Corruption after the Fall did denominate him very sinful because they were virtually seminally all Sin A mere posse convertere doth not denominate a man gracious because it is abstract from the Nature and Essence of the thing but the Habits or Principles of Grace do denominate him such because they were virtually and seminally all Grace Now that there are such Habits or Principles of Grace and not only a naked Power I shall thus demonstrate 1. Out of the Scriptures which do elegantly and emphatically decypher out those Habits or Principles to us Wonderful is the variety of Expressions to this purpose These Habits or Principles are called the new heart and new spirit Ezek. 36. 26. the new man Eph. 4. 24. the new creature 2 Cor. 5. 17. the hidden man of the heart 1 Pet. 3. 4. the good treasure of the heart Matth. 12. 35. the glory within Psal. 45. 13. eternal life abiding in us 1 Joh. 3. 15. a well of water springing up into everlasting life Joh. 4. 14. the teaching and abiding anointing 1 Joh. 2. 27. the renewing of the holy Ghost Tit. 3. 5. the seed of God remaining in us 1 Joh. 3. 9. the life of God Eph. 4. 18. and which is the sublimest word of all the divine nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. And is all this glory of words poured out upon a mere posse which doth not so much as encline to Conversion Are not here the noblest and highest Inclinations set forth unto us Hath not the new heart which hath eternal life in it a propensity to Acts of spiritual life Will not the new creature renewed by the holy Ghost and sweetned by the holy Unction have some Odours and Fragrancies breaking forth from it Can the hidden man be ever hid the good treasure ever sealed and the glory within ever shut up Must not the Well of life break forth the seed and life of God spring up and the divine nature shew forth it self and do not these denominate him gracious in whom they are What doth a new heart speak him How doth the good treasure enrich him the glory within illustrate him the holy unction perfume him the life and seed of God quicken him the renewing of the holy Ghost alter him and the divine nature glorifie him Here are pregnant denominations indeed but there is not a tittle of this in a mere posse convertere wherefore these expressions are of a nobler emphasis than so You 'l say 't is true these expressions shew forth habits or principles of Grace but not such as go before the actual consent of the will to Gods Call but such as follow after it nay after frequent acts thereof Unto which I shall answer two things 1. The habits and principles of Grace decyphered in the Scriptures aforesaid are there set out as the royal acts of pure Free Grace and not as pendents upon mans Will and for this I shall give two eminent instances omitting others The first is in that famous place Ezek. 36. where God promises a new heart ver 26. and his own spirit ver 27. but withal he enters a double protestation one before the Promise Thus saith the Lord I do not this for your sakes O house of Israel but for mine own holy names sake ver 22. and another after it Not for your sakes do I this saith the Lord God be it known unto you be ashamed and confounded for your own wayes O house of Israel ver 32. What could be more said to exalt God and his Free Grace and to annihilate man and his Works How could the True God enter such protestations if the great promise of a new-heart hang in suspence upon mans actual consent When a man without the new-heart gives that actual consent there in something which instead of shame and confusion is worthy to be noted as a matter of Praise and Glory But you 'l say these protestations respect not the way or order of working these gracious habits but exclude mans worth or dignity in the business Now albeit God do not give the new-heart for mans consent yet he may do it upon or after mans consent I answer these protestations shew that before the new heart there is nothing in man but what is matter of shame and confusion and by consequence the actual consent of the Will which is a matter of Praise and Glory cannot so much as in order exist before the new-heart The second instance is that Tit. 3. 5. where the Apostle opens the fountain of Regeneration Not by works of Righteousness which we have done but according to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost We are saved by washing and renewing but in what way or method is this wrought The Apostle tells us not by works of Righteousness but of mere mercy Surely if there be any Righteousness in man it must be in his Will and if any work of Righteousness be in the Will an actual consent to Gods Call must be such a work Yet the Apostle asserts that our Regeneration was not by works of Righteousness but of Gods Mercy Again 't is observable that the Apostle doth not say Not for works of Righteousness as only excluding the meritorious dignity thereof but he saith Not by works of Righteousness as denying the very existence thereof in order to Regeneration 2. If the actual consent of the Will to the Calls of God do indeed precede the habits or principles of Grace then what is that which gives an actual consent to Gods Call What else but the stony heart the old Creature the wisdom of man and the humane nature For the mere posse convertere doth not include in it a heart of flesh a new Creature an holy Unction or divine Nature therefore the consent precedent to these Gracious Principles must be given by the stony heart old Creature humane Wisdome and Nature which is very incongruous Let us hear Anselms determination in this case Voluntas non rectè vult nisi quia recta est sicut non est acutus visus quia videt acute sed ideò videt acutè quia acutus est it a voluntas non est recta quia vult rectè sed rectè vult quoniam est recta To the same purpose is that of our Saviour A corrupt tree 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cannot bring forth good fruit Mat. 7. 18. that is whilst it is corrupt it cannot A corrupt tree may become a good tree but whilst it is corrupt it cannot bring forth good fruit as when the Apostle saith The carnal mind cannot be subject to Gods Law Rom. 8. 7. the meaning is that whilst it is carnal it cannot and how then can the Will whilst it is a corrupt tree bring forth so precious a fruit as an assent to Gods Call How can such a grape of Heaven grow upon the thorns of an unregenerate heart You 'l say I must not call the Will a corrupt tree
