delights in viz. uprightnesse of Spirit your sighs and groans and tears and desires shall passe and be accepted instead of more full and ample performances 2 Cor. 8. 12. If there be first a willing minde it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not Mal. 3. 17. I will spare them as a man spareth his own sonne that serveth him Psal 51. 17. A broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise Zach. 4. 10. Who hath despised the day of small things 6. They have immunity from the terrour or coercive power of the Law Namely From the coercive power of the Law from obeying the commands of it upon the meer principles of slavish fear of the threatnings annexed unto the breach of the Law You do now obey the Law not as slaves but as sonnes not out of fear of wrath but out of love to your Father That Spirit of bondage Rom. 8. 15. and that spirit of fear 2 Tim. 1. 7. is removed and a spirit of love comes in the room thereof Though there were no rewards to allure and though there were no severe threats to terrifie you yet you would serve your God with willing minds and with willing hearts 2 Chron. 28. 9. Psal 110. 3. There is such a heavenly sutablenesse and superconnaturalnesse 'twixt the Law of your God and your hearts that it is your delight to meditate in it and to walk up unto it in all things there is no constraint on you but the love of your good God 7. They have immunity from the curse of the Law Christ hath redeemed us From the curse of the Law from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us Gal. 3. 13. Indeed afflictions and fatherly chastisements or corrections may befall the people of God in this life whom the Lord loveth he chastneth and scourgeth every sonne whom he receiveth Heb. 12. 6. but no curses befall them Though the cup be bitter yet there is no poyson in it though it be a crosse yet it is not a curse their wounds are healing wounds and their afflictions are instructions and their losses are their gains for nothing comes as a curse which doth us good 8. They have immunity from the Kingdome and power of darkness You are no From the Kingdome of darknesse longer under the Prince of the power of the Aire the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience Ephes 2. 2. The Divel is dispossessed and cast down and cast out he is still your enemy but he shall never be your Lord more he may tempt you and disquiet you but command and rule over you he shall never do Though the Divel be very busie and active with you yet he shall never regain possession never conâ—uer your graces never part you and your God never hinder you of your inheritance 9. They have immunity from death there is the first death and the second From death death or there is a three-fold death there is the death of the soul and the death of the body and the death of soul and body 1. Spiritual death that is the death of the soul 2. Corporal death that is the death of the body 3. Eternal death that is the death of soul and body Now all the people of God are freed from spiritual death by the grace of Christ and from eternal deaâ—h by the blood of Christ and from corporal death though not absolutely or simply yet respectively so far forth as sinne hath made it dreadful and our enemy and prejudicial to us Though you must dye yet your death is but your sleep and is but your strait passage into life The death of death is removed from you by the death of Christ Vide Heb. 2. 15. 1 Cor. 15. 55 56 57. O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory The sting of death is sinne and the strength of sinne is the Law but thanks be to God who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jâ—sus Christ 10. What can I say more they have immunity from all evil in this life and in the life to come you are freed or delivered from an evil conscience which never From all evil leaves accusing and condemnâ—ng from this present evil world and the corruptions thereof from every evil work and way from evil men from all the evil which remains for evil men in hell God in this Covenant secures you against all why what comforts are there in these things and what confidence and what encouragements and what support unto your souls Why do you fear so often and why are your hearts troubled Surely you do not know your selves to be the people of God or else you do not fully know the liberties and immunities of the people of God Sometimes you fear the heavy wrath of God but why do you so He is your God and your Father and full of compassions and loving kindnesses he will not deal with you as a revenging Judge but as a loving and merciful Father he is at peace with you and reconciled unto you Sometimes you fear the damnation and curse belonging unto sinne But why do you so Christ hath dyed and satisfied for your sinnes and he was made a curse for you and there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Sometimes you fear because of the powerful motions and conflicts and rebellions of sinne in your hearts but why do you so seeing that sinne shall not have dominion over you and Christ in you is daily mortifying and destroying the body of sinne neither shall any Lord reigne in you but your Saviour who dyed for you Sometimes you fear because of the imperfection of your graces but why do you so It is not your weaknesse or want of holinesse but Christs perfect righteousnesse which is imputed unto you for life and for justification Sometimes you fear because of the weaknesse of your obediential services and performances but why do you so your God in Covenant works all his works in you and he owns your persons and will accept the weakest offerings of an upright heart in and for Christ Sometimes you fear because of the strong temptations of Satan but why do you so grace sufficient shall be given unto you and your God will shortly bruise Satan under your feet Sometimes you fear men because of their malice and power and why do you so your God will restrain the rage of man and frustrate the counsels of the Heathen and break the armes of the ungodly and knows how to deliver you Sometimes you fear to dye but why are you afraid of death which is but the last Stile to go over and then you are at your Fathers house death to you is but an end of your sinnes and miseries and only a quick passage into your eternal happinesse Secondly The priviledges which you enjoy by being under the Covenant of grace Priviledges by being in Covenant by
Of all in the one and in the other are believers heirs you are heirs to mercy and grace and righteousness and comforts and salvation I think therefore that the belivers condition by vertue of his union with Christ is very comfortable and blessed 3. If you be by faith united unto Christ there remaines one comfort more Christ will accomplish and perform all that good unto us for you which is this That as you are thereby heirs of all the good mentioned and promised in the Covenant so all that good will Christ see accomplished and performed unto you for all the promises of God in him are yea and in him Amen 2 Cor. 1. 20. They are sure and certain are surely and certainly made good As God spake unto Jacob Gen. 28. 15. I will not leave thee untill I have done that which I have spoken to thee of So Jesus Christ unto whom you are united he will not cease untill you be actually possessed of all that good which his father promised unto him from all eternity and hath promised also unto you in time in his Covenant to bestow upon you And there are four things which may assure you of this viz. 1. The suretiship of Christ which implyes not only his undertaking for us to God but likewise the same for God to us that God shall really make good to us all which he hath promised unto us 2. The Intercession of Christ which is his everlasting work of applying all the good which he hath purchased 3. The Donation of his Spirit upon us for the communicating of all good unto us 4. The intention of his Merit and Purchase which he laid out in our names and for our good He merited no less for us than all that good in the Covenant No lesse than all outward benediction than all heavenly blessings than Justification Reconciliation Sanctification Consolation Perseverance and eternal Glory His Merit and purchase amounted to all this and not to lesse than this and as God is bound to give him what he hath purchased so he hath bound himself to bestow all this upon believers who are united to him Whosoever believes shall not perish but have everlasting life Joh. 3. 13. 5. The habitude 'twixt Christ as Head and believers as his Body and Members he is not perfect untill they be perfected And now I pray you that are believers be you your selves judges whether your union with Christ puts you not into a most comfortable and blessed condition seeing it brings you into union with God and every Person of the Trinity and makes you heirs of all the good in the Covenant all which God and Jesus Christ will see actually bestowed upon you I fear I was never united to Christ Object True will some say here is comfort enough for here is all that soules can wish or enjoy But truely the more you speak of this comfort from union with Christ the more sad and uncomfortable is my heart Because at least I fear that I never yet in truth attained unto this union of Faith why so 1. I was driven to look after Christ out of fear and out of the sense of wrath 2. Union with Christ supposeth separation from all that is contrary unto Christ Alas I finde the contrary a body of sinne still present with me 3. Union with Christ depends upon some mighty and powerfull workings of the Spirit which I never observed nor discerned in my soule 4. Union with Christ certainly includes the presence of the Spirit and the communion of the Spirit whether I have that I know not 5. I still live under weaknesses and wants but union with Christ would have let in more supply c. Sol. I will briefly speak unto these fears if possibly they may be removed For as it is my desire that you may by faith be brought to Christ so it shall be my endeavour that every soule united unto Christ may taste of those comforts which do belong to him in Christ I was driven to look after Christ out of fear 1. Object You fear that you are not rightly united to Christ because you were driven to look after Christ out of fear and sense of wrath whereas the union by faith is free and voluntary Answered Yet our union may be right Sol. Though this be true yet is it possible that your union with Christ may be right They in Acts 2. 37. were indeed by Faith united to Christ although the first work appearing in them was the sense of their sins and of Gods wrath for that sin and so was the Jaylor in Act 16. 30. effectually brought in to Christ although trembling of heart first seized on him and so was Paul in Act. 9. 6. Therefore distinguish thus of this matter 1. There is a difference 'twixt an occasion of looking after Christ and 'twixt a Distinguish 'twixt an occasion and a principle of union principle which unites to Christ The sense of sin and the fear of the wrath of God these are the occasion of your looking after Christ and had you not met with these it is most probable that you never had minded Christ And yet it was not this fear but faith which followed upon it that did unite you to Christ I say faith which saw the exceeding goodnesse and kindnesse and graciousnesse in Christ represented and offered and promised in the Gospel and thereupon drew your hearts to the prizing and desiring and receiving Christ with a most chearful and ready consent and will So that though at the first and occasionally some legal operations and impressions awakened your hearts to look after a Christ for deliverance yet it was the Gospel by the Spirit working faith in your troubled Distinguish 'twixt sense of sin and wrath considered alone and concomitantly hearts which brought and joyned you to Christ 2. Again you must distinguish 'twixt the sense of sin and wrath considered alone and considered concomitantly If the sense of sin and wrath alone did put you upon Christ and never any thing else this indeed were sad For when these alone put us upon Christ then we desire Christ no farther than a present help and ease against those evils which do distresse us but thus it is not with you though perhaps at the first your thoughts were fixed upon Christ only to deliver you from the wrathfull impressions in conscience yet upon the farther light and working of Gods Spirit your hearts are carried beyond these for you must now have a fruition of Christ you have now coveted an union with Christ and satisfied you cannot be without that near union and truely this is the effect of faith graciously given unto you from God 2. Object But union with Christ supposeth a separation from all that is contrary to Christ Is not sinne contrary to Christ and this I finde still Ergo Sol. I answer 1 but I finde no separation from sin Answered It is one thing for sin
people Ver. 34. And they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them saith the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more Jerem. 32. 39. I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me for ever for the good of them and their children after them Ver. 40. And I will make an everlasting Covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear into their hearts that they shall not depart from me Ezek. 11. 19. I will give them one heart and I will put a New Spirit within you and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them an heart of flesh Ver. 20. That they may walk in my Statutes and keep my Ordinances and do them and they shall be my people and I will be their God Hosea 2. 19. I will betroth thee unto me for ever and I will betroth thee unto me in righteousnesse and in judgement and in loving-kindnesse and in mercies Ver. 20. I will betroth thee unto me in faithfulnesse and thou shalt know the Lord. Hebr. 8. 10. This is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel I will put my Laws into their minds and write them in their hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people c. Quest But why is God pleased to promise to give unto his people in Covenant Why God gives spiritual blessings as well as â—emporal His people have souls as well as bodies spiritual blessings as well as temporal Sol. The Reasons are these First Because his people have souls as well as bodies and their souls do stand in as much need of spiritual blessings as their bodies do of temporal blessings Every mans soul since the fall of Adùm is in a fourfold miserable necessity which cannot be relieved but by spiritual blessings 1. In an estate of spiritual death out of which it cannot be relieved but by the donation of spiritual life a quickning by the Spirit of Christ is necessary for a soul dead in trespasses and sins 2. In an estate of spiritual enmity and that enmity cannot be slain but by the death of Christ nor any atonement peace or reconciliation enjoyed but by his blood 3. In an estate of offence and guilt which expose the soul unto wrath and punishment by reason of which the soul needs exceeding riches of grace and mercy to forgive and acquit the sinner 4. In an estate of pollution and bondage being held under the power of sinful lusts in which regard the soul needs the Lord Jesus to be redemption and liberty unto it and the soul can never be freed nor free but by Christ and his Spirit John 8. 36. If the Son shall make you free you shall be free indeed Rom. 8. 2. The Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of sin and death If a man had all the blessings of the world riches honour friends health pleasures c. they could be of no help or relief unto his soul at all notwithstanding all these the soul still remains sinful and miserable Give the soul Christ and grace and mercy or else you give it nothing it must perish for ever without them And therefore doth God give unto his people spiritual blessings because the soul needs them and they are sutable to the spiritual necessities of the soul Secondly His people are people of another life they have the promise of eternal His people are for another life life 1 John 2. 25. This is the promise that he hath promised us even eternal life Titus 1. 2. Inhope of eternal life which God that cannot lye promised before the world began 2 Cor. 5. 1. We know that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens But what of this will you say why hence it follows that therefore God will give unto them spiritual blessings and why spiritual blessings because spiritual blessings are necessary for them in relation unto that eternal life Acts 4. 12. Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other Name given under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved Loe here is a necessity of Jesus Christ for our salvation John 3. 36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him Loe here is a necessity of faith for salvation Matth. 5. 8. Blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall see God Hebr. 12. 13. Follow holinesse without which no man shall see the Lord. Joh. 3. 3. Except a man be born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Loe here is a necessity of holinesse and regeneration for salvation and they are congruous and fitting us for salvation or eternal life Colos 1 12. Giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light It is meet to enjoy grace before we come to enjoy glory it is meet to have a conformity to Christ on his Crosse before we come to have a conformity to Christ in his Crown c. Thirdly His people are designed and set apart for special duties and services His people aâ—e set apart for special duties the which they can never performe without spiritual gifts and blessings They are to glorifie their God Isa 43. 6. Bring my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth Ver. 7. Even every one that is called by my Name for I have created him for my glory Ver. 21. This people have I formed for my self they shall shew forth my praise They are to deny themselves and to take up the Crosse of Christ and to follow him they are to crucifie the lusts with the affections thereof they are to suffer losses and reproaches and persecutions and perhaps death it self they are to fight the good fight of faith to resist temptation to quench the fiery darts of Satan to overcome the world they are to live by faith against hope to believe in hope to walk in all well-pleasing before the Lord. They are to have daily communion with God and their hearts are to be set on him and on things above Can any of these duties and services be performed by them without spiritual strength or can they partake of spiritual strength unlesse and untill God doth give unto them spiritual gifts or graces Fourthly All the people in Covenant with God they have his image restored They have Gods image restored to them unto them they behold as in a glasse the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory 2 Cor. 3. 18. They are made partakers of the Divine nature
been and are the cause of all our troubles The troubles which the Spirit causeth in us for sinne is a meanes to deliver us from sinne and the eternal troubles for sinne 2. The troubles which the Spirit causeth in us for sinne do end in much joy They end in joy and peace and peace The joy and peace of the Spirit are very precious and they cannot be delivered out unto us unless we be first troubled for our sin The Spirit comforts mourners and them that are cast down Now the Spirit troubles us for sin 1. To make sinne bitter to us 2ly To make Christ sweet to us As he troubles us for our sins so he leads and draws the troubleâ— soul to Christ that in him he may find deliverance from those sinnes and his peace made with God c. Trouble is not all the work of the Spirit it is an inceptive work and a preparative work he troubles you for sin that you may not be damned for sinne and that you may make out for Christ to save you from your sinnes Object We should be willing to have the Spirit but that then we must bid farewell to all our sins the Spirit is a mortifying Spirit he will not suffer us to love our sins nor to take pleasure in them as heretofore we are affraid of the sword of the Spirit Sol. I answer First It is granted that the spirit will do this as you do speak it will cast sin The second prejudice removed He dethrones sin The death of sin is our life out of the throne it will take off love and service from sin and it will be more and more â—â— mortifying of it Secondly But then where is the hurt the danger the prejudice which you have against this Gal. 5. 24. They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Rom. 8. 13. If ye live after the flesh ye shall dye but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live Here is death and life If you keep your sins alive ye shall dye if you through the spirit mortifie your sins you shall live The life of sin is your death and the death of sin is your life Saul spared Agag but it was his ruine and Ahab spared Benhadad but it was his ruine c. Object O but the Spirit will make us holy and we must then live holily and not so lâ—osly and freely as heretofore Sol. First Will the spirit of God make you holy and should you not be The third prejudice removed so 1 Pet. 1. 16. Be holy for I am holy and should you not walk so As he who hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation 1 Pet. 1. 15. Secondly Consider only three places of Scripture for this 1. Isa 4. 3. He that remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy even every We should be holy one that is written amongst the living in Jerusalem 2. Heb. 12. 14. Follow holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. 3. Matth. 5. 8. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Object But I shall be a derision and a mock if I should pretend to the Spirit c. Sol. 1. Who will mock you those that are led by the Divel wicked graceless The fourth prejudice removed ungodly men 2. All that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution 3. If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ happy are ye for the Spirit of glory and of Christ resteth upon you 1 Pet. 4. 14. Secondly if you would come to partake of the Spirit you must not then resist We must not resist the spirit the Spirit Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears ye do alwayes resâ—st the Holy Ghost Acts 7. 51. Men resist the Spirit two wayes 1. When they will not hearken unto nor regard the counsel and commands of the Spirit delivered in the Word but set themselves against them and oppose and How the spiriâ— is resisted despise them 2. When they will not receive the offers and motions of the Spirit but harden their hearts against them and quench them and will not give way or enterance unto them Now take heed of this when the Spirit of God is knocking at your hearts and stirs your hearts to accept of him and of his graces which he is willing and ready to work in you by no means neglect them or slight them but lay hold of them presently as one of the greatest mercies that God is intending toward you bless him and cherish them and beseech him to go on with his work on your souls do not reject any work of the Spirit neither grieve him by neglecting his good motions Prov. 1. 23. Turn you at my reproof behold I will poure out my Spirit unto you I will make known my works unto you my Spirit shall not alwayes strive with man Thirdly If you would come to partake of the spirit then you must pray the We must pray for the spirit Lord to give you his spirit you must thirst after him and seek for him Isa 44. 3. I will poure water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground I will poure my Spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thy off-spring Luke 11. 13. Your heavenly Father will give the spirit to them that ask him What a promise is this to encourage any man sensible of the want of the spirit to pray unto God! Jesus Christ assures him that if he will ask for the Holy Spirit he shall have him Object But who can pray unless he hath the Spirit first Sol. I grant that the spirit must make you sensible of the want of the spirit and he must stir up your hearts to pray for him there is some degree of the spirits presence in stirring us up to pray for these but then if you would fully enjoy the spirit you must poure out you hearts c. Fourthly You must attend the Preaching of the Gospel the Gospel is called Attend upon the Ministry oâ— the Word the Ministry of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3. 6. And you read that whiles Peter was Preaching the Word unâ—o Cornelius and the rest the Holy Ghost came upon them Act. 10 44. Whiles Peter yet spake these words the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the Word So Gal. 3. 2. Received ye the Spirit by the works of the Law or by the hearing of faith They received the spirit upon the hearing of the Gospel which is the word of faith You read that aâ—l the works of the spirit and all the graces of the spirit and all the joyes and comforts of the spirit are let into us by the Word by that the spirit is pleased to convey himself First His works He enlightens our minds by the Word he convinceth us of He enlightens our minds by the Word sin by the Word I
