own Christ and not to obey his Will Disobedience to a lawful Lord and Master is a great Crime and passeth not unpunished Ye call me Master and Lord saith Christ and ye say well for so I am If he then be your Lord and Master see that ye do whatsoever he hath commanded you else he will be sure to punish your Disobedience These my Servants that would not that I should reign over them bring them hither to me and slay them before mine eyes The Lord Iesus Christ will one day appear with his mighty Angels in flaming fire to take vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ. The Lord will accept of nothing instead of this neither Prayers nor Sacrifices nor Professions will make Compensation for it For as Samuel said to Saul hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord Behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord he hath rejected thee 1 Sam. xv 22. Thus we see That our embracing of Christ and taking him for our Lord because we are assured he is sent from God and is ordained by him the Lord of Angels and Men that the same doth in its Nature also tie and oblige us to honour him not only with the calves of our Lips not only by professing with our Mouths that he is our Lord and Master but by doing him real and hearty Service and rendring all due Obedience to his Will and Pleasure But further is it Love to Christ that ties us to him and which makes us adhere to the Profession of his Name If so then this will oblige us to serve and obey him We read of some Servants under the Law who so loved their Masters that they would not part from them and who though they might have had their Freedom yet would not accept of it but suffered their Ears to be bored through that they might stay with their Masters for ever And certainly Christ is such a Master as deserves to be thus loved For never any did so much for gaining the Affection of their Servants as he hath done to gain ours He hath first loved us and that with an admirable and astonishing Love Greater love than this hath no Man than that a Man lay down his Life for his Friends and he hath not refused this Expression of Love to us for he laid down his Life and shed his precious Blood for our sakes There is therefore all the Reason in the World that we should love him and adhere to him Besides what Obligation the Commandment of God layeth upon us to take him for our Lord the Sense of his Love should oblige us to do it we are very ungrateful if we do not love him who hath so highly loved us and who hath bought us at so dear a Rate not with corruptible things as Gold and Silver but with his own most precious Blood Now if it be Love which moves us to call Christ Lord Lord to make Profession of his Name and Gospel then certainly this will excite us also to do his Will and observe his Commandments It is the very natural Result of Love the proper Fruits and Expressions of it to be observant of the Person who is loved to take a delight in doing their Will and Pleasure Love doth always discover it self this way and it is simply impossible for it not to do so and it is most certain they have little or no Love who cannot shew it this way Hereby a Wife manifesteth her Affection to her Husband and Children their Love and Respect to their Parents and one Man to another and when this Method is not followed and these Evidences given do we not presently conclude that the Persons have little Kindness or Regard for each other Now our Love to Christ must follow the same Course and express it self in the same manner If ye love me saith he keep my Commandments And again He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me if a Man love me he will keep my Words but he that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings And therefore if Love be the Motive of our professing Christ it will not rest there it will carry us further even to the doing whatsoever he hath commanded us Besides the two Inducements already mentioned there is one other Motive which may perswade us to come to Christ and to yield our selves his Disciples and that is the Hope of these Rewards he hath to bestow These Services are much sought after which are honourable and profitable and truly there is none which hath more either of Honour or Profit than this of the Lord Jesus Christ There is more advantage of having him our Master than in serving Kings and Princes or the greatest in the World For besides the Temporal Benefits and Spiritual Blessings which he gives in this present Life he giveth Glory and Eternal Happiness in the Life to come and therefore we may with good Reason say with St. Peter when our Lord asked him Will ye also go away from me to whom shall we go thou hast the Words of Eternal Life The Hope of Reward then may reasonably excite us to own and profess Christ but we do in vain look for his Reward without paying him due Obedience What I pray you is there any Man that will pay his Servant his Wages when he hath not performed his Work do we think our Lord will bestow upon us the Eternal Rewards of the other World when we have done nothing for it He told the Woman of Canaan that it was not meet to take the childrens bread and cast it to the dogs and we may be sure he will never think it just to make the Children of Disobedience to share alike as those that do sincerely obey him Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven Many will say unto me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy Name and in thy Name have cast out Devils and in thy Name done many wonderful Works And then I will profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity He is a just Iudge who will have no respect of persons but will certainly render to every Man according to his deeds to them who by patient Continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality he will give eternal Life but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness he will give indignation and wrath And as Christ will never bestow Heaven and that Eternal Weight of Glory
p. 123 SERMON VI. On Easter Day 1 Pet. I. 3 4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of Iesus Christ from the Dead To an inheritance incorruptible and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for you p. 166 SERMON VII On Easter Day 1 John V. 12. He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life p. 195 SERMON VIII On Easter Day 1 Cor. XV. 19. If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable p. 228 SERMON IX Rev. II. 17. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden Manna and will give him a white stone and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it p. 261 SERMON X. Luke VI. 46. Why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say p. 296 SERMON XI A Preparation to the Holy Communion Heb. X. 22. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of Faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience and our Bodies washed with pure Water p. 340 SERMON XII Hosea X. 12. Sow to your selves in Righteousness reap in Mercy Break up your fallow Ground for it is time to seek the Lord till he come and rain Righteousness upon you p. 385 SERMON XIII Hosea V. 13 14 15. When Ephraim saw his sickness and Iudah saw his Wound Then went Ephraim to the Assyrian and sent to King Iareb yet could he not heal you nor cure you of your Wound For I will be unto Ephraim as a Lion and as a young Lion to the house of Iudah I even I will tear and go I will take away and none shall rescue him I will go and return unto my Place till they Acknowledge their Offence and seek my Face in their Affliction they will seek me early p. 416 SERMON XIV Micah VII 8 9. Rejoice not against me O mine Enemy when I fall I shall arise when I sit in Darkness the Lord shall be a Light unto me I will bear the Indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him until he plead my Cause and execute Iudgment for me he will bring me forth to the light and I shall behold his Righteousness p. 446 SERMON XV. 1 Tim. V. 23. Drink no longer Water but use a little Wine for thy Stomachs sake and thine often Infirmities p. 479 SERMON I. On Matth. XI 28. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest THESE words are worthy of all acceptation they ought to be listned to most earnestly and deserve our most serious Consideration if either we regard the Person who uttered them or the Matter contained in them For here is promised what all Men seek after here is a free and gracious Invitation to what all Men would be at to that which they toil and labour for with all their might The Wise and the Unlearned the High and the Low and all the World pursue this tho' they entertain different Sentiments and follow various Courses yet still they agree in this that they all would be at rest Rest to the Soul is a common End which all aim at for without this there is no happiness What is the true way to this has been the Enquiry of Philosophers and of all wise and thinking Men in all Ages The several Sects of Philosophers pretended to teach it and the same is done by all the Parties who now divide the World One alledgeth the way to rest and happiness is with them another saith it is with them But we may trust him who speaketh here we may safely rely on his Word and have reason to believe him with an implicite Faith for he neither can be deceived himself nor will he deceive others He who giveth this Invitation and maketh this Promise of Rest is the Blessed Jesus that is the greatest Person who ever appeared in Human likeness the very eternal Son of God Wisdom and Truth it self No Falsehood can come from him and he is willing that all come to the Knowledge of the Truth He loves us and wisheth our happiness more than we our selves do He had no other Errand to this World but only to procure our happiness and to direct us in the way to it We ought therefore to receive his Instruction and when he promiseth rest we have all reason to expect it and no cause to fear the missing it O! with what joy should we hear these words from him Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden c. First you see the Invitation is general to all Persons whatsoever Jesus Christ excludes none from his Mercy who do not exclude themselves by their contempt hardness and impenitency As his Benefits are highly to be valued and most desireable so they are freely and kindly offered to every one he is willing that all partake of them The Favours of Kings and Princes are reserved to a few special Friends and Favourites either because they would exhaust themselves if they bestowed many or because they are afraid of rendering them contemptible if they make them common But as Jesus Christ is an inexhaustible Treasure of all desireable riches as he is a Fountain which can never be drained so he doth not shut himself up he freely communicateth of his fulness to us If we be miserable we have only our selves to blame if we lack any thing it is because we do not ask if we cannot rest it is because we do not apply unto him We find him complaining of Mens backwardness to their own happiness but there was never any instance of his hard-heartedness Ye will not come unto me that ye may have life And to give all Confidence and Encouragement and to manifest his free and unlimited Goodness towards all therefore it is written by the Prophet Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price Again And the Spirit and the Bride say come and let him that heareth say come And let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely So here it is Come unto me all ye that labour c. The adding this doth not restrain the Invitation or make it less general for this Epithet may be made of equal extent with Mankind it self for saith the Son of Sirach great travel is created for every man and an heavy yoke is upon the Sons of Adam from the day that they go out of their mothers womb till the day that they return to the mother of all things Ecclus. xl 1. By the words of labouring and
God I am saith Christ the way the truth and the life no man cometh into God but through me Ye believe in God believe also in me Him hath God the Father sealed And therefore he who doth not receive him nor believe in him giveth God the Lye If saith St. Iohn we receive the witness of men the witness of God is greater For this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son He that believeth on the Son hath the witness of himself he that believeth not God hath made him a liar because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son And again Who is a liar but he that denieth that Iesus is the Christ Whosoever denieth the Son the same hath not the Father To deny Jesus Christ will inferr a denial of God himself the same Prejudices against the one will obstruct a sound and sincere belief of the other They who have not had the Gospel offered unto them are not in the like Circumstances But they who do not believe after it has been duely and fairly represented to them are shrewdly to be suspected of Atheism as well as Infidelity Meer Deists are not far from Atheists The Truth of the Gospel and its Doctrine concerning Jesus Christ is almost if not altogether as demonstrable as the invisible things of God from things visible And to say That this vast frame of the World its various Parts and the variety of Creatures inhabiting those Parts was all the Effect of blind Chance and the Product of a confused jumbling of senseless Atomes to say this is no more absurd than to say that the admirable Harmony betwixt the Old and New Testament Books which were written by different Men at very distant times that the wonderful correspondence which the Life and Actions of Jesus Christ had to what went before that the Prophecies and their Accomplishment that all these I say were only the Dreams and Contrivances of Men the one choaks Reason as well as the other For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Iesus Christ but were eye-witnesses of his majesty For he received from God the Father honour and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased And this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy mount We have also a more sure word of prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the day-star arise in your hearts Knowing this first that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the holy Ghost 2 Pet. i. 16 17 18 19 20 21. Having thus spoken to the First thing required in order to the obtaining rest viz. The coming to Christ and shewed both what it is and why it is exacted I proceed to The Second Condition or Means of Spiritual Rest which is said to be the taking Christ's Yoke upon us By Yoke in a Metaphorical sence is understood that Service which Superiours and Conquerours impose upon those who are subjected unto them Thus 1 King xii 4. The Service which Solomon imposed upon the People is called their Yoke So the Yoke of Christ is his Laws Precepts and Injunctions which he gives to his Disciples These are scattered up and down every where through the Gospels but most copiously set forth in the Sermon on the Mount to which we must add the Epistles of the Apostles which are infallible Commentaries upon the Divine Laws of their Master Jesus Christ. In a word The New Testament is the Codex or Corpus Iuris Christi the Body of the Christian Law which must be carefully studied by all who would know the Will of their Lord concerning them and the Duty which he requires of them And by this it clearly appears that Jesus has reinforced the Natural and Moral Law cleared it from the misprisions of Men discovered its full Latitude and brought it to all the Perfection which it is capable of So that to some it appears as if he had superadded to it and commanded Duties which