God through the Ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their Hearts who being past feeling have given themselves over unto Lasciviousness to work all Vncleanness with greediness The Understanding is so far from being taken up with the Knowledg of God his Mind and Will that it labours more and more after the knowledg of the ways of Sin and so becomes more and more estranged from God wise to do evil but to do good without Understanding The Memory wherein lay a holy remembrance of heavenly things is now become dull and forgetful and easily lets go those things which we are in the chiefest place concerned to remember we can remember readily the things which concern this Life the Vanities and Follies of the ways of Sin What deep Impression do these things make upon the Memory of poor Creatures But things which lead to the enjoyment of God and the everlasting Welfare of the immortal Soul how slippery and weak is the Memory become to retain these The Will wherein lay the liberty of choosing or refusing and before Sin enter'd will'd always that which was good is now become impotent and weak in its joining with Good how is it inslaved by Sin and in the Chains of Satan Rom. 6.20 For when you were the Servants of Sin ye were free from Righteousness Holiness without which God cannot be enjoy'd the poor unconverted Sinner hath no Will in him to lay hold of but on the contrary lusteth after that which is evil Gen. 6.6 And God saw that the Wickedness of Man was great in the Earth and that every Imagination of his Heart was evil continually compared with Job 15.16 How much more abominable is Man who drinketh Iniquity like Water Yea what an Enmity is seated in the Will of unconverted Sinners against the ways of Holiness How do their very Hearts rise against it Rom. 8.7 Because the carnal Mind is Enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be The Affections of the Soul wherein lay the strength of the desire after God are subjected to Sin How are they set upon unmeet Objects inclined to things they should not be and not to those they should Thus we naturally hate good and love evil 1 Kings 22.8 And the King of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat There is yet one Man Micaiah the Son of Imlah by whom we may inquire of the Lord but I hate him for he doth not prophesy good concerning me but evil Our Affections are naturally raised to meet Sin and the Temptations that lead into it and do even embrace the Temptation but are not stirred up to that which is Good unless it be to eschew and shun it Besides when the Affections do move how disorderly is their Motion when merry too merry when sad too sad The Conscience wherein lay Man's Integrity or walking with God and wherein were the Impressions of the Divine Law which contained in it our Duty to God and to one another how is it disordered by Sin the Acts of Sin taking away the inward sense and feeling of the evil of it And with what weakness doth that first Covenant-Light which leads the Soul to seek after God as Creator move in the Soul How are its Reproofs hardly taken notice of by most Persons and that by reason of that great Darkness that is fallen upon the Soul of Man Thus we may see that Sin as a Leprosy hath over-run all the Faculties and is become as a Body in the Soul consisting of many Members Rom. 7.23 24. But I see another Law in my Members warring against the Law of my Mind and bringing me into Captivity to the Law of Sin which is in my Members O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this Death Tho all Sin doth not appear alike in all some by Nature are more mild and courteous than others the reason of which difference is not that there are not the same seeds of Corruption in all but that the Lord keepeth down those Sins in some which he suffereth to rise up in others The Children of God that are by the Inlightnings of the holy Spirit come to see into the Corruptions of their Hearts how do they see the seeds of Sin lying in their Souls even of such Sins which they thought had not been in them The Heart or Soul doth then appear to be desperately wicked who but God himself can have the full knowledg of it For the Children of God in their searches after Heart-corruptions cannot come to find the bottom of them so far is the Soul of Man fallen from God by Sin that it is afraid to come nigh unto God it flies farther and farther from God until it gets into the Pit of eternal Misery How dark was Adam become by Sin as to think the Trees of the Garden could hide him from the Eye of the great Creator And that God might aggravate and heighten his Sin he speaks ironically by way of taunt The Man is become like one of us He is come to know Evil by woful experience he is fill'd with inward Horror and with outward Shame Secondly I shall shew the miserable state that Adam was brought into by the Fall as to his Body for no sooner was he fallen but the Sentence was inflicted on him That in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die Altho the Sentence was not so far put in execution against him as to separate the Soul from the Body yet his bodily state was so far changed as to bring it under those Evils that lead to a Dissolution He was driven out of that pleasant Garden of Delight in which God at first placed him into the Earth to get his Living in it amongst the Beasts of the field and whereas in his innocent state he had a furnished Table provided without labor or toil God himself having by his own Power provided things necessary for his bodily Subsistence now he must till the Earth with labour and toil which was put under the Curse of Barrenness for Man's sake until the poor Body wearied out returneth to the Earth by a painful Death from whence it was taken Dust thou art and to Dust thou shalt return The Beasts of the Field who gave a willing Subjection to him as their Soveraign were now so far estranged from him as to rebel against him and ready to put in execution the Sentence of a bodily Death the Air in which he breathed was changed for his sake and infected the poor Body with many sorts of Distempers Sores Sicknesses and Diseases of all sorts Sin being the cause of all this Misery Mat. 9.2 And behold they brought to him a Man sick of the Palsie lying on a Bed and Jesus seeing their Faith said unto the sick of the Palsie Son be of good cheer thy Sins be forgiven thee Thus by taking away the Sin he takes away that which was inflicted upon the poor Body
