Ghost useth is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 6. 8. For when we were without strength Christ died for the Ungodly He spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all I lay down my Life for my Sheep This is my Body that is given for you Now the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 among other Significations saith he that it hath signifieth sometimes the Impulsive Cause Phil. 2. 13. Ephes 5. 16. Rom. 15. 9. Sometimes the Substitution of one in the room of another 2 Cor. 5. 10. Philem. v. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Demost Ego pro te molam Terent. Particularly when the Sufferings of one for another is expressed by it it always signifies the Substitution of one in the place of another Whenever it is used to imply one's dying for another it signifies the dying in his stead even as the Son of Man came to give his Life a Ransom for many repeated again Mark 10. 45. This Preposition says he whenever applied to Persons or Things it always imports a substituting of one in the room of another So that from the whole we may confidently conclude that Christ did not only suffer for our Good but in our room 8. Christ was once offered to bear the Sins of many Now to bear Sin usually in Scripture-Phrase is to bear the Punishment of Sin Levit. 5. 1. 7. 8. Numb 14. 33. He hath born our Griefs and carried our Sorrows For the Transgression of my People was be stricken Which clearly shews the Ground and Cause of his Suffering and not the Issue and the Event 9. If all the other pretended Grounds and Causes are frivolous and vain that Men bring of Christ's dying for us suffering for us besides this of dying in our stead or room then that is the proper and only meaning thereof but all other pretended Grounds are vain and frivolous How idle is it for any to say He died only to remove or take away the rigid Law of Works and to merit a milder Law of Grace Which seems to imply as if God repented he ever gave the Law of perfect Obedience Or as if God could allow of Sin or else as if the Law of perfect Obedience did not result from his Holy Nature but that he might have given a Law at first like their new Law of Grace Or according to others that he died to fulfil and take away the Ceremonial Law and to be a Pattern of Abasement Humility and Self-denial Now had that been could not God have substituted Peter to have been such a Pattern as well as his own Son and set him up as an Example or else some other most choice and renowned Saint or Prophet or have caused and Angel to be incarnate to have done it that we might have followed his Steps And how vain is that which some of the Arminians assert viz. That he died to satisfy for Original Sin or for the Breach of the first Covenant and to purchase Salvation upon the Condition of Repentance Faith and Obedience or to merit God's Acceptance of the Creature 's Faith Love Holiness and sincere Obedience instead of perfect Obedience to the Law of Works so that God is become reconcilable through Christ's Death But that he may be actually reconciled lies wholly upon the Creature as his part and thus he died for the Good of all Men but not in the place or stead of any one Now by this Notion Salvation is principally wrought out by the Creature God having put Man into a Condition or Capacity to work it out for himself And according to this Notion Man may or may not be saved God having left the whole of Salvation in order to the making Christ's Death to become effectual to the Will of Man So that Man's Will as I before intimated determines the Case whether Christ's Death shall effect any Eternal Blessing unto Sinners in general or to any one Sinner in particular or not God as one of them once preached puts Man into a Capacity to work and to do but works not in any the Will or the Deed of his own good Pleasure Now how false and frivolous all these pretended Grounds or Designs of Christ's Death are I have already shewed Arg. 1. And from the first Argument taken from the Death of Christ I argue thus All those that Jesus Christ died in the room or stead of shall never die or eternally perish But Christ died in the room or stead of all his Elect or all such who believe and are his Sheep therefore not one of them shall die or eternally perish Arg. 2. If Christ died for all the Sins of his Elect both before Grace or before they are called and for those committed after Grace or after they are called so that they might not be condemned for any of them then none of them can eternally perish But this I have proved therefore none of them shall ever eternally perish Secondly The Death of Christ doth deliver every true Believer from Eternal Wrath and Condemnation I prove thus Because the Sufferings of Christ or the Sacrifice of Christ is imputed to them or is accounted to them that do believe This follows from what I said last He took our Sins upon himself and satisfied for them as if he had actually sinned and freely of his own Grace gives us the Benefit of his Suffering as if we had actually suffered our Sin was imputed to him that his Righteousness and Obedience might be imputed to us even both that which is called his Active and Passive Obedience Sin was imputed to Christ yea every Sin we have or ever shall commit so that in Christ we have born already all that Vindictive Wrath and Vengeance of God that was due to them according to his Holy Law and Threatning denounced against us Christ and his Elect are as one Person or as one entire Corporation and what he did was as if every one that he represents had done it The Sufferings of our Saviour was in lieu of the Life of the Sinner the Just for the Vnjust By his Stripes we were healed And that by God's charging our Sin judicially upon him he as our Surety standing in our room He was as the Apostle says made Sin for us that knew no Sin that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him Arg. 3. If Christ hath born all that Vindictive Wrath that was due to his Elect for their Sins then not one of them can eternally perish But Christ hath born all that Vindictive Wrath that was due to his Elect for their Sins therefore not one of them can eternally perish The Justice of God hath nothing to lay to the Charge of God's Elect because it is Christ that died he whose Death hath an infinite Worth and Satisfaction in it this is the Apostle's very Argument If God's Justice is satisfied and his Wrath appeased in Christ's Death if our blessed Jonah's being thrown into the Sea of
the Word of that God that cannot lie to assure you of it Do not judg of your Justification according to the degree of your Sanctification as if you were no further justified than you are sanctified or that your Sanctification is any Cause of your Justification nor do not think you are more justified when you are in a lively frame of Duty than at another time when deadness and dulness takes hold of you Object I cannot believe so as to rise to a full perswasion that I am justified and shall be saved though I can relie upon Christ as a poor Sinner for my Justification and Eternal Life Answ 1. Well bless God for that Faith for a full Assurance doth not appertain to the Essence of true Faith but it is the highest degree of it and no doubt many are gone to Heaven that never attained to that degree of true Faith 2. I knew a Godly Minister who told me in his Sickness a little before he died All his Hopes were gone he could not come to Christ as a Saint his Evidences were so clouded this he uttered with Tears as I remember and with no small grief He presently broke forth and said But Brother I can come to him as a poor burdened lost and heavy-laden Sinner and I am sure he will not refuse me or to that purpose If thou canst do so certainly great Peace will come in it is from the weakness of our Faith that a strong and full Perswasion is wanting a direct Act of Faith I am perswaded must needs bring in the greatest Joy and Comfort a looking for all the signs