credit and reputation destitute of all humane strength and had only a Crucified Person for their leader Christianity was exposed naked in the day of its birth without any shelter from secular Powers 2. They had not the advantage of Art and Eloquence to commend their Religion There is a kind of charm in Rhetorick that makes things appear otherwise than they are the best cause it ruins the worst it confirms Truth though in its self invincible yet by it seems to be overcome and Errour obtains a false triumph We have a visible proof of this in the Writings of Celsus Symmachus Caecilius and others for Paganism against Christianity What a vast difference is there between the lyes and filthiness of the one and the Truth and Sanctity of the other Yet with what admirable address did they manage that Infamous Subject Although it seem'd incapable of any defence yet they gave such colours to it by the beauty of their expressions and their apparent reasons that it seem'd plausible and Christianity notwithstanding its brightness and purity was made odious to the people But the Apostles were most of them wholly unlearned St. Paul himself acknowledges that he was weak in presence and his Speech was not with the enticing words of Mans Wisdome A crucified Christ was all their Rhetorick Now these impotent despicable Persons were imployed to subdue the World to the Cross of Christ and in that season when the Roman Empire was at its height when the most rigorous Severities were used against all Innovations when Philosophy and Eloquence were in their flower and Vigour so that Truth unless adorn'd with the dress and artifice of falshood was despis'd and a Message from God himself unless eloquently convey'd had no force to perswade Therefore the Apostles debased themselves in the sense of their own weakness We have this treasure in earthen vessels That the excellency of the power may be of God not of us 'T was from distrust of themselves their true confidence in God proceeded They were onely so far powerful as he enabled them like inâ—â—ruments in which there is not Vertue sufficient for the carving of a Statute if they do not receive it imprest from the Artificer that uses them Briefly as God the Author of Wonders uses that which is weak in Nature to conquer the most rebellious parts of it He makes the weak sand a more powerful bridle to the impetuous Element of Waters than the strongest banks rais'd by the industry of Men and compos'd of the most solid materials so he was pleased by a few artless impotent persons to confound the wisdom and overcome the power of the World 3. The great sudden and lasting Change that was made in the World by the Preaching of the Gospel is a certain Argument of the Divine Power that animated those mean appearances and that no instrument is weak in Gods hands 1. The greatness of the Change is such that it was only possible to Divine Power 'T is a great Miracle to render sight to the Blind but 't is more miraculous to inlighten the Dark mind to see the truth and beauty of Supernatural Mysteries when they are disguis'd under reproach sad representations and effectually to believe them especially when the inferiour appetite is so contrary to Faith 'T is a prodigy to raise the Dead but 't is more admirable to sanctify an habituated sinner For in comparing the quality of those Miracles that is the greatest in the performing whereof God is discover'd to be the absolute Lord of the greater Nature Now the intellectual Nature is superiour to the corporeal Besides there is no contradiction from a Dead body against the Divine Power in raising it on the contrary if any sense were remaining it would ardently desire to be restor'd to the full enjoyment of Life but corrupt Nature is most opposite to renewing Grace Now these marvelous effects were produced by the Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Heathens The glorious light of Truth scattered the thick and terrible darkness of Ignorance and errour that was so universal The Gospel in its power and the quality of its effects was like those words Let there be Light which the Eternal Word pronounced upon the confused Chaos and infused a Soul and Life into the World The clear knowledge of God in his Nature and Glorious Works of Creation and Redemption of the duty of Man of the future state was communicated to the meanest understandings And in proportion to the Light of Faith such was the measure of Piety and Holiness Idolatry that had Number Antiquity Authority of its side was intirely abolisht The false Deities were cast out of the Temple and the Cross of Christ was planted in the Hearts of Men. Accordingly the Apostle tells the Thessalonians For they themselves shew of us what manner of entring in we had unto you and how ye turned to God from Idols to serve the Living and true God and to wait for his Son from Heaven whom he raised from the Dead even Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come Innumerable from secret Atheism publick Gentilism were converted to acknowledg and accept of the Redeemer for their Lord. What could produce such a marvelous change in the World but an Almighty power How seemingly impossible was it to bring so many who were proud in their natures perverse in their customs and indubitably assenting to their false Religions from such a distance as the Worship of innumerable Deities to adore a Crucified God 'T was admirable that Alexander broke the Persian Empire with an Army of Thirty Thousand but what is there comparable in that Conquest to the Acts of the Apostles How much less difficult is it for some Nations to change their Kings than for all to change their Gods How far more easie is it to overcome the bodies of Men than subdue their Souls Upon the most exact inquiry there will never be found in humane nature any cause capable to produce such an effect nor in the Records of all Ages any example like it Add to this the excellent Reformation in the hearts and lives of Men. As their understandings so their wills and affections the sources of action were miraculously alter'd What the Sages of the World could not effect in a few select Persons The Gospel hath done in great numbers nay rais'd them above all their feigned Ideas above the higest pitch of their Proud Philosophy Those strong and furious passions which Natural Reason was as unable to restrain as a threed of silk is to govern a fierce beast the Gospel hath tamed and brought into order It hath executed what Philosophy durst never enterprise despairing of Success The Gospel hath made the Wise Men of the World resign their Reason to Faith it hath perswaded Carnal Men to mortify the Flesh the Ambitious to despise secular Honours the Voluptuous to renounce their Pleasures the Covetous to distribute their Goods to the Poor the
of God's Love is in the Sufferings of Christ. The description of them with respect to his Soul and Body The Sufferings of his Soul set forth from the Causes of his Grief The Disposition of Christ and the Design of God in afflicting Him The sorrows of his forsaken state All comforting Influences were suspended but without prejudice to the Personal Union or the perfection of his Grace or the Love of his Father towards Him The Death of the Cross considered with respect to the Ignominy and Torment that concurr'd in it The Love of the Father and of Christ amplified upon the account of his enduring it THe next Circumstance to be considered in the Divine Mercy is the degree of it And this is described by the Apostle in all the dimensions which can signifie its greatness He prays for the Ephesians that they may be able to comprehend with all Saints the breadth and length and depth and height of the love of God in Christ which passes knowledge No language is sufficient to express it if our hearts were as large as the Sand on the Sea-shore yet they were too straight to comprehend it But although we cannot arrive to the perfect knowledg of this excellent Love yet 't is our duty to study it with the greatest application of mind for our happiness depends upon it and so far we may understand as to inflame our hearts with a superlative Affection to God And the full discovery which here we desire and search after in the future state shall be obtained by the presence and light of our Redeemer Now the greatness of the Divine Love in our Redemption appears 1. By reflecting on the mighty Evils from which we are freed 2. The means by which our Redemption is accomplisht 3. That excellent State to which we are advanced by our Redeemer 1. If we reflect upon the horrour of our natural state it will exceedingly heighten the mercy that delivered us This I have in part opened before therefore I will be the shorter in describing it Man by his rebellion had forfeited Gods favour and the honour and happiness he injoyed in Paradise And as there is no middle state between Sovereignty and misery he that falls from the Throne stops not till he comes to the bottom so when Man fell from God and the dignity of his innocent state he became extreamly miserable He is under the servitude of sin the tyranny of Satan the bondage of the Law and the empire of Death 1. Man is a captive to sin He is fallen from the hand of his counsel under the power of his passions Love Hatred Ambition Envy Fear Sorrow and all the other stinging Affections of which is true what the Historian speaks of the several kinds of Serpents in Africa Quantus nomiuum tantus mortium numerus exercise a tyranny over him And if no man can serve two Masters as the Oracle of Truth tells us how wretched is the slavery of Man whose passions are so opposit that in obeying one he cannot escape the lash of many imperious Masters He is possest with a Legion of impure lusts And as the Demoniac in the Gospel was sometimes cast into the fire and sometimes into the water so is he hurried by the fury of contrary passions This servitude to sin is in all respects compleat For those who serve are either born servants or bought with a price or made captives by force and sin hath all these kinds of title to man He is conceived and born in sin he is sold under sin and sells himself to do evil As that which is sold passes into the possession of the buyer so the sinner exchanging himself for the pleasures of sin is under its power Original sin took possession of our nature and actual of our lives He is the servant of corruption by yeilding to it for of whom a man is overcome of the same he is brought in bondage The condition of the most wretched bond-â—lave is more sweet and less servile than that of a sinner For the severest tyranny is exercised only upon the body the soul remains free in the midst of chains but the power of sin oppresses the Soul the most noble part and defaces the bright character of the Deity that was stampt upon its visage The worst slavery is terminated with this present life In the grave the