Reprobation of sinners issues from the Sovereignty and Justice thereof The Reprobation of sin is universal and without any distinction of persons God hates sin where-ever it be be it in his own beloved Jedidiahs 't is an abominable thing such as his soul abhorrs but the Reprobation of sinners is particular Esau and not Jacob was hated Judas and not Peter was a Son of perdition Indeed he that denies particular Reprobation must by necessary consequence deny particular Election and he that asserts an Election of some individual persons doth in eodem rationis signo assert a Reprobation of others 2. What are they for Quality I answer in two particulars 1. Reprobation as to the first and second Acts thereof viz. Preterition and Permission of final sin respects them as lying in the corrupt Mass. This appears by those Names and Titles whereby Reprobation is set forth and described in Scripture there 't is hatred and God hates none but sinners 't is hardening and God hardens none but such as are in a corrupt estate 't is abjection or casting away and God doth not cast away an upright one or a man standing in integrity 't is not knowing and God knows and approves every sinless creature 't is not shewing mercy and that supposes men to lie in a state of misery or else they are not capable of mercy or the denial thereof Wherefore I conceive that in Preterition and Permission of final sin men are considered as lying in a corrupt and undone Condition 2. Reprobation as to its third Act viz. the decreeing of Damnation respects them as final sinners 'T is true every sin as sin is in it self intrinsecally meritorious of Damnation but through Gospel Grace in Jesus Christ no sin but such as is final doth actually produce Damnation God condemns none but for final sin and decrees to condemn none but for it Those vessels of wrath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fitted to destruction Rom. 9. 22. are as I take it final sinners only Great sinners may be vessels of Mercy and repent unto Life Eternal but final sinners are vessels of Wrath and fitted to destruction God swears by his life that he hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked Ezek. 33. 11. not unless he be a final sinner in whom there is no true turning or repenting not in such a way as to leave no place or room at all for Conversion for the sinners turn is in the Text opposed to his death and opposed as a thing more destrable to God than his death Should the Decree of Damnation objectively terminate on a sinner merely as a sinner there could be no place or room for Repentance but if it terminate on him as a final sinner there is no such obstruction at all Wherefore I conceive that as God condemns none but for final sin so he decrees to condemn none but for the same and by consequence that Decree respects them as final sinners that is they are first considered as final sinners and then the Decree of Damnation terminates on them Object But here an Objection meets me God condemns none but final sinners and decrees to condemn none but such yet hence it follows not that the Decree of Damnation respects them as final Sinners or that they were considered as such antecedently to that Decree for God saves none but final believers and decrees to save none but such yet from thence it follows not that the Decree of Salvation respects them as final Believers or that they were considered as such antecedently to that Decree for as hath been laid down before Faith and Salvation are comprized in one and the same Decree and therefore there is no antecedency of Faith to Salvation in the very Decree but only in the execution thereof Answ. To which Objection I answer That between the two Cases there is a triple difference which if considered will make it appear that the consequence which fails in the one case doth hold good in the other 1. These two Propositions God decrees to save none but final Believers and God decrees to damn none but final Sinners must be taken in a different meaning When we say God decrees to save none but final Believers the meaning is not final Believers so preconsidered antecedently to that Decree for Faith and Salvation are comprized in one Decree but final Believers so to be made by force of that Decree But when we say God decrees to damn none but final Sinners the meaning is not final Sinners so to be made by force of that Decree for God's Decree makes no man a final Sinner but final Sinners so preconsidered antecedently to that Decree Wherefore from that Proposition God decrees to save none but final Believers it cannot be concluded that the Decree of Salvation respects them as final Believers but because of the different meaning from that other Proposition God decrees to damn none but final Sinners it may be rightly concluded that the Decree of Damnation respects them as final Sinners 2. There is an immediate contact between Grace and Glory hence these two may very aptly be comprized in one Decree and if so final Faith is not preconsidered to the Decree of Salvation But between Preterition or Permission of sin and Damnation there is no immediate contact for the Act of the Creature even his final sin comes between hence Preterition or Permission and Damnation cannot according to our understanding be congruously comprized in one Decree but in distinct Decrees and if so final sin is preconsidered to the Decree of Damnation For no sooner doth the Decree of Preterition and Permission pass in the divine Will but therein as in a Glass there is a Prescience of final Sin and thereupon passes the Decree of Damnation But you 'l say Neither is there such an immediate contact between Grace and Glory as you assert for between the donation of Grace and Glory the act of the Creature viz. final Faith doth intervene I answer 'T is true it doth intervene but as a fruit or effect of that Donation it doth intervene but that Donation hath a Causal influence and attingency into the Creatures Act and its Perseverance wherefore it so intervenes as not to break the immediate contact in the least measure But between Preterition or Permission and Damnation the Creatures Act viz. final Sin doth intervene not as an effect of Preterition or Permission but as a fruit of man's corrupted and depraved Will and that intervention cannot stand with an immediate contact Wherefore there being distinct Decrees first Preterition and Permission are decreed and then upon the prescience of final Sin Damnation 3. The third difference is that of the Apostle The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord Rom. 6. 23. Eternal Life is a gift freely given therefore the consideration of final Faith is not a prerequisite to the Decree of Salvation But Death is wages exacted by the
intrinsecal merit of Sin and paid only to a final Sinner therefore the consideration of final sin is a prerequisite to the Decree of Damnation without that consideration I see not how it can be decreed as Wages But you 'l say Is not Eternal Life also a Reward of Faith and Holiness and how then can that be decreed as a Reward without a preconsideration of these I answer Eternal Life is a Reward but 't is a Reward of pure Grace 't is Grace upon Grace glorifying Grace upon sanctifying therefore to the Decreeing thereof as a Reward it suffices that it be decreed to Believers and Saints Not Believers and Saints so preconsidered to that Decree for Grace and Glory being both mere gifts and gifts of immediate contact are comprized in one Decree but Believers and Saints so to be made by force of that Decree and so to be made before they wear the Crown This is enough in the decreeing of a Reward so purely gratuitous But in Eternal Death there is nothing at all gratuitous all is mere wages and pay for Sin Sin doth really and intrinsecally merit it Wherefore Eternal death as such wages is decreed only to final Sinners Not final Sinners so to be made by force of God's Decree for that makes no man a final Sinner but final Sinners so preconsidered to the Decree of Damnation for without that preconsideration it is not as I conceive decreeable as wages or pay due unto them To shut up this point in a word Reprobation as to the Decree of Preterition and Permission respects men as lapsed Sinners and as to the Decree of Damnation respects them as final Sinnets 4. What is the Impulsive Cause of Reprobation To which I make answer 1. As for the Decree of Preterition and Permission of final Sin it is from God's Will as cloathed with supreme Sovereignty God passeth by and hardneth whom he will This appears in two particulars 1. First God doth not give so much as the Gospel-means unto some men He suffered all nations to walk in their own ways Acts 14. 16. Some sin and perish without Law or Gospel all the Law they have is the dark glimmering of Nature and all the Gospel they have is the patience and goodness of God leading to Repentance The Sun Moon and Stars are divided to all nations Dent. 4. 19. but Jesus Christ a Sun of infinite light and lustre shines in a narrower compass on the earth than the finite Sun the Moon is lesser than the Earth the visible Church than the World of Men. The Apostles those Stars of light must not shine in Asia and Bithynia Acts 16. 6 7. By what way is this Evangelical Light parted Surely by the divine Will alone the difference is not from the worthiness or unworthiness of men for those in Asia and Bithynia were as good as others Christ was manifested to a Thief and not to a Socrates or Plato Rebellious Israel hath the light of the Word in it and a more flexible Nation which would hearken thereunto wants it Ezek. 3. 6 7. Impenitent Corazin and Bethsaida have a visible Deity before them in Christ's Miracles when poor Tyre and Sidon much nearer to Repentance hath it not Matth. 11. 21. In all which the sovereign Will of God is to be adored for that is it which divideth between the Light and the Darkness 2. In the Visible Church the Orb of Gospel-light God doth not give saving Grace unto all 'T is true the mercy of God is so immense that all the sins of men are but as the drop of the bucket to it the Blood of God is so meritorious that all the crimson Crimes in the World are as nothing to it and the Spirit of God is so almighty that all the chains of hardness and unbelief fall off before his converting Grace Nevertheless this immense Mercy doth not pardon all this meritorious Blood doth not wash all nor this almighty Spirit doth not convert all unto God Oh the wonderful Abyss of the divine Counsel All men naturally lie in bloody pollution and God saith to one Live and not to another all are as it were one entire Rock of obstinacy against God and he calls Abraham's children out of one part of the Rock and leaves all the rest to be Rock still All are dead in sins and trespasses nay and sealed up in their Graves with a stone of hardness and unbelief and one Grave-stone is rolled away and the dead under it raised up by almighty Grace and not another External Revelation is all over the Church why is not the inward holy Unction so too The Gospel sounds in every Ear why do not all hear and learn of the Father The Gospel calls and knocks at every door why are not the Demonstrations of the Spirit and the drawings of the Father in every heart The Gospel says in general Whosoever will may take the Water of Life freely why doth not God work the Will in all Why are any dimissi libero arbitrio left to the miserable servitude of their own free Will Here there is no other resolution but that of the Apostle He will have mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardneth and beyond this we can only wonder and in quodam mentis excessu cry out Oh the depth Cur hoc illi operetur saith St. Austin illi non operetur metuentem me trementem judicia ejus inscrutabilia incomprehensibilia nolo interroges quia quod lego ercdo revereor non autem discutio And Ne dicas Deo interrogando Quae est voluntas tua sed tremendo Fiat voluntas tua And again Posset Deus saith he of wicked men ipsorum voluntatem in bonum convertere quoniam Omnipotens est posset planè cur ergo non fecit quia noluit cur noluerit penès ipsum est If there were any thing extra Deum moving him to the Decree of Preterition and Permission it must needs be sin either Original or Actual or final Impenitency and Infidelity therein but none of all these moved God thereunto Not Original sin for this is the common blood wherein all men Elect as well as Reprobate lie by nature And this is St. Ambrose's Mirum touching Infants Ubi actio non offendit ubi arbitrium non resistit ubi eadem miseria similis imbecillitas causa communis est non unum esse de tanta parilitate judicem quales reprobat abdicatio tales adoptat Electio Indeed Original Sin makes all men reprobable for all are by nature Children of wrath Transgressors from the womb an unclean and corrupt Seed lying in bloody and abominable pollution fit and worthy to be put away from the holy One as dross and for ever to be cast out into utter darkness but it makes no man a Reprobate for the Elect are as deep in this filthy mire as others Nor yet doth Actual sin do it for Jacob was loved and Esau hated before they had
