grievous in such cases The CONTENTS Writing Testimony Confirmation Execution Christ the Executor Executorship conditional Flesh and Blood Christ's Assention Spirit 's Mission TITLE VI. Of the Confirmation of the New Testament NOW the New Testament though it were not written as was the Old with the finger of God upon Tables of Stone but was Nuncupative yet this Nuncupation was by God himself not by any Angel and that unto Christ himself only to be published and accordingly was published by him in his own Person and by his Spirit in the persons of the Apostles and their Disciples through the whole World and afterwards committed to writing by the chief of the Apostles and not only so Writing but written again after a better manner by the spirit of God himself upon the Tables of Mens Hearts Testimony And as for the Testimony given thereunto to prove it to be the Will of God Christ himself did testifie thereof with such mighty miracles as never had been done before Besides the unquestionable Holiness of his life and the solemnity of his death Which things were not done in a corner but in the full view of a greater Congregation than was at Mount Sinai for he preached in their Temple and Synagogues and did wonders in all Judea and suffered death upon Mount Calvary Mat. 27.51 At which time the Vail of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom the Earth did quake and the Rocks rent and the graves were opened and many bodies of the Saints which slept arose The Sun also was darkned after an extraordinary manner when the Moon was at the Full. And after all this was added as the last and greatest Proof of all the glory of his Resurrection and Ascention into Heaven He saith therefore of himself John 18.37 To this end was I born and for this cause I came into the world that I should bear witness unto the truth And the Apostle said of him 1 Tim. 6.13 Rev. 3.14 that before Pontius Pilate he witnessed a good Confession Hence he is called the Amen the faithful and true Witness the Martyr of the New Testament to testifie it with his Blood His death was not only a Testimony Confirmation but a Confirmation of the New Testament because his death doth wholly and for ever extinguish in him all will or power to revoke it and evidence that immediately from that Death God's Testament was ipso facto in force and began to take effect for the Justification of Mankind to all the Rights in that Testament contained by the Access of their Faith Thus the immortal God came as near to Death as he could by the Death of his Son in his Divine Nature immortal but made a mortal man to dye in his Father's stead and to demonstrate his own and his Father 's unconceivable Love to lay down his Life for Sinners Which thing deserves a perpetual Commemoration so commanded by Christ in the Holy Eucharist instituted by him for that purpose And as Wills are to be proved and confirmed Execution so they are to be executed and performed or else the Will it self is as dead as he that made it and so was made to no purpose The publick Wills of Legislators are to be put in Execution by sworn Magistrates or else the Law is in vain and a dead Letter And the private Wills of Testators are to be put in Execution by their Heirs or Executors covenanting and swearing so to do else the Will or Law of the Testator is frustrated Now of this New Testament Christ is the Executor or Mediator Christ Executor between God the Testator and the Legataries in the Will expressed to convey unto them from God as a Priest the Expiation of their Sins by his Sacerdotal offering up of himself to God in the Temple of Heaven and the Mission of his Spirit to cleanse their hearts and as a King sitting in the Throne of Heaven to rule his Church and protect them from their Enemies and to raise them up from Death and set them at his Right hand and at his left in heavenly places and as a Prophet to lead them into all Truth And Christ as an Executor and Mediator received to himself this benefit to be the universal Heir of God who was so by Nature and was so appointed by Grace to be Heir of all things Heb. 1.2 And for this purpose had all Power given unto him both in Heaven and Earth Mat. 28.18 and universal honour also wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name That at the name of Jesus Phil. 2.9 every knee should bow of Persons in Heaven and Earth and under the Earth For let all the Angels of God worship him Heb. 1.6 and he hath spoiled Principalities and Powers and triumphed over them openly 1 Cor. 15.27 and hath put all his Enemies under his feet The Reason is because Christ's Executorship was conditional Reason 1 Executorship Conditional that is charged upon the Condition of his own Death he must dye before he can enter upon it and therefore dye that he may perform it because every Testament is a Decree of things to be done after Death and this Testament of God hath this strange Prerogative above the Testaments of men that it is confirmed by the Death of a Man who was God and that the Executor not the Testator dyes and that the Disposition of things to be had or done is made after the Death of the Executor who for that purpose rose from the dead that he might justifie the faithful to the Inheritance of Heaven A Cause quite contrary to the Testaments of men wherin the Testator only dies to confirm his Testament and the Executor surviving performs it Therefore as Christ the principal Heir was fitted to receive his Inheritance ordained for him in that Testament whereof he was Executor So we that are Christ's Co-heirs must be fitted to receive the same Inheritance ordained for us in that Testament wherein we are Legataries Reas 2 Flesh and Blood 1 Cor. 15.5 Joh. â— 14 1 Cor. 15.45 Heb. 2.9 2. Because Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of heaven And CHRIST the Word was made Flesh but afterwards he was made Spirit For the last Adam was made a quickning Spirit And JESUS who was made a little lower than the Angels for or by they suffering of Death was crowned with glory and Honour And so Christ was made perfect For it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many Sons unto glory Heb. 2.10 to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through Sufferings And though he were a Son yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered and being made perfect he became the Author of Eternal Salvation unto all them that obey him And so Christians they are first Flesh For that which is
