ted in him after the image of God, as the remains of that image in the Gentiles still manifest, Rom. ii. 14, 15. Paul requireth, Rom. v. 14-19, that we should consider Christ as the head of believers in the covenant of grace, after the example of Adam: but how shall we understand this, unless Adam be also the head of his posterity in the covenant of works.

But although Adam possessed such a glory and excellency, he nevertheless fell into a deep abyss of horrible misery through his disobedience, by which, contrary to the command of God, enforced with the promise of life, and the threatening of death, he ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, by which he also broke the covenant, as the Lord saith, Hosea vi. 7: for that tree was prohibited to him, as a trial of his obedience.

But how could these exceedingly wise and holy persons, who had such an ability, be guilty of such a base conduct. The serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, saith Paul, 2 Cor. xi. 3. from Gen. iii. 1-6. "The serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field," saith Moses, Gen. iii. 1. But although he were ever so subtil, and more so than any beast of the field, he could nevertheless not perform such an evil and subtil work of himself, for he was irrational and speechless: but the devil having apostatized from God, and being subjected by him to eternal punishment, without any hope of mercy, inflamed with hatred against God, and envy against the happy man, and with an ambitious desire to rule over him, made use of, and possessed this beast for that purpose, and so enticed man by means of it. For" the devil was a murderer of man from the beginning," John viii. 44, and he is on this account himself called "the great dragon, and the old serpent," Rev. xii. 9. It is therefore detestable in a certain person to say that the devil was the first author of sin, according to the declaration of scripture, and nevertheless to teach that neither the serpent, nor the devil could deceive man, and thus to deride the whole account of Moses. Perhaps he could not speak otherwise, after he had once determined that the essence of a spirit was simply thought, and that it hath no power at all to act upon that which is bodily.

• The author hath respect here to Dr. Balthazer Becker, a pastor of the reformed church of Amsterdam. He was a great admirer of the Cartesian philosophy, and was so far misled by it, as to deny all the accounts, which the scripture gives of the power of the devil, and evil spirits: as also the exis tence of ghosts and wizards. He published these sentiments in a book, which he intitled, The world bewitched. He was deposed from his pastoral office on account of these opinions; but persevered in them until his death.

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The devil being exceedingly subtil, and abusing also the subtil nature of the serpent, conducted his temptation in a most subtil manner. For (1) it was subtil in him, that he did not tempt man from within, by acting upon his imagination, with wicked injections: for he would then have met with an immediate repulse: there were no traitors as yet in the mind of man, with whom he could correspond and conspire to destroy him. But he attacked man from without, that he might penetrate into his soul by means of his sight and hearing, and effect a total confusion there. (2) He appears not to man in a terrifying form, but conceals his hideousness under the serpent, which was not a disagreeable object to upright man; by which he might induce him to think that he was favoured with a message from God by an angel of light through the means of this serpent, in an extraordinary manner; for the wise man knew that the serpent was not endued with reason, and that he had not a man's voice. (3) He doth not tempt him in opposition to any command of the moral law of love, which was written upon his heart; for he knew very well that his soul would be immediately seized with horror, and would forthwith resist such an attack; but he assails him with the positive and probationary command, that he should not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, because man might be more easily brought to this, since there was neither good nor evil in eating or not eating of that tree, considered in itself and without respect to the divine prohibition. (4) It was also exceedingly crafty in the devil, that he did not attack the man first, but the woman, who was the weakest, and that when she was in her weakest condition and alone, that he might by her seduce the man. (3) He doth not tempt her to sin forthwith, and like an open enemy; for he would then have been soon resisted; but he tempts in a very gradual manner, and with subtil reasons that he may conceal his deceit. He doth it (a) by asking a question. "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" He speaks not of the tree of knowledge, but of every tree of the garden, in general: he feigns as though he were a stranger who knew of nothing; and that he may not create suspicion, he asks as one who was ignorant, and wished for information, that he may thus obtain an opportunity of entering into a discourse with her, and of causing her to stagger, and doubt whether God, when he permitted her to eat of every tree, forbade her to eat just of that one tree. He offers to her for consideration hereby, whether she had not misunderstood, or whether she rightly remembered the words of God. (b) The woman not thinking that it was her enemy,

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who was before her, enters into a discourse with him, and declares to him how kindly God had permitted them to eat of every tree, but that he had forbidden them to eat of the tree of knowledge, and had threatened them with death in the severest terms, if they did eat. The subtil serpent, the father of lies, that he may rid her of the fear of the danger, which attended her eating of the forbidden tree, denies the threatening and saith, "Ye shall not surely die,” and perhaps he feigns as though he were a good angel, who was sent by God to inform her that her time of probation was at an end, that God had therefore revoked that command and his threatening, and that she had consequently no reason to fear death, inasmuch as God did now freely permit them to eat of that tree, as well as of the rest. (c) But God had nevertheless forbidden them to eat of that tree, and those holy persons did not wish to act contrary to the divine prohi bition, although it were not dangerous; and why then should they eat of the tree? was there no danger in eating, there was no advantage neither. Therefore the subtil deceiver saith, that they should derive a great advantage from eating: "In the day ye eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil." He endeavours to persuade them that they were yet very simple persons, who knew but little; but that by eating of that tree they should attain to a great, yea, to a godlike knowledge, which was exceedingly desirable for man: yea, he endeavours to insinuate to the woman that the tree was on this account called the tree of knowledge. And that she may believe him, and eat of the fruit without scruple, he swears, and appeals to the allknowingness of God, to satisfy her, "God doth know" saith he.

