necessary for you for even hereunto were you called that you may be like to Christ who has left you an example of such patient suffering for this end that you might follow his steps 1 Pet. 2.18 19 20 21 c. And thus are all the particular Laws of this last relation imposed in the same strictness of obligation and under the same severe sanction with all the rest that went before And as for the Law of Baptism and of the Lords Supper and of Repentance and amendment whensoever we fail in any of the former which are all the commanding Laws yet remaining their necessity will appear from the Scriptures following Except a man be born again of Water as well as of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God says Christ to Nicodemus John 3.5 And when Christ sends his Apostles out to preach to all the World that Doctrine which he commissions them to declare is this He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved Mark 16.16 Take eat this is my Body Do this in remembrance of me For as often as you eat this Bread and drink this Cup you do shew forth the Lords death which you must do till he come the second time to judge us and to punish all impenitent Transgressors as well of this as of all his other Precepts 1 Cor. 11.24 25 26. And this Command he further says he received of the Lord to deliver to them ver 23. And for the fuller proof of the necessity of this Sacrament that is very remarkable which as some have observed the Jewish Doctors have taken notice of viz. that whereas God forbad twenty three things under pain of being cut off from the people to them who committed them yet in the whole Old Testament there are but two things commanded under that penalty to those who should neglect them and they are Circumcision and the Passover which are Types and Figures of and answer to our two Sacraments Baptism and the Lords Supper And for that necessity particularly of the Passover among the Jews which answers to the Eucharist among us Christians where as the Apostle says Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us 1 Cor. 5.7 we have a plain Text at the institution of it Exod. 12. Whosoever in the Feast of the Passover eateth leavened Bread from the first Day to the eleventh Day that soul shall be cut off from Israel ver 15. Repentance and remission of sins thereupon is commanded to be preached to all Nations Luke 24.47 And as Christ ordered so his Apostles practised Repent says S t Peter in his first Sermon and be baptized for the remission of sins Acts 2.38 But without this there is no mercy for any wilful Offenders for except you repent says our Saviour you shall all perish Luke 13.3 And thus we have seen of all the commanding Laws particularly that our obedience to every one of them is plainly necessary to our salvation They are that Rule which God has fixt to measure out to us either Life or Death and which at the last Day we must all be eternally acquitted or condemned by CHAP. VI. Of the Sanction of all the forbidding Laws The CONTENTS Of the Sanction of all the negative or forbidding Laws particularly The perfection of the Christian Law How our Duty exceeds that of the Heathens under the revelations of Nature And that of the Jews under the additional light of Moses's Law AS for all the Vices opposite to the several Vertues in the foregoing Chapter which are the number of the negative or forbidding Laws they must needs be under the same sanction and our observance of them be bound upon us by the same necessity with our observance of the former For whatsoever any of the particular Laws commanding any Vertues threaten they denounce against these opposite Vices which are the several transgressions of them So that in shewing the severe sanction and necessity of the one I have shown it sufficiently of the other also And this might very well excuse me all further trouble in searching after an express sanction of every particular forbidding Law But on the other side I consider that men are infinitely concerned to be fully convinced of the particular necessity of abstaining from every Vice as well as of performing every Vertue And that there is much more force to work this full Conviction in an express and particular proof than there can be in a general and implicite intimation And because I would shun no pains which may be likely to quicken the obedience or secure the interests even of any one soul I will not leave it to mens selves to collect and inferr this necessity although the meanest capacities may do it without any great difficulty but proceed still to set down such sanctions of all the particular forbidding Laws as I meet with in the Scriptures And to take the several Classes of them in that order wherein they are described above for the penalties threatned to all the Particulars of unsoberness they will appear from the places following The works of the Flesh are manifest saith S t Paul which are adultery fornication uncleanness lasciviousness drunkenness revelling emulations of the which I tell you that they who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God And besides these if we live in the Spirit without which there is no hopes of happiness Rom. 8.6 let us not be desirous of vain-glory provoking one another Gal. 5.19 20 21 25 26. Neither the effeminate those that suffer themselves to be unnaturally abused nor the abusers of themselves with mankind nor extortioners or ravishers and men that commit rapes shall inherit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6.9 10. But the fearful and soft the abominable or abusers of themselves with mankind and whoremongers shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death Rev. 21.8 Let not filthiness nor foolish or obscene talking nor jesting in filthy jests be so much as named among you For this ye know that no whoremonger or covetous man c. hath any inheritance in the Kingdom of God and of Christ. Let no man deceive you for these things sake cometh the wrath of God upon the Children of disobedience Ephes. 5.3 4 5 6. In the last Days perillous times shall come for men shall be lovers of themselves or of their own Flesh covetous proud Boasters or arrogant incontinent high-minded or enormously haughty in behaviour or insolent lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God or sensual having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof from such turn away for they are men of corrupt minds and reprobate concerning the faith 2 Tim. 3.1 2 3 4 5 8. Being filled with covetousness Back-biters Boasters or arrogant which in the judgment of God are worthy
