Pilate from reason of State to accomplish the death of Christ and he then seemed to be Victorious now what was more honourable to the Prince of our Salvation than the turning the Enemies point upon his own breast and by dying to overcome him that had the power of Death This was signified in the first promise of the Gospel where the Salvation of Man is inclos'd in the curse of the Serpent that is the Devil cloathed with that figure It shall bruise thy Head and thou shalt bruise his Heel That is The Son of God should by Suffering in our Flesh overcome the Enemy of Mankind and rescue innumerable Captives from his Tyranny Here the Events are most contrary to the probability of their Cause And what is more worthy of God than to obtain his ends in such a manner as the Glory of all may be in solidum ascribed to Him 7. The Divine Wisdom appears in laying the design of the Gospel in such a manner as to provide for the comfort and promote the holiness of Man This is Gods signature upon all heavenly Doctrines which distinguishes them from carnal Inventions they have a direct tendency to promote his Glory and the real benefit of the rational Creature Thus the way of Salvation by Jesus Christ is most fit as to reconcile God to Man by securing his Honour so to reconcile Man to God by encouraging his Hope 'Till this be effected he can never be happy in communion with God For that is nothing else but the reciprocal exercise of Love between God and the Soul Now nothing can represent God as amiable to a guilty Creature but his inclination to Pardon Whilst there are apprehensions of inexorable Severity there will be hard thoughts burning in the Breast against God Till the Soul is released from terrors it can never truly love him To extinguish our Hatred He must conquer our Fears and this He hath done by giving us the most undoubted and convincing Evidence of his Affections 1. By contracting the most intimate alliance with Mankind In this God is not only lovely but Love and his Love is not only visible to our Understandings but to our Senses The Divine Nature in Christ is joyned to the Humane in an union that is not typical or temporary but real and permanent The Word was made Flesh. And in him dwells the Fulness of the Godhead bodily Now as Love is an Affection of Union so the strictest union is an Evidence of the greatest Love The Son of God took the Seed of Abraham the original element of our Nature that our interest in Him might be more clear and certain He stoopt from the height of his Glory to our low embraces that we might with more confidence lay hold on his Mercy 2. By providing compleat Satisfaction to offended Justice The guilty convinced Creature is restless and inquisitive after a way to escape the wrath to come For being under the apprehension that God is an incensed Judg 't is very sensible of the greatness and nearness of the danger there being nothing between it and eternal Torments but a thin vail of flesh Now God hath prepared such a Satisfaction as exceeds the guilt of Sin that is a temporary act but of infinite evil being committed against an infinite object the Death of Christ was a temporary Passion but of infinite value in respect of the subject the honour of the Law is fully repaired so that God is justly merciful and dispenses Pardon to the glory of his Righteousness He hath set forth his Son to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood to declare his Righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus And what stronger Security can be given that God is ready to pardon Man upon his accepting the termes of the Gospel than the giving his Son to be our Atonement If the Stream swell so high as to overflow the Banks will it stop in a descending Valley Hath He with so dear an expence satisfied his Justice and will he deny his Mercy to relenting and returning Sinners This Argument is powerful enough to overcome the most obstinate Infidelity 3. By the unspeakable Gift of his Son he assures our hopes of Heaven which is a Reward so great and glorious that our guilty Hearts are apt to suspect we shall never enjoy it We are secure of his Faithfulness having his infallible Promise and of his Goodness having such a Pledg in our hands As the Apostle argues If he hath given us his Son will he not with him give us all things Will He give us the Tree of Life and not permit us to eat of the Fruit of it Is it conceivable that having laid the Foundation of our Happiness in the Death of his Son an act to which his tender Affection seem'd so repugnant that He will not perform the rest which He can do by the meer signification of his Will 'T is an excellent encouragement St. Austin propounds from hence Sâ—â—urus esto accepturum te vitam ipsius qui pignus habes mortis ipsius c. Be assured thou shalt partake of his Life who hast the Pledg of it in his Death He hath performed more than He promised 'T is more incredible that the Eternal should die than that a mortal Creature should live for ever In short Since no mortal Eye can discover the Heavenly Glory to convince us of the reality of the invisible state and to support our departing Souls in their passage through the dark and terrible Valley our Saviour rose from the Grave ascended in our Nature to Heaven and is the model of our Happiness He is at the right Hand of God to dispense Life and Immortality to all that believe on Him And what can be more comfortable to us than the assurance of that Blessedness which as it eclipses all the glory of the World so it makes Death it self desirable in order to the enjoyment of it 2. As the Comfort so the Holiness of Man is most promoted in this way of our Redemption Suppose we had been recovered upon easier terms the evil of Sin would have been lessen'd in our esteem We are apt to judg of the danger of a Disease from the difficulty of its Cure Hunger is reputed a small trouble although if it be not satisfied 't will prove deadly because a small price will procure what may remove it And the Mercy that saves us had not appeared so great He that falls into a Pit and is drawn forth by an easie pull of the Hand doth not think himself greatly obliged to the person that helpt him though if he had remained there he must have perish'd But when the Son of God hath suffered for us more than ever one Friend suffered for another or a Father for a Son or than the strength and patience of an Angel could endure Who would not be struck with horrour at the thoughts of that
and are the measures of his duty to God to himself and to his fellow creatures This was publisht by the voice of Reason and is holy just and good Holy as it enjoins those things wherein there is a conformity to those Attributes and Actions of God which are the pattern of our imitation So the general Rule is Be holy as God is holy in all manner of conversation and this is most honourable to the humane nature 'T is just that is exactly agreable to the frame of mans faculties and most suitable to his condition in the world and good that is beneficial to the observer of it In keeping of it there is great reward And the obligation to it is eternal it being the unchangeable will of God grounded on the natural and unvariable relations between God and Man and between Man and the Creatures Besides the particular directions of the Law of Nature this general Principle was planted in the reasonable Soul to obey God in any instance wherein he did prescribe his pleasure Moreover God was pleased to enter into a Covenant with Adam and with all his Posterity naturally descending from him And this was the effect 1. Of admirable Goodness For by his Supremacy over Man he might have signified his Will meerly by the way of Empire and requir'd Obedience But he was pleased to condescend so far as to deal with Man in a sweeter manner as with a Creature capable of his Love and to work upon him by rewards and punishments congruously to the reasonable Nature 2. Of Wisdom to secure Man's obedience For the Covenant being a mutual engagement between God and Man as it gave him infallible assurance of the reward to strengthen his Faith so it was the surest bond to preserve his Fidelity 'T is true the Precept alone binds by vertue of the authority that imposes it but the consent of the Creature increases the Obligation It twists the cords of the Law and binds more strongly to Obedience Thus Adam was God's servant as by the condition of his nature so by his choice accepting the Covenant from which he could not recede without the guilt and infamy of the worst perfidiousness The terms of the Covenant were becoming the Parties concern'd God and Man It established an inseparable Connexion between Duty and Felicity This appears by the Sanction In the day thou eatest of the forbidden fruit thou shalt die In that particular species of Sin the whole genus is included according to the Apostles Exposition Cursed is every one that doth not continue in all the works of the Law to do them The threatning of Death was exprest it being more difficult to be conceiv'd The promise of Life upon his Obedience was implied and easily suggested it self to the rational Mind These were the most proper and powerful motives to excite his Reason and affect his Will For Death primarily signifies the dissolution of the vital union between the Soul and Body and consequently all the preparatory dispositions thereunto Diseases Pains and all the Affections of Mortality which terminate in Death as their center This is the extremest of temporal Evils which innocent Nature shrunk from it being a deprivation of that excellent state which Man enjoyed But principally it signified the separation of the Soul from God's reviving presence who is the only Fountain of Felicity Thus the Law is interpreted by the Lawgiver The Soul that sins shall die Briefly Death in the threatning is comprehensive of all kinds and degrees of evils from the least Pain to the compleatness of Damnation Now 't is an inviolable Principle deeply set in the Human Nature to preserve its being and blessedness so that nothing could be a more powerful restraint from Sin than the fear of Death which is destructive to both This constitution of the Covenant was founded not only in the Will of God but in the nature of the things themselves And this appears by considering 1. That Holiness is more excellent in it self and separately considered than the reward that attends it 'T is the peculiar glory of the Divine Nature God is glorious in Holiness And as He prefers the infinite purity of his Nature before the immortal felicity of his state so he values in the reasonable Creature the vertues by which they represent his Holiness more than their perfect Contentment by which they are like Him in Blessedness Now God is the most just esteemer of things his judgment is the infallible measure of their real worth 't is therefore according to natural order that the Happiness of Man should depend upon his Integrity and the reward be the fruit of his Obedience And although it is impossible that a meer Creature in what state soever should obtain any thing from God by any other title but his voluntary Promise the effect of his Goodness yet 't was such Goodness as God was invited to exercise by the consideration of Mans obedience And as the neglect of his Duty had discharged the Obligation on God's part so the performance gave him a claim by right of the Promise to everlasting Life 2. As the first part of the alliance was most reasonable so was the Second that Death should be the wages of Sin It is not conceivable that God should continue his favour to Man if he turn'd Rebel against Him For this were to disarm the Law and expose the Authority of the Lawgiver to contempt and would reflect upon the Wisdom of God Besides If the reasonable Creature violates the Law it necessarily contracts an obligation to punishment So that if the Sinner who deserves death should enjoy life without satisfaction for the offence or Repentance to qualifie him for pardon both which were without the compass of the first Covenant this would infringe the unchangable rights of Justice and disparage the Divine Purity In the first Covenant there was a special clause which respected Man as the inhabitant of Paradise That he should not eat of the Tree of Knowledg of good and evil upon pain of Death And this Prohibition was upon most wise and just reasons 1. To declare God's Sovereign Right in all things In the quality of Creator he is Supreme Lord. Man enjoyed nothing but by a derived title from his Bounty and Allowance and with an obligation to render to him the Homage of all As Princes when they give estates to their Subjects still retain the Royalty and receive a small rent which though inconsiderable in its value is an acknowledgment of dependance upon them So when God placed Adam in Paradise he reserved this mark of his Soveraignty that in the free use of all other things Man should abstain from the forbidden Tree 2. To make trial of Mans Obedience in a matter very congruous to discover it If the Prohibition had been grounded on any moral internal evil in the nature of the thing it self there had not been so clear a testimony of God's Dominion
on before there is a consequent guilt and torment attends it Adam whilst obedient enjoyed peace with God a sweet serenity of mind a divine calm in the Conscience and full satisfaction in himself But after his Sin he trembled at God's Voice and was tormented at his Presence I heard thy voice and was afraid saith guilty Adam He lookt on God as angry and arm'd against him ready to execute the severe Sentence Conscience began an early Hell within him Paradise with all its Pleasures could not secure him from that sting in his Breast and that sharpen'd by the hand of God What confusion of Thoughts what a combat of Passions was he in when the Temptation which deceived him vanisht and his spirit recovered out of the surprise and took a clear view of his guilt in its true horrour what indignation did it kindle in his Breast How did Shame Sorrow Revenge Despair those secret executioners torment his spirit The intelligent Nature his peculiar excellency above the brutes arm'd misery against him and put a keener edge to it 1. By reflecting upon the foolish exchange he made of God himself for the fruit of a tree That so slender a Temptation should cheat him of his Blessedness His present misery is aggravated by the sad comparison of it with his primitive Felicity Nothing remains of his first Innocence but the vexatious regret of having lost it 2. By the foresight of the Death he deserved The conscience of his Crimes rackt his Soul with the certain and fearful expectation of judgment Besides the inward torment of his Mind he was expos'd to all miseries from without Sin having made a breach into the World the whole Army of Evils enter'd with it the Curse extends it self to the whole Creation For the World being made for Man the place of his residence in his punishment it hath felt the effects of God's displeasure The whole course of Nature is set on fire Whereas a general Peace and amicable Correspondence was establisht between Heaven and Earth whilst all were united in subjection to the Creator Sin that broke the first Union between God and Man hath ruin'd the second As in a State when one part of the Subjects fall from their Obedience the rest which are constant in their Duty break with the Rebels and make war upon them till they return to their Allegiance So universal Nature was arm'd against rebellious Man and had destroyed him without the merciful interposition of God The Angels with flaming Swords expell'd him from Paradise The Beasts who were all innocent whilst Man remained innocent they espouse Gods interest and are ready to revenge the quarrel of their Creator The insensible Creation which at first was altogether beneficial to Man is become hurtful The Heavens somtimes are hardened as Brass in a long obstinate serenity Sometimes are dissolved in a Deluge of rain The earth is barren and unfaithful to the Sower it brings forth Thorns and Thistles instead of Bread In short Man is an enemy to Man When there were but two Brothers to divide the World the one stain'd his hand in the Blood of the other And since the Progeny of Adam is increast into vast Societies all the disasters of the world as Famine Pestilence Deluges the fury of Beasts have not been so destructive of Mankind as the sole malignity of Man against those that partake of the humane Nature To conclude Who can make a list of the evils to which the Body is liable by the disagreeing Elements that compose it The fatal Seeds of Corruption are bred in it self 'T is a prey to all Diseases from the torturing Stone to the dying Consumption It feels the strokes of Death a thousand times before it can die once At last Life is swallowed up of Death And if Death were a deliverance from miseries it would lessen its terror but 't is the consummation of all The first Death transmits to the second As the Body dies by the Souls forsaking it so the Soul by separation from God its true Life dies to its Well-being and Happiness for ever CHAP. III. All Mankind is involv'd in Adam's guilt and under the penal consequences that follow upon it Adam the natural and moral Principle of Mankind An hereditary Corruption is transmitted to all that are propagated from him The account the Scripture gives of the Conveiance of it 'T is an innate Habit. T is universal Corrupt Nature contains the seeds of all Sins though they do not shoot forth together 'T is voluntary and culpable The permission of the Fall is suitable to the Wisdom Holiness and Goodness of God The imputation of Adam's Sin to his Posterity is consistent with God's Justice THe Rebellion of the First Man against the great Creator was a Sin of universal efficacy that derives a guilt and stain to Mankind in all Ages of the World The account the Scripture gives of it is grounded on the relation which all men have to Adam as their natural and moral Principle 1. Their Natural God created one Man in the beginning from whom all others derive their beings And that the unity might be the more entire he form'd of him that aid which was necessary for the communicating his kind to the world He made of one Blood all Nations of Men to dwell on the face of the earth And as the whole race of Mankind was virtually in Adam's Loins so it was presumed to give virtual consent to what he did The Angels were created immediatly and distinctly without dependance upon one another as to their Original therefore when a great number revolted from God the rest were not complicated in their Sin and Ruine But when the first Man who was the Father of Mankind sinn'd there was a Conspiracy of all the Sons of Adam in that Rebellion and not one Subject left in his Obedience 2. He was the moral Principle of Mankind In the first Treaty between God and Man Adam was consider'd not as a single person but as caput gentis and contracted for all his desccndants by ordinary generation His Person was the Fountain of theirs and his Will the representative of theirs From hence his vast Progeny became a party in the Covenant and had a title to the benefits contain'd in it upon his Obedience and was liable to the Curse upon his violation of it Upon this ground the Apostle institutes a parallel between Adam and Christ. That as by one Mans disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of One many were made righteous As Christ in his Death on the Cross did not suffer as a private person but as a surety and sponsor representing the whole Church according to the testimony of Scripture If one died for all then all were dead so the first Adam who was the figure of him that was to come in his Disobedience was esteem'd a publick Person representing the whole race of Mankind and by a just
of God dying to deliver Men from Sin and the effects of it The fallen Angels may understand and believe it without any Affections being unconcernâ—d in it To them 't is a naked History but to Men 't is a Promise and cannot be rightly received without the most ardent Affections This is a faithful Saying and worthy of all acceptation That Jesus Christ came into the world to save Sinners 'T is essentiaâ—â—â— good as true its Sweetness and Profit are equal to its Certainty So that it commends it self to all our Faculties There are severe and sad Truths which are attended with fearful expectation and the Mind is averse from receiving them As the Law which like Lightning terrifies the Soul with its amazing Brightness and there are pleasant illusions which have no solid Foundation And as Truth doth not delight the Mind unless united to Goodness such as is suitable to its Palate so Goodness doth not affect the Will unless it be real Now the Doctrine of the Gospel is as certain as the Law and infinitly more comfortable than all the Inventions of Men. 'T is in the knowledg of it alone that the sensible and considering Soul enjoys perfect Satisfaction and the most composed Rest. 'T is evident that the Understanding doth not behold these Truths in their proper light when the Will doth not embrace them For the rational Appetite follows the last judgment of the Mind When the Apostle had a powerful Conviction of The Excellency of the Knowledg of Christ this made him so earnest to gain an interest in Him For this reason those who are only Christians in Title Having a form of Godliness and denying the power of it are in Scripture-language stiled Infidels It being impossible that those who truly and heartily believe this great Mystery of Godliness should remain ungodly 'T is a strong and effectual Assent that descends from the Brain to the Heart and Life that denominates us true Believers So that when the Death of Christ is propounded as the cause of our Reconciliation with God the wonder of the Mystery doth not make it incredible when as the reason of the Mortiâ—â—â—ation of our Lusts the Pleasures of Sin do not disguise its horrour When Salvation is offer'd upon our accepting of Christ for our Prince and Saviour the Soul is ravisht with its Beauty and chooses it for an everlasting portion To conclude The Doctrine of the Gospel clearly discovers its Divine Original 'T is so reasonable in itself and profitable to us so sublime and elevated above Man yet hath such an admirable agreement with Natural Truths 't is so perfectly corresponding in all its parts that without affected Obstinacy no man can reject it And if after the open revelation of it we are so stupid and wicked as not to see its Superlative Excellency and not to receive it with the Faith Love and Obedience which is due to it what contempt is this of that infinite Wisdom which contriv'd the astonishing way of our Salvation What a reproach to the Divine Understanding as if it had been employed from Eternity about a matter of no moment and that deserves not our serious Consideration and Acceptance The neglect of it will justly bring a more severe punishment than the Hell of the uninstructed Heathens who are strangers to Supernatural Mysteries CHAP. VIII The Mercy of God is represented with peculiar advantages above the other Attributes 'T is eminently glorified in our Redemption in respect of its freeness and greatness The freeness of it amplified from the consideration of the original and object of it God is perfectly happy in Himself and needs not the Creature to preserve or heighten his felicity The glorious reward conferred upon our Saviour doth not prejudice the freeness of his love to Man There was no tie upon God to save Man The Object of Mercy is Man in his lapsed state 'T is illustrated by the consideration of what he is in himself No motives of love are in him He is a rebel impotent and obstinate The freeness of mercy set forth by comparing him with the fallen Angels who are left in perfect irremediable misery Their first state fall and punishment The Reasons why the Wisdom of God made no provision for their recovery ALthough all the Divine Attributes are equal as they are in God for one Infinite cannot exceed another yet in their exercise and effects they shine with a different glory And Mercy is represented in Scripture with peculiar advantages above the rest 'T is God's natural off-spring he is stiled the Father of Mercies 'T is his dear Attribute that which he places next to himself He is proclaim'd the Lord God Gracious and Merciful 'T is his delight Mercy pleases him 'T is his Treasure he is rich in Mercy 'T is his triumphant Attribute and the special matter of his Glory Mercy rejoyces over Judgment Now in the performance of our Redemption Mercy is the predominant Attribute that sets all the rest a working The acts of his Wisdom Justice and Power were in order to the illustration of his Mercy And if we duly consider that Glorious Work we shall find in it all the ingredients of the most sovereign Mercy In discoursing of it I shall principally consider two things wherein this Attribute is eminently glorified the Freeness and the Greatness of it The Freeness of this Mercy will appear by considering the original and object of it 1. The Original is God and the notion of a Deity includes infinite perfections so that it neeessarily follows that he hath no need of the creatures service to preserve or heighten his feliâ—ity If thou be righteous what givest thou him or what receiveth he of thine hand From Eternity he was without external honour yet in that infinite duration he was perfectly joyful and happy He is the fountain of his own blessedness the Theatre of his own Glory the Glass of his own Beauty One drop encreases the Ocean but to God a million of Worlds â—an add nothing Every thing hath so much of Goodness as it derives from him As there was no gain to him by the Creation so there can be no loss by the annihilation of all things The World proceeded from his Wisdom as the Idea and Exemplar and from his Power as the efficient cause and it so proceeds from him as to remain more perfectly in him And as the possession of all things and the obedience of Angels and Men is of no advantage to God so the opposition of impenitent Rebels cannot lessen his Blessedness If thou sinnest what doâ—t thou against him or if thy transgressions be multiplied what dost thou unto him The Sun suffers no loss of its light by the darkness of the night or an Eclipse but the World loâ—es its day if intelligent Beings do not esteem him for his Greatness and love him for his Goodness 't is no injury to him but their own infelicity Were it for his
of God's Love is in the Sufferings of Christ. The description of them with respect to his Soul and Body The Sufferings of his Soul set forth from the Causes of his Grief The Disposition of Christ and the Design of God in afflicting Him The sorrows of his forsaken state All comforting Influences were suspended but without prejudice to the Personal Union or the perfection of his Grace or the Love of his Father towards Him The Death of the Cross considered with respect to the Ignominy and Torment that concurr'd in it The Love of the Father and of Christ amplified upon the account of his enduring it THe next Circumstance to be considered in the Divine Mercy is the degree of it And this is described by the Apostle in all the dimensions which can signifie its greatness He prays for the Ephesians that they may be able to comprehend with all Saints the breadth and length and depth and height of the love of God in Christ which passes knowledge No language is sufficient to express it if our hearts were as large as the Sand on the Sea-shore yet they were too straight to comprehend it But although we cannot arrive to the perfect knowledg of this excellent Love yet 't is our duty to study it with the greatest application of mind for our happiness depends upon it and so far we may understand as to inflame our hearts with a superlative Affection to God And the full discovery which here we desire and search after in the future state shall be obtained by the presence and light of our Redeemer Now the greatness of the Divine Love in our Redemption appears 1. By reflecting on the mighty Evils from which we are freed 2. The means by which our Redemption is accomplisht 3. That excellent State to which we are advanced by our Redeemer 1. If we reflect upon the horrour of our natural state it will exceedingly heighten the mercy that delivered us This I have in part opened before therefore I will be the shorter in describing it Man by his rebellion had forfeited Gods favour and the honour and happiness he injoyed in Paradise And as there is no middle state between Sovereignty and misery he that falls from the Throne stops not till he comes to the bottom so when Man fell from God and the dignity of his innocent state he became extreamly miserable He is under the servitude of sin the tyranny of Satan the bondage of the Law and the empire of Death 1. Man is a captive to sin He is fallen from the hand of his counsel under the power of his passions Love Hatred Ambition Envy Fear Sorrow and all the other stinging Affections of which is true what the Historian speaks of the several kinds of Serpents in Africa Quantus nomiuum tantus mortium numerus exercise a tyranny over him And if no man can serve two Masters as the Oracle of Truth tells us how wretched is the slavery of Man whose passions are so opposit that in obeying one he cannot escape the lash of many imperious Masters He is possest with a Legion of impure lusts And as the Demoniac in the Gospel was sometimes cast into the fire and sometimes into the water so is he hurried by the fury of contrary passions This servitude to sin is in all respects compleat For those who serve are either born servants or bought with a price or made captives by force and sin hath all these kinds of title to man He is conceived and born in sin he is sold under sin and sells himself to do evil As that which is sold passes into the possession of the buyer so the sinner exchanging himself for the pleasures of sin is under its power Original sin took possession of our nature and actual of our lives He is the servant of corruption by yeilding to it for of whom a man is overcome of the same he is brought in bondage The condition of the most wretched bond-â—lave is more sweet and less servile than that of a sinner For the severest tyranny is exercised only upon the body the soul remains free in the midst of chains but the power of sin oppresses the Soul the most noble part and defaces the bright character of the Deity that was stampt upon its visage The worst slavery is terminated with this present life In the grave the Prisoners rest together they hear not the voice of the Oppressor The small and the great are there and the Servant is free from his Master But there is no exemption from this servitude by death it extends its self to Eternity 2. Man since his fall is under the tyranny of Satan who is call'd the God of this World and is more absolute then all temporal Princes his dominion being over the will He overcame man in Paradise and by the right of War he rules over him The soul is kept in his bondage by subtile Chains of which the spiritual nature is capable The understanding is captivated by ignorance and errors the will by inordinate dangerous lusts the memory by the images of sinful pleasures those mortal visions which inchant the soul and make it not desirous of liberty Never did cruel Pirat so incompassionately urge his Slaves to ply their Oares in charging or flying from an enemy as Satan incites those who are his captives to do his will And can there be a more afflicting calamity then to be the slave of ones enemy especially if base and cruel This is the condition of man he is a captive to the Devil who was a Liar and a Murderer from the beginning He is under the rage of that bloody Tyrant whose ambition was to render Man as miserable as himself who in triumph upbraids him for his folly and adds derision to his Cruelty 3. Fallen Man is under the Curse and Terrors of the Law For being guilty he is justly exposed to the punishment threatned against transgressours without the allowance of repentance to obtain pardon And Conscience which is the Ecchâ— of the Law in his bosom repeats the dreadful sentence This is an Acouser which none can silence a Judge that none can decline and from hence it is that Men all their life are subject to bondage being obnoxious to the wrath of God which the awakened Conscience fearfully sets before them This complicated Servitude of a Sinner the Scripture represents under great variety of Similitudes that the defects of one may be supplied by another Every Sinner is a Servant now a Servant by flight may recover his Liberty But he is not only a Servant but a Captive in chains A Captive may be freed by laying down a Ransom but the Sinner is not only a Captive but deeply in debt Every Debtor is not miserable by his own fault it may be his Infelicity not his Crime that he is poor but the Sinner is guilty of the highest offence A guilty Person may enjoy
will be fit to consider them with respect to his Soul and his Body The Gospel delivers to us the relation of both 1. Upon his entrance into the Garden He complains My Soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto Death There were present only Peter James and John his happy Favourites who assured him of their fidelity there was no visible enemy to afflict Him yet his Soul was environ'd with Sorrows 'T is easie to conceive the injuries He suffered from the rage of Men for they were terminated upon his Body But how to understand his inward Sufferings the wounds of his Spirit the cross to which his Soul was nailed is very difficult Yet these were in expressibly greater as the visible effects dedeclare The anguish of his soul so affected his body that his Sweat was as it were great drops of Blood the miraculous evidence of his Agony The terror was so dreadful that the assistance of an Angel could not calm it And if we consider the causes of his grief the dispositions of Christ and the design of God in afflicting him it will further appear that no sorrow was ever like his The Causes were 1. The evil of Sin which infinitely exceeds all other for the just measure of an evil is taken from the good to which it is opposit and of which it deprives us Now Sin is formally opposit to the Holy nature and will of God and meritoriously deprives of his blessed presence for ever Therefore God being the supreme Good Sin is the supreme evil And grief being the resentment of an evil that which is proportioned to the evil of Sin must be infinite Now the Lord Christ alone had perfect light to discover Sin in its true horrour and perfect zeal to hate it according to its nature for who can understand the excellency of good and the malignity of evil but the Author of the one and the Judge of the other who can fully conceive the guilt of rebellion against God but the Son of God who is alone able to comprehend his own Majesty On this account the grief of our Redeemer exceeded all the sorrow of repenting Sinners from the beginning of the World For our knowledge is so imperfect and our zeal so remiss that our grief for sin is much beneath what 't is worthy of but sin was as hateful to Christ as it is in it self and his sorrow was equal to its evil 2. The Death he was to suffer attended with all the Curses of the Law and the terrible marks of Gods Indignation From hence 't is said he began to be sore amazed and to be very heavy 'T is wonderful that the Son of God who had perfect patience and the strength of the Deity to support him who knew that his Passion should soon pass away and that the issue should be his own glorious Resurrection and the recovery of lapsed Man that he should be shaken with fear and oppressed with sorrow at the first approches of it how many of the Martyrs have with an undisturbed courage embraced a more cruel death but to them 't was disarm'd whereas our Saviour encountered it with all its formidable Pomp with its Darts and Poison 3. The Wrath of God was inflamed against him For although he was perfectly Innocent and more distant from sin than Heaven is from the Earth yet by the ordination of God and his own consent being made our Sponsor the Iniquity of us all was laid upon him He suffered as deeply as if he had been guilty Vindictive justice was inexorable to his Prayers and Tears Although he renewed his request with the greatest ardency as 't is said by the Evangelist that being in an Agony he prayed more earnestly yet God would not spare him The Father of Mercies saw his Son humbled in his presence prostrate on the Earth yet deals with him in extream severity He was stricken smiten of God and afflicted And who is able to conceive the weight of God's Hand when he punishes sin according to its desert who can understand the degrees of those Sufferings when God exacts satisfaction from one that was obliged and able to make it how piercing were those sorrows whereby Divine Justice infinitely incens'd was to be appeas'd Who knows the consequence of those words My God My God why hast thou forsaken me 'T is impossible to comprehend or represent that great and terrible Mystery But thus much we may understand That Holiness and Glory being essential to the Deity they are communicated to the Reasonable Nature when united to it But with this difference that Holiness necessarily results from Union with God For Sin being infinitely repugnant to His Nature makes a Separation between Him and the creature But Glory and Joy are dispensed in a free and arbitrary manner This dereliction of our Saviour must be understood with respect to the second not the first Communication In the extremity of his Torments all his Affections were innocent and regular being only raised to that degree which the vehemency of the object required He exprest no murmur against God nor anger against his enemies His Faith Love Humility Patience were then in their Exaltation But that glorious and unspeakable Joy which in the course of his Life the Deity conveyed to Him was then withdrawn An impetuous torrent of pure unmixed Sorrows broke into his holy Soul He felt no refreshing emanations so that having lost the sense of present Joy there remained in his Soul only the hope of future Joy And in that sad moment his Mind was so intent upon his Sufferings that he seems to have been diverted from the actual consideration of the Glory that attended the issue of them Briefly All comforting Influences were suspended but without prejudice to the Personal Union or the Perfection of his Grace or to the Love of his Father toward Him His Soul was liable to sorrows as his Body to death For the Deity is the Principle of Life as well as of Joy and as the Body of Christ was three days in the state of Death and the Hypostatical Union remained entire so his Soul was left for a time under the fearful impressions of wrath yet was not separated from the God-head And although He endured what ever was necessary for the Expiation of Sin yet all vitious Evils as Blasphemy Hatred of God and any other which are not inflicted by the Judg but in strictness are accidental to the Punishment and proceed from the weakness or wickedness of the Patient he was not in the least guilty of Besides when his Father appear'd an enemy against him at that time He was infinitely pleased in his Obedience But with these exceptions our Blessed Lord suffered whatever was due to us The Sorrows of his forsaken state were inexpressibly great for according to the degree and sense we have of Happiness such in proportion is our grief for the loss of it Now Christ had the fullest enjoyment and the highest valuation of Gods favour
is his Fathers Love to him In this was manifested the Love of God to us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him The Love of God in all temporal blessings is but faint in the comparison with the Love that is exprest in our Redeemer As much as the Creator exceeds the creature the gift of Christ is above the gift of the whole world Herein is Love saith the Apostle that is the clearest and highest expression of it that can be God sent his Son to be a Propitiation for our Sins The Wisdom and Power of God never acted to the utmost of their efficacy he could frame a more Glorious World but the Love of God cannot in a higher degree be exprest As the Apostle to set forth how sacred and inviolable Gods promise is saith that because he could swear by no greater he sware by himself so when he would give the most excellent testimony of his favour to mankind he gave his Eternal Son the Heir of his Love and Blessedness The giving of Heaven it self with all its Joys and Glory is not so perfect and full a demonstration of the Love of God as the giving of his Son to die for us According to the rule of common esteem a greater Love was exprest to wretched Man than to Christ himself for we expend things less valuable for those that are more precious so that God in giving him to die for us declar'd that our Salvation was more dear to him then the life of his only Son When no meaner Ransom than the Blood Royal of Heaven could purchase our Redemption God delighted in the expence of that sacred Treasure for us It pleased the Lord to bruise him Though the Death of Christ absolutely consider'd was the highest provocation of God's displeasure and brought the greatest guilt upon the Jews for which Wrath came upon them to the uttermost yet in respect of the end namely the Salvation of Men 't was the most greatful Offering to him a Sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour This is an endearing circumstance of Gods Love to us God repented that he made Man but never that he redeem'd him And as the Love of the Father so the Love of Christ appears in a superlative manner in dying for us Greater Love hath no Man than this that a Man lay down his life for his Friend There is no kind of Love that exceeds the affection which is exprest in dying for another but there are diverse degrees of it and the highest is to die for our enemies The Apostle saith perhaps for a good man some would dare to die 'T is possible gratitude may prevail upon one who is under strong obligations to die for his benefactor Or some may from a generous principle be willing with the loss of their lives to preserve one who is a general and publick good But this is a rare and almost incredible thing 'T is recorded as a miraculous instance of the power of Love that the two Sicilian Philosophers Damon and Pithias each had courage to die for his Friend For one of them being condemn'd to die by the Tyrant and desiring to give the last farewel to his Family his Friend entered into Prison as his Surety to die for him if he did not return at the appointed time And he came to the amazement of all that expected the issue of such a hazardous caution Yet in this example there seems to be in the Second such a confidence of the fidelity of the first that he was assured he should not die in being a pledge for him and in the first 't was not meer friendship or sense of the obligation but the regard of his own honour that made him rescue his Friend from Death And if Love were the sole motive yet the highest expression of it was to part with a short life which in a little time must have been resigned by the order of nature But the Love of our Saviour was so pure and great there can be no resemblance much less any parallel of it For he was perfectly Holy and so the priviledge of immortality was due to him and his life was infinitely more precious than the lives of Angels and Men yet he laid it down and submitted to a cursed Death and to that which was infinitely more bitter the Wrath of God And all this for sinful men who were under the just and heavy displeasure of the Almighty He loved us and gave himself for us If he had only interposed as an Advocate to speak for us or only had acted for our recovery his Love had been admirable but he suffered for us He is not only our Mediator but Redeemer not only Redeemer but Ransom 'T was excellent goodness in David when he saw the destruction of his People to offer Himself and Family as a Sacrifice to avert the Wrath of God from them But his pride was the cause of the Judgment whereas our Redeemer was perfectly innocent David interceeded for his Subjects Christ for his Enemies He receiv'd the Arrows of the Almighty into his Breast to shelter us He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquites the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed Among the Romans the Despotick power was so terrible that if a slave had attemped upon the Life of his Master all the rest had been crucified with the guilty person But our gracious Master dyed for his slaves who had conspir'd against him He shed his Blood for those who spilt it And the readiness of our Lord to save us though by the sharpest sufferings magnifies his Love When the richest Sacrifices under the Law were insufficient to take away sin and no lower price then the blood of God could obtain our pardon upon his entering into the World to excute that wonderful Commission which cost him his Life with what ardour of affection did he undertake it Lo I come to do thy will O God When Peter from carnal affection deprecated his sufferings Master spare thy self he who was incarnate goodness and never quench'd the smoking flax expresses the same indignation against him Get thee behind me Satan as he did formerly against the Devil tempting to worship him He esteemed him the worst adversary that would divert him from his Sufferings He long'd for the Baptism of his Blood And when Death was in his view with all the circumstances of terrour and the supreme Judge stood before him ready to inflict the just punishment of sin though the apprehension of it was so dreadful that he could scarce live under it yet he resolved to accomplish his Work Our Salvation was amiable to him in his Agony This is specially observed by the Evangelist that Jesus having loved his own he loved them to the end When the Souldiers
to perfection The Waters of the Spirit have a cleansing vertue upon Believers till every spot be taken away and their purified Souls ascend to Heaven 2. The Grace of the Spirit shall make true Christians finally victorious over Temptations to which they may be exposed And those are various Some are pleasant and insinuating others are sharp and furious and are managed by the Devil our subtile and industrious Enemy to undermine or by open battery to overthrow us And how difficult is it for the Soul whilst united to Flesh to resist the charms of what is amiable or to endure the assaults of what is terrible to sense But the renewed Christian hath no reason to be afrighted with disquieting fears that any sinful temptation may come which notwithstanding his watchfulness may overcome him irrecoverably For 1. Temptations are External and have no power over our spirits but what we give them A voluntary resistance secures the victory to us And the Apostle tells us Greater is he that is in Believers then he that is in the World God is stronger not only in himself but as working in us by the vigorous assistance of his Grace to confirm us than the Devil assisted with all the delights and terrours of the world and taking advantage of that remaining concupiscence which is not intirely extinguished is to corrupt and destroy us 2. All Temptations in their degrees and continuance are ordered by Gods Providence He is the president of the combat none enters into the lists but by his call in all Ages the Promise shall be verified God will not suffer his People to be tempted above what they are able They shall come off more then Conquerours through Christ that loves them And as St. Austin observes more powerful Grace is necessary to fortifie Christians in the midst of all opposition then Adam at first received This is visible in the glorious issue of the Martyrs Who loved not their Lives unto the Death For Adam when no person threatned him nay against the prohibition of God abusing his Liberty did not abide in his Happiness when 't was most easie to him to avoid Sin But the Martyrs remain'd firm in the Faith not only under Terrors but Torments And which is the more admirable in that Adam saw the Happiness present which he should forfeit by his Disobedience and the Martyrs believed only the future Glory they were to receive This proceeded only from God who was so merciful as to make them faithful Briefly Unless there were a power above the Divine the Elect are â—ecured from final Apostacy Our Saviour tells us that his Father is greater than all and none is able to pluck them out of his hand His Invariable Will and Almighty Power prevents their perishing Indeed if it were only by the strength of Natural Reason or Courage that we are to overcome Temptations some might be so violent as to make the strongest to faint and fall away But if the Divine Power be the Principle that supports us it will make the weakest victorious For the Grace of God makes us strong and is not made weak by us From hence we may fully discover the advantage we have by the Gospel above the terms of the first Covenant Restoring Mercy hath better'd our Condition We have lost the integrity of the first and got the perfection of the second Adam Our Salvation is put into a stronger and safer hand I give saith our Redeemer unto my sheep eternal Life and they shall never perish neither shall any pluck them out of my hand That is an inviolable Sanctuary from whence no Believer can be taken Christ is our Friend not only to the Altar but now in the Throne Our Reconciliation is ascribed to his Death our Conservation to his Life He that was created in a state of Nature could sin and die but He that is born of God can't sin unto death the new birth is unto Eternal Life In short As the Mercy of God is glorified in the whole work of our Salvation so especially in the first and last Grace it confers upon us In Vocation that prevents us and Perseverance that crowns us according to the double change made in our state translating us from Darkness to Light and from the imperfect Light of Grace to the full Light of Glory I have more particularly discours'd of this Advantage by the New Covenant in regard the Glory of God and the comfort of true Christians is so much concern'd in it For if Grace and Free-Will are put in joint commission so that the efficacy of it depends on the mutability of the Will which may receive or reject it the consequence is visible that which is impious to suppose the Son of God might have died in vain For that which is not effectual without a contingent condition must needs be as uncertain as the condition on which it depends So that although the Wisdom of God so admirably formed the design of our Salvation and there is such a connexion in his Counsels yet all may be defeated by the mutability of Mans desires And the most sincere Christians would be alwaies terrified with perplexing jealousies that notwithstanding their most serious Resolutions to continue in their Duty yet one day they may perish by their Apostasie But the Gospel assures us that God will not reverse his own Eternal Decrees And that the Redeemer shall see the travel of his Soul and be satisfied and that Believers are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation 3. There is an excellent manifestation of Divine Love in the glorious reward that is promised to Believers which far exceeds the primitive felicity of Man Adam was under the Covenant of nature that promised a reward sutable to his obedience and state The manner of declaring that Covenant was natural 1. External by the discovery of God's Attributes in his Works from which it was easie for man to collect his duty and his reward 2. Internal by his natural faculties By the light of Reason he understood that so long as he continued in his original Innocence the Creator who from pure goodness gave him his being and all the happiness which was concomitant with it would certainly preserve him in the perpetual enjoyment of it But there was no promise of Heaven annexed to that Covenant without which Adam could attain no knowledg nor conceive any hopes of it If there had been a necessary connexion between his perfect Obedience and the life of Glory it would have been revealed to him to allure his will for there can be no desire of an unknown good And whereas in the Covenant God principally and primarily regards the promise and but secondarily the threatning the exercise of goodness being more pleasing to him than of revenging justice 't is said that God expresly threatned Death but he made no promise of Heaven by which 't is evident it did not belong to that
O Lord God and what is my house that thou hast brought me hitherto and this was yet a small thing in thy sight O Lord God but thou hast spoken of thy Servants house for a great while to come and is this the manner of Man O Lord God if such humble and thankful acknowledgments were due for the Scepter of Israel what is for the Crown of Heaven and and that procured for us by the sufferings of the Son of God Briefly Goodness is the foundation of Glory therefore the most solemn and affectionate Praise is to be rendered for transcendent Goodness The consent of Heaven and Earth is in ascribing blessing and honour and glory to him that sits on the Throne and the Lamb for ever 2. The Love of God discovered in our Redemption is the most powerful persuasive to Repentance For the discovery of this we must consider that real Repentance is the consequent of Faith and always in proportion to it Therefore the Law which represents to us the Divine Purity and Justice without any allay of Mercy can never work true Repentance in a Sinner When Conscience is under the strong conviction of guilt and of Gods Justice as implacable it causes a dreadful flight from him and a retchless neglect of means Despair hardens Neither is the discovery of God in Nature prevailing over the impenitent Hearts of men 'T is true the visible frame of the World and the continual benefits of Providence instruct Men in those prime Truths the Being and Bounty of God to those that serve Him and invite them to their Duty God never left himself without a witness in any age His Goodness is design'd To lead men to Repentance And the Apostle aggravates the obstinacy of Men that render'd that method entirely fruitless But the Declaration of Gods Goodness in the Gospel is infinitely more clear and powerful than the silent revelation by the works of Creation and Providence For although the Patience and general Goodness of God offered some intimations that he is placable yet not a sufficient support for a guilty and jealous Creature to rely on The natural notion of Gods Justice is so deeply rooted in the Humane Soul that till He is pleased to proclaim an Act of Grace and Pardon on the conditions of Faith and Repentance 't is hardly possible that convinced Sinners should apprehend Him otherwise than an Enemy and that all the common Benefits they enjoy are but Provisions allowed in the interval between the Sentence pronounc'd by the Law and the Execution of it at Death Therefore God to overcome our fears and to melt us into a compliance hath given in the Scripture the highest assurance of his willingness to receive all relenting and returning Sinners He interposes the most solemn Oath to remove our suspicions As I live saith the Lord I delight not in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live And have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die saith the Lord God And not that he should return from his ways and live The majesty and ardency of the Expressions testifie the truth and vehemency of his desire so far as the Excellency of his Nature is capable to feel our Affections And the Reason of it is clear for the Conversion of a Sinner implies a thorough change in the Will and Affections from Sin to Grace and that is infinitely pleasing to Gods Holiness and the giving of Life to the converted is most suitable to his Mercy The Angels who are infinitly inferiour to Him in Goodness rejoyce in the Repentance and Salvation of Men Much more God doth There is an eminent difference between his inclinations to exercise Mercy and Justice He uses expressions of regret when He is constrained to punish O that my People had hearkned to me and Israel had walked in my wayes And how shall I give thee up Ephraim how shall I deliver thee Israel mine heart is turned within me As a merciful Judg that pities the Man when he condemns the Malefactor But He dispenses Acts of Grace with pleasure He pardons Iniquity and passes by transgressions because He delights in Mercy 'T is true when Sinners are finally obdurate God is pleased in their Ruine for the honour of his Justice yet t is not in such a manner as in their Conversion and Life He doth not invite Sinners to transgress that He may condemn them He is not pleased when they give occasion for the exercise of his Anger And above all we have the clearest and surest discovery of pardoning Mercy in the Death of Christ. For what stronger evidence can there be of God's readiness to pardon than sending his Son into the World to be a Sacrifice for Sin that Mercy without prejudice to his other Perfections might upon our Repentance forgive us And what more rational argument is there and more congruous to the Breast of a Man to work in him a serious grief and hearty detestation of Sin not only as a cursed thing but as 't is contrary to the Divine Will than the belief that God in whose Power alone it is to pardon Sinners is most desirous to pardon them if they will return to Obedience The Prodigal in his extream distress resolved to go to his Father with penitential acknowledgments and submission and to use the words of a devout Writer His guilty Conscience as desperate asks him Qua spe with what hope He replies to himself Illa qua Pater est Ego perdidi quod erat filii ille quod patris est nâ—n amisit Though I have neglected the duty and lost the confidence of a Son he hath not lost the compassion of a Father That Parable represents Man in his degenerate forlorn state and that the Divine Goodness is the Motive that prevails upon him to return to his duty 3. The transcendent Love that God hath exprest in our Redemption by Christ should kindle in us a reciprocal affection to him For what is more natural than that one flame should produce another We love him because he loved us first The original of our Love to God is from the evidence of his to us this alone can strongly and sweetly draw the heart to him 'T is true the divine excellencies as they deserve a superlative esteem so the highest affection but the bare contemplation of them is ineffectual to fire the Heart with a zealous Love to God For Man in his Corrupt state hath a Diabolical Seed in him he is inclined not only to Sensuality which is an implicit hatred of God for an eager Appetite to those things which God forbids and a fixed Aversation from what He commands are the Natural effects of Hatred But to malignity and direct hatred against God He is an enemy in his mind through wicked Works and this enmity ariseth from the consideration of Gods Justice and the effects of it Man cannot Sin and be