Men were not obliged to formerly Whether it be so or not I will not debate it now But by the Laws of Jesus Christ all Sin whatsoever is forbidden the Sins of the Heart and Thoughts as well as the outward Man because both the one and the other fall under the Cognizance of Almighty God and are known to him And Sin is so peremptorily and severely Prohibited by the Christian Law that to shun it we are bid cut off our right hand and our right foot and pluck out our right eye that is to chuse to deprive our selves of the Nearest or Dearest or greatest Satisfaction rather than to run our selves into the danger of Sin by adhering to the same As all Sin is thus strictly forbidden so all Vertue and Holiness are expresly required The Laws of Jesus call for the greatest and most ardent love to God for an entire Submission to his Will a chearful Resignation to his Providence an active Zeal and Concernedness for his Glory and an anxious Care to please him They require a contempt of all Earthly things and the minding Heavenly things Contentment with every Condition and a Patient bearing of every Affliction Nay they exact the taking up the Cross that is that we suffer rather than Sin and freely undergo any trouble rather than either decline our Duty or offend God By the Precepts of Christ we are obliged to love our Neighbour that is all Men as our selves and to do to others as we would be done to We must abstain from all Injuries either to Soul or Body to Name or Estate and must lay our selves out to do all the good we can we must wrong no Man and Pardon those who have wronged us Whatever may seem to be the Voice of Nature or the Sentiments and Practices of Men Christ saith to us Love your Enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you And certainly Revenge is every way as inconsistent with Christianity as Theft Murder or Adultery and Whoremongers and Adulterers shall as soon enter into the Kingdom of Heaven as the Revengeful And unless the Gospel be a mere Sham or to be read backward neither the one nor the other shall be saved unless they have reconciled themselves to God by serious Repentance In a word the Doctrine of Jesus Christ teacheth us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world And finally whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoevor things are just whatsoever
things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any vertue and if there be any praise the Gospel of Christ requireth us to think on these things This is the Yoke of Christ and to put on his Yoke is to observe these things It is to give Obedience to those his Laws which you see is made a necessary means to rest that is to true Happiness He saith here to them that labour and are heavy laden who would have rest to their Souls take my yoke upon you He says not take my Name my Profession but my Yoke and he bids them not consider it talk of it or keep it by them but put it on that is wear it which we then only do when we give all sincere Obedience to his Laws and make Conscience of observing all his Precepts We mistake it if we think it sufficient to make us Christians or to obtain the happiness of the Disciples of Jesus Christ to be Baptized to take up the Name and Profession of Christianity to frequent the outward Ordinances and to contend for the Truth of the Gospel or the Purity of its Doctrine All this is good and must be done but we must do more else we do not enough We must moreover add Obedience for why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things I say Luke vi 46. Not every one who saith to me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven Every one saith Christ that heareth these sayings of mine and doth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man who built his house upon the sand and the rain descended and the wind blew and floods came and beat upon that house and it fell and great was the fall of it Matth. vii 21. 26 27. There is indeed mention made of a Christian Liberty and we are required to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free But this is not a Liberty to Sin it is not an Exemption from the Moral Law it is not a Dispensation from the Duty which that Law requires of us towards God and Man it is only a Liberty from the bondage of Moses's Law from the curse of that Law which was given to our first Parents a Liberty from the bondage of Satan and the servitude of Sin The Liberty given us is the Liberty of the Sons of God but the Liberty of Sons does not discharge from honouring and obeying the Parents Ye have been called unto liberty saith St. Paul only use not liberty for an occasion unto the flesh As free saith St. Peter and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness but as the servants of God So we are still the Servants of God and therefore bound to obey him there can be no Dispensation from that neither God can give nor is it our interest to seek it Think not that I am come to destroy the Law or the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil for verily I say unto you c. Let no Man deceive himself and think that all may be compensated by believing for tho' Faith be necessary yet faith without works is dead and will not avail a Man That Faith which is acceptable to God and which will avail to Salvation and Justification is a Faith which worketh by love and which keepeth the Commandments True Faith and Obedience are inseparable for Obedience is the necessary Consequence of Faith the proper Fruit and Effect of it and the only Evidence which can be given of it As the Tree is known by its Fruit so Faith by its Works Shew me thy faith without thy works saith St. Iames which is as much as if he had said how is it possible to shew Faith without Works Can the sick Man believe the Physician to have both skill and honesty to cure him when he neither will use his Remedies nor commit himself to his Conduct And how can Men be said to believe in Christ when they will not regard his Word nor observe his Injunctions And what doth he enjoin us Nothing but what himself hath practised He is not like the Pharisees who did bind heavy Burdens and lay them upon other mens Shoulders but they themselves would not touch them He lays no heavier burden upon us than what himself hath born he puts us to no harder task than what himself hath wrought Can the Servant expect to be greater than his Lord If he then fulfilled the Law ought not we also to set our selves to do it If he could not be exempt from Obedience how can we expect it Jesus is not like the Rulers of this World who do not observe their own Laws The Laws they make and Pass are for the People and not for themselves But Jesus observes his own Laws he himself did bear that Yoke which he here commands us to take up And we may learn all our Duty from his Example as well as Doctrine Which leads me to The Third and Last thing required in the Text in order to the obtaining rest of Soul viz. Learning of Christ. The word in the Original signifies to become a Disciple in general But because it is joined here with two particular Vertues of Meekness and Humility therefore by the current consent of Interpreters it is to be taken in this place for the imitation of Christ and endeavours after a conformity to his Example particularly in these two Instances here made mention of The thing enjoined here is not that we should learn his Doctrine or conn his Sayings by heart but that we should study his Life imitate his Practice and labour to be like him The Necessity and Usefulness of this Duty is set forth in many places of Scripture If any man will come after me let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me Ye call me Master and Lord and ye say well for so I am I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done unto you Let the same mind be in you which was in Christ saith St. Paul And St. Peter If when ye do well and suffer for it ye take it patiently this is acceptable with God for even hereunto were ye called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow his steps 1 Pet. ii 20 21. Men are better taught and more easily led by Example than by Precept Example both giveth greater encouragement and also teacheth more clearly conformity to him is the Character of God's chosen ones and without this we cannot claim either the Title of the Sons of God here or the Glory which is prepared for them hereafter For as the Apostle saith whom God did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the Image of his Son that he might be the first-born among many brethren Rom. viij 29. O what an excellent thing