it stands in the Law absolutely is Death punishment as it stands there in relation to a finite Creature is eternal Death the first was really suffered by Christ and the second could not be justly exacted of him for he paid down the whole sum of Sufferings all at once and so swallowed up Death in victory As to that of the Worm I answer the Worm attends not Sin imputed but Sin inherent 't is bred out of the putrefaction of Conscience and that putrefaction is from the in-being of Sin Now Christ being withot spot suffered punishment not as it follows Sin inherent but as it follows Sin imputed and so he suffered the same punishment for the main as was due to us 3. Christ suffered this punishment in our stead he died 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for us Rom. 5. 8. and which is more emphatical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in stead of many Matth. 20. 28. the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth sometimes in Scripture signifie only the utility or benefit of another but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly imports a Subrogation or Substitution of one in the Room of another and so Christ as our Surety died in our room or stead Hence the Apostle argues thus If one died for all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then all died 2 Cor. 5. 15. all died in the death of one in as much as that one died as the Surety of all Hence our Sins were condemned in his flesh Rom. 8. 3. and so condemned there that upon Gospel terms they are remitted to us But unless he had stood in our room divine Justice could neither have adjudged him to punishment nor yet have admitted us to an absolution from Sin 4. Suffering thus in our stead he satisfied both God's vindictive Justice and minatory Law 1. He satisfied God's vindictive Justice God is a righteous God a God that loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity nay he so perfectly hateth it that his pure eyes cannot look upon it and his righteous hands cannot but punish it he will by no means clear the guilty Exod. 34. 7. not unless his Justice be satisfied for he is a righteous judge 2 Tim. 4. 8. so righteous that he cannot but do right Gen. 18. 25. his judgment is righteous judgment Rom. 3. 8. and every sin must have a righteous recompense Heb. 2. 2. and no wonder for Sin is an horrible Ataxy and God will not inordinatum dimittere the subjection of a rational Creature to its Creator is indispensable God whilest God must be above and the Creature whilest a Creature below and this dependance so far as it is broken off by Sin must be salved up by punishment or else God loses his dominion over his Creature This is that which the Apostle calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the righteousness of God Rom. 1. 32. and this is so naturally in him that the very Heathens knew it by the light of Nature The Viper upon Paul's hand made the Barbarians cry out of a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acts 28. 4. Now what doth this vindictive Justice require Not precisely that the Sinner himself should be punished for then Redemption should be impossible but that the Sin should be punished and so it was in Christ he for our debt was cast into Prison and paid every farthing of it The damned in Hell pay a little and a little and can never satisfie but he paid down the total sum of Sufferings all at once they are always striving with God's wrath but he wrastled with it and prevailed Hence in Isai. 49. Ver. 3. he is called Israel a Prince with God His Sufferings were so satisfactory to divine Justice that the pains of death could not hold him Acts 2. 24. neither could the Prison of Wrath detain him Isai. 53. 8. and all because there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a redemption of transgressions Heb. 9. 15. that is a compensation or satisfaction made to divine Justice for them I go to my Father saith he and ye shall see me no more Joh. 16. 10. Justice did not stop him in his passage to Heaven neither did his Father send him back again to mend his work You shall see me no more no more bleeding under the burthen of Sin no more paying down sufferings to divine Justice for all 's discharged and to assure us of it God who received the sum pawns Heaven and Earth in mortgage that he will forgive our Sins without any further satisfaction Jer. 31. 34 35 36. By all which it appears that Justice was fully satisfied But here 't will be objected That the innocent should suffer for the nocent is unjust that which is such cannot satisfie Justice I answer 'T is unjust if the innocent suffer compulsorily but not if he suffer freely 't is unjust if the innocent sink under his sufferings but not if he be able to bear them 't is unjust if there be no good in his sufferings commensurate to the evil but not if the evil be exceeded by the subsequent good 't is unjust if the innocent stand in no relation to the nocent for whom he suffers but not if he stand in relation to him Suppose a natural relation Saul's Sons were hanged up for Saul's sins 2 Sam. 21. 9. Suppose a political relation seventy thousand fall for David's sin 2 Sam. 24. 15. which makes him cry out Lo I have sinned but these sheep what have they done Suppose a voluntary relation Sureties must pay for their Principals and that not only in Money-matters but in Capital punishments thus the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 engaged life for life which the Apostle seems to insinuate in that passage Peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die Rom. 5. 7. and why then may not Christ who by all these ways is conjoin'd to us naturally as a Man legally as a Surety and mystically as a Head justly suffer for us Especially seeing there was free Action in his Passion victorious Strength under his Burthen and the penal Evil crowned by such a grand Good as Redemption is why may not he justly suffer for us The Scriptures are positive in it Christ died for the ungodly Rom. 5. 6 the just for the unjust 1 Pet. 3. 18. and one for all 2 Cor. 5. 14. Wherefore if humane Reason will not subscribe it fights against God himself 2. He satisfied the Minatory Law for this is no other than the voice of vindictive Justice uttering Death and a Curse against Sinners and to satisfie this he died and died an accursed Death in their room But you 'l say though he died for us yet the Law is not satisfied because it requires that the Sinner himself should die thou shalt die the death Gen. 2. 17. and cursed is he that doth not all the words of this Law Deut. 27. 26. in which places he and thou relate to the person of the Sinner and therefore though Vindictive Justice as in it self might have been satisfied with punishing Sin
full of mercy as he is he could not forgive in a way opposite either to his Justice which in its nature calls for satisfaction for Sin or to his Truth which in the Law pronounces death on the Sinner but Justice and Truth being satisfied by Christ's death he is ready to forgive The mercy-seat was covered with a cloud of incense Levit. 16. 13. and the reason there rendred is very remarkable lest he that was before it should die What die before the Mercy-seat Yes even there unless the Merits of Christ be as a Cloud round about it Mercy as of it self alone would not save us but every Sinner must have died before it had it not been surrounded with the Incense of Christ's Merits God out of Christ is a consuming Fire to Sinners but in Christ he is reconciling them to himself The second is wrought by Christ's death as applied by Faith therefore 't is called propitiation through faith in his blood Rom. 3. 25. and both these were typified by the sprinkling of the blood of the Sacrifice under the Law That blood was sprinkled on the mercy-seat Levit. 16. 15. prefiguring the first degree of Reconciliation by Christ's death in it self and it was sprinkled on the people Exod. 24. 8. prefiguring the second degree of Reconciliation by Christ's death as applied to us by Faith But you 'l say If God be first angry and then reconciled and reconciled by degrees there must be a change in God and his Will which cannot be admitted I answer that Reconciliation is not an immanent Act but a transient not so properly abiding in God as passing from him upon the Creature As when the Scripture saith the Wrath of God at such a time was kindled or arose 't is not meant that the Will of God was novelly inflamed but that the flame of wrath then broke forth in transient effects from thence so when it saith God is reconciled it imports not a cooling alteration in the Will of God but a gracious effluxion of Love breaking out from thence As in punishment wrath goes out from the Lord against sinners Num. 16. 46. and is upon them 2 Chron. 29. 8. So in reconciliation Love goes out from the Lord towards Believers and is upon them so that the change is not in God but in the Creature Proportionably to the nature of Reconciliation as a transient Act Christ reconcileth us unto God not by making a new Will in God but by doing his Will for so he himself saith when he came about the work Loe I come to do thy will O God God's Will as to this point may be considered under a double notion either as naturally pregnant with Vindictive Justice and decretively issuing out the Minatory Law both requiring that Sin if committed should be punished or else as decreeing within it self the way and manner how this Justice Law should be satisfied by a Surety in order to the Redemption of sinners Now Christ perfectly fulfilled God's Will in all these respects in him our Sins were punished according to the exaction of Justice and the equitable interpretation of the Law and that in such a way as was preordained by God's Will for our Redemption This Will being thus satisfied God is truly reconciled not only as the Socinian would have it we reconciled to him but he to us and this appears in three things 1. In that Sin is not objected before God's Will as it would have been had not Christ satisfied it would have been objected before it as that just cause for which God might nay according to the naturality of his Justice and veracity of his Law must have punished us Sinners to all Eternity But now it is not so objected before it for albeit there be an intrinsecal and inseparable desert of wrath in the nature of it yet now its obligation or redundancy upon the Sinner appears not because expiated in the Surety this the Apostle calls the reconciling of sin Heb. 2. 17. Without Christ's death Sin like a fury would have cried and clamoured for wrath and vengeance to be poured down on the Sinner but through his death Sin as one reconciled hath nothing to say against him but that he may have Life and Salvation on Gospel-terms 2. In that the effects of wrath do not issue out from God's Will against the Sinner as they would have done God who is infinite Holiness and essential Rectitude cannot but hate Sin and in this hatred there is nothing less than a velle punire and from thence condign punishment must have poured down upon the Sinner if it had not by the Will of God been derived upon the Surety but being derived thither that righteous Will is satisfied and the merited Wrath comes not forth against the Sinner but instead thereof 3. Effects of Love break forth from God's Will towards him Grace appears to all men Tit. 2. 11. to all men in a gracious Reconciliability and to Believers in actual Reconciliation Believers are actually accepted or ingratiated in the beloved Eph. 1. 6. and so shall all others as soon as they become Believers Thus God is truly reconciled yet without any change in his Will only Sin doth not cry to that Will against the Sinner punishment doth not break out of that Will upon him and Grace beams and sparkles out of that Will towards him whilest in all these his Will remains unchangeable Hence in Scripture we are rather said to be reconciled to God than God to us not as the Socinian would have it because we only are reconciled to God and not God to us but because God is reconciled to us in such a way as is not alterative but perfective and completive of his unchangeable Will Thus Christ bore our Sins and God's Wrath in a way so satisfactory to God's Justice and Law that thereby God is reconciled to us and we are redeemed from Sin and Wrath. But here I am obviated by an Objection If there be such a compensatory Price paid for Sin where is free Remission Free Remission cannot stand with plenary Satisfaction what is fully paid cannot be at all remitted I answer It cannot if there be a solution by the Debtor but it may if there be a satisfaction by a Surety it cannot if that Surety were of the Debtors own providing but it may if he were of the Creditour's procuring it cannot if the Suretie's paiment be irrecusable but it may if the Creditor's acceptance be free it cannot if the remission were to the same person who makes satisfaction but it may if one person make satisfaction and another find remission And thus it is in this case our debts were paid to God but by a Surety Jesus Christ and this Surety was of God's own sending and that his payment went for ours was of God's own Grace and hence it comes to pass that God hath full satisfaction and we free remission and this without any repugnancy for Christ who satisfied had no remission