of true Grace in us oft-times confounds a poor Christian If there is no Sin that thou dost allow thy self in but dost hate Sin as Sin and lovest Holiness and art willing to follow Christ in all things according to thy Light and lovest all the Saints of God as such no doubt but thy State is good and safe 3. But remember if thou canst not come to a satisfaction about what I speak in respect of those Signs yet know if thou dost believe i. e. rely upon the Merits and Righteousness of Christ as a poor Sin-sick Sinner all may be well 4. Take heed you do not look for a Righteousness in your selves to recommend you to God or to trust in for Justification Also know that it is not for the sake of Christ's Merits or for the sake of his Righteousness that we are justified but that it is his Righteousness that is the Matter of our Justification alone before God as it is â—puted unto us and received by Faith Christ's Merits render no our Faith and sincere Obedience to be any part of our Righteousâ—ess to Justification in God's sight 't is his Righteousness only which was perfect and no other Righteousness must thou be foâ—nd in in this respect if thou art justified and eternally saved Though 't is true that Man that has true Faith shall find the Effects of it to be such that it will cleansâ— and purify his Heart and Life and that Faith that hath not such Effects and good Fruits to accompany it is a dead Faith as the Apostle James shews HEB. II. 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation I Closed the last Day with the tenth Demonstration to prove the Salvation of the Gospel to be Great and Glorious Seventhly Gospel-Salvation is Great and Glorious because it is a full a compleat and a comprehensible Salvation That which I intend hereby is this viz There are all things contained in this Salvation which our 〈…〉 in order to Grace and whatsoever is necessary for us here and eternal Glory hereafter 't is not a barren or a partial Salvation but a fruitful and compleat Salvation it does not require us to make Bâ—â—k and allow us no Straw it doth not command us to believe and give us no Power it is not like the Law that commands perfect Righteousness and condemns all that have it not but gives no Strength to perform it Some there be who seem to preach a strange Gospel they tell you what Christ hath done viz that he hath died c. and done his part in this Salvation and lest Sinners to do their part the Debt is paid you may go out of Poison if you will this they do tell you But alas alas the lest Sinner is bound he is in Chains under the Power of Sin and Satan nay he is dead and what can he do Is his Power greater than the Power of Satan Can he translate himself out of the Power of Darkness into the Kingdom of God's Son Can he by any Power God hath given him quicken himself or raise himself from the Dead No no this is impossible But now say I Gospel-Salvation is a full and comâ—â—â—â— Salvation what is needful and absolutely necessary to be donâ— for the Sinner in order to his having a saving Interest in it Jesus Christ will accomplish nay and he will do it himself he will not â—dmit you to have a Share or a Part in the Salvation of your own Souls for as he knows Sinners are not able to do that which must be done for them and in them if they are interested into the Blessings of this Salvation so he will have and must have all the Glory and Honour of this Salvation himself from the first to the last Christ hath no Partner no Competitor in this great Work I mean in and about the Salvation of our Souls 1. Sinners are you dead dead in Sins and Trespasses Christ is come to quicken you I am come that you might have Life There is in this Salvation Life for dead Sinners Christ hath a certain Water to give that whosoever drinketh of it though he be dead yet he shall live that Water is his Spirit 't is by that by infusing of his Spirit into the dead Soul that the Soul comes to be quickned the Spirit of Christ is his quickning Voice The Dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live Christ is our Life not only as he purchased Life for us but as he by his Spirit infuses it in us The Spirit is that Vital Principle in us You hath he quickned that were dead in Trespasses and Sins And he puts forth his Almighty Power to do this as the Apostle had declared to the Saints at Ephesus just in the Verses before in the first Chapter shewing to them that the same Power is put forth in raising us from a Death in Sin or in working Faith in our Souls that was wrought in Christ when he was raised from he Dead and therefore it is said to be the exceeding Greatness of his Power to us-ward who believe according to the working of his mighty Power as before Can any Man do this can he raise himself Dead Lazarus might quicken and raise himself as soon out of the Grave as a dead Sinner can
direct young Men to reform their Lives and Ways according to the Precepts of God's Word nor to think by any degree of moral Righteousness or inherent Holiness they could be cleansed no no but to take heed according to the mysterious and sublime Doctrine of God's free grace in Christ Which was the only way of Salvation as well under the Law as under the dispensation of the Gospel Sirs this was and still is Christs Fan namely the glorious Doctrine of God's Grace thro' the Redemption that is in Christ's blood and it was by this fan Christ cleansed that Jewish floor to which my Text primarily refers For the Jews were his floor in which was abundance of Chaff and now Jesus Christ was come with his fan in his hand to purge this floor and evident it is his holy Doctrine severed or separated the Wheat from the Chaff and by this means was the Wheat gathered into Christs Gospel-Garner and the Chaff blown away for as Chaff cannot endure the wind of the fan so could not those unbelieving Jews and hypocritical Pharisees endure Christs holy and heavenly Doctrine See Joh. 6. 52. to v. 60. How can this Man give us his flesh to eat They thought he spake of a Natural eating of his flesh as we eat the flesh of Beasts or Fish His Doctrine was not understood by them Then Jesus said unto them Verily verily I say unto you except you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood ye have no life in you ver 53. Now the eating of Christs flesh and drinking of his blood is no other thing than the receiving Jesus Christ by Faith for Righteousness and eternal Life Believing in Christ coming to Christ looking to Christ leaning trusting or staying on Christ receiving of Christ and eating of Christ imply one and the same thing It is our going out of our selves to him or feeding by faith on him or resting or relying on his Merits on his Obedience in his Life and in his Death for Justification and eternal Life without any Works done by us or any Righteousness wrought in us as the Apostle speaks But to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness But this mysterious and sublime Doctrine the Jews could not bear but it was such a Fan as fanned them all away that believed not For they being ignorant of God's Righteousness going about to establish their own Righteousness have not submitted themselves to the Righteousness of God They thought their own personal and inherent Righteousness was that by which they must be justified accepted and eternally saved they had meat of their own to eat and therefore saw no need to go to their Neighbours door for it they were full and increased in Goods and thought they had need of nothing And hence the Doctrine of Justification by the Righteousness of Christ alone was rejected by them it was not understood by them that Christ's flesh should be Meat indeed and his blood Drink indeed was a strange Doctrine in their apprehensions they could not conceive how such things could be as Nicodemus spake of Regeneration Nor can any Man whatsoever who will receive no point of Faith but what his natural reason can comprehend and thus this Doctrine of our Lord Jesus was