For whereas before he was allowed no Authority no not in Israel At his Resurrection he obtains the Heathen for his Inheritance and the uttermost parts of the Earth for his Possession Now it would be a hard undertaking taking to describe the limits and borders of Christ's Kingdom as also to define the Polity whereby it is administred Therefore leaving the most glorious part of it which is in Heaven undiscovered we find in Holy Scripture that according to the several dispositions and qualifications of men here on earth He hath both a Scepter of righteousness to govern and protect his faithful subjects and servants and a rod of Iron to break the wicked in pieces like a potter's vessel And though the greatest part of the world will acknowledge no subjection to Christ's Kingdom notwithstanding this does not take away his authority over them no more than the murmuting and rebellion of the Israelites did depose Moses their Governour But there will come a time when that Prophetical Parable of his shall be resolved and interpreted to their confusion when he shall indeed say Where are those my enemies which would not have me to reign over them Bring them hither and slay them before me 40. But the most eminent and notorious exercise of Christs Dominion is seen in the rule over his Church which he purchased with his own Bloud Now the first business he took in hand presently upon his Resurrection when all power and dominion was given him was to give commission and authority to his Embassadours the Apostles and Disciples to make known to the world that so great salvation which he had wrought at his Passion Now though the Apostles were sufficiently authorised by vertue of that Commission which Christ gave them in those words As my Father sent me so send I you Notwithstanding they were not to put this authority presently in practise but to wait for the sending of the Holy Ghost which Christ before had promised them That by his virtue and influence they might be furnished with abilities to go through with that great employment of reconciling the world unto God by subduing mens understandings to the truth and obedience of the Gospel 41. We read in the Gospel of S. John that during the life which Christ lived in the flesh the Holy Ghost was not sent and the reason is added Because the Son of man was not yet glorified The strength and vigour of which reason doth excellently illustrate the point in hand For the sending of the Holy Ghost was one of the most glorious acts of Christs Kingly Office and the most powerful means of advancing his Kingdom Therefore in the daies of his humiliation whilest he lived in the form of a servant before he had purchased to himself a Church by his own Bloud his Humane Nature obtain'd no right of dominion and power over Mankind For till we were redeemed from the power and subjection of the Devil and sin by the merit of Christs Death we were none of Christs subjects but servants and slaves sold under sin and Satan 42. So that it being necessary that the Son of man should not only pay a price and ransome for our Redemption by his Death but also that the same Son of man and none else should actually and powerfully vindicate his elect from the bondage they were in and effectually apply his merits and satisfaction to their souls and consciences Till he was in S. Paul's words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 11.9 For the suffering of death crown'd with glory and honour He according to his Humane Nature and that was the only instrument whereby our Salvation was to be wrought had no power of sending the Holy Ghost 43. And indeed till Reconciliation was made by his Death to what purpose should the Holy Ghost be sent What business or employment could we find for him on earth You will say to work grace and new obedience in us I confess that is a work worthy the Majesty and goodness of Gods holy Spirit But yet suppose all this had been wrought in us put case our hearts were sprinkled from an evil conscience and that we were renewed in the spirits of our minds Perhaps all this might procure us a more tolerable cool place and climate in Hell But without Christ it would be far from advantaging us toward our salvation for alas though we should turn never so holy never so vertuous and reformed what satisfaction or recompence could we make for our former sins and iniquities God knows it must cost more to redeem a soul therefore we must let that alone for ever we must take heed of ever medling in that office we must let it alone to him even Jesus Christ who alone is able to be at that cost 44. But I might have spared all these suppositions For as excluding Christ there is no satisfaction no hope of redemption for us so excluding Christs satisfaction he hath no power or authority as Man of sending the Holy Ghost thereby to work in us an ability of performing the conditions of the second Covenant and by consequence of making us capable of the fruit and benefit of his satisfaction Therefore blessed be God the Father for the great glory which he gave unto Christ And blessed be our Lord Jesus Christ for meriting and purchasing that Glory at so dear a rate And blessed be the Holy Spirit who when Christ who is flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone did send him would be content to come down and dwell among us 45. We find in Holy Scripture that our Salvation is ascribed to all the Three Persons of the blessed Trinity though in several respects To the Father who accepts of Christs Satisfaction and offereth pardon of all our sins To the Son who merited and procured Reconciliation for his elect faithful servants And to the Holy Ghost the Comforter who being sent by the Son worketh in us power to perform the conditions of the New Covenant thereby qualifying us for receiving actual remission of our sins and a right to that glorious Inheritance purchased for us 46. And from hence may appear How full of danger the former Doctrine which teacheth that actual remission of sins is procured to Gods Elect immediately by Christs death and how dishonourable it is to the Spirit of Grace excluding him from having any concurrence or efficacy in our Salvation For if this should be true the powerful working of the Holy Spirit can in no sense concern either our Justification or everlasting happiness For how can it be said that the Holy Spirit doth co-operate to our Salvation since all our good and happiness was procured by Christs death not only before but without all manner of respect had to our Regeneration and Sanctification by the power of the blessed Spirit Therefore by this Doctrine if we be any thing at all beholding to the Holy Spirit it is only for this that he is pleased now and then by fits
which doth propose and indeed believe them hath for matter of Faith the essence of a true Church that which doth not hath not Now to this Question though not to yours D. Potter's Assertion if it be true is apparently very pertinent And though not a full and total satisfaction to it yet very effectual and of great moment towards it For the main Question being What Points are necessary to Salvation and Points necessary to Salvation being of two sorts some of simple belief some of Practice and Obedience he that gives you a sufficient summary of the first sort of necessary Points hath brought you half way towards your journies end And therefore that which he doth is no more to be slighted as vain and impertinent than an Architect's work is to be thought impertinent towards the making of a house because he doth it not all himself Sure I am if his Assertion be true as I believe it is a Corollary may presently be deduced from it which if it were embraced cannot in all reason but do infinite service both to the Truth of Christ and the peace of Christendom For seeing falshood and errour could not long stand against the power of Truth were they not supported by Tyranny and worldly advantages he that could assert Christians to that liberty which Christ and his Apostles left them must needs do Truth a most Heroical service And seeing the overvaluing of the differences among Christians is one of the greatest maintainers of the Schisms of Christendom he that could demonstrate that only those Points of Belief are simply necessary to Salvation wherein Christians generally agree should he not lay a very fair and firm foundation of the peace of Christendom Now the Corollary which I conceive would produce these good effects and which flows naturally from D. Potter's Assertion is this That what Man or Church soever believes the Creed and all the evident consequences of it sincerely and heartily cannot possibly if also he believe the Scripture be in any Error of simple belief which is offensive to God nor therefore deserve for any such Error to be deprived of his life or to be cut off from the Churches Communion and the hope of Salvation And the production of this again would be this which highly concerns the Church of Rome to think of That whatsoever Man or Church doth for any error of simple belief deprive any man so qualified as above either of his temporal life or livelihood or liberty or of the Churches Communion and hope of Salvation is for the first unjust cruel and tyrannous Schismatical presumptuous and uncharitable for the second 13. Neither yet is this as you pretend to take away the necessity of believing those verities of Scripture which are not contained in the Creed when once we come to know that they are written in Scripture but rather to lay a necessity upon men of believing all things written in Scripture when once they know them to be there written For he that believes not all known Divine Revelations to be true How doth he believe in God Unless you will say that the same man at the same time may not believe God and yet believe in him The greater difficulty is How it will not take away the necessity of believing Scripture to be the Word of God But that it will not neither