away of sin is the remission of sin by which a sinner is freed from the guilt of sin from the curse of the Law and from the wrath of God hence it appears that Salvation lies chiefly in remission of sin Psal. 32. 1 2. Blessed is he whose transgressions is forgiven blessed is he whose sin is covered blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity Neither does the consideration of any good works done by man come in as a motive for God to pardon our sins because to pardon sin is to impute Righteousness without works i. e. God looks upon pardoned sinners as righteous through Faith in Christ though their works be not answerable to the Law of Righteousness laid down in the Covenant of works Christ comes in in the room and place of our Good Works and Free Grace confers that upon us for Christ's sake which our own Good Works were to procure for us under the Law For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast Eph. 2. 8 9. Thus Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth Rom. 10. 4. The end of the Law under the Mosaical Dispensation whether Moral or Ceremonial was to lead a sinner to Christ for Righteousness this Righteousness lies in the full satisfaction that Christ made to the Law for the sin of man we must bring to the Law either a perfect Righteousness of our own or a full satisfaction for all our sins which is equivalent to man's perfect Righteousness and not only equivalent but much beyond it for our own perfect Righteousness had we continued in it would have kept us in a happy Paradisical state here on earth I know Divines speak of our Translation afterwards into Heaven but of that the Scripture is silent 't is evident that had we kept the Law we had not died but upon the satisfaction Christ has made to the Law we obtain Eternal Life have a more abundant entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven and this satisfaction accepted for us is in the infinite merit of it our Righteousness Thus the Law obtains its end in that full satisfaction that Christ gave it for the sin of man and can demand no more of any believing sinner for his Justification it becomes the Law to bring things to a righteous Conclusion between the Justice of God and a sinner The Law cannot do unjustly but is righteous in condemning the Unbeliever and righteous in passing by the Believing sinner If any ask How comes a Believing sinner to escape the Vengeance of the Law to get out of the hands of a sin-revenging Law Answ. Because the Law hath obtained its end in Christ and done full execution upon him for the sin of man to its own satisfaction and this secures a man from the curse of the Law as much as his own perfect righteousness would have done The Papists deny the imputation of Christ's Righteousness and derive Remission of Sin from inherent Righteousness whereas inherent Righteousness never frees us from all Sin in this World he is a liar who says he hath no Sin But imputed Righteousness is opposed to all Sin in us and covers it all We are holy and unblameable and unreproveable in the sight of God Col. 1. 22. New Obedience and the practice of Holiness is the consequent of Pardon which must not be taken for a permission or licence to Sin Pardoning-Grace lays a strict injunction upon us to Sin no more as Christ did upon the man whom he healed at the Pool of Bethesda Behold thou art made whole sin no more lest a worse thing come upon thee John 5. 14. Christ Died primarily for our Justification from all Sins committed by us and also for our Sanctification to prevent the Commission of further sin To that end he purchased for us his holy spirit that we might live to God 2 Cor. 5. 15. That being dead to sin we should live to righteousness 1 Pet. 2. 24. The blood of Christ purges the conscience from dead works to serve the living God Heb. 9. 14. There are two special parts of the covenant of grace Heb. 8. 10 11 12. viz. Remission of sin and a change of Heart and Nature they always go together to fancy a change of State without a change of Nature is but a fancy Though Justification be a continued act yet that it may be continued to us in a comfortable sense of it Believers must sue out their Pardon for every new sin and by renewed acts of Faith apply the Blood of Christ in particular for the Pardon of this or that sin In Justification all sin is Pardoned past present and future that no place may be left for Condemnation John 5. 