three more is comprized the Body of our whole Duty If we adde two or three more I say for besides the several Laws already mentioned there are three particular Duties yet remaining of a more positive and arbitrary nature which Christ has bound all Christians to observe and they are the Law of Baptism of the Lords Supper and of Repentance Baptism is our incorporation into the Church of Christ or our entrance into the Gospel Covenant or into all the duties and priviledges of Christians by means of the outward Ceremony of washing or sprinkling in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost The Eucharist or Lords Supper is our Federal Vow or repetition of that engagement which we made at Baptism of performing faith repentance and obedience unto God in expectation of remission of sins eternal happiness and those other promises which by Christ's death are procured for us upon these terms which engagement we solemnly make to God at our eating Bread and drinking Wine in remembrance and commemoration of Christs dying for us Repentance is a forsaking of sin or an amendment of any evil way upon a sorrowful sense and just apprehension of its making us offend God and subjecting us to the danger of death and damnation And if to all the forementioned instances of those three grand Vertues which by the Apostle Tit. 2.12 13 are made the summ of our Christian Duty we join these three positive and additional Laws we have all that whereby God will judge us at the last Day even all those particular Laws whereto our obedience is required as necessary to salvation And thus we have seen what those particulars Laws are which the Gospel indispensably requires us to obey They are no other than those very instances which I have been all this while recounting and describing But because the Catalogue of them hitherto has been broken and interrupted and therefore cannot be run over so easily as might be desired in a matter of that importance I will here repeat them all again for the greater ease of all such pious souls as desire to try themselves by them and place them all in one view and all together The commanding Laws then whereby at the last Day we must all be judged are these that follow The Law of sobriety towards our selves with all its Train which are the Law of humility of heavenly-mindedness of temperance of sobriety of chastity of continence of contempt of the world and contentment of courage and taking up the Cross of diligence and watchfulness of patience of mortification and self-denial The Law of piety towards God with all its Branches which are the Law of honour of worship of faith and knowledge of love of zeal of trust and dependance of prayer of thankfulness of fear of submission and resignedness of obedience The Law of Justice towards men in all its parts which will be seen by the contrary prohibitions of injustice The Law of Charity in all its instances which are the Law of goodness or kindness of honour for our Brethrens Vertues of pity and succour of restraining our Christian Liberty for our weak Brothers edification of friendly reproof of brotherly kindness of congratulation of compassion of almes and distribution of covering and concealing their defects of vindicating their reputation of affability or graciousness of courtesy and officiousness of condescension of hospitality of gentleness of candor of unity of thankfulness of meekness or lenity of placableness of forgiving injuries of doing good to enemies and when nothing more is in our power praying for them and blessing or speaking what is good of them when we take occasion to mention them of long-suffering of mercifulness The Law of Peace and Concord with all its Train as are the Law of peaceableness of condescension and compliance of doing our own business of satisfying for injuries of peace-making The Law of love to Kings and Princes in all its Particulars which are the Law of honour of reverence of paying Tribute and Customes of fidelity of praying for them of obedience of subjection The Law of love to our Bishops and Ministers with all its expressions which are the Law of honour or having them highly in esteem for their works sake of reverence of maintenance of praying for them of obedience The Law of Love in the particular relation of Husband and Wife with all its Branches which are on both sides the Law of mutual concern and communicating in each others bliss or misery of bearing each others infirmities of prayer of fidelity On the Husbands towards his Wife the Law of providing for her of protecting her of flexible and winning Government of compliance and condescension On the Wives towards her Husband the Law of honour of reverence of observance and obedience of subjection The Law of Love in the particular relation of Parents and Children with its several effects which are from the Parents towards their Children the Law of natural affection of maintenance and provision of honest education of loving Government of bringing them up in the institution and fear of God of prayer for them From the Children towards their Parents besides the Duty of natural affection common to both the Law of honour of reverence of obedience of subjection of requiting upon occasion their care and kindness of prayer for them The Law of Love in the particular relation of Brethren and Sisters with all its instances which are the Law of natural affection of providing for our Brethren of praying for them The Law of Love in the particular relation of Master and Servant with its several expressions which are on the Masters side the Law of maintenance of religious instruction of a just and equal Government of them of kindness and equity in commanding of forbearance and moderation in threatning of punctual payment of the wages of the Hireling of praying for them On the Servants the Law of honour of reverence of observance of concealing and excusing their Masters defects of vindicating their injured reputation of fidelity of obedience of diligence of willing and hearty service of patient submission and subjection of praying for them To all which we may add the two arbitrary institutions and positive Laws of the Gospel Baptism and the Eucharist or Lords Supper and when we transgress in any of the instances forementioned that great and only remedy of Christs Religion the Law of repentance This so far as I can call to mind at present is a just enumeration of those particular Injunctions and Commands of God whereto our obedience is indispensably required and whereby at the last Day we must all be judged either to live or dye eternally But supposing that some particular instances of Love and Duty are omitted in this Catalogue yet need this be prejudicial to no mans happiness since that defect will be otherwise supplied For as for such omitted instances where there is an occasion for them and an opportunity offered to exercise