For though the Creed be granted a sufficient Summary of Articles of meer Faith yet no man pretends that it contains the Rules of obedience but for them all men are referred to Scripture Besides he that pretends to believe in God obligeth himself to believe it necessary to obey that which Reason assures him to be the Will of God Now Reason will assure him that believes the Creed that it is the Will of God he should believe the Scripture even the very same Reason which moves him to believe the Creed Universal and never-failing Tradition having given this testimony both to Creed and Scripture that they both by the works of God were sealed and testified to be the words of God And thus much be spoken in Answer to your first Argument the length whereof will be the more excusable if I oblige my self to say but little to the Rest 14. I come then to your second And in Answer to it deny flatly as a thing destructive of it self that any Error can be damnable unless it be repugnant immediatly or mediatly directly or indirectly of it self or by accident to some Truth for the matter of it Fundamental And to your example of Pontius Pilat's being Judge of Christ I say the denial of it in him that knows it to be revealed by God is manifestly destructive of this Fundamental Truth that All Divine Revelations are true Neither will you find any error so much as by accident damnable but the rejecting of it will be necessarily laid upon us by areal belief of all Fundamentals and simply necessary Truths And I desire you would reconcile with this that which you have said § 15. Every Fundamental Error must have a contrary Fundamental Truth because of two Contradictory Propositions in the same degree the one is false the other must be true c. 15. To the Third I answer That the certainty I have of the Creed that it was from the Apostles and contains the Principles of Faith I ground it not upon Scripture and yet not upon the Infallibility of any present much less of your Church but upon the Authority of the Ancient Church and written Tradition which as D. Potter hath proved gave this constant testimony unto it Besides I tell you it is guilty of the same fault which D. Potter's Assertion is here accused of having perhaps some colour toward the proving it false but none at all to shew it impertinent 16. To the Fourth I answer plainly thus that you find fault with D. Potter for his Vertues you are offended with him for not usurping the Authority which he had not in a word for not playing the Pope Certainly if Protestants be faulty in this matter it 's for doing it too much and not too little This presumptuous imposing of the senses of men upon the words of God the special senses of men upon the general words of God and laying them upon mens consciences together under the equal penalty of death and damnation this Vain conceit that we can speak of the things of God better than in the words of God This Deifying our own Interpretations and Tyrannous inforcing them upon others This restraining of the word of God from that latitude and generality and the understandings of men from that liberty wherein Christ and the Apostles left them (a) This peâ—â—sâ—asion is no singularity of mine but the doctrin which 〈◊〉 have learned â—â—om Divinâ—s of gâ—eâ—t learning and judgment Let the 〈◊〉 Reader be pleased to peruse the seventh book of Acont de Strat. Satanae And Zanch. his last Oration delivered by him after the composing of the discord
Mat. 18. the Church let him be to thee as a Pagan or Publican And He (b) Luk. 10.16 that despiseth you despiseth me We heard above Optatus Milevitanus saying to Parmenianus that both he and all those other who continued in the Schism begun by Majorinus did inherit their Fore-fathers Schism and yet Parmenianus was the third Bishop after Majorinus in his Sea and did not begin but only continue the Schism For saith this holy Father Caecilianus (c) Lib. 1. cont Parm. went not out of Majorinus thy Grand-father but Majorinus from Caecilianus neither did Caecilianus depart from the Chair of Peter or Cyprian but Majorinus in whose Chair thou fittest which before Majorinus Luther had no beginning Seeing it is evident that these things passed in this manner that for example Luther departed from the Church and not the Church from Luther it is clear that you be HEIRS both of the givers up of the Bible to be burned and of SCHISMATIQUES And the Regal Power or example of Henry the Eighth could not excuse his subjects from Schism according to what we have heard out of S. Chrysostom saying Nothing doth so much provoke (d) Hom. 11. in ep ad Eph. the wrath of Almighty God as that the Church should be divided Although we should do innumerable good deeds if we divide the full Ecclesiastical Congregation we shall be punished no less than they who did rend his natural Body for that was done to the gain of the whole world though not with that intention but this hath no good in it at all but that the greatest hurt riseth from it These things are spoken not only to those who bear office but to such also as are governed by them Behold therefore how lyable both Subjects and Superiours are to the sin of Schism if they break the unity of Gods Church The words of S. Paul can in no occasion be verified more than in this of which we speak They who do such things (e) Rom. 1.31 are worthy of death and not only they that do them but they also that consent with the doers In things which are indifferent of their own nature Custom may be occasion that some act not well begun may in time come to be lawfully continued But no length of Time no Quality of Persons no Circumstance of Necessity can legitimate actions which are of their own nature unlawful and therefore division from Christs Mystical Body being of the number of those Actions which Divines teach to be intrinsecè malas evil of their own nature and essence no difference of Persons or Time can ever make it lawful D. Potter saith There neither was nor can be any cause to depart from the Church of Christ no more than from Christ himself And who dates say that it is not damnable to continue a Separation from Christ Prescription cannot in conscience run when the first beginner and his successors are conscious that the thing to be prescribed for example goods or lands were unjustly possessed at the first Christians are not like strayes that after a certain time of wandring from their right home fall from their owner to the Lord of the Soil but as long as they retain the indelible Character of Baptism and live upon earth they are obliged to acknowledge subjection to Gods Church Humane Laws may come to nothing by discontinuance of time but the Law of God commanding us to conserve Unity in his Church doth still remain The continued disobedience of Children cannot deprive Parents of their parental right nor can the Grand-child be undutiful to his Grand-Father because his Father was unnatural to his own Parent The longer Gods Church is so disobeyed the profession of her Doctrin denyed her Sacraments neglected her Liturgy condemned her Unity violated the more grievous the fault grows to be As the longer a man withholds a due debt or retains his neighbours goods the greater injustice he commits Constancy in evil doth not extenuate but aggravate the same which by extension of time receiveth increase of strength and addition of greater malice If these mens conceits were true the Church might come to be wholly divided by wicked Schisms and yet after some space of time none could be accused of Schism nor be obliged to return to the visible Church of Christ and so there should remain no one true visible Church Let therefore these men who pretend to honour reverence and believe the Doctrin and practice of the Visible Church and to condemn their forefathers who forsook her and say They would not have done so if they had lived in the dayes of their Fathers and yet follow their example in remaining divided from her Communion consider how truly these words of our Saviour fall upon them Woe be to you because you build (f) Mar. 23. ver 29 c. the Prophets Sepulchers and garnish the monuments of just men and say If we had been in our Fathers dayes we had not been their fellows in the bloud of the Prophets Therefore you are a testimony to your own selves that you are the sons of them that killed the Prophets and fill up the measure of your Fathers 46. And thus having demonstrated that Luther his Associates and all that continue in the Schism by them begun are guilty of Schism by departing from the visible true Church of Christ it remaineth that we examin what in particular was that visible true Church from which they departed that so they may know to what Church in particular they ought to return and then we shall have performed what was proposed to be handled in the fifth Point 47. That the Roman Church I speak not for the present of the particular Diocess of Rome but of all visible Churches dispersed throughout the whole world agreeing in Faith with the Chair of Peter 5. Point Luther and the rest departed from the Roman Church whether that Sea were supposed to be in the City of Rome or in any other place That I say the Church of Rome in this sense was the visible Catholique Church out of which Luther departed is proved by your own confession who assign for notes of the Church the true Preaching of Gods Words and due administration of Sacraments both which for the substance you cannot deny to the Roman Church since you confess that she wanted nothing Fundamental or necessary to Salvation and for that very cause you think to clear your self from Schism whose property as you say is to cut off from the (g) Pag. 76. Body of Christ and the hope of Salvation the Church from which it separates Now that Luther and his fellows were born and baptized in the Roman Church and that she was the Church out of which they departed is notoriously known and therefore you cannot cut her off from the Body of Christ and hope of Salvation unless you will acknowledge your self to deserve the just imputation of Schism Neither can you deny her to be
