by himself the true Riches By the Salvation which he is the Author of is meant that from the worst of evils principally and everlasting Salvation So proportionably whenas the Son is said to make us free the meaning is free with the best of Freedoms viz. that from sin as also we have seen is manifest from the Context Whenas Christ is said to be Anointed according to the Prophecy of Esay concerning him to preach deliverance to the captives and to set at liberty them that are bruised with being long fettered and shackled we are likewise to understand the same most desirable of all Liberties and Deliverances Whereas S. Iames calls the Gospel the law of Liberty Chap. 1. 25. and the perfect law of Liberty Chap. 2. 12. we are primarily to understand it as will be further shewn of this same Liberty which infinitely surpasseth all other In which sence the Apostle S. Paul understood it to be The perfect law of Liberty when he called it The law of the Spirit of life which is in Christ Iesus adding that it had made him free from the law of Sin and death Rom. 8. 2. Secondly We find this Liberty was that the instating us wherein our Saviour when he was in the World and his Apostles after him were altogether bent and intent upon The business of making men holy and obedient to the Laws of Righteousness they had not only mostly in their Eye but all they did was subordinated thereunto All those powerful means that were used to perswade the world that Iesus is the Christ were in order to this end For the Son of God was manifested to take away our sins and to destroy the works of the Devil 1 John 3. 5 8. Therefore is Faith so highly commended and so much ascribed thereto and men so excited to believe in Christ or to believe his Gospel because the Doctrine Precepts Promises and Threatnings therein contained have a great aptness and tendency are of mighty force and efficacy to the thorough Reformation of our Lives and the cleansing our Natures from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit Because that Faith which is terminated upon those Objects is such a Shield as whereby we shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one Because it is most effectual to the purifying of the heart and the overcoming of the world In short Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Titus 2. 14. He died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves to the drudging service of their Lusts but unto him that died for them and rose again 2 Cor. 5. 15. Or that they should be his Servants that is his Free-men according to that of S. Paul 1 Cor. 7. 22. He that is called being a Servant is the Lords Free-man He gave himself for the Church that he might sanctifie and cleanse it by the washing of water by the word That he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish Ephes. 5. 26 27. He his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sins should live unto Righteousness 1 Pet. 2. 24. Or as S. Paul saith Rom. 6. 7. That being dead we might be freed from sin That is that being dead to it we might be freed from the Bondage we were in under it Or as we have it ver 18. That being made free from sin we might become the servants of righteousness Our Saviour required nothing of us forbad nothing to us but what was apparently designed in order to our deliverance from sin the making us pure in heart and holy in all manner of conversation He gave us not a Promise but what was to encourage us hereunto nor yet a Threatning but what was intended to scare us from the serving of one Lust or other And the Apostle tells us that the whole of the Gospel or The grace of God that brings salvation is designed to teach us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world Tit. 2. 11 12. 'T is sufficiently evident from this little that hath been said that the setting us free from Sin and the making us Free to Righteousness was the business which took up our Blessed Saviour's time and thoughts when he was upon the Earth and wherein his holy Apostles were employed after his departure And therefore this must necessarily be our grand Christian Liberty Abundantly more might have been said upon this Argument but we have heretofore copiously handled it in another Treatise Thirdly Our Saviours abrogating the Ceremonial Law his freeing from that yoke was mainly designed in order to the thorough effecting this Freedom and Liberty This was a yoke which the Apostle Peter saith neither they nor their Fathers were able to bear Acts 15. 10. It was a yoke of bondage as S. Paul calls it Gal. 5. 1. Stand fast in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not intangled again with the yoke of bondage This Liberty as appears by his discourse both before and after was that which Christ had given them from the burdensome services of the Mosaical Dispensation And diverse other places there are which speak of this Liberty as an effect and fruit of the death of Christ. Now it is worthy our Observation that the great reason wherefore our Saviour did put an end to the Obligation of this Law and why the Apostles especially S. Paul insisted so much upon it and so earnestly cautioned the Jewish Believers against intangling themselves again with this yoke was because it became very highly injurious to the Grand Evangelical Design of setting men perfectly free from their Lusts Because it gendered to that spiritual bondage in deliverance from which consisteth our best Liberty For this Law understood Carnally and according to the letter only which it ought not to have been was very apt to beget a sordid and low spirit a temper of mind very much estranged from true Piety and Goodness And it is too unquestionable that the Iews generally had no higher a sense of it The Law the Author to the Hebrews saith made nothing perfect Chap. 7. 19. It gave no man Freedom from the power of Sin no power to subdue corrupt Affections was obtainable thereby it did not make men truly and internally Righteous but only Ritually and Externally As the most eminently Good men under the Law did fall far short of the Apostles of our Saviour and those whose lives have been most answerable to the Christian precepts so those degrees of Virtue and Goodness they did attain to were not owing the Law but to the Covenant made with Abraham which was the same for substance with the Gospel Covenant The Law is