bear the Punishment inflicted by the Law or make that Satisfaction which the Honour and Justice of God required Angels could not for their Spiritual Nature makes them incapable And what Man could have made an Atonement for the rest Seeing every Man was guilty in the sight of God What Man was sufficient for or worthy of the office of Mediator Suppose one had all the Advantages and Excellencies which Nature could bestow and free of Sin too which must necessarily be supposed in this case yet it would have been too much Presumption even for such an one to take upon him to Mediate betwixt God and his Rebellious Creatures Mediators and Arbitrators ought to be either Superiour to both Parties or at least equal to the offended Party and independent in some manner from it for without this Qualification they have not sufficient Authority nor a powerful enough Influence to oblige the Parties to agree and accept of Peace And this requisite Qualification excluded not only all Men but Angels and all Creatures from being Mediator and Umpire betwixt God and Man As therefore it behoved our Mediator and Saviour to be Man that he might do and suffer what was proper and incumbent and have the Interest good Will and Concernment necessary to such a Person so it behoved him to be God that he might be worthy of so high and honourable a Function and to the end his Mediation might be meritorious and effectual And as it behoved our Mediator and Peace-maker to be thus and thus qualified so the Wisdom and Goodness of God has provided us of one with these Qualifications and so contrived it that he who thought it not Robbery to be equal with God should be made into the Likeness of Men. For this end the Eternal Son of God became Man who is this Jesus the Text speaks of by whose Name we are all called O! the Depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his Iudgments and his Ways past finding out Rom. ii 33. The Socinians who reject this Mystery and deny the Divinity of our Saviour and the Union of the Divine and Humane Nature in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ which I have made most evident from Scripture now and at the last Occasion they make the Oeconomy of the Gospel to signifie little or nothing either for the Glory of God or the Comfort of Man And as they give God the Lye who has attested the Truth of this so clearly and fully so they rob him of the Praise which is due to the greatest Manifestation of his Goodness and to the most wonderful Contrivance of his Wisdom From which and such damnable Heresies good Lord deliver us Having considered who the Person is of whom our Text speaks and what is his Character it follows next according to the Method proposed that we take into Consideration what he did and suffered which is here represented in these Words he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross. From which Words we may First observe That all which happened to Jesus Christ in this mysterious Oeconomy was his own Choice His Sufferings as well as Actions are the pure Effect of his own Will there was no force or necessity upon him to oblige his Obedience and Subjection to these things We must not think it was with Jesus Christ as with other Men. The Birth and Quality the State and Condition the Death and Exit of other Men fall not under their own Cognizance nor is the same any part of their Choice But all is unknown to them and imposed upon them by Nature or Providence or those to whom Nature and Providence have subjected them And the greatest Praise due to any Man is that he can bear his State and Circumstances thus imposed patiently and chearfully though he neither would have desired them nor yet made Choice of them if it had been in his own Power But as to Jesus Christ all was his free Choice his voluntary Act and proper Deed The meanness of his Birth the Contemptibleness of his State the Troubles of his Life and the Shame and Bitterness of his Death were all known before-hand to him and set before him and he freely and willingly submitted himself to them and therefore there is more Merit and Praise due to him than can be to any from meer Patience or Passive Obedience Therefore doth my father love me saith Christ because I lay down my life that I might take it again No man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again And again he said to Pilate thou couldst have no power at all against me except it were given thee from above Secondly It is to be considered that the Humiliation of Jesus Christ in this Verse referrs to some other thing than that which is made mention of in the former When before it is said he made himself of no Reputation that referrs to his Pre-existent State and God-head and thereby is set forth his Debasement by his Incarnation For by becoming Man his God-head was put under the Veil of Flesh and the Majesty and Glory which belonged to him were for so long time eclipsed which was certainly a stupendous Debasement and an astonishing and most wonderful Instance of his Love to those for whom he was thus debased But the Humiliation in the Text is posterior to the Incarnation and referrs to what he did after he was become Man therefore it is said being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself What is meant by humbling himself is explained by what follows viz. That he became Obedient unto Death that is he entirely subjected himself to the Will of God and all the Methods of his Counsel and all the Contrivances of his Wisdom for manifesting his Mercy and good Will to Mankind and for effectuating their Redemption and Salvation to which he was not otherwise obliged than by his own voluntary Undertaking Jesus Christ by his Divine Nature being equal to God was therefore free independent and subject to none And though as a Man he owed Obedience yet being altogether free from Sin he was not liable to the Curse of the Law nor obnoxious to those Evils Troubles and Calamities which for Sin are inflicted on other men Therefore it was a great Act of Humility in him to submit to those things who might have pleaded an Exemption from them It was great Humility in him to put himself into a State of Subjection and Obedience who by Nature was subject to none but as God himself supream Lord over all in Heaven and Earth What Humility would it be in a free-born Prince one whose Birth gave him Right to a Scepter Crown and Sovereign Command and whose State and Circumstances put him in a Condition of keeping the same against all Rebellion Encroachment and Usurpation