a Fan in his hand and it fanned away all the Chaff of that mighty Jewish floor even all that received not that Doctrine or who believed not in Christ received not Christ by Faith for righteousness and eternal life Nay it was such a Fan that it fann'd away some of Christs Disciples not such who were his Disciples indeed but many that followed him and who are said to believe on him they believed he was the true Messiah had some kind of faith tho' not the Faith of Gods Elect Many of his Disciples when they heard this said This is a hard saying who can bear it It seemed hard to them because they could not comprehend it by their own carnal reason From thà t time many of his Disciples went back and walked no more with him Such a Fan was this Doctrine then and such a Fan it is now that it may be said to make a discrimination between the pure Wheat and the Chaff for no doubt all that receive not this holy Doctrine whatever fair shew they make in the flesh are but Chaff in the sight of God and will be found such at the last day Nor ought they to be suffered to abide in Christ's Garner on Earth as they shall not be gathered into his Garner in Heaven but be esteemed as Chaff or drossy professors whatsoever their conversations may be I mean such who eat not Christs flesh and drink not his blood i. e. wholly feed not upon Christ rely not alone upon the Merits of a crucified Christ or seek not Justification by his Righteousness only but go about to bring in their own Works and inherent Holiness with Christ's Merits in point of Justification in God's sight But to proceed But like as a Husbandman hath more Fans than one even so also in the Second place Jesus Christ hath another Fan also and that is I doubt not likewise intended here viz. The dispensation of God's Providence for this was as a Fan in Christ's hand by which he fann'd away those unbelieving Jews and so purged his floor I mean the time was now come that their national legal and external Church-State must be pulled down and dissolved the Dispensation was changed the Priesthood changed and right of Church-membership changed they having Abraham to their Father or being the Seed of professing Parents would do them no good nor avail them any thing Because the Covenant of Peculiarity God made with him and his natural seed as such as to the Date of the Duration thereof was now run out and expired the Ax being now laid to the root of the Tree ver 10 th So that unless they receive Christ believe in Christ and are found gracious persons fit Wheat for Christs spiritual Garner or Gospel-Church which is built up of lively stones as Chaff the Gospel-dispensation like a Fan purges them out as indeed it did and blew them all away And we are not alone in respect of this great Truth for many of our worthy Brethren who in some things differ from us assert the same particularly Reverend Mr. Cotton who speaking of this Text Mat. 3. 10. saith The first is the root of Abraham's Covenant which this people much trusted upon and of that it is which John Baptist speaketh Now is the Ax laid to the root of the Tree think not to say within your selves we have Abraham to our Father so that all their confidence that they had in Abraham's Covenant Temple and Tabernacle and such things are burnt up and so they have no Root left them to stand upon and this is one thing intended by the Root Secondly There is saith he
the Author of Eternal Salvation to all them that obey him Christ's Meat and Drink was to do the Will of him that sent him and thus we ought to follow him it ought to be our Joy our Delight to do his Will and attend on his Work And this Mark have all Christ's Sheep i. e. they keep Christ's Word If a Man love me he will keep my Word And again He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me Not he that hath the knowledg of them it is possible Men may have Christ's Commandments in their Heads and in their Mouths may know which they are but they may not do them It is he that doth his Word that doth his Sayings that keepeth his Commandments that loves him Ye are my Friends if you do whatsoever I command you This is a Mark of Christ's Sheep of one of Christ's Friends or of a sincere Christian and follower of him He will be obedient to Christ not in some things only but in every thing that he requires or enjoins him to do in his Word 5. They follow Christ in the hardest things in such things that seem grievous to the Flesh Like as Abraham when he was commanded to offer up his Son his only Son his only Son Isaac whom he loved went presently about it he made no pause did not consult with Flesh and Blood And Abraham rose up early in the Morning c. with an intention to do this hard Work And now saith the Lord I know that thou fearest God seeing thou hast not withheld thy Son thine only Son from me God knew it before tho he speaks here after the manner of Men but he would have Abraham to know it and all Men to know that this is a Mark of one that feareth him that loveth him viz. he will do any thing God requires of him even sacrifice up all that is near and dear to him when called for O see how obedient Christ was to the Father The Lord God hath opened mine Ear and I was not rebellious neither turned away my back I gave my Back to the Smiters and my Cheeks to them that plucked off the Hair I hid not my Face from Shame and Spitting This was hard Work yet Christ readily passed through it He became obedient unto Death even the Death of the Cross the worst of Deaths exceeding ten thousand Deaths considering what he felt and did undergo for us 6. They follow Christ whithersoever he goeth Some will not do this they may go a great way after the Lord Jesus but then make a halt and give over following of him Some are like Orpah who kissed her Mother-in-Law and departed from her but Ruth clave unto her Even so such who are sincere Christians they keep following of Christ when others leave him and cleave to the World to their Lusts to their cursed Idolatry but these say to Jesus Christ as Ruth to Naomi Intreat me not to leave thee or to return from following of thee for whither thou goest I will go and where thou lodgest I will lodg Thy People shall be my People and thy God my God Those that are wise Virgins or the Sheep of Christ the Holy Ghost gives us their Character These are they which were not defiled with Women for they are Virgins these are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth c. They will not follow God and Baal Christ and Antichrist receive Christ's Institutions and Rome's vile Idolatry and Superstitions or follow some Precepts of Christ and reject others No no they follow him in all his holy Laws keeping close in all things to the Rules of his Worship both in Doctrine Discipline and Conversation in all Duties of Religion both Natural and Supernatural whether towards God or towards Men. They are like unto Joshua and Caleb they follow Christ fully But my Servant Caleb because he had another Spirit with him and hath followed me fully him will I bring into the good Land and his Seed shall possess it He followed God when others forsook him being not acted by that evil Spirit of Cowardice slavish Fear and Unbelief which ruled in others but was a Man of another Temper i. e. Couragious Faithful Obedient as it is said of the Righteous he was bold as a Lion and universally thrô all Difficulties Deaths and Dangers followed God And thus do all the true Sheep of Christ follow him 7. They follow Christ in sincerity not for Loaves c. 8. They follow Christ constantly to the End and faint not We read of some that followed our Blessed Saviour for some time but then they were offended at his Doctrine From that time many of his Disciples went back and walked no more with him This shewed they were not his Sheep or Disciples indeed for these returned no more they it is evident drew back to Perdition A godly Man may under a Temptation seem to faint and draw back as Peter did but he returns by Repentance and