Prisoners rest together they hear not the voice of the Oppressor The small and the great are there and the Servant is free from his Master But there is no exemption from this servitude by death it extends its self to Eternity 2. Man since his fall is under the tyranny of Satan who is call'd the God of this World and is more absolute then all temporal Princes his dominion being over the will He overcame man in Paradise and by the right of War he rules over him The soul is kept in his bondage by subtile Chains of which the spiritual nature is capable The understanding is captivated by ignorance and errors the will by inordinate dangerous lusts the memory by the images of sinful pleasures those mortal visions which inchant the soul and make it not desirous of liberty Never did cruel Pirat so incompassionately urge his Slaves to ply their Oares in charging or flying from an enemy as Satan incites those who are his captives to do his will And can there be a more afflicting calamity then to be the slave of ones enemy especially if base and cruel This is the condition of man he is a captive to the Devil who was a Liar and a Murderer from the beginning He is under the rage of that bloody Tyrant whose ambition was to render Man as miserable as himself who in triumph upbraids him for his folly and adds derision to his Cruelty 3. Fallen Man is under the Curse and Terrors of the Law For being guilty he is justly exposed to the punishment threatned against transgressours without the allowance of repentance to obtain pardon And Conscience which is the Ecchâ— of the Law in his bosom repeats the dreadful sentence This is an Acouser which none can silence a Judge that none can decline and from hence it is that Men all their life are subject to bondage being obnoxious to the wrath of God which the awakened Conscience fearfully sets before them This complicated Servitude of a Sinner the Scripture represents under great variety of Similitudes that the defects of one may be supplied by another Every Sinner is a Servant now a Servant by flight may recover his Liberty But he is not only a Servant but a Captive in chains A Captive may be freed by laying down a Ransom but the Sinner is not only a Captive but deeply in debt Every Debtor is not miserable by his own fault it may be his Infelicity not his Crime that he is poor but the Sinner is guilty of the highest offence A guilty Person may enjoy
was so fram'd as to make a visible discovery of the Prerogatives of his Creation And when he reflected upon his Soul that animated his dust its excellent endowments wherein 't is comparable to the Angels its capacity of enjoying God himself for ever he had an internal and most clear testimony of the glorious perfections of his Creator For Man who alone admires the works of God is the most admirable of all 2. The Image of God was resplendent in mans Conscience the seat of practical Knowledg and Treasury of moral Principles The directive faculty was sincere and incorrupt not infected with any disguising tincture 't was clear from all prejudices which might render it an incompetent Judg of good and evil It instructed Man in all the parts of his relative Obligations to God and the Creatures 'T was not fetter'd and confin'd fearfully restraining from what is Lawful nor licentious and indulgent in what is forbidden Briefly Conscience in Adam upright was a subordinate God that gave Laws and exacted obedience to that glorious Being who is its Superior 3. There was a Divine Impression on the Will Spiritual Reason kept the Throne and the inferiour Faculties observed an easy and regular subordination to its dictates The Affections were exercis'd with proportion to the quality of their Objects Reason was their inviolable Rule Love the most noble and Master-affection which gives being and goodness to all the rest even to hatred it self for so much we hate an object as it hinders our enjoyment of the good we love this precious Incense was offer'd up to the excellent and supreme Being which was the Author of his Life Adam fully obeyed the first and great Command of loving the Lord with all his heart soul and strength His love to other things was regulated by his love to God There was a perfect accord between flesh and spirit in him They both joyn'd in the service of God and were naturally mov'd to their happiness In short the image of God in Adam was a living powerful Principle and had the same relation to the Soul which the Soul hath to the Body to animate and order all its Faculties in their Offices and Operations according to the Will of his Creator 2. The Image of God consisted though in an inferiour degree in the happy state of man Herein he resembled that infinitly Blessed Being This happiness had relation to the two Natures which enter into Mans Composition 1. To the Animal and Sensitive and this consisted in two things 1. In the excellent disposition of his Organs 2. In the enjoyment of convenient Objects 1. In the excellent disposition of the Organs His body was form'd immediately by God and so not liable to those defects which proceed from the weakness of second causes No blemish or disease which are the effects and footsteps of sin were to be found in him His health was not a frail inconstant disposition easily ruin'd by the jarring elements but firm and stable The humours were in a just temperament to prevent any destemper which might tend to the dissolution of that excellent frame Briefly all rhe senses were quick and lively able to perform with facility vigour and delight their operations 2. There were convenient Objects to entertain his sensitive faculties He enjoyed Nature in its original Purity crown'd with the benediction of God before 't was blasted with the curse The World was all Harmony and Beauty becoming the goodness of the Creator and not as 't is since the Fall disorder'd and deform'd in many parts the effect of his Justice The Earth was liberal to Adam of all its Treasures the Heavens of their Light and sweetest Influences He was seated in Eden a place of so great beauty and delight that it represented the Celestial Paradise which is refresht with Rivers of Pleasure And as the ultimate End of the Creatures was to raise his mind and inflame his heart with the love of his great Benefactor So their first and natural use was the satisfaction of the Senses from whence the felicity of the Animal Life did proceed 2. His supreme Happiness consisted in the exercise of his most noble Faculties on their proper Objects This will appear by considering that as the spiritual Faculties have objects which infinitely excel those of the sensitive So their capacity is more inlarged their union with objects is more intimate and their perception is with more quickness and vivacity and thereby are the greatest instruments of pleasure to the rational being Now the highest Faculties in Man are the Understanding and Will and their happiness consists in union with God by Knowledg and Love 1. In the Knowledg of God As the desire of Knowledg is the most natural to the humane Soul so the obtaining of it produces the most noble and sweetest pleasure And proportionably to the degrees of excellency that are in objects so much of rational Perfection and Satisfaction accrues to the mind by the knowledg of them The discovery of the Works of God greatly affected Man yet the excellencies scatter'd among them are but an imperfect and mutable shadow of God's infinite and unchangable Perfections How much more delightful was it to his pure understanding tracing the footsteps and impressions of God in Natural things to ascend to him who is the glorious Original of all Perfections And although his finite understanding could not comprehend the Divine excellencies yet his knowledg was answerable to the degrees of Revelation wherein God was manifested He saw the admirable Beauty of the Creator through the transparent vail of the creatures And from hence there arose in the Soul a pleasure pure solid and satisfying a pleasure divine for God takes infinit contentment in the contemplation of Himself 2. The Happiness of Man consisted in the Love of God 'T was not the naked speculation of the Deity that made him happy but such a knowledg as ravisht his Affections For happiness results from the fruitions of all the Faculties 'T is true that by the mediation of the understanding the other Faculties have access to an object the Will and Affections can't be enclin'd to any thing but by vertue of an act of the mind which propounds it as worthy of them It follows therefore that when by the discovery of the transcendent excellencies in God the Soul is excited to love and to delight in Him as its Supreme Good 't is then really and perfectly happy Now as Adam had a perfect knowledg of God so the height of his love was answerable to his knowledg and the compleatness of his enjoyment was according to his Love All the Divine Excellencies were amiable to him The Majesty Purity Justice and Power of God which are the terrour of guilty creatures secur'd his happiness whilst he continued in his Obedience His Conscience was clear and calm no unquiet fears discompos'd its Tranquillity 't was the seat of Innocence and Peace Briefly His love to God was perfect without any
nor of Adam's Subjection to it But when that which in it self was indifferent became unlawful meerly by the Will of God and when the Command had no other excellency but to make his Authority more sacred this was a confining of Man's liberty and to abstain was pure Obedience Besides The restraint was from that which was very grateful and alluring to both the parts of Mans compounded Nature The Sensitive Appetite is strongly excited by the Lust of the Eye and this fruit being beautiful to the sight the forbearance was an excellent exercise of vertue in keeping the lower appetite in obedience Again The desire of Knowledg is extremely quick and earnest and in appearance most worthy of the rational Nature Nullus animo suavior cibus 'T is the most high and luscious food of the Soul Now the Tree of Knowledg was forbidden So that the observance of the Law was the more eminent in keeping the intellectual Appetite in Mediocrity In short God required Obedience as a Sacrifice For the Prohibition being in a matter of natural Pleasure and a curb to Curiosity which is the Lust and Concupiscence of the Mind after things conceal'd by a reverent regard to it Man presented his Soul and Body to God as a living Sacrifice which was his reasonable service CHAP. II. Mans Natural state was mutable The Devil moved by hatred and envy attempts to seduce him The Temptation was suitable to Mans compounded Nature The Woman being deceived perswades her Husband The quality of the first Sin Many were combin'd in it 'T was perfectly voluntary Man had Power to stand The Devil could only allure not compel him His Understanding and Will the causes of his