Moral Law as Idolatry Oppression c. 3 Arg. That Law which stands in a direct opposition to the Law written in the heart must belong to the Old Covenant for Heb. 8.9 10. The Apostle opposing the Old and the New Covenant together makes the opposition or the New Covenants part to lye in this as one principal thing I will write my Laws in their hearts therefore the Law which stands most opposite unto this Law of the heart must bee a part yea a main part of the Old Covenant But this is the Law written and engraven in Tables of stone and that is die Moral Law And that indeed the Law written in Tables of stone doth in Pauls sense stand in direct opposition to the Law of the New Covenant written in the Tables of the heart is evident 2 Cor. 3.3 where the Apostle himself hath set these two in direct opposition each to the other 4 Arg. That Law which is a killing letter and a ministration of death and condemnation is of and belongs to the Old Covenant which is dear because the Apostle tells us it was to bee done away 2 Cor. 3.6 7. i.e. God in the first institution of it had an intent to abrogate it for future yea is done away vers 11. i.e. abrogated to beleevers now under the Gospel But now God instituted nothing with purpose and intent to abrogate it for future nor is there any thing once instituted by God now abrogated but what is of did belong to the Old Covenant therefore such must that Law bee which is a killing letter c. But this is no other but the Moral Law ergo 5 Arg. The Moral Law is expresly declared to bee a part of the Old Covenant This wee have Heb. 9.1 with vers 5. The first or old Covenant had in it both Ordinances of divine Service and the Tables of the Covenant i.e. Moral Law and Ceremonial both 6 Arg. That Law which the Apostle Paul disputes against in the seventh of the Romans is of the Old Covenant because the Apostle declares that Law that hee disputes against to bee abrogated vers 4.6 But nothing as I have said is abrogated but what is of the Old Covenant But the Law the Apostle doth there dispute against is no other but the Moral Law for hee speaks of that Law that makes discovery of sin which is the Moral Law yea makes particular mention of the last Precept of the Law Thou shalt not covet vers 7. Therefore the Moral Law as well as the Ceremonial and Political is of the Old Covenant 7 Arg. That Law which the Apostle disputes against throughout this Epistle proving that wee are not nor cannot bee justified by it is the Old Covenant as is evident because hee brings in this Allegory of Hagar and Sarah as the close of his disputationâ— strengthning all his former Arguments by it as by a most convincing demonstration to this effect Hagar the Old Covenant is commanded of God to bee cast out therefore the Law cannot justifie Now in case the Law the Apostle had been disputing against had been one thing and Hagar the Old Covenant another there could have been no conclusion these two therefore must bee one and the same But now the Law the Apostle disputes against throughout this Epistle is not the Ceremonial onely but the Moral also For 1 The Apostle disputes against that Law that the Galatians sought justification by but this was not the Ceremonial Law onely as is proved in my first Argument but the Moral also 2 The Apostle disputes against that Law which would frustrate the grace of God and render Christs death in vain in case righteousnes were attainable by it For this is one of his Arguments Chap. 2.22 I do not frustrate the grace of God c. But in case righteousness were attainable by the Moral Law it would as much frustrate the grace of God and render Christs death in vain as it could do though the same were attainable by the Ceremonial Therefore the Moral Law as well as the Ceremonial is the Law the Apostle disputes against 3 That Law the tenor whereof runs thus Do this and live is the Law the Apostle disputes against as Gal. 3.12 where the Apostle sets that Law which saith Do this and live in opposition unto Faith which is the thing hee pleads for But this is the tenor of the Moral Law Deut. 5.33 Levit. 18.5 ergo 4 That Law which pronounceth a dreadful curse and brings all those unavoidably under this curse that stand under it is the Law the Apostle disputes against as his urging the curse of the Law as a mighty Argument against justification by it Gal. 3.10 doth clearly prove But this is no other but the Moral Law ergo 5 That Law which Christs death was ordained to satisfie for the breach of it and thereby to remove the curse of it from beleevers is the Law the Apostle disputes against as vers 13. makes appear But this was the Moral Law ergo 6 That Law which is so opposite to the Promise that in case the inheritance were by it it could not bee by the promise is the Law the Apostle disputes against which his Argument urged vers 17 18. proveth But this cannot bee the Ceremonial Law which in it self carried no contrariety to the promise but maintained a sweet concurrence and harmony with the promise being indeed no other but the promise vailed the promise clad in Types and figures therefore must bee the Moral which therefore is the Law the Apostle disputes against ergo 7 That Law which was added because of transgressions and ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator is the Law the Apostle disputes against Chap. 3.19 for lest they should think that by his former Arguments hee had wholly destroyed the Law and made it uselesse he therefore brings in these words as an answer to the Question what use the Law ordained by Angels could bee put to if it could not justifie so that it is plain the Law here mentioned is the very same with that Law hee had before bent his Arguments against But the Law added because of transgressions and ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator none do or can deny to bee the Moral Law ergo 8 That Law which was a School-master to Gods people under the Old Testament to teach them duty and correct them for their faults is the Law Apostle disputes against as is clear because upon the coming of faith hee casts the School-master out of doors vers 24.25 i. e. abrogates the Law of the School-master But now the Law which was the School-master to teach Gods people under the Old Testament and correct them for their faults was not the Ceremonial Law which was unto them a help comfort and reliefe against their faults but the Moral ergo 9 And lastly That Law which requires of us that wee should love our neighbour as our selves is the Law the Apostle in this
Therefore the latter is truth also Arg. 11. If the substance of those things which are required in the Moral law are either commanded in the Gospel or promised to Gospel-times then doth the Law remaine a rule to Saints even in Gospel times But the first is true To give particular instance Doth the Law in the general require of us to love God with all our heart soul might strength and our Neighbour as our selves And doth not the Gospel every where command these things Come to the first Table Doth the first Commandement require of us to love serve obey one God and the true God Doth not the Gospel require this Doth the second Commandement require of us that wee should worship God in his own way forbidding all false Idol-worship Doth not the Gospel also do this 1 Cor. 10.20 21. 2 Cor. 6.14 15 16 17. Doth the third Commandement require sanctification of Gods Name and doth not the Gospel even this also Jam. 5.12 Doth the fourth Commandement injoyn us to keep holy the Sabbath and is not this promised to Gospel-times yea the purest times of the Gospel Eze. 44.24 and I take it for this reason the Command of the Sabbath is mentioned both in the Moral the Ceremonial and Judicial law in the Judicial law to teach us that the keeping holy one day of seven is natural in the Moral to teach us it is Moral in the Ceremonial to let us see that it is Evangelical the Ceremonial law being but the Gospel in Types and Figures Come to the second Table Doth the fifth Commandement require obedience to Superiours And have wee not the very words of it Eph. 6.2 And as for the other five wee have them all summed up together Rom. 13.9 Therefore must the Law bee a rule in Gospel-times Arg. 12. If the Moral law in the substance thereof is no other than the Law of nature then is it a rule in Gospel-times for it would bee absurd to say the Gospel sets us at liberty from the Law of nature so as that it is no sin to violate the Law of nature either by neglecting what it teacheth to do or acting what it teacheth to abhor But the antecedent is true Rom. 2.14 15. The Gentiles doing by the light of nature the things contained in the Law doth prove this that the very things of the Law are in nature the Moral law being as a written external copy of the Law of nature Therefore the consequent Arg. 13. If it bee sin in a beleever under the Gospel to do contrary to what the Moral law requires then is the Moral law a rule to him For where there is no Law there is no transgression Rom. 4.15 But who in his right wits would not say that put case a beleever should commit Idolatry blaspheme God prophane the Sabbath bee a Murderer Theese Adulterer c. that hee doth not sin if hee sin hee transgresseth a Rule and it so then the Moral Law which forbids these things is a rule to him Arg. last If Saints in Gospel-times are commanded in an especial manner to remember the Moral law then is it a rule to such in Gospel-times But the antecedent is true Mal. 4.4 why after the rising of the Sun of righteousness and Saints thriving and flourishing under his bright and warme beams are wee commanded to remember the law of Moses but to shew that that very same Moral law which was once given forth by the hand of Moses was to remain a rule to Saints even in the purest and brightest Gospel-times The conclusion is That the Moral law or the Law of the Ten Commandements doth still remaine as a rule to Saints in Gospel-times Hence it follows that by abolishing the Moral law as Hagars rule the rule of the Old Covenant we have not abolished it as a rule nor lost any iota of the substance of the Moral law but rather confirmed the whole in Sarahs the New Covenants hands In a word the summe of my Discourse hitherto about the Moral law amounts to this viz. That the Moral law is now by Christ the great King and Law-giver of his people transplanted from a more barren into a more fruitful soyle from an Old Covenant into a New and better Covenant which Covenant because it is everlasting therefor the Law being now therein is become permanent and everlasting also Yea to the end that the Law might be stable and continue for ever it was therefore necessary it should bee transplanted hither the Covenant in which it was before being as the Apostle tells us decayed and waxen old yea ready to vanish away Heb. 8. last So that wee may truly say with the Apostle Do wee make void the Law through faith God for bid nay we establish the Law 3 Hence wee may learn That the very same worke or duty for the substance or matter of it done by one may bee a Legal worke done by another an Evangelical The difference betwixt Legal and Evangelical works is not a material but a formal difference Hagars children keep the same Law and do the same works for substance that Sarahs do Hagar holds forth the Moral law to her children and saith this is my rule obey it Sarah likewise holds it forth to her children saying And this is my rule obey it So that there is no difference betwixt the seed of Hagar and Sarah as to the substance or matter of that rule they walk by for both have materially one and the same rule proposed to them and both strive and indeavor a conformity to that rule yet the action of the one is but a Legal worke the action of the other an Evangelical The reason of this difference lyes in what hath been formerly said Hagar proposeth her rule to those that are her seed as a bare rule telling them onely what is their duty and pressing them to the doing hereof by severe Threats on the one hand in case they bee found defective but in a tittle and alluring promises of reward on the other in case they prove obedient in all things to her commands but gives them no strength to walk up to that rule so as that they may either escape the evill of the threat or obtaine the good of the promise Hence Hagars Children in case they could perfectly obey yet their obedience could bee no more but a pure legal obedience that is obedience springing from themselves as the efficient cause and motive terminating in themselves as their ultimate end or to speak more plainly obedience done in and by their owne strength to and for their owne benefit either to avoyd some evil feared or procure some good desired which is properly pure legal obedience when what a man doth hee doth by himself and to himself But now Sarah though shee propose the same rule to her seed yet in a different way or manner for together with the rule shee giveth to her Children strength to keep it cutting off withall from this rule the
righteousnesse should have been by the Law but thus if there had been a Law given that could have given life hee doth not at all deny the Law as ordained to life but elsewhere as I have noted already expresly affirmes it to be a truth but the only thing he denies is the Laws giving of life the Law though ordained to life could not give it and upon this very reason the Apostle proves it not to bee against the promises because it could not give life if it could have given life it would have disanulled the promise but though it was ordained to life yet so long as it neither did nor could give this life to any Soul in was not against the promises so that indeed from the very words of the text rightly opened all the strength and force of the objection falls of it self From what hath been said it appears That the mistake of the Scribes Pharisees and the generality of the Jewes in Christs and the Apostles times in the great Article of Justification had not this for its ground viz. a looking upon Moses Covenant to be a Covenant holding forth life eternal for that was a truth and so farre they were in the right but their mistake lay in this viz. A supposition that life eternal was attaineable by it which their unacquaintednesse with the condition of this Old Covenant making it to be all one both in respect of temporal life and eternal viz. a meer literal obedience did rush them into they took the blessing of the Covenant in its full and whole extent as reaching both things temporal and eternal but the condition they halved taking that part which was most easie for them to performe and by so doing made up that most false and dangerous conclusion so much opposed by the Apostle Paul viz. That Justification and Salvation was attaineable by the works of the Law Had they rightly understood the condition upon which spiritual and eternal blessings were given forth as they did that condition which gave them a right to temporal this opinion of Self-righteousnesse would in them have dyed of it self as it did in Paul to soon as ever hee came to this understanding Rom. 7.9 10. Quest But what was the condition required for the giving forth the spiritual and eternal blessings of the Old Covenant Ans A most diligent exact and constant observance of those things that the Moral and Judicial Laws did require not only according to the Letter but the spiritual meaning of them Now that the Law as the same was the Law of the Old Covenant did require spiritual obedience as well as literal is clear from these Scriptures Deut 6.5 6. Chap. 10.12.16 Chap. 11.13 Chap. 26.16 And this Christs Exposition both of the Law Moral and Judicial Matth. 5. doth clearly hold forth for first Christ falls upon the Moral Law and spiritualizeth it shewing that the transgression of the heart in respect of any of the things commanded in that Law was as real a breach of the Law as transgression in act Then upon the Judicial Law shewing that under those Judicial Statutes which were but as the shell were contained more spiritual precepts which they stood as much obliged to if they would have righteousnesse by the Law as the other And that this was the condition of the Law for life eternal is clear because the Law pronounceth the Curse of death eternal unto all those that should not continue to doe whatsoever was written in the Book of the Law Gal. 3.10 now it was not only written in the Book of the Law thus and thus thou shalt doe but also as the fore-quoted Texts doe prove that thou shouldest doe thus and thus keep Gods Commandements Statutes Judgements with all thy heart with all thy might and with all thy soul if therefore a man did according to the Letter keep every Command which was sufficient to procure outward mercies and avert outward Judgements yet if he did not doe this constantly and that with all his heart with all his might and with all his soul i. e. perfectly hee could not bee freed from the curse of death eternal because I say so much is not done as is required in the Book of the Law This perfect obedience to the Law therefore not only according to the letter but the spiritual meaning of it and perseverance herein was the condition upon which the spiritual and eternal Blessing of the Old Covenant were given forth Now because no man living since the fall of Adam was ever able to give such obedience to the Law as it requires but all have done and doe offend against it spiritually in thought word and deed Hence the Apostle concludes no man can be justified by the works of the law Rom. 3.20 Gal. 2.16 chap. 3.11 but rather indeed all men are guilty convinced of sin and cast by it and therefore he saith By the law is the knowledge of sin and every mouth by it is stopped and all the world are become guilty before God Rom. 3.19 20. yea by the workes of the law the Curse is upon every man that stands under them Gal. 3.10 and therefore hee calls the Law or Old Covenant a killing letter a ministration of death 2 Cor. 3.6 7. and a Law of sin and death Rom. 8.2 i. e. in stead of justifying and giving eternal life it doth no other but condemn kill and inflict eternal death upon those under it which also the Apostle found true in his owne experience Rom. 7.10 for which cause he affirmes the Law or Old Covenant to be abolished for the weaknesse and unprofitablenesse thereof Heb. 7.18 19. i. e. because it was altogether unable to give eternal life to any that stood under it or to make them perfect in the businesse of Salvation and therefore there was a necessity of abolishing it and bringing in instead thereof a better hope Yet that none in this great businesse may lye under mis-apprehensions let it be here considered that this inability of the law to give life which the Apostle makes the reason of abrogating or disannulling therof did not arise from any weaknesse that was in the law it self but rather from the weaknesse of those to whom the law was given to performe what it required The law considered in its self was throughly able to have given life could they have obeyed it but the weaknesse was in them that could not by reason of the imperfection of corrupted nature obey it nor give the law it s owne termes for life Hence the Apostle Rom. 8.3 saith that the law could not justifie give eternal life c. because it was weak through the flesh the weaknesse lay not in the law it self but in man through the fall made weak corrupted and depraved and rendred altogether unable to give the law its termes but yet what the law could not give to man for himself because hee being a lump of flesh could not give it its termes it could and