that I would my self publish it to all the world and instead of thinking it a disgrace and disparagement I would esteem it as an ornament for my innocence would be the more cleared and my good name vindicated by the means of it And so far would I be from sneaking and skulking in corners like one ashamed to shew his head that I would like a Prince with Heroick courage and confidence go up to the face of mine Enemy and expose and lay open my whole life before him Or rather we will read these Verses as the sence of them is expressed in a late excellent Paraphrase upon this Book Oh that the truth of all this that I have been accused of might be examined by some equal judge Behold I continue still to desire of God this favour And let him that can accuse me bring in his Libel in writing against me Surely I would not endeavour to obscure it but openly expose it to be read by all nay wear it as a singular ornament which would turn to mine honour when the world saw it disproved I my self would assist him to draw up his charge by declaring to him freely every action of my life I would approach him as undauntedly as a Prince who is assured of the goodness of his cause These words with many other of his sayings shew what a blessed Liberty the Soul of this Holy man was possessed with even whilest he was deprived of all his outward comforts and in the saddest and most dismal circumstances Thirdly Nothing will free a man from Trouble and Dejection of mind like the careful observance of the Laws of Righteousness This as it is a certain consequent of Fear and Shame it must needs free a man from as it freeth from those its Causes But it incomparably beyond any thing in the world cureth this Malady of a wounded spirit how or by whatsoever it be occasioned I have shewed that it is the fate of Sinners to feel great perturbation and disturbance of mind from their corrupt Affections by the law in their members warring against the law of their minds and also by reflecting upon their folly and madness and by the fearful expectations that their manifold bold transgressions of the Divine Laws do raise in them The wicked saith the Prophet are like the troubled Sea which cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt There is no peace saith my God to the wicked Cain had no sooner given place to Envy and Revenge but his Countenance fell and the Disquiet of his mind was bewrayed by his looks But there is no such Lightsomness and Sprightfulness of Soul no such Pleasure and Self-satisfaction as that which results from true Religion Righteousness and Goodness It 's ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths peace Prov. 3. 17. Light is sown for the Righteous and joy for the Vpright in heart Psal. 97. 11. Great peace have they that love thy law and nothing shall offend them Psal. 119. 165. The work of Rigteousness shall be peace and the effect of Righteousness quietness and assurance for ever Esay 32. 17. The Good man is free from self-accusations and from that gnawing Worm that is frequently felt in Guilty breasts He is not appalled in thinking of what is past nor cast down with the fore-thought of that which is to come His Soul is like a calm and clear River like the waters of Siloam which run softly without noise or murmur Whatsoever is Natural is for that reason highly pleasing but nothing so natural to the Heaven-born Soul of man nothing is so agreeable to our original Make as to live in conformity to the Laws of Righteousness Whilest this is our serious care we act according to our Highest principle that Principle which God and Nature designed for our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Leader and Governour I mean the Reason of our Minds And therefore so long as we follow its Dictates and behave our selves like those on whose souls the Divine image is imprinted which consisteth in Righteousness and true Holiness so long I say we live in our own Element and therefore must necessarily have Self-enjoyment And we shall enjoy our selves more or less according as we are more or less diligent in works of Righteousness and Goodness The experience of every Good man will force him to subscribe to the truth of this no such man can withhold his assent from it or call it into question any more than he can his own Feeling Such a one feels such serenity of thoughts and such great delight and satisfaction of mind in the exercise of love to God and love to men in works of Piety Justice and Charity in the exercise of Humility Meekness Patience and Submission to the Divine will and all other Christian Graces and Virtues that while he is so employed all is as well within him as he can desire he accounts it a Heaven upon Earth to be so employed I fear that many a one who would be thought a Christian cannot receive this Doctrine that it seems to him a very strange Soloecism but I could tell him of many a Heathen of whom he may learn it as well as of Christians particularly Tully who hath this brave saying in his Tusculan Questions O Philosophy the Guide of our lives O thou seeker out of Virtues and expeller of Vices One day well spent and in obedience to thy precepts ought to be preferred before a sinning immortality And all those say for substance the self-same thing who tell us that Virtue is a Reward to it self The Good man feels also no small pleasure in reflecting upon the fruits of Righteousness he hath brought forth And much more in the Contemplation of that Glorious Reward which God for Christ's sake hath promised to those who patiently persevere in well-doing The fore-expectation whereof doth greatly support him under all the crosses and afflictions wherewith he is exercised in this life And makes him not only Patient under those Tribulations he meets with for Righteousness sake but even to Glory in them as the Apostles did and Primitive Christians And moreover he receiveth great Refreshment and Comfort more immediately from the Holy Ghost especially when he is called forth to any exceedingly great suffering or extraordinary service He then marvellously strengthens the Good man with strength in his Soul to bear the one and perform the other as becomes a servant of Iesus Christ. Which he doth chiefly by giving sensible clear and lively representations to the Good mans mind of the Glory of Heaven and by stedfastly fixing it upon the Crown of Righteousness and Life which his Blessed Lord hath promised to all those who are faithful to the Death Thus was the first Christian Martyr S. Stephen strengthened who being full of the Holy Ghost looked up stedfastly into Heaven and saw the Glory of God saw the Heavens opened as ready to receive him and the Son of man standing on the
of Grace should no more have hindred his Salvation than God's Threatning against Nineveh The cause of Rejection or Damnation is Sin in man which will not hear neither receive the promise of the Gospel c. It is not a Christian man's part to attribute his Salvation to his own Free-will with the Pelagian and extenuate Original Sin nor to make God the Author of ill and damnation with the Manichee nor yet to say that God hath written Fatal Laws and with necessity of Destiny violently pulleth the one by the hair into Heaven and thrusteth the other head-long into Hell I have thus at large transcribed the words of these two Holy Bishops and Martyrs for the Reformed Religion because the Books are not easie to be met with and Bishop Hooper's not to be light on without great difficulty And I say by these Citations to which we might have added others it is very apparent not only that they undoubtedly believed the Doctrine of Christ's dying for all men and were zealous Assertors of it too but also that they rejected that Doctrine of Fatal Decrees which is the Foundation of the contrary Opinion I cannot but take notice by the way how Unreasonable and Uncharitable those men are who clamour at such a rate against their Brethren as Innovators and Apostates from the Church of England for their asserting no worse Doctrine than we have now seen was heartily approved by these Ancient and Eminent Fathers of our Church The Doctrine of which Church I presume they 'l have the Modesty to acknowledge they were as fit judges of as themselves But I must hasten to that which is much more to our present purpose viz. That no Doctrine is more clearly or fully asserted in the Holy Scriptures than this of Vniversal Redemption And that there may remain no longer the least doubt or scruple in any of our breasts concerning it let us take notice of these following particulars First How those that have a share in Christ's Redemption are expressed by our Saviour and his Apostles They are expressed by the words SINNERS indefinitely the WORLD ALL the WHOLE WORLD EVERY MAN And can the Wisdom of man invent more plain significant and full words by which to express the Universality of Mankind 1. Those whom Christ came and died to save that is to put into a Salvable state so that it will be wholly long of themselves if they perish are expressed by the word Sinners indefinitely S. Paul saith 1 Tim. 1. 