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8. 32. God did not spare or bate him a farthing and we who are remitted make no satisfaction all our Tears Prayers Sorrows Services pay not a mite to divine Justice Why should corrupt Reason mutter as if Satisfaction and Remission which are matches in Scripture were inconsistencies in Nature What saith God Levit. 4. 31. the Priest shall make an atonement there 's satisfaction and it shall be forgiven there 's remission What saith the great Apostle Rom. 3. 24. We are justified freely by his grace there 's remission through the redemption that is in Christ there 's satisfaction Take both in three words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you Eph. 4. 32. for Christ's sake there 's satisfaction hath forgiven you there 's remission and free remission for 't is not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a dismission or discharge of Sin but 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a dismission or discharge of it in a gracious way In Christ our Surety there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 3. 25. but towards us there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tit. 2. 11. Christ may say totum exsolvi and God may say totum remisi there was nothing forgiven to Christ for he paid all but there was all forgiven to us for we paid nothing Thus this Price is Redemptive from the Guilt of Sin and Wrath of God but this is not all 2. This Price is Redemptive from the stain of Sin the power of Sin and the tyranny of Satan and that by procuring the holy Spirit for us We are saved by the renewing of the holy Ghost and that is shed on us through Jesus Christ Tit. 3. 5 6. and where it is shed there it redeems 1. From the stain of Sin Sin is the dross or rust of the Soul Isai. 1. 22. but the Spirit refines and purifies from it Sin is the wrinkle of the old man Eph. 5. 27. but the Spirit smooths and removes it Christ came by water and blood 1 Joh. 5. 6. and the water sprung out of the blood the Spirit is that clean water Ezek. 36. 25. which fetcheth out the spots and stains of Sin and that healing water coming out from the side of the Temple even the pierced side of Christ Ezek. 47. 1. which by degrees cures all the Ulcers and Plague-sores of the heart The Corinthians were all over mire and dirt but they were washed in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God 1 Cor. 6. 11. the Spirit washed them and washed them in the name of Jesus that is for his Merits sake The Soul in sinning runs to the Cabul of the Creature dirtying and fouling it self but the Spirit brings it back again to the holy one and as it approaches nearer and nearer to him the macula peccati goes off and the nitor animae appears 2. It redeems from the power of Sin Sin merited Christ's Crucifixion and Christ's Crucifixion merited the Crucifixion of Sin and upon this account out comes the holy Spirit and nullifies the Law of Sin batters down the strong holds of it plucks up the very Throne of it and crucifies the old Man with all his members by outward restriction nailing his hands and his feet and by inward circumcision cutting and piercing into his heart and from thence gradually letting out his vital blood even the love of Sin hence his motions wax feeble his members weak his natural heat of original lust spent and exhausted and his whole body drooping and languishing to his dying day and all this by a secret virtue from Christ's death We are planted together 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Apostle Rom. 6. 5. he saith not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the conformity but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the conformation of his death because his death procured that conformity in us Hence Sin doth not reign in us as a Prince upon his Throne but die as a man upon the Cross Thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ. 3. It redeems from the tyranny of Satan Christ in his own person spoiled principalities and powers on the cross Col. 2. 15. and Christ by his Spirit spoils them in the hearts of men Satan hath his Palace there but Christ hath bought him out and the Spirit will cast him out Satan would keep on our chains but Christ dissolves them 1 Joh. 3. 8. As he by his Spirit enlightens off go the chains of the Mind as he converts off go the chains of the Will as he spiritualizes off go the chains of the Affections and as he sprinkles his blood upon us off goes the weighty Guilt of all these Satan would keep us within the Prison but Christ comes with an Habeas Animam translating us from the power of darkness into his own kingdom Col. 1. 13. a Region of Grace and Light where Satan the Ruler of Sin and Darkness cannot have the Victory because Christ the Wisdom and Power of God fights against Him who is as I may so say the wisdom and power of Sin Hence he falls as lightning from heaven Luke 10. 18. falls and breaks his Serpents head even his design against poor souls the ruine of Souls is a heaven to him and in falling short of that he falls as it were from heaven The Prince of this world shall be cast out saith Christ Joh. 12. 31. and he adds as a reason If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me Ver. 32. Lifted up upon the Cross he purchased the Spirit and lifted up into Heaven he sends down the Spirit which draws men out of Satans World into Christ's where the Gates of Hell can never prevail The God of peace bruises Satan underfoot Rom. 16. 20. the Apostle saith not the God of Mercy or Power shall do it but the God of Peace because unless Peace had been made through the blood of the Cross Satan would have kept us in everlasting Chains But now Justice being satisfied the Spirit comes forth with a Quo jure first rescuing the Captive-soul and then treading down Satan under its feet Thanks be unto God for this victory also through Jesus Christ. Thus this Price is redemptive from Evil but 2. This Price is procurative of Good Infinity is a boundless Ocean and may run over in effects as far as it pleaseth infinite Power might have run over in making millions of Worlds more and infinite Mercy might have run over in saving millions of Sinners more The Price of Redemption hath a kind of Infinity in it no wonder then if after remotion of Evils it run over by its transcendent excess of Value in the procuration of Good such was the glorious redundance and supereffluence of its Merit that it paid divine Justice to the last mite and over and besides made a purchase of three Worlds I mean the lower World of Nature the middle World of Grace and the upper World of
another But that of Nazianzen is fullest of spiritual sence who cries out O infirmitatem meam meā enim duco primi parentis infirmitatem If any reply But how could we sin in Adam I answer that our humane Nature was in him and why might it not sin there You 'l say It could not for want of a Will I answer that our Wills were put into Adam's by that Covenant which was made with him for himself and all his posterity If one Man may put his Will into another Man's Will in a Comprimise why may not God who is more Lord of our Wills than our selves put all our Wills into Adam's by a Covenant and here God did it with abundant Equity because our Wills were put into Adam's as well for the obteining blessedness upon his Obedience as for the incurring punishment upon his Disobedience 2. The lower end of this Chain the universal depravation of Nature called Peccatum originale originatum this hangs upon the former all habitual Sin hath an essential relation to some actual Sin precedent 'T is impossible that one should be a Sinner habitually who in no kind sinned actually If Adam had not sinned actually he had never been habitually vitiated nay if we had not sinned in his Sin we had never been so This original Depravation is the sinning Sin the Body of Sin a Body in our Souls Flesh in our Spirits a Nail on our Eyes a Plague in our Hearts and a Root of bitterness in our whole Nature this turns our Minds into Dungeons of darkness our Wills into Gulfs of Sin our Memories into leaking Vessels our Fancies into Forges of Vanity our Affections into Chambers of Imagery our Members into Weapons of Unrighteousness and our whole Man into a Man of Sin insomuch that to be carnal is to walk 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 3. 3. When we are formed in the Womb this Chain lies upon us even in primo ardore in the first warmth of natural Conception Psal. 51. 5. And when Christ is formed in our Hearts this Chain presses so hard upon the spiritual Embryo that as soon as ever it begins to live it falls a sighing and groaning with tears Oh! my hard heart Oh! my unbelieving heart Oh! my carnal sensual heart Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death Rom. 7. 24. Nay the very Philosophers themselves who never kenned so far as the top of this Chain I mean Adam's Sin yet seem to feel the weight of it Wherefore sometimes they complain of a Sepulchrum Corporis as if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were become 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Grave to the Soul and sometimes they cry out of a Defluvium Pennarum as if the Soul had lost her Wings Whither also may be referred the Trismegists Indumentum Inscitiae Pravitatis Fundamentum Corruptionis Vinculum Velamen opacum with many such like expressions touching the weight and pressure of this Chain involving Men in a horrid slavery and captivity 2. Besides the Chain of Original Sin there is that of Actual the whole World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Joh. 5. 19. lies in wickedness as a Slave in his Chains Oh! the open Profaneness secret Hypocrisies spiritual Wickednesses carnal Pollutions daring Presumptions faultring Infirmities Impieties against God Unrighteousness against Men vast Armies and Hosts of Sin which cover the World As Original Sin turns Man into a Man of Sin so Actual Sin turn the World into a World of Sin This is a long Chain reaching from Adam's Fall to the Worlds Period and from first to last enwrapping Captives all along 2. The Links of the Chains are considerable and those are three great ones 1. The first Link is Macula peccati the Stain of Sin this is the filth of the Chain a brand of deformity on the naked Captive God is the beauty of Holiness and there is no turning from him without a Blot God is a Sun of infinite light and there is no holding up our hands against him without casting a dark shadow on our faces Every Sin is a filthiness If it be a brutish lust 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 filthiness of flesh if a spiritual wickedness 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 filthiness of spirit as the Apostle distinguisheth 2 Cor. 7. 1. Nay that which is filthiness of flesh in the external commission of the Act is yet filthiness of spirit in the internal commaculation of the Soul The wicked cast out mire and dirt and the more they cast out in the transient Acts of Sin the more there is within in the abiding spot of it When the Act of Sin is passed and gone the Spot and Stain thereof stays behind and denominates us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 children of disobedience 2. The second Link is Reatus peccati the Guilt of Sin a dreadful Link chaining the naked Captive to divine Wrath fastened within him by the desert of Sin and bound upon him by the Justice of God and hence he becomes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a child of wrath No sooner doth he turn from God as his Law-giver but he meets him as his Judge and that in the face The face of the Lord is against them that do evil Whilest he flies extra ordinem praecepti hee falls intra ordinem justitiae the wages of sin is death 3. The third Link is Regnum peccati the Reign of Sin Sin is an absolute Tyrant over us his Laws are all writ in Letters of blood his strong Holds are in our very Reasons 2 Cor. 10. 4 5. His Throne is in our Wills his winged Chariot in our Affections his Weapons in our earthly Members and our whole man is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the slave of sin Joh. 8. 34. 2. The next thing in the Captivity is the Prison and that is the Wrath of God But here we must distinguish the Walls from the Dungeon the Walls are very strong and dreadful infinite Justice and Holiness are the flaming Cherubims that guard them and the Hand-writing upon them is A curse to the sinner and woe to the worker of iniquity The poor Captive as long as his Chains are unbroken lies within these Walls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 under the judgment of God Rom. 3. 19. Wrath abides upon him Joh. 3. 36. a sad State Nevertheless whilest but here he is a Prisoner of Hope a Captive capable of Redemption The Dungeon is Hell it self a place of Darkness a gulf of unquenchable Fire a bottomless Pit of Perdition into which impenitent Sinners are still a sinking deeper and deeper without any hope of ascending out of it when the Captive is once here the utmost farthing will be exacted of him 3. The last thing in the Captivity is the Jaylor even Satan and he doth three things 1. He takes the Captive into his custody the Natural Man's Heart becomes his Palace and every room in it is full of hellish furniture not the Turret of Reason nay not the reliques