be expected You have not saith S t James because you ask not James 4.2 Gods mercy is on all that fear him Luke 1.50 I will warn you saith our Saviour whom you shall fear fear God who after he hath killed hath yet further power to cast you into Hell if you are fearless and contemptuous I say unto you Fear him Luke 12.5 In every thing give thanks for this is the will of God concerning you 1 Thess. 5.18 It is one part of our walking as Children of the light to give thanks always and in all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ Ephes. 5.8 20. And the Apostle's exhortation is Offer to God the Sacrifice of Praise continually giving thanks to his Name and that because we have no abiding City but seek one to come Heb. 13.14 15. The Church of Laodicea to the end that she may be rich and cloathed is advised to be zealous and to repent Rev. 3.18 19. And one effect of a godly sorrow and a saving repentance S t Paul saith is zeal for God and goodness 2 Cor. 7.11 In Christ Jesus or the Christian Religion neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Vncircumcision but keeping of the Commandments of God 1 Cor. 7.19 For it is this only that gives right to life and happiness Blessed are they that do his Commandments that they may have right to the Tree of Life Rev. 22.14 Our Fathers after the flesh corrected us and we gave them reverence and shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of Spirits and live Heb. 12.9 And thus are all the Particulars of this second Class of Duties Piety bound upon us with the same sanction as the former and our obedience to them all made necessary to our being pardoned at the last Day and eternally rewarded by them And the same is further true of the Duties of the third Class righteousness towards our Neighbour For as for the necessity of Justice S t Paul is clear Owe no man any thing but to love one another Rom. 13.8 For if you wrong and defraud one another saith the same Apostle know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6.8 9. And as for all the particular Laws of Charity their necessity will appear from what follows Be kindly affectioned one to another as if you were of the same blood and near Kindred with brotherly love in honour preferring one another for your Vertues before your selves and much more vindicating each other from the unjust aspersions of others Distributing or communicating to the necessity of Saints given to or earnestly pursuing hospitality Bless or speak well of them which persecute you Bless and curse not Rejoyce with them that do rejoyce in congratulation and weep with them that weep in compassion Be of the same mind one towards another mind not state and high things but be affable and condescend by going even out of your way to bear them company to men of low estate Recompence to no man evil for evil but if thine enemy hunger feed him if he thirst give him drink Rom. 12.10 13 14 15 16 17 20. All which Precepts with several others delivered in that Chapter he gave in Command as he tells them through the Grace or Authority of Apostleship which is here and elsewhere called Grace given unto him ver 3 and that is a plain proof of their indispensable necessity For he that despiseth you Apostles says our Saviour despiseth me Luke 10.16 And if the transgression and disobedience of the Law of Moses spoken to him only by Angels in the Mount received a just recompence of reward such Offenders dying without mercy how shall we escape the same death or greater if we neglect and much more if we despise so great a means of salvation as Christs Gospel and his Laws are which was at first spoken to us by the Lord Jesus himself who is far above all Angels and was afterwards confirmed to us by his Apostles or them that heard him Heb. 2.2 3. The wisdom from above and which must bring us thither is gentle easie to be entreated full of mercy and good fruits James 3.17 And S t Paul bids the Colossians to put on as the elect of God holy and beloved these Vertues viz. bowels of mercies kindness or courtesy meekness long-suffering or forbearing one another and forgiving one another If any man hath a quarrel against any even as Christ forgave you so do ye Col. 3.12 13 15. The fruits of the Spirit saith the same Apostle are love long-suffering gentleness goodness meekness against such there is no condemning force of any Law Gal. 5.22 23. The description which S t Paul gives of Charity is this Charity suffers long in great meekness before it be provoked and is kind or courteous towards all men is not puffed up with supercilious and haughty behaviour for men do not assume state over those persons whom they love but is lowly and affable doth not behave it self unseemly or contumeliously but with much respect and civility seeks not her own Praise and Glory at other mens cost or discredit is not easily provoked or not provoked to the height but mixes mercifulness with anger opposite to rigour rejoyces or congratulates the truth or sincerity and integrity of men and as for their infirmities it bears or covers and conceals all things that are defective believes all things to their advantage in putting the most candid and favourable sence upon any thing which they do or say and where there is no excuse for the present it hopeth all things good for the future and for injuries offered to it self it is not hasty and vindictive but patiently endureth all things 1 Cor. 13.4 5 6 7. And for the necessity of that Charity which includes all these S t Paul is express in the same Chapter when he tells us that although he have all faith and all knowledg and bestow all his goods to feed the poor yea and give his Body to be burned in Martyrdom if still he have not Charity in all these other effects and in that latitude wherein it is here described it profiteth him nothing ver 2 3. I say unto you Love your enemies bless or speak all the good you can of them that curse or reproach you do good to them that hate you and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you that by this means you may be the Children of your Father which is in Heaven Matth. 5.44 45. Which Laws are of the number of those which are contained in Christ's Sermon on the Mount at the beginning whereof he declared that whosoever should break the least of his Commandments which he was then about to deliver and should teach men to
