and only by this way we must be saved if ever we come to Heaven Another Foundation can no Man lay He that believeth not shall be damned Let him be what he will Righteous or Wicked 't is a great Error to think that Christ's Merits make our Services or Performances meritorious though 〈◊〉 are accepted thereby when they flow from Faith yet not as the Spring or procuring Cause of our Justification To close with this let me add one thing further which shews the Danger these Persons are in This Errour is a capital One 't is to err in a main Fundamental of Religion and therefore Heresy a damnable Principle And hence the Apostle calls it a subverting the Souls of such who receive it And it was also from hence God gave the Jews up to Judicial Blindness i. e. because they went about to establish their own Righteousness and did not submit to the Righteousness of God According as it is written God hath given them the Spirit of Slumber Eyes that they should not see and Ears that they should not hear That must needs be a dangerous Evil that provokes the Holy God thus to leave and give up a Person to blindness of Mind and final Impenitency for such must needs perish of necessity Therefore in the last place it follows that the state of these People is worse than it was when they were no Professors of Religion at all but were openly wicked and prophane Sinners these unclean Spirits are worse than the first And from hence let all take heed how they mix Law and Gospel together in the case of Justification If by Grace then is it no more of Works otherwise Grace is no Grace But if it be of Works then it is no more Grace otherwise Work is no more Work There is no mixing of the Merits of good Works and the free Grace of God together but one of these doth exclude and destroy the Nature of the other for if Election and Justification were partly of Grace and partly of or from foreseen Works then Grace is no Grace and Works no Works For whatsoever proceedeth of Grace as one observes that cometh freely and not of Debt but whatsoever cometh by Merits or Works that cometh by Debt But now Debt and free Grace or that which is free and absolutely by Grace and that by desert are quite contrary things therefore to say Men are Called and Justified partly by Grace and partly by Works or by whatsoever is done by the Creature this were to put such things together that cannot agree for 't is to make Merit no Merit Debt no Debt Works no Works Grace no Grace and so affirm and deny one and the same thing Therefore how absurd a thing is it for Men to mix the Law and Gospel together in this sense or make that which is the Creature 's Act or Work a procuring Cause of acceptance and Justification in God's sight seeing it utterly destroys the nature of Grace and so consequently the glorious Design of God's eternal Purpose in Jesus Christ and that blessed Covenant of his confirmed by the Mediator thereof Where the Creature is wholly abased and the free Grace of God alone exalted Man is not a co-worker or co-partner with God therefore those Principles that have a natural tendency so to do ought to be abominated by all good Christians But it is objected That we are said to be justified by Faith and also that Repentance is required as a Condition of Salvation c. 1. I answer Some put Faith in the room and place of perfect Obedience to the Law and that Faith which they speak of they affirm is the sole Act of the Creature But this certainly is a grand Errour for it would make our Justification to be still by Works and so destroy the Nature of God's free Grace for that which is the Creature 's Act is all one with the Creature 's Work 't is but to change one Work of the Creature to another from an external Work of the Life to an internal Work of the Heart For as Mr. Cary well observes 'T is Christ's perfect Righteousness and Obedience only which is put into the room and place of ours to justify and save us and his Sufferings take away the Curse which our Disobedience brought upon us Faith therefore is only the instrumental Cause of our Justification 't is only as an Instrument or Way of our receiving and applying the Righteousness of Christ if it justifies as a Condition of the New Covenant as Works were required under the Old and as that act or work injoined on our part to be done by us as Antecedent to the benefit of the Promise that would make our Act or Work the formal Cause of our Justification and so render the Terms of the New-Covenant much of the same Nature with the Old Faith is not our Righteousness in it self as a Work but in relation to Christ the Object of it or as an Act of receiving and applying his Righteousness and Merits as Eating nourisheth though it be the Meat that doth it in this sense Him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly his Faith is counted for Righteousness And now whereas the Apostle James speaks of Works justifying and not Faith only Jam. 2. 