for it Besides all this Misery that is inflicted upon the poor Body in this Life if it be not brought within the compass of a share in the Redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ at the morning of the Resurrection it must be reunited to the Soul and sentenc'd to share with the Soul in eternal Misery having been a sharer with it in a course of Sin in this Life Thirdly I shall shew the Misery that Adam brought upon all his Offspring by the Fall Adam stood not before God as a single Person but as one that had all his Offspring in him They being all in him and to proceed from him by Generation became sharers with him in that state which he fell into Gen. 5.3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years and begat a Son in his own Likeness after his Image and called his Name Seth born to the same Misery that his Father Adam was in and a sharer with him in it Adam received Light from the eternal Creator and a holy rectitude of Soul and was under no necessity of giving way to a Temptation there being nothing in him while in his state of Innocency to fasten a Temptation upon so that his Fall was a voluntary going off from God He receiving those excellent Endowments of Soul and Body as a publick Person by his Transgression Judgment came upon all Men to Condemnation Rom. 5.14 Nevertheless Death reigned from Adam to Moses even over them who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam 's Transgression For from Adam to Moses we do not read that after the Fall God ever treated with Adam or with his Offspring by an outward trial upon the terms of Do and live Besides Death then reigned and doth still reign over little Children whose Infant-state makes them uncapable of being put to the trial of their Obedience How doth daily Experience shew us that poor Infants are many times arrested as soon as gotten into the World by grievous Distempers as the Convulsions and such like which keep them in grievous Misery for several days together before the Soul be separated from the Body which is a sufficient Testimony that they have another's Sin imputed to them by which their very Nature is defiled upon which defiled Nature Death feeds until it hath brought it to Dissolution as to their Bodies but their Souls I desire to leave to that rich and free Grace which flows to Sinners through a second Adam the Lord Jesus Christ and to the Spirit 's applying of it to them without any outward means Having gone through this third Chapter which contains the misery of the first Adam and his Offspring before thou leavest it make some Application of it to thy own Soul Look back my Soul and see what thou wast in an unconverted state thou spentst twelve Years in gross darkness without the least knowledg of that God from whence thou receivedst thy being thou wast wholly given up to the ways of Sin without the least consideration what bitter Fruit it did produce that the way of it led to the Chambers of Death and the Pit of eternal Misery How many times wast thou while in this state nigh the Dissolution of thy Body the Grave both to thy self and others seeming to open its Mouth to receive thee What could have been thy state in eternity if thou hadst been then removed Dos not the holy Scripture fully declare that those who spend their days in Sin and in Satan's slavery shall he eternally miserable with him O my Soul tho thou couldst not pity thy self because of that gross darkness that was upon thee yet that God that gave thee thy being pitied thee and extended sparing Mercy to thee It is he that hath delivered thy Soul from Death thine Eyes from Tears and thy Feet from falling Thou now groanest in an unredeemed Body but thou viewst by Faith a redeem'd one Doth the Creation groan by reason of that weight of Sin that is upon it Thy Lord Jesus's Return draws very nigh his Coming will bring with it a removal of the Curse and times of Refreshing shall come with him he will renew the Earth and in it shall dwell nothing but Righteousness CHAP. IV. Of the Image of God that was upon the Heart of the first Adam how it discovers it self in the Hearts or Souls of his fallen Children The nature of the leadings of that first Covenant-light and the Condition of those that stand under the highest Attainment of it THat Adam was a publick Person and that the great Creator enter'd into Covenant with him upon the terms of Obey and live hath been proved in the foregoing Chapter and shall by the help of the Spirit of God be more fully demonstrated in this That all his Offspring as descending from him by Generation are under the same Covenant have some remaining Impressions of the same Law upon their Souls and Light from the Creator answering the terms of that first Covenant I shall First clear up from Scripture Secondly from the Sayings of many famous Gentiles Thirdly from common Experience of all Persons that do take notice of the dealings of God with their Souls And First to prove it from Scripture Deut. 30.11 12 13 14 15. For this Commandment which I command thee this day it is not hidden from thee neither is it far off it is not in Heaven that thou shouldst say Who shall go up for us to Heaven and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it Neither is it beyond the Sea that thou shouldst say Who shall go over the Sea for us and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it But the Word is very nigh unto thee in thy Mouth and in thy Heart that thou mayest do it I have set before thee this day Life and Good and Death and Evil. Compared with Rom. 2.14 15. For when the Gentiles which have not the Law do by nature the things contained in the Law these having not the Law that is in the outward letter are a Law unto themselves Which shew the work of the Law written in their Hearts their Conscience also bearing witness and their Thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another From which Scriptures it is evident that the Law delivered at Sinai and written in Tables of Stone was but a Copy of this inward Law which was ingraven in the Soul of Adam and on the Souls of all his Offspring It doth further appear that Adam's Offspring as they descend from him are under the same Covenant with himself from their dealing with God and his with them according to the terms of that first Covenant Gen. 4.5 6 7. But unto Cain and his Offering he had not respect and Cain was very wroth and his Countenance fell and the Lord said unto Cain Why art thou wroth and why is thy Conntenance fallen If thou doest well shalt thou not be accepted and if thou doest not well Sin lieth at the