of death Rom. 1.29 30 32. The Servant that shall begin to eat and to drink with the drunken shall have his portion appointed with Hypocrites in the place where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Matth. 24.49 51. Many are enemies of the Cross of Christ whose God is their Belly which they carefully serve in voluptuous eating who are altogether worldly and mind earthly things whose end is destruction Phil. 3.18 19. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth and been wanton or ye have lived deliciously and fared luxuriously Ye Ye have nourished or fed your hearts as men use to do Cattle which they intend for the Shambles against or in a day of slaughter Weep therefore and howl for the miseries that shall come upon you James 5.1 5. Love not the world nor covet and ambitiously pursue the rich and splendid things of the world But if any man do love the world I declare this concerning him that the Love of the Father is not in him 1 John 2.15 Blessed is he who shall not be offended in me or not scandalized and turned out of the way and profession of my Religion through any difficulties or persecutions that befal him in it Matth. 11.6 For he who will save his life in this world by fleshly policy and wicked compliances against his Duty shall lose it in the world to come but whosoever shall lose his life or other temporal enjoyments for my sake or for an honest owning of my Laws and Religion that same man shall find it Matth. 16.25 And for the prohibitions of the second Class impiety we have their penalty expressed in the Texts ensuing The works of the Flesh are manifest idolatry witchcraft of which I tell you that they who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Gal. 5.19 20 21. But the unbelievers and sorcerers and idolaters shall have their part in the Lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death Rev. 21.8 The wicked man hath said in his heart God hides his face he will never see what men do and therefore he will not require an account of it But thou Lord dost behold mischief and spite and that too to punish and requite it with thy hand Psal. 10.11 13 14. Being haters of God without understanding or foolish which in the judgment of God are worthy of death Rom. 1.30 31 32. In the last days perillous times shall come for men shall be Blasphemers unthankful unholy heady and these are men of corrupt minds and reprobate concerning the faith 2 Tim. 3.1 2 4 8. They that despise and dishonour me shall be lightly set by 1 Sam. 2.30 Because thou hast no zeal for me but art lukewarm and neither hot nor cold I will spew thee as men do warm water which the Stomach loaths and nauseates out of my mouth Rev. 3.16 If we deny him he also will deny us 2 Tim. 2.12 And our being ashamed of and not owning and maintaining him and his Religion although it be at a time when impiety is barefaced in an adulterous and sinful Generation is intepreted by him for such damnable denial of him For what is called denying me and my words Matth. 10.33 is upon another occasion repeated in S t Mark and expressed by being ashamed of them Mark 8.38 Ye have heard that it hath been said in old time Thou shalt not forswear or perjure thy self but shalt perform unto the Lord thy Vows But in addition to this I say unto you Swear not at all in your common converse but let your communication or ordinary discourse be yea yea and nay nay for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil Matth. 5.33 34 37. And these Precepts are of the number of those whereof Christ had expresly said ver 19. He who breaks the least of these Commandments shall be least or none at all in the Kingdom of Heaven The Law with its terrors and severe sanctions is not made for a righteous man who would do what it requires without them but for the lawless and disobedient for ungodly for unholy and prophane for perjured persons that by means of its dreadful punishments it might either fright them from sinning or take vengeance on them after they should have sinned against it 1 Tim. 1.9 10. Wo unto him that strives through contumacious and repining carriage with his Maker Isai. 45.9 And for the necessity of observing the prohibitions of the third Head injustice towards men take these places The works of the Flesh are manifest adultery murther of which I tell you that they who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Gal. 5.19 21. Being filled with all unrighteousness covetousness deceit covenant-breakers or perfidious who in the judgment of God are worthy of death Rom. 1.29 30 31 32. This is the will of God That no man go beyond and defraud his Brother in any matter or way whatsoever whether it be extortion oppression or plain couzenage for the Lord is the avenger of all such as we also have forwarned you and testified 1 Thess. 4.3 6. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither thieves nor covetous shall inherit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6.9 10. In the last Days perillous times shall come for men shall be Truce-breakers false Accusers or Slanderers and Calumniators from such turn away for they are men of corrupt minds and reprobate concerning the faith 2 Tim. 3.1 2 3 5 8. Out of the heart proceed thefts false witness murthers these defile or pollute the man and so exclude him from Heaven where nothing can ever enter that is unholy and unclean Matth. 15.19 20. Thou hast greedily gained of thy Neighbour by extortion therefore I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain Can thy heart endure or thy hands be strong in the day when I shall deal with thee Ezek. 22.12 13 14. All Lyars shall have their part in the Lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death Rev. 21.8 And as for all the Particulars of uncharitableness we have their sanction in these Scriptures following Being filled with wickedness maliciousness full of envy malignity whisperers back-biters despightful or contumelious implacable unmerciful who in the judgment of God are all worthy of death Rom. 1.29 30 31. Recompence to no man evil for evil avenge not your selves but rather instead of that give place unto wrath Rom. 12.17 19. For if ye forgive not but revenge upon men their trespasses neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses Matth. 6.15 Deal thus therefore with your enemies not rendring evil for evil or railing for railing but contrariwise blessing or benediction knowing this That hereunto are ye