are to be disvalued when set in comparison with Him Nay if by an impossible supposition they could be separated our Saviour should be more dear to us than Salvation For He declared greater Love in giving Himself for our Ransom than in giving Heaven to be our Reward When we love Him in the highest degree we are capable of we have reason to mourn for the imperfection of it In short A Superlative Love as 't is due to our Redeemer so 't is only accepted by Him He that loveth father or mother son or daughter more than Him is not worthy of Him And He tells us in other places that we must hate them to shew that this Love should so far exceed the Affection that is due to those persons that in all occasions where â—hey divide from Christ we should demean our selves as if we had only for them an indifference and even an aversation Indeed the preferring of any thing before Him who is altogether desirable in Himself and infinitely deserves our Love is brutishly to undervalue Him and in effect not to love Him For in a Temptation where Christ and the beloved object are set in competition as a greater weight turns the Scales so the stronger Affection will cause a person to renounce Christ for the possession of what he loves better 'T is the Love of Christ reigning in the Heart that is the only Principle of Perseverance 4. What an high Provocation is it to despise Redeeming Mercy and to defeat that infinite Goodness which hath been at such expence for our Recovery The Son of God hath emptied all the Treasures of his Love to purchase Deliverance for guilty and wretched Captives He hath past through so many pains and thorns to come and offer it to them He sollicits them to receive Pardon and Liberty upon the conditions of Acceptance and Amendment which are absolutely necessary to qualifie them for Felicity Now if they slight the Benefit and renounce their Redemption if they sell themselves again under the Servitude of Sin and gratifie the Devil with a new conquest over them what a bloody Cruelty is this to their own Souls and a vile indignity to the Lord of Glory And are there any servile spirits so charm'd with their misery and so in love with their chains who will stoop under their cruel Captivity to be reserved for eternal Punishment Who can believe it But alas Examples are numerous and ordinary The most by a Folly as prodigious as their Ingratitude prefer their Sins before their Saviour and love that which is the only just object of Hatred and hate Him who is the most worthy object of Love 'T is a most astonishing consideration that Love should persuade Christ to die for Men and that they should trample upon his Blood and choose rather to die by themselves than to live by Him That God should be so easie to forgive and Man so hard to be forgiven This is a Sin of that transcendent height that all the abominations of Sodom and Gomorrah are not equal to it This exasperates Mercy that dear and tender Attribute the only Advocate in God's Bosom for us This makes the Judge irreconcilable The rejecting of life upon the gracious terms of the Gospel makes the condemnation of Men most just certain and heavy 1. Most Just for when Christ hath performed what was necessary for the expiation of sin and hath opened the Throne of Grace which was before shut against us and by this God hath declared how willing he is to save Sinners if they are wilful to be damned and frustrate the blessed methods of Grace 't is most equal they should inherit their own choice They judge themselves unworthy of Eternal Life Conscience will justifie the severest doom against them 2. It makes their condemnation certain and final The Sentence of the Law is reversible by an appeal to an Higher Court but that of the Gospel against the refusers of Mercy will remain in its full force for ever He that believes not is condemn'd already 'T is some consolation to a Malefactor that the Sentence is not pronounced against him but an unbeliever hath no respite The Gospel assures the sincere Believer that he shall not enter into Condemnation to prevent his fears of an after sentence but it denounces a present doom against those who reject it The Wrath of God abides on them Obstinate infidelity sets beyond all possibility of Pardon there is no Sacrifice for that Sin Salvation is self cannot save the impenitent Infidel For he excludes the only means whereby Mercy is conveyed How desperate then is the case of such a Sinner To what Sanctuary will he fly all the other Attributes condemn him Holiness excites Justice and Justice awakens Power for his destruction and if Mercy interpose not between him and ruin he must perish irrecoverably Who ever loves not the Lord Christ is Anathema Maranatha He is under an irrevocable Curse which the Redeemer will confirm at his coming 3. Wilful neglect of Redeeming Mercy aggravates the Sentence and brings an extraordinary damnation upon Sinners Besides the doom of the Law which continues in its vigour against transgressors the Gospel adds a more heavy one against the impenitent because he beleives not in the name of the only begotten Son of God Infidelity is an outrage not to a Man or an Angel but to the Eternal Son For the Redemption of Souls is reckoned as a part of his reward He shall see of the travel of his soul and be satisfied Those therefore that spurn at Salvation deny him the honour of his sufferings and are guilty of the defiance of his Love of the contempt of his Clemency of the provocation of the most sensible and severe Attribute when 't is incensed This is to strike him at the Heart and to kick against his Bowels This increases the anguish of his sufferings and imbitters the Cup of his Passion This renews his Sorrows and makes his Wounds bleed afresh Ingrateful Wretches that refuse to bring Glory to their Redeemer and blessedness to themselves that rather chuse that the accuser should triumph in their misery then their Saviour rejoyce in their felicity This is the great condemnation that Christ came into the World to exempt Men from Death and they refuse the Pardon 'T is an aggravation of sin above what the Devils are capable of for Pardon was never offered to those rebellious spirits In short so deadly a malignity there is in it that it poysons the Gospel it self and turns the sweetest Mercy into the sorest Judgment The Sun of Righteousness who is a reviving light to the penitent Believer is a consuming Fire to the obdurate How much more tolerable had been the condition of such Sinners if saving Grace had never appeared unto Men or they had never heard of it for the Degrees of Wrath shall be in proportion to the riches of neglected goodness The refusing Life from Christ
Saviour tells us It behoved Christ to suffer he doth not say that the Son of God should suffer but that Christ. This Title signifies the same Person in substance but not in the same respect and consideration Christ is the Second Person cloathed with our Nature There was no necessity that obliged God to appoint his Son or the Son to accept the Office of Mediator But when the Eternal Son had undertook that charge and was made Christ that is assumed our Nature in order to redeem us 't was necessary that He should suffer Besides His Consent was necessary upon another account For the Satisfaction doth not arise meerly from the Dignity of his Person but from the Law of substitution whereby He put himself in our stead and voluntarily obliged Himself to suffer the Punishment due to us The efficacy of his Death is by vertue of the Contract between the Father and Him of which there could be no cause but pure Mercy and His voluntary Condescension Now the Scripture declares the willingness of Christ particularly at his entrance into the World and at his Death Upon His comming into the World He begins his Life by the internal Oblation of Himself to his Father Sacrifice and Offering thou didst not desire mine ears hast thou opened that is He entirely resigned himself to be Gods Servant Burnt-Offering and Sin-Offering hast thou not required Then said I Lo I come in the volume of thy book 't is written of me I delight to do thy will O my God yea thy Law is within my heart He saw the Divine Decree and embrac'd it the Law was in his Heart and fully possest all his Thoughts and Affections and had a commanding influence upon his Life And his Willingness was fully exprest by Him when He approacht to His last Sufferings For although He declin'd Death as Man having natural and innocent desires of Self-Preservation yet as Mediator he readily submitted to it Not my Will but thine be done was his voice in the Garden And this argued the compleatness and fixedness of his Will that notwithstanding his aversation from Death absolutely considered yet with an unabated election He still chose it as the means of our Salvation No involuntary Constraint was laid upon him to force him to that submission But the sole causes of it were his free Compliance with his Fathers Will and his tender Compassion towards Men. He saith I have power to lay down my life and power to take it up this command I received of my Father In his Death Obedience and Sacrifice were united The Typical Sacrifices were led to the Altar but the Lamb of God presented Himself 't is said He gave himself for us to signifie his willingness in dying Now the Freeness of our Redeemer in dying for us qualified his Sufferings to be meritorious The Apostle tells us that By the obedience of one many are made righteous that is By his voluntary Sufferings we are justified for without his Consent his Death could not have the respect of a punishment for our Sins No Man can be compelled to pay anothers Debt unless he make himself Surety for it Briefly The Appointment of God and the Undertaking of Christ to redeem us from the Curse of the Law by his suffering it are the Foundation of the New-Testament 3. He that interpos'd as Mediator must be perfectly Holy otherwise he had been liable to Justice for his own Sin And guilty Blood is impure and corrupt apter to stain by its effusion and sprinkling than to purge away Sin The Apostle joins these two as inseparable He appeared to take away Sin and in Him is no sin The Priesthood under the Law was imperfect as for other reasons so for the sins of the Priests Aaron the first and chief of the Levitical Order was guilty of gross Idolatry so that Reconciliation could not be obtained by their Ministry For how can one Captive ransom another or Sin expiate Sin But our Mediator was absolutely innocent without the least tincture of Sin original or actual He was conceived in a miraculous manner infinitely distant from all the impurities of the earth That which is produced in an ordinary way receives its propriety from second Causes and contracts the defilement that cleaves to the whole species Whatever is born of blood and the will of the flesh that is form'd of the substance of the Flesh and by the sensual Appetite is defiled but though He was form'd of the substance of the Virgin yet by vertue of an Heavenly Principle according to the words of the Angel to her The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee therefore also that Holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God He came in the appearance only of sinful flesh As the Brazen Serpent had the figure and not the poison of the fiery Serpent He was without actual Sin He foil'd the Tempter in all his arts and methods wherewith he tried Him He resisted the Lust of the Flesh by refusing to make the stones Bread to asswage his Hunger and the Lust of the Eyes in despising the Kingdoms of the World with all their Treasures and the Pride of Life when he would not throw himself down that by the interposing of Angels for His rescue there might be a visible proof that He was the Son of God The Accuser himself confest Him to be the Holy One of God he found no corruption within Him and could draw nothing out of him Judas that betrayed him and Pilate that condemned him acknowledged his Innocence He perfectly fulfill'd the Law and did alwaies what pleased his Father In the midst of his Sufferings no irregular motion disturbed his Soul but He alwaies exprest the highest Reverence to God and incredible Charity to Men. He was compared to a Lamb for his Passion and his Patience that quietly dies at the foot of the Altar Besides We may consider in our Mediator not only a perfect freedom from Sin but an impossibility that he should be toucht by it The Angelical Nature was liable to folly but the Humane Nature by its intimate and unchangeable Union with the Divine is establisht above all possibility of Falling The Deity is Holiness 〈◊〉 self and by its personal presence is a greater preservative from sin than either the vision of God in Heaven or the most permanent habit of Grace Our Saviour tells us the Son can do nothing of himself but according to the pattern the Father sets him Now the perfect Holiness of our Redeemer hath a special efficacy in making his Death to be the expiation of Sin as the Scripture frequently declares For such an high Priest became us who is holy harmless undefiled and separate from sinners And he that knew no sin was made sin for us that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him We are Redeemed not
to this Punishment The Death which the Law threatned for Sin was to be accompanied with Dishonour and Pain And he suffered the Death of the Cross to which a special Curse was annext And this was not onely in respect of the Judgment of Men before whom a Crucified person was made a Spectacle of publick Vengeance for his Crimes but in respect of Gods declaration concerning it The Jews were commanded that none should hang on a Tree longer then the Evening lest the Holy Land should be profaned by that which was an express mark of Gods Curse Now the legal Curse was a Typical signification of the real that should be suffered by our Redeemer Besides his Death was attended with exquisite pains he suffer'd variety of torments by the scourges the thorns the nails that pierc'd his Hands and Feet the least vital but most sensible parts He refused the Wine mix'd with Myrrh that was given to stupifie the senses for the design of his Passion requir'd that he should have the quickest sense of his Sufferings which were the Punishment of Sin And his inward Sorrows were equivalent to the pains of loss and sense that are due to Sinners 'T is true there are circumstances in the Sufferings of the damn'd as Blaspemy Rage Impotent fierceness of mind which are not appointed by the Law but are accidental arising from the perversness of their Spirits For the punishment of the Law is a Physical evil but these are Moral and that punishment is inflicted by the Judge but these are onely from the guilty Sufferers Now to these he was not possibly liable Besides the Death that the Sinner ought to Suffer is Eternal attended with despair and the intolerable anguish of Conscience Now our Redeemer having no real Guilt was not liable to the worm of Conscience and his Temporary Sufferings were equivalent to the Eternal upon the account of his Divine Person so that he was not capable of Despair But he endur'd the unknown terrours of the second Death so far as was consistent with the Perfection of his Nature The anguish of his Soul was not meerly from sympathy with his Body but immediately from Divine Displeasure It pleased the Lord to bruise him this principally respects the Impressions of Wrath made upon his inward Man Had the Cup he fear'd been onely Death with the bitter ingredients of dishonour and pain many have drank it with more appearing resolution The Martyrs endured more cruel torments without complaint nay in their sharpest conflicts have exprest a triumphant joy Whereas our Redeemer was under all the innocent degrees of fear and sorrow at the approach of his Sufferings From whence was the difference Had Christ less Courage He was the Fountain of their Fortitude the difference was not in the disposition of the Patients but in the Nature of the Sufferings He endured that which is infinitely more terrible than all outward torments The Light of Joy that always shined in his Soul a sweet Image of Heaven was then totally eclips'd God the Fountain of Compassion restrain'd himself his Father appear'd a severe inexorable Judge and dealt with him not as his Son but our Surety Under all the Cruelties exercis'd by men the Lamb of God open'd not his mouth but when the Father of Mercies and the God of all Consolations forsook him then he broke forth into a mournful complaint Now by this account of Christs Sufferings from Scripture 't is evident they were truly penal for they were inflicted for Sin by the Supreme Judg and were equivalent to the Sentence of the Law And the benefit we receive upon their account proves that they are satisfaction to Divine Justice for we are exempted from Punishment by his Submission to it He freed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us The Chastisements of our Peace was upon him by whose stripes we are healed So that his Death being the Meritorious Cause of freeing the Guilty is properly Satisfaction Before I proceed to the second Consideration of Christs Death I will briefly answer the Objection of the Socinians viz. That 't is a Violation of Justice to transfer the Punishment from one to another so that the Righteous God could not Punish his innocent Son for our Sins Now to show the invalidity of this Pretence we must consider 1. That Justice is not an irregular appetite of Vengeance arising from Hatred that cannot be satisfied but with the Destruction of the Guilty It preserves Right with pure Affections and is content when the Injury is repair'd from whomsoever satisfaction comes 2. Though an innocent person can't suffer as innocent without Injustice yet he may voluntarily contract an Obligation which will expose him to deserved sufferings The Wisdom and Justice of all Nations agree in punishing one for anothers fault where consent is preceding as in the case of Hostages And although it is Essential to the Nature of Punishment to be inflicted for Sin yet not on the Person of the Sinner for in Conspectu fori the Sinner and Surety are one 3. That exchange is not allowed in Criminal Causes where the Guilty ought to suffer in Person 't is not from any Injustice in the Nature of the thing for then it would not be allowed in Civil but there are special Reasons why an Innocent Person is not ordinarily admitted to suffer for an offender 1. No man hath absolute Power over his own life 'T is a depositum consigned to him for a time and must be preserv'd till God or the Publick good calls for it 2. The Publick would suffer prejudice by the loss of a good Subject Therefore the Rule of the Law is just Non auditur perire volens The desire of one that devotes himself to ruine is not to be heard And the guilty person who is spared might grow worse by impunity and cause great disorders by his evil example But these considerations are of no force in the case of our Saviour For 1. He had full Power to dispose of his life I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again this Commandment have I received of my Father He declares his Power as God that his life intirely depended on his will to preserve it or part with it and his subjection as Mediator to the order of his Father 2. Our Saviour could not finally Perish 'T was not possible he should be held under the power of Death Otherwise it had been against the Laws of reason that the precious should for ever suffer for the vile Better ten thousand Worlds had been lost than that the Holy One of God should perish He saved us through his Sufferings though as by fire and had a glorious reward in the issue 3. There is an infinite good redounds from his Sufferings for Sinners are exempted from Death and the preservation of the guilty is for the glory of Gods government for those who are redeemed by his Death
are renewed by his Spirit He covers their sins that he may cure them He is made Righteousness and Sanctification to his People The serious belief that Christ by dying hath rescued us from Hell produces a superlative Love to him an ingenuous and grateful fear lest we should offend Him an ambition to please Him in all things briefly Universal Obedience to his Will as its most natural and necessary effect So that in laying the punishment on Christ under which Mankind must have sunk for ever there is nothing against Justice 2. The Death of Christ is the price which redeems us from our woful Captivity Mankind was fallen under the dominion of Satan and Death and could not obtain freedom by escape or meer power For by the order of Divine Justice we were detained Prisoners So that till God the Supreme Judg is satisfied there can be no discharge Now the Lord Christ hath procured our deliverance by his Death according to the testimony of the Apostle We have Redemption through his Blood even the forgiveness of sins His Blood is congruously called a price because in consideration of it our Freedom is purchased He is our Redeemer by Ransom He gave himself a Ransom for all and that signifies the price paid for the freeing of a Captive The word used by the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath a special Emphasis it signifies an exchange of conditions with us the redeeming us from Death by dying for us As the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who devoted themselves to Death for the rescuing of others Our Saviour told his Disciples that the Son of Man came to give his Life a ransom for many 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies a commutation or exchange with respect of things or persons Thus we are commanded to render to none Evil for evil And if a Son ask of his Father a Fish will he give him a Serpent for a Fish When 't is used in respect of persons it imports a substitution in anothers place Archelaus reigned instead of his Father Herod and Peter paid tribute for Christ that is representing Him the effect therefore of our Saviours words that He gave his Life a Ransome for many is evidently this that he dy'd in their stead and his Life as a Price intervened to obtain their Redemption 'T is for this Reason the Glorified Saints sung a Hymn of Praise to the Divine Lamb saying Thou art worthy for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy Blood This singular and blessed effect of Christs Death distinguishes it from the Death of the most Excellent Martyrs If he had dyed only for the Confirmation of the Gospel or to exhibit to us a Pattern of Suffering Graces what were there peculiar and extraordinary in his Death How can it be said that he was Crucified for us alone For the Martyrs Sealed the Truth with their Blood and left admirable Examples of Love to God of Zeal for his Glory of patience under Torments and of Compassion to their Persecutors yet it were intolerable Blasphemy to say that they redeem'd us by their Death And 't is observable when the Death of Christ is propounded in Scripture as a Pattern of Patience 't is with a special Circumstance that distinguishes it from all others Christ suffered for us leaving us an Example that we should follow his steps who his own self bare our Sins in his own Body on the Tree by whose stripes ye were healed The truth is if the sole end of Christs Death were to induce Men to believe His Promises and to imitate His Graces there had been no such necessity of it for the Miracles he did had been sufficient to confirm the Gospel yet Remission of Sins is never attributed to them and the Miseries he Suffered during the course of his Life had been sufficient to instruct us how to behave our selves under Indignities and Persecutions and at the last he might have given as full a Testimony to the Truth of his Doctrine by his descent from the Cross as by dying for us But no lower Price than his Blood could make Compensation to the Law and satisfaction to God and to deny this is to Rob him of the Glory of his Death and to destroy all our Comfort 'T is objected by those who nullifie the Mystery of the Cross of the Lord Jesus How could God receive this Price since he gave up his Son to that Death which Redeems us And how can our Redeemer supposing him God make satisfaction to himself To this I answer 1. The infinite Goodness of God in giving our Redeemer doth not devest him of the Office of Supreme Judge nor prejudice his examining of the Cause according to his Sovereign Jurisdiction and his receiving a Ransom to preserve the Rights of Justice inviolable There is an eminent instance of this in Zaleucus the Prince of the Locrians who past a Law that Adulterers should lose both their eyes and when his Son was convicted of that Crime the people who respected him for his Excellent Vertues out of pity to him interceded for the Offender Zaleucus in a Conflict between Zeal for Justice and Affection to his Son took but one Eye from him and parted with one of his own to satisfie the Law And thus he paid and received the Punishment he paid it as a Father and received it as the Conservator of Publick Justice Thus when guilty Mankind in its Poverty could not pay the Forfeiture to the Law God the Father of Mercies was pleased to give it from the Treasures of his Love that is the Blood of his Son for our Ransom And this he receives from the Hand of Christ offer'd upon the Cross as the Supreme Judge and declares it fully valuable and the Rights of Justice to be truly performed 2. It is not inconsistent with Reason that the Son of God cloathed with our Nature should by his Death make Satisfaction to the Deity and therefore to himself In the according of two Parties a Person that belongs to one of them may interpose for Reconciliation provided that he devests his own Interest and leaves it with the Party from whom he comes Thus when the Senate of Rome and the People were in dissension one of the Senators trusted his own Concernment with the Council of which he was a Member and mediated between the Parties to reconcile them Thus when the Father and the Son both possest of the Imperial Power have been offended by Rebellious Subjects 't is not inconvenient that the Son interpose as a Mediator to restore them to the Favour of the Prince And by this he reconciles them to himself and procures them Pardon of an Offence by which his own Majesty was violated This he doth as Mediator not as a a Party concern'd Now this is a fit Illustration of the Great Work of our Redemption so far as Humane things can represent Divine For all the Persons of the
manner He is called a Lamb in the notion of a Sacrifice The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world A Lamb was used in the Expiation of moral and legal Impurities He is called our Passover that was sacrificed for us The Paschal Lamb in its first Institution had an expiatory efficacy for God by looking on that Blood averted the destruction from the Israelites which seized on the Egyptians This was the reason of the Prohibition that none should go out of the house till the Morning lest they should be struck by the destroying Angel Not but that the Angel could distinguish the Israelites from the Egyptians abroa◠but 't was typical to shew their security was in being under the guard of the Lambs Blood which was shed to spare theirs Thus the Apostle Peter tells us We are redeemed by the Blood of the pure and perfect Lamb. And he was represented by the red Heifer whose ashes were the chief ingredient in the water of Purification For if the Blood of Bulls and Goats and the ashes of an Heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the Flesh How much more shall the Blood of Christ purge the Conscience Especially the Anniversary Sacrifice which was the Abridgment and Recapitulation of all the rest had an eminent respect to Christ The whole Epistle to the Hebrews is tinctured with this divine Doctrine Secondly The Effects of Christs Death are infinitely more excellent than those that proceeded from Levitical Sacrifices The Law had a shadow of good things to come But the real Virtue and Efficacy is only found in Christ. 1. The Aversion of Gods Wrath is ascribed to his Death according to the Words of the Apostle Whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood to declare his Righteousness for the Remission of Sins that are past through the forbearance of God to declare I say at this time his Righteousness that he might be Just and the justifier of him that believed in Jesus A Propitiation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Title of the Mercy-Seat partly in regard it cover'd the Tables of the Law which were broke by us to signifie that by Him Pardon is procur'd for us and principally because God was rendred Propitious by the sprinkling the Blood of the Sacrifice on it and exhibited himself there as on a Throne of Grace favourable t◠his people For this Reason he gives the name of the Figure to Christ for he alone answers the Charge of the Law and interposes between Justice and our Guilt and by his own Blood hath reconciled God to us Now the design of God in this appointment was to declare his Righteousness that is that Glorious Attribute that inclines him to punish Sinners For in the Legal Propitiations although the guilt of Men was publickly declared in the Death of the Sacrifices yet the Justice of God did not fully appear since he accepted the Life of a Beast in Compensation for the Life of a Man but in the Death of Christ he hath given the most clear Demonstration of his Justice a sufficient Example of his Hatred to Sin Condemning it and Revenging himself upon it in the Person of his beloved Son that the whole World may acknowledge 't was not from any Inadvertency but meerly by the Dispensation of his Wisdom and Goodness that he forbore so long And by the Death of Christ he hath declared that Glorious Mystery which no created Understanding could ever have conceived that he is inflexibly just and will not suffer sin to pass unpunish'd and that he justifies those who are guilty in themselves if by a purifying Faith they receive Christ for Pardon The same Apostle tells us that Christ hath given himself for us an Offering and a Sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour Eph. 5.2 He is qualified as a Priest whose Office it was to present to God an offering for Appeasing his Anger He gave himself the Oblation that is added to his Death gives the compleat Formality of a Sacrifice to it for 't is the Priest gives being to the Sacrifice and the effect of it is to be a sweet smelling savour to God that is to conciliate his Favour to us The same phrase is applyed to the Sin-Offering under the Law We may observe that upon this account our Reconciliation to God is attributed to the Death of Christ in distinction from his Glorified Life For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his Life And the same Apostle tells us that God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself not imputing their trespasses unto them we pray you therefore in Christs stead be reconciled to God A double Reconciliation is mentioned that of God to Men and of Men to God the first is the ground of the Apostle's exhortation the latter the effect of it The first was obtained by the Death of Christ who by imputation had our guilt transferred upon Him and consequently our punishment and in consideration of it God who is Just and Holy is willing to pardon penitent Believers The latter is by the powerful working of the Spirit who assures Men that are guilty and therefore suspicious and fearful of God's anger that he is most willing to pardon them upon their repentance since he hath in such an admirable manner found out the means to satisfie his Justice 2. The true expiation of sin is the effect of Christs Death He is called the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the World Now sin may be taken away in two manners First by removing its guilt and exempting the Person that committed it from Death and when this is effected by enduring the punishment that was due to sin 't is properly expiation Secondly By healing the corrupt inclinations of the Heart from whence actual sins proceed 'T is true our Redeemer takes away sin in both these respects he delivers from the Damnation and Dominion of it for he is made of God our Righteousness and Sanctfication But the first sense is only convenient here for 't is evident that the Lamb took away sin that is the guilt of it by dying instead of the sinner and had no effect for the destroying the malignant habits of sin in those who offered them It appears further that this Divine Lamb hath taken away the guilt of our sins in that He bore them in his own Body on the Tree For the native force of the word signifies not only to take away but to carry and bear which applyed to sin is nothing else but to suffer the penalty of it And 't is to be observed when Cleansing Purifying and Washing are attributed to the Blood of Christ they have an immediat respect to the guilt of sin and declare its efficacy to take off the obligation to punishment Thus 't
is said that His Blood cleanseth from all sin and that it purgeth the Conscience foom dead Works and that we are washt from our sins in His Blood The frequent Sprinklings and Purifications with Water under the Law prefigured our cleansing from the defilements of sin by the Grace of the Spirit but the shedding of the Blood of Sacrifices was to purge away sins so far as they made liable to a Curse Thirdly Our exemption from punishment and our restoration to Communion with God in Grace and Glory is the fruit of his expiating sin For this reason the Blood of the Mediator speaks better things then that of Abel For that cryed for revenge against the Murderer but his procures remission to Believers And as the just desert of sin is separation from the presence of God who is the fountain of felicity so when the guilt is taken away the person is received into God's favour and fellowship A representation of this is set down in the 24 of Exod. where we have described the manner of dedicating the Covenant between God and Israel by bloody Sacrifices after Moses had finisht the Offering and sprinkled the Blood on the Altar and the People the Elders of Israel who were forbid before to approach neer to the Lord were then invited to come into his presence and in token of reconciliation feasted before him Thus the Eternal Covenant is establisht by the Blood of the Mediator and all the benefits it contains as remission of sins freedom to draw near to the Throne of Grace and the enjoyment of God in Glory are the fruits of his reconciling Sacrifice The sum of all is this That as under the Law God was not appeased without shedding of Blood nor sin expiated without suffering the punishment nor the sinner pardoned without the substitution of a sacrifice so all these are eminently accomplisht in the Death of Christ. He reconciled God to us by his most precious Blood and expiated sin by enduring the Curse and hath procured our pardon by being made sin for us So that 't is most evident that the proper and direct end of the Death of Christ was that God might exercise his Mercy to the guilty sinner in a way that is honourable to his Justice 'T is objected that if God from infinite Mercy gave his Son to us then antecedently to the coming of Christ he had the highest love for mankind and consequently there was no need that Christ by his Death should satisfie Justice to reconcile him to us But a clear answer may be given to this by considering 1. That Anger and Love are consistent at the same time and may in several respects be terminated on the same subject A Father resents a double affection towards a rebellious Son he loves him as his Son is angry with with him as disobedient Thus in our laps'd state God had compassion on us as his creatures and was angry with us as sinners As the injured party he laid aside his anger but as the preserver of Justice he required satisfaction 2. We must dinstinguish between a love of good-will and compassion and a love of complacency The first is that which moved God to ordain the means that without prejudice to his other perfections he might confer pardon and all spiritual benefits upon us the other is that whereby he delights in us being reconciled to him and renewed according to his Image The first supposes him placable the latter that he is appeased There is a visible instance of this in the case of Job's Friends The Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite My anger is kindled against thee and thy two Friends because ye have not spoken of me the things that are right as my Servant Job Here is a declaration of God's anger yet with the mixture of Love for it follows therefore take unto you now seven Bullocks and seven Rams and go to my Servant Job and offer up for your selves a burnt-offering and my Servant Job shall pray for you for him will I accept He loved them when he directed the way that they might be restored to his Favour yet he was not reconciled for then there had been no need of Sacrifices to atone his anger 2. T is further objected that supposing the Satisfaction of Christ to Justice both the freeness and greatness of God's Love in pardoning sinners will be much lessen'd But it will appear that the Divine Mercy is not prejudiced in either of those respects First The freenss of Gods Love is not diminished for that is the original mover in our Salvation and hath no cause above it to excite or draw it forth but meerly arises from his own will This Love is so absolute that it hath no respect to the sufferings of Christ as Mediator for God so loved the World that he gave his Son to die for us and that which is the effect and testimony of his Love cannot be the impulsive cause of it This first Love of God to Man is commended to us in Christ who is the medium to bring it honorably about Secondly Grace in Scripture is never opposed to Christs Merits but to ours If we had made Satisfaction Justice it self had absolved us For the Law having two parts the command of our Duty which consists in a moral good and the sanction of the punishment that is a physical evil to do or to suffer is necessary not both or if we had provided a Surety such as the Judge could not reject we had been infinitely obliged to him but not to the favour of the Judg. But 't is otherwise here God sent the Reconciler when we were enemies and the Pardon that is dispenc'd to us upon the account of his Sufferings is the effect of meer Mercy We are justified freely by his Grace through the Redemption that is in Jesus Christ. 'T is pure Love that appointed and accepted that imputes and applies his Righteousness to us And as the Freeness so the Riches of his Mercy is not lessened by the Satisfaction Christ made for us 'T is true we have a pattern of God's Justice never to be parallel'd in the Death of Christ but to the severity of Justice towards his only beloved Son his clemency towards us guilty Rebels is fully comensurate For He pardons us without the expence of one drop of our Blood though the Soul of Christ was poured forth as an Offering for Sin Thus in an admirable manner He satisfies Justice and glorifies Mercy and this could have been no other way effected for if He had given His Spirit alone to restore us to His Image His Love had eminently appeared but the honour of his Justice had not been secured But in our Redemption they are infinitely magnified His Love could give no more than the Life of His Son and Justice required no less for Death being the Wages of Sin there could be no satisfaction without the Death of our Redeemer CHAP. XIV The
internal Malignity of Sin abstracted from its dreadful effects is most worthy of our hatred For 't is in its own nature direct enmity against God and obscures the Glory of all his Attributes 'T is the violation of his Majesty who is the universal Sovereign of Heaven and Earth A contrariety to his Holiness which shines forth in his Law A despising his Goodness the atractive to Obedience The contempt of his Omniscience which sees every sin when 't is commited The slighting of his terrible Justice and Power as if the Sinner could secure himself from his Indignation A denial of his Truth as if the threatning were a vain terror to scare Men from sin And all this done voluntarily to please an irregular corrupt Appetite by a despicable Creature who absolutely depends upon God for his being and happiness These Considerations seriously pondered are most proper to discover the extremity of its evil But sensible demonstrations are most powerful to convince and affect us and those are taken from the fearful Punishments that are inflicted for Sin Now the Torments of Hell which are the just and full recompence of Sin are not sensible till they are inevitable And temporal Judgments cannot fully declare the infinite Displeasure of God against the wilful contempt of his Authority But in the Sufferings of Christ 't is exprest to the utmost If Justice it self had rent the Heavens and come down in the most visible Terrour to revenge the Rebellions of Men it could never have made stronger impressions upon us than the Death of Christ duely considered The Destruction of the World by Water the miraculous burning of Sodom and Gomorrah by showers of Fire and all other the most terrible Judgments do not afford such a sensible instruction of the evil of Sin If we regard the Dignity of his Person and the depth of his Sufferings He is an unparallel'd example of Gods Indignation for the breach of his Holy Law For He that was the Son of God and the Lord of Glory was made a Man of Sorrowes He endured Derision Scourgings Stripes and at last a cruel and cursed Death The Holy of Holies was crucified between two Thieves By how much the Life of Christ was more precious than the lives of all men so much in his Death doth the wrath of God appear more fully against Sin than it would in the destruction of the whole world of Sinners And His Spiritual Sufferings infinitely exceeded all His Corporeal The Impressions of Wrath that were inflicted by Gods immediate Hand upon his Soul forced from him those strong Cries that moved all the powers of Heaven and Earth with Compassion If the curtain were drawn aside and we should look into the Chambers of Death where Sinners lie down in Sorrow for ever and hear the woful expressions and deep Complaints of the Damned with what horrour and distraction they speak of their torments we could not have a fuller testimony of God's Infinite displeasure against sin than in the Anguish and Agonies of our Redeemer For whatever His Sufferings were in kind yet in their degree and measure they were equally terrible with those that condemned Sinners endure Now how is it possible that Rational Agents should freely in the open light for perishing vanities dare to commit sin Can they avoid or endure the Wrath of an Incensed God If God spared not his Son when he came in the similitude of sinful flesh how shall Sinners who are deeply and universally defiled escape Can they fortifie themselves against the Supreme Judge Can they encounter with the fury of the Almighty the apprehensions of which made the Soul of Christ heavy unto Death Have they patience to bear that for ever which was to Christ who had the strength of the Deity to support him intolerable for a few hours If it were so with the green Tree what will become of the dry when exposed to the fiery Tryal If he that was Holy and Innocent suffered so dreadfully what must they expect who add impenitency to their guilt and live in the bold commission of Sin without reflection and remorse What prodigious Madness is it to drink iniquity like water as a harmless thing when 't is a poison so deadly that the least drop of it brings certain ruine What desperate Folly to have slight apprehensions of that which is attended with the first and second Death Nothing but unreasonable Infidelity and Inconsideration can make men venturous to provoke the living God who is infinitely sensible of their Sins and who both can and will punish them by Torments extreme and eternal 2. The strictness of Divine Justice appears that required Satisfaction equivalent to the desert of sin The natural Notion of the Deity as the Governour of the World instructed the Heathens That the transgression of his Laws was worthy of Death This proves that the obligation to punishment doth not arise from the mere will of God which is only discovered by Revelation but is founded in the nature of things and by its own light is manifested to reasonable creatures From hence they inferred That it was not becoming the Divine nature as qualified with the relation of Supreme Ruler to pardon Sin without Satisfaction This appears by the Sacrifices and Ceremonies the Religions and Expiations which were performed by the most ignorant Nations And although they infinitely abused themselves in the conceit they had of their pretended efficacy and vertue yet the universal consent of Mankind in the belief that Satisfaction was necessary declares it to be true This as other natural Doctrines is more fully revealed by Scripture Under the Law without shedding of blood there was no remission not that common Blood could make Satisfaction for Sin but God commanded there should be a visible mark of its necessity in the Worship offer'd to him and a prefiguration that it should be accomplisht by a Sacrifice eternally efficacious And the Oeconomy of our Salvation clearly proves that to preserve the honour of Gods Government Sin must be punisht that Sinners might be pardoned For nothing was more repugnant to the Will of God absolutely considered than the Death of his Beloved Son and the natural Will of Christ was averse from it What then moved that Infinite Wisdome which wills nothing but what is perfectly reasonable to ordain that event Why should it take so great a circuit if the way was so short that by pure Favour without Satisfaction Sin might have been pardoned Our Saviour declares the necessity of his suffering Death supposing the merciful Will of his Father to save us when He saith That as Moses lifted up the Serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of man be lifted up that whosoever believes in him should not perish 'T is true Since God had foretold and prefigured his Death by the oracles and actions under the Law it necessarily came to pass But to consider things exactly the unchangeable truth of Types and Prophesies is not
the primitive and main reason of the necessity of things but only a sign of the certainty of the event In strictness things do not arrive because of their prediction but are foretold because they shall arrive It is apparent there was a Divine Decree before the Prophesies and that in the Light of God's Infinite Knowledg things are before they were foretold So 't is not said a Man must be of a ruddy complexion because his Picture is so but on the contrary because he is ruddy his Picture must be so That Christ by dying on the Cross should Redeem Man was the reason that the Serpent of brass was erected on a pole to heal the Israelites and not on the contrary Briefly the Apostle supposes this necessity of Satisfaction as an evident principle when he proves wilful Apostates to be incapable of Salvation Because there remains no more Sacrifice for sin For the consequence were of no force if sin might be pardoned without Sacrifice that is without Satisfaction 3. This account of Christs Death takes off the scandal of the Cross and changes the offence into admiration 'T was foretold of Christ that he should be a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offence not a just cause but an occasion of offence to the corrupt hearts of Men and principally for his Sufferings The Jews were pleased with the titles of honour given to the Messiah that he should be a King Powerful and Glorious But that poverty disgrace and the suffering Death should be his character they could not endure therefore they endeavoured to prevert the sense of the Prophets His Disciples who attended him in his mean state expected those sad apappearances would terminate in visible Glory and Greatness but when they saw him arrested by his Enemies Condemned and Crucified this was so opposite to their expectation that they fainted under the disappointment And when Christ Crucified was Preacht to the Gentile World they rejected him with scorn His Death seemed so contrary to the Dignity of his Person and the design of his Office that they could not relish the Doctrine of the Gospel They judged it absurd to expect Life from one that was subjected to Death and Blessedness from him who was made a Curse To those who look on the Death of Christ with the eyes of carnal wisdom and according to the Laws of corrupt reason it appears folly and weakness and most unworthy of God but if we consider it in its principles and ends all the prejudices vanish and we clearly discover it to be the most noble and eminent effect of the Wisdom Power Goodness and Justice of God To the eye of sense 't was a spectacle of horrour that a perfect Innocent should be cruelly tormented but to the eye of Faith under that sad and ignominious appearance there was a Divine Mystery able to raise our wonder and ravish our affections For he that was naked and nailed to the Cross was really the Son of God and the Saviour of Men And his Death with all the penal circumstances of dishonour and pain is the only Expiation of sin and Satisfaction to Justice He by offering up his Blood appea'sd the wrath of God quencht the flaming Sword that made Paradise inaccessible to us he took away sin the true dishonour of our natures and purchased for us the Graces of the Spirit the richest ornaments of the reasonable Creature The Doctrine of the Cross is the only foundation of the Gospel that unites all its parts and supports the whole building 'T is the cause of our Righteousness and Peace of our Redemption and Reconciliation How blessed an exchange have the Merits of his Sufferings made with those of our Sins Life instead of Death Glory for Shame and Happiness for Misery For this reason the Apostle with vehemence declares that to be the sole ground of his boasting and triumph which others esteemed a cause of blushing God forbid that I should Glory save in the Cross of Christ. He rejects with extreme detestation the mention of any other thing as the cause of his Happiness and matter of his Glory The Cross was a tree of Death to Christ and of Life to us The supreme Wisdom is justified of its Children 4. The Satisfaction of Divine Justice by the Sufferings of Christ affords the strongest assurance to Man who is a guilty and suspicious creature that God is most ready to pardon sin There is in the natural Conscience when opened by a piercing conviction of sin such a quick sense of Guilt and Gods Justice that it can never have an intire confidence in his Mercy till Justice be atoned From hence the convinced Sinner is restlesly inquisitive how to find out the way of reconciliation with a Righteous God Thus he is represented inquiring by the Prophet Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the most High God shall I come before him with Burnt-Offerings with Calves of a year old will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams or with ten thousand rivers of oil shall I give my first-born for my transgression the fruit of my Body for the sin of my Soul The Scripture tells us that some consum'd their Children to render their Idols favourable to them But all these means were ineffectual their most costly Sacrifices were only food for the fire Nay instead of expiating their old they committed new sins and were so far from appeasing that they inflamed the Wrath of God by their cruel oblations But in the Gospel there is the most rational and easy way propounded for the Satisfaction of God and the Justification of Man The Righteousness of Faith speaketh on this wise Say not in thy heart Who shall ascend into Heaven that is to bring down Christ from above Or who shall descend into the deep that is to bring up Christ again from the dead But if thou wilt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved The Apostle sets forth the anxiety of an awakened Sinner he is at a loss to find out a way to escape Judgment for things that are on the surface of the Earth or floating on the Waters are within our view and may be obtain'd but those that are above our Understanding to discover or Power to obtain are proverbially said to to be in the Heavens above or in the Deeps And 't is applied here to the different wayes of Justification by the Law and the Gospel The Law propounds Life upon an impossible condition but the Gospel clearly reveals to us that Christ hath performed what is necessary for our Justification and that by a lively and practical Faith we shall have an Interest in it The Lord Jesus being ascended hath given us a convincing proof that the Propitiation for our Sins is perfect For otherwise He had not been received into Gods Sanctuary Therefore to be under
this inflames rather than allays the Distemper For as things are more clearly known so more sensibly felt by comparison He that is tormented with the Gout cannot relieve his misery by remembring the pleasant Wine he drank before his fit 4. The Stoicks Universal Cure of afflictions was to change their opinion of them and esteem them not real evils Thus Posidonius so much commended by Tully who for many years was under torturing Diseases and survived a contiunal Death being visited by Pompey at Rhodes he entertained him with a Philosophical Discourse and when his pains were most acute he said Nihil agis dolor quanquam sis molestus nunquam teâ— esse confitebor malum In vain dost thou assault me pain though thou art troublesome thou shalt never force me to confess thou art evil But the folly of this boasting is visible for though he might appear with a chearful countenance in the Paroxism of his Disease to commend his Philosophy like a Mountebank that swallows poison to put off his Druggs yet the reality of his grief was evident his Sense was overcome though his Tongue remained a Stoick If words could charm the Sense not to feel pains or compose the mind not to resent afflictions 't were material to give molifying Titles to them But since 't is not Fancy that makes them stinging but their contrariety to Nature 't is no relief to represent them otherwise than they are 5. Others compos'd themselves by considering the benefit of patience Discontent puts an edge on troubles to kick against the pricks exasperates the pain to be restless and turmoiling increases the Feaver But this is not properly a consolation for although a calm and quiet submission prevents those new degrees of trouble which by fretting and vexing we bring upon our selves yet it doth not remove the evil which may be very afflicting and grievous in its own nature so that without other considerations to support the mind it will sink under it And as these so many other Arguments they used to fortifie the Spirit against Sufferings are like a hedg which at a distance seems to be a safe retreat from Gunshot but those who retire to it find it a weak Defence This appears by the carriage of the best instructed Heathens in their calamities Professing themselves to be wise in their Speculations they became fools in practice and were confounded with all their Philosophy when they should have made use of it Some kill'd themselves for the apprehension of sufferings their death was not the effect of courage but cowardise the remedy of their fear Others impatient of disappointment in their great designs refused to live I will instance in two of the most eminent among them Cato and Brutus they were both Philosophers of the manly sect and Vertue never appeared with a brighter lustre among the Heathens than when joyned with a Stoical resolution And they were not imperfect Proficients but Masters in Philosophy Seneca employs all the ornaments of his Eloquence to make Catoes Elogy He represents him as the consummate exemplar of Wisdom as one that realized the sublime Idea of Virtue described in their Writings And Brutus was esteemed equal to Cato Yet these with all the power of their Philosophy were not able to bear the shock of Adversity Like raw Fencers one thrust put them into such disorder that they forgot all their instructions in the place of trial For being unsuccesful in their endeavours to restore Rome to its liberty overcome with discontent and dispair they laid violent hands upon themselves Cato being prevented in his first attempt afterwards tore open his Wounds with fierceness and rage And Brutus ready to plunge the Sword into his Breast complained that Vertue was but a vain name so insufficient are the best Precepts of meer natural Reason to relieve us in distress As Torrents that are dryed up in the heat of Summer when there is the most need of them so all comforts fail in extremity that are not derived from the Fountain of Life I will only add how ineffectual Philosophy is to support us in a dying hour The fear of Death is a Passion so strong that by it Men are kept in bondage all their days 'T is an Enemy that threatens none whom it doth not strike and there is none but it threatens Certainly that Spectre which Caesar had not courage to look in the face is very affrighting Alexander himself that so often despised it in the Field when passion that transported him cast a Vail over his Eyes yet when he was struck with a mortal Disease in Babylon and had Death in his view his Palace was filled with Priests and Diviners and no superstition was so sottish but he used to preserve himself And although the Philosophers seem'd to contemn Death yet the great preparations they made to encounter it argue a secret fear in their Breasts Many Discourses Reasonings and Arguments are employed to sweeten that cruel necessity of it but they are all ineffectual 1. That 't is the condition of our nature to be a Man and immortal are inconsistent But this consolation afflicts to extremity If there were any means to escape the soul might take courage He is doubly miserable whose misery is without remedy 2. That it puts a period to all temporal evils But as this is of no force with those who are prosperous and never felt those miseries which make Life intolerable so it cannot rationally relieve any that have not good hopes of felicity after death The Heathens discovered not the sting of Death as 't is the wages of sin and consigns the guilty to eternal Death so that they built upon a false foundation as if it were the cure of all evils 3. They encouraged themselves from their ignorance of the consequences of death whether it only changed their place or extinguish'd their persons Socrates who dyed with a seeming indifference gave this account of it That he did not know whether death was good or evil But this is not fortitude but folly as Aristotle observes That a readiness to encounter dangers arising from ignorance is not true valour but a brutish boldness What madness is it then for one that enters upon an eternal state not knowing whether it shall be Happy or Miserable to be uneffected with that dreadful uncertainty But now the Gospel furnishes us with real remedies against all the evils of our present state 'T is the true Paradise wherein the Tree of Life is planted whose Leaves are for the healing of the Nations We are assured that God disposes all things with the Wisdom and Love of a Father and that his Providence is most admirable and worthy of praise in those things wherein they who are only led by sence doubt whether it be at all For as 't is the first point of prudence to keep off evils so the second and more excellent is to make them beneficial Christians
as to violate the Fidelity of Marriage without the wounding of Chastity or to poison a Parent without failing in the duty that is owing to them And to express his indignation he tells them Sic ergo ipsi salva venia in Gehennam detruduntur dum salvo metu peccant Let them expect that God will cast them into Hell without prejudice to their Pardon as they pretend to Sin without prejudice to the respect they bear him To sum up all Jesus Christ as by his Doctrine and Life he clearly discover'd our Duty so he offers to us the Aid of his Spirit for our assistance by which the Commands of the Gospel are not only possible but easy And to enforce our obligations he hath threatned such Vengeance to the rebellious and promised such a Reward to those that obey the Gospel that it is impossible we should not be deeply affected with them if we seriously believe them and He hath given such evidence of their truth that 't is impossible we should not believe them unless the God of this world hath blinded our minds 'T is matter therefore of just astonishment that Christians should not express the efficacy of the Gospel in their actions How can a reasonable Creature believe that eternal Damnation shall be the Punishment of Sin and yet live in the wilful practice of it The Historian speaking of Mushroms that somtimes prov'd deadly to whole Families asks with wonder What pleasure could allure them to eat such doubtful Meat Yet they may be so corrected as to become innocent But when 't is certain that the Pleasures of Sin are mortal Can any one be tempted by those attractives to venture on that which will undoubtedly bring Death to the Soul Let Sense itself be Judg and make the comparison between whatsoever the present Life can afford for delight in Sin and what the future Death will bring to torment it Let the Flesh see into what torments all its delights shall be changed and with what other fire than of impure Lust it shall burn for ever Besides We are encouraged to our Duty with the assurance of a Happiness so excellent that not only the enjoyment of it in the next World but the just expectation of it here makes us truly blessed If the Reward were small or the Promise uncertain there might be some pretence for our not performing the Conditions to obtain it but when the one is infinitely great and the other as true as the God of truth what more powerful motive can be conceiv'd to make us holy 'T is the Apostles chosen Argument that We should walk worthy of him who hath call'd us to his Kingdom and Glory The Heathens were in a great measure strangers to the Secrets of another World they had but a shadow of probability we have the Light of Truth brought down from Heaven by the Son of God that reveals to us a Blessedness that deserves our most ardent active Affections But if Men are not wrought on by natural Reason nor divine Faith if neither the Terrours of the Lord nor the blessed Hope can perswade them from Sin to Holiness their condition is irrecoverable In this the Rules of Natural and Spiritual Healing agree Where neither Corrosives nor Lenitives are successful we must use the Knife if cutting off be unprofitable we must fear the part if the Fire is ineffectual the Ulcer is incurable If the threatning of Hell-fire through Unbelief and Carelesness is not fear'd and hath no efficacy to correct and change Sinners what remains but to make a presage of eternal Death that will unavoidably and speedily seize on them And if so clear a discovery of the Heavenly Glory doth not produce in men a living Faith that works by Love and a lively Hope that purifies the Heart and Conversation what can be concluded but that they are wholly sensual and senseless and shall be for ever deprived of that Blessedness they now despise and neglect CHAP. XX. The Divine Power is admirably glorified in the Creation of the World in respect of the greatness of the effect and the manner of its production T is as evident in our Redemption The Principal Effects of it are considered The Incarnation of the Son of God is a work fully responsible to Omnipotence Our Redeemers Supernatural Conception by the Holy Ghost The Divine Power was eminently declared in the Miracles Jesus Christ wrought in the course of his Ministry His Miracles were the evidence of His Celestial Calling they were necessary for the conviction of the World their Nature considered The Divine Power was Glorified in making the Death of Christ Victorious over all our Spiritual Enemies The Resurrection of Christ the effect of Glorious Power The Reasons of it from the quality of his Person and the nature of his Office that he might dispense the Blessings he had purchased for Believers His Resurrection is the foundation of Faith It hath a threefold reference to his Person as the Son of God to his Death as an Alsufficient Sacrifice to his Promise of raising Believers at the last day THE Divine Power is admirably glorified in the Creation of the World not only in regard of the greatness of the Effect that comprehends the Heavens and Earth and all things in them but in regard of the marvelous way of its Production for He made the great Universe without the concurrence of any material cause from nothing For this reason the raising this glorious Fabrick is producâ—d as the distinctive character of the Deity from the troop of false gods The Psalmist declares The Lord is to be fearâ—d above all gods for all the gods of the Nations are Idols but the Lord made the Heavens And as He began the Creation by proceeding from nothing to real existence so in forming the other parts He drew them from infirm and indisposed matter as from a second nothing that all his Creatures might bear the real testimonies of Infinite Power Thus He commanded Light to arise out of Darkness and sensible Creatures from an insensible Element He created Man the accomplishment of all his Works from the lowest and grossest Element the Earth Now although at the first view we might conceive that the visible World is the greatest Miracle that ever God performed yet upon serious reflection we shall discover that the works of Grace are as wonderful as the works of Nature and that the Power of God is as evidently exprest in our Redemption as in the Creation For the fuller understanding of this I will consider some of the principal Effects of the Divine Power in order to our blessed Recovery 1. The Incarnation of the Son of God in accomplishing whereof such Power was exercis'd as no limited Understanding is able to comprehend The Word was made Flesh. This signifies the real Union between the Humane Nature and the Divine in our Redeemer Before his Incarnation he appeared in an humane form to the Patriarchs and
