Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/mhcc06/v08000

Text File | 1994-03-01 | 25KB | 417 lines

08003
 #15 After God had formed Adam, he put him in the garden. All
 boasting was thereby shut out. Only he that made us can make us
 happy; he that is the Former of our bodies, and the Father of
 our spirits, and none but he, can fully provide for the
 happiness of both. Even in paradise itself man had to work. None
 of us were sent into the world to be idle. He that made our
 souls and bodies, has given us something to work with; and he
 that gave us this earth for our habitation, has made us
 something to work upon. The sons and heirs of heaven, while in
 this world, have something to do about this earth, which must
 have its share of their time and thoughts; and if they do it
 with an eye to God, they as truly serve him in it, as when they
 are upon their knees. Observe that the husbandman's calling is
 an ancient and honourable calling; it was needful even in
 paradise. Also, there is true pleasure in the business God calls
 us to, and employs us in. Adam could not have been happy if he
 had been idle: it is still God's law, He that will not work has
 no right to eat, #2Th 3:10|.

08004
 #16,17 Let us never set up our own will against the holy will of
 God. There was not only liberty allowed to man, in taking the
 fruits of paradise, but everlasting life made sure to him upon
 his obedience. There was a trial appointed of his obedience. By
 transgression he would forfeit his Maker's favour, and deserve
 his displeasure, with all its awful effects; so that he would
 become liable to pain, disease, and death. Worse than that, he
 would lose the holy image of God, and all the comfort of his
 favour; and feel the torment of sinful passions, and the terror
 of his Maker's vengeance, which must endure for ever with his
 never dying soul. The forbidding to eat of the fruit of a
 particular tree was wisely suited to the state of our first
 parents. In their state of innocence, and separated from any
 others, what opportunity or what temptation had they to break
 any of the ten commandments? The event proves that the whole
 human race were concerned in the trial and fall of our first
 parents. To argue against these things is to strive against
 stubborn facts, as well as Divine revelation; for man is sinful,
 and shows by his first actions, and his conduct ever afterwards,
 that he is ready to do evil. He is under the Divine displeasure,
 exposed to sufferings and death. The Scriptures always speak of
 man as of this sinful character, and in this miserable state;
 and these things are true of men in all ages, and of all
 nations.

08006
 #18-25 Power over the creatures was given to man, and as a proof
 of this he named them all. It also shows his insight into the
 works of God. But though he was lord of the creatures, yet
 nothing in this world was a help meet for man. From God are all
 our helpers. If we rest in God, he will work all for good. God
 caused deep sleep to fall on Adam; while he knows no sin, God
 will take care that he shall feel no pain. God, as her Father,
 brought the woman to the man, as his second self, and a help
 meet for him. That wife, who is of God's making by special
 grace, and of God's bringing by special providence, is likely to
 prove a help meet for a man. See what need there is, both of
 prudence and prayer in the choice of this relation, which is so
 near and so lasting. That had need to be well done, which is to
 be done for life. Our first parents needed no clothes for
 covering against cold or heat, for neither could hurt them: they
 needed none for ornament. Thus easy, thus happy, was man in his
 state of innocency. How good was God to him! How many favours
 did he load him with! How easy were the laws given to him! Yet
 man, being in honour, understood not his own interest, but soon
 became as the beasts that perish.
08014
 * The serpent deceives Eve. (1-5) Adam and Eve transgress the
 Divine command, and fall into sin and misery. (6-8) God calls
 upon Adam and Eve to answer. (9-13) The serpent cursed, The
 promised Seed. (14,15) The punishment of mankind. (16-19) The
 first clothing of mankind. (20,21) Adam and Eve are driven out
 from paradise. (22-24)