Rom. 6. 14. Here you see expresly that there is a freedome from the dominion of sinne even upon this account that we are under the Covenant of grace Though you be not totally freed from the inhabitation of sinne for sinne doth dwell in us whiles we dwell on earth and though you be not totally freed from the rebellion of sinne for peccatum hostis est quamdiu est The flesh lusteâ—h against the spirit Gal. 5. 17. and there is a law in our members warring against the law of our minds Rom. 7. 23. yet you are totally freed from the dominion of sinne which consists in the effectual Rule Command and Sovereign strength of sinne and a free and full and willing subjection or obedience unto the Law and authority of sinne and verily this freedome or deliverance is a wonderful mercy and happinesse unto the people of God whither you consider 1. The great and utmost distance twixt you and God 2. The basenâ—sse of servitude in which every one lives over whom sinne hath dominion for of whom a man is overcome of the same he is brought in bondage 2 Pet. 2. 19. You were but very slaves to your lusts and to the devil whiles sinne did rule over you 3. The height of enmity As you were the basest of slaves so you were the worst of enemies living not only as aliens without God but as desperate enemies opposing and fighting against God 4. The superfluity of naughtinesse a full contrariety your whole hearts and your whole lives were nothing else but a constant dishonour unto God and contradiction to his Will and Glory 5. The certainty of destruction which would infallibly have attended you had not the mercy and grace of God rescued and delivered you I say certain destruction to your souls as there is a certain destruction to the life of our bodies if we fall into the sea and lie under it 6. The sweet and immediate communion 'twixt the deliverance from the dominion of sinne and admission to the Kingdome of Christ It is a translation from death to life The Apostle joins these together in Colos 5. 13. Who hath delivered us from the power of darknesse and hath translated us into the Kingdome of his dear Sonne 3. They have immunity or freedome from the damnation meritoriously depending upon the guilt of sinne As salvation depends upon the merits of Christ so From damnation for sinne doth damnation depend on the merit of sinne There is so much merit in sinne as to render us obnoxious not only to temporal destruction but also to eternal destruction for the wages of sinne is death even that death which stands in opposition to eternal life Rom. 6. 23. But from the effectual redundancy of this damnation upon your persons you are every one freed who are in Covenant with God For there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8. 1. And whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have eternal life John 3. 15. And the ground of this your immunity from the damnation due unto you for your sinnes is the satisfaction which Christ hath made for your sinnes unto the justice of God and thereupon the obtaining of riches of mercy from your God who according to his Covenant with you blots out and forgives all your sinnes and never remembers them any more For this is a sure truth that remission of sinnes and actual damnation for sinnes are incompatible or inconsistent Now whether this be any cause of comfort that you and your sinnes are parted and that you and hell are for ever separated I leave it to any one of you to judge for mine own part I do look upon four things as very great mercies 1. That I am delivered from the power of sinne 2. That I enjoy the pardon of sinne 3. That I shall never be damned for sinne 4. That I shall be saved notwithstanding all my sinnes 4. They have immunity or freedome from justification by the Law from all legal From justification by the Law tryals for life Although you are not freed from the Law as it is a rule for life yet you are freed from the Law as it is a Covenant of life although you are not freed from the Law as it is the image of the good and holy will of God yet because you are under the Covenant of grace you are freed from the Law as it is a reason of salvation and justification The Covenant of grace takes you off from that Court and that Bar which pronounceth life upon your own good works and pronounceth death upon your own evil works Rom. 3. 28. We conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the Law Gal. 3. 11. No man is justified by the Law in the sight of God for the just shall live by faith As the Law calls for perfect and personal righteousnesse of our own so the Law will not justifie you it will not give life unto you unlesse it finds that righteousnesse in you you live not if you be not perfectly righteous absolution is pronounced upon your own perfect innocency and condemnation is pronounced upon any defect or breach And verily upon this account no man living can or shall be justified therefore here is comfort that being in Christ and in this Covenant of grace ye are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses See the Apostle Acts 13. 39. Your life doth not lie now in your own righteousnesse but in the righteousnesse of Christ nor doth it depend upon your own works but upon the obedience of Christ That expression of Luther is an excellent expression Christus solus me justificat contra mea mala opera sine operibus meis bonis Though my works have been very good yet not those but Christ doth justifie me and though my works have been very ill yet the righteousnesse of Christ can and will justifie me my evil works shall not damne me and my good works cannot acquit me it is Christ it is Christ and not the Law which justifies me 5. They have immunity or liberty from the rigour of the Law The Law in the rigour of it exacts of us a most absolute obedience a most exquisite and full obedience From the rigor of the Law it will not abate us the least grain or scruple if it be not every way adequate for matter and manner and measure your obedience will not passe nor will it be accepted according to the rigour of the Law Cursed is every one who doth not continue in every thing that is written to do it But when once you are under the Covenant of grace when once God is your God and you are his people neither you nor your services are judged by the exactnesse of your services but by the sincerity of your hearts Though much be wanting which the Law prescribes yet if that be present which your merciful God and Father
to tremble you think he is too strong for you and you shall never be able to withstand him any longer and your hearts are almost crushed and sunk with fear of Satans power but what 〈◊〉 Satan do Nil potest diabolus â—isi missus vel permissus He is but a creature and he is a wicked creature and he is a conquered creature and he is a chained creature and he is a cursed creature Christ hath conquered him and therefore you shall conquer him all the victories of Christ do reach unto you God doth chain him and restrain his power and working Thus far he shall go and no farther God will give you grace sufficient to resist and withstand him and will not suffer you to be tempted above your strength and at last yea shortly will bruise Satan under your feet Greaâ—er is he that is in you than hâ—â— that is in the world He Rules the world which troubles and tempts you but your God will not suffer you to be led into temptation 3. Your Covenant-Interest and Relation should secure your hearts against the Against the fears of what God will do feares of what God will do You see sometimes great changes and alterations and judgements in the earth how terrible God is to the inhabitants thereof what desolations he makes how he shakes the mountains and makes the hills to fall down at his presence his fire burnes and consumes and goes on and no man knows the power of his wrath nor can say when or where his indignation will end and cease But in all the dark and dreadful dispensations of Gods providence the people of God have no cause to fear for he hath an hiding placâ— from the storm for them and his chambers of protection for them untill the indignation be over His eyes are over â—â—e righteous it shall surely be well with them that fear before him every thing shall work for good unto them and should publique calamities involve you with other people yet your God will either support you under them or deliver you out of them or translate you into a better place and condition free from all sin and misery and trouble into the place of eternal rest and happinesse 4. Your Covenant-Interest and Relation should secure your hearts from the Against the fears of what our selves shall do fear of what we our selves shall do what will become of us in the latter end we oft times fear that we shall never hold out and persevere in the paths of righteousnesse and we feare that providence will not hold out that we shall not have enough to sustain us all our dayes But why do we fear these fears is not Christ the Finisher of our Fath who is the Authour of our Faith and will not God perfect the work which he hath begunne and are we not kept by his power through Faith unto salvation and hath he not promised that he will never depart from us and to put his feare into our hearts that we shall never depart from him And as for an outward enough and sufficiency for all our dayes alas why do we fear future supplies who live every day upon present mercies Our God hath said that he will never leave us nor forsake us and that bread shall be given us and our waters shall be sure Jesus Christ yesterday and to day and the saâ—eâ— for ever so your God is an al-sufficiency for all times in all times and unto all times there is no end of his goodnesse nor of his care nor of his love 5. Your Covenant-Interest and Relation should secure your hearts against Against the fears of what ours shall do the feares of what yours shall do and what will become of them when you are dead you have but little your selves and shall leave lesse unto your children But O that we had more faith for then we should have less fears but remember a few things 1. Be more careful what good you may do your childrens fouls than fearful what good God will do for your childrens bodies if your children be only your children they are then heires of vanity and sinne and misery but did you take care to make them Gods children they should be heirs of mercy and blessing 2. Though you die yet your God ever lives whose care and bounty is not restrained to one person or to one generation but extends unto believers and unto their seed after them Gen. 17. 7. And thou art the helper of the fatherlesse Psal 68. 5. In thee the fatherlesse findeth mercy Hosea 14. 3. 3. Though you cannot finde provision for your children after you and therefore fear yet you may finde promises for your children and therefore you should not fear if you cannot leave them with a portion yet if you can leave them with a promise of God it may very well quiet and satisfie you and this you may Psal 112. 2. The generation of the upright shall be blessed Psal 102. 28. The children of thy servants shall continue and their seed shall be established bâ—fore thee 6. Your Covenant-Interest and Relation should secure your hearts against the Against the fears of what shall become of the Churches of Christ feares of what shall become of the Churches of Christ especially in times of heresies and seducements and of threatenings and endeavours to subvert the Ordinances and all Gospel Ministrations And truly many do fear in respect of these at this time but we should not inordinately fear in respect of them for there are no people in the world that have Christ so near them and God so engaged unto them as the Church The foundation of the Church is too strong for the gates of hell and the Church of God will alwaies be found a very burdensome-stone for all people All that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it Zach. 12. 3. And as for the Ordinances and Ministrations of Christ in his Churches they shall continue as long as Christ hath a Church on earth as long as the Covenant abides a people of the Covenant shall abide and as long as the people of the Covenant abides the Ordinances for those people shall abide no not all the corrupt opinions of men nor powers of men shall ever be able to pluck the Sunne out of heaven nor drive out the everlasting Gospel from the earth If any thing should make us to fear the continuance of those amongst us it is only our unthankfulnesse and our unfruitfulnesse and our contempt and scorn of them 7. Lastly your Covenant-interest and relation should secure your hearts against Against the fears of death the fear of deaâ—h you should not fear to live not yet to dye who have God to be in Covenant for the sting of death is gone it is taken out by the death of Christ 1 Cor. 15. Death separates soul and body but it can never separate
heart is set upon it he serves it he is married unto it he delights in it now such a nature is an enmity against holinesse it stands in a peculiar opposition and contrariety unto it it is not subject to the Law of God nor can be subject saith the Apostle Rom. 8. 7. so say I it is enmity against the holinesse of God it is not subject unto it nor indeed can be 2. Another reason may be this The nature of holinesse holinesse is that work The nature of holinesse of God which utterly subverts the state of sinne breaks down all the powers of it crucifies the body of it separates 'twixt the heart and sinne changes the heart of the sinner turns the love of sinne into the hatred of sinne and the delights in sinne into sorrow for sinne makes us new creatures will not suffer the sinner to enjoy his old lusts and his old wayes brings a new frame of Spirit and a new course of life it is absolutely contrary and it is utterly destructive of the sinful condition and straitly binds the whole man to the whole will of God and all these things are grievous unto a natural man 3. A third reason of it may be this The obloquie and scorns and reproaches The reproaches and persecutions of the world against holinesse and persecutions of the world against holinesse the men of the world draw their arrows and spit all their venome against holinesse they hate it and deride it and opose it and discounterance and defame it and load it with all sorts of defamation and carâ—al men love the world and fear the world they love the praise of the world and the peace of the world and the ease of the world and the favour and opinion of the world men must suffer reproaches and persecutions and troubles if they will be holy but they cannot suffer in their names nor in their delights nor in their profits nor in their friendship and therefore they will not be holy I say no more to you but this if you will not be holy then you professe you will not be the people of God and that you will not have God to be God and he will not be your God nor shall you be his people and hence it follows that he will never shew mercy to you nor peace to you nor his salvation to you get thee a portion wherein thou canst but in him but in his mercy but in his Christ but in his glory thou shalt never have part nor portion Vse 3 Is the Covenant of God an holy Covenant here then is lively comfort for all holy persons let men judge of you as they please and deal with you as they list Comfort for all holy persons and oppose you as they do yet this is your comfort God is your God and you are his people Beloved never dispute it nor fear it if you be an holy people God is your God in Covenant for 1. Holinesse is in none but such as are in Covenant 2. All in Covenant have holinesse wrought in them holinesse is a Covenant gift it drops only out of the Covenant of grace and every one in Covenant resembles that God with whom he is in Covenant he is holy as his heavenly Father is holy And let me tell you if you have a share in the holiness of the Covenant you shall have a share also in the happinesse of the Covenant if the holy God be your God then the merciful God is your God and the loving God is your God and the blessing God is your God and the blessed God is your God and the everlasting God is your everlasting God Nay let me settle this comfort yet closer upon your hearts though as yet you want much in the degrees and measure of hoâ—inesse yet if there be holinesse in truth wrought in you be it never so little yet if it be true holinesse it is a true character that God is your God and that you are his people in Covenant Quest That is the thing which we so much fear how may it be known when there is yet so much rubbish of sinful corruption dwelling in us Sol. For answer to this remember that there are six things which do shew that your holinesse is true holinesse though it may be but weak and How may true holinesse be known It takes off the heart from all sin little 1. True holinesse though never so weak it fetches off the heart from all sin and sets the heart against all sin it works in compliance with all sin it takes off the heart from the love of every sin and raises in the heart an opposition and conflict with every sin though as yet it cannot expel all sin yet it will oppose all sin though as yet it cannot conquer all sin yet it will conflict with all sin the least degree of light opposeth all degrees of darknesse as the least spark of fire is contrary to a Sea of water 2. True holinesse though it can do but little yet it is an universal conformity to all the Will of God There is an answerablenesse 'twixt the whole Will of God It is an universal conformiâ—y to all the Will of God and the least and weakest true holinesse it approves all the holy and good Will of God it sets up all the Will of God it delights in all the Will of God it strives to come up in all well-pleasing in all things to all the Will of God 3. True holinesse is perfecting holinesse though it be not perfect holinesse It is perfecting holinesse yet it is perfecting holinesse it prayes and heares and looks up to the holy God to sanctifie us wholly to pour out his holy Spirit to make all grace to abound it sets up the holinesse of God as a pattern and strives for a fulnesse of holinesse to be holy as he is holy 1 Pet. 1. 15 16. To purifie our selves as he is pure 1 Joh. 3. 3. 4. True holinesse makes us to prize and love holinesse wheresoever we find it It makes to prize and love holiness where we find it and the more holy the more love to love an holy God an holy Christ the holy Ghost the holy Scriptures the holy Sabbath and all holy duties all holy persons be they rich or be they poor be they useful to us or be they strangers to us holinesse loves all holinesse 5. True holinesse is another nature a divine nature and makes the greatest It is another nature change and alteration in the soule that it is capable of It changes a mans heart and life service will affections and all The man is a new creature and is changed into the Image of Christ 2 Cor. 3. 18. 6. True holinesse is exceeding powerful there is a mighty power in it A It is exceeding powerful man never is able to come up to the Will of God Lord what wilt thou have me to do to deny