his eyes when he drunk off the cup of wrath his passions were free-will offerings Loe I come saith he to do thy will O God Hebr. 10. 7. Gods will was that he should suffer and his will runs before and as it it were anticipates his sufferings Loe I come nay in his passage he breaks out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 How am I straitned till it be accomplished Luke 12. 50. He was as it were in pangs of forward obedience to be baptized in his own blood and posted on towards an agony of wrath in an agony of love and when he arrived at his extremest sufferings his signal willingness turned his suffering into doing and his Cross into a triumphant Chariot he triumphed in it saith the Apostle Col. 2. 15. even there his obedience and love rode in triumph triumphant obedience spread out his hands upon the Cross and triumphant love opened his naked heart to the wrath of God His Soul was not snatched away but poured out Isai. 53. 12. his life was not meerly taken away but laid down Joh. 10. 18. He was willing to be forsaken of God himself for a time that thereby he might fulfil the will of God and before the fire of Gods wrath could fall on him he was all in a flame with his own love Thus the active and passive obedience of Christ were not severed in their existence but like his seamless coat were interwoven from the top throughout even to his last gasp upon the Cross. 2. Neither were these severed in merit Christ is not so to be divided as if his sufferings apart by themselves were the price of Remission and his righteousness apart by it self the price of Glory If the active obedience of Christ apart make us perfectly righteous where is the glory of the passive if the passive obedience of Christ apart purchase all for us where is the glory of the active But if both together make up the total sum the glory of both is preserved Our Redeemer was made under the Law that he might redeem us now as he was under the whole Law as to the command and as to the curse of it so his active and passive obedience adequately answering both is the entire price of our Redemption But here I am obviated by 2 Objections 1. Saith the Socinian there is no price at all 2. Say some of our Divines the passive obedience of Christ is all the price and the active no part at all of it As to the first I shall not need spend many words about it because the Scripture is so pregnant in it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye are bought with a price saith S. Paul 1 Cor. 6. 20. and this price as S. Peter tells us is not corruptible things as Silver and Gold but the precious blood of Christ 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. a transcendent price able to purchase as much nay far more in the spiritual world than silver and gold can in the material and 't is not meerly a price of emption but of Redemption Christ gave his life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a price of Redemption Matth. 20. 28. and which is more emphatical he gave himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a counterprice of Redemption 1 Tim. 2. 6. doing and suffering in the room of poor captives and this price was paid into the right hand viz. into Gods Eph. 5. 2. and hence issues out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 proper Redemption the prison doors are opened and the poor captives may go out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 free indeed John 8. 36. That then there is a price is as clear in Scripture as if it were written with a Sun-beam But yet the Socinian shuts his eyes and cryes out all is but a Metaphor God redeemed saith he Israel out of Egypt and Moses is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acts 7. 35. and yet there was no price at all paid But alas that ever such vain consequences should drop from the masters of Reason Redemption in some Scriptures is metaphorical therefore 't is so in all Moses was but a naked deliverer therefore Christ is not a proper Redeemer Moses's Redemption was a Redemption by power only therefore Chists Redemption is no Redemption by price Redemption out of the hands of an unjust Pharaoh was without price therefore Redemption out of the hands of a righteous God was so too But on the other side how cogent is the argument If Moses paying down no price was but a naked deliverer then Christ paying down one was a proper Redeemer If I believe that to be but a Metaphorical Redemption because the Scriptures speak of no Price paid for the same pari ratione I must believe this to be a proper Redemption because the Scriptures tell us of a Price If there must be Power to redeem a Captive from humane Oppression surely theremust be a Price to redeem him from divine Justice We were all as Captives locked up under the Curse of the Law and Wrath of God and Christ was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both a Redeemer and a Ransom for us Wherefore concluding that there was a Price I pass on 2. As to the second Objection I conceive that the Active and Passive Obedience of Christ do both together make up the perfect Price of our Redemption I say both together The Active is part of the Sum And this I shall demonstrate 1. In general by those Scriptures which set out the Managery of Redemption Long before our Saviour Christ came about it the Father calls him his servant Isai. 42. 1. and one part of his service was his Active Obedience and just at his entrance into the World he expresses himself Loe I come to do thy will O God Heb. 10. 7. He came in his Incarnation his errand was Redemption and the way to compass it was by doing God's Will and that he did partly in his Active Obedience being come his state was subjection he was made under the Law to redeem us Gal. 4. 4 5. His humane Nature was so far a Price as 't was made under the Law in part as to his Active Obedience this being his state his ear was bored Psal. 40. 6. which the Apostle renders a body was prepared Heb. 10. 5. His humane Nature was as I may so say all Ear to the Commands of God among which one was that he should fulfil Active Obedience this Obedience he fulfilled all along even unto Death nay and in Death and by this entire Obedience accomplished in doing and suffering we are made righteous Rom. 5. 19. and so righteous that the righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in us Rom. 8. 4. and so fulfilled that the Law hath its end Rom. 10. 4. and this so accurately that one jot or tittle doth not pass from the Law but all is fulfilled Matth. 5. 18. In all which series of Scriptures his Active Obedience concurrs as part of the Price 2. In particular I evince this Truth by
had done all and omitted nothing and then by their Principles what need we obey in our own persons But 2. That Christ obeyed for us and therefore we need not obey is as vain a Consequence as to say Christ died for us and therefore we should not die But the different Ends reconcile all Christ died that there might be Satisfaction for Sin as to the Guilt of it and we die that there may be a Destruction of Sin as to the Being of it Also Christ obeyed that our Justification might be effected and we obey that our Sanctification may be promoted Christ obeyed that we might reign in life and we obey that we may be more and more meet for it Nay Christ obeyed that we might obey for one fruit of Redemption was that we might be a peculiar people zealous of good works Tit. 2. 14. and we obey that his Obedience may not be in vain as to us for he is the author of eternal redemption to them that obey him Heb. 5. 9. Hence it appears that Christ's Obedience and ours may as well consist together as Justification and Sanctification Life and the way to it Redemption and the fruit thereof 3. Because the Price of our Redemption is a thing of superexcellent fulness and superimaginable glory redeeming Captives in a way completive and perfective of the Law broken by them Do we make void the Law by Faith or by its Object our Redeemer and Redemption Nay we establish the Law Rom. 3. 31. When Man was in Innocency the Royal Law sate in Glory commanding upon its Throne holding forth in its right hand a Crown of Life in the Promise and in its left a Sword of Vengeance in the Threatning But when Monstrous Sin entred into the World the very Throne of the Law seemed to shake and the Crown in its right hand to wither only the Sword was glittering and fiery in the left the Minatory part of the Law stood fast captivating and cursing the Sinner but the Mandatory and Promissory parts thereof fell a trembling and staggering as if their natural and primary End viz. perfect Obedience and all the ensuing Bliss were utterly lost Now Jesus Christ our wonderful Redeemer redeemed us in such a way as that he established the Law in every respect by his Active Obedience he fastened and newpinned the very Throne of the Law and made the old Promise to bud again with Life and in his Passive Obedience the fiery Sword of God's wrath did awake against him Zach. 13. 7. and smote and wounded him for our iniquities he paid down his humane Nature in doing and suffering and what could the Law desire of him more Thus Jesus Christ became the end the fulness the perfection of the Law Rom. 10. 4. But if the Passive Obedience of Christ be only the Price then indeed the Curse or Wrath which is in the left hand of the Law and which comes accidentally by sin is satisfied But where is the primary and natural end of the Law Where is that perfect Obedience which is in the right hand and right eye of the Law You 'l say 't is in the Person of Christ our Redeemer But how is it there the Apostle says that Christ is the end of the Law to the believer now if it be there only personally as for himself then as to that he is the end of the Law only for himself but if it be there also fide jussorially as for us then 't is part of the Price and so he is the end of the Law to us also But you 'l reply that though Christ's Active Obedience be no part of the Price yet his Passive suffices for that takes away Sin and Death from us and Sin being removed Righteousness follows and Death being removed Life follows and so the Law hath its end I answer I might deny these consequences for Adam in Innocency was free from Sin and Death yet in that state had neither all the Righteousness performable nor all the Life attainable by him But if I admit that upon the remotion of Sin and Death Righteousness and Life do follow yet these may follow from Christ's whole Obedience as their total Principle and not only from the Passive If they follow from the Passive only the Glory of Redemption is much darkned for who sees not that the Law is not nor cannot be so completely accomplished by the mere Sufferings of Christ as if over and besides those he also performed perfect Obedience for us Who sees not more Glory shining out when perfect Righteousness is a part of the Price than if it be only an effect thereof issuing by consequential resultance from the remotion of Sin Wherefore the Messiah is set out to us in the Prophet not only as making an end of sin but as bringing in everlasting righteousness Dan. 9. 24. and in the Evangelist not only as giving his life but as fulfilling all righteousness Matth. 3. 15. and in the Apostle not only as made sin but as made righteousness too 1 Cor. 1. 30. and thus the Law hath its perfect accomplishment by our Redeemer Wherefore concluding that the humane Nature of Christ paid down in his Active and Passive Obedience is the entire and integral price of our Redemption I pass on to the second Quaere 2. What manner of Price this is and this I shall open in three things 1. 'T is a Price Redemptive from Evil. 2. 'T is a Price Procurative of Good 3. 'T is a Price Sufficient for both 1. 'T is a Price Redemptive from Evil even from all the evils of our Captivity viz. the Chains of Sin the bloody Jaylor Satan and the Prison of Wrath our great Redeemer by laying down this price hath hroke off our Chains vanquished the Jaylor and opened the Prison-doors for us only here is an observable difference for 1. As to the Guilt of Sin and the Wrath of God this Price is redemptive in a more immediate way by it self 2. As to the stain of Sin the power of Sin and the tyranny of Satan this Price is redemptive in a consequential way by procuring the holy Spirit for us 1. This Price is Redemptive from the Guilt of Sin and Wrath of God and this in a more immediate way by it self Now albeit the entire Price concurr herein yet because as to this there is a special relucency in some parts thereof I shall only insist on five things viz. 1. Our Sins were laid upon Christ. 2. He suffered the same punishment for the main that was due for these Sins 3. He suffered it in our stead 4. Suffering in our stead he satisfied God's Vindictive Justice and Minatory Law 5. These satisfied God is reconciled 1. Our sins were laid upon Christ. Whilest the Chains are upon the Captive Captivity is unavoidable whilest Sin is on the Sinner Redemption is impossible God therefore gave Sin a remove from its proper Ubi I will remove iniquity in one day saith he Zech. 3.