from the Covenant of grace to the old Covenant of works to look for life and justification The Apostle then calls the Law Flesh So in Chap. 4 21 22 23 c. The Apostle speaking exprefly of the two Covenants the New and Old or of Grace and Works whereof one viz. the old Covenant was Hagar the bond-woman the other Sarah the free-woman he in plain language calls Hagar the bond-woman i. e. the old Covenant Flesh vers 23. and 29. So also Rom. 7.5 wee have a place pertinent to our purpose When wee were in the Flesh i.e. when wee were in or under the old Covenant and did walk by the Law as it was a rule of the old Covenant there were by the same continually occasioned risings and stirrings of sin within us here the Apostle in plaine termes calls the old Covenant Flesh as before Now that the Apostle doth here speak of the old Covenant is clear from the next verse But now we are delivered from the Law that being dead wherein we were held as if hee had said now we who are beleevers are delivered from the Law as it is a Covenant of works Why because the Covenant of works it self by which wee were held once and bound to the performance of the Law is dead What was it that wee were held by why the Law as a Covenant of works as Gal. 3.23 But before faith came wee were kept under the Law shut up unto faith which should afterwards be revealed Now that wherein we were held is dead therefore the old Covenant is that 's the meaning so that here hee speaks of the old Covenant So also in the next words that we might serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter i. e. that all our obedience which now we perform to God might be inward and spiritual according to the way of the new Covenant we are under i. e. arising from new Principles put into us new thoughts and new apprehensions of God begot within us new strength and assistance given us new ends in our working and not in that way of outward and litteral performance which was the way of the old Covenant here he speaks plainly of the old Covenant shewing the difference betwixt that obedience which that produceth and that which the new Covenant brings forth therefore what he calls Flesh in the former verse by weighing the scope can be no other but the old Covenant which he speaks of in this I could bring many other places but these may suffice to shew us that when the Law is called Flesh we are to understand the Law as it is the Covenant of Works the Law of the old Covenant which being so by legal walking in this place which the Apostle calls Flesh wee are to understand walking according to the way of the old Covenant walking after the Law as the same is a Covenant of works 2 But when may a mans walk be said to bee such a pure legal walking or a walking after the Law as it is a Covenant of Works Answ 1. When a mans obedience ariseth from and is drawn out meerly by the Law when the Law is principle motive and all in a mans obedience when a man doth this good avoyds that evil from no other principle upon no other ground or motive but because the Law saith doe the one avoyd the other There are three things in the Law which doe draw forth that obedience which is purely legal 1 There are Commands and Prohibitions in the Law commands of Holiness prohibitions of Sin 2 Threatnings of punishments 3 Promises of reward annexed to these commands and prohibitions of the Law now when I doe a thing barely because the Law commands me to doe it or promiseth me a reward in or for my doing thereof or threatneth with some penalty to be inflicted in case I neglect it and contrariwise when I forbeare a thing barely because the Law forbids it and promiseth me a reward in or for forbearing and threatens me if I doe not forbear it this obedience is purely legal and an obedience to a Covenant of works upon this score Adam in Paradise had he stood should have obeyed First there was a Prohibition Eate not then a Threatning In the day thou eatest thou shalt dye which did include in it the promise of the contrary good that in case he did not eate he then should live all which obedience of Adam's had he never fallen could have been no other but obedience to a Covenant of works he being under no other Covenant So I say Put case a man should be never so exact and punctual in his obedience labouring to walk up to every command of God and to avoyd every sin yet if the root principle or motive of this his obedience be the Law the Command the Promise and Threatning of the Law if there be no other principle or motive but the Law if the Law be the roote and rise of all though he should strive to live like an Angel pray ten times a day fast and weep and mourn for his sins till he can mourne no longer watch against and resist sin with the utmost care industry and diligence strive to bee as holy as passes yet all this his obedience would be but legal a walking after the flesh a yeilding obedience to the law as it is a covenant of works 2 When a man in all his obedience proposeth life justification salvation to himself as his end in what he doth then doth he walk legally after the Flesh and according to the rate of the covenant of works In the first making of the covenant of works with Adam in Paradise Life was proposed as his reward and had Adam stood and obeyed according to the promise and tenour of that Covenant the fruit of life would have been his end And how men did look upon the same in the renewal thereof with Moses upon Mount Sinai is very evident from the rooted principles which were in those persons with whom this covenant was made an example whereof we have in the Pharisees Scribes and others of those dayes wherein they lived who did expresly affirme and maintaine that Justification and Salvation was attaineable by the works of the Law and therefore they were so zealous for the same and gave themselves up to the observance thereof to the end they might bee justified and saved which very principle of theirs is that the Apostle both in our text and in many other places in the Romanes and Galatians calls Flesh so that a man then walks legally according to the flesh when by his obedience to the law he seeks to obtaine Life Salvation and Justification When a man because he prayes and heares and mournes and laments for his sins and strives against them maintaines an opinion in himself that because of these things God loves him that he will justifie him give him life and salvation yea that God because of these his duties his prayers
Nature for this reason legal walking may be called Flesh 3 Because of the weakness of such walking Flesh is put in Scripture for weakness so Isa 31.3 Now the Aegyptians are men and not God and their Horses Flesh and not Spirit when the Lord shall stretch out his hand both hee that helpeth shall fall and hee that is holpen shall fall downe and they all shall faile together Spirit hath strength in it but flesh without spirit is a weak thing the more any mans spirit decaies the weaker he growes Now legal walking may be called a walking after the flesh in regard of the weaknesse of those persons who walk in a legal way they are pittious poor weak Creatures there is nothing as a godly man saith in such but wishing and woulding and covenanting and promising and protesting and vexing and fretting no strength at all one day they vow they will leave their sins and the next day they run into them one day they will weep and mourn and howl for the neglect of such a duty and the next day they will neglect it again thus they tugge and pull and worry and weary themselves but are never the near nothing comes of all this they wish and would and have good desires c. but walking legally all is but flesh and flesh is weak so as that after all they are by all their toyling and labouring and the adoe they keep to mend their hearts and tame their lusts as farre from the attaining the one or the other as when they began as far from their journies end after many dayes months and years travells as when they first set out 4 And lastly Because the Flesh or unregenerate part is in a manner maintained alive by such walking my meaning is the more any man walks or acts in a legal way the more active sin is and the stronger his lusts grow and the more doth sin get ground of him As the Gospel will take an advantage to bring a Soul which walks after the Gospel to be more holy and beleeving by his very slips sins and infirmities so the Law doth take an advantage from the very outward holinesse of those who walk after the Law to make them more prophane and licentious than otherwise did they not presse after some outward holinesse and conformity to the Law they would be This the Apostle clearly teacheth us Rom. 7.8 9.10 11. Without the law sin was dead How dead what had sin no life in it till the Law came did the law put life into sin which was not in it before No not so but the meaning is that sin did not shew that livelinesse that was in it although it were there before and not begotten by the law yet till the law came up close to it it did not appear but sin lay as though it had been dead being not so vigorous and active when it saw no law to restraine it as afterwards it grew to be when it saw it self restrained by a law when sin saw the Commandement come to lay bonds upon it then sin which lay as though it had been asseep or dead revived started up and broke all the bonds of the law to peeces Saith the Law Sin I will have you bound and curbed aye but saith Sin I will not be bound and because you will goe to binde me I will stirre and act the more then the Flesh or unregenerate part accidentally gets strength by the law and therefore legal walking may well be called walking alter the flesh 4 That those persons who are freed from Condemnation being such as my text speaks of doe not walk legally or after the flesh 1 If such are dead unto and delivered from the law as it is a Covenant of works then doe they not walk after the law as such for a man cannot be said to walk after that which is both dead unto and delivered from But now those persons who are freed from Condemnation are dead unto and delivered from the law as it is a Covenant of works for this see Rom. 7.4 Wherefore my brethren yee also are become dead to the law by the Body of Christ that yee should be married to another even to him who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth fruit unto God How are Beleevers dead to and delivered from the law Not as the same is a rule of Christian life for so the Apostle afterwards speaks for it ver 12 14. Wherefore the Law is holy and the Commandement holy and just and good for we know that the law is spiritual In this sense hee consents to it vers 16. I consent unto the law that it is good yea delights in it vers 22. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man yea serves it and conformes himself thereto vers 25. So then with the minde I my self serve the law of God but as the same was a Covenant of works holding forth Life and Salvation by doing which was the very sense that those whom the Apostle in this Chapter disputes against did put upon the law and the works thereof as is clear from Acts 15.1 And certaine men which came downe from Judea taught the Brethren and said except yee be circumcised after the manner of Moses yee cannot bee saved and therefore the Apostles exclusion of the law from beleevers must needs lye in that sense which they would have inforced the same upon them viz. as a Covenant of works or as a way or means by observance of which they might obtaine life justification here and eternal salvation hereafter 2 If such have the Spirit of God in them and are led guided and governed in their waies and walkings thereby then doe they not walk after the law as a covenant of works Where is Legal walking is nothing of the Spirit because the Covenant of vvorks gives not the Spirit but now such have the Spirit of God in them Rom. 8.9 But yee are not in the Flesh but in the Spirit if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ hee is none of his and in their walkings are led and acted thereby vers 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God therefore doe not walk after the Law altering but a word or two and the Apostle from the very same premises makes my conclusion for mee Gal. 5.18 But if yee be led of the Spirit yee are not under the law 3 If the obedience of such persons be true Gospel obedience then doe they not walk after the law as a Covenant of works for then their obedience should be legal obedience to a Covenant of works being legal But the first is true as I prove thus either there is no Evangelical obedience in the world or if there be it must be found in those who are not freed from condemnation in those that are that there is Evangelical obedience none
same our Rule under the Gospel for look what Christ as our common Person did actively without us in obeying the law of God that for the kind is by his Word and Spirit wrought and effected in time within us Christs obedience to the Law doth not free us from obedience in the same kind but in the same way or degree Christ obeyed the Law as it was a Covenant of works and obeyed it perfectly now for so much as relates to the way or degree of obedience Christs active obedience hath freed us from but not from obedience in the same kind as for example Christ prayed this doth not free us from prayer Christ repented this doth not free us from Repentance Christ was thankful to his Father this don't free us from thankness Christ was meek lowly patient humble Self-denying submissive to his Fathers will this doth not free us from the like Duties and Qualifications it frees us that we are not bound to performe these things perfectly or in the way of a Covenant of works but not at all from the things themselves but rather the obligation is greater by how much we have not only the law but Christs Life which is the pattern of ours as Mat. 11.29 Heb. 12.1 2 3. 1 Pet. 2.21 22 23. Ephes 5.1 2. obliging us hereunto Argum. 6. If the Moral Law in the substance of it is no other than the law of Nature then is it a Rule in Gospel-times for it would be absurd to say the Gospel sets us at liberty from the law of Nature so as that it is no sin to violate Natures law to neglect that which Natures law teacheth to doe and to doe that Natures law teacheth to abhor and the first is true Rom. 2.14 15. For when the Gentiles which have not the law doe by nature the things contained in the law these having not the law are a law unto themselves which shew the work of the law written in their hearts c. the Gentiles doing by nature the things contained in the Law shewing us that the very things of the law are in nature the Moral law it is only a written external copy of the law of Nature Argum. 7. If it be a sin and offence in Beleevers under the Gospel to doe contrary to what the Moral law requires then is it a Rule to them for where there is no Rule can bee no offence where is no law is no transgression But who in his right wits would not say that put case a beleever should commit Adultery blaspheme God prophane the Sabbath bee a Murderer Thief Adulterer c. that he doth not sin if he sin hee transgresseth a Rule and if so then the Moral Law which forbids these things is a Rule to him Argum. 8. If Saints in Gospel-times are bid in an especial manner to remember the Moral Law then is it a Rule in Gospel-times But the antecedent is true Mal. 4.4 Remember the law of Moses my Servant which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel with the Statutes and Judgements In vers 2. he speaks of Christs appearing in the glory and lustre of his Righteousness with his bright Sun-beams in the Gospel and of the Saints imbracing of his light and flourishing under it and after all bids them remember the law of Moses why after this discovery of these things doth he call upon them to remember the law of Moses but to shew that the Moral Law given by Moses though not as given by him should remaine a Rule to Saints in the purest and brightest Gospel-times therefore the consequent 2 Though the Moral Law is a Rule yet only as it is in the hand of Christ That it is not a Rule to beleevers under the Gospel as given by Moses is clear 1 Because as such they are as hath been shewed dead to it and it is dead to them therefore cannot be their rule 2 Then their obedience should be a fruit of fear for in Moses's hand it came with terrour in Thundring and Lightning to beget fear and accordingly in those who were under the same did produce it But now the obedience of Saints under the Gospel is not a fruit of fear but of faith Luke 1.74 75. That hee would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies might serve him without fear in holinesse and righteousnesse before him all the daies of our life 2 Tim. 1.7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of power of love and of a sound minde 3 Then beleevers must unavoydably be under a curse Gal. 3.10 For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a Curse for it is written Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to doe them It is not said as many as are under the reigning or condemning power of the Law but the Works of the Law if a man be but under the mandatory power of the law as given by Moses he is under a curse 4 Then should a Beleever be bound over to personal performance of what the law requires I prove it thus Whatsoever the Law saith i. e. as given by Moses it saith to them that are under the law Rom. 3.19 Now wee know that what thing soever the law saith it saith to them who are under the law But the law saith do all this do it in thine own person therefore if a Beleever be under it as such he is bound to personal performance and if so how will he escape condemnation seeing in his own person he cannot according to the obedience it requires obey the same 5 Then Beleevers should be under the commands of a Covenant of works for the law in Moses's hand was a Covenant of works for it is set in direct opposition to grace Rom. 6.14 For sin shall not have dominion over you for yee are not under the law but under grace which could not bee were it not a Covenant of works and it requires works for justification as doth the Covenant of works Gal. 3.10 6 Then their obedience should bee Legal not Evangelical for obedience to a Covenant of works can bee no other 7 Beleevers are under the command of the New Covenant and therefore the commands of Moses being the commands of the Old are not their Rule But now this Law as it is in Christs hands is a beleevers Rule Quest But how or in what way are wee to conceive of the Law as it comes in the hands of Christ Answ This is the great Question without opening wherof all we have hitherto said comes to nothing For answer therefore hereunto we shall consider how the Law came in the hand of Moses when it came as the Rule of a Covenant of works which opened will help us in the consideration of the other how it comes in Christs hand as it is our Gospel rule If you would know how the Law came in Moses