wherein consisted true Wisdom and heavenly Knowledg 2. The Memory a holy remembrance of such things as we ought 3. The Will a liberty of choosing or refusing 4. The Affections wherein lay the strength of the desire after God 5. The Conscience wherein lay Man's Integrity or Uprightness in walking with God And that the Soul might not be any ways deficient the Impress of the Law of the Creator was ingraven upon it which consisted in our Duty to God and to one another Adam wanted not Light to see the Excellency of the state wherein he was created which Light if followed would lead him to the Creator as the Spring from whence this his immortal Soul did come He was under the greatest Obligations that were possible of loving his Creator with all his Heart with all his Mind and with all his Strength and his Neighbour as himself both which parts of the Law he broke in going from his Duty to his Creator and by offering Violence to all his Offspring which were then in his Loins he being made their Representative and the Root from whence they were all to proceeed which I shall treat of more at large in the next Chapter and return now to speak of the Excellency of the Soul and of its immortal Nature 1. From the Scripture 2. From Experience in our viewing of dying Persons And 3. From the Sayings of many Gentiles First From the Scripture Eccles 12.7 Then shall the Dust return to the Earth and the Spirit return to God who gave it As it received Life from God without the Body so being separated from the Body it ceaseth not to be but goeth unto God its Creator to be disposed of by him see Phil. 1.21 I might also mention the Promise of Christ to the penitent Thief on the Cross I say to thee This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise and that of the Parable of the rich Man and Lazarus See also 2 Cor. 5.1 Secondly In our viewing of dying Persons How great Testimony have we of the Excellency of the Soul in its being immortal in that when the Body is languishing and under its last minutes drawing to a Dissolution the Soul is more active and quick than ever striving as it were to be gone from it Again the Excellency of the Soul in the Immortality of it doth appear in the dying Hopes of the Saints and the dying Fears and Terrors of the Wicked I my self have seen some who in their dying hours have carried the greatest Evidences of their Souls being immortal and that they were going to the eternal Enjoyment of God that was possible to be given enough to satisfy the most daring Atheist even a meeting of Death with the greatest sweetness and composedness of Spirit Give my Love saith one to me to such and such Friends and tell them by such a time my Soul will be in eternal Rest Their Souls have given forth the greatest Unconcernedness that was possible to part with those things that had been most delightful unto them by being brought to see into the Emptiness of all these inferiour things having received a view of the full Enjoyment of God to be had and that their Souls when separated from the Body were capable of such an enjoying of him Not many Months since I my self went to visit a dying Friend who at that time seem'd to me to be further from her Dissolution than she really was she seem'd to be exceeding chearful I said to her I hope you may recover you are better than you have been she answered I hope I shall not to which I replied Why do you hope so She answer'd My Evidences are clear for Heaven and I long to have the Enjoyment of it Again What an Evidence doth the dying Fears of unconverted Sinners carry with it of the Excellency of the Soul and of the Immortality of it for altho that part of the Image of God in their Souls which contained their Duty to God and to one another be defac'd and the Faculties of the Soul have lost that Rectitude and Order in which they were created yet the Evidences of the Excellency of it in being immortal and capable of an eternal Enjoyment of God have remained What Concernedness hath filled the Souls of dying unconverted Sinners about their eternal loss of God and how have they been seiz'd with the sad apprehensions of an eternal exclusion from him See Mr. Wadsworth on the Soul's Immortality and Dr. More Thirdly A third Evidence of the Immortality of the Soul and of the Excellency of it doth appear from the words of many famous Gentiles as quoted by William Penn in his Christian Quaker Chapter the 14th of Gentile Divinity of the Immortality of the Soul To which might be added the Sayings of divers Heathen Writers 1st Pythagoras The Soul is incorruptible it never dieth for when it goeth out of the Body it goeth into the other World the pure to God the impure bound by Furies in indissolvable Chains 2dly Heraclitus If my Body be over-press'd it may descend to the destinate place nevertheless my Soul shall not descend but being a thing immortal shall fly up on high to Heaven 3dly Socrates The Body being compounded it dissolved by Death the Soul being simple passeth into another Life incapable of Corruption The Souls of the good after Death are in a happy state united to God in a blessed inaccessible place the bad in convenient places suffering condign Punishment The same Socrates being condemned to die by Poison Crito one of his Followers ask'd him How wilt thou be buried As you think good saith he if you can catch me and if I give you not the slip Then with a smile applying himself to those that stood by him I cannot perswade Crito saith he that I am any more than the Carcase you will anon behold and therefore he takes care for my Interment It seems that what I even now told him that as soon as I have taken the Poison I shall go to the Joys of the Blessed hath been to little purpose From what hath been said it doth appear that the Soul of Man is of an excellent frame or make How happy was the first Adam while in the state of Innocency when every Faculty of the Soul stood in that Rectitude and Order wherein it was placed by the wise Creator and the Impressions of what was required of him ingraven upon his Heart For if that Law which is call'd the Law of Nature carry such Beauty in it now what Beauty had it in it before it was defac'd by Sin Adam while in the state of Innocency had no Corruption in him for to fasten the Temptation upon his Will was free and at liberty to join with or refuse the Temptation when presented to him and to incourage him in his Obedience he had the continuance in this his happy state promised to him for as the threatning if he disobey'd God carried Death with it so it must be