the Lord. And immediately there was a general commotion among them they joyn'd together the sinews and flesh came upon them and the skin cover'd them And upon a second Prophesy they were all inspir'd with the Breath of Life and stood up an exceeding great Army Now whether this was really represented to his outward senses or only by the efficacy of the Spirit to his imagination no doubt so strange a Spectacle vehemently affected him as with Joy in hope of the miraculous Restoration of Israel which that Vision foretold so with admiration of the Divine Power But when the Trumpet of the Arch-Angel shall sound the Universal Jubilee and call forth the Dead from all their Receptacles when the Elements as Faithful Depositaries shall effectively restore what was committed to them How Admirable will the Power of God appear 2. No less than Infinite Power is able to change the raised Bodies into the likenesse of Christs The Apostle speaks with an exaggeration of it For our Conversation is in Heaven from whence also we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our Vile Bodies that it may be fashioned like unto his Glorious Body according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself This resemblance will be only in the Person of Believers All Men shall rise to be judged but not all to be transform'd There is a Resurrection to Death as well as to Life Unhappy Resurrection Which only serves to make the Body the Food of Eternal Death But the Saints who endeavoured to be like to Christ in purity shall then have a perfect conformity to him in Glory and Immortality How Glorious the Body of Christ is we may conjecture in part by what the Apostle relates to Agrippa At mid-day O King I saw in the way a light from Heaven above the brightness of the Sun shining round about me Which was no other but the Light of the Face of Christ that struck him with Blindnesse One Ray of this reflecting upon the first Martyr Saint Stephen in his Sufferings gave an Angelical Glory to his countenance And Saint John tells us when he appears we shall be like him He alludes to the rising of the Sun but with this difference when the Sun appears in the Morning the Stars are made invisible but the Bodies of the Saints shall be cloathed with a Sun-like lustre and shine in the midst of Christs Glory Omnipotency alone that Subdues all things can raise and refine them from their Dross unto such an admirable Brightness The Angels will be surpris'd with wonder to see Millions of Stars spring out of the Dust. The Lord Jesus Christ will be admir'd in all them that Believe 2. Their Bodies shall be raised to a Glorious Immortality In this the General Resurrection is Different from that which was Particular as of Lazarus by the one Death was overcome and put to flight only for some time for his second life was no more exempt from Death than his first But by the other Death shall be swallowed in Victory and lose its force for ever Then shall our true Joshua be magnified in the sight of the whole World and the Glorious number of Saints shall cast their Crowns at his Feet and sing the Triumphant Song Thou hast Redeem'd us to God by thy Blood and rescued us by thy Power from all our Enemies and art worthy of Honour and Glory and Blessing for ever CHAP. XXII The extraordinary working of the Divine Power is a convincing proof of the Verity of the Christian Religion The internal Excellencies of it are clear marks of its Divinity to the purified Mind The external Operations of God's power were requisite to convince men in their corrupt state that the Doctrine the Gospel came from God The miraculous owning of Christ by the whole Divinity from Heaven The Resurrection of Christ the most important Article of of the Gospel and the demonstration of all the rest How valuable the Testimony of the Apostles is concerning it That 't was impossible they should deceive or be deceived The quality of the Witnesses considered There cannot be the least reasonable suspicion of them 'T is utterly incredible that any humane temporal respects mov'd them to feign the Resurrection of Christ. The nature of the Testimony considered It was of a matter of fact and verified to all their Senses The Uniformity of it secures us there was no corruption in the Witnesses and that it was no illusion They seal'd the truth of it with their Blood The Miracles the Apostles did in the Name of Christ a strong demonstration that he was rais'd to a glorious life That Power was continued in the Church for a time The Conclusion how reasonable it is to give an entire Assent to the truth of Christianity 'T is desperate Infidelity not to believe it and the highest Madness to pretend to believe it and to live in disobedience to it 1 FRom what hath been discours'd concerning the extraordinary working of the Divine Power we have a most convincing proof of the Verity of the Christian Religion For since God hath by so many miraculous Effects the infallible indications of His Favour to the Person of Jesus Christ justified his Doctrine no reasonable doubt can remain concerning it Indeed the internal excellencies of it which are visible to the purged Eye of the Soul are clear marks of its Divinity The Mystery of our Redemption is made up of various parts in the Union of which such an evident Wisdom appears that the rational Mind unless enslaved by prejudice must be ravisht into a compliance Even that which most offends Sense the Meanness of our Saviours condition in the world and the miseries to which He was expos'd do so perfectly correspond with his great design to make Men holy and heavenly that it appears to be the effect of most wise Counsel And such a Beauty of Holiness shines in the Moral part as clearly proves God to be its Authour It denounces war against all Vices and commands every Vertue All that is excellent in humane Institutions it delivers with infinite more authority and efficacy And what natural reason did not reach to it fully describes in order to the Glory of God and the Happiness of Man Now as God the Authour of Nature hath by Tasts and Smells and other sensible qualities distinguish'd things wholsom from noxious even to the lowest living Creatures So He hath much more distinguish'd objects that are saving from deadly that is the true Religion from the false by undoubted evidences to any who will exercise their Spiritual Senses and sincerely desire to know and obey it And that all the wise and holy embraced it in the face of the greatest discouragements is an unanswerable Argument that 't is pleasing to God For how is it possible that the Good God should suffer those to fall into mortal Errour who from an ardent Affection to Him
nor of Adam's Subjection to it But when that which in it self was indifferent became unlawful meerly by the Will of God and when the Command had no other excellency but to make his Authority more sacred this was a confining of Man's liberty and to abstain was pure Obedience Besides The restraint was from that which was very grateful and alluring to both the parts of Mans compounded Nature The Sensitive Appetite is strongly excited by the Lust of the Eye and this fruit being beautiful to the sight the forbearance was an excellent exercise of vertue in keeping the lower appetite in obedience Again The desire of Knowledg is extremely quick and earnest and in appearance most worthy of the rational Nature Nullus animo suavior cibus 'T is the most high and luscious food of the Soul Now the Tree of Knowledg was forbidden So that the observance of the Law was the more eminent in keeping the intellectual Appetite in Mediocrity In short God required Obedience as a Sacrifice For the Prohibition being in a matter of natural Pleasure and a curb to Curiosity which is the Lust and Concupiscence of the Mind after things conceal'd by a reverent regard to it Man presented his Soul and Body to God as a living Sacrifice which was his reasonable service CHAP. II. Mans Natural state was mutable The Devil moved by hatred and envy attempts to seduce him The Temptation was suitable to Mans compounded Nature The Woman being deceived perswades her Husband The quality of the first Sin Many were combin'd in it 'T was perfectly voluntary Man had Power to stand The Devil could only allure not compel him His Understanding and Will the causes of his Fall The punishment was of the same date with his Sin He forfeited his Righteousness and Felicity The loss of original Righteousness as it signifies the purity and liberty of the Soul The torment of Conscience that was consequent to Sin A whole Army of Evils enter with it into the World MAN was created perfectly holy but in a natural therefore mutable state He was invested with power to prevent his Falling yet under a possibility of it He was compleat in his own order but receptive of sinful impressions An invincible Perseverance in Holiness belongs to a supernatural state 't is the priviledg of Grace and exceeds the design of the first Creation The rebellious Spirits who by a furious ambition had raised a war in Heaven and were fallen from their obedience and glory designed to corrupt Man and to make him a companion with them in their revolt The most subtile amongst them sets about this work urged by two strong passions Hatred and Envy 1. By Hatred For being under a final and irrevocable Doom he lookt on God as an irreconcileable enemy And not being able to injure his Essence he struck at his Image As the fury of some beasts discharges it self upon the Picture of a Man He singled out Adam as the mark of his malice that by seducing him from his Duty he might defeat God's design which was to be honoured by Mans free obedience and so obscure his Glory as if He had made Man in vain 2. He was sollicited by Envy the first native of Hell For having lost the favour of God and being cast out of Heaven the Region of Joy and Blessedness the sight of Adam's Felicity exasperated his Grief That Man who by the condition of his nature was below him should be Prince of the world whilst he was a Prisoner under those chains which restrain'd him and tormented him the power and wrath of God this made his state more intollerable His torment was incapable of allay but by rendering man as miserable as himself And as hatred excited his envy so envy inflam'd his hatred and both joyn'd in mischief And thus pusht on his Subtilty being equal to his Malice he contrives a Temptation which might be most taking and dangerous to Man in his raised and happy state He attempts him with art by propounding the lure of Knowledg and Pleasure to inveigle the Spiritual and Sensitive Appetites at once And that he might the better succeed he addresses to the Woman the weakest and most liable to seduction He hides himself in the body of a Serpent which before Sin was not terrible unto her And by this instrument insinuates his Temptation He first allures with the hopes of impunity Ye shall not die then he promiseth an universal knowledg of good and evil By these pretences he ruin'd innocence it self For the Woman deceived by those specious Allectives swallowed the poison of the Serpent and having tasted Death she perswaded her Husband by the same motives to despise the Law of their Creator Thus Sin enter'd and brought confusion into the World For the moral Harmony of the World consisting in the just subordination of the several ranks of beings to one another and of all to God When Man who was placed next to God broke the Union his Fall brought a desperate disorder into God's Government And although the matter of the Offence seems small yet the Disobedience was infinitely great it being the transgression of that command which was given to be the instance and real proof of Mans subjection to God Totam legem violavit in illo legalis obedientiae praecepto The Honour and Majesty of the whole Law was violated in the breach of that symbolical Precept 'T was a direct and formal Rebellion a publick and universal renouncing of Obedience Many Sins were combin'd in that single act 1. Infidelity This was the first step to ruine It appears by the order of the Temptation 't was first said by the Devil Ye shall not die to weaken their Faith then ye shall be like gods to flatter their ambition The fear of Death would have contrould the efficacy of all his Arguments till that restraint was broke he could fasten nothing upon them This account the Apostle gives of the Fall The woman being deceiv'd was in the transgression As Obedience is the effect of Faith so Disobedience of Infidelity And as Faith comes by hearing the Word of God so Infidelity by listening to the words of the Devil From the deception of the Mind proceeded the depravation of the Will the intemperance of the Appetite and the defection of the whole Man Thus as the natural so the spiritual Death made its first entrance by the Eye And this Infidelity is extremely aggravated as it implies an accusation of God both of envy and falshood 1. Of Envy As if he had deni'd them the perfections becoming the humane Nature and they might ascend to a higher Orb than that wherein they were placed by eating the forbidden fruit And what greater disparagement could there be of the Divine Goodness than to suspect the Deity of such a low and base Passion which is the special character of the Angels of Darkness And 't was equally injurious to the honour of God's Truth
Law it was not restrain'd to himself but is the Sin of the common nature Adam broke the first link in the chain whereby Mankind was united to God and all the other parts which depended upon it are necessarily separated from him From hence the Scripture saith that by Nature we are Children of wrath that is liable to punishment and that hath relation to guilt And of this we have convincing Experience in the common Evils which afflict Mankind before the commission of any actual Sin The Cries of Infants who are only eloquent to grief but dumb to all things els discover that Miseries attend them The Tears which are born with their Eyes signifie they are come into a state of Sorrow How many Troops of Deadly Diseases are ready to seize on them immediatly after their Entrance into the World So that 't is apparent God deals with Man as an enemy and therefore guilty of some great crime from his Birth The Ignorance of this made the Heathens accuse Nature and blaspheme God under that mask as less kind and indulgent to Man than to the Creatures below him They are not under so hard a Law of coming into the world They are presently instructed to Swim to Fly to Run for their preservation They are cloathed by Nature and their Habits grow in proportion with their Bodies some with Feathers some with Wool others with Scales which are both Habit and Armour But Man who is alone sensible of shame is born naked and though of a more delicate temper is more exposed to injuries by distemper'd Seasons and utterly unable to repel or avoid the evils that encompass him Now the account the Scripture gives of Original Sin silences all these complaints Man is a Ttransgressor from the Womb and how can he expect a favourable Reception into the Empire of an offended God Briefly Sometimes Death enters into the retirements of Nature and changes the Womb into a Grave which proves that assoon as we partake of the human Nature we are guilty of the Sin that is common to it For the wages of Sin is Death Adam in his innocent state had the Priviledges of Immortality but by him Sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men as a just Sentence upon the guilty for that all men have sinned 2. An Hereditary Corruption is transmitted to all that naturally descend from him If Adam had continued in his Obedience the spiritual as well as the natural Life had been conveighed to his Children but for his Rebellion he lost his primitive rectitude and contracted an universal Corruption which he derives to all his Posterity And as in a Disease there is the defect of Health and a distemper of the humours that affects the Body so in the depravation of Nature there is not the meer want of holiness but a strong proclivity to sin This privation of original Righteousness considerd as a Sin is naturally from Adam the principle of lapsed and corrupt Nature But as a punishment 't is meritoriously from him and falls under the ordination of Divine Justice Man â—ast it away and God righteously refuses to restore it 'T is a sollicitous impertinency to enquire nâ—cely about the manner of conveying this universal Corruption For the bare knowledg oâ— it is ineffectual to the cure And what greater folly than to make our own evils the object of simple Speculation I shall consider only that general account of it which is set down in the Scripture 'T is the universal and unchangable Law of Nature that every thing produce its like not only in regard of the same nature that is propagated from one individual to another without a change of the species but in respect of the qualities with which that nature is eminently affected This is visible in the several kinds of Creatures in the world they all preserve the nature of the principle from whence they are derived and retain the vein of their original the quality of their extraction Thus our Saviour tells us that the fruit partakes of the rottenness of the tree and whatever is born of the flesh is flesh The title of Flesh doth not signifie the material part of our humanity but the Corruption of Sin with which the whole nature is infected This is evident by the description the Apostle gives of it That the flesh is not subject to the Law of God and that which aggravates the evil is that it can't be Sinful Corruption is exprest by this title partly in regard it is transmitted by the way of carnal propagation Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in Sin did my mother conceive me And partly in regard 't is exercised by the carnal members This Corruption is a poison so subtile that it pierces into all the powers of the Soul so contagious that it infects all the Actions so obstinate that only Omnipotent Grace can heal it More particularly 1. 'T is an innate Habit not meerly acquir'd by Imitation The root of bitterness is planted in the Humane Nature and produces its fruits in the various seasons of Life No age is free from its working Every imagination of the thoughts of Mans heart are only evil and continually evil We see this verified in Children when the most early acts of their Reason and the first instances of their apprehension are in Sin If we ascend higher and consider Man in his Infant-state the vicious inclinations which appear in the Cradle the violent motions of anger which disturbs Sucklings their endeavour to exercise a weak revenge on those that displease them convince us that the Corruption is natural and proceeds from an infected Original 2. As 't is Natural so Universal Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean That is How can a Righteous person be born of a Sinner The Answer is peremptory Not one The Fountain was poison'd in Adam and all the Streams partake of the infection All that are derived from him in a natural way and have a relation to him as their common father are sharers in this depravation What difference soever there is in their Climates Colours and external conditions of life yet the blood from whence they spring taints them all 3. Corrupt Nature is pregnant with the seeds of all Sin although they do not shoot forth together And for this several accounts may be given 1. Although all Sins agree in their cause and end yet some are contrary in their exercise 2. The humane spirit is not capable of many Passions in their height at the same time and 't is the art of our spiritual Enemies to suit their Temptations to the capacity of Man 3. As the same Poison produces different effects in different Bodies according to those various Humours which are predominant in them so the same Corruption of Nature works variously according to the different tempers of Men. For although the conception of Sin depends immediatly upon
teeth of a Worm can destroy it The pleasures of Sin under which Secular Greatness and Wealth are comprehended are but for a season They are so short liv'd that they expire in the birth and die whilst they are tasted Again they bring only a slight pleasure being disproportionable to the desires of the Soul They are confin'd to the Senses wherein the Beasts are more accurate than Man but can't reach to the upper and more comprehensive Faculties Nay they cannot satisfie the greedy Senses much less quiet the spiritual and immortal Appetite What the Poet speaks with astonishment of Alexander's insatiable Ambition Aestuat infelix angusto limite mundi That the whole World seem'd to him as a narrow Prison wherein he was miserable and as it were suffocated is true of every one If the World was seated in the Heart of Man it can no more satisfie it than the Picture of a Feast can fill the Stomach Besides vexation is added to the vanity of worldly things And that either because the vehement delights of Sense corrupt the temperament of the Body in which the vital complexion consists and expose it to those sharp Diseases that it may be said without an Hyperbole That a thousand Pleasures are not equal to one Hours pain that attends them or because of the inward torture of the Mind arising from the sence of Guilt and Folly which is the anticipation of Hell it self the beginning of eternal Sorrows Now these things are not obscure Articles of Faith nor abstracted Doctrines to be consider'd only by refined Reason but are manifest and clear as the Light and verified by continual Experience 'T is therefore strange to amazement that Man should search after Happiness in these things where he knows 't is not to be found and court real Infelicity under a deceitful appearance when the Fallacy is transparent Who from a principle of Reason would choose for his Happiness a real Good which after a little time he should be depriv'd of for ever or a slight good for ever as the sight of a Picture or the hearing of Musick Yet thus unreasonable is Man in his lapsed state whose Soul is truely immortal and capable of infinite Blessedness yet he chooses those delights which are neither satisfying nor lasting And because the Humane Understanding from time to time is convinc'd of the vanity of all sublunary things therefore to lessen the vexation which arises from Disappointment and that the Appetite may not be taken off from them corrupted Man tries 1. By variety of objects to preserve uniformity in Delight The most pleasing if confin'd to them grow nauseous and insipid after the expiring of a few moments there remains nothing but satiety and sickly resentments and then changes are the remedies to take off the weariness of one pleasure by another The Humane Soul is under a perpetual instability of restless desires it despises what it enjoyes and values what is new as if Novelty and Goodness were the same in all temporal things And as the Birds remain in the Air by constant motion without which they would quickly fall to the Earth as other heavy bodies there being nothing solid to support them so the Spirit of Man by many unquiet agitations and continual changes subsists for a time till at last it falls into Discontent and Despair the center of corrupt Nature 2. When present things are unsatisfactory he entertains himself with Hope for that being terminated on a future Object which is of a doubtful nature the Mind attends to those Arguments which produce a pleasant belief to find that in several objects which it cannot in any single one and to make up in number what is wanting in measure whereas the present is manifest and takes away all liberty of thinking Upon this ground Sensual Pleasure is more in expectation than fruition For Hope by a marvellous enchantment not only makes that which is future present but representing in one view that which cannot be enjoyed but in the intervals of time it unites all the successive parts in one point so that what is divided and lessen'd in the fruition which is alwaies gradual is offer'd at once and entire Thus Man carnal deceived by the imperfect light of Fancy and the false glass of Hope chooses a fictitious felicity Man walks in a vain shew His original Errour hath produced this in its own image And although the complacency he takes in sensual objects is like the joy of a distracted Person the issue of folly and illusion and Experience discovers the deceit that is in them as smelling to an artificial Rose undeceives the Eye yet he will embrace his Error Man is in a voluntary Dream which represents to him the World as his Happiness and when he is awakened he dreams again choosing to be deceiv'd with delight rather than to discover the truth without it This is set forth by the Prophet Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way yet saidst thou not there is no hope that is Thou art tired in the chase of satisfaction from one thing to another yet thou wouldst not give over but still pursuest those shadows which can never be brought nearer to thee And the true reason of it is that in the humane Nature there is an intense and continual desire of Pleasure without which Life itself hath no satisfaction For Life consisting in the operations of the Soul either the external of the Senses or the internal of the Mind 't is sweetned by those delights which are suitable to them So that if all pleasant operations cease without possibility of returning Death is more desireable than Life And in the corrupt state there is so strict an alliance between the Flesh and Spirit that there is but one appetite between them and that is of the flesh All the Designs and Endeavors of the carnal Man are by fit means to obtain satisfaction to his Senses as if the Contentment of the Flesh and the Happiness of the Soul were the same thing or as if the Soul were to die with the Body and with both all Hopes and Fears all Joys and Sorrows were at an end The Flesh is now grown absolute and hath acquir'd a perfect Empire and taken a full possession of all the Faculties For this reason the Apostle tells us They that are in the Flesh cannot please God And the carnal will is enmity against God 't is not subject neither can it be 'T is insnar'd in the cords of Concupiscence and cannot recover it self from its foolish bondage But that doth not lessen the guilt which will appear by considering there is a twofold Impotence 1. There is a natural Impotence which protects from the severity of Justice No Man is bound to stop the Sun in its course or to remove Mountains For the humane Nature was never endued with Faculties to do those things They are inculpably without our power Now the Law enjoins nothing but what Man
victorious over all Temptations for they are join'd to the heavenly Adam in a strict and inviolable union And those Graces are acted by them for the exercise of which there was no objects and occasions in innocence As Compassion to the miserable Forgiveness of injuries Forâ—itude and Patience all which as they are a most lively resemblance of the Divine Perfections so an excellent ornament to the Soul and infinitely endear it to God And the Happiness of our renewed state exceeds our primitive Felicity Whether we consider the nature of it 't is wholly spiritual or the place of it Heaven the Sanctuary of Life and Immortality or the constitution of the Body which shall be cloathed with celestial qualities But this will be particularly discussed in its proper place These are the effects of infinite Wisdome to the production of which Sin affords no casuality but hath meerly an accidental respect As the Apostle interprets the words of David Against thee only have I sinned that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings and overcome when thou judgest Which doth not respect the intention of David but the event only The greater his injustice was in the commission the more clear would God's Justice be in the condemnation of his Sin 2. The Wisdom of God appeared in ordaining such a Mediator who was qualified to reconcile God to Man and Man to God The first and most admirable Article in the mystery of Godliness and the foundation of all the rest is that God is manifest in the flesh The middle must equally touch the extremes A Mediator must be capable of the sentiments and affections of both the parties he will reconcile He must be a just esteemer of the Rights and Injuries of the one and the other and have a common interest in both The Son of God assuming the Humane Nature perfectly possesses these qualities he hath zeal for God and compassion for Man He hath taken pledges of Heaven and Earth the supreme Nature in Heaven and the most excellent on the Earth to make the hostility cease between them He is Immanuel by nature and office And if no less than an inspired Wisdom could devise how to frame the earthly Tabernacle wherein God dwelt in a shadowy and typical manner what Wisdom was requisite to frame the Humane Nature of Christ wherein the Deity was really to dwell Now to discover more clearly the Divine Wisdome in uniting the two Natures in Christ to qualifie him for his Office 't is requisite to consider that the office of Mediator hath three charges annext to it the Priestly which respects God the Prophetical and Kingly which regards Men. These have a respect to the â—â—ils which oppress faln Man And they are Guilt Ignorance Sin and Death Man was capitally guilty of the breach of Gods Law and under the tyranny of his Lusts and in the issue liable to Death The Redeemer is made to him Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption These Benefits are dispens'd by Him in his threefold Office As a Priest he exipates Sin as a Prophet he instructs the Church as a King he regulates the lives of his Subjects delivers them from their Enemies and makes them happy Now the Divine and Humane Nature are requisite for the performance of all these For nothing is effectual to an end but what is proportionable and commensurate thereunto and to proportion excesses as well as defects are opposite This will appear by taking a distinct view of the several Offices of our Mediator 1. The Priestly Office hath two parts 1. To make expiation for Sin 2. Intercession for Sinners Now for the making expiation of Sin there was a necessary concurrence of the two Natures in our Redeemer He must be Man for the Deity was not capable of those Submissions and Sufferings which were requisite to expiate Sin And he must be Man that the sinning nature might suffer and thereby acquire a title to the Satisfaction that is made The mâ—ritorious imputation of Christs Sufferings to Man is grounded on the union between them which is as well natural in his partaking of Flesh and Blood as moral in the consent of their Wills As the Apostle observes That he who sanctifies and they that are sanctified are all one So he that suffers and they for whom he suffers must have communion in the same nature For this reason God having resolved never to dispense Mercy to the fallen Angels the Redeemer did not assume the Angelical nature but the seed of Abraham And as the Humane Nature was necessary to qualifie him for Sufferings and to make them suitable so the Divine was to make them sufficient The lower nature consider'd in it self could make no satisfaction The Dignity of the Divine Person makes a temporal punishment to be of an infinite value in God's account The humane Nature was the Sacrifice the divine the Priest to render it acceptable He had sunk under the weight of wrath if the Deity had not been personally present to support him Briefly To perform the first part of his Office he must suffer yet be impassible Die yet be immortal and undergo the wrath of God to deliver Man from it 2. To make Intercessâ—on for us it was requisite that He should partake of both Natures that he might have credit with God and compassion to Man The Son hath a prevailing interest in the Father as he testifies I know thou heardst me alwaies A Priviledge which neither Abraham Moses nor any other who were the most favoured Saints enjoyed And as Man he was fit for Passion and Compassion The Humane nature is the proper subject of feâ—ling pity especially when it hath felt misery God is capable of Love not in strictness of Compassion For Sympathy proceeds from an experimental sence of what one hath suffer'd and the sight of the like affliction in others revives the affections which weâ—e felt in that state and enclines to pity The Apostle offers this to Believers as the ground of comfort that He who took our nature and felt our griefs intercedes for us For we have not an High-Priest that cannot be toucht with the feeling of our Infirmities but was in all things tempted as we are yet without Sin that with an humble confidence we may come to the Throne of Grace He hath drunk deepest of the cup of Sorrows that he may be an Allâ—sufficient Comforter to those that mourn He hath such tender Bowels we may trust him to sollicite our Salvation In short 'T is the great support of our Faith that we have access to the Father by the Son and present all our requests by a Mediator so worthy and so dear to Him and by One who left the Joys of Heaven that by enduring Affliction on Earth his heart might be made tuneable to the hearts of the afflicted Secondly For the discharge of the Prophâ—tical Office 't was necessary the Mediator should be God and
the Eternal Son who was in the form of God who was equal to Him in Majesty and Authority without Sacriledg or Usurpation he emptied himself by assuming the Humane Nature in its servile state The Word was made Flesh the meanest part is specified to signifie the greatness of his abasement There is such an infinite distance between God and flesh that the condescension is as admirable as the contrivance So great was the malignity of our Pride for the cure of which such a profound Humility was requisite By this he destroyed the first work of the Devil 6. The Wisdom of God appears in ordaining such contemptible and in appearance opposite means to accomplish such glorious effects The Way is as wonderful as the Work That Christ by dying on the Cross a reputed Malefactor should be made our eternal Righteousness that descending to the grave He should bring up the lost World to Life and Immortality is so incredible to our narrow Understandings that He saves us and astonishes us at once And in nothing 'tis more visible That the Thoughts of God are as far above our thoughts and his ways above our ways as Heaven is above the Earth 'T is a secret in Physick to compound the most noble Remedies of things destructive to Nature and thereby make one Death victorious over another But that Eternal Life should spring from Death Glory from Ignominy Blessedness from a Curse is so repugnant to Humane Sense that to render the belief of it easie 't was foretold by many Prophesies that when it came to pass it might be lookt on as the effect of God's eternal Counsel The Apostle tels us that Christ crucified was to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Gentiles foolishness The grand Sophies of the world esteemed it absurd and unreasonable to believe that He who was exposed to Sufferings could save others but those who are Called discover that the Doctrine of Salvation by the Cross of Christ which the world counted folly is the great Wisdome of God and most convenient for his end A double reason is given of this method 1. Because the Heathen world did not find and own God in the way of Nature For after That in the Wisdome of God the World by Wisdome knew not God it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe The frame of the World is called the Wisdom of God the name of the Cause is given to the Effect in regard the Divine Wisdom is so clearly discovered there as if it had taken a visible form and had presented it self to the view of Men. But those who professed themselves wise did not acknowledg the Creator For some conceited the World to be eternal others that it was the product of chance and became guilty of the most absolute contradiction to Reason For who can believe that one who is blind from his birth and by consequence perfectly ignorant of all Colours and of the Art of Painting should take a bundle of Pencils into his Hand and dipping them in Colours mixt and corrupted paint a great Battel with that perfection in the design propriety in the colours distinction in the habits and countenances as if it were not represented but present to the Spectators Who ever saw a Temple or Pallace or any regular Building spring from the stony bowels of a Mountain Yet some famous Philosophers became thus vain in their imaginations fancying that the World proceeded from the casual concourse of Atomes And the rest of them neglected to know God so far as they might and to honour him so far as they knew They debased the Deity by unworthy conceptions of his Nature and by performing such acts of Worship as were not fit for a rational Spirit to offer nor for the pure Majesty of Heaven to receive Besides they ascribed his Name Attributes and Honour to Creatures not only the Lights of Heaven and the secret Powers which they supposed did govern them not only Kings and Great Men who were by their Authority raised above others but the most despicable things in nature Beasts and Birds were the objects of their Adoration They changed the Glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to a corruptible man and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things A Sin so foul that it betrayed them to brutish Blindness and to the most infamous Lusts natural and unnatural Now since the most clear and open discovery of Gods Wisdom was ineffectual to reclaim the World He was pleased to change his method They neglected Him appearing in his Majesty and he now comes cloathed with Infirmities And since by natural light they would not see God the Creator He is imperceptible to the light of Nature as Redeemer The discovery of Him depends on revelation The Wisdom of God in making the World is evident to every Eye but in the Gospel 't is Wisdome in a Mystery The Deity was conspicuous in the Creation but conceal'd under a vail of Flesh when he wrought our Redemption He was more easily discoverd when invisible than when visible He created the World by Power but restor'd it by Sufferings 2. That the Honour of all might solely redound to him God hath chosen the foolish things of the World to confound the wise and the weak things of the World to confound the things that are mighty and base things of the World and things which are despised God hath chosen yea and things that are not to bring to nought things that are that no flesh should glory in his presence Thus Moses the Redeemer of Israel was an Infant exposed to the mercy of the Waters drawn forth from an Ark of Bul-rushes and not employed whilst he lived in the splendour of the Court but when Banisht as a Criminal and depriv'd of all power And our Redeemer took not on him the Nature of Angels equal to Satan in power but took part of flesh and blood the more signally to triumph over that proud Spirit in the Humane Nature which was inferiour to his and had been vanquisht by him in Paradise Therefore he did not immediately exercise Omnipotent power to destroy him but manag'd our weakness and infirmity to foil the roaring Lyon He did not enter into the Combat in the glory of his Deity but disguis'd under the Humane Nature which was subject to Mortality And thus the Devil is overcome in the same manner as he first got the Victory for as the whole race of Man was Captivated by him in Adam their Representative so Believers are victorious over him as the Tempter and Tormentor by the Conquest that Christ their Representative obtain'd in the Wilderness and on the Cross. And as our ruine was effected by the subtilty of Satan so our recovery is wrought by the wisdom of God who takes the wise in their own craftiness The Devil excited Judas by avarice the Jews by malice and
Poison which required such a dreadful Cure And the benefit we receive in so costly a way is justly magnified by us Now what is more apt to inflame our love to God than the admirable expression of his Love to us in that with the most precious Blood he ransom'd us from Hell How doth it endear Obedience that God hath sacrificed his Son to keep us from acts of hostility So that the Grace of the Gospel is so far from indulging Sin that it gives the most deadly wound to it Especially when the tenour of the new Covenant is That the Condemned Creature in order to receiving Pardon and the Benefits that are purchased must receive the Benefactor with the most intire consent for his Prince and Saviour The Law of Faith requires us to submit to his Scepter as well as to depend upon his Sacrifice The Gospel is a conditional Act of Oblivion that none may venture to sin upon confidence of Pardon And since the occasion of the Fall was from a conceit that Man could better his estate by complying with the Tempter and obtain a more desirable Happiness in the Creature than in the Favour of God his Recovery is by revealing to him wherein true Blessedness consists and giving him an assurance that he may obtain it For Man will never subject himself to God as his Highest Lord till he looks on him as his last End and Soveraign Good Now the Gospel offers to us the most effectual means to convince Man of the folly of his choice in making the Creature his Happiness For the Son of God who was Heir of all things when He came into the world was in the perpetual exercise of Self-denial He lived a despised Life and died an ignominious Death to discover to us That as the miseries of this Life can't make us miserable so the good things of it can't make us happy Besides how is it possible that the wretched enjoyment of this World should be the Blessedness for which He spent his Sweat his Tears his Blood The rich price he laid down doth most powerfully convince us That our Felicity is infinitely more valuable than all earthly things and can be no less than the fruition of God himself Thus the Divine Wisdom hath so ordered the way of our Salvation that as Mercy and Justice in God so Holiness and Comfort may be perfectly united in the reasonable Creature CHAP. VI. Practical Inferences A superlative degree of Praise and Thankfulness due to God for the revelation of the Gospel 'T is not discovered by the Creation 'T is above the reach of Natural Reason The Heathen World is intirely ignorant of it 'T is pure Grace that distinguishes one Nation from another in sending the Gospel Evangelical Knowledg deserves our most serious study The Gospel exceeds all contemplative and practick Sciences Contemplative in the greatness of its object and the certainty of its principle Practick in the excellency of its End and the efficacy of the Means 1. WHat a Superlative degree of Praise and Thankfulness is due to God for revealing his eternal and compassionate Counsel in order to our Salvation The Fall of Man was so wounding and deadly that only an Infinite Understanding could find out the means for his Recovery And if that Mercy which mov'd the Lord to ordain the Remedy had not discover'd it a thick cloud of Despair had cover'd Mankind being for ever unable to conceive the way of our Redemption 'T is a Mystery which eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor â—ath entred into the heart of man to conceive All Humane Knowledg is acquir'd by two sorts of Faculties the external and internal Of the first Sight and Hearing are the most spiritual and convey the knowledge of the most worthy objects They are the Senses of Discipline the other three or immerst in matter and are incapable to make such clear discoveries Besides those impressions that are made on the senses we may form some Ideas in the imagination upon which the mind reflecting may argue and discourse Thus far the light and vigour of the understanding can only go So that the Apostle declares that the whole plot of the Gospel was without the compass of our most searching faculties this will be evident by considering 1. There was no discovery of it in the Creation the Voice of the Heavens instruct us concerning the being of God but not in the secrets of his Will The oeconomy of Mans Redemption is the merciful design of God which hath no connection with the existence of the creatures but depends only upon his good pleasure 'T is as impossible to read the Divine Decrees in the Volume of the World as for the eye to discover a sound which hath neither Figure Colour nor visible motion Besides the Glorious Nature of God in three Persons which is the foundation of this Mysterious Mercy is not made known by the visible frame of the Universe 'T is true in all External Works the three Persons are equally concerned being of one Essence they are of one Efficacy and the Essential perfections of the Deity as they concur so they are evident in the production of all things The first motive is Goodness that which orders and directs is Wisdom that which executes is Power And the several ranks of Creatures according to their state reflect an honour on their Author Things endued with life declare him to be the fountain of Life and intellectual creatures represent him to be the Father of Lights But the personal being as Personal operating nothing out of the Divine Nature there is no resemblance in the World that expresses the Distinction Propriety and Singularity of the Persons so as to discover them to the humane understanding Those deeper Mysteries of the Deity are only made known by the Word of God 2. 'T is above the strain and reach of natural Reason to attain to the knowledge of it There are seminal sparks of the Law in the heart of Man some common principles of Piety Justice and Charity without which the World would soon disband and fall into confusion but there is not the least presumption or conjecture of the contrivance of the Gospel Though misery sharpens the mind and makes it more ingenious to find out wayes of Deliverance yet here Reason was utterly at a loss How could it ever enter into the thoughts of the Israelites that by erecting a Brazen Serpent on a Pole and looking towards it the wounds made by the Fiery Serpents should be healed And how could guilty Man find out a way to satisfie Infinite Justice by the Sufferings of a Mediator and to heal the wounded spirit by believing on him The most inquiring Reason could never have thought of the Wonders of the Incarnation that a Virgin should conceive and a God be born nor of the Death of the Prince of Life and the Resurrection and Ascension of the Lord of Glory We may see how impossible it is for
that are made he hath upon the compleating our Redemtion by the rising of Christ from the Dead made the First-Day Sacred for his Service and Praise there being the clearest illustration of his Perfections in that Blessed Work God is more pleased in the contemplation of the new World than of the old The latter by its extraordinary Magnificence hath lessen'd the dignity of the former as the greater Light obscures the less Therefore the Sabbath is changed into the Lords-Day And what a just reproach is it to Man that he should be inobservant and unaffected with this glorious Mercy wherein he may alwaies find new cause of Admiration O Lord how great are thy Works and thy Thoughts how deep a brutish man knoweth not neither doth a fool understand this The admiring of any other thing in comparison of this Mystery is the effect of Inconsideration or Infidelity 2. It produces the most sincere and lasting pleasure As the taste is to meat to allure us to feed for the support of our bodies that is delight to Knowledge to excite the mind to seek after it But it s vast capacity can never be satisfied with the knowledge of inferior things The pleasure is more in the acquisition than in the possession of it For the mind is diverted in the search but having attained to that knowledge which cannot fill the rational appetite 't is disgusted with the fruits of its travel and seeks some other object to relieve its langour From hence it is that variety is the spring of delight and pleasure is the product of novelty We find the pleasure of the first taste in learning something new is alwayes most sensible The most elegant compositions and excellent discourses which ravisht at the first reading yet repeated often are nauseous and irksome The exercise of the mind on an object fully known is unprofitable and therefore tedious whereas by turning the thoughts on something else it may acquire new knowledge But the Apostle tells us that the Mystery of our Redemption contains all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge to intimate their excellence and abundance the unsearchable riches of Grace are laid up in it There is infinite variety and perpetual matter for the inquiry of the most excellent understanding no created reason is able to reach its height or sound its depths by the continual study and increase in the knowledge of it the mind enjoys a persevering pleasure that far exceeds the short vehemence of sensual delights 2. It excels other Sciences in the certainty of its Principle which is divine Revelation Humane Sciences are built upon uncertain maximes which being admitted with precipitation and not confirm'd by sufficient Experiments the Mind can never fully acquiesce in them Those Doctrines which were esteemed in one Age the vanity of them is discovered in another Modern Philosophy discards the Antient. But the Doctrine of Salvation is the Word of Truth its original is from Heaven it bears the characters and marks of its Divine descent 'T is confirmed by the Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power 'T is alwaies the same unchangeable as God the Author and Christ the Object of it who is the same yesterday to day and for ever And the knowledg which the sincere and enlightned Mind hath of it is not uncertain opinion but a clear solid and firm apprehension 'T is a Contemplation of the Glory of God with open face This appears by the effects it produces in those that have received the true tincture of it in their Souls they despise all things which carnal Men admire in comparison of this inestimable Treasure 2. The Doctrine of the Gospel exceeds all practic Sciences in the excellency of its end and the efficacy of the means to obtain it The end of it is The Supreme Happiness of Man the restoring of him to the Innocence and Excellency of his first state And the means are appointed by infinite Wisdom so that the most insuperable obstacles are removed and these are the Justice of God that condemns the guilty and that strong and obstinate aversion which is in corrupted man from true Felicity Here is a Mediator reveal'd who is able to save to the uttermost who hath quencht the Wrath of God by the Blood of his Divine Sacrifice who hath expiated Sin by the value of his Death and purifies the Soul by the vertue of his Life that it may consent to its own Salvation No less than a Divine Power could perform this work From hence the superlative excellency of Evangelical Knowledg doth arise all other Knowledg is unprofitable without it and that alone can make us perfectly blessed This is Life eternal to know thee and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent I will briefly consider how ineffectual all other Knowledge is whether Natural Political or Moral to recover us from our Misery The most exact insight into Natural things leaves the Mind blind and poor ignorant of Happiness and the way to it Solomon who had an extraordinary measure of Natural Knowledg and was able to set a just price upon it tels us that the increase of knowledg was attended with proportionable degrees of sorrow For the more a man knows the more he discerns the insufficiency of that knowledg to supply his defects and satisfie his desires He was therefore weary of his Wisdom as well as of his Folly The Devils know more than the profoundest Philosophers yet their Knowledge doth not alleviate their Torments 'T is so far from directing how to escape misery that it will more expose to it by enlarging the Faculties and making them more capable of Torment 'T is the observation of St. Ambrose that when God discovered the Creation of the World to Moses He did not inform him of the greatness of the Heavens the number of the Stars their Aspects and Influences whether they derive their light from the Sun or have it inherent in their own bodies from whence Eclipses are caused how the Rainbow is painted how the Winds fly in the Air or the causes of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea but so much as might be a foundation of Faith and Obedience and left the rest Quasi marcescentis sapientiae vanitates as the vanities of perishing wisdom The most knowing Philosopher though encompast with these sparks yet if ignorant of the Redeemer shall lie down in sorrow for ever And as natural so political Knowledge in order to the governing of Kingdoms and States hath no power to confer happiness upon man It concerns not his main interest 't is terminated within the compass of this short life and provides not for Death and Eternity The Wisdom of the World is folly in a disguise a specious Ignorance which although it may secure the temporal state yet it leaves us naked and exposed to Spiritual enemies which war against the Soul And all the moral knowledg which is treasur'd up in the Books of the Heathens
is insufficient to restore man to his original integrity and felicity Reason sees that Man is ignorant and guilty mortal and miserable that he is transported with vain passions and tormented with accusations of Conscience but it could not redress these evils Corrupt Nature is like an imperfect Building that lies in rubbish the imperfection is visible but not the way how to finish it for through ignorance of the first design every one follows his own fancy whereas when the Architect comes to finish his own project it appears regular and beautiful Thus the various directions of Philosophers to recover fallen Man out of his ruines and to raise him to his first state were vain Some glimmerings they had that the happiness of the reasonable nature consisted in its union with God but in order to this they propounded such means as were not only ineffectual but opposit Such is the pride and folly of carnal wisdom that to bring God and Man together it advances Man and depresses God The Stoicks ascribed to their Wiseman those prerogatives whereby he equall'd their Supreme God They made him the architect of his own vertue and felicity and to vie with Jupiter himself to be one of his Peers Others reduced the Gods to live like Men and Men like Beasts by placing happiness in sensual pleasures Thus instead of curing they fomented the hereditary and principal Diseases of mankind Pride and Concupiscence which at first caus'd the separation of man from God and infinitely increas'd the distance between them For what sins are more contrary to the Majesty and Purity of God than Pride which robs him of his Excellency and carnal lust which turns a man into a beast Besides all their inventions to expiate sin to appease the Deity and make him favorable to calme the Conscience were frivolous and unprofitable And their most generous principles and accurate Precepts were short of that purity and perfection werewith moral duties are to be perform'd to God and men Briefly they wasted their Candle in vain in searching for the way to true happiness But God who created Man for the enjoyment of himself hath happily accomplisht his eternal Decree by the work of our Redemption wherein his own Glory is most visible And the Gospel which reveals this to us humbles whom it justifies and comforts those that were condemned it abases more then the Law but without dispair and advances more then Nature could but without presumption The Mediator takes away the guilt of our old sins and our inclination to new sins we are not only pardoned but preferred made Heirs of God joynt-Heirs with Christ. For these reasons the Apostle sets so high a value upon the Heavenly Doctrine that reveals a Saviour to the undone World He desired to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him Crucified He despised all Pharisaical and Philosophical Learning in comparison of the Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ Jesus Other knowledge swells the mind and increases the esteem of our selves this gives us a sincere view of our state It discovers our misery in its causes and the Almighty Mercy that saves us Other knowledge inlightens the understanding without changing the heart but this inspires us with the love of God with the hatred of sin and makes us truly better In seeking after other knowledge the mind is perplext by endless inquiries here 't is at rest as the wavering Needle is fixt when turn'd to it s beloved Star Ignorance of other things may be without any real damage to us for we may be directed by the skilful how to preserve Life and Estate But this Knowledge is absolutely necessary to Justifie Sanctifie and Save us All other knowledge is useless at the hour of death then the richest stock of Learning is lost the vessel being split wherein the treasure was laid but this Pearl of inestimable price as 't is the ornament of our prosperity so 't is the support of our adversity A little ray of this is infinitely more desirable then the light of all humane Sciences in their lustre and perfection And what an amazing folly is it that men who are possest with an earnest passion of knowing should waste their time and strength in searching after these things the knowledge of which can't remove those evils which oppress them and be careless of the saving knowledge of the Gospel Were there no other reason to diminish the esteem of earthly knowledge but the difficulty of its acquisition that error often surprises those who are searching after truth this might check our intemperate pursuit of it Sin hath not only shortned our understandings but our lives that we cannot arrive to the perfect discovery of inferior things But suppose that one by his vast mind should comprehend all created things from the Centre of the Earth to the Circumference of the Heavens and were not savingly inlighten'd in the Mystery of our Redemption with all his knowledge he would be a prey to Satan and increase the triumphs of Hell The Historian upbraids the Roman luxury that with so much cost and hazzard they should send to foreign parts for Trees that were beautiful but barren and produc'd a shadow only without fruit With greater reason we may wonder that men should with the expence of their precious hours purchase barren curiosities which are unprofitable to their last end How can a condemned Criminal who is in suspence between Life and Death attend to study the secrets of Nature and Art when all his thoughts are taken up how to prevent the execution of the Sentence and 't is no less than a prodigy of madness that men who have but a short and uncertain space allowed them to escape the wrath to come should rack their brains in studying things impertinent to salvation and neglect the Knowledg of a Redeemer Especially when there is so clear a Revelation of him The righteousness of Faith doth not command us to ascend to the Heavens or descend into the deep to make a discovery of it but the Word is nigh us that discovers the certain way to a happy immortallity Seneca a Philosopher and a Courtier valued his being in the world only upon this account that he might contemplate the Starry Heaven He only saw the visible beauty of the Firmament but was ignorant of the Glory within it and of the way that leads to it yet to our shame he speaks that the sight of it made him despise the Earth and without the contemplation of the Celestial bodies he esteem'd his continuance in the World not the life of a Man but the toil of a Beast But what transports had he been in if he had been acquainted with the contrivance of our Redemption the admirable order of its parts and the beauty that results from the composition of the whole But we that with open face may in the Glass of the Gospel behold the Glory of the Lord turn away