follows Christ again We are not saith Paul of them who draw back unto Perdition but of them that believe to the saving of the Soul The Sheep of Christ hold on their way they having clean Hands grow stronger and stronger they can never perish therefore shall follow Christ always or persevere in well-doing to the End of their Days The good Ground brought forth Fruit unto Eternal Life such who fall away were not sincere and honest-hearted Ones but are either like the stony or thorny ground Hearers Fifthly Christ's Sheep have his Character by which they are known Men mark their Sheep so we read in the Revelations that the Servants of God were sealed they were marked in their right Hands and in their Foreheads c. God gave a Charge of old to set a Mark upon the Men that sigh'd and mourn'd for all the Abominations that were committed in the Land Merchants and others commonly set a Mark upon their Goods by which they lay claim to them and know them So Christ sets his Mark his Seal upon all his Saints By their Father's Mark on their right Hand some understand the Heart A Mark in the Hand is a secret Mark 1. No doubt the Mark of Christ's Sheep is the Mark of Regeneration or that holy Image of God which is stamp'd upon them all as I hinted at first And if Christ sees not this Mark on the Soul he will not own that Man or Woman actually to be his 2. The Holy Spirit is expresly called the Seal with which every true Believer is sealed Also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of Promise Which is the Earnest of our Inheritance until the Redemption of the purchased Possession unto the praise of his Glory And again he saith Grieve not the holy Spirit by which you are sealed unto the Day of Redemption Whosoever hath the Spirit of Christ in them or hath
whether you are spiritually alive or not for if so you are quickned and made alive by the Operations of the Spirit and there is a Principle of Divine Life infused into your Souls So that from a holy and new Nature you can and do breath forth your Desires freely and frequently to God and see the excellency of spiritual Objects and Things Christ is must precious and lovely in your sight Your Eyes see and your Ears hear and you have spiritual feeling and you can and do act and move that is believe repent and obey God with great Activity and a strong Propensity or gracious Inclinations of Heart There is also much of the Beauty of Holiness shining forth in your Lives 2. This also by the way may serve to detect that Doctrine some nay too many maintain of the Power of the Creature Alas alas what can the Dead do For evident it is that those who are thus dead have no Principle or first Power of living unto God or to perform any Duty to be accepted of him It is with them as to all Acts and Ends of spiritual Life as with the Body as to the Acts and Ends of natural Life when the Soul is departed from it or else God would never say they are dead call them dead Does God make use of an improper Metaphor Dare they affirm that It must be so if Man naturally be not dead but wounded in a spiritual Sense only True a wicked Man is naturally alive and his Soul is in his Body and he is endowed with Vnderstanding Will and Affection and may perform many Duties God requires of him But what of this for in spiritual Life the Holy Ghost is unto the Soul what the Soul is unto the Body in respect of natural Life namely the quickning Principle And as a Learned Author well observes to deny such a quickning Principle of spiritual Life superadded unto us by the Grace of Christ distinct and separate from the natural Faculties of the Soul is upon the Matter to renounce the whole Gospel It is all one as to deny that Adam was created in the Image of God which he lost and that we are renewed unto the Image of God by Jesus Christ 2 dly They may also as well assert Man hath a creating Power for Regeneration is called the New Creature which is created in us after the Image of God according to his own glorious Power 3 dly Therefore whatsoever Sinners act in spiritual Things by their Understanding Will or Affections that are not renewed they do it naturally and not spiritually and are therefore called dead Works We may also from hence infer what a mighty Blessing and Favour it is to be made spiritually alive How should such admire God and his Free Grace in Jesus Christ for as they have an internal holy Life so they shall never die but have eternal Life nay that this Eternal Life is begun in them here I give them Eternal Life But to proceed Secondly I am to shew how Salvation or Everlasting Life is a free Gift or by Grace only 1. Life and Salvation is of Grace in opposition to Nature we have it not as the Product of Nature Which were born not of Blood nor of the Will of the Flesh nor of the Will of Man but of God To be born signifies to receive a Principle of Life and those that are the Children of God have not that spiritual Life that is in them from the Motions or Powers of Nature not from the Power of Man's Will nor from their fleshly or natural Parts and Abilities however improved 2. Life and Salvation is wholly of Grace or a free Gift in opposition to Merit we cannot purchase or procure it by our Acts of Obedience By Grace are ye saved through Faith and that not of your selves it is the Gift of God not of Works c. Not by Works of Righteousness which we have done but according to his Mercy he saved us Not the desert of our Works let them be what they will either before or after Grace but from God's own sovereign Mercy and Goodness whose Bowels yerned towards his Elect in Misery For the VVages of Sin is Death but the Gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Death Natural Death Spiritual and Death Eternal are the Wages and Desert of Sin And who will deny a Servant his Wages Wicked Men are the Servants of Sin and they shall have their Wages But though Death is the Wages or Merit of Sin yet Eternal Life is not the Wages of our good Works no but the Gift of God through the Righteousness of Jesus Christ It is not by our Works or for our Worthiness The Apostle as our Annotators note varies the Phrase on purpose to shew that Salvation is wholly of God's Grace and not of our own Merits 'T is of Grace or the Gift of God through Jesus Christ that is through his Merits De gratia libero arbitrio saith Augustine 3. Life and Salvation is by Grace only or the free Gift of God in opposition to the Law The Law could not give Life that could not save us For had there been a Law given that could have given Life verily Righteousness should have been by the Law The Law requires perfect Obedience and lays every one under the Curse that continues not in all things that is written therein to do them Therefore no Life by the Law that being weak through the Flesh Man could not perfectly fulfil it and so could have no Life by it 4. Life and Salvation is the free Gift of God in opposition to any acceptable Service done for it by us as some times great Gifts are bestowed on Persons for the sake of some small Service performed for them But it is not so here though Salvation be a Reward of Grace yet it is not given for the sake of any acceptable Service done by us we know that a small Matter sometimes purchases that which is of great Value but nothing we do or can do can purchase Life and Salvation for our Souls True Eternal Life is a Purchase it is a Reward of Merit but O mistake me not it is not of our purchasing it is no Reward for any Work done by us but it is the Purchase of Jesus Christ the Reward of his Work by his fulfilling of the Righteousness of the Law for us in our Nature in his holy and spotless Life and by his satisfying the Justice of God for our breaking and violating of his Holy Law which he did by the painful and cursed Death of his Cross For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful Flesh and for Sin condemned Sin in the Flesh that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit That the