another But that of Nazianzen is fullest of spiritual sence who cries out O infirmitatem meam meā enim duco primi parentis infirmitatem If any reply But how could we sin in Adam I answer that our humane Nature was in him and why might it not sin there You 'l say It could not for want of a Will I answer that our Wills were put into Adam's by that Covenant which was made with him for himself and all his posterity If one Man may put his Will into another Man's Will in a Comprimise why may not God who is more Lord of our Wills than our selves put all our Wills into Adam's by a Covenant and here God did it with abundant Equity because our Wills were put into Adam's as well for the obteining blessedness upon his Obedience as for the incurring punishment upon his Disobedience 2. The lower end of this Chain the universal depravation of Nature called Peccatum originale originatum this hangs upon the former all habitual Sin hath an essential relation to some actual Sin precedent 'T is impossible that one should be a Sinner habitually who in no kind sinned actually If Adam had not sinned actually he had never been habitually vitiated nay if we had not sinned in his Sin we had never been so This original Depravation is the sinning Sin the Body of Sin a Body in our Souls Flesh in our Spirits a Nail on our Eyes a Plague in our Hearts and a Root of bitterness in our whole Nature this turns our Minds into Dungeons of darkness our Wills into Gulfs of Sin our Memories into leaking Vessels our Fancies into Forges of Vanity our Affections into Chambers of Imagery our Members into Weapons of Unrighteousness and our whole Man into a Man of Sin insomuch that to be carnal is to walk 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 3. 3. When we are formed in the Womb this Chain lies upon us even in primo ardore in the first warmth of natural Conception Psal. 51. 5. And when Christ is formed in our Hearts this Chain presses so hard upon the spiritual Embryo that as soon as ever it begins to live it falls a sighing and groaning with tears Oh! my hard heart Oh! my unbelieving heart Oh! my carnal sensual heart Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death Rom. 7. 24. Nay the very Philosophers themselves who never kenned so far as the top of this Chain I mean Adam's Sin yet seem to feel the weight of it Wherefore sometimes they complain of a Sepulchrum Corporis as if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were become 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Grave to the Soul and sometimes they cry out of a Defluvium Pennarum as if the Soul had lost her Wings Whither also may be referred the Trismegists Indumentum Inscitiae Pravitatis Fundamentum Corruptionis Vinculum Velamen opacum with many such like expressions touching the weight and pressure of this Chain involving Men in a horrid slavery and captivity 2. Besides the Chain of Original Sin there is that of Actual the whole World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Joh. 5. 19. lies in wickedness as a Slave in his Chains Oh! the open Profaneness secret Hypocrisies spiritual Wickednesses carnal Pollutions daring Presumptions faultring Infirmities Impieties against God Unrighteousness against Men vast Armies and Hosts of Sin which cover the World As Original Sin turns Man into a Man of Sin so Actual Sin turn the World into a World of Sin This is a long Chain reaching from Adam's Fall to the Worlds Period and from first to last enwrapping Captives all along 2. The Links of the Chains are considerable and those are three great ones 1. The first Link is Macula peccati the Stain of Sin this is the filth of the Chain a brand of deformity on the naked Captive God is the beauty of Holiness and there is no turning from him without a Blot God is a Sun of infinite light and there is no holding up our hands against him without casting a dark shadow on our faces Every Sin is a filthiness If it be a brutish lust 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 filthiness of flesh if a spiritual wickedness 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 filthiness of spirit as the Apostle distinguisheth 2 Cor. 7. 1. Nay that which is filthiness of flesh in the external commission of the Act is yet filthiness of spirit in the internal commaculation of the Soul The wicked cast out mire and dirt and the more they cast out in the transient Acts of Sin the more there is within in the abiding spot of it When the Act of Sin is passed and gone the Spot and Stain thereof stays behind and denominates us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 children of disobedience 2. The second Link is Reatus peccati the Guilt of Sin a dreadful Link chaining the naked Captive to divine Wrath fastened within him by the desert of Sin and bound upon him by the Justice of God and hence he becomes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a child of wrath No sooner doth he turn from God as his Law-giver but he meets him as his Judge and that in the face The face of the Lord is against them that do evil Whilest he flies extra ordinem praecepti hee falls intra ordinem justitiae the wages of sin is death 3. The third Link is Regnum peccati the Reign of Sin Sin is an absolute Tyrant over us his Laws are all writ in Letters of blood his strong Holds are in our very Reasons 2 Cor. 10. 4 5. His Throne is in our Wills his winged Chariot in our Affections his Weapons in our earthly Members and our whole man is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the slave of sin Joh. 8. 34. 2. The next thing in the Captivity is the Prison and that is the Wrath of God But here we must distinguish the Walls from the Dungeon the Walls are very strong and dreadful infinite Justice and Holiness are the flaming Cherubims that guard them and the Hand-writing upon them is A curse to the sinner and woe to the worker of iniquity The poor Captive as long as his Chains are unbroken lies within these Walls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 under the judgment of God Rom. 3. 19. Wrath abides upon him Joh. 3. 36. a sad State Nevertheless whilest but here he is a Prisoner of Hope a Captive capable of Redemption The Dungeon is Hell it self a place of Darkness a gulf of unquenchable Fire a bottomless Pit of Perdition into which impenitent Sinners are still a sinking deeper and deeper without any hope of ascending out of it when the Captive is once here the utmost farthing will be exacted of him 3. The last thing in the Captivity is the Jaylor even Satan and he doth three things 1. He takes the Captive into his custody the Natural Man's Heart becomes his Palace and every room in it is full of hellish furniture not the Turret of Reason nay not the reliques
three Reasons 1. Because he fulfilled his Active Obedience not merely for himself but mainly for us he was our Surety and so received the Obligation of Obedience on himself Hence he would be baptized because it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it became him to fulfil all righteousness Mat. 3. 15. it became him not as for himself for he was the spotless Lamb and needed no Baptism at all he could baptize with the holy Ghost and needed no Water-baptism but it became him as our Surety to be subject to Gods command even in this And so in all other his Active Obedience For the impletion of the Law was by God translated upon him What the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us Rom. 8. 3 4. Here all the Obligations of the Law are cast upon Christ as our Surety we could not satisfie for our sins Christ did it we could not fulfil Righteousness Christ did it But you 'l say this place only concerns his Passive Obedience for it speaks of condemning Sin and that was done in his Passive only I answer that this place extends to all Christs Obedience Active as well as Passive and this seems clear by the first and last part of the words compared together the first are What the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh and what was that Could it not curse the Sinner Yes undoubtedly And here the flesh that is Sin was the strength of the Law but for want of perfect Obedience it could not give life Gal. 3. 