ye his Servants and there was aâ— it were the voice of mighty thundrings saying Hallelujah for the Lord God Omnipotent reigns They are now the most eminent examples of revenging wrath Their present misery is insupportable and they expect worse When our Saviour cast some of them out of the possest persons they cried out Art thou come to torment us before our time Miserimum est timere cum sâ—eres nihil 't is the height of misery to have nothing to Hope and something to Fear Their guilt is attended with despair they are in everlasting Chains He that carries the Keys of Hell and Death will never open their Prisoâ— If the sentence did admit a Revocation after a million of years their torment would be nothing in comparison of what it is for the longest measure of time bears no proportion to Eternity and hope would allay the sense of the present sufferings with the prospect of future ease But their Judgment is irreversible they are under the blackness of darkness for ever There is not the least glimps of hope to allay their sorrows no Star-light to sweeten the horrours of their Eternal night They are serâ—i poenae that can never be redeemed It were a kind of pardon to them to be capable of Death but God will never be so far reconciled as to annihilate them His Anger shall be accomplished and his Fury rest upon them Immortality the priviledge of their nature infinitly increases their torment for when the Understanding by a strong and active apprehension hath a terrible and unbounded prospect of the continuance of their Sufferings that what is intolerable must be Eternal this inexpressibly exasperates their Misery There wants a word beyond Death to set it forth This is the condition of the sinning Angels and God might have dealt in as strict Justice with rebellious Man 'T is true there are many Reasons may be assigned why the Wisdom of God made no provision for their Recovery 1. It was most decent that the first Breach of the Divine Law should be punisht to secure Obedience for the future Prudent Lawgivers are severe against the first Transgressors the Leaders in Disobedience He that first presumed to break the Sabbath was by Godâ—s command put to Death And Solomon the King of Peace punisht the first attempt upon his Royalty with Death though in the person of his Brother 2. The Malignity of their Sin was in the highest degree For such was the clearness of the Angelical Understanding that there was nothing of Ignorance and Deceit to lessen the voluntariness of their Sin 't was no mistake but Malice They fell in the light of Heaven and rendered themselves incapable of Mercy As under the Law those who sinned with a high hand that is not out of Ignorance or Imbecillity to please their Passions but knowingly and proudly despised the Command their Presupmtion was inexpiable no Sacrifice was appointed for it And the Gospel though the Declaration of Mercy yet excepts those who sin the great Transgression against the Holy Ghost Now of such a nature was the Sin of the Rebellious Angels it being a contemptuous violation of Gods Majesty and therefore unpardonable Besides they are wholly spiritual Beings without any allay of flesh and so fell to the utmost in evil there being nothing to suspend the intireness of their Will whereas the Humane Spirit is more slow by its union with the Body And that which extremely aggravates their sin is that it was committed in the state of perfect Happiness They despised the full fruition of God 't was therefore congruous to the Divine Wisdom that their final Sentence should depend upon their first Election whereas Mans Rebellion though inconceivably great was against a lower Light and less Grace dispensed to him 3. They finn'd without a Tempter and were not in the same capacity with Man to be restor'd by a Saviour The Devil is an original Proprietor in Sin 't is of his own Man was beguiled by the Serpents subtilty as he fell by anothers Malice so he is recovered by anothers Merit 4. The Angelical Nature was not entirely lost Myriads of blessed Spirits still continue in the place of their Innocency and Glory and for ever ascribe to the Great Creator that incommunicable Honour which is due to Him and perfectly do his Commandments But all Mankind was lost in Adam and no Religion was left in the lower world Now although in these and other respects it was most consistent with the Wisdom and Justice of God to conclude them under an irrevocable Doom yet the principal cause that enclin'd him to save Man was meer and perfect Grace The Law madâ— no distinction but awarded the same Punishment Mercy alone made the difference and the reason of that is in Himself Millions of them fell Sacrifices to Justice and guilty Man was spared 'T is not for the excellency of our Natures for Man in his Creation was lower than the Angels nor upon the account of Service for they having more eminent Endowments of Wisdom and Power might have brought greater honour to God nor for our Innocence for though not equally yet we had highly offended Him But it must be resolved into that Love which passeth Knowledg 'T was the unaccountable Pleasure of God that preferr'd babes before the wise and prudent and herein Grace is most glorious He in no wise took the nature of Angels though immortal Spirits He did not put forth his hand to help them and break the force of their Fall He did nothing for their relief they are under unallayed wrath but He took the Seâ—d of Abraham and plants a new Colony of those who sprung from the Earth in the Heavenly Country to fill up the vacant places of those Apostate Spirits This is just matter of our highest admiration why the milder Attribute is exercised towards Man and the severer on them Why the vessels of clay are chosen and the vessels of Gold neglected How can we reflect upon it without the warmest Affections to our Redeemer We shall never fully understand the Riches of distinguishing Grace till our Saviour shall be their Judg and receive us into the Kingdom of Joy and Glory and condemn them to an Eternal Separation from his Presence CHAP. IX The Greatness of Redeeming Love discovered by considering the Evils from which we are freed The Servitude of Sin the Tyranny of Satan the Bondage of the Law the Empire of Death The measure of Love is proportionable to the degrees of our Misery No possible Remedy for us in Nature Our Deliverance is compleat The Divine Love is magnified in the Means by which our Redeemer is accomplishâ—d They are the Incarnation and Sufferings of the Son of God Love is manifested in the Incarnation upon the account of the essential Condition of the Nature assumed and its Servile state Christ took our Nature after it had lost its Innocency The most evident Proof
his Health but the Sinner is sick of a deadly Disease an incurable wound He that is sick and wounded may send for the Physician in order to his Recovery But the Sinner is in a deep sleep He that is asleep may awake But the Sinner is in a state of Death which implies not only a Cessation from all vital Actions but an absolute disability to perform them The Understanding is disabled for any Spiritual Perception the Will for any Holy Inclinations the whole Man is disabled for the sense of his wretched state This is the spiritual Death which justly exposes the Sinner to Death temporal and eternal 4. Every Man as descending from Adam is born a Sacrifice to Death His condition in this world is so wretched and unworthy the original excellency of his Nature that it deserves not the name of Life 'T is a continual exercise of sinful Actions dishonourable to God and damning to himself and after the succession of a few Years in the defilements of Sin and the accidents of this frail state in doing and suffering evil Man comes to his fatal Period and falls into the bottomless Pit the place of Pollutions and Horrors of Sin and Torments 'T is there That the wrath of God abides on him and who knows the power of his wrath According to his fear so is his wrath Fear is an unbounded Passion and can extend it self to the apprehension of such Torments which no finite Power can inflict But the Wrath of God exceeds the most jealous fears of the guilty Conscience It proceeds from infinite Justice and is executed by Almighty Power and contains eminently all kinds of evils A Lake of flaming Brimstone and whatever is most dreadful to Sense is but an imperfect Allusion to represent it And how great is that Love which pitied rescued us from Sin and Hell This Saving Mercy is set out for its tenderness and vehemence by the commotion of the bowels at the sight of one in misery especially the working of the Mother's when any evil befals her Children Such an inward deep resentment of our distress was in the Father of Mercies When we were in our blood He said to us Live And that which further discovers the eminent degree of his Love is that He might have been unconcerned with our Distress and left us under despair of Deliverance There is a Compassion which ariseth from Self-love when the sight of anothers Misery surprises us and affects us in such a manner as to disturb our Repose and imbitter our Joy by considering our liableness to the same troubles and from hence we are enclin'd to help them And there is a Compassion that proceeds from pure love to the miserable when the Person that expresses it is above all the assaults of evil and incapable of all Affections that might lessen his Felicity and yet applies himself to relieve the afflicted and such was Gods towards Man If it had been a tollerable Evil under which we were faln the Mercy that recovered us had been less For Benefits are valued by the necessity of the receiver But Man was disinherited of Paradise an Heir of Hell his Misery was inconceivably great Now the measure of God's Love is proportionable to the Misery from whence we are redeemed If there had been any possible Remedy for us in Nature our engagements had not been so great But only He that created us by his Power could restore us by his Love Briefly it magnifies the Divine Compassion that our Deliverance is full and intire It had been admirable Favour to have mitigated our Misery but we have perfect Redemption sweetned by the remembrance of those dreadful evils that opprest us As the three Hebrew Martyrs came unhurt out of the fiery Furnace The hair of their heads were not singed nor their coats changed nor the smell of the fire had passed on them So the Saints above have no marks of Sin or Misery remaining upon them not the least spot or wrinkle to blast their Beauty nor the least trouble to diminish their Blessedness but for ever possess the Fulness of Joy and Glory a pure and triumphant Felicity 2. The Greatness of the Divine Love towards faln Man appears in the means by which our Redemption is accomplisht And those are the Incarnation and Sufferings of the Son of God The Incarnation manifests this Love upon a double account 1. In regard of the essential condition of the nature he assum'd 2. It s Servile state and meanness 1. The essential condition of the humane nature assum'd by our Redeemer discovers his transcendent Love to us For what proportion is there between God and Man Infinite and Finite are not terms that admit comparison as Greater and Less but are distant as All and Nothing The whole World before him is but as the drop of the Bucket that hath scarce weight to fall and the small dust of the Ballance that is not of such moment as to turn the scales 't is as nothing and counted less then nothing and vanity The Deity in its own nature includes Independence and Sovereignty To be a Creature implys dependence and subjection The Angelical Nature is infinitely inferior to the Divine and Man is lower then the Angels yet the Word was made Flesh. Add to this he was not made as Adam in the perfection of his nature and beginning the first step of his life in the full exercise of Reason and Dominion over the Creatures but he came into the World by the way of a natural birth and dependance upon a mortal Creature The Eternal Wisdom of the Father stoopt to a state of infancy which is most distant from that of Wisdom wherein though the Life yet the Light of the reasonable Soul is not visible the mighty God to a condition of indigence and infirmity The Lord of Nature submitted to the Laws of it Admirable Love wherein God seemed to forget his own Greatness and the meanness of the Creature This is more indeared to us by considering 2. The Servile state of the Nature be assumed An account of this we have in the Words of the Apostle Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ who being in the form of God that is injoying the Divine Nature with all its Glory eternally and invariably As to be in the form of a King signifies not only to be a King but to have all the conspicuous marks of Royalty the Crown Scepter Throne the Guards and State of a King Thus our Saviour possest that Glory that is truly Divine before he took our nature The Angels adored him in Heaven and by him Princes reigned on the Earth 'T is added he thought it no robbery to be equal with God that is being the essential Image of the Father he had a rightful possession of all his perfections Yet he made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was
made in the likeness of Man this is a lower degree of condescension than the assuming the naked humane nature A Servant is not simply a Man there being many Men of higher quality but a Man in a low State Now he that was in the form of God lessened himself into the form of a servant that is took the humane nature without honour attended with its infirmities So that by the visible condition of his life he was judged to be an ordinary person and not that under that meanness the Lord of Angels had been concealed This will more distinctly be understood if we consider the lowness of his extraction the poverty of his birth and the tenor of his life whilst he converst with Men. What Nation was more despicable in the esteem of the World than the Jews and Christ came of their stock and among the Jews none were more vilified than the Galileans and in Galilee-Nazareth was a contemptible village and in Nazareth the Family of Joseph was very obscure and to him our Saviour was nearly allied His reputed Father was a Carpenter and his Mother a poor Virgin that offered two Pigeons for her purification He first breathed in a Stable and was covered with poor swadling-cloaths who was Master of Heaven and Earth and adorns all creatures with their glory But Love made him who is Heir of all things renounce the priviledge of his supernatural Sonship Incredible condesension Therefore an Angel was dispatcht from Heaven who appeared with a surprizing miraculous light the visible character of his dignity to prevent the scandal which might arise from the meanness of his condition and to assure the Shepherds that the Babe which lay in the Manger was the Redeemer of the World The course of his Life was a preface and preparative for the Death of the Cross. He had a just right to all that Glory which a created Nature personally united to the Deity could receive An eminent instance of it there is in his Transfiguration when Glory descended from Heaven to encompass him that which was so short should have been continual but he presently returned to the lowness of his former condition The fulness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily yet in his humble state he was voluntarily deprived of those admirable effects which should proceed from that union Strange separation between the Deity and the Glory that results from it God is light and the Son is the brightness of his Fathers Glory yet in his Pilgrimage upon the Earth he was alwayes under a cloud Astonishing Miracle transcending all those in the course of Nature yet the power of Love effected it He was made not only lower than the Angels but less than all Men joyning Oh amazing abasement the Majesty of God with the meanness of a Worm The High and Lofty-One whom the Prophet saw Exalted on a High Throne and all the Powers of Heaven in a posture of Reverence about Him was despised and rejected of Men they turned their eyes from him not for the lustre of his Countenance but for shame If the Lord had assumed our Nature in its most honourable Condition and appeared in its Beauty the condescension were infinite For although Men are distinguish'd among themselves by Titles of Honour yet as two Gloworms that shine with an unequal brightness in the Night are equally obscured by the light of the Sun So all men those that are advanc'd to the most eminent degree as well as the most abject and wretehed are in the same distance from God But He emptied himself of all his Glory he grew up as a tender Plant and as a Root out of a dry ground there was no Form or Comliness in him From his Birth to the time of his Preaching he lived so privately as only known under the quality of the Carpenters Son There was a continual repression of that inconceivable Glory that was due to him the first moment of his appearing among Men. In short His despised Condition was an abasement not only of his Divinity but his Humanity And how conspicuous was his Love in this darkning Condescension We know the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich he became poor for our sakes He did not assume that which was due to the excellency of his Nature but what was convenient for our Redepmtion which was to be accomplisht by Sufferings Where can be found an Example of such Love Some have favourable Inclinations to help the distressed and will express so much Compassion as is consistent with their state and quality But if in order to the relieving of the miserable one must submit to what is shameful who hath an affection so strong and vehement as to purchase his Brothers Redemption at the loss of his own Honour Yet the Son of God descended from his Throne and put on our vile Mortality He parted with his Glory that He might be qualified to part with his Life for our Salvation How doth this exalt his Compassion to us And further He took our Nature after it had lost its Primitive Innocency The natural distance between God and the creature is infinite the moral between God and the sinful creature if possible is more than infinite Yet the Mercy of our Redeemer overcame this distance What an extasie of Love transported the Son of God so far as to espouse our Nature after it was defiled and debased with Sin He was essential Innocence and Purity yet He came in the similitude of sinful flesh which to outward view was not different from what was really sinful He was the Holy Lawgiver yet He submitted to that Law which made Him appear under the character and disreputation of a Sinner He paid the bloody Tribute of the Children of wrath being circumcised as guilty of Adam's Sin and he was baptised as guilty of his own 2. The most evident and sensible proof of the greatness of Gods Love to Mankind is in the Sufferings of our Redeemer to obtain our Pardon He is called in Scripture A man of Sorrows the title signifies their number and quality His whole Life was a continual Passion He suffered the contradiction of Sinners who by their malicious Calumnies obscur'd the lustre of his Miracles and most innocent Actions He endured the Temptations of Satan in the Desert He was often in danger of his Life But all these were nothing in comparison of his last Sufferings 'T is therefore said that at the bare apprehension of them He began to be sorrowful as if He had never felt any Grief till then His former Afflictions were like scatter'd drops of Rain But as in the Deluge All the Fountains beneath and all the Windows of Heaven above were opened So in our Saviours last Sufferings the Anger of God the Cruelty of Men the Fury of Devils broke out together against him And that the degrees of his Love may be measured by those of his Sufferings it
came to seize upon him though by one word he could have commanded Legions of Angels for his rescue yet he yeilded up himself to their Cruelty 'T was not any defect of power but the strength of his Love that made him to suffer He was willing to be Crucified that we might be Glorified our Redemption was sweeter to him than Death was bitter by which it was to be obtained 'T was excellently said by Pherecides that God transformed himself into Love when he made the World but with greater reason 't is said by the Apostle God is Love when he redeemed it 'T was Love that by a miraculous condescension took our Nature accomplishing the desire of the mystical Spouse Let him kiss me with the kisses of his Mouth 'T was Love that stoop't to the form of a Servant and led a poor despised life here below 'T was Love that endur'd a Death neither easie nor honourable but most unworthy the glory of the Divine and the innocency of the Humane nature Love chose to die on the Cross that we might live in Heaven rather than to enjoy that blessedness and leave Mankind in misery CHAP. X. Divine Mercy is magnified in the excellency of the state to which Man is advanced He is inricht with higher Prerogatives under a better Covenant entitled to a more glorious Reward than Adam at first enjoyed The Humane Nature is personally united to the Son of God Believers are spiritually united to Christ. The Gospel is a better Covenant than that of the Law It admits of Repentance and Reconciliation after Sin It accepts of Sincerity instead of Perfection It affords supernatural Assistance to Believers whereby they shall be victorious over all opposition in their way to Heaven The difference between the Grace of the Creator and that of the Redeemer The stability of the New-Covenant is built on the Love of God which is unchangeable and the Operations of his Spirit that are effectual The mutability and weakness of the Humane Will and the strength of Temptations shall not frustrate the merciful Design of God in regard of his Elect. The glorious Reward of the Gospel exceeds the Primitive Felicity of Adam in the place of it the highest Heaven Adam's life was attended with innocent Infirmities from which the glorified Life is entirely exempt The Felicity of Heaven exceeds the first in the manner degrees and continuance of the fruition THe Third Consideration which makes the Love of God so admirable to lapsed Man is the excellency of that state to which he is advanc'd by the Redeemer To be only exempted from Death is a great favour The grace of a Prince is eminent in releasing a condemned Person from the punishment of the Law This is sufficient for the Mercy of Man but not for the Love of God He pardons and prefers the guilty He rescues us from Hell and raises us to Glory He bestows Eternity upon those who were unworthy of Life The excellency of our condition under the Gospel will be set off by comparing it with that of innocent Man in Paradise 'T is true he was then in a state of Holiness and Honour and in perfect possession of that Blessedness which was suitable to his Nature yet in many respects our last state transcends our first and redeeming Love exceeds creating If Man had been only restor'd to his forfeited Rights to the enjoyment of the same Happiness which was lost his first state were most desirable And it had been greater Goodness to have preserv'd him innocent than to recover him from ruine As he that preserves his Friend from falling into the hands of the Enemy by interposing between him and danger in the midst of the Combat delivers him in a more noble manner than by paying a Ransom for him after many daies spent in woful Captivity And that Physician is more excellent in his Art who prevents Diseases and keeps the Body in health and vigour than another that expels them by sharp Remedies But the Grace of the Gospel hath so much mended our condition that if it were offer'd to our choice either to enjoy the innocent state of Adam or the renewed by Christ it were folly like that of our first Parents to prefer the former before the latter The Jubilee of the Law restor'd to the same Inheritance but the Jubilee of the Gospel gives us the Investiture of that which is transcendently better than what we at first possest Since The Day-spring from on High hath visited us in tender mercy we are enricht with higher Prerogatives and are under a better Covenant and entitled to a more glorious Reward than was due to Man by the Law of his Creation First The Humane Nature is raised to an higher degree of Honour than if Man had continued in his Innocent state 1. By its intimate Union with the Son of God He assum'd it as the fit Instrument of our Redemption and preferr'd it before the Angelical which surpast Man 's in his Primitive State The Fulness of the God-thead dwells in our Redeemer bodily From hence it is that the Angels descended to pay Him homage at his Birth and attended his Majesty in his disguise The Son of Man hath those Titles which are above the Dignity of any meer Creature He is King of the Church and Judg of the World he exercises Divine Power and receives Divine Praise Briefly The humane Nature in our Redeemer is an associate with the Divine and being made a little lower then the Angles for a time is now advanced far above all Principalities and Powers 2. In all those who are partakers of Grace and Glory by the Lord Jesus Adam was the Son of God by Creation but to be joyned to Christ as our head by a union so intimate that he lives in us and counts himself incompleat without us and by that union to be adopted into the line of Heaven and thereby to have an interest in the exceeding great and precious promises of the Gospel to be constituted Heirs of God and coheirs with Christ are such discoveries of the dignity of our supernatural state that the lowest Believer is advanced above Adam in all his honour Nay the Angels though superior to Man in the excellency of their nature yet are accidently lower by the honour of our alliance Their King is our Brother And this relative dignity which seems to eclipse their Glory might excite their envy but such an ingenuous goodness dwells in those pure and blessed Spirits that they rejoyce in our restoration and advancement To this I shall add that as the Son of God hath a special relation to Man so the most tender affections for him To illustrate this by a sensible instance Angels and Men are as two different Nations in Language and Customs but under the same Empire and if a Prince that commands two Nations should employ one for the safety and prosperity of the other it were an Argument of special
any allay in the highest degree of its Perfection The Life of Adam was alwaies in a circle of low and mean functions of the Animal Nature which being common to him and Beasts the acts of it are not strictly Humane But the Spiritual Life in Heaven is entirely freed from those servile necessities and is spent in the eternal performance of the most noble actions of which the intelligent Nature is capable The Saints do alwaies contemplate admire love enjoy and praise their everlasting Benefactor God is to them all in all In short That which prefers the Glory of Heaven infinitely before the first state of Man is the continuance of it for ever 'T is an unwithering and never-fading Glory Adam was liable to Temptations and capable of Change he fell in the Garden of Eden and was sentenc'd to die But Heaven is the Sanctuary of Life and Immortality 't is inaccessible to any evil The Serpent that corrupted Paradise with its Poison can't enter there As there is no seed of Corruption within so no cause of it without Our Redeemer offer'd Himself by the Eternal Spirit and purchased an eternal Inheritance for his People Their Felicity is full and perpetual without encrease for in the first moment 't is perfect and shall continue without declination The Day of Judgment is called the Last Day For Daies and Weeks and Months and Years the Revolutions which now measure Time shall then be swallowed up in an unchangeable Eternity The Saints shall be for ever with the Lord. And in all these respects the Glory of the Redeemed as far exceeds the Felicity of Man in the Creation as Heaven the bright Seat of it is above the fading beauty of the terrestrial Paradise CHAP. XI Redeeming Love deserves our highest Admiration and humble Acknowledgments The illustration of it by several Considerations God is infinitely amiable in Himself yet his Love is transient to the Creature 'T is admirable in Creating and Preserving Man more in Redeeming him and by the Death of his Son The discovery of God's Love in our Redemption is the strongest persuasiue to Repentance The Law is ineffectual to produce real Repentance The common benefits of Providence are insuffâ—cient to cause Faith and Repentance in the guilty Creature The clear discovery of pardoning Mercy in the Gospel can only remove our Fears and induce us to return to God The transcendent Love of God should kindle in us a reciprocal Love to Him His Excellency and His ordinary Bounty to Mankind cannot prevail upon us to love Him His Love to us in Christ only conquers our Hatred Our Love to Him must be sincere and superlative The despising of Saving Mercy is the highest Provocation It makes the Condemnation of Men most just certain and heavy 1. ' THis Redeeming Love deserves our highest Admiration and most humble acknowledgments If we consider God aright it may raise our wonder that He is pleased to bestow kindness upon any created being For in Him is all that is excellent and amiable and 't is essential to the Deity to have the perfect knowledg of Himself and perfect Love to Himself His Love being proportioned to his Excellencies the act is infinite as the object And the perfections of the Divine Nature being equal to his Love 't is a just cause of admiration that 't is not confined to himself but is transient and goes forth to the Creature When David looked up to the Heavens and saw the Majesty of God written in Characters of light he admires that Love which first made Man a litle lower then the Angels and Crowned him with Glory and Honour and that providential care which is mindful of him and visits him every moment Such an inconceivable distance there is between God and Man that 't is wonderful God will spend a thought upon us Lord what is Man that thou takest knowledge of him or the Son of Man that thou makest account of him Man is like to vanity his dayes are as a shadow that passeth away His being in this world hath nothing firm or solid 't is like a shadow that depends upon a cause that is in perpetual motion the light of the Sun and is alwayes changing till it vanishes in the darkness of the night But if we consider Man in the quality of a sinner and what God hath wrought for his recovery we are overcome with amazement All temporal favours are but foils to this miraculous Mercy and unspeakably below the least instance of it without it all the priviledges we enjoy above inferior Creatures in this life will prove aggravations of our future misery God saw us in our degenerate state destroyed by our selves and yet O Goodness truly Divine he loved us so far as to make the way for our recovery High Mountains were to be levelled and great depths to be filled up before we could arrive at blessedness all this God hath done He hath brought the Curse of the guilty upon the innocent and exposed his beloved Son to the Sword of his Justice to turn the blow from us What astonishing goodness is it that God who is the Author and end of all things should become the means of our Salvation And by the lowest abasement What is so worthy of admiration as that the Eternal should become mortal that being in the form of God he should take on him the form of a Servant that the Judge of the World should be condemned by the guilty that he should leave his Throne in Heaven to be nailed to the Cross that the Prince of Life should taste of Death These are the great Wonders which the Lord of Love hath performed and all for sinful miserable and unworthy Man who deserved not the least drop of that Sweat and Blood he spent for him and without any advantage to himself for what content can be added to his felicity by a cursed Creature Infinite Love that is as admirable as saving Love that passeth Knowledge and is as much above our comprehension as desert In natural things admiration is the effect of ignorance but here 't is increased by Knowledg For the more we understand the excellent Greatness of God and the vileness of Man the more we shall admire saving Mercy And the most humble acknowledgments are due for it When David told Mephibosheth that he should eat bread with him at his Tâ—ble continually he bowed himself and said What is thy Servant that thou shouldest look on such a dead Dog as I am A speech ful of gratitude and humility yet he was of a Royal extraction though at that time in a low condition With a far greater sense of our unworthiness we should reflect upon that condescending Love that provides the Bread of God for the food of our Souls without which we had perisht for want David in that divine thanksgiving recorded in the Scripture reflects upon his own meanness and from that magnifies the favour of God towards him Who am I
makes us guilty of his Death And when he shall come in his Glory and be visible to all that Pierced Him what Vengence will be the portion of those who despised the Majesty of his Person the mystery of his Compassions and Sufferings Those that lived and dyed in the darkness of Heathenism shall have a cooler Climate in Hell then those who neglect the great Salvation CHAP. XII Divine Justice concurs with Mercy in the work of our Redemption The Reasons why we are Redeemed by the Satisfaction of Justice are specified to declare Gods hatred of Sin to vindicate the honour of the Law to prevent the secure commission of Sin These Ends are obtained in the Death of Christ. The reality of the Satisfaction made to Divine Justice considered The requisites in order to it The appointment of God who in this transaction is to be considered not as a Judg that is Minister of the Law but as Governour His right of Jurisdiction to relax the Law as to the execution of it His Will declared to accept of the compensation made The consent of our Redeemer was necessary He must be perfectly Holy He must be God and Man THe Deity in it self is Simple and Pure without mixture or variety The Scripture ascribes Attributes to God for our clearer understanding And those as essential in Him are simply one They are distinguish'd only with respect to the diverse objects on which they are terminated and the different effects that proceed from them The two great Attributes which are exercised towards reasonable Creatures in their lapsed state are Mercy and Justice these admirably concur in the work of our Redemption Although God spared guilty Man for the honour of his Mercy yet He spared not his own Son who became a Surety for the offender but delivered Him up to a cruel Death for the glory of his Justice For the clearer understanding of this three things are to be considered 1. The Reasons why we are redeemed by the Satisfaction of Justice 2. The Reality of the Satisfaction made by our Redeemer 3. The compleatness and perfection of it Concerning the first there are three different Opinions among those who acknowledge the reality of Satisfaction 1. That 't is not possible that Sin should be pardoned without Satisfaction For Justice being a natural and necessary excellency in God hath an unchangable respect to the qualities which are in the Creatures That as the Divine Goodness is necessarily exercised towards a Creature perfectly holy so Justice is in punishing the guilty unless a Satisfaction intervene And if it be not possible considering the perfection of the Deity that Holiness should be unrewarded far less can it be that Sin should be unpunisht since the exercise of Justice upon which Punishment depends is more necessary than that of Goodness which is the cause of Remuneration For the Rewards which Bounty dispenses are pure Favours whereas the Punishments which Justice inflicts are due In short Since Justice is a Perfection 't is in God in a supreme degree and being infinite 't is inflexible This Opinion is asserted by several Divines of eminent Learning The Second Opinion is That God by his Absolute Dominion and Prerogative might have releas'd the Sinner from Punishment without any Satisfaction For as by his Sovereignty He transfer'd the Punishment from the guilty to the innocent so He might have forgiven Sin if no Redeemer had interposed From hence it follows that the Death of Christ for the Expiation of Sin was necessary only with respect to the Divine Decree 3. The Third Opinion is That considering God in this transaction as qualified with the Office of Supreme Judg and Governor of the World who hath given just Laws to direct his Creatures in their Obedience and to be the rule of his proceedings with them as to Rewards and Punishments He hath so far restrain'd the exercise of his Power that upon the breach of the Law either it must be executed upon the Sinner or if extraordinarily dispenst with it must be upon such terms as may secure the Ends of Government and those are His own Honour and publick Order and the Benefit of those that are governed And upon these accounts 't was requisite supposing the merciful design of God to pardon Sin that his Righteousness should be declared in the Sufferings of Christ. I will distinctly open this In the Law the Sovereignty and Holiness of God eminently appear And there are two things in all Sins which expose the Offender justly to Punishment 1. A Contempt of God's Sovereignty and in that respect there is a kind of equality between them He that offends in one is guilty of all they being ratified by the same Authority And from hence 't is that Guilt is the natural Passion of Sin that alwaies adheres to it For as God hath a Judicial Power to inflict Punishment upon the Disobedient by vertue of his Soveraignty so the desert of Punishment arises from the despising it in the violation of his Commands 2. In every Sin there is a contrariety to Gods Holiness And in this the natural turpitude of Sin consists which is receptive of degrees From hence arises Gods hatred of Sin which is as essential as his Love to Himself the infinite Purity and Rectitude of his Nature infers the most perfect abhorrence of whatever is opposite to it The righteous Lord loves righteousness but the wicked his soul hates Now the Justice of God is founded in his Sovereignty and his Holiness and the reason why 't is exercised against Sin is not an arbitrary Constitution but his Holy Nature to which Sin is repugnant These things being premised it follows That God in the relation of a Governor is Protector of those Sacred Laws which are to direct the Reasonable Creature And as 't was most reasonable that in the first giving the Law He should lay the strongest restraint upon Man for preventing Sin by the threatning of Death the greatest evil in it self and in the estimation of Mankind so 't is most congruous to Reason when the command was broke by Mans Rebellion that the Penalty should be inflicted either on his Person according to the immediate intent of the Law or something equivalent should be done that the Majesty and Purity of God might appear in his Justice and there might be a visible discovery of the value He puts on Obedience The life of the Law depends upon the execution of it for impunity extenuates Sin in the account of Men and incourages to the free commission of it If Pardon be easily obtained Sin wil be easily committed The first temptation was prevalent by this perswasion that no punishment would follow Besides if upon the bold violation of the Law no punishment were inflicted not only the glory of God's Holiness would be obscured as if He did not love Righteousness and hate Sin but suffered the contempt of the one and the commission of the other without controul but it
would either reflect upon His Wisdom as if He had not upon just reason establisht an alliance between the Offence and the Penalty or upon His Power as if He were not able to vindicate the Rights of Heaven And after His giving a Law and declaring the according to the tenor of it He would dispense Rewards and Punishments if Sin were unrevenged it would lessen the sacredness of his Truth in the esteem of Men. So that the Law and Lawgiver would be exposed to contempt By all which it appears that the Honour of God was infinitely concerned in His requiring satisfaction for the breach of his Laws Temporal Magistrates are bound to execute wise and equal Laws for the preservation of publick order and civil societies 'T is true there be some cases wherein the Lawgiver may be forced to dispense with the Law as when the sparing of an offender is more advantage to the State than his punishment Besides there is a superior Tribunal to which great Offenders are obnoxious and good Magistrates when through weakness they are fain to spare the guilty refer them to God's Judgment But 't is otherwise in the Divine Government For God is infinitely free from any necessity of Compliance There is no exigency of Government that requires that any Offenders should escape his Severity Neither is there any Justice above his which might exact Satisfaction of them Besides the Majesty of his Laws is more Sacred than of those which preserve Earthly States and ought to be more inviolable The sum is to declare Godâ—s hatred of Sin which is essential to his nature to preserve the honour of the Law which otherwise would be securely despised to prevent sin by keeping up in Men an holy fear to offend God which should be an eternal respect of the rational Creature to Him 't was most fit that the presumptuous breach of Gods Command should not be unpunished Now when the Son of God was made a Sacrifice for Sin and by a bloody Death made expiation of it the World is convinced how infinitely hateful Sin is to him the dignity of the Law is maintained and Sin is most effectually discouraged There is the same terror though not the same rigor as if all mankind had been finally condemned Thus it appears how becoming God it was to accomplish our Salvation in such a manner that Justice and Mercy are revealed in their most noble and eminent effects and operations 2. The reality of the satisfaction made to Divine Justice is next to be proved This is the center and heart of the Christian Religion from whence all vital and comforting influences are derived and for the opening of it I will first consider the requisites in order to it which are 1. The Appointment of God whose Power and Will are to be considered in this transaction 1. His Power for 't is an act of supremacy to admit that the sufferings of another should be effectual to redeem the offender God doth not in this affair sustain the Person of a Judge that is the Minister of the Law and cannot free the guilty by transferring the punishment on another but is to be considered as Governour who may by pure Jurisdiction dispense in the execution of the Law upon those considerations which fully answer the ends of Government The Law is not executed according to the Letter of it for then no sinner can be saved but repenting Believers are free from condemnation Nor is it abrogated for then no obligation remains as to the duty or penalty of it but Men are still bound to obey it and impenitent Infidels are still under the Curse The Wrath of God abides upon them But 't is relaxt as to the punishment by the merciful condescension of the Lawgiver Some Laws are not capable of relaxation in their own nature because there is included moral iniquity in the relaxation As the commands to love God and obey Conscience can never lose their binding force 'T is an universal rule that suffers no exception God cannot deny himself therefore he can never allow sin that directly opposes the perfections of His Nature Besides some Laws cannot be relaxt ex hypothesi upon the account of the Divine Decree which makes them irrevocable as that all who die in their impenitency shall be damned Now there was no express sign annext to the Sanction of the original Law to intimate that it should be unalterable as to the letter of it The threatning declared the desert of Sin in the Offender and the right of punishing in the Superior but 't is so to be understood as not to frustrate the power of the Law-giver to relax the punishment upon wise and just reasons The Law did neither propound nor exclude this expedient for judging without passion against the Sinner it is satisfied with the punishment of the Crime For 't is not the evil of the sufferer that is primarily designed by the Law but the preservation of publick order for the honour of the Lawgiver and the benefit of those that are subjects So that the relaxing the punishment as to the person of the Sinner by compensation fully answers the intent of the Law 2. As by the right of Jurisdiction God might relax the Law and appoint a Mediatour to interpose by way of Ransom so he hath declared his will to accept of Him The Law in strictness obliged the Sinning person to suffer so that he might have refused any other Satisfaction Therefore the whole Work of our Redemption is referred to His Will as the primary cause Our Saviour was sent into the World by the order of God He was sealed that is authorised for that great Work by commission from Him He was called to His Office by the voice of his Father from heaven Thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased God anointed him with the Holyâ—Ghost and with Power which signifies as the enduing of Him with the Graces of the Spirit so the investing Him in the dignity of Mediator as Kings Priests and Prophets were And both were necessary for his Graces without his Office are unprofitable to us and His Office without His capacity of no advantage In short the Apostle observes this as the peculiar excellency of the New Covenant and the foundation of our hopes that the Mediatour was constituted by a solemn Oath The Lord hath sworn and will not repent thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec 2. The Consent of our Redeemer was necessary that he might by Sufferings satisfie for us For being the Lord from Heaven there was no Superiour Authority to command or Power to compel him 'T is true having become our Surety 't was necessary He should be accountable to the Law But the first undertaking was most free When one hath entred into Bonds to pay the Debt of an insolvent person he must give satisfaction but 't is an act of liberty and choice to make himself liable Our
with corruptible things as Silver and Gold but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot And by his knowledg shall my righteous Servant justifie many 4. 'T was requisite the Mediator should be God and Man He must assume the nature of Man that he might be put in his stead in order to make satisfaction for him He was to be our representative therefore such a conjunction between us must be that God might esteem all his People to suffer in him By the Law of Israel the right of Redemption belonged to him that was next in blood Now Christ took the Seed of Abraham the original element of our nature that having a right of Propriety in us as God He might have a right of Propinquity as Man He was allied to all Men as Men that His sufferings might be universally beneficial And He must be God 't is not his Innocency onely or Deputation but the Dignity of His Person that qualifies Him to be an all-sufficient Sacrifice for Sin so that God may dispense pardon in a way that is honourable to Justice For Justice requires a proportion between the Punishment and the Crime and that receives its quality from the dignity of the person offended Now since the Majesty of God is infinite against whom sin is committed the guilt of it can never be expiated but by an infinite Satisfaction There is no name under Heaven nor in Heaven that could save us but the Son of God who being equal to Him in greatness became Man If there had been such compassion in the Angels as to have inclined them to interpose between Justice and us they had not been qualified for that Work not only upon the account of their different nature so that by substitution they could not satisfie for us nor that being immaterial substances they are exempted from the dominion of death which was the punishment denounc'd against the sinner and to which his Surety must be subjected but principally that being finite Creatures they are incapable to atone an incensed God Who among all their glorious Orders durst appear before so consuming a fire who could have been an Altar whereon to sanctifie a Sacrifice to Divine Justice no meer Creature how worthy so ever could propitiate the supreme Majesty when justly provoked Our Redeemer was to be the Lord of Angels The Apostle tells us that it pleased the Father that in him all fulness should dwell This respects not his original Nature but his Office and the reason of it is to reconcile by the blood of the Cross things in Heaven and in the Earth From the greatness of the Work we may infer the quality of the means and from the quality of the means the Nature of the Person that is to perform it Peace with God who was provoked by our Rebellion could only be made by an infinite Sacrifice Now in Christ the Deity it self not its influences and the fulness of it not any particular perfection only dwelt really and substantially God was present in the Ark in a shadow and representation He is present in nature by his sustaining Power and in his Saints by special favour and the eminent effects the Graces and Comforts that proceed from it but he is present in Christ in a singular and transcendent manner The Humanity is related to the Word not only as a Creature to the Author of its being for in this regard it hath an equal respect to all the persons but by a peculiar conjunction for 't is actuated by the same subsistence as the Divine Essence is in the Son but with this difference the one is voluntary the other necessary the one is espoused by Love the other received by Nature Now from this intimate Union there is a communication of the special qualities of both natures to the Person of Christ Man is exalted to be the Son of God and the Word abased to be the Son of Man As by reason of the vital Union between the Soul and Body the essential parts of Man 't is truly said that he is rational in respect of his soul and mortal in respect of his body This Union derives an infinite merit to the obedience of Christ. For the humane nature having its complement from the Divine Person 't is not the nature simply considered but the person that is the fountain of actions To illustrate this by an instance the civil Law determines that a tree transplanted from one soile to another and taking root there it belongs to the owner of that ground in regard that receiving nourishment from a new earth it becomes as it were another tree though there be the same individual root the same body and the same soul of vegetation as before Thus the humane nature taken from the common mass of Mankind and transplanted by personal Union into the Divine is to be reckoned as intirely belonging to the Divine and the actions proceeding from it are not meerly humane but are raised above their natural worth and become meritorious One hour of Christs Life glorified God more than an everlasting duration spent by Angels and Men in the praises of him For the most perfect creatures are limited and finite and their services cannot fully correspond with the Majesty of God but when the Word was made Flesh and entered into a new state of subjection he glorified God in a Divine manner and most worthy of him He that comes from above is above all The all sufficiency of his Satisfaction arises from hence He that was in the form of God and thought it no robbery to be equal with God that is in the truth of the Divine Nature He was equal with the Father and without sacriledge or usurpation possest Divine Honour he became obedient to the Death of the Cross. The Lord of Glory was Crucified We are purchased by the Blood of God And the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all Sin The Divine Nature gives it an infinite and everlasting efficacy And 't is observable that the Socinians the declared enemies of his Eternity consentaneously to their first impious error deny his Satisfaction For if Jesus Christ were but a titular God his Sufferings how deep soever had been insufficient to expiate our offence in His Death He had been only a Martyr not a Mediator For no Satisfaction can be made to Divine Justice but by suffering that which is equivalent to the guilt of sin which as 't is infinite such must the Satisfaction be CHAP. XIII Divine Justice is declared and glorified in the Death of Christ. The threefold account the Scripture gives of it As a Punishment inflicted for Sin as a Price to redeem us from Hell as a Sacrifice to reconcile us to God Man was Capitally guilty Christ with the allowance of God interposes as his Surety His Death was inflicted on him by the Supreme Judg. The impulsive Cause of it was Sin
His Sufferings were equivalent to the Sentence of the Law The Effect of them is our Freedom An Answer to the Objection That 't is a violation of Justice to transfer the Punishment from the guilty to the innocent The Death of Christ is the Price that redeems from Hell This singular effect of his Death distinguishes it from the death of the Martyrs An Answer to the Objections How could God receive this Price since he gave his Son to that Death which redeems us And how our Redeemer supposing him God can make Satisfaction to Himself The Death of Christ represented as a Sacrifice The Expiatory Sacrifices under the Law were substituted in the place of guilty Men. The Effects of them answerable to their threefold respect to God Sin and Men The Atonement of Anger the Expiation of Sin and Freedom from Punishment All sorts of Placatory Sacrifices are referr'd to Christ and the effects of them in a sublime and perfect manner No prejudice to the Freeness and Greatness of God's Love that Christ by his Death reconciled Him to men HAving premised these things I shall now prove that the Divine Justice is really declar'd and glorified in the obedient Sufferings of Christ. For the opening this point 't is necessary to consider the account the Scripture gives of his Death which is threefold 1. 'T is represented under the relation of a Punishment inflicted on him for Sin and the effect of it is Satisfaction to the Law 2. As a Price to redeem us from Hell 3. Under the notion of a Sacrifice to reconcile God to Sinners First As a Punishment inflicted on him for Sin This will appear by considering 1. That Man by his Rebellion against God was capitally guilty He stood sentenced by the Law to Death 2. Christ with the allowance of the Supreme Judg interposed as our Surety and in that relation was made liable to Punishment Sins are by resemblance called Debts As a Debt obliges the Debtor to payment so Sin doth the Sinner to Punishment And as the Creditor hath a right to exact the Payment from the Debtor so God hath a right to inflict Punishment on the guilty But with this difference the Creditor by the meer signification of his will may discharge the Debtor for he hath an absolute power over his estate whereas publick Justice is concern'd in the Punishment of the guilty This is evident by many instances For 't is not sufficient that a Criminal satisfie his Adversary unless the Prince who is the Guardian of the Laws give him Pardon The interest of a private Person who hath received an injury is so distinct from that of the State that sometimes the injured party solicites the Pardon of the offender without success Which shews that principally 't is not to satisfie the particular person that the Crime is punish'd but to satisfie the Law and prevent future Disorders Now our Debt was not pecuniary but penal And as in civil Cases where one becomes Surety for another he is obliged to pay the Debt for in the estimate of the Law they are but one person So the Lord Jesus Christ entring into this relation He sustained the person of Sinners and became judicially one with them and according to the order of Justice was liable to their punishment The displeasure of God was primarily and directly against the Sinner but the effects of it fell upon Christ who undertook for him The Apostle tells us That when the Fulness of time came God sent his Son made under the Law that he might redeem them that were under the Law He took our Nature Condition He was made under the Law Moral and Ceremonial The directive part of the Moral Law He fulfilled by the Innocency of his Life the penalty he satisfied as our Surety being under an Obligation to save us And he appeared as a Sinner in his subjection to the Law of Moses That Hand-writing was against us He therefore enter'd into the Bond that we had forfeited In his Circumcision He signed it with those drops of Blood which were an earnest of his shedding the rest on the Cross. For whosoever was Circumcised became a Debtor to the whole Law And we may observe 't is said That as Moses lifted up the brazen Serpent so the Law of which Moses was a type and Minister lifted up the Messiah on the Cross. 3. The Scripture is very clear and express in setting down the part that God had in the Sufferings of Christ as Supreme Judg the impulsive cause that moved Him their proportion to the punishment of the Law and the effect of them for our Deliverance He was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledg of God All the various and vicious actions of men were over-ruled by his Providence The falsness of Judas the fearfulness of Pilate and the malice of the Jews were subservient to Gods eternal design And as He wills not the Death of a Sinner much less of his Son but for most weighty Reasons these are declared by the Prophet All we like sheep have gone astray and turned every one to his own waies Our Errours were different but the issue was the same that is Eternal Death And the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all that is the Punishment of our Iniquities His Sufferings had such a respect to Sin as included the imputation of it 'T was an act of Sovereignty in God to appoint Christ as Man to be our Surety but an act of Justice to inflict the punishment when Christ had undertaken for us 'T is said He hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows The expressions are comprehensive of all the Miseries of his Life especially his last Sufferings The Hebrew words Nasa and Sabal signifie such a taking away as is by laying upon one who bears it from us And thus it is interpreted by St. Peter He himself bare our sins in his own Body on the tree This necessarily implies the derivation of our guilt to him and the consequent of it the transferring of our punishment Those words are full and pregnant to the same purpose He was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our Iniquities the chastisement of our peace was on him and with his stripes we are healed Where the meritorious cause of his Sufferings is set down as appears by the connexion of the words with the former The Jews thought him stricken smitten of God and afflicted that is justly punisht for Blasphemy and usurping Divine Honour In opposition to this conceit 't is added But he was wounded for our transgressions This the Apostle expresly telleth us when he declares that Christ died for our Sins This will appear more fully by considering what the desert of Sin is By our Rebellion we made the forfeiture of Soul Body to Divine Justice Death both the first and the second was the Sentence of the Law Now the Sufferings of Christ were answerable