God unnecessary Which will appear to any man who considers what strict necessity the Scripture imposes upon all men of effectual mortification of the habits of all vices and effectual conversion to newness of life and universal obedience and withal remembers that an act of Attrition which you say with Priestly Absolution is sufficient to salvation is not mortification which being a work of difficulty and time cannot be perform'd in an instant But for the present it appears sufficiently our of this impious assertion which makes it absolutely necessary for men either in Act if it be possible or if not in Desire to be Baptiz'd and Absolv'd by you and that with intention and in the mean time warrants them that for avoiding of sin they may safely follow the uncertain guidance of vain man who you cannot deny may either be deceiv'd himself or out of malice deceive them and neglect the certain direction of God himself and their own consciences What wicked use is made of this Doctrin your own long experience can better inform you than it is possible for me to do yet my own little conversation with you affoords one memorable example to this purpose For upon this ground I knew a young Schollar in Doway licenc'd by a great Casuist to swear a thing as upon his certain knowledge whereof he had yet no knowledge but only a great presumption because forsooth it was the opinion of one Doctor that he might do so And upon the same ground whensoever you shall come to have a prevailing party in this Kingdome and power sufficient to restore your Religion you may do it by deposing or killing the King by blowing up of Parliaments and by rooting out all others of a different faith from you Nay this you may do though in your own opinion it be unlawful because * Bellar. Contr. Barcl c. 7 In 7 c. refutare conaâ—ur Barcl verba illa Romuâ—s Veteres illos imperatores Coastaâ—â—ium Vaâ—entem caeteros nâ—n idâ—ò toleravit Ecclesia quod legiâ—imè successissen sed quod illos sine populi detrimeâ—â—o coâ—rcere â—on potera Et miratur hoc idem scripsisse Bell â—minun l 5 de Poâ—tif c. 7. Sed ut magis miretur sciat hoc idem sensisse S. Thomam 2.2 q 12. art 2. ad 1. Vbi dicit Ecclâ—siam â—nlerasse ut fidâ—les obedâ—reâ—â— Juliano Apostaâ—ae quia sui novitate noaduâ—n habebant vires compescendi Principes teâ—reaos Et postea Sanctus Gregorius dicit Nullum adversus juliani perse cutioâ—â—m suissâ— râ—mâ—dium prae ter Lacrimas quo â—am â—oa bâ—bebat Ecclesia vires quâ—bus ill us tyâ—aâ—â—idi resistere Posset Bellarmine a man with you of approved vertue learning and judgement hath declared his opinion for the lawfulness of it in saying that want of power to maintain a rebellion was the only reason that the primitive Christians did not rebel against their persecuting Emperors By the same rule seeing the Priests and Scribes and Pharisees men of greatest repute among the Jewes for vertue learning and wisdome held it a lawful and a pious work to persecute Christ and his Apostles it was lawful for their people to follow their leaders for herein according to your Doctrin they proceeded prudently and according to the conduct of opinion maturely weighed and approved by men as it seem'd to them of vertue learning and wisdome nay by such as sate in Moses chair and of whom it was said Whatsoever they bid you observe that observe and do which Universal you pretend is to be understood universally and without any restriction or limitation And as lawful was it for the Pagans to persecute the Primitive Christians because Trajan and Pliny men of great vertue and wisdome were of this opinion Lastly that most impious and detestable Doctrin which by a foul calumny you impute to me who abhorre and detest it that men may be saved in any Religion followes from this ground unavoidably For certainly Religion is one of those things which is necessary only because it is commanded for if none were commanded under pain of damnation how could it be damnable to be of any or to be of none Neither can it be damnable to be of a false Religion unless it be a sin to be so For neither are men saved by good luck but only by obedience neither are they damned for their ill fortune but for sin and disobedience Death is the wages of nothing but sin and S. James sure intended to deliver the adequate cause of sin and death in those words Lust when it hath conceived bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death Seeing therefore in such things according to your doctrin it is sufficient for avoiding of sin that we proceed prudently and by the conduct of some probable opinion mature y weighed and approv'd by men of learning vertue and wisdome and seeing neither Jews want their Gamaliels nor Pagans their Antoninus's nor any sect of Christians such professors and maintainers of their several sects as are esteem'd by the people which know no better and that very reasonably men of vertue learning and wisdome it followes evidently that the embracing their religion proceeds upon such reason as may warrent their action to be prudent and this say you is sufficient for avoiding of sin and therefore certainly for avoiding damnation for that in humane offairs and discourse evidence and certainty cannot be alwayes expected I have stood the longer upon the refutation of this doctrin not only because it is impious and because bad use is made of it and worse may be but 〈◊〉 because the contrary position That men are bound for avoiding sin alwayes to take the safest way is a fair and sure foundation for a cleer confutation of the main Conclusion which in this Chapter you labour in vain to prove and a certain proof that in regard of the precept of charity towards ones self and of obedience to God Papists unless ignorance excuse them are in state of sin as long as they remain in subjection to the Roman Church 9. For if the safer way for avoiding sin be also the safer way for avoiding damnation then certainly it will not be hard to determin that the way of Protestants must be more secure and the Roman way more dangerous Take but into your consideration these ensuing controversies Whether it be lawful to worship Pictures to picture the Trinity to invocate Saints and Angels to deny Lay-men the Cup in the Sacrament to adore the Sacrament to prohibit certain Orders of men and women to marry to celebrate the publique service of God in a language which the assistants generally understand not and you will not choose but confess that in all these you are on the more dangerous side for the committing of sin and we on that which is more secure For in all these things if we say true you do that which is impious on the other side if you were in the right
wrought upon are meerly befool'd by the Devil or rather by themselves for so I told you that Saint James says And for an example I propos'd the learned Pharisees who for all their learning and knowledg in the Scripture yet our Saviour denounceth eight several Woes against them for being Fools and blind Guides So that the Fool in hand was not oppos'd to a Learned man but to a Prudent man And therefore a worthy Doctor of our Church did well define Faith to be A spiritual Prudence that is a knowledg sought out only for practise And there I compared Faith with moral Prudence and the fruit thereof Charity with the vertue of Universal Justice Therefore lest the very Heathen should rise up in judgment against us for not doing so much with the help and advantage of Gods Word as they could without it I did and do beseech you not to content your selves with meer knowing and hearing with only a conceit of Faith without Works for that was an ancient Heresie in the Nicolaitans whom God by name professeth an Hatred to as Eusebius tells us And for an effectual motive I told you how at the last great Tryal you shall not be catechis'd How well you can say your Creed or how many Catechisms without Book but How fruitful in works of Charity your Faith hath been And so I come to the second member of the First General namely the consideration how dangerous and grievous a burden Knowledg will be where it is fruitless and ineffectual of which briefly 43. I will once again repeat that divine sentence of the Psalmist in Psal 111.10 The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom Psal 111.10 and a good understanding have all they that do thereafter i.e. Till a man put his knowledg in practise he is so farr from being a good man that he is scarse a man hath not the understanding of a man till he do till he fall a work he was wiser a great deal before he gained his knowledg Knowledg alone is a goodly purchase in the mean time It is so worthy a purchase that as it should seem by our Saviours account till a man have obtained some competency in knowledg he hath gotten no right to the Kingdom of Darkness and Hell 44. For certainly no man can justly challenge damnation but he that is burdened with Sin Now he that hath no knowledg but is utterly blind in his understanding hath no sin that is in comparison the words are Joh. 9.39 c. And Jesus said for judgment I am come into this world Joh. 9.39 c. that they which see not might see and that they which see might be made blind Not as if Christ did imprint or inflict blindness upon any man but only occasionally that is those which walk in darkness and love it when the light comes upon them and discovers their wandring they hate it and turn their eyes from it and become more perversly and obstinately blind In the same sense that St. Paul saith Rom. 7. Sin taking occasion by the Law becomes more sinful whil'st sin is not oppos'd it goes on in its course quietly but when the Commandement comes and discovers and rebukes it it becomes furious and abominable and much more raging and violent 45. There follows Vers 40. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words and said unto him Are we blind also There is nothing in the world that a Pharisee can with less patience endure than to hear any intimation given that he may be suspected of folly And therefore they were not so sensible or conceited of some wrong received when our Saviour call'd them Generation of Vipers as they are when their wisdom and discretion are call'd in question Witness this answer when no man spake to them they suspiciously demand whether Christ in his last words meant them or no. But what answers our Saviour 46. Jesus said unto them Vers 41. If ye were blind ye should have no sin but now ye say We see therefore your sin remaineth As if he had said So little shall this supposed knowledg and wisdom that ye have profit you that you shall curse the time that ever you saw the holy Word of God and wish that all the Sermons that ever you heard all the gracious Invitations and sweet Promises which God by the ministery of his Servants the Prophets hath sent unto you had been sentences of some horrible death and torments from the mouth of a severe Judg. For your sins which otherwise had not been so insupportable now by your abusing the knowledg which God hath given you by your wilful contempt of those many invitations which have continually sounded in your ears are become as a Mountain upon you to crush you into powder You have hang'd a Milstone about your own necks which shall irrecoverably sink you into the bottomless comfortless pit whereas otherwise there might have been some hope of escape 47. And yet for all this let not any one favour and cherish himself in this conceipt That he thanks God he is ignorant enough that a very little practise will serve his turn his knowledg is not so much that it should put him to too great a labour in expressing it in the course of his life For whosoever he be that dares entertain or give way to such a thought as this is Let him be sure that if he do not know so much as God requires at his hands especially now that God hath sealed up the Scripture-Canon now that the whole Will of God is revealed this very ignorance alone will be a thousand weights to fasten him on the earth to make him sure for ever ascending to God in whom there is no darkness at all 48. For it is not so with an ignorant man as it is with one that is blind who if he will be sure not to tempt God by venturing and rushing forward in paths unknown unto him may live as long and as safe as he that is most quick-sighted No Ignorance alone though it be not active and fruitful in works of darkness is crime enough For with what colour of reason will such a one expect the reward of the Just Such a one will not doubt but that the Gates of Heaven are barr'd against the sottish blind ignorant Heathen to whom God never revealed any part of his Will yet himself may fare well enough Is not this a degree beyond madness it self What does such a one think that because he lives among religious people and such as are well acquainted with the way to Heaven that himself shall be sure to go for company Does he make no doubt of his part in the Resurrection of the Just because he was born in England or in such a year of our Lord when the Gospel flourished Nay shall it not be much more tolerable for the worst of the Heathen than for a such a man 49. For if the Heathen were left
be it spoken do after the true one Having such advantages even above the blessed Apostles and ancient Martyrs Let us walk as becometh the children of God having our eyes fastened upon the Lord our Salvation and conforming our selves freely and unconstrainedly to whatsoever it shall please him to prescribe unto us Not admitting our own carnal reason and wordly wisdom into counsel about his Worship nor believing any thing which he has propos'd unto us in his Word but for the authority of him that spoke it not accepting the persons of men nor perswading our selves to the belief of horrible and unworthy Opinions of God because men affected by us have so delivered It was a grievous complaint that God made by the Prophet Isaiah Cap. 29. v. 13. Their fear towards me is taught by the Commandements of men Isaith 29.13 39. Again we must subdue our Affections to be ruled and squared according to the good Will of God rejoycing to see our most beloved sins discover'd and rebuk'd and even crucified by the powerful Word and Spirit of God Lastly We must be ready for Christ his sake to root out of our hearts that extravagant immoderate Love of our own selves that private affection as Basil calleth it resolving rather to undergo a shameful horrible death then to maintain any inordinate base desire or to take part with our filthy lusts against our Saviour who hath so dearly redeem'd us 40. Thus have you heard in General tearms largely and I fear tediously delivered the sum and effect of this Doctrin of Self-Denyal for the restraining of it to particular Cases I have reserved to another hour Now I will according to my promise as earnestly as I can inforce this necessary duty upon you from the two Circumstances before-mentioned viz. 1. From the greater reasonableness in the thing commanded And 2. Extream Love and Kindness of the Law-giver that hath in his own person given us a perfect example directing us how we should fulfill his command 41. For the first namely the reasonableness of the thing commanded To omit how all creatures in acknowledgment of that duty which they owe to God their Creator do willingly submit themselves to his disposition denying their own specifical private natures for the general good of the world For example The Elements are subject to alterations and deportations to be destroy'd and revived to be Instruments of Gods favour and again of his wrath Surely Man above all the World beside not excepting that glorious heavenly Host of Angels is by a more indissoluble Adamantine chain oblig'd and bound to his Maker For to which of the Angels said he at any time Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee 42. Again when a great portion of those glorious Spirits had mutinously rebelled against God and Man following the example of their prevarication had with them plung'd himself irrecoverably into extream unavoidable destruction In that necessity God had no respect to those heavenly Spirits which were by nature much more admirable and perfect then we for he did in no wise saith the Apostle take upon him the nature of Angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham and therein performed the glorious work of our Redemption 43. Surely after this great Love than which I dare not say God cannot but I may well say he will never show a greater we his unworthy creatures are bound to express some greater measure of thankful obedience then we were for our Creation And yet even then the least that could be expected from us was a full perfect resignation of our selves to the disposition of that God that gave us our being Therefore now after a work that has cost God all that pains and study in inventing and contriving and so much sorrow and labour in performing Certainly after all this it is no great thing if the Lord should require our whole selves souls and bodies for a whole burnt-offering a Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving If he should require from us our whole substance whole Rivers of Oyl and all the Cattel feeding on a Thousand Hills 44. Yet now he is content that less thanks shall satisfie then was due before ever he perform'd that glorious work Nay he hath after all this taken off and subducted from that debt which we ow'd him for our Creation For whereas then one actual offence against this Law did necessarily draw along with it inevitable destruction yet now our gracious God perceiving that we are but dust accepts of our imperfect sinful obedience nay sometimes of the inward desire and willingness to perform where there is not power to put it in execution Nothing then can be more reasonable then that a Christian should be commanded not to prefer the fulfilling of his own will before Gods Will nor to suffer that his carnal desires should have greater power and sway with him then the command of such a God or Lastly not to withdraw his Allegiance and Obedience due to his Redeemer and place them upon a creature but equal or may be inferiour to himself 45. Secondly Consider the wonderful love and kindness of the Law-giver that hath already tasted unto us tasted nay hath drunk the dregs of this unpleasant bitter potion He by whom all things were made even the Eternal Almighty Word He which thought it no robbery to be equal with God became his own creature and submitted himself to be trod upon reviled hated despised by the worst of all creatures cruel ungodly and perverse sinners He of whose fulness we have all received did utterly evacuate and empty himself of his Glory and Majesty denying to himself such things which he would not even to the most despised creatures For saith he The Foxes have holes and the Birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man hath not whereon to lay his head 2 Cor. 8.9 Ye know saith St. Paul 2 Cor. 8.9 the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich he became poor that ye through his poverty might be made rich So poor he was that he was forced to borrow Tribute money of a Fish and was fain to strain himself to a Miracle to get the Fish to bring it So poor that he was forc'd to borrow a young Colt of strangers never known to him Say saith he The Lord hath need of him A strange unheard of speech The Lord that created the world and can as easily annihilate it Yet he hath need and hath need of a Colt the Foal of an Ass Time would fail me for I suppose the World it self would not contain the Books that might be written of his dangers his temptations his fastings his travels his disgraces torments and death all perform'd without any end propos'd to himself besides our good and happiness 46. It behoved him saith St. Paul to be made like his Brethren in all things Heb. 2.17 18. that he might be a merciful and faithful High-Priest in things pertaining