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Iesus Christ came into the world to save Sinners of which I am chief Now 't is a known Maxim that An indefinite Proposition is equivalent to an Vniversal one And our Saviour himself saith that He came to call sinners to repentance Luke 5. 32. And to seek and save that which was lost Chap. 19. 10. He makes no exception of Sinners or Lost persons and therefore what can they be less than All Mankind But if this be not satisfactory 2. They are expressed by the word World Our Saviour saith Iohn 3. 16 17. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved I could not disparage any ones understanding more than by endeavouring to satisfie him that 't is a most pitiful and senseless shift to say that by the World is meant all the Elect in the world that is some exceeding few of the world in comparison of the rest For besides that this is to make nonsence of the former Verse as must needs be obvious to every body so by taking the same Liberty in interpreting other Texts the Bible would be made the most insignificant Book in the world The Generality of men is ordinarily called the World and Bad men are sometimes so called in Scripture because they are the Generality but to express the incomparably lesser part of men by the word World is such a Figure as was never heard of 3. They are expressed by the word All to put us more out of doubt 2 Cor. 5. 14 15. The love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that if one died for all then were all dead and that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him that died for them and rose again Now did ever the word All signifie a few And that by All is to be understood the Universality is plain from the former of these Verses where the Apostle proves that all were dead or obnoxious to death by this Argument that Christ died for all But we will not question whether all in the largest sence were obnoxious to death and therefore all must be understood in the same extent when it is said that Christ died for all or we shall make the Apostle a very sad Arguer For how could it follow from hence that Christ died for some that therefore all without exception were dead Again 1 Tim. 2. 6. we read that Christ gave himself a Ransom for all And ver 4. that He will have all to be saved and come to the knowledge or Acknowledgment of the truth And once more 1 Tim. 4. 10. that He is the Saviour of all men but especially of those that believe So that those that believe are not the all he is the Saviour of the all being distinguished from them And the meaning of the words is sufficiently obvious viz. He is so the Saviour of all as to put them into a capacity of Salvation but he is so the Saviour of those that believe as that they shall be actually saved Those that so believe as to obey the Gospel are at present in a state of Salvation and if they persevere shall be undoubtedly saved 4. Those whom Christ died for and came to save to make it still more out of doubt if it be possible are expressed by the Whole World 1 John 2. 6. If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Iesus Christ the Righteous who is the Propitiation for our sins and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole World Nay 5. They are expressed by Every man Heb. 2. 9. But we see Iesus who was made a little or for a little while lower than the Angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour that he by the grace of God should taste death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for every man And this is the fullest and most Comprehensive Expression that can be imagined If after all these most express Affirmations in such variety of the plainest words it shall still be asserted that the Doctrine of Universal Redemption is Heretical or false there needs no other Reply but this Let Christ be true and his Holy Apostles and everyman a Liar that dares to
contradict them Secondly As our Saviour and his Apostles do so express the Persons for whom he died as that they must necessarily be the Universality of Mankind so we learn from S. Paul that the Remedy by Christ is of equal extent with the mischief occasioned by Adam That the Sore is not so broad but the Plaister is every whit as broad Rom. 5. 18. Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation even so by the Righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men to justification of life Can anything be said plainer than this is in these words viz. That as many as fell by the Transgression of Adam were designed to be recovered by the Righteousness of Christ But it is Objected that it follows in the 19. ver that By the obedience of one shall Many he made Righteous As our Saviour himself saith This is the New Testament in my bloud which was shed for Many for the Remission of Sins But that this is a Strange objection will appear by comparing the latter part of that 19. ver with the former For as by one mans disobedience Many were made sinners So that as many were put into a possibility of being justified by the Righteousness of Christ and we do not desire that more should as were made Sinners or made liable to condemnation by the Disobedience of Adam And by this means the Reign of Grace to Eternal life was designed to be no more limited than was the Reign of Sin to death As it follows in the 21. ver That as Sin hath reigned unto death even so might Grace reign through Righteousness unto Eternal life by Iesus Christ our Lord. And it is not to be wondered at that the word Many should signifie All for it is well known that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Many or the Many is used in other Greek Authors to signifie all as well as in the New Testament So that these Texts do most necessarily and plainly speak thus much That none that hear the Gospel shall fall short of Salvation but through their Unbelief and Disobedience their wilful rejecting the Remedy offered them Nor any neither that never heard the Gospel merely for the Transgression of their first Parents but only for their own Sins I mean their wilful disobedience to that light they have And that none to whom the Gospel is preached are excluded from Salvation by Christ is manifestly implied in those words of our Saviour Iohn 3. 