24. Sins to come are virtually Remitted to a Believer i. e. we are by Faith put into a state of Pardon Faith knows whither to go for Pardon upon all occasions Tho the Commission of new sins does not cast a Believer out of a state of Grace does not null and make void his former Justification in the sight of God yet he may lose the comfortable sense of it in his own Conscience and lye under though not judiciary Punishments yet under such castigatory Chastisements from an Angry Father that may be a great bitterness of Soul unto him till by a renewed act of Faith he does apply himself to Christ for Pardon and make his peace with God Faith it self can't speak peace to an impenitent Believer who as to this or that sin may be called impenitent though as to his state he be a Believer Till Faith do bring down the Blood of Christ by a particular application of it to the Conscience of a man for the Pardon of this or that particular sin he may and will be very uneasy under it and the longer Repentance is deferred the more angry reflections will Conscience make against that man he may be brought to question his own state by deferring his Repentance so long Care must be taken to set upon this work of Repentance out of hand and when we go about it we must still keep Christ in our eye and not sorrow as without hope that sorrow for sin that in the beginning may be Godly sorrow may by the cunning of the Devil rise so high as to become ungodly sorrow sinking the Soul into despair Many do begin in the Spirit and end in the Flesh therefore care must be taken to keep our selves in a due temper of mind that we be not overwhelmed with sorrow that sorrow for sin that hinders us from coming to Christ is sinful and not to be allowed in a Christian. So that Repentance is required not as a previous condition of our Justification but as that without which no man can or will ever come to Christ for Justification Faith first works Repentance under a secret hope of Pardon and then applies Christ not
him no seeing of him but as the Soul moves towards him in the Light of Faith God shines in our hearts saith the Scripture the Light of the knowledge of his Glory in the face of Jesus Christ and this Light of knowledge is Faith When we Believe we know Christ we See him we Come to him we Rely upon him Rejoyce in him we Love and Obey him all the actings of the Soul towards Christ they are from Faith representing him to us out of the Word And when we believe the Report of the Gospel concerning him we are persuaded and must be persuaded of the Truth of that which by a present Act of Faith we do Believe There goes no more to your knowledge persuasion and satisfaction than real Believing Faith in its own Nature is all Evidence though Flesh and Blood do contradict this Evidence seek to cast clouds over it yet those doubts that arise they come not from Faith but Unbelief that accompanies it more or less in every act we perform The more Faith the more Hope the more Unbelief the less Hope Hope will be in a proportion to the degree of our Faith The Spirit works Faith in us and then shews us Christ in the Light of it Christ is let into the Soul by Faith there he is and there he dwells transforming us into his own Image by our Faith in him As Faith works by Love so the Spirit works by Faith I mean by our Faith in him The Spirit knows how to improve our Faith in Christ to draw arguments from thence to bring us to any thing which the Gospel calls for I am persuaded I speak to many who have Christ within them who would not quit their Interest in him for Ten thousand Worlds if so you must fetch the reason of this from your Hope in Christ What! Not part with Christ upon any terms and yet Hope for nothing from him not part with Christ upon any terms and yet get nothing by him He doth not offer himself to you upon these terms but that ye may be enriched by him in all things You dishonour Christ and forget your Faith when you don 't Hope for great things from him I Beseech you Sirs Bethink your selves a little of your standing in Christ what hold you have taken of Eternal life in him and don't after all say I have no Hope Neither would I have you content your selves in bare saying you have Hope But stir it up act it shew it rejoyce in it daily Hope to the end that others may see how happy you count your selves in Jesus Christ tell every one you meet That Christ in you is your hope of Glory We often Preach and Hear of Faith and Hope but we practice those Graces at leasure Sermons of Faith and Hope don't beget these Graces in us nor draw them out into act Pray consider of this were our hearts changed under the Preaching of the Word into a frame suitable to it this would be a token for good unto us that the Lord is indeed among us If Sermons of Hope did end in lively actings of Hope we should all go home Rejoycing Blessing and Praising of God for his abundant Mercy towards us Great Hopes can't easily be forgotten we naturally run into our Hopes we are fond of them they present themselves to our Thoughts continually have easy access to us they take up our Minds daily making pleasing representations to us of the Good that is coming towards us I would leave you under the Contemplation of these things Did we converse more with