Use 1. To teach us the evil of sin. Man by sin brought a curse upon
YeU. 20.] SKRMONS UPON ROMANS VIII. 1G5
himself, upon his posterity, and upon all the creatures ; that is it we are upon ; sin disordered the whole lyorld ; therefore let us work our hearts to a detestation and abhorrence of it. We see how highly God is displeased with it ; the creator, wlio out of his overflowing bounty created all things, and delighted in them when he had made them, yet was provoked to curse what he had created, when once man had sinned ; and so sin hath made a great cliange in the world. But be- cause these are ancient things, and do little move us, see the judgments of every age and time, which are the fruit of this vanity, which is brought upon the creature. If a nation sin : Deut. xxviii. 22, 23, ' The Lord thy God shall smite thee with fevers, and with the sword, and with blasting, and mildew, and consume thee until thou perish. The heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the eartli under thee, iron ; the Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust; from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.' So ver. 38, 39, 40, ' Thou shalt carry much seed into the field, and shalt gather but little in, for the locusts shall consume it ; thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes ; for the worms shall eat them ; have olive trees, but the olive shall cast its fruits.' These are things often ful- filled before our eyes ; so Isa. xsiv. 4, 5, 6, ' The earth mourneth and fadeth away ; the world languisheth and fadeth away ; the earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof ; they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. There- fore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate ; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.' So for our persons, it is our sin that bringeth the curse of God on all that we enjoy. Thus God by the vanity and perishing of the creature, would show how angry he is with man for sin.
Use 2. Do not cast a greater burden upon the creature ; you have already brought in too much disorder and confusion upon the world. But how do we cast a greater burden upon the creature ? When you sin with and by the creature ; as by injustice, unmercifulness, oppres- sion, because you have much filthy excess ; by these and such-like you make the creature the object and occasion of sin ; especially opposition to God, oppressing his servants, dealing cruelly and unmercifully with men, hoping your greatness should bear you out in any of these cases.
1. Consider how the creature will cry to God for revenge : Hab. ii. 11, ' For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it;' the very materials of their buildings and unjust acquisitions shall witness against them ; James v. 3, ' The canker and rust of your gold and silver shall witness against you.'
2. Those that put a burden upon the creature shall have the crea- ture's burden put on them. By your sin they are subjected to vanity, and by their vanity you are subjected to wrath ; they are ready to revenge God's quarrel, if he do but hiss for them, Isa. vii. 18 ; he can make ' thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle for barley,' in herit- ages gotten by oppression. Job xxxi. 40.
3. The creature shall be delivered ; but those that abuse the crea- ture shall not. It is subjected in hope, but their worm dieth not, their firo goeth not out.
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Use 3. Is to persuade us to turn our hearts from the creature to God; for the creature is made subject to vanity. They change, but he changeth not. 1 John ii. 17, ' The world passeth away, and the hists thereof.' There is no true happiness to be found under the sun. Surely they that can see no vanity, nothing but glory and goodness in outward things, Satan hath bewitched them, Mat. iv. 8. Shall we fix our minds on a reeling world, ever subject to changes ? Ps. Ixxxiii. 13, ' 0 my God, make them like a wheel, as the stubble before the wind ; ' those things are continually rolled and turned upside down, as a wheel is turned and turned, never standeth still in a declivity. The creature is vain, and made more vain by our confidence : Ps. XXX. 6, ' In my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved ; ' therefore if we love the creature, let it be after God, and for God ; not in comparison with God. If the heart be set uponworldly things, it is stolen from better : Ps. Ixii. 10, ' Trust not in oppression, become not vain in robbery ; if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.' God is impatient of a corrival ; ' I am married to you,' Jer. iii. 14. Not in exclusion of God ; as when we rejoice in the creature apart from God, an heart divided from him, Luke xii. 19. Not in opposition to God ; as if by the creature we were able to make our party against him.