21. and here the flesh that is Sin was the weakness of the Law Now Christ the Power of God came to supply this weakness but how doth he do it The latter words tell us Sin was condemned in his flesh that is his humane Nature and it was condemned there not only by his Passive Obedience but by his Active too Every Act thereof did as it were sit in judgment on Sin even as every knock of Noah on the Ark condemned the old World Sin was so condemned that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in us the Law hath its rightful demands one whereof is perfect Obedience the righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in us that is for us in our stead and room Wherefore Christ's Active Obedience being fidejussorial and on our behalf must needs be part of the Price But you 'l say Christ's Active Obedience was not fidejussorial for it was the debt of his humane Nature as a rational Creature and therefore being due as for himself it could not be paid down as for us I answer that Christ's humane Nature was but a Creature and so its Will could not possibly be supreme but indispensably subject to the Will of God yet nevertheless his Active Obedience was paid down for us and was part of the Price and this will appear if we view it in these four particulars 1. As to the Spring of it 't was freedom his humane Nature was necessarily subject to the Will of God but it was freely assumed into the Person of God Christ as Man was bound to the Law but as God was not bound to become Man As he freely took a Body with its circumscriptive dimensions so he freely took a Soul with those legal Obligations which are as it were the moral Circumscriptions of it he freely assumed the Humanity and with it all incident Duty 2. As to the Circumstances of it 't was unobliged Christ was bound by the Law as Man but he was not bound to perform it in such a debased manner for such a space of Time in such a place as Earth unless as our Surety for he might have carried up the humane Nature into Heaven in the first instant of its Assumption 3. As to the end of it 't was for us it points at the same end with the humane Nature to which it was incident As he was made Man for us to us a Son is born Isai. 1. 9. 6. so his Active Obedience was for us Hence the Apostle joins both these together he was made of a woman made under the Law and then superadds as the end common to both that he might redeem us Gal. 4. 4 5. 4. As to the Value of it 't was infinite a finite Righteousness may serve for its single performer but Christ's Righteousness stamped with his Deity amounts to an infinite Sum enough for himself and a World besides Hence the very same Righteousness is Christ's Rom. 5. 18. and ours too 1 Cor. 1. 30. St. Bernard sweetly expresses it Domine memorabor Justitiae tuae solius ipsa est enim mea nempe factus es mihi tu justitia à Deo nunquid mihi verendum nè non una ambobus sufficiat Non est pallium breve quod non possit operire duos Justitia tua in aeternum me te pariter operiet quia largiter larga aeterna Justitia To sum up all in one word though Christ as Man were under the Law yet his active Obedience performed in an humane Nature freely assumed and in a way as to that Nature unobliged perioding in our Redemption and elevated into a kind of Infinity by his Deity was paid down for us and was part of the Price 2. Because Christ's whole Obedience Active as well as Passive being fulfilled for us makes us righteous before God famous is that place Rom. 5. 19. As by one mans disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous But you 'l say the Passive Obedience is only meant there but if so why doth the Apostle oppose it to Adam's Actual Disobedience and why doth he say Obedience in general and when he says so who may pare off ought and say it was not all but some Why doth he call it Christ's righteousness Ver. 18 and where are his Sufferings alone so stiled in Scripture or what is so properly such as his Active Obedience Nay further he speaks of such a Righteousness as brings justification of life Ver. 18. The Promise of life was Do this and live and Christ's Active Obedience fully answered the terms of it wherefore Christ's Active Obedience is within this Text and jointly with the Passive makes us righteous and consequently is part of the Price But here it will be objected That if Christ obeyed the Law for us so as to make us righteous then we need not obey it in our own Persons To which I answer two things 1. This Argument presses as much upon those that are for his Passive Obedience only as upon those that are for his Active also for they assert that the Passive alone purges away all sin as well of Omission as Commission and consequently makes us as Righteous before God as if we
this legal fear issues a flood of legal sorrows for sin as procurative of wrath Gods arrows stick fast in the Soul and hence men are pricked in heart Acts 2. 37. and which is more wounded in spirit Prov. 18. 14. and these wounds stink and are corrupt till the balm of Christs blood be poured into them Such is the weight of these fears and sorrows that it presses the Soul into a self-weariness and by degrees breaks it all to pieces that there is scarce left a shard thereof to take a little fire from the hearth or water out of the Pit of any Creature-comfort 4. In the midst of these fears and sorrows some glimmerings and appearances of mercy in Christ offer themselves to the Soul and the Soul begins to have some vellcities and imperfect wouldings after Mercy anguish and bitterness make it cry out Oh! What shall I do to be saved The scorching flames of Gods wrath leave a thirst in the heart after the coolings and refrigerations of pardoning Mercy and in proportion to these wouldings and velleities there are some light touches and tasts of Free Grace some flashes of joy in the Word and Christ the marrow thereof and yet all this while there is no root of Spiritual life in the heart These are the preparatories of Conversion only we must not conceive them to be such formal immediate dispositions as infallibly inferr Conversion after them for such prepared ones though not far from the Kingdom of Heaven may yet possibly never enter into it neither must we look on these preparations though Gods usual method as necessary on Gods part for if he please to use his Prerogative he can make even dry bones to rattle and come together again without any previous dispositions He can say unto men even when they are in their blood Live and that word as with child of Omnipotency shall instantly bring forth the New Creature 2. What is the work of Conversion it self I answer 'T is that inward Principle of Grace whereby a man is made able and willing to turn from all Creatures unto God in Christ. Conversion is a motion of the Soul and therefore there must be an inward Principle called in Scripture a Root The root of the matter is in me saith Job Job 19. 