come to partake of them the Promises run to him and fix in him as in an immoveable Rock that can never be shaken 2dly He is the Head of the Elect and the way through which electing Love doth pass to every elect Person because they are given to him as a Seed Psal 89.27 28 29. Also I will make him my first-born higher than the Kings of the Earth My Mercy will I keep for him for evermore my Covenant shall stand fast with him His Seed will I make to endure for ever and his Throne as the days of Heaven Compared with Heb. 2.13 And again I will put my Trust in him And again I and the Children which God hath given me As the first Adam conveys natural Defilement to all his Seed and that which causeth the loss of Communion with God so the Lord Jesus Christ that conveys to all the elect Seed which removes that which hinders Communion and restores Communion to them John 6.57 As the living Father sent me and I live by the Father so he that eateth me even he shall live by me Here is three Livers here is 1. The Life of the Godhead 2. Here is the Man Christ living upon the Godhead 3. Here is the Believer living upon the Lord Jesus Christ as God-man in one Person the Divine Nature putting Life into the Manhood and conveying of that Life to the Elect. Gal 3.16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the Promises made He saith not To Seeds as of many but as of one And to thy Seed which is Christ Is Christ mystical here meant saith Leigh then the Elect are comprehended in him To Abraham and his Seed were the Promises made to Abraham in Christ and not to Christ in Abraham saith Kendal against John Goodwin 3dly It doth appear that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the Elect and the way through which electing Love doth pass to every elect Person from the Experience of the Saints from Abel to this very day The Elect that were in the World before his appearance in the state of his Humiliation did all by Faith look at him and through him were brought to the enjoyment of God and upon him lay their hope of persevering with God Heb. 12.1 2. Wherefore seeing we are compassed about with so great a Cloud of Witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the Sin that doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the Race that is set before us looking unto Jesus the Author and finisher of our Faith This Cloud of Witnesses that look'd unto Jesus were the Saints from Abel's time in the 11th Chapter The Saints that have been and are in the World in the times of the New Testament through Jesus do go to God through Jesus do enjoy Communion with God 2 Cor. 4.6 For God who commanded Light to shine out of Darkness hath shined into our Hearts to give the Light of the Knowledg of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ To sum up this Chapter Was the Lord Jesus Christ comprehended in the Womb of the Decree of Election Was the Union of the two Natures in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ comprehended in the Decree as the Head of the Elect and by the Decree appointed to be the Conveyer of Grace to every elect Person Then whatever was acted and done by him was subservient to the Decree and proves the Covenant of Grace and Redemption to be but one Covenant Joh. 4.34 Jesus saith unto them My Meat is to do the Will of him that sent me and to finish his work CHAP. II. Of the Redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ in two parts First Perfect Obedience to the Law Secondly Satisfaction to the Penalty of it for the Elect subservient to the Decree of Election and leading to answer the great Designs of it THE great God that he might make good that threatning against Satan That the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpents Head doth by the incomprehensible Power of the Holy Ghost first sanctify that Matter of which the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ was made and then without the help of Man's Seed did create or form it into the shape of Man to which a living Soul was given that so he might appear to be like his Brethren the Elect. To this second Man so wonderfully made was the eternal Word the second Person in the Godhead united in the Womb of the Virgin Mary and brought forth into the World our Emanuel the Mighty God the everlasting Father the wonderful Counsellor the Prince of Peace His Divine Nature being the express Image of his Father's Substance and in respect of it it was no Robbery in him to be the Father's equal and one with the Father That he might be one with the Elect he is wonderfully united to their Nature in the Womb of the Virgin and that he might figure out the Misery that all the Elect were in by Generation he is born in a Stable and laid in a Manger typifying out that by reason of their natural Pollution they were like their first Father Adam who was driven from the Presence of God amongst the Beasts He is put under the first Covenant that he might fulfil the Righteousness of it Gal. 4.4 5. Made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the Adoption of Sons And he is not only put under the first Covenant to give it a perfect Obedience that in that Obedience of his the Elect might appear before God but he is likewise put under the first Covenant to give Satisfaction to the Wrong done to it by the Elect as they successively come into the World Gal. 3.13 Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us as it is written Cursed is every one that hangeth on a Tree Compared with Heb. 2.14 Forasmuch then as the Children are partakers of Flesh and Blood he the eternal Word also himself likewise took part of the same that through Death he might destroy him that had the Power of Death that is the Devil Those that stood in the Decree of Election as Children coming into the World in such a way by Generation as brought them under the defilements of Sin and so under the Penalty of the first Covenant the eternal Word takes hold of their Nature and by sanctifying of it in Death perfuming the Sacrifice by his Divine Nature the Penalty of the first Covenant is removed and a Pardon laid in for the Children as they shall successively come into the World and have it applied to their Souls by the Spirit They being interested in this Satisfaction the Penalties of the first Covenant are removed and the executive Power of it taken out of the hands of Satan Having now by way of Introduction opened the door into the Work of Redemption wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ I come in the next place to consider this Soul-amazing