Glorious Trinity were equally provok'd by our Sin and to obtain our Pardon the Son with the consent of the Father deposits his Interest into his Hands and as a Mediator intervenes between us and him who in this Transaction is the Depositary of the Rights of Heaven and having performed what Justice required he reconciled the World to God that is to the Father Himself and the Eternal Spirit In this Cause his Person is the same but his Quality is different he made Satisfaction as Mediator and receiv'd it as God 'T is in this sense that the Apostle saith We have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous Not to exclude the other Persons but in regard the Father as the First Person is the Protector of Justice our Mediator in appeasing Him appeases the others also 3. The Death of Christ is represented under the notion of a Sacrifice offer'd up to God For the more full understanding of this we must consider that Sacrifices were of two kinds 1. Some were Eucharistical They are called Peace-offerings by which the Sacrificer acknowledged the Bounty of God and his own unworthiness and rendered Praise for a favour received and desired the Divine Blessing 2. Expiatory The Sin-offerings for the averting of Gods wrath The Institution of them was upon a double Reason 1. That Man is a sinner and therefore obnoxious to the just indignation and extreme displeasure of the Holy and Righteous God 2. That God was to be propitiated that he might pardon them These Truths are engraven in the natural Consciences of Men as appeares by theâ—â— pretended Expiations of sin among the Heathens But are more clearly reveal'd in the Scripture Under the Law without the effusion of Blood there was no Remission To signifie that God would not forgive Sin without the atonement of Justice which required the Death of the Offender but it being tempered with Mercy accepted a Sacrifice in his stead And that there was a Substitution of the Beast in the place of the guilty Offender appeares by the Law concerning Sacrifices 1. None were instituted for Capital Offences as Murder Idolatry Adultery c. Because the Sinner himself was to be cut off But for other Sins which although in strictness they deserved Death yet God who was the King of Israel was pleased to remit the Forfeiture and to accept the life of the Sacrifice for the Life of the Sinner 2. The guilty Person was to offer a clean Beast of his own to signifie the Surrogation of it in his stead For in the relation of a Possessour he had a dominion over it to apply it to that use 3. The Priest or the person that offer'd was to lay his hands on the head of the Sacrifice thereby Consecrating it to God and Devoting it in his stead to bear the Punishment For this reason 't was called a Sin and a Curse 4. The Confession of Sin by the People or the Priest as in the day of Atonement signified that the guilt of all met on the Sacrifice for Expiation 5. The Blood was to be shed wherein the vital spirits are an express representation what the Sinner deserved and that it was accepted for his Life 6. Lastly The deprecating of God's Anger was joyned with the Sacrifice As when a Man was slain and the Murderer was not found the Elders of the City next to the dead Body were to kill an Heifer in a Valley and to pray that innocent Blood might not be laid to their charge otherwise the Land could not be clensed from the guilt of Blood but by the Blood of the Murderer 2. The Effects of these Sacrifices declare their nature And they are answerable to their threefold respect to God to Sin to Man To God that his Anger might be appeased to Sin that the fault might be expiated to Man that the guilty person might obtain Pardon and Freedom from Punishment Thus when a Sacrifice was duly offered 't is said to be of a sweet savour unto the Lord and to atone him Lev. 1.17 and the Remission of Sins with the Release of the Sinner followed The Priest shall expiate it that is declaratively and it shall be forgiven him Now there was a double Guilt contracted by those that were under the Mosaical Dispensation 1. Typical From the breach of a Ceremonial Constitution which had no relation to Morality Such were natural Pollutions accidental Diseases the touching of a dead Body c. which were esteemed vicious according to the Law and the Defiled were excluded from Sacred and Civil Society Now these Impurities considered in themselves deserved no punishment For involuntary and inevitable Infirmities and corporeal things which do not infect the inward man are the marks of our abject and weak state but are not in themselves sinfull Therefore Ceremonial Guilt was expiated by a Ceremonial Offering For 't is according to the nature of things that Obligations should be dissolved by the same means by which they are contracted As therefore those Pollutions were penal merely by the positive Will of God So the exercise of his Supreme Right being tempered with Wisdome and Equity he ordained that the guilt should be abolisht by a Sacrifice and that they should be fully restored to their former Priviledges Thus the Apostle tells us that the Blood of those Sacrifices Sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh that is communicated a legal Purity to the Offerers and consequently a right to approach the holy Place Now the reason of these Institutions was that the legal Impurity might represent the true defilements of Sin and the Expiatory Sacrifices prefigure that great and admirable Oblation which should purge away all Sin 2. A real Guilt which respects the Conscience and was contracted from the breach of the Moral Law and subjected the Offender to Death temporal and eternal This could not be purged away by those Sacrifices For how is it possible the Blood of a Beast should cleanse the Soul of a Man or content the Justice of an offended God Nay on the contrary they reviv'd the guilt of Sin and reinforced the rigour of the Law and were a publick profession of the Misery of Men For this reason the Law is called the Ministry of Death As the Moral contained a declaration of our guilt and Gods right to punish so all the parts of the Ceremonial were either arguments and convictions of Sin or images of the punishment due for them But as they had a relation to Christ who was their Complement so they signified the expiation of moral guilt by his Sacrifice and freed the Sinner from that temporal Death to which he was liable as a Representative of our freedom from Eternal Death by the Blood of the Cross. This will appear more clearly by considering 1. That all kinds of placatory Sacrifices are referred to Christ in the New Testament 2. That all their Effects are attributed to him in a sublimer and most perfect
Compleatness of Christ's Satisfaction proved from the Causes and Effects of it The Causes are the Quality of his Person and Degrees of his Sufferings The Effects are His Resurrection Ascension Intercession at Gods right hand and his exercising the Supreme Power in Heaven and Earth The excellent Benefits which God reconciled bestows on Men are the Effects and Evidences of his compleat Satisfaction They are Pardon of Sin Grace and Glory That Repentance and Faith are required in order to the partaking of the Benefits purchased by Christ's Death doth not lessen the Merit of his Sufferings That Afflictions and Dâ—ath are inflicted on Believers doth not derogate from their All-sufficiency THe Third thing to be considered is the Compleatness of the Satisfaction that Christ hath made by which it will appear that Gods Justice as well as Mercy is fully glorified in his Sufferings For the proof of this I will first consider the Causes from whence the compleatness of his Satisfaction arises Secondly The Effects that proceed from it which are convincing Evidences that God is fully appeas'd The Causes of his compleat Satisfaction are two 1. The Quality of his Person derives an infinite value to his obedient Sufferings Our Surety was equally God and as truely Infinite in His Perfections as the Father who was provoked by our Sins therefore he was able to make Satisfaction for them He is the Son of God not meerly in respect of the honour of his Office or the special Favour of God for on these accounts that Title is communicated to others but his only Son by Nature The sole preheminence in Gifts and Dignity would give Him the title of the first-born but not deprive them of the quality of Brethren Now the wisdom and justice of all Nations agree that Punishments receive their estimate from the quality of the Persons that suffer The Poet observes that the Death of a vertuous Person is more precious than of Legions Of what inestimable value then is the death of Christ and how worthy a Ransom for lost mankind For although the Deity is impassible yet he that was a Divine Person he suffered A King suffers more than a private person although the strokes he endures in his body cannot immediatly reach his honour And 't is specially to be observed that the Efficacy of Christs Blood is ascribed to his Divine Nature This the Apostle declares In whom we have Redemption through his Blood even the forgiveness of Sins who is the image of the invisible God Not an artificial Image which imperfectly represents the Original As a Picture that sets forth the Colour and Figure of a Man but not his Life and Nature But the essential and exact Image of his Father that expresses all his glorious Perfections in their immensity and eternity This is testified expresly in Hebr. 1.3 The Son of God the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person having purged by himself our sins is set down on the right hand of Majesty on High From hence arises the infinite difference between the Sacrifices of the Law and Christs in their value and vertue This with admirable Emphasis is set down in Hebr. 9.13 14. For if the blood of Bulls and of Goats and the ashes of an Heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purification of the flesh How much more shall the Blood of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit offer'd himself without spot to God purge your Consciences from dead works to serve the living God Wherein the Apostle makes a double Hypothesis 1. That the Legal Sacrifices were ineffectual to purifie from real guilt 2. That by their Typical Cleansing they signified the washing away of moral guilt by the Blood of Christ. 1. Their insufficiency to expiate Sin appears if we consider the subject Sin is to be expiated in the same nature wherein 't was committed now the Beasts are of an inferiour rank and have no communion with Man in his nature Or if we consider the object God was provoked by Sin and He is a Spirit and not to be appeased by gross material things His Wisdom requires that a rational Sacrifice should expiate the guilt of a rational Creature And Justice is not satisfied without a proportion between the Guilt and the Punishment This weakness and insufficiency of the Legal Sacrifices to expiate Sin is evident from their variety and repetition For if full Remission had been obtained The worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sin 'T is the sense of Guilt and the fear of Condemnation that required the renewing of the Sacrifice Now under the Law the Ministry of the Priests never came to a period or perfection The Millions of Sacrifices in all Ages from the erecting the Tabernacle to the coming of Christ had not vertue to expiate one Sin They were only shadows which could give no refreshment to the inflamed Conscience but as they depended on Christ the body and substance of them But the Son of God who offered himself up by the Eternal Spirit to the Father is a Sacrifice not only Intelligent and Reasonable but incomparably more precious than the most noble Creatures in Earth or in Heaven it self He was Priest and Sacrifice in respect of both His Natures His entire Person was the Offerer and Offering Therefore the Apostle from the excellency of his Sacrifice infers the unity of its Oblation and from thence concludes its Efficacy Christ did not by the Blood of Bulls and Goats but by his own Blood He entred in once to the Holy Place having obtained eternal Redemption for us and by one Offering He hath for ever perfected them who are sanctified Upon this account God promised in the New-Covenant That their Sins and Iniquities He would remember no more having received compleat satisfaction by the Sufferings of his Son 'T is now said that once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away Sin by the Sacrifice of himself And as it is appointed for all men once to die and after Death comes Judgment So Christ was once offered to bear the Sins of many and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin As there is no other natural death to suffer between Death and Judgment so there is no other propitiatory Sacrifice between his all-sufficient Death on the Cross and the last coming of our Redeemer There is one Consideration I shall adde to shew the great difference between Legal Sacrifices and the Death of Christ as to its saving vertue The Law absolutely forbids the eating of Blood and the peoples tasting of the Sin-offerings to signifie the imperfection of those Sacrifices For since they were consumed in their Consecration to Gods Justice and nothing was left for the nourishment of the Offerers 't was a sign they could not appease God The Offerers had communion with them when they brought them to the Altar and in a manner
derived their guilt to them but they had no vertue by them in coming from it The Sinner conveyed death to the Sacrifice but did not receive life from it But Christ the Lamb of God was not swallowed up in his Offering to Divine Justice 'T is his peculiar Glory that He hath compleatly made Satisfaction We may feed upon the flesh of this precious Victim and drink his Blood As He enter'd into communion of Death with us so we are partakers of Life by Him 2. The Compleatness of his Satisfaction is grounded on the degrees of his Sufferings There was no defect in the payment He made We owed a debt of Blood to the Law and his Life was offer'd up as a Sacrifice otherwise the Law had remained in its full vigour and Justice had been unsatisfied That a Divine Person hath suffered our Punishment is properly the reason of our Redemption As 't is not the quality of the Surety that releases the Debtor from Prison but the payment which he makes in his name The Blood of Christ shed poured forth from his Veins and offered up to God in that precise consideration ratifies the New Testament The sum is Our Saviour by his Death suffer'd the malediction of the Law and his Divine Nature gave a full value to his Sufferings so that the satisfaction proceeding from them was not meerly ex pacto as Brass Money is currant by composition but ex merito as pure Gold hath an intrinsick worth and God who was infinitly provokt is infinitely pleased 2. The effects and evidences of his compleat Satisfaction are First His Resurrection from the Grave For if we consider the Lord Christ in the quality of our Surety He satisfied the Law in his Death and having made compleat payment of our debt He received the acquittance in his Resurrection His Death appeased God His Resurrection assures Men. As he rose himself so in one concurrent action God is said to raise him He was releast from the Grave as from Prison by publick sentence which is an indubitable argument of the validity and acceptance of the payment made by him in our name For being under such bonds as the Justice and Power of God he could never have loosed the pains of Death if his Sufferings had not fully been fully Satisfactory and received by him for our discharge And 't is observable that the raising of Chiist is ascribed to God as reconciled Now the God of peace who brought again from the dead the great Shepherd of the Sheep through the Blood of the everlasting Covenant The Divine Power was not put forth till God was pacified Justice incensed exposed him to Death and Justice appeased freed Him from the dead And his Resurrection is attributed to his Blood that being the full price of his and our liberty In short when inflexible Justice ceases to punish there is the strongest proof 't is satisfied Secondly His Ascent into Heaven and Intercession for us prove the compleatness and alsufficiency of his Sacrifice If He had been excluded from the Divine Presence there had been just cause to suspect that anger had been still remaining in God's Breast but His admission into Heaven is an infallible testimony that God is reconciled This our Saviour produces as the Argument by which the Holy Ghost will overcome the guilty fears of Men. He shall convince the World of Righteousnss because I go to my Father Christ in his Sufferings was numbred among transgressors He dyed as a guilty person not only in respect of the calumnies of Men but the curse of the Law and the Wrath of God which then appeared inexorable against sin But having overcome Death and broke through the weight of the Law and retired to his Father he made apparent the innocency of his righteous Person and that a compleat Righteousness is acquired by his Sufferings sufficient to justifie all that shall truly accept of it This will be more evident by considering his entry into Heaven as the true High Priest who carried the Blood of the New-Covenant into the Celestial Sanctuary For the opening this we are to consider there are two parts of the Priestly Office 1. To offer Sacrifice 2. To make intercession for the People by vertue of the Sacrifice This was performed by the High-Priest in the Feast of Atonement which was celebrated in the month Tisri The oblation of the Sacrifices was without at the Altar the Intercession was made in the Holy of Holies into which none might enter but the High-Priest once a year And first he must expiate his own sins and the sins of the people by Sacrifices before he could remove the Vail and enter into that sacred and venerable place where no sinner had right to appear Then he was to present the precious Incense and the Blood of the Sacrifices to render God favourable to them Now these were shadows of what Christ was to perform The Holy of Holies was the type of the third-Heaven in its Situation Quality and Furniture For it was the most secret part of the Tabernacle separated by a double Vail by that which was between it and the first Sanctuary and by another that distinguisht the first from the outward Court Thus the Heaven of Heavens is the most distant part of the Universe and separated from the lower World by the Starry Heaven and by the Airy Region which reaches down to the Earth Besides the most Holy part of the Tabernacle was inaccessible to sinners as Heaven is stiled by the Apostle the place of inaccessible light And it was the Throne of God where he reigned according to the Language of the Psalmist He dwelt between the Cherubims The figures of the Cherubims represented the Myriads of holy Angels that adore the incomprehensible Deity and are always ready to execute his commands The Tables of the Law were a Symbol of that infinite Wisdom and Holiness which ordained them and the High-Priests entering with the Blood of the Sacrifice and carrying with him all the Tribes of Israel upon his Breast signified that Jesus Christ the true High-Priest after he had really expiated sin by his Divine Sacrifice in the lower World should enter into the Eternal Sanctuary with his own Blood and introduce with him all his People Of this there was a marvellous sign given for in the same moment that Christ expired the Vail of the Temple that separated the Oracle from the first part was rent from the top to the bottom to signifie that the true High-Priest had Authority and Right to enter into Heaven itself And the special end of his ascending is exprest by the Apostle For Christ is not entered into the Holy places made with hands which are the Figures of the true but into Heaven its self now to appear in the presence of God for us As the High-Priest might not enter into that sacred and terrible place neither could he propitiate God without sprinkling the
in this oeconomy of our Mediator his Humiliation was the cause of his Exaltation upon a double account 1. As the Death of Christ was an expression of such humility such admirable Obedience to God such Divine Love to Men that it was perfectly pleasing to his Father and his Power being equal to his Love he infinitely rewarded it 2. The Death of Christ was for Satisfaction to Justice and when he had done that Work he was to enter into rest It behoved Christ to Suffer and enter into Glory 'T is true Divine Honour was due to him upon another title as the Son of God but the receiving of it was deferr'd by dispensation for a time First He must redeem us and then Reign The Scripture is very clear in referring his actual possession of Glory as the just consequent to his compleat expiation of sin When by himself He had purged our sins He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high And after he had made one Sacrifice for sins for ever sate down on the right hand of God And not only the Will of the Father but the nature of the thing it self required this way of proceeding For Jesus Christ by voluntary susception undertaking to satisfie the Law for us as he was obliged to suffer what was necessary in order to our Redemption so 't was reasonable after Justice was satisfied that the humane nature should be freed from its infirmities and the Glory of his Divine be so conspicuous that every tongue should confess that Jesus who was despised on Earth is supreme Lord The Apostle sums up all together in that triumphant challeng Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect 'T is God that justifies who is he that condemneth 'T is Christ that died yea rather is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us 3. The excellent benefits which God reconciled bestows upon us are the effects and evidences of the compleatness of Christs Satisfaction And these are pardon of Sin Grace and Glory The Apostle tells us that the Law made nothing perfect all its Sacrifices and Ceremonies could not expiate the guilt nor cleanse the stain of sin nor open Heaven for us which three are requisit to our perfection But Christ by one Offering hath perfected for ever them that are Sanctified By him we obtain full Justification Renovation and Communion with God therefore his Sacrifice the Meritorious cause of procuring them must be perfect 1. Our Justification is the effect of his Death for the obligation of the Law is made void by it God forgives us our Trespasses blotting out the hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us and took it out of the way nailing it to his Cross. The terms are used that are proper to the cancelling a civil Bond. The killing letter of the Law is abolisht by the Blood of the Cross the Nails and the Spear have rent it in pieces to signifie that its condemning power is taken away Now the infinite vertue of his Death in taking away the guilt of sin will more fully appear if we consider 1. That it hath procured Pardon for sins committed in all ages of the World Without the intervention of a Sacrifice God would not Pardon and the most costly that were offered up by sinners were of no value to make compensation to Justice but the Blood of Christ was the only propitiation for sins committed before his comming The Apostle tells us He was not obliged to offer himself often as the High-Priest entered into the Holy place every year with the Blood of others but now once in the end of the World hath he appeared to put away sin by the Sacrifice of himself The direct sense of the Words is that the virtue of his Sacrifice extended it self to all times for otherwise in regard Men have always needed propitiation He must have Suffered often since the Creation of the World And if it be askt how His Death had a saving influence before He actually Suffered the answer is clear We must consider the Death of Christ not as a Natural but Moral cause 't is not as a Medicine that heals but as a Ransom that frees a Captive Natural Causes operate nothing before their real existence but 't is not necessary that moral Causes should have an actual being 't is sufficient that they shall be and that the person with whom they are effectual accept the Promise As a Captive is releast upon assurance given that he will send his ransom though 't is not actually deposited Thus the death of Christ was available to purchase pardon for Believers before his coming for he interposed as their Surety and God to whom all things are present knew the accomplishment of it in the appointed time He is therefore call'd the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world not only in respect of God's Decree but his Efficacy The salvation we derive from him was ever in him He appeared under the Empire of Augustus and dyed under Tyberius but he was a Redeemer in all ages otherwise the comparison were not just that as by Adam all die so by Christ all are made alive 'T is true under the old Testament they had not a clear knowledg of him yet they enjoyed the benefit of his unvaluable Sufferings For the medium by which the benefits our Redeemer purchased are conveyed to Men is not the exact knowledg of what he did and suffered but sincere Faith in the Promise of God Now the Divine Revelation being the rule and measure of Faith such a degree was sufficient to Salvation as answered the general discovery of Grace Believers depended upon God's goodness to pardon them in such a way as was honourable to his Justice They had some general Knowledge that the Messiah should come and bring Salvation Abraham rejoiced to see the day of Christ Moses valued the Afflictions of Christ more than the Treasures of Aegypt And Believers in general are described to be waiters for the Consolation of Israel In short the Jewish and Christian Church are essentially one they differ no more than the morning and Evening Star which is the same but is diversly called from its appearance before the Sun-rising or after its setting So our Faith respects a Saviour that is past theirs respected Him as to come Besides The saving vertue of his Death as it reaches to all former so to all succeeding Ages He is the same yesterday to day and for ever not only in respect of his Person but his Office The vertue of the Legal Sacrifices expired with the Offering upon a new sin they were repeated Their imperfection is argued from their repetition But the precious Oblation of Christ hath an everlasting efficacy to obtain full Pardon for Believers His Blood is as powerful to propitiate God as if it were this day shed upon the Cross. He is able to save
to perpetuity all that shall address to God by Him Since He ever lives to make Intercession The Pardon that He once purchased shall ever be applied to contrite Believers The Covenant that was sealed with his Blood is eternal and the Mercies contained in it 2. The perfection of his Sacrifice is evident by its expiating universally the guilt of all transgressions 'T is true Sins in their own nature are different some have a crimson guilt attending them and accordingly Conscience should be affected But the Grace of the Gospel makes no difference The Apostle tells us that the Blood of Christ cleanseth from all sins Whatever the kinds degrees and circumstances are As the Deluge overflowed the highest Mountains as well as the least Hill so pardoning Mercy covers Sins of the first magnitude as well as the smallest Under the Law one Sacrifice could expiate but one Offence though but against a carnal Commandment but this one washes away the guilt of all Sins against the Moral Law And in that Dispensation no Sacrifices were instituted for Idolatry Adultery Murder and other Crimes which were certainly punisht with Death But under the Gospel Sins of what quality soever if repented of are pardoned The Apostle having reckoned up Idolaters Adulterers and many other notorious Sinners that shall not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven tells the Corinthians that such were some of them but they were sanctified and justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. 'T is true Those who sin against the Holy Ghost are excepted from Pardon But the Reason is Because the Death of Christ was not appointed for the Expiation of it And there being no Sacrifice there is no Satisfaction and consequently no Pardon The Wisdome and Justice of God requires this Severity against them For if he that despised Moses Law died without Mercy of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy who hath troden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the Blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite to the Spirit of Grace that is They renounce their Redeemer as if he were not the Son of God and virtually consent to the cruel Sentence past against Him as if he had blasphemed when He declared Himself to be so and thereby out sin his Sufferings How reasonable is it they should be for ever deprived of the Benefits who obstinately reject the Means that purchased them 2. The Death of Christ hath procured Grace for Men. We made a Forfeiture of our Original Holiness and were righteously deprived of it And till Divine Justice was appeased all influences of Grace were suspended Now the Death of Christ opened Heaven and brought down the Spirit who is the Principle of Renovation in us The world lay in wickedness as a Carcass in the grave insensible of its horror and corruption The Holy Spirit hath inspired it with a new life and by a marvellous change hath caused Purity to succeed Pollution 3. The receiving Believers into Heaven is a convincing proof of the all-sufficiency of his Sacrifice For Justice will not permit that Glory and Immortality which are the Priviledges of the Righteous should be given to guilty defiled Creatures Therefore our Saviour's first and greatest work was to remove the bar that excluded us from the place of Felicity 'T is more difficult to justifie a Sinner than to glorifie a Saint The Goodness of God inclines Him to bestow Happiness on those who are not obnoxious to the Law but his Justice was to be aton'd by Sufferings Now what stronger Argument can there be that God is infinitely pleased with what His Son hath done and suffered for his People than the taking of them into his Presence to see his Glory The Apostle sets down this order in the work of our Redemption That Christ being made perfect by Sufferings that is having consummated that part of his Office which respected the expiation of Sin He became the Author of eternal Salvation to all that obey him To sum up all 't is observable that the Scripture attributes to the Death of Christ not only Satisfaction whereby we are redeemed from Punishment but such a redundant Merit as purchases for us Adoption and all the glorious Prerogatives of the Children of God Upon these accounts his Blood hath a double Efficacy As the Blood of the Covenant it procured our peace as the Blood of the Testament it conveyes to us a Title to Heaven it self according to that of St. Paul we have boldness to enter into the Holiest by his Blood I will remove two slender prejudices against this Doctrine 1. That Repentance and Faith are required in order to the partaking of the precious benefits which Christ hath purchased doth not lessen the Merit of his Death and the compleatness of the Satisfaction made to God by it For we must consider There is a great difference between the payment of that the Law requires by the Debtor and the payment of that which was not in the original Obligation by another in his stead Upon the payment of the first actual freedom immediately follows If a Debtor pays the sum he ows or a Criminal endure the punishment of the Law they are actually discharged and never liable to be sued or suffer again But when the same that the Law requires is not paid but something else by another the release of the guilty is suspended upon those condâ—tions which he that freely makes satisfaction 〈◊〉 the Governour who by favour accepts it are â—â—eased to appoint Now 't is thus in the transaction of our Redemption Christ laid down his Life for us and this was not the very thing in strict sense that the Law required For according to the threatning the Soul that sins shall die the Delinquent in his own person was to suffer the penalty and there was no necessity natural or moral that obliged God to admit of his Satisfaction for our discharge If the Law had exprest that the sinner or his surety should suffer there had been no need of a better Covenant But in this the Grace of God so illustrously appears that by his appointment the punishment of the guilty was transfer'd to the Innocent who voluntarily undertook for them In this respect God truly pardons sin though he received intire Satisfaction for he might in right have refused it Now these things being supposed although the Blood of Christ was a price so precious that it can only be valued by God that received it and might worthily have redeemed a thousand Worlds yet the effects of it are to be dispensed according to the Eternal Covenant between the Father and the Son and the tenor of it is revealed in the Gospel viz. that Repentance and Faith are the conditions upon which the obtaining pardon of sin and all the blessings which are the consequents of it depends thus Christ who makes Satisfaction and God that accepts
it declare The Commission of the Apostles from his own mouth was to preach Repentance and Remission of sins in his name to all Nations and he was exalted by God to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sin The establishing of this order is not a meer positive command wherein the will of the Law-giver is the sole ground of our duty but there is a special congruity and reason in the nature of the thing it self For Christ hath satisfied Justice that God may exercise pardoning Mercy in such a manner as is suitable to his other perfections Now 't is contrary to his Wisdom to dispense the precious benefits of his Sons Blood to impenitent Unbelievers to give such rich Pearls and so dearly bought to Swine that will trample them under their feet to bestow Salvation on those who despise the Saviour 'T is contrary to his Holiness to forgive those who will securely abuse his favour as if his pardon were a priviledge and license to sin against him Nay final Impenitency is unpardonable to Mercy it self For the objects of Justice and Mercy cannot be the same now an impenitent sinner is necessarily under the revenging Justice of God 'T is no disparagement to his omnipotency that he cannot save such For although God can do whatsoever he will yet he can will nothing but what is agreeable to his Nature Not that there is any Law above God that obliges him to act but he is a Law to himself And the more excellent his perfections are the less he can contradict them As 't is no reflection upon his power that he cannot die neither is it that he can do nothing unbecoming his perfections On the contrary it implies weakness to be liable to any such act Thus supposing the Creature Holy it is impossible but he should love it not that he ows any thing to the Creature but in regard he is infinitely good and if impenitent and obstinate in sin he cannot but hate and punish it not that he is accountable for his Actions but because he is infinitely Just. And from hence it appears that the requiring of Repentance and Faith in order to the actual partaking of the blessings our Redeemer purchased doth not diminish the value of his Satisfaction they being not the causes of pardon but necessary qualifications in the subject that receives it 2. It doth not lessen the Compleatness of his Satisfaction that Believers are liable to Afflictions and Death For these are continued according to the agreement between God and our Redeemer for other ends than satisfaction to Justice which was fully accomplisht by him This will appear by several Considerations 1. Some Afflictions have not the nature of a Punishment but are intended only for the exercise of their Graces That the trial of their Faith Patience and Hope being much more precious than of Gold that perisheth though it be tried by the fire might be found unto praise Now these Afflictions are the occasion of their Joy and in order to their Glory Of this kind are all the Sufferings that Christians endure for the promotion of the Gospel Thus the Apostles esteemed themselves dignified in suffering what was contumelious and reproachful for the Name of Christ. And St. Paul interprets it as a special favour that God call'd forth the Philippians to the Combat To you it is given in the behalf of Christ to suffer Not only the Graces of Faith and Fortitude but the Affliction was given So Believers are declared Happy when they are partakers of Christs Sufferings for the Spirit of Glory rests on them Now it is evident that Afflictions of this nature are no Punishments For since 't is essential to Punishment to be inflicted for a Fault and every Fault hath a turpitude in it It necessarily follows that Punishment which is the brand of a crime must be alwaies attended with infamy and the Sufferer under shame But Christians are honourable by their Sufferings for God as they conform them to the Image of his Son who was consecrated by Sufferings 2. Afflictions are sent sometimes not with respect to a Sin committed but to prevent the commission of it and this distinguishes them from Punishments For the Law deters from Evil not by inflicting but threatning the Penalty But in the Divine Discipline there is another Reason God afflicts to restrain from Sin As St. Paul had a thorn in the flesh to prevent Pride 3. Those Evils that are inflicted on Believers for Sin do not diminish the power and value of Christ's Passion For we must distinguish between Punishments which are meerly castigatory for the good of the Offender and that are purely vindictive for the just Satisfaction of the Law Now Believers are liable to the first but are freed from the other For Christ hath redeemed them from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for them The Popish Doctrine of Satisfaction to offended Justice by our suffering temporal Evils is attended with many pernicious Consequences 1. It robs the Cross of Christ of one part of its Glory as if something were left to us to make up in the degrees and vertue of his Sufferings 2. It reflects on Gods Justice as if He exacted two different Satisfactions for Sin the one from Christ our Surety the other from the Sinner 3. It disparages his Mercy in making Him to punish whom He pardons and to inflict a Penalty after the Sin is remitted 4. 'T is dangerous to Man by feeding a false Presumption in him as if by the merit of his sufferings he could expiate Sin and obtain part of that Salvation which we entirely owe to the Death of our Redeemer The difference between Chastisements and purely vindictive Punishments appears in three things 1. In the Causes from whence they proceed The severest Sufferings of the Godly are not the effects of the Divine Vengeance 'T is true they are Evidences of Gods displeasure against them for Sin but not of Hatred For being reconciled to them in Christ He beares an unchangeable Affection to them and Love cannot hate though it may be angry The motive that excites God to correct them is Love according to that testimony of the Apostle Whom the Lord loves He chastens As somtimes out of his severest displeasure He forbeares to strike and condemns obstinate Sinners to Prosperity here so from the tenderest Mercy he afflicts his own But purely vindictive Judgments proceed from meer wrath 2. They differ in their measures The Evils that Believers suffer are alwaies proportioned to their strength They are not the sudden eruptions of Anger but deliberate Dispensations David deprecates Gods Judgment as 't is opposed to Favour Enter not into Judgment with thy Servant O Lord and Jeremiah desires Gods Judgment as 't is opposed to Fury Correct me Oh Lord in thy Judgment not in thy Fury 'T is the gracious Promise of God to
David with respect to Solomon If he commit Iniquity I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the childaen of men that is Chastise him moderately For in the stile of the Scripture as things are magnified by the Epithet Divine or of God as the Cedars of God that is very tall And Nineve is called The City of God that is very great So to signifie things that are in a mediocrity the Scripture uses the Epithet humane or of Men And according to the Rule of Opposition the Rod of God is an extraordinary Affliction which destroys the Sinner 't is such a Punishment as a man can neither inflict nor endure But the Rod of Men is a moderate Correction that doth not exceed the strength of the Patient But every purely vindictive Punishment which the Law pronounces is in proportion to the nature of the Crime not the strength of the Criminal 3. They are distinguisht by the intention and end of God in inflicting them 1. In Chastisements God primarily designs the Profit of his People That they may be partakers of his Holiness When they are secure and carnal He awakens Conscience by the sharp voice of the Rod to reflect upon Sin to make them observant for the future to render their Affections more indifferent to the World and stronger towards Heaven The Apostle expresses the nature of Chastisements When we are judged we are instructed by the Lord They are more lively Lessons than those which are by the Word alone and make a deeper impression upon the heart David acknowledges Before he was afflicted he went astray but now have I kept thy words Corrupt Nature makes Gods Favours pernicious but his Grace makes our Punishments profitable Briefly They are not satisfactions for what is past but admonitions for the time to come But purely vindictive Judgments are not inflicted for the reformation of an Offender but to preserve the honour of the Sovereign and Publick Order and to make compensation for the breach of the Law If any advantage accrue to the Offender 't is accidental and besides the intention of the Judg. 2. The end of chastisements upon Believers is to prevent their final destruction When we are Judged we are Chastened of the Lord that we may not be condemned with the World And this sweetens and allays all their Sufferings As the Psalmist declares Let the Righteous smite me and it shall be a kindness let him reprove me it shall be an excellent oile which shall not break my head But the Vindictive Punishment of a Malefactor is not to prevent his condemnation for Death is sometimes the Sentence In this respect the temporal evils that befal the Wicked and the Godly though materially the same yet legally differ For to the Wicked they are as so many earnests of the compleat payment they shall make to Justice in another World the beginnings of Eternal Sorrows but to the Godly they are in order to their Salvation They are as the Red-Sea through which the Israelites past to the Land of Promise but the Egyptians were drowned in it Briefly their Sufferings differ as much in their issue as the Kingdoms of Heaven and of Hell 2. That Death remains to Believers doth not lessen the perfection of Christs Satisfaction 'T is true considered absolutely 't is the revenge of the Law for sin and the greatest temporal evil so that it may seem strange that those who are Redeemed by an Alsufficient ransom should pay this Tribute to the King of Terrors But the nature of it is changed 't is a Curse to the wicked inflicted for Satisfaction to Justice but a Priviledge to Believers As God appointing the Rainbow to be the Sign of his Covenant that he would drown the World no more ordain'd the same Waters to be the token of his Mercy which were the instrument of his Justice Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. And the Psalmist tells us that precious in the sight of the Lord is the Death of his Saints Christ hath taken away what is truly destructive in it 'T is continued for their advantage 1. Corruption hath so depraved the sensitive appetite that during our natural state we are not intirely freed from it but Death that destroyes the natural frame of the Body puts an end to sin And in this respect there is a great difference between the Death of Christ and of Believers the end of his was to remove the guilt of sin of theirs to extinguish the reliques of it 2. 'T is a delivery from Temporal evils and an entrance into Glory Death and Despair seize on the Wicked at once but the Righteous hath hope in his Death 3. The Grave shall give up its spoils at the last It retains the Body for a time not to destroy but purifie it Our Saviour tells us that whoever believes on him shall not see death for he will raise them up at the last day He that dies a Man shall revive an Angel cloathed with Light and Immortality I will conclude this argument with the words of St. Austin Ablato criminis nexu relicta est mors Nunc vero majore mirabiliore gratia Salvatoris in usus justitiae peccati poena est conversa tum enim dictum est Homini morieris si peccaveris nunc dictum est Martyri morere ne pecces Et sic per ineffabilem Dei misericordiam ipsa poena vitiorum transit in arma virtutis fit justi meritum etiam supplicium peccatoris Although the Guilt of Sin is removed yet death remains But by the admirable Grace of the Redeemer the punishment of sin is made an advantage to Holiness The Law threatned Man with Death if he sinned the Gospel commands a Martyr to die that he may not sin And thus by the unspeakable Mercy of God the punishment of Vice becomes the security of Virtue and that which was revenged upon the sinner gives to the Righteous a title to a glorious reward CHAP. XV. Inferences In the Death of Christ there is the clearest discovery of the evil of sin The strictness of divine Justice is most visible in it The consideration of the ends of Christs Death takes off the scandal of the Cross and changes the offence into admiration The Satisfaction of Justice by Christs Sufferings affords the strongest assurance that God is ready to pardon sinners The absolute necessity of complying with the terms of the Gospel for Justification There are but two wayes of appearing before the supreme Judge either in Innocence or by the Righteousness of Christ The Causes why men reject Christ are a legal temper that is natural to them and the predominant love of sin The unavoidable misery of all that will not submit to our Saviour 1. FRom hence we may discover most clearly the evil of Sin which no Sacrifice could expiate but the Blood of the Son of God 'T is true the
perplexities how we may be justified is to deny the value of his Righteousness and the truth of his Ascension And say not who shall descend into the deep to bear the Torments of Hell and expiate Sin this is to deny the vertue of his Death whereby he appeased God and redeemed us from the wrath to come In the Law the condemning Righteousness of God is made visible in the Gospel his justifying Righteousness is revealed from Faith to Faith And this is an infallible proof of its divine descent For whereas all other Religions either stupifie Conscience and harden it in carnal Security or terrifie it by continual Alarms of Vengeance the Gospel alone hath discovered how God may shew Mercy to repenting Sinners without injury to his Justice The Heathens robb'd one Attribute to enrich another either they conceived God to be indulgent to their Sins and easie to pardon to the prejudice of his Justice or cruel and revengful to the dishonour of his Goodness But Christians are instructed how these are wonderfully reconciled and magnified in our Redemption From hence there is a divine calm in the Conscience and that Peace which passeth Understanding The Soul is not only freed from the Fear of Gods anger but hath a lively Hope of his Favour and Love This is exprest by the Apostle when he reckons among the Priviledges of Believers That they are come to God the Judg of all and to Jesus the Mediator of the New-Covenant and to the Blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than the blood of Abel The apprehension of God as the Judg of the world strikes the guilty with fear and terrour but as He is sweetned by the Mediator we may approach to Him with confidence For what Sins are there which so entire a Satisfaction doth not expiate What Torments can they deserve which his wounds and stripes have not removed God is Just as well as Merciful in justifying those who believe in Jesus 'T is not the quality of Sins but of Sinners that excepts them from Pardon Christ is the golden Altar in Heaven for penitent Believers to flie to from whence God will never pluck any one to destroy him 5. From hence we may learn how absolute a necessity there is for our coming to Christ for Justification There are but two waies of appearing before the Righteous and Supreme Judg. 1. In Innocence and sinless Obedience or by the Righteousness of Christ The one is by the Law the other by Grace And these two can never be compounded for he that pleads Innocence in that disclaims Favour and he that sues for Favour acknowledges Guilt Now the first cannot be performed by us For entire Obedience to the Law supposes the integrity of our natures there being a Moral impossibility that the Faculties once corrupted should act regularly But Man is stain'd with Original Sin from his Conception And the form of the Law runs universally Cursed is every one that obeys not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them In these Scales one evil work preponderates a thousand good If a Man were guilty but of one single Error his entire Obedience afterwards could not save him for that being alwaies due to the Law the payment of it cannot discount for the former Debt So that we cannot in any degree be justified by the Law for there is no middle between transgressing and not transgressing it He that breaks one Article in a Covenant cuts off his claim to any benefit by it Briefly the Law Justifies only the Perfect and condemns without distinction all that are Guilty So that to pretend Justification by the works of it is as unreasonable as for a man to produce in Court the Bond which obliges him to his Creditor in testimony that he ows him nothing Whoever presumes to appear before God's Judgment-Seat in his own righteousness shall be covered with confusion 2. By the Righteousness of Christ. This alone absolves from the Guilt of sin saves from Hell and can endure the trial of God's Tribunal This the Apostle prized as his unvaluable treasure in comparison of which all other things are but dross and dung that I may be found in him not having mine own Righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the Faith of Christ the Righteousness which is of God by Faith That which he ordained and rewarded in the Person of our Redeemer he cannot but accept Now this Righteousness is meritoriously imputed only to Believers For depending solely upon the Will of God as to its being and effects it cannot possibly be reckoned to any for their benefit and advantage but in that way which he hath appointed The Lord Christ who made Satisfaction tells us that the benefit of it is communicated only through our Believing God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes on him should not perish As all sins are mortal in respect of their guilt but death is not actually inflicted for them upon the account of the Grace of the New Covenant so all sins are venial in respect of the Satisfaction made by Christ but they are not actually pardoned till the performing of the condition to which pardon is annext Faith transfers the guilt from the Sinner to the Sacrifice And this is not an act restrained to the understanding but principally respects the will by which we accept or refuse Salvation The nature of it is best exprest by the Scripture-phrase the receiving Christ which respects the terms upon which God offers him in the Gospel to be our Prince and Saviour The state of favour begins upon our consent to the New Covenant And how reasonable is the condition it requires how impossible is it to be otherwise God is reconcileable by the Death of Christ so that he may exercise Mercy without injury to his Justice and Holiness He is willing and desirous to be upon terms of amity with Men but cannot be actually reconciled till they accept of them for reconcilement is between two Though God upon the account of Christ is made placable to the humane nature which he is not to the Angelical in its lapsed state and hath condescended so far as to offer conditions of peace to Men yet they are reconciled at once That Christ becomes an effectual Mediator there must be the consent of both parties As God hath declared his by laying the punishment of our sins on Christ so Man gives his by submitting to the Law of Faith And the great end of Preaching the Gospel is to overcome the obstinacy of Men and reconcile them to God and their happiness We are Ambassadours for Christ and pray you in Christs stead to be reconciled to God With this difference Christ furnisht the means they only bring the message of reconciliation Now Men are with difficulty wrought on to comply with the conditions of Pardon by Christ. 1. Upon
the account of a legal Temper that universally inclines them to seek for Justification by their own Works This is most suitable to the Law light of nature for the tenour of the first Covenant was Do and live So that the way of Gospel-Justification as 't is supernatural in its discovery so in its contrariety to Mans Principles Besides as Pride at first aspir'd to make Man as God so it tempts him to usurp the honour of Christ to be his own Saviour He is unwilling to stoop that he may drink of the Waters of Life Till the Heart by the weight of its guilt is broken in pieces and looses its former fashion and figure it will not humbly comply with the offer of Salvation for the Merits of another And 't is very remarkable that upon the first opening of the Gospel no Evangelical Doctrine was more disrelisht by the Jews than Justification by imputed Righteousness The Apostle gives this account of their opposition that being ignorant of God's Righteousness and going about to establish their own Righteousness they submitted not to the Righteousness of God They were prepossest with this Principle that Life was to be obtained by their works because the express condition of the Law was so And mistaking the end of its Institution by Moses they set the Law against the Promises For since the Fall the Law was given not absolutely to be a Covenant of Life but with a design to prepare Men for the Gospel that upon the sight of their Guilt and the Curse they might have recourse to the Redeemer and by Faith embrace that Satisfaction he hath made for them Christ is the end of the Law for Righteousness to every one that believeth From the example of the Jews we may see how Men are naturally affected And 't is worthy of observation that the reformation of Religion took its rise by the same controversie with the Papists by which the Gospel was first introduced into the World For besides innumerable abuses crept into the Church the People were perswaded that by purchasing Indulgences they should be saved from the Wrath of God And when this darkness covered the face of the Earth the zeal of the first Reformers broke forth who to undeceive the world clearly demonstrated from Scriptures that Justification is alone obtained by a lively and purifying Faith in the Blood of Christ. A strong proof that the same Gospel which was first revealed by the Apostles was revived by those excellent Men and the same Church which was first built by the Apostles was raised out of its ruines by them Now the Gospel to eradicate this disposition which is so natural and strong in faln Man is in nothing more clear and express than in declaring that by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in Gods sight The Apostle asserts without distinction that by the Works of the Law Justification cannot be obtained whether they proceed from the power of Nature or the Grace of the Spirit For he argues against the merit of Works to Justification not against the principle from whence they proceed And where he most affectionately declares his esteem of Christ and his Righteousness as the sole meritorious cause of his Justification he expresly rejects his own Righteousness which is of the Law By his own Righteousness he comprehends all the works of the renewed as well as natural state for they are performed by Man and are acts of Obedience to the Law which commands perfect Love to God These are withering leaves that cannot conceal our shame when we appear before God in Judgment Not but that good works are most pleasing to him but not for this end to expiate Sin We must distinguish between their substance and the quality that errour giveth them The opinion of merit changes their nature and turns Gold into Dross And if our real Righteousness how exact soever cannot absolve us from the least guilt much less can the performance of some external actions though specious in appearance yet not commanded by God and that have no moral value All the Disciplines and Severities whereby men think to make Satisfaction to the Law are like a Crown of Straw that dishonours the Head instead of adorning it But that Righteousness which was acquired by the Meritorious Sufferings of Christ and is embraced by Faith is alsufficient for our Justification This is as pure as Innocence to all the effects of Pardon and Reconciliation this alone secures us from the charge of the Law and the chalenge of Justice Being clothed with this we may enter Heaven and converse with the pure society of Angels without blushing The Saints who now reign in Glory were not Men who lived in the perfection of Holiness here below but Repenting Believing Sinners who are washed white in the Blood of the Lamb. 2. The most universal hinderance of Mens complying with the conditions of Pardon by Christ is the predominant love of some Lust. Although Men would entertain him as a Saviour to redeem them from Hell yet they reject him as their Lord. Those in the Parable who said We will not have this Man to reign over us exprest the inward sense and silent thoughts of all carnal Men. Many would depend on his Sacrifice yet will not submit to his Scepter they would have Christ to pacifie their Consciences and the world to please their Affections Thus they divide between the Offices of Christ his Priestly and his Regal They would have Christ to die for them but not to live in them They divide the acts of the same Office they lean on his Cross to support them from falling to Hell but Crucifie not one Lust on it They are desirous he should reconcile them to God by his Sacrifice but not to bless them in turning them from their Iniquities And thus in effect they absolutely refuse him and render his Death unavailable For the receiving of Christ as Mediator in all his Offices is the Condition indispensably requisite to partake of the Benefits of his Sufferings The Resigning up of our selves to him as our Prince is as necessary an act of justifying Faith as the Apprehending the Crucified Saviour So that in every real Christian Faith is the Principle of Obedience and Peace and is as inseparable from Holiness as from Salvation To conclude this Argument From hence we may see How desperate the state is of impenitent Unbelievers They are cut off from any claim to the Benefits of Christs Death The Law of Faith like that of the Medes and Persians is unalterable He that believeth not the Son shall not see life Christ died not to expiate final Infidelity This is the mortal Sin that actually damns It charges all their guilt upon Sinners It renders the Sufferings of Christ fruitless and ineffectual to them For 't is not the Preparation of a Sovereign Remedy that cures the Disease but the applying it As our Sins