Fiddle my Pot and Tobacco-pipe singing and making merry and jovial and behold that very sin then committed it thrust a spear into the side of Christ O vile creature therefore that I was that ever I did thus the other day I sat dressing and trimming and pricking up my selfe curling and laying out my haire by handfulls three houres together and altogether neglected prayer c. and now I see that sin wounding Jesus Christ The other day I was with my Queans in such a corner c. railing at these Round-heads Independents Sectaries c. and now I see this also wounding Jesus Christ The other day I was speaking evill of my brother grudging against him proud arrogant c. and now I see this piercing the side of Jesus Christ 2 By bringing a pardon in hand to the soul looking upon Jesus Christ brings a pardon in hand to the soule Now a man being convinced of sin and then his sin aggravated to the highest and then a pardon brought this will breake his very bea rt for his sinne to thinke that eyer hee should do thus When a man comes to thinke thus I am the vilest sinner that hath been in all the Country O but yonder Christ hee hath been pierced for my sins and behold I see him And to assure mee that hee is pierced for my sinnes behold God the Father through the wound that was made in his side hath given mee an Acquittance and here I have my pardon in hand which though it hath cost mee nothing yet Christ hath paid dear for it and thinking and beleeving thus hee reflects upon himselfe and his sinnes and his heart melts all into tears and O saith the soule that ever I should do thus that ever I should do thus and now it calls it selfe Wretch and Foole and Devil it hath walked so towards God and it is so incensed against his sinnes that were they flesh and blood to bee fought with as wee fight with men it would presently try its life with them 4 By assuring him of a Crown and Inheritance that God hath laid up for him The Soule lookes upon Christ as pierced and as it is convinced of sinne hath sinne aggravated and a pardon brought So also by looking upon Christ it hath assurance given it of a Crowne it shall one day enjoy O saith the soule now I behold that very thing viz. my sinne which kept mee from enjoying of a Crowne and Kingdome Christ hath taken it away A Crowne from all Eternity was prepared for mee and nothing is in the way to keepe mee from possessing of it but this I have been a filthy sinfull and a foolish creature and have both forfeited my Crowne to Gods Justice and given the same to the Devil But behold yonder Jesus Christ hath bought this Crowne againe for mee satisfying Gods Justice and by force hath taken the same from the Devil and hee gives it mee freely though hee hath paid his dearest blood for it When the soule looks upon this and considers the infinite love of Christ in it and its wretchedness that it should cause Christ to suffer thus much it is even melted and broken to peeces The most effectual means to kill and subdue Sin One SERMON on 1 John 2.1 If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous IN the former Chapter the Apotle laies before Beleevers that plenteous Redemption that is in Jesus Christ and the precious vertue and merit of his Bloud to cleanse poor Sinners from their sins vers 7. But if wee walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the bloud of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin and also what riches of pardoning grace and mercy are in God to poor sinners In the first verse of this Chapter hee makes use of these things to stirre up to holinesse of life and modification of sin in all Beleevers These things write I unto you that you sin not as if he should say I doe not write these things that now you might live as you lift and sin boldly because Christs Bloud is so efficacious and Gods Grace so free no nothing lesse but I write these things that from such considerations you might be more provoked to holinesse of life and the mortification of sin in you the end of these discoveries and the use you should make of them is purity not prophaneness holinesse not licentiousnesse These things write I that you sin not By the way observe two things Obser 1. That the end of Gospel Revelation is to keep men from sin 1 John 3.8 He that committeth sin is of the Devil for the Devil sinneth from the beginning for this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil Acts 26. â—â— To open tâ—eir eyes and to turne them from darknesse to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgivenesse of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me Rom. 8.3 4. For what the Law could not doe in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his owne Son in the likenesse of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousnesse of the Law might bee fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit And this must needs be the end of Gospel-Revelation because 1 God sent Christ to this end Tit us 2.13 14. Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that hee might redeeme us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works 2 The Gospel is preached to this end Acts 14.15 We also are men of like passions with you and preach unto you that yee should turne from these vanities unto the living God c. 3 The Spirit is given to this end to make us holy 4 It was the end of all Gods administrations it was the end of the Legal administration Gal. 3.19 Wherefore then serveth the Law it was added because of transgressions till the seed should come to whom the promise was made c. which administration being weak and not able to doe it as Rom. 7.9 10 11. For I was alive without the Law once but when the Commandement came sin revived and I dyed and the Commandement which was ordained to life I found to be unto death for sin taking occasion by the Commandement deceived me and by it slew me Chap. 8.3 4. For what the Law could not doe in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his owne Son in the likenesse of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousnesse of the Law might bee fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spiit Heb. 7.19 For the Law made nothing perfect but the bringing of a
better hope did by the which we draw night unto God God brings in another Administration to effect that which the other could not as the above Scriptures shew Vse 1. See hence what great obligations lye upon persons living under the Gospel Administration to be holy otherwise one end of this Administration is frustrated in such If those who lived under the Law and Old Covenant had great obligations laid upon them then surely ours must needs be farre greater Vse 2. This shewes How great is their evil who take occasion from the grace of God to sin when sin took occasion from the Law it was so aggravated it became hereby exceeding sinful Rom. 7.13 let such know 1 They pervert the Gospel 2 They have never learned Christ aright Ephes 4.17 to the 22. This I say therefore and testifie in the Lord that yee henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their minde having the understanding darkned being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindnesse of their heart who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousnesse to work all uncleanenesse with greediness But yee have not so learned Christ if so be that you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus That yee put off concerning the former conversation the Old Man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts 3 It is a sad signe of Reprobation Jude 4. For there are certaine men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained to this condemnation ungodly men turning the grace of our God into lasciviousnesse and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ 4 They will daily bee more hardned in sin Acts 28.25 26 27. And when they agreed not among themselves they departed after that Paul had spoken one word well spake the Holy Ghost by Isaiah the Prophet unto our Fathers saying goe unto this people and say Hearing yee shall hear and shall not understand and seeing yee shall see and not perceive for the heart of this people is waxed grosse and their eares are dull of hearing and their eyes have they closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their eares and understand with their heart and should be converted and I should heal them 5 They will be more inexcusable Joh. 15.22 If I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had sin but now they have no cloake for their sin 6 Heathens will rise up in Judgement against them 7 Their Condemnation will be just Rom. 3.8 And not rather as we be slanderously reported and as some affirme that we say Let us doe evil that good may come whose damnation is just Greater than others Joh. 3.19 And this is the Condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darknesse rather than light because their deeds were evil Obser 2. That the discovery of the grace of God in the Gospel towards sinners is the most effectual means of killing and subduing sin Reason I meane Carnal reason makes us beleeve that this opens a Floud gate to all licentiousnesse and hence the wise men of the World lay the prophanenesse and lewdnesse of persons living where the grace of God is preached upon the back of Gods Free Grace as if the preaching of that to Sinners were the cause why Drunkards Swearers Sabbath-breakers live as they doe and hence they say No wonder Hearers are so prophane when their Teachers have found out such a sweet and easie way to Heaven but the Holy Ghost condemnes this opinion of Humane Wisdome as scandalous to the Grace of God yea altogether false and untrue and tells us that there is no such way in the world to curbe sin to change the hearts and lives of sinners as is this preaching of the Free Grace of God and therefore the Apostle having revealed the Grace of God presently saith These things I write that you sin not as if he should say if there be any Doctrine in the world will mortifie sin keep you from it it is this that I have written to you I know no more powerful and efficacious means than this is and therefore I have written these things for this very end and purpose that those sins which lived and reigned in you formerly might now hereby be slaine and mortified This likewise the Apostle teacheth us Rom. 6.14 For sin shall not have dominion over you for yee are not under the Law but under Grace as if he should say Whilst you were under the Law sin reigned in you and were you still under the same sin would reigne in spite of you but now saith he you are not under the Law but under grace and therefore sin shall not reigne over you Grace will curb and kill it though the Law could not doe it So likewise Titus 2.11 12. For the grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodlinesse and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world As if hee should say doe not say because the Grace of God appears and is preached in the world to poor Sinners therefore men will be prophane and live in all ungodlinesse no no the grace of God teacheth all those who hear and receive the same another lesson to deny ungodlinesse and worldly lusts whereas before they were as others Drunkards Adulterers c. now they deny these things and are by hearing and embracing the Grace of God become professed enemies to what before they loved So that you see the preaching of Grace it is no enemy but a real friend to holinesse of life and conversation it is so farre from giving life thereto that it quite kills and destroyes sin I shall give you a Reason or two why the Grace of God is so effectual a means of the subduing of sin I Because the Grace of God it begets a kind of Spiritual ingenuity in the Soul of that sinner that hears and receives the same The more ingenuity a man hath he is of the more yeelding nature to those things which in themselves are good just and honest an ingenuous man is more inclinable to be drawne to things which are Naturally and Morally good than another man is you may work more upon an ingenuous nature with a word than you can upon another with threats or blowes Now Grace makes a man ingenuous it first puts a Principle of ingenuity in him which being put in hee is now more easily led to whatsoever the Grace of God commands him and from whatever the Grace of God forbids him A stubborne Childe must be cudgelled to doe what his Father would have him doe or avoyd what hee would have him forbear but an ingenuous Childe is led with a word speaking Grace makes a wilde and untamed nature to bee an ingenuous pliable nature and therefore a man being now made Spiritually ingenuous no sooner doth
Grace say to him goe but he goes come but he comes doe this avoyd that but he doth the one and avoyds the other The Law doth not put such a Principle of ingenuity in a man and therefore persons under the same one day they are threatned another day they feele the Whip and Rod for their sins another while they resolve vow and covenant they will sin no more and yet still they goe in the old track they sin and vow and vow and sin and all because there is not a spiritual ingenuity wrought in them as Grace works in all those that hear and receive the same but now Grace that makes a man so ingenuous that considering what God hath done for poore Sinners what Christ hath suffered to take away sin how free and willing God is to receive him make him a Son and Heir here give him Heaven and glory hereafter he would not now lye swilling and sweltering in his old sins and lusts though hee might the Soul needs not now to vow and covenant a twelve month together against such and such sins it is addicted unto no but it hears the voyce of Gods grace telling it what Christ hath done for it how willing God is to pardon all his sins and bidding it doe this avoyd that and presently it is made inclinable to obey the voyce of Gods grace what saith Paul Rom. 6.1 Shall we sin because grave doth abound no God forbid we have more ingenuity in us than to doe thus because God loves us and is willing to pardon cur sins here and to glorifie us hereafter shall we therefore doe what we can to grieve him to offend and trouble him no God forbid we are more ingenuous than so nay we cannot doe it our very hearts are against it and our souls hate and abhorre the thoughts of it we would not for a world bee found to require the Lord thus So 2 Cor. 5.13 14 15. For whether we be besides our selves it is to God or whether we be sober it is for your Cause for the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that if one dyed for all then were all dead and that he dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which dyed for them and rose again As to say whether we be mad or sober judge of us as you please yet have wee so much ingenuity as to judge thus that if Jesus Christ dyed for us we should now live to him if he came and purchased an everlasting life for us our ingenuity makes us reason that it is a fit thing that we should live this our temporal life to him and consecrate it wholly to his service What is the reason that many a poor Soul sits all the week long at the Ale-pot Sweares and Whores and yet now and then he vowes and resolves against such courses and yet cannot for his heart and bloud as we say leave them but the Law when hee hath done such things whips and stings him and this hardens him whereas did but such a poor Soul see that he is by Jesus Christ delivered from wrath to come freed from the Law Sin and Satan did but God let him to see the hope of his calling and what a happy and blessed estate hee is by Christ brought into there would bee such an ingenuity wrought within him that hee needs not vow and covenant to bee Drunk and Swear and Whore no more no but his heart would abhor to deal so basely and unworthily with a God so infinite rich in love and abounding in Grace and mercy towards him 2 Because the grace of God it hath more full and clear precepts to holinesse than the Law hath the Law that hath ten Commands but the grace of God that hath many hundred Spiritual commands wherein it injoynes spiritual obedience and newness of life and then the commands of grace they are as more so of a more spiritual nature whatsoever the Law commands Natures light teacheth and a man may by Natures light convince a man of these things but now the precepts of grace are spiritual and supernatural such as a Natural man by Natures light cannot perceive The precepts of grace are called the things of the Spirit l Cor. 2. Which the Natural man cannot perceive but they are foolishnesse unto him because they are spiritually discerned Where the grace of God is preached and received there doth the Spirit of God goe who is a teaching Spirit and teacheth the Soul infinite more commands and with more clearness and demonstration doth it discover truth than any Natural or Moral man by his Natural light or study of the Law can ever finde out the Law discovers to a man the outward actions of sin and forbids these but when grace comes with its precepts it makes discovery of the first risings motions stirrings and concupiscence of these things in the Soul and forbids these and hence by reason that the grace of God or the Doctrine of the Gospel for that I understand by the grace of God all along hath more full higher and more Spiritual instructions than any the Law hath makes further discoveries of sin than the Law barely considered can doe it comes to passe that it is the most effectual means of killing and subduing sin 3 Because there is a power in grace for the subduing and killing of sin The Apostle tells us 2 Cor. 3. that the Law it is a killing letter that is it is only a bare letter without any power bidding us to doe this and avoyd that but contributes no assistance to us yet tells us if wee doe not obey it we shall be damned and so it is a killing letter that is to us it kills us instead of killing our sins but now the Gospel gives life that doth not only command but giveth power to doe and so is a word of life So Heb. 12. hee calls the Law a voyce of words for the same reason because it did command and forbid things under the penalty of Death and Damnation and it saw the poor Creature to bee weak and altogether unable to doe either the one or the other and yet gave him no power at all and so was only a terrible voyce of words to him The Law as one saith it doth teach just as the Commandements written upon the walls doe a poor man comes in and reads them over and yet his heart is never the warmer never the more fit to obey any of them because he reads them there but now the Gospel on the grace of God that brings power along with it a poor Soul which before lived in sins and thought it impossible that ever hee should leave them or have them subdued now findes a power within him killing and subduing those sins of his hence it is called The power of God unto salvation Rom. 1.16 4 Because a Soul never comes to see sin in its proper colours until the grace
