and not to follow her in it But the grand aggravation of all was when man could not come to be like God in Deity as the Devil had deceived him he will then make God like himself in Iniquity This Adam did in transmitting his fault upon God as if God had been the Principal therein and himself but Accessory both to God and the Woman Oh the unpâraâlel'd Gentleness of God in making no reply to Adams frivolous Apology well may he say Fury is not in me Isa 27.4 God turns from him to Eve Gen. 3.13 who confesseth the fact yet denies the fault imputing it to the Serpents fraud rather than to her own ambitious Affections and too too liquorish Appetite Thus sinning and shifting came into the World both together Oh what woful work Adam and Eve here make to undo themselves and all their posterity first Eve Teacheth Adam to Sin against God and then Adam teacheth Eve to hide her Sin from God Eve heard how Adam had transferr'd his Sin upon her now when God comes to Arraign her saying What hast thou done She learnt by her Husbands example to throw off the Guilt from her self to the Serpent saying The Serpent beguiled me c. wherein though she lyed not yet this excuse did trebly tax her self 1. That she had hearkened to the Serpents lyes more than to the God of truth 2. That she was not content with that happy state wherein God had made her but had affected a Deity of the Devils promising 3. Neither could the Devil have thus deceived her unless she had been willing to be so deceived therefore the yielding of her Assent and Consent from her free will to the Devils deceptions was her own Crime not the Serpents After this personal examination the most just judge proceedeth in a Judiciary way to pronounce Sentence upon the sinners and first he begins with the Serpent and Satan in him whom God examines not as he had done the tempted that he might bring them to repentance but God would shew no mercy to the tempter and therefore he is Doomed immediately without any examination because his sin was from himself he had none to seduce him unto sin but sinned out of meer malice against a greater measure of Angelical Light and stronger obligations of Caelestial Love Because thou hast done this v. 14. The fact was so obvious the Devil could not deny it so notorious he had none to blame but himself God praefixes this to shew he was not judged without cause 't was the Devils hatred to God whose goodness he had blasphemed to man and his Envy to man that he should be happy when himself had lost his happiness which prompted him to sin Upon this Conviction the Judge passeth Sentence Thou art cursed c. In which there are four parts 1. He is cursed above all Cattel 2. He must Crawl and Creep upon his Belly 3. He must lick up the Dust of the Earth for his meat 4. He must live under a fatal enmity forever v. 14 15. All which have a double sense the 1st Literal pertaining to the Serpent as Satans Organ and Instrument the 2d Mystical pertaining to the Devil who was the chief Actor and Author of all For it cannot rationally be imagined that so much Divine severity should be executed upon the Corporal Serpent who could not sin inasmuch as the Law was not given to him but to man and where there is no Law there is no Transgression Rom. 4.15 And the Spiritual Serpent the Devil the chief Abettor should scape scot-free Therefore it must be granted that the Author was Doom'd with the Organ and if the Organ had so dreadful a doom according to the literal sense how much more dreadful was the Doom according to the Mystical sense upon the principal Author Who must therefore be principally understood in this Doom of the Serpent 1. The Doom on the Organ and 2. On the Author may be distinctly considered 1. That on the Serpent Who hath his share in the punishment as he had been the Devils Instrument for the severity of Divine Justice is declared against the Instruments of sin as well as against Authors of it Exod. 32.20 Lev. 20.15 16. Though they cannot be guilty of sin whereof man only is capable yet the Law saith there that the Beast shall be burned wherewith the beastly man had carnal copulation to shew the hainousness of the sin And not only the Law of God Judgeth thus against the Organ or Instrument but also the Law of Man for a Judge condemneth not only the Forger of false Bonds Deeds c. But also the very Pen wherewith they were written And not only the murderer but also the very weapon wherewith the Murder was commited And as the Bodies of the reprobate which are but the Organs of their sinful Souls are doomed to damnation so is the Serpent here doomed for lending his Body Mouth and Tongue in this first sin to the Devil Hereupon 1. He who was a Beautiful and Delightful Beast to behold without all doubt before now became accursed above all Cattel and most hateful to God men and all the other Beasts which all do Shun as their common enemy 2. He was cut shorter by the feet and made to wriggle on his Belly that before this the Serpent had Legs to lift him up a little from the ground which might Improved by Satans artifice put him into a better decorum for Conferring and Conversing with the Woman is not improbable because he is consorted with the Beasts of the Field Gen. 3.1 Which are distinguished in kind from creeping things Gen. 1.25 Now as Satan by his sin of an Angel became a Devil so the Serpent by this sin of a walking Beast became a Creeping thing and confined to that painful posture of motion 3. Dust must be his diet which his crawling upon the ground must raise up to his mouth and if he feed on any other food yet 't is that every foot doth tread upon so must have dust or dirt upon it to defile it 'T is not improbable that the Serpent went before in a more erect posture than now for the more noble a creature is the more erect that creature goes as beasts being more noble than creeping things and Man than Beasts Yea and Noblemen than Rusticks are more erect in their goings and that he fed before upon fruit but now he is either famished or fares worse than any other creature 4. Instead of that Amity and Familiarity he had with the Woman God Inflicts an everlasting enmity 'twixt him and her yea the brood of Serpents and the whole race of mankind are irreconcileable enemies to each other so that Serpents dare no more go abroad openly but hide themselves in holes and hedges This implacable enmity is more forcible 'twixt the Female Sex and the Serpent insomuch that a Woman is more affrighted than a man at the sight of a Serpent and the Serpent is affrighted at
and therefore so rich a Reward ought not to be neglected thus the subtile Serpent first removes all fears of Death and then proposes great hopes of a Deity This is the sum of Satans assaulting our first Parents and still doth their Off-spring with 1. Contempt of Gods VVord and 2. Ambition of Honours The third Remark is That the Tempter did besides those outward Weapons wherewith he assaulted the Woman inject some inward suggestions those three especially the Lust of the Flesh the Delight of the Eyes and the Pride of Life 1 Joh. 2.16 Setting them on with his Diabolical Rhetorick Behold I pray thee good VVoman how the Fruit of this Tree is lovely to look upon pleasant to the Palate and Divine to devour or eat such an excellent Tree how can it be hurtful who but a Fool would refrain from it why dost thou still forbear to taste and to perswade thy Husband to taste also Hereby 1. The Womans Understanding was darkened 2. Her VVill was corrupted 3. Her Affections and Appetite were inflamed her Eyes wherewith she gazed upon the beautiful Apple became Burning-glasses to fire up her Heart that moved her Hand to take and her Mouth to eat it All this she did through Satans suggestions according to the third Branch voluntarily consenting and obeying though the Devil was the promoter hereof yet had she a free will which could not be compell'd the Tempter hath only a perswading sleight not an enforcing might her eating therefore was a spontaneous Act. The fourth Remark in the Temptation is She was first in the transgression 1 Tim. 2.14 Yet not alone in it for she gave it to her Husband and he did eat Gen. 3.6 The Man was not deceived saith the Apostle that is he was not so much deceived by his own Judgment though also by that too as by his Affection to his Wife which at length blinded his Judgment Adam was not deceived by the Serpent who having won the Woman soon slided out of sight though the Lord summon'd his appearance after v. 14 but by Eve who gave him the Fruit and withal a relation of the Serpents promise concerning the force of the Fruit She gave it to him undoubtedly with some strong perswasions which as Augustine saith the Scripture left to be understood yet it expresseth thus far that he is said to hearken to her voice v. 17. what that voice was may be easily supplyed she told him the taking this Fruit would make them wise as God knowing Good and Evil. It would make him a God and her a Goddess to say all this without all doubt the Devil had directed her now Adam did not only incline to his new Bride amicabili quâdam Benevolentiâ with Uxorious transporting Affections and thereby was more easily enticed as Sampson was by Dalilah and Solomon by his Wives but he was also seduced by those false and flattering Insinuations wherewith the Serpent had beguiled the Woman and she him having now got the Itch after an higher Perfection for which the Lord reproved them v. 12. 'T is true the Rabbins from the word Gnimma secum with her expressed Gen. 3.6 do gather that Adam was with her all the time of her Conference with the Serpent for say they It is very improbable this new Bridegroom and Bride being newly join'd together after so solemn a manner by God himself that either the Bride should endure to withdraw her self from her most Beautiful Bridegroom the self-same day and almost the self-same hour wherein they were Married or that the Bridegroom should suffer his most Beautiful Bride to be pull'd away from his side and to be drawn out of his sight so as to wander from him in the Garden to meet there the Serpent where she could then meet with none of Mankind to divert her 't was not possible their Conjugal Affections should be no stronger in the State of Innocency whereas any such like withdrawment will scarce be admitted in the State of Corruption These things the Hebrews taking for granted do tax Adam for not rebuking the Serpent in the Disputation and for not giving his Wife an Avocation from it this makes Adam's sin the greater However 't is said expresly and he did eat which words have a great Emphasis for Eve's eating would not have spoil'd Mankind had not Adam eaten also And some say he yielded to eat because he believed to obtain a pardon for his Transgression and so to remain in the same State of Perfection He complies with Eve by the proper motion of his own will to follow Satans suggestions hereby the sin was accomplish'd which brought Death into the World as God had threatned Gen. 2.17 and this sin was not only his own personal sin but the common sin of all Mankind Rom. 5.12 19. 1 Cor. 15.22 The fifth Remark in this first Temptation is The Devils particular sin in promoting and procuring the fall of man from his happy State is not so much as once mentioned by Moses in all this History Gen. 3. Though he was the principal and the Serpent but the Accessory and according to the Maxim Accessorium sequitur principale Satan was the prime Agent in all and the Serpent was but his Organ or Instrument to follow his Conduct Yet Moses mentions only the Serpent as if the Author of the whole Temptation and not one word of the Grand Tempter the reason is supposed to be this which is the fifth added to the four forementioned The Devils sin is not recorded there because he was not to be restored by repentance but was sealed up under everlasting wrath for whosoever repenteth the Devil can never repent God will never give the Gift and Grace of Repentance to him as he doth to men though with a peradventure 2 Tim. 2.25 Without all peradventure the Devil and his Angels are kept in everlasting Chains Jude v. 6.2 Pet. 2.4 Those Spirits are kept in Spiritual Chains to wit of their own guilt which bindeth them over to damnation yea so fast that they cannot shake them off James 2.19 Math. 8.29 And their despair begets despight so that they obstinately sin the sin against the Holy Ghost which is the unpardonable sin As they are hopeless of Relief for the Redeemer took not on him the nature of Angels to redeem them from their fall Heb. 2.16 So they are without all Purpose of Repentance or Hope of Recovery there remaineth nothing to them but a certain fearful looking for of Judgment and Fiery Indignation Heb. 10.27 Hereupon they do nothing but add sin to sin and become wickedness it self therefore are they call'd Spiritual wickednesses Eph. 6.12 Without all Expectation of Recovery by Repentance and Redemption But the sin of man is set out here and enlarged on in all its circumstances and why this more than the Devils Sin but that he might be sensible ashamed and be penitent for his sin which the Devil could not be there was Room for Repentance in the latter but none
is Mans own Concupiscence always finds him dry Tinder 3. This Lust is the Mother of Sin and Death is the Merit of it at last 4. Sin gradually incroacheth upon the Soul 1. This ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or Seed plot of sin by Satans over shadowing begets Thoughts 2. Thoughts irritate desires 3. Then arises an inward Titillation or Contemplative Delight 4. This produces Consent 5. Then comes Action 6. Action causes Custom 7. And Custom Necessity .. Lastly comes in Death which is but a modest word for Damnation the first and second Death being implied in it Thus sin never stands still at a stay but from Concupiscence or corrupt Nature is all along in Motion yea in quick Motion till it conclude in Death or Damnation if the Grace of God prevent is not Now follows the fourth Branch of the Distribution to wit the sad consequences upon the Sinners The Lord 1. Serves a Terrible Citation upon the Tempted before he came to the censure of the Tempter so 't is said those first sinners heard the Voice of the Lord c. Gen. 3.8 to wit either in a mighty Thunder which is call'd Gods Voice Psal 29. often as he spake to Pharaoh Exod. 9.28 or in an Horrible Whirl-wind as he spake to Job Job 38.1 or the Lord comming as a just Judge to judge them for their Sin might form such Articulate words in the Air as these yea have they served me thus Have they made a conspiracy with the Devil against me their Maker Indeed So some Interpret Leruach Haiom ad Spiritum seu ventum Diei Gods presence did Demonstrate it self either by a Thunder or by a Whirl-wind or by a dreadfuly angry Articulate Voice though we translate the words in the cool of the Day This struck such a terrour into both the Offenders that they both ran to hide themselves for fear of Gods Majesty their sinful Consciences sought to shun Gods presence with as much folly as faultiness for he that formed the eye shall he not see Psal 94 9. and 139.2 7. They ran with their fig-leaf Aprons into the Thickets there to hide themselves from an All-seeing God Oh how many do so to this day which Job saying If I cover my transgression as Adam then let this and that evil come upon me Job 31.33 c. durst not do neither ought we to do it Prov. 28.13 Besides suppose what is not to be supposed that they could have run from God yet this would not do unless they could run from themselves too for Haeret lateri lethalis Arundo the wounded Deer whither ever he runs carries with him the fatal Arrow sticking fast in his sides The Guilt of their Souls and the terror of their Consciences went along with them whither ever they went So would onely have been like the Angled and Entangled fish with the Hook of the Fisherman that may indeed swim away all the length of the line but the Hook in her mouth hales her back again So God summons in sinful man saying Adam where art thou v. 9. not as if God knew not where he was for he knoweth all things Joh. 21.17 but to proceed against him after a judiciary manner therefore is he brought from behind the Bush at the Voice of the Lord will he nill he he must appear and answer for himself which he did but untowardly in the words following v. 10. God would not condemn Adam before he heard him and therefore asks him three Questions The first was as before where art thou to which Adam Answers not directly confessing his Sin but indirectly excusing his flight for three reasons all along hiding the true cause thereof Adam's first reason or shuffle was that he heard Gods Voice This he had heard before his fall and feared not but rejoic'd therein with greatest joy his second shift or shuffle was I was afraid as if he had not feared God before yes with a filial fear for his goodness Psal 31.19 Hos 3.5 as he was blessed for blessed are they that fear the Lord Psal 128.1 but now being a sinner he had turned it into a slavish fear of Gods wrath the joyful sound of God Psal 89.15 Mic. 2.7 was now become frightful to him his third excuse was I was naked Here also is now causa pro causâ for before sin they were both naked and were not ashamed Gen. 2.25 Pure nakedness was Gods Creature wherein he had appeared before in Gods presence without fear or shame thus he would have transferred his flight to God because he had made him naked and frighted him with his Thundering Voice but alas there was another pad in the straw which Adam studiously concealed to wit the Conscience of his Sin Hic murus Aheneus esto nil conscire sibi nulla pallescere culpâ The second Question God asks Adam was c. VVho told thee thou art naked And the Third Hast thou Eaten c. thereby to convince him of his sin and to make him confess it oh the wonderful condescension and kindness of God to man thus to dispute with him whom he might justly destroy Here still God's asking and arguing with man saying thy shameful nakedness could not come upon thee but by a Violation of my law because it is the punishment of Sin doth it not demonstrate that thou hast broke my precept and strip'd thy self of the Garment of Innocency Why dost thou not candidly confess the Truth Why dost thou not blame thy self but thy Mââââ for making thee Naked Thus the Lord most tenderly presseth hard upon him to convince his Conscience of his Sin when he might in the rigour of his Justice have confounded his person ipso facto according to the Divine Menace In the Day thou Eatost thereof thou shalt surely die Gen. 2.17 Hereupon Adam puts in his Answer a sorry one Gen. 3.12 wherein He makes indeed a confession of his Eating but it was only a cold confession and accompanied with transferring the cause of his Eating from himself both to the Woman and to God too for he sophistically argued from that common maxim causa causae ãâã causa causati The Woman was the cause of my Eating and God was the cause of my having a Woman therefore my Eating is caused by thy self Thus as he had blamed God before for making him naked So now again for giving him the Woman implying thus much If God had not given me a Woman I had never sin'd against God whereas had Adam argued aright he would have discerned that the Woman much less God who forbad it was no essential cause of his Eating whereof that Maxim is meant but by accident onely And had Adam acted as an Husband ought to do in the like Temptation he could not have been caused by his Wife to Sin against God but he should as Job did his Wife have rebuked her for her Sin and for Tempting him to her transgression It was the duty of his place to reprove her for it
argueth A Mediator is not a Mediator of one Gal. 3.20 but sin became the Make-bate and set God and Man at odds and variance as Mans Eating Forbidden Fruit was the Transgression of God his Makers Law and when God was one party offended and Man was the other party offending then there was need of a Mediator â NB. 1. If the penitent Prodigal found compassion in his Earthly Fathers Bowels without any Mediator to intercede for him notwithstanding his high offences ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã how much more may we if truly penitent hope to find compassion in our Heavenly Fathers Bowels Psal 103.13 and Mat. 7.11 having a Mediator and such a Mediator as ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã God-Man Christ Jesus is whom the Father heareth always John 11.42 and answers him with good words and comfortable Zech. 1.13 Oh sweet 2. Miserable is the condition of those that never took hold of this Covenant of Grace Isa 56.4 6. but hopes to be saved by the Covenant of Works their good deeds cannot outweigh their bad ones Job 9.3 c. If they would wage War against Divine Justice with Ten Thousand good Works 't will War against them with Twenty Thousand bad ones and overcome them contrà 3. No better are they that have no Interest in Christ the Mediator who is our peace Eph. 2.13 and by whom all blessings come John 1.16 17. Eph. 1.7 Psal 68.18 and Eph. 4.8 2 Cor. 2.20 The third Difference betwixt the Covenant of Works and that of Grace is In the former Divine Acceptation begins at the Action and so goeth on to accept of the Person the Work renders the Worker or the Person working acceptable to God but in the latter this Divine Acceptation first begins with the Person and then goes on to the Action the Work cannot be accepted before the Worker be so in the beloved one Christ Eph. 1.6 In the Covenant of Works God accepts the Person for the Work or Actions sake but in the Covenant of Grace God accepts respects and rewards the Work or Action for the Persons sake This may be thus Illustrated The Tenure of the Covenant of Works runs thus Do and live upon which Father Ambrose hath an excellent Gloss saying God the Creator called all his Created things good and very good at the end of every Days Creation yet when he had Created Man he speaks not one word of the goodness of his Creature Man not so much as Tob good much less Meod Tob very good and why so saith he Homo priùs probandus quà m approbandus c. Man must first be proved before he be approved but alas Man bal Jalin non pernoctavit abode not one Night as the Hebrew signifieth in his Honourable Estate Wherein he was Created Psal 49.12 He failed in his Action so God accepted not of his Person But the Tenure of the Covenant of Grace runs thus Believe and live The VVorker must be a Believer before the VVork can find Acceptance according to that saying of Father Augustine omnia opera Infidelium sunt tantùm splendida peccata all the Works of Unbelievers are no better than shining sins their very praying a Religious Action as well as Plowing a Civil Action is an abomination to the Lord Prov. 15.8 with 21.4 As Copress will turn Wine or Milk into Ink so Unbelief turns all their Natural Civil Moral or Spiritual Actions into Sin their Plotting and Plowing mischief Hos 7.15 and 10.13 is Iniquity and not only so but whether they Plow or Play or Pray or Eat or Sleep to the Impure and Unbelieving all things are impure Tit. 1.15 Their very Incense stinks of the Hand which Offereth it Isa 1.13 14 15. though of it self it be a most sweet and precious Perfume Yea their own Table much more the Lords Table becomes a Snare to them Psal 69.22 and their very Prayer though materially good is formally bad and becomes sin Psal 109.7 whereas the Prayer of the Righteous whose Persons are first accepted is Gods delight Prov. 15.8 his Melodious Musick even to a Charm or Inchantment as the Hebrew word Lachash Isa 26.16 signifieth unto his Ears Psal 18.6 as Honey-drops to his Taste Cant. 4.11 and his most fragrant perfume to his Smell Psal 141.2 Insomuch that God-hearing Prayer as if charmed with their Prayers breaks out into these words saying Ask of me concerning my Sons and concerning the work of my hands command ye me Isa 45.11 Oh the latitude of that Royal Charter What improvement may fervent Faith make thereof Luke 18.1 7. Jam. 5.16 17. This great Truth concerning the Persons Acceptance before the Action of any can be accepted may be exemplified by sundry Scripture Instances As First Gen. 4.4 and Heb. 11.4 God had respect to Abel and to his Offering c. Gods Respect was there and then first to his Person and then to his Oblation his Sacrifice was Respected by and accepted of God because himself was justified by Faith first Abel was a Believer and one under Grace in his Person hereupon Divine Respect or Acceptance being first to himself ascended secondly to his Sacrifice Whereas on the contrary Cain was an Unbeliever and not under Grace and therefore though he Offered as well and as good as Abel God having no respect for his Person had as little for his Offering Gen. 4.5 But unto Cain and his Offering God Respected not Cain was under the Covenant of VVorks which was first made betwixt an holy God and an holy Man wherein Man stood upon his own Legs and by his own strength and in his own Person without a Priest to bear his Sin to Offer his Sacrifice Adam had no more need of a Priest in his Representative Covenant wherein he represented all Mankind descending from him than the Angels have in their Personal Covenant so called because they had not their Being by Descent as Mankind hath but were all Created at once to wit while both Adam and Angels stood in their Integrity but when that Covenant was broken Abel being a Believer had a Back-door and a Surety or High-Priest 1. To present his Person as to stand in his stead to bear his Name both upon his heart and upon his shoulders 2. To offer his Sacrifice c. This gave Acceptance to his Person and Offering but Cain was an Unbeliever and all such men have no more benefit by an High-Priest than the Devils have only to Men there is a possibility and not unto them while they continue under this broken Covenant he was under the Covenant of Works as appeareth by Gods saying to him If thou dost well shalt thou not be accepted Gen. 4.7 Under which Covenant there can be no Acceptation of the Person while there is found any Imperfection in the Work not transmitted to a Surety Gal. 3.10 Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things contained in the Law any one failure in the Work procures a Curse on the Person This therefore is the
upon the Sea Shore this latter call'd also the Dust of the Earth Gen. 13.15 resembles his Carnal Seed which with the Cursed Serpent did seed upon Dust but the former the Stars of Heaven Gen. 15.5 holds forth his Seed of Believers all Heaven Born and shone as Stars in their Generation accordingly the Lords design was Double in giving his Law on Sinai First Unto the Carnal Seed it setteth out the Old Covenant of works which they had broken and which God would not have wholly blotted out of the Mind and Memory of Men thus the Law strictly or absolutely taken as it was given to Adam as his way to Life in his first Estate so it shut up all these Jews under it as legally Dead except they would slee to Christ seeing they could not attain to any righteousness or Life by the Law simply considered for so 't is the sum and substance of the Covenant of Works and begets Children to Bondage which shall have no Inheritance with the Children of the Promise who all lay hold on Christ in the New Covenant as Gal. 4.21 to the end of the Chapter demonstrateth where Paul speaks of the Law absolutely and properly as a Law Covenant strictly taken in a contradistinction from the Gospel affirming how its Children as those of the Bond-Woman come short of Righteousness and Salvation are cast out of the Kingdom being Persecutors of the Spiritual Seed the Children of Promise as now all reprobates are The Second Design was for the Start of Heaven the Spiritual Seed or Believing Jews to whom the Law on Sinai did darkly shadow out the Covenant of Grace therefore did it bind them to the observation of the Ceremonial as well as Moral part the former being a Metaphorical or Figurative Gospel as the latter was a Literal Law the Letter whereof was not so much killing even to the carnal Jews in Gods Intention as by their own Corruption whereby they scorn'd Christ and his Righteousness in the New Covenant thinking to save themselves by their own Righteousness in a Covenant of Works Rom. 10.3 whereas this Covenant on Sinai was not otherwise designed upon a Damning but only upon a proving Design hence Moses saith there Exod. 20.20 Fear not for God is come to prove you he saith not to damn you and therein as Israel avouched the Lord for their God so God avouched them for his people Deut. 26.17 18. and 29.10 11. which could not be done with Man faln out of the Covenant of Works but by a Covenant of Grace and had this Covenant on Sinai been a Covenant of Works then was God injurious to Israel in calling them back from that Covenant of Grace given to Abraham their Father four hundred and thirty years before Gal. 3.17 to this worse Covenant as if God having begun with them in the Spirit would now perfect them by the Flesh Gal. 3.3 whereas 't is Gods plain method to lead his people from Faith to Faith Rom. 1.17 and from Grace to Grace John 1.16 Job 17.9 and Prov. 4.18 but never from Grace to Works Object 3. But then why was the Moral Law being the sum of the Covenant of Works given to Israel at Sinai or Horeb Deut. 29.1 if it were not that very Covenant Answ 1. Besides all the aforesaid for farther clearing this great Truth I shall add 1. The Law was not given to Israel as intended they should seek Justification and Salvation thereby but for a fuller discovery of Sin and a further conviction of Conscience 'T is true the very Law of Nature did discover Murder to be a sin in Cain Gen. 4.9 Whoredom to deserve burning Gen. 38.24 with 34.31 and the Patriarchs could say God forbid that we should steal Gen. 44.7 Yea those two Heathen Kings abhorred Adultery yea looking and lusting after any Woman Gen. 12.17 20.3 the same I might add concerning the breach of all the other Commandments as 1. Gen. 35.2 2. Gen. 31.34 35.5 3. Gen. 4.26 4. Gen. 2.3 Exod. 16.23 5. Gen. 27.41 All these were discovered to be sins before the Law was given by Moses even by the light of Nature but in Moses time this light was almost extinguish'd and this Law was obliterated and blotted out by Israel's conversing so long among the Idolatrous as well as Ignorant People of Egypt Indeed Adam's Fall broke this Law and Light in pieces and afterwards it grew dimmer and dimmer daily yea the Sheards of Gods Image wherein Man was created and being broken by his fall became smaller and smaller every Age after so that they could hardly be put together Men successively marring their own Consciences more and more and the Devil stepping in to promote it the Superseminator sowed Tares to choak the good seed wherefore lest it should be lost for ever as a Law in the heart God caused it to be written for the eye as well as spoken to the ear The End why is expressed by the Apostle The Law entred that the Offence might abound Rom. 5.20 to wit where it hath abounded in the Conversation it might now by the light of the Law abound also in the Conscience in great Grief for it and due Detestation of it as the greatest evil He saith also that he had not known sin but by the Law Rom. 3.20 and 7.7 and therefore was the Law added because of transgressions Gal. 3.19 which are discovered by it Ubi Lex ibi Lux. Torah Or Hebr. Gods Law is Mans Light Prov. 6.23 laying all open as 1 Cor. 14.25 and threatning destruction to transgressors Rom. 3.20 23. Answ 2. The Law on Sinai was not given to stand as Covenant of Life 'twixt God and Israel by which they might live for when it was given in its Thunders and Lightnings they were so affrighted that they saw they could not come near the Lord by that Law wherefore then saith the Apostle serveth the Law Gal. 3.19 he answers himself it serveth to chase us to Christ v. 24. whom he calls the End of the Law being accommodated to that Insantstate of the Church which though an Heir of the Promise in the Covenant of Grace made to Father Abraham yet while under Nonage was also under Tutorage and so the Law was her School-master to scourge her to Christ who was able to give her life which the Law could not give her Gal. 3.18 21 24. but rather clapt her up close Prisoner as the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifies as also ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Gal. 3.22 23 from whence she could not possibly escape unless delivered by her Goel or Redeeming Angel Gen. 48.16 Christ Jesus the Avenger of blood being at her heels she must flee for her lite to this City of Refuge The third Consideration is That the Apostle in those chapters 3d. and 4th of his Epistle to the Galatians doth not make the Covenant on Sinai a distinct Covenant from that of Works and that of Grace to make a third Covenant but he
6.23 but would have it as a due Debt this is not only from a Principle of Pride but also of Ignorance concerning Christ and of Enmity also against God as if he were not Wise Just and Kind enough for them 3. Consider As Man naturally desires to be so he really is under the Covenant of Works by Nature in his Unregenerate State while he remains in the old Adams Nature as a Wild Olive he abides also under the old Adams Covenant which is a broken State and likewise a Broken Covenant therefore that Man until he be broken off Rom. 11.17 from that old Root must be most miserable seeing that brokeâ Covenant 1. Promiseth no Life but upon perfect Obedience 2. It hath no Mediator nor Surety to salve his imperfections 3. Neither is there in it any Promise of Pardoning Sin or of giving Grace 4. And every New Sin breaks anew that once broken Covenant therefore Lastly It can never quiet his Conscience as before but lays him under the Curse of it Gal. 3.10 and every man that is under the Curse is under the Covenant that causeth the Curse and who would be Cursed Woe to such as are under the first Covenant which can comfort none but upon this condition Obey perfectly and live Eternally this is poor comfort seeing Gods Commands are exceeding broad Psal 119.96 and Mans Obedience is exceeding narrow Luk. 17.10 c. yet can it curse all that fails and falls short 4. Consider 'T is then a most necessary though a much neglected Duty to be Translated from the Covenant of VVorks into the Covenant of Grace Col. 1.13 we are without God in the VVorld but not without the Devil while we are Strangers to this Covenant of Promise Eph. 2.12 we are poor empty Self-deceiving and Self-defiling Creatures under the Irritation Coaction and Condemnation of the Law Justice without Mercy in that Avenger of Blood which pursueth us and whose Heart waxes hot within him Deut. 19.6 to overtake and overcome us 't is therefore an indispensable duty to flee into this City of refuge thou art not only a Man-slayer a felo de se or Self-slayer Eccles 7.16 Numb 16.38 But a God-slayer in as much as omne peccatum est Deicidium every sin is a killing of God saith Luther as much as in us lyeth Flee therefore as a Bird to your Mountain Psal 11.1 Mat. 24.16 to the Mountain of this Covenant take hold with Joab in danger of Death of the Horns of this Altar 1 Kin. 2.28 You are stung with the fiery Serpent the Curse of the broken Covenant and there is but one remedy a look of Faith and love to the Brazen Serpent Numb 21.8 Joh. 3.14 there 's no avoiding the Curse of the First Covenant but by being Translated out of it Sodom and Satan would accept of that offer you reject 5. As Christ was given for a Covenant Isa 42.6 49.8 so all Christless Souls are Lifeless Souls they are Dead and Damned without Christ for Life and Salvation are laid up in him Joh. 15.1 2. Act. 4.12 It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell Col. 1.17 as the Mercy-Seat was no larger than the Ark and they never sever'd each from other this shews that Grace and Salvation extends no farther than the Covenant the Hebrew word Copher signifies a Coffering or Covering up our sins Rom. 3.25 1 Joh. 2.2 as all out of Noahs Ark or Coffer were drowned so all out of Christ and this Covenant are Damned as Joseph was the only Doer of all to save the Egyptians Gen. 41.41 44 49. Go to Joseph saith Pharaoh what he saith to you do v. 55. so Jesus is the great Doer of all to save mankind and whoever crys for fear of Famishing the Father sends such to our Joseph our Jesus he is the Angel of the Covenant Mal. 3.1 yea the Covenant it self and the grand sole undertaker in it Isa 38.14 6. Union is the ground of Communion as our Union with the First Adam gives us Communion with the Cursing-Covenant so our Union with the Second Adam gives us Communion with the Blessing-Covenant our Translation out of the first is by Union with the second there is a breaking âff and a grafting in Rom. 11.17 19 24. where Grace grants these God looks upon that Soul 1. As no more a Son of the old Adam 2. He is no more under the Rigour and Curse of the Law but 3. Is become an Heir of the Grace of Life I Pet. 3.7 the Grace of Union brings the Grace of Unction c. Objection But how shall I know my Union in this Covenant Answer by these Characters and Cautions for this high Building so free firm full and holy a Covenant must have Battlements built about it to keep Children and Fools from topling over Childrens Bread may not be cast to Dogs such as are 1. Ignorant Christ brings not Mercy to them but Vengeance Isa 27.11 2 Thes 1.8 2. Such as bless themselves in their sins Deut. 29.19 Psal 68.21 he will wound their scalps their Damnation slumbers not 2 Pet. 2.3 those were wilful c. The First Character for tryal of our Union is Ask thy Heart in what nature art thou In the Old Adams or in the new partaking of the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1.4 Is the Old house with its fretting Leprosie pull'd down Levit. 14.44 45. and a new one erected new in quality tho' not in substance so as to Love and Hate what God Loves and Hates Rev. 2.6 all the Scraping in the World will not purifie the Walls of thy Heart without renewing Grace ye may beat a Wolf Black and Blue knock out his Teeth cut off his Claws and put a Sheep-skin upon his back yet all this will not drive away his Wolfish Nature Naturam expellas furcâ c. this may Chain him but not change him so 't is with Man tho' never so much Civiliz'd without a new Nature a new Heart hadst thou ever an Earth-quake or Heart-quake to rend thy Heart as the Jailor had Act. 16.26 canst thou experience the Death and Burial of the Old Adam and the Resurrection of the new Rom. 6.3 4. and if not thou art a Son of Adam an Heir of his Covenant and so an Heir of his Curse Gal. 3.10 Eph. 2.3 that Word knows no exception against the rule but free Grace this Curse must be born either by thy self or by thy surety 2. Character Ask under what Reign art thou as well as in what Nature Adams or Christs is thy old Lord and Husband to wit concupiscence Dead Rom. 7.1 2 3 4. this rules over us by carnal Generation 't is therefore call'd the Law of Sin a Law is that which hath Authority in it and it must be slain by Spiritual Regeneration thus none but Widdows marry Christ the High Priest of the Gospel Heb. 3.1 though 't was forbid to the High-Priest of the Law Lev. 21.14 yet those are Virgins Rev. 14.4 Cant.