mercy He did not leave me to my sinful heart and life he did pity and call me and brought me in to Christ and made me one of his people who aforetime was none of his people But I still finde such a body of sin such a law in my members warring against the Law of mind so many sinful corruptions within and so many strong and violent temptation without and so much weakness and insufficency in my self that fear I shall never hold out unto the end I shall one day faile and loose all my interest in God and in Christ and grace Consider To this sad complaint I would briefly speak three things There is a twofold fear 1. There is a twofold fear There is a a fear of unbelief and this is a vexing and distressing and disabling fear it loosens our confidence in God and in his A fear of unbelief this is to be resisteâ— promises It is a naughty fear and beware of it and resist it and bewaile it And there is a fear of tenderness and jealousie in regard of the Natural deceitfulnesse of our own hearts and of the supernatural weaknesse of our own strength this is a A fear of tenderness and jealousie is good good fear and blessed is the man that thus feareth alwayes The weak child feareth and thereupon cries out to the Parent to take him to hold him to support him and by his fear of falling he is preserved from falling So the child of God fears and thereupon he cries out unto his God! Lord help thy servant forsake me not make haste to deliver me keep me who cannot keep my self establish my goings Thou hast promised to keep and preserve the feet of thy Saints This fear is that fear which God hath promised to put into the hearts of his people that they shall not depart from him And indeed this fear is their strength the more of this fear the more safe they are Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall Thou standest by faith Be not high-minded but fear work out your salvation with fear and trembling 2. Your standing or continuing in the Covenant doth not depend upon your own Our standing doth not depend upon our own strength strength nor doth God leave you unto that but it doth depend on his strength and on his power Ephes 3. 16. That he would grant you according to the riches of his grace to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man Mic. 4. 5. We will walk in the Name of the Lord our God for ever and ever Zach. 10. 12. I will strengthen them in the Lord and they shall walk up and down in his name saith the Lord Though your strength be insufficient yet the strength of your God and of your Christ is sufficient for you 1 Pet. 1. 5. We are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation 2 Cor. 12. 9. My grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness 3. The Lord is able to keep you from falling and to preserve you faultlesse before The Lord is able to keep you from falling the presence of his glory with exceeding joy Jude ver 24. Nay and he will keep you from falling Wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling Psal 56. 13. Thou hast delivered my feet from falling Psal 116. 8. He will keep the feet of his saints 1 Sam. 2. 9. When I said my foot slippeth thy mercy O Lord held me up Psalm 94. 18. 2. The everlastingnesse of the Covenant should be a Cordial to the people of God in the time of desertions when they are apt to question whether God be not Against desertion fallen off from them and hath forsaken them But consult these Promises and you may finde these fears removed Isa 49. 14. Zion said The Lord hath forsaken me and my Lord hath forgotten me ver 15. Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb Yea they may forget yet I will not forget thee ver 16. Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands Thy walls are continually befâ—re me Isa 54. 7. For a small moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercies will I gather thee ver 8. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee saith the Lord thy Redeemer ver 10. The mountains shall depart and the hills be removed but my kindness shall not depart from thee neither shall the Covenant of my peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee Use 4 Is the Covenant which God makes with his people an everlasting Covenant Then blesse God and not your selves for your standing and for your continuing inCovenant with him Blesse God and not your selves for your standing in Covenant with him There are three things for which we should blesse God 1. For his restraining grace 2. For his converting grace 3. For his confirming grace that he will and doth keep you stedfast to himself in Covenant O beloved we could never keep our selves nor establish our selves were it not for the goodness and the power and the love and the faithfulness of our God we should break with God and turn aside from him and leave all truly it is almost a wonder that the people of God do hold out in keeping Covenant with God considering 1. The daily and frequent discouragements which they meet with in the world the continual scorns and threats and persecutions and affronts to their persons and godlinesse 2. The manifold allurements snares and temptations unto sin and sinful wayes by wicked example and promises and hopes and connivencies wickednesse in judgement in practice is a general infection the common aire is infected with this plague it is therefore the more hard to keep our health 3. The malice of Satan and his power and subtilty is exceeding great he desires to sift and winnow us as wheat he threw down the third part of the Stars he helped to break the first Covenant There is not any one of the people of God but may say of him as David of his enemies Psal 118. 13. Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall but the Lord helped me 4. How strongly some of the people of God have been hazarded in the lasting part of the Covenant Solomon Peter Asa insomuch as many from their falls have erected the Doctrine of the Apostacy of the Saints 5. Those many remaining Principles for inconstancy and failing as spiritual pride unbelief hypocrysie and worldliness much of every one of these still in our hearts 6. Adde to all these the exceeding weaknesse in all our graces How little faith how weak love and how apt to be shaken and offended Truely we must acknowledge that what we are we are by the grace of God and that if we be strong we are strong in the
be Head and Mediatour For to make Christ to be a Mediatour it was not only necessary that there should be such a union but also that the person in whom that union is to be found should be God he that is a Mediatour betwixt God and Man as he must be man so also he must be God but though we be united to the Divine Nature in Christ as well as to his Humane Nature yet we are not God Whether we are united to the Divine or Humane Nature first 3. Quest Whether by faith we be first united unto and joyned with the Divine Nature or humane Nature of Christ with himself first considered as man or with him first considered as God Answered Sol. This Question although I finde it argued in the writings of very godly and learned men yet truely unto me it doth seem to savour of too much curiosity and for mine own part so far as I do yet apprehend I do think it but a Scholastical nicity for although you do finde Jesus Christ revealed and manifested in the Gospel sometimes as man and many acts ascribed unto his Humane Nature in reference to our redemption and somemes as God and severall acts of his Divine Nature yet with submission to better Judgements I do conceive that our union doth not begin first with one nature and after that with the other nature of Christ but our union is with the Person of Christ as consisting of both Natures at once And my reason is this because our union is with Christ as Mediatour with whole Christ at once I beseech you consider When the Gospel offers Christ to a poor and distressed sinner it doth not offer Christ in one Nature first and in his other Nature next but the Gospel offers whole Christ at once it offers at once Christ the Saviour and Christ the Head Christ the Redeemer that is the Person of Christ consisting of both Natures And when the Spirit of Christ comes into the heart to joyne Christ to us and when faith is formed in the heart to joyn us to Christ why the Spirit at once applies the whole Christ unto you and faith at once looks on Christ as Head and Mediatour and as so unites you unto Christ Faith looks on Christ not in one Nature only or in the other Nature only but as a Mediatour as a Head as a Saviour and under that notion unites you to Christ It is true that the great works of Redemption and satisfaction and reconciliation appeared in the humane Nature of Christ and are frequently ascribed to his blood and it is as true that the Divine Nature of Christ enabled the humane Nature of Christ unto those works and gave as it were life and vigour and efficacy unto them without which they could never have been done nor have beene such effectual workes And it is as true that not any of those workes were done in respect of any of the Natures alone which did redeem and satisfie c. But it was the person of Christ consisting of them both who did redeem and satisfie and reconcile and save and under this notion Christ offers himself and we by faith do receive him A neere union 4. The union between us and Christ by faith is a neer union And if I may so expresse my self an immediate union It is in Scripture set forth by the neerest of all unions here below There are three unions here below which are most remakable for their nearnesse 1. One is Artificial as is that of a Building with the foundation Our union with Christ is expressed by this in 1 Pet. 2. where Christ is called a lively stone verse 4. and a chief corner-stone verse 6. and our foundation 1 Cor. 3. 11. and we are called a spiritual house built upon him verse 5. 2. A second is Political as is that of the Wife with the Husband by marriage And our union with Christ is often expressed by this also In the Canticles and in Hosea 2. 19. and in Ephes 5. 31 32. 3. A third is Physical or Natural as is that of the Head with the Body and of the Vine with the Branches under these expressions also is our union with Christ expressed Ephes 5. 23. Christ is the Head of the Church Joh. 15. 5. I am the Vine ye are the Branches The union is so near 'twixt the Church and Christ that Christ compares it with the union of himself with the Father Joh. 17. 21. That they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one with us verse 22. That they may be one even as we are one Not that there is absolutely and in all respects that very self same union of us with Christ as of Christ with the Father but that there is such a union according to proportion and to note also the marvellous neernesse of our union with Christ Which in this differs even from the natural union where every part of the body hath not an immediate contiguity with the Head And yet there is not the meanest member of Christ nor yet the choysest but they do all of them stand in the same equal nearnesse of union with Christ Now that which I aime at in the nearness of our union with Christ by faith is this That where faith makes the union the heart of a person doth so immediately an entirely close with Christ that there is nothing whatsoever which stands between it and Christ no love of sin no love of the world c. 5. The union 'twixt us and Christ which is made by faith it is a full and compleat A full and a compleat union union The whole man is joyned to Christ and so joyned to Christ that it is joyned to no other but Christ Faith doth so unite us to Christ that henceforth we are no more our own but his all that Christ hath is ours and all that we have is his our souls are his and our bodies are his Faith brings in our whole man to Christ when it unites us to Christ It doth not keep back any part of us from Christ It doth not bestow one part of us upon Christ and another part of us upon the world and another part of us upon sin no Christ hath all when faith unites us to Christ he hath all our mindes and all our affections he is our desire and our love and he is our delight and he is our hope 6. The union 'twixt us and Christ which is made by faith it is a satisfying A satisfying union union When a poor soule comes by faith to be one with Christ so that it can say Christ is mine and I am Christs now it is satisfied it hath enough it is replenished As this union in the kind of it is most excellent so in the sense of it it is most sweet Faith uniting us to Christ findes all suitabe good in Christ and all happinesse life love
to be separated from me and another thing for me to be separated from sin 1. It is one thing for sinne to be separated from me and it is another thing for me to be separated from sinne For sin to be separated from me is wholly to be rid of it so that sin no more remaines in me For me to be separated from sin is not to love and serve it but cordially to hate it and oppose it he is separated from sinne who hates sinne Now it is not the presence of sinne simply and absolutely which is effectually contrary to union with Christ for then no sinner should ever be in Christ but it is the love and service of sin which is contrary to a union with Christ a man cannot love sinne and yet love Christ neither can he serve sinne and serve Christ But thus it is not with you for though sin be in you yet you love it not and though sin assaults and tempts and perhaps sometimes prevailes yet you serve it not And remember as long as sin is your burden your grief your enemy which you resist which you would destroy with which you will not make peace certainly you love it not nor are you the servant of it Paul who was in Christ found the presence of sin but yet he hated it and the powerful working of sin but yet he refused it and sometimes the captivity of sin but yet he bewailed it and sought to Christ for more deliverance and victory 2. There is a twofold separation from sin There is a twofold separation from sin Radical Gradual One is Radical when by the infusion of grace the heart is changed and alienated from sin The other is Gradual when by the further influence of the Spirit of Christ the powerful presence of sin is more and more mortified and subdued This latter you shall attain unto by vertue of your union with Christ But if you finde the former certainly you are united to Christ If there be but so much grace infused into the heart to alienate it from sin to change the bent and frame of the soule why this cannot be without a union with Christ for this is a new spiritual change wrought in you by the Spirit of Christ and the newnesse of our hearts depends upon that union with Christ which is made by faith and is the lively testimony of it If any man be in Christ he is a new creature 2 Cor. 5 17. But I never found the powerfull workings of the Spirit Object O but union with Christ depends upon some mighty and powerful workings of the Spirit upon the soule which I never observed nor discerned in my soule Answered Though such a powerful work may not be discerned for the time yet it may appear by the effâ—cts Sol. It is a truth that it doth so The Gospel comes not in word only but in power and in the Holy Ghost when it inables a soule to believe in Christ and without the mighty working of the Spirit it is impossible to make the heart to believe And although in the present darknesse of the Spirit you discern not nor remember such a mighty working yet perhaps by the effects which may be found in you you shall acknowledge the same for the time was 1. When blacknesse of darknesse covered your mindes so that you were ignorant of God and Christ and your own condition and of the way of salvation But now there is a light set up in your minde by which you know the true God and him whom he hath sent even Jesus Christ and the salvation by him purchased for sinners who believe in him 2. When carnal security possessed your heart so that you could rest quiet in your natural condition but now that spirit of slumber and security is shaken off and your soule is become anxious and sollicitous What shall I do to be saved 3. When your heart was full of your own righteousness you were rich and increased you were whole and needed not the Physitian but now you see your self pâ—ore and wretched and naked and miserable and utterly undone unlesse you may have Christ and be found in him 4. When you were confident and presumptuous of your own power and self-sufficiency O it was easie to repent and no great matter to believe on Christ but now you finde your self without all strength and unlesse you be enabled by the strength and grace of Christ it is not only difficult but also impossible for your heart to close with him by faith 5. When you found your proud spirit slighting the offers of Christ and opposing the word of Christ and resisting and quenching the motions of the Spirit of Christ but now your hearts tremble at these abominations and you lie down at the feet of Christ and your heart is set on Christ O Lord give me Christ O Lord give me an heart to embrace this precious Christ and never to slight thy great love in Christ nor that great salvation any more 6. When you felt the power of unbelief in your hearts working up daily exceptions and hourly fears and strong despaires for ever enjoying Christ for your Christ O now this sin and that sin this slighting and that neglecting and your unworthinesse and Christs unwillingnesse and your inability and Christs command and your dulnesse and Christs silence and your desires and Christs delayes so that no hopes many times lodged within you your hearts were sinking and failing and giving up all But now your hearts are answered and set at liberty and power is found within you to break down this mighty partition wall of unbelief and against all the oppositions which unbelief and Satan can make yet to venture upon Christ and to justifie the invitations and promises of Christ and wholly to come up to all the terms and articles of Christ upon which he is contented to be yours O Christian call'st thou these no workings of the Spirit Or no mighty workings of the Spirit I tell thee that to work and effect these things no lesse power is put forth than the Almighty power of God upon thy soule A greater power than to bring Israel out of Egypt as great a power is put forth as to raise the dead I grant that when the Spirit works with the Law to convince and distresse the conscience there his workings are more vehement and strong to our apprehensions And when the same Spirit works through the Gospel his workings many times are not discerned in their time of working in that sensible and remarkable efficacy but yet when you review the whole work and working of the Spirit as to the production of faith why you will fall down and admire how ever your poore soules could against so many oppositions insufficiencies reasonings conclusions fears doubts despaires be prevailed upon and enabled to come to Christ Ob. O but union with Christ indeed by faith ever takes along with it the presence and communion of the
for God to have There cannot be a New Covenant without a Mediatour set up a Covenant a New Covenant if he had not set forth a Mediatour for that Covenant Because neither can a sinner come into a New Covenant without a Mediatour the sinners accesse to God and union with him requires one Nor can there be any acceptance of the person or of the services of any sinner without a Mediatour who must bear his name before God and take away the iniquity of his holy offerings Nor can he continue in that Covenant without the presence and help of a Mediatour For if Adam who had a perfect righteousness suitable to his created condition could not make good the Covenant with him much lesse can the sinner by his own strength either perform the duties or persevere in the performance of them against so many inward oppositions of his own sinful nature and so many outward temptations of Satan without the power and sufficiency of a Mediatour SECT II. 2. THat Jesus Christ is the Mediatour and he only There are two Branches Jesus Christ and he only is the Mediatour Jesus Christ is tâ—e Mediatour proved by the 〈…〉 God in this Assertion 1. One that Jesus Christ is the Mediatour which will appear to be a truth whether you consider six things 1. The counsel and purpose of God to save sinners by Christ as Mediatour Ye were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot who verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world 1 Pet. 1. 19 20. Whose names are written in the book of Life of the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world Rev. 13. 8. Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and for eknowledge of God ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain Acts 2. 23. 2. The voluntary consent and compact between God the Father and Christ The The voluntary consent and compact betwixt God and Christ Father was willing to give Christ his Son to be the Head and to be the Ransome of the Elect and Christ the Son of God presented himself most willing to procure that salvation for them The Father agreed with him for an obedience even to the death to bring this about and promised him a Spiritual Kingdom and seed upon the performance And the Son came up to this Then said I Loe I come in the volume of thy Book it is written of me I delight to do thy will O my God yea thy Law is within my heart 3. The promise of this unto Adam Gen. 3. 15. It shall bruise thy head and thou The promise of this to Adam shalt bruise his heele This is directly meant of Christ who as our Mediatour should suffer death for us c. And unto Abraham in Gen. 18. 18. In thy seed shall all the Nations of the earth be blessed 4. The Legal figures and shadows in Sacrifices and Offerings all which Typified The Legal figures and shadows of it Jesus Christ the Mediatour who offered himself shed his blood took away sinne and made peace as in the Hebrews is a bundantly expressed 5. The actual exhibition and presentation of Christ unto the world and for this The actual exhibition of Christ purpose to be a Mediatour Gal. 4. 4. When the fulnesse of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a woman made under the Law verse 5. To redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the adoption of sons 6. The real executing of that Office of Mediatour in fulfilling all Righteousness The real execution of that Office and in giving himself for a Ramsome and by his blood reconciling and making Peace 2. And as Christ is that Mediatour so he only is that Mediatour 1 Tim. 2. 5. Christ only is that Mediatour There is one God and one Mediatour between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus but one God and but one Mediatour Acts 4. 12. Neither is there salvation in any other for there is no other Name under heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved None was ever called to that Office but Christ and none was ever fitted for that Office but Christ and none were ever able to discharge that Office but Christ Him the Father sent and gave and sealed and on him was laid our iniquities c. Read you of Man or Angel called by God to be a Mediatour 'twixt him and sinners Was ever any so fitted for that work but Christ He who is a Mediatour at least three conditions must lie upon him 1. He must not be of the number of those who are to be reconciled Therefore Three conditions in a Mediator agree only to Christ no simple man can be a Mediatour 2. He must partake of the nature of them who are to be redeemed and reconciled He must be of the same seed with them Heb. 2. 16. and therefore no Angel can be a Mediatour 3. He must be more than a meere Creature For a meere creature cannot satisfie nor can his righteousness be imputed to any but himself and he must be able to overcome sin and death and raise himself which no creature can do therefore neither men nor Angels can be Mediatours SECT III. 3. NOw let me speak unto the third particular viz. How Jesus Christ is to How Christ is to be considered as being-Mediatour As God Man be considered or look't upon as being a Mediatour I answer not as God only not as the second Person in the Trinity only not as man only but as Theanthropos as God-Man As God manifested in the flesh 1 Tim. 3. 16. As the Word made flesh which dwelt amongst us and we beheld his glory as the only begotten of the Father Joh. 1. 14. As the second Person of the Trinity incarnated as Immanuel God with us A Virgin shall conceive and bring forth a Son and thou shalt call his Name Immanuel Isa 7. 14. with Matth. 1. 23. and so the Angel to Mary in Luke 1. 31. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a Son and shalt call his Name Jesus verse 32. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the Throne of his Father David verse 33. And he shall raign over the house of Jacob for ever and of his Kingdom there shall be no end So Gal. 4. 4. When the fulnesse of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a woman c. to redeem them that were under the Law And Christ is said to bear our sins in his own body 1 Pet. 2. 24. And to make his soule an offering for sin Isa 53. And by his death and blood to reconcile us Rom. 5. 9. Col. 2. 22. As Christ was God from all eternity so in time he was made Man True God he was Joh. 1. 1. The Word was God and true Man also be was