Fall The punishment was of the same date with his Sin He forfeited his Righteousness and Felicity The loss of original Righteousness as it signifies the purity and liberty of the Soul The torment of Conscience that was consequent to Sin A whole Army of Evils enter with it into the World MAN was created perfectly holy but in a natural therefore mutable state He was invested with power to prevent his Falling yet under a possibility of it He was compleat in his own order but receptive of sinful impressions An invincible Perseverance in Holiness belongs to a supernatural state 't is the priviledg of Grace and exceeds the design of the first Creation The rebellious Spirits who by a furious ambition had raised a war in Heaven and were fallen from their obedience and glory designed to corrupt Man and to make him a companion with them in their revolt The most subtile amongst them sets about this work urged by two strong passions Hatred and Envy 1. By Hatred For being under a final and irrevocable Doom he lookt on God as an irreconcileable enemy And not being able to injure his Essence he struck at his Image As the fury of some beasts discharges it self upon the Picture of a Man He singled out Adam as the mark of his malice that by seducing him from his Duty he might defeat God's design which was to be honoured by Mans free obedience and so obscure his Glory as if He had made Man in vain 2. He was sollicited by Envy the first native of Hell For having lost the favour of God and being cast out of Heaven the Region of Joy and Blessedness the sight of Adam's Felicity exasperated his Grief That Man who by the condition of his nature was below him should be Prince of the world whilst he was a Prisoner under those chains which restrain'd him and tormented him the power and wrath of God this made his state more intollerable His torment was incapable of allay but by rendering man as miserable as himself And as hatred excited his envy so envy inflam'd his hatred and both joyn'd in mischief And thus pusht on his Subtilty being equal to his Malice he contrives a Temptation which might be most taking and dangerous to Man in his raised and happy state He attempts him with art by propounding the lure of Knowledg and Pleasure to inveigle the Spiritual and Sensitive Appetites at once And that he might the better succeed he addresses to the Woman the weakest and most liable to seduction He hides himself in the body of a Serpent which before Sin was not terrible unto her And by this instrument insinuates his Temptation He first allures with the hopes of impunity Ye shall not die then he promiseth an universal knowledg of good and evil By these pretences he ruin'd innocence it self For the Woman deceived by those specious Allectives swallowed the poison of the Serpent and having tasted Death she perswaded her Husband by the same motives to despise the Law of their Creator Thus Sin enter'd and brought confusion into the World For the moral Harmony of the World consisting in the just subordination of the several ranks of beings to one another and of all to God When Man who was placed next to God broke the Union his Fall brought a desperate disorder into God's Government And although the matter of the Offence seems small yet the Disobedience was infinitely great it being the transgression of that command which was given to be the instance and real proof of Mans subjection to God Totam legem violavit in illo legalis obedientiae praecepto The Honour and Majesty of the whole Law was violated in the breach of that symbolical Precept 'T was a direct and formal Rebellion a publick and universal renouncing of Obedience Many Sins were combin'd in that single act 1. Infidelity This was the first step to ruine It appears by the order of the Temptation 't was first said by the Devil Ye shall not die to weaken their Faith then ye shall be like gods to flatter their ambition The fear of Death would have contrould the efficacy of all his Arguments till that restraint was broke he could fasten nothing upon them This account the Apostle gives of the Fall The woman being deceiv'd was in the transgression As Obedience is the effect of Faith so Disobedience of Infidelity And as Faith comes by hearing the Word of God so Infidelity by listening to the words of the Devil From the deception of the Mind proceeded the depravation of the Will the intemperance of the Appetite and the defection of the whole Man Thus as the natural so the spiritual Death made its first entrance by the Eye And this Infidelity is extremely aggravated as it implies an accusation of God both of envy and falshood 1. Of Envy As if he had deni'd them the perfections becoming the humane Nature and they might ascend to a higher Orb than that wherein they were placed by eating the forbidden fruit And what greater disparagement could there be of the Divine Goodness than to suspect the Deity of such a low and base Passion which is the special character of the Angels of Darkness And 't was equally injurious to the honour of God's Truth
the Soul yet to the bringing of it forth the concurrence of the external Faculties is requisite Thus a Voluptuary who is restrain'd from the gross acts of Sensuality by a Disease or Age may be as vicious in his Desires as another who follows the pernicious swing of his Appetite having a vigorous Complexion Briefly The variety of circumstances by which the inward corruption is excited and drawn forth makes a great difference as to the open and visible acts of it Thus an ambitious person who uses Clemency to accomplish his design would exercise Cruelty if 't were necessary to his end 'T is true some are really more temperate and exempted from the tyranny of the flesh than others Cicero was more vertuous than Catiline and Socrates than Aristophanes But these are priviledged persons in whom the efficacy of Divine Providence either by forming them in the Womb or in their Education or by conducting them in their maturer Age hath corrected the malignity of Nature All men have sinn'd and come short of the glory of God's image And that Sin breaks not forth so outragiously in some as in others the restraint is from an higher Principle than common and corrupt Nature 4. This Corruption although natural yet 't is Voluntary and Culpable 1. Voluntary All Habits receive their character from those acts by which they are produced and as the Disobedience of Adam was voluntary so is the Depravation that sprung from it 2. 'T is inherent in the Will If Adam had derived a Leprosie to all Men it were an involuntary evil Because the Diseases of the Body are forreign to the Soul But when the Corruption invades the internal Faculties 't is denominated from the subject wherein 't is seated 3. 'T is the voluntary cause of actual Sins and if the acts proceeding from this corruption are voluntary the principle must be of the same nature 2. 'T is Culpable The formality of Sin consists in its opposition to the Law according to the definition of the Apostle Sin is a transgression of the Law Now the Law requires an entire rectitude in all the Faculties It condemns corrupt inclinations the originals as well as the acts of Sin Besides Concupiscence was not inherent in the humane Nature in its Creation but was contracted by the Fall The Soul is stript of its native Righteousness and Holiness and is invested with contrary qualities There is as great a difference between the corruption of the Soul in its degenerate state and its primitive purity as between the loathsomness of a Carcass and the beauty of a living Body Sad change and to be lamented with tears of confusion That the Sin of Adam should be so fatal to all his Posterity is the most difficult part in the whole order of Divine Providence Nothing more offends carnal Reason which forms many specious Objections against it I will briefly consider them Since God saw that Adam would not resist the Temptation and that upon his Fall the whole race of Mankind which he supported as the foundation would sink into ruine Why did he not confirm him against it was it not within his Power and more suitable to his Wisdome Holiness and Goodness To this I answer 1. The Divine Power could have preserved Man in his Integrity either by laying a restraint on the apostate Angels that they should never have made an attempt upon him or by keeping the Understanding waking and vigilant to discover the danger of the Temptation and by fortifying the Will and rendring it impenetrable to the fiery darts of Satan without any prejudice to its freedom For that doth not consist in an absolute Indifference but in a judicious and deliberate choice so that when the Soul is not led by a blind instinct nor forc'd by a forreign power but embraces what it knows and approves it then enjoyes the most true Liberty Thus in the glorified Spirits above by the full and constant Light of the Mind the Will is indeclinably fixt upon its supreme Good and this is its Crown and Perfection 2. It was most suitable to the Divine Wisdom to leave Man to stand or fall by his own choice 1. To discover the necessary dependance of all Second Causes upon the first No Creature is absolutely impeccable but the most perfect is liable to imperfection He that is essentially is only unchangeably Good Infinite Goodness alone excludes all possibility of receiving Corruption The Fall of Angels and Man convince us that there is one sole Beeing immutably Pure and Holy on whom all depend and without whose Influence they cannot be or must be eternally miserable 2. 'T was very fit that Adam should be first in a state of trial before he was confirm'd in his Happiness The reason of it is clear he was left to his own judgment and election that Obedience might be his choice and in the performance of it he might acquire a title to the reward A determining vertue over him had crost the end of his Creation which was to glorifie God in a free manner Therefore in Paradise there were amiable objects to allure the lower Faculties before they were disordered by Sin The forbidden Fruit had beauty to invite the Eye and sweetness to delight the Palate And if upon the competition of the Sensual with the Intellectual Good he had reâ—ected the one and chose the other he had been rais'd to an unchangeable state his Innocence had been crown'd with Perseverance As the Angels who continued in their Duty when the rest revolted are finally establisht in their Integrity and Felicity And the Apostle gives us an account of this order when he tells us That was first which was natural then that which is spiritual and supernatural Man was created in a state of perfection but 't was natural therefore mutable the confirming of him immediatly had been Grace which belongs to a more excellent Dispensation Now to bring Man from not being to a supernatural state without trial of the middle state of Nature was not so congruous to the Divine Wisdome 3. The permission of the Fall doth not reflect on the Divine Purity For 1. Man was made Upright He had no inward Corruption to betray him There was Antidote enough in his Nature to expel the strongest Temptation 2. God was not bound to hinder the commission of Sin 'T is a true Maxime that in debitis causa dâ—ficiens efficit moraliter But God is not only free from subjection to a Law as having no Superiour but was under no voluntary Obligation by Promise to prevent the Fall 3. Neither doth that first Act of Sin reflect on Gods unspotted Providence which suffer'd it as if Sin were in any degree allowed by Him The Holy Law which God gave to direct Man the terrible Threatning annext to warn him declare his irreconcileable Hatred against Sin He permits innumerable Sins every day yeâ— He is as jealous of the Honour of his Holiness now as in the beginning