28. Friends you look upon me as if I were nothing but leaves of hypocrisie but the inward Root of Holiness is in me Conversion is a supernatural motion and therefore there must be an inward Principle of Grace called by the Apostle the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. the Humane Nature cannot elevate it self so high as Conversion but the Divine Nature can do it By this inward Principle of Grace man becomes able he hath an active posse convertere and which is more a velle too he becomes able and willing to turn Conversion is called in Scripture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a returning unto God Mans Natural state wants a Turn and Gods Supernatural Grace effects it Motion is between two terms the terminus à quo in conversion is all Creatures Creatures as Creatures are the footsteps of Gods Power and Goodness and so we must not turn from a worm but see God in it but Creatures as they are deifyed and idolized in the heart become lying vanities and empty nothings and so in Conversion we turn from them all The world without us is a Glass of the Divine Wisdom and Goodness and so Conversion gives a sanctified use of it but the world within us the world in the heart is nothing but a lust 1 John 2. 16. sitting in the place and Throne of God I mean the chief and uppermost seat of the Soul and so Conversion casts it out of the heart The Soul in Conversion moves towards God as its true centre and therefore must leave all the world behind its back The terminus ad quem in Conversion is God A man before Conversion walks in an Image Psal. 39. 6. he thinks that he moves towards happiness in this or that Creature but all the while he is but in an image or picture of happiness but in Conversion he moves really to God the Centre and Sabbath of Souls Lastly in Conversion there is a turning unto God in Christ. To turn to God is a most rational Act for he is the only true end of the Soul and to turn to God in Christ is a most Regular Act for he is the only true way to that end The way into the Holy of holies is only through the vail of Christs flesh If we go to God out of Christ we go to a consuming fire but if we go to God in him we go to a reconciled Father who is ready to fall upon our necks and kiss and welcome us with his Love revealed in the face of Christ. Now in Conversion there are two instants or moments to be distinctly considered 1. The first instant is habitual Conversion or the habits or vital Principles of Grace which incline and dispose the Soul to actual Conversion 2. The second instant is actual Conversion or the actuation and crowning issue of those Principles in an actual turn to God 1. As to the habits or vital Principles of Grace I shall do two things 1. I shall demonstrate that there are habits or Principles of Grace 2. I shall particularly unfold what they are 1. I shall demonstrate that there are such things The Remonstrants mince the business There is say they potentia supernaturalis concessa voluntati ad hoc ut credere bene agere possit but as as for any habitual Grace they tell us Scholasticorum figmentum est corum qui simul somel optant infundi omnes illos habitus quos actibus crebris comparare nimis laboriosum esse arbitrantur Now there is a vast difference between a mere posse convertere and those Habits or Principles of Grace which dispose and encline the Soul to actual Conversion A mere posse convertere doth not include in it any inward disposition or inclination in the Soul to turn to God no more than the posse peccare in innocent Adam did include in it an inward disposition or inclination in the Soul to depart from God but the Habits or Principles of Grace do incline and dispose the Soul to actual Conversion Again a mere posse convertere doth not denominate a man gracious no more than the posse peccare in innocent Adam did denominate him sinful but the Habits or Principles of Grace do denominate a man gracious And the Reason is a mere posse may be abstract from the Nature or Essence of the thing into which it is reducible but the Habit or vital Principle hath something of the Nature or Essence of the thing in it nay it is virtually and seminally the thing it self A mere posse peccare in Adam before his Fall did not denominate him sinful because it had nothing of the nature of Sin in it but the Habits and Seeds of
God Tit. 2. 13. not an under subordinate God but over all God blessed for ever Rom. 9. 5. not a God by office but a Jehovah Jer. 23. 6. a God by nature though not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as to his Subsistence yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as to his Essence Gods name is in him Exod. 23. 21. One great Letter of that Name is Eternity and his going forth was from everlasting Mic. 5. 2. another is Immutability and he is yesterday to day and for ever the same Heb. 13. 8. another is Omniscience and he knoweth all things Joh. 21. 17. another is Omnipotence and he hath all the power in heaven and earth Matth. 28. 18. another is Immortality and he hath life in himself Joh. 5. 26. another is Immensity and he whilest on earth was in heaven Joh. 3. 13. and though long since ascended to heaven is still on earth Matth. 28. 20. All these golden Letters are graven on the Godhead and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all the fulness of the Godhead dwells in him Col. 2. 9. all these shed forth a divine Glory and Majesty he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the brightness of divine glory Heb. 1. 3. and what need we any more witnesses of his Deity His Name is wonderful Isai. 9. 6. far above all Creatures his Generation is unutterable being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the proper Son of the Father Rom. 8. 32. not as Creatures made ex nihilo but as a proper Son begotten out of his very Substance his standing is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the essential form of God the very divine nature Phil. 2. 6. and his special Ubi there is the Fathers bosom Joh. 1. 18. and from thence together with him he breathes forth the holy Ghost His Works are divine and all one with the Fathers Joh. 5. 19. He sat in counsel with him in framing his Eternal Decrees and since wrought with him in making first a World of Creatures and then a Church of Saints and still he works with him in the preservation and gubernation of both Lastly his two Testaments which face each other as the Cherubims upon the Ark by their sweet glances and respective aspects upon each other do disclose his Deity For in the Old Testament 't is said that Jehovah brought Israel out of Egypt Exod. 20. 2. in the New Testament 't is said that Christ did it Jude 4. and 5. Ver. in the Old Jehovah circumcises the heart Deut. 30. 6. in the New Christ doth it Col. 2. 11. in the Old Jehovah poured out the Spirit Joel 2. 28. in the New Christ Acts 2. 33. in the Old every knee bowes to Jehovah Isai. 45. 23. in the New to Christ Rom. 14. 11. in the Old miracles were done in Jehovah's Name 2 Kings 2. 21. in the New in Christ's Acts 9. 34. in the Old Jehovah is the first and the last Isai. 44. 6. in the New Christ is Alpha and Omega Revel 1. 11. in the Old there is Deus absconditus Isai. 45. 15. in the New Deus manifestatus in carne 1 Tim. 3. 16. All which do most pregnantly prove the Deity of Christ unto us Nevertheless proud Reason will be babling How can the Father beget the Son ex propriâ Substantiâ Can any part of the Divine Essence be discinded in such a Generation Or if not can the whole be given to the Son And if so how is it retained to the Father I answer The Father gave unto the Son the whole Essence non alienatione sed communicatione non generatione emanante sed immanente the Father so begets the Son as that he still possesses him Prov. 8. 