The woman having entered into such a discourse with her enemy, listened attentively to his false sophistry, doubted whether God had so strictly forbidden her to eat, or whether she had rightly understood him, believed the devil, dismissed her fear of death, coveted the good which he had falsely promised her, and stirred up her desire by "seeing that the tree was good for food, and pleasant to the eye, and desirable to make one wise and she took of the fruit, and ate, and gave also to her husband with her, and he did eat." Thus the woman was deceived by the devil, and she, perhaps solicited by the devil, deceives her husband: in what manner Moses relates not but we may reasonably suppose that she proposed the arguments of the serpent to him with a womanly and sweet voice, by which Adam suffered himself to be enticed, and thus imitated the sin of his wife. Therefore when it is said, 1 Tim. ii. 14, "Adam was not deceived; but the woman being deceived was in the trans

gression," we must understand it so that he was not deceived first, nor immediately by the devil, but by the woman.

We cannot believe that our parents fell on the same day, on which they were created. For the many events which happened on that day left no time for the fall, which is related briefly, but happened more circumstantially; since on that day the beasts of the field were created, Adam was made, Eve formed of one of his ribs, while Adam was in a deep sleep, marriage, and the law of marriage instituted, and the covenant of works established. Besides this, God pronounced all things good at the end of the sixth day, Gen. i. 31. Add to this, that "God rested on the seventh day from all his works, and was refreshed," Exod. xxxi. 17, which God would not have done, if man had fallen on the sixth day, for "that grieved him at his heart," Gen vi. 6. It is also improbable that man continued not a certain space of time, and at least not a few days or weeks in his happy state, that he might employ himself in contemplating God, loving him, and delighting himself in glorifying him. He was undoubtedly accustomed to God's drawing near to him, since he knew it by "the cool" or wind "of the day." Gen. iii. 8.

Let none of us think that our first parents were guilty of a smail sin in eating of the forbidden tree; for it was an exceedingly great and dreadful sin. Paul calls it "a sin, transgression, offence, disobe dience," Rom. v. They transgressed by this sin the whole law of love, loving the creature more than the Creator: they broke God's covenant of friendship: they despised his threatening of death, and contemned the promised life: they believed the devil more than their gracious Creator: they refused the blessed enjoyment of God, and sought their pleasure in the forbidden creature: they fell from God to his malicious enemy, the devil; yea, they wished to be Gods, and like God, for which they are derided, Gen. iii. 22, and that at the suggestion of the wicked spirit, who hid himself in a beast. All this was so much the more aggravated, because God had created them exceedingly glorious, and had given them a noble, wise and holy soul, which could govern all the other creatures; they were able to abstain from the forbidden tree, the command was not difficult to observe, nothing compelled them to eat of it, they had all things richly in the garden to enjoy. But that which causes this sin to appear still more detestable, is the misery which they procured by it, not only to themselves, but also to all their posterity.

But although this sin was so detestable, it did nevertheless not happen without the providence of God. If " even a sparrow fall not to the ground without the will of God," how much less then could was created perfect, and all mankind fall into such a griev

ous sin and misery? God did not compel man to sin, nor move him to it, yea, he did not deprive him of his natural abilities, and habitual powers: but it is certain that God decreed to permit his fall. How could the Mediator otherwise have been "foreordained, and slain from the foundation of the world," 1 Peter i. 20. Rev. xiii. 8. Further, we cannot doubt but that God suffered the devil to tempt him; for even "the Spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness, that he might be tempted by the devil," Matt. iv. 1. We must also allow that God did not powerfully influence man, to preserve him from falling, but that he left him to himself; for he should otherwise not have fallen : God was also not obliged to bestow such a powerful influence upon man. It is true, man fell necessarily, but not by a necessity of compulsion, but of consequence: since neither the decree of God, nor his permission of Satan, nor his withholding of his active influence either moved or compelled him inwardly; but he fell by himself, and by his own free choice, and by seeking out many inventions. We know that many inexplicable difficulties occur here: but we also know that not only the word of God, but reason also teacheth us that God is an independent sovereign, that nothing happens without his will, that man depends upon God in all that he doth, and that there cannot be any religion that doth not contain unsearchable mysteries, and that if we exempt this fall from the providence and government of God, we will deprive him of his sovereign jurisdiction, and introduce the fortune of the Epicureans, or the fate of the Stoics.

The Lord also remembered this sin, by punishing it severely: not only the devil was cursed in his instrument; but our first parents also were punished with death, according to the divine threatening, Gen. ii. 17. "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." There is no reason why we should not understand death here in its greatest extent, of temporal, spiritual and eternal death: they did not indeed die temporally on the day on which they sinned: but the Lord may, consistently with his justice and truth, moderate and defer punishment: the sentence of death was pronounced upon them that same day: yea, on that very day they began to die by all the evil occurences, which were presently denounced and inflicted upon them, Gen. iii. 16-24. They died also spiritually; for they were instantly deprived of the image of God, "their understanding was darkened, and they were alienated from the life of God." Eph. iv. 18. This soon appeared, since they knew not that God was allknowing and every where present, when "they thought to hide themselves from him among the trees of the garden, and Adam covered his