24. it is easy to be comprehended and the great Apostle of the Gentiles and he reconciled Paul speaks of the Cause of our Justification before God and James of the Signs of our Justification before Men or shews how our good Works justify our Faith The one speaks of the Imputation of Righteousness the other of the Declaration of our Righteousness or one speaks of the Office of Faith the other of the Quality of Faith the one speaks of the Justification of the Person the other of the Faith of that Person the one speaks of Abraham to be justified the other of Abraham already justified Moreover 2. That Faith by which we are said to be justified is as much the Free-Gift of God's Grace to us as Christ is the Free-Gift of his Grace for us and hence Faith is called the Gift of God Eph. 2. 8 9. and also a Fruit of the Spirit Gal. 5. 22. And as it is a Grace wrought in us so also such a Grace that was promised to us as part of Christ's Purchase To you it is given saith the Apostle in the behalf of Christ not only to believe but also to suffer for his sake that is it is given freely of God's meer Grace yet upon the account of Christ's Merits and Mediation Their believing in Christ was not in their own Power No Man can come to me that is believe in me except it were given unto him of my Father And all that the Father hath given to me shall come unto me that is believe on me And again No Man can come unto me except the Father which sent me draw him
same and under Satan's Power and Dominion O how miserably are some Men deceived thinking if they are reformed and become zealous for external Ordinances and have taken up this or that form of Religion and are taken for Saints by Men that all is well and they shall be saved How did the Pharisees glory in their seeming Zeal and Piety and flatter themselves and yet wofully blinded and in a damnable State and Condition Note also that 4. Morality external Gifts and common Grace are but like a vain Paint a mere empty and artificial Garnish They make a fair show in the Flesh they pride it in themselves and Men praise and admire them but what doth all this signify they are still under a diabolical Power and Influence and twofold more the Children of the Devil than they were before Nay as I shall hereafter shew rather seven times worse than when they were openly wicked and prophane APPLICATION 1. A Terror to Sinners Tremble you that live wicked Lives remember the unclean Spirit dwells in you and has Power over you your Hearts are his Habitation he rules in you and takes you Captive at his Will If in this State you die you are undone for ever 2. See to it you that are Professors lest you are also deceived What is a reformed Life without a changed Heart To cast off the gross Acts of Sin will not avail you any thing without the evil Habits are broke and you renewed in the Spirit of your Mind Though you seem to be godly to Men yet God knows your Hearts and how they stand affected to him and to true real Godliness A form of Religion will never save you and though you may have got some ground against Satan and he seems to have left you or is gone out yet take heed he does not return again with greater strength and get you into stronger Bonds now than he had before But because this will be more fully opened in the next place I shall at present say no more to it now 3. This also affords much Comfort to God's People Satan sets upon you and fain he would subject your Souls to himself and take Possession of your Hearts but he cannot prevail you have got one in you who is stronger than Satan who will preserve you to his Heavenly Kingdom But no more at this time I shall leave what I have said to the Blessing of God THE unclean Spirit that goes out Of Men that vicious are Doth oft-times seek and search about For rest both here and there And fain would he make his abode In places dry and clean And ruin all the Saints of God Which hath been often seen But thou O Lord dost them preserve And in them thou dost dwell So that from thee they cannot swerve To be o're-come by Hell Which Satan seeing strait-way goes To his own Dwelling place And with him brings more dismal Woes On such who want thy Grace Who of it being empty quite Tho swept and garnished He enters in and with strong might They captive all are led And overcome by him again Through curst Hypocrisy And in them he does rule and reign Which few are brought to see What cause have such thy Praise to sing Who are renew'd by thee Whose Heart thy Habitation is They always happy be SERMON II. On MATTH 12. 43 44 45. When the Vnclean Spirit is gone out of a Man c. THE last Day I opened the several Parts of this place of Holy Scripture in the usual Method I have all along taken in my Exposition of other Parables which I have already spoken to according to that small measure of Light and Knowledg the Lord hath been pleased to bestow upon me There remains one thing further to be done and that is indeed the chief and most material of all which is to shew you the sad State of the false and counterfeit Professor out of whom the Unclean Spirit is said to be gone but yet is returned again with seven other Spirits more wicked than himself Our Blessed Lord saith The last State of that Man is worse than the first Now in what respect a painted Hypocrite or one garnished only with common Gifts and Graces of the Spirit may be said to be in a worse State than the open Prophane I shall endeavour God assisting to demonstrate 'T is said Satan returned with