resolution too but sayest thou well yet sin I will overcome thee then thou fallest to praying thy selfe against it and gettest others to pray for thee and runnest to this Minister and the other and â—readest thy case before him and askest his advice what thou shouldest do in it notwithstanding all this thine own endeavours or any help they can afford thee thy sin is still too strong for thee well then When there is no other way thou knowest left thou fallest to keeping of Fasts makest vows and covenants and doest as good as swear to the Lord of heaven and earth that henceforth thou wilt bee as godly as passes and never sin against him more nor do as thou hast done and then it may bee before two dayes or a week come at an end thou breakest all and art now in a worse case than ever and even at thy wits end O poor souls This is the way you go in to get holinesse to have your sins mortified and this is the fruit of it after all your striving and strugling tugging and pulling to fetch your sins out by head and ears they abide there still and the reason is because you go about it in a way of working whereas you should look for all from Grace and so study the Grace of God more Sin it is like Sampson binde them with ever so many iron fetters of the Law it will snap them all to peeces Though in some these fetters chain sin which is because sin is willing to bee chained that so hereby they may bee lulled asleep in a good opinion of themselves and thereby deceive their owne souls yet others whom God out of love will not suffer to bee gulled in this manner finde it otherwise they see and know by woful experience that all these fetters are but like so many twine threads bind a Lion with a twine thread and what doe you you were as good and better sit still and doe nothing for he will but tear and rent you the more So sin by all this doth but rage the more The Apostle excellently sets this forth Rom. 7.8 9 10 11. But sin taking occasion by the Commandement wrought in mee all manner of concupiscence for without the Law sin was dead For I was alive without the Law once but when the Commandement came sin revived and I dyed and the Commandement which was ordained to life I found to be unto death for sin taking occasion by the Commandement deceived me and by it slew me Sin taking occasion Sin made an advantage of the Commandement to bee more insolent Without the Law sin was dead Sin lay still and did not shew that livelinesse which was in it till the Commandement came to restraine it and then it began to bestir it self the Commandement would have laid bonds upon it then sin which lay asleep and as it were dead before gets up saith the Commandement you shall be curbed and bound nay but saith Sin I will not be bound saith the Commandement you shall not doe thus nay but saith Sin I will doe it and the more because you say I shall not Therefore poor Soule hast thou been toyling and sweating and tiring thy self with thy Vowes and Covenants one year after another to master thy sins and is all hitherto to no purpose then poor Soule take another way for hitherto thou hast been out of the way labour to get a sight of the rich grace of God to poor sinners and then thy heart will from a holy ingenuity say What is there such abundance of grace in God to poor sinners is hee willing to pardon me a poor Sinner give mee Heaven and make mee blessed for ever and shall I bee such a Wretch as to nourish such a deadly enemy to him in my bosome as this my sin is O no no I le never bee so base and unworthy and deal so ungratefully with so good a God I tell thee poor Soule that such considerations as these are will more weane thy heart from sin and beget a hatred thereof within then ever all the thunderings or terrors of the Law either will or can doe The Advocateship of Jesus Christ a great ground of the Saints comfort and support under sins and infirmities IN One SERMON on 2 Joh. 2.2 If any man sin wee have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous THe last opportunity I read these words unto you but was then besides my own intention when I pitched on them taken up in the way that nothing was spoken to them I come now to the words wherein the Apostle seems to prevent an Objection which some poor soules from what hee had said before would bee ready to make thus Object You tell us that these precious Gospel-truths which now have been declared to us are revealed for this very end that wee should not sin if so what will become of us who have heard these things over and over and yet still do what wee can wee fall into sin and are ever and anon overcome thereby sure wee are of all most miserable wee are undone for ever Answ If any man sin wee have an Advocate with the Father as if hee should say Poor soul wouldest thou not sin because the Grace of God is so free and yet doest thou sin For all this bee not discouraged do not throw away all thy hope for put the case wee do sin yet there is remedy Wee have an Advocate with the Father In the words wee have 1 The SVPPOSITION of anevill If any man sin which wee are not to understand as though the thing spoken in way of supposition were a thing which might possibly bee or not bee for it is not so the thing is a certaine thing that every man doth sin none is or can whilst hee is here bee exempted from sin and so indeed it is not a supposition or a thing supposed to bee but a thing which really is As if the Apostle should say Well grant it that you sin for there is none in this world exempted from sin any man may sin as well those which are Fathers as you which are children it is not said have sinned but do sin relating as well to sin pre sent and yet to come as sin past 2 The prescription of A REMEDY and that is Christ Jesus our Advocate and Propitiation Wee have an Advocate with the Father or rather these words are laid down as a bottome or foundation for the faith comfort and support of poor Saints against and under all their sins and infirmities Of the first viz. the evil supposed Doct. The best and dearest of Gods children are not priviledged from sin whilst they are here Sin is a leprosie that cleaves to us all more or lesse whilst wee are in this world Wee never read of a Saint so holy in Scripture but look him over and wee shall finde some spot upon him here or there Noah Abraham David Peter Paul none of them were without their
because Ishmael was borne of the Bond-woman who had no absolute right and could therefore convey none to her seed but Esau of Rebecca who was a Free-woman had a right to convey which Esau despiseth Upon this Principle another follows viz. That carnal and slighty Gospel professors of which Esay was a Type doe prove to bee worse and more vile than meer legalists of which Ishmael was a Type for observe Esau having despised his Birth-right degenerates into a prophane person Heb. 12.16 but Ishmael not so for after that he was cast out of his Fathers Family hee was yet very strict as I shall shew hereafter By what wee have said it is now clear enough that the Moral Law as it is Sarahs Law the Law of the New Covenant so it is not to bee cast out because it belongs to the Free-woman who must not be rejected But for so much of the Moral Law as belongs to Hagar i. e. is a part of the Old Covenant and not brought by Christ into the New all that is to be cast out for it belongs unto the Bond-woman and what saith the Scripture Cast out the bond-woman c. From this double consideration of the Moral Law as it is the Law of Hagar the Old Covenant and as it is the Law of Sarah the New several useful lessons doe arise 1 Hence we may learne how to reconcile such Scriptures as seeme to have opposition and contradiction in them about the Law as namely Rom. 7. where the Apostle tells us vers 4. Wee are dead to the Law and vers 6. delivered from the Law yet saith vers 12. The Commardement is holy just and good vers 14. The Law is spiritual vers 16. I consent saith he to the Law that it is good vers 22. I delight in the Law of God after the inner man vers 25. with my minde I my selfe serve the Law of God How may we reconcile these doth not the Apostle speak contradictions Not so for in verses 4.6 hee treats of the Law as it is the Law of Hagar the Old Covenant and so he saith we are dead to it delivered from it in the following verses he treats of the Law as it is the Law of Sarah or of the New Covenant and so hee calls it spiritual holy just and good consents to it delights in it serves it c. So Gal. 2.19 I through the law am dead to the law i.e. the Law hath set mee wholly free from the Law Is not this a contradiction No for the Apostle speakes of the Law under its twofold consideration as it is the Law of the old Covenant and as the Law of the New and so his meaning is this I through the Law through receiving embracing or having to doe with the Law as it is the Law of the New Covenant am dead to the Law that is am set wholly free from the Law and have nothing to doe with it as it is the Law of the Old Of the like interpretation are those words Rom. 8.2 For the Law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death i.e. By the Law of the New Covenant or the Law as it is the Law of the New Covenant which the Apostle calls the Law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus because the New Covenant-ministration is a ministration of the Spirit a ministration that giveth life 2 Cor. 3.6.8 and hath Christ for the Mediator of it Heb. 8.6 chap. 9.15 chap. 12.24 and the Bloud of Christ as the seal or ratification of it Heb. 9.16 17 18. I am freed or delivered from the Law as it is the Law of the Old Covenant which as such is called A law of sin and death because sin is discovered by the Law of the Old Covenant but not mortified by this discovery but rather enlivened and the soul findes it self inwardly more provoked to it Rom. 7.5 7 8 9 10 11. Hence the discovery of sin which is by the Old Covenant not killing sin but rather making it to increase it consequently kills the soul and so it becomes a Commandement unto deaths a law of death a ministration of death 2 Corinth 3 7. So also Rom. 6.14 the Apostle speaking of Beleevers saith We are not under the law but under grace yet 1 Cor. 9.21 speaking of himselfe who was a Beleever he saith he was under the Law to Christ Are not these contradiction No because in the first place the law is spoken of as it is the Law of the Old Covenant administred by Moses so Beleevers in Gospel-times are not under it in the latter the Law is spoken of as it is the Law of the New Covenant administred by the Lord Jesus so Paul himself and all Beleevers who are willingly subject to Christ are also willingly subject to his Law Againe 1 Tim. 1.9 it is said The law is not made for a righteous man i. e. the righteous person is one that hath nothing to doe with the Law nor the Law with him so that in effect the Law is made voyd to him it is to him as though it were nothing and he to it as though there were no Law in the world yet Rom. 3. last it is said Doe wee make voyd the law through faith nay we establish the law what may we judge of these expressions The answer is still what I have said The Apostle in the former place confiders the Law only as it is the Law of the Old Covenant in which respect he saith it is not made for the righteous man i. e. he hath nothing to doe with it he is not under it in the latter only as it is the Law of the New Covenant and in this respect the preaching of faith doth not nul the Law to the Beleever but doth rather establish it as I am coming to shew Thus we see how this distinction about the Moral Law both doth and will bring all those opposite Scriptures which concern the Law to a sweet concord and harmony one with another 2 Hence wee may learne That the Moral Law doth still remaine as a rule to Saints even in Gospel-times for mark it the Moral Law is Sarahs Rule as well as Hagars now though Hagar the Servant in Gospel-times is an outcast yet Sarah the Mistris still remaines in the Family and governes there The Moral Law therefore as it is Sarahs Rule remaines in as full force even in Gospel times as ever Now because some not understanding this distinction have weakly and unadvisedly cast the Moral Law wholly out of doores as being a thing of no use to Beleevers under the New Testament as there are others that hand over head will bring it in I shall therefore establish this Position that the Moral Law is yea must bee a Rule to Saints even under the New Testament and that by these following Arguments Arg. 1. If the coming of Christ doth not destroy the Law as a Rule but
threat of death in case of disobedience and the promise of life upon condition of obedience by assuring her seed in giving forth this rule unto them that they are already most certainly freed from death and possessed of life and that therefore shee gives not forth this rule unto them to bee as a way or meanes through the observance of which they may escape the one or obtaine the other but only as a declaration of their Fathers will and their duty that by it they may bee instructed how they ought to walk and to please God Hence the obedience of Sarahs Children so farre as they are subject to their Mother Sarah only receiving their Law out of her hand is pure Gospel obedience i. e. obedience springing from the Spirit of Christ dwelling in them as the principal efficient cause from love and thankfulness to-their Father as the moving cause from an earnest desire that their Father might have some service from them and glory by them as the final cause and this is pure Gospel obedience when God is Agent Motive and End in all we doe 4 Hence wee may learn That a true Beleever as he doth not expect life and salvation from his obedience to the Law so should hee not fear death and condemnation either by his falling short in obedience or by his disobedience This Position will sound harsh in some cares and be accounted a leavened Principle but doe but observe how naturally it flowes from what hath been laid downe and proved for if the promise of life and salvation upon condition of obedience and the threat of Death and Condemnation to the disobedient bee proper to the Law as Hagars Law and if the Law as Hagars Law be now cast out then hath a Beleever nothing to doe with the Law as it is a law promising life to the obedient or threatning death to the disobedient and if so then cannot he expect life and salvation from it though hee should obey it nor need hee fear death though hee disobey it This necessarily follows that which hee hath nothing to doe with is dead to delivered from c. hee can neither expect good no nor fear evil from But the Law as Hagars Law hee hath nothing to doe with is dead to it delivered from it therefore he can neither expect good nor need he fear evil from it Obj. But it will be said Such a principle as this dâ—th open a wide gap to all manner of licention nesse Ans Not so but contrariwise it is co a gracious heart the most powerful motive and the greatest help that can bee to holinesse for as there is nothing moves such a one so strongly as doth this perswasion upon the heart that whatsoever it hath is of the free love of God only and that this love is such as that nothing can separate from it so nothing affords the Soule more firme help and reliefe against sin and temptations to sin than doth the knowledge and assurance of this that sin and temptation though it should conquer cannot condemn for so long as the Soul looks upon a possibility of being condemned by sin if vanquished by it he is in continual fear and therefore whensoever hee findes the motions of sin or temptations to sin stirring in himself hee presently grows weak and faint through this fear I shall bee vanquished and so condemned and as a fainting man is not in a capability to stand up against an enemy assaulting him with full strength so this fainting Soul whose strength through fear is gone before it is assaulted sinkes downe presently under the assault and is without any great resistance made a captive to that thing it hates which thing the Apostle Paul had large experience of in himself when hee said Sinne taking occasion by the Commandement wrought in mee all manner of concupiscence for without the law sin was dead for I was alive without the law once but when the Commandement came sin revived and I dyed and the Commandement which was ordained to life I found to bee unto death for sin taking occasion by the Commandement deceived me and by it slew me Rom. 7.8 9 10 11. But now when a Soul apprehends this that Hagars condemning Law hath nothing to doe with him and can from the clear knowledge of this say beleevingly to sin and temptation when hee feeles it beginning to stirre O sin O temptation though I should now yeeld to thee which is the thing thou wouldest have yet know this that thou shalt never condemn me which is the thing thou seekest hereby he doth as I may say disanimate the strength of sin and temptation and mightily encourageth himself and so adds to his owne strength that whereas be ever before encountred sin with disadvantage hee doth now encounter it with advantage and fights with the greatest resolution that can bee and without faint-heartednesse which faint-heartednesse comes in by the doore of this fear if I am conquered I am undone but if this fear be removed from the heart and the Soul once throughly perswaded of this my condition doth not depend at all upon the event of this Combate but whether I conquer or am conquered that is the same then shall it finde its hands made strong to fight and its heart also mightily resolved Such a state or condition as this I am speaking of there is but it is knowne only of those whom God hath brought out of Hagars School and who are in the School of Sarah my meaning is such as God hath enlightned to see and enabled to receive in the love of it this blessed truth that rigid servile Hagar is an out-cast and hath no longer rule over them having neither punishments to inflict nor rewards to bestow upon them but milde and loving Sarah is their only Mother and hath the sole government of them whose Children though they may be corrected with gentle rebukes yet can they never become out-casts and bee disinherited as Hagars may Till wee come into Sarahs Schoole we cannot learn this lesson yea Sarahs Children whilst they continue in Hagars Schoole will be offended at it Thus we have done with the First Question viz. what we are to understand by the Old Covenant I come now to the Second viz. Quest 2. What kind of Covenant this Old Covenant is Ans This is indeed the knotty Question and if there be any peece of the Doctrine of the Covenants that seemes to have perplexing difficulties in it this is it Before I can deliver my thoughts hereof positively it is necessary that something bee laid downe Negatively in opposition to that common principle which holds this Old Covenant to bee a Covenant of Grace and to differ from the New only in respect of administration so making the Old and the New not to be two diverse Covenants but two administrations of one and the same Covenant the one more dark the other more clear but the Covenant to bee for substance the same and
