Parent that Pious Care will be there taken much more may it where both are Christians So that the Children of such Parents as are both of 'em Christians must have an undeniable Right to be Baptized into the Covenant of Grace This remarkable Scripture does indeed to any unprejudic'd Mind if put into its true Light sufficiently prove it to be the peculiar Priviledge of Christians Children to be took into Covenant with God however the most prejudic'd cannot deny but that from hence it does appear they have some Priviledge more than ordinary above the Children of meer Heathens And that this is their Priviledge that they may be Confederated with God in Baptism even in their very Infancy I will farther prove from these following Arguments and by proceeding gradually by these several Steps shewing May be prov'd also from several other Topicks I. That Infants were Initiated by Circumcision into that Evangelical Covenant made with Abraham II. That they were Initiated both by Circumcision and Baptism into that legal one deliver'd by Moses III. That it was without all doubt the Intention of our Saviour that under the Gospel likewise they should be Baptized into the Covenant of Grace IV. That agreeably to the Mind of their Master the Baptizing of 'em into it was in all probability practic'd by the Apostles of Christ V. That it is very agreeable to the Ends and Reason of Baptism and the Nature of the Covenant of Grace that they should be Baptized into it And VI. And Lastly That it is a Happy a mighty Advantage for those Infants that have been at that Age Baptized into it All which particulars when I shall have made out more perhaps may be but I do not know any thing farther that need be said to Justifie Infant Baptism And 1. Because Infants were Initiated by Circumcision into the Evangelical Covenant made with Abraham I. I am to shew you that Infants were Initiated by Circumcision into that Evangelical Covenant made with Abraham I do call the Covenant God made with Abraham Gen. 17. wherein the Almighty promis'd to be a God unto him and his Seed after him ver 7. and that in his Seed all the Nations of the Earth should be Blessed And Abraham on the other side Believing God was to leave his Father's House and Country and Kindred and their Idolatry Gen. 12.1 2 3. I do call this I say an Evangelical Covenant having the Authority of an Apostle for it who tells us it was Confirmed before of God in Christ and distinguishes it from that Covenant deliver'd by Moses Gal. 3.17 The Covenant made with Abraham the same in Substance with the 2 made with Adam It was indeed the same Covenant of Grace and in something a clearer Edition of it that was made with Adam soon after his Fall wherein God vouchsafed to restore him to a State of Salvation in that Promise of the Seed of the Woman that is the Messiah which should bruise the Serpent's head that is the Devil It was the same Covenant of Grace I say and exprest indeed in something clearer Terms than at first in that Promise to Adam for still the nearer the Son of Righteousness did approach with healing under his wings the more full were the manifestations he was pleas'd to make of this Salvation and the Methods of it And it contained under these Words And the same in a more imperfect Edition of it with that made with Christ And in thy Seed shall all Families of the Earth be blessed Gen. 12.3 All the Gospel-Promises of Pardon Justification and Happiness couched more darkly than afterwards they were revealed in the Gospel for by the Messiah's conferring of these things as has appeared since the preaching of the Gospel Abraham and we and all his Spiritual Seed are blessed And it had the same Conditions on the performance of which these Promises did depend viz. Faith for Abraham believed in the Lord and it was accounted unto him for Righteousness Gen. 15.6 And lastly Circumcision the Seal of this Covenant is call'd the Seal of the Righteousness of Faith Rom. 4.11 that is the Seal of that Covenant whose Condition is such a Righteousness as proceeds from Faith which is the very Condition of the gospel-Gospel-Covenant All which do manifestly shew that the Covenant made with Abraham was that very Evangelical gospel-Gospel-Covenant revealed afterwards more fully in the Gospel it self and which was establish'd by the Mediation of Christ betwixt God and us And now that Infants even at eight Days old were to be initiated into this Covenant by Circumcision is to be seen Gen. 17.11 12. And ye shall circumcise the Flesh of your Fore-skin and it shall be a Token of the Covenant betwixt me and you and he that is eight days old shall be circumcised amongst you Nay and so indispensable was this Circumcision even at eight days old that it is declared Verse 14. that the uncircumcised Male-Child whose Flesh of his Fore-skin is not circumcised that that Soul should be cut off from his People he hath broken his Covenant So that I think it is plain that as the Covenant made with Abraham was no other than the Evangelical Covenant in a more imperfect Edition of it so Infants were of necessity under the greatest Penalties of being debarr'd all benefits from it to be initiated into it by the outward Rite and Seal of Circumcision And now this I take to be a very good Argument to justifie nay to necessitate the Baptizing of Infants now under the more compleat and perfect manifestation of the Covenant of Grace For why should any one imagine if it were no unreasonable thing for Children of eight days old to be initiated into it then by an outward Right or Ceremony why I say should any one think it should be so now Nor is it at all material that then it was by Circumcision now by Baptism for both of 'em are equally outward Rites and Seals of the same Covenant which Rite of Circumcision God was pleas'd to change for that of Baptism only because this latter would be more agreeable to both Jews and Gentiles As he was cut off from the Covenant who was not circumcised so that Person is to be excluded the Church who is not baptized design'd now to be took into the Covenant of Grace and who for the most part would not have endured Circumcision which was abominable and a matter of Derision to the greatest part of the Heathen World And was it then declar'd Gen 17.14 that the uncircumcis'd Man-child whose Flesh of his Fore-skin was not circumcised that that Soul should be cut off from his People as one that had broken his Covenant and may it not be thought now a Matter of indispensable Duty and Necessity to baptize Children into the Covenant and a thing extremely dangerous and prejudicial to their Happiness to deny it ' em I am sure it is not for want of Scripture-Evidence that we should not
the several Points both Doctrinal and Moral How can it be expected any Minister should sufficiently discharge his Duties by thus instructing them without the Supplies of such Books written on the several Subjects both general and particular No it is not possible out of the mean Profits of most Parishes scarce sufficient to provide the mere Necessaries of Life he should be capable to buy himself such necessary Helps It was for these Reasons thought a great Work of Piety or Charity to the Souls of Men not the least wanted in this Nation where there are more Cures of Souls unprovided of necessary Maintenance than in any Establish'd Church perhaps throughout Christendom to furnish as many as possible with Parochial Libraries Some of which tho' slenderly provided of Books at first may probably in time become well replenish'd And as such Parochial Libraries are form'd in the main Part thereof the Didactical on the Plan of the Doctrine of the Covenant consider'd both in its general Nature and its particular Terms both Mercies on God's Part and Conditions to be perform'd on ours on the Means by which we shall be enabled to perform our Covenant Engagement On the Seals of the Covenant and on Repentance after Breach thereof And the first general Doctrine in such Plan being the Doctrine of the Two Covenants on which Subject Mr. ALLEN having written so judiciously in the following Tracts as not to be omitted in any one Library and is therefore so material an Ingredient in the whole Collection so it was thought not improper here to give some Account thereof and with what View it has been publish'd so as to appear Introductory as it were to all that follows As to the Discourse on Faith annext to his Discourse on the Two Covenants that also has its peculiar Excellency as coming from the Pen of so judicious a Person And being so stated by him as not to exclude Conditions in the Covenant necessary to be perform'd on our Part in order to our Justification through CHRIST is very requisite to be perus'd in order to the better understanding the Covenant it self and was therefore annex'd by the Author himself to his former Discourse on the Two Covenants A DISCOURSE OF THE Nature Ends and Difference OF THE Two Covenants THE mistake of the unbelieving Jews about the true import of God's Promise to Abraham and of the Law of Moses was a principal cause of the rejecting Christ and his Gospel and their own Salvation thereby To rectifie which mistake the Apostle St. Paul used various Reasonings according to the various Errors contained in it In which Reasonings of his there being some things hard to be understood there are others again which probably mistaking the Apostles reasonings against the Jewish Notion of Justification by Works ran into a contrary Extream thinking they might be Saved by Faith without Works as on the conrary the incredulous Jews thought they might be Saved by Works without Faith And if many in our days had not run into somewhat alike Extream through a misunderstanding also of the Apostles Writings labour and pains would not have been so necessary as now they are to rectifie their mistake and to prevent it in others To the end therefore that the plain Truth may the better appear touching God's Promise to Abraham touching the Law of Moses and the Apostles arguings about these I shall very briefly endeavour these seven Things I. To open the Nature and Design of God's Promise to Abraham And to shew II. For what end the Law was added to the Promise III. By what Faith and Practice the Iews under the Law were saved IV. That the Law contained a Covenant different from that with Abraham V. The grand mistakes of the unbelieving Iews and St. Paul's counter-arguings touching both the Law and the Promise VI. The Mistake of some pretended Christians in the Apostles days Touching the Doctrine of Justification by Faith without Works VII That the Doctrine of St. Paul and St. James about Faith and Works in reference to Justification do not differ I shall begin with the first of these CHAP. I. The Nature and Design of God's Promise to Abraham I Shall endeavour to open the Nature and Design of God's Promise to Abraham Which Promise is also called the Covenant Act. 3.25 Gal. 3.17 In doing of which these eight things will come under consideration 1. What the Nature of this Promise is in general 2. What the Design of it is 3. What are the special Benefits promised 4. What the Extent of it is 5. The Security given by God for the performance of it 6. That this Promise was Conditional 7. What the Condition of it was 8. What we are to understand by God's accounting Abraham's Faith to him for Righteousness Sect. 1. Of the Nature of it in general This Promise I take to be of the same nature with that which in the Gospel is called the New-Covenant It 's true indeed they greatly differ in the Administration the one being but general implicite and obscure and the other more particular express and perspicuous But though in this they differ yet in their general nature they agree in one and are the same For 1. This Covenant as delivered to Abraham was confirmed in Christ as well as the Gospel afterwards Gal. 3.17 and that 's a Character of the new-New-Covenant Mat. 26.28 2. The Gospel is said to have been Preached to Abraham in the Promise that was made him Gal. 3.8 3. He was justified by Faith which he could not have been but by vertue of a new-New-Covenant And it was by Faith in the Promise made to him by God by which he was justified Which two things supposed it necessarily follows That that Promise was of the Nature of the new-New-Covenant 4. St. Paul argues against the erroneous Jews in his Epistles to the Romans and Galatians the necessity of Evangelical Faith unto Justification now under the Gospel from Abraham's being justified by Faith and from God's setting him forth for a Pattern and Example to all after-Ages of his justifying both Jews and Gentiles upon the Condition of Believing The strength of which arguing seems to depend upon this supposition That the Promise by the belief of which Abraham was then justified and the Promise in the Gospel by the belief of which Men are now justified do both agree and are one in the general nature of them And upon these grounds and under this notion of the Promise to Abraham I intend to discourse of it But when I consider for what reason he that is least in the Kingdom of God is said to be greater than John the Baptist though not Abraham himself nor any of the Prophets were greater than he and when I consider likewise how ignorant the Apostles were for a time touching the necessity of the Death and Resurrection of Christ notwithstanding the many plainer Revelations thereof in the Prophets than we find Abraham had I cannot I confess think that Abraham had or
could have a distinct notion of all that was contained and implied in the Promise as now it is opened and unfolded in the Writings of the New Testament it does appear was wrapt up in it And therefore though I think I may well found a Discourse of the new-New-Covenant upon the Promise made to Abraham as it is now explained in the New Testament yet I would not be understood to suppose Abraham's apprehension or Faith to have then been commensurate to the Promise as it is so explained Supposing then the Promise to Abraham to be the New Covenant it self in a more imperfect Edition of it than afterward came forth I shall now a little farther consider what it was and what the New-Covenant is and ever hath been in the general nature of it since it first commenced And it is a new Law or Covenant made by way of Remedy against the rigour and extremity of the Law of Nature under which Man was Created For the Law of Nature the Law of God's Creation as well as his Instituted Law in Paradise being violated and impossible to be kept inviolable by Man in his Lapsed state by reason of his moral Impotency and the Pravity of his Nature derived from Adam he must inevitably have sunk and perished under the Condemnation of it unless there had been a new Law instituted to supercede the procedure of this Law against him in its natural and proper course If Salvation had been attainable by Man in his Lapsed state without this remedying Law of Grace there would have been no need of a New Covenant If there had been a Law given which could have given Life verily righteousness should have been by the Law Gal. 3 21. But there was no such Law given besides this New Law Nor could the Original Law be repealed for the relief of faln Man it being founded in the nature of God and the nature of Man as he was created after God's own Image and is no more changeable than the nature of Good and Evil are changeable And therefore as I said there was a necessity that Man must have Perished under the Condemnation of the Law of his Creation as the lapsed Angels did under theirs unless a Law of Indemnity had been Enacted But God whose tender Mercies are over all his Works to the end so great and considerable a part of his Creation as Man is might not be wholly lost and undone to all Eternity out of his infinite Compassion Mercy and Love did constitute a New Law or Covenant for Mans Relief which well may be called the Covenant of Grace against the rigour and extremity of the first Law Which new Law was in some degree though but obscurely made known to Man not long after Adam's Fall or else there would have been no ground for that Faith which we are assured was in Abel Enoch c. Heb. 11. But it was doubtless somewhat more fully declared to Abraham than to any before and at last compleatly established and published by Jesus Christ the Mediator of it who was given for a Covenant to the people And this new Law in the last Edition of it under the Gospel is variously denominated being called the Promise the New Covenant the Law of Faith the Law of Liberty the Gospel the Grace of God or the Word of his Grace And so we come Sect. 2. To consider what the design of God was in this New Covenant or Promise unto Abraham Next to his own Glory it was to recover the humane Nature from its degenerate state to a state of Holiness to that likeness to God in which Man was at the first made and therein and thereby to a state of Happiness both which were lost by the Fall Holiness Love and Goodness as they were once the Glory and Happiness of Man before he lost them so are still perfective of his Nature And therefore it is impossible in the nature of the thing to recover Man to Happiness without recovering his Nature to a conformity to God in these or for Man to be perfectly Happy whose Nature is not perfected in them Sin is the Disease and Sickness of the Soul and it 's as possible for a Sick Man to enjoy the pleasure of Health as it is for the sinful and corrupt Nature of Man while such to enjoy the pleasure which the humane Nature did naturally enjoy or was capable of enjoying in its Innocency and Purity But when the Nature of Man is once recovered to perfection in Knowledge Holiness Love and Goodness it will then be matter of unspeakable delight to him to love God Angels and Men and to do the will of God in every thing It is so to the holy Angels And it was so to our Blessed Saviour who counted it as his meat and drink to be doing the will of his heavenly Father And to what degree the Nature of Man is here in this World restored towards its proper perfection to the same degree it is matter of pleasure and delight to him to act holily and righteously and to be doing good It is joy to the Just to do judgment Prov. 21.15 It is a pain to a Man to act contrary to the bent and inclination of his Nature by compulsion or fear And therefore unless the corrupt Nature of Man were changed Heaven would not be Heaven to him in case he were there Those Divine and Heavenly Exercises which are there the unspeakable delight of Saints and Angels would be his Pain and Torment as being contrary to his Nature and the pleasures of that state as having not what will satisfie the unsatiable lust of Mans corrupt Nature would not be such to him but add rather to his anguish For as it would be a Torment to a Man to be in eâ—tremity of Hunger and Thirst and to be without Meat and Drink and all hopes of any to satisfie him So will it be a grievous Torment to the corrupt Nature of Men in another World to retain their lusts and the violent cravings of them and yet to be without all hope of having wherewith to satisfie them which yet is like to be the condition of Men in Hell Here Mens unnatural Lusts are not such a Torment to them because they can make provision to satisfie them or live in hopes so to do and in the mean while drown the noise of them by diversion But in Hell it will be quite otherwise And therefore it 's easie to imagine that the Torment which will arise from the corruption of Mens Natures there will be unspeakably great besides the piercing sence of the Happiness they have lost and the other intollerable pains which they must indure and therefore as whoever hath not his Nature renewed in this World is never like to have it renewed in another so without renewing of it it is impossible he should be happy there Except a Man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God Joh. 3.3 That is he cannot enjoy it
to Abraham as it was a Promise of sending Christ to be the Saviour of the World was expressive of the greatest love For in this was the love of God manifested towards us because God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins 1 Joh. 4.9 10. A Propitiation for our sins That is one that by his Death hath procured favour having taken off that sore displeasure which God by his Law had declared against all the transgressors of it For the wise and just God did not think the Righteousness of his Government and the Honour and Reputation of his Law would be sufficiently saved and his great hatred of Sin sufficiently manifested without some considerable satisfaction given for the dishonour done to Him and his Law by Mans Transgression And yet that this might not be exacted at the hands of the Guilty in executing the Curse of the Law on themselves he was most graciously pleased to accept of the Sufferings of his own dear Son instead of what the sinners themselves were to have undergone He hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us Gal. 3.13 Christ suffered for sins the just for the unjust or in their stead 1 Pet. 3.18 Upon account of which undertaking of Christ for us all the benefits of the Covenant do accrue to Man Whatever is required of Man by way of condition of his acceptation with God becomes accepted to that end upon account of Christ's suffering And his Intercession in Heaven through which all our sincere though otherwise imperfect performances become acceptable to God and rewardable by him is made in the virtue of it For the whole Covenant itself is founded in the Blood of Christ which he shed for the remission of sins Therefore it is called the New Testament in his Blood Mat. 26.28 And his Blood the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant Hebr. 13.20 2. It contained a Promise of Justification or Remission of sin through Christ unto all that should so believe as thereupon to repent of their former folly and become sincerely obedient for the future For that is necessarily implyed in the Promise of Blessedness to the Nations in Abraham's Seed it being impossible Men should be Blessed without Remission of sin which consisteth in removing the Curse of the Law in remitting the penalty Blessed is the Man whose iniquity is forgiven and whose sin is covered Psal 32.1 St. Paul acquaints us that this Blessing of the New Covenant was declared to Abraham in the Promise Gal. 3.8 The Scripture foreseeing that God would justifie the Heathen through Faith preached the Gospel before unto Abraham saying In thee shall all Nations be blessed 3. It contained in it tacitly a Promise of Divine Assistance unto Men in their endeavours to fulfil the condition of the Promise For God in promising Blessedness to the Nations through Abraham's Seed therein promised all that was absolutely necessary for him to vouchsafe to make them blessed and without which they could not be blessed And if so then he therein implicitly promised to assist the endeavours of Men to perform the condition of the Promise without the assistance of whose Grace they cannot savingly Believe Repent and Obey And so it should seem the Old Testament-Church understood God's subduing of sin as well as his pardoning of sin to be comprized in the Promise to Abraham Mich. 7.19 20. He will subdue our iniquities and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the Sea Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham which thou hast sworn to our Fathers from the days of old And Christ his turning Men from their iniquities which he doth accomplish by appointing them means and by assisting them in the use of them to that end is part of the Blessing contained in the Promise made to Abraham and was so reckoned by St. Peter Act 3.25 26. Ye are the Children of the Prophets and of the Covenant which God made with our Fathers saying unto Abraham And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed Vnto you first God having raised up his Son Jesus Christ sent him to bless you in turning every one of you from his iniquities 4. It implicitly or somewhat obscurely contained in it a Promise of Eternal Life I say implicitly For I do not find that Eternal Life was expresly promised to Abraham But yet that was expresly promised him from which the hope of Eternal Life might well be inferred As first Blessedness through his Seed the Messias And secondly That God would be a God to him and his Seed For Blessedness is a Happiness that runs parallel with the duration of Man's Immortal Soul And God's Promise of being a God to Abraham carried in it a Promise of a Happiness worthy of God to bestow such as Everlasting Life or Happiness is And therefore he was not ashamed to be called their God meaning Abraham Isaac and Jacob because he had prepared for them a City meaning that in so doing he had answered that title of relation of being their God and done like himself Heb. 11.16 And upon these and the like Revelations of God's mind to him Abraham looked for a City which hath Foundations whose Builder and Maker is God and a Heavenly Country Heb. 11.10 16. If Abraham did but use his reason about these Promises as he did about reconciling God's Promise that in Isaac his Seed should be called with his command to Sacrifice him Heb. 11.17 18 19. he might discern Eternal Life in them though but very obscurely in comparison of what is now revealed in the Gospel by which Life and Immortality is brought to light 2 Tim. 1.10 But how obscurely soever a future Happiness was promis'd to Abraham yet promised it was for which we have the testimony of St. Paul Gal. 3.18 If the inheritance be of the Law it is no more of Promise But God gave it to Abraham by Promise He was here proving against the Pharisaical Jews and Judaizing Christians that Justification unto Life was to be had by the Promise and not by the Law by Faith and not by Works of the Law that the Just should live by Faith as vers 12. And therefore by Inheritance here which he saith God gave to Abraham by Promise he doubtless means Eternal Life which elsewhere he calls the Promise of eternal Inheritance Heb. 9.15 Consider now how God carry'd on his design of restoring Man by the promise of those benefits For if expressions of the greatest Grace and Love in God to Men is the way to beget in them a love to God again and in begetting that to beget all the desirable effects of Love which are no less than a sincere conformity in Man's Nature and Life to the Divine Law and if the giving of great and