seven other Spirits c. Seven is a number of Perfection I judg our Saviour designed hereby to shew that the Devil hath now got stronger hold and possession of such a Person by many degrees many unclean Spirits or worse and more dangerous Sins cleave to him than before so that he is like to be perfectly miserable But to proceed First That which renders false Professors or counterfeit Christians to be in such a deplorable Condition which also evidently appeared in the Pharisees and other People in that Generation to whom primarily our Saviour refers as the close of the 45th Verse shews is that great Ignorance that cleaves to them notwithstanding their common Illuminations which usually does consist in these Respects following 1. They know not their own miserable State looking upon themselves to be rich and increased with Goods and to have need of nothing as appears by that Charge of the Lord Christ against the Church of Laodicea who were fallen into the like Condition they think none knows more than themselves insomuch that they secretly contemn him who tells them how it is with them and this rises from the consideration of that great Knowledg they conceit they have above others But now ye say Ye see therefore your Sin remains If your Ignorance were simple as if Christ should say and not affected or were you sensible of your blindness then your Disease would not be so incurable But now you say you see and you doubt not but you are in a state of Happiness and are the only People of God and yet presumptuously refuse the way of your Relief and Salvation and do not conclude you are under Guilt and Wrath as indeed you are Prophane Persons though their State is bad and very miserable yet are not generally so blind as once to imagine their Condition to be good but act and do those abominable Deeds of Darkness against the Light and Dictates of their own Consciences And though Satan hath got power over them and their Lusts predominate in them yet are they commonly possessed at certain times with fear about their eternal State unless wholly given up to a reprobate Mind having their Conscience seared with an hot Iron and that which seems to bear up their Spirits is the hopes they have of future Repentance for the thoughts of dying in the present Condition they are in is grievous to them Nay and the false Professor whilst he abode under the Power of the Unclean Spirit being openly prophane might tremble as seeing himself posting headlong to Hell but now through the
bear the Image of the Devil by Corruption they understand not the Nature and Extent of Original Sin the pravity of their natural Faculties the lameness and impotency of their own natural Powers nor the sinfulness of the first motions of their Hearts boasting as one observes of self-Ability in the midst of utter Weakness and an affection to God under prevailing and horrid Enmity Pride commonly arises from a conceit of some excelling Quality whether Beauty Parts or Knowledg or affected Piety and these Men never being convinced of their own natural Deformity Filthiness and Pollution of Sin that contagion of the Soul the universal stain of Nature nothing but Pollution succeeding in the place of original Purity are swelled up in spiritual Pride and self-conceitedness The Pharisees were the proudest of all People and they were the most ignorant of Gospel-Truths they would have their Opinion a Rule to all the People and that must be a Truth which they so esteem to be and that an Error which they conceit so to be Pride being the Devil's Sin is hateful to God He that looks upon himself too much looks upon God too little If God hides the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven from any 't is from the Wise and Prudent The Design of God in the glorious contrivance of the way of Salvation by Christ is to confound and destroy the Pride of Man and because Man's corrupt Reason cannot comprehend the Sacred Mysteries of the Doctrine of Faith they contemn and disbelieve the revelation of it No Religion nor Ordinance of God is valued by some Men but what suits with their own affected Principles and Notions from hence the Greeks counted the Gospel Foolishness and the Jews were so wedded to their own legal Righteousness that unto them Jesus Christ was a stumbling-block the pride of their Knowledg and Attainments was the Mother and Nurse of their incredulity Have any of the Pharisees believed on him These Men sin as I have often told some of you against the Remedy and fence against the Edge of that Sword by which their Souls should be wounded and they die if ever they come to live indeed therefore what hopes is there of them Alas Men swelled up with an Opinion of their own good Estate and Condition without Christ are unfit for Faith This is one of the strong Holds exalting it self against the Knowledg of God How loth is a proud Man to become a Fool that he may be wise or to captivate his Reason to the obedience of Faith to be justified by another's Righteousness and that our own Righteousness which is so pleasant and acceptable in our sight and in the sight of Men should be as filthy Rags or a loathsome thing in the sight of God is to these sort of People a strange Paradox