called in Christianity to inherit from Christs example this Vertue of blessing or speaking well of them who revile you And this is no indifferent thing For he that will love life and see good days must thus refrain his tongue from evil 1 Pet. 3.9 10. Let all bitterness and anger and wrath or hatred and clamour or brawling and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice Ephes 4.31 And that if you have been taught as the truth is in Jesus to put off the old man and to put on the new ver 20 21 22 24. Exhort and rebuke with all authority and let no man despise thee lest in doing so he be judged as a Despiser of Christ also Luke 10.16 Put them in mind to speak evil of no man to be no Brawlers or Quarrellers but gentle shewing all meekness opposite to surliness unto all men Tit. 2. ult Chap. 3.1 2. In the last days perillous times shall come for men shall be unthankful fierce Despisers and Haters of those that are good From such turn away for they are men of corrupt minds and reprobate concerning the faith 2 Tim. 3.1 2 3 5 8. Charity suffers long before it be provoked and so is not hasty to punish and is also kind or courteous and so not uncourteous Charity is not puffed up doth not swell and exalt it self above others in stateliness or difficulty of access and uncondescension but is condescensive and affable doth not behave it self unseemly or contumeliously seeks not her own praise or pleasure at other mens loss or shame and therefore neither mocks nor upbraids nor reproaches any is not provoked easily or not unto the height but mixes mercifulness with anger in exacting punishment which is opposite to rigour thinks or imputeth no evils or vices to men who are guilty of them in railing and reproach but kindly overlooks or lessens them as we are wont to do with persons whom we love rejoiceth not in evil and least of all in the highest sort of it iniquity of men 1 Cor. 13.4 5 6. And without this Charity all other things whatsoever will at the last Day profit nothing ver 3. The works of the Flesh are manifest which are hatred envying variance or debate Gal. 5.19 20 21. Be not deceived no revilers shall enter into the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6.9 10. I write unto you that if any Christian Brother be a railer to excommunicate him and with such an one to use no conversation no not so much as to eat 1 Cor. 5.11 And our Lord himself hath determined whatsoever you shall bind by excommunication on earth shall be bound also in Heaven Matth. 18.18 Judge not or be not forward to pass undervaluing and censorious judgments upon what other men do or say that you be not judged For with what judgment you judge others you shall be judged your selves both by God and men who will repay you in your own kind Matth. 7.1 2. Which Precept we must note moreover is one of those whereof Christ affirms That whosoever breaks the least of them shall be least in the Kingdom of Heaven Chap. 5. ver 19. At the Day of Judgment Christ will say unto the uncharitable Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire For in my poor Members I was hungry and you gave me no meat thirsty and you gave me no drink naked and you gave me no cloaths a Stranger and you were unhospitable and took me not in For in as much as ye refused it and did it not to the very least of these ye did it not to me Matth. 25.41 42 43 45. Wo unto the world because of offences or scandals for it must needs be that offences come but wo unto that man by whom the offence or scandal cometh Matth. 18.7 And as for all the prohibiting Laws in the sin of discord their penalty is expressed in these places The works of the flesh are manifest which are these hatred or enmity variance emulation strife or contention seditions or divisions heresies envyings of the which I tell you that they who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Gal. 5.19 20 21. And if we live in the Spirit let us not be desirous of vain-glory provoking one another ver 25 26. Mark those which are turbulent and contentious or cause divisions and offences among you contrary to the Doctrine which you have learned and avoid them For they that are such serve not the Lord Jesus Christ Rom. 16.17 18. Whereas there is among you strife and divisions are ye not carnal 1 Cor. 3.3 And what the punishment of that is we are told in plain terms for to be carnally minded is death Rom. 8.6 13. Study so as to be ambitious of it to be quiet which directly forbids all unpeaceableness and to do your own business not busying your selves in other mens matters Which are of the number of those Commands that were given them by the Lord Jesus so that he who despiseth them despiseth not men but God 1 Thess. 4.2 8 11. Thou shalt not go up and down as a Tare-bearer among thy people I am the Lord to judge and punish any man that doth Lev. 19.16 I fear when I come there will be found among you debates tumults and I shall be forced to bewail many or excommunicate them with mourning over them as over a dead Body at a Funeral which was the custom of the Apostles times 2 Cor. 12.20 21. And as for the prohibitions in the particular relation of Subjects to our Sovereign Princes their sanction is expressed in the Texts ensuing The filthy Dreamers who despise dominion which implies both dishonour and irreverence of it and speak evil of Dignities were before ordained to condemnation Jude 4 8 9. Let every soul be subject to the higher Powers for they that resist and rebel against the men in power and authority shall receive to themselves damnation Render therefore in fear of that penalty Tribute to whom Tribute and Custom to whom Custom is due Rom. 13.1 2 5 6 7. Submit your selves to every Ordinance of man and be obedient to it for the Lords sake from whom you shall receive a severe recompence of all your disobedience whether it be to the King himself as supreme or unto lower Officers and deputed Governours as unto those who are sent by him 1 Pet. 2.13 14. In the last Days perillous times shall come for men shall be fierce traitors c. from such turn away for they are men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith 2 Tim. 3.1 4 5 8. And as for the particular prohibitions in the relation of people to their Bishops and Pastors their penalty is the same with the others already mentioned He that despiseth
