him; and so in the case of such who are unlawfully begotten, in adultery or fornication; when what is generated is fit to receive the soul, there is one prepared and united to it. A man steals a quantity of wheat, and sows it in his field; nature proceeds according to its own laws, fixed by the God of nature; the earth receives the seed, though stolen into its bosom, cherishes it, and throws it out again, and'a plentiful crop is produced. And shall nature act its part, and not the God of na ture? The rather he will go on in this constant course, that the sin of men might be manifest, and that sin be his punishment. It is by the just ordination of God, that things are as they be. Here we should rest the matter; in this we should acquiesce; and humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God.

OF ACTUAL SINS AND TRANSGRESSIONS.

FROM the sin of Adam arises the corruption of nature, with which all mankind are infected; and from the corruption of nature, or indwelling sin, arises many actual sins and iniquities; which are called in scripture, The works of the flesh; the lusts of the flesh, Eph. ii. 3. the deeds of the body, Rom. viii. 13. the deeds of the old man, Col. iii. 9. corrupt fruit, brought forth by a corrupt tree, Matt. vii. 16-20. Actual sins are the birth of corrupt nature, When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, James i. 15. Out of the heart, as from a fountain, proceed evil thoughts, &c. Matt. xv. 19. Actual sins are deviations from the law of God; for sin is the transgression of the law, 1 John iii. 4. Actions, as natural actions, are no sinful; but an action is denominated good or bad, from its agreement or disagreement with the law of God; it is the irregularity, obliquity, and abberation of the action from the rule of the divine law, that is sin. When we distinguish actual sins from original sin, we do not mean thereby that origi nal sin is not actual. The first sins of Adam and Eve were actual sins, transgressions of the law of God; Eve was in the transgression; that is guilty of an act: we read of Adam's

transgression, which designs the first sin he committed. And original sin, as derived from the sin of our first parents, is also actual. But actual sins are second acts, that flow from the corruption of nature. My business is not now to enlarge on particular sins, by explaining the nature, and shewing the evil of them; which more properly belongs to another part of my scheme that is to follow, even Practical Divinity. I shall therefore only treat of actual sins very briefly, in a doctrinal way, by giving the distribution of sins into their various sorts and kinds, reducing them to proper classes, and ranging them under their respective heads.

I. With respect to the object of sin, it may be distinguished into sins against God; sins against others, our neighbours, friends, and those in connection with us; and against ourselves, for which distinction there seems to be some foundation in Sam. ii. 25. If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him; but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall intreat for him ?—1. There are some sins that are more immediately and directly against God. The sins of David against Uriah, are confessed by him to be against the Lord; Against thee, Thee only, have I sinned, Psal. li. 4. But there are some sins more particularly pointed at him; Their tongues and their do ings are against the Lord, Isai. iii. 8. Such are they as Eli. phaz describes, who stretch out their hands against God, Job. xv. 25, 26. their carnal minds being at enmity against God. Particularly sins against the first table of the law, are sins against God; such as atheism, blasphemy of his name, Idolatry: Taking the name of God in Vain: Want of love to God, and of fear of him, no regard to his worship, private and public; a profanation of the day of worship, and a neglect of the ordinances of divine service. 2. Sins against others, are the violations of the second table of the law; as disobedience to parents, murder, unchastity, and taking away a man's property, privately or publicly, by force or fraud. 3. There are sins against a man's self; fornication, 1 Cor. vi. 18. Drunkenness and Suicide; no man has a right to dispose of his own life;

God is the giver, or rather lender, of it, and he only has a right to take it away.

II. With respect to the subject of sin, it may be distia. guished into internal and external; sins of heart. lip and life; or of thought, word and action--I. Internal sins, sins of the heart; the plague of sin begins there, it is thus summed up by the apostle, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, 1 John ii. 15.

Errors in the mind, come under this sort of sins, 2. Sins of the lip, or of words, which are external, openly pro nounced, whether respecting God or man, and one another; as all blasphemy, evil speaking, cursing, lying, obscene and unchaste words, all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour and evil speaking; all foolish talking and jesting, which are not convenient; yea every idle word comes into the account of sin, and will be brought to judgment; see Eph. iv. 25, &c. 3. Outward actions of the life and conversation; a vain conversation, a course of sin, the garment spotted with the flesh, right eye and right hand-sins, and all that the members of the body are used as instruments in the commission of.