tarry ye here and watch with me Mark 14.35 And he went forward a little and fell on the ground and pray'd that if it were possible the hour might pass from him Compared with Luke 22.42 43 44. Father if thou be willing remove this Cup from me nevertheless not my Will but thine be done And there appeared an Angel unto him from Heaven strengthening him And being in an Agony he prayed more earnestly and his Sweat was as it were drops of Blood falling down to the ground He prayeth for freedom from that Cup and Hour that is from the grievous Torments that were upon his Soul yea so great was the Sorrow wherewith his Soul was ready to be overwhelmed that he seeks for help by the Prayers of his poor drousy sleeping Disciples There is an Astonishment or an Amazement which falls upon the Soul two ways that is an Astonishment of Admiration and an Astonishment of Fear the latter is here meant He saw himself fallen on a sudden into such Distress as he knew he could not be delivered from it and being in an Agony he wrestles with Grief and Fear which pressed his precious Soul yea he struggles and wrestles with it that he might not be so far overcome by it as to bewray any kind of Impatience he vents his Grief and Sorrow in these words Not my Will but thine be done The first Adam had a Garden of Pleasure to walk in the second Adam hath a Garden of Sorrow to weep and mourn in The Garden in which Adam and Eve was placed had a pleasant River running through it to water it this Garden is watered with the Blood of the second Adam that is forced through his Veins by inward Grief and excessive Sorrow he not only is said to have sweat drops of Blood but as it were to have bedew'd the place Saith Jansen upon the words If we behold him upon the Cross he there complains of the withdrawings of the Divine Nature from him in these words My God my God why hast thou forsaken me I come secondly to speak of the Sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ in his Body he experienced the fulfilling of the words of the Prophet Isa 50.6 I gave my Back to the smiters and my Cheeks to them that pluck'd off the Hair I hid not my face from shame and spitting Pilate who was his Judg pronounceth him innocent and as an outward sign of his Innocency washeth his hands when he pronounceth Sentence against him to clear himself of his Blood yet scourgeth him and deliver'd him to be crucified Mat. 27.27 28. Then the Souldiers of the Governour took Jesus into the common Hall and gathered unto him the whole band of Souldiers And they stripped him and put on him a scarlet Robe The putting on the Scarlet Robe was for two Reasons the first that the pain of his scourging might be increased upon him the second reason to shew their Contempt of his Kingly Power Ver. 29 30. And when they had platted a Crown of Thorns they put it upon his Head and a Reed in his right-hand and they bowed the Knee before him saying Hail King of the Jews And they spit upon him and took the Reed and smote him on the Head They would not only mock him with the putting of such a Crown on him but by the same also shew their Cruelty to him by fastening the Thorns into his Head Ver. 32. And as they came out they found a Man of Cyrene Simon by name him they compelled to bear his Cross It was a Custom among the Romans that those Malefactors that were to be crucified did bear their own Cross but such had been already the grievous Sufferings of this innocent Lamb that his Body was wearied and made unable to undergo it so a Stranger is laid hold of to carry it for him to the place of Execution Ver. 38. Then were two Thieves crucified with him one on the right-hand and the other on the left This Death of the Cross was a very painful and shameful Death the weight of the Body being born up by Nails struck through the Hands and Feet until they died by a languishing Death He was numbered with the Transgressors having a Thief on each hand that we might be reckoned amongst the Sons of God His Arms were stretched open to shew his willingness to receive poor returning Sinners with one Arm inviting the Jews with the other the Gentiles to flee from Wrath to come by taking Sanctuary in him O my Soul dost thou desire to behold the abominable nature of Sin Dost thou desire to know how hateful it is in God's sight Then take a view of thy suffering Lord. How was his precious Soul fill'd with Anguish How was his precious Body which was formd by the incomprehensible Power of the Holy Ghost in the Womb of the Virgin Mary wearied out by a painful Death Behold this Man of Sorrow that is acquainted with Grief The Vail of the Temple is rent at his Death to shew that he was plucking away that Vail that interposed betwixt God and poor Sinners The Sun was darkned being asham'd to behold the Rage of the wicked against him the Earth who had long groaned under the Curse for Sin trembles to behold what the Son of God indures to remove the Curse Thirdly I proceed to shew that the Redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ was subservient to the Decree of Election and answers the Designs of it And I shall clear it up from these following Scriptures Acts 2.22 23. Ye Men of Israel hear these words Jesus of Nazareth a Man approved of God among you by Miracles and Wonders and Signs which God did by him in the midst of you as ye your selves also know Him being delivered by the determinate Counsel and foreknowledg of God ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain I shall pass by the Wickedness of these malicious Jews and only take notice of what is contain'd in this 23d Verse concerning the Decree of God his determinate Counsel and Fore-knowledg having determined it to be so that is that his Son should thus suffer which did not in the least lesson their Sin The reasons of our Lord's Death in reference to the answering of the Decree we have in John 17.19 And for their sakes I sanctify my self that they also might be sanctified through the Truth Compared with Heb. 2.11 For both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one for which cause he if not ashamed to call them Brethren By sanctified and sanctifieth in these two Scriptures is not meant the sanctifying Work of the holy Spirit but his being set apart to the Work of Redemption performed by the Lord Jesus Christ being the Head of the Elect for their sakes he willingly submitteth to those Conditions his Father required to clear them from the Penalty of the first Covenant That the Redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ is subservient to the Decree