or have all the force of a law in his members vers 23. That he sins against his own conscience For what he doth that he allows not but what in his own mind he hates and disapproves that he doth vers 15.19 That to do good although he might wish or approve it he found not v. 18. That he stands in need to cry out O wretched man that I am who will deliver me from this body of death being as yet not rescued from it but labouring under it vers 25. Of the regenerate elsewhere That as for their members they yield them not to be instruments unto sin but unto righteousness because now since their regeneration into true Christians Sin is not to reign in their mortal bodies that they should obey it in the lusts thereof Rom. 6.12 13. In becoming Christians they are dead and crucified with Christ that the body of sin might not be maintained to live and rule in them but destroyed that thenceforward they should not serve sin For he that is dead is freed from sin vers 6 7. The Gospel of Christ or the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath not enslaved but freed them from the law of sin and death Rom. 8.2 So that sin now shall not have dominion over them because they are not under the law through the weakness whereof it tyrannized but under Grace Rom. 6.14 That their body is dead because of sin Rom. 8.10 And that they make no provision for the flesh to fulfill and accomplish the lusts or concupiscence thereof Rom. 13.14 Because if they should they would cease to be sons of God and heirs of happiness and be rendred obnoxious to misery and death For the plain declaration of Christs Gospel concerning the heirs of life and death is this If you live after the flesh in accomplishing its lusts you shall die and 't is only if you through the spirit instead of acting and compleating do kill and mortifie the deeds of the body that you shall live Rom. 8.13 That against them there is no condemning force of any law Galat. 5.23 For the law of the spirit of life hath not left them still enslaved but made them free from the law of sin and death too Rom. 8.2 And being become the servants of God they have their fruit not to sin and death but to holiness at present and the end thereof at length everlasting life Rom. 6.22 That their bodies or fleshly members are temples of the Holy Ghost and sacred places wherein it inhabits and that they glorifie God in their bodies as well as in their spirits seeing both are Gods 1 Cor. 6.19 20. That they hold faith and a good conscience without which of faith in dangerous times they would soon make shipwrack 1 Tim. 1.19 And that they are saved by the answer of a good conscience which comforts and applauds but cannot accuse them 1 Pet. 3.21 That he only who doth good is of God 3 Joh. 11. and that there is no condemnation to them who do and walk after the spirit Rom. 8.1 And that without these new fruits it is in vain to lay any claim to a new nature because as our Saviour sayes if men were the children of Abraham they would do the works of Abraham Joh. 8.39 That the body of sin is already destroyed in them that henceforth they should not serve sin which the other complains so much of Rom. 6.6 For they are delivered from the law upon occasion of the weakness whereof sin brought forth in them fruits unto death to serve now in newness of Spirit Rom. 7.5 So that what the weak ineffective law could not do for them that the Grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord hath done in an effectual deliverance of them v. 25. So that if we will take the word of S t Paul and of the rest of the Apostles in this matter we must needs believe that regenerate men and heirs of heaven are not in any wise such persons as are described in that seventh Chapter to the Romans there being no agreement or resemblance at all between them Their tempers and behaviour are utterly inconsistent and as far distant as Heaven and Hell For one serves and fulfills the lusts of his flesh the other crucifies and subdues them one yields his members servants unto sin the other unto righteousness one is made a perfect captive and sold under sin the other is made free from it one is forced to act against his conscience the other alwayes acts according to it one complains of being oppressed by the body of death the other rejoyceth in being deliver'd from it one can perform and do no good the other doth all good one brings forth fruit unto death the other to eternal life These with others that might be mention'd are the lines of difference and the contrary characters of the person represented in the seventh Chapter to the Romans and the regenerate man described by S t Paul himself in all his other Epistles and in the following and foregoing Chapters of this By all which it appears that they are descriptions contradictory and incompatible which cannot at the same time be affirmed of the same man And that to give such an account of a regenerate man as is there set down would not in all appearance be the way to describe but rather slanderously to libel and revile him If any therefore enquire now how I know that S t Paul doth not speak of himself in that Chapter nor of any other regenerate person but of an unregenerate man who is yet in the state of death and sin he has his Answer full and undeniable already I know he doth not mean so because he cannot mean so the things which he sayes not bearing to be so understood For that meaning would make his speech to be no Apostolical Truth but an open falsehood it would make S t Paul inconsistent with himself and to unsay at one time what he had said most peremptorily at another It would make him flatly to gainsay all that he has taught elsewhere yea even what he had affirm'd almost in the same breath in the foregoing and the following Chapters So that he cannot be understood of himself or of any other regenerate person but must be allow'd according to his usual custome in such odious topicks as this was to speak all in a borrowed disguise and in the person of a sinfull and a lost man For indeed to be yet more particular all that discourse in that seventh Chapter is not meant either of S t Paul or of any other regenerate Christian but of a struggling and contending although yet unconquering and unregenerate Jew For the Apostle is there describing the state not of a perfect debauch nor of a perfect Saint but of a middle man He is one whose Conscience is awaken'd for he delights in the Law of God after the inner man of his mind and reason vers 22. and when he