22. the Son so goes forth from the Father as that he still abides in him his eternal egress Micah 5. 2. is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not by defluxion but immansion I am in the Father and the Father in me saith Christ Joh. 14. 10. Indeed if we speak accurately the Father begets the Son out of himself rather in Essentiâ divinâ than ex essentiâ divinâ Hence the entire Essence is in the Father and the entire Essence is in the Son too and what if it could not be thus in a finite Essence yet why may it not be so in an infinite What if Reason cannot fathom it must therefore Faith reject it I conclude then that Christ is very God and as God hath a right to redeem us his Creatures 2. Jus Idoneitatis as the Son of God he was most fit to be our Redeemer what can be more perfectly congruous than Reconciliation by God's beloved one Adoption by his Natural Son Reparation of his gracious Image by his substantial a shine of Favour by the brightness of his Glory beams of Light by his Wisdom Restitution of Life by the Prince of Life and Mediation between God and Man by the middle Person in the sacred Trinity There be three great goings forth of God into which all others may be resolved the first is that fundamental one of Creation and upon Sins Entry which is but an Apostasie from Creation in comes the second viz. Redemption and out of this as out of a Fountain flows the third and that is Sanctification these hang in order one upon another Unless there had been a Creature and that Apostate there had been no place for Redemption and unless there had been a Redemption there had been no room for Sanctification for God would never have reimplanted his Image of Holiness in a Creature left under the eternal stroke of his Justice nor have plucked away the spot of Sin there where the guilt of Sin is left behind Now albeit it is a most sure Rule that Opera Trinitatis ad extrà sunt indivisa yet among Divines Creation is in a sort peculiarized to the Father as the first Redemption to the Son as the second and Sanctification to the Spirit as the third Person in the Glorious Trinity Thus in these three goings forth of God each person in the Trinity hath his special Shine and that in the very Order of his Subsistence wherefore it was very congruous that the Son of all the Persons in the Trinity should be out Redeemer 3. Jus Conjunctionis he that redeems a Captive must be Persona conjunct a with him and so was Christ with us in a threefold respect 1. Conjunctione naturali he was our Goel Isai. 59. 20. that is our next kinsman by his Incarnation and our Redeemer by his Passion he assumed our Nature into himself that he might redeem us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the great God a sucking Child regens Sydera yet sugens Ubera he that ruled the Stars sucked the Breasts The word was made flesh Joh. 1. 14. and a strange making it was all other Creations are as it were extra Deum but here was a Creation in the very person of God The glorious Trinity in the very instant of drawing the Humane Nature exnihilo interweaved
of Holiness burning with zeal for God melting in compassions over Men bowing it self down in miraculous humility and in a rape of love doing all the Will of God even to the last gasp upon the Cross. His thoughts were all births of Holiness his words oracles of Truth his works a fulfilling all Righteousness and his meat and drink was to do his Father's Will He ascended up to the top or pinacle of the Moral Law in the sweetest strains of Love and fetched about the breadth or vast compass of it in the largeness of his Obedience and passed down to the very hemm or border of it in the lowness of his Humility Rather than fail he would be subject to his own Creature Luk. 2. 51. pay tribute to his own Subject Matth. 17. 27. and wash his Disciples feet with those very hands which had all the power in Heaven and Earth in them Joh. 13. 3 4 5. Nay he stooped down as low as the fringe of the Ceremonial Law his sinless flesh was circumcised Luke 2. 21. his holy Mother purified Luk. 2. 22. the true Passeover kept the typical one Matth. 26. 20 21. and so obedientially stood under his own shadow In every respect he was obedient unto death His Obedience was a fair Commentary on the whole Law written in glorious Characters of Holiness and Righteousness all his life long and at his death clasped and sealed up with his precious Blood Thus the Mandatory part of the Law was answered now for the Minatory 2. He gave up himself in his passive obedience he was in some sence crucifyed in the womb in that he was made of his creature and coming forth into the world all his life was a perpetual passion The Gospel shews us the immense God in swadling clouts the builder of all things working as a Carpenter the holy one hurried up and down by a tempting Devil the filler of all things hungry the fountain of living water thirsty the power of God weary the eternal joy of the Father weeping the owner of all things extreme poor and not knowing where to lay his head in his own world Thus as a man of sorrows he passes on towards his Cross one of his own Apostles betraying him another denying him the rest forsaking him the chief Priests bloodily conspiring against him false witnesses unjustly accusing him the tumultuous rabble crying out crucify crucify and Pilate first confessing his innocency and then condemning his person And now arriving at his Cross sorrows break in upon every part his head raked with thorns his face besmeared with spittle his eyes afflicted with the tears of friends his ears filled with the blasphemies of enemies his lips of grace wet with vinegar and gall his hands and feet nailed to the Cross and his sacred body hanging between thieves racked and tortured to death in a Golgotha of stench and rottenness But all this is but the outside of his passion at the same time hell was let loose and from thence the Devils as so many roaring Lyons came with open mouth to devour him and which is much more Heaven thundred over his head and the righteous God as angry as our sins could make him fell a smiting of him Isai. 53. 4. and smote him in his Soul too verse 10. and with smiting wounded and bruised him verse 5. the smart and anguish whereof was so great that he was afraid Hebr 5. 7. and his fear was so high that he began 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to faint away and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be sore amazed Mark 14. 33. and in this amazement the Eclipse was so dark that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 surrounded with sorrows even unto death verse 34. and in this spiritual Siege he falls a praying Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt Matth. 26. 39. and in prayer he sinks into an agnony His soul became like that poor ship that fell into a place where two seas met the fore-part sticking fast and remaining unmoveable and the hinder-part broken with the violence of the waves Acts 27. 