the performance of some external duties stand thou by too thou hast not in-being in Christ Rom. 2.28 29. For hee is not a Jew which is one outwardly neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh but hee 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 Object But though I have not in-being in Christ Is there no hope for a soul in this condition Answ No there is no hope for thee in this condition that is continuing in this condition but mistake not there is hope thou mayest yet come to Christ and so come out of this condition and so though for the present thou hast not in-being in Christ yet possibly by coming to Christ thou mayest have it and then there is hope for thee I say Soul which soever of these conditions is thine there is hope thou mayest come to Christ and then there is hope Art thou a prophane sinner read 1 Tim. 1.15 Mark 3.28 Art thou a persecutor so was Paul Art thou a moral man so was Nicodemus Art thou an outward professor onely and so an hypocrite indeed read Isa 65. vers 2. compared with the 5. Therefore I say poor soul though there is no hope for thee in this condition thou hast not at present in-being in Christ and so art under condemnation yet hope there is thou mayest come out of it and bee freed from condemnation What Legal walking is SERMON III. Rom. 8.1 Who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit HAving already spoken from this Text to the Saints priviledges viz. Freedome from condemnation and the rise thereof viz. In-being in Christ I now come to the last and principal thing contained in the words and that which moved mee to choose them for the subject of my Discourse having hastened over the other thing that I might come to this and that is the distinguishing character of those persons who enjoy this priviledge to bee freed from condemnation and that is Walking not after the flesh but after the Spirit Not a man nor woman in the world hath any right unto or do enjoy this blessed priviledge but those who have this character upon them of walking not after the flesh but after the Spirit There is abundance more in these words than at the first blush there seems to bee in them the marrow and sweetness of these words lyes in the breaking of the bone or in the explication of the termes what is meant by FLESH and what by SPIRIT FLESH and SPIRIT are very general termes and of a large extent in holy Scripture taking in betwixt them both all the motions actions thoughts inclinations wisdome reasoning doing of man-kinde all being either flesh or spirit there is not a thought nor an inclination nor a reasoning nor an action good or bad but it is one of these two either Flesh or Spirit In which large extent FLESH comprehends whatsoever is contrary unto or is not of the Spirit of God Whatsoever thought reasoning or action whether it be a good moral action or an evill sinful action that is contrary unto that is not of springs not from the Spirit of God that is Flesh Again SPIRIT comprehends whatsoever is contrary unto and is not of the Flesh Whatsoever imaginations inclinations wisdome reasoning righteousness that is contrary unto that is not of the Flesh that is Spirit Or as a Godly man Mr. Cradocke upon Rom. 8.4 as it seems to mee doth better express it though in substance the same with what is spoken thus Flesh saith hee that takes in whatsoever is of old Adam Spirit whatsoever is of new Adam These two Adams being as hee saith the two roots beginnings beings or principles from whence all the motions proceedings actions wisdome righteousnesses of mankinde do flow and further as hee saith as two springs in a hill do convey their streams to two Rivers so these are the springs from whence arise all the thoughts purposes reasonings doings of mankinde good or bad all coming from one of these two which two were the onely publick persons that ever were in the world either Adam in Paradise natural Adam or the Lord Jesus Christ the spiritual Adam So that by Flesh is meant whatsoever is or comes of old Adam whether that natural or moral good which hee had before his fall some reliques of which wee partake of or that sin which hee drew upon himself and all his by the fall all is but Flesh well his natural moral wisdome and righteousness as his sin and unrighteousness is but Flesh so that all the thoughts intents reasonings wisdome doings of old Adam whether natural moral or sinfull are flesh and comprehended under the word Flesh By Spirit is meant whatsoever comes and springs from the new Adam Jesus Christ or the Spirit of Christ within what ever motion purpose thought inclination wisdome reasoning righteousness doing comes from Christ grows upon the root of Jesse that is Spirit Onely here I would exclude from Flesh and Spirit in the general sense it hath been laid down all those motions and actions which are purely natural having neither any thing of Religion nor sin in them but are in their own proper nature neither good nor evill as for mee to think or resolve whether I will do such a thing to day or to morrow there being nothing which doth necessitate or require mee to do it now rather than then or then than now to resolve whether I wil sit or stand go out of the door or stay within these and such like motions and actions in a simple consideration have neither good nor evill in them and therefore are not in the sense of the Apostle here used either Flesh or Spirit The upshot or conclusion of the matter in general is this To walk after the flesh is when a mans thoughts motions reasonings his wisdome righteousness his wayes proceedings practises run all in the very path and footsteps of old Adam either Adam in Paradise or faln Adam And to walk after the Spirit is when all these go in the path-way or steps of the new Adam Jesus Christ Thus much in the general now for a more particular inquiry into the meaning of these words of FLESH and SPIRIT I do conceive they have some reference unto what the Apostle had discoursed of in the foregoing Chapter Two things hee had been speaking of first Of the Law and Gospel shewing a beleevers liberation or freedome from the one and present station by vertue of Christs death and his marriage to Christ under the other Secondly Of the old and new man shewing that great and continual conflict that is betwixt these two in every beleever and the happy victory which beleevers in the end through the strength of Christ get over the old man the discourse of which hee continues to the very end of the Chapter Now as touching either of these it
is usual in Scripture-language to give the name of Flesh to the one and Spirit to the other The Law is called Flesh Rom. 4.1 compared with 2. What shall wee say then that Abraham our Father as pertaining to the Flesh hath found for if Abraham were justified by works hee hath whereof to glory but not before God Phil. 3.4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh if any other man thinketh that hee hath whereof he might trust in the flesh I more Comp. with the 6. v. concerning zeal persecuting the Church touching the righteousnesse which is in the Law blamelesse The Gospel is called a Spirit 2 Cor. 3.6 Who also hath made us able Ministers of the New Testament not of the letter but of the Spirit Both are together under these names or titles Gal. 3.2 3. This onely would I learn of you received yee the Spirit by the works of the Law or by the hearing of faith Are yee so foolish having begun in the Spirit are yee now made perfect by the flesh What hee calls works of the Law and hearing of faith in vers 2. hee calls Flesh and Spirit in the third Again the old man is called Flesh Gal. 5.19 Now the works of the Flesh are manifest which are these adultery fornication uncleanness lasciviousnesse c. compared with Rom. 6.6 Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might bee destroyed that henceforth wee should not serve sin The new man is called Spirit Ezek. 36.26 A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you c. both together are under these names Rom. 7. last So then with the minde I my selfe serve the Law of God but with the Flesh the Law of sin Gal. 5.17 For the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh Matth. â—6 41 The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak Now that there is good reason why wee should take both these and not one to hee here meant I think the scope shews us for the Apostle having spoken of both these things in the former Chapter and proceeding onwards to a glorious triumph in this hee takes the rise of this triumph from the consideration of the premises and that of both of them for one alone as may by good reason be made to appear had not been a sufficient bottome for such a triumph as if hee should say These things being so that through Jesus Christ as hath been cleared wee are delivered from the dominion of the Law and also from the tyranny of the old man in us there being now no longer any reigning Law over us nor reigning old man in us I therefore do conclude That there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus there being no enemy that can do it the Law without and the old man within which onely were able to do it having now no condemning power over them which persons that hee might give an infallible note and character of hee still keeping the scope describes them to bee such Who walke not after the flesh but after the spirit i.e. They are such persons who being by Christ set free from the Dominion of the Law and Tyranny of the old man do not walk after the one or the other and on the other side being by Christ brought under the power of the Gospel and regiment of the new man they do now walk as becomes in some measure Gospel Saints and new creatures These things being laid down and premised wee are to understand the words thus Walking after the Flesh i.e. Either first Legal walking to walk after or according to the Law Or secondly Corrupt walking i. e. to bee wholly and constantly swayed ruled or lead by the principles dictates or motions of the old man or unregenerate part Walking after the Spirit i.e. Either first Gospel-walking to walk after or according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ Or secondly Renewed walking to walk according to the rule principle motions and dictates of the new man or regenerate part in a Saint Now in saying that these two are to be understood by Flesh and Spirit I do not exclude any of those laid down in the general explication of the words no I do think that by Flesh the Apostle may mean all those viz. mans wisdome reason understanding outward priviledges c. and the contrary to these by Spirit But I name these two onely with their contraries because I think that although the other are included in Flesh and Spirit as general termes yet here these are chiefly intended being most agreeable to the Apostles scope and what hee had said in the former Chapter which gives rise to this verse I shall therefore begin with the words as they lye in the first sense to bee understood of Legal and Gospel-walking and so wee have in them two Propositions 1 Legal-walking is walking according to the Flesh 2 Gospel-walking is walking according to the Spirit 1 Legal-walking is walking according to the Flesh In the opening of this I shall shew 1 What I mean by Legal-walking or what it is to walk Legally 2 When a mans walk may bee said to bee such that is a pure Legal-walk 3 Why Legal-walking is called Flesh or walking according to the Flesh 4 That those persons who are freed from condemnation for such our Text imports do not walk Legally or after the Flesh in this sense 5 Answer an Objection and Lastly conclude with Application Of the first viz. What I mean by Legal-walking or what it is for a man or woman to walk legally Answ Legal-walking in the sense wee are now to speak to it is this To make the Law as the same is a Covenant of works the rule of our lives and actions and the alone touchstone to try our conditions by To walke after the Law or according to the Law as the Law is a Covenant of works that is Legal-walking That so wee are to understand here I prove thus because Legal-walking is here called Flesh and the Law is no where in Scripture called Flesh but as the same is considered under this notion as it is a Covenant of works If you take the Law in its self that is for the matter of it the substance of those things the Law requires so the Apostle saith the contrary of the Law Rom. 7.14 The Law is spiritual the matter or substance of the Law is spiritual injoyning spiritual duties requiring spiritual performance and designing to make the creature spiritual so that the Law in its selfe is not Flesh but rather it is a spiritual and an everlasting rule of righteousness But now look upon the Law whensoever it is spoken of under this notion as it is the old Covenant or a Covenant of works and then it is called Flesh I will give you but a few places in Gal. 3.2 3. before quoted when the Galathians were gone from the Gospel to the Law
his tears his fastings his humiliations his lamentations his leaving of sin and doing of good stands engaged as it were to give him Heaven and Salvation he then walks legally when the course and stream of his life and actions runs this way that all his prayers humiliations resolutions covenants resisting of sin c. is to this very end that God hereby would be moved to pardon his sins justifie him give him Heaven and eternal life which had hee not some hope to procure by these things hee would neither pray nor hear nor mourn for sin nor doe any thing else he then most certainly walks legally after the flesh 3 When a man in his obedience hath altogether respect to the external or outward part of the Law contenting himself if that be but done never looking to the internal or spiritual part thereof his walking is legal and after the flesh In this manner did the Scribes and Pharisees those great Legalists apply themselves to the keeping of the Law by a litteral observance of what it required accounting it kept when the external works which the Law required should be done was performed or the outward act of sin shunned which the Law willed them to forbear Upon which ground according to the principles and practices of the Pharisees Paul saith of himself that hee whilst hee continued a Pharisee was touching the righteousness of the Law blameless Phil. 3.6 upon this ground likewise doe the Papists assert their Opus operatum the work done as sufficient to Justification and Salvation never regarding how the same is done Now whensoever a man in Prayer hearing the Word or any other Duty hath only respect to the external part contenting himself with that if that bee done never looking to the spiritual performance thereof he walks legally 4 When a man blesseth himself in his obedience and pronounceth himself happy because of that he walks legally Thus Paul whilst hee was a Pharisee did blesse himself in his way Rom. 7.9 I was alive without the law once i. e. so long as I gave up my self to an outward observance of the law being without the law in respect of the true spiritual meaning thereof I was alive in my owne conceit I thought all was well with me and that I was a happy man Thus likewise the proud Pharisee Luke 18.11 12. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself God I thank thee that I am not as other men are extortioners unjust adulterers or even as this Publican I fast twice in the week I give tithes of all that I possesse how doth hee blesse himself in his way of works and crow it over the poor Publican because hee was a Sinner and had no works When therefore a man blesseth himself in his obedience and thinks himself some body pronouncing himself happy because of this as many men will say I thank God all is well with me I have no doubt about my Salvation I am not nor never was I a Drunkard or Swearer c. I was never given to cheat or cousen as others my Neighbours will doe but I pray and read good Books and hear good Sermons c. a man then walks legally after the flesh 5 When a man performes his obedience ever and altogether in his owne strength the law as a covenant of works it calls for obedience but it gives a man no strength but what he hath of his owne to doe it Hence it is called a voyce of words Heb. 12. and a killing letter 2 Cor. 3. because it requires obedience under penalty of death and knowes the creature hath no strength to obey and yet gives him none and so by its very command it kills all those that are under it Now when a man sets himself to keep the law in his owne strength neither finding nor knowing nor feeling nor looking after nor desiring any other strength to enable him to doe his duty then his owne he then walks legally after the Flesh and all his obedience is obedience to a covenant of works Thus much of the Second particular what remaines I leave unto the next opportunity Why Legal walking is walking after the Flesh SERMON IV. Rom. 8.1 Who walk not after the flesh WEe are now upon the Character of those Persons who are freed from Condemnation they are such who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit Flesh and Spirit in this place by the acception of the termes in other places and the consideration of the scope of the Apostle in this are as I told you the last day to be understood either of the Law and the Gospel or the old and new man Walking after the flesh that is either legal walking or walking after the corrupt principles of the old man Walking after the Spirit that is either Gospel walking or walking after the renewed principle of the new man I began with the words in the first acceptation as they hold forth Legal and Gospel walking and so I laid downe these Propositions viz That Legal walking is walking after the flesh Gospel walking is walking after the Spirit Concerning the first I have shewed 1 What I mean by Legal walking 2 When a man's walk is a Legal walk I now proceed to the third 3 Why Legal walking is called walking after the flesh Ans 1. Because there is nothing of the Spirit of God that goes along with a legal walk The Spirit was not given by the Covenant of works and therefore so long as a man walks in the way of that Covenant there is nothing of the Spirit of God that goes along with him Now we usually call that flesh that hath not Spirit in it take a man when he is dead wee say hee is flesh nothing but flesh because the Soul and Spirit is gone so take a legal Walker hee is flesh his walking is flesh because there is nothing of the Spirit of God in him nor his walking hee praies but there is nothing of the Spirit of God in his prayers and therefore though hee pray dayes and weeks and months together all is but flesh he mourns and humbles himself for sin resolves vowes and strives against it but doing all this in a legal manner there is nothing of the Spirit of God in all this and so all is but flesh 2 Because Legal walking is walking in the way of Nature the Covenant of works was given to Adam as out common person and sois in the Nature of every man Rom. 2.14 15. For when the Gentiles which have not the law doe by nature the things contained in the law these having not the law are a law unto themselves which shew the work of the law written in their hearts their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the meane while accusing or else excusing one another Now in Scripture phrase Nature is called flesh Joh. 3.6 That which is borne of the flesh is flesh i.e. that which is borne of meer Nature can be no more but
prophesied in thy Name wee have done thus and thus for thee but what saith Christ Depart from mee I know you not yee workers of iniquity So it may bee thou wilt come one day with thy crowd of Legal works to Christ Lord behold at such a time I prayed at such a time did such a duty at another time resisted such a sin Away will Christ say I know you not I know none of your works neither will I own them yee did nothing for mee your works are works of iniquity and you are workers of iniquity and therefore away bee gone here is no room for you nor your works Depart from mee yee workers of iniquity How came it about that the poor Publican who could speak but one word was accepted whereas the proud Pharisee which made a long Oration of his own doing worth and excellency was sent going as hee came but onely hence The poor Publican though hee could speak but one word yet it was a Gospel-word and so there was Spirit in it the proud Pharisee though hee spake many words yet all were Legal and so but Flesh Now there may bee many a poor soul in the world who like the poor Publican when hee comes to a duty can hardly speak ten words to God yet because there is in that little he speaks somewhat of the Gospel and Spirit it therefore is well-pleasing to God and again there are others who can come and make a brave flourish for an hour two or three houres together and yet all being but the fruit of the Law or natural abilities both which are Flesh is odious to God It concerns us therfore to look to our actions whether the root or rise of what wee do be the Law or Gospel Flesh or Spirit Use 3. and last How sad and pitiful is the condition of Legal walkers they walke after the Flesh and what is the doom of Flesh Why this Flesh and blood shall not inherit the Kingdome of God They walk after the Flesh and so are under condemnation as there is no condemnation to those who walk after the Spirit so on the other side most certainly there is to those who walke after the Flesh It is a peremptory sentence of Paul Row 8. If yee live after the Flesh yee shall dye As a condemned Theef or Traytor hath no way but to the Gallows so there is no way with the Fleshly walker hee who lives and dyes such a one but to Hell Quest But put case I have heen a Legal Fleshly walker is there no hope for such Answ Yes renouncing the way of the Law and imbracing the Gospel renouncing thine own righteousness and closing with Christs Paul was as great a Legalist as any who for his zeale to that way persecuted the Churches of God and the way of the Gospel yet saith hee I obtained mercy and so mayest thou O make a close with Christ this day poor soul and then thy disobedience and the sin of thy Legal obedience all shall bee done away and thou shalt bee blessed for ever Amen What Gospel walking is SERMON V. Rom. 8.1 Who walk not after the flesh but after the Sprit THe Phrases here used of Walking after the Flesh and after the Spirit I told you the last day that they hold forth one of these two either 1 Walking after the Law or after the Gospel Or 2 Walking after the old or new man I have begun with the words in the first sense as they hold forth Legal and Gospel-walking and so the Propositions I laid down were Legal walking is walking after the Flesh Gospel walking is walking after the Spirit I have spoken to the first Now I come to the second viz. Gospel walking is walking after the Spirit Here our first Question will bee Quest What Gospel walking is Answ Gospel walking is to yeeld obedience to the Commands of God as they are handed to us by Jesus Christ or To make the Law of God as it is the Law of Christ the rule of our lives and actions By Law I understand the Moral Law taking in the spiritual exposition thereof by Christ and his Apostles in the Gospel for those precepts to holiness that wee read of throughout the New Testament are but the spiritual exposition of the Moral Law as is clear from Matth. 5. where Christ himself in expounding the Moral Law layes down many Spiritual and Evangelical duties yea all the commands of the New Testament may bee summed up under these two heads Either loving God or our neighbour as our selves both which in the spirituality of the performance are required in the Moral Law as Christ teacheth Mat. 22.37 to the 41. The Moral Law is as it were the Text the Doctrine of Christ and the Apostles the explication and opening of it The Moral Law is the basis or foundation of all duties of holiness the teaching of Christ and the Apostles the structure or rather the compleating and filling up of the building So that by Law I do not understand another Law distinct in matter or substance from the Moral Law but the Moral Law it selfe for the matter and substance thereof Now the Moral Law comes under a double consideration either as it is the matter or substance of Moses's Law what Moses commanded and so the substance of the old Covenant or else as it is the matter and substance of Christs Law what Christ in the Gospel or new Covenant requires of Beleevers Hence in reference to the first part of the distinction it is frequently in Scripture called the Law of Moses beleevers are said not to bee under the same Rom. 6.14 For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under the Law but under grace Gal. 5.18 But if yee bee lead of the Spirit yee are not under the Law yea to bee dead to it and delivered from it Rom. 7.4.16 Wherefore my brethren yee are also become dead to the Law by the body of Christ c. but now wee are delivered from the Law c. it s said to gender to bondage Gal. 4.24 Which things are an Allegory for these are the two Covenants the one from the Mount Sinai which gendereth to bondage which is Agar In reference to the second it s called the Law of Christ Gal. 6.2 Bear yee one anothers burdens and so fulfill the Law of Christ Bearing one anothers burden is a spiritual duty which comes under the second Table of the Law of loving our neighbours as our selves and this is called a part of Christs Law Beleevers are said to bee under it 1 Cor. 9.21 To them that are without Law as without Law being not without Law to God but under the Law to Christ c. It is called a Law of liberty Jam. 2.12 So speake yee and so do as they that shall bee judged by the Law of liberty And the Apostle speaks plainly there of the Moral Law as from the verses above appears It is called the Royal
right of the Old Covenant i. e. by the works of the Law and in case they see themselves by this right to fall short then to endeavour the sharing to the right of the Inheritance betwixt the Old Covenant and the New i.e. lay the right to the inheritance partly upon the promise partly upon the works of the Law and by vertue of this divided right to thrust themselves in as Heirs in part though they will not yea cannot lay claime to the whole This we may see clearly fulfilled in those Children of the Old Covenant who went about seducing these Galathians and other Churches Acts 15.5 There arose up certaine of the Sect of the Pharisees which beleeved saying it was needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the Law of Moses and minde it this their needful extends it self as farre as salvation it self vers 1. Except yee bee circumcised after the manner of Moses yee cannot be saved Here we may see a manifest dividing of the right to the inheritance part of it they allow to be given to the New Covenant or the Promise and therefore they beleeve for that the other part they give to the Old Covenant or the Works of the Law and thereupon press keeping of the Law of Moses as necessary even to salvation it self Lastly the casting of Hagar and Ishmael out hereupon and the sole Heirship falling to Isaac did signifie That notwithstanding the Old Covenant considered in its self may be and is of use as Hagar was in Abrahams Family yet when the Children of the Old Covenant shall seek the inheritance by the right of their Mother the Old Covenant or in case seeing themselves not to be admitted upon that single right shall attempt to share the inheritance betwixt the Old and New Covenant and so come in as Co-heirs i. e. seek the obtaining of life and justification partly by their owne works and partly by the Promise that then the Old Covenant it self with its seed and off-spring are to be cast out as those who have no right at all to the inheritance and Isaac only the promise alone is to have entertainment as the true Heir to whom the whole inheritance is entayled and upon whose head the Heirship is fixed Gal. 3.18 this needs no other proof but only to read over the very words of our text Thus we see the termes and phrases of the Text cleared by the explication of those several Types our text hath reference unto The true sense and meaning of the whole take in this short Paraphrase upon the Apostles Allegory it being in enffect as if hee should say O yee Galathians yee desire to bee under the Law or Old Covenant and to bee justified by it but tell me doe you not hear the Law for have you never read how that Abraham had two Sons the one by a Bond-woman the other by a Free-woman the two Mothers being Types of the two Covenants their Sons Types of the Children of each Covenant And further have you not read what the Scripture saith concerning the Son of Hagar the Childe of the Old Covenant that he should bee cast out and Isaac the Son of the Promise should alone bee Heir Why then doe you so contend for the Law and labour to bring in againe the Bond-woman and her Son that God himself hath cast out to make the son of the bond-woman a Co-heir with the son of the free-woman Before we enter upon the particulars of the words read and opened take by way of premisal to our whole Discourse these few general Positions 1 POSITION That the application of Abrahams History so farre as it concernes Sarah and Hagar Isaac and Ishmael to the two Covenants is a thing that stands upon Divine warrant it is the Apostles Comment upon the History not ours As none had not the Apostle led the way might have been so bold to have put such an interpretation upon this History so none the Apostle being in this the Holy Ghosts Penman may take upon them to correct or condemn it 2 POSITION That the two Covenants are two diverse and distinct Covenants and not one and the same Covenant under two administrations for Hagar and Sarah are not one and the same but two distinct persons yea so distinct as that they admit not of a reconciliation for Hagar is a Bond-woman Sarah a Free-woman now bondage and liberty are contraries which can never be reconciled 3 POSITION That the ground of this distinction betwixt the two Covenants doth not lye in regard of time as if so be this were the bottome of the distinction that the Old Covenant related to Old Testament times and the New to New Testament for Hagar and Sarah doe both exist in the time of the Old Testament and though they are contrary to each other yet they both continue together in Abrahams Family from the first day of their entrance until the Seed is come to which the Promise is made In like manner the Old and New Covenant both had being even in the Church of God until the fulness of time was come in which Christ the true Seed was borne into the world This duly weighed frees our former Position from such charges as might otherwise bee brought against it and doth also help us to the knowledge of some very useful truthes for note hence 1 That Saints of the Old Testament were not saved one way wee another they by the Old Covenant we by the New for they had Sarah the New Covenant with them as well as wee have and all the claime they had or laid to the heavenly inheritance was by vertue of Sarahs right not Hagars 2 That Saints of the Old Testament as they were saved in the same way with us so also had they the same communion with God and blessings that we enjoy for they had Sarah with them therefore the blessing of Sarah and communion with God by Sarah was their portion then as well as ours now only with this difference because Sarah the New Covenant all that time though she had the promise of fruitfulnesse had not brought forth as now shee hath therefore their communion with God chiefly lay in hope of a Seed to come ours in faith of a Seed come they lived in continual expectation of a glorious blessing which by faith in the Promise they clearly fore-saw to come and to bee exhibited we in actual enjoyment of the blessing come and exhibited 3 That the Doctrine of the Old Testament furnisheth us with New Covenant truth and New Covenant Principles as well as the New because Sarah existing all that time as well as Hagar Sarah gives commands makes promises pronounceth threats as well as Hagar Hence the matter of the Old Testament is not wholly legal but it containeth in it pure Gospel matter as well as the New As that Doctrine which is no other but a meer voyce of words or the sound of a conditional Covenant whether you finde it