 #1-5 Satan assaulted our first parents, to draw them to sin, and
 the temptation proved fatal to them. The tempter was the devil,
 in the shape and likeness of a serpent. Satan's plan was to draw
 our first parents to sin, and so to separate between them and
 their God. Thus the devil was from the beginning a murderer, and
 the great mischief maker. The person tempted was the woman: it
 was Satan's policy to enter into talk with her when she was
 alone. There are many temptations to which being alone gives
 great advantage; but the communion of saints tends very much to
 their strength and safety. Satan took advantage by finding her
 near the forbidden tree. They that would not eat the forbidden
 fruit, must not come near the forbidden tree. Satan tempted Eve,
 that by her he might tempt Adam. It is his policy to send
 temptations by hands we do not suspect, and by those that have
 most influence upon us. Satan questioned whether it were a sin
 or not, to eat of this tree. He did not disclose his design at
 first, but he put a question which seemed innocent. Those who
 would be safe, need to be shy of talking with the tempter. He
 quoted the command wrong. He spoke in a taunting way. The devil,
 as he is a liar, so he is a scoffer from the beginning; and
 scoffers are his children. It is the craft of Satan to speak of
 the Divine law as uncertain or unreasonable, and so to draw
 people to sin; it is our wisdom to keep up a firm belief of
 God's command, and a high respect for it. Has God said, Ye shall
 not lie, nor take his name in vain, nor be drunk, &c.? Yes, I am
 sure he has, and it is well said; and by his grace I will abide
 by it. It was Eve's weakness to enter into this talk with the
 serpent: she might have perceived by his question, that he had
 no good design, and should therefore have started back. Satan
 teaches men first to doubt, and then to deny. He promises
 advantage from their eating this fruit. He aims to make them
 discontented with their present state, as if it were not so good
 as it might be, and should be. No condition will of itself bring
 content, unless the mind be brought to it. He tempts them to
 seek preferment, as if they were fit to be gods. Satan ruined
 himself by desiring to be like the Most High, therefore he
 sought to infect our first parents with the same desire, that he
 might ruin them too. And still the devil draws people into his
 interest, by suggesting to them hard thoughts of God, and false
 hopes of advantage by sin. Let us, therefore, always think well
 of God as the best good, and think ill of sin as the worst evil:
 thus let us resist the devil, and he will flee from us.

08019
 #6-8 Observe the steps of the transgression: not steps upward,
 but downward toward the pit. 1. She saw. A great deal of sin
 comes in at the eye. Let us not look on that which we are in
 danger of lusting after, #Mt 5:28|. 2. She took. It was her own
 act and deed. Satan may tempt, but he cannot force; may persuade
 us to cast ourselves down, but he cannot cast us down, #Mt 4:6|.
 3. She did eat. When she looked perhaps she did not intend to
 take; or when she took, not to eat: but it ended in that. It is
 wisdom to stop the first motions of sin, and to leave it off
 before it be meddled with. 4. She gave it also to her husband
 with her. Those that have done ill, are willing to draw in
 others to do the same. 5. He did eat. In neglecting the tree of
 life, of which he was allowed to eat, and eating of the tree of
 knowledge, which was forbidden, Adam plainly showed a contempt
 of what God had bestowed on him, and a desire for what God did
 not see fit to give him. He would have what he pleased, and do
 what he pleased. His sin was, in one word, disobedience, #Ro
 5:19|; disobedience to a plain, easy, and express command. He
 had no corrupt nature within, to betray him; but had a freedom
 of will, in full strength, not weakened or impaired. He turned
 aside quickly. He drew all his posterity into sin and ruin. Who
 then can say that Adam's sin had but little harm in it? When too
 late, Adam and Eve saw the folly of eating forbidden fruit. They
 saw the happiness they fell from, and the misery they were
 fallen into. They saw a loving God provoked, his grace and
 favour forfeited. See here what dishonour and trouble sin is; it
 makes mischief wherever it gets in, and destroys all comfort.
 Sooner or later it will bring shame; either the shame of true
 repentance, which ends in glory, or that shame and everlasting
 contempt, to which the wicked shall rise at the great day. See
 here what is commonly the folly of those that have sinned. They
 have more care to save their credit before men, than to obtain
 their pardon from God. The excuses men make to cover and lessen
 their sins, are vain and frivolous; like the aprons of
 fig-leaves, they make the matter never the better: yet we are
 all apt to cover our transgressions as Adam. Before they sinned,
 they would have welcomed God's gracious visits with humble joy;
 but now he was become a terror to them. No marvel that they
 became a terror to themselves, and full of confusion. This shows
 the falsehood of the tempter, and the frauds of his temptations.
 Satan promised they should be safe, but they cannot so much as
 think themselves so! Adam and Eve were now miserable comforters
 to each other!