III. With respect to the parts of sin: they may be divided into sins of omission and sins of commission; a foundation for it is in Matt. xxiii. 23. and xxv. 42—44. and both these sorts of sins are very strongly expressed in Isai. xliv. 22-24. Sins of omission are against affirmative precepts, sins of commission are against negative precepts, doing what is forbidden to be done; see James iv. 17.

IV. Sin may be distinguished by the principle from whence it arises. Some sins arise from ignorance, as in the princes of the world, that crucified the Lord of life and glory; the sins of others are presumptuous ones, see Luke xii. 47, 48. Some sins are through infirmity of the flesh, which men are betrayed into through the deceitfulness of sin, which is the case oftentimes of the people of God.

V. Sins may be distinguished by the degrees of them into lesser and greater; some are more aggravated than others,

with respect to the objects of them and with respect to time and place when and where they are committed, with other. circumstances; some are like motes in the eye, others as beams. Our Lord has taught us this distinction, not only in Matt. vii. 3-5. John xix. 11. This appears from the different degrees of punishment of sin his doctrines taught, and his miracles wrought, and repented not, that it would be more tolerable for Tyre, Sidon, Matt. xi. 20-24. According to the laws of Draco, all sins were equal. Not such are the laws of God; nor such the nature of sin according to them. VI. Sins may be distinguished by their adjuncts. As1. Into secret and open sins. Secret sins are such as are secretly committed, or sins of the heart; which distinction may be observed in Psal. xix. 12, 13. Others are done openly before the sun, 1 Tim. v. 24. 2. The papists distinguish sin into venial and mortal: which cannot be admitted without a limitation, or restriction; for though all sin is venial or pardonable, through the blood of Christ; none is pardonable in its own nature; all sin is mortal, and deserving of death. Yet3. Sin may be distinguished into remissible and irremissible. All the sins of God's people are remissible, and are actually remitted. On the other hand, all the sins of abandoned sinners that live and die in final impenitence and unbelief, are i remissible; He that made them will not have mercy on them, to forgive their sins; and he that formed them will shew them zo favour, Isai. xxvii. 11. There is one sin which is commonly called, the unpardonable sin, which is the sin, or blasphemy, against the Holy Ghost; and of which it is expressly said, that it shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, nor in the world to come, Matt. xii. 31. But not every sin against the Holy Ghost is here meant. It lies in the denial of the great and fundainental truth of the gospel, salvation by Jesus Christ, in all its branches. Atonement and justification being denied to be by Christ, there can be no pardon; for there will be no more shedding of blood, nor another sacrifice for sin; therefore, there remains nothing but a fearful looking for of judgment, and indignation, to come on such persons.

Upon all which may be observed, from what a small be. ginning, as the sin of our first parents might seem to be, what great things have arisen; what a virtue must there be in the blood of Christ, to cleanse from such sins as these, and all of them! And how great is the superabounding grace of God, that where sin has thus abounded, grace should superabound!

OF THE PUNISHMENT OF SIN.

In this article I have nothing to do with men as elect or non-elect; but as they are all the fallen race of Adam. My concern is with men considered in Adam, as the head of the covenant of works, and the representative of all mankind. Punishment of sin, original and actual, may be considered as temporal and eternal; both in this life, and that which is to come. There is an everlasting punishment into which the wicked go after death; and there is a punishment in this life; Wherefore should a living man complain, a man for the punish ment of his sin? Lam. iii. 37. that is for punishment in the present state.

I. Temporal punishment, or punishment in this life, is due to sin; and this is both inward and outward, or of soul and bo day. 1. Punishment inward, or of the soul, lies,-1. In a loss of the image of God upon it; There is none righteous, no not one, Rom. iii. 10, 23. 2. In a loss of the freedom of will, and of power to do good. Man has not lost the natural lib. erty of his will to things natural; but the moral liberty of his will to things moral: his free will is a slave to his lusts; he is a home.born slave. 3. In a loss of knowledge of divine things; his understanding is darkened with respect to them; he is darkness itself. 4. In a loss of communion with God. Adam sinned, and was drove out of Paradise, and all his sons are alienated from a life and fellowship with him. 5. In be ing destitute of hope, and subject to horror and black despair. The sinful soul of man is hopeless and helpless. II. Outward punishments of the body, or what relate to the outward things of life, are as follow:-1. Loss of immortality of the body