unto Sin If risen again then count your selves alive unto Righteousness For how it should come to pass that so much of our Holiness as makes up mortification and no more should be ascribed to Christs Death as a proper effect and fruit thereof And the rest which is newness of life and obedience should be imputed to his Resurrection I shall never be able to comprehend 8. The benefits therefore which accrew unto us by Christ I suppose may be divided either into those which flow from the mâ—rit of his Death or from the power and influence of his Life In the former are comprehended all whatsoever Christ hath done for us In the latter whatsoever he doth or will work in us And both being extremely necessary It shall be this hours employment to shew with what good reason we celebrate a feast at this time that we should not terminate our contemplation only on the great love and bowels of compassions on Good-Friday expressed unto us but also and with better reason on the Joy and comfort which with great reason we may collect from this business of Easter even that lively hope whereunto we are regenerated by the Resurrection of Christ And to joyn with S. Paul in his wonder and amazement at the consideration of the infinite mercy and power of God and thereupon his boasting and challenging securely all manner of adversaries Who is be that shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that justifieth Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again 9. In which words are comprehended the great dependance and combination which our non-condemnation or salvation has not only with the death and satisfaction of Christ but also rather even with advantage on his Resurrection Now because they are so few they cannot conveniently be divided I will out of them raise this Doctrinal Proposition Doctr. namely That Christs Resurrection and exaltation is fully as necessary and effectual to procure and perfect our salvation if not more then even the all-sufficient Sacrifice upon the Cross 10. Which that I may more fully and distinctly confirm unto you I will divide into two Propositions which if sufficiently maintain'd doth necessarily infer the Doctrine The first whereof is this Prop. 1. That the purpose of Christ who satisfied for our sins and the Covenant which he made with God who accepted of this satisfaction was not that remission of sins should immediately ensue upon his death but only upon performance of the Conditions of the new Covenant made in Christs Bloud which are unfeigned Repentance for Sin and a serious Conversion unto God by Faith The Second That by the Dominion and Power of Christ Prop. 2. which at his Resurrection and not before he received as a reward of his great humility we are not only enabled to the performance of the conditions of this new Covenant and by consequence made capable of an Actual application of his satisfaction but also by the same power we shall hereafter be raised up and exalted to everlasting Happiness Of these two Propositions therefore in the order proposed very briefly and even too too plainly And first of the first namely That the purpose of Christ who Prop. I. c. 11. I confess it would be no hard matter for a Disputant meeting with an adversary that would be content to be swayed and governed by Reason alone to molest and even fright him from the truth of this Doctrine For if we shall consider not only the excessive unspeakable Torments which Christ suffered for us but especially the infinite Majesty and Glory of the Person who willingly submitted himself to that Curse what less reward can be expected than the present deliverance and salvation not only of a few selected men but even of many worlds of Men and Angels 12. But it is not for us Beloved Christians to set our price and value upon Christs precious Bloud to say Thus much it is worth and no more As there have not wanted men on the other side who have dared to affirm That Christs Bloud according to exact estimation did amount to a certain value by the worth and cost whereof such a set number as shall be saved were redeem'd and purchas'd And if one besides should be delivered it were more than the price of the Bloud came to What a fearful dangerous curiosity is this Is it not a piece of Judas his sin to set our own estimation and value to make a bargain and sale of Christs Death to set up a kind of shambles to sell his Flesh and Bloud in 13. But leaving these vain phantastical Calculations to their chief Professours the Schoolmen who are so unreasonably addicted to this dreaming Learning that nothing can escape their Compass and Ballance For to omit their curious descriptions and Maps of the dimensions and situation of Heaven and Hell the Figure Borders Islands of both They have undertaken to discover the exact proportionable increase of the graces of the Saints especially of the Blessed Virgin whose good actions they have found to encrease just in Octupla ratione so that for example her twentieth good action did exceed the first in virtue and intention of Grace as much as the whole earth doth exceed a grain of mustard-seed 14. Is not this Beloved Friends a learning and wisdom to be pitied Is not this that disease which S. Paul discovers 1 Tim. 6. the effect whereof is to make men sick about vain questions and oppositions of science falsly so called Therefore leaving these vain Speculations as likewise others about the business in hand no less curious and much more dangerous yet securely stated in these daies almost in every Pamphlet and Synopsis As namely Whether God could have contrived any course for mans salvation beside that which he prosecuted Whether without accepting any satisfaction to his Justice he could freely and absolutely have remitted our sins 15. For what use or profit can be made of these Questions though with never so great subtilty and curiosity stated Besides we find that God had professed unto Adam that his death together with the destruction of all mankind should be the reward of the breach of his Covenant By which means Gods Justice being interested in the business the very grounds and foundation of this latter question are destroyed the doubt and scrue whereof must needs have been blasphemous namely Whether God could have been unjust Nay more it makes the sending of Christ into the world together with his obedience to the death even that accursed death of the Cross to be a matter of no necessary importance to be only a great Complement whereby God shews unto mankind that though he could easily have remitted their sins without any satisfaction for whatsoever is possible to God is easie notwithstanding that they should see He would strain himself even farther for them was very requisite and withall to shew his abomination of sin he
Christ as well from being a Judge to condemn the wicked For with as much reason and as great ease he might have given him a Writ of Ease a discharge from that Office as well as the other 55. And now I could wish I had said nothing all this while and likely enough so could you But it grieves me that the portion of time allowed me will not suffer me in any reasonable proportion to contemplate the wonderful mercy and goodness of God who to do us good has given such power to our Nature in Christ to make a new Heaven and a new Earth to restore a new Generation of creatures ten times more glorious and perfect than the first Only now tell me Did not S. Paul with good reason speaking of the Resurrection of Christ give it an advantage and pre-eminence even above his death Is not the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in my Text the Yea rather verbum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word of great moment and weight Since the Resurrection of Christ actuates and ripens the fruit of Christs Death which without it would have withered and been of no help to us Is not the Doctrine of Christs Resurrection and exaltation with as good reason made an Article of our Creed and as necessarily if not rather to be lean'd upon as any of the rest Nay hath not S. Paul epitomized the whole Creed into that one Article saying in Rom. 10.9 If thou shalt believe in thine heart Rom. 10.9 that God raised the Lord Jesus from the dead thou shalt be saved 56. And now 't is time to consider who are the persons whom the Death yea rather the Resurrection of Christ will protect and warrant from condemnation In my Text as we find none to condemn so likewise we cannot light upon any to be condemned In the verse immediately before these words the Elect of God are those which are Justified and therefore must not be condemned And to say the truth though we dispute till the worlds end the event will shew that the Elect of God and only they shall reap the harvest of Christ's sufferings and bring their sheaves with them As for the wicked and Reprobates it shall not be so with them but why it shall not be so with them whether because they have wilfully excluded themselves or because God had no mind they should be any thing the better for these things I will not tell you 57. In the verses on both sides of my Text we find that We are those that must not be condemn'd We which we why Paul and the Romans Jews and Gentiles What all Jews and all Gentiles I told you I will not tell Only thus much let me tell you we may boldly maintain S. Paul's phrase nay it is unsafe and dangerous to alter it Why it is all the comfort we have to live by it is our glory and crown of rejoycing that we are those whose salvation Christ did so earnestly and unfeignedly desire and thirst after that to obtain power and authority to bestow it on us he suffered such torments and blasphemies that Never sorrow was like unto his sorrow which was done unto him wherewith the Lord afflicted him in the day of his fierce wrath 58. Wherefore I beseech you Beloved Brethren