08022
 #9-13 Observe the startling question, Adam, where art thou?
 Those who by sin go astray from God, should seriously consider
 where they are; they are afar off from all good, in the midst of
 their enemies, in bondage to Satan, and in the high road to
 utter ruin. This lost sheep had wandered without end, if the
 good Shepherd had not sought after him, and told him, that where
 he was straying he could not be either happy or easy. If sinners
 will but consider where they are, they will not rest till they
 return to God. It is the common fault and folly of those that
 have done ill, when questioned about it, to acknowledge only
 that which is so manifest that they cannot deny it. Like Adam,
 we have reason to be afraid of approaching to God, if we are not
 covered and clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Sin
 appears most plainly in the glass of the commandment, therefore
 God set it before Adam; and in it we should see our faces. But
 instead of acknowledging the sin in its full extent, and taking
 shame to themselves, Adam and Eve excuse the sin, and lay the
 shame and blame on others. There is a strange proneness in those
 that are tempted, to say, they are tempted of God; as if our
 abuse of God's gifts would excuse our breaking God's laws. Those
 who are willing to take the pleasure and profit of sin, are
 backward to take the blame and shame of it. Learn hence, that
 Satan's temptations are all beguilings; his arguments are all
 deceits; his allurements are all cheats; when he speaks fair,
 believe him not. It is by the deceitfulness of sin the heart is
 hardened. See #Ro 7:11; Heb 3:13|. But though Satan's subtlety
 may draw us into sin, yet it will not justify us in sin. Though
 he is the tempter, we are the sinners. Let it not lessen our
 sorrow for sin, that we were beguiled into it; but let it
 increase our self-indignation, that we should suffer ourselves
 to be deceived by a known cheat, and a sworn enemy, who would
 destroy our souls.

08027
 #14,15 God passes sentence; and he begins where the sin began,
 with the serpent. The devil's instruments must share in the
 devil's punishments. Under the cover of the serpent, the devil
 is sentenced to be degraded and accursed of God; detested and
 abhorred of all mankind: also to be destroyed and ruined at last
 by the great Redeemer, signified by the breaking of his head.
 War is proclaimed between the Seed of the woman and the seed of
 the serpent. It is the fruit of this enmity, that there is a
 continual warfare between grace and corruption, in the hearts of
 God's people. Satan, by their corruptions, buffets them, sifts
 them, and seeks to devour them. Heaven and hell can never be
 reconciled, nor light and darkness; no more can Satan and a
 sanctified soul. Also, there is a continual struggle between the
 wicked and the godly in this world. A gracious promise is here
 made of Christ, as the Deliverer of fallen man from the power of
 Satan. Here was the drawn of the gospel day: no sooner was the
 wound given, than the remedy was provided and revealed. This
 gracious revelation of a Saviour came unasked, and unlooked for.
 Without a revelation of mercy, giving some hope of forgiveness,
 the convinced sinner would sink into despair, and be hardened.
 By faith in this promise, our first parents, and the patriarchs
 before the flood, were justified and saved. Notice is given
 concerning Christ. 1. His incarnation, or coming in the flesh.
 It speaks great encouragement to sinners, that their Saviour is
 the Seed of the woman, bone of our bone, #Heb 2:11,14|. 2. His
 sufferings and death; pointed at in Satan's bruising his heel,
 that is, his human nature. And Christ's sufferings are continued
 in the sufferings of the saints for his name. The devil tempts
 them, persecutes and slays them; and so bruises the heel of
 Christ, who is afflicted in their afflictions. But while the
 heel is bruised on earth, the Head is in heaven. 3. His victory
 over Satan thereby. Christ baffled Satan's temptations, rescued
 souls out of his hands. By his death he gave a fatal blow to the
 devil's kingdom, a wound to the head of this serpent that cannot
 be healed. As the gospel gains ground, Satan falls.