in another yet the Minatory Law which is the voice of Justice cannot be satisfied unless the punishment fall on the Sinner himself and the reason is because in this Minatory Law the Veracity of God is engaged which it was not before now Justice speaks out which it did not before and that which it speaks must be true For answer whereunto 1. Some as the Learned Grotius say that here was Dispensatio Legis quâ Legis manentis obligatio circa quasdam personas tollitur But I take it that God's Threatnings are indispensably Yea and Amen as well as his Promises for albeit God doth not dare aliquod jus creaturae in his Threatnings as he doth in his Promises yet is he debitor sibi-ipsi in both and not one jot or tittle of either can fail because of his infinite Veracity God will not call back his words of threatning Isai. 31. 2. neither will he himself turn back from them Jer. 4. 28. his words stand surely for evil Jer. 44. 29. That Threatning that Nineveh should be destroyed had a tacit Condition in it which had it been expressed the Threatning would have run thus It shall be destroyed except it repent therefore it repenting there was a remotion of the Judgment according to the tenour of the Threatning but no dispensatio Juris at all Wherefore 2. I answer that here God did interpret his Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in an equitable way equity is nothing else but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a filling up of a general Law by a benign interpretation in that part which was not precisely determinate The divine sanction was the sinner shall die but it was not precisely determinate that he should die in his own person for then God's unalterable truth should have barred out a Surety neither was it precisely determinate that he should die in his Surety for then the threatning should originally have been a promise and a promise unto sin such as God never made But the sanction was general the sinner shall die and two interpretations lay before God the first that the sinner shall die in his own person the latter that he shall die in his surety the first is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 just severity the latter is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 condescending mercy in the first there is more of the sound of the law-letter in the latter more of the sounding of the Law-givers bowels the first is much like the first delivery of the Law with thundrings and lightnings and devouring fire Exod. 19. 16 17 18. the latter is like the second delivery of it with a Proclamation of grace and goodness and pardoning mercy for thousands Exod. 34. 6 7. Now these two interpretations lying before God he as the Supreme Law-giver in order to redemption interpreted his Law according to a merciful equity the sinner shall die that is in his surety Christ. Oh the immense love of the Father and the Son the Fathers love fills up the Law by a gracious interpretation and then the Sons love fulfils it by a perfect satisfaction mercy and truth are met together mercy in a favourable construction of the Law and truth in the evident veracity of the Law-giver the person of the sinner may be saved and yet the truth of the threatning is salved through Christ's satisfaction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are abrogated from the Law Rom. 7. 6. and yet we do not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 abrogate the Law but establish it Rom. 3. 31. because it is fulfilled in Christ. Neither doth this equitable interpretation suppose any defect in the divine Law as it doth in humane Laws for humane Laws are made general for want of providence in men to forsee all particular cases which fall out but this Law was made general out of the perfection of providence in God that there might be room for a surety to come in and satisfie it But you 'l say if God interpret the threatning in such an equitable way the sinner shall die in his surety then no sinner is in a state of wrath here nor can be condemned in hell hereafter for both these issue out from the first interpretation thou shalt die in thine own person and that is now waved by the Judge I answer that God doth not totally and absolutely either wave the first rigorous interpretation for the elect are under wrath till they believe and repent and the reprobate not believing and repenting are cast into hell and both by virtue of the first interpretation but he waves the first and makes the second interpretation in order to redemption and only so far forth as redemption requires it Now what doth that require It requires that all that embrace Christ should be saved from the death in the threatning and therefore thus far the first interpretation is waved and the second takes place but it requires not that any person should either be out of a state of wrath before faith or be saved without faith and therefore the equitable interpretation doth not go thus far and so far as that goeth not the rigorous interpretation takes place because pro tanto it is consistent with redemption redemption is the end and the all-wise God measures and proportions out the equitable interpretation in such a way as serves unto it and the rigorous interpretation in such a way as stands with it In a word according to this equitable interprepretation Christ hath so satisfied the threatning as that all believers shall be saved from it yet this satisfaction hinders not but that the rigorous interpretation should abide upon unbelievers whilst such for whilst such they embrace not that satisfaction and therefore are justly cursed by the Law till they receive the Gospel Fifthly God's vindictive Justice and minatory Law being thus satisfied he becomes reconciled There are two degrees of reconciliation the first is that whereby God is ready to receive men into grace and favour if they believe the second is that whereby God is actually reconciled to them upon their believing The Apostle mentions both these Col. 1. 20 21. for first he tells us ver 20. That God did reconcile all things to himself by the blood of his Cross and then it follows ver 21. Yet now hath he reconciled you you O believing Colossians All were reconciled in the first degree and believers in the second the first was done all at once upon the Cross and the second is yet now a doing and so will be till the Believers are all come in therefore the Apostle says God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself 2 Cor. 5. 19. Reconciling which imports a continued Act a carrying on the work of Reconciliation from one degree to another by particular applications Now both these degrees of Reconciliation are wrought by the Death of Christ the first was wrought by it ipso facto without it God would have breathed out nothing but wrath but through it he is ready to forgive Psal. 86. 5. As
Glory 1. As to the World of Nature Christ procured two things 1. The Standing of it 2. The Deliverance of it 1. The Standing of it and that in a threefold respect 1. The Standing of it in Being Sin filled it with so much spiritual stench and rottenness that the Power of the holy One would not have endured to have been there supporting and bearing it up in Being if the Death of Christ had not been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sweet-smelling savour Eph. 5. 2. to perfume and sweeten it the World was as it were new founded by the Cross or else Sin that abomination of desolation would have dashed it down about the Sinners Ears Justice if unsatisfied would not have spared so much as the Stage whereon Sin was acted but hurled it down into its first Nullity Christ upholdeth all things by the word of his power Heb. 1. 3. Before Sins entry they stood merely by the word of his Power but since they stand not without the blood of his Cross. Redemption is the great Buttress of Creation as it rears up the little World after its fall so it keeps up the great World from falling 2. The Standing of it in Order When the Prophet describes God's Judgments he speaks as if the old Chaos were come again Loe the earth was without form and void Jer. 4. 23. All the Orders and Harmonies in Nature were at first set by the Wisdom of God and afterwards cemented by the Blood of God or else Sin would have unframed all By Christ all things consist Col. 1. 17. not only subsist in their Beings but consist in their Orders 3. The Standing of it in its Usefulness to us Sin was the blast and forfeiture but Christ is the Purchaser and heir of all things Heb. 1. 2. and in and through him all are as it were new-given to us We became such wretches by Sin that the Earth would not have bore our persons if Christ had not bore our iniquities the Sun in the Firmament would not have lighted the material World if the Sun of Righteousness had not appeared in the spiritual these lower Heavens would not have spun out a day for us if Christ had not purchased the upper ones of Glory the Blood of Creatures should never have been shed for the life of our Bodies if the Blood of God had not been poured out for the Life of our Souls Under the Law before Harvest began the Passeover was killed at Harvest a Sheaf of the first-fruits was brought to the Priest to be offered to God and after Harvest there was the Feast of Tabernacles to bless God for the Fruits of the Earth which by the Jews was kept with Booths and Hosannahs Had not Christ our Passeover been sacrificed for us there would have been no Harvest of Creature-blessings at all and now that there is one the praise of every Sheaf must be brought to Christ the high-priest of good things and in and through him offered up to God therefore there is a spiritual feast of tabernacles under the Gospel Zach. 14. 16. Whilest we sit under the Booths of the Creature we must sing Hosannahs to the Son of God who tabernacled in our flesh and in it merited all comforts for us Every bough of Nature hangs upon his Cross every crum of Bread swims in his Blood every Grape of blessing grows on his Crown of Thorns and all the sweetness in Nature streams out of his Vinegar and Gall. A right-born Christian is the best Philosopher for he sees the Sun of Righteousness in the Luminaries of Heaven the waterings of Christ's Blood in the fruits of the Earth the Word incarnate in Creature-nourishment and the Riches of Christ in all the Riches of Nature All are ours and we are Christ's and Christ is God's 2. Christ by this Price procured the Deliverance of it God made the House of the World for Man and whilest there is Sin in the Inhabitant the Curse-mark is on the House the Heavens wax old as if there were Mothes in them the Stars have their malignant Aspects the Earth hath its Thorns and Thistles and the whole Creation groans and travels with an universal Vanity the Sun groans out his light on the Workers of darkness the Air groans with Vollies of Oaths and Blasphemies and the Earth groans forth its Corn and Wine into the lap of the Riotous and as Sin grows heavier so the Creaturegroans wax lowder every day But at last in and through Christ there shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a restitution of all things Acts 3. 21. the Balm of his Blood will perfectly heal all the stabs and wounds in the Body of Nature the groaning and traveling Creature shall be delivered from the bondage of Corruption Rom. 8. 21. there shall be new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness 2 Pet. 3. 13. and all the steps and traces of the old Curse shall be razed out of the World Thus Christ hath purchased the World of Nature but this as appears by the Purchaser's own 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matth. 6. 33. is not the main bargain but the casting in or overplus thereof therefore 2. Christ by this Price purchased the World of Grace Grace may be considered two ways either as it is in the Map or Charter of the Gospel or as it is in the Subject or receptacle of the Heart and both ways 't is Christ's purchase 1. Grace in the Map or Charter is the Covenant of Grace comprized in the Promises called the Covenant of Promise Eph. 2. 12. In this Covenant there are Promises reaching down as low as the World of Nature and Promises reaching up as high as the World of Glory and betwixt these two run the Promises which water the World of Grace and these are either Promises of Grace such as those I will give an heart to know me Jer. 24. 7. I will circumcise the heart to love me Deut. 30. 6. I will put my laws into their minds and write them in their hearts Heb. 8. 10. I will give a new heart and a new spirit I will take away th◠stony heart and give an heart of flesh Ezek. 36. 26. or else they are Promises to Grace such as those God will justifie the believer Rom. 3. 26. beautifie the meek with salvation Psal. 149. 4. dwell in a broken heart Isai. 57. 15. comfort the mourners fill the hungry and be seen of the pure in heart Matth. 5. 4 6 8. Now all these Promises are the purchase of Christ and the whole Covenant made up of them is the New-testament in his blood 1 Cor. 11. 25. Without his satisfactory Blood there would have been no room for Promises no not for the least twinkling of a Promise to the sons of men for unsatisfied Justice would have hurried all to Hell All the Promises issue out to us in and through Christ the Rivers of Life gushed out of the true Rock the Gospel-wine run forth from the true Vine if