even by the bowels of this Jesus Christ that you would give me leave to advise you if there be any here fit to be advised by me if there be any in this company as weak and ignorant as my self And though my heart be deceitful above all things yet as far as I understand mine own heart If I speak these words out of partiality or faction let me be excluded from having my part in those merits I say let me desire you or rather let our holy Mother the Church perswade you in the 17. Article to receive Gods promises in such wise as they are generally set forth unto us in holy Scriptures 59. For consider impartially with your selves what an unreasonable horrible thing is it seeing there are so many several frequent expressions of Gods general love and gracious favour unto Mankind inforc'd and strengthned with such protestations and solemn oaths that the cunning'st Linguist of you all cannot with your whole lives study conceive or frame expressions more full and satisfactory I say then Is it not desperate madness for a man to shew such hatred and abomination at these comfortable and gracious professions of God that he can be content to spend almost his whole age in contriving and hunting after Interpretations utterly contradicting and destroying the plain apparent sense of those Scriptures and will be glad and heartily comforted to hear tidings of a New-found-out Gloss to pervert and rack and torment Gods holy word 60. On the other side Far be it from us to think that it is in our power when we list or have a mind to it to put our selves in the number of Gods elect faithful servants Or to imagine that we have God so sure chain'd and fettered to us by his Promises that we may dispense now then for the commission of a delightful gainful crime Or that when we have business for a sin to advantage us in our fortunes we need not be too scrupulous about it seeing God is bound upon our sorrow and contrition to receive us again into favour Thou wretched Fool Darest thou make an advantage of Gods goodness to assist and patronize thy security 'T is true God has promised Remission of sins to a repentant contrite sinner but has he assur'd thee that he will give thee Repentance whensoever thou pleasest to allow thy self leisure to seek it No Know that there is a time and presuming Security like sleep doth hasten and add wings to that time when there will be found no way for Repentance though thou seekest it with tears And thus more than I meant for the persons 61. And now what remains but that we try an experiment That we may know in what a comfortable state Christ hath set us let us consider and look about us to see if we can find any enemies that are likely to do us any harm For which purpose we shall not meet with a more acurate Spy and Intelligencer than S. Paul who in the remainder of his Chapter after my Text hath mustered them together in one Roll. But first there is one if he were our adversary he would be in stead of a thousand enemies unto us and that is GOD. But him we are sure of in the verse before my Text For it is he that Justifies therefore surely he will not condemn Therefore what say you to Tribulation or Distress or Persecution or Famine or Nakedness or Peril or the Sword Why these are not worthy the naming for over all these we are more than conquerours More than conquerours what is that Why they are not only overcome and disarm'd but they are brought over to our faction they war on our side 62. Well in the next
patient and long-suffering toward thee hoping that his long-suffering may lead thee to repentance and beseeching thee daily by his Ministers to be reconcil'd unto him And yet thou on the other-side for a distemper'd passionate speech or less shouldst take upon thee to send thy neighbours soul or thine own or likely both clogg'd and oppress'd with all your sins unrepented of for how can repentance possibly consist with such a resolution before the Tribunal seat of God to expect your final sentence utterly depriving thy self of all the blessed means which God has contrived for thy Salvation and putting thy self in such an estate that it shall not be in Gods power almost to do thee any good Pardon I beseech you my earnestness almost intemperateness seeing it hath proceeded from so just so warrantable a ground And since it is in your power to give rules of honour and reputation to the whole Kingdom do not you teach others to be ashamed of this inseparable Badg of your Religion Charity and forgiving of offences give men leave to be Christians without danger or dishonour Or if Religion will not work with you yet let the Laws of that State wherein you live the earnest desires and care of your Righteous Prince prevail with you But I have done and proceed to my last part which is the convenience and gain which shall accrew unto us by friends oblig'd with this Mammon of unrighteousness Namely by them to be reciv'd into everlasting habitations 37. I must here again propose another question Part. III. but when I have done that I must be forced to leave it without an answer unless you will be content to take a conjecture a probability for an answer It is How or after what manner those to whom we have done good here shall hereafter receive us into everlasting habitations Whether this is perform'd only by their Prayers and Intercession with God in the behalf of their Benefactors Or whether they are us'd as Instruments and conductors as it were as our Saviour may probably seem to intimate in the Parable where the Lord speaks to his Servants That they should take away the one Talent from him which had no more and bestow it on him which had ten Talents So uncertain it is whether this task shall be performed by them one of these ways or by some other unknown course that St. Auguistine ingenuously confesses he knows not what to make of it Yet Cardinal Bellarmine says he can easily assoil it and can in these words find out Purgatory and satisfaction for sin after death and a great deal more then I can understand But truly if he be able to spy Purgatory in this Text especially such a one as he fancies to himself in his Books of that Argument he has made use of better glasses than ever Galileo found out And I would to God those of his Party would consider how much the weakness of their cause is argued even from hence that they are forc'd to ground most of the Points controverted between us upon such difficult places as these of so ambiguous and uncertain meanings and therefore equally obnoxious to any mans Interpretation There may yet be found out a convenient sense of this place especially if we will allow an Hebraism in those words which is frequent enough in the Evangelical writings of putting the third person plural to express a passive sense and then the meaning will be That when c. they may receive you i. e. That ye may be receiv'd into everlasting habitations Parallel to a like phrase in Luk. 12.12 Thou Fool this night shall they take away thy soul from thee i. e. Thy soul shall be taken from thee And if this sense be true as it is very likely many of our Romish Adversaries have spent much pains about this Text to no purpose 38. But to leave quarrelling It is no very considerable matter whether we have light upon the true sense of those words or no or whether those to whom we have done good have a share in purchasing for us an admission into these everlasting habitations as long as we may infallibly hence conclude that though it should fall out that Abraham should forget us and Israel become ignorant of us yet certainly God who alone is instead of ten thousand such friends he will keep a Register of all our good actions and will take particular care of us to give us a just proportion of reward and harvest of glory according to our sparingness or liberality in sowing 39. But Obj. Would Almighty God have us such mercenary Servants so careful and projecting for our own advantage that we should not obey him without a compact and bargain Is not He worthy the serving unless we first make our condition with him to be sure to gain and thrive by him Is this a consideration worthy and befitting the ingenuity and nobleness of a Christian mind to have an eye unto the recompence of reward Is Christ also become a School-master unto us as well as the Law was to the Jews that we should have need of Thunder and Blackness of smoke and Voyces to affright us or Promises to win and allure us Nay Have not your ears oftentimes heard from such places as this an Obedience of this nature disgrac'd and branded for a Servile slavish obedience an obedience ordinarily made the mark and badg even of a formal Hypocrite the worst kind of Reprobates 40. I confess Sol. I could shew you a more excellent way then this if men were ordinarily fitted and qualified for the receiving of it And that is St. Pauls more excellent way of Charity the keeping of God's Commandements meerly out of the love of his goodness and consideration of his infinite inconceivable holiness And he that can receive this let him receive it and thrice happy and blessed shall he be of the Lord But in the mean time let him not be forward to judg his fellow-servants if they acknowledg themselves so farr guilty of weakness and imperfections that they have need to receive strength and encouragement in this their painful and laborious race by looking forward unto the glorious prize of their high calling in Jesus Christ 41. Surely God is wise enough to contrive the surest course and to set down the best and likelyest means for perswading us to his service and the obedience of his Commandements He is able to enquire and search into the most retired corners of our wicked deceitful hearts and thereby knowing our temper and disposition he is able best to prescribe us a method and diet suitable to our constitutions Therefore if he out of his infinite wisdom and the consideration of what encouragements we stand in need of hath thought it fit to annex to every Precept almost a promise of happiness or a threatning of unavoidable danger to the transgressours What art thou O man that thou darest take upon thee to calumniate his proceedings and to prescribe better