was not convenient the Father should For 1. He must then have been sent into the World which is incongruous to the Relations that are between those glorious Persons For as they subsist in a certain Order so their Operations are according to the manner of their subsistence The Father is from Himself and the first motions in all things are ascribed to Him the Son is from the Father and all his actions take their rise from him The Son can do nothing of himself but what he seeth the Father do The effecting our Redemption is refer'd to the Fathers Will as the supreme cause our Saviour upon his entrance into the world to undertake that work declares I come to do thy will O God Upon this account the Apostle addresses his thanks to the Father as the first Agent in our Salvation which is not to lessen the glory of the Son and Spirit but to signifie that in the accomplishment of it their working follows their being 2. It was not fit that the Father should be incarnate for He must then have sustained the part of a Criminal and appear'd in that quality before the Supreme Judg But this was not consonant to the order among the Persons For although they are of equal Majesty being one God yet the Father is the first Person and to him it belongs most congruously to be the Guardian of the Laws and Rights of Heaven to exact Satisfaction for offences and to receive Intercessions for the Pardon of the Penitent 3. Neither was it fit that the Third Person should undertake that work For besides the Sacrifice for Propitiation it was necessary the Divine Power should be exerted to enlighten the Minds and encline the Wills of men to receive the Redeemer that the Benefits of his Death might be applied to them Now the Redeemer is consider'd as the Object and the Holy Spirit as the Disposer of the faculty to receive it And in the natural order of things the object must exist before the operation of the faculty upon it There must be Light before the Eye can see it So in the disposition of the causes of our Salvation the Redeemer must be ordain'd and Salvation purchas'd before the Divine Power is put forth to enable the Soul to receive it and accordingly 't is the Office of the Spirit who is the Power of God and by whom the Father and the Son execute all things to render effectual the Redemtion procured by the Son Briefly The Mission of the Persons is according to their principle The Father sends the Son to acquire Salvation for us the Son sends the Spirit to apply it Thus there is no disturbing of their Sacred order more particularly in appointing the Son to assume the Humane Nature and to restore lapsed Man the Wisdom of God is evident For by that 1. The Properties of the Sacred Persons are preserved intire the same Title is appropriated to both Natures in our Redeemer His state on Earth corresponds with his state in Heaven He is the only Son from Eternity and the first-born in time and the Honour due to the eternal and divine and to the temporal but supernatural Sonship is attributed to Him 2. To unite the glorious Titles of Creator and Redeemer in the same Person The Father made the world by the Son By this title he had an original propriety in Man which could not be extinguisht Though we had forfeited our Right in Him He did not lose his Right in us Our contract with Satan could not nullifie it Now 't was consonant that the Son should be employed to recover his own that the Creator in the begining should be the Redeemer in the fulness of time 3. Who could more fitly restore us to Favour and the Right of Children than the only begotten and only beloved Son who is the singular and everlasting object of his Father's delight Our relation to God is an imitation and expression of Christs He is a Son by nature a Servant by condescention we are Servants by Nature and Sons by Grace and Favour Our Adoption into the line of Heaven is by the purchase of his Blood The Eternal Son took flesh and was made under the Law that we might receive the Adoption of sons Who was more fit to repair the Image of God in Man and to beautifie our Natures that were defiled with Sin than the Son who is the express Image of his Fathers person and brighness and beauty it self Who can better communicate the Divine Counsels to us than the Eternal Word 4. The Wisdom of God appears in making the Remedy to have a proportion to the cause of our Ruine that as we fell in Adam our Representative so we are raised by Christ who is made the Head of our Recovery The Apostle makes the comparison between the first and second Adam Therefore as by the offence of one Judgment came upon all to condemnation even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men to the justification of Life For as by one Mans Disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one many shall be made righteous They are consider'd as Causes having the same respect to the effects produced by them The effects are Sin and Righteousness Condemnation and Justification As the Disobedience of the first Adam is meritoriously imputed to all his natural Posterity and brings Death upon all so the Righteousness of the second is meritoriously imputed to all his spiritual Progeny to obtain life for them And as the carnal Adam by his Rebellion made forfeiture of our original Righteousness and derives a corrupt nature to all that descend from him So the spiritual hath by his Obedience purchased Divine Grace for us that being the price without which so rich a treasure as Holiness could not be obtain'd And from him there is a vital efficacy conveighed to renew his People The same Spirit of Holiness which annointed our Redeemer doth quicken all his race that as They have born the Image of the earthly they may bear the Image of the heavenly Adam 5. The Divine Wisdom is visible in the manner whereby our Redemption is accomplisht that is by the Humiliation of the Son of God By this He did counterwork the Sin of Angels and Man Pride is the poison of every Sin for in every one the Creature prefers his pleasure and sets up his Will above Gods but it was the special Sin of Adam The Devil would have levell'd Heaven by an unpardonable usurpation he said I will be like the Most High and Man was infected with his breath you shall be like God and became sick of the same Disease Now Christ that by the quality of the Remedy he might cure our Disease in its source and cause He applies to our pride an unspeakable humility Man was guilty of the highest Robbery in affecting to be equal with God and
Heritage to receive the Promise of the Messiah and left the rest in thick and disconsolate darkness there was no apparent cause of this inequality for they all sprang from the same corrupt root and equally deserv'd a final rejection There was no singular good in them nor transcendent evil in others The unaccountable Pleasure of God was the sole motive of the different Dispensation Our Saviour breaks forth in an extasie of Joy I thank thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that thou hast hid these things from the wise prudent and revealed them unto babes even so Father for so it seemed good in thy sight 'T is the Prerogative of God to reveal the secrets of the Kingdom to whom he pleases 'T is an act of pure Grace putting a difference between one Nation and another with the same liberty as in the Creation of the same indigested matter He form'd the Earth the dregs of the Universe and the Sun and Stars the ornaments of the Heavens and the glory of the visible World How can we reflect on our Spiritual Obligations to Divine Grace without a rapture of Soul The corruption of Nature was universal our Ignorance as perverse and our Manners as profane as of other Nations and we had been condemn'd to an eternal Night if the Light of Life had not graciously shin'd upon us This should warm our hearts in affectionate acknowledgments to God Who hath made known to us the riches of the glory of this mystery amongst the Gentiles and with that revelation the concomitant power of the Spirit to translate us from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of his dear Son If the Publication of the Law by the Ministry of Angels to the Israelites were such a Priviledg that 't is reckon'd their peculiar Treasure He hath shewed his Statutes unto Israel He hath not dealt so with any Nation What is the revelation of the Gospel by the Son of God Himself For although the Law is obscured and defaced since the Fall yet there are some ingrafted Notions of it in the humane Nature but there is not the least suspition of the Gospel The Law discovers our Misery but the Gospel alone shews the way to be delivered from it If an Advantage so great and so precious doth not touch our hearts and in possessing it with joy we are not sensible of the engagements the Father of Mercies hath laid upon us we shall be the ungratefullest wretches in the world 2. This incomprehensible Mystery is worthy of our most serious thoughts and study that we may arrive to a fuller knowledge of it And to incite us it will be fit to consider those excellencies which will render it most desirable Knowledge is a quality so eminent that it truly enobles one Spirit above another As Reason is the singular Ornament of the humane Nature whereby it excels the Bruits so in proportion Knowledge which is the perfection of the Understanding raises those who are possessors of it above others that want it The Testimony of Solomon confirms this Then I saw that Wisdom excells Folly as far as Light excelleth Darkness And according to the nature and quality of the Knowledge such is the advantage it brings to us Now the Doctrine of the Gospel excels the most noble Sciences as well contemplative as practick it excels the contemplative in the sublimity of the object and in the certainty of its Principle 1. In the sublimity and greatness of the Object and it is no less then the highest design of the eternal Wisdom the most glorious work of the great God In the Creation his foot-steps appear in our Redemption his Image In the