come short of it Sect. 7. I come now in the next place to shew What the condition of the Promise to Abraham was In short it was a practical Faith And under this Head I shall endeavour 1. To give some account of the nature of Abraham's Faith in general 2. To describe Faith And 3. To shew reason why Faith is made the condition of the Covenant 1. The condition of the Promise to Abraham was Faith and as I shall after shew a practical Faith For that was it upon which the great Blessing of the Covenant Justification was conferred upon him with the consequent benefits In Gen. 15.6 it is said of Abraham that he believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for righteousness But St. Paul reciting this Scripture faith Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for Righteousness Rom. 4.3 Gal. 3.6 If there be any difference between believing God and believing in God it seems to be this To believe God is to believe him upon his Word to believe all that to be true which he saith when he hath once spoken it But to believe in God is first to believe him to be such an One of such a Nature as neither will nor can at any time speak any thing but what is true It is to believe him to be a God that cannot lye For all true Faith as Abraham's was is founded in the Nature of God Abraham did primarily believe in God and consequently believed his Sayings of what nature soever they were And secondly To believe in God is to believe that he can and will perform whatever he promised how unlikely soever the thing in its own nature otherwise be And this was the nature of Abraham's Faith as appears by St. Paul's Comment upon it Rom. 4.20 21. He staggered not at the Promise of God through unbelief but was strong in Faith giving glory to God and being fully perswaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform He gave to God the glory of his Nature and Being of his Truth and Faithfulness in his Promises and of his Power and Ability to perform what he had promised notwithstanding its utmost improbability in Nature And therefore or for this reason his Faith was imputed to him for righteousness as we are told in ver 22. of Rom. 4. And so it should seem it is not the believing of any one particular or single Promise that is counted for Righteousness otherwise than as it is an instance of Faith in God in general in reference to whatever he doth say or shall declare Which may be the reason why Faith is said to be counted to Abraham for Righteousness as well when he had not the Messias in the Promise as the immediate Object of his Faith but somewhat else as when he had The Promise the believing of which was counted to Abraham for righteousness in Gen. 15.6 was a Promise of a numerous Issue So shall thy Seed be viz. as numberless as the Stars But that which produced a Belief of this particular Promise would and doubtless did produce in him a belief of the promise of the Messias and of every other Promise and Word of God and declaration of his mind so far as understood by him and that was an habitual belief of God's Truth and Faithfulness Wisdom Power and Goodness his fixed belief in God And so a believing God's Threatnings so as to use means to escape them is it should seem counted to one for Righteousness as well as the belief of the Promises as growing upon the same Root Thus Noah's Believing God's threatning to bring a Deluge upon the World and his Obedience to God's Command in the preparing an Ark for the saving of his House was that or at least one instance of that Faith by which he became Heir of the Righteousness which is by Faith Heb. 11.7 It was this general Faith in God that made Abraham so compliant with every intimation of his will and pleasure By it he forsook his own Country and Kindred at God's command to go he knew not whither but depended on God's after-direction in that case Heb. 11.8 By it he was ready to offer his Son Isaac in whom the Promises were made And he had such a firm Belief in God's Promise That in Isaac his Seed should be called that he concluded that God would raise him from the Dead when he had Sacrificed him rather than fail in the least of making good his Promise Heb. 11.17 18 19. He had such a confidence in God that is to say in his Wisdom Goodness Truth and Power as wrought him to an entire Resignation of himself to God's will and pleasure He believed God to be so Good and so Wise as not to put him upon any thing but what should be for his good in the issue And so True and Powerful as to promise nothing but what he could and would perform In a word this his Belief in God made him believe all his Promises and obey all his Precepts 2. Come we next to some description of that Faith which is the condition of the Promise or Covenant of Salvation Wherein I shall have respect to the nature of Saving Faith in general in reference to all Ages of the Church and also to the Christian Evangelical Faith in special Faith strictly taken is an assent unto the truth of any Proposition upon the credit of the Speaker But Saving Faith is of a more comprehensive nature than is a meer assent unto the Truth of any one Proposition And although Saving Faith is sometimes described by an assenting to the truth of one single Proposition yet then it implies the belief of many more and such a belief as draws in the Will to act according to the import and concernment of the thing believed As for instance The Belief of this Proposition That Christ Jesus is the Son of God by which Faith is sometimes described doth include in it a belief of the truth of his whole Doctrine both concerning God's Grace and Man's Duty and the Will 's concurrence as to its concernment in it For if he be the Son of God then he cannot lye or deceive in any thing he hath said And again the belief of this Proposition That God raised Christ from the Dead by which Faith is also described Rom. 10.9 includes in it a belief That all that Doctrine which he taught is undoubtedly true For if it had not God would never have wrought such a Miracle as to Raise Christ from the Dead to confirm it The belief then of such single Propositions include a belief of the whole Doctrine of the Gospel which is the proper Object of the Christian Faith and for that cause is frequently stiled Faith or the Faith in the New Testament But if we respect the nature of Faith in general as answering the different degrees of God's Revelation of his Will in several Ages of the World both under the Gospel and before I
do not know how better to define it than thus Faith is such a hearty belief of God's Declaration concerning his own Grace and Man's Duty as doth effectually cause a Man to expect from God and to act in a way of sincere Obedience according to the Tenour and Import of such a Declaration Or if you will take in the Belief of God's Threatnings against sinners into the definition then it will be thus Faith is such a hearty belief of God's Declaration concerning his own Grace and Displeasure and Man's Duty as doth effectually cause a Man to expect from God and to act in a way of sincere Obedience according to the Tenour and Import of such a Declaration Faith thus defined we have already seen exemplified in Abraham who is the great Exemplar of Believing and the Father of Believers And that it was his belief of God's Promise or Declaration of Grace and Favour to him as it is practical in producing Repentance Self-denial and sincear Obedience by which he was justified and made happy appears farther not only in that it 's said by St. James That his Faith wrought with his Works and was made perfect by them and that he was justified by Works as well as by Faith of which more anon but also in that it 's said that he received the sign of Circumcision which was the Condition upon which God Covenanted with him to be his God and upon the same terms to be the God of his Seed a Seal of the Righteousness of the Faith which he had while he was yet uncircumcised For supposing which is not denied Circumcision to be an outward Sign of inward Grace of the Circumcision of the Heart consisting in Mortification or a Penitential change of the Heart which is the effect of Faith his Circumcision as such was a Seal of confirmation to Abraham that it was upon his former so believing God upon his Promise as thereby to be induced to leave the evil Customs of his Country and his Country it self with his Kindred and his Father's House that God would be his God indeed In which Promise was implicitly promised all that would make him Eternally Happy And God's farther design of giving to Abraham this Covenant of Circumision as a Seal to assure him the enjoyment of the benefit wrapt up in that Promise upon the terms aforesaid was that he might be the Father of all them that Believe whether literally Circumcised or not that is that he might be a great Example and Pattern to all others of obtaining the same benefits in the same way and so might be a means of begetting others to Believe in God and to Obey him as he had done to be a great Instrument to propagate the kind of New Creatures of Men renewed to God to the end they might be Blessed as he was This or somewhat to this effect is doubtless the meaning of Rom. 4.11 12. And he received the sign of Circumcision a Seal of the Rightousness of the Faith which he had being yet uncircumcised That he might be the Father of all them that Believe though they be not circumcised that Rightousness might be imputed to them also And the Father of Circumcision to them who are not of the Circumcision only but also walk in the steps of that Faith of our Father Abraham which he had being yet uncircumcised and it is not unlikely but that as Heart-Circumcision under the figure of Literal-Circumcision was together with Faith made the condition of the Covenant then so Spiritual Baptism which is a Death unto sin and a living unto God is under the Figure of Water-Baptism joyned with Believing as the condition of the Promise of Salvation now Mark 16.16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved According to which St. Peter having spoken of Noah's Ark saith The like figure whereunto Baptism now saveth us not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience towards God 1 Pet. 3.21 Now as it was in Abraham such a belief of God's Declaration of Grace and Favour as did effectually induce him to Love and Obey God by which he was Justified so I shall shew afterwards it was the very same kind of Faith working after the same manner by which the Saints under the Law of Moses were Saved But Faith as Evangelical and Christian is such a hearty assent and consent unto God's Declaration in the Gospel by his Son concerning Christ himself and his Grace and Favour towards Men by him and concerning their own Duty as causeth a Man to expect from God and to act in a way of duty according to the Tenour of such a Declaration and his own concerns in it And Faith thus defined is fully agreeable to the Tenour of the Gospel Mark 16.15 16. Go ye into all the world and Preach the Gospel to every Creature He that Believeth and is Baptized shall be saved He that believeth What Why he that believeth that Gospel which was to be Preâ—â—hed to every Creature Which Gospel contains a Declaration of God's â—â—â—â—e and Man's Duty and of his Wrath against all Ungodliness and Unrighteousness of Men. For 1. It declares from God that he hath given his Son Jesus Christ to be the Saviour of the World by being a Propitiation for the sin o fit in becoming a Sacrifice to expiate sin 2. It declares That God upon account of his Son's giving himself a Ransom for all hath made and doth establish a New Covenant with the World to Pardon and Eternally to Save as many as shall Believe in his Son and Repent of their sinfulness in changing their Minds and reforming their Lives and becoming New Men in yielding sincere Obedience to the Precepts of the Gospel 3. It declares That those that believe not shall be damned and such as repent not shall perish and that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God This summarily is that which the Gospel declares concerning God's Grace and Displeasure and Man's Duty Now it is the practical belief of all this that is the saving Faith It is not the bare belief that God hath given his Son to be the Saviour of the World and a Propitiation for the sin of it Nor is it a bare belief that he will for Christ's sake pardon and save as many as truly Repent and amend their lives and become New Creatures unless they so believe all this as seriously and heartily to Repent themselves of their former folly and to return to their duty in new Evangelical Obedience For otherwise for a Man barely to believe all this and not act according to his own concerns in it will be so far from being a believing to the saving of the Soul as that it will rather plunge him the deeper in Destruction for living and acting contrary to his own light and belief as holding the truth in unrighteousness the wrath of God being revealed from heaven against all such Rom. 1.18 A Man of this
one promising Eternal Life upon Believing the other only upon condition of sinless Obedience If this had been the case the Law would have been against the Promise which God forbid it should Gal. 3.21 and the one would have excluded the other according to St. Paul's reasoning Rom. 11.6 If by grace then it is no more of works otherwise grace is no more grace But if it be of works then is it no more grace otherwise work is no more work But 2. Affirmatively It is called the first Covenant because it is the first of the two under question and dispute between the Apostles and unbelieving Jews The Question and Controversie between them was which of the two Covenants that by Moses or that by Christ was to be finally adhered to as the way of Salvation In the handling of which Controversie that by Moses is called the first and the Gospel-Covenant established by Christ as was Prophesied by Jeremiah is called the second Even as the one is called the Old Covenant not because it was the oldest of all Covenants but because opposed to that which was Prophesied of under the name of a New Covenant It is observable that where we meet with the first mention of the first Covenant under that denomination it is not stiled the first Covenant absolutely but that first Covenant as pointing at that under Dispute Heb. 8.7 For if that first Covenant had been faultless then should no place have been sought for the second CHAP. V. The grand Mistakes of the Jews about the Law and Promise and how St. Paul counter-argues these Mistakes I Am now in the next place to shew the fatal mistakes of the unbelieving Jews about God's Promise to Abraham and the Law of Moses and how St. Paul doth counter-argue these mistakes A distinct understanding of which Errors and of St. Paul's arguings against them sometimes severally and sometimes conjunctively and in the gross will be as a Key to open many passages in his Epistles which otherwise will be hard to be understood 1. They held Circumcision in the Flesh to be the condition in special upon which all the Blessings of God's Covenant with Abraham were promised but did not understand that Spiritual Circumcision viz. the Mortification of sinful Affections and Lusts was principally intended when God made Circumcision the condition of his Covenant For they were it seems grosly ignorant of the necessity of Regeneration and so of the Spiritual design of Circumcision which was the reason why Nicodemus though a Ruler among the Jews answered Christ so aukardly as he did when he Preached to him the necessity of being born again Joh. 3. An Ignorance that some allowance possibly might have been made for had not the Circumcision of the Heart and the making themselves a new Heart been expresly called for as it was Deut. 10.16 Jer. 4.4 Ezek. 18.31 Now this Ignorance of theirs in the Doctrine of the Circumcision of the Heart and the sense they put upon God's making Circumcision to be the condition of his Covenant of being their God was doubtless the reason why they placed so very much as they did in Literal Circumcision For although Circumcision first given to Abraham by way of Covenant was afterwards incorporated with the body of Moses's Law yet it should seem these Jews considered it not so much as it was a part of that Law but chiefly as a Condition of God's Covenant with them in Abraham as they were his Seed And therefore St. Paul where he reckons up his Jewish Privileges whil'st he was a Pharisee puts Circumcision in the head of them all and as accounted by him while a Pharisee a Privilege distinct from his being blameless touching the Righteousness which was in the Law Phil. 3.5 6. Whence also the Judaizers said it was needful to Circumcise them and to command them to keep the Law of Moses Acts 15.5 24. As if Circumcising did import something different from or at least something more than keeping of the Law did though otherwise it was a part of the Law Upon this account doubtless it was that we find them more zealous for Circumcision than for any other Point of the Law besides Against this Erroneous Opinion of theirs touching Literal Circumcisions being the condition of the Spiritual Benefits of the Covenant St. Saul argueth several ways First By maintaining that the Covenant did chiefly respect Circumcision in the Spirit Rom. 2.28 29. He is not a Jew which is one outwardly neither is that Circumcision which is outward in the flesh that is it was not that Circumcision which would savingly avail them as they thought it would but he is a Jew which is one inwardly and Circumcision is that of the Heart in the Spirit and not in the Letter whose praise is not of Men but of God Again by shewing that Abraham could not have been Justified before Circumcision if the great Benefits of the Covenant of which Juâ—tification was one were suspended upon that as a necessary condition And yet that he was Justified vvhen not Circumcised there is the express Authority of Scripture for This he asserts Rom. 4.9 10. For we say that Faith was reckoned to Abraham for Righteousness How was it then reckoned when he was in Circumcision or in Vncircumcision Not in Circumcision but in Vncircumcision Afterwards he proceeds to undeceive them in the apprehension they had that the Benefits of the Covenant were entailed upon Abraham's Natural Seed as such or at least as such with the addition of a Literal observation of Circumcision and the Law without respect to the Spiritual and New Birth Rom. 9.6 7 8. They are not all Israel which are of Israel as they thought they were neither because they are the Seed of Abraham are they all Children But in Isaac shall thy Seed be called That is those shall be called Abraham's Seed which are born as Isaac was by Faith in the Promise which are therefore called Children of the Promise For so the Apostle expounds it saying They which are the Children of the flesh these are not the Children of God but the Children of the Promise are counted for the Seed to wit such as are born after the Spirit as it is explained Gal. 4.28 29. And this agrees to what he had said before Rom. 2.28 He is not a Jew which is one outwardly c. Against which corrupt Opinion John the Baptist did oppose himself when he admonished the Pharisees to bring forth fruit meet for Repentance and think not to say within your selves we have Abraham to our Father Mat. 3.7 8. The Apostle labours to cure this grand Error about Literal Circumcision as disjoyned from Spiritual in many other places and shewâ— how that Circumcision availeth nothing but a New Creature such as Spiritual Circumcision makes a Man to be Gal. 6.15 Not Circumcision but Faith Gal. 5.6 Not Circumcision but keeping the Commandments is that which would only reach those great Ends which they sought after in Literal
