A Body of Practical Divinity

Branch 3. See the Misery of Men in the state of Nature, before Christ came to be their Prophet, they are enveloped with Ignorance and Da•kness. Men know nothing in a salvifical, sanctified manner; they know nothing as they ought to know▪ 1 Cor. 8.2. This is sad: 1. Men in the dark cannot discern Colours; so in the state of Nature, they cannot discern between Morality and Grace; they take one for the other, pro dea nubem. 2. In the dark the greatest Beauty is hid. Let there be rare Flowers in the Garden, and Pictures in the Room, yet in the dark their Beauty is veiled over; so, though there be such transcendent Beauty in Christ as amazeth the Angels, a Man in the state of Nature, sees none of this Beauty. What is Christ to him? or Heaven to him? the veil is upon his heart? 3. A Man in the dark is in danger every step he goes; so a Man in the state of Nature is in danger every step, of falling into Hell. Thus it is before Christ teacheth us; nay, the darkness in which a Sinner is, while in an unregenerate state, is worse then natural darkness; for, natural darkness affrights, Gen. 15.12. An horror of great darkness fell upon Abraham. But the Spiritual Darkness is not accompanied with horror, Men tremble not at their condition; nay, they like their condition well enough, John 3.19. Men loved darkness. This is their sad condition, till Jesus Christ comes as a Prophet to teach them, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God.

Branch 3. See the Misery of Men in the state of Nature, before Christ came to be their Prophet, they are inveloped with Ignorance and Da•kness. Men know nothing in a salvifical, sanctified manner; they know nothing as they ought to know▪ 1 Cor. 8.2. This is sad: 1. Men in the dark cannot discern Colours; so in the state of Nature, they cannot discern between Morality and Grace; they take one for the other, pro dea nubem. 2. In the dark the greatest Beauty is hid. Let there be rare Flowers in the Garden, and Pictures in the Room, yet in the dark their Beauty is vail'd over; so, though there be such transcendent Beauty in Christ as amazeth the Angels, a Man in the state of Nature, sees none of this Beauty. What is Christ to him? or Heaven to him? the vail is upon his heart? 3. A Man in the dark is in danger every step he goes; so a Man in the state of Nature is in danger every step, of falling into Hell. Thus it is before Christ teacheth us; nay, the darkness in which a Sinner is, while in an unregenerate state, is worse then natural darkness; for, natural darkness affrights,