the reason of the Apostles so doing not to multiply I take it to bee this because the Old Covenant whether wee consider it in reference to its Type or in reference to its solemne Promulgation as touching the first-being of the one Covenant or the other our Question here is not yet in both it did Antecede or fore-run the New and may in either of these respects bee said to bee more ancient than the New For 1 Look upon it in the Type Hagar the Type of the Old Covenant is fruitful and hath a Son before Sarah 2 Look upon it in its solemne Promulgation The solemne Promulgation of the Old Covenant is upon Mount Sinai at the time when God brings Israel his adopted Son out of Egypt But the solemne Promulgation of the New Covenant which is promulgated upon Mount Sion as the Old was upon Sinai is not till many ages after namely in the time in which Christ the Head-seed comes into the world Gal. 4.1 2 3 4.5 who having here offered up himself for our sins and being risen again sand ascended to his Father as the immediate consequent of this ascention of his hee poures forth of his Spirit in the light and power which the New Covenant is promulgated to the Sons of men And for this reason the Apostle speaking of the New Covenant Heb. 9.15 6 17. and that under the name of a Testament makes it not to have beginning that is in respect of this solemne Promulgation for in respect of being it took beginning in the first promise made to man after his fall till after the death of Christ the Testator This word laid in by the way I now come to the Question proposed Quest What are wee to understand by the Old Covenant Answ The Apostle Paul whose this distinction betwixt Old and New Covenant is is best Expositor of himself who tells us expresly That the Old Covenant of which Hagar the Bond-woman was a Type was from Mount Sinai in Arabia vers 24 25. was made at the time of the coming out of Egypt Heb. 8.8 9. compared with vers 13. was that which did fitly answer and agree to the carnal Jerusalem i.e. such of the Jewish Nation that were in bondage under Works and Ceremonies Gal. 4.25 was that whose Sons did at that present time persecute the Sons of the New Covenant vers 29. giving us in these so foure places foure notable markes or characters to know the Old Covenant by 1 Taken from the place where it was given Mount Sinai 2 From the time when upon Israels coming forth of Egypt 3 From the sutablenesse of it to the state and wills too of carnal Jerusalem Jerusalem that for that present clave to their Works and Ceremonies and did reject the Gospel 4 From the persecution that by the Sons of it was then on foot against the Seed of the New Covenant Now let us but inquire and finde out what thing that is to which these four Characters both do and must agree and then have wee found out what this Old Covenant is and what wee are to understand by it What was that which was given upon Mount Sinai Answ The Law Exod. 19.20 What Covenant was that made with Israel upon their coming out of Egypt Answ The Law for Abrahams Covenant was four hundred and thirty years before Gal. 3.17 3 What thing was that which did most suit with the state and temper of carnal Jerusalem Answ The Law For 1 There is nothing more suitable to the state or condition of persons rejecting Christ than the Law for the Law is made for such as are Lawless and disobedient to the word of the Gospel 1 Tim. 1.9 10 11. Now such was carnal Jerusalem or Jerusalem that then was 2 Nothing could more sute with the tempers dispositions and wills of the Jews then living when Paul wrote then the Law this being the thing they were so zealous for and sought justification by as the scope of Pauls preaching in the Acts and of his three Epistle s to the Romans Galatians and Hebrews directed against this principle and practice of theirs doth plainly evidence 4 What was that which the Professors of it did at that time persecute the Sons of the New Covenant Answ The Law The Zelots of the Law persecute Stephen and are the cause of his death Acts 6.13 14. The Zetots of the Law persecute Paul and Barnabas and drive them from Antioch Act. 13.50 51. The Zelots of the Law stir up the people against Paul Act 21. 27 28. If then the Old Covenant bee that which was given upon Mount Sinai that which came forth at the time of Israels coming out of Egypt that which did most fitly accord with the state temper and disposition of carnal Jerusalem that whose Professors did at time persecute the Sons of the New Covenant And it all these Characters agree to the Law and nothing else then may we safely and warrantably conclude that by the Old Covenant we are to understand the Law and no other thing Quest But here another Question will arise viz. Whether are wee to understand this of the whole Law or of a part onely Whether of the Ceremonial and Judicial Law onely or of the Moral also Answ Of the whole Law as well that which is Moral as that which is Ceremonial and Political as is clear by very many Arguments left us in Pauls Epistles Onely ere I produce any let this bee noted That by Moral Law I do not understand the bare words or syllables of the Ten Commandements onely but also all those commands or prohibitions which wee finde elsewhere that may bee reduced unto these or are comprehended under them unto which the Ten Commandements serve as a Text and they to them againe as a full and ample Comment upon the Text. If this bee not noted by straitning the word Moral to Moses Ten Precepts onely wee may halve the truth Now the Arguments inforcing the former conclusion That not the Ceremonial and Political Law onely but the Moral also appertaines to the Old Covenant are these 1 Arg. That Law by which the Galatians sought justification is that here commanded to bee cast out under the name or title of Bond-woman or Old Covenant But this was not onely the Ceremonial Law c. but the Moral also For the false Apostles their Seducers did as well presse it as Circumcision Act. 15.5 2 Arg. That Law which the children of Israel brake and were rejected for breach of is of the Old Covenant as is clear Heb. 8.8 9. with vers 13. But this was not the Ceremonial Law onely but the Moral also which therefore is expresly called the Covenant made with Israel Deut. 4.13 And hee declared unto you his Covenant which hee commanded you to perform even Ten Commandements and hee wrote them upon two Tables of stone And indeed who ever observes the story of their going into Captivity shall finde the cause was chiefly for sins committed against the
Epistle had been disputing against for hee brings in those words Chap. 5.14 as an exposition of that Law which they stood so much for and yet did so grossy abuse and mistake therefore the Law of loving our neighbour is for substance tile very same Law with that his disputation had run upon But the Law of loving our neighbour as our selves is the Moral Law for these words are the summe of the second Table thereof Matth. 22.39 ergo 8 Arg. My eighth and last Argument I take from the Apostles Allegory out of which I have taken my Text and it is this That Law which was given upon Mount Sinai is the Old Covenant for saith the Apostle Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia But the Law given upon Mount Sinai was not the Ceremonial onely but the Moral also ergo The Conclusion is That by the Old Covenant wee are to understand the whole Law as well the Moral part as the Ceremonial and Political Objection But here ariseth a great Objection upon us viz. That by proving the Moral Law to belong to the Old Covenant and affirming the Old Covenant is to bee cast out wee have destroyed and made void the Moral Law yea not the Ten Commandements of Moses onely but moreover by our large acception of the word Moral wee have made null and overthrowne all manner of Duties whatsoever Answer Not so and that it may appear that it is not so Mark well what I am to say That as there is something in the Moral Law that appertaines to Hagar is a part of the Old Covenant so also something there is in the Moral Law that appertaines to Sarah is a part of the New Covenant for the Moral Law is Hagars rule and Sarahs both Now all our discourse hitherto upon the Moral Law hath run upon it no otherwise but as the same is the Law of Hagar a part of the Old Covenant and taken in this sense it is no injury to the holy Law of God to say it must bee cast out But if wee take the Moral Law as it is Sarahs rule it is then a most ungodly and prophane assertion to say it must bee cast out For observe though the Bond-woman is to bee cast out and all that appertaines to her yet there is no casting out of the Free-woman nor of any thing that appertaines to her Whatsoever therefore that is of the Moral law which appertaines to the Bond-woman the Old Covenant all that wee may yea ought to cast out but contrariwise whatsoever that is that belongs to the Free-woman is a part or peece of the New Covenant that must wee by no meanes meddle with there is no casting out of that for though the servant abideth not in the house for ever yet the Mistresse abideth for ever The Question here will bee What is that of the Moral Law which doth appertaine to the Bond-woman and what that which appertains to the Free-woman Answ The Moral law consists of three parts 1 The mandatory or commanding part 2 The Minatory or threatning part 3 The Consolatory or promising part In every of which the Old Covenant or Bond-woman hath a share as well as the New Covenant or Free-woman For note The Old Covenant hath promises as well as commands and threatnings for which reason the Apostle speaks of Covenants of promise in the plural number Eph. 2.12 noting that the old Covenant as well as the New hath promises and tells us that the New is established upon better promises Heb. 8.6 shewing that the Old is established upon Promises too but not so good promises as the New built upon Againe the New Covenant hath Commands and Threatnings also if wee wax wanton under the grace thereof as well as promises and hence it is that the Gospel the blessed word of the New Covenant is so full of heavenly precepts and threats of fatherly chastisement therefore I say both Old and New Covenant share in either of the three foregoing parts Now out of these three to divide to each their proper portions giving the Bond-woman hers and the Free-woman hers will clear up to us what is to bee cast out and what to remaine for as I have said that which belongs to the Bond-woman is to be cast out and that which is the Free-womans is to continue Now for the clearing our way into this partition or division take this general and certain rule to steere by viz. That look whatsoever that is of the Moral Law or any part thereof which is not now by Jesus Christ brought into the New Covenant and become a part thereof all that is a part of the Old belongs to the Bond-woman is to be cast out and contrariwise look whatsoever that is which is now by Jesus Christ brought into the New Covenant and become a part of it that appertaines to the Free-woman and wee cannot without offering high indignity to the blessed Gospel the Covenant of Grace yea to Jesus Christ himself who is Mediator of this Covenant and hath sealed the whole with his bloud cast that out Here then the question will be and this answered brings us into the light What was that which once was in the Moral Law as the same was the Law of the Old Covenant which now by Christs bringing the same into the New Covenant is no longer in it Againe what is that that the Moral Law notwithstanding this its translation from the Old Covenant to the New doth still retaine of what it had before or hath by this change of its station gained which before it had not If once we come to see what the Moral Law by Christs transplanting of it hath lost or on the contrary still retaines or hath gained wee shall therewith see what we are to disowne and cast out and what to love cherish and entertaine To solve this Question I shall take a more particular view of the Moral Law in the three parts thereof as it is a commanding Law a threatning Law a promising Law and give out of each Hagar the Bond-woman her portion Sarah the Free-woman hers 1 For the Mandatory part The Moral Law as the same is Hagars Law or the Old Covenant from Mount Sinai had commands but these commands were barely a voyce of words without power Heb. 12.29 a bare letter without the Spirit 2 Cor. 3.6 but now as the same is Sarahs Law or the New Covenant given from Mount Sion so it hath commands too but they are of another nature such command as have efficacy power and spirit going along with them for the New Testament administration is a ministration of the spirit 2 Cor. 3.8 which giveth life and power to those under it vers 6. Hagar did all conceived brought forth by meer natural strength Sarah by supernatural strength given to her from Heaven Hagars Law commands us to bee fruitful but contributes no more strength towards the bringing forth of this fruit than what Hagar had viz. the meer strength of nature
Sarahs Law bids us to bee fruitful and that we may be so it holds forth to us the strength of Sarah viz. supernatural strength help from Heaven Now minde it the Commands of the Law as they are Hagars commands i.e. as they come to a poor Soul only as a terrible voyce of words without power as a killing letter without the quickning spirit so they are to be cast out by all the children of the New Covenant for Hagar is to be cast out and therefore hath nothing now to doe in Abrahams Family nor may shee there command and dame it over Isaac But on the contrary the commands of the Law as they are the commands of Sarah the New Covenant i.e. as they come to a poor Soule with a promise of strength and assistance a power and efficacy to enable to obey so every childe of the New Covenant is to stand with armes and heart wide open to receive every of them and should say Come come O Law with all thy Commands I love to hear thy voyce I delight to obey it for though Hagar the Bond-woman may not take upon her to Dame it over Isaac because shee is a Servant and therefore beneath him yet Sarah the free-woman may for shee is his Mother and therefore above him For the Minotory part the Moral Law as the same was Hagars Law a Law bearing rule over Hagars seed so had it threats as well as commands which threats were a dreadful curse and denunciation of eternal rejection to every one that should disobey it though but in one particular Gal. 3.10 whence the Apostle argues that no man could bee under the very commands of the Law as it was the Law of the Old Covenant but hee is yea must bee under a curse But now as the same is Sarahs Law the Law of the New Covenant although in a milde way it declares that in case I will be a stubborn childe and will not hearken to it nor be ruled by it my Father will be grieved and offended and I shall for so doing feele the rod though not of wrath and eternal rejection yet of love and fatherly correction yet doth it no where threat the seed of Sarah that in case they disobey they shall bee eternally rejected Ishmael that was the childe of the Old Covenant and under Hagars Law commits but one fault that ever we read of and for that hee is utterly rejected without remedy thrown out of his Fathers house and presence never to see his face more Isaac the Son of the New Covenant who stood under Sarahs Law doubtlesse had his faults yet is he for none of them cast out of his fathers house Now observe the threats of the Law as they are Hagars threats i. e. as they are threats of eternal death and damnation in case of disobedience so are they not to be hearkened unto nor regarded but to be cast out by the Sons of the New Covenant for Hagar is an out-cast and though she hath her Ishmael with her and she may still threat him yet Isaac out of her reach and doth not regard her threats for he is safe and secure in his Fathers Family but now the threats of the Law as they are Sarahs threats i. e. as they are sweet loving motherly warnings telling me that in case I be wanton or stubborne and will not hearken to her nor obey her that my Father though he cast mee not out of doores yet will hee bee displeased and I may suffer angry looks yea a whipping for it so I am to have them in special regard to bend my eare diligently to them and to stand alwaies in a holy filial awe and fear of them because though Hagar being but a servant and now thrown out of the Family hath nothing to doe with me yet Sarah hath for shee is my Mother and Mistris of the Family and I am still under her power 3 For the Promissory part the Moral Law as the same was Hagars Law or the Law of the Old Covenant had also a promise of life in the doing or keeping of it Rom. 10.5 Gal. 3.12 But as the same is Sarah's Law or the Law of the New Covenant though it have also a promise of life yet is not this life promised to Sarahs seed upon condition of their keeping this Law but the promise is absolute made to the seed without any condition to bee performed on their part so that as the inheritance is not gained by their obedience so can it not bee lost by their disobedience Ishmael the Son of Hagar that stood under Hagars Law and had no right to the inheritance nor any part of it but only what was conditional in case he carried himself well and as he ought to doe in his Fathers house he not being able to keep the Law i.e. demeane himself in all things as hee ought could not obtaine the promise hee transgresseth and is for ever rejected and an out-cast that must have no part in the promised inheritance But Isaac the son of Sarah that stood under Sarabs Law which gave not the inheritance in this conditional way but as an absolute deed of gift entayling the same to Isaac so soon as ever he was borne so as that his right thereto was neither more nor less by vertue of any future carriage or demeanour of his he though he was not doubtless without his failings yet could not bee dis-inherited but let him doe or not doe obey or not obey though yet obey he doth for Isaac is a dutiful childe hee must bee and is possessed of his Fathers inheritance Now then the promises of the Law as they are Hagars promises giving a right to life and Salvation no otherwise but upon condition of obedience so Sarahs children the seed of the New Covenant are not to minde them but to cast them out for Hagar is an out-cast and Isaac claimes not the inheritance by any right she gives him but by another right viz. that of Sarah but now the promises of the Law as they are Sarahs promises giving the inheritance by absolute deed of gift entayling it to the seed so soon as ever they are borne so that their right thereto is neither more nor lesse by vertue of their walking or governing themselves so they are to be loved prized received greatly honoured of all the children of the New Covenant for though Isaac may very well slight and contemn that right that comes in by Hagar because it is below him and he claimes by a better and surer right yet is it not comely that he should despise the right that comes in by his Mother Sarah but rather it is his duty ever to think highly and speake honourably of that right which all the true children of the Free-woman will but those which are the seed only in outward appearance doe otherwise Hence note by the way as a thing worth observation that Ishmael is not rejected for despising his Birth-right as Esau afterwards