which the Apostle made against them in it For they did still oppose another Covenant as the Covenant of Justification and Eternal Life unto this Mosaical Covenant and Faith as the Conditon of that in opposition to Works as the Condition of this as will appear if we come to Instances 1. St. Paul argues it with them that the Promise of God to Abraham and his Seed was not through the Law but through the righteousness of Faith Rom. 4.13 Not through the Law that is not upon the terms upon which the benefits of the first Covenant were promised to the Nation of the Jews but upon quite other terms express'd by the Righteousness of Faith 2. He argues it farther with them That God's way of accounting Men Righteous by Faith and their way of seeking Righteousness upon the terms of the first Covenant were utterly inconsistent and the one destructive of the other and that but one of these ways could possibly stand For if they which are of the Law be Heirs Faith is made void and the Promise made of none effect Rom. 4.14 And again If the Inheritance be of the Law it is no more of Promise But God gave it to Abraham by Promise Gal. 3.18 And if by Grace then it is no more of Works otherwise Grace is no more Grace c. Rom. 11.6 3. And that the Law did not exclude the Promise to Abraham he farther argues in that the Covenant with Abraham was confirmed and unalterably setled and established in the Messias 430 Years before the Law by Moses was given and that therefore for them to go about to introduce the Law in the room of the Promise to Abraham so confirmed would be as unreasonable and unjust as for one Man to alter or make void anothers Covenant after he hath confirmed it Gal. 3.15 17. Brethren I speak after the manner of men though it be but a Mans Covenant yet if it be confirmed no Man disannulleth or addeth thereto And this I say that the Covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ the Law which was 430 Years after cannot disannul that it should make the Promise of none effect 4. St. Paul argues it impossible in the nature of the thing that they should be justified by the Law because one main end of God's promulging the Law of Nature which yet was a great part of the first Covenant was to convince Men of their Guilt and of their obnoxiousness to Wrath and to stop their Mouthes and to leave them without any plea of defence as from it Rom. 3.19 20. Now we know that what things soever the Law saith it saith to them who are under the Law That every mouth may be stopt and all the world may become guilty before God Therefore by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight for by the Law is the knowledge of sin And if the Law doth convict Men it cannot justifie them For the same Law cannot both Condemn and Justifie the same person in reference to the same Charge If all are Cast and Condemned by the Original Law as they are for he hath concluded all under sin that he might have mercy upon all Gal. 3. then so many as come to be justified after this must needs be justified by another Law superceding that and that is none other than the Law of Grace The Law of Nature Curseth every one that hath broken it though but once and therefore it cannot justifie them too Out of the same mouth in this case doth not proceed Blessing and Cursing 5. He argues this Opinion of theirs to be contrary to the Doctrine of the Prophets many hundred years after as well as contrary to the Promise to Abraham long before the Law That no man is justified by the Law in the sight of God it is evident For the just shall live by Faith and the Law is not of Faith but the man that doth them shall live in them Gal. 3.11 12. from Heb. 2.4 The Law is not of Faith that is it doth not promise Pardon or any other Blessing upon Believing but upon condition of Doing the things therein required the man that doth them shall live in them Levit. 18.5 6. The insufficiency of the first Covenant to make Men Eternally Happy and the necessity and validity of the second to that end as further argued in Heb. 8. from another famous Prophecy in Jer. 31.31 c. of God's making a New Covenant with Israel and Judah in the latter days not according to that he made with their Fathers when he brought them out of Egypt 1. It 's argued that the first Covenant was but Temporary and being old was ready to vanish and to give place tâ— a New and Everlasting Covenant Chap. 8.13 2. That the first Covenant was faulty or defective or else there would have been no place sought for a second ver 7. 3. That the Promises of that first Covenant were not of such things as Men stand in need of to make them everlastingly Happy as those better Promises of the second Covenant are ver 6. 4. And yet more particularly that in this New Covenant there is promise of such a forgiveness of sins as that iniquity shall be remembred no more ver 12. whereas the first Covenant did not promise any such Pardons All that it promised was a forgiveness only as to the concerns of this Life otherwise their sins were still kept upon the File to be taken away if ever taken away by the Mediator of the New Testament by means of his Death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first Testament Chap. 9.15 But in those Sacrifices which were but the Sacrifices of the first Covenant there was a remembrance again made of sins every year Heb. 10.3 And now by all these reasonings of the Apostle put together it sufficiently appears that the unbelieving Jews did expect Justification and Eternal Life only upon the terms of the first Covenant and that they held that Covenant as comprehending the Covenant of Circumcision to be the Covenant of Eternal Life And indeed this last mentioned Error of theirs in holding the first Covenant to be the Covenant of Salvation did in a manner contain in it all the rest mentioned before which did naturally grow out of it For if that had been the Covenant of Salvation then it would have followed that the Sacrifices of that Covenant had been sufficient and the Death of Christ needless and that Circumcision and keeping the Law of Moses would have been necessary to the Salvation of the Gâ—ntiles c. And now after all this considering what Erroneous Opinions the incredulous Jews held about the Law and about Circumcision and considering in what sense they asserted Justification by the Law and by Circumcision it will be no difficult thing to understand exactly in what sense the Apostle doth every where deny Justification to be by the Law or by the Works of the Law
in perfecting holiness in the fear of God And therefore there is great need for those that are Spiritual Guides to the People to insist much upon the necessity of Repentance Regeneration and a holy Life as well as Faith in order to their being justified and saved by Christ Jesus For the People yea the better sort of them stand most in need as of being well-grounded touching the Truth of the Christian Religion so especially of having the Doctrines of Morality inculcated upon them the Precepts of the Gospel being almost all of that Nature thought some speak diminutively of moral Preaching and tend to the perfecting of the Nature of Man in regulating the Internal Operations of the Soul and the External Actions of Life in reference both to God and Man our Selves and Others The recovering of Men to which is God's great Design by the Gospel in order to their being made perfectly Happy at last as I have shewed in Chap. 1. There is indeed an absolute necessity of Believing the Gospel in order to Christian Practice And therefore our blessed Saviour did not only Preach the necessity of Faith in him and his Doctrine but also wrought abundance of Miracles to beget this Faith in Men. And yet he knowing the great danger of Men's miscarrying in point of Morality in the disposition of Soul and actions of Life insisted chiefly in his Preaching upon Doctrines of that nature as you may see in his Sermon on the Mount and elsewhere He taught the necessity of being born again Of making the Tree good that the Fruit might be good And to inforce this Doctrine of his he was not wont to tell his Auditors that every Man shall be Rewarded according to his Belief but that when the Son of Man shall come every Man shall be rewarded according to his Works That those that have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life and those that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation That by their words they shall be justified which are no more Faith than Works are and by Their words they shall be condemned That in the Great Day of the Tryal of all Nations every Man shall be Acquitted or Condemned according to the Good they have done or neglected to do Mat. 25 And that then not every Man that had Faith enough to Cry Lord Lord or to Prophesie cast out Devils or do wonders in his Name shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but such and such only as have done the will of his Father Great need there is therefore of Peoples examining themselves impartially and of being often admonished to take heed lest they mistake and decâ—ive themselves in the nature of Religion and in what is absâ—lutely necessary to be done on their part â—ecause Men are very aâ—t to flatter and deceive themselves in that and to think that whâ—n their Faith is right in the object of it as wâ—en they â—elieve in the true God and in his Son Jesus Christ and expect Salvation by him alone that then they are true Believers and such as shall be saved especially if therewith they joyn the frequenting of God's Ordinances and the paring off of some of the grosser Enormities of their Lives though in the mean while they make no Conscience of cleansing their Hearts and governing their Spirits of subduing their Passions and inordinate Affections and of bridling the Tongue For this cause it is that Christians are so often in Scripture cautioned to take heed lest they should be deceived Be not deceived God is not mocked For whatsoever a Man sows that also shall he reap Gal. 6.7 8. Little Children let no Man deceive you He that doth Righteousness is Righteous even as he is Righteous 1 Joh. 3.7 1 Cor. 6.9 Ephes 5.6 FINIS THE CONTENTS Of The Discourse of the Nature Ends and Difference of the Two Covenants INTRODUCTION THE Principal cause why the Jews rejected Christ and his Gospel To Remove which the Apostle St. Paul used various reasonings wherein some things are hard to be Vnderstood Which others mistaking ran into a Contrary extream The method which the Author proposes to remove mistakes CHAP. I. The Nature and Design of God's Promise to Abraham What is necessary to open the Nature of it Sect. 1. That it 's of the same Nature with the New Covenant tho' they differ in the Administration For First The Covenant delivered to Abraham was confirmed by Christ as well as the Gospel Secondly the Gospel was Preached to Abraham Thirdly he was Justified by Faith and therefore by a New Covenant Fourthly St. Paul Argues against the Jews from Abraham's being Justified by Faith That Abraham had not a distinct Notion of all that was imply'd in the Promise What the New Covenant is namely a New Law by way of Remedy against the Rigour and Extreamity of the Law of Nature under which Man was Created Page 1. 2. 3. This proved and Reasons for it p. 4. Sect. 2. God's design in the New Covenant or Promise made to Abraham next to his own Glory was the Recovery of Humane Nature from its degenerate State to a State of Holyness without which no Happiness p. 4. and 5. This proved p. 6. Sect. 3. The Benefits contain'd in the Promise made to Abraham First of sending the Messias and what a benefit this was p. 7. and 8. Secondly a Promise of Remission of Sin to all who would Believe in him Repent and become sincerely Obedient for the future ibid. Thirdly A Promise of Divine Assistance to Men in their faithful endeavours tho' tacitly ibid. Fourthly a Promise of Eternal Life tho' implicitly ibid. Sect. 4. The Extent of God's Promise to Abraham p. 9. That it did extend to all Nations of the Earth p. 10. Sect. 5. The Security given by God for the Performance of the Promise made to Abraham p. 10. The Reason why God gave such a Security ibid. Sect 6. That the Promise made to Abraham was Conditional ibid. That Repentance and Faith were to be performed by Man as his part of the Covenant p. 11. The Reason of this ibid. How God Works that change in Man's Nature designed in the New Covenant First by proposing important Truths to his Vnderstanding Secondly By proposing Motives to the Will to incline it to follow the Dictates of the Mind p. 12. Sect. 7. That the Condition of the Promise made to Abraham was a practical Faith p. 13. The Nature of Abraham's Faith p. 14 The difference of believing God and believing in God ibid. A Description of Faith in General ibid. Faith Strictly taken is an Assent unto the Truth of any proposiion upon the Credit of the Speaker ibid. Yet Saving Faith is of a more Comprehensive Nature If God 's Threatnings against Sinners be taken in the definition will be this Faith is such a hearty Belief of God's Declaration concerning his own Grace and Displeasure and Man's Duty as doth effectually cause a Man to expect from God and to act
in a Way of Sincere Obedience according to the Tenour and Import of such a Declaration p. 17. What Faith as Evangelical and Christian is p. 17. The first reason why Faith is made the Condition of the Promise is that the Grace of God to Man might the more shew it self The Second Reason because it best answers God's Design in this Covenant p. 18. 19. 20. Sect. 8. What we are to understand by God's counting Abraham's Faith to him for Righteousness p. 21. Two things make up the Righteousness of the Law of Grace First the Righteousness which consisteth in the Forgiveness of Sins Secondly the Righteousness of Sincere Obedience p. 22. This cleared p. 23. CHAP. II. For what ends the Law was added to the Promise not to cross or confront it p. 24. A Question wherefore then serveth the Law ibid. Answer it was added because of Transgression until the Seed should come And that in many respects first to discover Sin that it might be known to be Sin Secondly to set it out in its own Colours Thirdly to set off the Beauty and Glory of God's Grace in the Promise of Salvation Fourthly because it serves as a School Master to Lead us to Christ and as a School-Master hath a double End respecting the present and future time The present use twofold First to Reclaim and Restrain them from Heathenish superstitions 2dly for Tryal of Obedience in lesser things p. 25. The use of the Law for the time to come was first to facilitate the knowledge of the mystery of their Redemption by Christ Secondly to facilitate and Strengthen their Belief in Christ Thirdly the Law was given to the Jews for the general Good of all the World p. 27. CHAP. III. Wherein is shewed by what Faith and Practise persons under the Law were saved That the Jews had not a clear and full Knowledge of all that was included in the Promise made to Abraham p. 28. and yet that they had the Promise of Blessedness to all Nations in Abraham's Seed They had the addition of several other predictions concerning the Messias p. 30. They had large Significations of God's special Favour above all People ibid. They had exprâ—ss Declarations from God of the Goodness of his Nature By all which they were induc'd to Love God and to endeavour to please him ibid. CHAP. IV. That the Law contained a Covenant different from that with Abraham p. 31. In what respect the Law of Moses is said to contain a Covenant of a different nature from the Covenant of Grace made with Abraham ibid. The Law of Moses under a twofold consideration first as in Conjunction with the Promise made to Abraham 2dly as given at Sinai in a stricter Sense as it was a Rule of Government in the Common-Wealth of Israel In the former sense is obscurely promised Eternal Life in the Latter temporal Blessings p. 32. This Covenant consisted first of Laws 2dly the Sanction of these Laws The Laws were of two sorts 1st the Law of Duty 2dly the Laws of Jndemnity p. 33. Laws of Duty what p. 33. Laws of Jndemnity what p. 34. The Sanction of these Laws consisted in Promises made to the observing them and a Curse denounced against the Transgressors ibid. The Promises considered negatively and Affirmatively p. 35. 36. 37. A five-fold difference in reference to remission of Sin between the first Covenant and the Covenant of Grace p. 38. 39. That more than a temporal Death was threatned for a Breach of the political Covenant as such p. 39. The temporal Evils threatned for a Breach of this Covenant were Personal Domestick or Nationall whereof in particular p. 39. and 41. CHAP. V. The Grand mistakes of the Jews about the Law and Promise and how St. Paul Counter-argues these Mistakes p. 41. First they held Circumcision of the Flesh to be the special Condition upon which God's Covenant-Blessings with Abraham did depend never Vnderstanding that Spiritual Circumcision which was primarily intended p 42. St. Paul's arguing against their Belief in this point p. 42. Secondly That the Promised Messias shou'd not by suffering Death become a Sacrifice for Sin ibid. and yet his Death was necessary how St. Paul â—onsutes their Belief in this point p. 44. Thirdly They held another Error that the Legal Sacrifices did expiate Sin ibid. This Error opposed p. 45 Fourthly That without Circumcision and observing Moses's Law the Gentiles cou'd not be saved ibid. This Error Refuted ibid. Fifthly they held that the Law of Moses was unalterably perpetual and this opposed p. 47. Another Errror of theirs was That they held the First Covenant alone together with the Covenant of Literal Circumcision which they made a part of their Law to be the Covenant of Salvation ibid. And to this they peremptorily adher'd ibid. and disprov'd ibid. CHAP. VI. How St. Paul's Doctrine of Justification by Faith and not by Works was then Mistaken by some The Mistake of those Jews who laid the stress of their Salvation upon Believing only without a virtuous and Holy Life p. 53. Neither did they discern Faith to be necessary in the operative and practical Nature of it p. 54. How the Doctrine of Justification by Faith without Works in the sense wherein the Apostles asserted it was understood p. 55. CHAP. VII That the Doctrine of St. Paul and St. James about Faith and Works in reference to Justification do not differ but are wholly one p. 60. Ten Considerations to prove this p. 61. First that Works of Evangelical Obedience are never in Scripture opposed to God's Grace ibid. Secondly That St. Paul in speaking against Justification by Works gives Caution not to be Vnderstood to speak against Evangelical Obedience p. 62. Thirdly Regeneration or the New Creature is opposed to Works of the Law as well as Faith ibid. Fourthly Evangelical Obedience as well as Faith is opposed to Works of the Law in order to Justification p. 63. Fifthly Evangelical Obedience alone is opposed to Works of the Law in reference to Salvation ibid. Sixthly That Faith is an act of Evangelical Obedience ibid. Seventhly That by Evangelical Obedience Christians come to have a Right to Salvation p. 64. Eightly That as the promise of forgiveness is made sometimes to Believing so it is to Obedience p. 66. Ninthly That Evangelical Obedience is a part of the Condition of Justification p. 67. Tenthly That Repentance is one Eminent Act of Evangelical Obedience ibid. FINIS A DISCOURSE ON FAITH MEN's Eternal Estate of Weal or Wo in another World and their Peace and Comfort in this being very much concerned in their right understanding or mistaking the nature and difference of that Faith which is Saving and of that which is not I shall here state the nature and difference of those two kinds of Faith with what brevity and perspicuity I can I cannot I confess think that the nature of Faith which is of absolute necessity to the Salvation of the meanest Christian is in it self hard to be
precious Promises is the way of recovering Man again to a participation of the Divine Nature as I have shewed it is then the Promise of God to Abraham which was expressive of the greatest Grace and Love and contained in it Promises than which there are not materially greater nor more precious was a wise and gracious contrivance of God to recover Man to a likeness to himself wherein the glory and perfection of his Nature did first consist Sect. 4 The next thing to be considered is the extent of the Promise of God to Abraham The greatness of God's Love and Good-will was not expressed only in the greatness of the benefits promised to Abraham but also in the extent of the Promise reaching not only to the Jewish People and their Proselytes to which another Covenant was restrained but even to all Nations of the Earth Gen. 12.3 and 22.18 Which shews it to be of the same nature with the general Promise in the Gospel though it was not so intelligible then as it is since made by the Gospel But God we see so loved the world as first to promise and after to give his only begotten Son that whosoever should believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life Joh. 3.16 Christ gave his life for the life of the world Joh. 6.8 He is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world 1 Joh. 2.2 He gave himself a ransom for all 1 Tim. 2.6 And tasted death for every man Heb. 2.9 Sect. 5. Consider we in the next place the Security given by God for the performance of his Promise to Abraham and his Seed For because men knowing how ill they have deserved from God having made themsâ—lves Enemies to him would be apt to question whether there were indeed so much Love and Good-will in God to them as the greatness of his Promise did import therefore God to remove all jealousie of this nature and to give them the greatest security and assurance he could of the reality of his intentions and of his heart and good-will towards them confirmed his Promise by an Oath swearing by himself because he could swear by no greater And this he did that they to whom the Promise did extend might have strong consolation from God such as might work in them strong and vigorous affections to him such as were in Abraham through which he was wrought to an entire resignation of himself to God and to his will and by which he was denominated the Friend of God Heb. 6.17 28. Wherein God willing more abundantly to shew unto the Heirs of Promise the Immutability of his Counsel confirmed it by an Oath That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lye we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us Sect. 6. The next thing I have to shew is That this Promise of God to Abraham was Conditional If the Promise of sending Christ was Absolute yet the actual collation of the great benefit of Remission of Sin and Eternal Life by him was not promised but upon condition of Faith and Repentance as appears by the Scriptures frequent explanation of the general Promise Abraham believed in the Lord and it was counted unto him for righteousness Gen. 15.6 If Abraham had not believed God he had not been justified notwithstanding the Promise So that this Justification depended as well upon his performing the condition of the Promise as upon the Promise it self And when God said to Abraham Walk before me and be thou upright and I will make a Covenant with thee Gen. 17.1 The Lord made Abraham's upright walking before him the condition of his keeping as well as making Covenant with him Besides it is apparent that God made Circumcision to be the Covenant to be kept on Abraham's and his Seed's part as the condition of what God had promised on his part Gen. 17.4 7 10. As for me my Covenant is with thee c. Thou shalt keep my Covenant therefore thou and thy Seed after thee in their generations And this is the Covenant which ye shall keep between me and you every Man-child among you shall be circumcised By which is to be understood not so much Circumcision in the Flesh as in the Spirit as I shall shew anon And the truth is it would not suit with God's end and design in his Covenant of restoring Man to the rectitude of his Nature mentioned before to do it without Man's endeavours in the use and exercise of his natural faculties of Understanding and Will as he is a rational Creature and free Agent For God works that change in Man's nature designed in his New Law or Covenant not meerly Physically but Morally also 1. By proposing great and important Truths to his Mind and Understanding and in assisting this natural faculty in considering how his happiness is concerned in that which is proposed in case it should prove true and in considering likewise what reason there is to believe that it is true and in discerning the truth of it upon consideration And 2. By proposing Motives to the Will to incline it to follow the dictates of the enlightned mind and by assisting the Will to be governed thereby So that Man himself is not wholly passive in this change or what goes to the making of it but is so far active in it as to denominate what he doth by God's assistance to be his own act So that the Man is said to Believe to Repent to obey when he doth believe repent and Obey For so he is every where in Scripture said to do God doth not repent in Man but Man repents through his grace and assistance And therefore God's grace and Man's endeavours in working this change are very conâ—istent Phil. 2.12 13. Work out your own Salvation with fear and trembling For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure If Man do but what he can do through the assistance of God's common Providence in whom we Live and Move and have our Being God is most ready through his good Pleasure or out of the goodness of his will and pleasure to work in him both to will and to do savingly to carry the work quite thorow Otherwise if there were nothing that Man could do in a way of common Providence towards his Salvation why should he be exhorted and perswaded to do that which yet will not be done to effect and quite through without the Assistâ—nce of God's Grace and good Spirit The Co-operation of God's grace with Man's endeavours in this change in the nature of Man which is necessary to his Salvation is a Doctrine that lies very fair and plain in the Scriptures And therefore Men are called upon to make themselves new hearts Ezek. 18.31 Make you a new Heart and a new Spirit for why will ye dye O house of Israel And God is said to make them new hearts also Ezek.