41. Even so here were two seas met a sea of wrath storming against him as our Surety and a sea of love breathing in him after our Redemption His humane will as nature shrunk at the sense of Gods wrath but as reason it stedfastly pointed at the work of our Salvation Redemption stood fast and unmoveable in his heart yet the same heart though without the least spot of sinful contrariety was broken with the waves of amazing horrors and so dreadful was this agony that it cast this grand Heroe the strength of all the Martyrs into a bloody sweat there fell from him great drops of blood Luke 22. 44. The sins of the world ascending up as a vast cloud before Gods Tribunal now came dashing down upon him in an horrible tempest of incomprehensible wrath and this makes him cry nay as the Psalmist hath it Psal. 22. 1. roar out upon the Cross My God! my God! Why hast thou forsaken me Mat. 27. 46. One would have thought at the first blush that the humane nature had been dropt out of his divine person but though that were not yet the sense of Gods favour was for a time suspended from his humane nature Never was sorrow like to his sorrow In all the legal sacrifices there was destructio rei oblatae and all those destructions were summed up in his sufferings As the corn he was bruised as the wine and oil poured out as the Lamb slain and rosted in the fire of Gods wrath and as the scape-goat driven into the dismal wilderness of desertion He did as it were sport in Creation but in Redemption he sweats suffers bleeds and dyes Now his humane nature thus made under the Law both in his active and passive obedience is the complete and integral price of our Redemption I say both in his active and passive obedience for these were not sundred either in existence or merit 1. Not in existence for there was passion in his actions and action in his passions from first to last his obedience was with suffering and his suffering with obedience There was passion in his actions 't was a great suffering for the great Law-giver to be under the Law for the Lord of the Sabbath to observe it The noblest and purest piece of the Law is the knowing and loving of God and yet even in that there was a great suffering for he who eternally knew the Father in an infinity of light now knew him as it were by candle-light in a finite reason he who eternally embraced the Father in an infinity of love now loved him in the narrow compass of a finite will and therefore even in these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he emptied himself as the Apostle speaks Phil. 2. 7. And on the other side there was action in his passion his passions were with knowledge he shut not
Glory 1. As to the World of Nature Christ procured two things 1. The Standing of it 2. The Deliverance of it 1. The Standing of it and that in a threefold respect 1. The Standing of it in Being Sin filled it with so much spiritual stench and rottenness that the Power of the holy One would not have endured to have been there supporting and bearing it up in Being if the Death of Christ had not been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sweet-smelling savour Eph. 5. 2. to perfume and sweeten it the World was as it were new founded by the Cross or else Sin that abomination of desolation would have dashed it down about the Sinners Ears Justice if unsatisfied would not have spared so much as the Stage whereon Sin was acted but hurled it down into its first Nullity Christ upholdeth all things by the word of his power Heb. 1. 3. Before Sins entry they stood merely by the word of his Power but since they stand not without the blood of his Cross. Redemption is the great Buttress of Creation as it rears up the little World after its fall so it keeps up the great World from falling 2. The Standing of it in Order When the Prophet describes God's Judgments he speaks as if the old Chaos were come again Loe the earth was without form and void Jer. 4. 23. All the Orders and Harmonies in Nature were at first set by the Wisdom of God and afterwards cemented by the Blood of God or else Sin would have unframed all By Christ all things consist Col. 1. 17. not only subsist in their Beings but consist in their Orders 3. The Standing of it in its Usefulness to us Sin was the blast and forfeiture but Christ is the Purchaser and heir of all things Heb. 1. 2. and in and through him all are as it were new-given to us We became such wretches by Sin that the Earth would not have bore our persons if Christ had not bore our iniquities the Sun in the Firmament would not have lighted the material World if the Sun of Righteousness had not appeared in the spiritual these lower Heavens would not have spun out a day for us if Christ had not purchased the upper ones of Glory the Blood of Creatures should never have been shed for the life of our Bodies if the Blood of God had not been poured out for the Life of our Souls Under the Law before Harvest began the Passeover was killed at Harvest a Sheaf of the first-fruits was brought to the Priest to be offered to God and after Harvest there was the Feast of Tabernacles to bless God for the Fruits of the Earth which by the Jews was kept with Booths and Hosannahs Had not Christ our Passeover been sacrificed for us there would have been no Harvest of Creature-blessings at all and now that there is one the praise of every Sheaf must be brought to Christ the high-priest of good things and in and through him offered up to God therefore there is a spiritual feast of tabernacles under the Gospel Zach. 14. 16. Whilest we sit under the Booths of the Creature we must sing Hosannahs to the Son of God who tabernacled in our flesh and in it merited all comforts for us Every bough of Nature hangs upon his Cross every crum of Bread swims in his Blood every Grape of blessing grows on his Crown of Thorns and all the sweetness in Nature streams out of his Vinegar and Gall. A right-born Christian is the best Philosopher for he sees the Sun of Righteousness in the Luminaries of Heaven the waterings of Christ's Blood in the fruits of the Earth the Word incarnate in Creature-nourishment and the Riches of Christ in all the Riches of Nature All are ours and we are Christ's and Christ is God's 2. Christ by this Price procured the Deliverance of it God made the House of the World for Man and whilest there is Sin in the Inhabitant the Curse-mark is on the House the Heavens wax old as if there were Mothes in them the Stars have their malignant Aspects the Earth hath its Thorns and Thistles and the whole Creation groans and travels with an universal Vanity the Sun groans out his light on the Workers of darkness the Air groans with Vollies of Oaths and Blasphemies and the Earth groans forth its Corn and Wine into the lap of the Riotous and as Sin grows heavier so the Creaturegroans wax lowder every day But at last in and through Christ there shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a restitution of all things Acts 3. 21. the Balm of his Blood will perfectly heal all the stabs and wounds in the Body of Nature the groaning and traveling Creature shall be delivered from the bondage of Corruption Rom. 8. 21. there shall be new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness 2 Pet. 3. 13. and all the steps and traces of the old Curse shall be razed out of the World Thus Christ hath purchased the World of Nature but this as appears by the Purchaser's own 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matth. 6. 