the Body of Man before the Fall should have so much Beauty Lustre Splendour and Glory put upon it no doubt but when it came first out of Gods Mint it was a most curious silver piece and shone most gloriously hence Christ compares faln Man to the lost groat Luk. 15.8 9. As no Metal is better than Silver but Gold so no Creature was better than Man but Angels Man was made but a little lower than Angels Psal 8.5 before he became to be besmeared with sin his Body did even while naked undoubtedly glitter with a Divine glory being cloathed with a Royal Robe of Majesty and having upon him the Imperial Crown this gave Man Dominion over all Creatures Gen. 1.26 28. The Image and Superscription of God upon this Silver-piece did shine forth so splendidly that it put an awful reverence upon all Creatures towards Man who then had a most Beautiful Body every way suitable to his Divine Soul Hence the Fathers call'd Man in the state of Innocency The Cedar of Paradise the Picture of Heaven the glory of the Earth the Ruler of the World and Gods own delight The Glory and Beauty of Mans Body which was made by a Counsel called even the Master-piece of the works of Gods Head and Hands was no doubt say Divines like the Body of the Sun in the firmament Judg. 5 31. and like the Body of Christ in his Transfiguration when his Face shone as the Sun Matth. 17.2 and well might it do so for he is the Sun of Righteousness Mal. 4.2 And that Derivative Glimpse of Divine Glory put upon Moses in the Mount which caused his face to shine so as affrighted the people from beholding it Exod. 34.29 30. may well mind us what a Primitive Beam of Beauty the Body of Man had before the Fall God did not make Man in the likeness of the Goodliest Creatures but in the similitude of God himself and therefore he could not be without some Reflexive Rays of Royalty and Majesty even from top to toe when all his Members were Weapons of Righteousness unto God Rom. 6.13 Such a dazling Angelical glory had the Proto-Martyr Stephen put upon him as the Mediator Moses had before him so that his Face was as it had been the face of an Angel Act. 6.15 As there was a Visible glory in the Body of the second Adam Job 1.14 They saw his glory exceeding all the glories of the Sons of Men and becoming him who was the Son of God so without all peradventure there was a visible glory in the Body of the first Adam though inferiour to that of the second because of his Hypostatical union Col. 2.9 seeing he is call'd also the Son of God Luk. 3.38 Having no Father as Christ had none but God himself The Image of God was fixed upon Adams Body as well as upon his Soul whereby all the Beasts of the Field all the Fowls of the Air and all the Fishes in the Sea became subject to him and to that glory he was invested with Psal 8.5 6 7 8. and therefore as a sign of his Soveraignty and of their subjection they are all brought to him to receive their Names according to their Natures from him as from their Lord and Master Gen. 2.19 6ly That the Body of Man should be made in some sense Immortal The state of Innocency had this kind of Immortality It was not impossible for Adam to dye and it was possible for him not to dye A thing is said to be Immortal in four senses 1. Essentially Thus God is onely Immortal 2. Ex dono Creationis by the power of the Creation as the Angels and the Souls of Men. 3. Ex Hypothesi upon condition onely as Adams Body had been Immortal if he had stood in his Innocency This Innocency would have embalm'd his living Body better than all the Spices of Egypt could embalm a dead one Manna that was of it self Corruptible Exod. 16.20 21. lasted long and kept sweet many hundred years when laid up according to Gods Command in the golden pot v. 33. Hebr. 9.4 Obedience to God did not onely save it sweet on the Sabbath day but for some Centuries after as their garments lasted forty years Deut. 29.5 so mans Body might have lasted a thousand years in the way of Obedience yea and have never dyed Some say that the Tree of life was to be his constant food which should not onely be a Symbol of life but also a Supporter of it in an Immortal so far as innocent state that Tree would have so preserv'd his Radical Moisture and Natural Heat in an equal temper as well as in a lasting supply that Adams Body should never have had either wrinkle or Hoary Hairs but he should have lived in youthful vigour and in a happy vivacity for a thousand years upon earth and then without either anguish or sickness or pains of Death have been translated from Earth to Heaven the Reliques of this Natural Immortality made Adam live 930 years and Methusalem 960. However this is certain that the wages of sin is death Rom. 6.23 The body of Man without sin could not have turned into Corruption Death entred into the world by sin Rom. 5.12 before he had sinned there was Temperamentum ad pondus such an equal Temperature of Qualities and the humours in him had such an happy harmony that they could neither breed Distempers nor bring Death but as soon as he had eaten forbidden fruit he came down to a condition of Mortality Gen. 2.17 Adam dyed not that day but lived 930 years after yet then and thereby was his Body made liable to such Diseases and dangers as might deliver him up to Death 4. Something is said to be Immortal Ex dono novae Creationis by the power of the Resurrection So the Bodies of the Saints raised up by the power of God are thereby preserved in mansions of glory for evermore The Body which is at Death sown in Corruption shall be raised in Incorruption 1 Corinth 15.42 it is sown in Dishonour it shall be raised in Glory v. 43. having the glory of the Soul transparent in it as we see the colour of the wine in the glass so the glory of the Soul shall be seen in the Body and this glory shall be a Corporeal glory according to the Maxim Quicquid recipitur recipitur ad modum recipientis non recepti Every thing received is in the thing receiving or receiver according to the nature of the thing receiving and not of the thing received Thus the body being a Corporeal thing receiveth glory from the Soul after a Corporeal manner yea the body it self shall be made a glorified body it shall be conform'd to the glorifyed body of Christ as to the standard Phil. 3.21 the Terrestrial body shall at the Resurrection be made a Celestial 1 Cor. 15.40 or a Spiritual body v. 44. it shall be more like a Spirit than a Body So Diaphanous and transparent saith
11.20 so it may be said of the lust of the Eyes that it is the chief of the Devils Engines an Heathen could say that a world of wickedness windeth it self into the heart by the window of the Eye There is an Apologue a most significant Fable of a Contention that arose betwixt the Eye and the Heart which of the two was the greater cause of sin a Reference was made by them both to Reason which decided the Controversie thus Cordi causam imputans occasionem Oculo Reason determined that the Heart was the cause of sin but the Eye was the occasion of it oh how oft doth the Devil make the Eye to be as a Burning-glass to set the Heart on fire as he did Davids 2 Sam. 11.2 from the roof he saw a woman and from this roof did Davids downfal begin for there the old Serpent easily winded himself into his Heart by the loop-holes of his Eyes and made himself master of the whole man from looking he went on to lusting and the venome thereof did so infect his Vitals that upon the Ladder of Hell he got a most foul yet not a final fall though it would have been no less had not the hand of Heaven been underneath him to help him up again Psal 37.24 No wonder then if David did so heartily cry Lord turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity Psal 119.37 lest looking should cause liking and liking lusting again and Job steppeth one degree further to wit from a Prayer to a Vow Job 31.1 yea from a Vow and Covenant to a solemn Imprecation v. 7. he knew the danger of irregular glancing and of inordinate gazing these two do often metamorphize a Man into a Beast and make him a prey to his own bruitish Affections Thus we see that the Eye is now become an Evil Eye so called frequently in Scripture Deut. 15.9 Prov. 23.6 28.22 Matth. 6.23 20.15 Mark 7.22 Luke 11.34 1. Hence the Word flatly forbids us to walk after the sight of our Eyes and the lust of our Hearts Numb 15.39 Eccles 11.9 for those two are seldom sundred 2 Job set a guard and laid Gods Charge upon his Eyes lest they should prove a Broaker of sin to him as that Hang-by Hiram the Adullamite did to Judah Gen. 38.20 4. Hence God hath placed Tears in this sinful and in no other Member which are tokens of Repentance that as it were they might wash it from its sinfulness therefore the Hebrew word Gnaijn well signifies a Fountain as well as an Eye for from it as from a Fountain doth Iniquity flow and surely as the Eye is a Fountain of sin it should be a Fountain of sorrow also Therefore the Prophet wish'd that his Eyes might be a Fountain of Tears Jerem. 9.1 that he might with the waters of godly sorrow wash away the filth both of his own and of other mens sins the waters that flow from a bleeding Vine are said to cure the Leprosie sure I am those Gospel-tears which flow from a Godly Heart are very Instrumental in curing the fretting Leprosie of sin and therefore God hath made the Eye of a watry Constitution that it may be frequently trickling down Tears for that washing work such waters will be turned into wine at the Marriage of the Lamb for which purpose they are preserved in Gods Bottle Psal 56.8 Oh blest is that Soul which is plentifully bathed in the warm bath of their own penitent tears and in the Kings Bath of the Blood of the Lamb of God for without blood there is no remission Hebr. 9.2 'T is not our Tears alone but 't is Christs Blood that doth expiate sin Zeeh. 13.1 The Fountain opened in the sides of our Saviour Job 19.34 who came by water to sanctifie and by blood to justifie penitent sinners 1 Joh. 5.6 Finally seeing the sight by the fall is become a deceitful and a sinful sense our Saviour giveth safe and saving Counsel Matth. 5.29 not only to bind it to its good behaviour call it from its outstrays and lay Gods charge upon it as well as thine own check but also to pluck it out of the old Adam and place it in the new lest it prove a window of wickedness and become a worse disease than any of those two hundred diseases which Physicians reckon up do belong to the Eye and lest Death enter in at that window according to Jer. 9.21 as the Antient Fathers apply that Text cautioning us to shut our Casements lest sin ascend into the Soul thereby and Death by sin so this light of the body bring the Soul to utter darkness Secondly The Ear is a noble Organ and an honourable Member of the Body as well as the Eye in many respects 1. The Ear is as Aristotle calls it one of the two Learned Senses it is an Instrument of Instruction it lets in all Discipline to the Soul All Learning is let into the Mind either by Ocular demonstration or by Auricular Admonition Job 33.16 36.10 15. As the Eye is the window so the Ear is the door for Discipline to enter 2. The Ear is that excellent Organ that lets in Life and Salvation At this door the Devil drew in death at first Gen. 3.1 c. as well as at the window v. 6. Satan in the Serpent said only to bely what God had said Eve listned and let in death God ordaineth as it were to cross and counter-work the Devil that as Death entred into the world through the Ear by our first Parents listening to that old Manslayer so Life should enter into the Soul by the same door the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God As the living Parents of Mankind Adam and Eve in their state of Innocency had listned with their Ears to the Devils proffers so their dead posterity which by their first Parents fall were become dead in sin by bearing Christs promise should live not only the life of grace on Earth but also the life of glory in Heaven Joh. 5.25 And the Prophet saith Hear and your Souls shall live Isa 55.3 therefore he calls on them there Hattu Oznekem to hear with all their might unto the Covenant of Grace and so to the Counsel of Christ Revel 3.18 which only hath power to quicken dead Souls the Covenant of works and the Counsel both of the Devil and of our own darkened understandings have a killing property 3. The Ear is that noble door by which Saving Faith is conveyed into the Soul Faith comes by hearing Rom. 10.17 Faith is the gift of God Eph. 2.8 and God giveth not that gift to all men 2 Thess 3.2 but only to his Elect therefore 't is call'd the Faith of Gods Elect Tit. 1.1 yet God giveth not this gift immediately to Man but mediately by hearing the word As the Eye is called the Sense of Love so the Ear is call'd the Sense of Faith The saving knowledge of God is not conveyed into the Soul
both were 1. Immortality God gave them not onely the most noble Life as to the nature of it in as much as the Life Rational of Man is more noble than the Life Vegetative of Plants or the Life Sensitive of Beasts but also most Extensive as to its continuance for had they not Sinned their Souls had never have been separated from their Bodies but they should have lived a most happy life a Thousand years upon Earth according to the opinion of the Antients and then have been translated as Enoch and Elijah were into Heaven this Immortality was onely ex Hypothesi upon supposition of holding their integrity as before and an Immortality a parte post onely as the Schools speak and not a parte Ante also for some things are said to be Immortal 1. Which have a beginning but have no end as the Angels and the Souls of men 2. Some things have no beginning yet shall have an end as the Eternal decrees have their Temporeal accomplishments 3. Something again there is that hath neither beginning nor end and that is God himself of the first sort would their Immortality have been have they stood their Bodies would have been Immortal as well as their Souls 'T was the Vain Philosophers fancy that Men had no beginning but was Eternal a parte Ante as to before which is fully confuted by Moses mentioning Mans creation three times in one Verse Gen. 1.27 2. Wisdom yea such a such a perfection thereof as to know all that was knowable we read of Solomons wisdom even in the state of Corruption how it made him Natures Secretary and wiser than all men 1 Kin. 4.31 c. 10.4 c. yet was it undoubtedly short of Adams wisdom in the state of innocency Though Solomon were wiser than all men in the faln estate yet this makes him not wiser than Adam in the pure estate who then had the perfection of knowledge and wisdom then did he know aright his God his Creatures and himself too he had 1. Natural 2. Acquired 3. Revealed knowledge 1. His knowledge was inbred and concreated with him so 't was Natural to him 2. He Acânired knowledge of God by the Creatures in a way of Causality and eminency he ascended from the effects to the cause till he came at the first cause as if he had been climbing upon Jacobs ladder 3. The Attributes of God and the mystery of the Trinity were revealed to him and nothing of corruption was then either within him or without him to darken his understanding to him as Solomon had Adam wisely understood all simples singulars and universals and could rightly while he was himself Right and upright compound or divide them he could then without any mistake discern good from evil and the just from the unjust to follow the former and to flye the latter The unanswerable argument of his knowledge and wisdom was his giving names to all creatures according to their several Natures as those that understand the Hebrew tongue do understand or at least may do Convenium Rebus nomina saepe suis The names Adam gave them were accommodated to their Natures Gen. 2.20 one part of that Image of God wherein Adam was Created is knowledge Col. 3.10 and this was in the perfection of it so that Tostatus was under a mistake in preferring Solomon before Adam because he is said to be wiser than all men that were before him or after him for that is spoken of the common Generation of men wherein the two Adams must be excepted the first man created in the Image of God and the man Christ Jesus born without sin Adam did certainly know all things but the four things which are not knowable to man to wit 1. The secret Decrees of God which belong not to men Deut. 29.29 Rom. 11.33 who knows the mind of God c. 2. Future contingents as his own fall 3. The thoughts of the minds both of men and of Angels God onely is the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or Heart-searcher Act. 1.24 our most secret thoughts and intentions which are the creatures of the Heart are naked and open to him onely Heb. 4.13 4. All Individual things of all kinds which are as it were Infinite as suppose how many Stars there are in the Heavens how many Fishes in the Sea how many Fowls in the Air how many Beasts in the field how many Sands upon the Sea-shore known only unto God are all his works from the foundation of the world Act. 15.18 Omnisciency is his Incommunicable Attribute 't is God alone that knoweth all things Joh. 21.17 All these things 3. Holiness and Righteousness which completed the Image of God in Man Eph. 4.24 'T is something over-curious a Criticism having in it more Wit than Grace to say God was the first that made Images in the world in making Man after his own Image but sure I am God was the first that forbad Image-making to wit in the second Commandment 'T was certainly a gross mistake in Oleaster that grand stickler in the Spanish Inquisition to say that God in the Creation took upon him the shape of a Man and thereupon 't is said he made Man in his own Image whereas the truth is This is to make God after Mans Image rather than Man after Gods Image but the Image of God wherein Man was Created was his being made holy and righteous aequè non equaliter as God in quality though not in equality Thus Solomon saith God made Man right and upright Eccles 7.29 he was right in the sight of God 2 Chron. 29.2 his state was well pleasing to God and he was upright before him he was right 1. in his understanding of things as before having the perfection of knowledge and wisdom 2. in his will willing and nilling all that God would have him to will or nill he loved all that God loved and hated all that God hated Revel 2.6 3. his Conscience Memory Affections all had a rectitude or rightness in a word his Holiness and Righteousness God created him in made him both suitable to Gods Nature and Subject to Gods Law which is both a right and a straight Rule Psal 19.8 then there was a Right order in all his Affections no jarring discords which would have made no good musick were then among them but all were placed upon their proper objects needing no reconcilement as now one to another The inferiour parts of the Soul were all subordinate to the superiour The Will was subject to the Judgment or Conscience The Affections to the Will Prov. 16.32 all the outward members to both Rom. 6.13 and the whole man in all parts both inward and outward in subjection to God much more might be added of Internalls 2. The External endowments which God gave our first Parents in their pure state were sundry also As 1. the most perfect Beauty and Comliness of their persons As is the cause so is the effect as is the workman so is
and Flesh was taken out of his Side which therefore God did to Adam sleeping rather than waking Nor could he be a Spectator of this wonderful divine Work yet his Soul was at liberty wrapt up in this Trance or Extasie and by a prophetick Spirit therein he knew what was done and the mystery signified thereby not onely his own natural Marriage with Eve but also Christs mystical Marriage with his Church Eph 5.32 Hereupon being awakened he broke out into those prophetick words This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh Yea learned Peter Martyr thinks that Adam observing there was no meet Match found for him among all the Creatures which passed before him in this profound Sleep or Extasie earnestly prayed to God that a suitable Help-meet might be made for him and when this was done he was a great Admirer of that divine Work which he could not be a Spectator of Thus Adam found all things in the World created before himself but saw not the Creation of any thing no not of his own Wife though created after him He must adore the Wisdom and Power of the Creator in all things by his Faith yet must he not see the manner of Gods creating any thing by his Eye God consults not with Adam to make him happy as he was ignorant whilst himself was made so he shall not know while a Second-self was made out of him both that the Comfort might be greater than could be expected and that he might not upbraid his Wife with any great Dependence or Obligation he neither willing the Work nor suffering any pain to have it done The Rib can challenge no more of her than the Earth can of him Then 2 God took one of his Ribs not a bare Bone but a Rib with Flesh on it v. 23. Adam might have one Rib more than ordinary put into his Side for this very purpose therefore Adam was neither monstrous with it nor deformed without it Hence note 1 God took onely one Rib not more whereon to make him one Wife onely he had promised him one Help-meet which accordingly he bestowed therefore Polygamy is a sin and for one man to have many Wives was not from the beginning 2 God chuses rather to build the Woman out of the mans Rib than to form her out of the Earth as he had done Adam which had been all one to the Almighty Creating-power that not onely the likeness of their Nature but also the affection of their Kin-ship might the more oblige those two first-Couples in mutual Love and the same effect of reciprocal Affections might be diffused and communicated to all their Posterity at their entrance into a married estate By this very Argument the Apostle exhorteth all Husbands to love and cherish their Wives as they do their own bodies seeing they are their own flesh Eph. 5.28 3 Note the Woman was not made as the Rabbies say of the Eye of man that she should not be a wandering unstable Creature like Dinah Gen. 34.1 neither was she made of the Eye of man that she should not be a listener and hearkener like Sarah Gen. 18.10 14. but she was made of a Bone and yet but of one Bone ne esset ossea lest she should be stiff and stubborn as a Bone for some say when the Man lost Free-will the Woman found it and kept it ever since And 't was of a Bone not taken out so high as the Head that she might not usurp Authority over the Man and become his Imperious Mistress Nor so low as the Foot that she might not be trodden upon by him and be his Slave and servile Vassal but of a Bone betwixt Head and Foot a Bone out of the Side that she might be betwixt both a collateral Companion or Side-fellow or Yoke-fellow that stands upon even ground with her Husband though drawing upon the Left side A Bone from under the Arm to signifie Protection and not far from the Heart to shew the Dilection or Love that Man owes her It was a Bone from the Left side as most say where the Heart is seated to teach what hearty love ought to be betwixt the married Couples As the Husband is the Wifes Head so the Wife is the Husbands Heart even the Wife of his Covenant Mal. 2.14 She must eat of his Morsel drink of his Cup and lie in his Bosom 2 Sam. 12.3 His Authority must relish more of loving Respect than of rigorous Power and her Observance must rather be heartily than grudgingly performed 3. When God had builded the Womans Body hereupon our Bodies are called Houses Job 4.19 and 2 Cor. 5.1 and inspired a Soul into it Gen. 1.27 he brought her to Adam v. 22. The same God who was her Builder was her Bringer too yea and her Conjoyner in Marriage with the Man God brought the Woman to the Man as a Wife to her Husband and joyned her to him as an Helper whereby is shewed the Sanctity and Dignity of the married estate for God did not onely ordain Marriage in the general but he also made the first Marriage himself and that in the best and holiest estate that ever man enjoyed on Earth 'T is the pious opinion of some that the Son of God having here put on the Form of man did bring this most beautiful Woman formed by himself in his hand to the man and in most Divine and elegant words gave her in Marriage to him Whether this were so I shall not assert yet sure I am Moses doth assure us that three things were done by God himself in this first Institution of Marriage As 1 Dixit God said 't was not good for Man to be alone c. Gen. 2.18 2 Duxit God led the Woman by the hand to the Man and so was both the Father to give tier in Marriage and the publick Person to marry them in a solemn manner 3 Benedixit God blessed them Gen. 1.28 yea and a three-fold honour is put upon Marriage in Scripture by all the three persons in the Trinity 1. God the Father was the first Institutor and Ordainer of it not Cecrops or Lycurgus or Numa as Heathens say 2. God the Son honoured Marriage with his first Miracle as well as Presence Job 2.2 11. God the Son works his Miracle for confirmation of God the Father's first Ordinance to wit the first Marriage 3. God the Holy Ghost sanctified the state of Marriage by over-shadowing the betrothed Virgin Matth. 1.18 20. when Mary was espoused to Joseph she was found with child of the Holy Ghost The power of the Highest did over-shadow her Luk. 1.35 as the Spirit did the confused Chaos at the Creation Gen. 1.2 this wonderful Conception of Christ Mirari licet Rimari non licet must be believed and admired but cannot be pried into nor expressed Note hence 1 that Marriage is honourable to all Heb. 13.4 and therefore not to be prohibited to any as the Romish Church doth to their Priests
and Votaries hereby hindring them of that mutual Help that God ordained them and of that Remedy against Sin If God thought it not good for Adam in his Pure state to be alone how much more for his Posterity in the Corrupt state who have more need of that Remedy This forbidding to marry to their Clergie at all times and to their Laity at some times of the year is one of Romes Doctrines of Devils 1 Tim. 4.1 3. and they are Devils rather than Divines that speak disgracefully of Marriage and call it a Defilement Though Paul saith it is not good to marry 1 Cor. 7.26 28. yet doth he neither contradict Moses here nor himself elsewhere Heb. 13.4 for the Apostle speaks not there of Moral good which onely is opposite to sin but of Expedient good or Secundum quid in respect of present Persecutions under the ten Heathen Emperours Therefore it was not expedient Had he spoke of Good simply he could not have said If he marry he sinneth not The 2 Note this holy Ordinance of God Marriage Prov. 2.17 how holy should it be contracted and accomplished Adam did not steal the Woman when formed but receives her from God when he brought her to him Alas how many entreth into God's holy Ordinance at the Devils Portal either by Theft or Fornication This is the way to bring a Curse upon them and not a Blessing As Adam did not snatch Eve by force so neither did Eve come running to Adam but is brought to him by God They be holy and happy Couples whom hearty Prayers and holy Means bring together The last Blessing partly external and partly internal was that of the Sabbath instituted in Paradise both before the Fall of Man and before the Promise of Christ as Mr. Perkins saith in his Cases of Conscience about the Sabbath even in the state of Innocency Therefore the History of the institution of the Sabbath is mentioned immediately after the finishing of the Creation as is expressed both in Gen. 2.1 3. and Exod. 20.11 before the History of Adams Fall 'T is true our first Parents did not stand in that state of Innocency to keep the first Sabbath therein but did fall upon the sixth day the very day of their creation yet God makes mention of his Sabbath Gen. 2.3 before he made mention of their Sin Gen. 3.1 c. to shew that they should have kept the Sabbath though they had never finned If Man had continued in the pure state seeing he was appointed to dress the Garden and not to live idly even in Paradise it self 't is enough probable that even then and there he should have kept the Sabbath as a Rest and Intermission from even such a labour as became that place and state and as a Symbol or Sign unto him of a more compleat Perfection to be attained unto in Heaven far beyond that Perfection and Happiness he had on Earth The first point to be Discussed is that the Sabbath was Instituted from the Creation as the Prophet Malachi gathers an everlasting Rule and Law from a Foundation grounded on the first Creation saying Did be not make one And wherefore one that be might seek a Seed for God Mal. 2.15 so may we argue accordingly Did not the Lord rest upon the Seventh day and why upon the Seventh day that he might sanctifie the Seventh day to himself and his Worship Indeed Tostatus and Pererius two Popish Writers do assert that the Sabbath was not Instituted till the time of Moses at Sinai and that the Sanctifying of the Sabbath spoken of in Gen. 2.2 is mentioned by Moses there by way of Anticipation onely But this must needs be a gross mistake in both those Popelings For 1 no such Anticipation can be exemplified in either Testament for so great a distance of time as was betwixt the Creation of the World and the giving of the Law by Moses See Phil. â 5 2 Suarez another Popish Author doth grant that some observation of the Seventh day began from the beginning of the Creation Suarez De Diebus Festis and all the best Interpreters do unanimously affirm that the Seventh day was Sanctified from the beginning of the World 3 The ancient Jews never dreamed of any such Anticipation for it was their received opinion that the Feast of the Sabbath was ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for all Nations from the beginning of the World Philo ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 14. 4 It is also evident that the holy Patriarchs did keep the Sabbath by a godly Tradition before the Moral Law was given for 't is said Exod. 16.23 To morrow is the Rest of the holy Sabbath to the Lord. This was before the promulgation of the Law Exod. 20. and though here is the Sabbath first mentioned yet here it was not first instituted they had much neglected the Sabbath in Egypt and here a new Rule is given for its renewing and constant observation 5 The Creation of the World in six days and Gods resting on the Seventh was the cause of its Institution for a Sabbath as its effect Now to put off the Institution and Observation of the Sabbath until the promulgation of the Law at Sinai is to cast the Effect behind the Cause above 2544 years and to begin the Memorial that the World was made which certainly most concerned those of the first Age thereof to regard and remember not until above 888 years after the World was marr'd by Noahs Deluge which must needs be altogether improbable 6 The very words and Phrases the Holy Ghost uses Gen. 2.2 3. doth convince the contrary for there the compleating of the Creation is twice conjoyned with the Sanctification of the Seventh day and that in the same manner and phrase as the creation of Man and all other Creatures is conjoyned with their Benediction Gen. 1.21 22 27 28. 7 When the Law came to be given by Moses the fourth Commandment doth plainly intimate that the Sabbath was instituted when the Creation was finished for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and resâed the seventh day c. Exod. 20.11 where God proposes his own Example for mans imitation That which the Lord himself had done in person the same must man do at Gods Command Thus the Apostle to the Hebrews seemeth to argue 1. From the Sabbath or Rest upon the Seventh day whereof the godly are partakers in this life which he intimates was a Rest appointed from the Creation of the World 2. There is another Rest mentioned in the Old Testament to wit the Rest in Canaan unto which Joshua brought the people of God 3. There is yet a Sabbatism or Rest remaining for them This is 1 Spiritual here as God rests in his love to us Zeph. 3.17 so we rest in our enjoyment of him Psal 116.7 2. Eternal in Heaven where the Sabbath is everlasting Heb. 4.3 4 5 7 8 9. Thus also the Ancient and Orthodox Fathers do universally ground the Institution of the
beautified and whereof God complains Gen. 6.5 7. and Row 5.12 yet not altogether without a Remedy for that dreadful Defection of the First Adam was happily repaired by the blessed Refection of the Second Adam The Lord most graciously found a Ransom for faln Man Job 33.24 the promised Seed of the Woman Christ was a Cover for his sin and a Cure also So that Adam and the elect world in him was delivered from going down into the Pit he was redeemed from the Infernal-Deep In the History of this Grand Malady there be sundry Branches considerable described as 1 The Tempter and Author of the Temptation Gen. 3.1 2 The Temptation it self whereof we have a description in v. 2 3 4 5. 3 Mans free Inclination Assent and Consent to it v. 6. which brought forth his Sin and Fall 4 Then follows the sad Consequents thereof which are principally three 1. His Arraignment at Gods Bar. 2. His Doom passed upon him there 3. His Ejectment out of Paradise in the following Verses to the end Thus the acts of Gods Providence succeed the acts of his Creation 1. Of the first of these to wit the Tempter which indeed was two in one Satan in the Serpent and this Union Athanasius doubts not to compare with the Union of the two Natures in one Christ Quaest 20. Tom. 2. pag. 363. which Collation or Comparison is not altogether inconvenient except that the Vnion of the two Natures in Christ is an indissoluble Union and everlasting but this Vnion of Satan and the Serpent was but for a short time made onely for this seducing work 'T is true Moses mentions onely the Serpent both in the Action and in the Doom for the Action calling the Seducer the Serpent but makes no mention of Satan at all The 1 reason was this Moses acts the part onely of an Historian but not of an Interpreter also and therefore he reporteth things that were visible and as they appeared without any intimation of the Devil who was invisible in the Serpent Thus the story of Samuels Apparition after his death to Saul calls it plainly Samuel because it so appeared although it was undoubtedly Satan in the similitude of Samuel 1 Sam. 28.11 14. inasmuch as the dead hath no Mantles to bring along with them from the Grave or place of the Dead Thus also Moses calls the three Angels that appeared unto Abraham three Men because they seemed to be so Gen. 18.2 And that Angel who wrestled with Jacob and was indeed the Lord of Angels yet Moses calls him a Man because he so appeared Gen. 32.24 Moreover Moses mentions not the Name of the Devil because he had not at all mention'd any thing of the Creation or Corruption and Fall of Angels And 3. Such was the rudeness of the Children of Israel for whom and to whom Moses wrote that they could not well conceive of any other but of the visible Creatures 4. Lastly Moses did then use dark Expressions because the clear Light and full Understanding of things ought to be deferred and referred to the Kingdom of Christ And though Moses do not speak expresly of the Creation of Angels with other Creatures yet doth he it tacitely and implicitely Gen. 1.1 and 2. 1. For if God Created all things in Heaven and Earth then he must Create the Angels seeing they are Creatures Psal 104.4 and in Heaven Mat. 18.10 therefore are they call'd the Angels of Heaven Mat. 24.36 Gal. 1.8 And as all sublunary Creatures are the Host of God on Earth his Foot Army or Nether Forces so the Angels are the Host of God in Heaven his Horse Army or Upper Forces Gen. 2.1 and 31.1 2. Numb 22.31 Josh 5.1.3 2 King 6.17 and 19.35 1 King 22.19 Mat. 26.53 and Luke 2.13 Neither could it sute with Moses proposed holy design of Writing which was to shew the Creation of all things from God and nothing was Eternal but God to pass over in silence altogether the Creation of those most Excellent Creatures Besides Moses makes mention of the Angel with a flaming Sword at the Gate of Paradise Gen. 3.24 See more suprà 'T is likely they were Created with the Heavens in the first Day Seeing those Morning Stars and Sons of God did sing praises when God fastened the foundations of the Earth Job 38.4 6 7. And 't is as likely that the Evil Angels did fall from their Angelical perfection immediately after their Creation as Man through the Devils malice did fall from his perfect State immediately after his For 't is expresly said the Devil persisted not in the Truth but he left that proper Station assigned to him for his Ministration in the Heavens John 8.44 and Jude 6. and 2 Pet. 2.4 and he drew a great multitude of Angels with him into his Rebellion against God whereby they all as Rebels with him were expelled out of Heaven and confined to the Prison of Hell hence arose the Devils and his Angels Implacable and Everlasting malice against God and because God was out of his reach against Man Gods Master-piece By all this it plainly appears that there was then a malicious Devil against Man an envious One or Enemy His Enemy Mat. 13.25 28 39. An Enemy both to God and Man who was wakeful and watchful to sow Tares where God had sowed good Seed in the Field of Man For Satan since his Fall neither thinks nor desires nor endeavours nor speaks nor works any other thing but what is hateful to God and hurtful to Man The Devil and his Angels that fell with him do nothing but deceive Men 1 King 22.22 23. provoking them to sin 1 Sam. 18.9 10. 2 Sam. 24.1 and 1 Chron. 21.1 raging cruelly against them Job 1.11 14 to the end and Job 2.5 7. Mat. 8.28 and 9.32 And how malicious was that Devil so to tear that good Man Mark 9.20 How merciless was he so to cast him into the two merciless Elements sometimes into the fire and sometimes into the water v. 22. And every where in the New Testament yea designing to draw all Mankind into the same Everlasting perdition with himself 1 John 3.8 9. 1 Pet. 5.8 Eph. 6.12 and many other places This Devil quasi do evil began to do evil to the first Man that was upon Earth and will never end so doing until the last Man expire at the End of the World This brings me to the second Branch to wit his doing evil to our First Parents seducing them by his Lies that they might forfeit their Lives and plunge themselves headlong into Eternal Death Gen. 3.1 2 3 c. John 8.44 2 Cor. 11.3 How Satan manag'd that matter of malice against Man I have largely related in nine particulars See my Church History the first Plot from page 3. to the 9th page and therefore shall not here insist upon that Take only some Remarks for a further and fuller Illustration of the Tempters first and most fierce Temptation The first Remark is The Tempters
at all in the former The Sixth Remark is God Suffered man to be Tempted by the Tempter though he foresaw if man were Tempted he will surely Fall The good pleasure of God which always is a Fathomless Depth Rom. 11.33 Must be acquiesced in and there is no Chatting or Wording it with God Rom. 9.20 Man must not ask God a reason why he did permit the first sin or why he did not prevent it Gods will is sometimes secret yet always Just as 't is never severed from his Wisdem God being a free Agent cannot be unjust to any because he is bound to none Gods unsearchable Counsels do conquer our understandings when our understandings cannot comprehend them Yet those Reasons of this Divine permission may be understood As 1. It was to prove man whether he would persist and persevere in his Obedience to God thus Abraham was proved Gen. 22.1 to manifest his Faith the more and 't is observable God doth not praise man when he had made him as he had done all his other creatures for this cause man must first be proved and then if he deserved it praised Homo prius probandus quam approbandus saith Ambros. Man must first be proved and then if he deserve it approved 2. God permitted mans sin to manifest the frailty of the best created beings none of which neither Mân nor Angels can continue in their Integrity without the special Grace of their Creator to assist them 3. It might be as a pattern of punishment for the creatures Confidence and Independency on his Creator Who had given him Free-will and Sufficient Strength to resist the Temptation if he would now while God leaves man as was meet to exercise his own motions of Will and Power Man abusing his own Free-will and trusting in his own strength did not desire of God his sustaining Grace 4. But above all God permitted the perpetration of all this evil both in the Tempter and the Tempted yet all this consisted with Gods Justice and Holiness because God well knew how to convert all this evil into a greater Good and to a more excellent manifestation of his own Glory for if man had not sinned God had not died to wit that God-man Christ Jesus by whom and by which greater glory redounded to the great Creator the Power and Justice of God in Rejecting the Vessels of wrath and his Grace and Mercy in receiving the chosen Vessels are most evidently and eminently declared Rom. 9.22 23 and 11.32 33. These are therefore groundless cavils to say either God will'd or nill'd the Fall of man If he will'd it why did he forbid it and how could he justly punish man for doing what God willed Yea and is not this to make God the Author or approver of sin Or if God nilled it why did he make a Serpent that Tempted man and why did not God hinder the sin of man by sustaining him in his Temptation All those carnal Reasonings against Gods Deep Counsels are but Fleshly Folly controlling Divine wisdom in the bottomless and Incomprehensible depth whereof it is confounded for in this dilemma or double-horn'd Argument which carnal reason raises against this great Truth there is not a Full and Sufficient Enumeration of particular causes because God simply nether will'd nor nill'd mans Fall but only suffered it to be so yet not altogether unwillingly for this presupposeth some sadness to besal the patient that suffers evil to be and a greater power in the Agent that doth the evil as if God the permitter of it could not prevent it So that Divine permission is quodam modo a kind of Gods willing it yet not as it was a sin for so God will'd it not but with utmost detestation did prohibit it and after it was done he did most justly punish it But as it was 1. For Mans proof 2. For discovery of the Creatures frailty 3. As a mulct for Humane Confidence And 4. As an occasion of a greater manifestation of Divine Glory as before so God hinder'd it not but suffer'd it to be yet herein designing and directing all both the Temptation and the Fall to the highest advancement of his own Praise and Honour The seventh Remark is 1. The proper procuring Causes And 2. Gradual progress of this primitive sin 1. The prime External Cause was Satan with his outward Insinuations and inward Impulses John 8.44 1 John 3.8 9. The next Exterior Cause were the Ears Eyes Hands and Mouth of Man for by those outward Senses and Members the Allurements of Satan and Sin did penetrate to the Heart and to the Internal Appetite The Interior Cause was their Free-will voluntarily turning it self from God and subjecting themselves to the Devil hereby they spoiled the Image of God Engraven upon them lost the due knowledge of and true reverence to the Divine prohibitive Precept given to them and Affected that Deity which the Devil had promis'd them Yea Lastly Hereby their Concupiscence to the Forbidden Fruit was every where Irritated so that the desire of the Flesh then set Eyes Hands and Mouth to that sinful work insomuch that though the Tempter was the first in the fault because he through Envy and Malice thus supplanted them yet the nearest and most immediate fault lay in the freeness of their own Will according to the third Branch of the distribution of parts aforesaid whereby they freely consented unto Satans Impostures and forsaking God they voluntarily yielded themselves up to the Devil therefore Satan is not so to be blamed for this first sin as that Man should in the least be excused And as 1. The sundry Causes so 2. The several Degrees of the first sin are very remarkable such was the subtilty of Satan in the Serpent that by little and little from less to more and from more to most of all he usher'd in the first sin for first He makes the Woman to listen unto the Tempting Voice of the Serpent 2dly He perswades her to look upon the lovely Fruit. 3dly He prevails with her to pluck it and eat it And 4thly To give it to her Husband that by her perswasion he might be seduced to a Society in her sin and all this in a very little time Oh what a speedy graduate sin is quickly passing from Eve's Ear in hearkening to the Tempter to her Eye in gazing upon the Tree and so immediately to her Heart the Devil driving it Jehu like in a furious pace Still sin must not rest there but it must be propagated and communicated to others Eve must hold forth the Tempting Apple to Adam and as Prov. 7.21 With much fair speech she caused him to yield yea with the flattering of her lips she forced him The Apostle Jam. 1.13 14 15. points out the pedigree and proceedings of sin 1. He clears God of being its Author the Author of all good cannot be the Author of any evil that is Morally so 2. Though the Devil strike the Fire of sin yet 't
of it for 't is altogether improbable If not impossible That Cain who was a wicked one and of the wicked one 1 Joh. 3.12 Should be a Son of Paradice or be begot in the State of Innocency Adam might have hope of an offspring by Eve after their sin and their Doom for their sin because he had heard both the promise of the Womans Seed and the threatning of a dolorous birth Therefore in this hope he went in unto his Wife which the Holy Tongue all along expresseth by Jadang or knowing her upon this God gave Eve the Blessing of conception and then had she smarting experience both of the Sorrows of conceiving and of pain in bringing forth according to the Divine Doom passed upon her for her sin Gen. 3.16 Yet this pious Mother at the birth of Cain her first-born doth acknowledge Gods goodness for saving her from those Sorrows and Perils of birth and delivering her of a lovely Son such as the World had never seen before and therefore she would consecrate him to God as she had received him from God saying I have got a man from the Lord Gen. 4.1 Although in this the good Woman was greatly deceived by her Sons degenerating into the Devils off-spring As many good parents are and may be deceived in the hopes of their Children yet must they bless God for giving them Children which are blessings in themselves Psal 127.3 and 128.3 4. in opposition to the curse of barrenness Thus Eve acknowledged Gods goodness in giving her Seth Gen. 4.25 whom the Devil in Cain could not compass to kill as he did Abel in whom her expectation was not disappointed as it was in her first-born whom with the consent of her Husband unto whom she was put in Subjection Gen. 3.16 She called Cain which signifies possession herein therefore Eve did not usurp any authority that belong'd not to her but Adam willingly indulg'd her in this common right and gratify'd her in being so grateful to God for the blessing of fruitfulness her saying I have got a man from the Lord though Fallitur Augurio spes bona saepe suo Children are Certain Cares but Uncertain Comforts It is probable that Eve experiencing many molestations in the Education of her offspring and perceiving that Cain was not like a man of the Lord or like to be that man the Lord the Messiah promised call'd her second Son Abel which signifies first Vanity either 1. Because she then understood the Vanity of her own thoughts in mistaking Cain for the promised seed Or 2. Because she was now more sensible of the Vanity of Humane life unto which all were subject in their faln and mortal State Or 3. Because as some say she foresaw that Abel would be Murdered by Cain suddenly subtilly and sinfully so he would be a most memorable Monument of Humane Misery and Vanity Or 4 Our first parents repenting of their sinful fall resolved as others say to devote their first-born Son to the Worship of God which Law was ever after observed till the Tribe of Levi was brought in by Moses Law instead of the first-born Exod. 22.29 Numb 8.15 16 17 18. And their second Son to the Affairs of the World which compared to Gods Worship is but Vanity therefore they call'd his name Abel And the Hebrew word Habel signifies secondly Luctus lamentation because he was the first grand cause of his Parents long Lamentation when he came to be murdered by the hands of that bloody butcher his brother Cain who was so far from being the Angel of the Lord or the Lord and Messiah that he was rather the Messenger and first-born of the Devil though he was the first-born and so the High-priest of the Family yea a Devil incarnate thus to devour and destroy his own and only Brother Abel â Hence those famous Remarks following may naturally be Inferr'd 1. Such was the unspeakable goodness of a most gracious God that notwithstanding the sin of man he would not abolish his own blessing promis'd upon Marriage but ratified it with the blessing of conception and Birth even in the State of sin for his own glory and the good of his Elect which should be brought into the world thereby 2. It was not the good pleasure of God to create out of the Earth a continued Succession of mankind as he had alone the first man but Marriage was Gods own Ordinance whereby the World must be propagated as by means Lawful Holy and Well pleasing to God who ordained it before the Fall So that all Reproachers of this Holy and Honourable Ordinance Heb. 13.4 are Reproachers of God himself the Ordainer of it such are the Romanists who impose that Doctrine of Devils in forbidding it to their Votaries 1 Tim. 4.1.3 In the mean time being insensible that Whoremongers and Adulterers God himself if man will not Judge 3. Parents are taught here to be truly thankful to God for those Children whom he graciously giveth them as Eve was here and as Jacob was after Gen. 33.5 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Sept. Childâen are Gods special gift as David taught Solomon Psal 127.3 and Title of the Psalm Psal 128. That nothing can begotten no child can be begotten without Gods blessing This was a fit Lâsson for Solomon who of a 1000 Wives and Concubines begot only one Son that we read of and he none of the wisest 4. Parents should consecrate those children to God which they have so graciously received from God they should nurture their souls as well as nourish their bodies which latter is done even by Brutes to their young Eph. 6.4 A Godly Education must make Children as Arrows Psal 127.4 Arrows are not Arrows by Growth but by Art Pious instructions pare off the knotty natures of Children and polish them for God Their natures are Refined and Reformed by Grace Thus Adam and Eve taught both their Sons to Sacrifice to the Lord. 5. Hence also is a clear evidence both of the Antiquity and Excellency of the Hebrew Tongue not only as no other language will admit of any such Interpretation of the word Cain as this I have got a man from the Lord But also as the three first names of men Adam Cain Abel holdeth out a most practical and profitable aphorism or Golden Sentence Adam signifying Earth Cain Possession and Abel Vanity all this being rightly spell'd and put together in Gods School affordeth us this Divine Maxim viz. Earthly possessions are but Vanity The sixth famous Remark is The marvellous and Absolute Power which the Principal Potter hath over his Clay in framing and forming of Earthen Vessels whether in the VVomb or in the World Gods Soveraignty is eminently observable in respect of Order as well as End As Gods End is wonderful in making up some Clay Vessels for honour and others for dishonour according to his own uncontrolable Counsel and Pleasure So Gods Order hath unsearchable wisdom in it here in framing and forming first not the