practical Faith which I have described eyes as well the condition upon which the saving Benefits are promised through Christ as the Promise it self of those benefits and expects the enjoyment of those benefits upon God's Promise and Christ's Purchase no otherwise than as he with the assistance of God's Grace is careful to perform the Condition Which belief of his makes him as careful to perform the Condition in discharge of his own duty therein as ever he hopes to enjoy the promised Pardon and Salvation by Christ and to escape the Damnation threatned against those who perform not the condition So that a Man by this practical Faith belives one part of God's Declaration in the Gospel as well as the other and his own duty to be as well necessary to his Justification as the condition appointed by God as the Grace of God through Christ it self is upon another account And by this belief he is effectually moved as well to act in a way of duty to God as to expect mercy from him considering how his Happiness is concerned in both when he hath the whole of God's Declaration in all the parts taken together in prospect as the Object of his Faith When he hears that God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life When he hears that God hath set forth Christ to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood And when he hears again that God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them he believes all this to be true as coming from God that cannot lye and accordingly is incouraged to hope in God's Mercy and is comforted thereby But then when he hears again that except we repent we shall all perish that except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God That without holiness no man shall see the Lord and that the pure in heart shall see God That not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of the Father which is in Heaven That the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angles in flaming fire to render vengeance to all those that know not God and which obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ But that he is the Author of eternal Salvation to all those that obey him I say when he hears all this he as verily believes this part of God's Declaration in the Gospel to be the faithful and true Sayings of God as he acounted the other to be And accordingly doth as seriously and sincerely set upon the Work of Repentance and as carefully useth God's appointed means for the changing of his Heart and renewing of his Nature for the purifying of himself as God is pure and doth as carefully obey all the Precepts of the Gospel as he hopes upon the account of Christ's Sufferings and God's Promise to be Pardoned and Saved as beliving that those Benefits are neither promised nor can be obtained but in this way of performing the Condition And I doubt not to say that this practical Faith as it respects God's Declaration touching Man's duty in conjunction with his own Grace in Christ is where the Gospel comes the only saving justifying Faith 3. Come we now to shew Reason why Faith is made the Condition of the Promise 1. It is of Faith that it might be of Grace saith the Apostle Rom. 4.16 It is that the Grace of God to miserable Men might the more shew it self For so it doth not only in promising unspeakably great things through Christ to Man who is not only undeserving but illdeserving also but also in that these are promised upon such a possible practical easie Condition as Faith is considering the means and assistance promised by God to work it And considering also that the Promise is made to the truth unfeignedness and sincerity and not to perfection of Faith Repentance and new Obedience in their utmost degree So that Christ might well say my Yoke is easie and my Burden light Matth. 11.30 Whereas the old way of promising the Inheritance on the Law-terms would have been to have promised it upon impossible conditions as the case now is with fallen Man And if God should have promised never so great things to Man in his impotent and miserable state upon an impossible condition he would have been so far from manifesting abundance of Grace Compassion and Love to him in that condition as that he would rather have seemed to insult over him in it And therefore if the Promise should have run upon the Law-terms and not of Faith it would utterly have frustrated God's design of manifesting his Grace to Man and of recovering Man's Love and Loyalty to him thereby Rom. 4.14 If they which are of the Law be Heirs Faith is made void and the Promise made of none effect But it is of Faith that it might be by Grace to the end the Promise might be sure to all the Seed not to that only which is of the Law but to that also which is of the Faith of Abraham ver 16. 2. This may be another reason why such a Faith as I have described is made the condition of the Covenant of Salvation viz. Because it best answers God's design in this Covenant of renewing the Nature of Man in Holiness and Righteousness and by that means restoring it to Happiness For by Faith Men are born of God or made the Children of God Gal. 3.26 Ye are all the Children of God by Faith in Christ Jesus Joh. 1.12 13. As many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to those that believe on his Name Which are born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God Now to be born of God or which is the same to be made the Child of God is to have ones Nature restored to the likeness of God in which Man was first made and is the same thing with that which is called Regeneration and a being born again and a new Creature Which new Creature or the Nature of Mâ—n renewed by Faith is also called the new Man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness Ephes 4.24 To be born again is to have the Faculties of Mans Nature restored to a rectitude in their motions and operations in reference both to God and Man to be restored to their proper moral use for which they were made It is in a word that which is called a being made partakers of a Divine Nature For those which are begotten of God are begotten in or to his likeness Men can adopt those which are not their natural Children to inherit their Estates but they cannot adopt them to a participation of their Moral Endowments But God adopts his Children to a participation with him in the
Inheritance by adopting them to a participation of the Moral Perfections of his Nature that is to a consimilitude to him in them And this we say is done by Faith that is by Faith in God and by Faith in his Word For in order of Nature God is first believed to be a God of Truth before his Word is believed to be the Word of Truth And the creditableness of his Word depends upon the knowledge or belief or the fidelity of his Nature And this Truth of God and of his Word is the immediate Object of Faith By Faith a Man believes that to be true which God reveals or declares as his Mind and Will let the Import of it be what it will But then this Faith operates upon the Will and Affections according to the Tenour and Import of that which is Revealed If it be matter of sad import it works a hatred to him that threatens it and a fear of the thing threatned if it be apprehended to proceed from an enemy And this is the effect of the Faith of Devils who believe and hate God who believe and tremble Jam. 2.19 But if that which is Revealed by God and Believed by Man betoken unspeakable love and good-will in God to Man and matter of the greatest benefit to him as a proof of such love then it worketh love to him that expresseth such love for Faith worketh by Love Gal. 5.6 and a longing desire after the promised benefit And as the Soul grows more and more in love with God because of his love in love with his Blessed Nature and Divine Perfections such as are his Love and Goodness Truth and Faithfulness Purity and Patience Mercifulness and readiness to Forgive which render him altogether lovely so it contracts a likeness to God in these upon the Soul and so changes and renews the Moral habit and constitution of the Soul and consequently the whole Life There is an aptness and promptness in Men to imitate that in others and so in God for which they love them And frequent imitating Acts beget Habits Custom changing Nature And hence it is that through Faith we are made partakers of a Divine Nature We all with open face beholding as in a Glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord 2. Cor. 3.18 This beholding the glory of the Lord is by Faith For we walk by Faith and not by sight 2. Cor. 5.7 and by it Moses saw him who is invisible Heb. 11.27 And the medium by which this Prospect is taken is the Gospel by which the Lord in his lovely Perfections is now openly revealed And Faith being from time to time busied in beholding of and conversing with these Perfections it transforms the Soul into the same Image or likeness from glory to glory that is gradually as by the Spirit of the Lord that is through the co-operation of God's Spirit with Man's Faith To comprehend the breadth length depth and heighth and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge is the way to be filled with all the fullness of God by transcribing all his imitable Perfections upon the Soul Ephes 3.18 19. And it is by virtue of their Relation to Christ and being thus begotten and born of God and made partakers of a new Nature conformable to God's that Men can with confidence call God Father This blessed effect of God's Spirit is the Spirit of Adoption by which they cry Abba Father And it is this new Nature that is the Spring and Fountain of a good Life of all pious and virtuous Actions As it is said of God Thou art good and dost good so it is true of all those that are born of him A good Man out of the good treasure of his heart thus renewed bringeth forth good fruit The Tree being good the Fruit will be good And as this new Creature groweth up to strength and maturity so doing of good and acting worthily will become natural and pleasant to him in whom it is To such an one the Commandments of God are not grievous but he will be able in some good measure to say I delight to do thy will O God yea thy Law is in my heart And for sin it being contrary to this New Nature there is a kind of Moral Impotency in him in whom it is to commit sin He cannot sin because he is born of God 1 Joh. 3.9 Or if such an one be overtaken in a fault it will work a disturbance in the Soul just as that will in the Stomach which a Man hath eaten against which he hath an antipathy in Nature But as for such as perform Religious Duties and do things materially good only by the strength of extrinsecal Motives and not from an inward Principle of this New Nature or love to the things themselves to such those Actions being unnatural become grievous and burdensome and will be continued in no longer than those Motives continue in their strength Sect. 8. The last thing I proposed to consider about God's Promise to Abraham is What we are to understand by God's counting Abraham's Faith to him for Righteousness And I take it to signifie thus much That God in a way of special Grace or by virtue of a New Law of Grace and Favour which was established by God in Christ Gal. 3.17 that is in reference to what Christ was to do and suffer in time then to come did reckon his Practical Faith to him for Righteousness that is that which in the eye of the New Law should pass in his estimation for Righteousness subordinate to Christ's Righteousness which procured this Grant or Law For otherwise Faith neither as it is the Condition of the Promise of Remission of Sin through Christ nor as it works Repentance for sins past or sincere Obedience for time to come is Righteousness in the Eye of the Original Law For that accounts no Man that hath though but once transgressed it to be Righteous either upon the account of anothers suffering for his sin or his own Repentance or sincere imperfect Obedience but Curseth every Man that from first to last continueth not in all things which are contained in that Law But it is as I said an Act of God's special Favour and by virtue of his New Law of Grace and as it is established in Christ that such a Faith as I have described comes to be reckoned or imputed to a Man for Righteousness and through God's imputing it for Righteousness to stand a Man in the same if not in better stead as to his Eternal Concerns as a perfect fulfilling of the Original Law from first to last would have done Christ's Righteousness being presupposed the only Meritorious Cause of this Grant or Covenant And thus indeed the Faith which I have described is a Man's Righteousness in the Eye of this New Law because it is summarily all that is required of him himself to make him capable
of the Benefits promised by it which as it is now revealed is the Gospel Justification is a Law-term And no Man shall be Justified in Judgment or upon Tryal but he that is Just in the Eye of this New Law of Grace as every one that rightly Believes Repents and sincerely Obeys is because that is all that it requires of a Man himself to his Justification and Salvation And yet every Believer's Justification will be all of Grace because the Law by which they are Justified is wholly of Grace is wholly a Law of Grace and was Enacted in meer Grace and Favour to undone Man that was utterly undone by the Fall There are two things which I conceive do constitute and make up the Righteousness of the Law of Grace presupposing all to be procured by the Purchase which Christ hath made first The Righteousness which consisteth in the forgiveness of sins and secondly The Righteousness of sincere Obedience And in reference to both these Faith is imputed for Righteousness by virtue of the Law of Grace First Faith as practical is imputed to a Man for Righteousness as it is That and all That which is required of him himself by the Law of Grace to entitle him to the Righteousness which consisteth in the Remission of sins through Christ Now that remission of Sins is part of the Righteousness which is by Faith is evident from Rom. 4.5 6 7 8. Where the Apostle to prove that a Man's Faith in God who justifyeth the ungodly is counted to him for Righteousness he citeth a passage out of Psalm the 32d Even as David also saith he describeth the blessedness of the man to whom God imputeth Righteousness without Works saying Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin The Righteousness imputed in this sense doth consist in the non-imputation of sin Not to impute sin is not to reckon a Man not to have sinned but it is to deal with him not according to the demerit of his sin it is to pardon him for Christ's sake upon his penitential Faith and not to punish him for his sin and this by vertue of a New Law or Act of Indemnity or Covenant of Grace For although pardon of sin is obtained for Man by Christ's Sufferings for sin In whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins Ephes .1 7. and though God for Christ's sake doth forgive us Ephes 4.32 yet the actual collation of this great Benefit is not promised but upon condition of Man's Faith Him hath God set forth to be a Propitiation but it is through Faith in his blood Rom. 3.25 By him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses Acts 13.39 and 10.43 Although Christ is the Propitiation for the sins of the whole World 1 Joh. 2.2 yet that saying of Christ must and will take place If ye believe not that I am he ye shall dye in your sins Joh. 8.24 And that also Mark 16.16 He that believeth not shall be damned So that Faith is imputed for Righteousness partly as it is the Condition upon which Pardon of sin is granted Secondly That Faith is imputed for Righteousness which is practical or productive of sincere Obedience without which property it is not a fulfilling of the Law of Grace as a Condition of the promised Benefits and consequently cannot justifie a Man in the Eye of that Law For 1st Repentance and likewise forgiving Men their Injuries for instance are such Acts of Obedience as without which a Man cannot be Pardoned and if not Pardoned then not Justified And therefore Faith is not imputed for Righteousness unless it be productive of Obedience 2dly No Faith is available to Justification but such as worketh by Love Gal. 5.6 Which to say is all one as to say no Faith is imputed for Righteousness but such as worketh by keeping the Commandments of God and fulfilling the Law for that is the interpretation of Love both to God and Men 1 Joh. 5.3 Rom. 13.10 3dly Abraham who was set forth by God for a Pattern of his justifying Men by Faith was Justified by such Works as were the fruits of his Faith and not only by his Faith which was the Root of them And therefore his Faith as practical was imputed to him for Righteousness And such must be the Faith of all others that shall obtain Justification upon their Believing as he did Jam. 2.21 22 23. Was not Abraham our Father justified by Works when he had offered Isaac his Son upon the Altar Seest thou how Faith wrought with his Works and by Works was Faith made perfect And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith Abraham Believed God and it was imputed to him for Righteousness Where note these four things 1. That Abraham's Faith wrought with his Works about the same End as a Condition of obtaining it to wit his Justification 2. That by his Works his Faith was made perfect to wit in its aptitude by God's Institution to justifie him without which it would not have reached that End 3. Note further That it was his Faith as it wrought with his Works and as it was compleated and made perfect by them that was imputed to him for Righteousness 4. Note That in the Imputation of his Faith for Righteousness as it was thus accompanied with and perfected by Works was the Scripture fulfilled which saith Abraham Believed God and it was imputed to him for Righteousness And if so then the Justification by Works together with Faith of which St. James speaks here is a Justification before God and not before Men only and to a Man 's own Conscience For of such a Justification doth the Scripture in Gen 15.6 speak which is here cited by St. James Nor doth this that Faith accompanied with Obedience is imputed for Righteousness at all derogate from the Obedience and Sufferings of Christ in reference to the Ends for which they serve Because the whole Covenant and all the parts and terms of it both promises of Benefits and the Condition on which they are promised are all founded in Christ his undertaking for us and all the Benefits of it accrue to us upon our Believing and Obeying upon his account and for his sake We are in him who of God is made unto us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 For which cause also he is called the Lord our Righteousness Not as if his Personal Obedience to the Law was so formally imputed to us as that we should be reckoned to have kept the Law in his keeping of it which hath been the Opinion of some for if that had been so there would have been no more need that Christ should have Suffered for us than there was that he should have Suffered for himself who had no sin for neither should we if we had perfectly kept the Law in him