could not perform And he did bear our sins and our sorrows he did suffer and bear for us what we our selves should have born and suffered whereby he did fully satisfie the Justice of God and made our peace and purchased life for us I will speak something unto both these particulars 1. Jesus Christ did perform that active obedience unto the Law of God which we should but by reason of sin could not perform In which respect he is said Gal. 4. 4. Christ did perform that active obedience to the Law of God which we should but could not perform to be made under the Law that he might redeem them that were under the Law So far was Christ under the Law as to redeem them that were under the Law But redeem them that were under the Law he could not unless by discharging the Bonds of the Law in force upon us and all those bonds could not be and were not discharged unless a perfect righteousness had been presented on our behalf who were under the Law to fulfil the Law Now there is a two-fold Righteousnesse necessary to the actual fulfilling of the Law One is an internal Righteousnesse of the Nature of man The other is an external Righteousness of the life or works of man both of these doth the Law require The former Thou shalt love the Loâ—d thy God with all thy heart c. which is the sum of the first Table And thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self which is the sum of the second Table The latter Do this and live Levit. 18. 5. He that continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them is cursed Gal. 3. 10. and both these Righteousnesses were found in Christ The Internal Heb. 7. 26. He was holy harmless undefiled separated from sinners 9. 14. And offered himself without spot to God 2 Cor. 5. 21. He knew no sinne The External 1 Pet. 2. 22. He did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth Joh. 17. 4. I have finished the works which thou gavest me to do Matth. 3. 15. He must fulfil all righteousnesse Rom. 10. 4. Christ is the end of the Law for Righteousnesse to every one that believeth 2. As Jesus Christ did for us perform all that active obedience which the Law And he did suffer the punishments we had deserved of God required So he did also sustain or suffer all those punishments which we had deserved by the transgression of the Law of God in which respect he is said 2 Cor. 2. 22. To be made sinne for us 1 Pet. 2. 24. Himself to bear our sins in his own body on the tree 1 Pet. 3. 18. For Christ also hath once suffered for sin the Just for the unjust that he might bring us to God Phil. 2. 8. To humble himself and to become obedient unto death even the death of the Cross Gal. 3. 13. To be made a curse an execration for us Ephes 5. 3. To give himself for us an Offering and Sacrifice unto God Heb. 9. 15. And for this cause is he the Mediatour of the New Testament that by means of death for the Redemption of the transg essions thâ—t were under the first Testament they which were called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance Now concerning the Passive obedience or suffering of Christ I would present unto you these Conclusions Conclusions concerning the passive obedience of Christ Christs sufferings weâ—e voluntary and not constrained 1. Jesus Christ his sufferings were voluntary and not constrained or forced Saint Austin saith that Christ did suffer Quia voluit quando voluit quomodo voluit Joh. 10. 17. I lay down my life verse 18. No man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again Gal. 2. 20 Who gave himself for me His sufferings did rise out of obedience to his Father Joh. 10. 18 This Commandment have I received of my Father and Joh. 18. 11. The cup which my Father hath given me shall I not drink it and out of love to us Ephes 5. 25. As Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it Had his sufferings been involuntary they never could have been a part of his obedience much lesse could they have mounted to any thing of merit for us Object Nor doth that earnest Prayer of his Father if it be possible let this cup passe from me Matth. 26 30 denote absolutely his unwillingness but rather set out the greatness of his williâ—gness Sol. For although Christ as Man was of the same Natural affections with us and desires aâ—d abhorrencies of what was destructive to nature and therefore did fear and deprecate that bitter cup which he was now ready to drink yet as our Mediatour and Surety and knowing it would be a cup of salvation to us though of exceeding bitterness to himself he did yield and lay aside his natural reluctancies as Man and willingly obeyed his Fathers will to drink it as our loving Mediatour as if he should say O Father whatsoever become of me of my natural fear or desire I am content to submit to the drinking of this cup thy will be done 2. Whatsoever punishments Christ did sustain for us you must refer them only Whatsoever punishments Christ did sustaâ—n for us must be referred only to the substance and not to the circumstances of them to the substance and not unto the circumstances of punishment And the reason is because though the enduring of the punishments as to the substance of them could and did agree with him as a surety yet the circumstances of those punishments could not have befallen him unless he had been a sinner And therefore every inordination in suffering was far from Christ and a perpetual duration of suffering could not befall him For the first of these had been contrary to the holiness and dignity of his Person and the other had made void the end of his Suretiship and Mediatorship which was so to suffer as yet to conquer and to deliver and therefore though he did suffer death for us in the substance of it yet he neither did nor couâ—d suffer death in the circumstance of it so as for ever to be held by death For then in suffering death he should not have conquered death nor delivered us from death 3. The punishments which Christ did suffer for our sins these were in their The punishments which he suffered were in their kinds parts and degrees the same which were due to us kinds and parts and degrees and propertion all those punishments which were due unto us by reason of ouâ— sins and which we our selves should otherwise have suffered Whatsoever we should have suffered as sinners all that did Christ suffer as our Surety and Mediatour alwayes excepting those punishments which could not be endured without a pollution and guilt of sin The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and including the punishments common to the nature of man not the personal arising out of imperfection and defect and distemper The punishments due to us for sin were Corporal and Spiâ—itual and again they were the punishments of losse and of sense and all these did Christ suffer for us Shall I touch at these 1. That he suffered Corporal punishments the Scriptures clearly report unto us Christ suffered corporal punishments you read of the injuries to his Person of the crown of thorns on his Head of the smitâ—ing of his Cheeks of spitting on his Face of the scourgings of his Body of the Cross on his Back of the vinegar in his Mouth of the Nailes in his Hands and Feet of the Speare in his side and of his crucifying and dying on the Crosse 1 Pet. 2. 24 Who himself in his own body on the Tree bare our sins 1 Cor. 15. 2. Christ dyed for our sins according to the Scriptures Rev. 1. 5. and washed us from our sins in his own blood 2. That he suffered likewise in his soule The Scriptures likewise are express He suffered in his soule for it Matth. 26. 38. My soule is exceeding sorâ—owful even unto death Isa 53. 10. When thou shalt make his soule an offering for sin he shall see his seed c. Joh. 12. 27. Now is my soul troubled and what shall I say Father save me from this hour But for this cause came I unto this hour The Papists say that Christ did not truely and properly and immediately suffer in his soul but only by way of sympathy and compassion with his Body to the Mystical Body and that his bare bodily sufferings were sufficient for mans redemption But these are unsound Assertions For 1. Christ bare our sorrows Isa 53. 4. what sorrows we should bear but the sorrows due unto us for our sins were not corporal only but Spiritual also and those did Christ bear in his soule 2. What Christ took of ours that he in suffering offered up for us for his assuming of our nature was for this end to suffer for us in our Nature but he took our nature in Body and in Soul Suscepit animam meam suscepit corpus meum saith Ambrose And he delivered our soules as well as our bodies and the sins of our soules did need his sacrifice as well as the sins of our bodies and our soules were crucificed with Christ as well as our bodies Mens mea in Christo Crucifixa est saith Ambrose incipio in Christo vincere unde in Adam vinctus sum l. 4. in loco Si totus homo periit totus beneficio salvatoris indiguit if our whole man was lost then our whole man did need the benefit and help of a whole Saviour and if Christ had assumed only our flesh our body then our souls adjudged to punishment had remained under transgression without hope of pardon 3. Again that punishment which was pronounced against the first Adam our first Surety and in him against us that same did Christ the Second Adam our next and best Surety bear for us or else it must still lie upon us to suffer it But the punishment threatned and denounced against Adam for transgression was not only corporal respecting our bodies but Spiritual also respecting our soules There was a Spiritual malediction due unto our soules as well as a corporal c. 4. That fear which fell on Christ and his agony was a real fear and agony and it was in his soule and did not arise from the meer contemplation of bodily torments only The very Martyrs in the encountring of them have feared little Certainly there was some great matter that lay upon the very soule of Christ which made him so heavy and sorrowfull and so afraid and in such an agony 5. He shall see of the travell of his soule Isa 53. Here the soule is taken properly and the travel of Christs soule is his sufferings for it follows and he shall bear their iniquities 6. Christ gave himself c. But the body only is not himself Christs sufferings in soul were exceedingly high and great 3. That the suffering of Christ in his soule was exceedingly high and great and wonderful both as to the punishment of losse and as to the punishment of sense all which I shall expresse in four particulars 1. Jesus Christ did suffer dereliction for a time 2. Jesus Christ did feel and suffer the wrath of God 3. Jesus Christ did feel and suffer the torments of hell 4. Jesus Christ was verily made a curse for us and did in his soule and body bear that curse of the Law which by reason of transgression was due unto us 1. That Jesus Christ did suffer dereliction of God really He was indeed deserted Christ did suffer dereliction for a time and forsaken of God Matth. 27. 46. My God my God why hast thou forsaken me yet well understand me in this I do not mean that there was any such desertion of Christ by God as did dissolve the union of the Natures in the Person of Christ for Christ in all his sufferings still remained God and Man nor do I mean an absolute desertion in respect of the presence of God for God was still present with Christ in all his sufferings and the God head did support his Humanity in and under his sufferings but that which I mean is this That as to the sensible and comforting manifestations of Gods presence thus he was for a time left and forsaken of God as David who in this particular was a Type of Christ suffering cryed out Psal 22. 1. My God my God Why hast thou forsaken me Why art thou so far from my help He was indeed really forsaken of God God did indeed leave him in respect of his sense and feeling so was Christ Though God did still continue a God to David yet in Davids apprehension and feeling he was forsaken of God Though God was still a God to Christ yet as to his feeling he was left of God to wrastle with God and to bear the wrath of God due unto us Relinquit Deus dum non parcit saith Tertullian That was truly a dereliction Vbi nulla fuit in tanta necessitate virtutis exhibitio nulla ostensio Majestatis So Bernard Quoniam delicta aliena suscepi etiam delictorum alienorum verbera suscepi c. So Ambrose And as he saith flagellata his ipse est ne nos flagellaremur Christ was scourged that we might not be scourged so Christ was forsaken that we might not be forsaken 2. That Jesus Christ did feele and suffer the wrath of God which was due Christ did feel and suffer the wrath of God due to us unto us for our sins The Prophet Isa 53. 4. saith that he was plagued and smitten of God and verse 5. The chastisement of our peace was upon him To be plagued and smitten of God is to feel and suffer the
so shall you and Christ was afraid and so shall you and Christ was in an agony and so shall you and Christ did drink the cup of his Fathers wrath so shall you and Christ was made a curse and so shall you Indeed a repenting and believing person may look upon the sufferings of Christ with joy and hope but an impenitent and unbelieving person must look upon them with confusion and horror The more he sees of Christ sorrows and the sharper he findes Christs sorrows the more perplexed may his soule be For what punishments Christ did suffer for sin as to the substance that same must the impenitent and unbelieving person suffer as to the substance yea and as to the circumstance of punishment Christ suffered death and thou shalt suffer eternal death Christ suffered shame and thou shalt suffer eternal shame Christ suffered wrath for a time but thou shalt suffer wrath for ever and fear for ever and separation from God for ever and the torments of hell for ever 3. Behold your Christ Pilate said Behold the man when Christ was brought in with his Crown of Thornes But I say behold your Christ look on him who Behold your Christ was crucified for you and look on him who was crucified by you There is a four-fold sight of Christ 1. One in Carne when he came into the world 2. A second in Cruce when he was leaving the world 3. A third in Caelo when he shall receive us unto himself out of the world 4. A fourth in Judicio when he shall tome to judge the world But the sight which I would desire you to behold is Christ on the Cross Christ suffering and dying for you O look on this Christ awhile as despised of men as forsaken of God as sorrowful to the death as wounded for our trasgressions as drinking the cup of his Fathers wrath as crying out as dying the cursed death of the Cross as made a curse for us I say behold your Christ in these sufferings so long untill 1. You see his infinite love to your soules thus suffering in your stead thus suffering what you should have suffered and thus suffering that you might not suffer 2. Your hearts be melted into tears for your sins which were the cause of all those sufferings by Christ Look on him whom you have pierced and mourn Let your eyes weep for your making Christ to weep let your hearts be wounded for wounding Christ let your soules be humbled for making Christ to poure out his soule 3. Your hearts can love this Christ who loved you and gave himself for you and washed you from your sins in his own blood 4. Your hearts can hate your sins which made Christ a curse or execration and untill you forsake your sins which made Christ to be forsaken for a time of God untill you crucifie those sins which did crucifie your Christ Beloved The more that Christ hath suffered for us the dearer should Christ be unto us his love should be unto us therefore the more sweet by how much the more bitter his sufferings were for us And our sins should therefore be the more odious unto our hearts because they were so grievous unto Christ The Apostle tells us in 1 Pet. 4. That because Christ hath suffered in the flesh we should therefore cease from sin and Chap. 2. 24. That he bare our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousnesse And therefore we should purge the old leaven that is our sinful lusts because Christ our Passeover is sacrificed for us 1 Cor. 5. 7. Vse 2 Hath Jesus Christ as our Surety and Mediatour done and suffered so much for us what comfort what support may this be for all distressed penitent and believing Comfort for distressed penitent and believing persons persons Luther professeth that this is that Ineffabilis infinita misericordia Dei that Abyssus profundissima zelus ardentissimus divinae misericordiae towards us That the Omnipotent God Creatour of all things should be so good and solicitous for me a lost sinner a child of wrath and eternal death as not to spare his own Son but give him up to a most ignominious death that he should be made for me a cursed sinner sin and curse c. and therefore he urgeth us not to rest satisfied with believing only that Christ is purissima Persona though he be so and then know that he is God and Man yet stay not there for yet thou hast not Christ but then verè habes cùm credis hanc purissimam personam tibi donatam à patre ut esset pontifex salvator imo Servus Tuus who took on him thy sinful person and bare thy sinne and death and Crosse and was made a Sacrifice and curse for thee Object But you will say Where lies the stay and comfort of Christs sufferings for us Sol. In this it lies Then you are freed then you shall never suffer in a way of Then you are freed from suffering in satisfaction to Divine justice satisfaction to Divine Justice you shall never bear wrath nor curse for your sins And the reason is because Christ hath suffered already those things due unto you for your sins Object O but did Christ suffer that which was due for all my sins Sol. Yes He suffered all even to the worst and utmost for all that the Law threatned was a curse and Christ was made a curse for us Object But did he not owe something for himself and suffered for that Sol. Surely no for he knew no sinne of his own but was made sinne for us Object O but what if he suffered all may I not yet be made to suffer Sol. No for what Christ suffered he suffered as our Surety in our stead and therefore what he suffered for us is as if we had suffered all that our selves Object But did he verily intend our good in all these sufferings Sol. Ask the Apostle in 2 Cor. 5. 22. He was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him And Gal. 3. 13. He was made a curse for us to redeem us from the curse of the Law Object But did God appoint him thus to suffer Sol. He did so Rom. 3. 25. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood and 1 Cor. 1. 30. He is of God made unto us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption Object But did his sufferings appease God and satisfie him and reconcile him Sol. It did so For God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself 2 Cor. 5. 19. not imputing their trespasses unto them And Ephes 2. 16. He hath reconciled both Jews and Gentiles unto God in one body on the Cross having slaine enmity thereby Why what a summe of comforâ—s are here Jesus Christ took upon him all our sins they were all of them laid upon him And he bare or suffered