Lucifer as some pretend is one of the chief of Devils who is called also the King of Pride If so certainly he is one of those wicked Spirits that entred into this Person Now what but infinite Power can throw out this Devil this Pride and bring this Soul to the foot of the cross and make it strike its swelling Sails to Jesus Christ and become nothing in it self and to hate and loth its own Righteousness by reason of that impurity and pollution that cleaves to every best Duty they do or can perform Thus this unclean Spirit raises up strong Fortifications against the way of Salvation the way of Faith or going to Jesus Christ for all as poor and undone Sinners These Enemies in Hypocritical and Self-righteous Persons stand armed in the Breaches of Nature as one observes to beat off all Assaults of the Gospel and therefore the latter State of these Persons is worse than the first Thirdly Self-confidence may be another evil Spirit that is entred into these Persons and which renders their State so bad 'T is impossible to perswade them that their Condition is nought and damnable you may as I hinted before quickly bring a vile and debauched Person to acknowledg his State is dangerous tho there is no turning him from his evil course yet he stands not upon self-justification but rather readily yields to you if you deal with him at a seasonable time with Wisdom and tell him he is a very wretched Creature I know I am so saith he the Lord have Mercy upon me But the Man out of whom the debauched Devil is gone is in his own Eyes become another Person a seeming Saint one that hears Sermons Prays and gives Alms and yet not renewed nor his evil Habits changed O 't is no easy thing to bring him once to doubt or question the Goodness of his Condition he blesses God for that help he has had to change his former course of Life God I thank thee I am not as other Men nor as this Publican I was as bad as other but I am become religious now I am no Swearer Whoremonger Drunkard Extortioner c. To this purpose you have the Pharisee boasting and praising of God this renders his state lamentable with a witness What made the foolish Virgins so bold as to go forth to meet the Bridegroom Was it not that confidence they had that their condition was good A wise Man saith Solomon feareth and departeth from iniquity but a Fool rageth and is confident Confidence is opposed to Fearing so that this sort of Men are secure and unsensible of their Danger till it is too late As in the Case of the Foolish Virgins they saw not their fearful State till the Mid-night Cry was heard And hence our Saviour told the Scribes and Pharisees that Publicans and Harlots went into the Kingdom of Heaven before them Which fully confirms what we say from this dark Scripture viz. That openly prophane Persons and notorious Sinners are not in so dangerous a condition as a false Professor or counterfeit Christian who having passed under a seeming change of Life and left the gross Acts of Sin though never throughly wrought upon by regenerating Grace and I conclude this of Self-confidence is one of those more wicked Spirits that are now entered into him Behold thou art called a Jew and rests in the Law and makes thy boast of God c. And art confident that thou thy self art a Guide of the Blind a Light to them that sit in Darkness c. Thus these Persons proudly with great Self-confidence arrogate all Wisdom and Knowledg to themselves and are like the Sluggard Solomon speaks of i.e. wiser in their own conceit than seven Men that can render a Reason Tremble ye who fear nothing who conclude all Wisdom and Knowledg is with you and that you need not be taught more than you already know Some Men tho openly prophane glory and boast of their Church and Christianity and doubt not but in that Faith to be saved But if those who are of a good moral Life and zealous for the external Parts of true
necessity of Faith and Regeneration These are not only averse to all humane Innovations and Traditions of Men and so contend for God's Holy Institutions in respect of his visible Worship as I told you before but seem to be inlightned very much into that internal Work of God's Grace upon the Soul c. but never come themselves under those saving Operations of the Spirit but rest in the Speculative Knowledg of those Mysteries and are meer empty and formal Persons and Strangers to that Divine Life and sacred Change of which they speak and yet possibly may not be throughly convinced of that deceit and delusion they are under but may hope all is well with them but since they are not savingly renewed but only reformed having not Jesus Christ dwelling in their Hearts nor the Power of the Holy Ghost to enable and influence their Souls in the performance of their Duties and in mortification of their Sins and Corruptions they are frequently overcome by Satan and horrid Evils prevail and predominate in them by which means they bring great reproach upon Religion and all those who do profess it hence the Apostle calls this sort the Enemies of the Cross of Christ Phil. 3. 