the Nature and Tenour of this great and glorious Covenant The Father we say enters into a Covenant with his Son and promises Eternal Life unto him and to all his Elect Seed upon the consideration of what he I mean our Blessed Saviour was to perform in respect of those federal Conditions proposed to him which he did then undertake on Man's behalf or such of Mankind that God did intend to save And the Father that accepted of him and sent him into the World and gave him his Sheep doth look to him as to the final and compleat Accomplishment of all things that were either to be done for them or wrought and done in them in order to the Everlasting Salvation of their Souls And this Christ engaged to do and took them into his Hands in this Covenant to effect which is clearly signified in my Text together with a full Assurance unto us that he will do it in spite of Sin Devil World and all Enemies Neither shall any pluck them out of my Hand Our Blessed Saviour further saith All that the Father hath given me shall come unto me and him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out For I came down from Heaven not to do mine own Will but the Will of him that sent me And this is the Father's Will that sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last Day This was the Covenant between them both this is his Father's Will that none no not one no nothing of them that were given to him neither their Souls nor Bodies should be lost but all must be saved he having engaged and promised to fulfil and accomplish the Father's Will herein O happy Believers you are not left to your own Covenanting with God to the Power of your own Wills nor do you stand upon your own Legs but you are in God's Covenant in Christ's Covenant you are committed into Christ's Hand to keep you stand upon your Surety's Engagements his Undertakings God looks to him and expects that he gives a good Account of all his Sheep at the last Day and Christ is able and faithful He says Them I must bring I have struck Hands with my Father I have covenanted and promised to die for them and to call renew and eternally to save them and they shall never perish This being all true what is become of the Doctrine or rather of the gross Error of a final falling from a State of true Grace Secondly To proceed a little further Jesus Christ by virtue of this Covenant and in pursuance of that great Work he undertook did not only die to satisfy for the Sins of his People but also purchased or procured thereby a gracious conveyance of the Holy Spirit and the saving Graces and Influences thereof to change their Hearts bend and subject their Wills and graciously to renew and convert their Souls unto God which God foresaw otherwise could never be done and also to carry on that good Work in them until they come to Glory And this indeed he was obliged to perform according to the Tenour of this Covenant And hence it is that Paul saith Being confident of this very thing that he which hath begun a good Work in you will perform it until the Day of Christ or until the Day of your Death he will perform it which denotes his Covenant-undertaking he having obliged or bound himself as our Surety to do it It is not said he will perfect or finish it but he will perform it Had not the Apostle referred to that Obligation in the Covenant of Grace which he laid himself under the other Expression had been as proper i. e. to say he will perform it He is faithful and cannot fail in doing and performing what he hath made a Bargain or covenanted to do As we say when a faithful and responsible Person hath covenanted to do this or that though the Work be great and difficult and much Opposition lies in his way yet he will do it he will perform what he hath undertaken Hence David saith I will cry unto God most High unto God that performeth all things for me To God most high that is able to do it let Sin Men and Devils do what they can to hinder him This is further confirmed by the Prophet Lord thou wilt ordain Peace for us for thou also hast wrought all our Works in us All is the Effects of thy Grace according to thy glorious Covenant Hence also the Apostle saith For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his own good Pleasure No Man can chuse that which is savingly Good much less perform it until his Will is graciously renewed My People shall be willing in the Day of my Power This being so how contrary is this Doctrine to that which some Men maintain concerning the Power of the Creature or Power of Man's depraved Will the purport of which leaves the Salvation of every Soul at the greatest Uncertainty imaginable They tell you Christ died for all Men that is for their Good and satisfied for their Sins against the first Covenant for all Men and that all are put into a Capacity to be saved if they will believe repent and continue in believing and in well-doing to the End they clearly intimate that whatsoever the Decree or Purpose of God is and whatsoever the Nature of the Covenant of Grace is yet all is at the determination of Man 's own Will whether any one will be saved or not God affording him only strong moral Perswasions Reasons Motives and Subjective Considerations thereunto which may or may not incline excite or prevail with him to believe and obey the Gospel and perform the procuring Conditions of Life and Salvation or they may not incline excite or prevail with any one Soul they do not will not say that Christ is under an Obligation by virtue of the Covenant made with the Father to afford effectual Grace special Aid internal Strength to any in order to bring them over unto God but that it is left to the Creature and that he needs no such supernatural or irresistible Grace to work upon him Which doth 1. Evidently tend to ascribe the whole Glory of our Regeneration and Perseverance in Grace unto Man and not to the Grace of God for that Act of our Wills on this Supposition whereby we convert unto God is meerly an Act of our own and not of the special Grace of God This is clear for if the Act it self were of effectual Grace then would it not be in the Power of the Will to hinder it as a late Reverend Minister notes Also 2. it would and must follow that this would leave Regeneration and Salvation absolutely uncertain notwithstanding the Purpose of God the Covenant of Grace the Undertaking and Death of Christ whether ever any one in all the World should
past Christ's Death hath glorious Effects as the Apostle shews For if the Blood of Bulls and Goats and Ashes of an Heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the Flesh how much more shall the Blood of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit offered himself to God purge your Consciences from dead Works to serve the living God To talk of Christ's Death and see no Effects of it alas what 's that All that Christ died for shall see and feel too its Glorious Effects and Operations upon their Souls and Consciences though the Sacrifice be over the Virtue and excellent Causality of it abides for ever Ninthly Christ by his Death redeemeth his People from all Iniquity and this was his End in dying What signifies such a Redemption that leaves a poor Slave in his Chains and Irons without procuring a Release for him In this lies the Glory of our Redemption by Christ 't is not only from the Curse of the Law and Wrath of God but from a vain Conversation also See the Apostle's Words Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all Iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works If this was his End and Design in his Death do any think he will see himself frustrated in it Shall any Enemy of the Soul bring Christ under a Disappointment Compare this with 1 Pes. 1. 