manifest it self it leads the Administrator unto a chearful administring the Ordinance to such Persons And he Peter commanded them to be baptized in the Name of the Lord. Those that do lay aside the Supper-Ordinance do say that Christ is come and therefore the Supper-Ordinance is of no longer continuance But if such Persons would seriously consider what the coming of Christ is which they speak of they would do well for if by coming inwardly into the Soul and the Holy Ghost's manifesting him in the Soul by the Glass of the Gospel be meant this is the Qualification to come to the Ordinance and so he is come to every sincere Christian 1 Pet. 1.8 Whom having not seen ye love in whom tho now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoice with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory Compared with Ephes 3.17 That Christ may dwell in your Hearts by Faith This dwelling of the Lord Jesus Christ by Faith is the inward discerning of him in his Sufferings which being wholly wanting in those that do partake of the outward part of the Ordinance they eat and drink Damnation to themselves not discerning the Lord's Body But if by being come they intend such a coming as to exclude the Expectation of the second Personal Appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ Whom the Apostle tells us Acts 3.21 the Heaven must receive until the Restitution of all things then they destroy one of the Articles of the Christian Faith The Saints in this day do in a measure witness with the Apostles the inward Enjoyment of him by Faith and by the same Faith that they liv'd in do expect the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ The Apostle John speaks fully to this in 1 Joh. 3.2 Beloved now are we the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is They could not be brought into the state of Children without the inward Enjoyment of the Lord Jesus Christ by Faith for this is the Evidence of Sonship and it doth not yet appear what we shall be in Eternity we do but as in a Glass behold the Glory that the Children shall there be made partakers of but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Not alone we know that he is ours but we know that he will hold and keep us till we enjoy eternal Glory with our Head the Lord Jesus Christ at his second personal Appearance then shall our vile Bodies be changed like his glorious Body and we be ever with the Lord. The next thing to be treated of is that the way of administring the Ordinances be kept to according to the Rule of the Word and that is as to the Ordinance of Baptism a burial of the Body in Water in the Name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Buried with him by Baptism into Death Leigh in his Note upon the words of Rom. 6.4 The Apostle saith he alludes to the manner in which Baptism was then administred which was to plunge the Baptized in the Water after which they put on new Garments whence those manners of speaking used in Scripture to put on Christ to put off the old Man and put on the new Mr. Perkins agrees with Leigh as to the manner of Administration of the Ordinance of Baptism in the Primitive Church and tells us that it was altered from plunging of the Body under Water to sprinkling in the Face by reason of the Coldness of this Northern Climate but from whence the Power is derived to make any alteration in the Ordinance from its Primitive Institution this that holy Man shews not as if the Elements were not subject to the Power of God and he were not sufficient to preserve his Children in their Obedience to him in his own Appointments Secondly The way of administring the Supper-Ordinance we have set down by the Lord Jesus who was the first Administrator Mat. 26.26 27 28. And as they were eating that is the Passover Jesus took Bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to his Disciples and said Take eat this is my Body The Bread put for the thing signified by it which was the Body of Christ Ver. 27. And he took the Cup and gave Thanks and gave it to them saying Drink ye all of it Ver. 28. For this is my Blood that is a Sacrament or figure of his Blood poured forth of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of Sins This leads me to the next thing What the Ordinances do hold forth when administred according to the Rule of the Word I shall first treat of the Ordinance of Baptism which consists of two parts the one outward the other inward the outward part I have spoken to already which is a Burial of the Body in Water the inward part figured out by the outward is the Burial and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ Rom. 6.4 5. Therefore we are buried with him by Baptism into Death that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the Glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of Life For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his Death we shall be also in the likeness of his Resurrection As the outward Declaration of the Gospel is the instrumental Means in the hand of the Holy Ghost to convey that which is held forth by it which is the Lord Jesus Christ unto the Soul so is the Ordinance of Baptism the Means appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ and made use of by the Spirit to convey that which is held forth by it The outward of it self conveys nothing it is only made use of by the holy Spirit to set before the Soul what is figured out by it The Burial of the Body holds forth the Burial of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Benefits which we receive by it which is a discharge from the Penalty of Sin and our rising out of the Water his Resurrection and the Benefits which we receive by it which is to walk with God in newness of Life by Power received from the Father through the Intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ The holy Spirit accompanying the Ordinance doth let the Soul see what Christ hath gone through to free it from Hell and to procure for it the Enjoyment of Heaven which inward sight by Faith knits the Soul to the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ The Apostle calls it a being planted into the likeness of his Death and into the likeness of his Resurrection The Believer is let into Christ so as to draw that spiritual Life by which he lives unto God from the Lord Jesus Christ he not only lives in the Enjoyment of the Father but doth likewise convey of that spiritual Life unto all his Members in a measure For