there are some passages in the Law of Moses if you take the Law of Moses in a large sense which look somewhat like a renewal of the antient Covenant with Abraham to his Seed As when for instance God made a conditional Promise to the Israelites in Moses's time to be their God and that they should be his People as in Levit. 26.12 Deut. 29.13 Which form of words is interpreted sometimes to imply a future Happiness in another World Heb. 11.16 Matth. 21.31 32. And I do not deny but the Jews had by Moses as express a Promise of the Messias as Abraham had Deut. 18.15 19. But St. Paul doth not speak of the Law in this large sense when he opposeth the Law and the Promise the Law and Faith one to another But if we understand by the Law of Moses the Law as Political the Law of the Commonwealth so the Promises of it were not Promises of Eternal Life For Promises of this nature did pertain to another Covenant to wit that made with Abraham and his Spiritual Seed as such First Therefore St. Paul doth downrightly deny that the Promise of thâ— Inheritance which in Heb. 9.15 is called the Eternal Inheritance was by the Law which yet it would have been if by Law he had meant the Law in that large sense in which the Law and Promise to Abraham are conjoyned and not in that strict sense by which he means the Political Law distinctly And if the Inheritance had been promised upon the same terms as temporal Blessings were in the temporal Covenant the Inheritance might have been obtained by the Law as well as temporal Blessings were Rom. 4.13 For the Promise that he should be Heir of the World was not through the Law but through the Righteousness of Faith Secondly St. Paul evinceth the badness of that Opinion to think that Eternal Life was promised upon the Law-terms from the absurd consequence of it shewing that if it were that then it would make void the Promise of God to Abraham and the way of saving Men by Faith in that Promise of none effect Gal. 3.18 For if the inheritance be of the Law it is no more of Promise But God gave it to Abraham by Promise Rom. 4.14 For if they which are of the Law be Heirs Faith is made void and the Promise made of none effect It was altogether unreasonable to think that the Inheritance should be promised upon such distant and inconsistent terms as are Faith in the Promise and by Works of the Law Thirdly The Law saith the Apostle is not of Faith but the man that doth them shall live in them Gal. 3.12 meaning that what the Law promised it did not promise it upon condition of Believing but upon condition of Doing And Eternal Life is not since the Fall promised upon condition of Doing without Faith but upon condition of Believing For the Just shall live by Faith Vers 11. And therefore Eternal Life is promised by the Law Fourthly Wherefore else are the Promises of that better Covenant Heb. 8.6 said to be better Promises But because they are Promises of better things than were promised in the first Covenant which yet they could not be if Eternal Life had been promised in that Covenant because that is the best of all Promises To say they are better only in respect of Administration and clearness of Revelation will not satisfie such as shall well consider That if the betterness of the Covenant and Promises lay only in that the difference would not be so great as to denominate them two Covenants and two so vastly distant as the Scripture represents them to be The difference then would be but only gradual as that is which is found in the same Covenant of Grace in the several Editions of it to Adam to Abraham to David and now to all Nations since Christ's coming and not Essential as that between the two Covenants seems to be as it is represented in Gal. 4.24 Besides St. Paul represents the Administration of the two Covenants to differ as much as Righteousness and Condemnation Life and Death differ which sure is more than a gradual difference The one is the Ministration of Death and Condemnation the other the Ministration of Righteousness and Life 2 Cor. 3.6 7 8 9. The Law made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better hope did Heb. 7.19 By which it appears again that the hope of the Gospel in which the things hoped for upon the Promises of the Gospel are not the least is better than what the Law promised the observers of it This is the Promise which he hath promised us even Eternal Life John 2.25 2. And Affirmatively It was then a long and prosperous Life in the Land of Canaan that was promised in the first Covenant Deut. 28.11 The Lord shall make thee plenteous in Goods in the fruit of thy Body and in the fruit of thy Cattel and in the fruit of thy Ground in the Land which the Lord sware unto thy Fathers to give thee Deut. 11.21 That your days may be multiplied and the days of your Children as the days of Heaven upon Earth A great variety of outward Blessings is promised as the Reward of keeping that Covenant And therefore Wisdom under that Dispensation is described as having length of days in her right hand and in her left hand Riches and Honour whose ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths peace Prov. 3.17 And as this Covenant was National so there were Promises of National Blessings such as was the setting them on high above all the Nations of the Earth making them the Head and not the Tail The giving them victory over enemies multiplying the Nation and bestowing on it Health Peace and Plenty Deut. 28. Lev. 26. When it 's said once by Moses thrice by Ezekiel and twice by St. Paul that the Man that doth them shall live in them Lev. 18.5 Ezek. 20.11 13 21. Rom. 10.5 Gal. 3.12 thereby Epitomizing the first Covenant I conceive that by Living is meant a long and prosperous Life in this World As on the contrary the condition of one greatly afflicted is in Scripture-Dialect a kind of Death and such an one said to be free among the Dead Psal 88. â— And that which inclines me so to think is not only the reasons already given to prove that no other Life was promised in the first Covenant but also the congruity of this sense with other passages in the Writings of Moses As Deut. 30 15. See I have set before you this day Life and Good Death and Evil. If you would know what is meant by Life here the next Verse will inform you That thou mayest live and multiply and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the Land whither thou goest to possess it The contrary whereunto is the Death he had set before them saying I denounce unto you this day that ye shall surely perish and that ye shall not prolong your
for this liketh you O Children of Israel saith the Lord God And much after this rate do carnal Christians bear up themselves in hopes that all their sins are done away by the Sacrifice of Christ the Lamb of God that taketh away the Sins of the World though they live from day to day in ungodliness Only indeed they sin at a cheaper rate for the present than the wicked Jews did The Jewish sinners were at the cost of many a Sacrifice to stop the mouth of Conscience but these are at cost only in making provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof and depend upon Christ to pay all their Scores 4. Another of their Errors as consequent upon the former was this That without Circumcision and observing of the Law of Moses the Gentiles could not be saved This Opinion the Judaizing Christians retained after their Conversion to the Christian Profession Acts 15.1 5 24. Certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren saying Except ye be Circumcised after the manner of Moses ye cannot be saved There rose up certain of the Sect of the Pharisees which believed saying that it was needful to Circumcise them and to command them to keep the Law of Moses In opposition to which Opinion St. Paul taught that the Righteousness of God by Faith without the Law is manifested unto all and upon all that believe whether Jews or Gentiles and that there is no difference Rom. 3.21 22. And that a Man is justified by Faith without the deeds of the Law though never Circumcised And that God is the God of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews and that he doth justifie the Vncircumcision and the Circumcision those that had observed the Law of Moses and those that had not upon the same terms viz. of Evangelical Faith Rom. 3.28 29 30. Whereunto agrees the words of St. Peter Acts 15.9 11. He put no difference between us and them purifying their hearts by Faith i. e. us Jews and they Gentiles But we believe that through the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they and upon no other terms though we have observed the Law and they have not Gal. 2.15 16. Upon the same account St. Paul again affirms Rom. 4.5 That to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his Faith is counted for Righteousness That is the Idolatrous Gentiles that never had observed the Law but lived without God in the World should yet have their practical belief of the Gospel imputed even to them for Righteousness And he further exemplifies this in Abraham Ver. 9.10 11 12. whose Faith was reckoned to him for Righteousness before he was Circumcised that he might be the Patern and great Example of God's justifying the Heathen upon their believing and obeying as Abraham did in leaving his Idolatry and his Country upon God's Promise and Command though he never had been Circumcised And upon the like account he saith again Gal. 3.8 9. That the Scripture foreseeing that God would justifie the Heathen through Faith preached before the Gospel unto Abraham saying In thee shall all Nations be blessed And from thence he concludes that those Gentiles that be of Faith that believe as Abraham did are blessed as Abraham was are blessed with faithful Abraham 5. Another Error which was held by some Judaizing Christians was this That Faith in Christ and Literal Circumcision with a Literal observation of the Law of Moses jointly were the Condition of Justification Though they were such as Believed yet they taught that except Men were Circumcised and kept the Law of Moses they could not be saved Acts 15.1 5. They seem to have retained the same false Opinion of Justification by the Law as the unbelieving Jews did but held the Death of Christ necessary to be super-added To convince them of which Error St. Paul sets before them the bad consequence of it in two respects 1. In that they hereby rendred the Death of Christ needless in it self Gal. 2.21 If Righteousness come by the Law then Christ is dead in vain There would then have been no need of Christ's Death to accomplish it as the unbelieving Jews indeed did hold 2. In that this Opinion of theirs made Christ and his Death useless unto them and cut them off from receiving any benefit by him Gal. 5.2 4. Behold I Paul say unto you that if you be Circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing Christ is become of none effect unto you whosoever of you are justified by the Law ye are fallen from Grace And hereto agrees that in Hebr. 13.10 We have an Altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the Tabernacle Those Judaizers who stand for the necessity of Mosaic Observations have no right to nor shall receive benefit by Christ who is the only Christian Altar to which we bring all our Sacrifices 6. They held the Law of Moses to be unalterable and of perpetual obligation In opposition to which the Author to the Hebrews improves to great purpose that Prophesie Jer. 31.31 32. Behold the days come saith the Lord that I will make a new Covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah Not according to the Covenant that I made with their Fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt c. For in that he saith a new Covenant he hath saith he made the first old Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready saith he to vanish away And St. Paul shews how that the Legal Ministration how glorious soever it was was yet done away when that which was far more glorious did appear 2 Cor. 3.7 11. And again that we are become dead to the Law by the Body of Christ and delivered from the Law Rom. 7.4 6. 7. The last of their Errors I shall insist on was this They held the first Covenant as alone or separated to be the Covenant of Salvation only taking in with it the Covenant of Literal Circumcision which also was made a part of their Law That first Covenant which I have already described as a Temporal Covenant and the Promises and the Threatnings of it but Temporal they took to be established for perpetuity and the Promises of it to contain Promises of Eternal Redemption or Remission as well as Temporal and Eternal Life and Felicity as well as Temporal And such a Literal observation of the Laws of it to be the condition of those Promises as would render them inculpable in the eye of the Magistracy such a Righteousness sufficient to justifie them before God as St. Paul saith he had while he was a Pharisee Phil. 3.6 As touching the Righteousness which is in the Law blameless which then he accounted to be his gain Now that they did peremptorily adhere to this first Covenant and the terms of it for Justification and Eternal Life it doth plainly appear by the mighty opposition
hereto that to be justified and to be saved is the same thing with St. James as well as it is with St. Paul according to the tenour of his Reasoning Chap. 2. from ver 14. to the end What doth it profit my brethren saith he though a man say he hath Faith and have not Works Can Faith save him Vers 14. This Interrogation implies an Emphatical Negation and the meaning is that such a Faith can by no means save a Man and he gives the reason of it twice over in vers 17 20. because Faith without Works is dead And then afterwards argues the necessity of Works together with Faith unto Justification or unto Salvation which was the thing he began with by God's justifying Abraham by Works together with his Faith who was the great Pattern or Example of God's justifying all others If then to be justified and to be saved amounts to the same in St. James's Discourse here then by the way they do not rightly understand St. James who think he doth not speak of a Justification before God in this his Discourse about Justification by Works together with Faith but of a Justification before Men and to their own Conscience only Which supposition of theirs doth directly thwart the very scope and design of his whole Discourse which is to set forth what will and what will not avail a Christian-Professor in the sight of God to the saving of his Soul as abundantly appears So that the Scripture which saith Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for Righteousness and which St. James saith was fulfilled in Abraham's being justified by Works as well as by Faith was not fulfilled in Abraham's being justified to others and to his own Conscience but in his being justified before God and so St. Paul understood it Rom. 4.3 Gal. 3.6 But this was touched before in Chap. 1. The result then of what hath been argued in Answer to the Objection is this viz. That all that are justified are thereby put regularly into an immediate capacity of Salvation so that if they should dye the very next moment after they are once justified they would undoubtedly be saved And therefore Evangelical Obedience can be no more necessary to Salvation than it is to Justification and it is as necessary to the one as to the other And if to say Evangelical Obedience is necessary to Justification be injurious to Christ and to the Grace of God as some would pretend how comes it to pass then that to say Evangelical Obedience is necessary to Salvation is not so too For our final Salvation is as much the effect of God's Grace and of Christ's Undertaking for us as our Justification it self is and of as much Value And therefore if the one be not injurious in this kind neither is the other 8. As the Promise of forgiveness of sins by the Blood of Christ or the Promise of an interest in his Blood to the pardon of Sin is sometimes made unto Believing so sometimes again it is made unto Evangelical Obedience or a holy Life as in 1 Joh. 1.7 If we walk in the light as he is in the light that is endeavouring to be holy as God is holy then have we fellowship one with another and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all Sin but otherwise it doth not And so the Christians to whom St. Peter wrote were said to be elect according to the fore-knowledge of God the Father through Sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1.2 But they were not elect to the benefit of being sprinkled with the Blood of Christ without Obedience And therefore by this we see also that Evangelical Obedience is part of the Condition of the Promise of Justification by the Blood of Christ 9. To forgive Injuries is an act of Evangelical Obedience to that Precept of our Lord Mar. 11.25 And yet without this act of Obedience Men that have been injured cannot be justified because they cannot be pardoned according to the Word of our Lord Mark 11.26 Mat. 6.15 and 18.35 Therefore Evangelical Obedience must needs be part of the Condition of Justification 10. Repentance is an eminent Act of Evangelical Obedience Acts 17.30 and yet pardon of sin which is essential to Justification is not to be obtained without it Luke 13.3 5. Therefore again it follows that Evangelical Obedience is necessary to Justification and part of the Condition of it And now by this time I suppose it fully appears to any unprejudiced Reader that the Doctrine of St. Paul yea and of St. Peter and John too do fully accord with the Doctrine of St. James touching the necessity of Evangelical Obedience unto Justification The opposition then which some have made between Faith and all Internal and External Works in reference to Justification as well Evangelical as Mosaical hath not been only without Scripture-ground but against Scripture-evidence and looks more like that which was made by the Gnosticks or other Solisidians opposed by St. James if it be not the very same than any the Scripture any where maketh And how much injury the Christian Religion and the Souls of Men may have suffered thereby is a thing to be thought on and sadly laid to Heart It is a pleasant Doctrine and the worst of Men called Christians are glad to hear that they may be justify'd by Christ only upon their Believing in him without any Works of Righteousness or Self-denial of their own And upon that account presuming verily that they do Believe they are confident that they are justify'd though they are unsanctify'd But those especially are in great danger of deceiving their own Souls by building their Confidence upon this Doctrine who together with this Belief have more of the form of Godliness than the other have and are found much more in the use and exercise of the external Devotional part of Religion and are zealous for this or that Opinion Party or Way which they think most Orthodox though they be greatly destitute of Love to the Nature of God and of Humility Charity strict Justice Fidelity Peaceableness Sobriety Temperance Modesty and Meekness and of that renewed frame of Soul which would make them like Christ Jesus wherein the power of Christianity doth consist The external Duties of Hearing Reading Praying and the rest being in great part but means referring to the other as the end So that no Man is to account himself truly Religious further than he attains to these truly Christian Qualifications by the use of the External Mâ—ans and Internal Aids Yea the â—â—â—shly part even in Mâ—n good in the main is very apt to make an advantage of such a Doctrine as aforesaid to the lessening of their Care Dilience and Zeal in working out their Salvation in striving to enter in at the straight Gate in governing their own Spirits and Appetites in cleansing themselves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit and
tell them the contrary That it is not the Eye alone by which a Man sees but that it is the Soul that sees by the Eye as its Organ The Eye sees not when the Soul is departed though it be not then alone I confess I cannot possibly conceive either how the Soul should not concur with the Eye in the Act of seeing when the Eye cannot see without it nor yet that Repentance should not concur with Faith in the Act of Justification so long as Men cannot be Justified by Faith it self without it or in the absence of it as they themselves grant 3. This lies in the way of some they cannot conceive how Justification by Evangelical Obedience as well as Faith should consist with the possibility of somes being justified by Believing who yet may not live so long after as to have an opportunity of doing good Works How rare Instances of this kind are I shall not dispute But doubtless whenever Men so believe God's Promise of pardon through Christ upon their Repentance and the necessity of their own Repentance for the obtaining of it as that they in VVill and a fixed and lasting Resolution become new Men then they first believe unto Justification And it is not impossible but that some may so believe that may never after they do so have opportunity to be much active in External Acts of Obedience But though this should so fall out yet such are not justified without Evangelical Obedience as well as Faith For 1. These Motions and Acts of the VVill are themselves Acts of present Evangelical Obedience 2. They are in the Root and Cause Evangelical Obedience future and to come First They are in themselves Acts of present Evangelical Obedience For by these Motions and Acts of the VVill Men do whenever they take place turn from Sin to God and their Duty out of Hatred to that they turn from and out of Love to that they turn to And these Acts of the VVill which consist in Affection and Resolution are proper effects and fruits of Faith in the Understanding and Acts of Heart-Obedience in the sight of God and a conformity of Soul to his declared VVill and Commandment And they may as well and as truly be called VVorks as evil Acts of the VVill may such as are a love to evil and desires and resolutions of perpetrating it VVhich evil Acts of the VVill are yet in Scripture called VVorks and a working of wickedness Psal 58.2 Ye work wickedness in your Hearts Micah 2.1 He that looketh upon a Woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart Matth. 5.28 And envy wrath and hatered which are Internal Acts of the Soul are called VVorks of the Flesh Gal. 5.19 20 21. And if such inward fixed Resolutions in Men of obeying God in external Acts if ever they have opportunity and a Call to it did not pass in God's account for Obedience and were not accepted instead of the Deed when opportunity for the Deed is wanting the best Man in the World could be no Disciple of Christ who doth not actually forsake all that he hath and lay down his Life for him Whosoever of you forsaketh not all that he hath cannot be my Disciple saith he Luke 14.26 33. Whereas Christ pronounceth the Poor in Spirit Blessed many of whom never became actually Poor for his sake as not being called to it But if they are Poor in Spirit if they firmly resolve to become Poor in forsaking all for Christ's sake when called to it these are capable of Blessedness in Christ's account as well as those that suffer the loss of all for Righteousness sake Matth. 5.3 Secondly Those Acts of the Will are in the Root and Cause Evangelical Obedience future and to come Because those Resolutions against evil and for good when they are of a fixed and lasting nature as they always are when together with Faith they make Men capable of Justification will certainly produce external Acts of sincere Obedience as opportunity doth occur When the Tree is made good it will bring forth good Fruit in the season of Fruit if it be not cut down before When the Heart is renewed in affection and resolution the course of a Man's Life will certainly be answerable to it if ever it have opportunity of shewing it A good Man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things Mat. 12.35 And God who knows the Heart doth judge of and estimate Men according to what they are in the inward frame of their Heart and prevalent bent of their Wills If there be first a willing mind it is accepted according to that a Man hath and not according to that he hath not 2 Cor. 8.12 We judge of the Cause by the Effects of the goodness of Mens Hearts by the goodness of their Lives to us the Tree is known by its Fruit But God who is greater than our Hearts and knows them better than we do judges of the Effect by the Cause and knows what a Mans Life will be by what his Heart is upon its first Conversion to him and so confers on him the benefit of Justification when the Foundation of a good Life is laid in the conversion and renewing of the Heart The Understanding of this Part of Discourse will serve not only to satisfy the foresaid Doubt but also to inform us what Evangelical Obedience is necessary to Justification in its beginning Not but that actual Obedience in Life is necessary to the continuance of Justification where Life is continued And therefore we find that Abraham was justified by his after-believing and after-obedience as well as by his first and so was Noah before him Noah was a Righteous Man and justified before he became heir of the Righteousness which is by Faith by his believing and obeying God in preparing the Ark Gen. 6.9 Heb. 11.7 It was by Faith in God's Promise that Abraham left his Country to obey God at the first and by that he was first justified Heb. 11.8 And yet his believing God's Promise so shall thy Seed be which was not made till some years after was imputed to him also for Righteousness Gen. 15.9 It was many years after that again that by Faith he offered his Son Isaac upon the Altar and yet by that he was justified as well as by his first Faith and Obedience Jam. 2.21 Pardon of sin is our Justification from sin Acts 13.39 And this we are directed by the Lord's Prayer to pray for daily all our days And the continuance of Justification is promised upon condition of continuance of Faith and Obedience to the Gospel Col. 1.21 22 23. and a discontinuance of it threatned in case of disobedience according to the Tenour of the Parable Mat. 18. from ver 23. to ver 35. By all which we may see what need there is for all Christians to work out to work through their own Salvation with fear and trembling to which they are