17 18 19. Tenthly and Lastly Jesus Christ hath by his Death purchased Eternal Redemption or Everlasting Life for all his Sheep and by his Spirit hath also given to them the Earnest of it therefore his Death preserves them to Salvation In whom ye also trusted after ye heard the Word of Truth the Gospel of your Salvation in whom also after ye believed ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise which is the Earnest of our Inheritance until the Redemption of the purchased Possession unto the Praise of his Glory Now I should come to speak more particularly to the Effects of the Death of Christ and inlarge upon some things that I have but a little touched upon but that I must leave until the next Time and shall only speak something by way of Improvement of this Argument APPLICATION First To you that are Believers O praise and bless God for a Crucified Saviour What in Heaven and Earth is cause of greater Wonder and Admiration Christ's Death is the meritorious Cause of all Spiritual and Eternal Joy and Comfort all Grace flows out of the Wounds the Spear and Nailâ— made in his Blessed Body and from the Death and Pangs his Soul underwent Nothing is a greater Evidence of Christ's Love to us than the Death of his Cross 2. Apply his Blood draw Virtue from his Blood fly to his Death see how that stands to save thee from the Justice and Wrath of God in his Death is thy Hope and Succour when pursued by Satan and under all Temptations 3. Triumph in the Cross of Christ thou O Child of God wast crucified with Christ thy Sins were punished in him and thou art acquitted in him and raised in him O labour to know Christ and him crucified Labour to know him and the Power of his Death and the Fellowship of his Sufferings c. 4. And as to you Sinners is not here Ground of Hope for you Christ died for the chiefest of Sinners And whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting Life But wo to such who slight this bleeding Saviour that sin because Grace hath abounded or that make the Death of Christ an Incouragement to them to continue in Sin Tush say some trouble not your self with me Christ died for Sinners O Souls will you crucify Christ again I tell you if you do not feel the Effects of his Death in vain is all your present Hope 5. This may serve also to detect such and severely to reprehend them that say Christ died to save all or for all and every Man and Woman in the World Brethren if he died for all that is in the Stead and Room of all then all shall be saved God will not condemn such whom Christ laid down his Life for or in the place or stead of as I have proved from God's Word But further to detect this Error of General Redemption 1. Consider that Redemption is a Word easy to understand it is the saving of a Person that is in Slavery or Captivity commonly procured or obtained by a Price paid or a Ransom but if the Person is indeed redeemed he is set at Liberty To say a Man is redeemed and yet left in Chains and strong Bonds out of which he cannot come unless the Redeemer break those Chains and Bonds to pieces is to speak untruly or in plain English a Lie Now are all Men redeemed Redemption cannot be more universal than it is in Matter of Fact If ten Men were in Slavery in Argiers and a Sum of Money was paid to redeem them and yet after all care is not taken to make that Ransom to be effectual for their Redemption but six or seven of them are left in Captivity can any Man say all the ten were redeemed out of that Slavery and Thraldom wherein they are held Even so it is here for Men to say that the Redemption by Christ is for all the World and yet the greatest part of Mankind lie in Bonds under the Power of Sin and Satan and have not the Death of Christ made effectual to them is a great Mistake and indeed not true as to Matter of Fact 2. Are we redeemed only from the Curse of the Law and from the Wrath of God and are we not also redeemed from Sin and from being under the Power of Satan That Redemption that is by Christ is you hear from all Iniquity and are all so redeemed The Apostle Peter saith Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold from a vain Conversation but with the precious Blood of Jesus Christ c. So many as are and shall be redeemed from all Iniquity from a vain Conversation or whom Christ hath redeemed from the Power of Satan he setting them at Liberty who naturally are bound and bringing them out of the Prison-House so many and no more did he die for and no further doth Redemption by Christ extend 3. If there are many left in the Enemies Hand and under their Power and eternally perish then there is no general or universal Redemption but there are Multitudes so left and perish 4. That Grace Love and blessed Price that doth not procure Universal Salvation is not cannot be an Universal Redemption But God never shewed such Grace and Love by the Price of Christ's Blood that doth procure Universal Salvation therefore there is no Universal Redemption for that Price or Paiment which doth not actually pass or terminate in Salvation is no Redemption at all an Attempt to redeem unless it be
perpetually to be continued the Death of Christ hath special influence unto the mortification of Sin in the Death of the Cross Our Old Man is crucified that the Body of Sin might be destroyed Sin is mortified and we are sanctified by virtue of the Death of Christ and we hereby through his Grace come to be planted into the Likeness of his Death And as Paul in another place saith Being made conformable unto his Death This Conformity is not in our Natural Death or in our being put to death for him but Christ dying for our Sins is the procuring Cause of our dying to Sin therefore we must look for the Death of our Sins in the Death of Christ as the proper Effect thereof Virtue goeth from the Death of Christ to the subduing and destroying of Sin his Death was not only a Passive Example but is accompanied with Power conforming and changing us into his Likeness 'T is the great Ordinance of God to this very End it is by a fellowship or participation in his suffering we are never made conformable to the Death of Christ till we die to Sin the Death of Christ was designed to be the Death of Sin And as certain as Christ died for the Sins of all the Elect so certain it is they shall all first or last feel the powerful Effects thereof in the Death of their Sins The Corn fell into the Ground and died and shall produce all the Increase that virtually was hid in it Christ is our Life the Spring Fountain and Cause of it therefore we have nothing but what we derive from him Object He is say some the Author of Life and as he taught the Way of Life so he is our Life Answ He is our Life as he is our Head and it would be but a sorry Head that should only teach the Feet to go or the Members to act and move without communicating Strength unto them and to the whole Body Christ Brethren is an Head of Influence and in these spiritual Influences or Life that Strength which he communicates to us doth consist in the killing of Sin He loved his Church and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of Water that he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having Spot or Wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be Holy and without Blame And if this was his End in his Death be sure his Death shall perfectly effect this glorious Work in the End upon every Soul of his Tenthly and lastly Glorification is also an Effect of the Death of Christ it is the Fruit of his Suffering it was by his own Blood he entred as our Head and Representative once into the Holy Place having obtained Eternal Redemption for us The Crown of Glory is the Purchase of his Blood and as sure as his Righteousness his Holy Life and Obedience and Meritorious Death carried him to the Father and set him down at the right Hand of the Majesty on high so will his Merits as certainly bring all the true Heirs to that Glory above where the Fore-runner is for us already entered For it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many Sons to Glory to make the Captain of their Salvation perfect through Sufferings First he brings those Sons into a State of Grace as the Effects of his Death and Resurrection and unto a State of Glory And