were imputed to him upon the account of his Union with us in nature and his consent to be our Surety so his Righteousness is meritoriously imputed to us upon our Union with him by a lively Faith The man that lookt on the Rainbow when he was ready to be drown'd what relief was it to him that God had promised not to drown the world when he must perish in the waters So though Christ hath purchased Pardon for repenting Believers and a Rainbow encompasses the Throne of God the sign of Reconciliation what advantage is this to the Unbeliever who dies in his Sins and drops into the Lake of Fire 'T is not from any defect of Mercy in God or Righteousness in Christ but for the obstinate refusal of it that men certainly perish This inhances their Guilt and Misery All the rich expence of Grace for their Redemption shall be charged upon them The Blood of Christ shall not be imputed for their Ransom but for their deeper Damnation and instead of speaking better things than the Blood of Abel shall call louder for Vengeance against them than that innocent blood which reacht Heaven with its voice against the Murderer Briefly whom so precious a Sacrifice doth not redeem they are reserved entire victims whole burnt Offerings to Divine Justice Every impenitent Unbeliever shall be salted with fire CHAP. XVI Of all the Divine Perfections Holiness is peculiarly admirable The honour of it is secured in our Redemption In the bitter Sufferings of Christ God declared Himself unappeasable to Sin though appeaseable to Sinners The Priviledges purchased by Christ are conveighed upon terms honourable to Holiness Pardon of Sin Adoption the Inheritance of Glory are annexed to special Qualifications in those who receive them The Redeemer is made a quickening Principle to inspire us with new Life In order to our Sanctification He hath given us the most perfect Rule of Holiness He exhibited a compleat Pattern of it He purchas'd and conveyes the Spirit of Holiness to us He presents the strongest Motives to perswade us to be holy The perfect Laws of Christ are considered as they enjoin an absolute separation from all Evil and command the practice of all substantial Goodness Some particular Precepts which the Gospel especially enforces with the Reasons of them are considered OF all the Perfections of the Deity none is more worthy of his Nature and so peculiarly admirable as his Infinite Purity 'T is the most shining Attribute that derives a lustre to all the rest He is glorious in Holiness Wisdom degenerates into Craft Power into Tyranny Mercy loses its nature without Holiness He swears by it as his Supreme Excellency Once have I sworn by my Holiness I will not lie unto David 'T is the most venerable Attribute in the Praise whereof the Harmony of Heaven agrees The Angels and Saints above are represented expressing their extasy and ravishment at the beauty of Holiness Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole Earth is full of his Glory This He only loves and values in the Creature being the Impression of his most Divine and amiable Perfection Inferiour Creatures have a resemblance of other Divine Attributes The Winds and Thunder set forth God's Power the firmness of the Rocks and the incorruptibility of the Heavens are an obscure representation of his Unchangeableness but Holiness that is the most Orient-Pearl in the Crown of Heaven only shines in the reasonable Creature Upon this account Man only is said to be formed after his Image And in Men there are some appearances of the Deity that do not entitle to his special Love In Princes there is a shadow of his Sovereignty yet they may be the objects of his displeasure but a likeness to God in Holiness atracts his Eye and Heart and infinitely endears the Creature to him Now this Attribute is in a special manner provokt by Mans sin and we are restored to the favour and friendship of God in such a manner as may preserve the Honour of it intire and inviolable This will fully appear by considering what our Redeemer suffered for the purchasing our Pardon and the terms upon which the precious Benefits of his Death are conveied to us and what he hath done to restore our lost Holiness that we may be qualified for the enjoyment of God 1. God's Infinite Purity is declared in his Justice in that He would not pardon Sin but upon such terms as might fully demonstrate how odious 't was to him What inflam'd the Wrath of God against his Beloved Son whom by a voice from Heaven he declared to be the object of his delight What made Him inexorable to his Prayers and Tears when He sollicited the Divine Power and Love the Attributes that relieve the miserable crying Abba Father all things are possible to thee let this Cup pass from me What made him suspend all comforting Influences and by a dreadful Desertion afflict him when he was environ'd with Sorrows 'T is Sin only that caused this fierce displeasure not inherent for the Messiah was cut off but not for himself but imputed by his voluntary undertaking for us God so loved the World and so hated Sin that He gave his Son to purchase our Pardon by Sufferings When his Compassions to Man were at the highest yet then his antipathy against Sin was so strong that no less Sacrifice could reconcile Him to us Thus God declared himself to be unappeasable to Sin though not to Sinners 2. The Priviledges that are purchased by our Redeemers Sufferings are dispenst upon those terms which are honourable to Gods Holiness I will instance in the three great Benefits of the Evangelical Covenant The Pardon of Sin Adoption into God's Family and the Inheritance of Glory All which are conditional and annext to special Qualifications in the persons who have a title to them 1. The Death of Christ is beneficial to Pardon and Life only to those who repent and believe The Holy God will by no means spare the guilty that is declare the guilty innocent or forgive an incapable subject All the Promises of Grace and Mercy are with respect to Repentance from dead works and to a lively Faith The Son of God is made a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance and Remission of Sins And the Apostle tells us That being justified by Faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The first includes a cordial grief for Sins past and sincere effectual Resolutions to forsake them and hath a necessary conjunction with Pardon as by vertue of the Divine Command so from a condecency and fitness with respect to God the giver of Pardon and to the quality of the Blessing it self The other Qualification is Faith to which Justification is in a special manner attributed not in respect of Efficiency or Merit for the Mercy of God upon the account of Christs Satisfaction is the sole Cause of our Pardon but as a moral instrument
that is the Condition upon which God absolves Man from his guilt And this Grace of Faith as it respects entire Christ in all his Offices so it contains the Seed and first Life of Evangelical Obedience It crucifies our Lusts overcomes the World works by Love as well as justifies the person by relying on the Merits of Christ for Salvation 2 Adoption into Gods Family the purchase of Christ's Meritorious Sufferings who Redeemed us from the Servitude of Sin and Death is conferr'd upon us in Regeneration For this Prerogative consists not meerly in an Extrinsick Relation to God and a title to the Eternal Inheritance but in our participation of the Divine Nature whereby we are the living Images of Gods Holiness Civil Adoption gives the title but not the reality of a Son But the Divine is efficacious and changes us into the real likeness of our Heavenly Father We cannot enter into this state of Favour but upon our cleansing from all Impurity Be separate from the pollutions of the profane world and I will receive you and will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters saith the Lord Almighty These are the indispensable terms upon which we are received into that honourable Alliance None can enjoy the Priviledge but those that yield the Obedience of Children 3. Holiness is the Condition on which our future Blessedness depends Electing Mercy doth not produce our Glorification immediately but begins in our Vocation and Justification which are the intermediate Links in the Chain of Salvation As Natural Causes work on a distant object by passing through the medium God first gives Grace then Glory The everlasting Covenant that is sealed by the Blood of Christ establishes the connexion between them Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God The exclusion of all others is peremptory and universal Without Holiness no Man shall see the Lord. The Righteousness of the Kingdom is the only way of entring into it A few good actions scattered in our lives are not availeable but a course of Obedience brings to Happiness Those who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality shall inherit eternal life This is not a mere positive Appointment but grounded on the unchangeable respect of things There is a rational convenience between Holiness and Happiness according to the Wisdom and Goodness of God and 't is exprest in Scripture by the natural relation of the Seed to the Harvest both as to the quality and measure What a man sows that shall he reap We must be like God in purity before we can be in felicity Indeed 't would be a disparagement to Gods Holiness and pollute Heaven it self to receive unsanctified Persons as impure as those in Hell 'T is equally impossible for the Creature to be happy without the favour of the Holy God and for God to communicate His favour to the sinful Creature Briefly according to the Law of Faith no wicked Person hath any right to the Satisfaction Christ made nor to the Inheritance he purchased for Believers 3. Man in his corrupt state is deprived of Spiritual Life so that till he is revived by special Grace he can neither obey nor enjoy God Now the Redeemer is made a quickning Principle to inspire us with new life In order to our Sanctification he hath done four things First He hath given to us the most perfect Laws as the Rule of Holiness Secondly He exhibited the most compleat Patern of Holiness in his Life upon the Earth Thirdly He purchas'd and conveyes the Spirit of Holiness to renew and to enable us for the performance of our Duties Fourthly He hath presented the strongest inducements and motives to perswade us to be Holy First He hath given to Men the most perfect Laws as the rule of Holiness The principal parts of the Holy Life are ceasing from evil and the doing well Now the Commands of Christ refer to the purifying of us from sin and the adorning us with all Graces for the discharge of our universal Duty 1. They enjoyn a real and absolute separation from all filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit The outward and inward Man must be cleansed not only from Pollutions of a deeper dy but from all Carnality and Hypocrisie The Grace of God that brings Salvation hath appeared to all Men teaching them to deny ungodliness and worldly Lusts. All those irregular and impetuous desires which are raised by worldly Objects Honours Riches and Pleasures and reign in worldly Men Pride Covetousness and Voluptuousness The Gospel is most clear full and vehement for the true and inward Mortification of the whole body of corruption of every particular darling sin It commands us to pluck out the right eye and to cut off the right hand That is to part with every grateful and gainful lust It obliges us to crucifie the Flesh with the affections and lusts Humane Laws regard External actions as prejudicial to Societies but thoughts and resolutions that break not forth into act are not within the Jurisdiction of the Magistrate But the Law of Christ reforms the powers of the Soul and all the most secret and inward motions that depend upon them It forbids the first irregular desires of the carnal appetite We must hate sin in all its degrees strangle it in the birth destroy it in the conception We are enjoyned to fly the appearances and accesses of evil what ever is of a suspitious nature and not fully consistent with the purity of the Gospel and what ever invites to sin and exposes us to the power of it becomes vicious and must be avoided That glorious purity that shall adorn the Church when our Redeemer presents it without spot or wrinkle or any such thing every Christian must aspire to in this Life In short the Gospel commands us to be Holy as God is Holy who is infinitely distant from the least conceivable pollution 2. The Precepts of Christ contain all solid substantial goodness that is essentially necessary in order to our supreme Happiness and prepares us for the Life of Heaven In his Sermon on the Mount He commends to us Humility Meekness and Mercy Peaceableness and Patience and doing good for evil which are so many beams of Gods Image the reflections of his Goodness upon intelligent Creatures And that comprehensive precept of the Apostle describes the Duties of all Christians whatsoever things are true Truth is the principal character of our profession and is to be exprest in our Words and Actions whatsoever things are honest or venerable that is answer the dignity of our High-calling and agree with the gravity and comeliness of the Christian profession whatsoever things are just according to Divine and Humane Laws whatsoever things are pure we must preserve the Heart the Hand the Tongue the Eye from impurity whatsoever things are lovely and of good report some
Repentance and Faith which are humbling Graces to be the conditions of our obtaining Pardon By Repentance we acknowledge that if we are condemned 't is just severity and if we are Saved 't is rich Mercy And Faith absolutely excludes boasting For it supposes the Creature guilty and receives Pardon from the Sovereign Grace of God upon the account of our Crucified Redeemer The benefit and the manner of our receiving it was typified in the miraculous cure of the Israelites by looking up to the Brasen Serpent For the act of seeing is performed by receiving the Images which are derived from the objects 't is rather a Passion then an Action that it might appear that the healing Virtue was meerly from the Power of God and the Honor of it intirely his In short God had respect to the lowliness of this Grace in appointing it to be the qualification of a Justified person for the most firm reliance on Gods Mercy is alwayes joyned with the strongest renouncing of our own Merits Briefly to excite humility in us the Gospel tells us that the Glorious reward is from rich bounty and liberality The gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. As the Election of us to Glory so the actual possession of it proceeds from pure Favour There is no more proportion between all our Services and that High and Eternal felicity than between the running a few steps and the obtaining an Imperial Crown Indeed not only Heaven but all the Graces that are necessary to purify and prepare us for it we receive from undeserved Mercy So that God crowns in us not our proper Works but his own proper Gifts 2. The Gospel strictly commands Self-denial when the Honor of God and Religion is concern'd Jesus tells his Disciples If any Man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me Life and all the endearments of it Estates Honours Relations Pleasures must be put under our feet to take the first step with our Redeemer This is absolutely necessary to the being of a Christian In the preparation of his mind and the resolution of his will he must live a Martyr and whensoever his duty requires he must break all the Retinacula Vitae the voluntary bands that fasten us to the World and die a Martyr rather than suffer a divorce to be made between his Heart and Christ. Whatsoever is most esteem'd and lov'd in the world must be parted with as a snare if it tempts us from our Obedience or offered up as a Sacrifice when the Glory of God calls for it And this command that appears so hard to sense is most just and reasonable For God hath by so many titles a right to us that we ought to make an intire Dedication of our selves and our most valuable interests to him Our Redeemer infinitely denied himself to save us and 't is most just we should in gratitude deny our selves to serve him Besides an infinite advantage redounds to us for our Saviour assures us that whosoever will save his life when 't is inconsistent with the performance of his duty shall lose it and whosoever will lose his life for his sake shall find it Now what is more prudent than of two evils that are propounded to choose the least that is Temporal Death rather than Eternal and of two goods that are offered to our choice to prefer the greater a Life in Heaven before that on the Earth Especially if we consider that we must shortly yeeld the present life to the infirmities of Nature and 't is the richest traffick to exchange that which is frail and mortal for that which remains in its perfection for ever 3. The Gospel enjoyns Universal Love among Men. This is that fire which Christ came to kindle upon the Earth 't is the abridgment of all Christian perperfection the fulfilling of the Divine Law for all the particular Precepts are in substance Love He that loves his Neighbor will have a tender regard to his Life Honour and Estate which is the sum of the second Table The extent of our Love must be to all that partake of the same common nature The universal consanguinity between Men should make us regard them as our allies Every Man that wants our help is our Neighbour Do good to all is the command of the Apostle For the quality of our Love it must be unfeigned without dissimulation The Image of it in Words without real Effects provokes the Divine displeasure for as all falshood is odious to the God of Truth so especially the counterfeiting of Charity that is the impression of his Spirit and the seal of his Kingdom A sincere pure affection that rejoyces at the good and resents the evils of others as our own and expresses it self in all real Offices not for our private respects but their benefit is required of us And as to the degree of our Love we are commanded above all things to have fervent Charity among our selves This principally respects Christians who are united by so many sacred and amiable bands as being formed of the same Eternal Seed Children of the same Heavenly Father and joynt-Heirs of the same Glorious Inheritance Christian Charity hath a more noble Principle than the affections of nature for it proceeds from the Love of God shed abroad in Believers to make them one Heart and one Soul and a more Divine pattern which is the Example of Christ Who hath by his Sufferings restored us to the Favour of God that we should Love one another as He hath Loved us This Duty is most stricty injoyn'd for without Love Angelical Eloquence is but an empty noise and all other Virtues have but a false lustre Prophesie Faith Knowledge Miracles the highest outward Acts of Charity or Self-denial the giving our Estates to the Poor or Bodies to Martyrdom are neither pleasing to God nor profitable to him that does them Besides That special branch of Love the forgiving of Injuries is the peculiar Precept of our Saviour For the whole World consents to the returning evil for evil The vicious Love of our selves makes us very sensible and according to our preverse judgments to revenge an injury seems as just as to requite a benefit From hence revenge is the most Rebellious and Obstinate Passion An Offence remains as a thorn in the mind that inflames and torments it till 't is appeased by a vindication 'T is more difficult to overcome the Spirit then to gain a Battel We are apt to revolve in our thoughts injuries that have been done to us and after a long distance of time the memory represents them as fresh as at the first Now the Gospel commands a hearty and intire forgiveness of injuries though repeated never so often to seventy seven times We must not only quench the Fire of Anger but kindle the Fire of Love towards our greatest Enemies I say unto you Love your Enemies
not only in the relation of a Creator and universal Governour that gave Laws to regulate Conscience but in a special relation to the Jews as their King And as in a Civil State a prudent Governour permits a less evil for the prevention of a greater without an approbation of it So God was pleased in his Wisdom to tolerate those things in condescension to their carnal and perverse humors for the hardness of their Hearts lest worse inconveniences should follow But our Saviour reduces Marriage to the Sanctity of its original when man was formed according to the Image of God's Holiness He that made them at the beginning made them Male and Female for this cause shall a Man leave Father and Mother and cleave to his Wife and they twain shall be one flesh What therefore God hath joyned together let no Man put asunder From the unity of the Person that one Male was made and one Female it follows that the super-inducing of another into the Marriage-bed is against the first Institution And the Union that is between them not being only civil in a consent of wills but natural by the joyning of two bodies something natural must intervene to dissolve it viz. the Adultery of one party Excepting that case our Saviour severely forbids the putting the Wife away 4. Our Redeemer hath improved the obligations of the moral Law by a clearer discovery of the purity and extent of its precepts and by peculiar and powerful Enforcements In his Sermon on the Mount he clears it from the darkning glosses of the Phaisees who observed the letter of the Law but not the designe of the Lawgiver He declares that not only the gross act but all things of the same alliance are forbidden not only Murder but rash Anger and vilifying words which wound the Reputation Not only actual pollution but the impurity of the Eye and the staining of the Soul with unclean thoughts are all comprised in the prohibition He informs them that every Man in calamity is their Neighbour and to be relieved and commands them to love their deadliest enemies Briefly He tells the multitude that unless their Righteousness exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees that is the utmost that they thought themselves obliged to they should not enter into the Kingdome of Heaven Besides our Saviour hath superadded special Enforcements to his Precepts The Arguments to perswade Christians to be universally Holy from Christs Redeeming them for that great end was not known either in the Oeconomy of Nature or the Law For before our lapsed state there was no need of a Redeemer and he was not revealed during the Legal Dispensation His Death was only shadowed forth in Types and foretold in such a manner as was obscure to the Jews The Gospel urges new reasons to increase our aversion from sin which neither Adam nor Moses were acquainted with So the Apostle dehorts Christians from uncleanness because their bodies are Members of Christ and Temples of the Holy-Ghost and therefore should be inviolably consecrated to purity If the Utensils of the Temple were so sacred that the employing them to a common use was revenged in a miraculous manner How much sorer punishment shall be inflicted on those who defile themselves after they were sanctified by the Blood of the Covenant The Gospel also recommends to us Love to one another in imitation of that admirable Love which Christ exprest to us and commands the highest Obedience even unto death when God requires it in conformity to our Redeemers Sufferings These and many other Motives are derived from a pure vein of Christianity and exalt the Moral Law to a higher pitch as to its Obligation upon men than in its first delivery by Moses 2. The Laws of Christ exceed the Rules which the best Masters of Morality in the School of Nature have prescribed for the Government of our Lives 'T is true there are remaining Principles of the Moral Law in the heart of Man Some warm sparks are still left which the Philosophers laboured to enliven and cherish Many excellent Precepts of Morality they delivered either to calm the Affections and lay the storms in our Breasts whereby the most men are guilty and miserable or to regulate the civil Conversation with others And since the coming of Christ Prometheus-like they brought their dead Torches to the Sun and stole some light from the Scriptures Yet upon searching we shall easily discover that notwithstanding all their boasts to purge the Soul from its defilements contracted by its union with the Body and to restore it to its primitive Perfection They became vain in their thoughts and their foolish heart was darkened Although the vulgar Heathens thought them to be guides in the safe way yet they were Companions with them in their wanderings And Truth instructs us that When the blind lead the blind both fall into the ditch I will briefly shew that their Morals are defective and mixt with false Rules only premising three things 1. That I shall not insist on their Ignorance of our Redeemer and their Infidelity in respect of those Evangelical Mysteries that are only discover'd by Revelation for that precisely considered doth not make them guilty before God But only take notice of their defects in natural Religion and moral Duties to which the Law written in the heart obliges all Mankind 2. That Vertue is not to be confounded with Vice although 't is not assisted by special Grace Those who performed acts of Civil Justice and Kindness and Honour were not guilty as those who violated all the Laws of Nature and Reason Their heroic Actions were praise-worthy among men and God gave them a temporal Reward although not being enlivened by Faith and purified by Love to God and an holy Intention for his Glory they were dead works unprofitable as to Salvation 3. Their highest Rule viz. To live according to Nature is imperfect and insufficient For although Nature in its original Purity furnisht us with perfect Instructions yet in its corrupt state 't is not so enlightened and regular as to direct us in our universal Duty 'T is as possible to find all the Rules of Architecture in the ruines of a Building as to find in the remaining Principles of the natural Law full and sufficient Directions for the whole Duty of Man either as to the performing good or avoiding evil The Mind is darkened and defiled with error that indisposes it for its office I will now proceed to shew how insufficient Philosophy is to direct us in our Duty to God our selves and others First In respect of Piety which is the chief Duty of the reasonable Creature Philosophy is very defective nay in many things contrary to it 1. By delivering unworthy Notions and Conceptions of the Deity Not only the vulgar Heathens chang'd the truth of God into a lie when they measured his Incomprehensible Perfections by the narrow compass of their
Persecutors he had certainly obtained it He tells his Disciples that upon his request his Father would send twelve Legions of Angels for his rescue But he resigned the whole Power of his Will to his Fathers not my will but thy will be done was his Voice at his privat Passion in the Garden He submitted the act and exercise of his will not what I will but what thou wilt he saith in another Evangelist he yielded not only the faculty and exercise of his will to do what God enjoyned but in that manner which was pleasing to Him Not as I will but as thou wilt he expresses in the words of a third Now what is there in Heaven or Earth that can move our Wills to entire Obedience if this marvellous Pattern doth not affect us Let the same Mind be in you that was in Christ saith the Apostle How glorious is it to do what he did and what a reproach to decline what he suffer'd who had the Holiness of God to give excellency to the Action and the infirmity of Man to endure the sharpness of the Passion 3. Love to Mankind is exprest by our Saviour in a peculiar manner For although God is Infinitely Good to us yet he doth not prefer the happiness of Man before his own Blessedness The Salvation of the whole World were not to be purchas'd with the least diminution of the Divine Felicity But the Son of God suffer'd the extremest Evil to procure the most sovereign Good for us who were in Rebellion against his Laws and Empire Briefly The Life of Christ contains all our Duties towards God and Man exprest in the most perfect manner or Motives to perform them We may clearly see in his deportment innocent Wisdom prudent Simplicity compassionate Zeal perfect Patience the courage of Faith the joy of Hope the tenderness and care of Love incomparable Meekness Modesty Humility and Purity He spent the night in Communion with God and the day in Charity to Men. He perfectly hated Sin and equally loved Souls The nearest and readiest way to Perfection is a serious regard to his Precedent For the causes of all Sin are either the desire of what he despised or the fear of what He suffer'd He voluntarily deprived himself to Riches Honours Pleasures to render them contemptible and endured outrages of all sorts the contradiction of Sinners and the sharpest Sufferings to make them tolerable He ascended Mount Calvary to his Cross before he ascended from Mount Olivet to his Throne He was naked before He was cloathed with Light and crowned with thorns before with Glory And thus he powerfully teaches us to follow his steps who suffered for us If a Physician of great esteem in a Disease takes a bitter Potion it would perswade those who are in the same danger to use the same Remedy Since the Son of God to purchase our Happiness denied himself the enjoyment of worldly delights and endured the worst of temporal Evils nothing can be more effectual to convince us that the Pleasures of the world are not considerable as to our last end and that present Afflictions are so far from being inconsistent with our supreme Blessedness that they prepare us for it In short His excellent Example not only enlightens our Minds to discover our Duty but inables and excites to perform it As the Eye in beholding visible objects receives their Image so by contemplating the Graces that are conspicuous in our Redeemer we derive a similitude from them We all saith the Apostle with open face beholding as in a glass the Glory of the Lord that is by viewing in the Gospel the Life of Christ which was glorious in Holiness We are changed into the same Image from â—lory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord that is gradually fashioned in Grace according to his likeness And what can more powerfully move and perswade us to Holiness than to consider the President that Christ hath set before us For how honourable is it to be like the Son of God By conformity to Christ we partake of the Divine Perfections The King of Heaven will acknowledge us for his Children when we bear the resemblance of our elder Brother Besides the motive of Honour Love doth strongly incline to follow Holiness in imitation of our Redeemer This is one difference between Knowledge and Love the understanding draws the object to it self and transforms it into its own likeness Thus material objects have an immaterial existence in the mind when it contemplates them But Love goes forth to the object loved the Soul is more where it loves than where it lives that is there is more of its intellectual presence its thoughts and desires and it always affects a resemblance to it Thus Love humbled God and made him like to us in Nature and Love exalts Man by making him like to God in Holiness for it excites us to imitate and express in our actions the Vertues of him who hath called us to his Kingdom and Glory 3. In order to the restoring of Holiness to lapsed Man the Lord Christ purchas'd and conveys the Spirit to them A state of Sin includes a total privation of Holiness and an active contrariety against it The Sinner is dead as to the Spiritual Life and aâ—â—â—nable to revive himself as a carcase is to break the gates of Death and return to the light of the world but he lives to the Sensual Life and expresses a constant opposition to the Law of God He is without strength as to his Duty not able to conceive an holy thought or to excite a sincere and ardent desire towards Divine things but hath strong inclinations of Will and great Power for that which is evil Now to restore Spiritual Life to the dead Soul and to conquer the living enmity that is in it against Holiness no less than the Divine Power was requisite And the effecting this is peculiarly attributed to the Spirit Our Saviour tells Nicodemus Except a man be born of water and of the Holy Ghost he cannot see the Kingdom of God And the Apostle saith That according to his Mercy He saves us by the washing of Regeneration and by the renewing of the Holy Ghost As in the Creation where all the Persons concurr'd 't was the motion of the Spirit that conveyed the Life of Nature So in the Renovation of the World where they all cooperate 't is the powerful working of the Spirit that produces the Life of Grace He visits us in the grave and inspires the breath and flame of Heaven to animate and warm our dead hearts 'T was requisite not only that the Word should take Flesh but that Flesh should receive the Spirit to quicken and enable it to perform the acts of the Divine Life 'T is for this reason the third Person is frequently stiled in Scripture the Holy Spirit That Title hath not an immediate respect to his Nature but to the Operations which are assign'd to
Him in the admirable Oeconomy of our Redemption 'T is not upon the account of his essential and eternal Purity which is common to all the Persons but in regard of his Office to infuse Holiness into the depraved Soul and renew the Divine Image that he is so call'd Now Jesus Christ purchased the Spirit by his Humiliation and Sufferings and conveys Him to us in his Exaltation and Glory 1. He purchas'd the Spirit by his Sufferings For since Man fell from his original Innocence he is justly depriv'd of special Grace that is necessary to heal and recover him And till by a perfect Sacrifice Divine Justice was appeased that had shut the Treasury of Heaven and the Forfeiture taken off he could not obtain the eternal Riches God must be reconciled before He will bestow the Holy Spirit a Gift so great and so precious the earnest of his peculiar Love and special Favour to us Therefore our Saviour tells his Disciples who were extremely afflicted for his departure from them That it was expedient he should go away for otherwise the Spirit would not come whose Office was to convince and convert the World The departure of Christ implied his Death and Ascension both which were requisite in order to the sending of Him If the Blood of Christ had not been shed on the Cross the Spirit had not been poured forth from Heaven The effusion of the one was the cause of the effusion of the other The Rock that refreshed the Israelites in the Desert did not powre forth its miraculous waters till it was struck by the Rod of Moses to instruct us That Christ our Spiritual Rock must be struck with the Curse of the Law the mystical Rod of Moses to communicate the Waters of Life to us that is the Spirit who is represented in Scripture under that element 2. Our Redeemer confers the Spirit after his glorious Exaltation When he ascended on high he led Captivity captive and gave gifts unto men After his triumph over Principalities and Powers He dispenc'd his Bounty in this rich Donative For the Holy Spirit was first given to Christ as the reward of his excellent Obedience in dying that was infinitely pleasing to God to be communicated from him to Men. And he received the Spirit in the quality of Mediator upon his entrance into Heaven The Psalmist declares this Prophetically Thou hast ascended on high thou hast led captivity captive thou hast received gifts for Men yea for the rebellious also that the Lord God might dwell among them He acquired a right to those Treasures by dying but he takes possession of them after his Ascension Now He is Crown'd He holds forth the Scepter of his Royalty Therefore 't is said that when Christ was upon the Earth the Holy Spirit was not given because Jesus was not Glorified If it be objected that Believers before the Ascension of Christ were partakers of the Spirit the answer is clear 1. It was upon Christ's interposing in the beginning as Mediator and with respect to his future Death and Ascension that the Spirit was given to them 2. The degrees of communicating the Spirit before and after the Ascension of Christ are very different whether we consider the gifts of the Spirit those extraordinary abilities with which the Apostles were endued or the fruits of the Spirit the Sanctifying Graces that are bestowed on Believers the measure of them far exceeds what-ever was conveyed before The Spirit Descended as in a dew upon the Jewish Nation but 't is now powred forth in showers upon all flesh Now in the stile of Scripture things are said to be when apparently and eminently they discover their being So that comparatively to the Power and Virtue of the Spirit discovered in the Church since the Glorification of Christ he was not given before All the former manifestations are obscured by the excess and excellency of the later And not only the Decree of God which is sufficient to connect those things that have no natural dependence but there are special reasons for the order of this Dispensation for the great end of the Spirit 's coming was to reveal fully to the World the way of Salvation to discover the unsearchable riches of Grace to assure Men of happiness after this Life that they might be reduced from a state of Rebellion to Obedience and their affections be refined and purified from all Earthliness and made Angelical and Heavenly Now the Principal demonstrations which he used to perswade Men of these things are the Death and Resurrection of Christ without which these Mysteries had been under a cloud That the Instruction therefore of the Spirit might be clear and effectual it was necessary Christ should Suffer and enter into Heaven and accomplish those things he was to teach And from hence we may observe that the Sanctifying Grace of the Spirit is only the concomitant of the Evangelical Mercy The Gospel and the Spirit are the Wings by which the Sun of Righteousness brings healing and life to the World The declaration of the Law from Mount Sinai was Divine but not accompanied with the efficacy of Grace Therefore 't is called the ministration of Death It conveyed no Spiritual strength as delivered by the hands of Moses considering him precisely in the quality of the legal Mediator but threatned a Curse to the breakers of it All the promises of Mercy scattered in the Books of Moses belong to the Covenant of Grace The Gospel is called the Law of the Spirit of Life and the Ministration of the Spirit that is the Spirit of Holiness and Comfort from whom true and Eternal Life proceeds 〈◊〉 is solely communicated by it The discovery of the Divine Goodness in the Works of Creation and Providence is natural and without the renewing power of the Spirit There is a correspondence between the external Revelation of Mercy and the internal Grace of the Spirit in their Original as the one is supernatural so is the other Not but that the Heathens had some fainter beams of the Sun of Righteousness for he inlightens every man that comes into the World and some lower operations of the Spirit whereby they were reduced from Intemperance Incontinency and other gross Vices to the practice of several Vertues that respect the Civil Life And of this we have an eminent instance recorded by Diogenes Laertius That Polemo half-drunk crown'd with Roses and in the dress of a Harlot rather than of a Man coming into the School of the severe Zenocrates hearing him discourse of Temperance as by a Charm was so perfectly changed that casting away the Garland from his Head and the lascivious Ornaments that were about him and which was more considerable his vicious Habits from his Soul he that entered in a Reveller come forth a Philosopher so corrected and composed in his manners that he was called the Dorick tone which of all others was the most solemn and majestical in the Musick of
a Dream is slight and vanishing so the uncertain expectation of felicity did but lightly touch their Spirits Briefly they had no true Knowledge nor firm Belief of Eternal Blessedness in the Vision of God nor of the endless Torments in Hell and wanting those great Principles from whence the Rules and Power to live in a holy manner are derived they fell short of that Purity which is a necessary qualification to prepare Men for Heaven They were in a confused labyrinth without true Light or Guide intangled with miserable Errours and stumbled every step whilst they sought after Happiness But the Lord Christ hath instructed the World concerning those invisible future Recompences He hath expresly threaten'd what-ever is to be feared by Man as a rational or sensible Creature the Worm that never dies and the Fire that shall never be quencht in case of Disobedience and he hath promised what-ever is to be hoped for in case of Obedience The Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven in the Gospel against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of Men. And our Saviour hath brought Light and Immortality to light He hath declared the nature and quality of Eternal Life that it consists in the most perfect acts of our raised and most receptive Faculties upon the most excellent objects That it contains perfect Holiness and pure Felicity being for ever distant from the infirmities and defilements of our mortal state He hath revealed as the quality so the extent of it relating to the Body as well as the Soul Whereas the Philosophers of all sorts the Academicks Stoicks Peripateticks Epicureans labouring with all the force of their understanding formed a Felicity according to their Fancies which was either wholly Sensual or else but for half of man For of the Resurrection and consequently the Immortality of the Body not the least notice for many Ages ever arrived to them Our Saviour who alone had the words of eternal life hath promised a Happiness that respects entire man The Soul and the Body which are his essential parts shall be united and endued with all the glorious qualities becoming the Sons of God And of all this he hath given to the world the highest assurance For he verified his Doctrine by his own Example rising from the Grave and appearing to his Apostles crown'd with Immortality and visibly ascending before them to Heaven Since there is no greater Paradox to Reason than the Resurrection which seem'd utterly incredible to men and not to be the object of a rational desire God by raising him from the Grave hath given the most convincing Argument that our Redeemer was sent from him to acquaint the World with the future state Thus the Apostle speaks to the Athenians The times of ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all men eve ry where to repent because he hath appointed a day wherein he will judg the World in righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all Men in that he hath raised him from the dead Jesus Christ who was attested from Heaven to be the Son of God by that great and powerful Act declared the Recompences that shall attend Men after Death Therefore a full and perfect assent is due to his Testimony Hell with all its Dread and Terror is not a Picture drawn by fancy to affright the World but is reveal'd by him whose Words shall remain when Heaven and Earth shall pass away The Heavenly Glories are not the Visions of a contemplative person that have no existence but are great Realities promised by him who as he died to purchase so he rose to witness the Truth of them And to bring these Great Things that are separate and distant from this present state nearer to us He sometimes causes Hell to rise up from beneath and flash in the face of secure sinners that they may break off their Sins by Repentance and sometimes he opens Heaven from above the Paradise of true delights and sends down of the precious fruits of the Sun of the precious things of the lasting Hills that by the sight of their Beauty and the taste of their sweetness we may for ever abhor the pleasures of Sin By the frequent and sensible experience of the truth of the Gospel in its Threatnings and Promises innumerable persons have been converted from Sin to Holiness from Earth to Heaven from Vanity to Eternity 3. Love is a prevalent affection stronger than Death and Kindness is the greatest endearment of Love Now the Lord Jesus exprest such admirable Love to us that being duly considered it cannot but inspire us with Love to him again and with a grateful desire to please him in all things He descended from Heaven to Earth and delivered himself to a shameful Death that He might redeem us from all Iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works And what Argument is more powerful to cause in us a serious hatred of Sin than the Consideration of what Christ hath suffer'd to free us from the punishment and power of it If a Man for his Crimes were condemned to the Gallyes and a Friend of his who had been extremely injur'd by him should ransom him by a great sum when the guilty person is restor'd to liberty will he not blush for shame at the memory of what he hath done But how much more if his Friend would suffer for him the pains and infamy of his slavery if any spark of Humanity remain in him can he ever delight himself in those Actions which made such a benefit necessary to him And is it possible for a Christian to live in those Sins for which Christ died Will not Love cause an humble Fear lest he should frustrate the great Design and make void the most blessed effect of his terrible Sufferings why did he Redeem us with so excellent a price from our cruel Bondage but to restore us to his free service why did he vindicate us from the power of the Usurper to whom we were captives but to make us Subjects to our Natural Prince Why did he purifie us with his most precious Blood from our deadly Defilements but that we might be intirely consecrated to his Glory and be fervent in good works What can work upon an ingenious Person more than sense of Kindness What can oblige more strongly to duty than Gratieude What more powerful attractive to Obedinnce than Love This pure Love confirms the Glorified Saints for ever in Holiness For they are not Holy to obtain Heaven because they are possest of it nor to preserve their Blessedness because they are past all hazard of losing it but from the most lively and permanent sense of their Obligations because they have obtained that incomparable Felicity by a Gift never to be reverst and by a Mercy transcendently great And the same Love to God that is in the Saints above in the highest degree of perfection and makes them for
the Word And accordingly all the Promises of Pardon and Salvation are conditional The holy Mercy of the Gospel offers Forgiveness only to Penitent Believers that return from Sin to Obedience We are commanded to repent and be converted that our sins may be blotted out in the time of refreshment from the presence of the Lord. And Heaven is the reward of persevering Obedience To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality eternal life There cannot be the least ground of a rational just Hope in any person without Holiness Whoever hath this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure By which it appears that the genuine and proper use we are to make of the exceeding great and precious Promises is That by them we may be partakers of the Divine Nature and escape the pollution that is in the world through lust Yet the corrupt hearts of men are so strongly enclined to their lusts that they turn the Grace of God into wantonness and make an advantage of Mercy to assist their Security presuming to sin with less fear and more licence upon the account of the glorious Revelation of it by our Redeemer The most live as if they might be saved without being Saints and enjoy the Paradise of the Flesh here and not be excluded from that of the Spirit hereafter But Grace doth not in the least degree authorize and favour their Lusts nor relax the Sinews of Obedience 't is perfectly innocent of their unnatural abuse of it The Poison is not in the Flower but the Spider Therefore the Apostle propounds it with indignation Shall we sin that Grace may abound God forbid He uses this form of Speech to express an extreme abhorrency of a thing that is either impious and dishonourable to God or pernicious and destructive to Men. As when he puts the question Is God unjust who taketh vengeance God forbid And is there iniquity in God God forbid He rejects the mention of it with infinite aversation Indeed what greater disparagement can there be of the Divine Purity than to indulge our selves in Sin upon confidence of an easie Forgiveness As if the Son of God had been consecrated by such terrible Sufferings to purchase and prepare a Pardon for those who sin securely What an unexpressible indignity is it to make a monstrous alliance between Christ and Belial And this abuse of Grace is pernicious to men if the Antidote be turn'd into Poison and the Remedy cherish the Disease the cause is desperate The Apostle tells us Those that do evil that good may come thereby their damnation is just Suppose a presuming Sinner were assured that after he had gratified his carnal vile desires he should repent and be pardon'd yet 't were an unreasonable defect of Self-love to do so What Israelite was so fool-hardy as to provoke a fiery Serpent to bite him though he knew he should be healed by the brazen Serpent But 't is a degree beyond madness for Men to live in a course of Sin upon the hopes of Salvation making the Mercy of God to be his bondage as if he could not be happy without them An unrenewed Sinner may be the object of Gods Compassion but while he remains so he is uncapable of Communion with him here much less hereafter Under the Law the Lepers were excluded the Camp of Israel where the presence of God was in a special manner much more shall those who are cover'd with moral Pollutions be kept out from the habitation of his Holiness 'T is a mortal Delusion for any to pretend that electing Mercy will bring them to Glory or that the all-sufficient Sacrifice of Christ will atone God's displeasure towards them although they indulge themselves in a course of Sin The Book of Life is secret only the Lamb with whose Blood the names of the Elect are written there can open the seals of it But the Gospel that is a lower Book of Life tells us the qualifications of those who are vessels of Mercy they are by Grace prepar'd for Glory and that there can be no benefit by the Death of Christ without conformity to his Life Those who abuse Mercy now shall have Justice for ever 3. From hence we may discover the peculiar excellency of the Christian Religion above all other Institutions and that in respect of its Design and effect The whole Design of the Gospel is exprest in the words of Christ from Heaven to Paul when he sent him to the Gentiles To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them that are sanctified by Faith in Christ. One great End of it is to take away all the filthiness and malignity wherewith Sin hath infected the world and to cause in men a real conformity to Gods Holiness according to their capacity As the Reward it promises is not an earthly Happiness such as we enjoy here but Celestial so the Holiness it requires is not an ordinary natural Perfection which Men honour with the title of Vertue but an Angelical Divine quality that sanctifies us throughout in Spirit Soul and Body that cleanses the Thoughts and Affections and expresses itself in a course of universal Obedience to Gods Will. Indeed there are other things that commend the Gospel to any that with judgment compares it with other Religions The heigth of its Mysteries which are so sacred and venerable that upon the discovery they affect with reverence and admiration Whereas the Religion of the Gentiles was built on Follies and Fables Their most solemn Mysteries to which they were admitted after so long a circuit of Ceremonies and great preparations contain'd nothing but a prodigious mixture of Vanity and Impiety worthy to be conceal'd in everlasting darkness Besides the confirmation of the Gospel by Miracles doth authorize it above all humane Institutions And the glorious eternal Reward of it infinitely exceeds whatever is propounded by them But that which gives it the most visible preheminence is That it is a Doctrine according to godliness The End is the character of its nature The whole contexture and harmony of its Doctrines Precepts Promises Threatnings is for the exaltation of Godliness The objects of Faith revealed are not meerly speculative to be conceived and believed only as true or to be gaz'd on in an Extasie of Wonder but are Mysteries of Godliness that have a powerful influence upon practice The Design of God in the publication of them is not only to enlighten the Mind but to warm the Heart and purifie the Affections God discovers his Nature that we may imitate Him and his Works that we may glorifie Him All the Precepts of the Gospel are to embrace Christ by a lively Faith to seek for Righteousness and Holiness in Him to live Godly Righteously and Soberly in this present
world When our Saviour was on the Earth the End of his Sermons as appears in the Gospel was to regulate the lives of Men to correct their vicious Passions rather than to explicate the greatest Mysteries Other Religions oblige their Disciples either to some external actions that have no moral worth in them so that 't is impossible for any one that is guided by Reason to be taken with such vanities Or they require things incommodious and burthensome The Priests of Baal cut themselves And among the Chineses though in great reputation for wisdome their Penitents expose themselves half naked to the injuries of the sharpest Weather with a double cruelty pleasure of the Devil who makes them freez here and expects they should burn for ever 'T is not the most strict observance of serious Trifles nor submitting to rigorous Austerities that ennobles the humane nature and commends us to God The most zealous performers of things indifferent and that chastise themselves with a bloody Discipline labour for nothing and may pass to Hell through Purgatory But the Religion of Christ reforms the Understanding and Will and all the actions depending on them It chases away Errour and Vice and Hatred and sheds abroad Light and Love Purity and Peace and forms on Earth a lively representation of that pure Society that is in Heaven The End of it is to render men like the Angels in Holiness that they may be so in Blessedness This will render it amiable to all that consider it without Passion And 't is worthy of observation that although many Heathens and Hereticks have contradicted other parts of the Christian Religion yet none have dar'd openly to condemn the Moral part of it The Effect of the Gospel hath been answerable to the Design One main difference between the old and new Law is that the old gave the knowledg of Rules without power to observe them the new that is attended with the Grace of Christ enables us by a holy Love to perform that which the other made men only to understand Of this we have the most sensible Evidence in the Primitive Church that was produc'd by the first beams of the Sun of Righteousness had received the first fruits of the Spirit What is more wonderful and worthy of God than that perfect Love which made all the first Believers to have one Heart and one Soul What greater contempt of the World can be imagined than the voluntary parting with all their Goods in consecrating them to God for the relief of the Poor And the Churches of the Gentiles while the Blood of Christ was warm and His Actions fresh in the memories of men were exemplary in Holiness They were as Stars shining in a perverse generation There was such a brightness in their Conversations that it pierc'd through the darkness of Paganisme and made a visible difference between them and all others Their words and actions were so full of zeal for the Glory of God of Chastity Temperance Justice Charity that the Heathens from the Holiness of their lives concluded the Holiness of their Law and that the Doctrine that produc'd such fruits could not be evil The first light that discovered the Truth of the Christian Faith to many was from the Graces and Vertues that appear'd in the Faithful The Purity of their Lives their Courage in Death were as powerful to convert the World as their Sermons Disputations and Miracles And those who were under such strong prejudices that they would not examine the Doctrine of the Gospel yet they could not but admire the Integrity and Innocency that was visible in the conversation of Christians They esteemâ—d their persons from the good qualities that were visible in them when they hated the Christian name for the conceal'd evil they unreasonably suspected to be under it This Tertullian excellently represents in his Apology The most part are so prejudic'd against the Name and are possest with such a blind hatred to it that they make it a matter of reproach even to those whom they otherwise esteem'd Caius they say is a good man he hath no fault but that he is a Christian. Thus the excellent Holiness of the Professors of the Gospel forc'd a veneration from their Enemies But we are fallen from Heaven and mixt with the dust Our conversation hath nothing singular in Holiness to distinguish us from the World The same corrupt Passions reign in Professors of Christianity as in those who are strangers from the Sacred Covenant If we compare our selves with the Primitive Church we must confess our unworthiness to be call'd their successors Sixteen hundred years are run out since the Son of God came down to sanctifie and save the World which are so many degrees whereby we are descended from the first Perfection We are more distant from them in Holiness than in Time So universal and great is the Corruption that 't is almost as difficult to revive the dying Faith of Christians and to reform their Lives according to the purity of their Profession as the Conversion of the World was from Heathenism to Christianity 'T is true In every Age there are some Examples of the Vertue of the Gospel that reflect an honour upon it And this last Age which we may call the Winter of the World in which the Holy Spirit hath foretold That the love of many shall grow cold by a marvellous Antiperistasis hath inflam'd the hearts of some excellent Saints towards God and Religion But the great number of the wicked and the progress of Sin in their Lives there is no measure of Tears sufficient to lament Fourthly I shall press Christians to walk as becomes the Gospel of Christ answerably to the Holiness and Purity of that Divine Institution and to those great and strict Obligations it laies upon us The Gospel requires an entire Holiness in all our Faculties an equal respect to all our Duties We are commanded to cleanse our selves from all pollutions of flesh and spirit to be holy in all manner of conversation We are enjoin'd To be perfecting Holiness in the fear of God To be holy as He that hath called us is Holy A certain measure of Faith and Love and Obedience a mediocrity in Vertue we must not content our selves with 'T is not a counsel of Perfection given only to some Christians of a peculiar order and elevation But the command of a Law that without exception binds all Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect The Gospel gives no Dispensation to any Person nor in any Duty The Doctrine that asserts there are some excellent works to which the lower sort of Christians is not obliged is equally pernicious both to those who do them by Presumption as if they were not due and were therefore meritorious and to those who neglect them by a blind Security as if they might be saved without striving to reach the highest degrees of Obedience 'T is a weak pretence that because the
consummate measure of Sanctification can only be attained in the next life therefore we should not endeavour after it here For by sincere and constant endeavours we make nearer approaches to it and according to the degrees of our progress such are those of our joy As Nature hath prescribed to all heavy Bodies their going to the Centre and although none comes to it and many are at a great distance from it yet the ordination of Nature is not in vain Because by virtue of it every heavy Body is alwaies tending thither in motion or inclination So although we cannot reach to compleat Holiness in this imperfect state yet 't is not in vain that the Gospel prescribes it and infuses into Christians those dispositions whereby they are gradually carried to the full accomplishment of it Not to arrive to Perfection is the weakness of the Flesh not to aspire after it is the fault of the Spirit To excite us it will be of moment to consider the great Obligations that the Gospel laies upon Christians to be holy By that Covenant the Holy God is pleased to take them into the Relation of his Children and as the nature of Sanctification so the motives of it are contained in that Title For so near an Alliance obliges them to a faithful observation of his Commands and to imitate him with the greatest care that the Vein of his Spirit and the Marks of his Blood may appear in all their actions Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin The allowed practice of it is inconsistent with the quality of a Son of God 't is contrary to the Grace of his Divine Birth Nay the omission of Good as well as the commission of Evil is inconsistent with that Relation 'T is for this reason that Holiness is so much the character of a true Christian that to be a Christian and a Saint are the same thing in the Writings of the Apostles That venerable Title obliges him to a higher practice of Vertue than ever the Pagans imagined He is far behind them if he do not surpass them and if he is surpassed by them he will be cloathed with shame Besides our Redeemer who hath a right to us by so many titles by his Divine and Humane Nature by his Life and Death by his Glory and Sufferings as He strictly commands us to be holy so he hath joyned Example to his Authority That we may walk as he walk'd and be as he was in the world St. Paul makes use of this consideration to restrain the Disciples of Christ from all Sin and to perswade them to universal Holiness After he had mentioned the disorders of the Gentiles to deter the Ephesians from the like he tells them But ye have not so learned Christ that is his rule and practice instructed them otherwise And when he commands the Romans To walk honestly as in the day not in rioting and drunkenness not in chambering and wantonness not in strife and envying he opposes to all these vices the pattern that Christ set before us But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. The expression intimates the Duty that as the Garment is commensurate to the Body so we are to imitate all the parts of his Holy Conversation 'T is no wonder that the Heathens gratified the inclinations of Lust or Rage when their Gods were represented acting in such a manner as to authorise their Vices Semina pene omnium scelerum à Diis suis peccantium turba collegit as Julius Firmicius justly reproaches them There was no Villany how notorious soever but had some Deity for its Protector They found in Heaven a Justification of all their crimes and became vicious by imitation For 't is very congruous for men to follow those whom they esteem to be perfect and to whom they think themselves accountable If they attribute to their Supreme God the Judg of the World Vices as Vertues What Vertues will there be to reward or Vices to punish in Men But for those that name the Name of Christ to continue in iniquity is the most unbecoming thing in the world For they live in the perfect contradiction of their Profession An unholy Christian is a real Apostate from Christ that retracts by his wickedness the Dedication that was made of him in his Baptism Although he doth not abjure our Saviour in words he denies him in his works A proud person renounces his Humility the revengful his Mercy the luke-warm his Zeal the unclean his Purity the covetous his Bounty and Compassion the hypocrite his Sincerity And can there be any thing more indecent and absurd than to pretend the relation and respect of Disciples to such an holy Master and yet by Disobedience to deny him When the bloody Spectacles of the Gladiators were first brought to Athens a Wise man cried out to the Masters of the Prizes That they should remove the Statue and Altar of Mercy out of the City there being such an incongruity between the Goddess they pretended to worship and that cruel Sacrifice of Men for the sport of the People It were more suitable for those who are not afraid to violate the most Holy Laws and to contradict the Pattern of Christ to leave their Profession and to take some other more complying with their Lusts. 'T is not the Title of a Christian that sanctifies those who pollute and defame it 'T is not wearing the Livery of Christ that can honour those who stain it by their filthiness but 't is an aggravation of their guilt 'T is an unconceivable indignity to our Saviour and revives the old calumnies of the Heathens as if the Gospel were a Sanctuary for Criminals when those that call him Lord do not what he commands them I know saith Christ the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews and are not but are the Synagogue of Satan Those that own the Profession of Christianity and live in unchristian Practices are baptised Pagans and in effect revile our Blessed Redeemer as if He had proclaim'd a licentious impunity for Sinners Such Wretches may deceive themselves with a pretence they believe in Christ and that visibly they declare their dependence on him but this pretence will be as unprofitable as 't is vain 'T is not the calling him Lord that will give them admission into the kingdom of heaven The naked name of a Christian cannot protect them from the wrath of God Tertullian smartly upbraids some in his time who were careless of the Dignity Purity of the Christian Profession in their Lives imagining that they might reverence God in their hearts without regarding him in their actions that they might Salvo metu fide peccare Sin without losing their fear of God and their Faith To refute this gross contradiction he propounds it in a sensible example Hoc est salva castitate matrimonium violare salva pietate parenti venenum temperare Thâ—s is the same thing
