Chapter 14 - Of the Common Punishment of Sin

Hitherto we have entreated of sin wherewith all mankind is infected: in the next place suceedeth the punishment of sin, which is threefold.  The first is in this life, and that in divers ways.  The first concerneth the body, either in the provision with trouble for the things of this life, Gen. 3:17, “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.”  Deut. 28:21-22, “The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.”  Or shame of nakedness.  Gen 3:7, “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” Or in woman’s pain of childbirth, Gen. 3:16, “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”

II. The soul is punished with trembling of conscience, care, trouble, hardness of heart, and madness.  Deut 28:28, “The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart.”

III. The whole man is punished, 1. with fearful subjection of the regiment of Satan.  Col. 1:13, “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:”  Heb. 2:14, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.”  2. A separation from the fellowship with God and trembling at His presence.  Eph. 4:18, “Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.”  Gen. 3:10, “And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

IV.  Upon a man’s goods, divers calamities and damages.  Deut. 28:29, “And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee,” to the end of the chapter.  To this place may be referred distinction of Lordships: and of this commeth a care to enlarge them, and bargaining with all manner of evil servitudes. 

V.  The loss of the Lordly authority, which man had over all creatures: also their vanity, which is not only a weakening but also  a corrupting of that excellence of the virtues and powers which God at the first put into them. Rom. 8:20-21, “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”

VI. In a man’s name, infamy and ignominy sometimes after his death, Jer. 24:6.

The second, is at the last gasp, namely, death, or a change like unto.  Rom. 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The third is, after this life, even eternal destruction from God’s presence, and His exceeding glory. 2 Thess. 1:9, “Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”

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William Perkins