our Hopes of Heaven and Glory this would keep sorrow from our hearts and cause us always to rejoyce in the Lord. Here is a present Cordial for the Poorest the most Afflicted and Disconsolate Soul How uncomfortable soever your present circumstances may be if you would get up into this Hope what happy Men and Women would you be you would count your selves happy and be filled with joy unspeakable and full of Glory None of your wants would pinch you you would be lifted up above the afflicting sense and smart of any outward Cross that may now lye heavy upon you All your Afflictions would be light if compared to this Eternal weight of Glory which weighs down all troubles and doth wonderfully alleviate and moderate all your Griefs You may be AS sorrowful in the Judgment of others and yet always rejoycing in your own Spirits from the Power of Hope It may be some will say How can this be Were we never so high in these Hopes yet we should grow weary and restless under them because all is put off to the Resurrection till the Coming of Christ and who can tell when that will be Hope deferred makes the heart sick we may faint under our desires before they come to pass Prov. 13. 10. I Answer In worldly hope it is so worldly hope is not so strengthned is not so established hath not that overcoming Power and Virtue in it as this Christian Hope hath for these Two Reasons 1. Because of the firm Assurance we have of the certain Accomplishment of our Hopes which cannot be said of any outward humane worldly hope As Christians we know our hope will not make us ashamed Rom. 5. 5. comp with Rom. 8. 38 39. A Christian knows his Hope is founded upon immutable Promises and this doth strangely animate the Power of a Christian Hope 2. We cannot flag in our Christian Hope because of the present satisfaction it gives us Wordly Hope is but a lank thing promises fair but hath little present influence upon the minds of men to give them any real satisfaction but a Christian Hope doth give present satisfaction There is always something in hand some pledges some earnest of all that is to follow and this is sufficient for our present occasions to serve the turn till we have finished our Pilgrimage here below They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up as with eagles wings they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint Isa. 40. 31. There is a strange Strength and Virtue in a Christian Hope The Hope of a Christian is a feeding Hope a Soul-satisfying Hope there is no languishing under it it feeds upon the present overflowings of the Promise Tho the thing it self is not yet brought forth out of the Promises yet the Actings of Faith and Hope do cause a strange present overflowing from the Promise that drops into the heart like Oil to refresh it I say the Promises are continually dropping in fresh Comforts giving us fresh Tastes of the Love and Goodness of God Now under this satisfaction our expectation is raised and this again heightens our present satisfaction we have enough now are full are rich have all our hearts can now hold and yet we do see more a coming with a further Capacity Skill and Wisdom to improve it I shall see him but not now Numb 24. 17.
never assented to before it is not a meer Speculation only but proceeds from the Judgment of a practical understanding about a matter that meerly concerns himself telling him that something must be done in the case Those in the Acts when convinced cry out Men and brethren what shall we do they knew something was to be done they bestir themselves under their convictions What shall we say of those who sit still under a profession of Faith and do nothing Let them say what they will they are not convinced they do not indeed believe though they read and hear the Scriptures and own their Divine Authority what then if the Spirit come not along with the word there is that cursed Principle of unbelief in their hearts that will be too hard for the Word and the Minister to they will put the Word from them and if the Minister come up close to them and say Thou art the man they will fly in his face too because he does not Prophesy good to them CHAP. II. The Preacher's Power of binding and loosing I Have one thing more about a Gospel Ministry which I would mind you of and bring into practice I see a necessity of it to awaken Professors in this declining Age where Religion seems to have lost its Primitive Glory and that powerful Influence that formerly it had upon the minds of men who stood more in awe of their Religion than we do now gave another-gates account of it to their own Conscience than I fear many now-a-days can do I conceive it belongs to the Office of a Gospel Minister not only to declare the way of Salvation by Christ and shew how remission of sin is to be had but also to bind or loose their Hearers as they do