Incorrigible Sinners think to escape the eternal Judgments of the other World The Destruction of Ierusalem was a Type of the Day of Judgment the Calamity of the Iews the Horror and Consternation they were in when the Romans utterly ruin'd them tho' it had no Precedent nor has any thing fallen out since like it yet all was but a faint Shadow of the Day of Judgment but a sorry figure and representation of that Then it is that Men will cry most Pathetically and with the greatest earnestness to the Hills and to the Mountains to fall on them and to cover them from the sight of the Lamb. They had better meet with a Bear rob'd of her Whelps or a Lion roaring than the Lamb of God that Day for then he will be Terrible and nothing can shelter them from him None shall find Mercy then or be acquitted save such as have Jesus for their Advocate and who are sprinkled with his Blood But do incorrigible and impenitent Sinners expect this Or dare they ask it of Him Will they or can they employ Him whom all their life they have affronted and grieved and resisted Or Suppose that they should have such Impudence would it prevail Will He plead for them nay He will plead against them and his Blood will speak no other thing in behalf of them than that of Abel's it will even call for Vengeance Jesus Christ in that Day will only take part with the Penitent Believers All others shall be left to the Wrath of God which as a Consuming Fire shall devour them O consider this ye that forget God lest he tear you in pieces when there shall be none to deliver Turn ye turn ye why will ye die Now is the day now is the acceptable time Seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near O know and consider in this your day the things that belong to your Peace lest they be hid from your eyes And may the Merciful God add his Enlightning and Converting Grace to this Exhortation and these Instructions that they may prove Effectual to our Conversion for the magnifying of his Mercy and the Saving of our selves from the Wrath that is to come Amen SERMON VI. ON EASTER-DAY 1 PETER I. 3 4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of Iesus Christ from the dead To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you THESE Words are a Form of Thanksgiving proper to be used on such Occasions as this which hath now brought us together and a due Consideration of them may be sufficient to excite in us most grateful Sentiments of God's Goodness to us and of our Obligations to him They were first uttered in Behalf of the dispersed Jews but only upon the account of their being Christians and called to the Hope of Glory which Privilege is common to us and therefore the Text is no less applicable to us than it was to them Even upon our account it may be said Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ c. In which words we may take notice of these particulars First the Author of our Happiness viz. God and the Father c. Secondly the Motive which induced him to bless us his abundant mercy Thirdly the special Benefits conferred on us which are the begetting us again unto a lively hope an inheritance c. Fourthly the means by which the same is wrought and assured to us viz. the resurrection of Iesus Christ from the dead All these are important things worthy to be known and therefore God willing I shall speak to each of them And I beseech you to lend an attentive and unprejudiced Ear. To begin with the First As Nature teacheth us to be thankful so that we may acquit our selves of this Duty it is necessary to know whom we are obliged to for if we make an Acknowledgment to any other than to him who bestowed the Benefits we defraud him who bestowed them and act as foolishly and unjustly as he who payeth a Debt to another than the Person to whom it is owing Now we are directed here to pay our Thanks to God and indeed he is the only Author of all the good we have of whatsoever Sort whether Spiritual or Temporal Do not err my beloved Brethren every good and perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning We have nothing but what we have received from him It is true all things are not given us immediately by the Hand of God himself oftentimes Blessings are dispenced by the means of his Creatures But whatever way or by whomsoever Good comes to us God is and ought to be acknowledged the Author thereof Good comes not to us by chance nor from any other than God if any other thing be used in the bestowing it it is only as an Instrument in his Hand Neither Devils nor Men nor any other Creature can do us hurt unless God give them leave Nor can any do us good but as they are prompted and empowered thereto by God If Medicines cure it is because he blesseth them if our Industry and Diligence enrich it is because his Providence accompanieth it if Friends and Acquaintance are beneficial it is because he putteth it in their Heart and enables them Does the preaching of Paul or Apollo convince thy Conscience work in thee Faith and Repentance It is only because God worketh with them it is his Spirit only which makes their Ministry effectual for what is Paul And what is Apollos The one may plant and the other may water but the Increase is from God Let none therefore sacrifice unto their net or burn incense unto their drag though by them their portion is fat and their meat plenteous Neither let them boast of Men and make all their Acknowledgments to them for either spiritual or temporal good which comes by their means but both for the one and the other let all look up to God who giveth to all liberally let us give Thanks and Praise to him for it is he and he only who maketh us glad by his Work As he made us and not we our selves so from him are all our present Comforts and the Hope of what is to come But as all our Acknowledgments are due to God so that it may appear they are directed aright to the one true God we ought to address them in and by Jesus Christ to God and the Father of Iesus Christ as St. Peter teacheth us here When he saith God and the Father c. He doth not mean distinct Persons the Conjunction and here is explicative and thereby the Apostle points out whom he meant by God viz. the Father of Iesus Christ that is he who sent Jesus Christ
Fears The difference betwixt the godly and the wicked may be compared to that of two Persons at Sea in a most dangerous Storm where there is Hope of saving Life but nothing else But the one has a goodly Inheritance to live upon when he comes to Land and therefore cannot be much cast down whereas the other having lost his whole Stock and Substance is not only miserably damped with Grief for the Loss of that but also quite confounded with the Thoughts of his after Poverty and Misery Thirdly This Doctrine of the Certainty of another better Life serves greatly to comfort us under the Miseries and Calamities of this and therefore that we may have this Comfort let us both firmly fix the Belief of it in our Hearts and also frequently meditate thereon It is in vain for any to expect to pass thorow this World without Trouble and Affliction and there is no true support under any Affliction but the lively hope of that glory which is to be revealed with this one may bear the heaviest Cross chearfully and without it the lightest Affliction may overwhelm the spirit For this cause saith St. Paul we faint not for though our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day for our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory Cheer up thy Spirit whosoever thou art that liest under the pressure of any Affliction if thou repentest of thy Sins if thou lovest God and be resolved to walk so as to please him why shouldst thou be cast down Lift up thine Eyes unto yonder Regions above and consider what an Interest thou hast there what a blessed Inheritance is there reserved for you Is thy condition here uneasie and troublesom and art thou still tossed about remember when thou comest there thou shalt have all Rest and Peace Art thou hated by Men and persecuted with their Hands and Tongues let not that vex thee seeing thou art Beloved of God and hast Friends Above who will shortly receive thee unto their everlasting Habitations where are good things which neither eye hath seen nor ear heard nor can the heart of man conceive them Take the spoiling of your Goods joyfully knowing that ye have in Heaven a better and an enduring substance Dost thou here suffer the want of all things bear it for a while patiently for when thou ascendest