who paid no Debt nor Ransome for our selves it did cost us nothing the Remission of sins is meer mercy and free grace God did not expresse his full justice and mercy on Christ together nor did he express his full mercy and justice together on us But he expressed his justice on Christ who fully satisfied it and he expressed his mercy on us yet for the satisfaction made by the blood of Christ Amongst many places which might be brought to prove that the remission of our sins doth depend on the blood or sufferings of Christ I will mention only one more It is in Heb. 9. 22. Without shedding of blood there is no remission verse 26. But now hath he speaking of Christ once in the end of the world appeared to put away sin by tht sacrifice of himself verse 28. So was Christ once offered to bear the sins of many what can be more clear There is no remission of sins without the shedding of blood and therefore Christ appeared to put away our sins by the shedding of his blood per immolationem sui ipsius by the Sacrifice of himself As when the Sacrifices called expiatory were offered sins were taken away and pardoned so when Christ offered up himself by death a Sacrifice to God this was of real vertue to expiate our sins Vse 1 Now what an unspeakable comfort is this that Jesus Christ as our Mediatour did shed his blood for the remission of our sins Comfort that Christ shed his blood for our remission It looseth our Bonds and dischargeth our Debts 1. Our sins in Scripture are sometimes called Bonds and indeed they are the heaviest and dreadfullest Bonds of all others lying heavy upon the conscience and binding us over to Gods Tribunal to answer but these are loosened and released through the blood of Christ And sometimes they are called Debts for the payment of which we do owe unto the justice of God the endurance of everlasting pain in soul and in body but these debts are forgiven us for Christs sake In every sin there are two things considerable One is the Offence done to God by reason whereof he is displeased The other is the Obligation of that person so offending God unto everlasting wrath and condemnation And both these are removed in the remission or forgiveness of sins the offence or fault is removed God is not now offended or displeased with the offending sinner any more and the obligation unto eternal wrath and condemnation is so far cancelled that it shall never redound unto the person Although guilt and obligation be natural unto and inseparable from sin yet this obligation shall never be put in suit nor shall that wrath and condemnation deserved by sin be ever inflicted on the sinner because there is a forgiveness of sin wrought by Jesus Christ And therefore the Apostle saith That God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them 2 Cor. 5. 19. that is not laying of them to their charge not suing of them not reckoning with them but forgiving them 2. Secondly the comfort from this will appear yet to be more if you do consider This remission doth extend to all our sins that this remission of sin by Christ as it takes off the guilt of sin which is the Arrow in the Side the gnawing Worm in the Conscience the Thorn in the Foot and the breaking of our Bones so it doth extend to all our sins We do diversifie our sins by the times of them some are past some are present and some are future And by the quantity of them some are small and some are great And by the quality and circumstances of them some are of ignorance and some are of knowledge some are voluntary and some are involuntary c. Now whatsoever our sins are alwayes supposing us to be Elect believing and penitent persons they are all of them forgiven through the blood of Christ Colos 2. 13. Having forgiven you all trespasses Jer. 33. 8. I will pardon all their iniquities wherey they have sinned and whereby they have transgressed against me Object What all every one Sol. Yes And there are five Arguments to satisfie us concerning this 1. Jesus Christ as our Surety took upon him the whole state of our sinfull debts He did not undertake this or that particular sin only but the whole debt the whole reckoning all the sins of which we might be conceived guilty and of all of them gave himself a Sacrifice to put away sin 2. He did so satisfie Gods justice for our sins as that there is now no condemnation to them that are in him and verily if all condemnation be removed then all sin is pardoned If any one sin remained unpardoned then condemnation would still be in force upon us for that one sin 3. His death was a price Aequivalent unto the merits of all our sins and preponderating them and God having accepted thereof it would be unjust in him not to remit all 4. All enmity is slain by the blood of Christ between God and us He hath reconciled us by his Crosse having slain enmity thereby But if any sin was not forgiven all hostility is not slain 5. The great end of Christs death was to save us to make us blessed to bring us to the enjoyment of eternal life which end could never be attained unlesse God did upon the account of Christ give unto us a plenary and total remission of sins Because of any one sin unpardoned the wages is death which the Apostle delivers in opposition to eternal life Rom 6. 23. 3. Nor doth our comfort from the remission of our sins by Christ end in This Remission is stable and irrevocable this it goes one step yet further and that is this as the Remission is total and perfect so it is stable and irrevocable Hence those expressions in Micah 7. 19. Thou wilt cast all our sins into the depths of the Sea as if our sins lay drowned and buried for ever never to rise up against us any more Isa 44. 22. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions and as a cloud thy sins When a Bond or Writing is blotted out there the writing against us can be read no more Or when a Cloud is blotted out it is so scattered and dispersed that it appears no more Jer. 33. 34. I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sins no more Jer. 50. 20. The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and there shall be none and the sins of Judah and they shall not be found for I will pardon them whom I reserve Why what comfort is this That there is Remission of sins procured for us and of all sins and that by Christ and that God hath forgiven them and as long as God is God and Christ is Christ they remain forgiven God alters not and Christ afters not and forgivenesse of sinnes alters not Vse 2 Is Remission of sin
the effect and fruit of Christs sufferings and satisfaction for us Then you see whether to go under the sense of the guilt of your sins and See whether to go under the sense of sin and what to trust to what to trust unto when the Law of God sets upon you and Satan gives in against you and your own wounded consciences charge on you the guilt of great and many sins O it is a dreadful time indeed with you what shall I do and what will become of me whether shall I flie who can give me ease I cannot satisfie justice and I cannot escape justice and I cannot bear the strokes of justice I would do any thing I would suffer any thing for a time But O distressed sinner these will not and these cannot help thee Why then my condition is desperate So it is for ought that thou canst do but is there not a God in Israel so say I to thee is there not a Mediatour hath not he suffered hath not he died hath not he shed his blood for the Remission of sins In him we have Redemption through his blood the forgivenesse of sins And If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins And herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins And therefore in your agonies of Conscience in the troubles of your soules under the guilt of your sins look up to Jesus Christ whose blood was shed for the Remission of sins and offer him up and hâ—s blood up to God See O Lord this is thy Christ who appeared once to put away sin by the Sacrifice of himself and who was once offered to bear the sins of many Here is my satisfaction and here is the price laid down for my sins and here is the blood without shedding of which there is no remission O Lord pardon O Lord forgive my sins all my sins for his Name sake c. 3. I now proceed unto the third Effect or Benefit flowing from and depending upon the sufferings of Christ our Mediatour and that is Reconciliation 2 Cor. 5. 19. Reconciliation God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself Whereas formerly we lay under the wrath of God deserved by sin we are now by Christ delivered from that wrath God is appeased and we are received into favour and friendship with him Rom. 5. 10. When we were sinners we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son Ephes 2. 14. He is our Peace Isa 53. 5. The chastisement of our peace was upon him The Socinians deny all this they deny that God was ever angry or displeased with us or that any of us did lie under his wrath or that ever Christ did appease pacifie remove the wrath of God or wrought Reconciliation 'twixt God and us Against which Opinion of theirs I shall lay down these Conclusions Conclusions layed down against the Socinians There was a real breach betwixt God and Man by sin 1. That there was a real breach or difference or enmity made between God and Man by reason of sin and we were under his wrath for it The Scripture is clear for this calling sin an enmity Ephes 2. 16. Having slain the enmity thereby Rom. 8. 7. The wisdom of the flesh is enmity against God It is not subject to the Law of God c. Sinners enemies It when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son Rom. 5. 10. Those whom he calls Sinners verse 8. he calls Enemies verse 10. Col. 1. 21. You that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mindes by wicked works yet now he hath reconciled Here you see that by reason of sin we are alienated and we are enemies Alienated in respect of the near union and conjunction which once we had with God and enemies in respect of that hostility which did arise 'twixt us and God by reason of sin Sinners do hate God as their enemy and God doth hate them as his enemies and their wayes are an abomination unto him Prov. 15. 9. And truely because sin is in its own nature the greatest dissimilitude with and repugnancy unto the nature of God as it therefore breaks up all friendship so it likewise raises up the strongest alienation and hostility But besides this the Scripture doth as clearly hold out the wrath of God under which men lie by reason of sin Joh. 3. 36. He that believeth not the Son the wrath of God abideth on him He saith not Non veniet super eum sed manet Jamdudum enim involvit omnes Adami filios illis supe incumbet donec removeatur per Christum Mediatorem saith Austin Rom. 1. 18. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodlinesse and unrighteousnesse of men who hold the truth in unrighteousnesse Doth God reveal and threaten and inflict wrath upon sinners and yet is he not wrath with sin or with sinners Eph. 2 3. And were by nature the children of wrath as well as others How often do we read of the provocation of God by sin and of Gods abhorring of people for sin and of casting them out of his sight and of the separation which sin makes and of his forsaking and punishing and damning of sinners certainly then sin makes a real breach and enmity 'twixt God and us 2. That Jesus Christ as our Mediatour did step in between God and us and Jesus Christ did step in betwixt God and us to make up the breach He did appease the wrath of God made up the breach and slew the enmity and reconciled us again Now here observe two things 1. Jesus Christ did appease the wrath of God against us He did pacifie him and took off all provocation on our part and displeasure therefore on Gods part All the peace-offerings in the Old Testament upon which his wrath fell off and ceased were but Types of Christ who was the real and true Peace-offering by whom God is appeased and pacified with us Hence is that of the Prophet Isa 53. 5. The chastisement of our peace was upon him It was Christ who made peace for us and as Christ is called our Peace and Peace-maker so he is called our Appeasor or Appeasement Rom. 3. 25. whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiatory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Joh. 2. 2. And he is the Propitiation for our sinnes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 placamen not placationis testimonium but placamen effectivum Now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is placare to appease a person and so to appease him that wrath and displeasure in him is removed or taken off God be mercifull to me a sinner said the Publican Luke 18. 13. Be merciful to me the word signifies Be propitious be appeased be pacified And truely upon the account of this part of Reconciliation by Christ we are
who have the Lord to be their God what will not a reconciled God do for you His love and friendship is as fruitful of mercies and blessings as his Justice and wrath is of punishments and miseries 10. Can any thing hinder you from being saved If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life Vse 3 Is Reconciliation the fruit and effect of the death of Christ Then let trembling broken humbled even sinking hearts under the weight of their sins and Let trembling hearts make in to Christ and trust on him to make their peace bitternesse of Gods wrath and displeasure I say let them in this condition make in to Christ and look up to Christ and trust on Christ to make their peace Ah poor creature why dost thou take this work upon thy self I confesse we must use means to finde peace but we have not power to make peace we must pray and confesse and repent c. but these are not our peace Object Will not these do it Sol. No but Christ only 1 Joh. 2. 1 2. If any man sin we haue an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous and he is the Propitiation for our sins And therefore if ever you would have the wrath of God removed if you would see all partition walls broken down if you would have God to be pacified to be friends with you again to be at peace with you then go to Christ and make him your friend Oject Do not lose time by impertinent disputes and reasonings But may we come to Christ and can he and will he make peace for us and take up our differences Sol. Let me tell you 1. Dispute what you will you shall never finde peace with God but by Christ No peace with God but by Christ his Name only is Prince of Peace he only is the Mediatour of Peace he only reconciles God and sinners 2. It is his Office to reconcile God and sinners and make peace that is his work It is his Office to make peace unto which he was called and for which he was set apart He is that Mercifull and faithfull High Priest in things pertaining to God to make Reconciliation for the sins of the people Heb. 2. 17. Mark the place the Office of Christ is to be a Priest c. One chief work of that Office is to make Reconciliation for the sinnes of the people and he is one that is very good in his Office you need not be afraid to go to him for the work of his Office for saith the Text He is a mercifull High Priest very tender very affectionate very compassionate easily wrought on by any distressed sinner that comes to him and calls on him Lord Jesus my soule is affraid and oppressed with the fear of Gods wrath and sense of his displeasure I am grieved for offending and displeasing of him O that thou wouldest undertake for me I beseech thee step into the breach make my peace reconcile my soule get thy Father to be friends with me c. He is a faithful High Priest O he will not faile you he will not put you off he will not thrust you aside he will surely undertake your condition he will make Reconciliation for our sins 3. It was the work of Christ from first to last in life and in death Heb. 9. It was the work of Christ from first to last 26. He appeared to put away sin by the Sacrifice of himself yea and it is his work now in heaven He appears in the presence of God for us Heb. 9 24. and he ever lives to make intercession for us Heb. 7. 25. 4. You of all other have special grounds of hope and trust that Christ will be You of all others have grounds of hope your Attonement and Reconciliation Not only because the Reconciling Christ calls you thus burdened to come unto him and he will give you ease Matth. 11. 28. but also because that the day when the peoples soules were to be afflicted for their sins on that day was the Priest to make an Attonement for their soules Levit. 16. 29 30. 4. The fourth great benefit which we have by the sufferings of Christ our mediatour Redemption is Redemption or deliverance Alas sirs In what a miserable condition were we by reason of sin Methinks the more vertues and blessed fruits that I read accâ—â—â—ing by Christ unâ—o us â—â—e more do I still discern of our deep and involved misery by reason of sin Sin was such a debt as none but Christ could satisfie for Sin was such an offence as nothing but the blood of Christ could expiate or get the pardon of it Sin was such a breach and such an enmity as nothing but the death of Christ could take up and reconcile And sin was such a bondage and thrâ—â—dom as nothing but the blood of Christ could redeem us from In him saith the Apostle Ephes 1. 7. we have Redemption but then he adds through his blood So Pet. 1. 18 19. Ye were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ In this Redemption by Christ there are two things considerable 1. The parts of it 2. The degrees of it 1. The parts of it are two one is Privative and respects that from which we are The parts of it redeemed or freed the other is Positive and respects that state unto which we are translated or if I may so expresse it of which we are made free 1. The Privative part of Redemption is that from which we are freed by Christ and that is from all the chaines of Spiritual bondage Now there are six chaines The Privative part from what we are freed From the power of sin of bondage with which every sinner is bound and from them all there is Redemption by Christ 1. With the chaines of bondage under the power of sin 2 Pet. 2. 19. Of whom a man is overcome of the same he is brought in bondage Every servant of sin is a Bond-slave to his Lusts and so many sinful lusts as he hath so many Tyrants doth he serve as a slave And there is no slavery or bondage like unto that of sin for sin never gives rest nor wages but is infinite in its commands and damns us at last for a requital of all our services But from this bondage doth Christ redeem or deliver us For this purpose was the Son of God manifested that he might destroy the works of the Divel 1 Joh. 3. 8. Those works of the Divel were our sins as the same verse expounds them Rom. 6. 6. Our Old Man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin Two things in sin from which Christ delivers us 1. Jesus Christ hath by his Redemption delivered us from the dominion of sin Rom. 6. 14. Sin shall not have dominion over you
the year of Jubile was come and he might have Accept of the Redemption by Christ gone free yet he chose rather to be a servant So when Christ hath wrought Redemption for us and offers that plenteous redemption unto us now to refuse it and not accept of it But to say I had rather serve my sins still and I like my bondage better why If you will not be perswaded to accept of deliverance and redemption by Christ but your Spiritual slavery and captivity doth better please you then remain as you are But woe unto you if you do so for within a few years or weeks or dayes when God and Conscience and Death and Hell fall upon for your sins you would give ten thousand worlds if you could command them that you had accepted of of your Redemption by Christ but then it is too late 5. Then you who take your selves to be Christ's and to be the Redeemed of Carry your selves like Redeemed ones the Lord Carry your selves like redeemed Persons and walk worthy of the Redemption which you have by Christ 1. Give way unto your Redeemer suffer him to rule youâ— hearts and to order Let your Redeemer rule you your wayes for you are his by a right of Redemption As the men of Israel spake to Gideon Judg. 8. 22. Rule thou over us for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midean So say you to Christ Lord Jesus Rule thou over us for thou hast redeemed us from the hands of all our enemies Thou hast bought us with a price and we are not our own but thine 2. Give not way to any works of bondage retuâ—n not to Egypt again but walk Give no wâ—y to any works of bondage on strait in the way to Heaven and abound in all good works Tit. 2. 14. Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works 3. Spend not your dayes in vanity neither fashion your selves unto the present Spend not your dayes in in vanity course of the world why so will you say because Christ hath redeemed you Why is this contrary to our redemption by Christ it is so whatsoever you you may think 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. You were redeemed from your vain conversations with the precious blood of Christ Not only iniquities but vanities fall under our Redemption by Christ Gal. 1 4. Who gave himself for our sinnes that he might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God 6. Long for the day of your full and perfect Redemption by Christ Be not so Long for the day of your full Redemption afraid of death nor of the coming of Christ to judgement Death will nothing disadvantage you nor will the coming of Christ to judgement any thing prejudice you No no that is the day of perfect Redemption both in point of deliverance and in point of possession Then shall your bodies also be wholly ransomed from the grave and in soule and body shall you be glorified for ever with the Lord your Redeemer Be thankful 7. Be â—xceeding thankful if you be brought into Christ and do partake of Redemption by him O sirs what mercy is this Redemption think a little of it what a mercy it is that your sins shall never damn you that the curse of the Law shall never fall on you that the wrath of God is taken off that your sinful lusts which you formerly served and which ruled you are broken down and you will serve them no more nor shall Satan command you as heretofore c. that you are brought into a state of Spiritual liberty He that lies in bondage and would be Redeemed let him by faith look up to Jesus Christ 8. If any poor soul lying in bondage and groaning for deliverance would be redeemed then let him by faith look up to Jesus Christ for he only is the Redeemer Do so For 1. Whatsoever your bondage may be Jesus Christ is a suitable Redemption Perhaps your bondage is under sin pehaps it is under Satans temptation perhaps it is under slavish fear of wrath and death but Christ is perfect Redemption and full and plenteous Redemption 2. He is made of us unto God Redemption 1 Cor. 1. 30. God hath set him up and raised him up to be your Deliverer 5. A fifth singular benefit depending upon the sufferings of Christ as our Mediatour is his Meritorious purchase or Acquisition His Meritorious purchase The sufferings of Christ had a double aspect 1. One unto the Evils under which we lay and to which we were obnoxious In which respect his sufferings were a satisfaction 2. Another unto the good which we did need and would enjoy and in this respect his sufferings were a purchase Jesus Christ did suffer not only to deliver us from an evill and miserable condition but also did restore us into a good and happy condition And his sufferings were not only a price of payment to get off our debts but they were also a price of purchase to procure and that Meritoriously all blessedness for us Where sin abounded Grace did abound much more Rom. 5. Ephes 1. 11. In whom we have obtained an inheritance There are six things which Jesus Christ our Mediatour hath purchased Christ hath purchased by his death 1. All the Elect They are his by way of Donation Thine they were and thou All the Elect. gavest them me Joh. 17. 6. And they are his by way of purchase The Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood Acts 20. 28. 2. Everlasting life which is called the purchased possession Ephes 1. 14. And Everlasting life the gift of God through Jesus Christ Rom. 6. 23. The blood of whom is worth Heaven it self We have no right unto the heavenly and glorious inheritance nor any hope thereof but by Jesus Christ Grace reigns through Righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord Rom. 5. 22. 3. Nearnesse of Relation Adoption of Sons we who were in bondage Nearness of Relation who were strangers who were enemies are now made nigh by the blood of Christ Ephes 2. 13. and do by him receive the adoption of Sons Gal. 4. 5. To redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the Adoption of Sonnes 4. The Holy Ghost In his graces assistances and comforts Not one grace nor The Holy Ghost comfort nor answer which you have but it is the fruit of Christs purchase Jesus Christ hath purchased and obtained this Joh. 14. 16. I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever verse 26. But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name he is made unto us sanctification 1 Cor. 30. 5. The forgivenesse of our sins Your sins are forgiven you for his Name-sake 1 Joh.
