, but, because there is no light of life in it, 'tis but a dead Reason; his relics of Light argue no more Spiritual Life in him, than knowledge doth in Devils; he hath a free Will, but for want of the freedom indeed, 'tis only free among the dead, I mean, to this or that carnal or natural Work, and not to the Will of God; he hath some Seeds of Moral Virtue in him, but alas! these are of too low an Extraction to be any Particles of spiritual Life. Mere Moral Virtues are by God's blessing on humane Industry struck as sparks out of natural Principles, but Spiritual Life is a Fire dropped down from Heaven into the Heart; mere Moral Virtues descending but from natural Principles never ascend up to God as their end, but Spiritual Life as it is originally born of God, so it is ultimately terminated in him.
1. A natural Man being estranged from God the Fountain of Life, must ⟨p. 349⟩needs be a dead Man, dead in sins and trespasses, Eph. 2. 1. because alienated from the Life of God; he is not only as the man in the Gospel, half dead, Luk. 10. 30. (who is there set forth not as a figure of Original Corruption, but as an Object of Charity, as is very evident by the scope of the Parable, which is ushered in with that Question, And who is my neighbour, Ver. 29? and at last closed up with the like, Which of the three was neighbour to him Ver. 36?) but he is altogether dead in Spirituals; there are no true vital Spirits of Faith in him, no true motions of Obedience, no pulse of heavenly Affections, no breath of Spiritual Prayer, no taste of the Gospel-wine and Marrow, no feeling of all that massy Sin and Wrath which lies upon him; all his Life is a Death-wandering, all his rest is in the Congregation of the dead, Prov. 21. 16. Give him all the Statures of natural Excellencies, strew him over with the flowers of sweetest Morality, and spangle him with the Notions of sublime Theology, yet still he is but a dead man, his Soul a dead Soul, his Faith a dead Faith, his Works dead works, and his Hopes and Comfors but as the giving up of the Ghost. But you'l say, Is not Man ⟨p. 350⟩a living Creature? Hath he not a Reason and reliques of Light in it? Hath he not a free Will and Seeds of Moral Vertue in it? And why then do you call him dead? I answer; Man is a living Creature, alive in Naturals, but dead in Spirituals; he hath a Reason, but, because there is no light of life in it, 'tis but a dead Reason; his reliques of Light argue no more Spiritual Life in him, than knowledge doth in Devils; he hath a free Will, but for want of the freedom indeed, 'tis only free among the dead, I mean, to this or that carnal or natural Work, and not to the Will of God; he hath some Seeds of Moral Vertue in him, but alas! these are of too low an Extraction to be any Particles of spiritual Life. Mere Moral Vertues are by God's blessing on humane Industry struck as sparks out of natural Principles, but Spiritual Life is a Fire dropt down from Heaven into the Heart; mere Moral Vertues descending but from natural Principles never ascend up to God as their end, but Spiritual Life as it is originally born of God, so it is ultimately terminated in him.