Heaven and enter'st into the presence of God thou shalt find fulness of joy and rivers of pleasures for evermore The bitterness of this Life shall be abundantly recompenced by the sweetness and happiness of the other There it is where we shall be comforted for all the days wherein we have been afflicted For there men shall hunger no more neither thirst any more neither shall the Sun light on them nor any heat for the Lamb which is in the midst of the Throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes When Columbus set first out to Sea in order to discover a New World he suffered unspeakable Straits Hardships and Difficulties The very reading of them is astonishing yet he still bore out by the hope of discovering Land which was very faint and uncertain for he only conjectured that there might be such a thing Now if such a faint and uncertain hope of an Earthly Country could make one run upon so many Hazards and bear up under such Disasters what a support to our Minds and a Comfort to our Spirits should the hope of an Heavenly Country be a Country whose Riches and Glory and Felicity we poor Mortals cannot conceive much less express And which is no Dream or Conjecture but which is clearly demonstrated to us by the Word of God And from which nothing can obstruct us if we be but stedfast and immoveable and always abounding in the work of the Lord. Death might have prevented Columbus's Discovery and robb'd him of that Satisfaction but Death cannot impede our passage unto Heaven for it is the very means of entring into it It is the very loosing of the Fetters and removing the Cloggs which detain us in this miserable Life and a setting us at Liberty to return to God whence we came and to take possession of that glorious Life which Christ hath purchased for us Fourthly and lastly Is there a Life after this and a blessed Life too Then certainly it becometh us to give all diligence to secure it for our selves 't is no less our Interest than our Duty It will not fall to our Lot by Chance and without we use true endeavours after it It is true Jesus Christ hath purchased this Life for us and payed the price of it without which no Man could ever have expected it But still it lies on us to qualifie our selves for it by the Performances of those Conditions on which it is granted and these are Faith and Holiness First We must have Faith for without this saith the Scripture it is impossible to please God And if it be impossible to please him without Faith it is impossible to expect Heaven without it for he will never admit one there who doth not please him He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not on the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him If you ask what Faith is It is to believe the Existence of God his Almighty Power his Infinite Wisdom his Incomprehensible Goodness and his most Wise and Watchful Providence It is to give a most hearty assent to the Truth of his Word to the Authority and Goodness of his Laws to the ineffable greatness of his Promises and to the Justice of his Threatnings It is to receive with Zeal and Affection the Lord Jesus Christ to own the miraculous Nature and Dignity of his Person and to acknowledge the Necessity Vertue and Usefulness of his Offices of Prophet Priest and King Finally it is to admit by a profound Humility the Incomprehensible Mystery of the Trinity and to depend upon the Influence and Operation of the Holy Spirit the third Person of the God-head Our Faith must comprehend all this And without this Faith no Man can be saved For unless a Man believe all that God has clearly proposed he not only does not honour God as he ought but he actually dishonours and affronts him Now the true evidence of this Faith is Holiness which is also the other Condition required of those that would be saved Faith without works saith St. Iames is dead And without holiness saith St. Paul no man shall see the Lord Heb. xii 14. How fit and proper unsanctified Persons may be for settling and propagating Christ's Kingdom upon Earth I do not well know but this I know and am sure of that none shall share of his Heavenly Kingdom but they who are pure as he is pure
that it answered every Man's Taste that is it relish'd according to each Man 's particular Appetite affording every one that Satisfaction in his Taste which pleased him best So the Joy afforded us upon the gaining this Spiritual Victory shall be most ravishing it shall fully answer all the Desires of our Souls and shall yield us that full Satisfaction they would be at wherefore it is called a Joy unspeakable and full of Glory and our Lord tells us that they who taste thereof shall not hunger or thirst any more Whosoever shall drink of this water shall thirst again but whosoever shall drink of this water that I shall give him shall never thirst Moreover as there was Plenty of Manna so we shall not have this Heavenly Joy in narrow and scanty Measures but it shall flow and abound beyond all Expression Therefore it is said in Scripture to pass all understanding that is the heighth and greatness thereof can never be sufficiently comprehended Finally as Manna was permanent it lasted all the while the Children of Israel were in the Wilderness that is so long as they needed it neither was it possible for their Enemies to hinder it so this Joy shall never cease our Enemies Malice and Power cannot reach it but it abideth for ever All earthly Goods are liable to Rapine and Violence our Enemies may bereave us of them But they cannot take away the Consolations of the Spirit of God here these we may enjoy in the midst of Bonds and Imprisonment and Afflictions and much less can any stay that joy and those Pleasures which shall be bestowed hereafter And as these are the Reasons why the Joy prepared for those who overcome is called Manna so it is called hidden Manna alluding to the Pot of Manna laid up in the Ark or else because the Nature and Quality and Excellency of this Joy is without the reach of Sense Our bodily Sense does not discern it nor can humane Reason scan it Strangers do not intermeddle with this joy None understand it but they who possess it Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the heart of Man the good things which God hath laid up for them that love him But I said by Manna are not only set forth the Nature and Quality of those Delights he who overcometh is to be feasted with but also the particular Entertainment which affords such excellent Joy and Delight is pointed at And therefore by Manna here we are to understand Jesus Christ himself for Manna was a Type and Figure of him and he is expressly called Spiritual Manna 1 Cor. x. 3. And as a Pot of Manna was laid up in the Ark so Jesus Christ is kept and reserved in the Heavens which were figured by the Ark and therefore he is called hidden Manna Now they who overcome shall have Christ to feast upon not after a corporal and carnal manner eating his Flesh and drinking his Blood as some senselesly dream they do in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper nor yet sacramentally as all true Believers do in this World in the Elements of Bread and Wine For hereafter in Heaven which is here pointed at there is neither place for nor need of Types Figures and Symbols which would not be suitable Entertainment for such a pure and perfect State But the meaning is they shall feast on everlasting Bliss the Purchase and Merits of his Blood the Fruits of his Incarnation Birth Life Death Resurrection and Ascension and whatever he did or suffered to purchase Eternal Happiness for us There is no proper Food but this He who wants it is utterly miserable for nothing but the Enjoyment of Christ in Heaven can give Life or Pleasure to the Soul of Man And the Soul that is entertained in his beatifick Presence is entertained in the Fullness of Joy and cannot but be