our own making seeing it was at our own choice whether ever we should have come under it although when once we are subject to it it be no longer at our liberty whether or no we shall be acted by it And since all these sins which are thus indeliberate in themselves were yet so freely chosen and deliberated in their causes they are all imputable to us and fit to be charged upon us They were chosen indirectly and interpretatively in the choice of that cause which made them all afterwards to be almost if not wholly necessary For either we did deliberate or which is all one we had time enough to have deliberated as we ought before we chose our own necessity So that these sinfull actions which are unchosen and unconsidered in themselves are yet imputable to us and fit to be charged upon us as our own because we chose them by an indirect and interpretative volition As therefore there are some sins which are expresly will'd in the particulars by an express choice and deliberation so likewise are there several others which are expresly and deliberately willed only in their cause but in their own particulars are not chosen otherwise than indirectly and by interpretation And both these together take up the compass of our wilfull and chosen sins For either we expresly think and deliberately consider of the sinfull action when we commit it or we expresly and deliberately thought upon that cause when we chose it which makes us now to sin without thinking and deliberation And by all this it appears now at length how considerateness and deliberation is implyed in every wilfull sin For the sinfull action is seen and considered or it is our faults if it be not since we had both time and powers for such consideration either in it self or in its cause and being it is thus a matter of our consideration it is likewise a matter of our choice and a wilfull action And thus having shewn what sinfull actions are voluntary and chosen I proceed now to shew 2. That none of them is consistent with a state of grace but deadly and damning As for our wilfull sins they are all as we have seen of a most heinous nature being indeed nothing less than a contempt of Gods Authority a sinning presumptuously and with a high hand They are a plain disavowing of Gods will and renouncing of his Soveraignty they are acted in a way of defiance and are not the unavoidable slips of an honest and well-meaning servant but the high affronts of an open rebel So that no favourite or child of God can ever be guilty of them or he must cease to continue such if he be Because they interrupt all favour and friendship and put God and him into a state of hostility and defiance seeing they are nothing less than a renouncing of his Authority at least in that instance and a casting off his Law And this lawlesness or rejecting of the Law is that very word whereby S t John describes sin For sin sayes he is the transgression as we render it but more fully it should be the renouncing of the Law 1 Joh. 3.4 In which sense of sin for a wilfull and rebellious one he tells us that whosoever abides in God sins not vers 6 being indeed no longer a child of God if he do but of the Devil vers 8. They deprive us of all the benefits of Christs sacrifice so long as we continue in them and of all the blessings purchased for us by his death This was their effect under the Law of Moses and it is so much rather under the Gospel of Christ. For the sentence which that Law pronounced upon all presumptuous and wilfull offenders was death without mercy The soul that doth ought presumptuously the same by his contemptuous sin reproacheth the Lord and that soul shall be cut off from among his people Numb 15.30 If ever it could be proved against him by that dispensation there was no hope for him For he that despised or contemptuously transgressed Moses's Law died without mercy saith the Apostle being convicted under the testimony of two or three witnesses Hebr. 10.28 For even those very sins for which under the Law God had appointed an attonement were no longer to be attoned for than they were committed involuntarily and through ignorance In the fourth Chapter of Leviticus we are told that as for those sins which are committed against any of those Commandments which concerned things not to be done if they were acted involuntarily and unwillingly they should be allowed the benefit of an expiation and the sacrifices for that purpose are there prescribed But if they were acted wilfully and advisedly then had they no right to the expiation there promised nor would any sacrifices be accepted for them but that punishment must unavoidably be undergone which in the Law was threatned to them For to name no more this we are plainly told of two instances viz. the contemptuous making of perfume and eating of blood after both had been forbidden Whosoever shall contemptuously make any perfume like to that which was commanded to be made vers 35. to smell thereto that soul shall not be expiated by sacrifice but cut off from his people Exod. 30.38 And whatsoever man there be that eateth any manner of blood viz. willingly and wilfully the ignorant and involuntary transgressions of this and the like prohibitions being attoneable Lev. 4. I will even set my face against that soul and will cut him off from among his people Levit. 17.10 Thus severe was the sentence and thus unavoidable was the penalty of all wilfull sins under the Law of Moses And by how much the ministration of Christ is nobler than the ministration of Moses was by so much shall the punishment of all wilfull and contemptuous sins against the Law of Christ be more severe than it was for those against the Law of Moses And this is the Apostles own argument For if that word of the Law threatning death which was spoken unto Moses on Mount Sinai by the mediation only of Angels was stedfast and every transgression of it received the just recompence of that death which it threatned such persons dying without mercy How shall we Christians hope to escape it if we wilfully neglect and contemn those Laws which are published to us by so great a means of salvation as the Gospel is which was at first spoken to us not by Angels but by the Lord Jesus Christ himself who is far above all Angels being indeed the Son of God himself Hebr. 2.2 3. Surely as the Apostle argues in another place if he who despised even Moses's Law died without mercy for that contempt we ought to think with our selves not of how much less but of how much sorer punishment he shall be judged worthy who by wilfull sinning and despising of his Laws doth in a manner tread under foot not Moses but the Son of God