whom he justified them also he glorified I shall draw up the Sum of this Argument If such are the certain Fruits and Effects of Christ's Death 1. If it hath appeased the Wrath of God for all that are in him 2. If it hath made their Peace and for ever reconciled them unto God 3. If the Holy Spirit is purchased and procured as the Effects of his Death for them by which they are renewed quickned and helped to mortify Sin and is to them an Earnest a Witness and Seal of Everlasting Life and shall abide with them for ever 4. If Justification is the Effect of Christ's Death and they are for ever acquitted from all Sin and accepted as Righteous in Christ's Righteousness 5. If all that believe in him are sanctified as the Effects of his Death and shall be perfected for ever 6. If Pardon of Sin is an Effect also of Christ's Death and all Believers have and shall have their Sins forgiven for ever or remembred no more 7. If they are adopted Sons and Daughters to God as the Effect of Christ's Death 8. And also if Glorification is an Effect of his Death and as certain as is the Cause the Effect will be or as sure as Christ is glorified in Heaven all that are his Members shall be glorified Then it is impossible that any one of them should so fall away as eternally to perish But all these things are true and none dare to deny them so to be therefore they cannot fall so as eternally to perish I shall apply this and come to the next Argument APPLICATION First To Sinners 1. Hath the Death of Christ such Virtue in it even to renew quicken regenerate all that believe in him Is God through the Death of his Son reconciled and shall all that take hold of him be justified c. O then Sinners look up unto him and never cease looking until you find the Effects of his Death in your own Souls Object 1. But alas Sir I am a vile and abominable Sinner Answ Well notwithstanding that yet there is Virtue enough in Christ to save you Object 2. But I have been a Drunkard a Swearer an Adulterer a Thief Answ So had some of those Paul speaks of 1 Cor. 6. 11. Such were some of you but you are sanctified but you are justified Object 3. But I have been an Old Sinner Answ Well let it be so yet but a Sinner and Christ died for Sinners for the chief of Sinners therefore there is hope for you nay if you can believe and apply the Virtue of Christ's Blood you shall find Mercy Object 4. But I fear Christ did not die for me Answ 1. If he died for the Chief of Sinners why not for thee And if those that crucified him found Mercy why not thee 2. Thou hast as much ground to believe that Christ died for thee as any ungodly Person hath that dwells on the Face of the whole Earth Sinner look up Nay 3. Thou hast as much ground to believe that Christ died for thee as any of those had once who now feel the Effects of his Death 4. Did ever any Sinner throw himself at his Feet as a poor lost and undone Creature and take hold of him that was rejected Query What is the first Effect of Christ's Death Answ The first Effect of Christ's Death in the Soul is Life Life is infused And if thou hast a vital Principle in thee thou wilt cry out under the Sense of thy
Grace and no more Love shewed in keeping and preserving that Grace in their Souls What! purchase such Riches for them by the Blood of his Son and let them be robbed of it all in a Moment 3. Can it stand consistent with the Faithfulness of God who hath said I will help thee I will uphold thee by the right Hand of my Righteousness and I will not suffer thee to be tempted above what thou art able c. The Work I have begun in thee I will perform to the Day of Christ and as thy Day is thy Strength shall be and yet notwithstanding all this will leave them and let their Grace wither and come to nothing and Sin and Temptations be too hard and strong for them and so cast them off for ever 4. Can it stand consistent with his Holiness to let his precious Grace which is an Impression of his own Image and Likeness in the Soul be blotted blurr'd and defaced for ever this Likeness being a Likeness unto him in that most high and beloved Perfection of his Nature viz. his Holiness which Work on the Soul is curiously wrought by his own Spirit and more valued by him than ten thousand Worlds will he I say neglect that which is so dear and like unto him and suffer it to be crush'd under the Foot of filthy Corruption by the Lusts of his implacable Enemy 5. Can it stand consistent with the Honour of God's most Sovereign Majesty to let Grace be destroyed and come to nothing in the Soul whose End in all he doth is principally to advance his own Glory What is it I pray you that tends more to bring Honour to God in the World than that Grace which he hath infused into the Hearts of his People If Sin brings the greatest Dishonour to him then certainly Grace brings the greatest Honour to him which strives to root out and utterly to destroy Sin so that God and Jesus Christ might reign alone in the Soul If a King hath but one special Favourite that asserts and maintains his Right and seeks to uphold his Throne be sure he will if possible preserve him and suffer none to undermine and supplant that Favourite so as to root him out of the Kingdom Thirdly In regard had to Jesus Christ who is the Purchaser and immediate Author of Grace I further argue Grace shall at last become Victorious or never finally be suppressed in the Hearts of Believers 1. Christ by his Death purchased that Grace which every true Christian is possessed of He died to redeem us from all Iniquity and to purify unto himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works It is upon the Account of his Death as the Effects of his Death the Spirit and the Graces of the Spirit are shed abroad in our Hearts Therefore being by the right Hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the Promise of the Holy Ghost he hath shed forth this which you see and hear Certainly if he purchased us and Grace for us when we were his Enemies he will preserve it in us since we are actually now reconciled to him Shall he be at the expence of his Blood to buy it as one notes and spare his Power to secure it 2. Christ was manifest to take away Sin to dispossess Satan and will he let Satan take Possession again He came to destroy the Works of the Devil And what are Satan's Works but Sin Will not Christ accomplish that which he came into the World to do 3. He is called the Author and Finisher of our Faith If this be so we may assure our selves he will perfect it he that begins it will end it he hath not left it to another after he hath begun the Work of Faith to finish it No no he still keeps it in his own Hand and he will see it done 4. It is for the Honour of Christ that Grace lives and is strengthened in his People Wherefore also we pray for you that our God would account you worthy of this Calling and fulfil all the good Pleasure of his Will and the Work of Faith with Power Part of the good Pleasure of the Will of God had been fulfilled in them they were called justified adopted and the Work of Sanctification was begun and Paul prays that with Power it might be compleated and then shews us how it tends to the Glory of Christ to have this done That the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified and you in him according to the Grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ Brethren the Glory of Christ and the final Salvation of the Saints are wrap'd up together Grace tends to Christ's Glory here and to his Eternal Praise and Glory hereafter 5. Jesus Christ's Work now he is in Heaven is to intercede for his Saints And be sure as he prayed when on Earth that the Faith of his Peters might not fail so he makes the like Intercession for them in Heaven Hence the Intercession of Christ is part of the Saints Holy Triumph in that of Romans 8. 