Vessel of Honour Abel but the Vessel of dishonour Cain inasmuch as he was the first-born Cains Possession the founder of the City of the World and of the Kingdom of Satan was formed first and was the first former of a City in the World and was given up as well to carking cares as to worldly glories yea he Hated Persecuted and Murthered his only Brother but was rejected of God for a Damned Reprobate whereas Abel Vanity who saw the Worlds Vanity and sought a City in Heaven whose builder and maker is God Heb. 11.10 was born after his bloody brother yet was chosen and accepted before him and became the Founder of the City of God therefore was he maliced by this first born of the World and massacred by this eldest Son of the Devil Augustin saith of Abel By Grace he was praedestinated by Grace he was elected by Grace he was an Alien below on Earth and by Grace he was a Citizen above in Heaven yet as to himself he sprang from that corrupt Mass of Mankind which was then faln into an Original and Total Condemnation From hence those following Corollaries and Conclusions naturally flowing forth are very considerable As 1. In the birth of those two Sons of Adam there was an equality natural being both born of the same parents who were then under the same Guilt and Condemnation 2. Betwixt those two Sons there is plainly put a Difference supernatural that Abel should be a chosen Vessel of mercy the head of the City of God and one who was to Reign with God for ever but Cain should be rejected as a Vessel of wrath and a reprobate head of the City of the World to be tormented for ever with the Devil 3. Inasmuch as Cain was rejected of God for a reprobate this overthrows that foolish Notion of Universal Election yea of all Devils as well as of all mankind according to the corrupt opinion of that famous Father Origen 4. Such is the Soveraignty of God that great Potter over his Clay of mankind that out or that common corrupt Mass even of men equally involv'd in the faln Estate he chuseth some to be of his own City and Kingdom whom he willeth and he refuseth others leaving them to be of the City of this evil World and of the Kingdom of Satan yet for all this man must not mutter nor murmur against God but resolve all into his Soveraignty Rom. 9. from 15. to 22. 5. The procuring cause of this most gracious Election of the Vessels of honour doth not arise from foreseen Faith and VVorks or any thing in Man but it flows freely from the good pleasure of God seeing all men are alike in the corrupted and condemned Mass of mankind Rom. 9.11 Eph. 1 4 5. c. Where the Apostle wadeth into that profundum sine âundo Deep Occean of Praedestination without a bottom shewing all its causes to be meerly beyond and without man As the Efficient God the Material Christ the formal the good pleasure of his wilk the Final cause for the Praise of Gods glorious grace Election is altogether from free grace and not at all of Dâbt Eph. 2.8 9. c. 6. The positive cause of mans praeterition or being passed by as properly opposed to election and of his Damnation is wholly and solely flowing from those Vessels of wrath themselves who do fit themselves for destruction Hos 13.9 Mans damnation is from himself though his Salvation be not so but is the free Gift of God Rom. 6.23 Carnal reason must not reprehend what it cannot comprehend Assuredly God being a free agent cannot be unjust to any because he is bound âo none to bestow Grace and Salvation on them 7. As Cain was born first and then Abel so we are all born Cains or Flesh before we be new-born Abels or Spirit 'T is nature that first maketh us Cains or Carnal but 't is Grace that must make us Abels or Spiritual We are first Nature and then Grace The first Worship of God from man we read of is mention'd Gen. 4.3 4. Though none doubt but that Adam did Sacrifice to God yet seeing no such notable remark happened at any of his Sacrifices as at his Sons which he had taught them to do there is no mention made thereof but this of Cain and Abel is the first that is recorded in Scripture concerning which two Sons of Adam two generals are observable 1. Their Parity 2. Their Imparity 1. The parity or equality of Cain and Abel is fourfold 1. In their Original as both born of the same Parents The loins and womb they both sprang from were the same 2. In their Relation they were both Brothers Sons begotten of one Father and born of one Mother ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of à simul and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Uterus as brothers Jacent in eodem utero lay in the same belly 3. In their secular condition Both had honest employs and not only lawful but laudable particular callings Cain was an Husbandman and Abel was a Shepherd though of a differing Kind yet both good 4. In then Religious concerns both were Worshippers of God both brought Sacrifices to God To omit their parity in the two former let us insist a little upon the two latter to wit their particular and general callings wherein they were equal 1. Their particular Callings Gen. 4.2 Indeed it is not recorded in Scripture whether Adam did chuse those two distinct Trades for his two Sons by his paternal Authority or that Cain and Abel did of themselves chuse them by their own proper and private genius or inclination If it were from Adams Authority over them Then these corollaries or considârations do naturally flow from it 1. That Patents ought not to bring up their Children in Idleness but in some honest calling wherein they may both serve themselves and their generation according to the will of God Acts 13.36 It ought not to be the least care of Parents how to place out their Children in such serviceable Trades and Occupations as those of an Husbandman and Shepherd were both which have their due commendation for their necessity simplicity and Usefulness both in sacred and civil History 2. That every Man must have his Trade and Calling in the World as those two Sons of Adam had Though their Father was the Lord of the World yet he brought up both his Sons in laborious Callings and none can repute themselves more priviledg'd than Adam who in his very state of Innocency before his fall was appointed to dress the Garden though 't is true this was then to be rather his recreation than any toilsom Occupation for pains and weariness was a punishment for his sin his labour which before the fall was onely an Ordinance is become by the fall both an Ordinance and a Punishment too 3. Every Honest Calling hath its ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã something in it that is very comely as God himself is the Author of it and
the Instructor in it Luther in his Mensalia c. saith that God is skill'd in all Callings as in that of the Tailor in making a Coat for the Stagg which lasts him some hundreds of years and is not torn of it self in all that time he might have instanced also in those Coats God made for our first Parents after their fall Gen 3.21 and God he saith is skill'd in that of Shoemaker too in making such a pair of Shoes for the Stagg to wit his four hoofs as last longer than the Stagg himself and so it may be said of other Callings whereof God is the Father and Founder seeing all Arts Invented by men are but an Imitation of Nature framed by God God ought to be praised for the Art of Agriculture the Husbandmans God doth instruct him in all his actings Isa 28.26 and no less God doth for all other Artificers though few do acknowledge it inasmuch as right reason and the exercise of it is from the Lord. 4. 'T is a Sin for any man to live without a Calling God made Leviathan indeed to play in the Sea Psal 104.26 But he never made any man to do nothing else but play upon the Earth The Philosopher could call man ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a publick creature not born for his own ease but for the advantage of the commonwealth And the Prophet puts a direful Doom upon this sin He shall die that hath done no good among his people Ezek. 18.18 One that lives in Idleness without an honest Calling is but Inutile pondus Terrae an unprofitable burden of the Earth and seems to be born for no other end save fruges consumere natus to spend the fruits of the World as an useless spend-thrift But If we grant the second notion that Cain and Abel did chuse their own Distinct Callings by their own natural inclinations and that the one became an Husbandman the other a Shepherd by their own free choice Gen. 4.2 Then it may be look'd upon as a Divine description how God distinguisheth the Godly from the Wicked for Gods word in calling Cain a Tiller of the Ground doth describe him to be a carnal caitiff an Earthly-minded man plodding all down to the Earth in plowing the Ground and never once looking up to Heaven the Earth was Cains Throne and his Foot-stool was Heaven trampling Heavenly things under-foot This is a compleat contrariety to the most Holy God whose Throne is Heaven and whose Foot-stool is the Earth Isa 66.1 In a word Cain gave up himself to corporal concerns and sense-comforts not at all minding spiritual affairs or soul-comforts he was wholly taken up with culturing the cursed ground for compassing temporal gain so he led a sensual life having not the Spirit Jude 19. But Abel being a feeder of Sheep did lead a more contemplative life having much freer and fuller vacancies and opportunities for contemplation on God and Communion with God than an Husbandman whose work runs round in a ring redit labor actus in orbem agricolae could possibly have Yea and Naturalists do observe that Shepherds are commonly of more mild dispositions than rustick Plow-men and this reason may rationally be rendred for it for the former have nothing so many provocations to exasperate their choler among those meek creatures their Sheep as the latter have among their untamed Heifers besides as Shepherds have fairer opportunities so they have more frequent and familiar occasions of being admonished concerning God and His good Blessings as David was Psal 23. throughout their very office being a daily and devout contemplation 2. As to their general calling they had a parity or equality in this also so far as the external part of worship will extend for both brought their Sacrifice to the Lord Cain had been train'd up by his Godly Father in ways and works of godliness and he was not yet become so carnal and cursed as to become either a Doctrinal or a practical Atheist but here had his Homage of Honour and his Lords rent to pay to his great Land-lord Gen. 4.3 4. As well as Abel Concerning which the first enquiry is why Moses recordeth this Service done to God by way of sacrifice in all its circumstances by those two Sons of Adam Cain and Abel Answer Moses records this upon a threefold account 1. To demonstrate the antiquity of Religion that it is no new thing none can say of it Tempus erat quando non erat There was a time when Religion was not Religion is as antient as the Creation They were as twins born at the same time and both at one birth No sooner was the World made but there was worship done to the maker of it even in the State of Innocency God made the Angels to adore him in Heaven and Adam to adore him on Earth God imprinted the Stamp of Divine Worship in Adams heart before his fall and though through his sin that impression of Religion was much defaced at the first yet was it much renewed again by the promise of Christ in the seed of the Woman and though through Adams fall the World was become ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a Work-house an house of Correction for mans sin yet was it to be ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã A Prayer-house too an House of Prayer and a place for the worship of God It was even then as a Temple built by God himself consecrated for Worship and dedicated to the Service of its maker hence it came to pass that Adams two Sons the Eldest Children of the World are both men of Religion by their education They both offer sacrifice and tender their devout acknowledgments to their God Thus Moses recording this Story gives a plain relation of the antiquity of Religion that it is no new devised Fable but is as antient as the World Hence may be inferred 1. The grossness of Atheism which make men scoff at Religion as at some new device to keep the World in awe only and that there is no need of so much a do either for holiness or happiness 2. 'T is hence inferred also the Absurdity of Irreligion Prophane people will not admit of religious duties to their families as if their families were more Priviledg'd than Adams whose house was a place of Prayer and who brought up his sons in the Practice of piety So Abrahams house was religious The 2 account why Moses records this History is to shew the mixture of Religion that among men who profess and practise Religion there ever hath been a mixture thereof or an Heterogeneous composition The worship of God is in some false and counterfeited and ân others 't is sincere and single-hearted Of the former sort was Cain and of the latter was Abel As appeareth by a Distich made upon them both Sacrum pingue Dabo nec macrum Sacrificabo Sacrificabo macrum nec dabo pingue Sacrum Abel was a righteous man Mat. 23.35 And said he would not give God his lean but
great Mystery so requires without Controversie a long time to learn it The old Adage saith Nemo nascitur opifex ceu artifex No man is born a cunning workman or skilful artist to become such is a work of much time seven years Apprentiship is usually spent in learning the mystery and intrigues of a Trade So Godliness since the Fall is no in-bred inherent quality by nature in us we are not naturally born to it but altogether averse and cross-grain'd against it and we must be supernaturally born Joh. 3.3 5. ere we can be any thing compliable to it by our first birth we are altogether void of it we are born in a state of enmity against it Rom. 8.7 our whole frame is out of frame for it The Voice of Pharaoh is the voice of every natural man saying VVho is the Lord that I should serve him Exod. 5.2 or the Voice of Pilate saying What is Truth John 18.38 who was not onely so Ignorant but also so Averse as not to tarry for an answer So we are all naturally so Ignorant as not to know what is Godliness and if we happen to ask such a Question we are naturally so Averse that we stay not for an Answer and until we be brought into Christs School we never begin to learn it Acts 4.13 and oh how Auk-ward are we at the first in learning of it And how long a time is required in making any considerable progress and proficiency in it Plain Mechanick Trades young Apprentices must have some considerable time to learn them before they can be Masters of them yet a longer time is required to attain the knowledge of the Mystery of more Intellectual Arts and Sciences Such require long study many Watchings and much Weariness Hippocrates said of his Art of Physick Vita brevis Ars longa life was short yet that Art was long whereby he did intimate that he who would be an accurate Physician must begin betimes to study Physick All this holds true concerning the Trade of Godliness A man may be a long student in this Divine Art yea and press forward too to the mark all his days as Paul did yet never be able to attain to the perfection of or in it as Paul could not Phil. 3.12 14. no not though he was rap'd up to the third Heaven 2 Cor. 12.1 2. Therefore all men ought to begin betimes to learn this Heavenly Trade wherein though he turn over many a leaf to learn that lesson yea and be as Mnason was an old Disciple Act. 21.16 yet cannot become Master of this Mystery in the Trade of Godliness oh what fools then are the most of men that put off their applying themselves to learn this blessed mystery wherein they that be the best and do the most be no better than Bunglers and spend their days it may be 20 30 or 40 years in Vanity If not in Villany never considering all that time their grand Errand into the World for learning this Trade and their own dulness to learn it as Cain and Abel here were dull at it who having been trained up from their child-hood to it by their Godly Parents yet was it a very long time e're they learnt to offer Sacrifice Hence may be Inferred 1. The mischief on Mankind by the Fall to wit mans dulness to learn any thing that is good had not Adam sinned it would have been natural to his two Sons to serve God but now he must teach it them as all Parents ought their children Eph. 6.4 and yet they profit little and for a long time too because of their dulness through Original Sin The 2. Inference is Oh the misery of those persons who want instruction in Families and Assemblies how blind and bruitish must all such be and how unskilful at this Celestial Trade whereas the best needs line upon line and precept upon precept here a little and there a little Isa 28.10 and all little enough to make men Masters in this High and Heavenly Calling one Stone must be laid upon another and one upon another often and a long time too as we see in the building of Pauls Church before a compleat Temple can be erected for God The 3. Inference in Oh what a blessing is the Ministry to men which teacheth them this Trading and Trafficking with Heaven that cannot be learnt all at once bur by degrees And there is not onely much to learn but also much to unlearn in this mystical occupation by the help of the Ministry Discere dediscere est cujusque Christiani pensum opusque Diurnum The daily task and work of every Christian is not only to learn the good things of the New-man but also to unlearn the evil things of the Old-man the latter must be put off by the grace of mortification as the former must be put on by the grace of Vivification Eph. 4.22 23 24. and both these two are done by the work of the ministry v. 12 13. yea and the Calling of a Minister hath this unhappiness and disadvantage above all other callings in the world in as much as men of other callings do always find their work next morning as they leave it over night but let men of the Ministry warm their peoples hearts never so well upon one Sabbath they will grow cold again in their weekly works before another Sabbath come so that they never find their work as they leave it they have much of their work to begin again and oh then what a coldness and what a chilness would seize upon the best Christians hearts they would verily freeze into the Hardness of an Adamant Zech. 7.12 were they not kept warm'd and thaw'd by the blessing of a constant Ministry to teach them the art of piety and to fetch them from all their Out-strays Thus much the first construction of that clause in process of time taken Indefinitely and largely teacheth us The second construction of it is definitely more strictly and distinctly taken so mikkets Jomim at the end of the days bear a double sense 1. Either at the end of the days of the year or 2. At the end of the days of the week 1. Of the first at the end of the years to wit at the time of Harvest which according to the Jews computation was the end of the year for they conceive that the World was then Created seeing the fruits of Paradise were then fully Ripe and all things then were in their maturity and perfection This was about the seventh month or our September and though the Jews were accustom'd to Sacrifice every month yea every week witness their New-Moons and their Sabbaths yet this seventh month at the end of the year they spend almost all of it in their publick solemn Sacrifices as on their Feasts of Expiation their Feasts of Tabernacles and their Feasts of Trumpets all these Feasts were solemniz'd in the seventh month at the end of the year about their Harvest-time They had their
Devil saith he and not God who stands for due Order 2 Chron. 15.13 and 2 Kin. 17.25.27 God insists upon manner as well as matter and if the last Will and Testament of a man will not admit of after additions by others much less the last Will and Testament of Christ all prudential additions pretended for preserving the Grandeur of Divine VVorship hath been as without Divine VVarrant a very Shoe-horn to draw on Superstition and Idolatry in all ages of the Church The 3. Inference is Though we have a Sacrifice that is right both for matter and manner both what and how God himself requiteth yet must it also be rightly placed before it find acceptance it must come our of our hands into the hands of Christ that he may present it to God Thus every man under the Law was to bring his offering to the High-Priest and the High-Priest not the man himself was to offer it up to God for him It was death for any man to offer up his own Sacrifice the man might bring it but the Priest must burn it Lev. 1.5.14.15 and 2.2 8. So 't is no less a mortal crime for any to come to God otherwise than in and by Christ who is our High-Priest to present all our Prayers and Praises to God and in whom alone God is well-pleased Mat. 3.17 And we accepted Eph. 1.6 Both Persons and Prayers Joh. 16.23 'T is well supposed by some that Cain and Abel here did not offer up their own offerings themselves but they both brought them to their Father who was High-Priest to them and offered them up for them now what the first Adam was to them the same and much more is the second Adam to us Who is called the High-Priest of our profession Christ Jesus Heb. 3.1 As his Office was to purge and put away the sins of the people which was the Office of the Legal High-Priest Lev. 16.3 Heb. 1.3 and 9.1 Joh. 1.9.12.14.16 'T is Christs work to cleanse us from all sin in respect of Sanctification and Justification alas our best works have sin in them as well as our bad ones The blessed Virgin her self blessed God for her Saviour Luk. 1.46 47. The 2. General part is the Success of that Service which both those Brothers performed to God what acceptance both found with God Hitherto hath been carryed on a fair Congruity and Parity betwixt those two Brothers Cain was as good a man as Abel and is set before him in the Service as to the Circumstance and Substance thereof Now the Success of it shews a Foul Disparity the one is accepted the other is rejected God had respect to Abel and to his offering but c. Gen. 4.4 5. This disparity is demonstrated by three Remarkable passages or particulars 1. The Inversion of the Order 2. The Grounds of that Inversion 3. The acceptance and disacceptance or the nature and manner of both 1. Of the Order Inverted until now 't was Cain and Abel the Eldest is named first the Order of nature is observed because born first and while both came hand in hand to offer sacrifice both came to one Altar and both brought lawful and warrantable Worship no difference could be discern'd betwixt them as to man yet a vast disparity as to God Hence observe 1. Though amongst many worshippers of God in publick worship man can discern no difference but one is as good as another in both attendance and attention yet God can both in Intention and Retention All sit as Gods People Ezek. 33.31 And no mortal Eye can distinguish which is a Cain we which is an Abel yea a Cain may be the fore-horse in the Team and be most forward as to personal Attendance and Attention of Body as Cain had the priority here for as he was born first so he is said to come and offer first but the all-seeing Eyes of the immortal God Espies a difference both as to intention of mind and as to retention of memory in those great assemblies which wait upon God in hearing his Word Hence it was that God comes here to distinguish betwixt the Services of those two Sons of Adam and inverts the order aforesaid as it were thrusting back Cain and giving the precedency now to Abel so that he who was the last in the Sacrifice becomes first in the acceptance From whence observe secondly Though the world respect men according to their birth and breeding acoording to their outward Rank and Quality yea according to their seeming forwardness for that which is good yet God respects men according to their inward Condition and Estate of Grace and Holiness as he did Abel here and David elsewhere 1 Sam. 16.6 7. Man seeth the surface of things only his knowledge is but Skin deep as Samuel by an humane Judgment not as a Prophet mistook Eliab for the Lords anointed while he look'd upon the outward appearance and saw him a very proper and personable person and of a majestick presence but God corrected the Prophet saying I have refused him licet primogenitum pulchrum procerum though the first-born fair and of a full Stature all these are Ciphers which signify nothing without a figure set before them for the Lord looketh at the heart Cor Camera Omnipotentis Regis The Chamber of the great King The Initial letters whereof in Latin do signify the heart And this Prophet had seen the bad proof of Saul who was more proper and personable than Eliab 1 Sam. 10.23 Because he was not so tall and Eminent in Vertue as he was in Stature The World values men according to their greatness but the Lord according to their goodness for which little David was preferred before both great Saul his Predecessour and great Eltab his Brother whose Body was of a Goodly and King-like aspect but his mind was arrogant and uncourteous 1 Sam. 17.28 Thus Abel and David are 2. Instances of this truth A 3. Instance is Lazarus Luk. 16.19 20. In which Story Dives or the Rich glutton is placed before him a poor Beggar according to his place and dignity in the World but afterwards the Beggar is placed before the Glutton according to his Spiritual Estate in the Kingdom of God some learned Criticks do conjecture that Christ in that Parable did point out Herod under the name of Dives and John Baptist under the name of Lazarus yet among all that were born of Women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist Mat. 11.11 The 4. Instance is the preferring of Ephraim the younger before Manasseh the Elder Gen. 48.14 Where the Old Patriarch Jacob doth purposely and out of a deliberate Prophetick choice Cross his hands and blesseth Ephraim first who was the younger contrary to Josephs expectation who had placed Manasseh his first-born towards his right hand v. 17 18. Where we may behold a pair of holy Prophets at some variance in their Judgments yet not so much about the Substance of the blessing as
a good Souldier of Jesus Christ ââ Tim. 2.3 Should the Saints or Souldiers of Christ lye always in Garisons and never come out to any Skirmish or Battel how could their Valour be known Aromatical spices have nothing of that Fragrancy and Odoriferous smell as when they are pounded small in the Mortar The Moon always shineth brightest in the night season Thus God brought down the hearts of his people with hard labour Psal 107.12 When they had stubbornly stouted it out with God and their Sturdy hearts those proud pieces of Flesh had thought to have carryed it with a strong hand against an Omnipotent God as that Stiff-necked and Outragious Rebel Manasseh thought to do till God hamper'd him when he caught among the sharp Thorns and laid him in cold Irons 2 Chron. 33.10 11 12. Yea God dealt thus with a better man than he to wit David whom Uzzahs Death made to get Trumpets Sacrifice Linnen Ephod to bring up the Ark with Dancing and Singing which were not before 2 Sam. 6.6 13 14 Men learn Righteousness by Gods Judgments Isa 26.9 See more of this in my Christian Mirrour Chap. 8. 3. By the Word Abraham is tryed by a special Word or Divine Command Gân 22.2 to offer up his only Son Isaac and 't is observable that both Abrahams great Temptations to wit his first and his last of the ten began with one strain vade tibi get thee gone Gen. 12.1 and Gen. 22.2 The Hebrew Phrase in both places is Laklekah Go thou hence and his obedience in both these cases was the better seeing it was grounded upon Gods Command in both God led him into Temptation and in both he delivered him from the evil thereof Thus all our Works and our Worship should be tryed by Gods Word To the Law and to the Testimony Isa 8.20 Not to the precepts of men Isa 29.13 and Mat. 15.9 We must have Divine Warrant for all our Divine Worship Heb. 8.5 c. And all our works must be wrought in God Joh. 3.21 From a Right Fountain for a Right End and by a Right Rule 't is the Rule of Gods word that tryeth the straightness or crookedness of all our ways Psal 125.5 Gal. 6.16 If Dinah daâe gad abroad beyond the due limits of the Right Rule then Shechem both catches her and deflours her Gen. 34.1 2. If any of Rahabs houshold wander forth from under the Scarlet Thred Josh 2.18 19. with Chap. 6.23 Or if any Israelites from under the besprinkled darnel Exod. 12.7.13 They are in great danger to be destroyed and so are all such as turn aside from the Rule of Gods word to their own crooked paths God will lead them forth with the workers of iniquity Psal 125.5 But peace shall be to those that mind the Rule Gal. 6.16 4. By the Spirit which is twofold 1. Of man which is call'd the Lords Candle Prov. 20.27 Yet burns but dimly and cannot but pass a purblind and partial Judgment upon Divine matters being darkened by the Fall 2. The Spirit of God which is quick and powerful trying the treacheries of the heart Heb. 4.12 This Spirit searches the deep things of man as well as the deep things of God 1 Cor. 2.10 11 14. If we plow with this Divine heifer we may find out the Depths of Satan in us Rev. 2.24 A Jealous God will Try us before he Trust us Oh that we may have this witness to our State The fourth Circumstance is the End why Man is Tryed by God which is twofold 1. A Discovery of Evil as in Hezekiahs case The Lord tryed him to discover the Evil that was in his Heart 2 Chron. 32.31 32. 2. A discovery of Good as in Abraham's case here 't is said the Lord Tempted him Gen. 22.1 For what end 'T was to Discover the Good that was in his Heart to wit that his Love to his Creator was stronger than his Love to the Creature and that his Devotion to his Heavenly Father prevail'd over his Affection to his Earthly though only Son The Angel said to him Now I know that thou fearest God seeing thou hast not with-held thy Son thy only Son from me Gen. 22.11 but it may be said in Objection Satan is call'd the Tempter and not God Answ Temptation is twofold 1. Probationis by way of Probation 2. Perditionis to bring into Perdition the former of these belongs to God and the latter to Satan God Tempts Abraham here to take a Tryal of his Faith Love and Obedience Thus he Tempts the Children of Abraham but 't is always to do them good at the latter end Deut. 8.16 but when Satan Tempts 't is alway to do us Hurt in the beginning in the middle and at the latter end too Satan comes with his Sieve as to Peter Luk. 22.31 a Sieve casteth out the Best and keepeth in the worst what Evil he findeth in us he confirms it but what is Good in us he weakens and wasts it On the other hand when Christ comes to Tempt or Try us he brings not a Sieve but a Fan to that work Mat. 3.11 12. the use whereof is to cast out the worst and keep the best Thus Abraham's Temptation had nothing of Satans Wiles Methods Depths Darts Devices c. for then it had been a Tempting to Evil in which sense God Tempteth no man Jam. 1.13 A clear Specimen of this differing Temptation we have in Davids case whom both God and Satan Tempted 1 Chron. 21.1 and 2 Sam. 24.1 but for different ends and in differing respects Satan for a Sin in David God for a Punishment on Israel We must suppose God was displeas'd with the People for their disregarding Davids Kingdom disowning him often and oft owning his Enemies as well as with David for his Trangressions Satan moved him by Suggestion God only by Permission Satan suggested that Covetous as well as Ambitious Desiring and Designing Thought of Polling the People and of laying a Tax upon every Poll or Head God leaves him to himself as he did Hezekiah 2. Chron. 32.31 and gave him up to Satans suggestion God doth this as a most Just Judge but Satan doth it as Gods Jailor and as Davids Adversary Satan designs it as an Act of Sin but God as a Punishment for Sin ordering all wisely for good as Satan Intended all maliciously for evil God Tempts to good properly but never to evil Jam. 1.13 unless improperly as the Sun doth not properly cause the stench of the Dunghil when it shines hot upon it nor of the Darkness of the Night when it withdraws from us as its presence in the former Instance doth only occasion it by accident the Stench arising not from the Sun but from it self so its absence occasions the Night per accident only God always inclines the Heart to good but he never either Infârces or Infuses evil God here Tempts Abraham to an Act of Obedience but not to the Act of Murther quà Tale as a Sin Inference
27.50 54. and yet we find that Christ was Bound as well as Isaac Gen. 22.9 Mat. 27.2 and both willingly and freely not resisting but giving up themselves thereto The fifth Circumstance Both Isaac and Christ were Offered up on a Mountain the former on Mount Moriah the latter on Mount Golgotha or Calvary The sixth is both these two were Offered up alone as Isaac was alone the Servants and the Ass being left at the Foot of the Hill Gen. 22.5 So Christ trode the Wine-Press of his Fathers Wrath alone Isa 63.3 all his Disciples being at Distance from him as the History of the former Circumstance holds out a Mystery to wit that our loose and slippery Hearts stand more need to be bound with the bond of the Spirit than either Isaac or Christ or any Wild Bullock or other Sacrifice needed binding with Cords to the Horns of the Altar Psal 118.27 so in this latter also to wit As the Servants were at distance from Isaac and the Disciples from Christ so all our Gifts and Graces though we must hold them as our lives in point of Sanctification yet must we let them all go in point of Justification therein Christ must be alone we must make no Rivals nor Co-saviours with him The seventh Circumstance As Abraham the Father carried the Knife or Sword wherewith Isaac should have been Killed and the Fire wherewith he should have been Burned so God the Father poured down his Wrath and Justice due to us for our Sins upon his only Beloved Son Jesus Christ there was the Fire of Wrath and the Sword of Justice for Christ too he bore our Griefs suffer'd our sorrows he was stricken smitten of God and Afflicted Isa 53.4 he was Wounded for our Transgressions v. 5 not for his own for he knew no Sin yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him v. 10 with 6 7. Oh that this may bruise our Hearts that as Christ was Crucifixus fixed to the Cross so he may be Cordifixus fixed to our Hearts his satis-passion is our satis-faction God spared not his Son Rom. 8.32 causing all our sins to meet upon his back he suffered the Just for the Unjust 1 Pet. 2.24 and was content to be in the Wine-Press to bring us into the Wine-Cellar Cant. 2.4 The fourth Respect wherein Isaac was a Type of Christ was his Escape and Deliverance in sundry particulars As 1. Abraham was just fetching the Fatal blow to slay Isaac and his Hand was stayed by an higher Hand Gen. 22.16 when the Knife was up the Lord came and stop'd his stroke so the Souldiers when just going to break Christs Bones were restrained for he must be the true Paschal Lamb who was Rosted whole in the Fire of his Fathers Wrath to deliver us from the Wrath to come Exod. 12.9 and 1 Thes 1.10 from frying in the Fire of Hell for ever Joh. 19.33 36. The Souldiers could not break Christs Legs because God had otherwise ordered it Voluntas Dei fuit necessitas Rei who can resist Gods will Rom. 9.19 Christ took his own time to Die so could not the two Thieves which were Crucified with him do and therefore their Bones were broken This further confirms what is said above that Christ did die Voluntarily for 't is said v. 31. that he bowed his Head and gave up the Ghost whereas other men do not bow the Head until they have given up the Ghost he might have lived longer if he had listed having strength of Nature to utter such strong cries c. 2. As Isaac was Dead in his Fathers Account no less than three days the time which he spent when he went plodding to the place of Offering Gen. 22.3 4. and therefore 't is said that Abraham receiv'd Isaac as from the Dead in a figure Heb. 11.19 founding his Faith upon the Fidelity and Omnipotency of God which are the two principal Pillars whereon Faith Resteth as did the Temple upon Jachin and Boaz which signifies stability and strength 1 Kings 7.21 3. As the RAM was caught by the Head in a Thicket of Thorns Gen. 22.13 which God had provided for saving Isaac according to Abraham's word of Faith ver 8. So God hath provided another Sacrifice which we in Justice should have been as Isaac for our Salvation even Christ that Immaculate Lamb whose Head was likewise Crowned with Thorns as Abrahams Ram was the Hebrew word Sabbech signifies a perplexing Bush of Briars or Thorns unto which Christ alluded in that famous Lammah Sabbactani Mark 15.24 Our sins are compared to Briars and Thorns which would for ever have held us if they had not by a Divine gracious Assignation caught hold of Christ and held him Mark well here is one Saviour in two Figures Isaac and the Ram the former preserved and the latter Offered up in his stead Dying in the one and Restored in the other answerable hereunto were the two Figures of the slain Goat and of the Scape-Goat Levit. 16.9 to 22. The one as the Ram here Representing Christs Mortal Humanity the other as Isaac here his Immortal Deity or Divinity or the one of Christs Death the other of his Resurrection and our Assurance that Christ the Scape Goat escaped Death as Isaac did and liveth for ever to make intercession for us Revel 1.18 Heb. 9.24 must be matter of unspeakable Joy and strong Consolation to all Believers Christ is not only the Testator giving all Divine Legacies at his Death but he also is his own Executor by being Alive again at his Resurrection to see all his own Legacies Executed according to his Last Will and Testament Heb. 9.15 The fifth Respect wherein Isaac resembles Christ as the Type doth the Antitype is in his Marriage 1. None must serve Isaac for a Wife among the cursed Canaanites but Rebekah one of his own Flesh Countrey and Kindred Gen. 24.3 4. Thus the VVorld which lyeth in wickedness 1 John 5.19 is unfit to be Marry'd to Christ whose Spouse must be Flesh of his Flesh Heb. 2.14 Gen. 2.23 and Spirit of his Spirit Rom. 8.9 He that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all one Heb. 2.11 the unsanctified Children of the Devil John 8.44 have no such Relation to Christ nor any such Union or Communion with him As Rebekah was a Daughter of the white Line so the Church is of the Line of Election the called and chosen Revel 17.14 2. Rebekah Hebr. signifies full and fatted she was very fair to look upon yet a pure Virgin lis est cum formâ magna pudicitiae Now Alas 't is become a Proverb How can she be fair and honest too Gen. 24.15 16. So Christs Spouse is All-fair Cant. 4.1 c. yet a pure Virgin 2 Cor. 11.2 Revel 14.4 Mat. 25.1 neither giving her Love nor his VVorship to Strangers Thus the High-Priest a Type of Christ must not Marry a VVhore or Prophane but a Virgin Lev. 21.7 13. The Spouse is also full and fatted with the fulness of Christ John
saith and that very probably no sooner was Sarah taken into Abimelech's Court but he and his whole Family were smitten of God with some deadly Diseases when his Physicians consulted with could give neither Satisfaction nor Cure Then God told him in a Dream if he perfected his sin he was but a dead man c. By this Disease coming as out of an Engine immediately from God he was restrained from sin ver 6. and 17. and constrained to restore Sarah to her Husband all which teach us 1. That even Kings themselves may not be Licentious to do what they list but they are under limitation both of Humane and Divine Laws 2. Adultery even in Kings is punishable with Death both Popes and Emperors have been justly cut off by the Just Hand of God in and for this abominable sin 3. Ignorance cannot altogether excuse Sin as in Abimelech here it may excuse à Tanto something Luke 12.48 but not à Toto altogether 4. The whole Family may be blessed or cursed for the Masters sin as here ver 17 18. and Luke 19.9 This day Salvation is come to thy House as thou art a Son of Abraham Thus also the sins of Kings bring Plagues upon Kingdoms 2 Sam. 24.17 Delirant Reges plectuntur Achivi ver 9. here Thou hast brought on me and on my Kingdom this great sin 5. So dear to God are his Saints that he severely punisheth even Kings for their sakes he suffereth no Man to wrong them so as though they may heavily oppress them they shall ever utterly suppress them Psal 105.14 15. Touch not mine Anointed is spoke to not of Kings Be wise now therefore O ye Kings kiss the King of Kings lest he be angry Psal 2.10 Revel 19.16 Potentes potenter torquebuntur ingentia beneficia flagitia supplicia Great Sins under great Mercies bring great Plagues and Judgments 6. Things wilfully taken away must be willingly restored Non remittitur peccatum nisi restituatur ablatum Knowledge must reform wherein Ignorance hath offended till Sarah was restored no Mercy could be expected Lastly Those two Captivities of Sarah may resemble the two Captivities of her Seed the Old Testament Church First In Egypt under Ten Plagues 2dly In Babylon sent out with good Conditions Thus it befalls both the Church of Christ and the âââl of a Christian they are sometimes Captivated by Beelzebub that Prince of black Gypsies ãâã Devils or by Abaddon that God of this World which lyeth in wickedness 1 John 5.19 or King of all the Uncircumcised in the Mystery as Sarah was in the History yet both are not only seasonably and safely rescued but also brought off abundantly Enriched as she was with her Sheep and Oxen c. coming Richer out of Temptation than they went into it which leaves them through sanctifying Grace always better than it found them Oh that there were that Beauty in us which was in her The fifth Mystery of Sarah's Person in the History of her Life was her Constancy and Faithfulness to her Husband she was a Loving and Loyal Wife to him not hankering after strange no not though Royal Flesh as was Pharaoh and Abimelech Abraham was a covering of Eyes to her Gen. 20.16 Her Reverend regard to such a Reverend Husband made him a better Veil betwixt her Eyes and the Eyes of wanton Person than that Veil which Abimelech gave a Thousand Shekels of Shillings to her Husband to purchase for her that she might cover her Face with it whereby she might be known to be a modest Matron as well as a Married Woman in subjection to the Man Gen. 24.65 and 1 Cor. 11.3 6 7 10. Hence the Supouse took it ill that her Veil was pulled off whereby she might be judged to be a light and dishonest Woman Cant. 5.7 We should shun and be my of the very shew and shadow of sin if either we tender our Credit abroad or our Comfort at home Oh what a comfortable Companion was Sarah to Abraham in all his Travels and Troubles doing him good and not evil all her days Prov. 31.12 She was constant in her Conjugal Yoke carrying on and even her part thereof not drawing the contrary way and did stick to him with faithful Affections in all Changes and Chances whatsoever yea though she suffered many hardships as before with him and was oft put very hardly to it yet was she not afraìd with any amazement 1 Pet. 3.6 driving out all servile fear of the World with a stronger filial fear of God as the stronger Nail drives out the Weaker Oh that the Churches of Christ and the Souls of Christians could be so constant and faithful to their Lord and Husband as she was to hers Hos 3.3 We must bear his Cross after him Luke 9.23 here on Earth if we would wear his Crown with him in Heaven The sixth Mystery of Sarah's person in the History of her life was in having her faults transmitted from her self to her Husband as Gen. 18.13 The Lord said to Abraham wherefore did Sarah laugh Here was Sarah's sin doubled 1. Her Unbelief of Gods promise 2. Her Untruth she covered her Unbelief withal yet all is charg'd upon Abraham the Wives sin reflects upon her Husband and this is not all learnt from hence but it teacheth also that the Spouses Beloved bears upon him all her Transgressions Surely he hath born our griefs and the Chastisement of our Peace was upon him Isa 53.4 5. He bore our sins in his own body upon the Tree 1 Pet. 2.24 He the true Scape-goat taketh away the sins of the World Joh 1.29 Bearing them into the Land of forgetfulness Lev. 16.21 As this is a continual practice of Christ for us so this posture of his carrying away our sins should be as a perpetual Picture born about in our hearts Seeing his satis-passion is our satisfaction he took upon him whatever was Penal and Satisfactory to Divine Justice that belonged to Sin whereby we may be made Free Joh. 8.36 He was content to go down to the Wine-Press that we might be brought up into the Wine-Cellar or into the Banqueting-House Isa 63.3 Cant. 2.4 'T was the manner of those that offer'd their Burnt-Offerings of old to lay their Hand upon the Head of Beast Offered signifying the imputation of our Sins upon Christ this is done now by Faith Oâ that as Christ was Crucifixus so he may be Cordifixus fixed to our Hearts as to his Cross The last Mystery of Sarahs Person in the History of her Life is she in conjunction with Hagar and with their two Sons represents the two Covenants Gal. 4.24 c. which indeed is the main Mystery and that which hath most manifest Manuduction to it by the blessed Apostle under the Infallible conduct of the Holy Spirit In this Main or Principal Mystery there be manifold Members all coupled together in couples and compared per pares by pairs As 1. Here is the Shadow or Type 2. Here is the Body
of a superlatively good God When he Rideth he should bethink himself whence is it that I am the Rider and the weary Horse the Carrier this is from the goodness of God So in case of Health Life and Liberty c. Lord what is man and who am I saith David How many want what I have But above all 3. That whereas the Supreme God out of his uncontroulable Soveraignty might have commanded work without wages yet he covenanted to give wages for work yea such wages as were far beyond the merit of the work Mans penny-work of poor as well as pure Duty must be so richly rewarded as with a Paradise-felicity There is no proportion between them NB. Inference hence If there were so much Divine Favour and Friendship in the Covenant of Works as whereas the absolute Law-giver might never have vouchsafed to look out of himself contenting himself with his own unconceivable Happiness within himself or might have laid a Law upon Man to make Brick without Straw and to work without wages yet is pleased to bargain with him for hire He covenants as well as commands saying Do this and live Thus even the first Divine Law in this Law-Covenant was wonderfully sweetened with some Divine Love A little work in that easie prohibitive Precept Thou shalt not eat forbidden fruit c. was sacilitated with a promise of very great wages How much more doth the goodness of God abound and overflow in the Covenant of Grace made to Man 2. In his state of Corruption when he had broke the first Covenant by his Disobedience and brought himself under the Curse of that Covenant yea and could by no means cure himself of that Curse then God freely from himself and from his own ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or good pleasure of his will Eph. 1.5 not from any merit or motive on Mans part brought in the Covenant of Reconciliation call'd Foedus Misericordiae aut Gratiae the Covenant of Grace and Mercy Indeed the Covenant of Works was in some sense a Covenant of Grace though it was not the Covenant of Grace for there can be no Covenant between a finite Man and the infinite God but there must be some Grace in it some Gracious Condescensions 'T is true 't was rather Law-Grace than Gospel-Grace for there was no Gospel-Grace in the first Covenant that Grace was the purchase of Christ's Passion that Lamb slain from the foundation of the World Rev. 13.8 for compleating the second Covenant yet if Grace be taken not strictly but largely for undeserved goodness so there were sundry respects of Grace in the Covenant of Works Man even before the Fall could not merit those three Divine Vouchsafements aforesaid God did not grant them out of Debt but out of Grace This second Covenant was made also with Adam in Paradise after the Fall Gen. 3.15 as the other was made with him before the Fall Gen. 2.17 where the Promise is implied in the Threatning expressed Obey and live is understood in Disobey and die where Death is the Curse of that Covenant which being made with Adam as a Representative of Mankind continueth still in force to all that are as yet in him But there is superabundant Grace in the second Covenant therefore it is call'd ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by way of eminency The Covenant of Grace Though it was a Glorious Condescension in God to look out of himself upon the holy Angels in Heaven and upon holy Adam on Earth yet is it a far more Glorious Condescension for the holy God to look down so low as sinful Man seeing sin setteth Man further below a Worm than a Worm is below an Angel The Inference from hence 1. Oh then how should we cry out with the Apostle ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Oh the depth of the Riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! Rom. 11.33 We should stand with Paul that great Mirrour and Miracle of Free Grace 1 Tim. 1.15 upon the banks of this Ocean of the Covenant of Grace and spend our selves in contemplation of the boundless and bottomless yea endless Dimensions thereof and in Admiration and Adoration of a gracious God therein The measure of Grace in this Covenant is modus sine modo a measure without a measure Its breadth and length its height and depth one Dimension above the three in Philosophy are all surpassing knowledge Eph. 3.18 19 20. They are ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã impervestigable leaving no vestigia or footsteps for carnal Reason to trace out and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã imperscrutable not the sagacity of the greatest Sages no nor the sapience of the wisest Angels are able to search out 1 Cor. 1.20 21. chap. 2.8 9. 1 Pet. 1.12 1 Tim. 3.16 The Divine Grace wrapt up in this Covenant is so deep that the sins of the vilest sinner in the World cannot sink him beyond the depths thereof may he be but enabled by Faith to swim thereon no not a Manasseh who defied God murdered Men and deified or worshipped Devils nor Mary Magdalen who was possessed with seven Devils all dispossessed hereby 2. But take heed lest any take hold of the Devils Covenant instead of Gods saying I shall be saved by this Covenant though I live in my sins Alas this clause the Devil that old Deceiver foisteth into Gods Covenant to make thee die in thy sins too John 8.21 24. You had better die in a Ditch or in a Dungeon as die in sin then are ye damned to all eternity VVithout holiness no man can see God Heb. 12.14 'T is call'd an holy Covenant Dan. 11.30 If you cause it to indulge you in your unholiness you make it the Devils Covenant not Gods who will never own Satans forgeries and interlinings for his own hand-writing You must be holy as God and his Covenant is either take it as he tenders it or you cannot partake of the blessing by it NB. The Arminians do indeed affirm that the Lord was under some compulsion and constraint to make the second Covenant for say they the Covenant of VVorks was so rigid that God could not carry it on and follow it out unless he should cast Infants into Hell for a sin which was none of theirs save only by imputation and which was pardoned to the first Man who committed it therefore say they God having a natural Antecedent Love and Desire to save all Mankind was necessitated to make this Covenant of Grace with all Mankind none excepted See Corvinus contra Molinaeum cap. 8. sect 7. and cap. 9. sect 5. Answer This gross mistake doth not only bring the great God into the same strait which Darius the King was brought into when he would have gladly delivered Daniel but could not do it Dan. 6.14 But also which is far worse 'tis to say of God what the blind Jewish Talmud Blasphemously saith of him that God hath a secret place wherein he afflicts himself because he Burnt the Temple and deliver'd up