ends aforesaid 1. God decreed this Price to be paid Christ did not glorifie himself in making himself an high-priest or surety but he that said unto him Thou art my son this day have I begotten thee Heb. 5. 5. Christ's Person was begotten out of the Substance of God and his Office as it were begotten out of the Will of God God eternally ordained him to that Office 1 Pet. 1. 20. and in the fulness of time called him to it Heb. 5. 10. and for more assurance superadded his Seal to his Call Joh. 6. 27. and his Oath to both Heb. 7. 21. and all to shew forth his immutable purpose touching the same Christ was booked down for a Redeemer in the eternal Volumes and slain above in the Decree long before he was slain below in time Infinite Love impregnated the divine Will with the Decree of Redemption and that Decree sent forth our Redeemer and put a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon his righteousness Matth. 3. 15. a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon the cup of wrath Joh. 12. 27. and a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon his death and sufferings Matth. 16. 21. and all this that the mystery of Redemption hid from ages in the will of God Col. 1. 26. might come abroad into the World When the fulness of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a woman made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law Gal. 4. 4 5. O what a fair window is here opened into God's heart Redemption was decreed and therefore God sent forth his Son the time was decreed and therefore he sent him forth in the fulness of time and the Price was decreed and therefore he sent him forth made of a woman made under the Law that is to take a humane Nature and pay it down in all Obedience as the Price of our Redemption 2. As God decreed this Price to be paid so he accepted it being paid and this includes in it two things 1. That this Price was paid to him 2. That this Price was accepted by him 1. This Price was paid to him Christ offered himself to God Heb. 9. 14. Whether we consider this Price as redemptive from evil or as procurative of good both ways it was paid to God as redemptive from evil it was paid to him as a righteous Law-giver and Judge and as procurative of good it was paid to him as a great Remunerator and faithful Promiser God is the Law-giver against whose Laws we rebelled and God is the Judge who for our rebellions against his Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shut us all up in prison Rom. 11. 32. there we lay 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 under the judgment of God Rom. 3. 19. and his wrath abode upon us Joh. 3. 36. therefore this Price as redemptive from evil was paid to God as the Law-giver and Judge That Socinian cavil That if this were a proper Redemption the Price should be paid to Sin and Satan because we are redeemed from them is but a mere trifle for God is the supreme Law-giver and Judge he only hath the Keys of Death and Hell strictly and properly Sinners are Prisoners only to him Satan is but as the Jaylor or Under-officer acting under the authority of this Judge the Guilt of Sin is but as the Chains or Fetters binding under the Justice of this Law-giver and who ever read or heard of a Price of Redemption paid to the Jaylor or Fetters and yet upon the payment thereof the Captive is delivered from them both Hence it is that our Saviour Christ was both Mercator and Bellator Mercator as to God to whom he paid the Price and Bellator as against Satan whom he conquered and both these the Apostle expresses together He blotted out the hand-writing nailing it to his cross and spoiled Principalities and powers triumphing over them in it Col. 2. 14 15. He paid God the Price and not Satan he spoiled and triumphed over Satan and not over God Again as this Price as redemptive from evil was paid to God as a Law-giver and Judge so this Price as procurative of good was paid to God as the great Remunerator and faithful Promiser God is a great Remunerator for he rewards according to the condecency of his goodness and a faithful Promiser for he will not suffer one jot or tittle of his Promises to fall to the ground he engaged himself to Christ that his blood should be returned in all good things he gave him the Promise of a seed and to raise it up the Promise of his Spirit and to crown it the Promise of eternal life he bound himself by express compact to make him a light to the Gentiles a covenant to the people and salvation to the ends of the earth Isai. 49. 6 8. Wherefore this Price as procurative of good was paid to God as a Remunerator and Promiser 2. As this Price was paid to God so it was accepted by him for the ends aforesaid Indeed simply and abstractively from his own Decree he was not bound to accept of this price though of an immense and infinite value as for us I say as for us for he might have stood upon the rigour of the Law Do this and live transgress this and die in thine own person the Tables of the Law might never have been put into the Ark nor covered with a Mercy-seat but this is the joy of our Faith that he hath accepted it When Christ was baptized there was a Voice from Heaven This is my beloved Son 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in whom I am well-pleased Mat. 3. 17. Duo grata vocabula silius dilectus saith an Ancient and that sweet word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 makes up the third When Christ was sacrificed there was a sweet smell to God Eph. 5. 2. God cries out I have found a ransom Joh 33. 24. and Christ It is finished Joh. 19. 30. Afterwards when he came into the Grave off flew the bands of Death Acts 24. 24. as a pregnant evidence that Justice was satisfied he was taken from prison and from judgment Isai. 53. 8. because all was paid God's Power raised him up and God's Justice could say nothing against it And when he was risen from the dead he raises up the Faith of his Disciples Why do thoughts arise in your hearts saith he Luk. 24. 38. Do you doubt whether I am he who paid down the Price of Redemption Behold my hands and my feet fossus est saccus manavit pretium orbis the Sack of my Humanity was broke and out run the Price of Redemption Do you scruple whether that Price were accepted of God or not Lo here are the returns of it I 'le breath the holy Ghost upon you I 'le betrust the Gospel with you go preach it to every creature make the World know that Redemption Remission Grace Peace Sanctity Salvation are the returns of my Blood And afterwards just at his parting he blessed them and
the same to their own destruction Oh! what rare Perfections did he set up in the Angels and yet he eternally foresaw a great part of them apostatizing and dropping to Hell What an excellent Image of Holiness did he stamp upon Adam and yet he eternally foresaw him falling and breaking all his Glory by the the Fall what waitings of Patience wooings of the Gospel and touches of the holy Spirit doth he dispense to such men as he eternally foresaw would abuse all these and yet in all this God's Wisdom suffers not The very same I may say of Christ's dying for such as abuse this great blessing neither is there here any failing in the efficacious Will of God for he wills that the Elect shall believe and be saved and he wills that the rest shall be saved if they believe and both these Wills are accomplished the first in the Event of Faith and Salvation and the latter in the Connexion between Faith and Salvation even as to all men God may be said to will the Salvation of men through Christ's Death two ways either because he wills that Christ's Death should be a Price infallibly procuring their Faith and Salvation or else because he wills that there should be in Christ's Death an aptness and sufficiency to save them on Gospel-terms the former Will points only at the Elect and is fulfilled in their Grace and Glory the latter extends to all men and is fulfilled in the aptness and sufficiency of Christ's Death to save them on Gospel-terms in both God's Will hath its effect Neither lastly is there any loss in Christ's purchase for what did he purchase As for the Elect he purchased Faith and Salvation and as for the rest he purchased Salvation on Gospel-terms in both he hath what he paid for for the Elect believe and are saved and the rest may be saved if they believe therefore when men by their Unbelief barr themselves of the benefit of Christ's Death and make him in that respect cry out I have laboured in vain yet he adds surely my judgment is with the Lord Isai. 49. 4. as if he had said For all this never a drop of my Blood is irrationally shed for God with whom my judgment is knows that I purchased Salvation for them on Gospel-terms although they by their Unbelief deprive themselves of the benefit of the Purchase If final Unbelievers should be saved Christ should have more than his Purchase but if they are not saved he hath no less for he purchased Salvation for them on Gospel-terms which they do not perform through their own voluntary Unbelief Object 6. If Christ died for all men then he loves all with the greatest degree of Love for greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends Joh. 15. 13. and this must needs be the greatest degree of love because it draws all other things after it If God gave his own Son for us how shall he not with him freely give us all things Rom. 8. 32 But Christ doth not love all with the greatest degree of love neither doth God give all things to them therefore Christ did not die for all I confess that Christ doth not love all men with the greatest degree of love neither doth God bestow all blessings on them wherefore we must examine these places from whence these Inferences are made As for the first place greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends it doth import one of these two things either it doth import that he that dieth for his friends hath the greatest degree or height of internal love towards them or else it imports that a mans death for his friends is the greatest external effect and proof of his love the first cannot be the meaning of the place for if it be the greatest and most intense degree of love to die for our friends what is it to die for our enemies as Christ did If it be the height and top of love to lay down our lives how can that be done without any love at all as the Apostle supposeth 1 Cor. 13. 3 The Apostle commands us to lay down our lives for the brethren 1 Joh. 3. 16. but when a man doth it he is not to have the same degree of love towards all the Brethren for he is to love those most in whom there is most of God and to whom he is nearest in Nature Jesus Christ laid down his life for all the Elect yet without doubt his love was greater to his Apostles than to ordinary Christians nay and among the Apostles there was one dearly beloved one who lay in his bosom Joh. 13. 23. Wherefore the meaning of the words is not that he that dieth for his friends hath the greatest degree or height of internal love towards them but that such a death is the greatest effect and proof of his love Christ in the 12. Verse exhorted his Disciples to love one another and in this 13. Verse he shews what is the greatest outward evidence of love viz. to die for our friends Now albeit Christ died for all men and that Death was a great and high proof of his Love nothing hinders but that Christ over and besides his common Philanthropy to all may bear a special affection to the Elect the Universality of his Death infers not a Parity in his Love If Jacob had died for all his Sons yet he might have loved Joseph and Benjamin above the rest and left them some special Legacies If Christ died for all men yet he may and doth love his Elect above others and leave some secret Love-tokens upon their hearts As for the second place If God delivered up his Son for us how shall he not with him freely give us all things Rom. 8. 32. the Key to unlock this Text is the word Us Who are the Us in the Text Who but the Elect of God Ver. 33. who according to Election are effectually called Ver. 28. and upon their Callings are justified and glorified Ver. 30 These are the Us in the Text wherefore the plain meaning of it is not that if God gave his Son for all men he would give them all things but that if God gave his Son for the Elect he would give them all things viz. all things necessary to Salvation the Text extends not to all men But you 'l say though the Text extend not to all men yet the Argument doth for if the Argument be good that if God gave his Son for the Elect he would give them all things then the Argument is as good that if God gave his Son for all men he would give them all things I answer that if God's Intention and Love in giving his Son for all were one and the same towards all the consequence were undeniable but seeing God in giving his Son had towards the Elect a special Love and Intention to bestow Grace and Glory on them