18. and this further aggravates their Sin and Misery for whilst openly prophane and not pretending to Religion and Godliness they could not injure the Name of God nor expose the Gospel and Professors thereof to that scorn and reproach as now they do Sinners openly wicked though notorious and vile Enemies to God yet the hurt and wrong they do is especially to their own Souls but these by their carnal earthly Prâ—â—â— loose and formal walking hinder the promulgation of the Gospel and Conversion of the Souls of Men besides their weakning the Hands and grieving the Hearts of the truly Godly Moreover they also pollute and defile too often the Church of Jesus Christ and bring great trouble upon the same Hence there is in most Congregations who keep up a strict and regular Discipline 〈◊〉 so much Church-work which makes the Communion of the Saints the more uncomfortable to them for though it cannot be denied but sincere Persons may fall under Sin and Temptation and so all the trouble of Churches and Reproach that falls upon Religion doth not arise from these counterfeit Christians or formal Professors yet doubtless the chiefest part of them do It is said Offences will come but wo to them by whom the Offence comes From all which considerations their state seems worse in many degrees than before Sixthly The wicked Spirit or abominable Sin that some of these Mens Souls are also possessed with is Legality And though this clearly appears by what I have already said yet I shall speak a little more fully and distinctly unto it All that these Persons do and perform is in a legal Spirit and that I may shew you what I mean by Legality in short it is this i. e. They act and do for Life look upon themselves to be under a conditional Covenant and whilst they live up to that Law or Rule which they judg they are bound to observe and keep in order to Justification they have Peace rendring the Gospel and Covenant of Grace by their false Apprehensions of it no better than a legal Ministration or conditional Covenant as was hinted before in respect of another sort of Men For like as the Jews of old acted in a legal Spirit and sought to be justified by the Works of the Law so these perform all their Services and Duties in the same Spirit viz. not from Life or a Divine Principle of Saving-Faith but for Life To keep the Commandments of God and live religiously is absolutely necessary But then this must be done from a renewed Nature and flows from Faith it being the proper Effect or Fruit thereof but to strive to live a sober and holy Life and obey God's Precepts and rest upon their so doing and look to be accepted with God and justified thereby is that which too many of this sort of People do and this is to act in a legal Spirit Possibly a Man may say I know I cannot perfectly keep the Law but I will do by the help of God what I can and wherein I through weakness do transgress the Lord is merciful and I trust will forgive me But let me remember what God saith viz. That he will in no wise clear the Guilty Moreover what the Law saith it saith to them that are under the Law that all Mouths may be stopped and the whole World become guilty before God 'T is evident as God will not forgive an impenitent Person so he will not forgive the Penitent except they believe in Jesus Christ 'T is not for the sake or worth of Repentance that God forgives any Man the Penitent as well as the Impenitent are guilty all have broke the Law all are under Sin and Wrath Repentance will not do a holy Life will not do Prayer and hearing Sermons will not do By the Deeds of the Law and by any thing we can do no Flesh shall be justified If Men believe not on Christ let them be what they will Professors or Prophane they shall die in their Sins God pardons no Sinner as a simple Act of his Mercy without a respect had to the Satisfaction Christ hath made to his offended Justice by his Death And hence it is that the Apostle saith All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God being justified freely by his Grace through the Redemption that is in Jesus Christ whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood to declare his Righteousness for the remission of Sins that are past through the forbearance of God Therefore God doth not accept of our Obedience in keeping the Precepts either of the Old or New Testament and forgive all our Deviations as a meer Act of his Mercy for if this way Righteousness and Justification were attainable 't is evident Christ died in vain as I said before for could not God have done this if Christ had never come to shed his precious Blood I remember some Years ago I heard of a Man who lying on his Death-bed when a Godly Person desired him to look out for a Christ answered He had lived a godly Life all along and why said he do you tell me of a Christ or to that effect He thought 't is evident none needed a Christ but prophane Persons and I fear many are of his Mind tho they express it not as he did with their Tongues But possibly some may say We do not think that our Righteousness justifies us any otherwise than through Christ ' s Merits To which I answer 'T is not throug our personal Righteousness though joined or coupled with Christ's Merits that we are justified but through the personal Righteousness of Christ alone and the Merits of his Blood received by Faith 't is in this way