08029
 #16-19 The woman, for her sin, is condemned to a state of
 sorrow, and of subjection; proper punishments of that sin, in
 which she had sought to gratify the desire of her eye, and of
 the flesh, and her pride. Sin brought sorrow into the world;
 that made the world a vale of tears. No wonder our sorrows are
 multiplied, when our sins are so. He shall rule over thee, is
 but God's command, Wives, be subject to your own husbands. If
 man had not sinned, he would always have ruled with wisdom and
 love; if the woman had not sinned, she would always have obeyed
 with humility and meekness. Adam laid the blame on his wife; but
 though it was her fault to persuade him to eat the forbidden
 fruit, it was his fault to hearken to her. Thus men's frivolous
 pleas will, in the day of God's judgment, be turned against
 them. God put marks of displeasure on Adam. 1. His habitation is
 cursed. God gave the earth to the children of men, to be a
 comfortable dwelling; but it is now cursed for man's sin. Yet
 Adam is not himself cursed, as the serpent was, but only the
 ground for his sake. 2. His employments and enjoyments are
 embittered to him. Labour is our duty, which we must faithfully
 perform; it is part of man's sentence, which idleness daringly
 defies. Uneasiness and weariness with labour are our just
 punishment, which we must patiently submit to, since they are
 less than our iniquity deserves. Man's food shall become
 unpleasant to him. Yet man is not sentenced to eat dust as the
 serpent, only to eat the herb of the field. 3. His life also is
 but short; considering how full of trouble his days are, it is
 in favour to him that they are few. Yet death being dreadful to
 nature, even when life is unpleasant, that concludes the
 punishment. Sin brought death into the world: if Adam had not
 sinned, he had not died. He gave way to temptation, but the
 Saviour withstood it. And how admirably the satisfaction of our
 Lord Jesus, by his death and sufferings, answered the sentence
 passed on our first parents! Did travailing pains come with sin?
 We read of the travail of Christ's soul, #Isa 53:11|; and the
 pains of death he was held by, are so called, #Ac 2:24|. Did
 subjection came in with sin? Christ was made under the law, #Ga
 4:4|. Did the curse come in with sin? Christ was made a curse
 for us, he died a cursed death, #Ga 3:13|. Did thorns come in
 with sin? He was crowned with thorns for us. Did sweat come in
 with sin? He sweat for us, as it had been great drops of blood.
 Did sorrow come in with sin? He was a man of sorrows; his soul
 was, in his agony, exceeding sorrowful. Did death come in with
 sin? He became obedient unto death. Thus is the plaster as wide
 as the wound. Blessed be God for his Son our Lord Jesus Christ.

08033
 #20,21 God named the man, and called him Adam, which signifies
 red earth; Adam named the woman, and called her Eve, that is,
 life. Adam bears the name of the dying body, Eve of the living
 soul. Adam probably had regard to the blessing of a Redeemer,
 the promised Seed, in calling his wife Eve, or life; for He
 should be the life of all believers, and in Him all the families
 of the earth should be blessed. See also God's care for our
 first parents, notwithstanding their sin. Clothes came in with
 sin. Little reason have we to be proud of our clothes, which are
 but the badges of our shame. When God made clothes for our first
 parents, he made them warm and strong, but coarse and very
 plain; not robes of scarlet, but coats of skin. Let those that
 are meanly clad, learn from hence not to complain. Having food
 and a covering, let them be content; they are as well off as
 Adam and Eve. And let those that are finely clad, learn not to
 make the putting on of apparel their adorning. The beasts, from
 whose skins they were clothed, it is supposed were slain, not
 for man's food, but for sacrifice, to typify Christ, the great
 Sacrifice. Adam and Eve made for themselves aprons of
 fig-leaves, a covering too narrow for them to wrap themselves
 in, #Isa 28:20|. Such are all the rags of our own righteousness.
 But God made them coats of skin, large, strong, durable, and fit
 for them: such is the righteousness of Christ; therefore put ye
 on the Lord Jesus Christ.

08035
 #22-24 God bid man go out; told him he should no longer occupy
 and enjoy that garden: but man liked the place, and was
 unwilling to leave it, therefore God made him go out. This
 signified the shutting out of him, and all his guilty race, from
 that communion with God, which was the bliss and glory of
 paradise. But man was only sent to till the ground out of which
 he was taken. He was sent to a place of toil, not to a place of
 torment. Our first parents were shut out from the privileges of
 their state of innocency, yet they were not left to despair. The
 way to the tree of life was shut. It was henceforward in vain
 for him and his to expect righteousness, life, and happiness, by
 the covenant of works; for the command of that covenant being
 broken, the curse of it is in full force: we are all undone, if
 we are judged by that covenant. God revealed this to Adam, not
 to drive him to despair, but to quicken him to look for life and
 happiness in the promised Seed, by whom a new and living way
 into the holiest is laid open for us.
08038
 * The birth, employment, and religion of Cain and Abel. (1-7)
 Cain murders Abel, The curse of Cain. (8-15) The conduct of
 Cain, His family. (16-18) Lamech and his wives, The skill of
 Cain's descendants. (19-24) The birth of another son and
 grandson of Adam. (25,26)