in Sins Again the natural Will is turned away from God the holy One and so it 's become desperately wicked Jer. 17. 9. a Fountain of blood out of which evil thoughts murders adulteries fornications thefts false witness blasphemies naturally procede Matth. 15. 19. a Forge of iniquities 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All the forming or framing of the heart every purpose and desire effigiated there is only evil continually Gen. 6. 5. all 's marred upon the Wheel of man's corrupt Will Nay further the natural Will is turned from God who is Being and so it 's become a Nullity in Spirituals What God says of Israel he mav well say of every Natural man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he hath no will to me Psal. 81. 11. the Object of the Will is Good and yet all the fontal Goodness in God moves it not Nay lastly there is an Enmity in the Will against God Every Natural man as a part of the corrupt World lies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Devil 1 Joh. 5. 19. and his heart as a hell sets his tongue on fire James 3. 6. Deum ipsum quantum in ipsâ est perimit voluntas propria saith one clearly it would if it could abrogate God's Holiness blindfold his Omniscience and chain up his Justice in order to the fruition of its lusts 3. As for the Affections there 's nothing but monstrous Ataxy in them Love in a Natural Man dotes upon abomination and Hatred breaks out against goodness it self Hope hangs upon a broken reed and Fear starts and trembles at its fellow-mortal Joy triumphs in the pleasures of sin and therein virtually sports it self with the flames of Hell and Sorrow which should wait upon Sin pours out it self over worldly Crosses all the Affections are out of frame and place At first they were born Subjects to the Kingdom of Reason but the Rational Faculties which are the man rebelling against God in the first Adam the Affections which are the brutal part mutin and rise up in Arms against Reason and by an unnatural violence depose it and so unman the man Hence he becomes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the unreasonable beasts that perish What Asaph was in his Envy at the foolish that is every man in his inordinate Affections he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great beast before God Psal. 73. 22. Here Dinah that is the judgement is deflowred by the Son of Chamor that is an Ass as his Name imports A generation of bruitish Lusts ravish the Soul Here are the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the vile Affections which debase the Immortal Soul to the dust of the Earth Here the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dii Stercorei those dungy Gods of sensual Lusts carnal Profits and worldly Honours ascend up into the heart and as Gods assume the throne of it command the power of it and by a kind of omnipresence fill the whole circumference thereof Here is the troubled sea of passions and affections where Satan the great Leviathan raises up the winds and waves of all inordinate motions making the heart boil as a pot and sporting himself in the sinful tossings thereof 4. As for the members of the body they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 weapons of unrighteousness Rom. 6. 13. The Law of Sin issues out its commands in the soul that speeds them to the members of the body and these are ready to put them in execution Thus deplorable is mans state before Conversion which if duly weighed is enough to make every one cry out Oh! what shall I do to be saved wherefore I proceed to consider the second Quaere 2. What is the nature of the Work And here I shall unfold two things 1. What are the preparatives to Conversion 2. What is the work of Conversion it self 1. What are the preparatives to Conversion For as God makes a way to his anger in punishing so he makes a way to his Mercy in converting sinners First the fallow-ground of the heart must be broken up before the Seed of God be cast into it first Moses must hew the Tables of the Heart and then God writes the Law upon them Manasseh will not humble and turn unto the Lord till he be in chains Every natural man is a Manasseh a forgetter of God as that name imports and will not remember and turn unto the Lord till the Spirit of bondage lay him up in chains under deep Convictions of Sin and Wrath. As when Christ came in the flesh John Baptist prepared his way by the doctrine of Repentance So when Christ is formed in the heart John that is Gods Grace prepares his way by legal humiliations Now the preparatory works to Conversion are these 1. There is a Conviction of Sin the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall convince the world of sin Joh. 16. 8. not only of Sin in general but in particular The Law as 't is in the Letter only operates little but as 't is in the Spirits hand it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 7. 9. it comes home to the heart and gives it a full Charge as Nathan to David Thou art the Man These are Sins saith the Law and these hast thou done saith Conscience and from particular sins the Spirit leads up the Sinner to the fountain of blood in his Nature it shews him a Seminary of corruption in his own heart it makes him smell the sink of sin in his ownbosome neither is this conviction only rational and notional but real and intuitvie Sin with all its Hosts is as it were mustered and set in order before his eyes Psal. 50. 21. Nay it takes hold upon him and he is made to possess it as his own which forces him at last to cry out Guilty Guilty 1. There is a Conviction of Wrath. When Satan gave man his first fall he instilled this Principle into him thou shalt not surely dye Gen. 3. 4. No though thou eat the 〈◊〉 thou shalt not On the contrary when God comes to recover a Soul out of its Fall he speaks in the same language as to Abimelech Behold thou art but a dead man Gen. 20. 3. The wages of sin is death and because such sins are found in thee thou hast the sentence of death in thy self In conviction God sets up a Judgement-seat in the heart and there after Law-accusations and Conscience-proofs the Sinner is sentenced to death and after sentence he is drawn into the valley of Achor or trouble to be stoned with the curses of the Law and scourged with Scorpions of Wrath he hangs by the thred of his life over the bottomless gulph of perdition and out of the fiery Law Hell doth as it were flash in his face 3. Out of these convictions there ariseth legal fear Gods judgements which before were far above out of his sight now approach near unto him qualms come over Conscience and hell-pains begin to seize the Soul this fear hath torment a kind of hell in it and out of
Flame or as it is in the Original the Flame of God Cant. 8. 6. kindles upon the heart and makes it burn with true love to Christ Oh! says the Soul this is he who made the Robe of Righteousness for me and how much love was there in every thread of it This is he who drunk off the Cup of trembling for me and how much wrath did my sins squeez into it When on Earth he bore my sins upon the Cross and now in Heaven he bears my name upon his heart his Person is all desires his Blood all preciousness his Righteousness all glory his Love all heights and depths and breadths surpassing knowledge and who can chuse but love him There is no high Priest or Sacrifice but himself no Balm or healing but in his Wounds no Intercessor above but his Blood and Righteousness no Beauty or Glory in all the visible World like that in his Cross and how can the heart refuse his Espousals This is a Principle of sweet closure with Christ this makes the Soul breathe after nay approach to Christ and when it hath a being in him such is the holy aspiration of this Principle that still it desires to be more perfectly and intimately in him no embraces near enough there 's too much distance in every union When the Soul is brother and sister and mother to him still 't would be nearer nothing less than one spirit 1 Cor. 6. 17. and when 't is so in some measure still it presses hard after more oneness with him Oh! that the Veil of darkness were quite off that the remnants of separating Corruption were quite out Oh! for more gales of Faith and Prayer to blow up this holy Fire for more effusions of the holy Unction to feed and enflame it Thus this Principle is hiatus Voluntatis the opening or thirsty gaping of the Will for more and more of Christ and all that it may dwell in God who is Love it self 3. Take him as a King this Principle sets the Heart right towards him Hence a man becomes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a fit posture towards the kingdom of God Luk. 9. 62. and that in a threefold respect 1. This Principle is a Principle of Faith God made Christ a King Faith owns him as such God gave him all the power in heaven and earth and Faith gives him all the power in the upper and lower Faculties of the Soul This Principle rests upon him as a King able to put all his enemies under his feet Are there strong holds of Sin in us this Principle rests on him as the power of God to cast them down Are there Armies of temptations round about us this Principle rests on him as the Captain of salvation to scatter them As soon as this Principle is in the Soul the Soul is no longer where it was but translated into the kingdom of Christ Col. 1. 13. Before it was in a region of Darkness but now in a place of marvellous Light its native soil was spiritual Sodom and Egypt where Sin is a Law but now it is in the Dominions of Christ where the Law of the Spirit frees from the Law of sin and because after the Law or Reign of Sin is broken the remnants or reliques of Corruption are still in us therefore this Principle doth in a wonderful manner rest upon Christ for a more thorough purging out thereof 2. This Principle is a Principle of Love disposing the Soul to love Christ as a Melchisedek a king of righteousness and to kiss his sceptre as a sceptre of righteousness This Principle desires and delights above all places to dwell in Immanuels land and by a holy acquiescence under his Law it sits down as it were in the kingdom of God Hence the Heart is willing that Christ should reign over it that all his Enemies should be made his footstool even those that dwell in its own bosom if he come search for darling Lusts there this Principle will open every fold and unlock every secret place of the Heart to discover them If he come and slay them with the Sword of his mouth this Principle will be consenting to their death and pray So let all thine enemies perish O Lord even all the remainders of Corruption lying in my Heart 3. This Principle is a Principle of Obedience and this is no other but the two former Principles of Faith and Love conspiring together to do the Will of Christ. Christ is at the right hand of God and the Soul by Faith and Love is at the right hand of Christ Psal. 45. 9. ready to hear and do all his pleasure Ver. 10. Faith hath two Eyes whilest one is upon the propitiatory Cross the other is upon the holy Crown of Jesus Love hath two Hands and whil'st one is thrust into his side and bleeding Wounds the other is busie in keeping his righteous Laws and Commands No sooner doth a Command drop down from him but Faith catches it up Oh! says Faith this comes from the King of Kings and must be done and this great King says Love obeyed for me even to the Cross and how can I do less than obey him His commandments are all right his yoke easie his service freedom and his love constraining 3. This Principle sets the Will into a right Frame in respect of that great Obstacle Sin Sin separates between God and the Soul but this Principle separates between the Soul and Sin and this in three respects 1. As it is a Principle of Evangelical Sorrow Sin is contracted with pleasure and must be dissolved with sorrow and this dissolution will not be kindly unless the Sorrow be Evangelical Legal Sorrow is a preparative to Conversion but Evangelical is an essential ingredient in it in Legal sorrow the Heart breaks under the Fears of Hell and Death but in Evangelical it thaws under the Beams of free Grace it melts for the exceeding sinfulness of Sin it bleeds over the bleeding Wounds of Christ it grieves at the grievings of the holy Spirit it blushes and shames it self for the stains cast upon Gods Glory it is offended full fraught with displicency at its many great offences of the divine Majesty This is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sorrow according to God 2 Cor. 7. 10. Sorrow for Sin as Sin such as God would have This turns the sweet morsels of Sin into bitter herbs and the pleasant streams of lust into blood hereby Sin is in some degree loosened out of the Heart 2. As it is a Principle of hatred enclining the Will to hate every false way The Scripture sets out Sin as a very odious thing 't is the poyson of asps Rom. 3. 13. the dogs vomit 2 Pet. 2. 22. a menstruous cloth Isai. 30. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the superfluity or excrement of all evil Jam. 1. 21. enmity to God Rom. 8. 7. the abominable thing which God hates Jer. 44. 4. and that with great hatred