the further clearing up and confirming the truth of what is held forth by the Ordinance of Baptism I shall open the Apostle's words in 1 Pet. 3.19 20 21. By which also he went and preached unto the Spirits in Prison He the Lord Jesus Christ in his Divine Nature went by Noah's Ministry and preached Repentance while the Ark was building to those Souls who for their Impenitency were cast into the Prison of Hell Which sometime were disobedient when once the Long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the Ark was a preparing the Forbearance of God towards the old World continued and Noah preached Repentance to them wherein few that is eight Persons were saved by Water The like Figure whereunto even Baptism doth now save us not the putting away the filth of the Flesh but the answer of a good Conscience towards God by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ The outward part which is Water and which puts away the filth of the Flesh by the burial of the Body in it is not that which saves but it is a Figure of that which doth save the Spirit accompanying the Ordinance when it is administred by the answer of a good Conscience towards God that is the answer of a believing Heart which by Faith lays hold of that which is figured out by it the Lord Jesus Christ in his Death and Resurrection The Lord's Supper hath likwise two parts an Outward and an Inward the Outward part is the Bread broken and eaten the Wine poured forth and drunk by the Believer the Inward part is his Flesh crucified and his Blood shed for the sake of his Members Luke 22.19 20. And he took Bread and gave Thanks and brake it and gave unto them saying This is my Body which is given for you this do in remembrance of me Likewise also the Cup after Supper saying This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood which is shed for you The Martyrs being press'd by the Papists to shew how the Lord Jesus Christ was present in this Ordinance owned that as Bread and Wine was apprehended by the Body in feeding upon it to its Nourishment so the Flesh and Blood of Christ was apprehended by the Soul in feeding upon him to the nourishing of the Soul The Bread and Wine is not the Body but a Sacramental Figure by which the Body of Christ is represented to us 1 Cor. 11.26 For as often as ye eat this Bread and drink of this Cup ye do shew the Lord's Death till he come PART IV. Being an Appendix which the Author leaves for a Legacy to his Children GEN. 18.19 For I know him that he will command his Children and his Houshold after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do Justice and Judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him WHAT I shall leave with you my Children I shall comprehend under these two general Heads First Lay before you the way that God hath taken to bring my Soul to the Enjoyment of himself by Faith Secondly The Counsel and Direction which I recommend unto you if I should be shortly removed from you First I shall lay before you the way that God hath taken to bring me to the Enjoyment of himself by Faith I was in my younger years exceedingly beloved of my Mother so that her very Life seem'd almost bound up in me and tho I do believe she had a Work of Grace upon her Soul yet her Love to me did not run in that pure Channel which it ought to have run that is to have made my immortal Soul the great Object of her Love and Care But her Indulgence to me in my tender years tended greatly to heighten Sin and Corruption in my Soul for I chose for my Companions the profanest Boys in Bridlington and altho I was not gotten to such a pitch of Profaneness as some of them yet I took delight to hear them belch out their Wickedness and frequently at our Meetings we had profane Ballads which I was as industrious to learn to sing as any of them my poor Mother did know of my Companions but I do not think that she did believe that they were altogether so wicked as they were for they generally appeared moderately sober before her I do think that it is one of the greatest Duties that belongs to Parents to endeavour to cast their Children among other sober Children for what avails all Admonition that can be given to a Child if as soon as we have done we deliver it up into Temptation I do not think that it is in Parents power to give a Principle of Grace to their Childen but it may be in their power to give a check to the outbreakings of Corruption which may greatly hinder its growth Prov. 22.6 Train up a Child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it When I was about seven years old and a Scholar at the Free School a wonderful Providence did befal me Being at play with about forty Scholars with me in the Green before the Church and a poor Woman at the Well-side drawing Straw I laid my Breast over the great blue Stones that lay about the Well to sail my Ship in it it being full of Water and so went head forward down into the Well neither my Play-fellows seeing me fall into it nor the poor Woman that was by but altho no Eye saw me yet the Eye of the Almighty was over me and his sparing pitying Love was towards me being very unfit to go into Eternity having no knowledg of God neither of the worth of my precious Soul and he by his Wisdom open'd a way to save me in such a manner that all concern'd in me might know that he had done it A poor old Woman whose Name was Alice Brown that liv'd right against the Well had hung on a Pan with Water to lay Leven but a lump of Soot fell down out of the Chimny which had been swept but three days before into her Pan so that she cast out the Water and came to the Well for more and seeing me gave a sudden skreek the poor Woman who was a common Harlot that was drawing Straw supposing it to be her Boy my Mother having a little before given her some of my old Clothes laid her hand upon the Stones and leapt directly into the Well which was up to her Breast in Water and catching me in her Arms handed me out with very little discovery of Life in me This amazing Providence had not the least effect upon me to frighten me out of my Sins but being well recovered I became more sinful than before and that which tended to heighten it was that I made this Harlot's Son who had been the Instrument in saving me my chief Companion In this course I continued until I was about thirteen years of Age. Being a dull Scholar and my Master churlish to me and