serve whether the Gods of the Amorites in whose Land ye dwell and those Gods were no other than Devils but as for me and my house said he we will serve the Lord. And the Result was That the people answered and said God forbid that we should forsake the Lord to serve other Gods God forbid The very thoughts of such a Thing when they came to consider it was Odious to them And if we did but consider the odious Nature of Sin we should not more Abhor the Devil himself than Abandon every Sin For why He that committeth Sin is of the Devil we are told 1 Joh. 3.8 Such a One is of the Devil's Party he is a sharer in the Devil's Rebellion against God and in his wicked Designs to destroy God's Authority And tho' he be not a Devil himself yet he is near a-kin to him and shall Partake with him as in his Rebellion so in his Punishment And who that considers this can stick Entirely to abandon and to abhor so foul a thing as Sin is But however whether People will consider it or no However this if we do not do we shall forfeit all Right and Title to those infinite Blessings held forth in the Covenant of Grace so necessary it is that every Christian should absolutely and entirely Renounce the Devil and all his Works of Sin that this if you do not do you will forfeit all your Right and Title to those infinite Blessings held forth to you in the Covenant of Grace and Purchas'd for you by the Blood of Christ If you do not utterly Renounce the Devil by having nothing to do with him in his foul Rebellion against God you will be accounted no Members of Christ's Church but of the Synagogue of Satan as the Apostatizing Gnosticks those great Enemies of God are call'd Rev. 2.9 and that for their Halting betwixt God and Satan And except you do also utterly Renounce his Works of Sin by abandoning every known Sin as that whereby the Divine Authority is thrown aside and his Power dis-own'd you will be so far from being the Children of God that you will be styl'd no better than Children of the Devil For whosoever is Born of God doth not commit Sin it is said 1 Joh. 3.9 that is does keep himself strictly from all deliberate Sin And in this the Children of God are manifested and the Children of the Devil whosoever doth not Righteousness is not of God as the same Apostle goes on ver 10. And who else is it think ye but he who Overcometh both the Devil and all his Works of Sin that shall ever Inherit the Kingdom of Heaven Why he and none else shall Inherit so inestimable a Blessing we are assur'd Rev. 21.7 8. He that Overcometh shall Inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my Son But the Fearful and Vnbelieving and the Abominable and Murderers and Whoremongers and Sorcerers and Idolaters and all Liars shall have their part in the Lake that burneth with Fire and Brimstone which is the Second Death So necessary upon these several Accounts it is that according as has been Explain'd you should Renounce that is Disclaim Abhor and Abandon the Devil and all his Works of Sin Which that you may all of you do God Almighty grant of his infinite Mercy through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen THE Tenth Lecture First That I should Renounce the Devil and all his Works I Have already shew'd you First who the Devil is and Secondly in Part what are his Works All Sin whatsoever I have shew'd you is a Work of the Devil but there are some particular Sins which being more directly level'd against God's Authority and expressing more of the natural Temper and Disposition of Satan and being more his own Practice than others do more particularly deserve the Title and Character of the Works of the Devil and what they are I have shew'd you Secondly And as Sin so his Tempting of us to Sin is another main and principal Work of the Devil And I have reserv'd this Subject of Satan's Temptations to be particularly handled in some set Discourses by themselves that so I might have more room to Expose 'em to you there being no subject in Practical Divinity of greater Consequence and Concernment to our Souls than to be throughly Informed in the Ways and Methods of Satan's Temptations Now to Tempt one in the general Notion of the Word To Tempt is to make a Tryal of a Person does barely signify to make Tryal of a Person either by Words or Signs by Promises or Threats whether or no he will do such a thing And the Tempting of a Person may be Morally Good or Evil according to the End for which such a Tryal is made If the Tryal be of a Person 's Vertue To Tempt a thing morally Good or Evil according to the End thereof only that Occasion may be afforded him to give an Experiment and Proof thereof that so if he do well he may be Rewarded if Ill that his Hypocrisy and the Corruption of his Heart may be discover'd and he himself Humbled with the Sight and Sense thereof to his Amendment There is nothing may hinder a Governour especially thus to Tempt any one and therefore to Tempt a Man to this End To Tempt a Person in order to prove his Vertue or discover his Corruption consistent w th the Justice Wisdom and Goodness of a Governour and thus God does Tempt Men. may very well consist with the Wisdom Justice and Goodness of God And accordingly we find in Scripture Two Eminent Instances of God's Tempting Persons to both these Purposes And First we find That God Tempted Abraham to try his Faith and to Reward him for it And he did it to as high a degree as was ever heard of bidding him to Take his Son his only Son Isaac whom he loved and to get him into the Land of Moriah and to offer him there for a Burnt Offering Gen. 22.12 The Tryal was severe enough but God did put Abraham upon it with no other design but that he might have occasion given him to exercise his Faith in God And by giving such a Noble Demonstration thereof as to Resign up his own Son to be Sacrificed at God's Command and with his own Hands too I. Thus he Tempted Abraham to try his Faith to Reward him for it he might thereby Testify both to God and Man how much he Trusted in his Maker and thereupon might obtain the Honour upon Earth to be accounted the Father of the Faithful among all Generations of Men and in Heaven to be the Highest in the Ranks of all Humane Inhabitants it being the Priviledge of the greatest Saints to be Lodg'd in Abraham's Bosom And to the same Gracious Purposes it is that he does Tempt his Faithful Servants when at any time he lets loose the Enemies of the Church upon 'em to persecute and destroy 'em It is
have it is capable of receiving as clear Notions of God and of Religion and of Vertue as any of us all And no doubt were it adorn'd therewith and so had the Image of God consisting in these Graces restor'd within it it would be as Precious and Dear to him and be receiv'd into those Mansions of Bliss from which those proud Tyrants over their Fellow-Creatures Liberty will certainly be Excluded if they continue to treat 'em with such Distance and Slavery Sure I am the Poor Lazarus is now in Abraham's Bosom when the Rich and Noble Dives who treated him not with that Respect and Kindness as he did his Dogs is scorching in the Flames of Hell All which consider'd it does become the highest in Birth and Quality to carry it with all due Humility and Courtesy to the lowest and to Renounce and Abandon those Thoughts of Honour and Quality which thrust away their Fellow-Servants to the same God so far off 'em tho' they may not have the Pretence of the Pharisee for so doing nor can say to 'em Come not near me I am Holier than thou But Thirdly Those Persons ought indeed even to renounce all Pretensions to Honour who have degenerated from those worthy Qualities which Ennobled their Ancestors Such ought even to Renounce all pretensions to Honour who have degenerated from those woâ—thy Qualities which Ennobled their Ancestors The true Nobility of those who are really of Birth or Quality was founded as I have told you in the Heroick and extraordinary Vertues of their Ancestors and therefore their Quality cannot be suppos'd to remain with 'em when those Vertues which gave Being to it are departed from ' em But so it is that none are half so apt to Pride themselves in their Families and to talk so much of their Pedigree as those who have the least of any true Worth remaining in 'em And sure it is a sign they have but little of their own who do so much value themselves upon others Deservings and seem to have nothing to Brag of but borrowed Titles We have Abraham to our Father was the constant Cry of the Jews when they had least of the Faith and Vertues of Abraham However as apt as such are to assume this Honour to themselves there is no reason in the World but what was purchas'd by the Merits of others should be forfeited by their ill Deserts and that Vice should lose what Vertue did gain This the Determination of our Saviour and his Apostles in their Case And this our Saviour and his Apostles did determine in the Case of those Jews Think not to say within your Hearts we have Abraham to our Father for I say unto you that God is able of these Stones to raise up Children to Abraham Matth. 3.9 that is by having degenerated from Abraham you have forfeited your Title to the Name and Honour of being Abraham's Children and the vile Gentiles as you account 'em shall be taken into that Dignity and Relation For he is the Father of all them that Believe tho' they be not of the Circumcision And accordingly in a true Estimation of Things all those and those only are Honourable who are Vertuous tho' they cannot derive their Pedigree from noble Ancestors The Honour of my House beginneth with me and the Honour of thine endeth with thee said a worthy Commander in Plutarch to a debaucht Wretch who upbraided him with the Meanness of his Parentage Lastly And such ought also even to Renounce all Pretensions to Honour amongst Christians at leastwise who despise Religion and its chiefest Vertues as Qualities beneath them Lastly and such ought to Renounce all Pretensions to Honour amongst Christians at least-wise who despise Religion and its chiefest Vertues as Qualities beneath ' em And yet those are the Persons who take themselves to be the only Men of Honour who can talk most Atheistically and Profanely whose Life and Conversation is made up of Lewdness and Debauchery and as to those grand distinguishing Graces of Christianity Humility Meekness and a patient Enduring of Injuries and Affronts who count them a meer Jest which Men of Quality and Honour it is impossible should submit to But be it so only let 'em withal consider that Not many mighty not many Noble were called but the base things of the World and things which are despised hath God chosen yea and things which are not to bring to nought things which are 1 Cor. 1.26.28 And what then signifies their Honour when God despises it But really it is not so that your profligate and lewd Livers be their Birth or Quality never so Great are Honour'd and Respected amongst Men for whilst they continue in a mean and vile Slavery to their basest Lusts they are not only in truth and reallity miserable and wretched Caitiffs But whatever they think of themselves they are indeed in the Eyes of others most Hateful and Contemptible True it is the greatest Part of Men and Pity it is that so many amongst Christians should still remain so Carnally-minded do look upon the Man who will not revenge an Affront to be mean Spirited and scarcely a Gentleman and the desperate Duellist is the more Honourable and Heroick in the Eye of the World Yet those who are throughly season'd with Religion and Wisdom's Dictates have other Thoughts and Apprehensions of such a One and count him the only Person of true Courage and of a great Soul who can despise the vain Opinions of the Croud in the Pursuit of real Vertue And above all the Meek and Forgiving Christian has this Honour that he has an easy Access to the Throne of God can come into his Presence with Confidence and Assurance whilst the other tho' the Greatest Man on Earth for Quality dares not Approach him without Trembling and Horrour And yet if vain Men will give the Honour here to those who are most Contemptible in the sight of God But if such are accounted Honourable by vain Men they are despicable in the Eyes both of God and of all Wise and Good Men. it is very unfit it should be so amongst Christians however let the Humble and Meek content himself with this That here on Earth he has the Approbation and Esteem of all Wise and Good Men and shall receive in Heaven from the unerring Judgment of God a Testimony before the whole Quire of Saints and Angels to his infinite and eternal Honour and Glory a Testimony I say which will far Exalt him above the Highest of Mortal Men who consider their own Quality more than God's Glory and prefer an empty Notion of Honour before the real and substantial Graces of God's Spirit The Summ how far Paternal Honour is to be Renounced In a word and to summ up what has been spoke to this Point Paternal Honour is indeed in it self Useful and Valuable as it puts before Men's Eyes the worthy Deeds of their Ancestors and as it inspires 'em to an
consequently does extreamly tend to create in our Hearts an utter Hatred to all Sin So hereby we are taught that Christ has made a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice and Satisfaction for the Sins of the whole World And such lastly is the Belief for I need not now stand to mention every Artiticle that all our Bodies shall rise again at the General Resurrection that then we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ to Receive a Just Sentence for whatever we have done in the Body whether it be good or bad for this will make us careful how to lead our Lives so in this World that we may not be Condemn'd in the next These now are some of those Articles of our Christian Faith and are such Divine Truths as are more particularly necessary to be Believ'd by us as containing in them the greatest reason in the World to restrain us from all manner of Sin and to encourage us in the Practice of all Religious Duties And yet are Doctrines withal of extraordinary force to remove all Conceit out of our Minds concerning our own Merits and to make us rely solely upon God's Mercies in Christ for the Acceptance of our most Holy Performances And let this suffice as to the first Thing proposed which was to declare unto you something in general of the Nature of the Objects or of those Truths to be Believ'd the Articles of our Christian Faith And now Secondly I will also shew you what it is to BELIEVE these Truths so as to make us capable of Life and Happiness And if it be ask'd how we must Believe these things What it is to Believe those Truths so as to make us capable of Life and Happiness why we must be so throughly and firmly perswaded of their undoubted Truth as to be accordingly Influenc'd as I have now said by the Belief thereof to the Practice of Good Works and then to betake our selves to Jesus Christ to Intercede with the Father for their Gracious Acceptance Our Belief thereof must be Operative Practical I say our Faith must be such as does Influence us to a Good Life for such is the Faith that St. Paul tells us is now required in the Christian Religion in order to Salvation Gal. 5.6 In Jesus Christ says he neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Vncircumcision but Faith which worketh by Love Some render the words and that more rightly Faith that is perfected by Love which does more expresly signify the Apostle's meaning that that Faith which will save us must be such as is perfected by the addition of those Duties which we owe to God and our Neighbour And St. James does with great Industry shew that the Christian Faith which has the Promise of Justification and Salvation is a Powerful Practical Belief and that none other has any Promise What says St. James 2.14 doth it profit my Brethren tho' a Man saith he hath Faith and hath not Works can Faith save him Faith if it have not Works is dead being alone ver 17. and is no more than what the Devils have for the Devils believe and tremble ver 19. Such was the Faith of Abraham and of all the Saints And the Faith indeed for which the Holy Patriarchs and Saints were Renown'd of Old and are now so highly Rewarded in Heaven was a Powerful Practical and Working Faith indeed which excited them to the highest and the hardest Acts of Obedience that it was possible for Men to perform Thus Heb. 11.17 18. we read that by Faith Abraham when he was tryed offered up Isaac and he that had received the Promises offered up his only begotten Son and he a Son too in whom God had promised him great Blessings And yet at God's Command he readily Obeyed believing that God would be as good as his Promise to him tho' it was by Raising him again from the Dead By Faith Moses when he was come to Years refused to be called the Son of Pharaoh 's Daughter chusing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of Sin for a season esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt for he had respect to the recompence of reward ver 24 25 26. It was a great Temptation to Moses to be made a Prince if he pleased in which Estate he might enjoy the highest Pleasures this World could afford but he Believing that God would infinitely reward him for his Self-denial in refusing such Worldly Honours and Pleasures chose rather to be one of those mean Persecuted People the Children of Israel By Faith Thousands of Blessed Saints before us endured tryals of cruel Mockings and Scourgings yea moreover of Bonds and Imprisonments they were Stoned they were Sawn asunder were Tempted were Slain with the Sword they wandred about in Sheep-skins and in Goat-skins being destitute afflicted tormented of whom the world was not worthy they wandred in Desarts and in Mountains and in Dens and in Caves of the Earth Heb. 11.35 36 37 38. They were terrible Sufferings which the Servants of God in former times have been put to undergo but as dreadful as they were being supported with a firm Belief that they should be infinitely recompenced for their Sufferings and Losses they thereupon chearfully underwent the severest that the Wit or Malice of Men or Devils could invent or inflict upon ' em Such a powerful practical working Faith indeed was that for which the Holy Patriarchs and Saints were of Old Renown'd and are now Rewarded in Heaven A Faith I say which excited them to the highest and hardest Acts of Obedience that it was possible for Men to perform And such a Powerful Practical Active and Working Principle is Faith And such an Operative and Practical Principle is Faith whenever the Things believed are of great Importance or Concernment to us whensoever the things Believed are of great Importance or Concernment to us Some things indeed as an Excellent Person does well observe are of such a Nature that the Belief or Knowledge of 'em goes no farther but rests in it self as the Knowledge or Belief of bare Speculative Truths that do not at all Concern us but some things again are of such a Nature as being once firmly and truly believ'd and known carry a Man out to Action Thus for Example If you should hear another threaten'd that he should certainly be Kill'd if he stir out of his House to morrow it would not hinder you from going Abroad tho' you firmly believe the Threatning because it is a Truth in which you are not Concern'd But the Person so threatned if he does throughly believe the danger will certainly not stir out of his House that Day because it is a Truth that he is very much Concerned in On the other side If you shall hear of a Promise made to another Person of a Thousand Pound if he will be at the Pains to go but to such