Righteousness Deut 9.4 6. but Gods Grace saves me Tit. 3.4 5. The time would fail to speak of all the Differences how the Two Covenants have a sixth Difference in their differing Objects the first was made with Man in his state of Perfection before the Fall while he was without sin but the second was given to Man in his state of Imperfection and Impotency after the Fall And when he was drowned in sin in which state the conditions of the first Covenant are become impossible to be fulfilled by Man though they were possible while he was potent and perfect Rom. 8.3 Isa 48.8 1 Kings 8.46 Prov. 20.9 and 30.12 Eccles 7.20 c. 1 John 1.8 c. Thus the Two Covenants differ'd in Time as well as in Object the one being before and the other after the Fall How may this provoke Men to come from under the Law which is an hard Master and imposeth an heavy yoke Acts 15.10 and the first Covenant which hath impossible as well as unbearable conditions and get under the second Covenant out of Adam into Christ the conditions whereof by the Influence of Grace which the first wanted are possible and whose yoke is easie Mat. 11.29 30. Note 1. Well were they called foolish Galatians Gal. 3.1 because they desired to be under the Law Gal. 4.21 They had more than a Months mind to put themselves under that cruel Taskmaster which requir'd such a Tale of Brick but found no Straw c. though the Grace of the Gospel was reveal'd to them yet were they ambitious of Slavery yea of plain Beggery as 't is call'd ver 9. being willing to live and die under that Covenant they were Born under this is a desire too Universal being but Natural and Connatural to all to continue in that Estate wherein they are Bred as well as Born this is that which makes so many rejoice in their state of Bondage as knowing no better and Dance as it were end-ways to Hell with severe yet insensible Bolts upon the Feet of their Souls Note 2. Though the Covenant of Grace be through Grace possible in fulfilling its conditions of Faith and Repentance yet in the Covenant of Works 't is impossible to accomplish any compleat Obedience in the state of corruption and therefore to suppose a Man may now be saved thereby is tantamount to suppose either a New Creation of Man or that Man is not faln but is still in his state of perfection as Adam was at first and by consequence that Man hath no need of Gods Covenant of Grace as then Adam had not so the Doctrine of Perfection is a Lying Doctrine The seventh Difference is Those Two Covenants have differing Foundations the first was founded upon the Free Will of the first Adam the second is grounded upon the Free Grace and fulness of Grace in the second Adam our Dear Redeemer Hence it is 1. That God deals alike with the like in the first Covenant yet puts a difference betwixt such as are alike in the second The first Covenant is a Covenant of Justice the second of Mercy now Justice is due but Mercy is free God saith I will have mercy upon whom I will but saith not I will deal justly with whom I will for he cannot deal unjustly with any The Judge of all the Earth will do right Gen. 18.25 for his passing of judgment is the last and highest Appeal but he will have mercy upon whom he will Rom. 9.15 for Mercy is his own and he may do what he will with his own and Mans Eye must not be evil because his is good Mat. 20.14 15. therefore 't is the method of Divine Mercy to be oft manifested upon the most unworthy and to prefer the younger before the Elder as Jacob before Esau Ephraim before Manasseh and the Gentiles the younger Brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Luke 15.12 25. before the Jews the elder Yea the Free Grace of God doth oft take hold of the most graceless and he sheweth Mercy to the vilest of Sinners 1 Tim. 1.15 finding as many Motives to draw it forth in the worst as in the best by Nature whereas according to the first Covenant where there is no difference in Work there Justice makes no difference in Wages and seeing the works of all Mankind are evil in Adam who was the publick Person the Parliament-Man representing the whole Country of his Posterity and the Foundation of the first Covenant therefore the second Covenant finds all alike Sinners and Objects of Justice yet sheweth Mercy to some as it pleaseth God Rom. 9.12 18 20. Mic. 7.18 Hence it is 2. That one sin broke the Covenant of Works but many sins will not break the Covenant of Grace 'T was but one offence in Adam that brought guilt and condemnation upon himself and upon all his Posterity but the Gift of Grace and Mercy in the second Covenant is of many offences unto Justification Rom. 5.16 Not many sins before our Conversion nor many sins after it can break this Covenant Psal 89.31 34. Take here a short Recapitulation of the aforesaid differences between the Covenant of works and the Covenant of Grace 1. They differ in Terms the former being Conditional but the latter Absolute 2. In Means the second being with a Mediator but the first without one 3. In Manner the first accepts the Action and then the Person but the second accepts the Person first and then the Action 4. In the Measure there was indeed great Grace and undeserved favour in the former but there is far greater Grace yea the greatest of all in the latter 5. In the Matter the first puts Mans Life and Salvation into his own hands leaving him to himself and to manage it by his own Strength but the second puts them into the hands of Christ Col. 3.3 who is able to save Psal 89.19 Isa 33.22 yea to the uttermost Heb. 7.25 6. In the object as well as in the Subject or Matter the first was made with Man while Sinless and Holy but the second when he became Sinful and Unholy c. 7. In the Foundation the first was founded upon the Free VVill of Man but the second upon the Free Grace of God This may help both Understanding and Memory The Eighth Difference is they differ in their Duration the first Covenant is in some sound sense abolished Col. 2.14 c. but this second abideth for ever Indeed the Covenant of VVorks stands in force upon all Men out of Christ to all Eternity For 1. By that Covenant Sin is imputed and the Curse of that Covenant is inflicted for ever 2. All that now remain under the first Covenant in a Christless condition are still under the Curse of that Covenant and thereby perish for ever yet the first Covenant is utterly abolished by Christ to all that are in him as their representative Head 'T is necessary to observe for a right understanding of this great Truth that the Covenant of
before the Friend of God because God made his Mind known to him even in secrets most familiarly as a Man doth to his Friend Thus we see how God made and renew'd this Covenant of Grace with three publick Persons all as Mr. Baxter saith Representers of Mankind 1. With Adam to whom when God judged him for his Sin at the same time promis'd a Saviour and through this Saviour promised made a new Law of Grace with Man Gen. 3.15 which short Text God probably did explain to Adam more plainly than is express'd in those few words as appeareth by his instructing his Sons to Sacrifice wherein was shadow'd out the Blessed Saviour hence all Mankind are more mercifully dealt with than according to the rigour of that violated Law which Adam had Sufficient though not effectual Grace to keep yet did not to be shut up as Devils under Despair but have many Means and Mercies to bring them to the God of Mercy which Cain and his Off-spring mis-improved as did the Degenerate World also so all save eight Persons perished in the Dâluge The second publick Person was Noah with his House being saved to be the second Root and Representative of Mankind God renews this Covenant with some additionals to them Though the first Renewal was forfeited in the Flood Gods Covenant of Peace to Man is then re-inforced yet was it rejected by Cham whose Person and Posterity was therefore Cursed and after by Nimrod that Arch-Rebel and Master-Builder of Babel's Tower who thereby brought the Curse of the confusion of Tongues by which means the knowledge of God was much lost in the loss of the Holy Tongue and most Men fell to Idolatry and Sensuality The Third publick Person who escaped those two great Evils aforesaid was Abraham call'd the Father of the Faithful with whom God most familiarly renewed again this Covenant as with his familiar Friend more fairly and fully than with Adam or Noah adding a special Promise to him that his Seed should be an Holy Nation a Peculiar People and that of him the Messiah should Spring for confirming his Hope in both these Promises God gave him Circumeâââon as the Seal of the Covenant Gen. 17.2 where we find that the fifth time of Gods consuming this Covenant with Abraham intimating thereby that it is the prora puppis the First Second and Third yea the main point and Strong-hold or Fort-Royal of Mans Salvation and therefore we should be well Studied in the knowledge of it and have a wellgââââd dââssurance of âur interest in it This Covenant is call'd the Oath which God Sware unto Abraham Luk. 1.73 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quasi ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã an Hedge which a Man may not break down lest a Serpent bite him Eccles 10.8 and we may easily Imagine that God will not break the Hedge of his own making This is the Magna Charta or Grand Charter that the Faith of Abraham in all his Ten Tryals and of all the Children of Abraham hold their Hope and Confidence on And that renewing of the Covenant with Abraham was accommodated to his then present condition of having no Children therefore was it given to him in Terms of multiplying his Natural Seed which should receive Circumcision as the Seal of the Covenant and of the Righteousness of Faith Rom. 4.11 from whom Christ came The fourth Period of Renewing the Covenant of Grace was with Moses another Eminent publick Person and by him with all Israel after their coming out of Egypt where as it had before a clearer Manifestation to Abraham for Christ was promis'd to be his Seed Born of the Woman Mary descended from Abraham than to Adam and Noah so now it had a larger extent even to the whole Nation of Jacob or Israel the Seed of Abraham Gods Friend Hereby the Israelitish Nation became a peculiar people nearer to God than any other Nation as the Priests and Levites were by a special Separation made nearer to God than the common people which yet were accounted an Holy Priesthood also in comparison of the Gentile World wherein God had some scatterings of Holy Ones even in Abraham's day notwithstanding the Covenants Renewal personally with him such as Holy Shem alive at that time with Holy Melchizedeck and Holy Job with his Friends afterwards yea and 't is improbable that all the Children of Keturah of Ishmael and of Esau did forsake the Lord being all Circumcised and so in some sort as Mr. Baxter saith were Covenanters with God however this is certain that Israel's Embodying into a new Common-wealth with a Theocratical Government in a peculiar manner receiving a new Body of Divine Laws as well as their Deliverance out of the Egyptian Bondage were all done by vertue of Gods Covenant with Abraham unto Jacob or Israel Thus the Prophet saith God will perform or Hebr. give his Mercy to Abraham and his Truth to Jacob Mic. 7.20 'T is there call'd Mercy to Abrabam for Gods Mercy moved him to make the Covenant originally as to the clearest discovery hereof with Abraham and his Truth bound him to perform it to Jacob coming in at second Hand under Abraham's Covenant whereof Divine Mercy was the Foundation as to promising and Divine Truth was the obligation as to performing according to that in 2 Sam. 7.18 21. According to thine own Heart and for thy words or Covenants sake hast thou done all these things shewing when God hath voluntarily made himself a Debtor by promise to his people he will come off fairly with them in performance and not be worse but rather better than his word Abraham was the common Head or Root from whom the Covenant was conveyed to the Branches Israel wherein he was a Type of Christ the Head and Prince of the Covenant Gal. 3.16 to Abraham and to his Seed Christ not Christus in Individuo or Christ Personal only for Christ in that sense had not a Right unto the Promimises from Abraham but rather Abraham from Christ so it must be meant Christus in aggregato or Christ Mystical also that is the Church or Faithful whose Father is Abraham he is the Root and they are the Branches Rom. 11.16 It may indeed be taken for both Christ Personal and Mystical 1 Cor 12.12 Seeing Christ is the Seed in whom all the Nations of the Earth are blessed Gen. 22.18 with whom the Covenant was made primarily and principally yet accounts not himself a whole Christ and compleat without he have his Members who are therefore call'd his fulness Eph. 1.23 Inference hence Having viewed the Plat-form of this Covenant of Promise how it hath been carried on the same in all Ages from Adam to Noah from Noah to Abraham and so to Israel and so shall be to the end of the World How should we fall-down upon our Faces as Abraham did Gen. 17.3 admiring the abundant Goodness of God in vouchsafing to enter into Covenant with him he was astonish'd at this condescention as David was
8 9 10. in a word the Spirit comes and convinceth with undeniable Arguments as the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifies that Man hath Destroyed himself but in Christ is his help Hos 13.9 He Adam or It Adam Sin or one the First Man or somewhat hath marr'd thee the Hebrew word there is capable of all these readings whatever it was saith God it was not I who made Man upright but he Invented many shifts and shirking tricks of sinful device Eccles 7.29 both Angels and Men God made subject to change by the freedom of their own will reserving to himself the incommunicable property of being naturally unchangeable so that many Angels did on their own accord fall from their first estate and became Devils and Satan one of them by the Serpent seduced our First Parents to break the Covenant of VVorks whereby they and all their Posterity being in their Loins as Fruit and Branches are in the Root all under that Covenant became both liable to Eternal Death and unable to recover Life by themselves yea by Nature are at enmity with God and all Spiritual good Rom. 8.7 and inclined to evil only and continually this is our Original Sin that bitter Root of all our Actual Transgressions in thought word and deed This is Mans Malady but his Remedy is in Christ in me saith he is thy help Hos 13.9 When Man is neither able to help himself nor indeed is willing to be helped by God out of this woful Estate but is rather inclined to lye still insensible of it allowing of Sin yea and wallowing in Sin yet the most gracious God even then when Man like a Child had easily broke the Glass which all the Men in the World could not piece up again reveals a way in his Word to save Sinners in this desperate condition for the Glory of his Free Grace by vertue of another Covenant of Redemption made betwixt the Father and the Son before the World began Tit. 1.2 and 2 Tim. 1.9 as the second Adam and Mans Surety The fourth Objection If there be another Covenant besides that of VVorks and of Grace this makes three Covenants Answer the first There be but two Covenants betwixt God and Man the Covenant of Friendship and Favour before the Fall and the Covenant of Mercy and Peace after the Fall of the first Adam as is aforesaid yet may there be and is another Covenant betwixt God the Father and God the Son betwixt Jehovah and Jesus and that from all Eternity before the VVorld began this was not a Covenant ad idem between the same parties therefore not a third Answer the second The Scripture is clear in declaring that there was a Covenant betwixt the Father and the Son transacting the whole matter of Mans Salvation therein in which they two 1. Were the Parties both free who Contracted this Covenant 2. There were Articles or Terms thereof propounded on each Hand 3. There is also mentioned a mutual free and full consent on both sides yea and 4. This mutual compact and stipulation doth oblige them each to other in their parts of the Covenant 1. The Parties the Father who had the first Hand in this deep design of Grace was free and being the first cause and last end of all things Rom. 11.36 could not be a Debtor to any yet himself loved John 16.27 and so loved Man John 3.16 while Man was only in Gods Eternal Thoughts as to become a Debtor to him in entring into this Covenant for his Salvation and the Son as God John 1.2 and equal with God Phil. 2.6 7. was as free as the Father and not bound to any Duty but by his own consent yet made himself a Debtor 2. The Terms or Articles of this Covenant were 1. On the Fathers parts 1. Something the Father did require of the Son to wit both to take upon him the form of a Servant yea of an evil Servant that might be beaten and bruised Phil. 2.7 Heb. 2.14 and in that form to perform whatever was necessary for Gods Satisfaction and for Mans Salvation 2. And something the Father did promise to the Son as Assistance Isa 42.1 6. Acceptance Revel 8.4 and a blessed Success in having a chosen Seed to serve him and to be saved by him Isa 53.10 11 12. and Psal 2.8 c. 2. The Articles of Agreement on the Sons part were 1. His voluntary undertaking Isa 38.14 to become his Fathers Servant Isa 42.1 saying Behold I come to do thy will O God as 't is written in the Volume of thy Decrees so some do sense ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Psal 40.6 7 8. and thus Christ saith He laid down his life according to his Fathers Commandment John 10.18 and took it again by the same compact also And 2. Christ by this Covenant acknowledgeth himself bound to his Father as Jacob was to Laban by some foregoing Contract between them Gen. 31.39 40. to keep all given to him that none of the Elest might be lost John 17.2 12. and 6.37 39. he will be answerable and accountable for both dead and living Inference Oh what strong Consolation doth this afford That the Father hath given me to his Son and that his Son hath undertaken for me to the last and that I be not lost John 6.39 40 c. Oh my Happiness that I am not my own Undertaker but that both the Father who gave me and the Son who keeps me have jointly given me a Bond under their own Hand of the truth hereof Woe to those Arminian and Socinian Opinionists who make themselves their own Keepers as well as Givers undertaking all for themselves 3. To those Articles both Parties freely agreed for Christ as God and Coequal with God could have no command impos'd upon him without his own free and voluntary consent having no Bond before on him 4. By this Agreement both the Father and the Son bound themselves to all the Articles of this Covenant the Father to Elect and to give the Elected to the Son the Son to Redeem and to keep the Redeemed for the Father Inferences 1. How should we love God the Father who himself loved us John 16.27 and so loved us as cannot be express'd how John 3.16 that his Heart was so Engaged in his good will to Man Luke 2.14 that long before Man was Man much less a sick Man yet he provides both Physick and a Physician for him by an Eternal designation 1 Pet. 1.20 wherein he had also an Eternal Delectation Prov. 8.22 30 31. There was a Coexistency of the two Persons the Son was with the Father in the beginning of his way and the Father delighted in the Son as he was the Fore-ordained Surety and Mediator for Man In this Delight was spent all that vast space of Eternity by themselves in a bare expectation of its Actual Application as if he had long'd as it were for the Marriage-day of Man and his Mediator such prodigious Glory was wrapt up
in this Eternal purpose of Grace Eph. 3.11 as if he thought long with Abraham to speak with reverence until Immanuel's day should dawn John 8.56 yet all these many Myriads of Ages Christ was Jom Jom daily his delight Great was Gods love manifested to Man in making him a meet Helper in time but 't was much greater in providing him a meet Mediator before all time before either Man or Mountains were made and so before Man could take notice of his necessity thereof This shews how marvelously the Fathers Heart was engaged in a design of Grace to Man with whom he might have justly proceeded being at liberty to prosecute the curse of the Covenant of Works and never have treated with his Son about Saving Man Inference 2. How should we love the Son of God who might have refused to he sent as well as the Father might to have sent him yet Christ came though upon hard term Zech. 13.7 and became a Servant to God in this great and gracious design he made himself of no Reputation Phil. 2.7 submitted to fulfil all Righteousness Mat. 3.15 therefore began he at the beginning of Mans sin and carry'd on his Redemption work to the end thereof as he was Conceived and Born of the Virgin Mary to take away Mans Sin contracted in his Conception and Birth he lived a life of sorrows and sufferings to take away our life-sins and he died that shameful and cursed Death of the Cross to save us from the curse of Death Eternal and all along God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself 2 Cor. 5.19 both the World of Jews and that of Gentiles therefore submitted he to the Seals of both Law and Gospel He was Circumcised Luke 2.21 Baptized Mat. 3.16 took the Passover Mat. 26.18 and the Lords Supper ver 26. though he needed none of them either to take away his sin for he was sinless Heb. 4.15 c. or to strengthen his Faith for he had no weakness in it Heb. 2.13 and Isa 49.5 and 50.6 7 8 9. All this was to shew that Christ was under the Covenant of Redemption with the Father distinct from that Covenant of Reconciliation with Sinners whereby all the Seals become proper to a Covenanted people and not common to strangers thereunto Gen. 17.7 Exod. 12.48 Mat. 28.20 Col. 2.11 12 c but Christ rcceiv'd the Seals by a command from the former Covenant of Redemption and Surety-ship for us which he had compacted with the Father not as we poor Sinners receive them as Seals of the Covenant of Grace and Reconciliation to expiate all our Sins in them We should all Ride at this Anchor of Hope in Christ who pass'd through all these Ordinances with delight Psal 40.8 as if they had been his Meat and Drink John 4.34 and took sin out of them as he passed under them And by doing and suffering all the good pleasure of his Father Isa 50.5 6. and 53.2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12. John 10.17 18. and 12.49 50. and 17.4 6. He purchas'd and demanded not only his own Glory John 17.5 but also the Glory of all his Redeemed given to him according to the Articles of Agreement betwixt him and his Father in that Covenant ver 24. where Christ saith not Father I wish but Father I will as equal with God This being the great End first in intention though last in execution why he humbled himself to be the Sworn Priest Prophet and King of his Church 3. Inference Oh how should we love God and the Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 16.22 who hath sworn to he all these to us Psal 110.4 Heb. 7.21 what God barely saith he may Repent of upon a reserve of our Repentance as Jonah 3.2 and 1 Sam. 2.30 but what God Swears is irreversible the Father will not Repent no not to Sacrifice his Son though Abraham might relent to slay his Isaac and the Son will not Repent of being Sacrificed though then he had Dolores Parturientis Joh 16.21 strong pangs of Travail Heb 5.7 and was much straitned till it was accomplish'd Luk. 12.50 here is sure footing for our Faith though the Father and the Son might justly break Covenant with us because we break Covenant with them yet will they not break Covenant one with the other for they have sworn each to other and will not Repent as sure as the Sins of the Patriarchs and Prophets which are past Rom. 3.25 are remitted by this Lamb slain from the foundation of the VVorld Rev. 13.8 and before the World even ever the same Heb. 13.8 He took away all the transgressions of them that were under the first Testament Heb. 9.15 and they are all set down with him in his Kingdom Mat. 8.11 and Luke 16.23 so sure shall all our sins if Redeemed be Remitted also and we Reign with Christ in Heavenly places Eph. 1.3 4 5. and as sure as God hath put down all Persecuting Powers in former Ages so he will those of this Age for he hath said All knees shall bow to Christ Phil. 2.8 Psal 2.8 and bids his Son Sit at his right hand till all his Foes be made his Footstool Psal 110.1 and Heb. 19.13 there is a Spirit Zech. 6.8 that in a way of Providence will never leave stirring up of Spirits till this be accomplished even the weak shall be as David Zech. 12.8 to effect it oh let prayer be made for Christ Psal 72.15 that the Father may perform his Promise to his Son both for his Friends and Foes This shews how our Prayers for Christ Psal 72.15 gratifie the Fathers Bowels as Joab Davids 2 Sam. 13. last and 14.1 The Fourth Inference is Oh the strong consolation that this Eternal Covenant of Redemption which gives a Being and Life to the Temporal Covenant of Reconciliation affordeth to our Faith fixing first upon that former Covenant betwixt Jehovah and Jesus Considering 1. How the Father el shaddai loved us so before we were he designs Decrees and fore-ordains his Son to be our Redeemer before the World began to make him the beginning of his ways Prov. 8.22 primus Faederatus the first Covenanter in the VVomb of Gods Eternal Decree we reckon it a great Favour when a Friend will plead for us in our absence or when a Father will purchase an Inheritance for a Child Unborn yet all this God designed Christ to do for us before we were yea before the Mountains or Man or the VVorld were v. 23 24. while we were Creabiles onely and not Creaturae capable only to be Created but not yet Creatures actually for known to God were all his works not only from but also before the beginning of the VVorld Act. 15.18 2 Consider That this Bargain was struck up 'twixt the Father and the Son not only before we were but from Eternity 't was Everlasting Love Jer. 31.3 Ã parte ante as well as Post the Covenant of Reconciliation to Adam and to Abraham c. was but
said notwithstanding all thy inward Combatings I am thy Salvation though Esau and Jacob Flesh and Spirit do struggle within thee The Congruity betwixt these two Parallels or Twin-Couples is next and most remarkable First the Congruity 'twixt Esau and the Flesh As 1. Whereas Esau was the first Born being Born before Jacob so we are Flesh before we be Spirit we bear the Image of the Earthly Adam before that of the Heavenly Pride is Elder than Humility and Sin than Grace 2. As Esau was Stronger as well aâ Elder than Jacob being all Hairy at his Birth more like a Man than a Child a Bearded Man or a manly Child and therefore broke forth before his Weaker Brother So is the Flesh oft Stronger as well as Elder than the Spirit in us and doth oft break forth before it especially in an hour of Temptation meeting with our corruption the Tempter giving Fire by his fiery Darts to our dry Tinder and drawing forth thereby our fleshly Lusts which War against the Soul 1 Pet. 2.11 3. As Esau strove and struggled for the Birthright that he might also have the Blessing being Types of Adoption and Salvation So those that are in the Flesh and walk after the Flesh not after the Spirit even carnal Men do after a fort strive and struggle making a kind of a Bustle for Heaven All Mân the worst of Men even wicked Balaam would he saved Numb 24.10 They Universally like the End but like not the means to the End they all like Happiness but they like not Holiness the way to Happiness Heb. 12.14 Many seek to enter in that shall not be able Luk. 13.24 There be many seekers and but few finders because they seek not at the right time Psal 32.6 Nor in the right way Joh. 14.6 Nor at the right Door Joh. 10.9 Nor in a right manner 1 Cor. 9.24 Psal 119.2 and 145.18 Si talis sit condââto quarâeatium qualis dormientium repugnantium it seekers find not what will bâcâme of ãâã and wââst of all of opposers and gain-sayers 4. Aââ Esau became a cunning Hunter chusing rather to imitate Nimrod and Ishmael than Abraham and those Holy Patriarchs that lived before him So those that are in the Flesh are wiser in their Generation the Children of this World than those in the Spirit the Children of the Righteous Luk. 16.8 carnal Men are more cunning Hunters than the Spiritual who cannot Shift and Plot as they can The Swine that wanders can make a better shift to get home to the Trough than the wandring Sheep to the Fold and as they are more cunning and Crafty so they are more Cruel fie ce and violent for destroying both themselves and others 5. As Esau priz'd not spiritual priviledges without their being lined with present profit Gen. 25.32 So carnal sensualists look all at present pleasure ââlling their Souls for such Trifles and saying What profit is it to serve the Almighty J b 21.13 Carnal and earthly things are both present and pleasant to their Palates They are not unlike the Toad which always strives to fall a sleep with her paws full of Earth These dare not trust God with future things ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Give me to day and take thou the Morrow saith the Epicure 6. As Esau vexed his Earthly Father with his wicked Wives Cursed Canaanitish Women So carnal and Prophane Esaus do displease their Heavenly Father by betrothing to themselves ungodly Canaanitish ways and things they are as he was Gen. 28.8 Whether himself or his ways or Wives did please God or no was no part of his care Alas God is not in any of then thoughts he is not in their Heads Psal 10.4 Nor in their Hearts Psal 14.1 Nor in their Words Psal 12.4 Nor in their Works or Ways Tit. 1.16 Those are Prophane Esaus indeed Heb. 12.16 7. As Esau was a wicked Son like the Ruffians and Roysterers of our time playing away his Birthright for poor Potage thinking the performance of that Promise not to be accomplished almost Four Hundred Years after was too long a time for him to wait he and his Sons would be all Dead before that so valued not his Primogeniture to which the Promise was entailed though he had a Godly Fatherâ which shews that neither is Grace entailed nor can the priviledg of being the first Born make any Person truly Pious This is done not by our first but by our second Birth he that is once Born must be Born again So many Spiritual Fathers have Carnal Children which value not the Church in their Fathers House nor will willingly wait Gods time but are all for Anticipating providence as Absolom and the Prodigal who were both for present possessions not staying either Gods or Mans time 8. As Esau was not only a wicked Man but he comforted himself in wickedness Gen 27.42 So carnal ones as Cursed Doeg strengthen and comfort themselves in their own wickedness Psal 52.7 They warm themselves by something of Hell-Fire of their own kindling whereby they kindle their own endless Flames and are made at last to lye down in sorrow upon the Bed or Gridiron of Everlasting Burnings Isa 50.11 and 30. last and 33.14 Sin hath ever been reckoned a Soul-Murderer never a Soul Comforter 9. As Esau in the Hebrew signifies Doing Conveniunt rebus nomina saepe suis His Name and his Nature do notably accord for he was a great doer and hunter to purchase thereby the Blessing and when after much pains in catching and Cooking Venison he comes to his Father thinking he had earn'd and merited his Blessing and when proudly he Challengeth it he receives no better answer than Who art thou Thus those that are in the Flesh come with much carnal confidence to God and Challenge the Blessing of him not as a gift but as a Debt Coelum gratis non accipient as that Popish Pharisee once said they 'll either merit Heaven with their work or they 'll make no claim to it as their Wages they 'll not have it upon free cost they 'll earn it by the deeds of the Law Those are Mystical Esaus all their hunting and doing can never catch Salvation blessed Paul had not so Learned Christ Eph. 4.20 Who durst have no confidence in the Flesh Phil. 3.3 But every where is a strict asserter of free Grace in all his Epistles Jacob got the Blessing by Faith when Esau lost it in all his doings though he sought it with Tears Heb. 12.16 17. He only Howled Hos 7.14 like a Dog tyed up for the want of his Dinner he cryed perii non peccavi for his loss but not for his sin though he Wept yet did he not Repent for that cannot be true Repentance which carried along with it an hatred to his Brother 10. As Esau had this Doom put upon him to serve Jacob so God hath put this Curse upon the Flesh that it shall serve the Spirit Sin shall not have Dominion over
his Father in this third Marriage that he might recover his Father's good will for recalling his Blessing from Jacob to him and that he might have a numerous Off-spring beyond his Brother not yet Married that so the Blessing might seem to be his Yet all this After-wit avail'd not he was wise too late and indeed his wisdom was but his folly for his adding Sin to Sin was no probable means to procure God's Blessing by his Prophaneness And 2. The best Practices of prophane Persons as of Esau here be to seek the Amendment of one Errour by the Commitment of another Esau's adding a third Wife to his two former some say was done as a desperate Affront to his aped Father for sending Jacob away with his Blessing but 't is more probable he did it to shew some penitency for his two wicked Marriages with two Canaanitish women whereby he would reconcile his offended Father and reap the whole of his Affections again in Jacob's absence and so peradventure recover the Blessing Thus there may be a sort of Repentance found in prophane Persons as in Esau here who wept for the Blessing when it was lost yet he found it not though he sought it with Tears Hebr. 12.17 And again being convinced how he had disobliged his Father by his former unlawful Marriages with Heathens he now takes one related to the Church yet this doing was neither acceptable to God nor satisfactory to Isaac being no better than Hypocrisie He through the Hardness of his Heart notwithstanding some Sense and Conscience of his Sin cannot truly and throughly Repent but rather Returns with the Dog to his vomit again 2 Pet. 2.20.22 Adding Transgression to Sin and heaping up one Iniquity upon another For 1. He confesses not his Prophaneness to Goâ but perseveres therein 2. He ceases not from hating his Brother when he now saw it was God's Mind that the Blessing was Jacob's not his Right 3. He wickedly catch'd at his Father's command concerning Marriage for himself whereas that command Isaac gave was not to Esau already a Polygamist having two Wives but to Jacob a Batchelour who yet had not one 4. His third Wife was one of that wicked stock which persecuted the true Church Gal. 4 29. 5. And with this third though a Kinswoman he retains his two other Canaanitish untamed Heifers which he should have dismiss'd as in Nehemiah's Reformation Chap. 10.17 Thus Hypocrites will needs do something that they may seem to be somebody and be well esteemed of by others from whom they hope for Advantage yet change they not from Evil to Good but from one Evil to another as Herod prevents Perjury by Murder Matth. 14.9 they rush on the Rocks in shunning the Sands Thus it appeareth while prophane Esau thinking to expiate one Sin by another was gratifying his Gust and satisfying his Lust upon his three Wives at Home then his better Brother Godly Jacob was toiling and turmoiling in the sweat of his brow to accomplish that long Journey of 500 English Miles all on foot to procure one Godly Yoke-fellow commended to him by both his Holy Parents that thereby he might build up the house of Israel Ruth 4.11 the Church of God Thus the Patriarch Jacob became the Father of the brood of Travellers Ps 24.6 singing Psalms That he was a great Traveller forward and backward plainly appeareth by the vast Distance 'twixt Beersheba where Isaac dwelt and Padan-Aram the Country of Syria call'd Padan which in the Chaldee and Syriack signifies a couple because its Situation was 'twixt two Rivers Tygris and Euphrates or Haran call'd Charran Acts 7.2 the City of Bethuel and Laban That these two places were very far asunder is manifest in Moses Description of Jacob's Return for He flying from the face of his churlish Father-in-Law would certainly make as much riddance and hasty flight as possibly he could to get all safe out of Laban's reach and Laban's pursuit after him must needs be made with all expedition imaginable for the more speedy recovery of his stolen Gods from him yet he could not overtake him until the seventh days Journey Gen. 31.23 at Mount Gilead computed to be about 380 Miles from Haran and still he had about 100 Miles more to go from thence to his Father Isaac Gen. 35.27 All Jacob's hard Travel and Affliction is recorded in Scripture for our heavenly Instruction Rom. 15.4 1 Cor. 10.11 but it may be enquired here how it came to pass that Abraham took care to provide a Wife for Isaac in the same Country Gen. 24. yet Isaac himself is not sent to fetch her but 't was manag'd by a Proxy not in Person Eleazar his Steward must go with Camels golden Ear-rings and Bracelets and store of good things in a most Splendid and stately Equipage to negotiate the Marriage Whereas Isa ⦠ãâã ⦠st wealthy Father also sends his Son Jacob thither in Person like a poor Pilgrim withouâ a Beast to ride upon only with a staff in his hand Gen. 32.10 in a posture far below the honour done to his Grandfather's Servant who was styled Lord Gen. 24.18 Jacob must go all alone on foot this long Journey having only his Father's Blessing c. Comes pro vehiculo est a Companion is as a Chariot making Time and Travel less tedious by Conference which Jacob wanted Answer to this Enquiry is manifold As First in the General 'T is God's Method often to put hard Providences upon his choicest People and thereby puts them hard to it immediately after they have had the sweetest and most sensible Manifestations of his Favour Thus Hezekiah had no sooner by the good Hand of God upon him set all in Church and State into good order 2 Chron. 29. 30. 31. but Divine Providence permits that at Satan's instigation Semacherib comes up with an Army against him Ch. 32. Thus our Saviour himself was no sooner got out of the Water of Baptism but he was presently cast into the Fire of Temptation Math. 3. 4. he had no sooner heard This is my beloved Son c. but he heard also If thou be the Son c. Thus the Spouse of Christ no sooner had the greatest Enjoyments and Enlargements but presently the greatest Withdrawments yea and Persecutions came upon her Cant. 5.1 2 3 c. Thus also Jacob here was no sooner bless'd but he must be banish'd The same God who order'd him the Blessing order'd him his Banishment also but more particularly The Second Answer is Isaac had hitherto neglected his Son Jacob not finding out a Wife for him being now 77 years old as his Father Abraham had done for him at the Age of 40 at which Age Esau had found out two Wives for himself Now after this long Neglect Isaac hearkeneth to Rebekahs counsel being perswaded it came from God as his Father had been bid to hearken unto Sarahs Voice Gen. 21.12 Hereupon he dispatches Jacob away in haste without Esau's knowledge
earnestly for him v. 22. saying Sin not against the Lad both these are expresly mention'd there This good counsel of Reuben as he was the Eldest and so of most Authority should have prevailed and taken place with his brethren to restrain them from Sin though they did not hear him yet his honest Endeavour to prevent it is very Commendable 3. Reuben made a most doleful moan when he miss'd Joseph out of the dry Pit into which he had designedly consented to cast him as before It seems Reuben was absent when Joseph was Sold Great enquiry is made where he was at his Brothers Sale 1. Some think that he was then gone to Minister to his Father according to his course as Courtiers in Office at Court have their Times and their Turns of waiting upon the King the Father of their Countrey as Jacob was the Father of the Family 2. Some say That he was now gone aside to mourn alone by himself for his detestable Incest with his Father's Wife Gen. 35.22 But 3. Others more probably suppose that Reuben having an earnest desire to deliver Joseph to Jacob withdrew himself from his Brethren when they sat down to make merry for being so well rid of their derided Dreamer now to be famish'd in the Pit and went some considerable way round about the better to avoid their suspition from them to Joseph that he might draw him forth and dismiss him homeward without their knowledge and therefore Josephus saith that Reuben came to the Pit in the Night-time for more privacy but wherever he was before he could reach thither Judah to free Joseph from dying painfully by Famine in the Pit had counselled and the rest consented to fell him to the Merchants that just then were providentially passing by and Sale and Delivery was made of Joseph to the Ishmaelites in Reuben's Absence and without his Consent or so much as his knowledge so when Reuben after he had fetch'd his long compass came to the Pit and found not Joseph there he then declared his great love to Joseph by his bitter Lamentation he made for him which an old Manuscript thus pathetically expresseth Heu quid Agam Periit puer ille puer puer ille Moses saith He rent his Clothes act the missing of him and Returning to his Brethren with a most grievously troubled Spirit rending his Heart as well as his Garment Joel 2.12 when he in the extremity of Passion lamentably cried out The Lad is not and I whither shall I go Gen. 37.29 30. now suspecting that they had slain Joseph in his absence he no longer can conceal his design to deliver him which they had disappointed by putting him to Death as he imagined and as his Phrase He is not imported for that Phrase is frequently used for one that is dead or so reputed Gen. 42.13.36 Jer. 31.15 and Matth. 2.18 and he might be the more jealous Joseph was slain by them because of their Resolve they express'd Come let us kill him and cast him into some Pit Gen. 37.20 This did cause him to cry out Oh whither shall I go How can I look my Father in the Face who will be sure to blame me most as being the Eldest and who hath beforehand a bad Opinion of me above all my Brethren because I have already more grosly than any of you offended him by committing Incest with his Bilhah My Father will require his Darling at my hands Thus in this great perplexity before he understood what was done he bewailed his Case as Desperate not knowing what to do or whither to go Hence by these premised passages some learned Men do conclude very charitably that Reuben repented of his Sins both against his Father Jacob and against his Brother Joseph and that he was also reconciled to God upon his Repentance which may the rather be judiciously judged seeing Moses in Blessing the Twelve Tribes doth so pathetically pray for Reuben saying Let Reuben live and not die Deut. 33.6 that is let him have a Nail and a Name in God's House notwithstanding the heinousness off his own Sin and the harshness of Jacob's Sentence denounc'd against him Gen. 49 4. where Jacob's speaking to him in v. 3. Thou art my first-born Thou and Thou c. then out of high Indignation for this odious Transgression turns from him with Abhorrency and Directs his Speech to his Brethren saying He went up c. that his severe Censure might be their seasonable Caution The severity of Jacob's Doom Reuben thou shalt not excel to wit in Number as well as Valour Moses prays that God would mitigate this Saying Let not his Men be few that be may continue one of the Tribes of God's People though diminish'd in Dignity for his soul Sin And 't is very Remarkable that Moses mentions Reuben the first of the Patriarchs though he had forfelted his Birthright as is supposed for this his kindness to Joseph together with his Repentance whereas he wholly omiteth Simeon in his last Legacy of Blessing Deut. 33 not only for his cruelty to Shechem but as may well he supposed for his unkindness to Joseph seeing Joseph singles out Simeon as the worst of his Brethren and who had shew'd himself most harsh and hard-hearted towards him when they sold him took him from among them all as their chief Ring-Leader and of the most turbulent Spirit and bound him Gen. 42.24 The want of whom Joseph knew would be the least Affliction to Jacob. And indeed bad Simeon been so kindly inclin'd to Joseph as were Reuben and Judah they in conjunction with him the Eldest but one might have over-ruled their Younger Brethren and not have brought such a sore Affliction not only upon their Brother but also upon their Father whose life was bound up in the life of the Lad therefore of all the rest Joseph judg'd Simeon had most need to be humbled and Moses thought him fittest to be expunged out or the Roll of the Twelve Patriarchs where still there were twelve Joseph's being enlarg'd into two of Manasseh and Ephraim beside or without him yet ranks Reuben in the first rank though he had lost his right of priority as Joseph had pass'd over Reuben when he seem'd to charge all his Brethren for Spies because He knew he had shew'd Kindness to him and did not put him but unkind Simeon into Prison Philo affirmeth that this Reuben understanding afterward which at first he understood not but thought they had kill'd Joseph how they had sold him at Judah's instigation utterly exclaims against them as being worse than those Theives who will dare to Kid-knap and sell away Strangers but never any were so wicked as wickedly to sell away their own Brother yet modern Authors as Mercer and Pareus c. do think that though Reuben made an hideous outcry at the missing of Joseph in the Pit and gave certain Signs of his hearty sorrow at his returning to the rest who like crafty hardened Villains at first
his Servants were gone abroad to Solemnize some Festival day as Josephus affirmeth his Wife feigning her self sick staid at Home to have the fairer opportunity for her private Attempt upon Joseph 5. Consider also the Importunity that this Temptation was not offer'd once only but often yea Jom Jom Hebr. Day by Day His Mistriss gives not over upon the first Repulse having not only her Eyes full of Adultery 2 Per. 2.14 but also her heart hot as an Oven Hos 7.7 and belching out flames as if it had been Mount Aetna did daily invite him sollicit him provoke him and laid in Ambush to entrap him insomuch that Joseph's Heart must seem harder than the hardest Rock to the Eyes of carnal Reason If it could not be pierced by this Arrow of carnal Concupiscence shot out of the Devil's Bow by this his Arch-Archer at Joseph's Heart and so oft inforced and inculcated upon him 'T is a wonder that Joseph did not at length fall under the force of this Temptation being so incessantly assaulted with it Seeing ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Gutta cavat Lapidem non vi sed saepè cadendo Drops make Impression not by force of one But by their frequent falling on a Stone Notwithstanding All this Joseph's Bow abode in Strength c. for his Continency conquer'd the Temptation by two means 1. By a peremptory rejecting upon solid Reasons that heinous offer 't is said v. 8. but he refused and so would but sew of his years have done Oh how many wanton and wicked young Men about his Age of 27 years would with both hands have embraced this offfer'd Opportunity with less Importunity and would have committed as they wickedly call it this sweet Sin with so much Secrecy and Security c. As the Youngster in Terence foolishly saith Shall I let slip such a desirable and so unexpected an opportunity Then should I indeed be a Fool in grain c. yet chast Joseph abhors the offer renouncing it not by one word only saying No I will not do it but he further asserteth I may not I dare not I cannot do it rendring cogent Reasons and pregnant Arguments for his refusal v. 9. As 1. That his own Relative State required him to refuse if shewing how his Condition of being a Servant commanded him to abhor all Ingratitude and Treachery My Master saith he hath been signally good to me and hath conferr'd a mighty Trust upon me even of his whole and of his All I have sworn to him the Oath of Fidelity therefore should I be an ungrateful Wretch and a Treacherous Villain if I forgetting both my Duty to him and his Mercy to me should be so sinfully evil to him as filthily to Violate his Honourable Marriage-Bed His Second Argument whereby he repells the Temptation is drawn from his Mistriss's Relative State As I am Potiphar's Servant so thou art his Wife joyned to him in that Holy Band of Wedlock 't is neither in thy power nor in mine to break that sacred Band Though my Master hath committed all his Family to my power yet hath he given me no power over thee for power over the Wife is seated only in the Husband 1 Cor. 7.4 Therefore if thou would'st Bed with a Man then go Bed with thy Husband His Third Argument is from the heinous Nature of the Act of Adultery calling it a great wickedness as indeed it is in divers respects 1. As it breaks God's Seventh Commandment Thou shalt not commit Adultery And 2. The Eighth too Thou shalt not Steal 't is the worst sort of Theft as it is a stealth of the best of the first real Blessing bestowed on Man as soon as he was Created Adultery is a Theft therefore of that which is most precious a Wife and should be most peculiar to the owner as Joseph intimates to his Mistriss here 3. 'T is double Injustice not only as it steals a Spurious Heir into a Man's Estate or at least thrusts Bastard-Brats in for a Portion among legitimate Children but also as it wrongs the Husband notoriously of his Property Therefore Jealousie of Injury herein doth raise the rage of a man to such an height that it cannot be allayed without Revenge Prov. 6.34 35. Hereupon Joseph argues thus against his Tempting Mistriss with an Argument of Justice My Master hath committed all his Goods but thee to me and therefore for me to meddle with thee would be transcendent and notorious Injustice 4. 'T is Sacriledge especially in sanctified ones called to be Saints 1 Cor. 1.3 for the Bodies of such are Temples of the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6.19 and to turn the Temple of God into the Devil's Brothel-house by carnal Copulation adulterously is no better than Prophane and Abominable Sacriledge 5. 'T is the basest Treachery for Marriage is not made without the Solemn Bond of Mutual Loyalty end Fidelity therefore for a Wife to turn aside to strange Flesh is doomed Petty-Treason against her Lord Head and Husband and to break that Bond of Wedlock is the vilest Treachery 6. But above All Joseph's main pin upon which all his other Arguments did hang was his Fear of God his Fourth Argument as He saith to his Brethren who had been barbarous to him Do this for I fear God Gen. 42.18 So he saith here to his Mistriss in the sense of his words I cannot do this for I fear God I fear to be a Sinner against my own Soul Num. 16.38 and I fear to be a Sinner against my Good God who Whoremongers and Adulterers will assuredly Judge Hebr. 13.4 't was Conscience toward God that made him say How can I sin against God who makes the Marriage-Covenant and keepeth the Bonds Prov. 2.17 As I may not be so ungrateful to my kind Master so I dare not be so ungracious to my gracious God as my Trespass would be wicked against Potiphar so my Transgression would be worse wicked against the Lord as David confess'd Psal 51.4 I have Trespassed against Uriah but I have transgressed against God and God only Thus Joseph's Bow abode in strength in giving a repulse to this Temptation by branding it for a great wickedness as a Trespass against Man and to make it more Black he Brands it likewise for a grievous Sin as a Transgression against God The whole of his words are an Elegant and Angelical Apophthegm or a most Golden Sentence wherewith this chast Youth withstands a most brazen Encounter which though it be pure and clean in it self yet doth it cast Dirt and Dung at the foul face of this filthy Sin of Adultery as honest People do cast all manner of stinking stuff at those Whores which are Carted through open Streets or Market-places for committing this Sin This was Joseph's first means His second Means was as he had hitherto fought against this Temptation by Dint of Argument so hereafter he was forced to fly from it by force and flight he repulses Sin by strength of Arms when strength