many times would immediately and personally inflict the punishment 8. Now the general Sanction of this whole Law is expressed Deut. 27. v. 26 in these words Deut. 27.26 Cursed is every one that continueth not in all the words of this Law to do them which curse as we find it afterwards at large interpreted imported a sudden violent untimely death together with all kind of misfortune that could make this life miserable so that he was liable to this curse that swerved in any one point or circumstance from what was contained in that Law Notwithstanding in some cases God was pleased to remit the rigour of this curse and to except of certain gifts and offerings and the expiatory sacrifices of beasts as it were in exchange for the lives of the delinquents I should but fruitlesly trifle away the time in insisting any longer upon the nature and quality of the Mosaical Law I will now as I am required by my Text shew you the extream difference and incomparable excellency of the Covenant of Grace or the Gospel beyond this in several respects 9. As first The Moral Duties of the two Tables as they are part of the Mosaical Jewish Law required only an external obedience and conformity to the Affirmative precepts thereof and an abstaining from an outward practise of the Negative They did not reach unto the conscience no more then the National Laws of other Kingdoms do so that for example where the Law of Moses forbids Adultery upon pain of death he that should in his heart lust with any woman could not be accounted a transgressour of Moses his Law neither was he liable to the punishment therein specified whereas the Gospel requires not only an outward and as I may say corporal obedience to Gods commandements but also an inward sanctification of the soul and conscience upon the same penalty of everlasting damnation with the former And what is now said of the moral precepts as they art part of Moses his Law by the same proportion likewise is to be understood of the Judicial 10. Notwithstanding what hath now been said yet we must know that these very Jews to whom this Law was given being the children of Abraham were heirs likewise of the promises which were made unto him and his seed And the way or means whereby they were to attain unto these promises were the very same by which himself obtained them namely Faith So that this Mosaical Law whatsoever glorious opinion the Jews had of it was not that Covenant whereby they were to seek for Justification in the sight of God Till Christ's coming there was no Law given which could have given life that is which could promise everlasting life unto man not the Law of works by reason of mans imperfection and weakness not the Law of Moses by reason of its own weakness as S. Paul clearly demonstrates especially in the Epistle to the Hebrews 11. For what end then was the Law of Moses given S. Paul shall answer the question Gal. 3.19 Gal. 3.19 It was added saith he because of transgressions till the seed should come to whom the promises were made It was added as if he should say After the promises made unto Abraham and his seed this Law was moreover annexed not as any new condition whereby they were to attain unto the promises but that in the mean time till the promises were fulfilled they should be restrained as it were and kept under a strict outward discipline from running into any excess of disobedience for those whom perhaps the goodness and mercy of God in affording them those promises would not by the hope of them be able to bridle they notwithstanding when they saw punishment even unto death without mercy inflicted upon the transgressours they would be more careful of their waies It followes Till the seed should come to whom the promises were made or as himself in Heb. 9. alters the phrase Heb. 9.10 till the time of reformation that is When Christ who was that blessed Seed promised to Abraham should come he would so clearly and convincingly shew unto the world the way of Salvation that they should no longer need to be kept under their old Schoolmaster the Law and therefore at his coming the date of the whole Mosaical Law should expire And that may be one reason why S. Paul is in this chapter so violent against those that would urge the observation of the Mosaical Law forasmuch as by inforcing it now when the seed was already come to whom the promises were made they did seem to evacuate the Coming and Gospel of Christ 12. Now that the Mosaical Law was not given to the Jews for this end that by the fulfilling thereof they should promise to themselves the reward of righteousness everlasting life is evidently demonstrated both by our Saviour in the 5. of Matthew and by S. Paul through all his Epistles but especially in that to the Hebrews The force and vertue of whose arguments may in general be reduc'd to that issue which before I mentioned viz. That the Law by the performance whereof we may expect life requires not only an external conformity to the outward works but an inward spiritual sanctification also of the soul and heart 13. But what saith the Law of Meses It was said saith our Saviour by them of old Mat. 5.21 i. in the Law of Moses Thou shalt not kill not Thou shalt not be angry thou shalt not bear malice in thy heart so that if thou abstainest from Murder thou fulfillest Moses his Law And if thou doest kill thou shalt be in danger of Judgement i. the only punishment which the Law of Moses inflicted upon the transgressours thereof was the danger to be condemn'd to death by the Judgement or Bench of Judges appointed for the execution of this Law But I say unto you I who clearly shew unto you that way wherein you must walk before you can promise to your selves any hope of eternal life I say unto you not only whosoever shall kill his neighbour but whosoever out of malice or rancour V. 22. shall say unto his brother Thou fool shall be in danger of Hell fire V. 27. So likewise not only he which commits Adultery in the outward act is culpable by my Gospel before God but also he which looks upon a woman to lust after her in his heart V. 33. And so instead of Forswearing and breaking of Oaths and Vows which Moses his Law forbad Christ condemns fruitless and unnecessary V. 38. though true Oaths Instead of the Law of Retaliation of injuries Christ commands rather to suffer a second injury than to revenge the first 14. But in the last place the last Example which our Saviour gives may seem to destroy this collection which hath been drawn out of this Chapter for saith he Vers 43. You have heard V. 43. that it hath been said of old Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate
and come short of the glory of God Thus much for the Law of Works 29. The state of mankind without Christ being so deplored so out of al hope as I told you Almighty God out of his infinite mercy and goodness by his unspeakable wisdom found out an attonement accepting of the voluntary exinanition and humiliation of his dearly beloved Son who submitted himself to be made flesh to all our natural infirmities sin only excepted and at last to dye that ignominious accursed death of the Cross for the Redemption of mankind Who in his death made a Covenant with his Father that those and only those who would be willing to submit themselves to the obedience of a new Law which he would prescribe unto mankind should for the merits of his obedience and death be justified in the sight of God have their sins forgiven them and be made heirs of everlasting glory Now that Christ's death was in order of Nature before the giving of the Gospel is I think evident by those words of St. Paul Heb. 9.16 17. where comparing the old Covenant of the Jews with that of Christ he saith Where a Testament is Heb. 9.16.16 there must of necessity be the death of the Testatour for a Testament is of force after men are dead otherwisâ— it is of no strength at all while the Testatour liveth whereupon neither the first Covenant was dedicated without bloud It was necessary therefore saith he ver 23. that the patterns of things in heaven should be purified with these i. e. with the bloud of Beasts but the heavenly things themselves with better things than those namely with the bloud of Christ 30. Which Covenant of Christ call'd in Scripture the New-Covenant the Covenant of Grace the grace of God the Law of Faith according to the nature of all Covenants being made between two parties at the least requires conditions on both sides to be perform'd and being a Covenant of Promise the conditions on man's part must necessarily go before otherwise they are no conditions at all Now man's duty is comprehended by St. Paul in this word Faith and God's promise in the word Justification And thus farr we have proceeded upon sure grounds for we have plain express words of Scripture for that which hath been said But the main difficulty remains behind and that is the true sense and meaning of these two words Faith and Justification and what respect and dependance they have one of the other Which difficulty by Gods assistance and with your Christian charitable patience I will now endeavour to dissolve 31. For the first therefore which is Faith we may consider it in several respects to wit first as referring us to and denoting the principal object of Evangelical Faith which is Christ Now if Faith be meant in this sense as by many good Writers of our Reformed Churches it is understood then the meaning of that so often repeated saying of St. Paul We are justified by Faith without the works of the Law must be We are justifi'd only for the obedience of Christ and not for our righteousness of the Law which is certainly a most Catholick Orthodox sense and not to be deny'd by any Christian though I doubt it does not express all that St. Paul intended in that Proposition Secondly Faith signifies the Act or exercise or duty of Faith as it comprehends all Evangelical Obedience call'd by St. Paul The Obedience of Faith Rom. 16.26 Rom. 16.26 4.13 9.13 10.6 The Righteousness of Faith Rom. 4 13. 