14. As Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness even so must the Son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life As the Brazen Serpent was erected for the Cure of all that were stung by the Fiery Serpent none excepted but such as would not look up to it for that end So none shall be shut out from the benefit designed by the Son of man's being lifted up upon the Cross but such as will not believe that is apply themselves to him in that way which he hath appointed for the obtaining of it And though our Saviour saith ver 19. of that Chapter that This is the condemnation that a light is come into the World Yet he immediately explains himself in the following words and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil Or Mens being condemned by the occasion of his coming is to be imputed to their Rejecting him and so refusing to comply with the most reasonable terms of his New Gracious Covenant not to his or his Father's design in his Coming For he saith Iohn 12. 47. I came not to judge the World but to save the World Thirdly We are assured that Christ died even for those that perish The Apostle saith 1 Cor. 8. 11. If any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the Idols Temple shall not the Conscience of him that is weak be imboldened to eat those things which are offered to Idols and through thy knowledge shall the weak Brother perish for whom Christ died Here it is supposed that a man may perish for whom Christ died And consequently that he died for Reprobates themselves that is those that have made themselves so for if Christ died for all there can be no other Reprobates Again Rom. 14. 15. Destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ died And the Author to the Hebrews expresly preacheth this Doctrine Chap. 10. 29. Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the bloud of the Covenant wherewith he was Sanctified or Consecrated an unholy thing S. Peter likewise asserts the same 2 Epist. 2. 1. But there were false Prophets also among the People even as there will be false Teachers among you who privily will bring in damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction So that these vile wretches were not destroyed because Christ did not redeem them for they are said to be bought or redeemed by him as well as others but they brought upon themselves swift destruction Lastly If this Doctrine be false that Christ died for all then none are or can be condemned for not Believing in him notwithstanding that the condemnation of men is so continually ascribed thereunto For 't is a plain case that those for whom Christ did not die can be no more obliged to believe in him than the Devils are And to say that any are condemned for not doing that which it was not their duty to do will I hope be acknowledged the grossest absurdity This little in comparison of what might be said to demonstrate the truth of this Great Article of our Faith is much more than barely sufficient to give us an undoubted assurance of it The truth is the Sun doth not shine more bright in the Firmament than doth this Doctrine in the New Testament And I know nothing we can be assured of upon Scripture Authority if this be False or Uncertain I verily believe that there are few of the Greatest Points of our Christian Faith but may as plausibly be objected against as this Doctrine from Scripture 'T is said indeed by our Saviour Iohn 10. 5. I lay down my life for my sheep But did he ever say I lay down my life for none but my sheep If he had we must have concluded either that the whole World are his Sheep or that which is far worse that he said and unsaid and contradicted himself and so destroyed the Foundation of our Faith and Hope But in saying He laid down his life for his sheep his meaning was that those who obeyed his voice should receive the benefit of his death and such Sheep he would have all to be For as we have seen in 1 Tim. 2. 4. He would have all men to be saved and to come to the acknowledgment of the truth Again our Saviour saith that He
account of such Disgrace Contempt and ill usage from Rude People as is not to be compared with that which He underwent When we consider how our Blessed Saviour Forgave those who Thirsted after his Bloud and were never satisfied till they had put him to the most shameful and most cruel Death and not only Forgave them himself but Entreated his Father and that even in the midst of his Torments when his Spirit one would think should be most highly exasperated to forgive them too I say when we consider this how can it be difficult to disswade our selves from Meditating Revenge upon any Provocations whatsoever Surely we must needs be very powerfully inclined to forgive our Enemies When we call to mind how He exprest his love to his very Murderers even so as to design the greatest good to them by the means of that whereby they designed the greatest evil to him can we be averse to the bearing Good will to those who are ill affected towards us to the Blessing of those that Curse us and Praying for those that despightfully use us When we consider how this Mighty Person humbled himself even to the washing his Disciples Feet and declared that He came not to be ministred unto but to minister can We contemptible Wretches cherish the least spark of Pride in our Souls Can We despise the meanest of our Fellow-creatures or think our selves too Great or too Good to condescend to the lowest Offices of Love whereby we may serve our Brethren When we consider with what submission to the Divine Will our Blessed Lord indured the most exquisite Pains both of Soul and Body though He never deserved them by the least offence but was always most perfectly obedient to his Father can this be other than a most forcible motive to us who have Merited so ill at the Hands of God quietly to submit to his good Pleasure in Afflicting us whenas in so doing he doth always punish us far less than our iniquities deserve When we consider how well satisfied our Saviour was to be in poor low Circumstances and not to have so much as a Cottage of his own to put his Head in though he was Lord of all Is it imaginable that We should aspire at High and Great things and having Food and Raiment not be Content who are less than the least of all God's mercies And lastly Will not the Consideration of our Saviour's being such a Man of sorrows and so acquainted with griefs exceedingly deaden our desires after Sensual Pleasures Surely it must necessarily so do Thus we see how greatly exciting the Example of our Saviour is to the perfect Mortifying of those Lusts which are most strong and vigorous to the loathing and abominating those which are naturally very dear to us and to the most restless endeavours to get our Souls possessed of those Virtues and Graces which are most supernatural Thirdly Another very prevalent Motive is the Assurance our Lord hath given us that He will not take such Advantage of our Frailties and Weaknesses or Sins we fall into by mere surprize and want of due Watchfulness as to cast us off for them so long as we allow not our selves in any evil way and it is the principal design of our lives to be conformed in all things to the Laws of Righteousness There is a Prophecy concerning the Messiah Isaiah 42. 3. which our Saviour applieth to himself Matth. 12. 