34. Who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who also maketh Intercession for us Now the Intercession of Christ hath great Power and Prevalency in it in order to our final Perseverance in Grace 1. Because he pleads continually with God the Virtue of his own Merits what he hath purchased for us he intercedes for but he purchased Grace for us and he prays for the final continuation of it in us therefore it shall abide in us to the End 2. By his Intercession he prevails with God that we may be delivered from all our Spiritual Enemies that they may never have Power over us of whom Sin is the chief That which Christ intercedes for he is heard and accepted in but he intercedes that we may be kept and delivered from the Power and eternal Punishment of Sin therefore Sin shall never have Power to condemn us 3. He intercedes that our Prayers may be heard and that we may be helped to pray and part of our Prayer is that Sin may not have Power over us to condemn us therefore Sin never shall so condemn us because Christ causes our Prayers with the Incense of his own Intercession to come up as a sweet Savour in the Nostrils of God 4. Christ intercedes that all our Sins may be pardoned and covered If any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father He carries this Cause for us in the Court of Heaven therefore our Sins shall never work our Ruin 5. It is by his Intercession we come to the Throne of Grace with boldness Christ our Friend and High Priest appearing evermore in the Presence of God for us 6. And also it is through Christ's Intercession that all our Good Works and Holy Services are accepted of God So much shall serve to the tenth and last Argument And from hence
Pleasures nay their sinful Ways and wicked Practices above Jesus Christ and that Salvation he hath purchased O how great is the Sin of such who neglect this Salvation 5. Hereby also they abuse the matchless Love the unspeakable Love and Favour of Jesus Christ they do not only slight his Person contemn his Blood and cross the Design of the Father but they also abuse and disdain his precious Love which caused him to take upon him the Form of a Servant and to yield himself up to the cursed Death of the Cross Greater Love hath no Man than this that a Man lay down his Life for his Friend But Jesus Christ laid down his Life for his Enemies Whilst we were yet Enemies we were reconciled unto God by the Death of his Son And shall Sinners after the manifestation of such Love slight him and the Salvation wrought by him at such a dear Rate Nay shall Christ's repeated Calls Wooings and Intreaties be not regarded who spreadeth forth his Hands all the Day long Shall any be so ungrateful so blind so rebellious as to let Christ stand all Night at the Door of their Hearts even till his Head is wet with Dew and his Locks with the Drops of the Night This shews the great Evil and Wickedness of those who neglect this great Salvation Doth not this tend to expose the Son of God to shame to be thus slighted as if not worth the least regard Should a Prince come a thousand Miles to court or offer his Love to a low a contemptible and base-born Damsel and she should nevertheless slight him and give him no entertainment would not this be deemed an abominable Abuse of his Love as well as great Contempt cast upon his Person Sinners are ready to say there is no comeliness in him that we should desire him but alas 't is because they do not know him they are blind and see him not 't is the carnal Eye that can see no Beauty in Christ were the Eyes of their Understandings opened they would be of another Opinion concerning him 6. The Evil in neglecting of this is so great that it is as it were a piercing of Christ again nay and when a poor Sinner is convinced of this great Iniquity he cries out What have I done Have I not grieved nay wounded afresh my dear Saviour by not believing in him and not receiving the great Salvation offered by him Though I never saw the Person of Christ yet I have offered Violence to him in resisting his Authority despising his Love and slighting his Salvation As a Man is guilty of Treason by abasing the Statue or Image of a King so are Men guilty of the Blood of Christ and of trampling upon it when they count it as a Trifle or unprofitable to their Salvation seeking Life and Salvation some other ways or are wholly regardless about it it is as a Stab at his very Heart a tearing out as it were his Bowels he suffered willingly all those great Torments which were inflicted upon him to remove from us a necessity of Suffering had he not stept in to bear our Sins we had been lost for ever O why then is not he imbraced by Faith that works by Love It implies a Sinner has no Love to him no not so much as to his Sins and Folly it is a denying the Excellences of Christ the Preciousness of Christ for as Faith accounts all things but Dung in comparison of Christ so as one observes Unbelief counts Christ but Dung Union and Communion with him but Dung in comparison of this World and the Pleasures of Sin 7. Those that neglect the Salvation of the Gospel thinking to be saved some other way do seem to reflect upon if not despise the Wisdom of Jesus Christ Do they not charge him with Folly and Inconsiderateness in undertaking such a Task such a Work on such hard Terms when it might be had some other way What suffer such Pain Sweat great Drops of Blood and be nailed to the Cross to procure Salvation for us which might be obtained by a sober Life or by doing to all as they would be done unto or by following the Dictates of the Light of natural Conscience or by our own Inherent Holiness What did Jesus Christ aim at by shedding of his Blood but the appeasing of God's Wrath and the bringing in of an Everlasting Righteousness and to purchase Grace to sanctify Mens Souls and to open the Gates of Heaven which Divine Justice had shut and barr'd up against us Now certainly those who neglect this Salvation do either fancy these Blessings are not worth regard or looking after or else they may be procured by some other Way and on easier Terms than by Faith in the Blood of Christ And is not this to charge our Lord Jesus with Folly and with the Greeks of old to account the Preaching of the Cross Foolishness 8. They render it is evident the shedding of Christ's Blood to be in vain who neglect the Means of this Salvation and so thereby slight the Blessings which he hath purchased it must be an undervaluing of the price of Redemption for that which a Person regards not though procured at never so dear a rate he declares was in vain purchased this is with a Witness therefore lightly to esteem of the Rock of their Salvation it is to stop their Ears to the Cry of Christ's Blood His Blood as you heard cries to Sinners to apply it to their perishing Souls and to leave their sinful Ways but they regard it not though it seems afresh to stream forth from his Heart in the Virtue of it and flows through the Pipes of the Gospel in the Offers of it Did not they who refused to come to the Marriage-Supper declare that the King had in vain prepared all those costly Dainties for let who will come and eat thereof they will not And thus many render the bloody Sacrifice to be offered up in vain by neglecting the Salvation offered in the Gospel 9. Such also who believe not but reject and turn their Backs upon the Gospel-Salvation put Jesus Christ to Grief again It is said He was grieved because of the hardness of their Hearts So God said he was grieved forty Years with those who believed not in the Wilderness O how many Years have some of you grieved both the Father and the Son to speak after the manner of Men and is not this a great Evil Will you grieve and weary out the Heart of God and the Heart of Jesus Christ 10. It also gives occasion to Satan to vaunt boast and triumph over the Son of God See says he how little these Men and Women for whom thou gavest thy self to die the Death of the Cross do mind the Salvation thou hast purchased for them they like and approve of my Ways and Motions my Offers better than any thing thou hast procured for them and dost offer to them May