33. is not the main bargain but the casting in or overplus thereof therefore 2. Christ by this Price purchased the World of Grace Grace may be considered two ways either as it is in the Map or Charter of the Gospel or as it is in the Subject or receptacle of the Heart and both ways 't is Christ's purchase 1. Grace in the Map or Charter is the Covenant of Grace comprized in the Promises called the Covenant of Promise Eph. 2. 12. In this Covenant there are Promises reaching down as low as the World of Nature and Promises reaching up as high as the World of Glory and betwixt these two run the Promises which water the World of Grace and these are either Promises of Grace such as those I will give an heart to know me Jer. 24. 7. I will circumcise the heart to love me Deut. 30. 6. I will put my laws into their minds and write them in their hearts Heb. 8. 10. I will give a new heart and a new spirit I will take away th◠stony heart and give an heart of flesh Ezek. 36. 26. or else they are Promises to Grace such as those God will justifie the believer Rom. 3. 26. beautifie the meek with salvation Psal. 149. 4. dwell in a broken heart Isai. 57. 15. comfort the mourners fill the hungry and be seen of the pure in heart Matth. 5. 4 6 8. Now all these Promises are the purchase of Christ and the whole Covenant made up of them is the New-testament in his blood 1 Cor. 11. 25. Without his satisfactory Blood there would have been no room for Promises no not for the least twinkling of a Promise to the sons of men for unsatisfied Justice would have hurried all to Hell All the Promises issue out to us in and through Christ the Rivers of Life gushed out of the true Rock the Gospel-wine run forth from the true Vine if
when there is a posse convertere supernaturally poured into it but if that posse do not denominate it gracious surely it is as yet but corrupt and whilst it is such it may be so called 2. I argue from the Glory of free Grace one of its Crown-jewels is that it makes gracious Principles where there were none before it new creates in Christ and so gives Principles of Spiritual being it quickens the dead and so gives Principles of Spiritual Life thus free Grace is blessed from the fountain of Israel from the fontal Principles of the new Creature But those which deny gracious Principles darken free Grace in that which is its prime lustre But here I shall be asked whether that posse convertere be not such a Principle I answer No a Principle is more than a bare posse There was in Adam in innocency a posse peccare and yet there was no Principle of sin in him after the same manner there is say the Remonstrants a posse convertere given to fallen man but this is no Principle of Grace in him But not to strive about words suppose it might be called a Principle yet what a grand disparagement to free Grace is it to say that there was as much of Principle in innocent Adam by Nature towards his sinful transgression as there is in fallen Man by Grace towards his actual Conversion Such as deny gracious habits and grant only a naked power must say so 3. I argue from the sweetness of Providence As 't is the Glory of free Grace that there are gracious Principles made so 't is the sweetness of providence that those Principles are made first and then congruous acts issue from thence The only wise God disposes things in the sweetest method In the body of Nature first a Sun and then a beam first a Fountain and then a stream first a Root and then a fruit In the Soul of Man negative faculties precede acts of life sensitive acts of sense and intellectual acts of reason Hence those acts issue forth in an easie connaturalness to their Principles And can there be less of the beauty of providence in the Spiritual world than in the natural Should there not be as sweet an order in the new Creature as in the old Ought not supernatural acts to issue forth in as great connaturalness to their Principles as natural If so then there must be habits of Grace to precede the acts if not then those acts which are above nature in facto esse as to their essential excellency must be below it in fieri as to their procedure from causes nay 't is hardly imaginable that those acts should at all come forth into being without gracious Principles If the Will be not changed by regenerating Grace how is it constituted in ordine agentium supernaturalium And if not how can it actually turn to God seeing that is actus ordinis supernaturalis Every one that doth righteousness is born of God 1 Joh. 2. 29. To turn unto God is a prime act of Righteousness and how then can it be done before Regeneration Wherefore the Scripture method is clear first a good tree and then good fruit Mat. 7. 17. first a good treasure in the heart and then good things out of it Mat. 12. 35. first we are created in Christ and then we walk in good works Eph. 2. 10. And thus Spiritual acts are done in the easiness of the new Creature because in a way connatural to Spiritual Principles 4. If there be no habits or principles of Grace what is that that makes the grand difference between a godly and an ungodly man Surely either it must be the acts of Faith and other Graces or else the habits and principles thereof 'T is not the acts of Faith and other Graces for two Reasons 1. Because that which makes the difference must be somewhat permanent such was Caleb's other spirit which differenced him from the murmuring Congregation Numb 14. 24. Such was Job's Root which differenced him from the leavy hypocrite Job 19. 28. But the acts of Faith and other Graces are transient wherefore if these be all the difference what becomes of a Godly man in his sleep or phrensie wherein no such acts are put forth Doth he drop out of the state of Grace without any apostasie or continue in it without any differencing quality neither is possible he back-slides not from God and how can he be out of the state of Grace he is but as other men are and how can he be in it It remains therefore that the habits of Grace make the difference for by reason of these he is not as other men are no not when the Acts of Grace are suspended because he hath another spirit in him 2. All men being by Nature ungodly that which chiefly makes the difference must denominate a man changed Now in every change the Terminus is somewhat permanent in Alteration 't is a permanent Quality in Augmentation 't is a permanent Quantity in Generation 't is a substantial Form and in Regeneration 't is a new creature born of the incorruptible seed of the Word 1 Pet. 1. 23. The Terminus of this gracious Change is set out in Scripture as a permanent thing sometimes 't is called light ye were darkness but now light in the Lord Eph. 5. 8. sometimes life this my son was dead and is alive again Luk. 15. 24. sometimes the new man old things are past away behold all things are become new 2 Cor. 5. 17. still it is somewhat parmanent Hence it appears that the Acts of Faith and other Graces which are transient do not so properly denominate a man changed as improve the Change already made The wild Tree is changed by the Graff and not by the After-fruit the Natural man is changed by the ingrafted Word and not by the fruits of Faith and other Graces which naturally grow upon the Root of habitual Grace That a corrupt Tree is made good is a great Change but that a good Tree brings forth good fruit is altogether connatural If there be no Habits or Principles of Grace how can the Natural man's deadly Wound I mean Original Corruption ever be healed Habitual Corruption cannot be healed but by habitual Grace the Plague of the Heart cannot be healed but by the holy Unction instead of the old Heart there must be a new one or else there is no healing and without healing how can such a sound Act as Conversion come forth It remains therefore that there are Habits or Principles of Grace 2. Having proved that there are such Habits or Principles I come to unfold what they are and this I cannot better do than by shewing what they are in the several Faculties Wherefore 1. As to the Understanding there is a Principle of excellent Knowledge I say excellent not only in respect of the matter of it being heavenly Mysteries but also in respect of the Nature of it 't is too high for a fool