should be dignify'd with the Title of the Kingdom of Heaven viz. Because it so directly tends to render Men so exactly like the Blessed Saints the Inhabitants of the Kingdom of Heaven 78 This is not the meaning of the Kingdom of Heaven here in the Catechism Secondly the Kingdom of Heaven signifies the Kingdom of Glory This a most noble and glorious State as being dignify'd with so honourable and glorious a Title as the Kingdom of Heaven 79 Hence all those things in this World wherein we conceive the highest Glory and Happiness are used as Emblems to set off our future Glory All which things come short of expressing it An Inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven what An Heir is one who has a legal Right and Title to a Possession made over to him Such who have entred into the Covenant of Grace are in like manner Heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven as Children are Heirs 80 It is through Christ alone not owing to the Merit of our Obedience that we are Intitled to the Inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven The vastness of a Christian's Priviledge in being made an Inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven First it is in it self a very great Priviledge to have the invaluable Possessions of Heaven so setled and ensur'd as to have a legal Claim and Title thereto made over to one 81 Secondly if compar'd with what others enjoy it is a singular Priviledge The best amongst the moral Heathens could have but faint Hopes built upon uncertain Conjectures of a future Happiness And their Hopes being faint they could not in the strength thereof overcome great Temptations But the Christian's Hopes are sure and stedfast being founded upon the express Promises and Covenant of the God of Truth And being such there is no Temptation so alluring nor Suffering so great which he may not overcome 82 And whatever Certainty an honest Pagan might have that God would reward his Vertue yet depending only on the Uncovenanted Goodness of God he could promise himself no greater a measure of Happiness than what his good Deeds did of themselves deserve which must fall vastly short of what is meant by the Kingdom of Heaven But a Christian to whom God has Covenanted to make sure a Crown of Glory may without Presumption rely upon him to make good the same As Life and Immortality is brought to light through the Gospel so by Embracing it and by coming into Covenant alone Salvation can be expected And to a sincere Christian who is faithful in the Covenant the Heavenly Inheritance is certain 83 Asumm of those invaluable Priviledges made over to us on God's Part in the Covenant of Grace 84 LECT IX Whereof the First is to Renounce the Devil the World and the Flesh 85 The Devil his Names and their Importance He was once one of the highest Angels and is now that Arch-Rebel againsts God He with many Legions of Inferiour Angels whom he drew into the same Conspiracy is Banisht Heaven 86 Being acted with a Spirit of Revenge against God he afterwards withdrew Mankind to join with him in his Rebellion And prevailed so far till God's Authority was almost utterly Banished from amongst Men. Which occasion'd the Son of God's coming into the World to recover Mankind The Works of the Devil in general are First Sin By Sin God's Authority is thrown off which is the Devil 's constant work 87 Whoever therefore does wilfully sin does strike at God's Authority For which Reason no Sin ought to be the Subject of any Man's Mirth Some Sins more particularly the works of the Devil First Such as are directly level'd against God's Authority viz. Idolatry Sorcery Charming Witch-craft and Conjuring as also Resorting to such as use those unlawful Arts. 88 Secondly Such as express more of the Devil's Temper than others viz. Pride Envy 89 Malice Thirdly Such as are more the Practice of Satan himself than other Sins viz. Murder Apostacy Lying and especially Calumniating and Evil-speaking 90 To Renounce a Word of various Importance according to the Renounced 91 To Renounce the Devil in the sence of the Ancient Church was to disclaim his Usurp'd Dominion and Authority over Mankind To Renounce his Works of Sin was in their sence to abandon and forsake every Sin as being the proper Service of the Devil 92 The Words are to be understood in much the same Sence at this day Satan having his Kingdom still in the World and even amongst Christians and the Laws of Sin which are the Laws of his Kingdom being still obey'd by the greatest Part of Mankind This Renunciation for the most part the same with Repentance 93 The Devil and all his Works of Sin must be absolutely and entirely Renounced because There is nothing but Evil proceeds from Satan And Sin whether we consider it in its original Cause and Nature or in its sad Effects and Consequents is the utmost Evil. Therefore no one Sin nor any thing the least of Sin must willingly be comply'd with 94 And indeed if the Nature of Satan and of Sin and the horrid Consequence of yielding to either be well consider'd it is hardly possible not absolutely and entirely to Renounce both However this if we do not do we shall forfeit all Right and Title to those infinite Blessings held forth in the Covenant of Grace 95 LECT X. To Tempt is to make a tryal of a Person To Tempt a thing morally Good or Evil according to the End thereof To Tempt a Person in order to prove his Vertue or discover his Corruption consistent with the Justice Wisdom and Goodness of a Governour and thus God does Tempt Men. 97 First Thus he tempted Abraham to try his Faith and to reward him for it Secondly Hezekiah to discover his Hypocrisy and to humble him in the sight thereof These Temptations of God are therefore in no sence to be Renounced but to be Rejoyced in because for our Good 98 A Temptation to ensnare a Person into some Sin that so God's Anger may be kindled against him And the Person punished for this Transgression is wicked and malicious and so the Devil together with the World and the Flesh do tempt us The vast Concernment it is to us to know his Temptations The several Heads of Satan's Temptations 99 By what Methods he first tempted our first Parents and still does continue to tempt us First By insinuating into the Minds of Adam and Eve false Notions of God and an ill Opinion of their Maker and Governour particularly with respect to his Justice and Mercy 100 And by Entertaining false Notions of God's Justice and Mercy do Men generally Encourage themselves in Sin at this Day But all such Conceits of God are to be utterly renounced and cast out of our Thoughts as Diabolical Suggestions most destructive to our Souls Secondly By Corrupting the Understanding and Reason of Man by putting him upon curious Enquiries after useless Matters and upon making a sinful Experiment of the differences
at first created what 227 The Bent and Inclination of the Soul towards God what 1. In the Unregenerate Nature the Original Frame and Constitution of Man wherein he was created is broken 228 2. The Image of God wherein he was first created defaced Lastly the Tendency of all the Faculties both of Soul and Body are towards the Creature 229 1. To renounce the Flesh is to be renewed in the whole Frame and Constitution of our Nature after the Image of God The Image of God must be restored as far as it can in this Corrupt State It must be renewed to a perfection of Parts tho' not of Degrees 230 2. To renounce the Flesh is to be converted in the whole Bent and Inclination of the Soul towards God 231 LECT XXI The sinful Lusts of the Flesh what 232 The sinful Lusts of the fleshly Mind what 1. When we are curious to know Things which are either hurtful to be known or not proper for Man to know 233 2. When we do immoderately study to be exquisitely skilled in whatever Humane Arts and Sciences to the neglect or contempt of Divine Knowledge The Knowledge of our Christian Religion as it serves to nobler purposes so ought it to be prefer'd to any other 234 The necessary Points of Christian Knowledge 3. When out of Pride Prejudice and Contradiction to all sacred Truths we set up our own carnal Imaginations and fleshly Reasonings against those spiritual Notions and those mysterious Articles of our Faith which are delivered to us in Scripture 235 This Humour of opposing Reason to Revelation proceeds from meer Pride This corrupt Will what and how to be renounced 236 3. The Affections what and how to be renounced 237 1. As they are misplaced upon wrong Objects 2. As they are disproportionate to the Love Worth and Evil that is in those Objects towards which it is lawful to be well or evilly affected in moderate Degrees 3. The Lusts and Appetites are such sinful Lusts of the Flesh as are to be renounced 238 1. As they do desire undue Objects 2. As they desire them in immoderate Measures Lastly the inferior and bodily Powers viz. the Affections Lusts and Appetites to be renounced as they rebel against right Reason 239 The Business of Religion is to reduce Man as near as possible to his primitive State of Innocence and Integrity To this purpose of keeping under our fleshly Lusts it was that our Reason was given us 240 3. To renounce ALL the sinful Lusts of the Flesh what There must be no one fleshly Lust suffered to reign in us Our Business is particularly to oppose Lusts of Temper and Constitution This because it is a hard Doctrine to the Carnal Man is much evaded 241 The Objection from Rom. 7. clear'd We must renounce the Flesh and all its sinful Lusts so as to have an Aversion an Antipathy in our Hearts thereunto This the hard Part. 242 243 The reason of having enlarged so much upon this one Article of renouncing the Devil c. 244. LECT XXII Articles of Christian Faith of what Nature The whole Bible the Object of a Christian's Faith both the Old and New Testament 259 Some Instances of such Truths What it is to believe those Truths so as to make us capable of Life and Happiness 261 Our Belief thereof must be operative and practical Such was the Faith of Abraham and of all the Saints And such an operative and practical Principle is Faith whenever the things believed are of great Importance or Concernment to us 262 263. 2. To believe savingly we must apply our selves to Jesus Christ to intercede with God the Father for our gracious Acceptance What to believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith 1. To believe them All does import that we must assent to all and every one of those great Articles of Christian Doctrine contain'd in the Apostles Creed 264 Such as tend to destroy a good Life and send us to other Mediators than Christ to intercede with the Father for its Acceptance no Articles of Christian Faith 2. To believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith is to be fully perswaded of all and of every of those single Truths contain'd in each of those Articles 265 A Heretick may be such by believing only of one of those Truths contain'd in the Article 266 LECT XXIII 1. What it is to obey God's Holy Will and Commandments The Nature and Measures of Christian Obedience 267 1. Our Obedience must be sincere by being a true and undissembled Service of God opposite to all Hypocrisy or a false and feigned pretence of obeying him when in truth we serve our own selves does not forbid us all intending our own Advantage in the performance of his Commandments 268 But 1st That man's Obedience is insincere who together with his Intention of serving God joins another Intention of serving Sin 2dly When he designs some temporal Ends in the practice of Vertue as much or more than he intends God's Service 2. Evangelical Obedience must be entire viz. 1st The Obedience of the whole Man that is in the first place of the Mind and Vnderstanding 2dly of the Will 3dly of the Affections 269 270 This the distastful part and therefore endeavoured to be shifted off 271 2dly It must be an Obedience to the whole Law This endeavoured to be evaded by Excuses But in vain 3dly What it is to walk in the same all the days of our Lives 272 God will not endure a constant Revolution of Sin and Repentance 273 The difference between Evangelical and a Legal Obedience This difference not so great but that our wilful and chosen Sins will put a Barr to our Salvation 274 Some Sins are directly and expresly wilful Some indirectly and interpretatively 275 But the difference is 1st that those who sincerely and entirely obey shall not be called to an account for unchosen and involuntary Sins The first cause of an innocent Involuntariness Ignorance of our Duty Provided it be not wilful 2d Inconsideration excuses 1. When through surprize 276 2. When through natural weariness and the length and strength of a Temptation Lastly When by the violent discomposure of our thinking Powers our Minds are so disturbed that we cannot think what we do Ignorance and Inconsideration excuse not those Sins 1. which we have time to understand and observe nor 2. Crying Sins nor 3dly Those we do not endeavour against nor lastly which we are not sorry for 277 The 2d difference between Legal and Evangelical Obedience That our wilful and more heinous Sins when repented of through the Mediation of Christ according to the Terms he has obtained for us in the Covenant of Grace shall be forgiven us Remission of Sins upon Repentance the great Doctrine of the Gospel Repentance will be accepted to our pardon for our unknown or secret Sins whether wilfully or unwillingly committed but now forgot though generally repented of 2. For our most known and wilful Sins if
an endless Life of Misery in another World This in few Words is the main scope and purport of those great and fundamental Truths of our Religion the Articles of our Christian Faith as they relate to the Method of Reconciliation betwixt God and Man And the same are every one of 'em the most powerful Motives to a Holy Life as shall be hereafter shewed 2. The most powerful Motives to a Holy Life And therefore to be undoubtedly perswaded of the infallible Truth and Certainty of these main Truths of Scripture must in a peculiar manner be incumbent upon us All Scripture is indeed given by Inspiration of God and is profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness that the Man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good Works 2 Tim. 3.16.17 That is all the Parts of Scripture are more or less serviceable to our Salvation and therefore far indeed be it from a Christian to entertain in his Breast a doubt of the Truth of any thing which God has reveal'd in his Word However this undoubted Perswasion which is necessary to constitute a true Believer must in an especial manner be had of the most important Truths because more does depend upon our having a stedfast and unwavering Belief of them than of others The Belief of these is the very Foundation of the Christian Life and the distinguishing Character of a Disciple of Christ if therefore our Faith should stagger as to these upon every Temptation there will ensue a Fall if not a Falling away and a total Apostacy from the Christian Religion And therefore the Belief of these Articles concerning the Transaction between God the Father and God the Son with relation to Man is made the great Condition of Man's Salvation This is Life Eternal to know that is to Believe Thee the only true GOD and JESVS CHRIST whom thou hast sent Joh. 17.3 4. To Believe is to be perswaded of all Revealed Truths in such manner and with such Acts of the Mind as is agreeable to the Nature of those several Truths 1. It is firmly to assent with the Mind to all Scripture-Truths indifferently 4. And as to Believe is to be undoubtedly perswaded of the Infallible Truth and Certainty of Divine Revelations so in such a manner and with such Acts of the Mind as is agreeable to the Nature of those several Revealed Truths For why The Nature of those Things of whose Truth we are to be perswaded are very different and therefore it must needs be that the Acts of Mind which cannot but receive their stamp and modification from the Things Believed must with reference thereunto be accordingly various As 1. There are several Truths contained in the Scriptures especially of the Old Testament which however they concern'd the Jews whilst their Religion was in force are not of that great Concernment to us Christians And therefore the Belief or Perswasion that may suffice us to have in respect of these or the like which are not of great Importance is only a general firm Assent of the Understanding whereby we yeild that these things are certainly so as God has declar'd because he who alone is True has spoke it Rom. 3.4 And indeed to all Scripture-Revelations indifferently considered and of what kind soever they be we must yeild a firm Assent because of the Authority of God declaring 'em to us 2. It is to Consent with the Will to live agreeably to the Importance of practical Truths 2. But besides some things of lesser Moment there are several Doctrines of weighty Importance and Concernment to us Reveal'd in the Holy Writ concerning which it is not sufficient that we only Assent unto 'em with our Minds that they are true but it is moreover necessary to give us the Title of True Believers that in reference to such Concerning Truths we should withal give up the Consent of our Wills to live as is fit for Persons of such Perswasions Thus we are taught in the Gospel That God has sent unto us his Onely Begotten Son to declare on what Covenants and Conditions he will receive us to Mercy And that this same Jesus will hereafter come as a King in all Pomp and Glory to Judge both the Quick and the Dead to pass Sentence upon us either of Happiness or of Misery according as we have performed or not performed that gracious Covenant he has made with us These are some of those weighty and important Truths contained in the Scriptures and which in the Creed are particularly proposed to our Belief and these that we may be said to Believe and to be throughly perswaded of the Truth of 'em it is not sufficient that we barely Assent and yield that they are true but we must Consent with our whole Wills that we will live and act as those who are fully perswaded of such Truths That is if we are throughly perswaded that Jesus Christ by being Crucify'd Dead and Bury'd has purchas'd Pardon for none other but those who abandoning their evil Ways do in the sincerity of their Hearts endeavour to please him we shall consent to Obey God's Holy Will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the Days of our Life And again if we are undoubtedly perswaded that he will finally come to Judge both the Quick and the Dead according to their Works we shall heartily Consent to conform our selves in Thought Word and Deed to his Holy Will and Pleasure To be undoubtedly perswaded of such Truths as these which do so much concern us does almost inseparably carry in the Notion of it a Consent of the Will to live as may be expected from such as are perswaded of the Truth of such Things and a bare Assent of the Mind that those Things are so will not be enough to give a Man the Title of a True Believer To Believe indeed in Propriety and Strictness of Speech may seem to signifie an Act of the Intellect only assenting to the Truth of a Proposition But in the Scripture Believing is a more practical Word and includes a Compliance of the Will with such Practices and Courses as are consequent upon such Belief if hearty and sincere And this is that which the Apostle Rom. 10.9 10. calls a Believing with the Heart for with the Heart Man believeth unto Righteousness And this was the Faith of those mention'd Acts 11.21 of whom it is said That many Believed and turned unto the Lord Not to instance here in Abraham's Faith of which I shall speak hereafter So that in short the Scriptural Notion of Faith or Belief with respect to those Practical Truths revealed to us in the Gospel is nothing else but a true serious resolute embracing of Christianity not only a being perswaded that all the Doctrines of Christ are true but a consenting and submitting to his Will and Commands in all things It is a Receiving and Accepting of Him as our Prophet to Instruct
the full meaning of Justification II. I am now to shew you by what Faith it is that we are accordingly Justify'd 2. By what Faith we are accordingly Justified By what has been said as it does appear that Justification is a Judicial Act of God Adjudging us as Just and Righteous according to the Terms and Conditions of the Second Covenant so likewise that Repentance and Obedience are no less necessary in the Gospel-Covenant than Faith it self is to render us Evangelically Just and Righteous and therefore when our Justification is by Scripture in so peculiar a manner attributed to Faith it cannot but be of mighty Importance rightly to understand what that Faith is by which we shall be approved by God as Just and Righteous And in order to this I must here premise That nothing is more usual in Scripture-Language than to attribute the whole Rewards of a Christian Life to any one of those Conditions of Christianity which by the great Influence they have upon other Parts of Religion may be said to imply all the rest Thus for instance the Mercy of God is promised to be from everlasting to everlasting upon them that Fear him Psal 103.17 The Reason is because Fear is such an active Principle in us that no one who really fears God but immediately seeks out all ways and betakes himself to all Courses to obtain his Favour So again Blessed is the Man that maketh the Lord his Trust Psal 40.4 The reason is because no Man can reasonably trust in God for the performance of his Promise but he must perform those Conditions upon which such Promises are made to him and the greater are his Hopes in God's Goodness and Truth for the making good his Promises the greater will be his Care and Diligence in such ways in which alone he can with reason Trust and Hope in Him And not to mention more even Life eternal is promis'd to the Knowledge of God and Jesus Christ This is Life eternal to Know Thee the only True God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent John 3.17 And why shall the Knowledge of God entitle any one to eternal Life Shall this be exclusive of Repentance and Obedience No by no means but as productive of 'em and indeed including 'em for it cannot easily be imagin'd but that he who throughly knows the Nature and Attributes of God and the Wise and Great Methods he has taken to Recover Mankind from their lost State and to reconcile 'em to Himself by his Son it cannot easily be imagin'd I say but that lie who thoroughly knows these things must betake himself to such Courses as will Reconcile both himself to God and God to him And he who seriously considers what he thus knows will undoubtedly take this Care And now this being premis'd By a Faith that is perfect and compleat as to all those Acts before-mention'd the like Observation may be made of the Promises of Justification and Salvation made to Faith or Believing Rom. 5.1 Gal. 3.8 Eph. 2.8 and in many other places These great and precious Promises are made to Faith as productive of Repentance and Obedience and indeed as including them for in Jesus Christ or in the Christian Religion or under the Christian Dispensation nothing availeth any thing but Faith which worketh by Love or which is perfected by Love Gal. 5.6 So that the Faith or Belief by which alone we shall be Justified and Sav'd must be perfect and compleat as to all those Acts before mention'd that is it must be so through a Perswasion of the Infallible Truth and Certainty of whatever God has reveal'd to us in the Holy Scriptures as thereby we must not only Assent with our Minds that all these Great Things are true which are revealed to us in the Gospel and summ'd up in our Creed but we must also heartily yield up the Consent of our Wills of our Affections and of the whole Man to be Govern'd in our whole Life and Conversation by those Great Truths and Doctrines And farther yet it must be a firm and steddy Reliance upon God that all his precious Promises of Pardon and Happiness shall be fully made good to us through Christ's Mediation upon our performing of the Conditions on which such this Promises were made Such a Faith as this through the Mediation of Christ obtaining that Benefit of God for us shall be accepted so that they who do so Believe shall be justified and saved but that Faith which is short of this is but maimed and imperfect it is but either the Faith of Devils mentioned by St. James 2.19 or the Faith of Hypocrites or in some respects or other defective and so shall not avail us to Justification or Salvation And this will fully appear to us This exemplify'd in the Faith of Abraham who if we consider the Faith of Abraham what it was concerning which we find several times in Scripture as Rom. 4.22 Jam. 2.23 this Honourable mention That it was imputed to him for Righteousness For such as was Abraham's Faith the Father of us all Rom. 4.16 Such must be our Faith if we will be the Children of Abraham and be blessed with Faithful Abraham Gal. 3.7.9 And as to Abraham's Faith The first great Act of it we find mentioned in the Scripture 1. Consented to the most difficult Performances at God's Command was his readily leaving at God's Command his own Country and his Father's House and his going into a Country that God should shew him Gen. 12.1 2. Which ready Obedience to God's Command of leaving his own Country was so acceptable to God that Gen. 15.6 it is said That this Believing on the Lord was accounted to him for Righteousness And this teaches us that whenever God is pleased to lay upon us the hardest Conditions such as was Abraham's leaving his own Country and his Father's House we must not boggle thereat but immediately consent to set about the performance of them as we will approve our Faith to God and have it accepted by him to our Justification 2. Rely'd firmly upon God's Promises in full assurance of his Power and Goodness to perform ' em A second Act of that Faith which was imputed to Abraham for Righteousness was his steddy Reliance Trust and Confidence in the Promises of God of granting him a numerous Offspring even after that in all human appearance it was impossible for him and Sarah to have Children Yet he against Hope believed in Hope that be might become the Father of many Nations And being not weak in Faith he considered not his own Body now dead when he was about an hundred years old neither yet the deadness of Sarah 's Womb He stagger'd not at the Promise through Vnbelief but was strong in Faith giving Glory to God And being fully perswaded that what he promised he was able also to perform therefore it was imputed to him for Righteousness That is this steadfast Faith and Reliance of