he loved me and gave himself for me Gal. 2. 20. The question is not propounded about that general knowledge and assent of faith whether a person may certainly know that truth that Christ died for sinners and will save all that believe but about a particular knowledge of that truth as in relation and application unto this or that person c. 2. There is a certainty as the Papists do distinguish and with whom we principally contend in this Controversie of hope which depends upon probable grounds and there is a certainty of faith which depends upon sure and undeceiving grounds The question is not whether a person may attain only unto some good hope and probable conjecture that Christ died for him that his sins are pardoned that he shall be saved in which conjecture he may yet be deceived but whether he may attain unto a certainty of faith upon grounds proper to believers and to them who shall be saved 3. We must distinguish 'twixt seeming believers who rest in common Notions of Christ and in a visible profession only and 'twixt real and sound Believers whose hearts and souls God hath touched and perswaded and drawn to Christ and they are effectually brought into union and communion with Christ I speak not of the former who yet are very apt to deceive themselves with an extream but ungrounded confidence that Christ died for them but only of real and sound believers who are indeed married unto Christ and are branches of A believer may know by a certainty of faith that Christ died for him the Vine and members of the Body So that now the summe of the Answer is this That a truely believing person may know with a certainty of Faith not only that Christ died for sinners but also for him and for his sinnes and for his salvation though he doth not as yet certainly know this yet he may know this though he doth not alwayes at all times under temptations and falls and conflicts and desertions know this yet he may attain unto this certain knowledge which I suppose will be made out by Scripture and good Arguments 1 Joh. 5. 10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witnesse in himself ver Proved by Scripture 11. And this is the Record that God hath given us eternal life and this life is in his Son ver 12. He that hath the Son hath life ver 13. These things have I written unto you that believe on the Name of the Son of God that ye may knâ—w that ye have eternal life Rom. 4. 23. Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him ver 24. But for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead ver 25. who was delivered for our offences and was raised for our justification Gal. 2. 20. Who loved me and gave himself for me 1 Joh. 2. 1. We have an Advâ—cate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous ver 2. And he is the Propitiation for our sins ver 12. Your sins are forgiven you for his Name sake Rev. 1. 5. Vnto him that hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood 1 Cor. 1. 30. Of him are ye in Christ Jesus who of God is made unto us Wisdom Righteousnesse Sanctification and Redemption Cant. 6. 3. I am my Beloveds and my Beloved is mine Besides these Scriptures let us consider of some Arguments depending upon Scripture which do prove that a person may certainly know that God intended Arguments from Scripture Christ for him and that Christ dyed for him c. 1. If a particular person may certainly know that he doth truely believe in Christ then he may certainly know that Christ died to save him for the Scripture saith Joh. 3. 16. Whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life And Joh. 10. 27. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and ver 28. â— give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall any pluck them out of my hand But a particular person may certainly know that he doth truely believe in Christ Ergo. Heb. 10. 39. We are not of them that draw back unto perdition but of them that believe to the saving of the soule 2 Cor. 4. 13. We having the same Spirit of Faith according as it is written I believed and â—herefore have I spoken we also believe and therefore speak 2 Tim. 1. 12. I know whom I have believed Job 19. 25. I know that my Redeemer liveth It is to me a strange thing that any should think it impossible for a man that hath faith to know that he hath it why should we think it impossible for Lazarus being raised to life now to know that he hath life or for the blind to whom Christ gave sight confidently to say as he in Joh. 9. 25. One thing I know that whereas I was blind I now see So for a man who was formerly dead in sins but now is raised by the Faith of the operation of God Col. 2 12. to say with Paul I live by the faith of the Son of God Gal. 2. 20. and who was formerly ignorant of the beauties of Christ so that no comelinâ—ss appeared in him but now his eyes are opened and he looks on Christ as the chiefest of ten thousand and as altogether lovely and desirable May not this man say I know I do believe when the Apostle hath said unto you that believe he is precious 1 Pet. 2. 7. Again the Apostle saith in Rom. 5. 1. Being justified by faith we have peace with God Can faith let in this peace into our hearts and yet we be uncertain whether we have that faith And the same Apostle saith 1 Cor. 2. 12. We have received the Spirit which is of God that we might know the things which are freely given us of God Surely faith is one of the chiefest things that are freely given unto us of God It is the gift of God Ephes 2. 8. Phil. 1. 29. c. 2. The proper and real end of self Examination is at least a possibilâ—ty of knowledge Nay the proper scope of it is certain knowledge For because as we are doubtful therefore we examine and try so we therefore examine try and prove that thereupon we may come to acknowledge a certainty Nay saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 13. 5. Examine your selves whether you be in the faith prove your own selves know you not your own selves that Christ is you except you be reprobates Object The Apostle doth only put them upon a tryal whether Christ be in them yea or no. Sol. 'T is true that is the work which he puts them upon But 1. I demand Is that work feasable or not is it possible for them to come unto that knowledge of Christs being in them upon that rryal or is it not if it be not
Acts 16. â—0 there to dwell Ephes 3. 17. and there to rule and reign Seventhly And to depend on Christ placing all our confidence on him and in none and on nothing but him Phil. 3. 3. We rejoyce in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh Ver. 9. And be found in him not having mine own righteousnesse which is of the Law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousnesse which is of God by faith Eighthly And to love Christ faith which worketh by love Gal. 5. 6. who sheweth so much love as to give himself to death to save me I will go no farther Finde me but such a faith as this and I assure you I assure you nay the Gospel of Christ assures you that this is true faith thâ—s is the Faith which makes Christ yours in his Person and in all the Benefits of his Death And one thing more observe by the way that though this faith be but weak though it be but as the smoaking flax though it be but as a grain of Mustard-seed though it be much assaulted with Satans temptations though it be oft-times shaken with fears and doubtings Yet if it be but of so much life and power to match thy heart to Christ to bring it in to Christ to set him up as thy Lord and as thy Saviour and to rol and rest and cast thy soul and confidence on him it is true Faith and Christ is thine and thou mayest safely conclude that Christ dyed for thee and made peace for thee c. Fourthly One may know that Christ did effectually dye for him by the Combination By the combination of benefits purchased by the death of Christ of the Benefits purchased by the death of Christ and by the conjoyned participation of them in respect of himself Beloved the benefits purchased by the death of Christ are many as Remission of sins and Reconciliation with God and Eternal life and Redemption and Sanctification c. And these purchased Benefits they were all of them purchased at once and together and all of them with respect to every Believer and in time every one of them is applyed to every Believer Christ did not purchase Remission of sins for one believer only and Reconciliation only for another believer and Grace only for another and Glory only for another neither doth Christ apply these partly to one and partly to another but he purchased them for every one that shall believe and he applies them to every one that doth believe 1 Cor. 6. 11. But ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord and by the Spirit of our God 1 Cor. 1. 30. Made unto us Wisdom Righteousnesse Sanctification and Redemption 1 Joh. 5. 6. This is he that came by Water and Blood even Jesus Christ Fifthly Unto which let me add the fifth character by which one may know By the ends of the death of Christ that Christ died for him viz. by the ends of the death of Christ in respect of us and the appearance of them upon our hearts and lives 2 Cor. 5. 15. He died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him who died for them and rose again Tit. 2. 14. Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works 1 Pet. 2. 24. who his own self bare our sins in his own body upon the Crosse that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed In these places you see five ends of the death of Christ for us 1. That he might redeem us from all iniquity i. e. set us at liberty from bondage unto our sinful lusts that henceforth we should not serve sinne Rom. 6. 6. 2. That we should be dead to sin i. e. our hearts and affections should be mortified and crucified unto them not love them not desire them not delight in them not hearken to them not be led by them any more 3. That henceforth we should not live unto our selves i. e. intend and set up our own ends and interests our own praise and glory our own profit and benefit our own pleasure and contentments 4. That we should be a peculiar people be his be for him unto himself purified by his spirit and joyned by the same Spirit unto himself and led and drawn forth in his strength unto all good works affectionately and fervently 5. That we should live unto him who died for us and live unto righteousness i. e. exalt the will and wayes and honour of Christ count nothing too dear for him spend and be spent for him take his directions obey his commands serve his ends act intirely and throughly and willingly and chearfully and fully and constantly in all conditions and in all tryals for Christs interest and the magnifying of Christ O Beloved let us seriously try our interest in the death of Christ by these Ends of the death of Christ which are certainly accomplished in due time in all for whom Christ died There are two sorts of the vertues of the death of Christ 1. Some are for us he died for to satifie for us and to make peace for us and to purchase Remission of sins for us and to obtain salvation for us 2. Some are in us as to redeem us from all iniquity to crucifie our sins to purifie us unto himself a peculiar people c. Christ died for our sins and he died that we might dye unto our sins Our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin Rom. 6. 6. The blood of Christ was a pacifying blood having made peace through the blood of his Crosse Col. 1. 20. And the blood of Christ is a purifying blood it purgeth the conscience from dead works to serve the living God Heb. 9. 14. He died as our Surety and Priest and to this end also did Christ die and rise again that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living Rom. 14. 9 Therefore if you be yet in your sins if you be not dead unto them if you love them if you serve them you cannot assure your selves as yet that Christ dyed for you But on the contrary if you can truly say as the Apostle Rom. 6. 17 18. We were the servants of sin but we are made free from sin and are become the servants of righteousness we are healed by the stripes of Christ and we are made conformable unto his death we find the similitude of his Death and Resurrection in us we are not our own but Christs his we are and none but his our hearts are his and our lives are his why then be confident that Christ is yours and his death is yours and all the benefits of his death are yours Sixthly One may know that Christ died for him
who is the Donor or Giver of all It suits best with God the Donor of all It doth suit best 1. With his will and pleasure Who in this Covenant will appear and be known to be the Lord the Lord merciful and gracious abundant in goodnesse and truth Exod. 34. 6. 2. With his glory and praise which questionably devolves on himself alone seeing all our blessings come only out of his Treasury and from no reason or merit of ours but only from his own graciousness free gifrs redound unto the praâ—se of the giver only Thirdly This way of gracious giving suiâ—es best with us the receivers of blessings It suits best with us the receivers from God For consider us eiâ—her 1 As meer sinners We have no hope or plea from any thing in our selves we are a company of lost people who have undone our selves and are both insufficient to help our selves and also unworthy that God should help us 2. As made believers Faith can finde no ground to plead with God to challenge him to rely on him to expect anything from him but his promise to give and to give graciously A believer neither may nor can rest on any work or worth of his own all is but drosse and dung he trades only with a gracious God in Christ 3. As Petitioners thus also it suites best with us Gods graciousness is the best ground for us to ask upon O save me for thy mercies sake Psal 6. 4. Answer me in thy truth the surest ground to speed Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need Heb. 4. 16. The most fixed and invariable ground God is for ever the Lord merciful and gracious you will quickly finde a want of worthiness in your selves but you shall never find a want of goodness and graciousness in God Vse 1 Are all the blessings which are in the Covenant given by God unto his people not upon the account or reason of their worthiness but of Gods graciousness A threefold error censuâ—ed Then behold a three-fold error worthy to be censured and shunneâ— First Of the Papists who boast so impudently of their meritorious good Of the Papists works merita de Congruo before men are in the state of grace merita de condigno being in the state of grace They can take up all sorts of merits for soul aâ—d bâ—dy nay heaven itself and eternal glory upon the account of their own merits Hear what Bellarmine saith opera nostra propriè merentur faelicitatem de Lib. 5. de 〈◊〉 cap. 16. 17. congruo Hear what Vashquiz saith opera nostra nâ—n habent dignitatem à persona Christi sed à persona à qua procedunt Hear the Anathema of the Council of Trent against all who deny that the works of justified persons do vere mereri vitam In 1. 2. Tom. 2. Disp 214. c. â— N. 44. Aeternam but against this we may oppose the Scripture Not by the works of Righteousnesse which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us saith Paul Tit. 3. 5. Enter not into judgement with thy servant for in thy sight shall no flesh living be justified saith David Psal 143. 2. How holy a man was Job and how abundant in good works see Chap. 31. 16 17. and yet saith Job Chap. 9. 15. Though I were righteous I would not answer him but I would make my supplication to my Judge and ver 20. If I justifie my self mine own mouth shall condemn me If I say I am perfect it shall also prove me perverse Paul how strict was he and as touching the righteousness which is in the Law how blameless And yet he will be found in Christ Not having his own Righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the faith of Christ the Righteousness which is of God by faith Phil. 3. 9. Secondly Of the ordinary sort of Protestants who set out something of their Of the ordinary sort of Protestants own as reasons why God should bless them and save them they mean no body any harm and they serve God devoutly and keep their Church and pay every one their due and say their Prayers and their Belelief and their ten Commandements and cry God mercy when they sin and will not all this deserve heaven and a few blessings on earth Thirdly But most of all to be blamed and that with pity are poor broken-hearted Of poor brokenhearted sinners sinners who discern so much sinfulness and unworthiness in themselves and yet are so difficult to place their hopes in the graciousness of God and are hearking extreamly after something of worth in themselves something in themselves for which God would hear and help them if once they could reach unto it It is a great work to break a hard heart It is a greater work to make a broken heart to look up and trust for mercy It is the greatest work to make such an heart to believe for itself that all mercies and blessings are to be had upon the sole account of Gods graciousness Whether this may arise from our exceeding Guilt which fills us with exceedingâ—â—â— slavish fear or from the pride of our hearts which would be something or from the greatness of Gods kindnesse which is so unusual with man or from the particular genius of unbelief which is gone and hath nothing to say more when once we come to acknowledge Gods graciousness for the sole reason of all our blessings and possessions or from all these conjunctively I will not now dispute but sure I am that the broken-hearted sinner is hardly brought off from boasting on himself and is hardly brought on to commit or venture all his hopes and confidences on the graciuosness of God as the entire cause why God should pardon accept blesse and save him And this is a principal cause why his soule dwells so long with fears and tears and sadnesses Doth God dispence all the blessings of the Covenant unto his people not upon the account of their worthiness but only of his own graciousness Then under the Under the sense â—f unworthinesse let us go to God and trust on him sense of all our want yea and of all our unworthinesse let 's go to God and pray to him and trust upon him to do us good for his own Name sake Here is water said the Eunuch to Philip what doth hinder me to be baptized So say I God promiseth to give all blessings unto his people and he promiseth to give them graciously now what should hinder you from going to God and beseeching and trusting of him to perform his good Word unto you You are grieved for your sins what should hinder â—ou to believe the free forgiveness of them You would fain have your hearts sanctified what should hinder you from going to God and trusting on him freely to make them holy You would have
omit all needless disputes I humbly conceive that there may be three reasons why forgiveness of sins is one of the first mercies mentioned in the promise Three reasons of it It doth most of all set forth the glory of God First Because it is one of the mercies which doth most of all set forth and illustrate the glory of God the greatest appearing of God in his glory in his love and in his grace and in his mercy to forgive sins Exod. 34. 6. The Lord proclaimed the Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious Ver. 7. Forgiving iniquity transgressions and sins In this Proclamation the Lord opens and shews his glory unto Moses and one of the first sights of that is this that he is the Lord God merciful and gracious and that appears by this that he forgives iniquity transgressions and sins and indeed this is the glory of his Throne that it is a Throne of grace where sinners may finde mercy and finde grace to help in time of need Hebr. 4. 16. Hence is it that his grace and mercy is so often called his glory Ephes 3. 6 According to the riches of his glory i. e. of his grace and mercy see Rom 9. 23. That he might make known the riches of his glory on the Vessels of mercy see 2 Cor. 3. 18. Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord i. e. the glory of his mercy and love in Christ Jesus therefore the Prophet saith Micah 7. 18. Who is a strong God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage as if Gods forgiving of sins were one of the greatest demonstrations of his Deity Though his Godhead doth appear in other of his Attributes and in other of his Works Rom. 1. 20. yet it doth most clearly and most comfortably appear in this merciful Attribute and work of forgiveness of sins his wisdom and his justice and his power have put forth themselves as it were in a way of subserviency to the glory of his mercy he found out by his wisdom a way to satisfie his justice by Christ that so he might bring glory to his mercy in the forgiveness of our sins Secondly Because it is a mercy transcendently excellent a mercy which excels It is a mercy transcendently excellent It excels the mercies of men most of the mercies which we do receive there are 1. The mercies of men they do sometimes pardon offences committed against them but Gods forgiving mercies far exceed this e. g. First When man hath forgiven you yet God may call you to an account and question and condemn you Secondly Mans forgiveness may acquit you from some temporal punishment due unto you by some humane Lawes by you transgressed but Gods forgiveness reacheth to the discharge of you not only from temporal but also from eternal punishment Thirdly The mercy of man in forgiveness looks only at outward offences but it meddles not with inward sinnings with those of the heart but Gods forgiving extends to internal invisible obliquities as well as external and invisible transgressions Fourthly When men forgive us this perhaps may be some lesser offences but no great and capital or if these then the benefit of this forgiveness is lost and forfeited by the next offence as in the case of Shimei but when God forgives a sinner he forgives all sorts of sinnings and will never remember those sins again any more 2. The mercies of God whereof some are corporal and some are spiritual now forgiveness of sins doth excell First All the corporal mercies or blessings which possibly can be enjoyed in It excels corporal mercies this world for 1. One may enjoy all corporal blessings in greater abundance and this may be all his portion they have their portion in this life said David Psal 17. 14. but forgiveness of sins is a mercy which never goes alone but hath the concomitancy of all choice blessings it is a better portion and yet not all 2. The outward blessings respect only the condition of the body the preferment delight ease relief support and safety of that and notwithstanding this preheminence the soul may be in a most miserable condition but forgiveness of sins hath a special respect to the soul and the welfare and everlasting good of it and happiness of it it makes us truly blessed 3. Notwithstanding the presence of outward blessings the spiritual misery of man is nothing altered they cannot release you from the wrath of God nor deliver you from that curse which the Law pronounces against you for your transgressions but when God forgives sins then the forgiven person is freed from wrath and curse and condemnation and God is pacified and reconciled 4. One may possibly enjoy them and yet never enjoy God nor Christ nor peace in conscience nor glory in heaven nay his enjoyment of these may accidentally cause a farther distance from God and Christ as in the young man whose riches and possessions kept him off from closing with Christ but forgiveness of sins necessarily involves all these grand enjoyments if sins be forgiven unquestionably God is your God and Christ is your Redeemer and heaven is your inheritance Secondly It excells if not all yet certainly most of Gods spiritual mercies I It excels most of Gods spiritual mercies am unwilling to make comparisons between them yet with reverence I speak it that forgiveness of sins in some respects excells all the graces in man 1. For the perfection of the work the change of the soul by grace is indeed an For the perfection in the work excellent work nevertheless it is imperfect therefore it gets on by degrees but the forgiveness of sin is a perfect work when God sanctifies a man he doth it so that the person needs yet more holiness but when he forgives us he doth it not so that those sins need more of forgiveness when he sanctifies a man there still remains some corruption but when he forgives a sinner you cannot say there remains yet something behind of condemnation God can find enough in our graces to except against but nothing in his forgiveness of sins 2. For the causality in the work Compare your graces and your forgivenesses For the causality in the work together there are several choice effects in the soul which you cannot affirme of your graces as their cause yet you may safely affirm Gods forgiveness of sins to be their cause e. g. peace in conscience you cannot say that any holiness or righteousness in you is the cause of this for conscience cannot be quieted by any thing in us but forgiveness of sin is a just cause of peace in conscience being justified by faith we have peace with God Rom. 5. 1. I will say no more at present but that all the springs of joy and peace and comfort are in your justification Rom. 8. 11. Be of good chear thy sins are forgiven thee Matth. 9. 2.