due yea Grace gives much good when much evil is due The Law is inexorable and spares none but Grace is easie to be entreated and spares all For Grace is a priviledge above Law rather than extremely contrary to Law An act of Super-justice rather than contrary to Justice For Mercy rejoyceth and triumpheth over Justice as being the special and highest work of God in which he most delighteh This is the Trone of Grace this is the Mercy-Seat Throne of Grace the great Court of Requests and of Chancery Ubi Jus fit Jus datur where Rights are made and where Rights are bestowed whereas in other Courts of Law Rights are only declared Such Courts are much inferior Ubi Jus dicitur where Rights are declared upon Justice to those higher ones where they are created and granted upon Mercy and Bounty and God's Mercies are above all his Works 3. So God's Grace is opposed to Wrath in extremes Wrath. As Grace gives more good than is due by Law so Wrath gives more evil than is due by Law And this Wrath God executes by taking the Sword into his own hands and punishing our sins himself beyond the ordinary way of the Law as Kings by their Prerogatives may do by Wrath to execute Vengeance more than the bare Law calls for upon some extraordinary offences on some extraordinary occasions which they themselves can best judge of especially when the Inferior Judge is negligent of his duty in not inflicting the Punishment which the Law required and when sins have been done with a high hand in open defiance of Rule and Law to the endamagement of the Commonwealth Unto this Wrath God's Grace is extremely opposed For when Law and Anger were heavily against an obstinate Sinner and the Sword of both threatens to devour in an extraordinary way then steps in Mercy and stops the Flood-gate of Anger and saves the dying Soul from the Pit of Ruine which was ready to swallow him up because God sees remorse in him though he have been notoriously wicked yet it is the good will and pleasure of God for the Glory of his Grace to spare as a Father spareth his Son that serveth him to blot out iniquities transgressions and sins and to remember them no more but that they shall be as though they had never been and now that Soul shall live he shall not die SECTION I. Works 4. So God's Grace is opposed to Works which are the Merit of the Creature but this is the Grace of the Creatour Works deserve wages but Eternal life is the gift of God Grace dignifies a Person that deserves it not No man can deserve to be born of his Father or after he is born he cannot deserve to be made the Son and Heir of another man But the only cause of a Son is Love either by Nature or by Adoption and therefore the only cause to be made the Son of God is the Grace of God not the Works of Man Free Grace Such love of God is the Grace of God whereby the Receiver is honoured and profited and yet he never deserved it This is free Justification by Grace Ro. 3.24 of Faith and therefore not of Works that it might be by Grace only otherwise Grace were no more Grace and Works were no more Works This is the Riches of God's Grace whereby we are accepted in the Beloved The gift by Grace the kindness and good will of God This Grace of God is without Cause it is it self the supreme and high cause having no other Cause above or beyond it to actuate and move it Nor can any Works so much as concur with Grace because Grace is the sole Cause For if Salvation were of Works it should be of Debt and then it could not be of Grace They are inconsistent and contrary the one to the other Ro. 4.4 Now to him that worketh is the Reward reckoned not of Grace but of Debt But if it be of Grace it is of Gift and then it cannot be of Works Ro. 11.6 And if of Grace then it is no more of Works otherwise Grace is no more Grace Not by Works of Righteousness which we have done Tit. 35. but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost By this Grace I a poor miserable Sinner attainted in the attainder of Adam's sin and born to temporal and eternal Miseries am looked upon with the eye of Mercy to be justified from all my Sin and Misery and to be invested with Holiness and Happiness And the farther Love and Grace of God to me is that all this should be done in a Testamentary way whereby I should be the more sure of it For such an Instrument as a Testament is requires all the favourable construction that can be imagined that it may take effect according to the best meaning of the Testator Rich Grace And still the Exceeding riches of his Grace appears that he did settle this his Testament by the Death of Christ who was his own and only Son whom he substituted to die in his stead For God could have setled his Testament by means less chargeable than was the precious Blood of his own Son but he could not to shew the abundance of his Love who so loved the World as that he sent his only begotten Son into the same and gave him over unto death that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life And lastly all this is Grace for Grace that is freely and out of mere Grace and only for the Thanks of the Receiver SECTION II. I have enough then to uphold my Soul withal till I die Assurance and when I die to lie down with my Body in hope of a glorious Resurrection And after my death my Soul shall wait for it and at last it will come at which time my Saviour will come again and call me from the Regions and Receptacles of Rest to put my Soul and Body both into the full possession of the Inheritance to which I have a present Right by Faith in the New Testament of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Against this New Testament established by Jesus Christ the Jews did mightily stickle Jews loth to leave the Law Because the Old Testament was God's Testament written and God had made a solemn Testimony thereof on Mount Sinai where with terrible Lightning and Thunder and the shrill sound of the Trumpet and by the Fire and Smoak and the quaking of the Mountain and the voice of the Angel who represented God it was testified in the sight and hearing of all the People And also because this Law and Testament had a long prescription of fifteen hundred years together and in such cases men do use to struggle very hard and are loth to part with their so ancient Laws Customes and Priviledges especially concerning their Religion and Worship and a Change is commonly very