his upon the Divine Promises was a sign of the good Opinion he had of God's Power and Fidelity and was therefore most graciously accepted by him Rom. 4.18 19 20 21 22. Now this as the Apostle goes on v. 23 24 25. was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him but for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we Believe on Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead who was delivered for our Offences and was raised again for our Justification That is in this Act of Faith also in a steddy Reliance upon the Promises of God was Abraham a Pattern to us whereby we may see that if we distrust not his Power and Goodness in Matters of the greatest difficulty but firmly Relie upon him without Doubt or Dispute this will render us acceptable to him But especially it will be a most acceptable Act of Faith in us wholly to Relie upon his Promises in Christ who became a Sacrifice for our Sins that all our most heinous Offences will be pardon'd if we unfeignedly Repent and our imperfect Obedience will be eternally rewarded if it be but sincere in Testimony and Assurance of which Promises God has raised our Saviour from the dead And thus you plainly see what sort of Faith or Believing it is that must now Justifie and Save us It must not be only giving up the Assent of our Minds that all that God has spoken is true but we must with all our Hearts Consent to a sincere and faithful Obedience to all his Commands such as may be expected from those who are undoubtedly perswaded of the Truth of all the Articles of the Christian Faith which are every one of 'em Doctrines very apt to move us to Holy Living And moreover it must be a firm Reliance on God's Truth that all his Promises shall certainly be made good to us on Condition of our Performances Especially as the case now stands with us Christians it must be an Entire Dependance upon Christ that through his Mediation with the Father on our account we shall be Justify'd Pardon'd and Sav'd on Condition we perform the Covenant of Grace that is Believe and sincerely Obey the Commands of God given us in the Gospel Reliance upon God's Promises of Pardon to us through Christ an essential Act of Faith incumbent upon us as the case now stands with us Christians I say as the case now stands with us Christians for all Mankind by reason of Adam's and our own Transgressions were liable to the Wrath of God and had been condemn'd to eternal Destruction had not Jesus Christ interpos'd betwixt his Father and us and Mediated with him that we might have Pardon and Happiness on Condition we would turn from our evil Ways and sincerely Obey him for the future so that through the Blood of Jesus Christ it is that we have Redemption and the Forgiveness of Sins according to the Riches of his Grace Eph. 1.7 And as in him are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises 2 Pet. 1.4 so all the Promises of God in him are Tea and in him Amen 2 Cor. 1.20 That is upon the account of Christ all his Promises of eternal Life and Happiness shall be certainly and infallibly made good to us on condition we forsake our Sins and obey him And yet when we have done all things which are commanded us we are to account our selves but unprofitable Servants having done no more than was our Duty to do Luke 17.10 And we cannot lay claim to those unspeakable Rewards laid up for his Obedient Servants meerly upon our own Deserts as if we had merited and deserved 'em but that no Flesh might Glory in his Presence it is Jesus Christ who is made unto us Wisdom and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 That is it is Jesus Christ who is the cause of our Justification and Sanctification and by the Merit of what he has done for us shall our imperfect Righteousness be so accepted of by God that we shall be unspeakably rewarded for it And if so if all our holy Performances shall be Accepted and Rewarded only through Christ it is on Him then and not on any thing that we have done our selves that we must depend and Relie for Pardon and Happiness For without his Merits to supply our Defects our best Performances will want Pardon and all that we can do will not merit nor deserve eternal Life and Glory Thus we must Believe that is Relie on Christ and we shall not perish but have everlasting Life John 3.16 And indeed this Reliance and Dependance upon God for Mercy Because it excludes Confidence in our own Merits and Boasting in our own Performances on the account of what Christ has Merited for us not on the account of any Deserts of our own appears in the Scriptures as I before said to be an Act of Faith more well-pleasing to God and acceptable unto him in that it excludes Boasting or Glorying in our own Righteousness which the Apostle makes very necessary to Justification Rom. 3. and expects the Reward meerly from God's Free Mercy in Christ without any Reliance upon our own Performances For as it is vers 23 24 25 26. All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God being Justified freely by his Grace through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood to declare his Rightoousness that he might be Just and the Justifier of Him that Believeth in Jesus Where is Boasting then It is excluded By what Law The Law of Works Nay but by the Law of Faith therefore we conclude a Man is Justify'd by Faith without the Deeds of the Law Which brings me III. To shew you in what sence we are said to be Justify'd by Faith 3. In what sence we are said by S. Paul to be Justified by Faith without the Deeds of the Law without the Deeds of the Law Both this Text of the Romans now mentioned and that Parallel place Gal. 2.16 seem to exclude Good Works from being at all necessary to our Justification And yet by what has been already said from St. Paul it does appear that Repentance and Obedience are Conditions equally requisite to our Justification with Faith Or when Faith alone is mentioned it is as including the other two and St. James also does most expresly assert that by Works a Man is Justified and not by Faith only Jam. 2.24 So that to clear the Holy Scripture from any Contradiction in this case it will be requisite to consider what St. Paul means by the Law and by the Deeds of the Law when he excludes either from having any thing to do in our Justification and what that Faith is upon which he does sometimes seem to lay the whole stress in that great Affair By Law in St. Pual's discourse with the Jews was meant both the Law of
of the Gospel proceeding from and produced by Faith or Works by which our Faith is demonstrated to be a true and real Faith c. 2.18 And the occasion of these Discourses of St. Paul and St. James was different which also was the reason they did so differently express themselves in this matter St. Paul had to deal with Jews Pharisees and false Teachers who pleaded the necessity of Observing the Law of Moses and also those Works and Deeds it prescrib'd which gave occasion to him to preach the Abrogation or Cancelling of that Law S. Paul having to deal with Pharisaical Jews boasting of their own Righteousness according to the Law and the substitution of the Gospel in its stead as a Rule of Righteousness the Believing of which in such a manner as has been spoke he declared would be sufficient through God's Mercy in Christ to their Justification And tho' he took all care that was requisite to prevent the misunderstanding of him as if a meer Opinionative Faith would serve the turn by assuring them at the same time he told 'em that in Christ neither Circumcision nor Vncircumcision would avail any thing yet that Faith which worketh by Love would Gal 5.6 That is that it must be such a Faith as must be made perfect by the addition of those Duties which we owe to God and our Neighbour yet Men of corrupt Minds reprebate concerning the Faith or void of Judgment concerning the Faith as St. Paul complains of some 2 Tim. 3.8 perverted his meaning in this his excellent Doctrine and turn'd all to this sence That a meer Assent of the Mind to the Truth of the Gospel tho' they were careless in the subduing of their Passions and bridling of their Tongues and regulating of their Actions S. James having to do with Solifidiant Libertines pleading their Faith separated from Gospel Righteousness was all that was necessary to their Justification And thereupon they thought themselves safe upon the Account of their Barren Faith though they were Proud and Conceited of their Knowledge and Attainments Censorious and Contentious Unmerciful and Uncharitable which Error concerning Faith prevailing much in those Early Times occasion'd St. James with a great deal of Earnestness to plead and to prove the Necessity of Good Works to our being justify'd before God And that neither Faith nor good Works alone but both jointly were the Condition now under the Gospel upon which we shall be justify'd and approved of by God as Just and Righteous Persons And he proves it by the Instance of Abraham's Faith Jam. 2.21 22 and 23. Was not Abraham our Father justify'd by Works when he had offer'd his Son Isaac upon the Altar See'st thou how Faith wrought with his Works and by Works his Faith was made perfect And the Scripture was fulfill'd which saith Abraham Believed God and it was imputed to him for Righteousness and he was called the Friend of God So that St. James's Doctrine of Justification is not a contradiction but a vindication of St. Paul's from the False Glosses of Solifidian Libertines And it were happy for these latter Ages if St. James's Doctrine concerning the necessary Conjunction of Faith and good Works to our Justification could have put a stop to Men's Mis-interpretations of the other Great Apostle in this Point But alas to the grievous Scandal of the Reformation too many amongst us have heretofore and do to this day earnestly contend for those Mistakes which our Adversaries make great Advantages of who greedily catching at any thing of Error profess'd by any Party of Men under the Denomination of Protestants are never backward to lay the Scandal of it to the whole Reformation to the very great hindrance of its Progress But above all the Mischief of this Opinion reacheth directly to the Destruction of Men's Souls whilst being deceiv'd in the Nature of Justifying Faith and thinking it to be a meer Assent of the Mind to the Great Truths of Christianity which is but the Act only of one Faculty of the Soul and not looking upon it as implying a Consent also of the Will to act agreeably to the Nature of such practical Truths they do most fatally presume themselves to be Christians indeed and such as shall be saved by Christ tho' their Lives declare them to be far from being New Creatures from being renewed in the Spirit of their Minds as those are who have been taught as the Truth is in Jesus Eph. 4 21 23. And therefore since so much depends upon a right Understanding of this great Doctrine of Justifying Faith it will not appear to you to be without Reason that I have been so large in the Explication thereof In speaking to which having 1. shew'd you in general what it is to Believe together with the Effects and Fruits of True Believing and 2. having more particularly explain'd unto you the Nature of Justifying and Saving Faith 3. Now it remains only that by way of Inference I should lay before you 3. The several sorts of Defective Faith mention'd in Scripture wherein the defect of several sorts of Faith does lie which we find both by Scripture and Experience that many do relie upon but yet will by no means justifie and save ' em And from what has been said it does appear that the Faith which will not Justifie and Save us must be some way or other defective and lame as to those several Acts which I have shew'd must go to compleat the Nature of Justifying Faith And there are several sorts of Believers we find mention made of in the Scripture which fall short of having that Faith which will alone Justifie and Save us And 1. We have the Faith of Devils mention'd Jam. 2.19 1. The Faith of Devils which is no more than a bare Assent of the Mind that there is a God One who is Merciful to them that serve Him but terrible in Judgment to those who disobey Him and the like of the other Articles Thou Believest there is one God thou dost well the Devils also Believe and tremble But wilt thou know O vain Man that Faith without Works is dead Jam. 2.19 20. The Devils though they do Believe and are throughly perswaded and do know that there is a God infinitely Merciful Just and Holy who cannot endure Iniquity nor Sin yet out of Enmity to Him or because they will not conform themselves to that Holy Being which they so much hate or because no Promise is made to them of Pardon and Happiness that should encourage them to Repent of their Apostacy from God and to conform themselves to his Holy Laws whatever is the reason this is certain that they are utterly disobedient and though they do Believe yet because their Faith is only a meer Assent of the Mind to the Truths of Religion and does not render 'em Obedient their Believing therefore will avail 'em nothing to Pardon and Happiness 2. Another sort of Lame and Defective Faith
to the Intent that giving an extraordinary Proof of their Faith and Constancy and Patience and Love to him he may extraordinarily Reward ' em Every one that hath forsaken Houses or Brethren or Sisters or Father or Mother or Wife or Children or Lands for his Names sake being certain to receive an Hundred Fold and to Inherit Everlasting Life Mat. 19.29 II. Hezekiah to discover his Hypocrisy and to Humble him in the sight thereof Secondly We find That God Tempted Hezekiah in order to discover to him his own Hypocrisy and Corruption and the Pride of his own Heart that he might be humbled in the Sight and Sense thereof For Hezekiah being lately Recover'd from a mortal Sickness by the miraculous Providence of God The Princes of Babylon sent their Ambassadors unto him to enquire of the Wonder that was done in the Land and God left him to try him that he might Know all that was in his Heart 2 Chron. 32.31 that is God did Providentially order the Coming of those Forreign Ambassadors upon this Errand to try Hezekiah whether he would take this occasion before those Idolaters who put their Trust in those which were no Gods to Glorify the True God of Israel for so miraculously Recovering of him But he being more intent upon setting out his own Grandeur than God's Glory took care only To shew them all the House of his precious Things the Silver and the Gold and the Spices and the precious Ointment and all the house of his Armour and all the house of his Treasures 2 King 20.13 Upon which God did severely Reprove and Humble him by the Mouth of his Prophet Isaiah ver 17 18 19. for such his Ingratitude Pride and Vanity And so it is with every one of us There is a great deal of Pride and Vanity and other Corruptions and secret Hypocrisies which lie lurking in our Hearts and we our selves are Ignorant thereof and how we shall prove till we are try'd and some Providential Occasion draws it out And then if God's Word or Ministers or the Rebukes of our own Consciences make us sensible thereof we are much Better'd and God has his Gracious Ends in our Amendment So that thus you see to what good Purposes God does Tempt us namely Either to prove our Vertue that he may Reward us the better for it or to discover our Hypocrisy and Insincerity that we might be Humbled in the Sight and Sence thereof and be thereby amended These Temptations of God are therefore in no sence to be Renounc'd but to be Re Such Temptations therefore as these are none of the Works of the Devil nor in any Sence to be Renounced by us Nay rather We have reason to count it all Joy when we fall into these divers Temptations of God's ordering Knowing this that the Trying of our Faith worketh Patience Jam. 1.2 3. They give us an Opportunity of Exercising the Noblest Vertues of Christianity bitually committed will cause in them such a Reprobate Mind as will disable 'em at length to know any difference between Good and Evil. And by this very Wile he to this day By these Means he brings that Ignorance in Divine Matters which reigns in most Men's Minds spreads such an Ignorance over the Minds of Men in matters of Religion as makes even Darkness it self seem to reign where the Gospel has so long shin'd For by engaging some into nice Enquiries after a Thousand other things he draws 'em off from ever looking into their Bibles And as to Others by decoying 'em into one Sin after another he does at length improve their Knowledge of Evil to that degree that at last they come to know nothing of Good nay to have so little a sense of it such stupify'd Apprehensions concerning it as to Call Evil Good and Good Evil. And then having once Blindfolded the Reason of Man And being spiritually ignorant Men are easily led into whatever Sin and Misery with the Ignorance of Divine Things what Sin and Misery is there that Satan does not most easily lead Men into For why Good and Useful Knowledge such as the Knowledge of God and of our selves and of our Duty to him is the Eye of the Soul whereby alone it can see its Way and steer its Course safely towards Heaven Whereas on the other side Ignorance of God and Religion is the same in the Mind as Blindness in the Eye and therefore as a Blind Man may with the greatest Ease be drawn aside into Pits and over Rocks to his Downfal and Destruction and it is next to impossible he should ever get safe to his Journeys End so an Ignorant Man in Religious Matters must needs be an easy Prey to Satan and False Deceivers and he cannot possibly tell how to steer his Course safe towards Heaven but must almost necessarily suffer Shipwrack of Body and Soul in Hell So that this Policy of the Devil in Corrupting the Understanding and Reason of Man by putting him upon curious Enquiries and a sinful Experiment in order as he pretended to enlarge his Knowledge but in reallity with a design to draw over his Soul a thick Cloud of Ignorance that so he might lead him Blindfold into any Sin and Misery is a Depth of Satan that was and still is most Fatal and Destructive to our Innocence and to our Happiness And this therefore is another Wile of Satan's This therefore another Wile of Satan's which must be carefully avoided which you must also carefully avoid You must above all things Beware of ever making Experiments of the Pleasures of Sin vainly deceiving your own Souls with the Expectations that having once known what is in 'em you will the more Abhor 'em for the future Few of those who do make such sinful Experiments do afterwards return to a sound and sober Sense of things Not that they find any reason to stick to those Courses but because the ways of Sin are meer Mazes which once Enter'd into are hardly got out of and because Sin often committed does at length sear the Conscience and drives away the Holy Spirit and so the wretched Sinner becomes utterly Ignorant of God's Ways and the Happiness it would be to him to walk therein And in this their Ignorance what Pits of Destruction are there which Satan cannot draw them into You must therefore I say above all things endeavour as to Expel all Ignorance of Divine Things out of your Minds so the great Causes thereof of Satan's Contrivance namely Curiosity after vain and unprofitable Things which will divert you from what does infinitely more concern you viz. The good State of your Souls and you must carefully beware of Experimentally knowing Sin the Commission and Acquaintance with which will draw a thick Cloud of Ignorance over your Minds as has been spoke And hereby you will also Renounce and Defeat another considerable Temptation and Wile of Satan's to draw us into a Course of Sin III. By bribing