happy for there is no Grief or Sadness in that glorious Place where he is but perfect Delight Joy Pleasure and Satisfaction as will appear by what follows which is the effect of this Entertainment He who gets to eat of this hidden Manna shall also get a white Stone When St. Iohn had this Revelation he was in Patmos an Isle in the Egean or Egarean Sea and here he alludes to a Custom practised or well known there for in Asia and other Eastern Countries they were wont to give their Votes for acquitting or condemning such as were accused by casting white and black Shells or Stones the white as an Emblem of Innocency was for the Persons Absolution and Justification as the black betokened Guilt and declared for their Condemnation which Ovid has thus delivered Mos erat antiquis niveis atrisque lapillis His damnare reos illis absolvere culpa By the white Stone then is meant a Sentence of Absolution and so our Saviour here promiseth to absolve and justifie such as overcome from all that may be laid to their Charge He will take away their Guilt wash them from their Sins and deliver them from the Death that is due to them And O what a Happiness is this What matter of Joy is there in this Promise It is as Health to the sick Ransom to the captive and a Remission to him who is ready to be led forth to Execution If any be not affected herewith it is because they are not sensible of their Guilt and do not consider the heinous Nature of Sin or the Misery which attends it But they who have laid this to Heart will prize it exceedingly What would a troubled Conscience give for the least Assurance or smallest Hope of this Comfort O Who will deliver me from this Body of Death saith St. Paul and David who roared all the day long because of his Sin and on that Account found God's Hand Day and Night heavy upon him cries out Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose Sin is covered Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity Despair not because thy Sins are many and great for be they never so numerous or heinous Christ is able to take them away and here he promises to absolve thee Be of good cheer O Sinner thy Sins shall be forgiven thee for there is now no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit But there is here promised not only a white Stone the Sign of Absolution and a Deliverance from Death due to us but also something more which we could never deserve and which exceeds all Expression In the Stone there shall be a New Name which is still an Allusion to the Custom of these former times and Eastern Countries where Letters and Words used to be written also upon the Stones they cast into the publick Urn. What is the Importance of this New Name we will know when we have found out whose Name it is whether of him who gives it or of him who receives it
say we will not consider this as any true Motive to the receiving of Christ Because it is neither sufficient nor reasonable and he who embraceth Christ upon no other grounds than this his Religion is little to be valued or regarded Neither is it matter of wonder that such an one yield to the prevailing Tentations of Sin and refuse compliance with the Precepts of a strict and holy Living especially when he perceives them fallen into desuetude and that Vice and Ungodliness are more commonly practised for he that in these things hath no other Reason or Motive than the Custom and Fashion of the place he lives in will no doubt be still carried away with the Tide But what a shameful and unworthy a thing is it to be guided and directed in Matters of so great moment only by the Practice of others and the Custom of the place we live in The Apostle St. Peter commands us to be always ready to give an answer to every man who asketh a reason of the hope that is in us And truly it is a very slender and poor one when we have no other but that we were so Educated and that this Faith and Religion were professed and in fashion where we were Born and Bred. Indeed it is no small Happiness to be Born within the Church and under the light of the Gospel and among those who may educate us in the Christian Faith because hereby we have an early occasion of acquainting our selves with those great and important things which concern our Eternal Salvation And therefore we have always good reason to bless God for these excellent Advantages of our Birth and Education without which it 's like we should have never come to the true Knowledge of Christ. But yet this doth not excuse us from a reasonable Enquiry and Search into the Truth and Grounds of the Christian Faith when we come to Age and the Years of Discretion we should be ashamed to pin our Faith upon our Grand-mother's Sleeve we ought to fix it on a better bottom than mere Education we should search into the Grounds and Reasons why we should rather be of the Christian Religion than of any other and should labour to understand what Obligations are upon us to chuse Christ and none other to be our Lord and Master For unless we do this we do not act like Men our Faith is neither reasonable nor divine but unworthy both of Men and Christians and which will never endure the Shock of any Temptation That which should chiefly perswade us to profess Christ and to become his Disciples is the Consideration of his being sent from God and a serious Reflection on those undoubted Truths and irrefragable Testimonies we have received thereof Jesus Christ was foretold by the Prophets and when he was in the World God bare Witness unto him by the Appearance of Angels and several Voices from Heaven and divers other astonishing Signs he wrought many Miracles and did many things not only beyond humane reach but beyond the reach of Nature it self and he gave others Power to do the like his Death was accompanied with many amazing Wonders especially that of his Resurrection so that the World was astonished at it For Death had no Power over him for he rose from the dead and appeared unto many and last of all was seen to ascend up into Heaven When he was gone what he foretold his Disciples came to pass and as they preached the Gospel which he had taught them so God gave Testimony unto them by Signs and Wonders and divers Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Ghost which followed them So that the whole World was constrained to receive and believe their Doctrine We have as great Evidence and Certainty for these things as is possible to be had and is sufficient to reason any Man into the Belief of them And by these things it doth appear that Christ is no Impostour nor the Gospel a cunningly devised Fable but a certain Divine Truth which teacheth us that God hath highly exalted Jesus Christ and given him a Name which is above every Name that at the Name of Iesus every knee should bow of things in Heaven and things in Earth and things under the Earth and that every tongue should confess that Iesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father If we believe in Christ if we own him to be our Lord it should be for these Reasons and upon these grounds otherwise our Faith is not valid This is the first and true Inducement to the receiving Christ and if we embrace him and make him our Lord for this reason because he is sent of God and hath received all Power in Heaven and in Earth then we cannot but conceive an indispensible Necessity of yielding all Obedience and Service For God hath not made him a titular Lord he hath not given Him a Name of Dominion and Power only but he hath constituted him such a Lord as must be served and obeyed and the Power and Dominion which he hath received is not nominal but real actual and effective And consequently the Subjection which is required to be given him must be something else than Words and Complements it must be more than a barren and empty Profession it must be real Deeds faithful Services and an impartial