and improbous as well as originally miserable and calamitous that is oppressed blemished distressed and especially tainted or corrupted from the womb Eccles 25.24 This is the Original sin with which all Men are defiled Rom. 5.12 for which death entred into the world Of the Woman came the beginning of sin and through her we all die By one Man sin entred into the world Chrys and death by sin so death passed upon all Men for that all have sinned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wisd 1.12.16 All the Generations of Men were healthful and there is no poyson in them nor the kingdom of death but ungodly Men by their wicked works and words have called it to them Contractio Causae SECT I. This cause of original sin may be thus contracted into these Corollaries or Aphorisms Accounting Corol. 1. All are made sinners in Adam as all are made righteous in Christ so accounted but both are really sinners and really righteous in their own actions 1. Because Adam had our Nature and we his but his Will was not ours Reason Adam's Will not ours nor ours his We were as to our Bodies in his loyns but not as to our Souls nor actually our Bodies neither but seminally causally and virtually But which way can any Man imagine that our Souls were propagated from him or that our Souls were in his Soul as our Bodies were in his Body Did not he judg for himself and choose for himself and do not we judg for our selves and choose for our selves for his Will was his own and our Wills are our own How can we imagine it otherwise He was deceived not we Reason He eat the forbidden fruit not we He was thrust out of Paradise not we 2. Because as it is just in Men to account the Sons of Traitors sinners Reason and punish them accordingly so it is much more just in God to account the Sons of Adam sinners and to punish them accordingly Adam sinned for himself and was punished for himself so that neither his sin was ours nor his punishment ours really but by imputation We are by Nature the Children of wrath Object Because we are Children of sin and of a sinner Solut. Adam a Representative of all Mankind as a Parliament is of a whole Kingdom If a Parliament err the Kingdom erres if they suffer the Kingdom suffers A Representative Will is a real Will in Law not in Nature Parliament's Wills are our Wills their Decrees oblige us because of our consent given to choose them to act for us How did we make such a Compact with Adam Yet Adam was a Corporation and we in him are included so as to stand or fall by him Adam was obliged to obey not to sin but he was obliged to suffer because he sinned We are obliged to obey not to sin but we are obliged to suffer because we sin And we are obliged to suffer because he sinned but how we are obliged to sin because he sinned I cannot understand SECT II. Object Solut. Levi's paying of Tithes Levi pay'd Tithes in Abraham's loyns A token of subjection in the Father which is derived to the Children If the Head yielded the Members must So they pay'd Tithes virtually in their Father before they were born but they must pay them actually in their own persons and for themselves after they are born As heirs have rights to Honours and Estates in their Father's Honours and Estates and also in their shames and Debts while they live but after their death they enjoy the profits and bear the burdens and shames of their Fathers How were our Persons in Adam Seminally as the plant in the root and seed potentially not actually But where were our Wills even where our Souls were with God that gives us them when he frames us in the womb Yet a Jural will we had in Adam to have a right in him and by him or else a wrong as people have in their Knights and Burgesses who nevertheless have distinct wills for themselves in other things as they have in whose wills for their election only their wills are included So Adam was for us all to stand or fall for us all not to do good or bad for us all and now we must all suffer by him though we did not act actually sin in him but virtually We have the same natural Body and inclinations thereof as Adam had But as his Body and his inclinations were personal to himself so our Bodies and our inclinations are personal to our selves If Adam in nature had been created a Child he could not have sinned because he as a Child could have no use of his will When I am born into the world I cannot sin in the world till I come to the use of my reason and will in the world how then could I sin before I was born or had a being in the world any more than as I was as the fruit is in the winter fast asleep in my causes How then say some we were sinners before we were and how indeed not so as they mean let them prove it if they can Corruption of Bodies is manifest and so Health is by weak or strong Progenitors Diseases and Health are much hereditary in Nature but virtues or vices of Souls I could never apprehend any descent or conveyance of them from Parents to their Children Estates Honours and Shames are convey'd and pass upon posterity but not by the passage of Nature but of Law We are all concluded by Adam's will yet how If he had done good altogether his goodness was personally his own nor is it or ever was or ever will be ours but we should be the better for it But being he did evil his evil was personally his own nor is it or ever was or ever will be ours but we shall fare the worse for it Adam was obliged to do good so are we Adam was not obliged to sin no more are we We are as free to good or bad as Adam and Eve were How is a Traitor's blood that runs in his veins or his Son's blood tainted the Wise can tell We put a great stress upon many things as upon this of Original sin and upon Hoc est corpus meum and upon Tu es Petrus and of being born in sin and of the power of the Keyes and of the Free-will and of Imputed Righteousness as also of Predestination Election Reprobation and of a Judg in matters of Faith of Infallibility and Universal Supremacy Heresy c. It was the custom then to speak yea think so as they declare in these matters Who can hinder or blame us justly for labouring to understand the meaning of these things and not be abused as our Fathers were We all agree concerning these matters of Original sin Election Reprobation Free-will Imputed righteousness the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist the washing of Baptism but we cannot agree concerning the manner If we would leave