be their God and they shall be my people Jer. 31. 33. These Promises do most signally set forth the production of gracious Principles here 's the Principles themselves a new heart and a new spirit here 's the principal efficient of them the holy Spirit of God here 's a remotion of the Obstacles unto them the taking away the heart of stone here 's the next immediate Capacity of receiving them an heart of flesh here 's the way or manner of producing them a writing the Law in the heart here 's the effectual fruitfulness of them a causing to walk in God's statutes and here 's the crown or glory of all God will be their God and they his people Now when there is a Worker such as the Almighty Spirit a Remotion of the Obstacles such as the Stone of hardness an immediate Capacity such as an Heart of flesh a way of Working such as the intimate Impression of Truth a Fruit proceding such as Obedience to God's Statutes and a Crown of all such as an Interest in God How can the Grace be less than insuperable You will say These Promises were not made to the Gentiles but to the Jews and not to any singular persons among them but to the whole Nation I answer These Promises extend not only to the Jewes but to the Gentiles for these are Promises of Grace founded in Christ and in Christ Jew and Gentile are all one Gal. 3. 28. so one that the Gentiles are of the same body and partakers of the promise Eph. 3. 6. Indeed before the middle Wall of Partition was broken down they were strangers from the covenant of promise but that being gone they are fellow-heirs partaking of the root and fatness of the Olive Neither do these Promises extend to all the Nation of the Jews but to the true Israel the elect People of God whether they be Jews or Gentiles for in them only are these Promises fulfilled Had these been made to all the Jews the true God would have fulfilled them in every Jew You will say No God's Truth doth not exact such a performance for he promised to do these things not absolutely but conditionally so as men did not resist the operations of his Grace I answer If God only promise these things shall be done so as men do not resist then these Promises run thus If thy stony Heart do not resist I will give thee an Heart of Flesh if thy old Heart do not resist I will give thee a new one if thy own spirit do not resist I will give thee my Spirit and if the Law of Sin do not resist I will give my Laws into thy Heart Which Interpretation doth utterly evacuate the Glory and Power of these Promises for to be sure that Stone that old Heart that Spirit of our own that Law of Sin in us will what it can resist the operations of Grace You will say God gives unto Man a posse convertere a supernatural Faculty whereby he is able to turn unto God Now God promises to do these things not so as men in their mere Naturals do not resist but so as men furnished with that supernatural power do not resist I answer two things overthrow this Interpretation 1. In the Text it self there is not a tittle of such a Condition of Non-resistency nor of such a supernatural Power of Conversion nay on the contrary in stead of the Condition of Non-resistency it speaks of a stony heart which is a Principle of Resistency to be removed instead of a supernatural power of Conversion it implies an old heart which is powerless in the things of God to be made new 2. If God promise to do these things so as men furnished with supernatural power of Conversion do not resist then there is such a supernatural power in men before these things be wrought in them that is before there be a new or soft Heart whilest the Heart is old and stony there is such a supernatural power in them which assertion is as I take it 1. Against Scripture that divides all men into two ranks they are clean or unclean new creatures or old spiritual men born of the spirit or natural men born of the flesh but this Assertion ushers in a middle sort of men such as hang by a posse convertere between Nature and Grace with the natural man they have an old stony Heart and with the spiritual man they have a new supernatural Power in the frame of their Heart they are no better than natural and in their supernatural Power they are little less than spiritual 2. 'T is against Reason All Powers in the rational Soul flow out of Life the Power of knowing and embracing natural good things flows out of the natural Life of the Soul and the power of believing and receiving spiritual good things flows out of the supernatural Life of the Soul but this Assertion supposes a supernatural Power of Conversion without any vital Root nothing of a new Heart or Spirit and yet a supernatural Power of Conversion Wherefore rejecting these Interpretations I conclude that those Promises import the production of gracious Principles in an insuperable way 4. The Production of gracious Principles is in Scripture set out in such glorious titles as do import insuperable Grace 't is a creation Eph. 2. 10. 't is a generation Jam. 1. 18. 't is a resurrection Eph. 2. 5 6. 't is a traction Joh. 6. 44. 't is an opening of the heart Act. 16. 14. 't is a translation into Christs kingdom Col. 1. 13. Now if this be not insuperable Grace then there may be a Creation on God's part and no new Creature on mans a Generation on Gods part and no Child of Grace on mans a Resurrection on Gods part and nothing quickened on mans a Traction on Gods part and nothing coming on mans an Opening on Gods part and all shut on mans and a Translation on God's part and no Remove at all on mans and why then should such stately names of Power be set on the head of resistible Grace You 'l say all these are but Metaphors very well but Metaphors are Metaphors that is they carry in them some image or resemblance of the things themselves but there is not the least shadow of likeness or similitude between these things and resistible Grace What shadow of Creation in that which a Creature may frustrate What of Generation in that which produces nothing at all What of Resurrection when the dead need not rise What of Traction when there is no coming upon it What of Opening when there is a Heart still shut up What of Translation when there is no remove by it Take away the infallible Efficacy of Grace and it can be none of all these no not so much as metaphorically because it hath no print of likeness thereunto 5. The Scripture doth not only set out Conversion under the Glory of Metaphors but in plain terms it stiles it a Work of