1st. Our first parents fell from their gh)- rious state of innocency : Eccl. vii. 29.. " God made man upright, but tliey have sought out many inventions." Adam was perefectly holy, — he had rectitude of mind, and liberty of will to good, — but his head ached till he had invented his own and our death, — he sought out many inventions, 1. Adam's fall was voluntary ; he had a possf non peccare, — a power not to fall. Free- will was a sufficient shield to repel tempta- tion; the devil could not have forced him, unless he had given his consent. Satan was only a suitor to woo, not a king to compel : but Adam gave away his own power, and suffered himself to be decoved into sin, like a young gallant, who, at one throw, loseth a fair lordship. Adam had a fair lordship, he was lord of the world. Gen. i. 28., " Have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth." But he lost all at one throw. As soon as he sinned, he forfeited paradise. — 2. Adam's fall was sudden, he did not long continue in his royal majesty.
Quest. How long did Adam continue in paradise before he fell?
Alts. Tostatus saith, he fell the next day. Pererius saith, he fell the eighth day after his creation. But the most probable and received opijiion is, that Adam fell the very same day • in which he was created : So IrenjEus, Cyril, Epiphanius, and many o- thers. The reasons which incline me to believe so, are,
1 . It is said, Satan was a murderer ' from the beginning,' John viii. 44 Now, whom |
did he murder? Not the blessed angels, he could not reach them ; nor the cursed angels, for they had before destroyed them- selves. How then was Satan a murderer from the beginning? As soon as Satan fell, he began to tempt mankind to sin ; this was a murdering temptatiofi. By which it appears Adam did not stay long in ])ara- dise, soon after his creation the Movil set upon him, and murdered him by his temp- tation.
2. Argument to prove that Adam fell the same day he was created : Adam had not yet eaten of the tree of life, (ien. iii. 22, 23., " And now lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever ; the Lord sent him forth from the garden." This tree of lif(», being one of the choicest fruits in the gar- den, and being placed in the midst of para- dise, it is very like Adam Avould have eaten of tliis tree of life one of the first, had not the serpent beguiled him with the tree of knowledge. So that hence I conclude, Adam fell the very day of his creation, be- cause he had not yet tasted the tree of life, that tree that was most in his eye, and had such delicious fruit growing upon it.
3. Argument from Ps. xlix. 12., " INIan being in honour, ahideth not" Tlie Rab- bins read it thus, ' Adam being in honour, lodged not one night.' The Hebrew word for abide, signifies, ' to stay or lodge all night.' Adam then, it seems, did not take up one night's lodging in Paradise.
Inference. From Adam's sudden fall, he fell the same day in which he was creat(!d, learn: 1. The weakness of human nature. Adam in a state of integrity, quickly made a defection from God, he soon lost the robe of innocency, and the glory of Paradise. And, was our nature thus weak when it was at the best, what is it now when it is at the worst ? If Adam did not stand when he was perfectly righteous, how una])le are we to stand when sin hath cut the lock of our original righteousness ? If purified na- ture did not stand, how then shall corrupt nature ? If Adam, in a few hours, sinned
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himself out of Paradise, how quickly would we sin ourselves into hell, if we were not kept by a greater power than our own ! But God puts underneath his everlasting arms, Deut. xxxii. 17. — 2. From Adam's fiuddcn fall, he fell the same day; learn how sad it is for a man to be left to him- self. (1) Adam being left to himself, fell : O then, what will become of us, how soon fall, if God leave us to ourselves ! A man without God's grace, left to himself, is like a ship in a storm, without pilot or anchor, and is ready to dash upon every rock. Make this prayer to God, " Lord, do not leave me to myself: If Adam fell so soon who had strength, how soon shall I fall who have no strength !" O urge God with his hand and seal, 2 Cor. xii. 9., " My strength shall be made perfect in weak- ness."
2d. The sin by which our first parents fell was ' eating the forbidden fruit ;' where, consider two things : I. The occasion of it. II. The sin itself.
I. The occasion of it ; the serpent's temp- tation. The devil did creep into the ser- pent, and spake in the serpent, as the angel in Balaam's ass ; where, consider,