20. A bruised reed shall he not break and smoaking flax shall he not quench c. He will not crush under foot those who fall through weakness but whatsoever good he seeth in them he will still cherish My little children saith S. Iohn these things I write unto you that ye sin not But what if through the weakness of their Flesh they should at any time be overtaken is their state then desperate No by no means for it follows And if any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Iesus Christ the Righteous c. 1 Epist. 2. 1. As there are Sins unto Death so there are Sins not unto Death according to that of the same Apostle 1 Epist. 5. 17. All unrighteousness is sin and there is a sin not unto death Though all Unrighteousness be sin and the deserved wages of sin be Death yet such is the Goodness of God through Christ that all Sins shall not be unto Death but only Wilful and Presumptuous Sins And I add not these neither if not persevered in but throughly forsaken If we were liable to Eternal Ruine for such Faults as considering all our Circumstances in this state it is scarcely to be hoped we shall constantly avoid we should necessarily live in great Bondage through continual fear anxiety and disquieting thoughtfulness But on the other hand it conduceth exceedingly to the chearful pursuing our Great Work to be satisfied that it is not every Failure that shall endanger our final miscarrying And it is no small inducement to ingenuous Tempers to be so much the more solicitous to avoid Deliberate and Wilful sins because God through Christ is so ready to forgive and graciously pass by those that are not such Because he is pleased in his infinite Goodness to grant a pardon of course for these upon condition of their being in the general and habituals repented of And it is a great Motive also to such Tempers to be the more vigilant and watchful against all sins whatsoever against sins of daily incursion and infirmity as well as those which waste the Conscience And those are very ill natured and obdurate Sinners who can find in their hearts to Encourage themselves by this indulgence to sin the more freely Fourthly Another wonderful Encouragement to the careful use of the Means we are directed to for the subduing of our Lusts is our Saviours Mediation and Intercession There is one God and one Mediator between God and men the man Christ Iesus His oblation was begun on Earth but perfected in Heaven where He appears in the presence of God for us Heb. 9. 24. Those Prayers we put up in His name for things Agreeable to the Divine Will with honest and sincere hearts our Saviour inforceth with his own Intercession He ever lives to make intercession for us Heb. 7. 25. And for this reason as the Apostle saith in the former part of that Verse He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him That is to give them a full and complete Deliverance from the Slavery of sin and all the evil Consequents thereof Now we know that we ask what is according to the Will of God when we pray for his Grace to Mortifie our Corruptions and to set us more and more Free from their Dominion This is the Will of God even our Sanctification c. 1 Thess. 4. 3. There are many Temporal good things which God in his infinite Wisdom may see not to be good for us but He knows that whatsoever hath a necessary influence into
Deliverance from the Dominion of Sin and our being instated in the Freedom we have discoursed of would be a mighty Motive to the doing our utmost to be set at Liberty What a Motive then is this Vast Additional Happiness which our Lord hath given us the most unquestionable Assurance of We can never be sufficiently affected with those words of the Apostle Rom. 6. 21 22. What fruit had ye then of those things whereof ye are now ashamed for the end of those things is death But now being made free from sin and become servants to God ye have your fruit unto Holiness anâ— the end everlasting life Can we have such a Hope as this such a Blessed Hope as the Apostle calls it and not heartily endeavour to purifie our selves as God is pure S. Iohn tells us that he who hath this hope will do so Hath our most Gracious Lord made to his Free Servants such a promise as this of entering into his Rest his Glorious and Eternal Rest how should we fear lest by continuing in subjection to our vile Affections we should at last fall short of it Good Lord That such a prize as this should be set before us and we not press hard forward towards it That such Blessedness should be Purchased for and Offered to those who have no esteem or value for it But had much rather be wretched Bondslaves and Vassals to the Devil and their Lusts than Reign with Christ in his Everlasting Kingdom How many shall lament this inexpressible Folly in a sad Eternity And this brings me to the Last Motive I shall speak to viz. Sixthly If it be possible that this with the foregoing Motives should not prevail there is another behind which is suited to the most Disingenuous Stubborn and Inflexible Tempers and must needs subdue them if any thing will Namely The most Dismal Threatnings our Saviour hath pronounced against those who will not Accept the Liberty he offereth them and become his Freemen As such will be necessarily exceedingly miserable beyond what they are here when they leave this world through the Fury of their Corrupt Appetites there being no objects in the other state to appease it or to afford them the least satisfaction or gratification so our Lord hath declared that They shall be cast into outer Darkness where shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth Matth. 8. 12. That they shall be cast into a Furnace of Fire Matth. 13. 42. That He will say unto them at the last Day Depart from me ye cursed into Everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Matth. 25. 41. And his Apostle S. Paul hath told such what their Doom shall be in 2 Thess. 1. 7 8 9. viz. That the Lord Iesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his Mighty Angels in flaming Fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the Glory of his power When he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired of all them that believe Then shall we discern the vastest difference imaginable between the states of the Righteous and the Wicked of those who have through the Spirit mortified the deeds of the body and those who have lived after the flesh The Former sort of men as the same Apostle saith shall live that is a most inexpressibly Happy and Glorious life The Latter shall die that is the Second death or be Eternally Miserable One shall be taken and the other left One shall be saved the Other damned One shall be received into the Blessed Mansions above and crowned with Immortal Bliss and Glory the other shall be tumbled down into Hell and have his portion in the lake that burneth with Fire and Brimstone Did I say that these Fearful Threatnings are designed to awaken the most Disingenuous Stupid and Obdurate Souls I fear there are Few who do not find that they have need sometimes of seriously considering them and laying them to heart And when we feel the principle of ingenuity most unactive as also that those Motives that excite our Hope have but a weak influence as it is possible we may at certain times be in so dull and heavy a Temper as that we may be but very little affected with them then should we rouse up our selves out of our Lethargick stupidity by employing our Thoughts upon the Terrors of the Lord the most Terrible Threatnings of the Gospel And now what think we Hath