be angry had all been true that his Wife told him A Man commonly Consults the death of him who hath abused his Wife and he can accept of no Ransom to save the Adulterer So saith Solomon concerning the rage of Jealousie and its rejecting all Ransoms Prov. 6.34 35. This Relation of the Wife being believed by the Husband when 't was not only affirmed by Words and Tear as saith Josephus but also confirmed by the Coat shewed 't is a wonder that Potiphar being a Martial Man and Master of the Slaughter Men as is before noted did not hereupon make a Slaughter of Joseph and presently put him to Death That this was not done could not arise from the former respect that Potiphar bare to Joseph for this most of all must aggravate the Crime The more Respect the more Rage for such a Roguish Requital It must therefore be ascribed to God and to God only who knew Joseph's Innocency 'T was the power of Gods Providence that manacld this Court-Marshal's Hands when so incensed against Joseph for so Capital a Crime Natural Agents cannot Act without the leave of Supernatural Providence Fire may blaze but it shall not burn unless God bid it do so Exod. 3.3 Dan. 3.21 22. â Oh then what sufficient security have Innocent ones under God's Power and Favour against both Angry Men and enraged Devils yet though Joseph was not slaughter'd here he was cast into Prison Gen. 39.20 yea into a Dungeon Gen. 40.15 and where he had hard Treatment as David tells us Psal 105.18 He was so laden with Fetters there that the Iron entred into his Soul that is did eat into his Flesh and all by means of this whorish woman of whom Ambrose observeth well that because she was such a Slut she quite lost the Name of Joseph's Mistriss so she is no where called though she was so yet Potiphar is honoured with the title of Joseph's Master and Joseph acknowledged himself his Servant but he would not be stiled her Servant especially in the service of Sin to whom he did owe no such Service wherefore she is not dignify'd with a Name by Moses as Joseph's Master is whom the Holy Ghost calleth Potiphar but no Name is vouchsafed to his Mistriss like the Rich Glutton in Luke Ch. 16.19 not once named as Lazarus is though poor and little set by of Men yet God knew him as he did Moses Exod. 33.12 by Name whereas the Names both of that Rich Man and of this Rude and lend Woman were writ only on the Earth Jer. 17.13 not in Heaven Luk. 10.20 nor in the sacred Record easily cancell'd Rot above ground and left only for a reproach This clamorous and strenuous Strumpet is only stiled Potiphar's Wife and She and She but not at all is she once named by any proper Name or once called Joseph's Mistriss So the Whore of Babylon should not be honoured with the title of Church for though an Harlot be a Woman yet not a true Woman so Rome is not a true but a false Church and 't is very remarkable also that while she thus clamours and Declaims against Joseph and accuseth him of filthiness she likewise accuseth her Husband of Foolishness saying the Hebrew Servant so she stiled him in scorn as the Jews call'd Christ a Nazarite in contempt Joh. 19.19 and 1.46 and his followers Galileans Mark 14.70 and Act. 2.7 whom thou broughtest and broughtest unto us c. Gen. 49.17 In which words she implicitly lays the blame upon her Lord just as Adam did in the first Sin saying the woman whom thou gavest me Gen. 3.12 wherein he devolves the Sin upon God himself implying If thou hadst not given me a Woman I should not thus have sinned So here her words import the same fault in Potiphar intimating If thou hadst not bought and brought this Hebrew such an affront would not have been offered me so that some part of the Crime she imputes to her Lords foolishness as the other part to his Servants filthiness and without doubt her design in thus transmitting the fault upon her Husband was to stir him up the more for acquitting himself the better to fall foul upon poor Joseph with the greatest Rigour and Severity But surely Potiphar was too credulous of his Wives words and tears as Josephus saith omitting the further and fuller inquiry into the Fact Credulity is a Note of Folly Prov. 14.15 The simple believeth every word This wanton woman with her words and weeping could draw Potiphar any way with a wet finger and perswade him to any thing Especially in a case of Jealousie which cast a mist before his mind and made him too light of Belief so as to condemn the man rashly before he had examin'd the matter throughly Philo well observeth that when she shew'd Joseph's Coat had not her Husband been blinded he might have more rationally suspected it to bean Evidence of his Wifes Violence to his Servant rather than a sign of his to her Epicharmus's Rule ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã be not light of beliâf had been of good use here for setting the Saddle upon the right Beast in his due Administration of Justice Potiphar doth not truly try before he did throughly trust he should have lookd twice before he had leapd once an impartial Examination of both Parties might have prevented His unjust Condemnation of the wholly innocent Party 'T is equally a Crime to be over-credulous as to be over-censorious both these two ways Potiphar offended 1. In being over-credulous to his Flattering yet Faithless wife And 2. In being over-censorious of his false-impeached yet Faithful Servant He was Judge in the Cause and should have lent both his Ears to hear the Defendant as well as the Plaintiff yet as if he had but one Ear for the latter the former is Cast before his Cause was ever heard and then cast into Prison where we must leave him until the time that his word came Psal 105.19 his liberate or delivering word In the mean while he had 2. some mitigation of his Malady which at last usher'd in his high Exaltation Section the 7th Josephus relateth how this Judge Potiphar most highly commended his Wifes Chastity and Loyalty whereof he had now so clear a witness but poor Joseph he Condemned for a most ungrateful wretch forgetting all his Masters Kindnesses conferr'd upon him and for a most notorious Whore master that would have ravishd the Judges Wife and his own Mistriss therefore he though never heard what he could say for himself in the Judges Judgment deserv'd the most direful Doom that could be denounced against him Hereupon he is Doomed into a Dungeon so the place of his Imprisonment is expresly explained Gen. 40.15 and 41.14 Until his Sentence of Death or Day of Execution The Hebrew word Sohar Gen. 39.20 signifies the Round-house or Round-Tower of Sahar round Cant. 7.2 perhaps from the grinding Mills which the Prisoners were forced to turn round as Judg. 16.21 yet Bor in
yea but when Sir for he went not Mat. 21.29 The Eighth Remark is The variety of Laws given to the Church in the Wilderness the lively Oracles or life giving Oracles of God Acts 7.38 First The Moral Law spoke by God himself in the audience of all the people which is call'd our Life or the Rule of an Holy and Spiritual Life Deut. 32.46 47. Secondly The Judicial Laws which were meerly Judaical and peculiar to the People of the Jews and which cannot fit every Nation no more than any Shoe can fit every foot tho' Carolostadius would have all Magistrates to govern their Subjects by them in all Nations The end of giving the Judicial Laws was to teach Natural Equity to which Judicial Laws mentioned in Chapters 21 22 23. of Exodus must be added those Directions that Jethro gave Moses for substituting Inferiour Magistrates Exod. 18. which choice of Elders was not made till Israel's departure from Sinai Deut. 1.7 8. Nor could Jethro offer Sacrifices as he did Exod. 18.12 before the Law was given Nor could Moses make known God's Statutes to the People as he doth Exod. 18.13 16. before himself knew them So 't is misplaced for weighty Reasons as Dr. Lightfoot observes Harmony of Old Testament Pag. 65.66 Thirdly The Ceremonial Laws were all Typical and therefore Temporary call'd a Yoke too heavy for our Fathers Act. 15.10 Yet their end and use was to prefigure and shadow out the Gospel in its divers Truths in which sense they continue still though not in respect of Observation or Practice yet in respect of Instruction Direction and Testimony to Christ and his Truths The Ceremonial and Judicial Laws are a Commentary and a kind of outwork to the Moral Law The Ceremonial to the first Table and the Judicial to the Second And they are call'd a Wall of Partition betwixâ Jews and Gentiles because they are made up of Laws that are hard as so many Stones in Nature and that are so many in number as make up a Wall The number of both being reckoned fifty seven when the Moral Law or Decalogue was given by the Son of God Vivâ Voce by his own audible Voice with such Terrour that the People were not able to abide it but desire Moses to be a Mediator He hereupon draws near to God in the thick Darkness receiveth seven and fifty Precepts Ceremonial and Judicial which when he came down from the Mount He telleth the People of and writes them in a Book namely in his Pentateuch The Moral Law sheweth Man what he ought to do and with the same sight he seeth that he cannot do it This makes Man seek to the Ceremonial Law for some Sacrifice or Ceremony to satisfie for his not doing his Duty to the Decalogue wherein Man may see soon that burning a Dead Beast is but an inconsiderable satisfaction for the Sins of a living Man and that outward Purisfyings of Mens selves can avail but little to the cleansing of a soiled Soul the Prophet tells us Thousands of Rams and ten thousand Rivers of Oil will not do it nor can the Fruit of the Body expiate the Sin of the Soul Mic. 6.6 7. The Jews wearied God to the Soul with their Sacrifices and Ceremonies Isa 1.13 14. And David could say Sacrifices thou would not but a broken Heart Psal 51.16 17. The Consideration of this Deficiency in the Ceremonial Law delivers sinful Man up to the Judicial Law which holds forth the Penalty of obstinate Offenders and discovereth to him what he deserveth by the Law of Retaliation This Law is contained in the three Chapters Exod. 21 22 and 23. And thus all those three Laws the Moral Ceremonial and Judicial are as a Schoolmaster to whip us home to Christ Gal. 3.24 None of those Laws of Mosâs can save us It was not Moses or the Law but Joshua or Jesus that brought Israel into the Land of Promise Hereby we are constrained to seek out for a Saviour the Lord our Redeemer For there is no other Name under Heaven whereby we can be saved but by Jesus Christ Act. 4.12 N.B. The Parable our Lord himself propounds tends something to this purpose as Luk. 10.30 31 32. Concerning the Man Travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho and falling among Thieves c. Wherein the Man mentioned is Travelling the wrong way He should have travell'd from Jericho the Place of God's curseâ to Jerusalem the Place of God's Worship and Blessing not from Jerusalem to Jericho As the Man went out of God's Precincts and so out of God's Protection no wonder then if he falls among Thieves Thus the Original Sinner Adam went the wrong way when he listened more to the Serpent's Promise and to his Wife Eve's proffer than he did to God's Precept He went from the Tree of Life to the Tree of Knowledge there hearkening after Honour of the Devil 's giving and not God's he falls among Thieves that stopp'd him stripp'd him and strip'd him so that he was half Dead of his wounds 1. Satan dismounts him of his State of Innocency which should sustain him 2. Sin strips him of all Righteousness which should aray him And 3. Death was the third Thief that strip'd him striking fall'n Man with his own guiltiness and miserably wounding him here is Man in a woful Condition By comes a Priest that is the legal Priesthood or Moral Righteousness This passeth by him but does not cannot help him By also comes a Levite with the Ceremonies of the Levitical Law or formal Holiness This also passeth by and relieveth him not Both these are Physicians if no value miserable Comforters the Eyes of neither of the two did pity him But by comes a good Samaritan our Saviour himself whom they call'd a Samaritan c. he Pities him Salves him Mounts him Lodges him and Pays all for him This Christ the second Adam did for the first Original Sinner N.B. Oh that he may do so for us Adam's Children who are all Actual Sinners and whom the Thieves Satan Sin and Death have wounded Oh that Christ may 1. Pity us when no other doth so Ezek. 16.8 Jer. 31.20 c. 2. Salve us pouring in the sharp Wine of Reproof to search our wounds as well as the sweet Oil of Comfort to supple them 3. Mount us upon his own Righteousness or we never reach the new Jerusalem 4. Lodge us in his own Chamber his Church here and in his Fathers Bosom hereafter 5. And pay all for us by his Active and Passive Obedience which is the two Pence here As our first sinning was without us in Adam so our full satisfying is without us in Christ his Justitia Personae Justitia Meriti pays all c. The Ninth Remark in this twelvth Station at Mount Sinai is the Promulgation of the Law is confirmed by bringing the People into Covenant with God whereof we have an account Exod. 24. which relateth First The Place where according to God's appointment the side of
very Stones Children unto Abraham Math. 3.9 Fourthly Observe Moses piously and prudently refuseth this great offer God offer'd him because it was but a private Fortune as the Vulgar phraseth it to himself and God would have been a great loser by it in the Diminution of Glory Therefore He becomes the Defendant against God the Plaintiff and prays most powerfully for a fresh pardon This was the second time God would have stop'd up Moses's Mouth from praying work with the like private Proposal once before when Israel had made the Golden Calf Exod. 32.10 The Greek addeth I will make thee and thy Father's House a great Nation c. And surely saith a Divine here as God was displeased with Balaam for going though he bad him go So the Lord would not have taken it kindly at Moses's hands if he had taken him upon the offer made him in this beat or Provocation against his Covenanted People Hereupon self-denying Moses began most ardently to mediate for a Pardon again draws forth his strongest and most cogent Arguments 1. From the Glory of God whose Holy Name would then be blasphemed both by the Egyptians ver 13. and by the Canaanites ver 14. c. 2. From the gracious Nature of God ver 17 18 And 3. From all the forepast eminent Providences wherein God had pardon'd that People from the Day of their coming out of Egypt till that Time ver 19. More plainly Moses thus argueth with God If Lord thou do this which is by an Aposiopesis pathetically suspended but must be supplied ver 13. that is If thou destroy all this People at one blow both the Egyptians and the Canaanites will hear of it and will take an occasion blasphemously to say that either God could not for want of Power or would not for want of good Will now save Israel because he hated them Deut. 9.28 Exod. 32.12 This Moses makes his first Argument intimating that both those prophane Nations would soon make Comedies out of the Churches Tragedies ver 14 15 16. His second Argument is raised from the Name and Nature of God both which were gracious as was proclaimed at Mount Sinai when Israel had formerly sinned in Idolizing the Golden Calf Exod. 34.5 6 7. And in pleading the Covenant with God He thus argues ver 17 18. Thou Lord art a none such God for pardoning none-such Sinners none like thee for pardoning such Sins as none else could or would pardon none like thee c. Mic. 7.18 for multiplying Pardons Isa 55.8 as thy People multiply their Sins their many and mighty Transgressions Yea though they murmur many times more than they have done yet out of tender respect to thy own great Name which otherwise would be basely blasphemed thou wilt most graciously pass by pardon and spare them And his inserting that Clause by no means clearing the Guilty while he is praying for Mercy is not any Contradiction to his Request for he could not Hope that so great a Sin should escape scot-free but his Scope was that the whole People might not be destroyed the chief Murmurers and the ten Searchers lie referr'd to God's Justice He only prays Lord thou art slow to anger as God himself had taught him to say Exod. 34.5 6 7. that is puts off punishing to the Third or Fourth Generation therefore delay thy displeasure And then presseth He his third Argument ver 19. as if he had said Lord thou art an Unchangeable God who loves thy People with an Unchangeable Love thou hast hitherto multiplied thy Pardons towards them in all former Provocations Oh that thou wouldst still do as thou ever hast done N.B. God's Almighty Power pleaded ver 17. and his Infinite Mercy ver 19. are the two Pillars whereon Faith rests as the Temple did on Jachin and Boaz which signifieth Stability and Strength Then are we Temples of God c. The Fifth Observable is Moses becomes the Lord-Chancellour of Heaven as one calleth him that could Rule with God and over-rule this present Cause depending in the Court The Lord saith I have pardoned them according to thy Prayer ver 20. 'T was said of Luther Iste Vir apud Deum potuit quod voluit He could obtain of God whatever he pleased but much more may it be said of Moses at whose Prayer God spared them often Nehem. 9.17 Psal 106.7 8. Ezek. 20.8 to 22 c. at other times as well as now yet not without some Limitation saying Though I have at thy Request pardon'd them so as not utterly and at once to extirpate them but leave their Posterity to enter Canaan yet will I do Justice upon the Rebellious ver 21. and so he did in destroying the Ten Spyes who were ring-leaders of Rebellion with a sudden Plague ver 36 37. as he had threatned ver 12. and now by his own hand executed Note the Sixth is The punishment of the Seditious in general as well as of the Authors of that Sedition in particular as above whereof there be many Branches 1. God takes them at their word v. 28. Their wish was that they might dye in the Wilderness v. 2. Here their own imprecation comes upon them as it did upon the Jews afterward who wished that Christ's Blood might be upon them c. Mat. 27.25 No less may befal those desperate Damn-me Varlets whose Rhetorical flourish in their common Discourse is frequently interlaced with a wish that God would Damn them that is all the Mercy they desire from God Such self-cursing seldom escapeth God's Visible Vengeance 2. They were deprived of the promised Land all in General excepting Caleb and Joshua and the new Generation that had not been tainted with the Idolatry of Egypt ver 22 23 24 29 30 31. And who knows whether God may not wearout us of the old Generation who have been polluted with the Superstitions of the Land we live in that we may not see the good things to come which God hath spoke concerning Israel and will bring upon his Church in latter Times Assuredly we have tempted the Lord ten Times in our Wilderness-state as they did ver 22. 3. They are returned back into the Wilderness towards Egypt ver 25. when here they had nothing but the Mountains of Edom betwixt them and Canaan it was but their passing over Mount Seir their Brother Esau's Countrey and they would have been in the Land of Promise Thus God fills those backsliders with the Evil of their own ways Prov. 14.14 Since they had such a Mind to make a Captain and return to Egypt ver 4. God denies his own Conduct of them any farther and bids them go back towards the Red Sea and Egypt thus their Choice was their Judgment yet here in the midst of Wrath God remembers Mercy Hab. 3.2 for he takes Care they should not fall into the Hands of their Enemies that were come down from the Mountains and lay in Ambush for Israel in the Valleys Therefore also the Lord bid them go
his Anger 5. His smiting the Rock twice with a Rod unfit for smiting Work having Buds Blossoms and ripe Almonds upon it which was laid up in the Sanctuary Numb 17.7 10. And which Moses now took out of the Tabernacle from before the Lord Numb 20.9 We read of no other Rod Moses had that was laid up before the Lord. 6. His speaking here unadvisedly with his Lips Psal 106.33 when he should not have spoken at all to the People having no warrant from God to do so in that Transaction whereas he not only spake to them which he should have done only to the Rock rashly but bitterly calling them Rebels and falling foul upon them with distrustful Interrogations and manifold Misimplications such as seem to run thus What ye Rebels must I bring Water out of the Rock as I did at Horeb Are all our hopes of getting out of the Wilderness come to this That was then done because we were to stay long in the Wilderness to serve us this forty years wandring as ye have seen it did by experience Now that Water is gone must I and Aaron fetch you Water out of another Rock now in Kadesh O ye Rebels must we have a new stay by means of your murmuring as we had after the Waters out of Horeb's Rock in this Wilderness when we thought our wandrings had been ended hereby we shall never likely get out of it Thus Moses himself is staggered bearing his Treasure but in an Earthen Vessel which dashing against and stumbling upon the Rock of Unbelief became pitifully lame and leaky The best of Men are but Men at the best and may miscarry and may be hurried headlong by their head-strong passions to their cost yea and Aaron also was involved in the guilt as a partaker of Moses's sin being guilty of a sinful silence when he should have reproved his Brother and not have suffered Sin to lay upon him Levit. 19.17 whereby he gave consent to his sin Numb 20.12 and this their joynt Sin is call'd Rebellion against God v. 24. and 27.14 and a transgression Deut. 32.51 For their not believing God made him a Lyar 1 John 5.10 N. B. Moses had distrusted God before this Numb 11.22 23. as if God had out promised his own power That was his sin in private betwixt him and God who forgave it but this was publick before all the People whom he might hereby give cause of doubting This was more scandalous in it self and more injurious to God's honour therefore is God more severe upon them and excludes them both out of Canaan which was a clear demonstration that God's promise to the Holy Patriarchs implyed better things than barely the Earthly Canaan seeing the holiest Persons in all Israel were debarred from it However tho' Moses and Aaron did not sanctifie God c. yet God sanctified himself in graciously granting them water for themselves their Cattel and all Beasts in the Desart Isa 43.20 Now come we to the next impediment to this new Generation in their marching toward Canaan which was External as that before mentioned was Internal Israel had even now hindred their own march by their own murmurings for want of water and when God had given a Remedy to that Malady Moses sends Messengers from Kadesh-Barnea to the King of Edom that they might have his leave to march through his Country to Canaan which courtesie he unkindly deny'd them Numb 20. v. 14 15 16 17 18 c. From whence arise these Remarks The First is God's word was Israel's Director as unto all places so in all Actions This Message which Moses sent unto Edom here and all things concerning it were done by the Direction of God as appeareth by Deut. 2.1 2 4 c. In which respect those Histories of the Holy-Scripture excell all other Humane Histories in the World The Story of the Heathens concerning their Goddess Vibilia guiding Passengers in their way is but a meer Fiction happy is he that hath God for his Guide c. Psal 144.15 The Second Remark is If it be possible so much as in us lyeth we must live peaceably with all Men Rom. 12.18 Behold what an Amicable Message Moses's Embassadors bear to Edom thus saith thy Brother Israel as Jacob was Esau's Brother which was a cogent Prologue or Exordium for a Brother is born for Adversity Prov. 17.17 And this Title of Brotherhood continued long after this Obad. v. 10 12. Likewise the Law injoyned Israel Not to abhor an Edomite for he is thy Brother as born of Esau Deut. 23.7 tho Esau was a Brother offended with Jacob about beguiling him of his Birth-right and Blessing therefore was he harder to be won than a strong City c. Prov. 18.19 However Israel sends him words of peace here as was done before Gen. 33. And the whole Narrative of this Message was made up of Amicable Arguments drawn First from a reason of their Consanguinity and Secondly From a respect of their long burthensom Bondage in Egypt out of which the Angel Christ had delivered them and after that their long wandrings wearisom enough in the Wilderness v. 14 15 16. Thirdly From a Promise to pass peaceably in the King's High-Way without any spoilings of Vineyards c. by straglers through the Countrey because it was the nearest way to Canaan from Kadesh they would do the Edomites no wrong not taking any thing of theirs but what they made first their own by paying for them v. 17 19. as the Lord commanded them Deut. 2.6 7. For the Most High divided to the Nations their Inheritances Deut. 32.8 giving Mount-Seir to Edom of Esau and therefore Israel must not disturb them Gen. 36.43 Deut. 2.5 c. N.B. They had a Civil Right and God will judge the Wicked not as Usurpers but as Abusers of Possessions And oh That we could bespeak the World thus Let us pass quietly through thee we will not tast of thy Dainties nor touch them but go by that good old way the King of Heaven hath scored out for us untill we come at the Key of Canaan at the Kingdom of Heaven c. The third Remark is Kindred after the flesh prove oft notoriously unkind to God's own People Thus the Edomites the carnal Brethren of Israel proved unkind to them in denying them that nearest passage through their Countrey to Canaan ver 18 20. It was the duty of Edom Israel's Brother to have met them with Bread and Water in the Way as God speaks of the Moabites Israel's Kinsmen by Lot Deut. 23.4 but instead hereof they march out in an hostile manner to resist them by strong hand probably fearing upon Politick grounds what so great an Army once got into the bowels of their Countrey might possibly do seeing such vast Hosts once entertained are not usually so easily removed And 't is expresly said that Edom was afraid of Israel Deut. 2.4 tho' they were worse fraid than hurt they durst not trust Israel's fair proposals of
Israel with his multiplied Altars and Sacrifices shewing that though Man stand not to his Promises upon four Reasons 1. Because He oft fallaciously promiseth 2. And as oft repents of his Promise 3. Because something falls out at unawares which either disenables the Promiser to perform or the Person to whom the Promise is made doth disoblige his Friend and renders Himself incapable of the performance And 4. It may be the thing promised is beyond the abilities of the Promiser All which Cases and Causes can have no coincidency with the Lord. The Fifth Remark is the determined Benediction of God is no way reversible by Man this Balaam doth acknowledge ver 20. for the Gifts of God are without Repentance Rom. 11.29 The Strength of Israel will not lie He is not a Man that he should repent 1 Sam. 15.25 Though the Scripture sometime speaketh seemingly of God's Repenting as Gen. 6.6 Amos 7.3 6. Jer. 18.8 yet are these Expressions only according to our capacity as they are ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã dicta so they are ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Intellecta spoken after the manner of Men but taken by our understandings as it beseemeth the Majesty and Honour of God When Repentance is attributed to God it noteth only the Alteration of his Actions but no alteration or change of his Purpose or Decree which is immutable 't is Mutatio Rei non Dei effectus non affectus facti non Consilii 'T is not a change of his Will but of his Work Repentance with Man is the changing of his Will but Repentance with God is only the willing of a change There is no shadow of any change in God Jam. 1.17 So that in those Words Hinneh Barék likachti c. ecce benediâere accepi c. Balaam preacheth the unchangeableness of God's Love to his People and that neither Principalities nor Powers nor Magical Inchantments can separate them form God's Blessing in Christ Rom. 8.38 The Sixth Remark from ver 21. is Balaam in this second attempt cannot curse but blesseth Iârael the second Time and that with the blessedness of Justification in the free and full Pardon of all their Sins Concurring here with David who pronounceth them blessed whose Iniquities are forgiven and whose Sins are covered c. Psal 32.1 2. as likewise with the Apostle Paul after David Rom. 4.7 Holding forth Believers Justification in the sight of God by the same Expressions of the Psalmist For not to behold or see Sin in sinful Men is according to Scripture-phrase God's hiding his Face from our Sine Psal 51.9 blotting out our Iniquities and remembring them no more Isa 43.25 and Heb. 8.12 and when God pardons his People then their Iniquities though sought for shall not be found Jer. 50.20 The contrary to this God is said to do unto Unbelievers Their Iniquities are remembred and not blotted out their Sins are before tho Face of the Lord continually Psal 109.14 15. so Psal 90.8 and therefore God is angry with them every day Psal 7.11 The Seventh Remark is the strange Inferences which the Antinomians draw from this Text ver 21. That God saw no kind of Sin in Jacob no manner of Transgression in Israel and from hence conclude that God feeth no Sin in his Elect no manner of Iniquity in his justified ones that the very being of their Sins is abolished out of sight that God is never displeased with his People no not when they fall into Adultery or the like heinous Sins and that though they fall thus foully yet God cannot be angry with them no not with a fatherly displeasure c. All which is most assuredly a wringing Blood and not Milk out of this sacred Scripture the tendency whereof must unavoidably corrupt sound Doctrine and deprave solid Piety in good manners of humane Conversation That this cannot be the genuine and proper sense of this Text may thus be made apparent First Out of this very History and the Truth of God's Word for how can it be safely said that God saw no manner of Sin in Israel when as He so oft complains of their Sins and both threaten'd and punish'd them for their Transgressions Exod. 32.9 Deut. 9.13 27 28. Psal 78.60 61. Secondly Balaam himself did not take his own Words in any such Sense for then it had been a vain Project of his Diabolical Counsel to set the fairest Faces of the Daughters of Midian c. before the Eyes of the Israelites whereby to entice them first to Adultery and then to Idolatry which had been ridiculous if Balaam had apprehended that God neither could nor would behold any Iniquity in Israel whereby to provoke him unto Anger Thirdly Nor need we be so solicitous about the sense of those Words which were uttered by Balaam who was a wicked Man and loved the wages of wickedness and thereupon endeavoured by his Enchantments to curse Israel whom the Lord had blessed save only that they are generally believed to be the Words not so much of Balaam upon which account they might be passed over in silence without scruple for it matters not what such a mad Man belcheth out as of the Holy Spirit who over-ruled the Tongue of this mad Prophet and made him speak the Wisdom of God in a Mystery and which can never contradict it self in other places of divinely inspired Scriptures every where scattered to shew how the Sin of the Saints are of the blackest Hue and of greatest Provocation to God's pute Eyes as they are the Sins against the greatest Light and Love c. therefore this Text ought not to be turned as it is by Novelists to palliate the Mystery of Iniquity Fourthly Nor doth Balaam here speak of the better fort of Israel only who were justified by Faith and by their walking with God in an Holy Conversaion and therefore they might be reputed Righteous but he meaneth the whole Body of the People because they were now the Object both of Balaam's sight and of Balak's spight whom He desired to be cursed and with many of whom God was not well-pleased 1 Cor. 10.5 c. yea and who are frequently charged with many heinous Iniquities Act. 7.42 Psal 106.37 Exod. 32.32 and 33.3 c. All which Provocations God cannot in any sound sense be said not to see for it God should be Ignorant of any thing He could not be Omniscient as he is Heb. 4.13 Joh. 20.17 c. and so by consequence could not be God Fifthly There is indeed this Interpretation of the Words which hath a Truth in Thesi or in the thing it self namely that God looking upon his Elect through Christ seeth no more Sin in them than is inherent in their Saviour for they are made the Righteousness of God through Christ by Imputation as Christ was made unrighteous by Imputation of their Sins upon him 2 Cor. 5.21 yet this is impertinent to this Text which speaketh of the whole Body of Israel good and bad c. Sixthly But
upon the high Places of the Earth Amos 4.13 Mic. 1.3 So he imparts this Glory to his People Deut. 32.13 and here ver 29. insomuch that their Foes shall feign themselves Friends as the Gibeonites did Josh 9.4 Psal 18.44 and 66.3 Moses's Death is described in Deut. 34. wherein we have 1. the Antecedents 2. the Concomitants and 3. the Consequents of his Death 1st The Antecedents of it are his ascending the Mount Nebo and his viewing the Land of Canaan round about from the top thereof ver 1 2 3 4. 2dly The Concomitants are the Cause why at God's Command the Place where the Manner how and the Time when in what Year of his Age he dyed v. 5 7 c. 3dly The Consequents are 1. His Burial by God himself in an unknown Place v. 6. 2. The Publick Lamentation made for him v. 8. 3. His Successor v. 9. 4. The Funeral Song in his Praise after his Death and Burial v. 10.11 12. Remarks first from the Antecedents The 1st is Moses obeys assoon as God commands call'd he is therefore by way of Eminency the Servant of the Lord v. 5. the command of God was that He should go up to Mount Nebo and die Deut. 32.49 assoon as he had given his Patriarchal Blessing to the 12 Tribes of Israel Deut. 33. per totum Then went he up to Die Deut. 34.1 and he went up with as good a will to die as ever he did to dine It was a brave Speech of a modern Martyr in the Marian Days having the Spirit of Glory resting upon him 1 Pet. 4.14 that it was but winking with his Eye one little at the Stake and he should be in Heaven immediately The 2d Remark is The strange Prospect God gave to Moses of the whole Land of Canaan from Dan to Beersheba 1 Sam. 3.20 and Judg. 20.1 upon the top of Mount Nebo Pisgah being the Top of Nebo whereon Moses stood for a fairer Prospect Yet this could not be done in an ordinary way Moses could never have taken so large a Prospect from North to South and from East to West or mid land Sea at one view had he not been help'd by an extraordinary Power therefore 't is said I have caused thee to see it v. 4. the sight God gave to Abraham of this Land was an ordinary sight Gen. 12.7 8 9. and 13.17 but this was without Travelling from his Place Thus John from an high Mountain was shewed the Holy Jerusalem Rev. 21.10 and Ezekiel likewise before him Ezek. 40.2 Moses here saw also with the Eye of his Spirit the Mystery of Canaan as Immanuel's Land Isa 8.8 pointing at all Blessings by Christ c. and Satan was God's Ape in shewing Christ the Kingdoms of the World from the Top of an high Hill Mat. 4.8 9. The Remarks from the Concomitants Secondly are 1st From the Cause why Moses died The Cause was either General from that Original Edict upon Adam's first Sin which brought Death upon all Mankind Gen. 3.19 Rom. 5.12 13 14. Heb. 9.27 or from a particular Precept of God to Moses oft repeated Numb 27.12 Deut. 31.16 and 32.49 and again here v. 5. calls Moses first the Servant of the Lord because he was willing to die at his Lord's command though he had shewn before some Reluctancy Deut. 3.23 26. and now he went to serve his Lord perfectly without Sin in Heaven The 2d Remark is From the Manner How the Place where being spoke to before 't was gnal pi Jehovah Heb. at the Mouth of the Lord As if the Lord had taken away his Soul with a Kiss like the loving Mother that first kisseth the Child and then layeth it down with all tenderness to sleep Thus the Lord had bid Moses to lay down and sleep Heb. Deut. 31.16 that is to die for Death is call'd a laying down to sleep Job 14.12 Act. 7.60 1 Thess 4.13 thus the Righteous rest in their Graves as in their Beds till the Morning of the Resurrection Isa 57.2 Accordingly Moses like a dutiful Child and an obedient Servant willingly went to Bed when his Father and Master bid him do so The Rabbins in Maimonides reckon up 903. kinds of Death whereof this dying at the Mouth of the Lord they say is the easiest of all The 3d Remark is From the Time when he died which was at 120 Years and which agreed with the term of Noah's Preaching to the old World and preparing of the Ark Gen. 6.3 tho' so old his eye-sight fail'd him not as Isaac's did Gen. 27.1 nor his Visage was wrinkled but his Face as Charkuni saith still shone with that Glory put upon him in the Mount Exod. 34.30 He lost no Teeth nor was his Vigour Humidum radicacle dry'd up with old Age His eating Manna might be some Reason Whereby is signified the Law living strong in Man's Conscience all his days till God take it away by Grace to Christ it hath Dominion Rom. 7.1 3 5. The Remarks from the Consequents are 1st We must suppose that from the fifth verse to the end of this Chapter not Moses but Ezra or rather Joshua must be the Writer by the appointment of God This in General Particularly the first Consequent of Moses's Death was his extraordinary Burial The 2d Remark is Moses was buried ver 6. by Jehovah or Michael to wit Christ who is one with the Father Jude ver 9. signifying that none but Christ should abolish the Law and Ordinances given by Moses Rom. 8.3 Gal. 3.13 14. Col. 2.14.16 17. Heb. 9.9 10 11. c. and 10.1.9 Christ might in this make use of Angels Ministry of whom he is the Head but of no humane Act or Aid This was a peculiar Honour to Moses above all Mankind whom the Lord loved both while he lived and when he died condescending so far as to become his Sexton to bury him As he had received his Soul with a Kiss of Love so now himself digs a Grave for his Body as it were with his own Hands wherein Moses sleeps as on a Bed of Down Isa 57.2 Oh precious Dust without which Christ accounts not himself perfect Eph. 1.23 Joh. 17.24 The 3d Remark is God buried Moses in an unknown Place v. 6. unknown to Men and to the Devil himself therefore did he contend with Michael about it Jude v. 9. Reas 1. That the Devil might not set up himself in the Hearts of the Living by causing them to worship the Râlicks of the Dead But 't is answer'd tho' the Jews were very prone and propense to Superstition and Idolatry yet this kind of worshipping the Relicks of the Head call'd ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã was not known in that day as it is now practised in Popert Rea. the 2d There was a Tradition among the Ancients about Moses 's ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or Assumption and the Pagans by a depraved Imitation of this supposed Assumption of Moses seem to ground their Conceit that Romulus and their other great Lawgivers weââ
here for what Saul thought was the Highest Wisdom Samuel convinced him that it was the sublimest Folly for he both said and did foolishly First He had said like a Fool in charging Samuel with breach of Promise which was a loud Lye for he came within the time appointed And Secondly He did Foolishly pretending urgent necessity for his own Impatience and Precipitancy in breaking God's Command the keeping whereof is of indispensable necessity seeing the Lord never necessitates any Man to sin and his Sacrificing under such a pretence only was more probable to provoke than to pacifie God Therefore 2. Samuel taxes him for breaking the Command of the Lord his God Every word hath its Emphasis N. B. Especially thy God who hath so exalted thee from feeding Asses to Rule a Kingdom yet him thou hast renounced by thy Diffidence and Distrust in relying more upon thy Army that Arm of Flesh now melted away than in thy God who binds the Hands and the Feet of the Philistines so to the Peace that they cannot assault thee but when he will Hereupon he tells him 3. Thy Disobedience will cost thee the loss of two Kingdoms not only that which is Temporal to be torn from thy Tribe and Family and to be given to one after God's own heart of the Tribe of Judah c. but also the loss of that which is Eternal the greatest loss of all v. 14. If thou Repent not N. B. Enquiry Why did God punish Saul so severely for such a small Offence occasion'd by a seeming necessity c Answer 1. Man is not a competent Judge of the Judgments of God because Man seeth only the External Act but God seeth the Internal Temper Solomon saith The Sacrifice of the Wicked is an Abomination to the Lord Prov. 15.8 How much more when it is brought with an Evil heart Prov. 21.27 that Saul did this in Rebellion against the Light of his own Conscience his own words I forced my self do imply to say nothing of his Distrust of God's Providence c. N. B. Answer 2. It hath ever been accounted an high piece of prudence in all Law-givers severely to punish the first Violations of their Laws to be in terrerem to others for the future and accordingly God dealt so severely with Adam the first Transgressor with Cain the first Murdârer with Israel for their first Idolatry in the Golden Calf Exod. 32.28 35. with Aaron's Sons for their first Miscarriage in the Priesthood Levit. 10 1 2. with that Person who was the first Prophaner of the Sabbath Numb 15.32 and Lastly with the first gross Hypocrites in the first Gospel Church Acts 5.5 10. Accordingly Saul was the first King of Israel and therefore God's Severity with him was to be a terrour to all his Successors c. N. B. Answer 3. Though God threaten Saul with the loss of his Kingdom here yet may it probably be supposed that a tacit condition was implyed namely if he did not heartily repent of his sin Thus it was in the case of Nineveh Jonah 3.4 And this is the more probable here because the full final and peremptory Sentence of Saul's Rejection is plainly ascribed to his Desperate Disobedience unto God's Command in sparing Cursed Amalek chap. 15.11 23.26 28.29 and until that second prevocation neither did the Spirit of the Lord depart from him nor was David Anointed by Samuel in his stead until Chap. 16.13 14. N. B. Answer 4. Sometimes God punishes small sins severely and such are set down in Scripture Record for weighty Reasons As First To teach us the heinous Nature of sin in it self so hateful to God and so hurtful to Men that we may abhor all the degrees of it 't is the proper Object of Hatred Ye that love the Lord hate evil Psal 97.10 we should hate it with a perfect Hatred the small as well as the great otherwise our hatred of it is not perfect Secondly To shew us that indeed no sin can truly be called a little sin because there is no little God to sin against therefore to disobey the great God even in the smallest matters as in Adam's eating an Apple is a ground great enough and a sin great enough to procure God's Severity Thirdly That we may not indulge our selves in the least sin as we are prone to do in presuming on God's Mercy lest God punish us for them and lest little sins make way for greater as little Wedges make room for the more Massie ones and little Thieves serve to open the Doors for the grand Crew This will befal us when God is offended with our allowing of little sins he lets us alone at last to a wallowing in grossest Enormities Fourthly N. B. That we may all learn the Riches of Divine Grace and free Mercy in passing by and pardoning such great Inquities in us when we find the rigour of Justice executed upon others for far lesser faults Recorded in Scripture Alterius perditio tua fiat cautio such Examples of God's Severity are purposely Registred in Sacred Writ as necessary Cautions unto us they are written for an Admonition to all future Ages 1 Cor. 10.6 11. and therefore the Vniversal Good to all Generations that is learnt out of those Instances of God s Severity for small Matters doth abundantly preponderate and holds forth more of Divine Mercy than that Divine Rigour on those particular persons had inflicted on them can amount to God's Dishonour Answer 5. As this severity upon Saul was personal only yet for a General Advantage to all Ages in which respect it hath more of God's Kindness than of his Harshness in it so 't is Recorded for our instruction N. B. That an Honest Intention will not warrant an unwarrantable Action as some suppose Saul had in Sacrificing two things make a Godly Man good Actions and good Aims A good Aim maketh not a bad Action good as in the Case of Vzzah who had an Honest Intention probably in putting forth his Hand to hold up the Ark ready to tumble down yet God smote the Breath out of his Body for so doing 2 Sam. 6.6 7. but a bad Aim may make a good Action bad as in the Case of Jehu the matter of his Act ons was good 2 Kings 10 30. but the Motive Aim and End were all amiss v. 29.31 c. He followed God so far as to get a Kingdom and when their ways parted Jehu follows no farther and so his Rotten Aims became his Ruine Accordingly Saul's unsound Heart and dispensatory Conscience which he here forced to comply in a Work not warranted by the word discovered his Hypocrisie and usher'd in his Destruction The last Remark upon chap. 13. is the low Estate of Israel notwithstanding their promising to themselves so much Protection and Prosperity from a Crowned Prince This appears First In the scornful number of the Army but six Hundred Men v. 15. to oppose the prodigious Army of the Philistines who had sent forth Spoilers
only Mortal Men but common Ghosts yet ascending out of the Earth as if he came again from the state of the Dead N. B. Saul hereupon asks her what is his form Hebr. v. 14. which implieth that the Witch did practice her Witchcraft in a private place where the Spectrum first appeared to her and Saul was not an eye-witness at the first nor as yet saw the Apparition while he made this double enquiry The Witch tells him his form that he asked after namely it is an Old Man that cometh up and he is covered with a Mantle that is the same Mantle he used to wear when he was Israel's Judge and Prophet yea the same that Saul did rend Chap. 15.27 and that wherein he was Buried saith Lyra at random when Saul perceived it was Samuel he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed himself Osiander's Opinion here is with others that Saul saw nothing like Samuel when he thus Worshiped but as the Witch only saw the form but heard not the voice so Saul heard the voice only but saw not the form yet he Worshiped from the words of the Witch that inform'd him it was Samuel but 't is more probable that Saul both saw him and heard him preach his Funeral Sermon to himself notwithstanding his Worshipful Cringes towards this mock Samuel for this was that the Devil chiefly aimed at to delude Saul in his Adoring Satan instead of Samuel well knowing that Saul regarded not Samuel while he was alive yet is now made so mad for his Advice in his Distress that he will give him that Adoration which is due to the Lord only may he but have him raised from the dead N. B. After this Discourse betwixt Saul and his Dame she calls him into her Conjuring Room to see this supposed Samuel and then was the time of Saul's bowing to him at his first entrance and when the Witch had brought them two together she tho' Vilis Operaria a poor Pains taker as Josephus calls her yet had so much good manners as to withdraw from them and to leave them to themselves to debate their Secrets as appeareth from v. 21. she came to Saul Before we come to the Dialogue betwixt Saul and Mock Samuel v. 15. which is the Ninth Remark this Grand and Grave Enquiry is first to be answered to wit N. B. Note well Who was the other party that spake to Saul Answer the First Some Popish and other Writers do affirm it was the true Samuel upon these Arguments As First 'T is said that Samuel Prophesied after his Death Ecclesiasticus 46.21 To which we say that is but an Apocryphal Argument and therefore cannot be a Canonical Proof Besides that Author begs Pardon for his Darkness in his beginning of that Book Their Second Argument is That he is oft called Samuel in this Story To this we say He is called so because both Saul and the Witch thought him to be so though really he was not so as the Sun and Moon are called the two Great Lights though some Stars are really bigger yet seem not so to us As an Actor of a King in a Play is call'd the King but really may be a Rogue Their Third Argument is He foretold future contingents which come not within the compass of Satan's cognizance but belongs to God alone Isa 41.22 23 and to whom God reveals them To this we say Such is Satan's Sagacity from his long Experience that he can foresee such Events as are come to their working Causes He knew Saul's Rejection and David's Election the Philistines Courage and Israel's Despondency therefore might give a shrew'd guess what would be the end of such means that were now at work towards it Moreover the Lord sometimes useth the Ministry of an Evil Spirit revealing future things to him as 1 Kings 22.21 22 23. Judg. 18.6 Answer the Second It was certainly Satan in the similitude of Samuel which appeareth evident upon these grounds as First Briefly The Souls of the Saints do immediately at Death go up to God to Rest there Rev. 14.13 and their Bodies are laid up in the Grave as in God's Repository until the Resurrection God keeps his Servants Bones Psal 34.20 So that neither the Philistines could break David's Bones saith Abenezra nor could the cursed Jews break the Bones of Christ Joh. 19.36 And they cannot be Raised up but by the Almighty power of God and therefore not by any power of the Devil or his Imps. Secondly 'T is altogether improbable that the Lord who so lately refused to Answer Saul by those means of God's own appointment Saul himself being a witness hereof chap. 28.6 should now Answer him or suffer Samuel to Answer here by such means as by Witchcraft which God both Contemned and Condemned Thirdly The very Circumstances of this Relation do discover this Party in the Dialogue to be no good but an Evil Spirit as 1. That he receives that Worship from Saul V. 14. which a Good Spirit would not own Rev. 19.10 and 22.8 9. God only is to be Worshipped 2. This Spirit pretends to be disquieted by Saul and his Witch which is not only absurd but impossible for a Good Spirit to be that is returned to God Eccles 12.7 Entred into peace Isa 57.2 Lodged in Abraham 's Bosom Luk. 16.22 And at Rest from their labours Rev. 14.13 Being made perfect in Heaven Heb. 12.23 The Fourth Argument is Had this been the true Samuel who was so zealous of God's Honour and so faithful a reprover of sin in Saul Amongst his other sins for which he reproves him here he would not have omitted this heinous sin of his asking counsel from this Witch for which great Transgression with others he is expresly said to be Slain by the Lord 1 Chron. 10.13 14. The Fifth Argument is Had it been the true Samuel then either he came on his own accord and so he consented to the Power of this Witches Magick Art when she called him up by Conjuration which is absurd to imagine Or he came unwillingly and if so then the Devil must have a power over the Glorified Souls of Saints to dragg them whither he pleaseth which is a Blasphemous Supposition The Sixth Argument is If it were the true Samuel then must he come by the will of God or by the power of Satan in this Witch He could not come by God's will at the call of a Witch for God had forbidden Witchcraft in many Scriptures aforementioned but in none doth he warrant it nor could he come against God's Will by the force of Magick for then the Devil must be more mighty than Almighty God Here is Saul's Will and the Witches Will but not one word of God's Will Had God sent Samuel he would not have called obedience his disturbance The Seventh Argument is This Spectrum's coming in a Mantle makes it manifest to be a meer Cheat and a Mock Samuel for the true Samuel had now no Mantle to bring with him