rather perfect it then is the Law a rule to Saints even in Gospel-times But the first is true Matth. 5.17 Think not that I am come to destroy the Law or the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfill or to fill it up or perfect it as the Original word properly signifies i. e. to compleat the Law by adding that to it which the Scribes and Pharisees by their Traditions had taken from it and to this the whole scope of Christs discourse in this Sermon agrees Therefore must the latter also Avg. 2. If the Moral law bee a perpetual and an everlasting rule to Saints in all ages then to Saints in Gospel-times But the first is true Matth. 5.18 Verily I say unto you Till heaven and earth passe one jot or one tittle shall in no wise passe from the law till all bee fulfilled As long as heaven and earth remain so long doth the Law remain and the fulfilling of it remain The word here rendred fulfilling signifies a performing or doing and so it doth not respect a doctrinal fulfilling as doth the word translated fulfil in the former Argument but a practical Now the Law practically is fulfilled 1. In Christ as head and common person of this Children this fulfilling had its perfect accomplishment when Christ was here on earth 2 In the Saints which are his members This because it is imperfect and wrought by degrees goes perpetually on increasing till wee come to bee wholly like our Head And this latter I conceive to bee that which shall remaine as long as heaven and earth remaines the meaning whereof is Saints shall daily go on fulfilling of the Law till in the end their obedience come to bee perfect as Christs was Arg. 3. If the preaching of faith doth not make void the Law but establish the same then doth the Law still remain as a rule to Saints even in Gospel-times But the first is true Rom. 3.31 Do wee make void the Law through faith God forbid nay wee establish the Law i.e. by the preaching of the Gospel wee do not overturn the Law make men Libertines but establish it i.e. set it upon a better and surer bottome than it stood on before and bring men to a more free full and spiritual observance thereof then they can bee brought unto any other way ergo the latter Arg. 4. If in Gospel-times it bee a manifest Argument of a carnal minde not to bee subject to the Law of God then surely it must needs be a duty incumbent upon Saints and such as are spiritually minded to bee subject to it But the first is true Rom. 8.7 ergo the latter Arg. 5. If love which is the substance of the whole Law bee a duty incumbent upon Saints in Gospel-times then is the Law even in Gospel-times a rule to Saints But the antecedent is true Rom. 13.8 Owe no man any thing but to love one another for hee that loveth another hath fulfilled the Law Gal. 5.14 For all the Law is fulfilled in one word even in this Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self Hence Christ summes up Moses Ten Commandments into two whereof the first is love to God the second love to our neighbour Matth. 22.37 38 39. ergo the Consequent Arg. 6. If the Moral Law in Gospel-times bee given forth to Saints as the Law of Christ the great King of Saints then are Saints in Gospel-times to submit to it as a rule for wee are commanded to yeeld obedience to the Law of Christ Joh. 14.15 Gal. 6.2 And Paul tells us that himself was under the Law to Christ 1 Cor. 9.21 yea it were unreasonable to think that Christ being a King should not have a Law to give forth to his subjects which they ought to obey As upon the translation of the Priesthood out of the hands of the Typical High Priests into the hands of Christ the true High Priest there is made of necessity as the Apostle argues Heb. 7.12 a change or translation also of the Law So may I say upon the translation of the Scepter out of the hands of those Kings and Governours of Israel which were onely typical of Christ into the hands of Christ the great King of Saints and Nations there is made of necessity a translation also of the Law for hee being a King hee must have a Law to rule by But the Moral law in Gospel-times is given forth to Saints as the Law of Christ for love which is the fulfilling of this Law Christ gives forth as his great Commandement Joh. 13.34 Chap. 15.12 17. And hence the Moral Law is called the Royal Law i.e. the Kingly Law or the Law of Christ as King Jam. 2.8 Therefore is it a rule to Saints in Gospel-times Arg. 7. If the Moral law bee not inconsistent with Gospel-liberty then is it a rule to Saints in Gospel-times for there is nothing abrogated under the Gospel but what is inconsistent with Gospel-liberty But the Moral law is not inconsistent with Gospel-liberty the reason is plain because in Gospel-times it is called a Law of Liberty Jam. 2.11.12 So speake yee and so do as they that shall bee judged by the Law of liberty which it could not bee were it inconsistent with the liberty of those time Therefore the Moral law is a rule to Saints even in Gospel-times Arg. 8. That rule which considered in it self is spiritual holy just and good cannot bee abolished to Saints in Gospel-times for if so then should God abolish something that is spiritual holy just and good But such is the rule of the Moral law Rom. 7.12 14. ergo Arg. 9. That cannot bee the liberty of Saints under the Gospel which never was any part of the bondage of Saints under the Law but subjection to the Moral law as a rule was never any part of their bondage but rather indeed their free-dome their joy their delight I mean consider the Moral law simply and nakedly as a rule This is clear Psal 119.14 I have rejoyced in the way of thy testimonies as much as in all riches vers 24. Thy testimonies also are my delight and my councellors vers 45. And I will walke at liberty for I seeke thy Precepts 46. I will speake of thy testimonies also before Kings and will not bee ashamed 47. And I will delight my selfe in thy Commandements which I have loved 72. The Law of thy mouth is better to mee than thousands of gold and silver 97. O how love I thy Law it is my meditation all the day Yea every verse almost throughout this long and sweet Psalme speakes the very same language with these Arg. 10. If the most eminent and enlightned of Gospel-Saints have approved of the Law delighted in it served it then is it a rule to Saints in Gospel-times But the first is true and found in Paul Rom. 7.16 I consent unto the Law that it is good vers 22. I delight in the Law vers 25. I serve the Law c.
God was against mee and on Davids side I see now it is otherwise God takes my part hath shut up my enemy for mee A Providence seeming to smile upon him in his way makes him conclude God to bee his Friend when it was nothing to Thus much for the Outward blessings themselves The Condition required for the attaining and keeping of these was a diligent observance of what things the Moral and Judicial Lawes considered onely according to the Letter did require If they did what in the Letter of these Laws was commanded as in case they set up no other gods in their Land made no graven Images to worship did not take Gods Name in vain nor prophane his Sabbath nor behave themselves disobediently towards their Superiours nor were guilty of the acts of Murder Adultery Theft c. And so also for the Judicials by this Litteral obedience they came to have a right to all those blessings and mercies whether more common or special which were but meerly outward and temporary that is to say They should in doing these punctually and exactly as was required in the Letter of the Commandement bee blessed with long life in the Land of Canaan multiplication of their Nation advancement of them above other Nations have blessings attending them in City Field fruit of their bodies ground cattel in their basket store in their out-goings in-comings in their Store-houses and all they should set their hands unto have the victory and rule over their enemies bee freed from sicknesses diseases Famine Captivity c. Also they should so doing bee Gods peculiar people and hee would bee their God a Father Husband to them make them a holy Nation to himselfes crown them with peculiar dignity honor c. To the attainment of all these things a bare litteral obedience was sufficient and obedience of this nature was true obedience to the Old Covenant so farre as the same was a Covenant giving and dispensing Outward mercies and Priviledges onely And indeed that such an obedience there was is clear because as outward mercies of peace plenty c. were promised to Israel upon condition of their obedience so were these mercies oft-times enjoyed by them But now should wee conceive a spiritual obedience to the Law to bee the condition upon which these were injoyed then because obedience of this nature they were never able to give it would have been impossible for them to have injoyed these at any time Such therefore must the condition bee for outward mercies as they might perform which performing they had and did keep their mercies and not performing did lose them and come under a curse unlesse they did immediately upon every act of transgression which it were a thing impossible for them to do had the Condition I say been Spiritual obedience in which acts of disobedience are multiplied hourly flye for reliefe to the Ceremonial Law their City of refuge And because there was such an obedience as this required in the Old Covenant upon the due performance of which men might even upon the termes of the Covenant lay claim to outward mercies therefore I take it doth holy Hezekiah hee having kept the Old Covenant according to the Letter thereof when he was to plead for an outward mercy viz. continuance of life urge his obedience Isa 38.3 As also good Nehemiah spreads his obedience before God Neh. 13.14 And this obedience I conceive the young man meant and no other when hee said to Christ All these have I kept from my youth for had hee looked upon the Law in the spirituality of it neither hee nor any man living could ever make such a boast This likewise was the obedience Paul had in his eyes when hee saith of himself before his conversion that hee was as touching the righteousness of the Law blamelesse Phil. 3.6 The opinion therefore of the Jews that outward literal obedience was true obedience to the Law was not false onely it was short it was true obedience as to the attaining outward blessings only it was not the all of obedience the Law required And therefore Christ Mat. 5. where his large discourse upon the Law by way of exposition of it was dawn forth by the Pharises abuse of this opinion doth not in the least condemn the opinion it selfe of litteral obedience as if there were no such kinde of obedience at all sufficient for the attainment of any thing but only condemns their abuse of it and that improvement they made of this viz. That a man might enter into the Kingdome of Heaven and bee saved by it this hee shews could not bee but in case they sought salvation from the Law another kinde of obedience than this must bee given to it Secondly The Old Covenant had as well blessings spiritual and eternal as outward or temporary but yet so as that these were not as the former attainable by this Old Covenant as I shall shew presently Now that the Old Covenant had a Spiritual and eternal blessing held forth in it is manifest 1 From the contrary viz. a curse of eternal death coming in upon the breach of it Gal. 3.10 It is observable as I have formerly noted that these words relate to Moses his Covenant and are therefore quoted thence now if Moses Covenant did hold forth death eternal to the breakers of it then must wee also suppose on the contrary life eternal to bee held forth to him or them that should keep it 2 That opposition betwixt the Law and the Gospel the Old and New Covenant which the Apostle in his Sermons Writings especially in the Epistles to the Romans Galatians doth speak so much of plainly declares this for wherein lyes this opposition but herein viz. That in the one life justification salvation is held forth upon condition in the other freely and absolutely Herein I say lyes the opposition that the very same blessing is held forth in one one way in the other another And that the Law which the Apostle in his Epistles doth set in opposition to the Gospel is to bee understood of Moses his Law and not the Covenant of works made with Adam in Paradise is clear because hee quotes as I have said the very words of Moses curse speaks of the Law which was four hundred and thirty years after the promise made to Abraham which was given upon Mount Sinai which was the School-master Tutor and Governour of Gods people under the Old Testament that Law which the false Apostles did teach and cry up which was not Adams Covenant but the Covenant made by Moses all clearly shewing that the Law standing in opposite termes to the Gospel was according to the minde of the Apostle the Law of Moses if so then the ground of the opposition betwixt them lying in this that the Law gave life and salvation upon condition the Gospel freely it doth necessarily unlesse wee destroy the opposition it self by taking away the ground of if follow That Moses his
Law did hold forth life and salvation 3 The manifold Scripture-phrases and sentences especially in the New Testament which hold forth life in and by doing confirm this as Matth. 19.16 17. Master what good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life Note the Question is about eternal life What is Christs answer Why If thou wilt enter into life keep the Commandements Now if the Law did not hold forth such a thing as eternal life to those that should keep it men should the answer of Christ bee false for the matter of it Now although it is true Christ had it in designe to convince the young man and to make him see that indeed hee neither had nor could keep the Commandements though hee boasted of it yet must wee not thinke that Christ to doe this did use indirect meanes speake that which for the very matter of it was false to convince him of that which was a truth Rom. 2.13 For not the hearers of the Law are just before God but the doers of the Law shall bee justified importing plainly that the Law can and doth give forth justification to him whosoever it bee that gives it its condition of doing viz. perfect obedience Rom. 7.10 The Commandement which was ordained to life I found to bee unto death It is clear the Apostle doth here speak of Moses Law throughout the Chapter and hee saith expresly it was to life ordained instituted to life which fully and in termes speaks the thing asserted Rom. 10.5 For Moses describeth the righteousnesse which is of the Law that the man which doth those things shall live by them It is evident from the words of the Apostle that Moses Covenant is here spoken of and as manifest from his scope hee being treating of Justification that the life mentioned is life eternal which two things make good our Assertion Gal. 3.12 The Law is not of faith but the man that doth them shall live in them The Law here is the same Law with that pronouncing the curse verse 10. and that Law is Mosesses the life promised is the same life with that the justified person lives as the connexion of these words with the words of the precedent verse doth make appeare and that life is life eternal Therefore it necessarily followeth that Moses Law or the Old Covenant doth promise lire eternal to the obedient in their obedience that is in obeying it perfectly and eternally they shall have Eternal life And for this reason as I conceive doth the Scripture here and else-where use this phrase of living in them not living by them to shew that though the Law or Old Covenant hold forth a blessing of-life yet it holds it forth no longer then they continue in perfect obedience So long as their obedience is perfect life is held forth and given by this Covenant but whensoever they faulter all former obedience is forgotten and the blessing of life presently removed and the curse of death is inflicted according to that Ezek. 18.24 Lastly To say no more if the Old Covenant did not hold forth blessings Spiritual and Eternal as well as outward and temporal how could Christs active obedience to the Command of the Law or Old Covenant have a causal influence into our Justification Christ as the Apostle tells us Gal. 4.4 was made of a woman under the Law or Old Covenant being under it hee did as the common person of all his elect perfectly obey it for them and in their stead Matth. 3.15 compared with Rom. 8.4 By this obedience of his they are made righteous Rom. 5.19 As by the disobedience of one many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous i. e. Christs active obedience hath a causal influence into the justification of his seed as Adams active disobedience had a causal influence into the condemnation of his seed as Adam brought guilt upon his seed by his disobedience so Christ brings righteousnesse upon his seed by his obedience Upon which account Rom. 10.3 Christ is said to be the end of the Law for righteousnesse to every one that beleeveth i. e. the very thing which the Law as its end requires viz. perfect obedience for the obtaining of righteousnesse or justification Christ in the behalf of all his hath given it and so the Law hath its end viz. perfect righteousnesse performed by Christ their Surety and common person and by his so doing the righteousnesse of the Law comes to be fulfilled in them as Rom. 8.4 and they come to be the righteousnesse of God in him 2 Cor. 5.21 Now I say in case the Old Covenant did hold forth no such thing as life eternal how could Christs obedience thereto have been influential into our justification which yet it is most clear it was could Christ by obeying it obtain more from it then it had to give certainly no yet Christ by obeying it did obtaine spiritual and eternal blessings from it therefore it must needs bee that the Old Covenant hath such to give Obj. It will be said This makes the Law or Old Covenant to be against the promises which the Apostle expresly disownes Gal. 3.21 yea makes it to disanul the promise which hee tells us the Old Covenant cannot doe vers 17. Ans Not so seeing this Old Covenant though it did hold forth life yet did it not hold it forth to this end to give it but for other ends and therefore it holds it forth in such a way and upon such a condition as that it was a thing impossible for any to have life by it though they would but all that would have life must notwithstanding any help it could afford them fly to the promise or perish forever Now though it did hold forth life yet so long as it gave none but rather held it forth in such a way as that the attainment of life by it was a thing altogether impossible Hence the ordaining of it as a Covenant for life was not contradictory to the promise nor could the establishing of it as such a Covenant in the least disanul the fore-going promise had indeed life been attaineable by it it would have destroyed the promise because then life should have been attained in two distinct and contrary waies of which one must necessarily have destroyed the other But the holding of it forth as a Covenant for life but not to this end to give life but for other ends yea in such a way too as that it could not give life though a man should seek it thereby was no contradiction at all to the promise seeing there was still but one way for the attaining of life viz. by the promise whether all that will have life must flye notwithstanding the Old Covenant And therefore minde it when the Apostle had moved the question Is the Law against the promises he doth not in answer say thus No God forbid for if there had been a law ordained for life verily