sinner who hath no part in Christ no hope nor plea by him Fourthly The unforgiven sinner is obnoxious to the severe Authority of an He is obnoxious to an awaking guilty conscience awakning guilty conscience and unto all the powerful workings of it Indeed whiles the conscience remains stupid and seared although sins be unforgiven there is a quietnesse in the soule like a sick man asleep Simile But when God irresistably awakes conscience by effectual light and gives it a charge to act its office of accusing and condemning O Lord in what a case will the unpardoned sinner now be now the man must see all his sins and now he must see them in all their offence and provocations and deserts and now he must see them all as unforgiven and himself therefore obnoxious to death and wrath and curse and hell and conscience sets on all these with a strong conviction and with such piercing woundings and with such continual terror and horror that the unpardoned sinner is at his wits end A wounded Conscience or Spirit who can bear Prov. 18. 14. He is like Pashor-Magor-Missabib a terror round abount unto himself the guilt of his unpardoned sins works on his soul and on his body his soul hath them now before it and the thoughts of his soul are perplexed and astonished what shall I do and what will become of me And his afflictions are breaking with fears and with despaires his eyes are rolling his feet and joynts shaking and his body trembling he knows not what to do with himself nor how to fly from himself Conscience still cries and still pursues and still wounds and still gnaws and still flames and burnt and still condemns him thou hast destroyed thy self thou art lost for ever God is thy Judge thy sins are unforgiven and thy portion is damnation the poor wretch of times cries out O Conscience be quiet spare me a little give me a little space a minute an hours rest I can allow thee no Interim saith Conscience how can I thy sins are not forgiven and God hath given me a charge against thee and therefore how can I be quiet or how can I speak to him unto whom God saith there is no peace but wrath Isa 57. 21. Fifthly The unforgiven sinner must meet with death and death must meet with He must meet with death as a king of terrors him as a king of fears and as armed against him with the guilt of his sins the sting of death is sin saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 15. 56. death is no great matter but the sting of death that is terrible that is like the sting of a Serpent or of the Scorpion piercing poysoning enraging and killing Luther professeth that there were three things which he durst not think of without Christ viz. 1. Of his sinnes 2. Of death 3. Of the day of judgement why what is death to an unpardoned sinner I will tell you what it is 1. It is a full period to all comforts and delights the unpardoned sinner shall never taste of delight more to all Eternity when a justified person dyes he shall never see any sorrow more and when an unpardoned sinner dyes he shall never see delight in any kind more 2. A full period to all Reprieves and Bayles the sinner during life may be Reprieved from many an Execution of wrath and judgement but when he dies there is no longer reprieving he must now appear in person before the righteous God answer for himself and give up his account and to receive according to what he hath done Now how dreadful will this be to the unpardoned sinner on whose soul and conscience the guilt of all his sins is engraven O saith he I cannot live and I must die I have not a day longer nor an hour longer and then must I appear before Gods Judgement seat and what will become of one who never repented who never believed who never had part in Christ who never had his sins forgiven to him Sixthly the unpardoned sinner must receive that just and irreversible sentence of He must receive the irreversible sentence of condemnation condemnation from God Beloved there is a twofold sentence which God will pronounce at the last day 1. One is of comfort and absolution Come ye blessed inherit the kingdom prepared for you Matth 25. 34. 2. The other is of terror and condemnation Go ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Divel and his Angels and both these sentences are already notified unto us in this life He that believes shall be saved and he that believes not shall be damned Mar. 16. 16. How dreadful this sentence of condemnation will be I pray God that none of us may find but certainly all unpardoned sinners shall find it God will pronounce it against them how can it be otherwise if sinners be not pardoned if sinners be not pardoned then the sinner is not absolved and if he be not absolved he must be condemned Object But God may forgive him in that day Sol. No no that day is not a day of forgiving though it be a day of publication who hath been forgiven c. Seventhly Upon this sentence immediately follows execution God condemns And execution immediately follows To all eternity these sins and they shall be condemned he adjudgeth them to hell to be tormented with the Divel and his Angels and thither they go to suffer that wrath which their sins have deserved Eighthly And this poenal endurance of wrath it must continue to all eternity As long as God is God so long must the wrath of God abide on them the worm never dies and the fire of hell never goes out And if these things be so then by the way learn four things 1. Come off speedily from your sins by true repentance 2. Slight the Gospel as you have done no more stand no longer against the offers of Jesus Christ 3. By all means yield your selves to be the people of God 4. Whatsoever you make sure of make sure of Christ and of the forgiveness of your sins and the salvation of your souls SECT VI. Vse 2. DOth God promise forgiveness of sins unto his people Is it one of the first mercies by him promised unto them Then let us every one be exhorted to get a capacity of the forgiveness of our sins Get a capacity of forgiveness Beloved it is true that God can and doth forgive sins and will do so but yet he will do this in that way and in that order which he hath prescribed in his own Word we may not say Why I am a sinner and therefore God will forgive me as if one should say I am a debtor therefore the Creditor will release me and I am an offender and therefore the Judge will absolve me Nor may we say absolutely God is a merciful God and therefore he will forgive me for as God is a merciful God and may therefore forgive so he is a
those parts of Repentance that so you may know whether you do truly repent of your sins and consequently are under this most comfortable promise of the forgiveness of your sins First The qualifications of penitential grief or mourning for sinnes are The qualifications of penitential mourning for sin It is a supernatural grief these 1. It is a grief which is supernatural and wrought in us only by the Spirit of God it doth not arise from the strength of any natural principle in our own hearts as worldly sorrow doth in which one may abound who hath no grace at all and for which he needs not to pray at all but this sorrow is given from God and is sought by us from him Job 23. 16. God maketh my heart soft Ezek. 36. 26. I will take away the heart of stone and will give you an heart of flesh Zach. 12. 10. They shall look upon him whom they have pierced and they shall mourn c. You may easily mourn for worldly losses and under worldly distresses and melt and weep as Davids men did who wept untill they had no more power to weep 1 Sam. 30. 4. And yet under all these floods of grief the person may not be able to shed one tear of godly sorrow for his sins because this comes from another kind of Spring and is raised upon other Motives and Considerations it will cost you many convictions and many meditations and many earnest supplications and attendances on the Word to get this Fountain set open in your hearts 2. It is a grief which is sincere for sin as sin sin as sin is a transgression A sincere grief for sin as sin of the Law of God a provocation of God a dishonour unto God a separation and withdrawment of God a defilement and pollution of the soul and in a respect solely unto these considerations of sin doth truly penitential mourning break forth in the soul though no hell to damn me though no conscience to torment me Against thee thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight saith David Psal 51. 4. I have sinned what shall I do unto thee O thou preserver of men Job 7. 20. One may be troubled for sinning because of punishment from man or of punishment from God feared or inflicted but this is not a trouble for sin as an offence to God but as an offence to our selves How we may know that we grieve for sin as sin Quest. But now the scruple is How he may know that he doth grieve for sin as sin and only for sin Answered Sol. He may know it First By the acting of grief for sin when there is an universal cessation of punishment though conscience cease to torment and the hand of God is drawn off and there is no fear of man what he can do yet the heart is humbled and mourns still for offending of God Secondly By the rising of grief for sin upon the Assurance and Certificate of peace and reconciliation with God of which the more certain evidence is given into the soul the more sorrow and grief breaks forth out of the soul for sinning against such a God Thirdly By the extension of grief not only for our own sins but also for the sins of others the punishment of whose sins reacheth not to us but yet the dishonour by these sins doth reach unto God which therefore doth cause our hearts to mourn Psal 119. 136. Rivers of tears run down mine eyes because they keep not thy Law 3. It is a grief which is very high and great the Scripture seems to make It is a grief very high and great it a superlative sorrow calling it a great mourning like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the Valley of Megiddo and a bitterness as one is in for his first born Zach. 12. 10. And my bowels are troubled within me mine heart is turned within me for I have grievously rebelled c. Lam. 1. 20. and David watered his couch with his tears Psal 6. 6. Quest You know it is a question whether grief for sin ought not to be the highest and chiefest in quem dolorem Sol. For the resolution of which they â—â—stinguish of grief of passion and grief of the will which is a displeasure of the heart with it self perhaps another kind of grief may be higher in a passion but grief of heart for sin is the highest for displeasure and also for duration when that Land-flood is gone yet then the River of godly sorrow still runs My sin is ever before me said David Psal 51. and yet his Absolom for whom he took on so passionately was not ever before him 4. It is a grief which is vertual godly sorrow worketh Repentance 2 Cor. It is a grief which is vertual 7. 10. He who truly mourns for sin his heart doth hate sin and separates from sin and sinful ways and it becomes more holy and godly and he fears to sin against his God any more thus it is not with any false grief whatsoever 5. Lastly It is such a grief under which the soul seeks comfort from God It is a grief under which the soul seeks comfort from God and nothing can relieve the soul so grieving but the voice of joy and peace from God Psal 51. 12. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation Psal 85. 8. I will hear what God the Lord will speak for he will speak peace unto his people c. The qualifications of penitential confession Secondly The qualifications of true penitential confession of sins There are five Ingredients in penitential confession The acknowledgement of sin from a deep sense of sin 1. It is the acknowledging of our sins from a deep sense or feeling of them and our misery by them Penitential confession is the language of a sensible and troubled spirit Simile like a sick mans opening of his estate to the Physitian O here lies my grief my pain my distemper my danger and I fear my death so here in penitential confession of sins to God out of a tender and troubled feeling of them a repentant sinner cries out O Lord this is my heart and this hath been my life thus have I lived and thus have I sinned and thus and thus have I dishonoured thee O I am ashamed and confounded c. 2. It is a self-judging acknowledgement of our sins that for them we are A self judging acknowledgement unworthy of the least mercy and most worthy of the greatest judgement I am not worthy to be called thy son Luk. 15 19. not worthy to be called an Apostle confusion of face belongs to us Dan. 9. 8. And thou art just in all that is brought upon us thou hast done right but we have done wickedly Nehem. 9. 33. 3. It is an ingenuous acknowledgement of our sins not hiding or concealing An ingenuous acknowledgement the greatest and worst nor extenuating or lessning any one sin in the
abominable Idolatries 1 Pet. 4. 3. Foolish disobedient deceiving serving divers lusts and pleasures living in malice and envy hateful and hating one another Tit. 3. 3. And perhaps as the Apostles fear was of many of the Corinthians we have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which we have committed 2 Cor. 12. 21. Fourthly We should be most importunately fervent with the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ from whom alone every good and perfect gift doth come that he would grant unto us as he did unto those Gentiles repentance unto life Acts 11. 18. and that it may be given unto us as once unto the Philipians to believe Phil. 1. 29. Fifthly We should more diligently and reverently attend the preaching of the Word by which God doth put forth his power and his grace for the working of Repentance and Faith in us Luke 11. 32. The men of Nineve repented at the preaching of Jonas Ephes 1. 13. In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the Word of truth the Gospel of your Salvation SECT VII Vse 3 DOth God himself promise the forgiveness of sins unto all people in Covenant with him Behold then you who are the people of God your condition The happiness of a pardoned condition and your portion you are the Generation of Gods mercy you and you only are the people who have their iniquities forgiven and upon this very account your very condition 1. It is a very comfortable condition Son Be of good comfort thy sins are It is veâ—y comfortable forgiven thee Matth. 9. 2. Comfort ye comfort ye my people speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her iniquity is pardoned Isa 40 1 2. 2. Yea it is a very blessed condition Blessed is the man whose transgression And blessed is forgiven whose sin is covered Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputed no iniquity Psal 32. 1 2. Quest But will some say Wherein lies the comfortableness and blessedness This appears fâ—â—m this that our sins are forgiven Sol. I will shew you 1. In a privative way 2. In a positive way 1. In a privative way In a privative way You are for ever secured from Gods wrath First If God himself hath forgiven you your sins Then you are for ever delivered and secured from the wrath of God God will never deal with you or against you as a revenging Judge as an enemy in wrath Beloved it is better to have all the world to be our enemy than to have God to be our enemy and to have all the world displeased with us than to have God displeased with us for he is of infinite power and his wrath is of infinite weight it doth exceedingly distress and vex the conscience and fills up the soul with dreadful amazement and with unsufferable pains and with continual restlessness that the sinner upon whom it is fallen is utterly cursed and sinks with what he feels and with what he still fears and every day and houâ—e expects from the just God for all his unpardoned sins Now from this wrath of God as a revenging Judge whatsoever it may be in the nature of it or in the effect of it and in the eternity of it is every forgiven sinner delivered and secured it shall never fall upon him at all though temptations may fall upon him and afflictions may befal him and the fatherly displeasures may befal him and though some kinds of desertions may befal him and though misapprehensions of Gods love may befal him and though sickness and weakness and death it self may befal him yet the judicial 〈◊〉 of God shall never befal him neither in whole nor in part neither in greater nor in lesser degrees neither in this life nor in the life to come for Rom. 5. 9. Being justified by the blood of Christ we are saved from wrath through him Ephes 2. 16. And by his Cross all enmity is slain Gal. 3. 13. And Christ hatâ— redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us when sin is forgiven wrath is gone and curse is gone sin being taken away they are taken away Mine anger is turned away from him Hos 14. 4. Secondly You shall never be condemneâ— for your sins you are certainly off You shall never be condemned from that sentence Who saith the Aposte Rom. 8. 33. shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect it is God that justifieth Who Ver. 34. is he that condemneth it is Christ that dyed To be condemned and to be justified are absolutely inconsistent for condemnation is the act of justice justification is the act of grace in condemnation siâ— is imputed but in justification sin is not imputed in condemnation the sinner is adjudged to that punishment which his sins deserve but in justâ—fication he is discharged of that punishment which for sin he was obnoxious unto in condemnation the sinner is called to an account and he is questioned and sentenced as a cursed Malefactor but in justification he is dismissed cleared and acquitted by the blood of Christ and his sins are mentioned no more and never shall be remembred Now what an unspeakable mercy is this that thy poor soul shall never be damned that notwithstanding all thy sins which deserve an eternal separation from God in blessedness and an eternal endurance of the flames of hell yet none of these things shall ever befall thee but the Lord himself hath delivered thy soul from going down into the pit in forgiving all thy transgressions in which he hath cancelled the hand-writing which was against thee and taken it out of the way so that nothing is to be found any more which may be an effectual Charge against you and which can remain as a ground or reason for God to condemn and destroy you There is nothing whatsoever for which God will condemn any person but sin and no person can be condemned for sin if God hath been pleased to forgive him his sins in the blood of Jesus Christ Thirdly Conscience hath no more authority to accuse you to threaten you Conscience hath no more authority to accuse to terrifie you to disquiet or trouble you why so God hath discharged you and conscience must speak as God speaks and act in a subordination to Gods acting If God doth bind conscience must not loose but bind and if God looseth and acquits conscience must not bind but loose If God condemns conscience must not acquit and forgive and if God acquits and forgives conscience must not condemn if God speaks trouble conscience must not speak peace and if God speaks peace conscience must not speak trouble for conscience is but Gods Deputy or Officer and hath Commission to act always in the way of subordination and conformity unto God as it must bring home the threatnings unto those whom God threatens so it must supply the comfort unto those to whom God promiseth comfort and
This would most powerfully melt our hearts in filial grief and pure Melting mournings for our sins nothing melts the heart more than the apprehension of mercy Zach. 12. 10. 6. This would effectually constrain us to walk in all well pleasing before God Obedience Paul obtained mercy and returned duty 7. This would mightily strengthen and advance our confidence toward Confidence God 8. This would make all our communions with God more pleasant and delightful Present communion Chearful endurance of afflictions c. 9. This would make us patiently to bear all our afflictions and to rejoyce under them Mich. 7. 9. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned and why so because I am pardoned 10. This would make us willing to dye Thy loving-kindness is better than life Comfortable dying and in death to be above death O death where is thy sting the sting of death is sin c. but thanks be to God who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 15. 55 56 57. Ezek. 36. 25. From all your filthinesse and from all your Idols will I cleanse you THese words are a fuller and larger discovery of this sweet and gracious promise of Gods mercy in the forgiveness of sins They do contain in them the quantity of that forgiving mercy respecting both the number of sins and the greatnesse of sins From all your filthinesse and from all your idols will I cleanse you There are two Propositions which these words do afford unto you 1. That Gods promise of forgiveness of sins doth extend unto all the sins of all his people 2. That though the sins of persons have been exceeding great yet when they become the people of Gods Covenant even these sins also are forgiven them CHAP. III. 1. Doct. THat Gods promise of forgivenesse of sins doth extend unto all the sins of Gods promise of forgiveness extends to all the sins of all his people all his people from all c. They have been guilty of Original sin and of Actual sin of sins of Omission and of Commission of sins of Ignorance and of sins of Knowledge of sins against the first Table and against the second Table of sins against the Law and sins against the Gospel of sins in Youth and of sins in riper Age of sins considered only in Kind and of sins considered in their aggravating Circumstances Now all these and other sinnes all which though they are in number like unto the hairs on the head and aâ— thâ— sand on the Sea shore so the Scripture alludes of which the people of God have been guilty upon their repentance and upon their faith in Christ I say all of them every one of them is forgiven to them Jer. 33. 8. I will pardon all their iniquities whereby they have sinned and whereby they have transgressed against me Ezek. 18. 22. All his transgressions which he hath committed they shall not be mentioned unto him i. e. not one of them shall Col. 2. 13. Having forgiven you all trespasses ver 14. blotting out the hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us which was contrary to us and took it out of the way nailing it to his Crosse 1 Joh. 1. 17. The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin Mich. 7. 19. Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depth of the Sea Alluding as is supposed to the drowning of Pharaoh and all his host Psal 106. 11. The waters covered their enemies there was not one of them left so there is not one sin of the people of God which God doth not pardon in the depths of his mercies and of the blood of Christ SECT I. NOw there are four Arguments which may demonstrate this comfortable Argumeâ—ts to demonstrate it truth First The first shall be taken from Jesus Christ in relation to the people of God where observe From Jesus Christ All the sins of Gods people were imputed tâ— him 1. That all their sins were imputed unto Christ Isa 53. 6. He laid upon him the iniquity of us all 2 Cor. 5. 21. He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sinne 1 Pet. 2. 24. Who his own self bare our sinnes in his own body on the tree 2. That Jesus Christ stood in their room as to answer for all their sinnes as He stoâ—d as a Surety for all theâ—r sins a Surety Heb 7. 22. He was made a Surety of a better Testament That Surety is that other Person who stands legally charged with all our debts and is bound to discharge it for us and at his hands it is required 3. That Jesus Christ suffered as much as all the sins of the people of God did He suffered as much as all their sins did deserve deserve and which could be inflicted on them for their sins Gal. 3. 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us More than the curse of the Law could not be deserved on our parts nor inflicted on Gods part for our sins and that curse which was the comprehension of all punishment Christ was made for us and for this end to Redeem us from that curse yea he hath done so 4. That Jesus Christ by his suffering for all their sins did purchase for them the He purchased the pardon of all their sins pardon of all their sin I pray you to remember This was the purpose and intention of Christ in his sufferings to procure the remission of sins Matth. 26. 28. This is my blood which is shed for the remission of sins This was the fruit and effect of his sufferings Ephes 17. In whom we have redemption through his blood the forgivenesse of sins 5. Nay yet more Jesus Christ by his sufferings did make peace between us and He made peace between us and God God and reconciled us which could not possibly be if he had not discharged all our sins for any one sin unsatisfied for and unpardoned hinders that peace and Reconciliation Col. 1. 20. He made peace through the blood of his Crosse ver 21. And you that were sometimes alienated and enemies hath he reconciled v. 22. in the body of his flesh through death 6. So did he suffer and satisfie That there is no condemnation to any who are in So that there is no condemnation to them Christ Rom. 8. 1. And who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died ver 34. If there be no condemnation to any in Christ and none to condemn them then all their sins are pardoned for if any sin remained without pardon that sin would be matter and reason of condemnation and for that sin God himself would condemn Secondly The second Argument to demonstrate the total forgiveness of sins From God himself unto the people of God shall be taken from God himself and some Considerations of him in a respectiveness unto his people