Christ so that without a sensible demonstration that that was the way wherein He would be served their prejudices had been invincible 2. The Gospel propounds Threatnings and Promises that regard a future state where no living Eye can see their effects so that without an extraordinary confirmation it was not likely that men should yield a firm assent to them If it be said Our Saviour did his Miracles only in Judea where very few of the Gentiles saw his Person or Works I answer His Miracles were primarily design'd for the conviction of the Jews and in a secondary intention to disarm Infidelity among the Gentiles Therefore the Testimony of them was conveyed by those who were Eye-witnesses and most worthy of credit and who did many great wonders in the Name of Christ to verifie the report of his famous Miracles and declare his Power and Divinity Of this more afterwards Now I will briefly consider the Miracles wrought by Christ that were the certain Signs of Gods favouring of him and made his Commission authentick Before his coming the hand of the Synagogue was dried up and impotent to produce Miracles The Holy Spirit was withdrawn and for the space of four hundred years no Prophet nor Worker of Wonders appeared John the Baptist though the Angel deputed to signifie the coming of Christ yet did no Miracles But our Saviour was invested with Power from above and performed many Their quality and number is considerable 1. They were not mere Signs as the conversion of Moses Rod into a Serpent nor destructive and punishing as the Wonders in Egypt but advantageous and beneficial to men the equal demonstrations of his Mercy and Power He cured Diseases that were absolutely desperate by the mere signification of his Will As the Son of the Nobleman who was sick at Capernaum when Himself was at Cana in Galilee or by such visible means that the Spectators might be fully convinced that it was not the external application but his sole Vertue Divine Power that produced the effect Thus by anointing with Clay and Spittle the Eyes of him that was born blind who never had any natural possibility of seeing he wrought an unparalleld Cure It was never yet heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind Therefore he that was healed inferr'd from that as a most pregnant proof that our Saviour was from God He rais'd the dead This effect exceeds the power not only of Men but of the Angels 'T is true That one Angel destroy'd in a night an hundred fourscore and five thousand of the Assyrian Army but 't is as true that all the Angels together cannot raise from the dead one Man 'T is wholly the work of the Lord of Nature who holds the Keys of Life and Death in his hands 'T is only his Light can dispel the darkness his Voice can break the silence of the Grave And 't is observable that our Saviour who sometimes conceal'd his miraculous works and forbid the publishing of them yet perform'd this kind before many Witnesses that they might publish and verifie it as being most conclusive of his mission from God He raised to life the Rulers Daughter to the astonishment of all that were present to attend her Funeral The Widows Son of Naim was carried without the Gates of the City to his Grave Jesus stops the sad train and restores life to the young Man and to his Mother something more dear than her life And the more signally to triumph over Death he pursued it to its fort the obscurity of the Grave Lazarus was buried four dayes his Carcase was corrupted Jesus calls him from the bottom of his Tomb with that powerful voice that created the World The Dead answers and comes forth to the amazement of all that saw the Glory of God so clearly manifested The Evangelist reports that the People afterward were as desirous to see Lazarus as Jesus Add to these his casting out of Devils Before the Fall the unclean Spirit was incorporated with the Serpent but now with Man himself He seizes on the External Organs and Internal Faculties and rules him at his pleasure In the time of Christ great numbers were possest for the Devil perceiving the ruine of his Kingdom approaching he would extend the limits of it here and by the perfect possessing of sinners begin their torment which is one act of his principality The case of those persons was most compassionable For in that close fight the soul was disarmed of its defensive weapons being hindered in a great measure of the free use of its faculties Whereas in other Temptations he works by outward object at a distance here he makes a violent assault on both parts 'T is the true anticipation of Hell for the possest person is not exempted from Suffering the priviledge of Death nor enjoys the free power of doing the effect of Life Now the ejecting of this Enemy was above the force of any humane means no material applications had power over immaterial Spirits But our Saviour by a Word commanded them forth of their Garrisons And the Evangelists observe that the sight of it affected the People in an extraordinary manner above what his other Miracles did 'T is said they were all amazed insomuch that they question'd among themselves saying what thing is this what new Doctrine is this For with Authority commandeth he even the unclean Spirits and they obey him His Empire over evil Spirits was more admired than over Diseases or Death it self Those who were insensible of his former Miracles received impression from this They were astonish'd at the mighty Power of God confessing that it was never so seen in Israel And another time they said is not this the Son of David i. e. the Messiah The Pharisees his obstinate enemies were more troubled about this than any other action and to elude the present conviction that He came from God ascribed it to a secret compact with Beelzebub as if there were a collusion between the evil Spirits a lesser Devil retir'd that the Prince might reign But so great was the Evidence of the Spirit of God in that act of Jurisdiction over the Devils that our Saviour charges them with unpardonable Guilt for their wilful denying it The number of his Miracles was so great that St. John saith If all were written the world could not contain the Books We may in part conjecture how numerous they were by taking notice how many he perform'd in one day He dined with Matthew at Capernaum whiles He was there Jairus entreats Him to go to his Daughter newly dead as He went the Woman with the bloody Issue toucht the hem of his garment and was healed He raised the dead Maid in his returning He cured two blind men and immediately after cast out the Devil from one that was dumb And in all these miraculous Operations the glory of Gods Power was clearly manifested 4. The Divine
Power admirably appeared in making the Death of Christ victorious over all our Spiritual Enemies Now to shew what an eminent degree of Power was exercised in the effecting this we must consider that after Satan was cast out of Heaven for his Rebellion he set up a throne on the Earth and usurpt an absolute Empire over Mankind His Power was great and his Malice was equal to his Power The Apostle represents him with his black Army under the titles of Principalities and Powers the rulers of the darkness of this world spiritual wickednesses in heavenly places as in respect of the Order among them so in respect of their Dominion they exercise in the World His Principality hath two parts To tempt Men powerfully to sin and to execute the wrath of God upon them He works effectually in the Children of Disobedience He fires their Lusts and by the thick ascending smoak darkens their Minds and hurries them to do the vilest Actions And he hath the power of death to torment Sinners God justly permitting him to exercise his Cruelty upon those who comply with his Temptations Now in the time of Christ seeing many ravish'd out of his hands and translated into the Kingdom of God he grew jealous of his state and by his instruments brought Him to a cruel and shameful Death He then in appearance obtain'd a compleat Conquest but in truth was absolutely overcome And from hence the glorious Power of Christ is most clearly manifested As he that will take the height of a Mountain must descend to the lowest part of the Valley where fixing his Instrument he may discover the distance from the foot to the top of it So we must descend to the lowest degree of our Saviours abasement to understand the height of his exaltation By Death he overcame him that had the power of Death that is the Devil For his cruel Empire was founded in Mans Sin his greatness was built on our Ruins All the penal Evils he brings on Mankind are upon the account of our Disobedience and his mighty power in Temptations is from our inward Corruption Otherwise he might surround but could not surprise us Now the Lord Christ by his Death hath taken away the Guilt and Power of Sin The Guilt in enduring the Curse of the Law and thereby satisfying Eternal Justice which all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth could not do and the Power of it By crucifying our old man with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin By the Cross of Christ the world is crucified to us and we are crucified to the world By it we are vindicated from the power of Satan into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God For this reason our Saviour a little before his Passion said Now shall the Prince of this world be cast out By the Cross he spoil'd Principalities and Powers and made a shew of them openly triumphing over them in it to their extreme confusion in the view of Heaven and Earth Although the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ are the proper acts of his Triumph yet his Death is the sole cause and original of it The Nails and Spear that pierced his Body were his omnipotent Arms and the Cross the instrument of his Sufferings was the Trophee of his Victory All our triumphant Palms are gathered from that tree 'T is there our Saviour bruised the head of the old Serpent and renewed his antient Victory over him And from hence it was that upon the first Preaching of Christ crucified Oracles were struck dumb and put to eternal silence invisible Powers were forc'd to do him visible honour As the Rising Sun causes the Night-birds to retire so his Name chas'd the rout of false Deities into darkness They continue to be our enemies but not our lords Now where did the Divine Power ever appear more glorious than in our crucified Saviour He hath done greater things suffering as Man than acting as God The Works of Creation and Providence are not equal to the effects of his Death In the Creation a corruptible World was produced from Nothing which as it had no disposition so no contrariety to receive the form the Creator gave it But the new World of Grace that is immortal was form'd out of rebellious matter The most eminent work of Providence was the drowning the Egyptians in the Red-Sea But the spiritual Pharaoh and all his Hosts were drowned in his Blood In short the Cross hath opened Heaven to us and wrought a miraculous change on the Earth But this I shall more particularly consider under another Head of Discourse Fifthly The Divine Power was eminently magnified in Christs Resurrection from the Grave This was foretold concerning the Messiah by the Prophet David speaking in the type My flesh shall rest in hope for thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption As it was ordain'd by Gods Counsel so 't was executed by his Power This is decisive that He is the Messiah His other Miracles were performed by the Prophets but this was singular and only done by the God of the Prophets The Reasons of it prove that 't was equally necessary for his Glory and our Salvation 1. The Quality of his Person required it For He was a Heavenly Man without Guilt therefore immortal by the original Constitution of his Nature Death that is the wages of Sin had no power over him He was subject to it not by the Law of his Conception but the Dispensation of his Love not to satisfie Nature but purchase our Salvation Therefore the Eternal Law that annexes Immortality to Innocence would not suffer that He should remain in the state of Death 2. The Nature of his Office made it necessary As the Oeconomy of our Redemption required that He should descend from Heaven the Seat of his Glory that by dying He might expiate our Sins so after his lying in the Grave so long as to attest the reality of his Death 't was necessary he should rise again in order to his dispensing the glorious Benefits He had purchas'd The Apostle tells the Corinthians If Christ be not risen then our preaching is in vain and your faith is also in vain For the Faith of Christians hath a threefold reference 1. To the Person of Christ that he is the Son of God 2. To his Death that 't is an all-sufficient Sacrifice for Sin 3. To his Promise that He will raise Believers at the last Day Now the Resurrection of Christ is the Foundation of Faith in respect of all these 1. He was declar'd to be the Son of God with Power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the dead He was the Son of God from Eternity as the Word and from the first moment of his Incarnation as God-Man But the honour of this relation was much eclips'd in his poor
Life and ignominious Death And although his darkest night was inlightened with some discoveries of his Deity yet they were transient and soon vanish'd But in his Resurrection God did publickly own him in the face of the World therefore he is represented testifyiâ—g from Heaven thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee According to the Phrase of Scripture then things are said to be when they conspicuously appear All the Miraculous proofs by which God acknowledged him for his Son during his Life had been ineffectual without this If he had remain'd in the Grave it had been reasonable to believe him an ordinary person and that his Death had been the punishment of his presumption but his Resurrection was the most illustrious and convincing evidence that he was what he declar'd himself to be For it is not conceiveable that God should put forth an Almighty power to raise him and thereby auâ—horise his usurpation if by robbery he had assumed that Glorious Title He is therefore said to be justified by the Spirit which raised him from all the accusations of his Enemies who charg'd him with Blasphemy for making himself equal with God Upon the evidence of it Thomas ador'd him as his Lord and God 2. His Resurrection is the most pregnant proof of the All suffitiency of his Satisfaction This was special in the death of Christ that the Curse of the Law accompanied it and seemed like an Infinite weight to lie on his Grave But in rising again the Value and Vertue of His Sufferings was fully declared Therefore the Apostle tells us that he was delivered for our Offences and was raised again for our Justification Although his Death was sufficient to Merit our Pardon yet since Believers alone actually partake of the benefit and none could believe if he had not rose from the Grave 't is clear His Death had been ineffectual without it 3. Our Faith in His Promises to give Life and Glory to his Servants is built on his Resurrection for how could we believe him to be the Authour of Life who remained under the power of Death How could he quicken and Glorifie us who finally perisht If he had been confined to the Grave all our hopes had been buried with him But his Resurrection is the Cause Patern and Argument of ours he did not only raise his Body from the Grave but his Church with him Now the effecting this is attributed to the Divine Power with a note of eminency Christ was raised by the Glory of his Father that is by his Power which in that Act was manifested in its full splendour for what is stronger than death and more in exorable than the Grave Omnipotency alone can break its Gates and loose its Bands CHAP. XXI The Divine Power was glorified in the Conversion of the World to Christianity Notwithstanding the imaginary Infirmity in Christ Crucified yet to the Called He was the Power of God The numerous and great difficulties that obstructed the receiving the Gospel What the state of the World was at the first Preaching it Ignorance was universal Idolatry and the depravation of Manners were the consequents of it Idolatry was fortified by Custome Antiquity and external Pomp. The depravation of Manners was extreme The principal account of it from their disbelieving a Future state and their attributing to their gods those Passions and Vices that were pleasing to the Flesh. The aversion of the vulgar Heathens was strengthened by those in veneration among them The Philosophers Priests and Princes vehemently opposed the Gospel An account of their enmity against it The consideration of the Means by which the Gospel was conveyed discovers that Omnipotency alone made it successful The persons employed were a few Fishermen without Authority and Power to force Men to Obedience and without Art or Eloquence to insinuate the belief of their Doctrine The great sudden and lasting change in the World by the Preaching of Gospel is a certain Argument of the Divine Power that animated those weak appearances Idolatry was abolisht A miraculous change followed in the Lives of Men. Christians gave a divorce to all the sinful delights of Sense and embrac'd for the honour of Christ those things that Nature most abhors A short view of the Sufferings and Courage of the Martyrs Their Patience was inspired from Heaven Christianity was victorious over all opposition The Divine Power will be gloriously manifested in the compleat Salvavation of the Church at the last Day Our Saviour shall then finish his Mediatory Office Death the last Enemy shall be destroyed The Bodies of the Saints shall be rais'd and conform'd to the 〈◊〉 Body of Christ. 6. THe Divine Power was glorified in the Conversion of the World to Christianity The Apostle tells us That Christ crucified was to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Gentiles foolishness The Jews expected the Messiah to deliver them from temporal Servitude and establish an universal Empire either by the force of Arms or by the terrour of Signs and Prodigies as Moses did against the Egiptians But when instead of Power they saw nothing but Weakness and instead of a glorious Triumph a disgraceful Punishment they despised his Person and rejected his Doctrine But notwithstanding this imaginary infirmity in Christ crucified Yet to those that are called according to the Divine purpose He was the most excellent Power of God It being more glorious to subdue the World to the Faith and Obedience of a crucified Person than if He had appear'd with all the Powers of Heaven and Princes of the Earth as his Attendants For this reason the Apostle declares He was not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ it being the Power of God to Salvation to all that believe to the Jew first and also to the Greek And he prays for the Ephesians That the eyes of their understandings being enlightened they might know what is the exceeding greatness of his Power to us ward who believe according to the working of his mighty Power which He wrought in Christ when He raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the Heavenly places He uses various and lofty expressions as if one had been insufficient to signifie the extent and efficacy of that Power which produc'd the Faith of â—â—rist in the Heathens And if we duly consider things it will appear that the terms of the Apostle are not too strong and hyperbolical but just and equal to the degree of power requisite for the accomplishment of that great work For the understanding of this I will consider three things 1. The numerous and great difficulties that obstructed the receiving of the Gospel 2. The quality of the means by which 't was conveyed and became successful 3. The eminent sudden universal and lasting change made by it in the World 1. The numerous and great difficulties that obstructed the receiving of the Gospel This will appear by representing the state and
the aged and infirm of tender Youths of delicate Women of the Honourable and obscure Yet in that difference of Ages and Sexes and States there appear'd such an equality of Vertue that it was Visible the same Heavenly Spirit inspir'd them all with Courage and by assuring them of Eternal Life made them despise present Death Such Heroical and frequent Constancy must be ascribed to the Breast-plate of Faith and Love of a Coelestial temper wherewith the Almighty had Arm'd them If it be said that some have died for a false Religion so that the extraordinary assistance of Heaven was not necessary to encourage the Christian Martyrs The Answer is clear There is a vast difference between the number of the Sufferers and manner of their Sufferings 1. Some few moved by Vanity and Melancholy or compell'd have suffered for a false Religion that was authorised by the Custom of their Country for many Ages But innumerable Christians animated by the example of their Crucified King freely sacrificed themselves for the testimony of the Gospel upon the first Revelation of it before any humane respects gave colour to it 2. In those who suffer'd for a false Religion were visible either Fear or Vain-glory Stubbornness or Rage But the Christians in their greatest Sufferings exprest Magnanimity without Pride Constancy without Fierceness Patience without Stupidity and such an admirable Compassion to their Enemies as persuaded some of their Tormentors to be companions with them in Martyrdom 2. The suddainness and universality of the change effected by the Gospel is a signal Evidence of the Divine Power that attended it The Apostle declares the admirable progress of it in all the world during his time In a few years with incredible swiftness it past through Judea Samaria Syria Greece and all the parts of the known habitable World Tacitus acknowledges that in the eleventh year of Nero great numbers of Christians were at Rome at a great distance from the place where the Gospel was first preach'd It appears from the Writings of the Primitive Christians that in the Second Century after the Death of Christ the Roman Empire was fill'd with Christian Churches The World was peopled with a new Generation Now what Secret Power produced that suddain and universal Change How came it to pass that the Gospel contrary to the order of new Things should be so readily receiv'd and in those places where the most insuperable obstacles oppos'd it In Corinth the Seat of Luxury and Voluptuousness in Ephesus where Idolatry had its Throne in Rome it self where Honours Riches Pleasures were ador'd Moses with all his great Miracles never conquer'd one Nation to the true God The Pharisees compast Sea and Land to make a Proselyte But the Gospel in a little time converted many Nations from their Opinions and Manners wherein they had been instructed and educated to those that were not only different but contrary The wonder in Esay was exceeded That a Nation was born in a day For the World was renewed as it were in a moment Such a quickening universal Efficacy was join'd with the Preaching of the Gospel that the Power of God was â—ver more visibly manifested in any work Therefore the Apostle mentions it as one part of the great Mystery of Godliness that Christ was believed oâ— in the World There is nothing but Supernatural as in the birth so in the progress of Christianity 3. The lasting Change made by the Gospel is the Effect of Infinite Power Philosophy though maintain'd by the successive force of the greatest Wits yet declin'd and came to nothing But Christianity attended only by its own Authority establisht its Dominion and rais'd an Eternal Empire of Truth and Holiness in the World The Reason of Man cannot inspire into its Productions a Principle of Life only that Power which conveys to Man an immortal Soul can derive to its Institutions a Spirit to Animate and preserve them And this Victorious Permanent Efficacy of the Gospel is more admirable in regard it prevail'd without the assistance and against the opposition of all The more it was opprest the more it prosper'd It gain'd credit and Disciples by Contradiction and Persecution it was multiplied by the Deaths of its followers The Cloud of Witnesses dissolving in a shower of Blood made the Church Fruitful Although some Persecutors have boasted of their utter abolishing the Christian Name in all parts of the Empire yet those inscriptions are the Proud Monuments of their Vanity not Victory Tyrants are perisht but Truth remains for ever By which 't is evident that as the Gospel had a higher Principle than what is from below so it was assisted with more than Humane Power To sum up in short what hath been amplified how Gloriously was the Arm of the Lord revealed in raising the World that for four thousand years lay in Wickednesse What less than a Divine Power could soften such an obstinate hardnesse as long custome in Sin brings What could pluck up errours that had taken such deep root in the Spirits of Men and were Naturaliz'd to them and plant a Discipline so austere and thorny to sense Who but the Almighty could cast out the Devil from his Empire and withdraw his Subjects that were captivated by the terrour of Laws and by the delights of the flesh What invisible Power made innumerable of the tender sex who were not by temper couragious nor by obstinacy inflexible nay who were so fearful that they could not see a drawn sword without affrightment yet so resolute as to despise all the instruments of Cruelty What is more astonishing than to see a flock of sheep encounter and overcome an Army of Lyons This was the Lords doing and ought to be marvelous in our Eyes Briefly the making a Crucified Person to Reign in the midst of his Enemies and to give Laws to the whole Earth is a Victory worthy the Lord of Hosts The Conversion of the World to Christianity was the effect of infinite Mercy and equal Power Lastly The Divine Power shall be Gloriously manifested in the compleat Salvation of the Church at the end of the World Jesus Christ as Mediatour is invested with Sovereign Power in Heaven and Earth and in that quality he shall exercise it till our Salvation is finisht For he must reign till he hath put all Enemies under his feet But we see not yet all things put under him Although those Persons and things that never degenerated from their Original are intirely subject to him the Angels obey his Will Universal Nature is Govern'd by his Providence The Heavens the Earth the Waters and all things produc'â— from them never resist the Direction of his hand yet there are others that fell from their Integrity and some things consequent to Mans Rebellion which either oppose the Power of Christ or are not yet actually subdued and they are the Enemies of our Salvation Satan Sin and Death Now the perfect Freedom of
the Church from all these will be the last Glorious Act of Christs Regal Office And 't is observeable the Day of Judgment is call'd the Day of Redemption with respect to the final accomplishment of our Felicity that was purchas'd by the infinite Price of his Sufferings The day of Christs Death was the Day of Redemption as to our Right and Title for then our Ransom was fully paid and 't is by the Immortal efficacy of his Blood that we partake of the Glorious Liberty of the Sons of God but the Actual enjoyment of it shall be at the last day Therefore the perfection of all our Spiritual Priviledges is refer'd to that time when Death our Lâ—st Enemy shall be overcome The Apostle saith and not only they but our selves also which have the first Fruits of the Spirit even we our selves groan within our selves waiting for the Adoption to wit the Redemption of our Bodies During the present Life we are taken into Gods Family in the quality of his Children but the most Solemn Act of our Adoption shall be at the last Day In this there is a similitude between Christ and his Members for although he was the Son of God by his marvelous Conception and own'd by him while he perform'd his Ministry upon the Earth yet all the Testimonies of Gods Favour to him were not comparable to the Declaration of it in raising him from the Grave Then in the face of Heaven and Earth He said Thou art my Son this Day have I begotten thee So in this Life God acknowledges and treats us as his Children he cloaths us with the Righteousness of his Son feeds us with his Word defends us from our Spiritual Enemies but the most Publick Declaration of his favour shall be in the next Life when all the Children of the Resurrection shall be born in a Day Add further although the Souls of Believers immediately upon their Separation are receiv'd into Heaven and during the sleep of Death enjoy admirable Visions of Glory yet their Blessedness is imperfect in comparison of that excellent degree which shall be enjoyed at the Resurrection As the Roman Generals after a compleat Conquest first enter'd the City privately and after having obtain'd License of the Senate made their Triumphant entry with all the magnificence splendour becoming the Greatness of their Victories So after a Faithful Christian hath fought the good fight and is come off more than a Conquerour he enters privately into the Coelestial City but when the body is rais'd to Immortality he shall then in the company and with the acclamations of the Holy Angels have a Glorious entry into it I will briefly consider why the Bodies of the Saints shall be rais'd and how the Divine Power will be manifested in that last Act. 1. The General reason is from Gods Justice As the Oeconomy of Divine Providence requires there must be a Future State when God shall sit upon a judicial Throne to weigh the Actions of all Men and render to every one according to their quality so 't is as necessary that the Person be Judged and not one Part alone The Law Commands the entire Man compos'd of his Essential Parts the Soul and Body And 't is obeyed or violated by both of them Although the Guilt or Moral Goodness of Actions is chiefly Attributed to the Soul because 't is the Principle of them yet the Actions are imputed to the whole Man The Soul is the Guide the Body the Instrument 't is reasonable therefore that both should receive their recompence We see the Example of this in Humane Justice which is a copy of the Divine The whole Man is punisht or rewarded The Soul is punisht with Disgrace and Infamy the Body with Pains the Soul is rewarded with Esteem and Honour the Body with External marks of Dignity Thus the Divine Justice will render to every one according to things done in the Body whether Good or Evill 2. The special reason of the Saints Resurrection is their Union with Christ for he is not only our Redeemer and Prince but our second Adam the same in Grace as the first was in Nature Now as from the first the Soul was destroyed by Sin and the Body by Death so the second restores them both to their Primitive state the one by Grace the other by a Glorious Resurrection Accordingly the Apostle saith that by Man came Death and by Man came the Resurrection from the Dead Christ removed the Moral and Natural impossibility of our Glorious Resurrection the Moral by the infinite merit of his Death whereby Divine Justice is satisfied that otherwise would not permit the Guilty to be restor'd to Eternal Life and the Natural by his rising from the Grave to a Glorious Imortality For his Infinite Power can do the same in all Believers 'T is observable the Apostle infers the Resurrection of Believers from that of Christ not only as the Cause but the Original Example For the Members must be conform'd to the Head the Children to their Father the younger to the elder Brother Therefore he is call'd the first-fruits of them that sleep and the first begotten of the Dead In Christ's Resurrection ours is so fully assur'd that the event is infallible Now no less than Infinite Power is requisite to raise the Bodies of the Saints from the dust and to transform them into the similitude of Christs 1. To raise them Nothing is more astonishing to Nature than that the Bodies which after so many Ages in the perpetual circulation of the Elements have past into a thousand different Forms one part of them being resolved into Water another evaporated into Air another turn'd into Dust should be restor'd to their first State What Wisdom is requisite to separate the Parts so mixt and confounded what Power to recompose them what Vertue to reinspire them with new Life It may seem more difficult than to revive a Dead Body whose Organs and matter is not chang'd of which we have Examples in the Scripture When the Spirit of the Lord plac't Ezekiel in the midst of a Valley cover'd with bones and caused him to consider attentively their Number which was very great and their extream dryness he askt him whether these bones could live upon which as one divided and ballanc't between the seeming Impossibility of the thing in it self and the consideration of the Divine Power to which nothing is impossible he answered Lord thou knowest Upon this God commanded him to Prophesie upon those bones and speak to them as if they had been endued with Sense and Understanding O ye dry Bones hear the Word of the Lord Thus saith the Lord God unto these Bones Behold I will cause breath to enter into you and ye shall live And I will lay sinews upon you and will bring in flesh upon you and cover you with skin and put Breath in you and ye shall live and ye shall know that I am
them for execrable Persons It had been as extravagant to have designed the acquiring of Reputation or Riches by their Preaching as for one to throw himself into a flaming Furnace to be cool'd and refresh'd And that Pleasure could not be their Aim is manifest For they met with nothing but Poverty and Persecution with Derision and Disgrace with Hardships and all the effects of Fury which they willingly endured rather than cease from Preaching or deny what they had Preach'd Their unheard of Resolution to forsake their Native Countey and travel to all the known parts of the Earth to convey the Doctrine of Jesus Christ is a strong Demonstration that they believed it to be true and of infinite moment most worthy of all the dangers to which they voluntarily exposed themselves Never did Ambition or Avarice the most active Passions cause men to be more diligent than they were to communicate the Knowledg of our Saviour to all Nations Now what greater assurance can we possibly receive that they were sincere in their Report Secondly The nature of the Testimony makes it very credible 1. It was of a matter of Fact If it had been some high Speculation of universal Things abstracted from Matter and above the cognizance of the Senses there might be some pretence to object That the Disciples unexercised in Sciences were deceived by the Subtlety of ther Master But 't is a singular Thing of which the Senses are the most faithful Informers and competent Judges 2. It was an ocular Testimony which as it makes the strongest impression upon the Spectator so upon the belief of others Thus St. John That which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked on declare we unto you And that they were not deceived we have great certainty For Jesus had convers'd a long time with them before his Death and their Respect and Love to Him and after their Compassion had deeply engraved the lineaments of his Visage in their memories and He presented himself not many years but three daies after his absence so that it was impossible they should have forgot his Countenance He appear'd to them not once or twice but many times and not suddenly as a flash of Lightning that presently vanisheth but converst with them familiarly for forty daies And 't is observable the Apostles themselves were not easily wrought on to believe this Truth When the Testimony of the Angels assur'd them that He was risen yet they were suspended between Hopes and Fears And at his first Appearance they were vehemently surpriz'd They saw Him die on the Cross three daies before and their Memories were still fill'd with the frightful images of his Sufferings so that they were ballanc'd between the present testimony of Sense and the fresh remembrance of what they had seen Therefore He justified the truth of his Resurrection to all their Senses He discours'd with them made them feel his Wounds eat and drank with them so that 't was impossible they should be deceived unless willingly Thus by the wise dispensation of God their doubting hath confirmed our Faith Thirdly The Uniformity of the testimony makes it valuable upon a double account First As it secures us there was no corruption in the Witnesses Secondly That it was no Illusion 1. That there was no Corruption in the Witnesses The most prudent way to discover the falsity of a testimony is to interrogate the Witnesses severally to see if there be any contradiction between them But if they concur not only as to the Substance but Circumstances their Deposition is very credible Now the Apostles exactly agreed in their testimony as appears by the several Gospels in which although wrote in divers times and places yet there is an admirable Harmony not only as to the Fact it self but the least particularities 2. The Agreement of so many proves it was no Illusion If He had only appear'd to some persons separately carnal Reason which is ingenious to deceive itself might object that it was only the effect of a distemper'd fancy and no real object of Sence But after He had shewn Himself to some of the Disciples apart and that holy Company was met together uniting the several sparks to encourage their hopes of his Resurrection He came to them altogether and for many daies conversed with them Now who can believe that so many should be obstructed with Melancholy for so long time so as constantly to remain under the power of a Delusion Besides He afterwards appear'd to five hundred at once Now how could such a number of different Ages Sexes Temperaments be at the same time struck with the same Imagination Add further If a strong Imagination had deceiv'd them by Melancholy there would have been some discoveries of that Humour in their Actions For 't is impossible that the Mind so indisposed should for a long time act regularly But in the whole course of their Lives not the least extravagancy appears Their Zeal was temper'd with Prudence their Innocence was without Folly their Conversation was becoming their great Office And of this we have unquestionable Evidence For otherwise so many Persons of excellent Wisdom had never been perswaded by them to embrace Christianity neither had their Enemies so furiously persecuted them For 't is beyond belief that they had so far extinguish'd the Sentiments of Humanity as to treat the Apostles as the most guilty Criminals whom they knew to be distracted and therefore worthy of Compassion rather than Hatred But if it be objected that it might be a Phantasm or solid Body form'd according to the Likeness of Christ that abus'd the Apostles and after some time withdrew itself The vanity of the Objection is very apparent For such an effect could not be without the operation of a Spiritual Cause Now the good Angels cannot be guilty of falshood of which they had been in that representation for He that appear'd declar'd himself to be Jesus that suffer'd neither would the evil use such an Artifice The old Serpent was too wise to promote the belief of Christ's Resurrection which is the Foundation of Christianity An Institution most holy that would destroy his Altars discredit his Oracles bring Glory to God and Happiness to Man to both which he is eternally opposite By all which it appears there was no deceit in the subject nor object 4. They seal'd it with their Blood This last proof confirms all the other If a person of clear fame assert a thing which he is ready to maintain with the loss of his Life there is no reason to doubt of the truth of his Deposition 'T is no wonder that Philostratus a bold Grecian to shew his Art painted Apollonius Tyanaeus as a Demi-god exempted from death and cloathed with immortality But if he had been drawn from his Study where he drest that Idol of Iniquity to appear before the Magistrates to give an account of the truth of his Relation he certainly would have renounc'd his
pretended Hero rather than have given his Life for a Lie Now the Apostles endur'd the most cruel Deaths to confirm the Truth of their Testimony And what could possibly induce them to it if they had not been certain of his Resurrection Could love to their dead Master animate them to suffer for the honour of his Name This is inconceiveable For He promis'd that He would rise the third Day and ascend to Heaven and make them partakers of his Glory So that if He had lain in the rotâ—enness of the Grave What charm what stupidity was able to make them preserve so high a Venâ—ration for a Deceiver Nothing could remain in them but the memory and indignation of his Imposture Now if it be the dictate of natural Reason that the concurrent Testimony of two or three credible Persons not weaken'd by any exception is sufficient to decide any Cause of the greatest moment that respects Life Honour and Estate how much more should the attestation of the Apostles put this great Truth beyond all doubt since they parted with their Lives the most precious possession in this World for it and which is infinitely more if Deceivers they would certainly be deprived of Eternal Life in the next In short Since the Creation never was a Testimony so clear and authentick the Divine Providence so ordering the circumstances that the Evidence should be above all Suspicion Neither did it ever happen that any thing affirm'd by so many and such worthy Persons was ever suspected much less found to be false 'T is the most unreasonable stifness not to yeeld an intire Assent to it For there would be no secure Foundation of determining innumerable weighty Cases if we should doubt of things reported by the most credible circumspect Persons since we can be certified by our own Senses but of a few Objects I shall only add That the Apostles did many and great Miracles in the Name of Christ which was the strongest demonstration that He was rais'd to a glorious Life They were invested by the Spirit with the habits of various Tongues This kind of Miracle was necessary for the universal Preaching of the Gospel For how difficult and obstructive had it been to their Work if they must have return'd to their Infant-state to learn the Signification of forrein Languages to pronounce the words in their original Sound and the Accents proper to their Countrey Therefore the Holy Spirit according to the promise of Christ descended upon them and became their Master and in a moment imprest on their Memories the forms of discoursing and on their Tongues the manner of expressing them Where-ever the Doctrine of Jesus was preach'd God bare them witness both with Signes and Wonders and with divers Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will When St. Peter pass'd through the streets fill'd with persons diseased and half dead he caused an universal resurrection by touching them with his reviving shadow They tamed Serpents and quencht the malignity of their Poison they commanded Death to leave its prey and Life to return to its mansion that was not habitable for it And that miraculous Power continued in their Successours so long as was requisite for the conviction of the World Justin Martyr Irenaeus Tertullian Origen Cyprian mention divers Miracles perform'd by Christians in those times Tertullian offers to the Emperour to whom he addrest his admirable Apology to compel the Devils that possest Humane Bodies to confess themselves to be evil Spirits to constrain the Prince of darkness to enlighten his own Slaves And Cyprian assures the Governour of Africa that he would force the Devils to come out of the Bodies they tormented lamenting their ejection Now we cannot imagine they would so far discredit their Doctrine and Reputation as to pretend to such a Power without they had it In short To deny the Miracles wrought by the Primitive Christians were as great rashness as to deny that Caesar conquer'd Pompey or that Titus succeeded Vespasian For we have the concurrent Testimony of the gravest and best Men of Understanding and Conscience who were Eye-witnesses and which was not contradicted by those of the same Age. Briefly There are such clear characters of the Divine Hand to render the Gospel authentick that to deny it to be true is to make God a liar The Conclusion is this We see how reasonable it is to give an entire assent to the truth of Christianity The Nature of the Doctrine that is perfecty Divine declares its Original 'T is confirmed by Supernatural Testimonies The Doctrine distinguishes the Miracles from all false wonders the illusions of Satan and the Miracles confirm the Doctrine What doubt can there be after the full deposition of the Spirit in raising Christ from the Grave in qualifying the Apostles who were rude and ignorant with Knowledg Zeal Courage Charity and all Graces requisite for their great enterprise and in converting the World by their Ministry and Miracles If we believe not so clear a Revelation our Infidelity is desperate When our Saviour was upon the Earth the Meanness and Poverty of his appearance lessen'd their Crime who did not acknowledg and honour him in the disguise of a Servant Therefore they were capable of favour Many of his bloody Persecutors were converted and saved by the Preaching of the Apostles But since the Holy Ghost hath convinc'd the World by so strong a Light of Sin Righteousness and Judgment viz. That Jesus whom the Jews most unworthily Crucified was the Son of God that in dying He purchased the Pardon of Sin since He is risen and received to Glory That all power in Heaven and Earth is given to Him the effect of which is most visible For spiritual Wickednesses trembled at his Name were expelled from their Dominions and sent to their old Prison to suffer the Chains and Flames due to them To refuse his Testimony is a degree of Obstinacy not far distant from Malice of of the Devils and puts Men without the reserves of pardoning Mercy And 't is not a slight superficial Belief of this great Truth that is sufficient but that which is powerful in making us universally obedient to our Glorified Redeemer who will distribute Crowns to all his faithful Servants We cannot truly believe his Resurrection without believing his Doctrine nor believe his Doctrine without unfeigned Desires after the eternal Felicity it promises nor desire that Felicity without a sincere compliance to his Commands in order to the obtaining it In short 'T is Infidelity approaching Madness not to believe the Truth of the Gospel but 't is Madness of an higher kind and more prodigious to pretend to believe it and yet to live in disobedience to its Precepts in contempt of its Promises and Threatnings as if it were a meer Fable CHAP. XXII The Honour of God's Truth with respect to the Legal Threatning was preserv'd in the Death of Christ. The Divine Truth with respect to the Promises and
Babylon But at the coming of Christ Judea was a Province of the Roman Empire Herod an Edomite sate on the Throne and as the Tribe of Judah in general so the Family of David in particular was in such a low state that Joseph and Mary that were descended from him were constrain'd to lodg in a stable at Bethlehem And since the blessed Peace-maker hath appear'd on the Earth the Jews have lost all Authority their Civil and Ecclesiastical State is utterly ruin'd and they bear the visible marks of infamous Servitude 2. The Second famous Prediction is by an Angel to Daniel when he was lamenting the ruine of Jerusalem who comforted him with an assurance that the City should be rebuilt And further told him That from the going forth of the Commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks and threescore and two Weeks the streets shall be built again and the wall even in troublesome times And after threescore and two weeks shall the Messiah be cut off but not for himself and the People of the Prince that shall come shall destroy the City and Sanctuary and the end thereof shall be with a flood and to the end of the war desolations are determined The clear intent of the Angels Message is That within the space of seventy Prophetical Weeks that is four hundred and ninety years according to the Exposition of the Rabbins themselves after the issuing forth the order for the rebuilding Jerusalem the Messiah should come and be put to Death for he sins of Men which was exactly fulfil'd 3. The time of the manifestation of the Messiah is evidently set down in the Haggai 2.6 7 8 9. I will shake all Nations and the desire of all Nations shall come and I will fill this house with Glory saith the Lord of hosts The Silver is mine and the Gold is mine saith the Lord of Hosts The Glory of the latter shall be greater than that of the former saith the Lord of Hosts and in this place will I give peace The Prophet to encourage the Jews in building the Temple assur'd them that it should have a surpassing Glory by the presence of the Messiah who is call'd the Desire of all Nations and being the Prince of Peace his coming is described by that blessed effect and in this place will I give Peace saith the Lord of Hosts The second Temple was much inferiour to Solomons as in Magnificence and external Ornaments so especially because defective in those Excellencies that were peculiar to the first They were the Ark of the Covenant and the appearance of Glory between the Cherubims the fire from Heaven to consume the Sacrifices the Urim and Thummim and the Holy Ghost who inspir'd the Prophets But when the Lord came to his Temple and perform'd many of his Miracles there this brought a Glory to it infinitely exceeding that of the former For what comparison is there between the shadowy presence of God between the Cherubims and his real presence in the humane Nature of Christ in whom the fulness of the God-head dwelt bodily How much inferiour were the Priests and Prophets to him who came from Heaven and had the Spirit without measure to reveal the Counsel of God for the Salvation of the World 2. The particular Circumstances foretold concerning the Messiah are all verified in Jesus Christ. It was foretold that the Messiah should have a fore-runner to prepare his way by preaching the Doctrine of Repentance that he should be Born of a Virgin and of the Family of David and in the Town of Bethlehem that he shold go into Egypt be cal'd forth from thence by God that his chief residence should be in Galilee the region of Zebulon and Nephthali that he should be poor and humble and enter into Hierusalem on the Fole of an Ass that he should perform great miracles in restoring the Blind the Lame the Deaf and Dumb that he should suffer many afflictions Contempt Scorn Stripes be Spit on Scourg'd betray'd by his familiar Friend sold for a sordid Price that he should be put to Death that his hands and feet should be bored and his side pierc'd that he should dy between Thieves that in his Passion he should taste vinegar and gall that his garments should be divided and Lots be cast for his Coat that he should be buried and his Body not see corruption but rise again the third day that he should ascend to Heaven and sit at the right hand of God and all these Predictions are exactly fulfil'd in the Lord Christ. 3. The consequents of his Coming are foretold 1. That the Jews should reject him because of the meanness of his appearance They neither understood the Greatness and Majesty nor the Abasement of the Messiah described in their Prophesies not his Greatness that the Son of David was his Lord that he was before Abraham who rejoyced to his Day for they did not believe the Eternity of his Divine Nature They did not understand his humiliation to Death Therefore 't was objected by them that the Messiah remains for ever and this Person saith he shall dy They fancied a carnal Messiah shining with Worldly pomp accompanied with thundring legions to deliver them from Temporal Servitude so that when they saw him without form and comeliness and that no Beauty was in him to make him desireable they hid their Faces from him they despised and esteemed him not Thus by their obstinate refusal of the Messiah they really and visibly fulfil'd the Prophecies concerning him 2. That the Levitical Ceremonies and Sacrifices should cease upon the Death of the Messiah and the Jewish Nation be dissolved Although the legal Service was establisht with great solemnity yet there was alwayes a sufficient indication that it should not be perpetual Moses who delivered the Law told them that God would raise another Prophet whom they must hear And David compos'd a Psalm to be sung in the Temple containing the establishment of a Priest not according to the order of Levi but Melchisedec who should bring in a Worship Spiritual and Divine And we see this accomplisht all the Ceremonies were buried in his grave the Sacrifices for above sixteen hundred years are ceast Besides the destruction of the Holy City and Sanctuary the Jews are scatter'd in all parts and in their dreadful dispersion suffer the just punishment of their Infidelity 3. It was Prophesied that in the time of the Messiah Idols should be ruin'd and Idolaters converted to the knowledg of the true God That he should be a Light to the Gentiles and to him the gathering of the People should be And this is so visibly accomplisht in the conversion of the World to Christianity that not one jot or title of Gods Word hath fail'd so that besides the Glory due to his Power and Mercy we are obliged to honour him as the Fountain of Truth I will now
make some short reflections upon the Types of the Law to show how they are compleated in Christ. The Mosaic Dispensation was so contriv'd as to bear a resemblance of the Messiah in all its parts The Law had a shadow of good things to come Christ was the end of the Law the substance of those shadows The main design of the Epistle to the Hebrews is to shew that in the antient Tabernacle there were models of the Heavenly things reveal'd in the Gospel The great number of Types declares the variety of the Divine Wisdom and the admirable fulness of Christ in whom they are verified Three sorts were instituted 1. Some were things without Life whose qualities and effects shadowed forth his Vertues and Benefits 2. Things endued with Life and Sence 3. Reasonable Persons that either in their offices actions or the memorable accidents that befel them represented the Messiah Of the first sort I will briefly consider the Manna that miraculously fell from Heaven the Rock that by its stream refresht the Israelites in their Journey to Canaan and the Brasen Serpent premising two things 1. That in comparing them with the Truth we are to observe the design of God and not to seek for Mysteries in every thing As in Pictures some strokes of the Pencil are only for ornament others for signification Besides when Superlative things are spoken of them exceeding their Nature and that cannot be applied to them without a violent figure the full and entire Truth is only found in Jesus Christ. 1. Manna was an eminent Type of him Accordingly the Apostle declares of the Israelites they did all eat the same Spiritual meat not in respect of its Material but Symbolical Nature The express Analogy between Manna and Christ is visible in respect of its marvelous production The Mosaical Manna was not the fruit of the Earth procur'd by humane industry but form'd by the Divine Power and rain'd down upon them therefore 't is called the Corn of Heaven This typified the celestial original of our Redeemer He is the true bread from Heaven given by the Father He is call'd the gift of God eminently being the richest and freest without any merit or indeavour of Men to procure it And we may observe the truth infinitely exceeded the Type for Manna descended only from the Clouds therefore our Saviour tells the Jews Moses gave ye not that bread from Heaven But he really came from Heaven where the great and Glorious Presence of God is manifested and appear'd under a visible form in the World Manna was only stil'd the Bread of Angels to signify its excellency above common food but the bread of God is he which cometh down from Heaven 2. Manna was dispenst to all the Israelites equally not as the delicious fruits of the Earth that are the portion of a few but as the light and influences of the Heavens that are common to all and herein 't was a representation of Christ who is offer'd to all without distinction of Nations to the Jews and Gentiles to the Graecians and Barbarians and without the distinction of quality to the Honourable and Mean the Rich and the Poor the Learned and Ignorant And here we may observe the excellency of the Spiritual Manna above the Mosaical for that â—ed but one nation but the bread of God gives life to the World his infinite merit is sufficient for the Salvation of all 3. Manna was a delicious food the Taste of it is described to be like wafers mixt with honey that have a pure chast sweetness this typified the Love of Christ shed abroad in the hearts of Believers Such an exalted ravishing pleasure proceeds from it that the Psalmist breaks forth in an extasy Taste and see how Good the Lord is 4. Manna was their only support in the Wilderness strengthning them to vanquish their Enemies and endure the hardships to which they were incident in their passage to Canaan In this regard 't was a lively image of Christ who is our Spiritual food whâ—e we are in the desert of the lower World the place of our trial exposed to dangers By him alone we shall be finally victorious over the Enemies of our Salvation And in this also the Truth is infinitely above the Type that prefigured it For Manna could only preserve the Natural Life for a time As our Saviour tells the Jews your Fathers eat Manna in the Wilderness and are dead But Jesus Christ is the living bread that came down from Heaven and hath a Supernatural Vertue to convey a Life incomparably more noble and answerable to the quality of his Original 'T is incorruptible as Heaven from whence He came If any man eat of this Bread he shall live for ever Death is so far from extinguishing that it advances the Spiritual Life to its perfection 2. The Apostle testifies that the Israelites drank of that Spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ. That the Miracle was mysterious is evident from the circumstances related of it When the Israelites were in great distress for water The Lord said to Moses I will stand before thee there upon the Rock in Horeb and thou shalt smite the Rock and there shall come water out of it that the People may drink If there had been no other design but the relieving their necessity that might have been supplied by rain from Heaven or if only to give a visible effect of the Divine Power that had been discovered in causing new Springs to rise from the Earth or the Command of God had been sufficient to strike the Rock But he went to it to signifie the respect it had to himself He was the Son of God that spake to Moses and conducted the People For this reason He is stiled the Angel of Gods presence not with respect to his Nature but Offices I will briefly observe the parallel between the Rock and Christ. 1. A Rock is the ordinary Title of God in Scripture to represent his unchangeable Nature and infinite Power whereby He upholds the World And in a special manner it resembles the Messiah He is called The Stone which the builders refused that was made the head of the corner He is the Rock upon which the Church is built and secur'd against the violence of Hell Now Israel was not supplied from the Clouds or the Valleys but the Rock to shew that the mystical Rock the Son of God can only refresh the Spiritual Israel with living Water 2. The quality of the Rock hath a proper Signification For although it had in its Veins a rich abundance of Waters yet to appearance nothing was more dry and hard In this it was a Figure of the Spiritual Rock The effects have discovered in him unfathomable depths of Righteousness Grace and Salvation yet at the first view we had no hopes For if we consider Him as God He is infinitely Holy and Just encompast with everlasting flames against Sin and