 #1-7 When Cain was born, Eve said, I have gotten a man from the
 Lord. Perhaps she thought that this was the promised seed. If
 so, she was woefully disappointed. Abel signifies vanity: when
 she thought she had the promised seed in Cain, whose name
 signifies possession, she was so taken up with him that another
 son was as vanity to her. Observe, each son had a calling. It is
 the will of God for every one to have something to do in this
 world. Parents ought to bring up their children to work. Give
 them a Bible and a calling, said good Mr. Dod, and God be with
 them. We may believe that God commanded Adam, after the fall, to
 shed the blood of innocent animals, and after their death to
 burn part or the whole of their bodies by fire. Thus that
 punishment which sinners deserve, even the death of the body,
 and the wrath of God, of which fire is a well-known emblem, and
 also the sufferings of Christ, were prefigured. Observe that the
 religious worship of God is no new invention. It was from the
 beginning; it is the good old way, #Jer 6:16|. The offerings of
 Cain and Abel were different. Cain showed a proud, unbelieving
 heart. Therefore he and his offering were rejected. Abel came as
 a sinner, and according to God's appointment, by his sacrifice
 expressing humility, sincerity, and believing obedience. Thus,
 seeking the benefit of the new covenant of mercy, through the
 promised Seed, his sacrifice had a token that God accepted it.
 Abel offered in faith, and Cain did not, #Heb 11:4|. In all ages
 there have been two sorts of worshippers, such as Cain and Abel;
 namely, proud, hardened despisers of the gospel method of
 salvation, who attempt to please God in ways of their own
 devising; and humble believers, who draw near to him in the way
 he has revealed. Cain indulged malignant anger against Abel. He
 harboured an evil spirit of discontent and rebellion against
 God. God notices all our sinful passions and discontents. There
 is not an angry, envious, or fretful look, that escapes his
 observing eye. The Lord reasoned with this rebellious man; if he
 came in the right way, he should be accepted. Some understand
 this as an intimation of mercy. "If thou doest not well, sin,
 that is, the sin-offering, lies at the door, and thou mayest
 take the benefit of it." The same word signifies sin, and a
 sacrifice for sin. "Though thou hast not done well, yet do not
 despair; the remedy is at hand." Christ, the great sin-offering,
 is said to stand at the door, #Re 3:20|. And those well deserve
 to perish in their sins, that will not go to the door to ask for
 the benefit of this sin-offering. God's acceptance of Abel's
 offering did not change the birthright, and make it his; why
 then should Cain be so angry? Sinful heats and disquiets vanish
 before a strict and fair inquiry into the cause.

08045
 #8-15 Malice in the heart ends in murder by the hands. Cain slew
 Abel, his own brother, his own mother's son, whom he ought to
 have loved; his younger brother, whom he ought to have
 protected; a good brother, who had never done him any wrong.
 What fatal effects were these of our first parents' sin, and how
 must their hearts have been filled with anguish! Observe the
 pride, unbelief, and impenitence of Cain. He denies the crime,
 as if he could conceal it from God. He tries to cover a
 deliberate murder with a deliberate lie. Murder is a crying sin.
 Blood calls for blood, the blood of the murdered for the blood
 of the murderer. Who knows the extent and weight of a Divine
 curse, how far it reaches, how deep it pierces? Only in Christ
 are believers saved from it, and inherit the blessing. Cain was
 cursed from the earth. He found his punishment there where he
 chose his portion, and set his heart. Every creature is to us
 what God makes it, a comfort or a cross, a blessing or a curse.
 The wickedness of the wicked brings a curse upon all they do,
 and all they have. Cain complains not of his sin, but of his
 punishment. It shows great hardness of heart to be more
 concerned about our sufferings than our sins. God has wise and
 holy ends in prolonging the lives even of very wicked men. It is
 in vain to inquire what was the mark set upon Cain. It was
 doubtless known, both as a brand of infamy on Cain, and a token
 from God that they should not kill him. Abel, being dead, yet
 speaketh. He tells the heinous guilt of murder, and warns us to
 stifle the first risings of wrath, and teaches us that
 persecution must be expected by the righteous. Also, that there
 is a future state, and an eternal recompence to be enjoyed,
 through faith in Christ and his atoning sacrifice. And he tells
 us the excellency of faith in the atoning sacrifice and blood of
 the Lamb of God. Cain slew his brother, because his own works
 were evil, and his brother's righteous, #1Jo 3:12|. In
 consequence of the enmity put between the Seed of the woman and
 the seed of the serpent, the war broke out, which has been waged
 ever since. In this war we are all concerned, none are neuter;
 our Captain has declared, He that is not with me is against me.
 Let us decidedly, yet in meekness, support the cause of truth
 and righteousness against Satan.