himself so doth he instruct Timothy that he should do likewise For he tells him that the way whereby the man of God ought to deal with sinners even those of the worst sort who are not only subject but enslaved to it is not peremptorily to damn and seal them up fast unto destruction but in great meekness to endeavour to reclaim them that by recovering them to repentance he may restore them again to life and pardon The man of God says he must in meekness instruct even the refractory and contumacious or those that oppose themselves against him if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the Devil who are taken captive by him at his will 2 Tim. 2.25 26. And to name no more instances of this nature but to summ up all in one even those great and enormous wilful sinners whose offences are so hainous as to make them fit to be expelled the society of Christians are not yet in their very Excommunication shut up irrecoverably under the pains of Hell but quite contrary are endeavoured by this very means to be reduced to repentance and thereby to pardon and acceptance Excommunication it self being as St. Paul says for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus 1 Cor. 5.5 And the Power of the Keys in remitting or retaining sins that is in the excommunicating or absolving of offenders is intrusted with the Ministers of Christs Church for the edification of the excommunicated sinners themselves and not for their destruction 2 Cor. 10.8 and chap. 13.10 And by all this we see that the Grace of Christs Gospel is a grace of repentance and remission of sins all the way both before Baptism and also after it In all periods from the beginning to the end it is an instrument of pardon and a means of peace or a word and ministry as St. Paul says of reconciliation 2 Cor. 5.19 If we break our Baptismal vows which are the condition of the Covenant once and thereby forfeit all our Right to Happiness it gives us liberty to repeat them For we have the freedom both in our private and our publick prayers to renew all our good resolutions and to make God new promises and to undertake for the performance of that wherein we have wilfully failed by new engagements Nay it doth not only allow that we may thus renew the Covenant but it requires that we should it has appointed an Ordinance the Eucharist or Lords Supper I mean for this very purpose For the Bread and Wine which we eat and drink there our Saviour tells us is a Federal form the New Covenant or according to the manner of the Eastern Nations who ratified their Covenants by eating and drinking together the re-entring or confirming of that Covenant which was at first sealed and confirmed in his Blood This says he is the New Testament or Covenant in my blood drink ye all of it and so according to the known Rite confirm this Covenant with God by it Luk. 22.20 Mat. 22.27 And this he has not only allowed but injoyned to all his Disciples Do this says he in remembrance of me And that not only at one time as it is with Baptism but at all times during your whole lives for in this manner of a Federal eating and drinking of this Bread and Wine you must shew forth the Lords death always even till he come again the second time i. e. unto the worlds end 1 Cor. 11.24 25 26. Forgiveness of sins then upon repentance is a Grace which is begun in Baptism and ever after continued being repeated in every Prayer and sealed in every Sacrament to the end of our lives So that no wilful sin can damn us if we repent of it but the damned accursed sinner is only he who lives and dyes impenitent Insomuch as that very sin for which St. Paul says there is no benefit from Christs Death nor any help of Sacrifice under the Gospel is therefore excluded from all Grace of pardon because it is from all possibility of repentance For therein it is that the irrecoverableness of those lost sinners consists It is impossible says he to renew them to repentance Heb. 6.6 Thus then we see that Christs Gospel has afforded us a remedy even for our wilful sins whether they be committed before Baptism or after it at one time or at another at all without exception so that although sometimes we do fall under them yet we shall not be eternally condemned for them Let us but repent particularly therefore and amend it and whatever sin we have wilfully been guilty of our work is done For our repentance shall set us straight and our reformation will make us innocent and if we are careful to do so no more our offence will be looked upon as if it never had been done at all But against this pardonableness of our wilful sins after our belief of the Gospel and Baptism into the Christian Faith some perhaps may be ready to object two places from St. Pauls Epistle to the Hebrews wherein he may seem to teach us a more rigorous and severe Lesson In the 10 th Chapter he lays down this as a great Truth If we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge or open belief and acknowledgment of the truth of Christs Gospel there remains no more benefit to us from Christs sacrifice for sins but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall consume the adversaries v. 26 27. And in the 6 th Chapter to the eternal Terror of all willing and wilful Back-sliders he speaks thus to the same purpose It is impossible for those who were once enlightned and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the holy Ghost and have tasted the good word of God if after all this they shall fall away to be again recovered or for any of us to renew them to repentance seeing they crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame v. 4 5 6. But now if our wilful sins after Baptism and belief of the Gospel be thus desperate and utterly excluded from all hopes of cure and benefit of Expiation by Christs Sacrifice as the Apostle in these places seems to intimate how can the Gospel be truly called a Ministration of Reconciliation Grace and Pardon towards all sorts of wilful sins To take off all this difficulty I will answer to the places severally that all those good minds which are wont to be perplexed by them may be more perfectly relieved by a particular and distinct understanding of them First then to begin with that the words of St. Paul in the 10 th Chapter of his Epistle to the Hebrews are these Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering Not forsaking the assembling of