raised up to its Zenith or highest point and pitch yet through Humane Infirmity in the faln Estate is not durable but hath its declensions and as P. Martyr noteth ought not to have any confidence placed in it the Wheel of Providence in ordering worldly affairs when at its highest point of Exaltation then begins to decline downward N.B. The glory of all Kingdoms as in the four grand Monarchies of the World hath its Times and its Turns Solomon here is a clear Specimen hereof whom the Lord exalted to the highest Eminencies and Perfections that this lower World could afford him yet God suffered him to fall so foully that he like another Adam in his Paradise-Happiness might exemplifie this great Truth that there is no constancy in the compleatest worldly Felicity and nothing here below is to be trusted to but all is vanity save only the Kingdom which is not of this World c. N.B. Behold here a Star of the first magnitude fall from Heaven a None-such Saint into scarce None-such Sins another Lucifer c. Isa 14.12 c. The particular Remarks upon the first part namely Solomon's Sins are 1. The Occasion of his foul fall from this ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or highest degree of earthly Excellency was his love of Women ver 1 2 3 4. This is one of Satan's Baits which hath put a monstrous But at the Doors of the best of men who were but men at the best as in those famous Examples upon Scripture-Record N. B. 1. In that of Adam the Innocentest Man that ever was in the World yet was he made Nocent and undone by a Woman which was given to him for a Comforter and not for a Counsellor much less for a Controuler Therefore God in his first Sentence against Adam expresseth this as the cause Because thou hast obeyed the Voice of thy Wife c. Gen. 3.17 2. In that of Sampson the strongest Man that ever was in the World who by his prodigious strength slew his Thousands of Men laying them heaps upon heaps yet so weak he became in the hands of a Woman that in fine he lost his Strength his Eyes and his God also And 3. In this of Solomon the wisest Man that ever was in the World yet how foully did he fall by his exorbitant love of fair Ladies c. The 2d Remark is The Time when this lustful Devil took possession of Solomon's Soul and prevailed so far over him that himself after his Repentance calleth it a bitterness beyond that of Death Eccles 7.26 As if he had said I had better have been buried alive than thus to have miscarried to the great dishonour of God and gross detriment of Israel This he did in his old Age c. ver 4. N.B. Solomon having now Reign'd about 36 years as Dr. Lightfoot computeth it and being about 20 years old when he began to Reign when his Son Rehoboam was one year old chap. 14.21 was not now sixty years old So that in truth he did but now begin to be an old Man yet might it have been well expected that the Elder be was the Wiser he should have been Job 32.7 having had so long Communion with God and Experience of his goodness which might have made him Better Beside his body had been long despumed and one would think well-nigh drained dry upon his many Wives and Concubines which he multiplied both for his Lust and for his Pride and Magnificence looking upon it as a point of Honour c. However his Age here is an Aggravation of his sin seeing his lust now was as monstrous as to behold green Apples upon leafless Trees that look gray or white with Snow in Winter Gray Hairs and green Hearts can never have a comely and commendable Agreement Whenever the time was both Piscator and Junius reckon from it to the Ruine of Solomon's Temple of Jerusalem and of the Kingdom of the Jews 390 years according to Ezek. 4.5 Solomon's sin here was the beginning of all the mischiefs that followed after N. B. Note well with P. Martyr here This teacheth that no Age is free from Temptation there is such weakness and wickedness even in the best and wisest of Men that if left to themselves they may foully fall While Solomon was young he was wholly taken up with his framing famous Fabricks with Executing Justice among his Subjects and with writing sundry excellent Books but now beginning to grow old he indulg'd himself in Amorous Imbracements c. therefore should we watch in all Ages old and young The 3d. Remark is Solomon's Sin It was the Sin of Idolatry that Land-desolating Sin into which David never fell tho' he greatly sinned otherwise ver 5 6 7 8. where his sin is marked to be manifold As 1. In Doting upon so many Wives c. His Father contented himself with six Wives 2 Sam. 3.3 4.5 but his Son will have seven hundred Wives and three hundred Concubines ver 3. here 2. His marrying so many Idolatrous Strangers contrary to the Law of God 3. In suffering them to set up their Idolatrous Worship in God's Land and to practise it 4. In appointing Places for their Idols 5. In raising heavy Taxes upon his Subjects whereof Complaint is made by them in the next Chapter to maintain the Idolatrous Priests and Worship of his Wives c. 6. In conforming himself to their Desires in worshiping their Idols Venus Bacchus and other Pagan Idols with them in his own person say Lavater and Serrarius yea and compelling his Hebrews to worship them also And 't is said here ver 4. that his Wives turned away his heart after other Gods For after he had once gratified his Mistresses of Moab the rest of his Idolatrous Women wished him to do the like favour for them and he out of a Complaisant Humour being left of God to himself did unlike himself comply with them unwisely for wise Solomon to do as P. Martyr observeth The Fourth Remark is No wonder if the Lord were Angry v. 9 10 11 12 13. The Effect of his Complicated Sin and so oft twisted Transgression Though Solomon was Jedidiah God's beloved Darling Wherein Mark 1. God's Chastizements of his own Children as the ground is grieved Love so the end is fuller and freer Embracements The Antinomian Notion is here condemned that saith God is never Angry with his People fall they never so foully no not with a Fatherly Anger This is contradicted here and Isa 57.17 and 1 Cor. 11.30 Mark 2. When the Heart is won the whole Man is won in that hidden Man of the Heart 1 Pet. 3.4 When Solomon's Heart was turned aside from God then took he this Liberty to Sin thus grievously 't was a wicked Heart of Vnbelief that was the grand ground of his great Sin and set him upon departing from the Living God to Dead Idols Heb. 3.12 Mark 3. God's great Favour in appearing twice to Solomon after an extraordinary manner was a great Aggravation
House of Joseph whereby being of an Ambitious and Aspiring Mind as the Prophet secretly Taxeth him ver 37. He had many opportunites to asperse Solomon's Government for laying such heavy Taxes upon his People to maintain his seven hundred Wives and his three hundred Concubines Peter Martyr saith He traduced his Master Solomon to his Subjects as Absalom had done his Father David before him Mark 3. That which flush'd him more toward a Rebellion was Ahijah's Prophecy to him being added to Solomon's preferment of him For God's Providence ordered a Private Conference of the Prophet Ahijah and Jeroboam going to take his Principality upon him the Prophet rends his new Garment into twelve Pieces and gives ten of them to Jeroboam Doing this for a Sign of what God said ver 11. shewing that the Kingdom though it was new fresh and strong upon the Shoulders as 1 Sam. 15.28 and like a goodly glittering and glorious Mantle yet saith the all disposing God I will rend it thus and thou shalt have Ten Parts or Tribes c. N. B. God gives to every Man his Measure as he is the Most High Psal 115.3 Dan. 5.21 c. Mark 4. God's respect to David for his Integrity in the main He therefore shall have a Light continued ver 36. So is a good King a Light in Counsel and Comfort to his People 2 Sam. 21.17 1 King 15.4 Psal 132.17 N.B. Peter Martyr saith David and Solomon shone splendidly like the Sun whereas their Successors were but lesser Lights and Lanthorns comparatively Mark 5. The Prophet makes a fair promise of an Established Throne to a woful Sinner ver 38. wherein God declares his gracious Disposition to all the Children of Men indefinitely either to allure Jeroboam to obedience or to aggravate his disobedience and so to justifie God's Justice in inflicting his Judgments upon him for his Rebellion against him Mark 6. Tho' the House of David was afflicted for Solomon's sins and for the People 's also by his Example ver 33. yet should it not be for ever v. 39. For some Kings of Judah grew very great as did Asa Hezekiah Josiah the last of which recover'd Samaria and the Regions that belonged to the Ten Tribes c. N.B. About 256 years after this the Ten Tribes were carried into perpetual Captivity whereby all their Contentions with Judah were finally concluded yea and the Jews of Judah returning from Babylon did almost recover the whole Kingdom of Israel N.B. But more especially saith P. Martyr this word for ever must relate to the Messiah that Son of David in whom the Glory of David's House was restored and such as never any mortal King had even greater than Solomon's who united the Two broken Sticks of Judah and Joseph and Ruleth still both over Jews and Gentiles Mark 7. Solomon understood all this private Conference c. Kings have long Ears It may be Jeroboam blab'd it out of Pride and to make a Party out of Policy Hence Solomon sought to slay him ver 40. which was a fond Act in so wise a Man God's Purpose cannot be cross'd by Man's Projects as himself saith Prov. 21.30 Hereupon Jeroboam fled to Egypt and Ahijah too with him saith the Chaldee Paraphrast whom Shishak entertaineth till Solomon's Death perhaps being offended that he had taken so many Wives to his Sister or as some say Daughter as is here noted in ver 1. The third part of this Chapter is Solomon's Death ver 41 42 43. wherein his Time of Reigning his Death and Burial and his Successor are all mentioned but his Repentance is not expresly recorded among his other Acts. N.B. From whence some have rashly Judged that he was damned But on the contrary Consider 1. The Book of Chronicles mentions not Solomon's fall yet none doubt but he did so 2. No mention is made of the Repentance of Adam Noah Lot yet none damns them for their sins 3. Solomon's Way is mentioned with honour 2 Chron. 11.17 where 't is joyned with the Way of David 4. Solomon's Ecclesiastes is all penitential a Monument of his Repentance as Psal 51 c. are of David's 5. He was a Natural Progenitor of Christ Luke 3.23 who were Elect Persons all accounted 6. As he penned part of Sacred Scripture so he is call'd an Holy Man 2 Pet. 1.21 7. He was Jedidiah beloved of God and whom God loveth once he loveth ever Joh. 13.1 c. 8. God his Father forsook him not finally 2 Sam. 7.14 15. Psal 27.10 89.33 9. Nor did any complain of his not Reforming Idolatry chap. 12.4 c. where his Subjects Rose up in Rebellion and laid Lord of Accusations against him for his Misgovernment in Sacred as well as Civil Matters so they might have blamed him had he failed therein 1 Kings CHAP. XII THIS Chapter describeth the Division of the Kingdom of Israel betwixt Rehoboam and Jeroboam 2 Chron. 10. Remark first upon Rehoboam as First The three first Kings Saul David and Solomon had Reigned hitherto over all the Twelve Tribes of Israel but Rehoboam was the very first that Reigned over two Tribes only Some suppose it an over sight in wise Solomon that he had not before his Death settled his Son King over Israel as David had settled him before he died 1 Kings 1.38 39 c. to prevent all Sedition But God's holy Hand was in this Infatuated over-sight Remark the Second However this Divine Infatuation was more manifest in his Son who being the undoubted Heir of the Kingdom settled by God upon Solomon and his Heirs 2 Sam. 7.12 13. yielded to meet the Seditious Elders at Shechem ver 1. a fatal City both for the Ravishing of Dinah and for the Sale of Joseph and for the Tyranny of Abimclech as Peter Martyr noteth Had Rehoboam been a Prudent Man he might well have suspected some danger in going thither he should rather have Summon'd them up to Jerusalem the Capital City by his Royal Authority But there is no Wisdom against the Lord. Prov. 21.30 Jeroboam might think himself unsafe at Jerusalem but safe enough at Shechem a City of Ephraim a turbulent Tribe wherein he was powerful Remark the Third is the double Wonder here First That Solomon should not fill his Royal Place with plenty of Heirs by the Bodies of 700 Wives and 300 Concubines yet by all these we read only of one Son and that by an Ammonitess and he none of the wisest but a Silly Child when at the Age of above Forty Years as is after mentioned upon Chap. the 14. ver 21 to 31. Dr. Hall noteth well many a poor Man hath an House full of Children by one Wife whereas this great King hath but one Son by many House-fulls of Wives Well did David Document his Son Lo Children are the Heritage of the Lord and the Fruit of the Womb is his Reward Psal 127.3 God oft denies this Heritage of Heirs where he gives the largest Heritage of Lands and gives most of
was in returning back to Bethel and refreshing himself there when thus wheadled by this Deceiver's Delusions ver 19. He sinned saith Peter Martyr because 1. He forsook a certain Divine Word for one uncertain over credulously yielding against that express command mention'd by himself ver 9. fâom which an Angel should not have drawn him Gal. 1.8 whatever Revelation is pretended if contradictory to the known Revealed Will of God in his Word that can never come from the Spirit of God 2. He sinned in being so soon drawn aside by the old Prophet's Cheat for being himself a Prophet he might have enquired of the Lord about this Seducer's Lie Or at least have prayed for Divine Direction in so dubious a Case And he should have tried the Spirits before he had trusted too far 1 Joh. 4 1.3 He sinned saith Gregory because he was priding himself in the precedent Presence of God in his Miracles therefore God left him to this foul fall The fifth Remark is The Punishment denounced against this Man of God for his Sin ver 20 21 22. where he was Eating and Drinking against God's express Command there doth he hear his own doom denounced by the Mouth of that old Prophet that had seduced him As he sinned at the Table so his Punishment is declared at the Table also which was very sowre Sawce to the savoury Morsels this faint weary and hungry Man was now feeding upon and thus far the Punishment carry'd a Correspondency to the Sin God soon discovered the deceitfulness of the old false Prophet and the rash Credulity of the young true one which could not but marre the Comfort of that Refreshment God makes this old Impostor here to condemn himself for his Deceit as well as his deceived Guest for his Disobedience which is laid to his charge tho' he was beguiled into it as Adam was Gen. 2.17 and 3.6 yet God gave him this gracious warning Thou shalt Dye ere thou reach Home that he might repent of his Sin before he died N.B. Oh what occasion did Jeroboam take to Blaspheme the Name of God when he first heard that the Man of God could cast off his Royal Refreshment and Reword too Yet comply with the Invitation of this old Prophet for even ordinary Entertainment and where he could not expect any Donative at all How much more when he heard both of their Table-talk and of his Death by a Lion c. The second Part after the Antecedents are the Concomitants as 1. The Time when this man of God met with his Punishment 't was after Dinner ver 23.2 The Place where 't was in his way Home ver 24. And 3. The Manner How he died 't was done by a Lion which devoured neither the Carcass nor the Ass he rode upon ver 25 28. Mark 1. The false Prophet now makes him some amends when he had betrayed him into God's displeasure by saddling his own Ass and setting the true Prophet upon him that he might depart in a more easie posture of Riding whereas he returned fast enough and too fast to Bethel on Foot and now must he ride indeed to meet his own Bane the sooner the Lion in the way Mark 2. The Severity of God against his own Servants sometimes for but one Sin as may be seen in Adam's Moses's Jonah's Sins c. Judgments begin at the House of God 1. Pet. 4.17 and Saints are oft made Signs to Sinners Ezek. 24.24 By this Judgment executed on this Man of God it was manifest that those Judgments he had threatned against Idolaters would surely be Executed If God had a Lion for him he hath worse Lions for them 2 Kings 17.33 Mark 3. O the depth of the Counsels of God Rom. 11.33 That this true Prophet who had far lesser sinned is sooner punished than the old Imposter or notorious Jeroboam P. Martyr Answers 1. Speedy Punishments are not always Arguments of Divine Wrath but rather such as be deferred Hos 4.14 17. God is most Angry when he saith Let Sinners alone unpunished And 2. God useth to punish small Sins with Death as in Lot's Wife Gen. 19. and he that refused only to smite the Prophet was slain by a Lion as this Man of God was 1 Kings 20.36 to shew that God is the Supreme Lord of Life and Death Nor 3. was the Sin of this Man of God small for it was a gross Disobedience to a positive Command And he being a Prophet was the more obliged to a greater exactness in Obedience to all God's express Precepts c. 4. All this Prophet's former Obedience could not expiate the Guilt of this one act of Disobedience to teach us that not one of the least of God's Commandments may be broken Matth. 5.19 and he that offends in one point is guilty of all James 2.10 Mark 4. Though this Prophet's Sin was not small seeing the great God was Dishonoured and the Authority and Success of his Message was blasted by his Return to Bethel c. yea and Jeroboam c. were hardened in their Idolatry Yet was not his Punishment so great as some imagin for 1. the Lion had a Commission only to suffocate stifle or choak him but not to devour him 2. This was done only to his Body paying now that Debt which he did owe to God and Nature at another time his Soul was undoubtedly safe The Third Part is the Consequents of all these things ver 29 30 31 32. Mark 1. The same miraculous Power of God that opened the Mouth of the Lion to Murther this Man of God with a bite did likewise shut up his Mouth from devouring the Carcass according to his ravenous Nature and Manner with other Preys Nor did the Lion go away when he had worried the Prophet but was kept as Guardian to secure the Carcass from other wild Beasts or Fowls Thus a Destroyer was made a Preserver Judg. 14.14 Thus God restrains the Rage of Men Psal 76.10 Mark 2. The old Prophet hears comes and finds the Carcass and the Lion guarding it 'T is a wonder he durst come nâar it least the Lion should much more vehemently worry him for his double Sin both in hindring this Man's Obedience to God and pretending a Revelation from God to do so but he saw the fierce Beast restrain'd and that encouraged him Some say the Lion went away at his approach as rendring up the Carcass to him Mark 3. Though Lions love Ass-Flesh say Naturalists yet this Lion tears not either the dead Carcass or the living Ass but rather causeth him to stand still without running away for fear and stay there to bear his dead Master to the Burial by the Conduct of the old Prophet Mark 4. The Seducer and his Sons do bury the Seduced and lament over him crying Alas my Brother as Jerem. 22.18 This was Cut-throat kindness a cruel Courtesie first to kill a Man and then help him to his Grave Yet this old Deceiver takes care to secure his own Bones
his Vineyard 2. 'T is probable he was privy to the Project of managing the Matter 3. He punish'd not the Actors of it 4. He approved of the Tragedy in his taking Possession 5. Peter Martyr adds Wives faults are fixed upon Husbands not hindring them Thus God chastized Adam for the fault of Eve first in the Sin God said to Abraham why did Sarah laugh Gen. 18.13 N.B. It may easily be supposed what a Mar-mirth Elijah was to Ahab when he met him here in the midst of his golden Dreams And how was his Coxcomb cut and how did his Crest fall at the upleasing prospect of so unwelcome a Guest No doubt but the King's Countenance was wofully cast down when he said Hast thou found me O my Enemy ver 20. but why an Enemy They two parted Friends as Lord and Lacquey at their last Meeting Chap. 18.46 Indeed Ahab was Elijah's Enemy and hated him as he did Micaiah Chap. 22.8 but Elijah only was his Enemy because he told Him the Truth Gal. 4.16 and his Words would have done him good had he walk'd uprightly Mic. 2.7 8. Augustin saith He was an Enemy to none but to such as were worse Enemies to themselves N.B. A guilty Conscience is like the troubled Sea foaming forth Mire and Dirt Isa 57.20 21. Elijah Answers the Hand of God hath found thee out in thy very Act of Sin and seeing thou hast wilfully and wholly made thy self a bondslave to Baal to Jezebel and to Beelzebub himself selling thy self totally to be acted by their Power and setting thy wickedness not only in the sight but also in despight of an All-seeing God as thou hast made a match with murther and all manner of Iniquity so shalt thou be sure to rue thy Bargain and have thy Belly full of it The backslider shall be filled with the evil of his own ways Prov. 14.14 Elijah threatens Ahab in the Name of the Lord ver 21 22 23 24 25 26. That God will retaliate bleeding for bleeding and not only himself but all his seventy Sons shall bleed for it 2 Kings 10.6 yea not only they but also their wicked Mother Jezebel shall be made Dogs Meat and because he would not take Example from Jeroboam and Baasha he shall be made an Example to Successors as he was a none-such in Sinning so he shall be a none-such in Suffering N.B. Oh Happy Naboth that had now chang'd his Vineyard on Earth into a Kingdom in Heaven but oh miserable Ahab the Murtherer is far more miserable than Naboth the Martyr all those direful Judgments were yet to come upon him and his for sending Naboth to Heaven The second Part of Ahab's Correction is Humane ver 27 28 29. Wherein Remark the First Ahab corrects himself for his Sin and though a bad Man yet reviles he not God's Prophet but fears his Predictions would prove as true as those about the Rain and Fire c. had done and therefore is moved to put himself into the manner of a Mourner the loss of his own Life not troubling him so much as the utter Extirpation of his proud Dame and Posterity Remark the Second Though all this Humiliation of Ahab was only External Superficial and Temporary arising more from the Terrour of God's Judgments than from any true Love to God or hatred of his Sin without a Resolution for Reformation yet God soon saw it was so far pleased with it as to send Words of Comfort to him for it Elijah who had even now denounced those heavy Tidings must immediately hasten with a Lenitive Message N.B. That God will recompence his Temporary Repentance with a Temporary Deliverance The Judgment threatned in the particular Signatures of God's Vengeance are suspended from him and prorogu'd to his Sons who were of his Blood John 1.13 Acts 17.26 Surely if the Leaves of Repentance be so Medicinal much more the Fruit if the Shadow of it be thus Soveraign what is the Substance in Sincere Souls Remark the Third Grief is not ever a sign of Grace Ahab rent not his Heart with his Garment nor reform'd he his Life He restor'd not the stoln Vineyard nor reproved much less removed his wicked Wife c. but he returns to his former Vomit hating and threatning the Lord's Prophets Chap. 22.8 consulting with the Prophets of Baal ver 6. of the next Chapter therefore Ahab shall Bleed by the Shafts of the Syrians as Naboth had done by the Stones of the Jezreelites 1 Kings CHAP. XXII THIS Chapter contains the latter end of the Life of Ahab King of Israel in Conjunction with some Part of the Life of Jehoshaphat King of Judah The whole History here is reducible to these three Heads First Antecedents Secondly Concomitants And Thirdly Consequents Remarks upon the First Head the Antecedents which are First The Deliberation about waging War against the Syrians so far as it was Political betwixt the two Kings and their State-Counsellours ver 1 2 3 4. Wherein Mark 1. The time of it after three Years Peace by the Legue betwixt Ahab and Benhadad Chap. 20.34 made in the nineteenth Year of Ahab's Reign for he dyed in this Expedition in the twenty second Year of his Reign ver 37. and Chap. 16.29 N.B. Leagues among Princes last no longer than for their own Recruits and Advantage Now the War begins that must make an end of Ahab Mark 2. Jehosaphat that good King was now come down to visit this bad King Ahab having made affinity with him that the two-Sister Kingdoms might cease their long Clashings hitherto this is call'd his coming down though Samaria stood upon an Hill as well as Jerusalem yet was it a Condescension for a true Worshipper of Jehovah to go down to such an Idolater as Ahab was probably saith Peter Martyr He was moved to it by hearing of Ahab's Humiliation c. Mark 3. Ramoth-Gilead saith Ahab to his Council belongs to us by Divine Donation Josh 20 8. and is one of our Cities of Refuge Josh 21.38 Benhadad hath not restored it according to Covenant Chap. 20.34 we may warrantably War and Challenge our own from so persidious a Pagan Jehosaphat joins in this just War saith Dr. Lightfoot he was equally concerned in the Recovery of Ramoth-Gilead as it was a City of Refuge for Judah as well as for Israel Remark the Second is That Deliberation about the War as it was Ecclesiastical with the Prophets ver 5 6 to ver 23. Mark 1. Good Jehosaphat must have advice from God as well as from Men ver 5. had he done so about his Son's Marriage Ahab's wicked Daughter Athaliah saith Dr. Hall had never call'd him Father However Jehosaphat makes this godly Motion here mistaking Ahab for a true Convert because he was so lately humbled so thought he might lawfully join with him in so just a War but desires first to enquire of God that day without delay before any farther Preparation Ahab cheats him with Baal's Prophets as if he had said tho
to Zachary Luke 1.11 19. and to the blessed Virgin Mary ver 26. to mind them of this very Promise and Prophecy of Daniel 2. By his flight it was swift and even to a weariness Hebr. as before and so Vatablus Expounds the word Jagnath N. B. Oh that we could do God's Will on Earth so promptly and presently as the Angels do it in Heaven Matth. 6.10 Maldonate saith that in the form of a Man he had Wings yet may we not imagine that he did fly as the Fowls of the Air do tho' a certain Fryar a Lyer certainly undertook to shew his over-credulous Novices a Feather that drop'd out of this Angel Gabriel's Wings as if Angels mowted off their Feathers like the ordinary Birds in their yearly Mowting-times This doubtless was a Popish Imposture received only by those that are given up to believe Delusions c. 2 Thes 2.10 11. Nor ought we to think that Angels can be weary with their speedy and expeditious execution of God's Commissions and Commands for the Church's good but all this is spoken ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã after the manner of Men for our better Apprehensions And 3. This Gabriel is described here by his Gesture and Speech 'T is said here He touched Daniel ver 21. that is not with any Churlish Throb such as the Devil 's Touches be very obnoxious to Tempted Souls 1 Joh. 5.18 but with a gentle and familiar Jogg to make him mind the more in hearing those Mysteries he was about to declare or it was such a Friendly Touch as he had given Daniel before Dan. 8.18 Solo Tactu Vires Danieli Restituit saith Grotius The sole Touch of the Angel there infused new Strength into him it kept him from Reeling too and fro and made him stand firmly So here this Touch drop'd in Divine Light into Daniel whereby he understood what follows Remark the Third Gabriel's Instruction of Daniel wherein Mark 1. His Prologue or Preface wherein he 1. tells his Errand All this haste he had made in coming from Heaven to Earth was only to Inform him in God's Answer to his Prayer ver 22. N. B. 'T is an excellent Observation Rather than God's Saints and Servants should want either Information or Consolation God will spare one out of his own Train and Attendants to do them any good Office Luke 1.11.19 26. Gal. 3.19 c. nor will the greatest Angel in Heaven grudge to serve them being Ministring Spirits to heirs of Salvation Heb. 1.14 2. Gabriel tells him what was the Procatarctick Cause that mov'd God to send him on this Errand because Daniel was 1sh Chamudoth A Man of Desires ver 23. very dear to God as the blessed Virgin Luk. 1.28 and Christ altogether lovely Can. 5.16 therefore God heard thy Prayer at the first Psal 34.15 and thou shalt know God's Counsels above others Gen. 18.17 19. Psal 25.14 c. Remark the Fourth The Speech or Sermon of Gabriel to Daniel Mark 1. Daniel not only receiveth a Gracious Answer to his Request about the Jews Return from the Captivity Gabriel telling him of the going forth of a Commandment to Restore and to Rebuild Jerusalem which necessarily imply'd it ver 25. but also a Prediction of what Times should pass over the Jews till the Death of Christ Mark 2. The Angel Divides this space of Time into Three Unequal Parts as Dr. Lightfoot well observeth 1. Seven Sevens or Forty-nine Years to the Finishing of Jerusalem's Walls 2. Sixty-two Sevens or four Hundred Thirty-four Years from that time till the last Seven Then 3. The last Seven in the latter half of which Christ Preacheth to wit three Years and an half and then Died c. ver 24. Mark 3. The Angel useth the word Seventy to shew God's Kindness to the Jews at Daniel's Suit not only that for their Seventy Years Captivity they should Return and enjoy their own Country for Seventy Years but also for Seventy Sevens or Weeks of Years N. B. God's Mercies bear the same proportion to his Judgments and Punishments which Seven a compleat Number beareth to an Vnit here is Seven for One beside that Mercy of Mercies the Grace of the Messiah Mark 4. Lest the Jews should mistake their Return from Captivity to be their Grand Redemption promised of old the Angel therefore foretels that the City and Temple should be Rebuilt in Troublesome Times ver 25. that is their Enemies would create them much Trouble and Obstruction as was done in Nehemiah's Days Mark 5. As an Antidote against all those Evils the Angel propounds a Promise of Christ who should 1. expiate all sorts of Sin both Original that of Adam and that in us and Actual Sins of Ignorance and of Presumption in his Redeemed The three Hebrew words gnauon chattaam Reshang includes all sorts of Sins And the other three le callee le cathem le capher signifie that Christ will pardon blot out and mortifie Sin taking away both its Damning Domineering and Accusing Power of Sin he will make an end of it and cause it to die by virtue of his Death 2. He will not only Remove this Evil but also bring in everlasting Righteousness both Imputed and Imparted which never can be lost as Adam's was Mark 6. The Angel declares to Daniel that after all this the Lord will send forth his Armies Matth. 22.7 the Romans to destroy the City that Slaughter-house of Saints and the Sanctuary that Den of Thieves for their Murdering the Innocent Lamb of God ver 26. because the Jews then have overspreading Abominations ver 27. N. B. The Jews have oft attempted to Recover their Country and to Rebuild the Temple in Julian's Reign c. in despight of Christians but could not c. Mark 7. The Doctors are much Divided about the Beginning and Ending of these Seventy Weeks or four hundred and ninety Years But seeing the Angel of the Lord hath so exactly pointed forth their beginning at Cyrus's issuing forth his Decree for Re-edifying the City and Temple ver 25. Ezra 1.1 2 Chron. 36.22 23. 't is better so to compute it than to dispute about it This present Deliverance from Captivity was but a Type of their Redemption by Christ who will Ruine his Rejectors and Release his Redeemed c. Ezra CHAP. I. THIS Chapter contains the continued History of the Jews Deliverance out of the Bondage of Babylon and their Return into their own Land after it had kept its Seventy Years Sabbath or Rest when it had been not only toiled and tilled out of Heart as we say by continual Tillage but also was eased so long of that wicked weight of its Inhabitants which brought the Curses of God upon it 2 Chron. 36.21 as had been before foretold Levit. 26.34 The Causes of this Great Change are here described Remark the First The Divine Cause the Lord stirr'd up Cyrus ver 1. Mark 1. This was God's Answer unto Daniel's Prayer Dan. 9. when he tugg'd hard with God for performance of
ver 4. Remark the Fourth Ezra's Prayer from ver 5 to ver 16. Mark 1. Ezra rose up at the Evening Sacrifice and falls down upon his Knees and with spread Hands falls on Praying ver 5. in the Presence of those that trembled at God's Word ver 4. well knowing that unto such the Lord looketh with his choicest looks of Love Isa 66.2 and that his Prayer together with the Sacrifice might ascend up in those Pillars of Smoak Cant. 3.6 as a Memorial before God Acts 10.4 Mark 2. The Preface of his Prayer ver 6. for insinuating the better into God's Favour he includes himself into the number of the Transgressours Acknowledging that the Sin was now become National in the guilt of it and that it was now become like deep Waters wherein they were like to be all drowned as Psalm 38.4 and 124.4 and that it was now gone up to Heaven to fetch down Wrath from Heaven Mark 3. He makes Confession with all Aggravation ver 7. as Daniel did in his Day Dan. 9.5 bewailing the Sins of their Forefathers the sad Effects whereof they were still smarting under in the Continuance of the Captivity of so many of our Brethren abroad yet we at home are still reviving the same old Sins whereby we declare our selves to be but a Race of Rebels from one Generation to another in a continued Series of the same Sins Mark 4. As Ezra had handed out the Vessels of the Temple by number and by weight as before just so he handleth his own and his Peoples Sins For 1. He confesseth them by number as Aaron did Confess over the Head of the Scape Goat all the Iniquities of the Children of Israel Lev. 16.21 So likewise 2. By weight for as Aaron confessed also all their Transgressions in all their Sins that is laying open how many Transgressions were wrapp'd up in their several Sins and the Circumstances of them that did aggravate them so did Ezra here Mark 5. Ezra doth not only Confess the Sins of past and present Times but he doth aggravate them by the many Benefits God had conferr'd upon the People and by the many Cautions God had oft given them to the contrary ver 8 9 10 11 12 13. yet all seemed lost upon them Remark the Fifth The many moving Metaphors that Ezra useth both in expressing God's Kindness to the Jews and his cautioning and counselling them to a better behaviour Mark 1. That Metaphor of God's giving them a Nail ver 8. Hebr. Jather signifies saith Piscator a Pegg of Wood or Iron driven in to hang Garments upon or useful Vessels Isa 22.23 or it signifies the Pins or Stakes of the Tabernacle to make it stand steady in Storms Exod. 35.18 Isa 33.20 or it signifies the Anchor to which the Cable is fastened saith Menochius that the Ship might Rest near the Shore all which sheweth that God had given them some Settlement in a good Governour Zerubbabel and a good Priest Jehoshua which was some support of their Faith and Hope that God would do them good Mark 2. That God had lightned their Eyes for a little space that is exhilarated the Eyes of our Minds saith Vatablus so the Phrase isused 1 Sam. 14.27 28. for in Danger the Eye looks dim and dark the Soul sitting there shews it self pleased or displeased c. Mark 3. God had given them not new Light only but new Life also reviving them with delivering them from Captivity ver 8 9. they had been as dead and dry bones in Bondage Ezek. 37.12 now God had revived them and brought them back to build again the burnt Temple Mark 4. God hath given them a Wall c. ver 9. Hebr. Nader signifying a Fence and so the favour of the King of Persia was Fence to them their Sefeguard and Protection Moreover God's Providence was a Wall of Fire round about them Zech. 2.5 Isa 5.2 Matth. 21.33 Remark the Sixth Ezra useth that Phrase of Relation betwixt God and them nine several times Thrice in the Singular Number My God ver 5 6. and Six times in the Plural Our God ver 8 9 10 13. all which were Phrases of Faith referring to the Covenant that padbulum fidei the sufficing food of Faith Intimating by all these that God had not cast them out of the Covenant for their manifold Sins but had punish'd them too little ver 13. when God said too much Isa 40.12 Remark the Seventh The Conclusion of this good Man's Prayer ver 14 15. wherein he Adores God both for his Justice and Mercy and lays load upon himself and his People with a Sixth Aggravation of their Sins in Sinning again after such a Deliverance as if God had Delivered us for that end saith Wolphius that we might the more freely despise the Lord and his Law Then he Deprecates the Anger of God that he may not Repent of his begun Benefits saying Tho' we have forfeited thy Favour and deserve nothing but Destruction yet art thou faithful and true in thy Covenant of Promise which appeareth in thy leaving a Remnant of us we hope for Holy Use N. B. Tho' we let go our fast hold on God yet God will not let go his faster hold on us Ezra CHAP. X. THIS Chapter relateth the Remedy unto that Miserable Malady for which Ezra most moaningly mourned before the Lord in Prayer all the foregoing Chapter and that by a through effectual Reformation of mint Marriages wherein 1. Antecedents 2. Concomitants are considerable Remarks first upon the Antecedents Of which the First is The Excellent Example of Holy Ezra had a most Efficacious Influence both upon Princes Priests and People ver 1. where 't is said that Ezra beside his begging Pardon and deprecating Divine displeasure he Wept also c. which is not mentioned among the other effects of his deep Humiliation Chap. 9.3 nor of his casting himself down before the House of God but 't is certain he did now Weep possibly his Sorrow at first might be above Tears which afterward gushed forth in abundance Curae leves loquuntur ingentes stupent The Greatness of his Grief might so stupifie him at the first that his Eyes were too narrow for his Heart tho' his Mouth was not altogether so But now Expletur lacrymis egeriturque dolor his sad Heart found a vent at his Eyes wherewith it was ecased And his Weeping was publick before the House of God where all might behold him that their Eyes might affect their Hearts to contribute their Tears of Compunction also for the filling up of Godâs Bottle Psal 56.8 as they had done their Sins of Provocation for the filling up of God's Bagg Job 14.17 at Ezra's Example N. B. 1. Ezra being a Priest might have gone into the Holy Place and there have Pray'd c. but he doth it in the Outer Court before that of the Priests as a publick Pattern to the People 2. Ezra here Prayeth c. because God had promis'd to hear Prayers made
to the Godly as he said to Jacob Fear not to go down to Egypt into the Grave c. p. 409. 'T is sudden to some but lingring to others p. 418. Decree of God firm as a Mountain of Brass p. 6. Deliverance must be waited for p. 370 410 425. Departure of Israel out of Egypt into the Wlderness p. 455. Having the Cloudy Pillar for their Conduct p. 457. Devil a faln Angel spake in the Serpent as a Man to deceive Eve c. p. 41 42. His Fall is final p. 43 44. Doomed to eat Dust p. 48 49. Devotion what it is that is acceptable to God p. 77 78. Dreams of sundry sorts p. 248 to 253. And of several Subjects p. 355. to 359. Joseph and Daniel great Interpreters of Dreams Vol. 1. Page 390 391. E. Ear of Man how created and corrupted p. 16 17 Election not from foreseen Works p. 75. 'T is the Cause of Holiness not the Effect of it p. 76 to 210. England an Isle that God hath an eye upon p. 386. Enmity put betwixt the Serpent and the Woman p. 50 51. Enoch walked with God p. 83 c. His Prophecy p. 86 87. His Translation p. 94. as Elijah p. 95 to 99. Envy the cause of Joseph's Sale upon many accounts p. 351 to 354. Eve first in the Transgression as she was first Assaulted p. 43. Eye of Man corrupted by the Fall p. 14 15. F. Faith gives us Acceptance with God p 79. What true Faith is p. 131. It hath a Soul-satisfying property p. 334. Fall Reasons why God suffered the first Fall of Adam p. 44. Fear much attends the most Pious Mind and sometimes upon Suspicion only without any real cause p. 405. Fear of God is the best preservative from Sin p. 373. First born Consecrated to God p. 453 454. Flesh when God allowed Man to feed thereon p. 128. G. Godliness is both the Fealty and the Felicity of Man 't is both his Duty and his Dignity p. 90 91. How there are Safety Solace and Satiety in walking with God p. 92. See Piety Grace is free p. 75. In putting difference betwixt Sons of one Father and betwixt Twins of one Mother ibid. Noah found Grace in God's sight He was not saved for his own Righteousness p. 108. H. Holiness See Godliness and Piety Husband A Man may be long so before he be a Father p. 215. An Husband may be blessed tho' he be not bless'd to become a Father ibid. Hypocrites in the Church at last discover'd 5.58 I. Jews may not boast of the Merit of their Progenitors p. 327 328. Innocents do oft perish by false Accusations p. 377. Job's whole History spoke to p. 429 430. Joseph Sold at a low price was a Type of Christ p. 359 360. And in his state of Humiliation and Exaltation p 365 c. Whether Jacob knew how Cruel his Sons had been to Joseph is discuss'd p. 366 to 369. Joseph's Chastity when Exalted p. 366 367. How farther he is a Type of Jesus in his Exaltation p. 394. He is justified in his Monopolizing all the Corn c. p. 397 398. How he is farther a Type of Christ of the Church and of a Christian p. 399. He makes himself known to his Brethren p. 400 and 403. Presents his Brethren first to Pharaoh p. 412. and then to his Father p. 420. Journeys See Travel We ought to have a Divine Warrant for all our Ingresses and Egresses Vol. 1. Page 128. Isaac a Type of Christ How p. 148 149. His Birth Weaning c. p. 157. Judgment-day is unknown Why p. 104. Signs of its sudden coming ibid. and p. 150. K. Keys There be four Keys hang at God's Girdle p. 127. L. Ladder of Jacob the sundry Senses put upon it in many Resemblances p. 256 258 c. the seven excellent Properties of it as it represents Christ p. 261 to 267. Language Hebrew is the most Antient of all Languages p. 55. Life of Man but a Pilgrimage How Jacob's was so with a witness p. 332 333 334 c. Love How base Lust differs from proper Love p. 377. Lying the Aggravations of that Sin p. 235. M. Man made up of the four Elements God's Masterpiece p. 9 10. Of Man's Body p. 11. In the state of Innocency p. 12 13. And after the Fall p. 14. Man's Heart the cause of Sin and his Eye the occasion of it p. 15. Marriage is Honourable for Ministers p. 88. Of many Wives how it was a Type in Jacob p. 273. 'T is Honourable in it self p. 315. Yet wants not Woe see of it in Adam p. 316 326. Matters that concern the Church tho small are Recorded in Scripture when greater Matters of the World are pass'd over in silence p. 84. Mercy God gives the Godly no pure Mercy in this Life without some mixture of Misery p. 216 217. Ministry is a great Blessing p. 63. Miracles God will not multiply them but where there is a defect of Means p. 460. Moses a Type of the Messias in many Respects p. 432. Of his Bush burning and not consumed p. 435 c. It was a Type of the Church p. 436 437. He was famous for his Birth Life and Death p. 433. Mortality taught by Adam's Death and Immortality by Enoch's Translation p. 85 86. Mother Her Authority is great over her Children see Parents p. 228. N. Name changed for the better p. 158. Nature must be changed in us p. 159. Noah and his Deluge p. 99. His Ingress Progress and Egress p. 123 to 128. O. Obedience of Abraham how excellent it was p. 141 151 152 153 to 156. P. Paradise Man lost it by Sin p. 53 54. The Earthly and Heavenly Paradise p. 95 96. Parents thankful for Children Vol. 1. Page 55. Ought to train them up in God's Worship p. 64. May not hinder them from Good p. 132. Ought not to be partial in Cockering one above another Vol. 1. Page 354. Passover largely describ'd p. 447 to 454. Persecutors do Imprison the Saints yet God is with them there as with Joseph p. 382 383. Piety or Impiety of Persons commend or discommend their Actions p. 70. 'T is never safe without Policy p. 229 282. Pilgrimage of the Patriarchs p. 332 to 336. Plagues the Ten sent upon Egypt p. 443 to 445. Possessions that are Earthly are but Vanity p. 55. Potter hath power over his Clay c. p. 55. As in Cain and Abel p. 56 75. Prayer Man's Prayer for God's Promise must be performed instantly and constantly p. 215. God's Promise must not prevent Man's Prayer ibid. Jacob's Wrestling with God p. 286 to 310. Predestination it lay in the Womb of God's Eternal Decree as Jacob and Esau did in Rebekah's Womb p. 218 219. Price There be three sorts of Prices the Kind the Discreet and the Rigid Price p. 361. Promise the outside thereof cannot save p. 126. See Prayer Deliverance Prosperity attends the bad more than the good p. 242 244. Joseph feared his Prosperity more
matter of Salvation Some abstruse Points overcome our Intellectuals and we cannot subdue them to our understandings Eorum quae scirc nec datur nec fas est docta est Ignorantia Scientiae appetentia est insania species 't is a learned Ignorance not to know what we may not know 't is a sort of Madness to search them saith Austin It belongs not to us to know secret things but such as are revealed only 'T is madness to desire more and 't is equally as ridiculous as for an Eagle to desire to Swim or an Elephant to Fly whereas God hath not given to either of them any such Appetite Such Curiosity in Man is from the Devil For a more manifest understanding of the History and Mystery of Christ's Conception âiâ necessary to know as previous thereunto the twofold Estate of Christ. 1. His Estate of Humiliation 2. His Estate of Exaltation The first of these is the matter of our present Discourse In his Estate of Humiliation there were divers Degrees or Steps like a King coming down from his Throne descendeth step by step till he cometh to the last and lowest Step So the Son of God did gradually descend from his Royal Throne from that Glory which he had with the Father before the World was founded John 17.5 and did abase himself to take upon him the Nature of Man so passed He lower and lower to his dying Day Phil. 2 6 7 8. Emptying himself as ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã there signifies all along by passing through many little Death 's all his Life long till at last he emptied himself out of the World by undergoing that cursed and painful Death of the Cross his Soul also being heavy to Death Matth. 26.38 which plainly demonstrates that Christ at his Conception took not only a part but the whole Nature of Man upon him both a Body and a Soul He took a Body of Flesh whereby He reconciled us Col. 1.21 22. even his own Body 1 Pet. 2.24 As without Controversie He had a Body so 't is most certain He had a Soul too even the whole Nature of Man Hence the Fathers Irenaeus Arbanafius c. argue excellently against the Sophistical Disputers of their Days that had Christ but taken upon him only one Part of the Nature of Man it had been impossible for Him to be our Redeemer then had he Redeemed one Part of Man only with that Part which He assumed He had therefore a Body to redeem our Bodies and a Soul to redeem our Souls so the whole Nature of Man comes to be redeemed by Christ who took the whole Nature in his Inparnation Yea 't is expresly said that God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful Flesh c. Rom. 8.3 Omne simile non est idem Every like is not the same saith the Philosopher Christ indeed took not only Man 's whole Nature but also the Infirmites thereof which are of two sorts 1. Those that are sinful These Christ took not for no Sin was in Him 1 Pet. 2.22 He knew no Sin 2 Cor 5.21 with a practical Knowledge though with an Intellectual He knew it else He could not have reprov'd it The Sanctity of Christ's Nature did exclude all sinful Infirmities just as hot Coals swallow up the Water that is drop'd upon them But 2. There be other Infirmities of our Nature call'd Paenal which are unblameable Passions and void of Sin such as to be Hungry Thirsty Weary c. These are universal to all the Children of Adam There be also such Infirmities beside these common and universal which are only Personal as to have divers Diseases which arise from particular procuring Causes these properly Christ took not on him for He assumed not any Man's Person but the Nature of Man yet by way of Proportion Christ is said to take our Infirmities and to bear our Sicknesses Matth. 8.17 as he bare our Sins 1 Pet. 2.24 so by Participation he bare our Sicknesses for we may thank the former for the latter Rev. 2.22 Jezebel's Bed of Security in Sin soon brought her to a Bed of Sickness Asa laies God's Prophet by the heels And God soon after laies Asa by the heels diseasing him in his Feet 2 Chron. 16.10 12. Sin is an universal Sickness as well as the proper Cause of it's kinds John 5.14 1 Cor. 11.30 c. The Reasons why Christ took upon him not only our Nature but also these Frailties of our Nature which yet in him were sinless Infirmities are Four First for satisfaction sake that he might satisfie for our sins He that must saâââe for them must undergo the whole punishment of them in the way of expiation henââ the Prophet saith He bore our griefs carry'd our sorrows was wounded for our Transgrââsions bruised for our Iniquities and became surety for our sins c. Isa 53 4 5 6 ãâã Dan. 9.24 26. So that it may as well be said in sano sensu that Christ laid down to be sick for us as to dye for us seeing all his sorrows were not at all for himself ãâã just one but wholly and solely for our sakes who are Sinners Secondly To strengthen Faith in the Incarnation that we might know he was a very Man because he had the common weaknesses of Mankind as eating sleeping and such like whereas had not he been subject to all our frailties we might have doubted whether he had been Man or no but this helps out belief c. Thirdly For our Example that as he was subject to Hunger Thirst Cold and Nakedness so we should be contented with the like also when called thereunto as our Pattern did as above Fourthly But the grand Reason in Scripture is rendred for his assuming our Infirmities that he might be more compassionate towards us Hebr 2.17 He was made like to us ãâã things that he might be the more merciful c. A Man Visiting the Sick who himself hath had experience of the same Disease will be more compassionate and pittiful than twenty others This therefore makes us come with more confidence to Christ because he hath been touched with our frailties saith the same Apostle Heb. 4.15 16. As he that hath been poor or troubled with Tooth-ach will shew the most pity to those that are so Thus Christ is both apt and able to succour and save us Heb. 2.18 and 5.7 and 7.25 Jude v. 24. Concerning the Conception of Christ which was the first step of his state of Humiliation when the fulness of time came that the Divine Nature of the Second Person as it were step'd out of Heaven to assume Humane Nature and its frailties upon Earth according to the Covenant betwixt the Father and the Son c. There be Three Grand Inquiries exceeding Cosiderable here about the manner of Christ's Incarnation and taking our Flesh upon him First Of what Matter Christ was Conceived Secondly By what Power this Conception was compleated and Thirdly What strange Commotions there were about
his Conception The Answer to the first is this That the Matter Christ was Conceived of 1. Negatively First He was not made of nothing as the World was at the Creation Secondly Nor was he raised out of the dead earth as Adam was nor Thirdly Did he bring his Flesh with him out of Heaven as some fondly imagine But 2. Possitively He was Conceived of the living flesh of the holy Virgin Gal. 4.4 when fulness of time was come God who doth all things pondere mensurâ numero as Plato saith in weight measure and number Therefore as he never comes too soon so nor doth he ever stay too long but times his mercies in the best season Isa 30.18 then he sent forth his Son even out of his own bosom Joh. 1.18 loe how he loved us Joh. 11.36 to be made of a Woman that is of the sanctified substance of the holy Virgin N. B. Note this against the Marcionites and others that do deny it and made under the Law c. With this Apostle concurs the Angel of God saying to the Virgin ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Hail thou highly favoured c. Luke 1.28 loe thou shalt conceive in thy Womb the Holy Child Jesus ver 30 31. The Son of the Highest ver 32. And though thou know not a Man yet the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee as once he did the confused Chaos in the World's Creation hovering over it and hatching out the Creature as the Hen doth the Chickens therefore that Holy thing which shall be born of thee that is as ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Greek word implys of thy Flesh and Substance shall be called the Son of God ver 34 35. Some Heterodox Men hold that Christ brought his Flesh from Heaven and that he passed through the Virgin 's Womb as Water passeth through a Conduit-pipe But the Orthodox believe from those two Scripture Testimonies c. That the matter whereof Christ was conceived was the Flesh of the Virgin because also had he taken other Foreign Flesh or brought it from Heaven this would have made him an unmeet Redeemer for by the order of Divine Justice the same nature that sinned must suffer for sin As it was Man that had sinned so it must be Man that must be punished therefore took Christ the Flesh of a Woman c. The Second Inquiry is by what Power Christ was Conceived Answer 1. Negatively It was not done by the power of Nature for all that are conceived by ordinary generation are sinful who can bring saith Job a clean thing out of an unclean Job 14.4 As if he had said 't is the common lot of all Mankind proceeding from sinful Parents to be unclean and unavoidably infected with Original Corruption And Jesus himself confirms that of Job saying that which is born of the flesh is flesh Joh. 3.6 corruptus corruptum faln Adam begat a Son after his own faln Image Gen. 5.3 by this one Man sin entred upon all Rom. 5.12 so that by nature all are Children of wrath Eph. 2.3 whole man is in evil and whole evil is in man The first man defiled nature and ever since nature hath defiled every Man Hence David candidly confesseth that he was conceived in Sin and shapen in Iniquity Psal 51.5 He look'd upon his Original Sin to be the sad Source and corrupt Fountain from whence all his filthy streams flowed Answer 2. Possitively Therefore this sinless Babe of Bethlehem was conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost so saith Luke afore quoted Luke 1.35 And Matthew makes forth the same great truth saying that Holy thing conceived in Mary is of the Holy Ghost Matth. 1.20 as the efficient not as the material cause the power of nature could never have brought forth such a pure Redeemer no more than a Tree can by nature bring forth a Chair of State though it should grow a thousand years yet it could not grow of it self into the form of a Royal Throne this fashion it must receive from a Skilfull Artist though the substance of such a Seat be in it So though Christ were in the loins of Adam yet Nature could never be able to bring forth Christ no this could only be effected by the power of the Holy Ghost The Virtus formatrix or formative faculty which the Virgin had not is ascribed to this power wherewith the Holy Ghost framed and fashioned Christ of the flesh or substance of the Virgin sanctified miraculously and without Man's help Thus Christ is said to be conceived of the Holy Ghost three ways First The Godhead did sanctifie that part of the Virgins Flesh whereof Christ was made severing and purifying it from sin and corruption as the Cunning Artificer draws dross from the Gold c. Secondly The Holy Ghost did frame and fashion that part of the Virgin 's Flesh so purified so sanctified and made it a fit House or Temple for his Godhead to dwell in Therefore is He call'd that Holy thing Luke 1.35 and that Holy of Holys wherein the Godhead dwelt bodily Col. 2.9 that is Personally Thirdly He did Unite the Humane Nature to the Divine so made one person of both so He is call'd the Son of God very often in the holy Scripture N. B. The Mystery of this History is manifold As First the Abstruse profound Speculations hereupon which the Learned both Antient and Modern have collected hence 1. Augustin saith though Christ be call'd by the Angel the Son of God yet was He not the Son of the Holy Ghost as He was the Son of the Holy Virgin for He was not Conceived of Him as he was of Her He was Conceived of Her as of a Mother not of the Holy Ghost as of a Father lest there should seem to be Two Fathers in the Holy Trinity We must not say saith He that the Holy Ghost was born of the Dove in whose shape He appeared Mat. 3.16 As Christ was of the Woman because the Spirit came not down to Redeem the Doves as Christ did to Redeem Mankind born of a Woman but to signifie unto us by that significant form all Spiritual Innocency Amicableness and Love to little Ones found in those that have the Spirit 2. Another Curious Notion of the Learned is that Christ was call'd Shilo Gen. 49.10 because that Hebrew Name signifies a Secondine which is the Tunicle wherein the Child lyes wrapped up secure in its Mothers Womb Hence Christ was call'd Shilo as He was the Son of Mary's Secondines ut ostenderet Christum de Matre absque patre Nasciturum to shew that the Blessed Virgin 's Secondines alone brought him forth without the help of Man Hence is He said to be without Father as Man and without Mother as God Heb. 7.3 The 3. Is That this Precious Pearl as Christ is call'd Mat. 13.45 46. Ex Rore Spiritus Sancti in Conchâ Virginis erat conceptus As Pearls are made up
