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I. The STATE of INNOCENCE, or Primitive Integrity, Discoursed from Eccles. vii. 29.
OF Man's original righteousness,
His understanding a lamp of light,
His affections orderly and pure,
His will straight with the will of God,
The qualities of this righteousness,
Of man's original happiness,
Man a glorious creature,
The favourite of heaven,
The forbidden tree a stay to keep him from falling,
His perfect tranquillity,
Life of pure delight,
Man immortal,
A lamentation over the ruins,
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II. The STATE of NATURE: or State of Entire Depravation.
HEAD I. The SINFULNESS of MAN'S NATURAL STATE, Discoursed
Fallen Adam's image, in eleven particulars, natural to men,
Of the Corruption of the understanding,
Three evidences of it,
Gross darkness in spiritual things,
Four evidences of it,
A bias in it to evil,
Six evidences of that bias,
Aversion to spiritual truths,
Three evidences thereof,
Proneness to lies and falsehoods,
Man naturally high minded,
Of the corruption of the will,
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Utter inability for what is truly good,
Two evidences of it,
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Averseness to good,
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A peculiar malignity against the priestly office; corrupt nature
fying cross to the gospel-contrivance of salvation,
Four proofs of it,
Bent to the way of the law, as a covenant of works,
Two proofs of it,
Against the Spirit of God,
Against the law as a rule of life,
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On his body, soul, and enjoyments,
He is under the power of Satan,
The qualities of that wrath,
Contumacy against the Lord,
Perverseness in reference to the chief end,
Corruption, of the affections, conscience, and memory,
The body partaker of this corruption,
How man's nature was corrupted,
The doctrine of the corruption of nature applied,
The natural man can do nothing but sin,
God takes special notice of the sin of our nature,
Evidences of men's overlooking the sin of their nature,
Wherein that sin is to be specially noticed,
Why it is to be specially noticed,
How to get a view of the corruption of nature,
Discoursed from Eph. ii. 3.
MAN's natural state, a state of wrath,
What this state of wrath is,
Wrath in the heart of God against the natural man,
Wrath in the word of God against him,
Wrath in the hand of God against him,
Hath no security for a moment's safety,
The doctrine of the state of wrath confirmed and vindicated,
HEAD II. The MISERY of MAN'S NATURAL STATE,
A view of the nature of God, whose wrath it is,
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HEAD III. MAN'S UTTER INABILITY to recover himself,
Discoursed from Rom. v. 6. John vi. 44.
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Only two ways of man's recovering himself supposable, viz. the
way of the law, and the way of the gospel,
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Man unable to recover himself in the way of the law,
He cannot keep the commandments perfectly,
The perfection of law-obedience, four-fold,
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He cannot satisfy the justice of God for his sin,
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Object. God is merciful: we hope to be saved, if we do as well
as we can. Answered,
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Man unable to recover himself in the way of the gospel, to
embrace and use the help offered for his recovery,
Proved by several arguments,
Object. (1) If we be under an utter inability to do any good,
how can God require us to do it? Answered,
Object (2.) Why do you then call us to believe, repent, and
use the means? Answered,
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Object (3.) The use of means needless, seeing we are utterly
unable to keep ourselves out of the state of sin and wrath,
Answered,
Quest. Has God promised to convert and save them, who,
in the use of means, do what they can towards their own
relief? Answered,
The Conclusion of this head,
III. The STATE of GRACE, or Begun Recovery.
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HEAD I. REGENERATION, Discoursed from 1 Pet i. 23.
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Of the nature of regeneration,
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Partial changes mistaken for this change,
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The change made in regeneration, what it is,
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Cured of its utter inability to good,
Endued with a fixed aversion to evil,
a bent and propensity to good,
Disposed to receive Jesus Christ,
The affections are changed,
rectified,
regulated,
The conscience renewed,
The memory bettered by regenerating grace,
The body changed in respect of use,
The whole conversation changed,
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The resemblance betwixt natural and spiritual generation, in
nine particulars,
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Trial of one's state, whether born again or not,
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Some cases of doubting Christians resolved,
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Case (2.) Sin prevailing,
terror,
Case (1.) The precise time and way of one's conversion
not known,
Case (3.) Corruptions more violent than formerly,
Case (4.) Affections to the creature stronger than to the
Creator-Glowing affections to God gone,
Case (6.) Falling short of the saints mentioned in
scripture, and of others,
Case (7.) No child of God so tempted,
Case last, Strange and unusual afflictions,
The necessity of regeneration,
To qualify one to do good,
To communion with God in duties,
To make one meet for heaven,
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Case (5.) Attainments of hypocrites and apostates a
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To one's being admitted into heaven,
Advice to the unregenerate
HEAD II. The Mystical Union betwixt Christ and Believers.
Dicoursed from John xv. 5.
Now a degenerate stock,
Fruits growing on the branches of the nature of the stock,
A dead stock,
The condition of the branches in that respect,
A killing stock,
The supernatural stock, into which the branches are in-
grafted, Jesus Christ,
The branches taken out of the natural stock, and grafted
into the supernatural stock, the elect,
How they are cut off from the natural stock,
How ingrafted into Christ,
Christ apprehends the sinner by his Spirit,
The sinner apprehends Christ by faith,
How one may know one's self to be apprehended of Christ,
The benefits flowing to believers from union with Christ
Justification,
Peace with God, and peace of conscience,
Adoption and Sanctification,
Growth in grace,
Quest. What shall be said of those Christians who,
instead of growing, are going back? Answered,
Quest. Do hypocrites grow at all? And if so, how
shall we distinguish betwixt their growth, and the
growth of the Christian? Answered,
Fruitfulness,
Acceptance of their fruits of holiness,
Establishment and Support
The special care of the husbandman,
The duty of the saints united to Christ,
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IV. THE ETERNAL STATE, OR STATE OF CONSUMMATE
HAPPINESS OR MISERY.
HEAD I. DEATH, discoursed from Job xxx. 23.
The doctrine of death, a looking-glass, wherein to behold
the vanity of the world,
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A store-house for contentment and patience,
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A bridle to curb lusts conversant about the body,
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A spring of Christian resolution,
A spur to incite to prepare for death,
HEAD II. The difference betwixt the Righteous and the
Wicked in their death, discoureed from Prov, xiv. 32,
The wicked dying, are driven away,
In what cases a wicked man may be willing to die,
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Whence they are driven, and whither,
Driven away in their wickedness,
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The hopelessness of their state at death,
Their hopes of peace and pleasure in this life cut off,
They have no solid grounds to hope for eternal happiness,
Death roots up their delusive hopes of heaven,
Makes their state absolutely and for ever hopeless,
Caution against false hopes of heaven: Characters of
those hopes,
Exhortation to hasten out of sinful state,
To be concerned for the salvation of others,
The state of the godly in death, a hopeful state, Christ, their best friend, is Lord of the other world,
They will have a safe passage to it,
A joyful entrance into it,
Object. Many of the godly, when dying, full of fears,
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Considerations to bring saints into good terms with death,
Directions how to prepare for death,
How the dead shall be raised,
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resurrection,
The difference betwixt the godly and the wicked, in their
The qualities of the raised bodies of the saints,
The qualities of the raised bodies of the wicked,
Comfort to the people of God,
Terror to all natural men,
HEAD IV. THE GENERAL JUDGMENT,
Discoursed from Mat. xxv. 31, 32, 33, 41, 46,
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That there shall be a General Judgment, proven,
The place and time of the judgment, unknown,