9.13 10.6 And it is an inherent grace or vertue wrought in us by the powerful operation of God's Spirit Or thirdly Rom. 10.9 it may be taken for the Doctrin of Faith call'd also by him the Word of Faith Act. 20.32 Gal. 3.2 Rom. 3.27 Rom. 10.8 and the Word of Gods Grace Act. 20.32 and the hearing of Faith Gal. 3.2 In which sense as if he meant the Word St. Paul may seem to resolve us Rom. 3.27 where he saith that boasting is excluded by the Law of Faith which words are extant in the very heat of the controversie of Justification Now these senses of Faith if they be apply'd to that conclusion of St. Paul We are justified by Faith come all to one pass for in effect it is all one to say We are justifi'd by our Obedience or Righteousness of Faith and to say We are justifi'd by the Gospel which prescribes that Obedience As on the contrary to say We are justifi'd by the Law or by works prescribed by the Law is all one There is a fourth acception of Faith taken for the single Habit or Grace of Faith and apply'd to this proposition only of all Christians that I have heard of by the Belgick Remonstrants which being a new invented fancy and therefore unwarrantable yet I shall hereafter have occasion it may be to say something of it 31. St. Paul's Proposition I am perswaded excludes none of these senses it is capeble of them all But before I shew you how they may consist together I will in the first place declare of what nature that righteousness is which God by vertue of his New Covenant requires at our hands before he will make good his promise unto us First then God requires at our hands a sincere Obedience unto the substance of all Moral duties of the Old Covenant and that by the Gospel And this obedience is so necessary that it is impossible any man should be saved without it The pressing of this Doctrine takes up by much the greatest part of the Evangelical Writings Now that these Duties are not enforc'd upon us as conditions of the Old Covenant of Works is evident because by Christ we are freed from the Obligation of the Old Covenant God forbids that we should have a thought of expecting the hope of righteousness upon those terms For that Covenant will not admit of any imperfection in our works and then in what a miserable case are we There is no hope for us unless some course be taken that not only our imperfections but our sins and those of a high nature be pass'd by and overlook'd by Almighty God as if He had lost his eyes to see them or his memory to remember them 32. The substance then of the Moral Law is enjoyn'd us by the New-Covenant but with what difference I shall shew you presently And hereupon it is that our Saviour saith to the Pharisees who were willing to make any mis-construction of his Doctrine Think you that I am come to destroy the Law I by all means say we God forbid else for unless the old Law be destroy'd we are undone as long as that is alive we are dead If the Law of Works have its natural force still woe be to us Therefore that must not be Christ's meaning His intent is as if he should say Think you that I am come to destroy the righteousness of the Law to dis-oblige men from
by Hope And I bless Almighty God that he has dealt so graciously with me that I should dare to hope for it and not be shamed and confounded by my hope And if there be any amongst you that will vouchsafe to content himself with such a neglected degree of comfort with only hope and no more I will not enter into comparison with those that are perfect but I dare promise him that all those troublesome pleasures which do so ravish the men of this world shall be as nothing yea as afflictions and torments in comparison of those spiritual heavenly Joyes which Hope well and legally atchieved will be able to afford us No dangers will there be of terrours or jealousies as if God would happen to grow weary or repent himself of any grace or blessing which he hath bestowed upon us 59. For tell me Do you think that Adam while he continued in his Innocency had any grudgings of suspicions or fears Was he not during that time in as great a quiet and serenity of mind as any of us dare hope for And yet the most that he could do then was to hope that he might continue in that state even to the end The event shews he could not have an infallible Faith of his perseverance If then such a contented setled mind could accompany Adam in Paradise even when he knew it was in his power with but reaching out his hand and tasting an Apple yea with a sudden wicked word or an unsanctified thought utterly and irrecoverably to degrade himself from that happy estate surely we Christians have much more reason to rejoyce in our hope since we know assuredly that as God has been so gracious to begin this good work in us so he will not be wanting to perfect it even to the end if we will but perform our parts which he has already given us more then sufficient grace to do and will never fail to supply us with more for the asking nay more which are surer grounds to build upon than ever Adam had since we know that not one nor ten nor a hundred sins shall be able so irreparably to cast us out of God's favour but that he will be willing upon our Repentance especially calling to mind his old mercies to restore us again to our lost happiness 60. Neither are we utterly excluded from all assurance for there is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a full assurance of Hope saith S. Paul Heb. 6.11 Ibid. 9. Heb. 6.11 This Hope we have as a sure Anchor of the soul fastned on a Rock The Rock cannot fail us the Anchor will not all the danger is in the Cable or chain of spiritual Graces whereby we are fastned to this Rock If this chain but hold no tempest no winds no flouds can endanger us And part of our Hope respects this chain for God has promis'd his willingness and readiness to strengthen it every day more and more till our state shall be so chang'd that there shall be no such things as Tempests known no tossings of waves no tumults of winds nor fear of leaking or decay in the Vessel but all calmness and security And for the attaining to this happy unchangeable estate where is it that we place our Hope Truly our Hope is even in thee O God who if thou shalt think it convenient or necessary for us wilt enlarge this our Hope into confidence and add unto that assurance and swallow up all in possession And that not for any merits of ours but only for thy free undeserved Mercies in our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ in whom alone thou art well pleased To whom with thee O Father and the blessed Spirit be ascribed by us and thy whole Church the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen The Ninth Sermon 1 COR. X. 13. God is Faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able WHatever punishments befel the disobedient Israelites who murmured and tempted God in the Wilderness Vers 6. Vers 11. They all happened unto them saith St. Paul for ensamples to us and are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come This Priviledge we may have beyond our fore-fathers that we may present before our eyes a larger Series and History of God's Providence even since the foundation of the World We may take a view and prospect of his constant unaltered course of revenging himself upon sin in whatsoever persons he finds it And we ought from thence to collect that whatsoever immunities and priviledges we may conceive to ourselves whatsoever comfortable Errors we may take up upon trust yet that God will not for our sakes begin a new frame of Policy in the Administration of the World but that we also unless we break off our sins by repentance and conversion unto God We I say after the example of these murmuring Israelites as those upon whom the Tower of Siloe fell as those fourteen whose bloud Pilate mingled with the Sacrifices that we also unless we repent shall all likewise perish Nay certainly we upon whom the ends of the world are come shall be much more culpable our punishment and stripes shall be more in number and weightier if we notwithstanding that larger experience which we may have of Gods unpartial dealing with sinners shall yet promise to our selves impunity If we shall say we shall have peace though we walk in the imaginations of our hearts 2. The same collection we may proportionably make to our own benefit and advantage from Gods gracious dealing and behaviour to any of his beloved faithful servants we may appropriate to our selves all those blessings and promises which have been afforded unto them If our Consciences can assure us that we do obey Gods Commandements in the truth and sincerity of our hearts Now for warrant to this kind of collection instead of several examples in Holy Scripture I will only make use of one taken out of I think this our Apostle Heb. 13.5 where he saith Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have For God hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee Which words by him quoted as the margins of our Bibles will direct us are to be found Josh 1.5 Which Josh 1.5 though they be a particular Promise which God immediately made to Joshua thereby to encourage him after the death of Moses to take upon him the conducting of the Jews into the Land of Promise assuring unto him a continuation of his extraordinary assistance in the enterprise Yet notwithstanding St. Paul we see as if God had proclaim'd this Promise to the whole world applyes these words to all the Faithful among the Hebrews and by the same proportion to all Christians likewise 3. Upon which grounds I may as reasonably direct the words of this verse out of which my Text is taken to you that now hear me as the Apostle does