had in perfection from the first but in Natural Acquired and Experimental Knowledge only such as to be Angry and Grieved Mark 3.5 6.6 and to be Ignorant of some things Mark 13.32 Mat. 24.36 The Son knew not the last day but from the Father This was Ignorantia morae privations non pravae Dispositionis Notewel If Christ thus humbled Himself that he might Suffer for us both in Soul and Body c. How should we be content to be Humbled even to a Nothingness for His Glory and the Churche's Good and how should we be content to be Humbled One for Another The same Mind that was in Christ should be in us Phil. 2.5 6 7. and we should wash one another's Feet as He gave an Example John 13.14 15. 'T is a shame for Man to be so-Proud where God hath been so Humble c. Notewel Secondly As Christ was Conceived in the Womb of the Virgin so must He be Conceived in the Heart of a Christian Gal. 4.19 Paul had a Travelling Spirit till Christ were formed in them This he did promote by two Means 1. By casting the Seed of the Word into their Souls which being Hid in the Heart Psal 119.11 and Well Watered there by the Ordinances will Through Grace breed Christ 2. He presseth them to min âhis word with Faith Heb. 4.2 otherwise It will be as a Miscarrying Womb No sooner did Mary Believe what the Angel had told her but she straight way Conceived Christ Luke 1.35 38. So Faith is a necessary Ingredient for Conceiving Christ Spiritually for Christ dwells in our Hearts by Faith Eph. 3.17 All which we may know by the âabe's Motion as in the Womb. And without this we can have no comfort in the Literal unless we can feel the stirrings of the Spiritual Conception also The Antients say That Mary carry'd Christ ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in her Heart as well as ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in her Arms. Notewel Thirdly As the Literal so the Spiritual Conception cannot be wrought by any Power of Nature but by the Overshadowings of the Spirit of Grace As the Watry Cloud Overshadows a Fleece of Wool and the Rain thereof soaks and sinks into it insensibly so did the Spirit into the Virgin 's Womb and so sometimes into our Hearts Many may abound with the Power of Nature and be indued with all Natural Excellencies yet not have Christ Conceived or formed in their Hearts This cannot be till the Power of the Holy Ghost come upon us which the Wisest Sages and the greatest Luminaries of the Heathen World were strangers to 1 Cor. 2.8 Eph. 4.18 No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 12.3 There can be no fiducial Assent of the Heart to own Christ as our Lord but by the Spirit Notewel Fourthly As Christ was Conceived by the Holy Ghost that Man's Nature and Sin might be Severed Asunder All born from the first Adam had Nature and Sin so joined together that none could take Man's Nature but He must take his Sin too till the second Adam came to part these two by his Supernatural Conception So All that have Christ Conceived in their Hearts by the Over-shadowings of the Spirit shall feel this parting Power of Christ who was the first from Adam that purify'd Man's Nature and parted it from Sin Thus it was in Regenerated Paul The good He would do He did not The evil He would not Do He Did Rom. 7.19 Sin was one thing in him and Nature Imported in the word I was another would to God we may All have this parting power of Christ to say as the Apostle 't is no more I but Sin that Dwells in me that though we keep the Nature of Man yet Sin may be parted from us As a spark of Fire may but up Towns and Cities c. So this Spirit of Burning can consume a World of Corruption in us Notewel The Fifth Mystery arises from the Third Particular to wit The Commotion at Christ's Conception Joseph cannot sleep Mary must be put away and the Angel must come to quiet all c. Mat. 1.19 20. Thus there is much ado when Christ is conceived in any Christian Heart such a one presently becomes a Table-Talk A Song of the Drunkards Psal 69.12 Men say He is Mad or at least Melancholy Acts 2.13 15. Mark 3.21 Oh what a Rout is made about it and nothing but an Angel from Heaven can hush all not only without in the World but also within in the Christian's own Conscience c. CHAP. III. AFter Christ's Conception followeth his Birth to be Discussed wherein consider five Particulars 1. The Person of whom he was Born 2. The Time When. 3. The Place Where 4. The Manner How 5. The Manifestation of it First of the First First The Person of whom He was Born Wherein two Branches be observable 1. He was Born of a Virgin 2. Of the Virgin Mary Mat. 1.23 1. Of a Virgin for three reasons 1. That he might be freed from the Guilt of Sin which comes by the course of Nature All have sinned in Adam Rom. 5.12 who proceed from his Loins by ordinary Procreation Though Christ was as a Man in Adam yet not simply so as other Men Are both from Adam and by Adam He was from him in his Humane Nature but not by him as a Procreant Cause by Ordinary Generation Therefore was he Born of a Virgin not in the common course of Nature that the purity of his Conception and Birth might sanctifie the Impurity of Ours Christ Began at the farther end of Man's Sin the first Tincture whereof is when Conceived and Brought Forth both in Iniquity Psal 51.5 That he might be our Compleat Saviour The 2d Reason is To Fulfil the Prophecies of Him Isa 7.14 Gen. 3.15 A Virgin shall bring forth Immanuel and the Seed of the Woman Born without the Seed of Man shall be the Breaker of the Serpent's Head and by this Signal and Singular Sign he was known to be the Saviour of the World The 3d Reason is That the strangeness of Christ's Birth might awake a Drowzy World to expect strange matters by his Life Yea much more than at the strange Births of Isaac Jacob Moses Samuel Samson and John Baptist The World did wonder a little at it Luke 2.18 'T is a wonder that they wondred no more that Christ should be Born of a Woman without Man whereas All the World wonders after the Beast Rev. 13.3 and not at this that the Son of God became the Son of Man to make us Sons of Men to be the Sons of God Learn hence a fourfold Mystery 1. What is Impossible with Man is yet possible with God Mat. 19.26 That a Virgin should bear a Son is Impossible by the Power of Nature yet Possible by the Power of God 'T was Impossible in Nature that Sarah when her Womb was Old and Cold should bear a Son yet was it possible with
Rabbies ambitiously affected Mat. 23.8 9 10. as if their only opinions had been Oracles and must stand for a Law but also quarrell'd together one with another to the effusion of blood which animosities could not to be taken up till a pretended Bath-kol or Voice from Heaven to such fictions they were forced to betake themselves caused them to cease Then had they Invalidated and made void the Commands of God with their Traditions Mat. 15.3 6 9. pretending to perfect the Written Law by the Prescriptions of the Elders shouldering God out of his Throne c. Thus Christ came seasonably to his Temple 3. Solomon the Type shewed his wonderful Wisdom in deciding the controversie between the two Harlots by discovering the yerning Bowels of the one from the other when he was but twelve years old 1 Kin. 3.16 to â8 so our blessed Saviour the Antitype at the same Age manifested his Matchless Wisdom among the Doctours not only Hearing but also posing them so that they were all astonished at His Vnderstanding and Answers Luke 2.42 46 47. For the Grace of God was upon him ver 40. yea without measure was his fulness of Spirit John 1.16 3.34 Col. 1.19 yea so large was his Understanding that some have affirmed it infinite however he put forth a Beam of his Delty here and as he confounded the Jewish so he can the Popish Doctors The Fifth Passage of Chirst's Private Life is his Parents losing of him for three Days at the Passover Feast Luke 2.41 44. c. See after on this Remarks hereupon are 1. Take heed of losing Christ at our Feasts by Mad Merriments c. 2. The Best are sometimes at a loss and hard put to it yea mostly for their Security Cant. 3.1 and 5.2 4 c. 3. Christ may be lost for three Days or so yet found again 4. The Readiest way to find a lost Christ is Addressing to the Temple 5. To seek a lost Christ is a sorrowful seeking 6. To be careless of such a precious Pearl as Christ is is Dangerous what could Mary think but that Archelaus had now got his Prey or that he was fain Sick or at the best some Angel had caught him and carried him away 7. Duty to Parents must give way to Duty to God Wist ye not c. 8. The Three days do figure 1. Patriach's before the Law 2. Prophets under it sought but found him not as we 3. do under the Gospel CHAP. VII NOW come we to Christ's Publick Life which was the Principal Task of all the Evangelists they treat of his Publick Ministry and not of his Private Life and Imployment whereof very little is Recorded till he was twelve years old save what is above mentioned nor after twelve till he came to be about thirty Luke 3.23 save only that he returned from Jerusalem and from his Disputations with the Doctors unto Nazareth and there was Subject to his Parents and Increased in Wisdom and Stature and in favour with God and Man Luke 2.51 52. The Remarks hereupon are Many As First What Christ did from his Infancy to twelve years old and from thence to about Thirty the Scripture is Silent yet the Romanists have feigned so many Idle and false Relations of Him as hath exposed the Christians to the Jeers of the Jewish and Taunts of the Turkish Miscreants Where the Scripture hath no Tongue we should have no Ear and where it hath no Mouth to speak we should have no Tongue to ask How Christ spent his Non-Age and Minority is thought fit for secresie Secondly Some indeed have these sentiments that his blessed Mother Mary must undoubtedly be acquainted with some of his Domestick Miracles during his Private Life which probably might be the grand ground of Her informing Him that the Marriage Guests at Cana in Galilee his place of Retirement from Archelaus Matth. 2.22 wanted Wine which otherwise had been more properly made known to the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of Master of the Feast whose Office it was to supply all wants c. nor would she otherwise have said to the Servants when She durst say no more to Her Son who had turn'd short upon her for her Haste and Halting What he saith to you do John 2.3 5. as expecting a Miracle from him but were this true then that must be false ver 8. That this was his first Miracle Thirdly Those many years Christ spent with his Parents at Nazareth the Antients opinion is He carried on his Father's Calling of a Carpenter Hence was he called while Joseph lived the Carpenter's Son but Joseph Dying before his Son 's full Manifestation He was no longer call'd the Carpenter's Son but then in downright Terms the Carpenter Mat. 13.55 with Mark 6.3 Justin Martyr that lived near Christ's time testifieth that our Saviour before he entred upon the Ministry made Ploughs Yokes c. to which Baronius consenteth saying that Christ alludeth to his own making of Yokes when He said My Yoke is easie Mat. 11.30 Thus when Libanius was bid by Julian that persecuting Apostate to ask a Christian School-Master in a Sarcastick scorn what his Carpenter was a Doing had this smart Repartee that Christ was making a coffin for that Cursed Apostate 'T was Noah's honest Imploy who wrought in it an hundred and twenty Years as a Type of Christ the Antitype who might work till thirty years therein though he was the great Architect of the World Christ came to bear the Curse of Adam's Sin and therefore might in the sweat of his Brows provide necessaries for Himself for his Mother and Family his Fellow Citizens call'd him a Carpenter Mark 6.3 Fourthly The Poverty and Meanness of Christ's Extract Education and Occupation became a Stumbling Block and Rock of Offence to the Carnal Jews who look'd for a Messiah of an Higher Port and to come in a more pompous posture beside his coming out of Nazareth from whence they expected no good John 1.46 at his first appearing in his Publick Ministry The true Messiah was clouded from their Eyes with those obscurities the Prince of Darkness having blinded them by holding his Black hand before their Understandings 2 Cor. 4.4 because Christ being born at Bethlehem so many years before this his first publick appearing out of Nazareth was either not taken notice of or now not remembred Therefore the Jews could not own Him for their Messiah who made his first publick appearance to be Baptized of John Baptist Mat. 3.13 in coming out of Nazareth in Galilee as out of an obscure Hole where he had spent nigh thirty years in Subjection and Slavery or Laborious Drudgery c. N.B. Note well Whereas our Answer to this Jewish objection is this All these things which the Jews stumble at became the Captain of our Salvation Heb 2.10 In his state of Humiliation thus to empty himself of all Majesty and Glory Phil. 2.7 and to be subject to his Parents c. Luke 2.52 For the
Remedy first upon the Malady this is Threefold The 1st Remark is This Mans wandering the wrong way departing from the Holy City Jerusalem which Hebrew Name Jereu Shalom signifies they shall see Peace and Shimet found it a place of Peace while he continued in it 1 Kin. 2.36 41 42 46 c. and so did this certain Man in the Parable the Thieves did not dare to Assault him while he staid in this Mountain of Rocks amongst which it was built Josh 18.28 and 2 Sam. 5. ver 6 7 8 9. it was a strong City of Refuge yea glorious things are spoken of it Ps 87.3 It 's Walls were called Salvation and its Gates Praise Isa 60.18 God loved to look upon it Isa 49.16 and he delighted to dwell in it Ps 132.13 14 c. The Old Jerusalem was the more Famous for being a Type of the New Jerusalem which hath a most Glorious and Graphical Description of all its parts Rev. 21. per totum Oh how foolish was this certain Man to turn his back upon such a Blessed place the Terminus a quo from whence he went but more especially considering the Terminus ad quem the Cursed place that he turned his face toward which was Jericho signifying the Moon Hebr. that is placed under the feet of the Church of Christ Rev. 12.1 and it was Cursed by Joshua Joshua 6.17 as a kind of first Fruits of that cursed Country Dedicated to Divine Justice Levit. 27.28 Though Hiel presumed to Redeem this place so devoted to Gods Curse and to Rebuild it 1 Kin. 16.34 yet did he pay most dearly for so doing inasmuch as be lost his living House namely his Children while he busied himself in Raising up lifeless Houses upon a Cursed Spot of Ground N.B. Note well t is said of Christ that he sets his face as one going to Jerusalem Luk. 9.53 Sure I am it should so be said also of every True Christian whose Heart as well as Face must be toward Sion for the way to Sion is writ in their Hearts Ps 84.5 but wo to such as wander the wrong way from Sion to Babylon from places of Gods Worship to a Land of Darkness 1. Remember Dinah who was Defloured by her gadding abroad from her good Fathers Tent Gen. 24 2 23. 2. Remember Naomai who left the Land of Promise and went to Sojourn in the Land af Moab yet was she so wise as to Return again in due time and upon her Return gives this Account of her self what she had got by her wandring the wrong way she saith call me no more Naomi which signifies Delightful but call me Marah which signifies bitter for my God the Almighty hath dealt bitterly with me I went out full but am returned empty c. Ruth 1.20 21. 3. Remember Shines who judged the Kings command good in confining his Abode in Jerusalem a place too good for so bad a Man and he kept the Kings Command for three full years yet after this he breaks the bridle runs over to the Uncircumcised whereby he lost his Life by the hand of Justice and his own Heart was privy how justly he suffered 1 Kin. 2.38 39. to the end 4. Remember Samson what a Turmoiled and Toilsom Life he led by his Leaving Canaan and his Conversing so much among the Cursed Philistines Lastly Remember the Prodigal who by leaving his Fathers House made himself more miserable than the very Hoggs that he kept therefore little Children abide in Christ and continue ye in the love of Christ 1 John 2.28 and John 15.9 The Second Malady of this Man Remark the 2d is His falling among Thieves ver 30. Hence Great Grotins's Gloss is that this Portion of Scripture is a true History of a matter of Fact that happened in that time and place because the Road-way betwixt Jericho and Jerusalem was notoriously infested with Robbers as our High ways near London are too well known to be and as Savoy or Salvoy was of old called Malvoy which signifies an Evil way because High-way-men abounded there so that no Travellers could have any safe passage to any place but when those Robbers were routed out then was it named Savoy or Salvoy which signifies a safe way But waving this singular Sentiment of Grotius Literal Sense let us follow the concurrent Opinion of both Antient and Modern Authors who make it a Parable N.B. Note well 1. This certain man is either the Original Sinner the first Adam or the Actual Habitual or Unconverted Sinner to wit All Mankind descended from Adam or the Backsliding Sinner c. N.B. Note well 2. The Thieves that all these three sorts of sinners did fall among were Satan Sin and Death the two first are the founders of Evil and the last is the finisher of it Satan and sin are the Efficient cause of all Evil and Death is the final effect of Evil Rom. 5 12. and Satan is a most dangerous Thief as he hath got the upper ground of man for he is the Prince of the Air Eph. 2.2 which is about the Earth where man walks and sin is no less dangerous a Thief for the Iniquity of mans beels do compass him about Ps 49.5 and so if left to himself he is ever in danger to have his Heels tripped up thereby and Lastly Death comes oft as a Thief in the Night upon Man 1 Thes 5.2 2 Pet. 3.10 Revel 16.15 and 3.3 c. N.B. Note Well 3. The Original Sinner Adam fell among these Thieves when he minded more Satans promise and Eves proffer of the forbidden Fruit than he did of Gods Praecept against it his Hearkening and Hankering after Honour of the Devils giving made him walk the wrong way from the Tree of Lifs to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil This made him to sin that greatest of sins Reckoned to be next unto that unpardonable sin the sin against the Holy Ghost seeing it was a sin against so much Light Life Love and liberty such as never any Mortal Man had His sin was not the Rebellion of a poor peasant upon the Dunghill but of the highest Favourite in the Court even in Paradise it self Hereupon Bernard descants Si hoc Adamo Contigisseâ in paradiso quid nobis in seerquilinio If Adam fell among Thieves in Paradise it self Oh what falls may befall us that are cast upon the Dunghil of this evil World Satan made Adam sin and his sin brought forth Death the Fruit of his fall from Obedience and Innocency c. N.B. Note well 4. The Habitual and Unconverted sinner drives the trade of sin and the chiefest place of his Trading is Jericho Satan leads him Captive at his Will 2 Tim. 2.26 and such must needs goe yea run the wrong way whom the Devil drives Such as are not only sold under sin as we all are by Adam Rom. 7.14 but they sell themselves to sin with Ahab 1 Kin. 21.20 who being past feeling give themselves over to work all kind of wickedness
first Adam yet could not do either to the second Adam but he was conquer'd by him who with an Apage commands him out of his presence ver 10. N.B. Note well 2. Tho' those Thieves Sin and Satan could neither Stop nor Strip the Second Adam yet they did not only dismount the First Adam from his Primitive Innocency which should have sustain'd him but also strip'd him of that Robe of Righteousness which should have array'd him and of that Majesty and Glory wherewith he was Created and Crowned Psalm 8.5 6 Having Dominion over all Creatures ver 7 8. If those Thieves prevailed over such a Green Tree as Adam was in his Pure State it may well be supposed what mischief they may do both to the Habitual and Back-sliding Sinner N.B. Notewell 3. Nor was this all the damage those Thieves did to the First Adam that Original Sinner but they striped him so sorely and wounded him so deeply as to leave him half dead that is they spoiled him of his Immortality of his posse non cadere possibility of not falling wherein he was Created and reduced him into a mortal state In the day thou eatest of the forbidden fruit thou shalt surely die Gen. 2.17 to wit thou shalt be a mortal for by this one man's sin Death entred into the World as well as Sin and Death hath Reigned from Adam unto this Day Rom. 5. 12 14. Heb. 9.27 yet in this sense those Thieves left him but half dead not only because tho' his Immortality seized upon his External body yet his Internal Soul remained Immortal but also because he recovered his Fall by Believing in that Promise of the Woman's Seed Gen. 3.15 as is made more manifest in my first volume of the Life and Death of Adam however all the Posterity of Adam are doomed in the Scripture of Truth not only half dead but wholly dead even stark dead in Sin Eph. 2.1 2 3 4 5. Inferences from hence are First Sinners are great losers such as Travel from Jerusalem to Jericho from the Blessing to the Curse do forsake their own mercies with Jonah Jon. 2.8 while they follow lying vanities such may meet with a Tempest a Whale as he did yea and an Hell it self Jonah cried out of the Belly of Hell and the Lord heard him Jon. 2.2 but God will not hear Impenitent ones that howl in Hell Secondly If Sin be such a notorious Thief that both Robs God of his Honour and Man of God's Favour yea it Robb'd the Angels that Fell as well as Adam and still Robs us of our Spiritual Graces the Money that should maintain us in our Passage to Heaven as well as of many Temporal Blessings while we live upon Earth as of our Health Wealth c. which we forfeit by our Sin c. Then Thirdly Make a most strict search for this Thief let not thy Heart be as an Hostess to entertain it nor thy Senses be as Doors to let it enter nor thy Affections as Handmaids to attend it Soul thou not art won over to Jericho until thy Heart and Affections be won thither but if thy Face be to Jerusalem Luke 9.53 then God's Angels and a Pillar of Glory shall both Protect and Direct thee Be sure to secure this Thief c. If thou cry out thou shalt not Dye Deut. 22.27 as the betrothed Damosel Therefore when thou seest the Thief a coming to thee be sure thou consent not to his coming as he did Psalm 50.18 but shut thy Door against him and hold him fast as Elisha did against the murdering Messenger 2 Kin. 6.32 If thou open thy door to him thou art then a Partner with the Thief and so an hater of thy own Soul Prov. 29.24 when the Door is left carelesly open then the Thief cometh in Hos 7.1 and He cometh not but for to Steal Kill and Destroy John 10.10 that is the Thiefs Errand and tho' he be blame-worthy for doing so badly yet whom must we blame for leaving open the Door We are commanded to shut our Chamber Door and hide our Selves till the Indignation be past Isa 26.20 but when this good Shepherd this compassionate Samaritan comes and knocks Rev. 3.20 with the Hammer of his Word and with the hand of his Spirit we must open to him immediately Luke 12.36 Now come we to the Remedy against this manifold Malady aforenamed The Remedy is threefold as the Malady was but the former two are Remedies Imaginary only but no real Remedies ver 31 32. as first Remark 1st ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ver 31. which is read by Chance but it may be better read by Providence for ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Greek word signifies the Lord who orders all casualities by his over-ruling Providence 't is the blind Pagans that ascribe fortuitous things to their blind Goddess Fortune whereas Man's way is not in himself c. Jer. 10.23 and God tells Moses Pharaoh will go next Morning to the River side Exod. 7.15 and thus Nebuthadnezzar standing with his Army at the head of two ways unresolved whether to March against Ammon or against Jerusalem he there cast Lots and the Lord disposed them Prov. 16.33 so as to March against the Latter Ezek. 21.20 21 22. what is contingent to Man is necessary to God Homer could say All things are Chained to Jove's Chair-foot sure I am they are so to the Hand of the true Jehovah so this Greek word ver 31. excludes the purpose of Man but not at all the Counsel of God c. Remark 2d A certain Priest came down that way and when he saw him he passed by on the other side N.B. Note well This is not writ to vilifie all Priests for Christ himself was a Priest after the Order of Melchisedeck Heb. 7.11 15 17. but it was to shew that Christ being the end of that legal Priesthood was now become more compassionate to his Neighbour Man in a new Evangelical way Tho' Priests under the Law were ordained to shew compassion Heb. 5.2 3. yet now the Comforter was coming to endow a Gospel-Ministry with Messages of glad tidings and with gifts of Compassion Jude ver 22. and with whom he was to abide to the World's end Mat 28.20 Remark 3d This Priest had an opportunity to shew Mercy unto this half Dead Man whom therefore Christ calls his Neighbour but he had no Bowels of compassion towards him tho' he had this opportunity 'T is said here ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he passed by on the other side he stood at a distance opposite to him as the Greek word signifies possibly he might plead 1st I am in great hast in my Journey and cannot stay here 2d I am afraid of the like harm by those Thieves my self Or 3d Above all I may not touch a Dead Carcase for that is pollution by the Law Thus this Priest wanting a pittying Heart might cover his neglect with such slender excuses of Fear and Horror c. even the
Light and Law of Nature one would think should have hastened both his hands and his feet to help his fellow Creature under such miserable circumstances or had he been in Christ's School he would have learned that lesson that shewing mercy to those in misery is a far more necessary and hasty work than any sacrifice he had to offer up Mat. 9.13 Man especially in misery stands in more need of mercy than God doth at any time of Sacrifice c. Remark 4th The Mystery that lyes vailed here under the History of this Priest when unvailed is the Insufficiency of Legal Righteousness for Man's Salvation There be some indeed that give this Mystical sense of the Priest here to be meant Angels who saw man fallen among Thieves and both strip'd and wounded by them under guilt of Death c. but these Angels passed by and could not cure or comfort him c. but the best Interpretation of this Priest is Moral Righteousness this carries a correspondency to the Sacrifices and Services of the Legal Priesthood which verily was disannulled because of the weakness and unprofitableness thereof c. Heb. 7.18 19. Enquiry the First What is this Moral or as it may be call'd Natural Righteousness Answer 1st 'T is a Righteousness of Natures best Edition in the fallen estate there be degrees of Nature as well as of Grace some Natures are better than others even a Child is known by his Doings whether his Work be pure and whether it be Right Prov. 20.11 As a good Disposition in some is seen to Order and Refine depraved Nature especially if attended with a strict Education and Exemplary good Actions c. so the contrary to all these we see do strangely disorder and corrupt it There is a Refining of Nature by Moral Vertue where there is nothing found of Spiritual Grace We read of an House that was Swept of Moral Vices and Garnished with Moral Vertues yet is it still Empty of Christ whereupon the Unclean Spirit returns after seeming Dispossession and Repossesseth it again c. Math. 12.43 44 45. so may it be with a Moralized or a Civilized Heart the last state of such a Man may be made worse than his first Answer 2. This Moral Righteousness is a supposed compleat Conformity and satisfaction to the Law of Mosâs a Righteousness wholely within us and from our selves as that of the Scribes and Pharisees Math. 5.20 c. whereas the true Evangelical Righteousness is a Real Conformity to the New Covenant even that of Grace and not of Works this is both without us in the Grace of Justification and also within us in the grace of Sanctification for Moses and the Messias met together as very good Friends upon Mount Tabor Math. 17.3 and thus they both agree well enough in a truly gracious Heart The grand Evil and Folly is that Man seeks for a Righteousness altogether within and from himself which Paul durst not do as he had done in his Pharisaism but calls it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quasi ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which signifies Scraps cast to Dogs All but Dross but Dung in comparison of Christs Righteousness Phil. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9. Enquiry the Second what is the Original of this Moral Righteousness Answer The Foundation from whence it flows is from the remaining Sheards of Gods Image in Man which is only defaced but is not quite destroyed by Adams Fall as the Tables of the Testimony which Moses held in his hand and which were the Work of God and the Writing was the Writing of God Exod. 32.15 16. yet Moses when he saw the Golden Calf his anger waxed hot and he threw the Tables out of his Hands and brake them beneath the Mount ver 19. Notwithstanding the broken pieces thereof still remained Even so it may be said yet in a quite differing Manner when Adam saw the forbidden Fruit pleasant to the Eyes and desirable to make him Wise Gen. 3.6 Then he did cast down as it may be said that Image of God stamped upon him at his Creation and broke it in pieces beneath the Mount of his primitive Innocency After which fall he begat a Son in his own Image and not in the Image of God Gen. 5.3 yet some Sheards of the first broken Image still remain in all his Off spring which is called Synteresis signifying a Remnant Reserved or a Natural Conscience call'd by the Apostle the Light and Law of Nature written in Mens Hearts which serves to leave them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã without excuse Rom. 1.20 and 2.14 15. and which is all one and the same with the Moral Law that was added because of Transgression Gal. 3.19 for by the light whereof the Sin of Murther was known to Cain Gen. 4. and hereby other sins as Adultery Gen. 20. Fornication Gen. 34. and 38. and Theft Gen. 44.8 were known to be Hainous sins long before the Law of God written in Tables of Stone were given by Moses unto Israel in the Wilderness So that this Law of Nature was light enough to inform Man what was Good and what was Evil and what Man had last by Adams Fall as the Prodigal when he came to himself Luke 15.17 became sensible how sadly he had lost that satisfying fulness he formerly enjoyed in his Fathers House There is indeed both a Theorick and a Practick Knowledge of God and good Manners This is the Dim Light wherewith the True Light doth Enlighten every Man that cometh into the World John 1.9 yet is it too weak an Hedge to keep within compass Mans unruly Corruption of the fallen Nature therefore Man stands in need of a wall as well as of an Hedge Hos 2.6 to Restrain him from Evil nor indeed is Restraining grace sufficient which that pagan King Abimelech was blest with Gen. 20.6 but there must be Renewing Grace also Eph. 4.23 there must be according to the tenure of the New Covenant a Supernatural Work of Light Life and Love I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their Hearts and will be their God and they shall be my People saith the Lord Jer. 31.32 33. This plainly imports the Insufficiency of the unrenewed Estate wherein the best Bank that can be made against sin is so low and weak that it is easily overflowed or broken down by the strong Torrent of Corrupt Natural Affections As the Light of Nature which is called the Candle of the Lord Prov. 20.27 burns but darkly and dimly in the fallen Estate so that it cannot Discover the guilt of Adams sin committed almost 6000. years agoe nor that Original Pollution descended upon all Mankind thereby nor can it discern that great Damning sin of unbelief John 3.18 36. which binds the guilt of all other sins upon a sinners Conscience c. so the Law of Nature is so weak and of such little force that it cannot carry the Soul up to the Spiritual part of any Holy grace or duty
If any Man think to War against the Justice of God with ten Thousand supposed good Works Gods Justice will War against that Man with twenty Thousand really bad Works and overcome him Whoever dare come riding to Christ upon the Dromedary of good Works Christ will say to such I know ye not depart from me ye Workers of Iniquity Math. 7.23 and so be sent empty away 'T is best coming to Christ as Abigail to David saying Let thy Hand-maid be a Servant to wash the Feet of thy Servants this is more meet than to be made thy Queen 1 Sam. 25.41 or as Mephibosheth said to him Will my Lord look upon such a dead Dog as I am 2 Sam. 9.8 The Third Reason to prove the Insufficiency of Moral Righteousness for Mans Salvation is because as Mans first sinning lay beyond him and without him in Adam so Man's full satisfying of Gods Justice for his sinning lies beyond and without him in Christ The first Adam brought all Mankind into Captivity to sin to misery and to Death it self as he was the publick Person and Representative of the whole Race just as a Parliament Man represents his whole Country for which he acts in the grand Counsel of the Nation and so whatever he doth is looked upon as done by them all Thus also the Scripture speaketh as by one Man sin entred into the World and Death by sin and so Death passed upon all Men because all have sinned to wit in Adam Rom. 5.12 Therefore no Man no not the most Refined Moral Man can become his own Redeemer out of this Captivity This is the Work appointed by God for the second Adam whom Jacob calls his Redeeming Angel Gen. 48.16 the Lord Jesus is the other publick Person who Represents likewise all that are chosen in him and delivers them from Wrath to come 1 Thess 1.10 and this is the principal Scope of the Apostle's Arguing in his comparing those two publick Persons the two Adams together shewing at large how the whole Malady of Mankind came by the first Adam and the whole Remedy came by the Second Rom. 5.14 to the end And again the same Apostle argueth to the same purpose saying Since by man came Death by man came also the Resurrection of the Dead For as in Adam all Dye even so in Christ all that are united to him and found in him Phil. 3.9 shall be made alive 1 Cor. 15.21 22. Thus it plainly appeareth by these and many more Scriptures too long to relate that our Blessed Mediator is the only Redeemer of Mankind and that it is impossible for the best of Men to redeem themselves c. Many more Arguments and Reasons might be added to Demonstrate this great Truth which I shall only name As Fourthly The great Doctrine of Repentance ought to be Preached unto all Men both to those that are merely Moral though attained to the highest Degree of Philosophical Morality such as sundry Pagans Cato Seneca Plato c. did shine within the Eyes of the World as well as to those who are notoriously defective in their Morals and are exceeding gross in their ways of Immorality Now these latter are easilyer convinced and reduced to Repentance than the former having no Reed of his own Righteousness to lean upon I have in my Ministry found it hard work to unbottom a mere Moralist c. And it may be added Fifthly That our Lord hath commanded every Man to pray Forgive us our Sins Luke 11.4 which are call'd our Debts unto Divine Justice Mat. 6.9 12. now seeing All men have sinned both Jew and Gentile Rom. 3.9 23 There is no man that sinneth not 1 Kin. 8.46 no not the most Moral man in the World If any say so they deceive themselves and the truth is not in them c. 1. John 1.8 9 10. Who can say I have made my heart clean I am pure from my sin Prov. 20.9 some indeed as the Pharisee Luke 18.11 and the Young Man Mat. 19.20 may say so proudly but there is none that can-say so truly save the sinless Son of God John 8.46 which of you convinceth me of sin Pilate his Judge saith I find in him no fault at all John 18.38 he was like Man in all things sin only excepted Hebr. 4.15 1 Pet. 2.22 Where is boasting then Rom. 3.27 seeing all Men are sinners and have need of a Saviour to purchase a Pardon for their sins No Moral Righteousness can save fallen Mankind c. N. B. Note well This is an Observation worthy of all Acceptation that all the Holy Prophets of the Lord yea and the Holy Lord himself were slain by the Jews who made their boast of the Law Rom. 2.23 chiefly because they all unanimously taught that Mans Salvation must be looked for by the free grace of God in Christ and not by the Law of Works c. Thus having done with the Priest in the Parable the Second Physician of no value was the Levite Luke 10.32 where it is said he passed by this sad Object also what is meant by this Levite there be various glosses as well as upon the Priest here omitting all others I mention but that one which interprets this Priest to be Angels and this Levite to be Men and though both Angels and Men behold this Miserable Man dismounted stripped and wounded c. yet neither of the two hath either Will or Power to help him c. but the soundest Sense in my Sentiments is that of Formal Holiness which carries a Correspondency to the Ceremonies of the Levitical Law and which cannot save a Soul out of the State of Sin Enquiry the Frst what is this Formal Holiness signified by the Levite Answer 'T is an outward profession of Religion without the inward power thereof Such a formal professor this Levite seems to be who was more for the Cerenony than for the Substance of Religion Possibly he as well as the Priest might fear Legal Pollution for the Ceremonial Law forbad such to touch the Dead Levit. 11.8 Deut. 14.8 not only the Dead Carcase of unclean Creatures but also the Dead Body of a Man slain in the Field as he might suppose this Man to be Numb 19.16 but the Legal strictness and niceness of this Levite was an Iniquity for the Man was but half Dead therefore to shew Mercy in saving the Life of the Man was his Indispensable Duty by Gods Law Love thy Neighbour as thy self in doing all Offices of Love for him in Distress Isa 58 6 7. whereas he was one that David complaining of such Fail Friends as standing aloof and afar off in stead of helping c. Ps 38.11 Enquiry the Second How may this Formal Levite who hath only the Form and not the Power 2 Tim. 3.5 be discovered Answer By these few following Characters as 1 he is one that is more zealous for the Ceremony than for the Substance of Gods Law whereas Ceremonial Duties should always give place to
Hous-wifes whole Stock she had no more N. B. Note well Dionysius's Gloss upon it is that our Lord left 99. sheep and but the 9. Groats both made up of nines which signifies the nine Orders of Angels made of thrice three and but one of Mankind which was lost in both the Parables that the Unity and Trinity of the Godhead saith he might be adored and praised by the Trinity of the Angelical Nature and by the Unity of the Human Nature and he adds nine is an imperfect Number implying that Man being found after his fall makes up the breach in the City of God by the final fall of the Evil Angels this one added to the nine makes the Church of God a compleat and perfect Number God will have his Church made up of Corporal and Spiritual Creatures N. B. Note well Man is like the Microcosm or little World who borrows his parts from the Macrocosm or great World as flesh from the Earth blood from the Sea breath from the Air and heat from the 4th Element of Fire as to his Body then as to his Soul Man carries Congruity with Angels yea and Man hath a Resemblance of the Holy Trinity in the three Superior Faculties Understanding Will and Memory 2. Answer to the 2d Enquiry Fallen Man is this lost Groat who falls under a Threefold Consideration 1. His Making 2. His Losing and 3. His finding which hold out the Threefold State of Man the first his state of Creation and Generation the second his state of Degeneration wherein he was lost and the third his state of Regeneration wherein he is found Man when first made call'd Nummus Dei Gods Money was a most curious Silver piece coming first out of Gods Mint did shine most gloriously and was excellent both in Matter in Form in Lustre in Stamp in Weight in Sound and in Superscription But now in the faln Estate he hath lost all those Excellencies as 1. In matter he was not made of Brass or of Tin or Copper but of Silver than which no Mettal is better but Gold So no Creature was better than Man but Angels Man was made but a little lower than they Ps 8.5 Man was made ex Meliori Luto of better Materials than other Creatures saith Ovid but now nothing is left save Reprobate and Rejected Silver Jer. 6.30 all Dross 2. This Groat was Coined in a round Form an Emblem of Immortality wherein Man was Created had he not sinned he had not dyed for Death was the Wages of sin Rom. 5.12 The State of Innocency had this kind of Immortality as it was possible for Adam not to dye so it was not impossible for him to dye but now his sin hath put all Men under the power of Death Hebr. 9.27 3. This Groat had such a Lustre and Glory Ps 8.5 That all Creatures paid their Homage to Adam who had a Lordly Dominion over all Beasts Fouls and Fishes c. Gen. 1.26 But now Man is besmeared with sin this Groat hath gathered Iniquity Ps 41.6 So that Man hath lost his first Majesty and Beasts Rebell against him c. 4. Man was at first stamped with Gods Image upon him as Caesars Silver pieces were stamped with Caesars Image Mat. 22.21 there was then knowledge in Mans Mind Obedience in his Will and Order in his Affections but now Satan hath set the print of his Limbs upon all the Faculties of Man so that now he is become Inversus Decalogus a mere opposite to Gods Law man is quite of another make than God at first made him c. whole Evil is in Man and whole man is in Evil so that this old Groat must be melted down before it can be capable of a new Stamp c. 5. Man at the first was full weight in the Ballance of the Sanctuary which required double weight to the common Ballance then was Man most current Coin in the Court of Heaven But alas now by the fall Mene Tekel Dan. 5.25 27. is writ upon Man He is weighed in the Ballance and found wanting He hath now naturally a vain light Mind even at his best Estate lighter than Vanity Ps 39.5 Man is heavy enough in respect of sin but very light in respect of grace so like an old Groat has lost many grains of weight 6. Man coming first out of Gods Mint had a good sound or ring like the sound of the Silver Trumpets Numb 10.1 c. his Tongue was then his glory but now his shame a tinkling Cymbal a sound of emptiness a jarring sound he speaks the Language of Ashdod more than of Canaan Nehem. 13.24 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã unsavoury Speech Eph. 4.29 Col. 4.6 and oft-times his Heart and his Tongue are not Relatives when speaking one thing yet thinking and purposing another 2 Cor. 1.17 Mat. 5.37 7. Mans first Superscription was Holiness to the Lord Zech. 14.20 Gods Off-spring Acts 17.28 Yea the Son of God Luke 3.38 But now so little is left of Gods Image and Superscription as like Jobs Messengers tells tidings only of our great losses now are we called Children of Adam of Wrath of Belial of Disobedience of the Devil of Hell and of Perdition those be Titles of us sinful flesh N. B. Note well as Zedekiah had the empty Title of a King after he had lost his City and Kingdom Jerem. 52.7 8 9 c. So Man hath now only the bare Title of being Gods Master-piece his City is broke down his Temple burned this Silver piece is lost in a dirty World 't is seized upon by Satan that strong Man Luke 11.21 and Lord of the Soil as God of this World 2 Cor. 4.4 Quis talia fando Temperet a lacrimis Who can look upon this Burnt Temple and not weep as Ezr. 3.12 If David did so much admire at Gods wonderful making of Man Ps 139.14 16. How may we stand Astonished at the Devils wonderful Marring of Man and spoiling him of all these seven aforesaid Exexcellencies The 3d Enquiry The manner of seeking this lost Groat together with the means whereby it was sought Answer 1. in general this Groat is lost past finding out as to it self if the Houswife do not seek it assuredly it can never seek her 't is either lost in the Dust of Worldly Treasures or in the dirt of Carnal Pleasures or on the Pinacles of Earthly Honours 't is lost in some bye corner or other of sin and error N.B. Note well Satan poured in his Poison into the Spring-head or Fountain of Mankind namely Adam that so all the streams flowing from him might be poisoned by him he staid not to pour in his poison into every Son and Daughter of Adam as every one was born into the World this had been too tedious work for the Devil hence we as well as others are born Children of Wrath by Nature and of Disobedience Eph. 2.3 Now more particularly of the lost Groat 1. The Person seeking as he is the party losing
is our sweet Saviour who seeks carefully constantly as Joseph sought his Brethren whom he found in Dothan which signifies Defection Gen. 37.16 c. as our Joseph or Jesus doth find us He endured Contradiction of sinners Hebr. 12.3 yet sought he us diligently as here even unto Death Grave and Hell it self untill he found us So was found of them that sought him not Isa 65.1 Reason 1. It was his Errand at his Fathers command Luke 19.10 4.43 John 4.4.32 34. 6.38 39 2. It was his Delight Ps 40.7 8. He minded his Fathers Message more than his own meat Matth. 21.17 23. as Job 23.12 loving us better than himself for he is love 1 John 4.8 3. He accounteth not himself compleat untill he find all his Members Eph. 1.23 He will not want a little Toe but all parts must be with the Head John 17.24 and he is still crying in David's Bowels is there yet any of the House of Mankind that I may shew the Kindness of God to them 2 Sam 9.4 Secondly The means wherewith he fought namely a Candle and a Besom the Candle goes before the Besom for giving Light when lighted to the right use of the Besom 1. The Candle God says I will search Jerusalem with Candles Zeph. 1.12 Is Twofold the External and the Internal Candle the External is the word of Christ Ps 119.105 Prov. 6.23 beside this there is the Eternal word John 1.1 9. which is the Godhead of Christ but the Internal Candle is the Spirit which is Twofold 1. The spirit of Man which is called the Candle of the Lord Prov. 20.27 This Candle burns but dimly in the fallen Estate so that by its light we do but grope after God like blind Men as ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifies Acts 17.27 Hereby we have some faint Directions to a Sin-Denial but not enough for a right Self-Denial It cannot teach a Man to feel the Weight and Curse of Adams sin committed above 5000. years agoe nor to be sensible of the Stain of sinrunning in the blood of depraved nature in the whole off-spring of Adam this Light of nature doth not enable us to see and hate sin as the greatest Evil nor to behold and love Christ as the chiefest good Cant. 5.10 as outbidding the bravery of all other Objects This Dim Spark of Nature's kindling Isa 50.11 cannot discover that grand Gospel sin of Vnbelief to be the Condemning sin John 3.18 36. Heb. 3.19 Which binds the guilt of all other Moral sins upon the back of the Consciences of sinners c. Therefore must we pray 2. for the spirit of God which God hath promised to give unto them that ask it Luke 11.13 whereby we who were in Darknest become light in the Lord Eph. 5.8 and are brought into Marvelous Light 1 Pet. 7.9 and when Christ lights up this Candle which is his work only then doth he Command Light to shine out of Darkness 2 Cor. 4.6 whereby we become the Children of the Day as well as of Light 1 Thes 5.5 What a goodly Candle is this when it shineth forth from the Candlestick of the Gospel when the Gospel of grace is accompany'd with the grace of the Gospel Oh bless God for giving us his Golden Gospel in this our Iron-Age And Oh pray that this Golden Candlestick together with this Glorious Candle may not be removed from us as it is Threatned Revel 2.5 and is Accomplished in Asia Germany and other places for their misimprovement of it If we dare doe Deeds of Darkness in a land of Light alas how soon may our Lightsom Goshen be turned into Egypts Darkness As 't is Christ's Work to light the Candle so 't is Satans Work to blow it out that Prince of Darkness loves Darkness and not Light for hiding his Deeds of Darkness 'T is the common cry in Winter Evenings Hang out your Lights but it was the cursed cry of Satans Tools in the late Persecution Blow out your Lights and God may again hiss for the fly of Egypt or for the Bee of Babylon Isa 7.18 with new blasts from Hell to blow out our Light from Heaven Alas are there not many sad Symptoms as Indications to fear it as 1. How great is the snuff that makes our Candle burn but very dimly and no High-Priest among us to improve the Golden Snuffers 2. There is a great Thief in our Candle that makes it sweal away over-fast namely a perverse Spirit mingled in the midst of us as Isa 19.2.14 in our late biting and devouring one another which hath an Apostotical Caveat put upon it Gal. 5.15 the two pitchers in the water cryed Si collidimur frangimur if we clash we break our over-fierce contenders are Evil as well as foul contemners of the Gospel 3. Our oyl that feeds the Lamp runs very low and dreggy especially in Converting Work few lost Groats are now found by the light thereof Alas we pray not to our great High-Priest that he may pour in more fresh-Oyl c. Levit. 24.2 3 4. and we our selves may be like the Foolish Virgins who had Oyl in their Lamps a Form in their Lives but no Oyl in their Vessels no power of saving grace in their Hearts Matth. 25.3.4 2 Tim. 3.5 How is the light of the Gospel now both disesteemed as was Manna loathed for light Bread Numb 11.6 and 21.5 and how is it dishonoured as if but a Fable devised to keep folk in fear only and how is it disowned by those that run to Baalzebub the God of Ekron rather than to the God of Israel 2 Kin. 1.4 preferring the base lyes of the Old Lyar and of a Treacherous Heart before the Golden Truth of the Gospel of Christ Isa 8.19 20. John 14.6 and Lastly how is it also Disobeyed which is as the sin of Witchcraft 1 Sam. 15.22 23. Christ renders Vengeance to such 2 Thess 1.8 No Master loves a lighted Candle to be abused by idle Servants in evil Works such as quarrels wantonness c. The 2d Means is the Besom N. B. Note well the Order first the Candle and then the Besom as above for Light was the first Created Ornament of the Old Creation Gen. 1.3 Even so it is in the New Creation Acts 26.18 2 Cor. 4.6 Gods first Work in every new Creature is to break down Windows and let in Light into a Dark Soul 2 Pet. 1.19 Then is the Candle-light of Saving knowledge to guide the Application of the Besom There is a Besom Isa 14.23 which is Scopa perditionis a Besom of Destruction but this here is Scopa puâgationis Salvationis a Besom of Purification and Salvation which is Twofold 1. The Gospel of Grace which sweeps a dirty World 2. The Grace of the Gospel which sweeps a dirty Heart dirty Samaria was swept by the former Acts 8.8 c. and many more places but many more Persons by the latter to wit by the grace of Repentance especially when 't is joyned with Faith and