not our Blessed Lord done Abundantly enough to make us Free indeed To set us at Liberty from Sin and to Righteousness In that he hath not only shewn us What it is to be made Free and wherein our Liberty consisteth And given us the best Means by the use of which as we ought we shall be set at Liberty And purchased such Grace for us as whereby we may be successful in the use of those Means if we will not neglect them But also hath given us such Motives as those we have now discoursed of to prevail with our Wills not to receive that Grace in vain And as for these Motives can the Heart of Man conceive any more powerful No surely nor could it unassisted by Divine Revelation conceive any that are the thousandth part so powerful But besides all this as hath been intimated the Blessed Spirit of God is ready so to inforce these Motives upon us if we will endeavour to think seriously upon them as that they shall effectually do what they are designed for And not only so but he also begins with us and by his secret suggestions excites us to the due Consideration of them and the use of whatsoever Means we are directed to for the pulling down of strong holds and casting down every imagination and every high thing that advanceth it self against the Scepter and Government of Christ in our Souls and the bringing every thought and all that is within us to the obedience of Christ. And thus doth he work in us both to will and to do as to Do so to Will of his own good pleasure or of his free and undeserved mercy to us And therefore what encouragement have we to put the Apostles inference from that Doctrine into Practice namely To work out our own Salvation with fear and trembling That is to work out our own Deliverance from the Dominion of Sin and our Slavish subjection thereunto with great Diligence and Solicitude SECT III. Containing the Inferences from each of the Arguments of the foregoing Sections CHAP. X. Which treats of the First Inference from the First Proposition That the most Excellent Liberty doth consist in an Intire Compliance with the Laws of Righteousness and Goodness Or in Freedom from the Dominion of Sinful Affections Namely That those are most Vnreasonable and Depraved People who complain of the Divine Laws as intolerable Intrenchments upon their Liberty Where
many thousands of good Christians And it is well known that their principles are such as that they cannot be true to them and not think themselves bound in Conscience to Stab and Poison Burn and Massacre all without exception whom they call Hereticks whensoever an opportunity is put into their hands S. Paul as cruel a persecutor of Christians as he was before his Conversion did then think not onely that he did what was lawful but that he did his duty too For saith he Acts 26. 9. I verily thought with my self or I was verily perswaded in my Conscience that I ought to do many things contrary the Name of Jesus of Nazareth Among which things he reckoneth in the two following verses Shutting up many of the Saints in Prison and giving his voice against them to be put to death and compelling them to Blaspheme No man is able to imagine what dismal Effects Superstition and Enthusiasm may have upon the Mind and Conscience So that this will be easily granted me by men of any Sobriety that that which they call Liberty of Conscience must be limited by Governours if they will have any concern for the Honour of God the Welfare of Religion the Safety of the Community and the Preservation of Government it being impossible that there should be any such thing as Government if all shall be exempt from Punishment who shall plead Conscience for their Disobedience nay though they should be known to plead it never so truly Now it being so evident that Conscience may and must be restrained in its Liberty we clearly gain one point by it and that no small one viz. That Liberty of Conscience is not to be necessarily allowed under the notion of Liberty of Conscience For this Liberty as such is not an inviolable Right if it be not to be claimed in all cases without exception Secondly As to that which we call the other Extreme of over-great Severity in Restraining this Liberty no man surely will question but that there may be an erring on this hand also But how to steer betwixt Scylla and Charybdis these two extremes is I think one of the greatest difficulties And requires a conjunction of the greatest Prudence with as great Goodness But as to what measures in the general are to be taken we will adventure modestly to suggest our Thoughts in the Propositions that follow Prop. 2. No such Liberty of Conscience for so for fashions-sake wee 'l call it is by any means to be allowed as is apparently injurious to the Community and such a Liberty as can have no ill publick influence in the Church or State both may and ought to be granted The welfare of the Community with respect to both its Civil and Spiritual Interests is the business and design of Government and the welfare of particular persons as they are parts of the Community Therefore not to grant to particular persons as much Liberty of what nature soever as is consistent with the general Good or Well-being of the Whole is to hold the Reins too strait and to be over-severe and Arbitrary But it must be left to the iudgment of our Governours what measure and proportion of Liberty may be safely vouchsafed with respect to the Interest of the Community both because they are to be presumed the fittest Judges of this affair and because it is wholly inconsistent with Government for every private person to be his own Judge But as I need not add Governours are obliged as they will answer it to their Judge not to be hasty in making a judgment but to do it with the greatest wariness and deliberation because their being mistaken in this point may happen to be of very evil and mischievous consequence Prop. 3. It is a very plain case that men ought to have the Liberty of enjoying their Opinions to themselves without their being extorted by penalties from them This follows from the foregoing proposition and if that be true this can't be false For if such a Liberty ought to be granted as hath no ill Aspect upon the Community then no Body should be compelled to discover his Opinions because whilest they are kept within a mans own Breast they can do no hurt to other Folk and if they discover themselves by Overt-Acts as the Lawyers speak there is no need of using violent means for the Extorting of them Which is the cruel practice of the Roman Church and our own Nation knew it by sad experience in the Reign of Queen Mary How many excellently good Christians were then Sentenced to the Stake for their mere Refusing to Subscribe to their as wicked as false Doctrine of the Sacrifice of the Altar Prop. 4. To make Sanguinary Laws against mere Dissenting from the publick Establishment that is when Dissenting from it is not accompanied with a Factious Schismatical and Seditious opposition to it is without controversie Antichristian Tyranny Of all the indefensible practices of the now mentioned Church there is none that makes the Title of Antichrist more due to her than her prosecuting with Fire and Faggot and all manner of Cruelties men who are guilty of no other crime but that of renouncing Communion with her in her gross Corruptions But