lies Man's chief Happiness Keep thy Heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of Life 2. The things that concern the outward Man are through the Inlightnings of the holy Spirit beheld as of less Concern and Worth altho they do lie next to Sense and the Hearts of the Saints have been inabled to get above them and to part with them when they stood in Competition with the sincere performance of those Duties which God call'd them to The Inlightning of the Spirit doth concern it self for the outward Man but it is that Nature may be satisfied and not Lust gratified it is that such a Supply may be given as Nature may be kept from Temptations not that we may run into Temptations Remove far from me Vanity and Lies give me neither Poverty nor Riches feed me with Food convenient for me lest I be full and deny thee and say Who is the Lord or lest I be poor and steal and take the Name of my God in vain While the Heart is without the Inlightnings of the Spirit it is made a Servant to those things that are most obvious to Sense Daily Experience shews us that the Heart of every unconverted Sinner doth place its Satisfaction in the enjoyment of these things altho they end in Death so that the Inlightnings of the holy Spirit are absolutely necessary in the Duty of Prayer 3. The holy Spirit gives inward Life and Motion to the Faculties of the Soul that so the Soul may be ingag'd in the Duty Rom. 8.26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our Infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh Intercession for us with Groanings which cannot be uttered That is the Spirit follows the Inlightnings with inward Life and Motion by which the Heart is set a working after God for the removal of that which stands in the way of Communion with him and for the obtaining of it there is an inward sensibility doth accompany the Matter which we present unto God in Duty not only the things we pray for are presented unto God as those we have need of but the Heart goes along with them that our Heavenly Father may see we are in earnest with him Psal 25.1 Vnto thee O Lord do I lift up my Soul Compared with Psal 119.20 My Soul breaketh for the longings that it hath to thy Judgments at all times The holy Spirit draws out the Heart with such earnestness unto God as if there were a Separation going to be made betwixt the Soul and the Body 4. The holy Spirit doth lead the Soul in the way by which Entrance is obtain'd into Heaven We must distinguish betwixt the Spirit 's Intercession in us and the Son's Intercession for us The Spirit 's Intercession in us is that supplicating begging frame which the holy Spirit doth inable the Soul to express it self in when it appears before God yet this through the weakness of the Creature is attended with a great deal of Imperfection But the Intercession of the Son for us as Mediator the Church's Head is that upon which our admittance into Heaven is granted His Prayer is a perfect Prayer and carries Incense along with it to perfume ours Rev. 8.3 And another Angel came and stood at the Altar having a Golden Censer and there was given him much Incense that he should offer it with the Prayers of all Saints upon the Golden Altar which was before the Throne This Angel is the Angel of the Covenant the Lord Jesus Christ as Mediator and the Church's Head the Censer is his holy glorified Body the Man Christ the Incense is his Divine Nature the Perfume of which perfuming the Supplications or Prayers of the Saints and ascending with them before God gains acceptance That Spirit that would assume a right of giving Salvation by Man's Obedience to it its Work is as opposite to the leadings of the Holy Ghost as Light and Darkness For as the Declaration of the Gospel leads to the Lord Jesus Christ as God-Man in one Person our Emanuel as Redeemer and as Mediator who is able to save all those that come to God by him so with this doth the Holy Ghost agree in his inward Witness in the Souls of the Saints Joh. 15.26 27. But when the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father even the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father he shall testify of me And ye also shall bear witness because ye have been with me from the beginning This is that new and living way which the Apostle speaks of which gives Boldness in our approaching before God Heb. 10.19 20. Having therefore Brethren boldness to enter into the Holiest by the Blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the Vail that is to say his Flesh The Holiest that is into Heaven of which the Sanctum Sanctorum under the Law was a Type by a living way that enlivens the Person that walks in it boldness or a holy freedom being given to plead with God which yet causeth great Humility in the Soul its acceptance with God being grounded upon the account of another's Worthiness which by Faith the Soul is inabled to behold and not upon the account of its own Worthiness This is the Way that meets the Experience of the Saints that are now upon the Earth this is the Way that the Flock walk'd in who are gone to Heaven before us we may say we are compassed about with a Cloud of Witnesses The second part of this Head of the Duty of Prayer is to shew the necessity of the continuance of it while we are on this side Eternity 1st Because we have a multitude of Temptations attending of us outwardly And 2dly Because the Soul doth too readily join with the Baits that gratify corrupt Nature First I shall shew you that we have a multitude of Temptations attending of us outwardly The World is gotten to a very high pitch of Atheism and Profaneness Christianity as to the Power of it is not only removed but Persons have lost that Morality that former Ages did enjoy You can hardly deal in the World now but you are in danger every moment to be carried away with the Stream the Difficulties of getting an outward Support for the Body being great Satan takes the advantage of it to draw out the Corruptions of Mens Hearts after these things so as to hurry them forward in their Endeavours to keep and to gain a share in this fading World without any Consideration Where is the Person that hath the Fear of the Almighty before him and an inward Tenderness lest he should offend him Did David take up this Complaint Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesech that I dwell in the Tenths of Kedar My Soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth Peace What cause have we every day to take up the same Complaint if we look upon the