either come up to the Word or reject it and this done Authoritatively in the Name of Christ according to Scripture-rule is a real discharge or a real Condemnation of that person who falls under such a Sentence I don't speak of binding and loosing as 't is an Act of Church-Discipline in casting Offenders out of the Church and receiving them into it again upon their Repentance for so it is in use among us and in that sense only we generally take it But I conceive there is a binding and loosing mentioned in Scripture distinct from all Church-Censures in a way of Discipline and is always to follow the Preaching of the Doctrine of the Gospel loosing those from their sins who do believe it and binding their sins upon them who believe it not and this I take to be an essential part of a Gospel Ministry Where Ministers do perceive in any of their Hearers a visible contempt of the grace that is offered in the Gospel they ought to be is readiness to avenge all such Disobedience 2 Cor. 10. 6. by binding their sins upon them pronouncing such persons to abide under the wrath of God 'till they do by Faith embrace a Promise of Pardon Those two places viz. Mat. 16. 19. Joh. 20. 23. relate to the Doctrine of the Gospel shewing what follows upon it and also do confirm the Authority of it for the comfort of those who believe it and for the terror of those who reject it That place Mat. 18. 18. relates to the Discipline of the Church in all publick Censures pass'd upon impenitent Offenders So that he who acknowledges his Fault and repents of it being admonish'd by the Church is absolved not only by man but by God and taken into the Communion of the Church again The Church of Rome admits of binding and loosing in the latter sense but they engross it all to themselves and apply it wholly to their Sacrament of Penance The Council of Trent Anathematizes those who allow the power of binding and loosing in any sense to the ordinary Preachers of the Gospel but Calvin is expresly against them Non separanda est says he haec potestas remittendi Peccata à docendi officio i. e. The power of binding and loosing must not be separated from the office of an ordinary Gospel Minister There be other Scriptures to confirm this as 2 Cor. 5. 19. Luk. 4. 18. The sum of the Gospel is to preach deliverance to captives So Luk. 24. 47. and Luk. 10. 5 6 9 10 11 12. vide I am not for Popish Absolutions but I think it the Duty of Ministers to tell their People whom God will save and whom he will not whose sins are and whose are not remitted to them and to do this Authoritatively by a particular Application that may reach the persons themselves whom they most suspect ay and privately to tell them by name that they are the persons they meant warning them to consider their danger lest sudden Destruction from the Lord do come upon them 'T is evident that general Preaching does little good without this men shift it off and distinguish themselves out of the power of Religion think their Profession secures them from all that is threatned in the word and denounced against the Prophane and Ungodly Doctrines and Exhortations won't do without this particular Application of the blessing to whom it belongs and of the curse of God to them over whose Heads it certainly hangs we must do our Duty herein there be some weak ones who can't speak peace to themselves we must speak it to them in the Name of the Lord there be others who won't speak Terror to themselves but go on in their wickedness and bless themselves I say it is out Duty to curse them in the Name of the Lord and plainly tell them that they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God Gal. 5. 21. 1 Cor. 6. 9. Eph. 5. 5. There are too too many now-a days who count hearing the word a very indifferent thing They can come to it and they can forbear 't is all one to them which they do they are not much concerned either way when they come they think hearing the word if it does them no good 't will do them no harm But there is a great mistake here let me tell you there is a blessing or a curse at the end of every Sermon you hear and one or 'tother will certainly light upon you Scoffers may puff at the Judgments of God and say that Ministers take too much upon them in passing such a peremptory Sentence on them what care they what men say ay but know who ever thou art so Sermon-proof in your own opinion that the Minister shall never take hold of thee I say thou art by those very words those binding words pronounced against thee in the Name of the Lord by a Minister of the Gospel as surely Condemned already as if thou were already in Hell the wrath of God will certainly come upon you unless you repent and so I leave you think of it at leisure If we do not our Duty who have these Keys committed to us we shall be questioned at the last day for not shutting