Law his Justice and Holiness but in the Gospel all his Perfections shine forth in their brightest luster The bare theory of this inriches the mind and the contemplation of it affects the Soul that is conversant about it with the highest admiration and the most sincere and lasting delight 1. It affects the Soul with the highest admiration The strongest Spirits cannot comprehend its just greatness the understanding sinks under the weight of Glory The Apostle who had seen the light of Heaven and had such knowledg as never any man before yet upon considering one part of the Divine Wisdom breaks forth in astonishment Oh the depth of the riches of the Wisdom and Knowledg of God! how unsearchable are his Decrees and his waies past finding out 'T is fit when we have spent the strength of our minds in the consideration of this excelling object and are at the end of our subtilty to supply the defects of our Understandings with Admiration As the Psalmist expresses himself Lord how wonderful are thy thoughts to us-ward The Angels adore this glorious Mystery with an humble Reverence The admiration that is caused by it is a principal delight of the Mind 'T is true the wonder that proceeds from Ignorance when the cause of some visible effect is not known is the imperfection and torment of the spirit but that which ariseth from the knowledg of those things which are most above our conception and our hope is the highest advancement of our Minds and brings the greatest satisfaction to the Soul Now the contrivance of our Redemption was infinitely above the â—light of Reason and our expectation When the Lord turned the captivity of Sion they were as in a dream The way of accomplishing it was so incredible that it seem'd rather the picture of Fancy than a real Deliverance And there is far greater reason that the rescuing of us from the Powers of Hell and the restoring us to Liberty and Glory by Christ should raise our wonder The Gospel is called a marvellous Light upon the account of the objects it discovers But such a perverse judgment is in men that they neglect those things which deserve the highest admiration and spend their wonder on meaner things Art is more admir'd than Nature a counterfeit Eye of Christal which hath neither sight nor motion than the living Eye the Sun of the little world that directs the whole Man And the effects of Nature are more admir'd than the sublime and supernatural works of Grace Yet these infinitely exceed the other The World is the work of Gods hand but the Gospel is his plot and the chiefest of all his waies What a combination of Wonders is there in the great Mystery of Godliness That He who fills Heaven and Earth should be confin'd to the Virgins Womb that Life should die and being dead revive that Mercy should triumph without any disparagement to Justice these are Miracles that transcend all that is done in Nature And this appears by the judgment of God himself who best knows the excellency of his own works For whereas upon the finishing the first Creation he ordain'd the Seventh Day that reasonable Creatures might more solemnly ascribe to him the Glory of his Attributes which are visible in the things
that are made he hath upon the compleating our Redemtion by the rising of Christ from the Dead made the First-Day Sacred for his Service and Praise there being the clearest illustration of his Perfections in that Blessed Work God is more pleased in the contemplation of the new World than of the old The latter by its extraordinary Magnificence hath lessen'd the dignity of the former as the greater Light obscures the less Therefore the Sabbath is changed into the Lords-Day And what a just reproach is it to Man that he should be inobservant and unaffected with this glorious Mercy wherein he may alwaies find new cause of Admiration O Lord how great are thy Works and thy Thoughts how deep a brutish man knoweth not neither doth a fool understand this The admiring of any other thing in comparison of this Mystery is the effect of Inconsideration or Infidelity 2. It produces the most sincere and lasting pleasure As the taste is to meat to allure us to feed for the support of our bodies that is delight to Knowledge to excite the mind to seek after it But it s vast capacity can never be satisfied with the knowledge of inferior things The pleasure is more in the acquisition than in the possession of it For the mind is diverted in the search but having attained to that knowledge which cannot fill the rational appetite 't is disgusted with the fruits of its travel and seeks some other object to relieve its langour From hence it is that variety is the spring of delight and pleasure is the product of novelty We find the pleasure of the first taste in learning something new is alwayes most sensible The most elegant compositions and excellent discourses which ravisht at the first reading yet repeated often are nauseous and irksome The exercise of the mind on an object fully known is unprofitable and therefore tedious whereas by turning the thoughts on something else it may acquire new knowledge But the Apostle tells us that the Mystery of our Redemption contains all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge to intimate their excellence and abundance the unsearchable riches of Grace are laid up in it There is infinite variety and perpetual matter for the inquiry of the most excellent understanding no created reason is able to reach its height or sound its depths by the continual study and increase in the knowledge of it the mind enjoys a persevering pleasure that far exceeds the short vehemence of sensual delights 2. It excels other Sciences in the certainty of its Principle which is divine Revelation Humane Sciences are built upon uncertain maximes which being admitted with precipitation and not confirm'd by sufficient Experiments the Mind can never fully acquiesce in them Those Doctrines which were esteemed in one Age the vanity of them is discovered in another Modern Philosophy discards the Antient. But the Doctrine of Salvation is the Word of Truth its original is from Heaven it bears the characters and marks of its Divine descent 'T is confirmed by the Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power 'T is alwaies the same unchangeable as God the Author and Christ the Object of it who is the same yesterday to day and for ever And the knowledg which the sincere and enlightned Mind hath of it is not uncertain opinion but a clear solid and firm apprehension 'T is a Contemplation of the Glory of God with open face This appears by the effects it produces in those that have received the true tincture of it in their Souls they despise all things which carnal Men admire in comparison of this inestimable Treasure 2. The Doctrine of the Gospel exceeds all practic Sciences in the excellency of its end and the efficacy of the means to obtain it The end of it is The Supreme Happiness of Man the restoring of him to the Innocence and Excellency of his first state And the means are appointed by infinite Wisdom so that the most insuperable obstacles are removed and these are the Justice of God that condemns the guilty and that strong and obstinate aversion which is in corrupted man from true Felicity Here is a Mediator reveal'd who is able to save to the uttermost who hath quencht the Wrath of God by the Blood of his Divine Sacrifice who hath expiated Sin by the value of his Death and purifies the Soul by the vertue of his Life that it may consent to its own Salvation No less than a Divine Power could perform this work From hence the superlative excellency of Evangelical Knowledg doth arise all other Knowledg is unprofitable without it and that alone can make us perfectly blessed This is Life eternal to know thee and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent I will briefly consider how ineffectual all other Knowledge is whether Natural Political or Moral to recover us from our Misery The most exact insight into Natural things leaves the Mind blind and poor ignorant of Happiness and the way to it Solomon who had an extraordinary measure of Natural Knowledg and was able to set a just price upon it tels us that the increase of knowledg was attended with proportionable degrees of sorrow For the more a man knows the more he discerns the insufficiency of that knowledg to supply his defects and satisfie his desires He was therefore weary of his Wisdom as well as of his Folly The Devils know more than the profoundest Philosophers yet their Knowledge doth not alleviate their Torments 'T is so far from directing how to escape misery that it will more expose to it by enlarging the Faculties and making them more capable of Torment 'T is the observation of St. Ambrose that when God discovered the Creation of the World to Moses He did not inform him of the greatness of the Heavens the number of the Stars their Aspects and Influences whether they derive their light from the Sun or have it inherent in their own bodies from whence Eclipses are caused how the Rainbow is painted how the Winds fly in the Air or the causes of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea but so much as might be a foundation of Faith and Obedience and left the rest Quasi marcescentis sapientiae vanitates as the vanities of perishing wisdom The most knowing Philosopher though encompast with these sparks yet if ignorant of the Redeemer shall lie down in sorrow for ever And as natural so political Knowledge in order to the governing of Kingdoms and States hath no power to confer happiness upon man It concerns not his main interest 't is terminated within the compass of this short life and provides not for Death and Eternity The Wisdom of the World is folly in a disguise a specious Ignorance which although it may secure the temporal state yet it leaves us naked and exposed to Spiritual enemies which war against the Soul And all the moral knowledg which is treasur'd up in the Books of the Heathens