suppose her Terms of Communion were as agreeable as they are contrary to the Word of God yet would her putting men to death for their bare not submitting to those terms speak her to be utterly destitute of the true Christian Spirit And to deserve that Reprehension which her mild and gentle Master gave to his Disciples for desiring him to call for Fire from Heaven to destroy the Samaritans for refusing to receive him viz. Ye know not what manner of Spirit ye are of for the Son of man came not to destroy mens lives but to save them And if our Saviour was so offended with those Disciples for making that motion though He knew 't was not made deliberately but in a sudden fit of passion and that kindled too by the quick resentment they had of an high affront that was put upon his Sacred person how highly must it needs provoke him to see Christians destroying their Brethren in cool bloud and that not for so hainous a crime as Renouncing his Religion but for not being Christians of their Mode and Form Which possibly considering all their circumstances particularly their Education the prejudices of which it is the most difficult thing in the world one of them to overcome their Parts Complexions c. may be more their misfortune than their fault Besides Sanguinary Penalties or the using of extreme Rigour of any kind to compel men to come over to our way of Religion are the most improper means to effect that end that of Lactantius being as great a Truth in all Ages as it was in his and the two foregoing when the Church was subject to the Heathen Persecutors viz. Religion is a thing to which no man can be forced the Will is perswaded by
Obedience as having nothing but Self-love in it and Self-love of the lower kind too and this is a forced not a free Obedience It is a certain truth that he who hath no sense of the inward Pulchritude and Loveliness of Virtue and of the Deformity and Ugliness of Vice and the Eligibleness of the former before the latter considered in themselves and therefore would be a Wicked wretch if he were not held in by the mere hope of a Reward and fear of Punishment though he be never so Conformable outwardly to the Laws of Christ this man is no Christian. He is much nearer to the Kingdom of God than he on whom Hope and Fear have no Influence to make him better but he hath not attained to a due qualification and meetness for it I appeal to any Father whether he would account such a one a good Child who is mightily observant of him if he were assured that his Obedience proceeded from no more generous Principles and that he would be a Rogue and a Villain but for fear of the Lash and that he hopes for his Estate As little reason hath our Saviour to account such Disciples of his good Christians as we have to account such Sons of ours good Children And from what hath now been said we learn what to think of the Principle of Gratitude Whether this makes that Obedience which ariseth from thence the most genuinely Christian Obedience as it is ordinarily said it doth If our Gratitude proceeds merely from the consideration of the Divine Bounty to our selves taking no notice of that expressed to our Fellow-Creatures it hath nothing but Self-love in it and therefore is more Animal than Christian Gratitude And consequently I need not ask what we are to think of that Gratitude which is founded onely or chiefly upon the Peculiarity of God's love to our selves that wherein the Sweetest and most Indearing Consideration is this that the Generality of Mankind are excluded from it Truly this is a worse than mere Animal Gratitude and speaks a Mind exceedingly destitute of that Divine and therefore Christian temper which exerts it self in Universal good will And I am certain that the more a Christian any man is the higher will the Consideration of other's having a share with him in the Blessings of God advance his Gratitude And that which doth most become us springs more from a lovely sense of the Divine Beneficence considered as largely extended than from the Consideration of its being terminated on our own Persons or Families or some few people besides our selves I do not say that the peculiarity of a Favour ought not to affect us when it is not in our Fancy onely but in reality But I say there is nothing but what is natural it is impossible we should not be affected with it when we consider it there is nothing proper to a Christian in such a Gratitude and I say also that though this Consideration I have such a Mercy conferred upon me which not one in a thousand is blessed with besides my self must needs the more affect me with Joy and Gratitude because it makes me sensible that it was more than a thousand to one I might have missed of it too supposing it was no fruit of my extraordinary diligence and I did no more than others for it who went without it Yet it would be a very Uncharitable and therefore Wicked thing in me to be so much the more thankful for that Mercy because it is denied to most others There is a Vast difference between being the more grateful for a Blessing because since so small a number are partakers of it I am one of those that are and being so because so small a number are partakers of it And the more will our Gratitude have of the truly Christian Spirit the less we abstract our selves from others in the Consideration of those obligations God hath laid upon us together with others and by consequence that Obedience will be most Christian-like which flows from such a Gratitude THE CONCLUSION NOW then after all that hath been said upon this weighty Argument shall we continue as negligent and cold as ever in Asserting our Liberty That Liberty which is infinitely most Valuable that Liberty which sets free from the Vilest and most Intolerable Slavery the Liberty of our Souls and the truly Divine Liberty Shall that Liberty which deserves not to be named on the same day with this be so highly set by and can we tamely give up this Do men think Freedom from Bodily Slavery to be worth the Price of all they have their Lives and all and are we able to imagine that Freedom from Spiritual Slavery can be bought too dear or think much of using our most Serious Endeavours for the regaining of it Had the Laconick Boy when taken Captive by a Souldier of Antigonus so brave a Spirit as to refuse to be employed by him in any of that drudgery which was proper to Slaves and to prefer a Violent death before a Slavish Life when he despaired of Redemption Did those Dardan Women esteem Slavery 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most loathsom of all Evils and so extremely Vile and Shameful a thing as to take their dear Children and drown them in the River to prevent their being made Slaves of And are we of so much a baser Make than that poor Lad and these silly Women as Sheepishly to subject our selves to the incomparably most Vile and dishonourable Slavery Nay are we so void of all Sense as to be unconcerned at the unsupportable Misery which first or last will be the unavoidable consequent thereof Are we Nati ad Servitutem is Slavery so natural to us as that we can endure to be domineered over by the most Tyrannical and Unreasonable Masters as we have shewed our Lusts and the Devil are Are we so in love with the house of Bondage as to be well satisfied to make it the place of our perpetual Residence Are we so like Apes as to hug our Clogs and so like Bedlams as to be fond of our Shackles The King of Heaven we have heard hath sent his onely Begotten Son upon this very Errand of Knocking off our Fetters of proclaiming Liberty to us Captives and opening the Prison doors unto them that are bound of delivering us from our Thraldom and Vassalage and making us Free indeed Free with the most Excellent and Noble Freedom and recovering those out of the snare of the Devil who are taken Captive by him at his Will and will we not be made Free Will we not exchange this worse than Egyptian Slavery for the Glorious Liberty of the Sons of God As God said of old to Ierusalem Wilt thou not be made clean when shall it once be So let me say to every Soul that lyeth under the Dominion of Corrupt Affections Wilt thou not be set at Liberty when shall it once be Did the Grecians when set at Liberty by Flaminius as