Questions 1. Whether God be not the Author of Conversion 2. After what manner it is wrought 3. Whether God's Will be not always accomplished therein 1. Whether God be not the Author of it And to this Scripture and Reason answer in the affirmative 1. Scripture asserts it there Conversion is painted out under various Notions With reference to our old Corruption 't is called a new heart with reference to the Seed of the Word 't is a generation with reference to our natural Birth 't is a regeneration with reference to the Law in the Letter 't is the Law in the heart with reference to the World 't is a heavenly call out of it with reference to Satan 't is a translation out of his kingdom with reference to Christ 't is a coming to him by faith with reference to God 't is a returning or conversion to him with reference to our death in Sins 't is a resurrection a quickning of the dead with reference to our nullity in Spirituals 't is a creation or a new creature The Scripture phrases it many ways but still it sets forth God as the supreme Author of it Be it a new Heart God is the giver of it Ezek. 36. 26. be it a Generation or Regeneration God is the father of it Jam. 1. 18. be it the Law in the heart God is the writer of it Heb. 8. 10. be it a Call out of the World God is the caller 2 Tim. 1. 9. be it a Translation out of Satan's Kingdom God is the translator Col. 1. 13. be it a coming to Christ God is the drawer Joh. 6. 44. be it a turning or returning to God God is the converter to him the Church prays Turn us O Lord and we shall be turned Lam. 5. 21. be it a Resurrection God is the quickner Eph. 2. 5. be it a new Creation God is the creator and we are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his workmanship created in Christ Jesus Eph. 2. 10. Every way God is the Author of Conversion even in Actual Conversion whilest the Act is Man's the Grace is God's for he worketh the Will and the Deed. 2. Reason evinces this and that 3 ways 1. Creature-weakness needs it Man cannot convert himself the Natural man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 receiveth not the things of God 1 Cor. 2. 14. nay 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he cannot be subject to God's Law Rom. 8. 7. as to God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he wants a heart Prov. 9. 4. a Stone he hath which resists God's Will but a heart he hath not to obey the same His Will is tota cupiditas a Lust rather than a Will no wonder if he cannot by his own power convert himself Conversion is a thing above the Sphere of lapsed Nature nay beyond the line of Angels Man's Heart is so dark that those stars of light cannot irradiate it and so cold that those flames of love cannot warm it there is such an Iron-sinew in it as the heavenly hosts which excel in strength cannot bow but must leave it to the Arms of the Almighty and when he doth it they joy over the Convert as a wonder of Power and Grace 2. The Excellency of the Work calls for it The Body of Nature is a rare piece but the Soul of Man is of a nobler value and in the Soul converting Grace which is but an Accident is worth more than the Soul it self 't is the Soul's Rectitude 't is glory within 't is the precious hidden man of the heart 't is the very image of God 't is Christ formed in us 't is anima in centro the Soul centred in God joined unto him and after a wonderful manner becoming one spirit with him 't is Faith in the true one Love in the essential Love a mind light in the Lord and a Will at liberty in the Will of the primum liberum and who can be Author thereof but God alone God made all things ab Angelo usque ad vermiculum from the Angel in Heaven to the Worm on Earth but in Conversion he makes a poor Worm angelize God must be owned in every Atom of Nature how much more in the great Work of Grace This is one of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the wonderful works of God Acts 2. 11. St. Austin tells a Story of one who was seduced at first but to deny God's Creatorship in the Fly afterwards came to deny it in the Bird and then in the Beast and at last in Man But if any one should procede so far as to deny him in Conversion it would be more prodigious Blasphemy than all the rest Saving Grace is a ray or sparkle of the Deity a thing merely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to God Eph. 4. 24. there is more of God to be seen in it than in all the World of Creatures besides and by consequence to deny him in that is more than to deny him in all the rest 3. The Almightiness of Grace can only effect it As the Scripture sets out Conversion as a great Work so it sets out an almighty Grace as the Cause thereof He that believes acording to some Scriptures that in the work of Conversion there is a resurrection of the soul from the dead a transformation of a stony heart into flesh and a Creation of a new heart and new spirit must also believe according to other Scriptures that in the production of that Work there is put forth a divine power excellency of power and exceeding greatness of power such as raised up Christ from the dead In Conversion there is not only a light shining round about the Sinner but a light shining into him not only a waking of a sleepy Will but a quickning of a dead one not only a proposal of divine Objects but an infusion of divine Principles therefore the Grace effecting it must be almighty That in the Prophet I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes Ezek. 36. 27. is as much a word of Power as the Fiat which made the World that in the Gospel the hour cometh and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live Joh. 5. 25. sounds out as great an efficacy as that other Lazarus come forth nothing less than almighty Power can effect it 2. After what manner is it wrought Our Saviour sets out the Mystery of Regeneration by the Wind the wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth so is every one that is born of the Spirit Joh. 3. 8. In Regeneration the Spirit blows with such a sound as breaks the Stone in the Heart and with such lively gales as quicken the dead Soul but the manner of this Work is in a great measure secret and incomprehensible by us If we know not how the Bones grow in the Womb how much less how Christ is
2. 27. reveals the lye and then off comes the yoke Doth Sin profer a World This Anointing is an inward Ecclesiastes crying out All is vanity Doth it profer Honors or Riches or Pleasures What for a Soul a Christ a God No cheat like that saith the Anointing Doth it promise Happiness You do but flatter and lye saith the Anoining you have nothing but Death and Hell to bestow Christ was manifested 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he might dissolve the works of the devil that is sins in men 1 Joh. 3. 8. and he dissolves them by this Anointing Sin is in union with the Will because Sin is in composition with some seeming Good break the composition between Sin and the seeming Good and you dissolve the union between Sin and the Will The worldly Man's Will is in union with his Sin because his Sin is in composition with the World break the composition by a right Understanding make him indeed see that the World is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a figure or fashion and Riches but a thing that is not dissolve the World by Faith and instantly the Sin will drop out of his Will for Sin as mere Sin will not down with the Will If therefore the compound of apparent Goodness be once broken by the Understanding the Will must needs cast it out as altogether evil because it is an Object capable of its embraces 2. The Understanding doth represent Sin as the Devils Work Should the Devil visibly appear and offer to the Covetous his Bags or to the Drunkard his Cups surely they would hardly take them at his hands Wherefore Satan transforms himself into many shapes and puts on Changes of Raiment that he may act invisible But on the other hand Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spoils or more properly unclothes him Col. 2. 15. he spoiled him meritoriously on the Cross and unclothes him efficaciously in the Hearts of Men. Christ was so quick of understanding that he found out Satan even in Peter's tender indulgence and Christ gives such a true Understanding unto the Heart that it sees Satan lurking in every Sin Oh! says the true Understanding there is a bloody Devil in all thy Malice a blasphemous Devil in all thy Prophaneness a lying Devil in all thy Hypocrisies a proud Devil in all thy Self-excellencies a Devil in the Swine in all thy Sensualities and in every Sin Satan stands at thy right hand Now when the Devil thus appears in Sin surely the Will must needs turn away from it 3. The Understanding doth represent Sin as the only Obstacle of Happiness The Understanding views the all-blessed God with his infinite Bowels and the all-precious Jesus with his infinite Merits it lets in some Glimpses of Glory and takes as it were a Prospect of Eternity it travels over the Land of Promise and tastes the Milk and Honey of free Grace flowing there and after all this it cries out Oh! my Soul nothing can hinder thee from all these but Sin nor Sin neither unless indulg'd this is the only Gulf between thee and thy God the only Distance between thee and thy sweet Jesus the only Bar to the Heaven of Glory and the only Flaw in thy title to the Land of Promise When the Understanding shews Sin to be such indeed surely the Will cannot but reject it Thus the Will follows the Understanding in turning to God the supreme End in embracing Christ the only Way and in rejecting Sin the great Obstacle which are the three grand things in actual Conversion Now here I would have closed up this Point but that there are two main Objections to be solved Object 1. This Thesis of the Wills following the Understanding takes away the necessity of gracious Principles in the Will Object 2. This Thesis overturns the Liberty of the Will 1. This Thesis takes away the necessity of gracious Principles in the Will what need of any there seeing the Will is so good a follower As to this I shall answer two things 1. This Thesis is so far from taking away the necessity of gracious Principles in the Will that it discovers the way how those gracious Principles come to be wrought there 'T is in this Case between the Understanding and those gracious Principles as 't is between the beams of Light and the accompanying Heat As Heat comes down from the Sun into the lower World in the Vehicle of natural Light so Holiness comes down from the Sun of Righteousness into the Will in the Vehicle of supernatural Light When the Day dawns in the Heart the Heart waxes warm with spiritual Life Give me understanding saith David and I shall keep thy Law yea I shall keep it with my whole heart Psal. 119. 34. Why is he so earnest for Understanding Is the Understanding all May not the Will hang back for all that No Give me Understanding and I shall keep thy Law yea I shall keep it with my whole heart that will set all my Soul in a right posture towards the Law of God 2. Notwithstanding this Thesis there is yet a treble Necessity of gracious Principles in the Will for 1. God calls for them 2. The Will it self stands in need of them 3. The Perfection of the new Creature cannot stand without them 1. God calls for them above all things he calls for a heart a pure heart such as works out the mixtures of Corruption a right heart such as lies level to the Rule of Righteousness this he desires he desires truth in the inward parts Psal. 51. 6. this he delights in he hath pleasure in uprightness 1 Chron. 29. 17. where this is found he passes by many infirmities I have eaten saith Christ my honey-comb with my honey Wax and all Wax and all Cant. 5. 1. Infirmities do not hinder acceptance but where this is wanting he sets a black mark upon men even whilest they do that which is materially good Amaziah did that which was right in the sight of the Lord but not with a perfect heart 2 Chron. 25. 2. there is a black mark set upon him for want of Integrity But now without gracious Principles in the Heart how can the Heart be right or pure which way can God's Call be answered or his Desire or Delight attained 2. The Will it self stands in need of them The Will of fallen Man what is it but a very Shoal of inordinate Affections a Womb of evil Concupiscence Here is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the conceiving lust Jam. 1. 15. that which teems out a generation of wickednesses Here is an Abyss a bottomless Pit of evils such as smoaks and vomits up all manner of Abominations Every carnal Heart hath in it a plague of Rotterness which is still starting from God an Iron-sinew of Rebellion which is still contradicting God and how can this Hell of Lust in the Will ever be quenched but by the clean water How can this deadly wound of Corruption there ever be healed but by