and universal Obedience to his Laws and Commands or else whatever we profess or say he will never own or acknowledge us to be his true Subjects and Servants A son honoureth his father and a servant his master if I then be a father where is my honour And if I be a master where is my fear saith the Lord by the Prophet Malachy If we do really acknowledge another to be Lord and Master we must also acknowledge our selves to be his Servants And Servants owe Obedience therefore we reproach our selves so often as we call Christ our Lord and yet refuse to obey him Our Ingenuity in calling him Lord can never appear so long as we do not heartily and readily obey him For as God speaketh in the fore-cited place Offer it now unto thy Governour will he be pleased with thee or accept thy person Try I pray you and see if any Man will be put off as thou thinkest to put off Christ when thou hast no mind to obey him Will any Prince look upon those as good Subjects who pay him no Homage and refuse him the Acts and Testimonies of their Allegiance Will any Master count him his Servant who never minds his Will but doth his own And how unreasonable then art thou not to serve and obey him whom thou callest and believest to be thy Sovereign Lord and Master If we be perswaded that it is necessary to receive him whom God hath sent lest we be esteemed Rebels for resisting the Ordinance of Heaven We ought also to believe and be perswaded that it is absolutely necessary to obey him for it is all one not to
not be able to escape and though they shall cry I will not hearken unto them They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord but they shall not find him he hath withdrawn himself from them Wherefore as the Apostle enjoins Let us exhort one another daily while it is called to day lest any of you be hardned with the deceitfulness of sin You that are stricken in Age will I hope readily acknowledge That it is time if ever for you to seek the Lord and mind the business of your Salvation for your time is near spent your Sun is ready to set and your Day is almost at an end The Husband-man useth to be busie when the Season is almost at a close especially if at first he has loitered and been idle And you that are young have no less Reason to fall to work quickly for though by the Course of Nature you may live a considerable time yet you know that Course may and has been often interrupted and none knows how soon this may befall him Wherefore let neither young nor old give Sleep to their Eyes or Slumber to their Eye-lids but let both young and old seek and labour with all Diligence To day saith the Holy Ghost if ye will hear harden not your hearts But to go on In the last place we have here an Encouragement to what is called for proposed from the Certainty of the Success He will come and rain Righteousness upon you In worldly things Men often seek and labour but do not obtain what they would be at But saith the Lord I said not unto the house of Iacob seek ye me in vain He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him He is sometime found of them that seek him not and therefore it is not to be doubted but he will be found of those who seek him aright and in due time It is true he is not always presently found but though he hide himself for a while he will not do it for ever and therefore we ought not to be weary but to wait patiently till we find him whom our Soul loveth Seek saith the Text till he come which requires Constancy in seeking There is need of patience to them that have done the will of God that they may receive the promise It is childish and unreasonable Peevishness to fret because we are not presently answered to desist from our Work because we do not instantly reap the Fruit thereof They make too great haste to their Doom who conclude themselves forsaken and reprobate because presently they find not God's Presence and the gracious Tokens thereof What is delayed is not denied God knoweth his Hour and waiteth till it come and so should we he putteth off to try our Faith and Constancy to exercise our Patience to quicken our Desires Be patient therefore brethren unto the coming of the Lord. Behold the Husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it until he receive the early and latter rain Be ye also patient stablish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh Jam. v. 7. Now what is the Lord to do when he comes He will saith the Text rain Righteousness upon you The Allusion to Husbandry is still continued all know how necessary Rain is to the Husbandman without it he labours and sows to no Purpose But if the Heavens rain upon him his Labours prosper he sees the Fruit thereof eats and is satisfied The Dew of Heaven is no less necessary to our spiritual Husbandry it also depends entirely on the Blessing of God without that all our labour is in vain Without me saith Christ ye can do nothing But as God giveth Rain and Snow from Heaven to water the Earth to make it bring forth and bud that it may give Seed to the Sower and Bread to the Eater so in spiritual Blessings he will not be wanting to those who are not wanting to themselves To those who would sow in Righteousness and labour to break up their fallow Ground and seek him to bless their Labours he will come and rain down Righteousness upon them that is his Grace and Spirit shall fall down like the Rain upon them whereby they may encrease and abound in all Truth and Righteousness Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after Righteousness for they shall be satisfied This is the heritage of the Servants of the Lord and their Righteousness is of me saith the Lord. But tho' our Righteousness be of God it should not make us supersede our Labours and Endeavours We must not as one saith lie loitering in the Ditch waiting till Omnipotence pull us out It 's God who causeth the Grass to grow and Herb for the Service of Man are therefore the Labours of the Husband-man useless Put thy self in the way of Grace and Grace shall be given thee Up and bestirr thy self commit thy way unto the Lord trust in him and he shall bring forth thy Righteousness as the Light and thy Iudgment as the Noon day Psal. xxxvii 56. But secondly Some understand these Words of Christ and not without Reason for he that cometh or is to come and will come are his frequent Titles in the Scripture St. Iohn the Baptist asked if he was the Christ under this Designation Mat. xi 3. And the main end of his coming was to teach and give Righteousness He is called the Lord our Righteousness Who sheweth the way of Righteousness who worketh it in us and who by the Merits of his own Righteousness hath obtained for all true Believers that their honest and sincere tho' imperfect Righteousness should be accepted of God as perfect and that they should be dealt with by him as if they were perfectly and compleatly righteous As it is written in the Old and applied by the Apostle in the New Testament Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him for righteousness and he was made sin or a Sin offering for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him that is that we heartily believing in him and as Believers heartily and sincerely obeying of him might be reputed as perfectly righteous in the Eyes of God through the Merits of his Blood who was perfectly and compleatly righteous without spot or blemish Here then is a Promise of Christ and the Benefits of him as a Saviour that they who are truly sanctified with inherent Righteousness have it imputed to them through the Merits of Christ for perfect and compleat Righteousness tho' it is not so but defective and short of that absolute Perfection which the Law requires as it is written Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect It is God that justifieth Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us Fear not little flock