Learn then from this solemn history that perverseness and folly ever accompany sin, that transgressors by all their excuses only accuse themselves, and that the more they defend the more they betray themselves, especially before God! Thus Adam here attempts to conceal his sin and to adorn himself as innocent, in that he alleges, as the cause of his fleeing, not his having sinned, but his having heard the voice of the Lord; and he makes that to be the cause of his alarm and of his being ashamed because he was naked. Poor wretched man! He never thinks that he had no such fear as this when he heard the same voice of God at first. He never recollects that he was not then ashamed because he was naked. For as that nakedness was the creation of God, why should he the creature be ashamed of that which God had made! He then walked in all his nakedness in the sight of God and of the whole creation in paradise, perfectly secure and happy that such was the will of God and delighting in God on that very account. But now he is covered with shame, because he is naked and flees from God and hides from him on that account. Every one of these things is an argument by which Adam condemns himself, and betrays his present state of sin. And just in the same manner will the wicked condemn themselves in the final judgment, when all the darkness shall be driven away from all the hearts of men and the sins of all men shall be read in the "book" when "opened"! God knew perfectly well that Adam had sinned and was guilty of death. Yet he calls him that he might be condemned by the testimony of his own mouth, as having sinned. For he flees from God when he calls him, which fact was itself the very essence of sin, even as it is the very essence of righteousness to flee unto God as a refuge. This fleeing from God therefore is the strongest possible testimony of Adam against himself. Yet even still he vainly hopes that his sin can be covered by a lie, for he alleges as the real causes of his flight the voice of God and his own nakedness. From this we learn therefore that such is the nature of sin, that unless God bring the medicine immediately after it is committed and call back the sinner to himself, he will flee from his God farther and farther, and by mendaciously excusing his sin he will add sin to sin until he runs at length into blasphemy and despair. Thus sin draws after it by its own weight as it were sin upon sin, and causes eternal ruin, until the sinner finally will rather accuse God himself than acknowledge his own sin.