infinitly above the ordinary course of Nature The Maxims of Philosophy are not to be extended to Him We must adore what we cannot fully understand But those things are against Reason and utterly inconceivable that involve a contradiction and have a natural repugnancy to our Understandings which cannot conceive any thing that is formally impossible And there is no such Doctrine in the Christian Religion 2. We must distinguish between Reason corrupted and right Reason Since the Fall the clearness of the Humane Understanding is lost and the light that remains is eclipsed by the interposition of sensual lusts The carnal Mind cannot out of Ignorance and will not from Pride and other malignant habits receive things spiritual And from hence ariseth many suspicions and doubts concerning supernatural Verities the shadows of darkned Reason and of dying Faith If any Divine Mystery seems incredible 't is from the corruption of our Reason not from Reason it self from its darkness not its light And as Reason is obliged to correct the Errors of Sense when 't is deceived either by some vicious quality in the organ or by the distance of the object or by the falsness of the medium that corrupts the image in conveying of it So 't is the office of Faith to reform the judgment of Reason when either from its own weakness or the height of things Spiritual 't is mistaken about them For this end supernatural Revelation was given not to extinguish Reason but to redress it and enrich it with the discovery of Heavenly things Faith is called Wisdom and Knowledg it doth not quench the vigour of the Faculty wherein 't is seated but elevates it and gives it a spiritual preception of those things that are most distant from its commerce It doth not lead us through a mist to the inheritance of the Saints in light Faith is a rational Light For 1. It arises from the consideration of those Arguments which convince the Mind that the Scripture is a Divine Revelation I know saith the Apostle whom I have believed And we are commanded Alwaies to be ready to give an account of the hope that is in us Those that owe their Christianity meerly to the Felicity of their Birth without a sight of that transcendent excellency in our Religion which evidences that it came from Heaven do not believe aright As the Eye that is clouded with a Suffusion so that all things appear yellow to it when it judges things to be yellow that are so its judgment is vitious Because it proceeds not from the quality of the object but from its own indisposition So those that believe the Gospel upon a false Principle because 't is the Religion of their Country though in its self the word of Truth yet they are not right Believers 'T is not Judgment but Chance that enclines them to embrace it The Turks upon the same reason are zealous votaries of Mahomet as they are Disciples of Christ. 2. Faith makes use of Reason to consider what Doctrines are revealed in the Scripture and to deduce those Consequences which have a clear connexion with supernatural Principles Thus Reason is an excellent instrument to distinguish those things which are of a Divine Original from what is spurious and counterfeit For sometimes that is pretended to be a Mystery of Religion which is only the fruit of Fancy and that is defended by the sacred respect of Faith that Reason ought not to violate which is but a groundless imagination so that we remain in an Error by the sole apprehensions of falling into one as those that die for fear of Death The Bereans are commended for their searching the Scriptures whether the Doctrines they heard were consentaneous to them But 't is a necessary Duty that Reason how stiff soever should fully comply with God where it appears reasonable that He hath spoken Briefly The richest Ornament of the Creature is Humility and the most excellent effect of it is the sense of the weakness of our Understanding This is the temper of Soul that prepares it for Faith partly as it puts us on a serious consideration of those things which are reveal'd to us in the Word Infidelity proceeds from the want of consideration and nothing hinders that so much as Pride Partly as it stops all curious enquiries into those things which are unsearchable and principally as it entitles to the Promise God will instruct and give Grace to the humble The knowledg of Heaven as well as the Kingdom of Heaven is the inheritance of the poor in spirit A greater progress is made in the knowledg and belief of these Mysteries by humble Prayer than by the most anxious study As at Court an hour of Favour is worth a years attendance Man cannot acquire so much as God can give And as Humility so Holiness prepares the Soul for the receiving of Supernatural Truths The Understanding is clarified by the purification of the Heart 'T is not the difficulty and obscurity of things reveal'd that is the real cause of Infidelity since men believe other things upon far less Evidence but 't is the prejudice of the lower Faculties that hinders them When all Affections to sin are mortified the Soul is in the best disposition to receive Divine Revelation He that doth the will of God shall know whether the Doctrine of the Gospel came from Heaven The Spirit of God is the alone Instructer of the Spirit of Man in these Mysteries so as to produce a Saving Belief of them That Knowledg is more clear and satisfying that we have by his Teaching than by our own Learning The Rational Mind may discern the Literal Sense of the Propositions in the Gospel and may yield a naked assent to the truth of them but without supernatural irradiation by the Spirit of Life there can be no transforming and saving Knowledg and Belief of them And as the vast expansion of Air that is about us doth not preserve Life but that part which we breath in so 't is not the compass of our Knowledg and Belief though it were equal to the whole revealed Will of God that is vital to the Soul but that which is practised by us The Apostle saith Though he had the understanding of all Mysteries and all Knowledg and all Faith yet if it were not joyned with Love the Principle of Obedience it were unprofitable There is the same difference between the Speculative Knowledg of these Mysteries and that which is Affectionate and Operative as between the wearing of Pearls for Ornament and the taking of them as a Cordial to revive the fainting spirits In short Such a Belief is required as prevails upon the Will and draws the Affections and 〈◊〉 the whole Man obsequious to the Gospel For 〈◊〉 a Faith is alone answerable to the quality of the Revelation The Gospel is not a meer Narrative but a Promise Christ is not represented only as an innocent Person dying but as the Son
of God dying to deliver Men from Sin and the effects of it The fallen Angels may understand and believe it without any Affections being unconcernâ—d in it To them 't is a naked History but to Men 't is a Promise and cannot be rightly received without the most ardent Affections This is a faithful Saying and worthy of all acceptation That Jesus Christ came into the world to save Sinners 'T is essentiaâ—â—â— good as true its Sweetness and Profit are equal to its Certainty So that it commends it self to all our Faculties There are severe and sad Truths which are attended with fearful expectation and the Mind is averse from receiving them As the Law which like Lightning terrifies the Soul with its amazing Brightness and there are pleasant illusions which have no solid Foundation And as Truth doth not delight the Mind unless united to Goodness such as is suitable to its Palate so Goodness doth not affect the Will unless it be real Now the Doctrine of the Gospel is as certain as the Law and infinitly more comfortable than all the Inventions of Men. 'T is in the knowledg of it alone that the sensible and considering Soul enjoys perfect Satisfaction and the most composed Rest. 'T is evident that the Understanding doth not behold these Truths in their proper light when the Will doth not embrace them For the rational Appetite follows the last judgment of the Mind When the Apostle had a powerful Conviction of The Excellency of the Knowledg of Christ this made him so earnest to gain an interest in Him For this reason those who are only Christians in Title Having a form of Godliness and denying the power of it are in Scripture-language stiled Infidels It being impossible that those who truly and heartily believe this great Mystery of Godliness should remain ungodly 'T is a strong and effectual Assent that descends from the Brain to the Heart and Life that denominates us true Believers So that when the Death of Christ is propounded as the cause of our Reconciliation with God the wonder of the Mystery doth not make it incredible when as the reason of the Mortiâ—â—â—ation of our Lusts the Pleasures of Sin do not disguise its horrour When Salvation is offer'd upon our accepting of Christ for our Prince and Saviour the Soul is ravisht with its Beauty and chooses it for an everlasting portion To conclude The Doctrine of the Gospel clearly discovers its Divine Original 'T is so reasonable in itself and profitable to us so sublime and elevated above Man yet hath such an admirable agreement with Natural Truths 't is so perfectly corresponding in all its parts that without affected Obstinacy no man can reject it And if after the open revelation of it we are so stupid and wicked as not to see its Superlative Excellency and not to receive it with the Faith Love and Obedience which is due to it what contempt is this of that infinite Wisdom which contriv'd the astonishing way of our Salvation What a reproach to the Divine Understanding as if it had been employed from Eternity about a matter of no moment and that deserves not our serious Consideration and Acceptance The neglect of it will justly bring a more severe punishment than the Hell of the uninstructed Heathens who are strangers to Supernatural Mysteries CHAP. VIII The Mercy of God is represented with peculiar advantages above the other Attributes 'T is eminently glorified in our Redemption in respect of its freeness and greatness The freeness of it amplified from the consideration of the original and object of it God is perfectly happy in Himself and needs not the Creature to preserve or heighten his felicity The glorious reward conferred upon our Saviour doth not prejudice the freeness of his love to Man There was no tie upon God to save Man The Object of Mercy is Man in his lapsed state 'T is illustrated by the consideration of what he is in himself No motives of love are in him He is a rebel impotent and obstinate The freeness of mercy set forth by comparing him with the fallen Angels who are left in perfect irremediable misery Their first state fall and punishment The Reasons why the Wisdom of God made no provision for their recovery ALthough all the Divine Attributes are equal as they are in God for one Infinite cannot exceed another yet in their exercise and effects they shine with a different glory And Mercy is represented in Scripture with peculiar advantages above the rest 'T is God's natural off-spring he is stiled the Father of Mercies 'T is his dear Attribute that which he places next to himself He is proclaim'd the Lord God Gracious and Merciful 'T is his delight Mercy pleases him 'T is his Treasure he is rich in Mercy 'T is his triumphant Attribute and the special matter of his Glory Mercy rejoyces over Judgment Now in the performance of our Redemption Mercy is the predominant Attribute that sets all the rest a working The acts of his Wisdom Justice and Power were in order to the illustration of his Mercy And if we duly consider that Glorious Work we shall find in it all the ingredients of the most sovereign Mercy In discoursing of it I shall principally consider two things wherein this Attribute is eminently glorified the Freeness and the Greatness of it The Freeness of this Mercy will appear by considering the original and object of it 1. The Original is God and the notion of a Deity includes infinite perfections so that it neeessarily follows that he hath no need of the creatures service to preserve or heighten his feliâ—ity If thou be righteous what givest thou him or what receiveth he of thine hand From Eternity he was without external honour yet in that infinite duration he was perfectly joyful and happy He is the fountain of his own blessedness the Theatre of his own Glory the Glass of his own Beauty One drop encreases the Ocean but to God a million of Worlds â—an add nothing Every thing hath so much of Goodness as it derives from him As there was no gain to him by the Creation so there can be no loss by the annihilation of all things The World proceeded from his Wisdom as the Idea and Exemplar and from his Power as the efficient cause and it so proceeds from him as to remain more perfectly in him And as the possession of all things and the obedience of Angels and Men is of no advantage to God so the opposition of impenitent Rebels cannot lessen his Blessedness If thou sinnest what doâ—t thou against him or if thy transgressions be multiplied what dost thou unto him The Sun suffers no loss of its light by the darkness of the night or an Eclipse but the World loâ—es its day if intelligent Beings do not esteem him for his Greatness and love him for his Goodness 't is no injury to him but their own infelicity Were it for his