also bind him as a Malefactor while his Deity withdrew it self for he could as easily have delivered himself as he did his Disciples c. But this Sacrifice must be both taken and bound to the Hornâ of the Altar with Cords Psalm 118.27 N. B. Note well What a wonder it is they should bind him who was thus willing to be taken and who thus freely offered himself to their violent hands yet must he be âinioned and Mannacled as a great Malefactor Manibuâ post tergum Retortis with his hands bound behind his back say some Antients this they did by Judas's Advice Lead him away safely Mark 14.44 because he had wont sometimes unseen to slip out of the Multitude N.B. Note well Oh how wonderful was that wretch's blindness to think that any Humane helps should be able to hold the Divine Power of Christ whereof he had beheld so many undeniable proofs However as Christ told them they came out against him as against a Thief and recordingly they bound him as a Thief and as one of the worst of Mortals But could not he who as a Friend had so miraculously healed the wound of his Enemy at that juncture and who was stronger than Sampson have broken those bonds wherewith they did bind him had he so pleased But thus He would have it to be now upon a twofold respect 1. In respect of Men And 2. In respect of God First as to Men for Three Reasons The 1st is Men did thus bind him that they might the better secure him who had slided out of their hands twice before John 8.59 and 10.39 because his hour was then come now when it was come Judas bid them hold him fast Mat. 26.48 although they had no reason to fear his escape because now he came and offered himself meeting his Murderers in the Teeth and when he had beat them down to the ground under his feet He might have escaped and would not Thus an Evil Conscience fears without a cause c. N. B. Note well Would to God we could hold him fast in a good sense as they did him in an evil sense Gen. 32.26 c. The 2d Reason is To put the greater disgrace upon him As he was numbred among Transgressors Isa 53.12 So had He this shame put upon him as if He had been a most notorious Felon N.B. Note well If this Holy Jesus was content to suffer this for us though He was God and we but Men yea unholy Men murmur not to be Disgraced for Christ and his Gospel The 3d Reason is To punish him and put him to more pain because he pull'd down their Pharisaical and Traditional Kingdom For this cause Paul while a Pharisee and a Persecutor punish'd those that call'd on the name of the Lord binding them and bringing them bound to Jerusalem Acts 9.1 2. 22.4 26.11 this was a painful punishment for us But 2dly As to God He was bound for three causes 1. That his Bonds might sanctifie the bonds of his suffering Servants So far as we suffer with Christ our sufferings are the sufferings of Christ and a filling up the measure of them Col. 1.24 Christ sits at one end of the Ballance and Christians at the other Did he suffer much for us and not we a little for him which are but chips of his Cross for exercise of Grace not for expiation of sin 2. To teach us how we deserved to be bound with Chains of Darkness and Eternal Damnation had not Christ put himself in our stead to be both thus bound and Wounded for our Transgressions Isa 53.5 Our Sins are laid on him The 3d Cause why our Lord was bound in Respect of God's Counsel was not only that he might be bound in our room who had deserved worse Bonds but also that by His bonds we might be loosed His binding was our loosing as he became our Surety He looseth us from the Bondage of Satan Sin and Death He looseth us 1. From the Chain of Condemnation Rom. 8.1 this is done at our Conversion which is a knocking off that Chain so it becomes very painful to many c. 2. From the Chain of Corruption delivering us from the hand of those Spiritual Enemies that we may serve him without fear Luke 1.72 this is that Body of Sin which made Paul cry out Oh wretched Man c. Rom. 7.24 c. that bond of Iniquity Acts 8.23 that chains up Sinners so fast they cannot move or do any thing for God or Godliness till this latter Chain be broke by Christ we cannot be freed from the former Chain N. B. Note well Was Christ bound for us our Vows and Covenants must bind us to him Ezek. 4.8 The 3d Particular is As they took him and bound him so they led him away bound as a Sheep to the Slaughter and as a dumb Lamb c. Isa 53.7 and this they did with so much rudeness as that some say they doused him in the Waters as they led him through the Brook Kidron However their Rage and Fury was so great in leading him away that the Evangelists themselves give two clear intimations thereof The first is that in Mark 14.51 52 c. Their furious outrage awakened an honest young man out of his Sleep in the Dead time of the Night who loved Christ so well that he followed him in his Shirt when it was so cold a Night that Petâr was forced to the fire to warm him N. B. Note well I am afraid we have few such good Young Men now as will follow Christ in their Shirts especially a persecuted Christ when all the Disciples those great Preachers were fled from him Few will leave their warm Beds their wearing Cloaths their All as be did save only his Shirt whereas any small matter will keep many of us from following of Christ who ãâã ââsfured greater matters for us Now such was the fury of those Souldiers that pâââââing him to be a favourer of Christ they presently laid hold on him which âeâs their design was to lay hold on all Christ's Disciples c. N. B. Note Well And thus the World still deals with friends to Religion but the Young Man left his Shirt in their hands as Joseph did his Coat in his Mistress's hand and fled away naked having no call to stay and supposing himself not to have sufficient strength to suffer and rather than betray Christ by staying he loses his All and wisely ran away The Second Intimation expressed by the Evangelists of their Fury and Fierceness is their tossing Christ too and fro from place to place leading him up and down first to Annas and then to Cajaphas John 18.13 24. and indeed the whole History of his Passion holds forth nothing but outragious violence towards him the Devil their Rider Whipping and Spurring them endways hurrying him first to one High-Priest then to another then to Pilate then to Herod and back-again to Pilate amongst whom the Saviour of the
or for him 2. He knew himself among Fools so according to Solomons Sentence would not speak in their Ears for they would despise the Wisdom of his words Prov. 23.9 3. He saw that his Desperate Enemies about him were resolved to have his blood and therefore held it more glorious to choak their Malice with silence and to set them down by saying nothing But above all 4. Though he could have non-plus'd them as he did the Doctors at twelve years Old and oft after by his Answers yet now standing in our stead is content to be Condemned for our faults tho' faultless in himself this being the time not of Defence but of Silence and Suffering that Gods grace might be accomplished he as a Sheep before the Shearer opened not his Mouth Isa 53.7 To teach us Wisdom and Patience c. Psal 38.13 14. Not Answer all Accusations c. Now when Caiphas could have no Answer from Christ either to the false Witnesses or to himself he then Extorts one by Adjuring him and such an one as might seem plausible and effectual for Condemning him saying I Adjure thee by the living God c. Matth 26.63 Caiphas's catching question was Twofold 1. Art thou the Christ or the Messiah 2. Art thou the Son of God If thou be silent or tell not the truth then God by whom thou art Adjured will punish thee or however the Magistrate shall Condemn thee for thy contempt of Authority Thus this abominable Hypocrite dare pollute and prophane that Tremendous Name of God so called Deut. 28.58 Calling it in as the Author or at least the Abettor of his Notorious Plots and Practises yea one would think as this story is Related Mar. 14.61 That Caiphas was some Conscientious Person Asking art thou the Baruch Hu or the Blessed one or his Son using this Periphrasis as if he had been afraid once to Name God Yet presently after Adiures our Lord by the living God to tell him who he was whereas the Devil himself could have told him Mar. 1.24 3.11 an Answer to both his questions but he asked this not out of any desire to know the truth but to insnare him by his words for if he denyed it then had he been a Deceiver of the People that believed him to be so and if he made a free and bold Confession as he plainly did Mar. 14.62 of the Truth then they resolved to Condemn him as a Blasphemer as they presumptuously did ver 64. for making himself the Son of God at which this wicked wretch rent his Clothes which an High Priest ought not by the Law to have done upon any Reason Levit. 10.6 21.10 as if his very Heart had been rent with Grief at so sad an Hearing of such a Sacred Truth Though Christ told the Council he was now in his State of Abasement the Son of God was hid in the Carpenters Son whom they Arraign and would shortly Crucifie but they shall see him in a State of Advancement coming in the Clouds of Heaven as in a Chariot of State and then would he Judge those that were now his Judges Besides this he had given all Men the most undeniable Demonstrations of his Deity in his many Miracles the like whereof were never wrought by any mere Mortal Man c. John 9.32 c. This brings in the third part of Christs Sufferings from wicked Men to wit his Condemnation which was first done in this Ecclesiastical Court upon the Ingenuous Confession of our Lord before his Implacable Enemies when the glory of God was deeply concerned that he might leave them without all Excuses teaching us not to deny him before Men when Gods Glory lies at Stake c. And likewise to comfort us against our Sufferings for as Christ comforted himself now with his Future Glory so we if we suffer with him shall also Reign with him 2 Tim. 2.11 12. Matth. 19.28 The Sentence of Condemnation was first Denounced against Christ in the Spiritual Court by Caiphas who openly declared his good Confession so called 1 Tim. 6.13 to be Blasphemy and then demands the Concurrence of the whole Council who like a company of Servile Souls durst do no other but concur with Caiphas Unanimously crying He is Guilty of Death and under the pretence of that Law Levit. 24.16 He was Condemned by them all Matth. 26.65 66. and Mar. 14.64 N.B. Note well This may comfortably assure us that the Second Adam who was very God yet Cendemned for saying so hath freed us from that Crime of Blasphemy we stand guilty of for the first Adams affecting a Deity and to be as God Gen. 3.5 For though Christ was most free of Blasphemy and of all other sins yet because we in whose stead Christ now stood are guilty thereof and of all sorts of sin therefore was it the Determinate Counsel of God that our Surety should have this Sentence of Condemnation passed upon him for our sakes and this is done in a General Assembly of Graceless Hypocritical Priests pretending Marvelous zeal for the Glory of God while intending to Murther the Son of God who could well enough agree all in one to Condemn this Innocent Jesus Though the Innocency of his Life had been such that none of them could convince him of one sin Jehn 8.46 But when he was brought before this Court N. B. Note well the whole Sanhedrim were to seek for Witnesses the Witnesses for Crimes the Crimes for proofs and the proofs for Concord they were all and in all these at a loss and could find nothing for their Malicious purpose So that Caiphas was constrained to take a new uncouth and in all Courts of Judicature an unaccustomed way of Adjureing him to Answer who he was that he might intrap him in his own words which when Christ had confessed in an undeniable Truth knowing they were Resolved to have his Life Right or Wrong and Summoning his present Judges to appear at his own dreadful Tribunal at the Day of Judgment which would make them mourn Zech. 12.10 This great Truth which they called Blasphemy was the only Crime for Condemning him Though Caiphas Rent his Priestly Robes at this pretended Blasphemy N. B. Note well yet did it signifie the rending of the Priest-Hood from him which he forfeited by this unlawful Act as before like as the rending of the Vail of the Temple at Christs Death was a sign of the rending away the whole Jewish Worship from the Jewish Nation While Caiphas was thus personating the Tragedy of others he did but really act his own and his Accomplices Now after this unjust Condemnation of Innocent Jesus Let us a little behold how he was abused in the Spiteful Court before they delivered him up to the Secular Powers as the Lord commands in the Law N. B. Note well that the very Ashes and Cinders of the Burnt Sacrifices should be gathered up and laid in a clean place Levit. 4.12 6.11 Numb 19.9 So in the same
the Wound in the Wounded Man But this Mystery Christian Religion assureth us of though there never was a President in Nature That the Scourging and Wounding of one Man should cure Another yea a World of Men Women and Children but Behold the Man who was not only Scourged for our Sins but had also N. B. Note well 1st A Crown of Thorns platted upon his Head Mat. 27.29 John 19.5 1. To remember us of that direful Curse that first came into the World for Adam's Sin Gen. 3.18 The Curse began in Thorns and ended in Thorns for Christ the Second Adam by wearing this Crown of Thorns which was the first fruits of the Curse took away the Sin and Curse of all his Redeemed People whence we learn farther that 2. Christ's Kingdom was not of this World for then had it been a Crown of Gold and not a Crown of Thorns And 3. That the Members of Christ must not expect a Crown of Glory in this lower Life 't is Reserved for a better World the Crown of Thorns must be expected here below Non decet sub capite spinato membra vivere in Delicijs Saith Bernard it is not fit Seeing the Head was Crowned with Thorns that the Members should be Crowned with Rose-bâds saith Zanchy or live in Delights and Wouldly Pleasures But 4. To Teach us that seeing Christ wore a Crown of Thorns for our sakes and for our Sins and not for his own in the way of his Patience we should therefore for Requital set a Crown of Gold upon his Head as the Spotise in âhe Song did Cant. 3.11 In the way of Obedience These Thorns being puâgitive prickly and share as the point of a Sword so the word signifies must needs be extream sensible especially considering that his Body being made of the finest Temper and Tenderest Constitution easily touched with the least hurt N. B. Note well 2dly Behold the Man again How he was Arrayed iâ Scarlet being first stripped of his own ordinary wearing Garments Mat. 27.28 a Purple Robe they put upon his when stripped Maââ 15.17 30. John 19 2. being a Coat of that colour which did only counterfeit the colour of Purple or Scatlet and was possibly some Thread-bare Garment of a Red-Coat Soldier but suppose it were some Old Coat that had been used in Triumphs or in Sacrificing c. yet could it be no better than a Vile Vestment because it was put on to mock Christ and to please Caesar as well as those Kill-Christs However this was not done without a marvellous Providence of God to teach us 1. That the Second Adam must be stripped naked both to be scourged and to have this Mock-Royal Garment put upon him that He might make an expiation for that Primitive nakedness which the first Adam contracted by his first Sin Gen. 3.7 10. Thus was Joseph a type of Jesus stripped by his Brethren Gen. 37.23 Because his Parti-coloured Chat was an Eye-Sore to them c. 2. They make Christ a Mock-King here by thus Arraying him for he was indeed a King but an obscure one as was Melchiââdeck yet his Kingdom comes not with Observation and oh that it may be within us Luke 17.20 21. N. B. Note well 3dly Behold the Man again How a Reed for a Scepter was put into his Right Hand Mar. 27.29 c. Thus they made a Mock-King of Christ the King of Saints Rev. 15.3 Accoutring the Son of God like a Fool in a Play So do all those still in this day who will not submit to the Scepter of his Spiritual Kingdom and give him full Soveraignty over their Souls and Consciences but at the best serve him only with Carnal Commandments in their Ceremonial Worship All this History hath a Mystery in it signifying how Satan mocks the Souls of Mankind as Christ was plaid upon in these three last Stage-Play Accoutrements the Mock-Robe the Mock-Crown and the Mock-Scepter Thus Sinful Souls are Mocked by Satan 1. In their Vain Ostentation of Worldly Grandeur whereof the Purple Robe the Vestment of Potentates was a Badge c. 2. In a Greedy Affectation of Worldly Wealth which is intimated by the Crown of Thorns for Riches are the Thorns which choak the Seed of the Word slily and subtilly Mat. 13.22 over-topping the Corn harbouring Vermin-Lusts and at last pricking the Consciences of those that do grasp those Thorns too greedily Vitijs Divitijs Vices and Riches in the Latine Tongue are near a Kin in Name and Nature 3. In the Vanity of Worldly Wisdom which is denoted in this Reed fair and smooth to behold but hollow and empty within better to look upon than to lean upon it He that leans upon his own Understanding or Worldly Wisdom Prov. 3.5 leans upon a broken Reed which though it want substance may sufficiently serve to Pierce into his Hands and into his Heart also Isa 36.6 c. N. B. Note well We read that Christ in Scripture had a threefold vestment 1. That at his Birth when his own Mother though newly delivered and much weakened with her Travel had such love for her Son as be at the pains to wrap him in Swadling clothes to keep him warm Luk. 2.7 this was the badge of his Poverty for though he was born King of the Jews as the Three Wise Men of the East styled him yet was he wrapped up in poor ragged clouts as the Word there signifies not in the best but basest place in the Inn. His 2d Was here at his Passion a Vestment of Vileness and a badge of contempt cast upon him in this Red-Coat which his Step-Mother Cant. 3.11 The Jewish Synagogue got him scornfully Arrayed with c. His 3d Was after at his Resurrection when Christ clothed himself with Honour and Majesty Psal 104.1 2. prodigiously splendid must needs Christ the Lord of Angels be at his Resurrection when at that time the Angel who was but Christ's Servant had a Countenance like Lightning and his Raiment as white as Snow Mat. 28.3 with which dazling Lustre and Majesty he frighted all the Priest's Guard of Souldiers away and himself sat down upon the Tomb-stone as a Conqueror Though his Body was Sown in Weakness yet was it Raised in Power c. 1 Cor. 15.43 and in as great Glory as he had in his Transfiguration a Type hereof Accordingly Christ had a threefold Crown 1. This of Thorns a Crown of Grief and Disgrace 2. A Crown of Grace in the Gospel Conquering and to Conquer Rev. 6.2 And 3. A Crown of Gold and of Glory Rev. 14.14 we should go forth and behold the Man thus three times crowned the first by his Step-Mother the two last by his Heavenly Father Cant. 3.11 Lastly When they had thus Adorned Christ like a Puppy Pageant then follows their Ludibrious Homage they Pay to their Stage-Play-King 1. Bowing the Knee to him which Dissembled Prostration was the most palpable evidence of their stiff-neckned Hearts and the plainest posture of
the profoundest scorn as appeareth 2. In their saluting him scoffingly with Hail King of the Jews Mat. 27.29 Thus pretending to Worship him while they were Intending to worry him And such Ludibrious Devotion do all Hypocrites pay to our Lord Christ to this day Drawing nigh to him in their many Cringings with their Bodies but still have their Hearts far from him Isa 29.13 Displeasing Devotion is a double Dishonour as dissembled Sanctity is a double Iniquity 3. When they had thus made a Laughing-stock of Christ then they Spit in his Face as if that had been the worst place they could find to Spit upon whereas the Spouse highly extols it to be White and Ruddy his Cheeks as a Bed of Splees his Lips like Lillies and his Countenance Transcendently Comely and Altogether Lovely Cant. 5.10 13 16. Yet was he content to be Spit upon to cleanse our Faces from the filth of Sin Thus doth Prophaneness cast Dirâ and Drivel still into the Face of Christ which he will wipe off with a vengeance upon such Villains sooner or later c. If Job complained of this Affront done to him by the worst of Abjects who durst not converse with Humane Society because of their Out-lawries against them for their notorious Misdemeanours yet spared not to Spit in the very Face of Job who was a Prince in his Country Job 30.5 10 c. How much more will in due time Almighty Jesus Jude ver 14 15 c. 4. N. B. Note well That these Barbarous Miscreants not without the good liking of their Lords and Masters the Priests c. might spare for no kind of cruelty to Christ They smote him with their Hands This John addeth to the Affronts John 19.3 Thus our Lord gave his Cheek to the Smiters Lam. 3.30 Isa 50.6 and because they could not do him Mischief enough by smiting him with their Fists they strike him who was the Judge of the Earth upon the Cheek with a Rod Mic. 5.1 They smote him with a Cane upon the Head Mat. 27.30 which blows say the Antients forced the Crown of sharp Thorns so much into his Head round about as the pricks thereof made no fewer than seventy two Wounds in his Head All this it cost Christ in gathering up All the Curse in the Thorns for Adam's Sin Gen. 3.18 and taking it upon himself wearing it for a Garland as an Ensign of Victory c. They beat him as a Fool for Aspiring after a Kingdom as they thought foolishly and unduly The 4th Remark is Pilate's compliance with the mad crew in condemning Christ to be Crucified though he had no fewer than four times absolved him as Innocent Mat. 27.23 24. Luke 23.14 22. Mark 15.14 John 18.38 19.4 which shews N. B. Note well That he who is not throughly resolved to resist every known sin against all Dangers and Difficulties will undoubtedly yield to it at last though he hath made before some considerable resistance as Pilate did here who acted not herein from a living principle within him but only from the Restraint of his Natural Conscience to so foul a fact as before as likewise from outward Motives which made him for a while stand very stiff for Acquiting Christ As 1. His Wife's Dream Matth. 27.19 which some say came from the Devil for hindring Mans Redemption But others think better that it was a Divine not a Diobolical Dream sent from God providentially for vindicating Christs Innocency even while he stood at the Barr of a Pagan Judge yea Theophylact says further God sent his Dream non ut Solveretur Christus Sed ut Salvaretur uxor not for the Deliverance of his own Dear Son but for the Salvation of this Womans Soul However Pilate's Wife was so far Extraordinarily Inspired that she sent to him this Message Have nothing to do with that Just One which Teacheth us N. B. Note well 1. However natural Dreams be yet God can make use of them for his own Ends for clearing his Sons Righteousness that though he were Condemned afterward yet our Justification from sin might more clearly shine forth when it thus was made Apparent Christs Condemnation was for our sins and not at all for his own c. The Great God over-rules Natural and Diabolical as well as Orders Divine Dreams as here Pilate's Wife was troubled in her Sleep about the Injuries and Injustice done to Innocent Jesus and Pilate must have notice hereof while he sat upon the Bench just ready for fear of a Tumult to pass that most sinful Sentence against our Saviour the most Just Jesus And though this seasonable Advertisement did not move Pilate so far as to set Christ free from suffering for God had otherwise Determined it Acts 4.27 Yet doth he openly proclaim Christ's Innocency And this Teaches 2. ly N. B. Note well That it is the Duty of Wives to do what in them lyeth for hindring their Husbands from committing sin as Pilate's Wife did him She may rise up in Judgment against such Wives as do not only neglect this Duty but also do promote and strength their Husbands Hands in ways of Wickedness as Jezabel did Ahab whereas their Wise Conversation should prepare and even pave a way for their Husband's Conversion 1 Pet. 3.1 2 3. That they may not only hinder them from Hell but also help them to Heaven This they ought to do seasonably as Pilate's Wife did in a good season just when her Husband was going into sin and so Abigal stop'd David just when he was going to shed blood 1 Sam. 25.31 32. for which he blest his God So the Ass stop'd Balaam from sin if it be a Wife that stops us from doing evil we should not say we scorn the Voice or Advice of a Woman 't is below a Man to do so but rather as Abraham we must hearken to the Voice of the Wife Gen. 21.12 13. Though it seems Grievous to us yea though it be the Voice but of an Ass bless God for an hindring Ass c. N. B. Note well Because Pilate hearkened not to the Voice of his Wife in this Divine Admonition effectually but acted the contrary at the last was he not therefore by a just Judgment of God upon him kick'd off the Bench by the Emperour Tiberius Soon after this he was Accused by those very Jews whom he had now gratified was degraded and divested of all his Honours so Banished to Vienna in Germany where discontents with his own Disgrace and Ingloriousness drove him to Destroy himself with his own hands c. as History relateth Eusebius c. The 2d Outward Motive that for a while did with hold Pilate from condemning Christ was Christ's wonderful and strange silence at all the slanderous Accusations cast upon him by his malicious Adversaries at the Bar when Christ's Life was so nearly and deeply concerned The Devil could say to God Skin for skin and all a man hath will he give for his Life Job 2.4
the Camp to shew that he was the true Piacular and Satisfactory Sacrifice not only for the Jews within but also for the Gentiles without the Pale Heb. 13.11 12 13. This Golgotha or Calvary was a filthy noisom place where not only the Garbage of the City but also the Skulls and Bones of Malefactors formerly Executed lay to offend both Christ's Sight and Smell Fourthly They Compel Simon of Cyrene to bear the small end of the Cross after Jesus if not the whole Tree Luke 23.26 'T is easie to suppose that by this time our Lord must faint under the Burden his Agony in the Garden his being Tossed too and fro and toiled all Night by the Soldiers one while before Caiaphas and another while before Pilate his Scourges Buffets c. must needs spend him very much Now is he no longer able to bear the Cross None of the Multitude for shame would help him N. B. Note well The Death of the Cross was so abhorred of all no Jew would touch the Cross no nor this Simon whom some suppose to be a Cyrenian-Gentile therefore was he compelled to do it Mat. 27.32 Luke 23.26 coming fresh out of the Field or Country him they lay hold of lays the low end upon him not so much for the easing of a fainting Christ as to hasten the Execution and to keep him alive till he came to it Hence have we these many Remarks 1st That Christ was thus stripped twice to Expiate the Sin which brought the shame of Nakedness upon the First Adam and that we may be clothed with the Robes of his Righteousness And that he might bring us to Paradise out of which Adam was cast as soon as he was clothed c. The 2d Remark is Christ was Mocked in three places 1. In the House of the High-Priest Luke 22.63 2. In the Hall of Herod Luke 23.11 And 3. In Pilate's place of Judicature Mat. 27.31 Mark 15.20 This was done while the Cross war making ready and the Inscription was a fixing upon it He was mocked of Wicked Men that we might be commended by the Most Holy God 2 Cor. 10.18 and have his Euge Mat. 25.34 This shews Priests Princes Presidents as well as People are all mockers of Christ The 3d Remark is We are naturally backward and hang off shrinking in the Shoulder and all of us come off heavily when we are called upon to take up our Cross and follow Christ Mat. 16.24 as Simon here did who was compelled to carry it after Christ and as Peter was Pinioned and carried Prisoner whither he would not John 21.18 This cannot be done till Carnal-Self be denied and undone c. The 4th Remark is Believers have communion with Christ in bearing the Cross as Simon here who did but bear up the smaller and lighter end thereof upon his Shoulders the Cross and heavier end lay still upon the Shoulders of Christ N. B. Note well This may be very comfortable to us to consider that while we are filling up the Afflictions of Christ Col. 1.24 and bearing his Cross yet the heavier end lyes upon him remember Christ has a great load and burden already add not but be sparing of Sin Our part is but the Small End yea the Chips and Shivers of his Cross The 5th Remark is We must go out of the Camp of Sin and out of the Vanities of the World to come to the right Altar c. Heb. 13.10 12 13. The Jews Law was that such as were put to Death it should be done without the Camp Numb 15.35 and without the City 1 Kin. 21.13 when our Lord Christ is made Furcifer a bearer of his Cross Murmur not at any Indignities or Expulsions put upon us The 6th Remark is Let us put all our Sins upon the Head of this Holy Oblation Lev. 16.27 Christ went out of the Old Jerusalem to bring us into the New and to fit us for the Society of Angels After the Preambles come the Concomitants of Christ's Execution the 1st is the place where Now is Christ brought to Golgotha where the Antients say Adam was Buried and where Abraham offered his Son Isaac that place of a Skull not only to encourage us in suffering for Christ in the worst of places as he did for us but also to assure us that his Death is Life to the Dead As in Adam all dye so in Christ all are made Alive 1 Cor. 15.22 Hereupon saith Epiphanius we may marvel that our Lord was Crucified in Golgotha the place where Adam's Body lay Buried for saith he when Adam was cast out of Paradise he went in his wandrings to the place where Jerusalem was after built and there dying he was buried in this very ground called Calvary because his Skull was found there thence had it this Denomination The Place of a Skull In this History saith he there is a Mystery that the Second Adam should be Crucified in the same place where the First Adam lay Buried denoting how the Blood Christ shed upon the Cross besprinkled the Relicks of our First Father and thereby all that Defilement derived from the first Sin upon all Mankind is purged away To this Opinion as to a Truth do Athanasius de passione Domini Cyprian de Resurrectione Ambrose in Luke 23. and Theophylact in Mat. 27 c. All unanimously subscribe so that Origen who first improved this Tradition stood not alone in this quaint and curious Notion N. B. Note well However this is most certain Christ was Crucified in this base stinking place on Earth that he might purchase a better place for us in Heaven Abel whom Cain decoyed into the Field and there kill'd him was a Type hereof so was Isaac as above and Joseph whom they cast into a Pit and the Brazen Serpent lifted up upon a Pole in the Wide Wilderness Gen. 4. and 22 37. Numb 21. to this unclean place is our Lord hurried out of Jerusalem as a Prophane and Unhallowed Person unworthy to Abide in that so called Holy Cty Mat. 27.53 The 2d Concomitant Circumstance is the Company that came along with Christ to his Place of Suffering Besides the Rude Rabble which mocked him as a Malefactor after the Rudest manner there were a great Multitude of Good Souls that Abhorred the Rabble's Rudeness and condoled with Christ in all these his Sorrows and Sufferings Luke 23.27 28 c. especially a multitude of Weeping Women to whom he had been a blessed Benefactor which the Evangelist nameth not yet some of them are named Mat. 27.56 to those disconsolate ones Christ speaks comforting words Weep not for me that is do not ye condole my Death because I most willingly lay down my Life and most freely undergo my Death which I shall in a short time conquer by my Resurrection and unless I Dye ye cannot Live neither Spiritually nor Eternally But weep for your selves admonishing that they would have greater and more grievous cause to bewail their own cases and
Draught thereof never Thirst any more after any of the Vanities of the World or Villanies of Sin 4. He Thirsted that we may Drink better Drink as we do daily c. The 6th Of the last words of Christ upon the Cross was It is Finished when Jesus therefore had received the Vinegar he said it is finished John 19.30 Then had he no more work to do or Suffer not to Descend into Hell either in Soul or in Body as some Romanists say As the Vinegar was the last bitter Dose he received from the wicked Hands of those Villains So the Receit thereof was the last bitter part of his Unparallel'd Passion The first time of their offering him Vinegar before he was Nailed to the Cross he received it not but only Tasted thereof and did not drink it up for he left the rest wherein his Redeemed must pledge him of the same bitter Cup filling up the measure of the Afflictions of Christ Col. 1.24 but here he drinks all off to shew that he took the whole Curse for Sin into himself so that now N.B. Note well our Sufferings by Afflictions for our Sinnings against God come not in the Nature of a Curse but of a Cure They are more Medicinal than Penal and there is rather a Spiritual Remedy than any Divine Vengeance now in them they come now all out of Divine Faithfulness as David saith I know that out of thy very Faithfulness thou O God doth Afflict me Psal 119.75 As if he had said Lord thou wouldst not be Faithful to my Soul unless thou hadst thus and thus Afflicted my Body The ground of our being Afflicted is now offended love and the end thereof is fuller Embracements Jer. 31 18.20 All our Sorrows and Sufferings as they come to us through the Sufferings of Christ as through a Colature Sile or Strainer they leave the Curse behind them there our Dear Redeemer drank up all that Vinegar leaving none of it for us it was our Saviour solely that fully satisfied God's Justice for Man's Sins by his Meritorious and Mediatory Sufferings and left not the least part thereof unsatisfied for us to satisfie by any Sufferings of ours The Lord looked upon the Travel of his Soul and was satisfied with all our Souls Isa 53.11 N. B. Note well So that if Inquiry be made what must be the Antecedent to this Relative It in this saying of our Dying Saviour it is finished the Answer in general must be that full Satisfaction to God's Justice for Man's sin was now fully satisfied when our Redeemer received this last bitter Potion of the Vinegar all the parts of his unparallel'd Passion were now Accomplished save only his commending his Spirit into his Father's Hands he had nothing now to do but to Die and to give up the Ghost N. B. Note well But more particularly what is said to be finished here must have a beginning and an Intervening midle as well as end or finishing Now the beginning of Christ's Passion was at the beginning of his Incarnation when he Divested himself of that Divine Glory which he had with the Father before the World was John 17.5 and puts on him the the Form of a Servant Phil. 2.6 7. in his Humane Nature and the Intervening Midle from his Cradle to his Cross was a continued Series of Suffering all his Life long both in the Private and in the Publick part thereof his whole life was indeed as is above said but a lingring Death he was designed by bloody Herod to Die so soon as he began to Live and this Diabolical design for Destroying him was carryed on uncessantly by the Scribes Pharisees and Priests even all his Days But now when his Hour was come for Finishing his Passion behold the Man how many little Deaths he endured in his Agony Buffetings Scourgings Mockings c. before he came to Die that worst of Deaths even the Death of the Cross N. B. Note well Behold how Commensurate was the Second Adam's Passion to the First Adam's Transgression Adam had sinned in Paradise the most pleasant place in the World and his sin consisted in seeing the loveliness of the forbidden Fruit in his Touching and Tasting it for the Eating of which he was Derided by God with an Holy Derision Gen. 3.22 't is an Ironical Irrision Man is become as one of us for his vain Affectation of Aspiring unto a Deity What God speaks there Laughing we all should always Read with Weeping for Hinc Illae lacrimae from hence sprung in all Misery and Mischief upon Mankind this foul Fact of his Eating Forbidden Fruit plainly opens Pandora's Box as the Poets feign from Moses's Pentateuch and pulled up the Sluce to let in an Inundation of Sin and Misery and all Evils to fly out upon us N. B. Note well Behold how the Circumstances of Christ's Suffering do wonderfully Correspond and carry an Accommodated contrary proportion proportionable in those points to Adam's sinning As 1. His place of sinning was the best place even Paradise so Christ's place of Suffering was the worst place in the World even Calvary call'd so from Calvus or Bald-pate 2 Kin. 2.23 24. This Calvary or Golgotha was a place of Skulls such as were Bald all the Hair being rotted off a stinking place for our Sweet Saviour to Suffer in 2. As Adam sinned by seeing the lovely look of the Forbidden Fruit Gen. 3.6 So our Saviour suffered by seeing this sad Spectacle of such an Heap of Bald Skulls No doubt but his Tender Heart was much Afflicted with beholding so doleful a sight seeing such a Slaughter of Men was all made by sin 3. As Adam finned in pleasant Touching so Christ to Expiate Adam's sin was not only touched with our Infirmities Heb. 2.17 4 15. but also had the Torturing Touches of the wicked one 1 John 5.18 in his Torments upon the Cross 4. As Adam sinned in his sweet Tasting so did Christ Tast not only of the Vinegar mingled with Gall but Drank up the Second Dose thereof yea and Tasted the bitterness of Death for every Man Jew and Gentile Heb. 2.9.5 As Adam was derided for vainly affecting a Deity so Christ was mocked for saying truly he was the Son of God c. And he was mocked for many other Crimes yet doth he challenge his mockers to convince him of any sin John 8.46 besides 6. The second Adam Died in the same Day of the Week and at the same Hour of the Day as is noted before to bring Life into the World that the first Adam sinned and brought Death into it thereby The 7th and last of the seven last words or sayings of our Blessed Saviour upon the Crââs was Father into thy Hands I commend my Spirit Luke 23.46 This was the lasâ of all our Saviour's Sayings for immediately after he had so said while he was yet living under his six Hours Torments upon the Cross and having a power to lay down his Life when himself pleased John
necessary it is to compare all the four Evangelists together for compleating the whole Account of the Life and Death of our Dear Lord. And this Evangelist John assures us of this great Truth as being an Eye-witness of this double Witness in the blood and Water John 19.34 35. No more than what he saw with his Eyes doth the declare to us 1 John 1.3 He saw one of the Souldiers pierce the sides of Christ after he had given up the Ghost with a Spear and forthwith came there out Blood and Water which the same Author in his first Epistle calls the two things that bore Record or Testimony upon Earth This is he that came by Water and Blood not by Water only but by Blood also 1 John 5.6 Here was the foretold Fountain opened Zech 13 1â even the sides of our Saviour to wash away Man's sin and uncleanness The God of Nature hath in such Wisdom qualified the Natural Heat of Man's Heart that nor only the Lungs are so placed as to blow cool Air upon it but also it is Situated as in a Vessel of water called the Pericardium for the Farther cooling of it and this is a Received Rule among all Learned Naturalists that if this Pericardium or skin of water about the Heart be pierced it is impossible for the Heart which is the prâmum vivens ultimum Moriens the first part that lives and the last that dies in Mankind should preserve life in it any longer So that this Wound the Souldier gave our Saviour in his side was a most manifest witness of the Death of Christ and as the Water and Blood did Represent the two Gospel-Sacraments Baptism and the Lord's Supper which did properly flow from the sides of Christ all the other five Mock-Sacraments in the Romish Church flowed only from the sides of Antichrist so they Resembled the two Grand Graces the Water had the Resemblance of the Grace of Sanctification and the Blood of the Grace of Justification These two Graces this beloved Disciple would not have divided each from other Therefore he saith that Christ came by both not by Water only but by blood also To shew that we are both Sanctified and Justified by the Death of our Dear Jesus the water of our Sanctifying grace washes us from the filth of sin and the Blood of Justifying Grace cleanseth and purgeth us from the guilt of sin And seeing we are but in part and not throughly Sanctified for there is ever some remaining Corruption uncleansed Joel 3.21 c. and 't is only carryed on gradually and as it were by Inches therefore the main matter of the Joy of our Salvation consisteth more in our being Justified because the grace of Justification is one gracious Act changing our State of Wrath at one instant into a State of Favour with God and spreading a Mantle as it were to cover out of God's sight the Multitude of our black sins past present and to come by the Red Robes of our Redeemers Righteousness imputed to us So that this blood and water hold forth both the imputed and the imparted Righteousness of Christ and what our Lord hath joyned together that let no Man put asunder No Man can be truly made partaker of that Righteousness which is imputed unless he have also that which is imparted our Sanctification is a blessed Evidence of our Justification We have not need of the blood only but of the water also And tho' this Apostle in 1 John 5.8 make three Witnesses on Earth the Spirit Water and Blood yet he saith these three agrees in one for Gods Spirit doth witness with our Spirits that we are truly Justified and Sanctified by Christ Rom. 8.15 16. And this is highly Remarkable that these Kill-Christ's can do nothing against him but as God had Decreed they may kill him and wound him when killed but the least bone in this Paschal Lambs Body they cannot break as it is written Exod. 12.46 Numb 9.12 No more can Satan or his Imps break the least bone of Christ's Mystical Body his Church Let us now take a general prospect of the Death of our Dear Redeemer and make some profitable Inferences from the Sundry Circumstances thereof The 1. Inference is Oh! What an heinous Evil an only Evil Ezek. 7.5 a very bitter thing Jer. 2.19 is sin that could by no possible means admit of any proportionable Expiation or Commensurate satisfaction for it but either by the Death of the Son of God the sinners Surety or by enduring the Eternal Flames of Hell in the sinners themselves every Man as well as the first Man Adam hath eaten the Forbidden Fruit of Sin and the Divine Doom for that Crime of High Treason against the Great God of Heaven the King of Kings is dreadfully Denounced in the open Court of the Holy Scriptures to wit that the Sinner shall surely Die either by himself or or by his Surety There is an infinite offence in every Act of sin as it is acted against the Authority of an Infinite God And should the sinner live for ever upon Earth he would sin for ever against Heaven therefore Eternal Torments are appointed for that Eternal principle of sinning in the faln sinner to satisfie Divine Justice And such suitable satisfaction thereunto the Highest and most Glorious of all the Created Angels in Heaven much less any Mortal Man or the Mightiest Monarch upon Earth could not possibly undertake to make No it must be only the only Son of God that could pay down the full price of our Redemption The 2. Inference is Oh! what a sad case is this that of all Impenitent Ones and Unbelievers who have no interest in the Death of this Son of God who Dyed as the Son of Man to satisfie the Justice of God from the sins of Men These cannot say that Christ dyed for us as Gal. 2.20 c. He gave his Life a Ransom for many Matth. 20.28 But for none such as these and therefore they are like unless they Repent and Believe to bear the Eternal Wrath of God yea and it may be of Man for a while too in themselves which our Dear Redeemer hath born upon the Cross for all True Penitent and Believing Persons The 3. Inference is Oh! how Hateful and Sinful Rom. 7.13 should sin be to every Soul that cost our Saviour so much unparallel'd Sufferings to satisfie for it surely could we but take a view of sin as it lay on our Saviour's Back with such weight as to squeeze out his very Hearts blood out of his Body we should then hate it with a perfect Hatred for Torturing him whom our Souls love Nature teacheth us to avoid that Wound which is hardest to Cure and most Mortal to Life therefore do we guard to our utmost our Heads and Hearts with holding our Hands betwixt them and the Blows And should not Grace teach us to avoid sin which makes the worst Wound in the World as it wounds the Soul and
would stay Forty Days more upon Earth and so give her more opportunities of touching him before his Ascension Herewith she was satisfied knowing experimentally what an Heart grieved for want of Christ meant how costly and smarting this had been to her self and how desirous her self was of a ready relief therefore she ran quickly to tell Peter and John to comfort them who were now in the same grief they ran to the Sepulchre and she after them also c. 5thly Our Lord of a Truth is no respecter of Persons Acts 10.34 Male and Female are all one in Christ Gal. 3.28 Col. 3.11 Christ made his two first Appearances not to Males but to Females and why was this done but to shame his Disciples who were fled from him whereas those Good Women cleave close to him both while he was Living and when he was Dead therefore are they first honoured by his Appearances to them when he was Alive again Ambrose wittily Descants upon this saying Per os Mulieris mors antea processerat per os Mulieris Vita postea reparatur As by the Mouth of Eve did Death enter into the World at the first and a Woman was the first Minister thereof So by the Mouth of Mary Magdalen came the first Publication of its Reparation to Life and a Woman must be the first Messenger of it And therefore an Angel of Light doth Commune with a Woman about Man's Salvation Luke 1.28 to 36. as the Angel of Darkness had done with the first Woman about Man's fall Destruction Thus also or Lord here thought it not enough to remove the reproach cast upon that weaker Sex because the first Woman tempted Adam to Sin and for the due Advancement of Female Glory to Appear first to one of that Sex but his second Appearance must be made to several of that Sex also before he once Appear to any one Man Souls have no Sexes Though the Old Testament mention many Good Women yet the New doth mention more As Magdalen was honoured to tell Peter and John who returned to the City after they had run to the Sepulchre and saw no Christ but Mary staid till she saw him so the other Holy Women having Mary Magdalen also in their company as a Captain have the honour to tell all the Apostles c. Luke 24.9 10. When as the Apostles themselves took these Tidings as tatling Women's Talk and Idle Tales ver 11. True Faith is a great Work we can sooner believe Romances and Fables than we can the most Sacred Truths however Taught and Testified 6thly A Soul's meeting first with a lost Saviour is a very joyful meeting here our Lord saith to those Holy Women ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Avete Gaudese Rejoice ye or Peace be unto ye Great Peace and Joy have they that find again their lost Redeemer Behold those Truths here Mark 1st Prescribed means of Grace duly and truly improved will help the disconsolate Soul to find out a lost Saviour Those good Women are walking in that way which was prescribed to them by the Angel of God and in the way they meet him whom they wanted so may those Souls do that believe God's Word in the Mouths of his Messengers Mark 2d These Holy Women did not only believe the promise but also obey the command of God's Angel then Christ met them and confirmed them both in their Faith and Obedience commanding them to do the same things that the Holy Angel had commanded them Mat. 28.7 8 9 10. Such Souls as do believe and obey what Christ's Ministers call'd Angels âiâ them shall both meet with Christ and be farther confirmed in their duty by him Mark 3d. Such Souls though their best Faith be mixed with some fear shall not only find a lost Jesus but also a reward of their obedience and a remedy against their fear as these did to whom Christ said be not Afraid Mark 4th Humble Sinners may be homely with their Saviour yet find Acceptance with him as these Women did who took him by the Feet and held him there as loth to lose his Presence any more The Third Appearance of Christ was to the two Disciples Travelling to Emmaus to whom he Preached a stinging Sermon The Evangelist Mark toucheth upon this with bâevity Mark 16.12 But Luke relateth it in a large description Luke 24.13 to 32. which therefore requireth the more Inlargement upon it The 1st Remark here is The place whither these two Disciples were going to was Emmaus which signifieth a forlorn People being Sixty Furlongs or Seven Miles and a half to Jerusalem Some Antients say the Hot Baths for healing cold Diseases by Bathing in those Waters were found there and much frequented For the Hebrew words Cham-Majim signifies Hot Waters Whatever was the place sure I am those two Disciples went forlorn thither they staid not with Mary at the Sepulchre But their Evidence of Christ's Resurrection made them to return with Joy I omit other Descants upon the signification of the name Emmaus as it signifies an hastening Mother and likewise the City of Victory both which names do represent the Church our Mother who hasteneth to enter into the everlasting rest Heb. 4.9 and is the City of God that obtaineth Victory by her Faith 1 John 5.4 and the Church Militant at Emmaus passeth back to be Triumphant in Jerusalem which is above But whatever it signifies sure I am these two Disciples got a draught of the Cordial Waters of Life as they went to this Village of Hot Waters which made their Hearts burn within them Luke 24.32 The 2d Remark is the Persons Who they were Some say to this that these two Disciples were Cleopas and Luke That Cleopas was one of them is clear because he is named by Luke ver 18. But the other person cannot be Luke because the Evangelist in his Preface to his Gospel doth distinguish himself from others that had been Eye-Witnesses Luke 1.2 which he could not have done had he here seen the Lord. As Theophylact thinks it was Luke but amiss So Epiphanius affirms it was Nathaniel But Origen asserts it was Simon Peter with whom our Late Learned Criticks do concur Yet the general Sentiment both of the Antient and Modern Expositors is That these Disciples were two of the Seventy distinct from the Apostles whom Christ appointed as Assistants to them Luke 10.1 who likely as some say lived at Emmaus and were now walking home when the Passover-Solemnity was performed but meeting with this appearance of Chrisâ beyond expectation and to their Amazement they returned that Night to Jerusalem and found the Eleven there Assembled together Luke 24.33 Which some make an Argument to prove that the other was not Peter for then it had been Improper to say that one of the Eleven found the Eleven together The 3d Remark is The frame Christ found these two Disciples in which is laid down in two Circumstances 1. In their going from Christ and from the City