how can we expect any cooling streams from Him If we consider him as Man he is resembled to a root out of a dry ground the Justice of the Divine and the infirmity of the Humane Nature did not promise any comfort to us But what cannot infinite Love united to infinite Power perform Divine Goodness hath chang'd the Laws of Nature in our favour and by an admirable act open'd the Rock to refresh us 3. The Rock was struck with the Rod of Moses a Type of the Law before it sent forth its streams thus our Spiritual Rock was wounded for our Transgressions bruised for our Iniquities then opened all his treasures to us Being consecrated by Sufferings he is the Author of Eternal Salvation In this respect the Gospel propounds him for the object of saving Faith I determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and him Crucified The Sacraments the Seals of the New Covenant have a special reference to his Death the Foundation of it 4. The Miraculous Waters followed the Israelites in their Journey without which they had perisht in the Wilderness This represents that Indeficiency of the Grace of Christ. A Soveraign stream flows from him to satisfy all Believers He tells us Whosoever drinketh of the Water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the Water that I shall give him shall be in him a Well of Water springing up unto Everlasting Life 3. The Brasen Serpent sensibly exprest the manner of his Death and the benefits derived from it Therefore Jesus being the Minister of the Circumcision chose this Figure for the Instruction of the Jews As Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever beleeves in him should not perish but have Eternal Life The Sacred Story relates that the Israelites by their rebellious murmuring provoked God to send Serpents among them whose Poison was so fiery and mortal that it brought the most Painful Death In this affliction they addrest themselves to the Father of Mercies who World by their Repentance Commanded Moses to make a Serpent of Brass and erect it on a Pole in the view of the whole Camp that whosoever lookt on it should be healed By this account from Scripture we may clearly understand something of greatest consequence was represented by it For the only Wise God ordains nothing without just reason Why must a Serpent of Brass be elevated on a Pole could not the Divine Power recover them without it Why must they look towards it could not a healing vertue be conveyed to their wounds but through their eyes All this had a direct reference to the Mystery of Christ. For the biting of the Israelites by the fiery Serpents doth naturaly represent the effects of Sin that torments the Conscience and inflames the Soul with the apprehensions of Future Judgment And the erecting a Brasen Serpent upon a Pole that had the Figure not the Poison of those Serpents doth in a lively manner set forth the lifting up of Jesus Christ on the Cross who only had the similitude of sinful flesh The looking towards the Brasen Serpent is a fit resemblance of Believing in Christ Crucified for Salvation The Sight of the eye was the only means to derive vertue from it and the Faith of the heart is the means by which the Sovereign efficacy of our Redeemer is conveyed This is the will of him that sent me saith our Saviour that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have Eternal Life As in the camp of Israel whoever lookt towards the Brasen Serpent whatever his wounds were or the weakness of his sight had a present remedy so how numerous and grievous soever our Sins be how infirm our Faith yet if we sincerely regard the Son of God suffering he will preserve us from Death For this end he is presented in the Gospel as crucified before the eyes of all Persons 2. Things endued with Life and Sense prefigur'd the Messiah I Shall particularly consider the Paschal Lamb an illustrious Type of him Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us The whole scene as it is laid down in the 12th of Exodus shows an admirable agreement tween them 1. A Lamb in respect of its natural innocency and meekness that suffers without resistance waas fit emblem of our Saviour whose voice was not heard in the street who did not break the Bruised Reed nor quench the smoking Flax. He was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he open'd not his Mouth He is brought as a Lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before the shearers is dumb so he openeth not his Mouth 2. The Lamb was to be without Spot to signify his absolute perfection We are Redeemed with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without Spot 3. The Lamb was to be separated from the Flock four days the Lord Jesus was separated from Men and consecrated to be the Sacrifice for the World after three or four years spent in his Ministerial office preparing himself for that great Work 4. The Paschal Lamb was sacrificed and substituted in the place of the first-Born The Levitical Priesthood not being instituted at their going forth from Egypt every Master of a Family had a right to exercise it in his own House Our Redeemer suffer'd in our stead to propitiate Gods Justice towards us 5. The Blood was to be sprinkled upon the Posts of the door that Death might not enter into their Houses That sacred Ceremony was typical for the sign it self had no resemblance of sparing and certainly the Angel could distinguish between the Israelites and the Egyptians without the bloody mark of Gods Favour but it had a final respect to Christ. We are secur'd from destruction by the blood of sprinkling They were to eat the whole Flesh of the Lamb to signify our intire taking of Christ upon the terms of the Gospel to be our Prince and Saviour 6. The effects attributed to the Paschal Lamb viz. Redemption from Death and Bondage clearly represent the Glorious Benefits we enjoy by Jesus Christ. The destroying Angel past over their houses and caus'd the Egiptians to restore them to full liberty That which all the dreadful signs wrought by Moses could not do was effected by the Passover that overcame the stubbornness of Pharaoh and inspir'd the Israelites with courage to undertake their journey to the promised Land Thus we pass from Death to Life and from bondage to the Glorious liberty of the Sons of God by vertue of Christs Blood 3. Reasonable Persons represented our Saviour either in their Offices actions or the memorable accidents that befel them Joseph the beloved of his Father sent by him to visit his Brethren by them unworthily sold to strangers and thereby rais'd to be their Lord and Saviour was a lively type of him Jonach three dayes and nights in the Whales belly and miraculously restor'd
was a type of his lying in the Grave and Resurrection Moses in his Prophetical David in his Kingly Office praefigur'd him The Priestly Office being the Foundation of the other two and that upon which our Salvation principally depends was illustrated by two Glorious types Melchisedec and Aaron The one the high Priest in ordinary the other the Priest of God by extraordinary designation I will briefly touch upon the resemblance between him and Christ. Although Sacrifices were offer'd from the Beginning yet he is the first to whom that Title is given as called to that office in a special manner The Divinity of Christs Person the Eternity of his Office and the Infinite Value of his Oblation were shadowed forth by him Melchisedec is introduc'd into the Sacred story as one descending from Heaven and ascending thither without any account of his Birth or Death The silence of the Scripture is Mysterious for the Spirit conducted Holy Men in their Writings The Levitical Priests descended by Natural Generation from their predecessours and had successours in their Office which was annext to the race of Levi. But Melchisedec is represented without Father and Mother without Beginning and End of Days whose Priesthood was permanent in himself For things and Persons have a double being real in themselves and notional as they exist in the mind so that no mention being made of his coming into the World or leaving it the silence of the Scripture is equivalent to his continual duration Now in this was an adumbration of Christ who was the Eternal Son of God and really came from Heaven to execute his office and ascended thither And although his oblation was finisht on the Earth and his intercession shall cease in Heaven yet the effects of it shall be Eternal in his People and the Glory of it in himself The Apostle observes an other resemblance between the Supreme Quality of Melchisedec King of Salem and Jesus Christ He was King of Righteousness and Peace He Govern'd his Subjects in Righteousness and never stain'd those hands with humane Blood that were employed in the Sacred office of the Priesthood And by those Glorious Titles are signified the benefits our Saviour conveys to his People He is the true King of Righteousness By which is not intended the Righteousness that justifies before God in which respect he is call'd the Lord our Righteousness and is said to have brought in Eternal Righteousness for that respects his Priestly office in that quality he acquir'd it But that Title signifies his giving most Righteous Laws for the Government of the Church and his dispensing Righteous Rewards and Punishments Eternal Life and Death by which he preserves the Majesty of his Laws and secures the obedience of his Subjects And he is King of Peace by which we are not to understand his temper and disposition nor our peace with God for reconciliation is grounded on his Sacrifice nor peace with Conscience the effect of the other but that which depends on his Royalty As the King of Peace he keeps his Subjects in a calm and quiet Obedience all their Thoughts and Passions are regulated by his Will The Laws of secular Kings are only exposed to the eyes or proclaimed to the ears of their Subjects but His are engraven in their hearts By the inward and Almighty efficacy of his Spirit he inclines them to their Universal Duty and will bring them to Eternal Peace in his Glorious Kingdom First From hence we have an irrefragable Argument of the Truth and Divinity of the Gospel For 't is evident by comparing the antient Figures with the present Truth the Copies with the Original the Pictures with the Life that Eternal Wisdom contrived them For no created Understanding could frame so various Represenâ—ations of Christ and all exactly agreeing with him at such a distance before His appearance And if we compare the Predictions with the Events 't is most clear that only the Divine Knowledg could reveal them For otherwise how was it possible that the Prophets so many Ages before the Coming of Christ should predict those things concerning Him that exceeded the foresight of all the Angels of Light What Intelligence could there be between Moses and David and Isaiah that lived such a distance of time from one another to deliver such things as meet in him as their Centre And these Prophecies are conveyed to us by the Jews the most obstinate Enemies of Christianity who although they reverence the Letter yet abhor the accomplishment of them So that there can be no possible suspicion that they are feigned and of a later Date than their titles declare Their successive fulfilling is a perpetual Miracle to justifie the truth of our Religion Our Saviour used this Method for the instruction of his Disciples These are the words which I spake unto you that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning me And St. Paul fram'd a powerful Demonstration from the Scriptures to prove that Jesus was the Christ. In his Writings he deciphers the riddles of the Law and removes the Veil to discover the Face of Christ engraven by the Divine Artificer Briefly by shewing the consent between the two Testaments he illuminates the Old by the New and confirms the New by the Old Now what Religion is there in the World whose Mysteries were foretold by the Oracles of God and figured by his Institutions above two thousand Years before 't was exhibited Whose Doctrine perfectly accords with the most antient venerable and Divine Writings Can that Religion be any other than Divine which God did so expresly predict and pourtray in such various manner for the receiving whereof He made such early Preparations in the World Certainly without offering the greatest violence to our rational Faculties none can disbelieve it He degrades himself from the dignity of being a Man that refuses to be a Christian. 2. From hence we may understand the incomparable Happiness of Christians not only above the Heathens who by Divine Desertion were wholly Strangers to the Covenants of Mercy but above God's peculiar People The Messiah was the expectation and desire of Heaven and Earth Before his coming the Saints had some glimmerings of Light which made them inwardly languish after the blessed Manifestation of it But that was reserved for Believers in the last Ages of the World That antient Promise the Morning Blush of the Gospel-Day That the Seed of the Woman should break the head of the Serpent and the Serpent bruise his heel signified the bloody Victory the Messiah should obtain over Satan but how little of it was understood One may as well from the sight of the Root foretel the dimensions of a Tree the colour figure and taste of its Fruits as from that Prediction have discover'd all the parts of our Mediator's Office and the excellent benefits resulting from it The Incarnation Crucifixion Resurrection and
all understanding Agents first propound an end and then choose the means for the obtaining of it And the more perfect the Understanding is the more excellent is the end it designs and the more fit and convenient are the means it makes use of for the acquiring it Now when God whose Understanding is infinite and in comparison of whom the most prudent and advised are but as dark shadows when he determines to work especially in a most glorious manner the end and the means are equally admirable First The end is of the highest Consequence Were it some low inconsiderable thing it were unworthy one thought of God for the effecting it To be curious in the contriving how to accomplish that which is of no importance exposes to a just imputation of Folly But when the most excellent Good is the end and the difficulties which hinder the obtaining of it are insuperable to a finite understanding it then becomes the only wise God to discover the Divinity of his Wisdom in making a way where he finds none And such was the end of God in the work of our Redemption This was declar'd by the Angels who were sent Ambassadors extraordinary to bring tidings of peace to the world They praised God saying Glory to God in the highest and on Earth Peace good Will towards men The supreme End is his own Glory and in order to it the Salvation of Man hath the nature and respect of a medium The subordinate is the Recovery of the world from its lapsed and wretched state 1. The supreme End is the Glory of God This signifies principally his internal and essential Glory and that consists in the Perfections of his Nature which can never be fully conceived by the Angels but overwhelm by their excellent greatness all created Understandings But the Glory that results from Gods works is properly intended in the present Argument and implies 2. The manifestation whereby he is pleased to represent Himself in the exercise of his Attributes As the Divine Nature is the primary and compleat Object of his Love so he takes delight in those Actions wherein the image and brightness of his own vertues appear Now in all the works of God there is an evidence of his Excellencies But as some Stars shine with a different glory so there are some noble effects wherein the Divine Attributes are so conspicuous that in compare with them the rest of Godâ—s works are but obscure expressions of his Greatness The principal are Creation and Redemption The Heavens declare the glory of God and the Firmament his handy-work And when God surveyed the whole Creation and saw that all which he had made was good He ordain'd a Sabbath to signifie the content and satisfaction he had in the discovery of his eternal Perfections therein But especially his Glory is most resplendent in the Work of Redemption wherein more of the Divine Attributes are exercisâ—d than in the Creation and in a more glorious manner 'T is here that Wisdom Goodness Justice Holiness and Power are united in their highest degree and exaltation Upon this account the Apostle useth that expression The glorious Gospel of the Blessed God It being the clearest revelation of his excellent Attributes the unspotted mirrour wherein the great and wonderful effects of the Deity are set forth 3. The Praise and Thanksgiving that ariseth from the discovery of his Perfections by reasonable Creatures who consider and acknowledg them When there is a solemn veneration of his excellencies and the most ardent affections to Him for the communication of his goodness Thus in Gods account Whoso offers praise glorifies him An eminent example of this is set down in Job 38.7 when at the birth of the World The Morning Stars sang together and all the Sons of God shouted for joy And at its new Birth they descend and make his praise glorious in a triumphant Song It will be the eternal exercise of the Saints in Heaven where they more fully understand the Mystery of our Redemption and consider every circumstance that may adde a lustre to it to ascribe Blessing Honour Glory and Power to him that sits on the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever Secondly The subordinate End is the restoring of Man And this is inviolably joyn'd with the other 'T is exprest by Peace on earth and good will towards men Sin had broke that sacred Alliance which was between God and Man and exposed him to his just displeasure A misery inconceivable And what is more becoming God who is the Father of Mercies than to glorifie his dear Attribute and that which in a peculiar manner characterises his Nature by the Salvation of the miserable What is more honourable to Him than by his Almighty Mercy to raise so many Monuments from the dust wherein his Goodness may live and reign for ever Now for the accomplishing of these excellent Ends the Divine Wisdom pitcht upon those means which were most fit and congruous which I shall distinctly consider The Misery of faln Man consisted in the Corruption of his nature by Sin and the Punishment that ensues And his Happiness is in the restoring him to his primitive Holiness and in Reconciliation to God and the full fruition of him The way to effect this was beyond the compass of any created Understanding That God who is rich in Goodness should be favourable to the Angels who serve him in perfect Purity we may easily conceive for although they do not merit his favour yet they never provokt his Anger And 't is impossible but that he should love the Image of his Holiness wherever it shines Or suppose an innocent creature in Misery the Divine Mercy would speedily excite his power to rescue it For God is Love to all his Creatures as such till some extrinsecal cause intervenes which God hates more than he loves the Creature and that is Sin which alone stops the effusion of his Goodness and opens a wide passage for wrath to fall upon the guilty But how to save the Creature that is undone by its own choice and is as sinful as miserable will pose the wisdom of the world Heaven it self seem'd to be divided Mercy enclin'd to save but Justice interpos'd for satisfaction Mercy regarded Man with respect to his misery and the pleas of it are Shall the Almighty build to ruine Shall the most excellent creature in the lower world perish the fault not being solely his Shall the enemy triumph for ever and raise his Trophies from the Works of the most High Shall the reasonable Creature lose the fruition of God and God the subjection and service of the Creature and all Mankind be made in vain Justice consider'd Man as guilty of a transcendent Crime and 't is its nature to render to every one what is due now the wages of Sin is Death and shall not the Judg of all the world do right All the the other
Attributes seem'd to be attendants on Justice The Wisdom of God enforc'd its Plea it being most indecent that Sin which provokes the execution should procure the abrogation of the Law this would encourage the commission of Sin without fear The Majesty of God was concern'd for it was not becoming his excellent Greatness to treat with defiled dust and to offer Pardon to a presumptuous Rebel immediately after his Offence and before he made Supplication to his Judge The Holiness of God did quicken his Justice to execute the threatning For he is of purer eyes than to behold Iniquity As Goodness is the essential object of his Will which he loves unchangeably wherever it is so is Sin the eternal object of his hatred and where 't is found in the love of it renders the subject odious to him He will not take the wicked by the hand The Law of contrariety forbids Purity and Pollution to mix together And the veracity of God requir'd the inflicting the punishment For the Law being a declaration of God's Will according to which He would dispense Rewards and Punishments either it must be executed upon the Offendâ—r or if extraordinarily dispens'd with it must be upon such terms as the honour of Gods Truth may be preserved This seeming conflict was between the Attributes The sublimâ—st Spirits in Heaven were at a loss how to unravel the difficulty and to find out the miraculous way to reconcile infinite Mercy with inflexible Justice how to satisfie the demands of the one and the requests of the other God was to overcome Himself before He restored Man In this exigence his Mercy excited his Wisdom to interpose as an Arbiter which in the Treasures of its incomprehensible Light found out an admirable expedient to save Man without prejudice to his other Perfections That was by constituting a Mediator both able and willing between the guilty creature and Himself That by transferring the punishment on the Surety he might punish Sin and pardon the Sinner And here the more severe and rigorous Justice is the more admirable is the Mercy that saves In the same stupendious Sacrifice he declared his respect to Justice and his delight in Mercy The two principal relations of our Redeemer are the one of a gift from God to man the other of an oblation for men to God By the one God satisfies his infinite Love to Man and by the other satisfies his infinite Justice for Man Neither is it unbecoming God to condescend in accepting the returning Sinner when a Mediator of infinite dignity intercedes for favour The Divine Majesty is not lessen'd when God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself Neither is the Sanctity of God disparag'd by his Clemency to Sinners for the Redeemer is the principle and pattern of Holiness to all that are saved The same Grace that enclin'd God to send his Son to die for us gives his Spirit to live in us to renew us in the inward Man that by conformity to God we may be prepared for communion with him Here is a sweet concurrence of all the attributes Mercy and Truth are met together Righteousness and Peace kiss each other Who can count up this heap of wonders Who can unfold all the treasures of this mysterious Love The tongue of an Angel cannot explicate it according to its dignity 'T is the fairest copy of the Divine Wisdome the consummation of all God's Counsels wherein all the Attributes are displayed in their brightest lustre 'T is here the manifold wisdome of God appears The Angels of Light bend themselves with extraordinary application of Mind and arâ—ent Affections to study the rich and unsearchable variety that is in it only the same Understanding comprehends it which contriv'd it But as one that views the Ocean although he cannot see its bounds or bottom yet he sees so much as to know that that vast collection of waters is far greater than what is within the compass of his short sight So although we cannot understand all the depths of that immense Wisdom which orderâ—d the way of our Salvation yet we may discover so much as to know with the Apostle that it surpasses knowledg He that is the Brightness of his Fatherâ—s Glory and the Light of the World so illuminate our dark Understandings that we may conceive aright of this great Mystery The First thing that offers it self to Consideration is the compass of the Divine Wisdome in taking occasion from the Sin and Fall of Man to bring more Glory to God and to raise him to a more excellent state Sin in its own nature hath no tendency to good 't is not an apt medium to promote the Glory of God so far is it from a direct contributing to it that on the contrary 't is the most real dishonour to Him But as a black ground in a Picture which in it self only defiles when plac'd by Art sets off the brighter colours and heightens their beauty So the evil of Sin which considered absolutely obscures the Glory of God yet by the disposition of his Providence it serves to illustrate his Name and to make it more glorious in the esteem of reasonable Creatures Without the Sin of Man there had been no place for the most perfect exercise of his Goodness O foelix culpa qâ—ae tantum talem meruit habere Redemptorem Happy fault not in it self but by the wise and merciful Counsel of God to be repair'd in a way so advantageous that the Salvation of the Earth is the Wonder of Heaven the Redemption of Man ravishes the Angels The Glory of God is more visible in the recovery of lapsâ—d Man than if the Law had been obeyed or executed If Adam had persever'd in his Duty the Reward had been from Gaace for owing himself to God he could receive nothing but as a gift from his Bounty so that Goodness only had then been exerci'sd and not in its highest and most obliging Acts which are to save the guilty and the miserable for Innocence is incapable of Mercy If the Sentence had been inflicted Justice had been honour'd with a solemn Sacrifice but Mercy the sweet tender and indulgent Attribute had never appear'd But now the Wisdom of God is eminent in the accord of both these Attributes God is equally glorious as equally God in preserving the authority of his Law by an act of Justice upon our Surety as in the exercise of Mercy by remitting the punishment to the Offender And 't is no less honourable to God's Wisdom to restore Man with infinite advantage 'T is a mystery in Nature That the corruption of one thing is the generation of another 't is more mysterious in Grace that the Fall of Man should occasion his more noble Restitution Innocence was not his last End his supreme felicity transcends the first The holiness of Adam was perfect but mutable But Holiness in the Redeemed though in a less degree shall be
Covenant For it was easier for Man to understand the quality of the punishment that attended sin than to conceive of Celestial Happiness of which he was incapable in his animal state 'T is true God might have bestowed Heaven as an absolute gift upon Man after a course of obedience but 't was not due by the condition of the first Covenant A natural work can give no title to a supernatural reward Mans perseverance in his duty according to the Original Treaty had been attended with Immortal Happiness upon the Earth but the blessed Hope is only promised in the Gospel and unspeakably transcends the felicity of Nature in its consummat state This Reward is answerable to the unvaluable treasure which was laid down for it The Blood of the Son of God as 't is a Ransom to redeem us from misery so 't is a Price to purchase glory for Believers 'T is called the Blood of the New-Testament because it conveys a title to the Heavenly Inheritance Our impunity is the effect of his Satisfaction our positive happiness of his redundant merit God was so well pleased with his perfect Obedience which infinitely surpasses that of any meer creature that he promised to confer upon those who believe in him all the glorious qualities becoming the Sons of God and to make them associates with him in his Eternal Kingdom The compleat happiness of the Redeemed is the Redeemers recompence in which he is fully satisfied for all his sufferings Now the transcendent excellency of this above the first state of Man will more distinctly appear by considering I. The place where 't is enjoyed and that is the Heaven of Heavens Adam was put into the Terrestrial Paradise a place sutable to his natural being and abounding with all pleasing objects but they were such as creatures of a lower kind enjoyed with him But Heaven is the Element of Angels their native seat who are the most noble part of the Creation 'T is the true Palace of God intirely separated from the impurities and imperfections the alterations and changes of the lower World where he reigns in Eternal Peace 'T is the Temple of the Divine Majesty where his exellent Glory is revealed in the most conspicuous manner 'T is the habitation of his holiness the place where his honour dwells 'T is the sacred Mansion of Light and Joy and Glory Paradise with all its pleasures was but a shadow of it II. The Life of Adam was attended with innocent infirmities For the body being composed of the same principles with other sensitive creatures 't was liable to hunger and thirst and weariness and was to be repaired by food and sleep Adam was made a living Soul therefore subject to those inclinations and necessities which are purely animal And although whilst innocent no disease could seize on him yet he was capable of hurtful impressions though he should have been preserved from death yet he was perishable His life was in a perpetual flux 't was Immortal not meerly from the temperament of his Body but to be sustained by the power of God in the use of means From hence it follows that Adam in his natural state was not capable of the vision of God Heaven is too pure an Air for him to have lived in The Glory of it is inconsistent with such a temper'd Body Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven The faculties would be confounded with its overcoming brightness Till the sensitive powers are refin'd and exalted to that degree that they become spiritual they cannot converse with glorified objects Now the bodies of the Saints shall be invested with Celestial qualities The Natural shall be changed into a Spiritual body and be preserved as the Angels by the sole vertue of the quickning Spirit The life above shall flourish in its ful vigour without any other support than the Divine power that first created it And as the body shall be spiritual so truely immortal and free from all corruptive change as the Sun which for so many ages hath shined with an equal brightness to the World and hath a dureable fulness of light in it In this respect the Children of the Resurrection are equal to the Angels who being pure Spirits do not marry to perpetuate their kind for they never die And the glorified body shall be cloathed with a more Divine beauty in the Resurrection than Adam had in the Creation The glory of the second Temple shall excel that of the first In short the first Man was of the Earth earthy and could derive but an earthy condition to his descendents But the Lord Christ is from Heaven and is the principle of an Heavenly and Glorious life to all that are united to him III. The felicity of Heaven exceeds the first in the manner and degrees of the fruition and the continuance of it 1. The Vision of God in Heaven is immediate Adam was a spectator of God's Works and his understanding being full of Light he clearly discover'd the Divine Attributes in their effects The stroaks of the Creators Hand are engraven in all the parts of the Universe The Heavens and Earth and all things in them are evident testimonies of the excellency of their Author The invisible things of God from the Creation of the World are clearly seen And the knowledg that shined in his soul produced a transcendent esteem of the Deity in whom Wisdom and Power are united in their supreme degree and a superlative love and delight in him for his goodness Yet his sight of God was but through a Glass an eclipsing medium For inferior beings are so imperfect that they can give but a weak resemblance of his infinite perfections But the sight of God in Heaven is called the seeing of him as he is and signifies the most clear and compleat knowledge which the rational soul when purified and raised to its most perfect state can receive and out-shines all the discoveries of God in the lower World Adam had a visible copy of his invisible beauty but the Saints in Heaven see the glorious Original He saw God in the reflection of the Creature but the Saints are under the direct beams of Glory and see him face to face All the Attributes appear in their full and brightest lustre to them Wisdom Love Justice Holiness Power are manifested in their exaltation And the glorified Soul to qualify it for converse with God in this intimate manner hath a more excellent constitution then was given to it in the Creation A new edge is put upon the faculties whereby they are fitted for those objects which are peculiar to Heaven The intellectual eye is fortified for the immediate intuition of God Adam in Paradise was absent from the Lord in comparison of the Saints who encompass his Throne are in the presence of his Glory Besides 'T is the peculiar excellency of the Heavenly Life that the Saints every moment enjoy it without
Imaginations or when looking on Him through the appearing disorders of the World they thought Him unjust and cruel As the most beautiful Face seems deformed and monstrous in a disturbed stream But the most renowned Philosophers dishonoured Him by their base apprehensions For the true Notion of God signifies a Being Infinite Independent the universal Creator who preserves Heaven and Earth the absolute Director of all Events that his Providence takes notice of all Actions that He is a liberal Rewarder of those that seek Him and a just Revenger of those that violate his Laws Now all this was contradicted by them Some asserted the World to be eternal others that Matter was and in that denied Him to be the first Cause of all things Some limited his Being confining Him to one of the Poles of Heaven Others extended it only to the Amplitude of the World The Epicureans totally denied his governing Providence and made Him an idle Spectator of things below They asserted That God was contented with his own Majesty and Glory That whatever was without Him was neither in his thoughts nor care as if to be employed in ordering the various accidents of the world were incompatible with his Blessedness and He needed their Impiety to relieve Him Thus by confining his Power who is Infinite they denied Him in confessing Him Others allowed Him to regard the great affairs of Kingdoms and Nations to manage Crowns and Scepters but to stoop so low as to regard particular things they judged as unbecoming the Divine Nature as for the Sun to descend from Heaven to light a Candle for a Servant in the dark They took the Scepter out of God's hand and set up a foolish and blind Power to dispose of all mutable things Seneca himself represents Fortune as not discerning the worthy from the unworthy and scattering its gifts without respect to Vertue Some made Him a Servant to Nature That he necessarily turn'd the Spheres Others subjected Him to an invincible Destiny that He could not do what He desired Thus the wisest of the Heathens dishonoured the Deity by their false imaginations and instead of representing him with his proper Attributes drew a picture of themselves Besides their impious fancies had a pernicious influence upon the lives of Men especially the denial of his Providence for that took away the strongest restraint of corrupt nature the fear of future Judgment For humane Laws do not punish secret crimes that are innumerable nor all open as those of persons in power which are most hurtful Therefore they are a weak instrument to preserve Innocence and Virtue Only the respect of God to whom every heart is manifest every action a Testimony and every great Person a Subject is of equal force to give check to sin in all in the dakrness of the night and the light of the day in the works of the hand and the thoughts of the heart 2. Philosophy is very defective as to Piety in not injoyning the Love of God The first and great Command in the Law of Nature the order of the Precepts being according to their dignity is Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy Heart Soul and Strength 'T is most reasonable that our Love should first ascend to Him and in its full vigor For our Obligations to him are infinite and all inferior objects are incomparably beneath him Yet Philosophers speak little or nothing of this which is the principal part of natural Religion Aristotle who was so clear-sighted in other things when he discourses of God is not only affectedly obscure to conceal his ignorance as the Fish which troubles the Water for fear of being catcht but 't is on the occasion of speculative Sciences as in his Phisicks when he considers him as the first cause of all the motions in the World or in his Metaphysicks as the supreme Being the knowledg of whom he saith is most noble in it self but of no use to Men. But in his Morals where he had reason to consider the Deity as an object most worthy of our Love Respect and Obedience in an infinite Degree he totally omits such a representation of him although the Love of God is that alone which gives price to all moral Virtues And from hence it is that Philosophy is so defective as to Rules for the preparing Men for an intimate and delightful Communion with God which is the effect of Holy and Perfect Love and the supreme Happiness of the reasonable Nature If in the Platonical Philosophy there are some things directing to it yet they are but frigidly exprest and so obscurely that like Inscriptions in ancient Medals or Marbles which are defac't they are hardly legible This is the singular Character of the Gospel that distinguishes it from all humane Institutions it represents the infinite amiableness of God and his goodness to us to excite our Affections to him in a Superlative manner it commands us to follow him as dear Children and presses us to seek for those Dispositions which may qualifie us for the enjoyment of him in a way of Friendship and Love 3. The best Philosophers laid down this servile and pernicious Maxime That a wise Man should alwayes conform to the Religion of his Country Socrates who acknowledged one Supreme God yet according to the counsel of the Oracle that directed all to Sacrifice according to the Law of the City he advised his Friends to comply with the common Idolatry and those who did otherwise he branded as superstitious and vain And his practice was accordingly For he frequented the Temples assisted at their Sacrifices which he declares before his Judges to purge himself from the Crime of which he was accused Seneca speaking of the Heathen worship acknowledges 't was unreasonable and only the multitude of fools rendered it excusable yet he would have a Philosopher to conform to those customs in Obedience to the Law not as pleasing to the God's Thus they made Religion a dependance on the State They performed the Rites of heathenish Superstition that were either filthy phantastical or cruel such as the Devil the master of those Ceremonies ordain'd They became less than Men by worshipping the most vile and despicable Creatures and sunk themselves by the most execrable Idolatry beneath the Powers of darkness to whom they offered Sacrifice Now this Philosophical Principle is the most palpable violation of the Law of Nature for that instructs us that God is the only object of Religion and that we are to obey him without exception from any inferior Power Here 't was Conscience to disobey the Law and a most worthy cause wherein they should have manifested that generous contempt of Death they so much boasted of But they detained the truth in unrighteousness and although they knew God they glorified him not as God but chang'd the Glory of the Incorruptible God into an Image made like to a corruptible Man and to Birds and Beasts and creeping
things A sin of so provoking a nature that God gave them up to the vilest lusts whereby they defiled and debased themselves Carnal impurity being a just punishment of Spiritual 4. They arrogated to themselves the sole praise of their Virtues and Happiness This impiety is most visible in the writings of the Stoicks the Pharises in Philosophy They were so far from depending on God for Light and Grace in the conduct of their Lives from praying to him to make them vertuous that they opposed nothing with more pride and contempt They thought that Wisdom would loose its value and lustre that nothing were in it worthy of admiration if it came from above and depended upon the Grace of another They acknowledged that the natural Life that Riches Honours and other inferiour things common to the worst were the gifts of God but asserted that Wisdom and Vertue the special perfection of the Humane Nature were the effects of their own industry Impious folly to believe that we owe the greatest benefits to our selves and the lesser only to God Thus they robb'd him of the Honour of his most precious Gifts So strongly did the poison of the old Serpent breathed forth in those words Ye shall be as God that infected the first Man still work in his Posterity Were they Angels in perfection yet the proud reflecting on their excellencies would instantly turn them into Devils And as they boasted of vertue so of happiness as intirely depending upon themselves They ascribe to their Wise-man an absolute Empire over all things they raise him above the Clouds what ever may disquiet or disorder they exempt him from all Passions and make him ever equal to himself that he is never surprised with accidents that 't is not in the power of pains or troubles to draw a sigh or tear from him that he despises all that the World can give or take and is contented with pure and naked Vertue in short they put the Crown upon his Head by attributing all to the power of his own Spirit Thus they contradicted the Rites of Heaven Their impiety was so bold that they put no difference between God and their wise person but this that God was an immortal Wise-Person and a wise Man was a mortal God Nay that he had this advantage since 't is great art to comprize many things in a little space to enjoy as much happiness in an age as Jupiter in his eternity And which is the highest excess of Pride and Blasphemy they prefer'd the wretched imperfect vertue and happiness of their Wise-Man before the Infinite and unchangeable Purity and Felicity of God himself For God they said is wise happy by the priviledg of his Nature where as a Philosopher is so by the discourse of Reason and the choice of his will notwithstanding the resistance of his Passions and the difficulties he encounters in the World Thus to raise themselves above the Throne of God since the rebellious Angels none have ever attempted besides the Stoicks 'T is no wonder that they were the most early opposers of the Gospel for how could they acknowledg God in his state of abasement and humility who exalted their Verutous Man above him in his Majesty and Glory Yet this is the Sect that was most renowned among the Heathens 5. Philosophy is very defective in not propounding the Glory of God as the end to which all our actions should finally refer This should have the first and chief place in that Practical Science For every Action receiving its specification and value from its End that which is the Supreme and common to all Actions must be fixt before we come to the particular and subordinate and that is the Glory of God Now the design of Philosophers in their Precepts was either First To use Vertue as the means to obtain Reputation and Honour in the World This was evident in their Books and Actions They were sick of self-love and did many things to satisfie the Eye They led their lives as in a Scene where one person is within and another is represented without by an Artificial imitation of what is true They were swell'd with presumption having little merit and a great deal of vanity Now this respect to the Opinion of others corrupts the intention and vitiates the action 'T is not sincere Vertue but a superficial appearance that is regarded For 't is sufficient to that purpose to seem to be vertuous without being so As a proud person would rather wear counterfeit Pearls that are esteemed right then right which are esteemed counterfeit So one that is vain-glorious prefers the reputation of being vertuous before real Vertue From hence we may discover that many of their most specious Actions were disguised Sins their Vertues were false as their Deities Upon this account St. Austin condemns the Heroical Actions of the Romans as vicious Virtute civili non vera sed veri simili humanae gloriae servierunt Pride had a principal part in them Or secondly The end of Philosophy was to prevent the mischiefs which licentiousness and disorders might bring upon men from without or to preserve inward peace by suppressing the turbulent passions arising from Lust or Rage that discompose the mind This was the pretended design of Epicurus to whom Vertue was amiable only as the Instrument of pleasure Or thirdly The heighth of Philosophy was to propound the beauty of Vertue and its charming Aspect as the most worthy Motive to draw the Affections Now supposing that some of the Heathens although very few by discovering the internal beauty of Vertue had a love to it and perform'd some things without any private respect but for the rectitude of the action and the inward satisfaction that springs from it yet they were still defective For Vertue is but a ray of the Deity and our duty is not compleat unless it be referred to his Glory who is the principle and patern of it In short the great Creator made Man for himself and 't is most just that as his Favour is our sovereign happiness so his Glory should be our supreme end without which nothing is regular and truly beautiful By these several instances it appears how insufficient Philosophy is to direct us in our principal duty that respects God 2. Philosophy was defective in its directions about moral duties that respect our selves or others 1. Philosophers were not sensible of the first inclinations to sin They allow the disorder of the sensitive appetite as innocent till it passes to the supreme part of the Soul and induces it to deliberate or resolve upon moral actions For they were ignorant of that Original and intimate pollution that cleaves to the humane nature and because our faculties are natural they thought the first motions to forbidden objects that are universal in the best as well as worst to be the necessity of Nature rather then the effect of Corruption
those times Now this alteration was wrought by the force of natural Reason which prevailed on him to renounce those sensual and base lusts that were inconsistent with the Honour and Peace of a Man in this present Life But still he was exceedingly distant from the Purity of a true Saint who partakes of the Divine Nature and is inclin'd in all his motions to God All the Precepts of Morality to use the Similtude of Plutarch are like strong Perfumes that sometimes revive those that are in a Swoon by the Falling-Sickness but never heal them So they may recover those that are debaucht from the outward practice of those ignoble Vices which violate Natural Conscience but they cannot rectifie and cure the corrupt Nature The highest Philosophical Change was onely from those Vices which were scandalous in the view of men but consisted with those which were though more subtile yet not less sinfull and discernable by the pure Eye of God 'T was from one kind of Sin to another from sensual to spiritual Satan cast out Satan or from higher to lower degrees of Sin but not from Sin to Holiness And although the same good Works as to the external substance were performed by the Heathens as by Christians yet they vastly differ in their Principle and End A Brute performs all the acts of Sense that a Man doth but 't is meerly from the sensitive Soul that is of a lower order than that which animates a Man So in the Heathen 't was only the humane Spirit excited by Secular Interests Self-love servile Fear that performed Moral Actions But the Holy Spirit who infuses Grace that is as it were a second Soul to elevate that which before quickened the Body is the true Principle of Christian Vertues This sanctifying Spirit who transforms us into the Divine Nature and makes an entire and thorow Change in the Heart and Conversation they did not receive in the way of Nature Of this we have a convincing proof in the Example of the best Masters of Morality who by their Discourses or Writings rais'd it to the point of its perfection Socrates the Father of Philosophy to whom this honour is ascribed among the Grecians that he first made Wisdom descend from Heaven to earth because he left the study of Astronomy in which the Philosophers before him were most conversant and applied himself to that which was useful for the Government of Life and Reformation of Manners He that is propounded by Celsus as an unparallel'd Pattern as one that discovered to what degree of excellency Vertue might raise the humane Spirit yet was guilty of great immorality and impiety Those who pretend to have known the retirements of his Life accused him of impure commerce with Alcibiades He betrayed the Chastity of his Wife by giving her to his Friend Plato and Xenophon his admirers declare his compliance with the common Idolatry which is justly aggravated by St. Austin being against the Convictions of his Conscience For although in private Discourse with his Friends he acknowledged but one God and considered the Sun and Moon only as the works and instruments of the Divine Power and in the rank of other Creatures yet in his Apology before his Judges to prevent the fatal Sentence he charged his enemies to be guilty of impudent falshood who accused him that he did not believe the Gods since he believed as all other men that the Sun and Moon were Gods And during the time of his imprisonment he never addrest one Prayer to God for the pardon of his Sins for he had so high an opinion of his own Vertues that he was insensible of his Vices And dying he commanded a Cock to be offer'd to Aesculapius that is to the Devil under the disguise of that famous Physician To Socrates I shall add Seneca Never any excepting the Sacred Writers and those who are instructed by them hath writ more excellently He describes Vertue as if the living Original were in his Breast but how dull a Copy was drawn in his Life There is as great a difference between the expression of it by his Pen and by his Actions as between the lively Picture of a Face by a rare Pencil and the rude Draught of it with a Coal What a villainous part did he act in exciting Nero to murder his Mother and after in writing an Apology for it employing the colours of his Rhetorick to cover one of the foulest blots which hath appeared in the succession of all Ages His Philosophy was not a powerful Antidote against the Contagion of the Court What just excuse can there be of his Cruelty to his Wife in cutting her Veins that she might die with him from a vain-glorious desire to eternize their Reputation And whereas among the whole Chorus of Vertues he in a special manner exalts Magnanimity in the contempt of earthly things and determines that the necessities of Nature are the just measures of â—â—ches and Delights and all other things which the irregular Appetites of men pursue So that one would think him an Angel in flesh conversing below to instruct the world how to be happy yet the Historians of those times tax him for insatiable Avarice that in a little time by unworthy arts he rak'd up an incredible Sum of Money Supposing it a Calumny that he forged many Wills to seize upon the Inheritance belonging to others what excuse can there be for his excessive Usury his forcing the Britains to borrow a Million of Sesterces and calling for it in so much to their prejudice as was likely to have caused their Rebellion What for his sumptuous Palaces and Gardens of Pleasure exceeding the Luxury of Nero And all these possest by a man who had no Son to inherit a Philosopher a Stoick the great commender of blessed Poverty All the Apology he makes is that a Wise man that is himself Non amat Divitias sed mavult non in animum illas sed in domum inducit non respicit possessas sed continet Agreeing with Aristippus a Philosophizing Animal who being reproved for his intanglement in bruitish love with a famous Harlot replyed I possess her not she me The only difference is in the matter of their Affections the one was Riches the other Pleasure By these instances we may judg of the rest of the Philosophers Although a Vein of Gold appear in their Writings yet their Lives were full of Dross The best of them are charged to have practised vice with those to whom they commended the Precepts of Vertue The foulest Actions were approv'd by some and the most excellent condemned by others that pretended to Philosophical Perfection Unnatural Lust was allowed as indifferent by Zeno and Chrysippus And the noblest Love in giving Life it self for the Glory of God in Martyrdom is censured by Epictetus and Antoninus as the effect of foolish and incurable Melancholy in Christians who were disgusted with the World and
devoted themselves to Death The Spirit of Holiness who formes the powerful and lasting habits of true Vertue in the Soul that effectually enclines from the Love of God and with an intention for his Glory to obey his Will as it was purchas'd by Jesus Christ so it is peculiar to the Dispensation of the Gospel that reveals Him The Doctrine of it is not delivered with so much Pomp but with infinite more efficacy than the most eloquent Instructions of Philosophers One plain Sermon that represents Christ as Crucified before our eyes to obtain Pardon of Sin for us inflames the Soul with a more ardent Love to God and vehement hatred of Sin than all their elegant and sublime Discourses There is the same difference between their Morals and the Evangelical Institution as between two Nurses The one is adorned and looks lovely to the eye but wants Milk to nourish the Infant in her Arms the other is not so amiable in appearance but hath a living spring of Milk to nourish her Child Philosophy hath the advantage of artificial beauty but cannot supply the nourishment that is necessary to maintain the spiritual Life But the Gospel affords the sincere rational milk to the Soul that it may grow thereby 'T is therefore call'd the Word of Life a title that distinguishes it from the Law and all humane Institutions 4. Jesus Christ hath presented the strongest inducements and motives to perswade us to Holiness The way which he takes to save us is not by a meer act of Power to raise us above our selves but he deals with us conveniently to our frame in making use of our Affections to bring us to himself And whereas there are three Affections that have a mighty power over the reasonable Nature and are the inward springs of humane actions viz. Fear Hope and Love He hath propounded such Objects to them which being duely considered are infinitely more efficacious than any thing that may divert us from our duty The great temptations to sin are from the terrors or delights of Sense and to overcome these he hath brought to our assistance the Powers of the World to come that is hath revealed the dreadful preparations for the Punishment of the Wicked and the Glorious Rewards that attend the Godly in their future State Now to discover the efficacy of those Objects for the perswading Men to be Holy I will consider 1. Their Greatness as 't is described in the Gospel 2. Their Truth and Reality of which our Saviour hath given us convincing evidence and assurance 1. To excite our Fear he threatens Torments extreme and eternal These are set forth by such representations as may impress the quickest sense of them upon Men. For the Imagination depends on sensible experience and is strongly affected with those things that are terrible to our outward faculties Now Hell is described by a Worm gnawing the most tender parts that are most capable of pain to signify the furious reflections of the guilty Soul the sting of the inraged Conscience the torment of those perfect Passions that continually vex the Damned And 't is set forth by Fire and Brimstone that is most fierce to sense the serious consideration of which is enough to cause terror and amazement in all that are liable to it And if the sole apprehension be intolerable how much more will the dwelling with devouring Fire and everlasting burning 'T is called the blackness of darkness to signifie the compleat horrour of that state The Fire hath only force to burn not to give any light to mitigate the obscurity 'T is called the second Death in comparison of which that of the body is but the shadow of Death Nothing of Life remains but the sense of Misery and that will be as strong for ever as at the first entrance into it This infinitely increases the Torment that it shall never end The suffering Soul knows it shall be Eternal and as such it is felt and afflicts The Fire that devours shall never say 't is enough that sad Night shall never have a Morning that horrible Tempest never any Calm The Damned have no breathing of Rest in their extreme pains no shadow of Hope to refresh them in their intolerable heat but are under torment day and night for ever and ever Now what can be more powerful to restrain Men from sin than the terrours of the Lord if the desires of carnal and momentaâ—y pleasures are impetuous and urgent what can be more effectual to give check to them than the consideration that they are attended with a painful Eternity that within a little while nothing will remain of the most pleasant lusts but the Worm and the Fire Thus one extreme is cured by another Or if the fear of Men who can inflict but outward evils and Death on the Body at any time resists the performance of our Duty what is more proper to lessen the impression than to remember how dreadful a thing it is to fall into the revenging hands of the living God who lives for ever and can punish for ever Thus our Saviour fortified his Disciples against Persecution I say unto you my Friends Be not afraid of them that kill the body and after that have no more they can do but I will forwarn you whom you shall fear fear him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into Hell yea I say unto you fear him Eternal Damnation is infinitely more fearful than Temporal Death As the Rod of Moses devoured the Rods of the Magicians So the fear of Hell overcomes the fear of Death and all the Torments which end with this Life I shall add further to shew how fit an Argument this is to work on mankind That usually the Fear of evil more deeply affects than the Hope of good When the Imagination is violently struck with an object it hath a mighty force to turn the Mind and Will it self Therefore Laws are secured by Punishments not by Rewards Indeed the fear of Hell at first disposes us for the love of Heaven to escape the one we fly to the other As the virtue of the Loadstone is increast by arming it with Iron which although it hath no attractive power in it self yet by conjunction it makes the others more forcible So the promise of Heaven makes a stronger impression upon us by the threatning of Hell to all that despise it Were it not for the Torments of Hell which are more easily conceived by us whilst we are cloathed with flesh than Celestial Joys and therefore more strongly affect us Heaven would be neglected and be as empty of Saints as 't is full of Glory To awaken us out of the deep Lethargy of sensual Lusts the most pleasant Musick is ineffectual nothing less is requisite than cutting and scarifying And not only those that begin and first enter in the ways of Godliness but those who are advanc'd in Christianity have need of this Bridle For there are