will be fit to consider them with respect to his Soul and his Body The Gospel delivers to us the relation of both 1. Upon his entrance into the Garden He complains My Soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto Death There were present only Peter James and John his happy Favourites who assured him of their fidelity there was no visible enemy to afflict Him yet his Soul was environ'd with Sorrows 'T is easie to conceive the injuries He suffered from the rage of Men for they were terminated upon his Body But how to understand his inward Sufferings the wounds of his Spirit the cross to which his Soul was nailed is very difficult Yet these were in expressibly greater as the visible effects dedeclare The anguish of his soul so affected his body that his Sweat was as it were great drops of Blood the miraculous evidence of his Agony The terror was so dreadful that the assistance of an Angel could not calm it And if we consider the causes of his grief the dispositions of Christ and the design of God in afflicting him it will further appear that no sorrow was ever like his The Causes were 1. The evil of Sin which infinitely exceeds all other for the just measure of an evil is taken from the good to which it is opposit and of which it deprives us Now Sin is formally opposit to the Holy nature and will of God and meritoriously deprives of his blessed presence for ever Therefore God being the supreme Good Sin is the supreme evil And grief being the resentment of an evil that which is proportioned to the evil of Sin must be infinite Now the Lord Christ alone had perfect light to discover Sin in its true horrour and perfect zeal to hate it according to its nature for who can understand the excellency of good and the malignity of evil but the Author of the one and the Judge of the other who can fully conceive the guilt of rebellion against God but the Son of God who is alone able to comprehend his own Majesty On this account the grief of our Redeemer exceeded all the sorrow of repenting Sinners from the beginning of the World For our knowledge is so imperfect and our zeal so remiss that our grief for sin is much beneath what 't is worthy of but sin was as hateful to Christ as it is in it self and his sorrow was equal to its evil 2. The Death he was to suffer attended with all the Curses of the Law and the terrible marks of Gods Indignation From hence 't is said he began to be sore amazed and to be very heavy 'T is wonderful that the Son of God who had perfect patience and the strength of the Deity to support him who knew that his Passion should soon pass away and that the issue should be his own glorious Resurrection and the recovery of lapsed Man that he should be shaken with fear and oppressed with sorrow at the first approches of it how many of the Martyrs have with an undisturbed courage embraced a more cruel death but to them 't was disarm'd whereas our Saviour encountered it with all its formidable Pomp with its Darts and Poison 3. The Wrath of God was inflamed against him For although he was perfectly Innocent and more distant from sin than Heaven is from the Earth yet by the ordination of God and his own consent being made our Sponsor the Iniquity of us all was laid upon him He suffered as deeply as if he had been guilty Vindictive justice was inexorable to his Prayers and Tears Although he renewed his request with the greatest ardency as 't is said by the Evangelist that being in an Agony he prayed more earnestly yet God would not spare him The Father of Mercies saw his Son humbled in his presence prostrate on the Earth yet deals with him in extream severity He was stricken smiten of God and afflicted And who is able to conceive the weight of God's Hand when he punishes sin according to its desert who can understand the degrees of those Sufferings when God exacts satisfaction from one that was obliged and able to make it how piercing were those sorrows whereby Divine Justice infinitely incens'd was to be appeas'd Who knows the consequence of those words My God My God why hast thou forsaken me 'T is impossible to comprehend or represent that great and terrible Mystery But thus much we may understand That Holiness and Glory being essential to the Deity they are communicated to the Reasonable Nature when united to it But with this difference that Holiness necessarily results from Union with God For Sin being infinitely repugnant to His Nature makes a Separation between Him and the creature But Glory and Joy are dispensed in a free and arbitrary manner This dereliction of our Saviour must be understood with respect to the second not the first Communication In the extremity of his Torments all his Affections were innocent and regular being only raised to that degree which the vehemency of the object required He exprest no murmur against God nor anger against his enemies His Faith Love Humility Patience were then in their Exaltation But that glorious and unspeakable Joy which in the course of his Life the Deity conveyed to Him was then withdrawn An impetuous torrent of pure unmixed Sorrows broke into his holy Soul He felt no refreshing emanations so that having lost the sense of present Joy there remained in his Soul only the hope of future Joy And in that sad moment his Mind was so intent upon his Sufferings that he seems to have been diverted from the actual consideration of the Glory that attended the issue of them Briefly All comforting Influences were suspended but without prejudice to the Personal Union or the Perfection of his Grace or to the Love of his Father toward Him His Soul was liable to sorrows as his Body to death For the Deity is the Principle of Life as well as of Joy and as the Body of Christ was three days in the state of Death and the Hypostatical Union remained entire so his Soul was left for a time under the fearful impressions of wrath yet was not separated from the God-head And although He endured what ever was necessary for the Expiation of Sin yet all vitious Evils as Blasphemy Hatred of God and any other which are not inflicted by the Judg but in strictness are accidental to the Punishment and proceed from the weakness or wickedness of the Patient he was not in the least guilty of Besides when his Father appear'd an enemy against him at that time He was infinitely pleased in his Obedience But with these exceptions our Blessed Lord suffered whatever was due to us The Sorrows of his forsaken state were inexpressibly great for according to the degree and sense we have of Happiness such in proportion is our grief for the loss of it Now Christ had the fullest enjoyment and the highest valuation of Gods favour
them for execrable Persons It had been as extravagant to have designed the acquiring of Reputation or Riches by their Preaching as for one to throw himself into a flaming Furnace to be cool'd and refresh'd And that Pleasure could not be their Aim is manifest For they met with nothing but Poverty and Persecution with Derision and Disgrace with Hardships and all the effects of Fury which they willingly endured rather than cease from Preaching or deny what they had Preach'd Their unheard of Resolution to forsake their Native Countey and travel to all the known parts of the Earth to convey the Doctrine of Jesus Christ is a strong Demonstration that they believed it to be true and of infinite moment most worthy of all the dangers to which they voluntarily exposed themselves Never did Ambition or Avarice the most active Passions cause men to be more diligent than they were to communicate the Knowledg of our Saviour to all Nations Now what greater assurance can we possibly receive that they were sincere in their Report Secondly The nature of the Testimony makes it very credible 1. It was of a matter of Fact If it had been some high Speculation of universal Things abstracted from Matter and above the cognizance of the Senses there might be some pretence to object That the Disciples unexercised in Sciences were deceived by the Subtlety of ther Master But 't is a singular Thing of which the Senses are the most faithful Informers and competent Judges 2. It was an ocular Testimony which as it makes the strongest impression upon the Spectator so upon the belief of others Thus St. John That which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked on declare we unto you And that they were not deceived we have great certainty For Jesus had convers'd a long time with them before his Death and their Respect and Love to Him and after their Compassion had deeply engraved the lineaments of his Visage in their memories and He presented himself not many years but three daies after his absence so that it was impossible they should have forgot his Countenance He appear'd to them not once or twice but many times and not suddenly as a flash of Lightning that presently vanisheth but converst with them familiarly for forty daies And 't is observable the Apostles themselves were not easily wrought on to believe this Truth When the Testimony of the Angels assur'd them that He was risen yet they were suspended between Hopes and Fears And at his first Appearance they were vehemently surpriz'd They saw Him die on the Cross three daies before and their Memories were still fill'd with the frightful images of his Sufferings so that they