Plutarch reports sound out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 SAVIOVR SAVIOVR with such a Courage that the Birds which flew over them fell Astonisht to the Ground And can we be so little Affected with what our Saviour hath done for us in order to our being rescued from that Slavery which is so much worse than theirs as not to accept Deliverance at his hands Can we be so unconcerned at what King IESVS hath done for our Redemption as to refuse to embrace his offers of it Have we conceived so low an opinion of the Service of God and his Blessed Son as to chuse to be Drudges and Vassals to most Cruel Pharaohs rather than to be their Free-men Had we rather still toil in the Brick-Kilns of Egypt than inherit and possess the good Land the Land of Peace and Rest Liberty and Joy God forbid O that therefore we would at length be perswaded first to accept of and then to stand fast in the Liberty wherewith Christ would make us free and no more be intangled with the yoke of Bondage Hath Christ Iesus taken such an admirable course in order to our being set free from the power of Sin and its dismal Effects Then let us no longer cry out O wretched men that we are who shall deliver us from the body of this death as if we knew of no Deliverer but let us thank God through Iesus Christ our Lord. It hath been shewed that Christ is not so our Deliverer as to leave us nothing to do as to bid us stand still as Moses did the Israelites at the Red-Sea and see the Salvation of God and see what himself will do for us but that he doth expect we should do our part in order to our being set Free But he hath done as much as we can reasonably desire he should do for that end and abundantly more than could ever have entered into our hearts to imagine he would have done and so much that it must be now wholly long of our selves our own inexcusable negligence if what he hath done prove at last unsuccessful We are too weak to deliver our selves by our own strength by our own natural power we are utterly unable to rescue our selves from under the dominion of our Spiritual Adversaries but Christ hath purchased that Grace which shall be sufficient for us if we will make a believing Application to him for it so that we may if it be not our own fault be strong in the Lord and in the power of his Might and therefore our weakness can be no excuse It is to be acknowledged also that we are naturally very listless and averse to the using of the means of our Deliverance but what would we desire our Saviour to do more than he hath done to excite our Wills and quicken our Endeavours Nor can we plead Ignorance of the Means to be used for we have understood how fully our Saviour and his Apostles have instructed us in these Now hath Christ been so wonderfully concerned for our Deliverance and can we our selves be unconcerned Did he pay such a Ransom and Price for us and not think much of coming down from Heaven of taking our Nature of parting with his precious Bloud and suffering inexpressible Torments in order to this great End and can we think it unworthy of our serious Care What is this but to tread under foot the Son of God and that Bloud whereby we are Redeemed Was ever any miserable Slave heard of that might if he would be set at Liberty and yet refused Or is it imaginable that such a one could listen to any temptation whatsoever to continue in Slavery especially if he were promised by a Person able to make good his word that he should exchange his Prison for a Palace and his House of Bondage for a Kingdom But we have seen that no less a Motive than this is presented to us by one who cannot lie and who is as Able as Faithful We have the greatest Security in the World given us of a Crown of Glory and an Everlasting Kingdom which infinitely surpasseth all the Crowns and Kingdoms upon Earth to perswade us to comply with that Rare most Powerful and most Wise Method which our Lord hath taken to make us Free What a wonderful thing is this that our Lord should hire us to accept of Liberty and that at such a Rate as this That he should have such Compassion and Love for our Souls as that so we may be perswaded to do that which is onely our own Interest and infinitely our greatest Interest to do that so we may be won upon to cease from the vilest most filthy and most miserable Drudgery and to Engage in his most Free and Blessed Service he should think that he cannot make us too large Offers That he should so strangely out-bid the Devil and our Lusts and that we may no longer be beâ—ooled by their pitiful Promises of Vanishing Empty and False Pleasures should proffer us such Joys such Bliss as to which those Pleasures were they truly so and never so durable cannot bear the least proportion And that we might no longer suffer our selves to be Insulted and Tyrannized over by them and to be as it were their Footstool he should assure us of his willingness nay of his great desire to advance us to his own Throne For as hath been said he hath promised To grant unto him that overcometh that he shall sit with him upon his Throne even as he also overcame and is set down with his Father upon his Throne He applieth himself to that Principle which is most predominant in our natures so that if the love of himself cannot yet the love of our own selves may even compel us to come in to his Service But one would think we should find it no less impossible to be so Disingenuous towards our dear Lord than to be so cruel to our selves as to slight such promises or that his most gracious and endearing Invitation Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you Rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find Rest to your Souls For my yoke is easie and my burden is light Matth. 11. 28 29 30. But then are we able to think of it with any Patience that Christ should Do and Suffer in our behalf so much in vain that we should frustrate the Design of his Astonishing Condescension in assuming our Nature and of all he did and suffered for us Hath he paid so Excessively dear for us and can we be content that after all he should lose his Purchase Especially since he purchased us not because he stood in the least need of our Service but that we might serve our selves in serving him and be made thereby unconceivably and Everlastingly Happy Do we not look upon the Iews as a very strange Generation of Pople and as no less Ill-natured