were ballanc'd between the present testimony of Sense and the fresh remembrance of what they had seen Therefore He justified the truth of his Resurrection to all their Senses He discours'd with them made them feel his Wounds eat and drank with them so that 't was impossible they should be deceived unless willingly Thus by the wise dispensation of God their doubting hath confirmed our Faith Thirdly The Uniformity of the testimony makes it valuable upon a double account First As it secures us there was no corruption in the Witnesses Secondly That it was no Illusion 1. That there was no Corruption in the Witnesses The most prudent way to discover the falsity of a testimony is to interrogate the Witnesses severally to see if there be any contradiction between them But if they concur not only as to the Substance but Circumstances their Deposition is very credible Now the Apostles exactly agreed in their testimony as appears by the several Gospels in which although wrote in divers times and places yet there is an admirable Harmony not only as to the Fact it self but the least particularities 2. The Agreement of so many proves it was no Illusion If He had only appear'd to some persons separately carnal Reason which is ingenious to deceive itself might object that it was only the effect of a distemper'd fancy and no real object of Sence But after He had shewn Himself to some of the Disciples apart and that holy Company was met together uniting the several sparks to encourage their hopes of his Resurrection He came to them altogether and for many daies conversed with them Now who can believe that so many should be obstructed with Melancholy for so long time so as constantly to remain under the power of a Delusion Besides He afterwards appear'd to five hundred at once Now how could such a number of different Ages Sexes Temperaments be at the same time struck with the same Imagination Add further If a strong Imagination had deceiv'd them by Melancholy there would have been some discoveries of that Humour in their Actions For 't is impossible that the Mind so indisposed should for a long time act regularly But in the whole course of their Lives not the least extravagancy appears Their Zeal was temper'd with Prudence their Innocence was without Folly their Conversation was becoming their great Office And of this we have unquestionable Evidence For otherwise so many Persons of excellent Wisdom had never been perswaded by them to embrace Christianity neither had their Enemies so furiously persecuted them For 't is beyond belief that they had so far extinguish'd the Sentiments of Humanity as to treat the Apostles as the most guilty Criminals whom they knew to be distracted and therefore worthy of Compassion rather than Hatred But if it be objected that it might be a Phantasm or solid Body form'd according to the Likeness of Christ that abus'd the Apostles and after some time withdrew itself The vanity of the Objection is very apparent For such an effect could not be without the operation of a Spiritual Cause Now the good Angels cannot be guilty of falshood of which they had been in that representation for He that appear'd declar'd himself to be Jesus that suffer'd neither would the evil use such an Artifice The old Serpent was too wise to promote the belief of Christ's Resurrection which is the Foundation of Christianity An Institution most holy that would destroy his Altars discredit his Oracles bring Glory to God and Happiness to Man to both which he is eternally opposite By all which it appears there was no deceit in the subject nor object 4. They seal'd it with their Blood This last proof confirms all the other If a person of clear fame assert a thing which he is ready to maintain with the loss of his Life there is no reason to doubt of the truth of his Deposition 'T is no wonder that Philostratus a bold Grecian to shew his Art painted Apollonius Tyanaeus as a Demi-god exempted from death and cloathed with immortality But if he had been drawn from his Study where he drest that Idol of Iniquity to appear before the Magistrates to give an account of the truth of his Relation he certainly would have renounc'd his
ye his Servants and there was aâ— it were the voice of mighty thundrings saying Hallelujah for the Lord God Omnipotent reigns They are now the most eminent examples of revenging wrath Their present misery is insupportable and they expect worse When our Saviour cast some of them out of the possest persons they cried out Art thou come to torment us before our time Miserimum est timere cum sâ—eres nihil 't is the height of misery to have nothing to Hope and something to Fear Their guilt is attended with despair they are in everlasting Chains He that carries the Keys of Hell and Death will never open their Prisoâ— If the sentence did admit a Revocation after a million of years their torment would be nothing in comparison of what it is for the longest measure of time bears no proportion to Eternity and hope would allay the sense of the present sufferings with the prospect of future ease But their Judgment is irreversible they are under the blackness of darkness for ever There is not the least glimps of hope to allay their sorrows no Star-light to sweeten the horrours of their Eternal night They are serâ—i poenae that can never be redeemed It were a kind of pardon to them to be capable of Death but God will never be so far reconciled as to annihilate them His Anger shall be accomplished and his Fury rest upon them Immortality the priviledge of their nature infinitly increases their torment for when the Understanding by a strong and active apprehension hath a terrible and unbounded prospect of the continuance of their Sufferings that what is intolerable must be Eternal this inexpressibly exasperates their Misery There wants a word beyond Death to set it forth This is the condition of the sinning Angels and God might have dealt in as strict Justice with rebellious Man 'T is true there are many Reasons may be assigned why the Wisdom of God made no provision for their Recovery 1. It was most decent that the first Breach of the Divine Law should be punisht to secure Obedience for the future Prudent Lawgivers are severe against the first Transgressors the Leaders in Disobedience He that first presumed to break the Sabbath was by Godâ—s command put to Death And Solomon the King of Peace punisht the first attempt upon his Royalty with Death though in the person of his Brother 2. The Malignity of their Sin was in the highest degree For such was the clearness of the Angelical Understanding that there was nothing of Ignorance and Deceit to lessen the voluntariness of their Sin 't was no mistake but Malice They fell in the light of Heaven and rendered themselves incapable of Mercy As under the Law those who sinned with a high hand that is not out of Ignorance or Imbecillity to please their Passions but knowingly and proudly despised the Command their Presupmtion was inexpiable no Sacrifice was appointed for it And the Gospel though the Declaration of Mercy yet excepts those who sin the great Transgression against the Holy Ghost Now of such a nature was the Sin of the Rebellious Angels it being a contemptuous violation of Gods Majesty and therefore unpardonable Besides they are wholly spiritual Beings without any allay of flesh and so fell to the utmost in evil there being nothing to suspend the intireness of their Will whereas the Humane Spirit is more slow by its union with the Body And that which extremely aggravates their sin is that it was committed in the state of perfect Happiness They despised the full fruition of God 't was therefore congruous to the Divine Wisdom that their final Sentence should depend upon their first Election whereas Mans Rebellion though inconceivably great was against a lower Light and less Grace dispensed to him 3. They finn'd without a Tempter and were not in the same capacity with Man to be restor'd by a Saviour The Devil is an original Proprietor in Sin 't is of his own Man was beguiled by the Serpents subtilty as he fell by anothers Malice so he is recovered by anothers Merit 4. The Angelical Nature was not entirely lost Myriads of blessed Spirits still continue in the place of their Innocency and Glory and for ever ascribe to the Great Creator that incommunicable Honour which is due to Him and perfectly do his Commandments But all Mankind was lost in Adam and no Religion was left in the lower world Now although in these and other respects it was most consistent with the Wisdom and Justice of God to conclude them under an irrevocable Doom yet the principal cause that enclin'd him to save Man was meer and perfect Grace The Law madâ— no distinction but awarded the same Punishment Mercy alone made the difference and the reason of that is in Himself Millions of them fell Sacrifices to Justice and guilty Man was spared 'T is not for the excellency of our Natures for Man in his Creation was lower than the Angels nor upon the account of Service for they having more eminent Endowments of Wisdom and Power might have brought greater honour to God nor for our Innocence for though not equally yet we had highly offended Him But it must be resolved into that Love which passeth Knowledg 'T was the unaccountable Pleasure of God that preferr'd babes before the wise and prudent and herein Grace is most glorious He in no wise took the nature of Angels though immortal Spirits He did not put forth his hand to help them and break the force of their Fall He did nothing for their relief they are under unallayed wrath but He took the Seâ—d of Abraham and plants a new Colony of those who sprung from the Earth in the Heavenly Country to fill up the vacant places of those Apostate Spirits This is just matter of our highest admiration why the milder Attribute is exercised towards Man and the severer on them Why the vessels of clay are chosen and the vessels of Gold neglected How can we reflect upon it without the warmest Affections to our Redeemer We shall never fully understand the Riches of distinguishing Grace till our Saviour shall be their Judg and receive us into the Kingdom of Joy and Glory and condemn them to an Eternal Separation from his Presence CHAP. IX The Greatness of Redeeming Love discovered by considering the Evils from which we are freed The Servitude of Sin the Tyranny of Satan the Bondage of the Law the Empire of Death The measure of Love is proportionable to the degrees of our Misery No possible Remedy for us in Nature Our Deliverance is compleat The Divine Love is magnified in the Means by which our Redeemer is accomplishâ—d They are the Incarnation and Sufferings of the Son of God Love is manifested in the Incarnation upon the account of the essential Condition of the Nature assumed and its Servile state Christ took our Nature after it had lost its Innocency The most evident Proof