Here take notice of five particulars 1. God will shew unto his people the riches of his mercy and the exceeding riches of his grace even those hidden and unsearchable Treasures of his loving kindness God will shew his people the riches of his mercy such as infinitely excâ—ed all the mercies and all the kindness of men not only for acting but also for thinking and comprehending Ephes 2. 7. That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in kindnesse towarâ—s us through Jesus Christ Chap. 3. 30. To him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we are able to ask or think c. Now although the pardon of sin doth assure us that God hath mercy and grace yet it must be the pardon of all our sins which doth demonstrate the exceeding riches of his grace To pardon a few sins and to damn us for the rest this is not exceeding riches of grace nor exceeding abundance of mercy nor exceeding great kindness 2. The Reasons within God himself yea and the Reason without God are both of The reasons within God and without him are of an universal obligation them of an universal and total obligation from God to pardon all the sins of his people as well as any one of their sins The Reason within God himself which moves him to forgive the sins of his people is his own love and grace they are a ground of perfect mercy and forgiveness Now the same love and grace which moveth him to pardon one doth likewise move him to pardon all the sins of his people Again the Reason of forgiveness without God which is the meritorious sufferings of Christ on which God also looks for he forgives us for Christs sake Ephes 4. 32. this is an universal motive for Christ did not suffer for some of the sins of the Elect and not for other of their sins he did not dye for some of the gâ—eater sins only or for some of the lesser sins only but for all and every one of their sins and accordingly made such a satisfaction as reached to the discharge of all 3. This must necessarily be granted that when God forgives the sins of his Whose sins God forgives he becomes their friend people he doth then shew so much of his grace that he now becomes their friend and so much of his love towards them that he ceaseth to be their enemy O but if all their sins were not forgiven but if some were and some were not then this inequality of his grace and partiality of his love would at the same time set him out as our friend and also as our enemy and would also at the same time set us forth as a people of love and a people of hatred so far as we are forgiven there you see the love of a Father and so far as we are not forgiven we may also see the wrath of a Judge 4. He qualifies his people for an universal remission of their sins in bestowing on them such gracious qualities upon the presence and actings whereof he hath He qualifies his people for an universal remission by promise assured them of that universal Remission For he hath given such a Repentance by which their hearts are turned from the love unto the hatred of all sin and from the service of all sin to a contrary course of new obedience And upon this doth God expresly settle a forgiveness of all sin Ezek. 18. 21 22. He hath likewise given such a Faith unto his people which joynes and unites them to Christ and consequently gives them a full claim unto Justification Rom. 5. 1. Being justified by Faith Now Justification is opposed to condemnation Rom. 8. 33 34. and therefore it carries with it the forgivenesse of all sins 5. There is such a Relation and such a love between God and his people as The relation and love betwixt God and his people proves it must necessarily take in the forgivenesse of their sins The relation is very near and full of love and delight in his people and they are very dear unto his heart his soul delighteth in them and all the tokens of his loving kindness are sent unto them and bestowed on them his presence is with them and he takes up his habitation in their hearts he dwells in them they are his Temples where they meet with him and he with them Now none of these would be if yet any of their sins stood before his eyes as unpardoned For unpardoned sins make a separation and distance and so are contrary to the nearness of union and likewise do hold up a difference and an enmity and so the contrary to all gracious communion Thirdly A third Argument which may demonstrate that the forgiveness of sins is univesal it is of all sins to the people of God is this viz. The consideration From the gracious effects of forgivenesse of sins of forgivenesse of sinnes as a sure ground of many precious effects redowning thereby unto the people of God The Scripture delivers five of them unto us 1. One is Peace with God Rom. 5. 1. Being justified by Faith we have peace with God 2. Another is Peace in Conscience which if I mistake not the Apostle calls the peace of God which passeth all understanding Phil. 4. 7. and Psal 85. 8. He will speak peace unto his people c. 3. A third is Joy and rejoycing We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ having now received the attonement Rom. 5. 11. 4. A fourth is the hope of glory The Apostle delivers this as the proper effect of our justification Rom. 5. 1 2. 5. A fifth is a boldnesse of accesse unto the throne of grace that we may finde grace and mercy to help in time of need Heb. 4. 16. Which of these fruits could any of the people of God enjoy were not all their sins forgiven Did any of their sins yet stand upon Record did God yet hold them guilty 1. Ye could not say that ye have peace with God for God is not at peace with you nor are ye at peace with him whiles enmity continues between you and so it doth whiles any sinne remaines unpardoned Note 2. Nor can you have any peace in Conscience In three cases Conscience cannot be quieted 1. When it sees no forgiveness at all 2ly When it fears it is such a forgiveness as God will quickly recall and reverse And 3ly When it sees only a part of the debt forgiven but much or some of it still standing upon the accompâ— O but saith Conscience your condition is sad and unsafe any one of these sins yet unforgiven will lose your soul will bring you to hell 3. And what joy can you have from a partial forgiveness only suppose the Malefactor be pardoned as to his theft if yet he shall be tried and condemned and executed for murther what joy can he have Simile so if God should pardon some
circumstances and the heart is really sensible of the injuries against God in them O how much oft-times hath he been provoked and dishonoured Psal 40. 12. Innumerable evils have compassed me about mine iniquities have taken hold of me so that I am not able to look up they are more than the hairs of my head therefore my heart faileth me Mark he is not able to look up and his heart faileth him O thinks he here is such a number of sins indeed will the Lord ever pardon all these I fear he will not I can hardly believe that he will There are three things which make it so difficult to believe that God will forgive all our sins 1. The weakness of faith which cannot presently apprehend and reach the heighth and depth and breadth and lenght of the love and mercy of God Simile a weak faith is like a weak eye which cannot behold the Sun in its glory so weak faith cannot so well behold God in the glorious manifestations of his exceedingly abundant grace but dazzles and doubts Is there such a treasury of mercies for a sinner is there enough in Christ for all these sins 2. The tenderness of conscience which being very sensible of a multitude of sins and feeling Gods displeasure and anger raiseth strong fears and exceptions against universal forgiveness of all our sins Shall I find mercy who do feel wrath Can I be perswaded that God will speak forgiveness to all my sins who do find him speaking such bitter things for some of my sins will he ever discharge me of all my sins who doth charge my sins with that strong displeasure upon my soul 3. The strong and manifold and subtile temptations and suggestions of Satan who knows how to heighten our sins and to diminish the mercies of God when he would bring us to despair as he doth know also how to diminish our sins and enlarge mercy when he would draw us to presumption O saith Satan here are such sins and here are so many of them that here is no hope at all for mercy the wrath of God you know is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and all unrighteousness of men Rom. 1. 18. For some of these sins hath God long since destroyed and damned multitudes of men What then will he do to you for all these sins here is sin upon sin and nothing but sin without any interruption and without any cessation for twenty thirty forty fifty years together are committed against many threatnings warnings examples punishments yea and against many calls of mercy and offers of grace which had they been accepted in time there might have been some hope but you went on and multiplied your transgressions against all these therefore for such a multitude of sins no mercy will be found 'T is true that God hath promised to pardon all the sins of his people but you are none of that number had you been so would you or durst you thus to have multiplied and increased your transgressions against such a God you would have repented long ago and besides all this think you that you should not have had news of forgiveness after so many tears and prayers and hearknings and waitings if God would have forgave those sins Fourthly Though it be very difficult to believe that God will forgive all our Yet it is very necessary to believe this promise sins yet it is very necessary to believe this promise of God and that upon a threefold account 1. The honour of God which is as much concerned in this Branch of the Covenant as in any other he doth lay forth in it as I hinted before the riches of his grace and the glory of his great goodness and his heart of mercies to the very full and besides this he seals this part of his Covenant with the same infallibility of truth and ratifies it with the same blood of Christ which though it respects the stablishing of the whole Covenant yet it is more frequently expressed to confirme the Branch of the forgiveness of sins as you may see in Mat. 26. 28. Ephes 1. 7. 1 John 1 7. Rev. 1. 5. c. that our faith might be the more strengthened and so give unto God the more glory in and for such a gracious truth And let me tell you one thing that what ground you have to believe that God will forgive you any one of your sins the very same you have to believe that he will forgive you all your sins and upon the same reason that you believe not the promise as to the forgiveness of all your sins upon the same reason you must deny belief of the promise as to the forgiveness of any one sin and so God lose all the glory of his rich mercies by your unbelief 2. The peace of your own consciences for suppose you did believe that God would forgive some of your sins but some others of your sins he would not forgive could this partial forgiveness settle and quiet your consciences would they not hold you under as much fear and bondage as if not one of your sins were forgiven surely it would because there is still in any unforgiven sins so much guilt and merit as will serve effectually to the everlasting destruction of your souls and bodies 3. The renewing of you again to repentance and bringing of you back again unto God for suppose you confine your faith to believe that God will pardon the sins which you have committed in time past and beyond this your faith will not stir tell me then I beseech you what will you do for the sins you have committed since conversion will you have them pardoned or will you not have them pardoned will you go on in them or will you forsake them will you still go away or will you return to your first husband surely you would have them pardoned surely you would renew repentance and return to the Lord your God but how can this be if you cannot or will not believe that God will forgive those sins as well as the former If you be perswaded that forgiving mercy is at an end and God hath no more mercy to forgive any more sins I dare assure you that where the hope of mercy ceaseth there the practice of repentance will cease But on the contrary when you can by faith see God willing and ready to pardon you and accept of you this will melt and this will move your hearts to repent and to return unto the Lord c. God hath yet thoughts of mercy towards me I will arise and go to my Father and say Father I have sinned against thee c. Secondly And this leads me unto the next Branch of the Exhortation which Make use of this truth is that we must not only believe that God will forgive us all our sins but we must make use of this truth in all our occasions What one day of our life have we not occasion to make use
thereof After conversion there are two sorts of sins incident unto us 1. Daily sins of ignorance and infirmity and they are so many that we know not the number of them yet all of them do need forgiving mercy 2. Voluntary sins and of a very gross and hainous nature which make a deep wound and raise an hideous cry in the conscience and shake all our foundations and lie as an heavy burden upon us and they do the more wound and afflict us because committed after mercy and against mercy Now in such a self-wounding and self-judging and self-humbling condition what should the ashamed and confounded sinner do why he should return speedily to his God and with tears and shame spread his sins before the Lord and acknowledge that he is unworthy of any more mercy and yet beseech the Lord to shew him mercy again who hath promised to forgive all the sins of his people and he should hearken what God the Lord will speak for he will speak peace unto his people but let them return no more to folly Psal 85. 8. SECT V. Vse 3 THE third Use of this Point shall be partly of Comfort and partly of Encouragement First Of Comfort to all who are brought into Covenant with God especially Comfort to such as have stood out a long time and have abounded in transgressions who have made the very creature groan with the burden of their many sins why all these are forgiven as soon as God hath brought you into the Covenant Luke 7. 47. Her sins which are many are forgiven 1 Tim. 1. 13. Who was before a Blasphemer and a Persecutor and injurious but I obtained mercy O what a day of salvation is the very day when God brings a man into Christ and into the Covenant all his enemies that pursued him are drowned not one of them is left so all his sins are forgiven and not one of them is alive to his condemnation Secondly Of Encouragement to come out of a sinful and unbelieving condition Encouragement and to yield up our selves to Christ and to be willing to become the people of God and to walk in his ways why all the sins that ever you have committeâ— shall be forgiven you they shall not be mentioned unto you your Drunkenness Swearing Whordome Theft Lying Sabbath-breakings all your sins of Omission and of Commission sins against the Law and sins against the Gospel sins that your own hearts can charge you with and that God himself can charge upon you all forgiven any one of them would damn you and now all shall be pardoned if you will hear and believe and repent c. Cast away all your transgressions repent return and live why will ye dye O house of Israel I offer to you life and death choose life Do not for lying vanities forsake your mercies A greater offer there cannot be than Christ nor motive than the pardon of all your sins EZEK 36. 25. From all your filthiness and from all your Idols will I cleanse you HAving spoken somewhat unto the extensive part of promised forgiveness that it reacheth all the sins of all the people of God I now proceed unto the Intensive part of that promised The intensive part forgiveness which respects the greatness and hainousness of sin as well as the number and multitude of sins from all your filthiness and from all your Idols will I cleanse you whence you may observe CHAP. IV. Doctr. 2 THat although the sins of persons have been exceeding great yet when these persons become the people of God in Covenant even those sins also are forgiven them from all your filthiness and from all your Idols Great sins are forgiven to the people of God in Covenant will I cleanse you forgiveness reacheâ—â— to the greatest sins which the people of God have been guilty of this assertion 1. I shall clear from the Text it self 2. From other Scriptures Proved 3. Demonstrate by some Arguments and Reasons 4. And then apply it unto our selves SECT I. 1. THE Text clearly holds out the Assertion for God doth give here By the text instances of two great kinds of sins One against the second Table all your filthiness and the other against the first Table all your Idols in the one is implied the great injury done unto our Neighbour and in the other the great injure done unto God yet God promiseth to forgive both I will speak something of both these sins and something of the greatness of them both which yet God promiseth c. First From all your filthiness that word filthiness is sometimes taken What is meant by filthiness for any sin every sin is a pollution and uncleanness a filthiness therefore the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 7. 1. Let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit there are bodily sins which the Apostle here calls the filthiness of our flesh and there are spiritual sins arising from and acted in the soul which the Apostle here calls the filthiness of the spirit Sometimes that word filthiness is taken restrictively for bodily pollution or uncleanness when the bodies of men and women are defiled and polluted and do defile and pollute themselves Several kinds of it Bestiality of which in Scripture you finde several sorts and kinds 1. Bestiality that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 abomination not to be named it is confusion you read of this sin in Lev. 18. 23. and of the punishment of it with death Lev. 20. 15 16. 2. Sodomy of this horrid sin and the punishment thereof you read in Sodomy Lev. 20 13. This is not only a sin but also a recompence of other sins and for which God gives men over to a reprobate mind Rom. 1. 27 28. and for which he destroyed those five Cities with fire from heaven Gen. 19. 24 25. 3. Incest ubi servatur sexus sed non gradus it is the sin cum agnata Incest or cognata with a kinswoman of the fathers or the mothers side yea and with ones fathers wife see Lev. 20. 17. and with ones brothers wife 4. Fornication which is between single persons Fornication Adultery 5. Adultery which is uncleanness between persons married to others or when one of them is married to another and yet defileth himself with a stranger some of these sins of uncleanness are so horrid that they are said to be against nature yea against corrupt nature the very natural light in natural conscience condemns and opposes them and the rest of them as fornication and adultery the Scripture sets them out as very odious in the eyes of God and very foul transgressions and extreamly pernicious in them you may read ten things concerning Ten things concerning these â—hese sins First That they are the express fruits of a vile and naughty heart out of the heart proceedeth fornications adulteries saith Christ Matth. 15. 19. The works of the flesh are manifâ—â—â— which are
adultery fornication uncleanness lasciviousness Gal 5. 19. Secondly The Apostle reckons them up amongst the most detestable sins which the most loathsome Gentiles were guilty of who were filled with all unrighteousness Thirdly They are so vile sins that Christians may not once name them without detestation Ephes 5. 3. But fornication and all uncleanness let it not be once named among you as becometh Saints Fourthly They are such sins as are repugnant unto and inconsistent with Christian society Christians must not entertain fellowship with persons guilty of them 1 Cor. 5. 11. If any man that is called a brother be a fornicator c. with such an one no not to eat Fifthly They are sins especially adultery against the three persons of the Trinity 1. Against God the Father who created the man and the woman and married them to each other and said they two shall be one flesh Gen. 2. 24. Now by adultery they are separated whom God hath joined together and made one yea God hath made Marriage a resemblance of Christ and his Church Ephes 5. but adultery brings contempt upon this resemblance of union 2. Against God the Son Jesus Christ hath payed a price for our bodies as well as for our spirits and upon that account we are to glorifie him in both 1 Cor. 6. 20. nay saith the same Apostle Ver 15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ Now to alienate Christs purchase from Christ and to bestow it upon an Harlot and make the members of Christ the members of an Harlot as every adulterer doth is exceedingly injurious unto Christ Shall I take the members of Christ and make them the members of an Harlot God forbid so the Apostle in ver 15. 3. Against God the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6. 19. Know you not that your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost and Chap. 3. 17. If any man defile the Temple of God him shall God destroy for the Temple of God is holy which Temple ye are Sixthly Of all sins these are the most brutish making persons like the beasts and therefore in Scripture unclean and adulterous persons are compared to beasts To the Oxe Prov. 7. 22. He goeth after her as an Oxe to the slaughter To the Horse Jerem. 5. 8. They were as fed Horses every one neighed after his Neighbours wife and Jer. 13. 27. I have sâ—en thy adulteries and thy neighings the lewdness of thy whoredomes c. To the Dog Deut. 23. 18. Thou shalt not bring the hire of an Whore or the price of a Dog into the house of the Lord. By Dog here is meant an unclean adulterous person An persona Canina ego replied Abner to Ishbosheth am I a person like a Dog who charged him that he lay with his fathers Concubine Rizpah 2 Sam. 3. 8. Seventhly Adultery in some respect is worse than many other sins against our Neighbours it is a very great sin to slander the name of our Neighbour and to bear false witness against him it is very bad by theft to take away the goods of our Neighbour it is yet worse to kill and take away the life of our Neighbour but adultery is in some respect more sinful than any one of these v. g. In all these sinnings the person sinning brings a guilt only upon himself for when he defames another though he casts reproach on him yet he makes him not guilty and in stealing from another though he brings loss to him yet he makes him not guilty and when he kills another he brings death to him yet he makes him not sinfully guilty but in adultery there is a mutual consent to sin and a mutual contract of guilt and although the one party should repent and so escape wrath yet the other party repenting not hath a soul which for this sin must be cast into hell Eighthly They are such sins for which God himself will judge the offender though possibly they may escape the hands of men Hebr. 13. 4. Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge and verily God hath severely judged persons for these sins even in this life The Old World was drowned for them Gen 6. 2 3 c. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire Gen. 19. Twenty and foure thousand destroyed with the plague Num. 25. 9. The Tribe of Benjamin was almost extinguished and rooted out upon this account Judg. 19. 28. The Land of Canaan spued out her Inhabitantt for them Lev. 18. 28. How often doth God make these sins in this life a punishment unto those who are guilty of them by causing unto themselves most loathsome and irksome and incurable diseases such as make them odious to others and a shame and burden to themselves Ninthly They are such sins as many times do bring with them an universal losse and ruine 1. To our name Prov. 6. 33. A wound and dishonour shall he get and his reproach shall not be wiped away 2. To our estate Prov. 5. 10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth and thy labours be in the house of a stranger Job 31. 11 22. it roots out all our increase 3. To our health ib. ver 11. And thou mourn at the last when thy flesh and thy body are consumed 4. To our consciences Prov. 7. 23. till a dart strike through his liver c. The great terrors of conscience usually arise from these sins Job 24. 17. If one know of them they are in the terrors of the shadow of death 5. To our souls and as unto them you shall find three very sad expressions in the Word of God 1. That they are the way to hell Prov. 7. 27. Her house is the way to hell going down to the chambers of death and Prov. 9. 18. Their guests are in the depths of hell 2. That they destroy the soul He that committeth adultery with a woman destroyeth his own soul Prov. 6. 32. 3. That they exclude from the Kingdome of God nor adulterers nor fornicators nor effeminate nor defilers ef themselves with mankind shall inherit the Kingdome of God 1 Cor. 6. 9 10. Tenthly They are such sins as whereof persons cannot easily repent they do exceedingly dispose the soul to hardness and impenitency they darken the mind and infatuate the judgement and harden the heart and so make the sinners condition almost desperate Hose 4. 11. Whoredom and wine take away the heart Prov. 2. 19. None that go unto her return again neither take they hold of the paths of life None i. e. very few repent of these sins For her heart is snares and nets and her hands are bands Eccles 7. 26. All these things do abundantly show what an exceeding great sin the sin of uncleanness is yet God hath pardoned them unto his people Lot was pardoned and Davids adultery was pardoned and the fornications and adulteries and effeminateness and Sodomies of the Corinthians were pardoned 1 Cor. 6. 11. Such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye
against people for their sins 2. A second is the unspeakable terrors in conscience raised only from our sins which makes us like the troubled Sea that cannot rest and to cry out with Cain and to despair with Judas and to long for death with Spira 3. A third is the wonderful outward judgements inflicted by God on people for sin plague and famine and the sword and tormenting diseases burning down of Cities renting up of Kingdomes and all the miserable evils in the world 4. A fourth is the eternal duration of the flame of hell fire the suffering of the vengeance of eternal fire as the Apostle speaks Jude ver 7. 5. The fifth is the death and suffering of Jesus Christ one saith that if it were possible for us to see and feel the torments which the damned do suffer in hell it could not be so clear and effâ—ctual conviction of the true desert of sin of the hainousness of it of the odiousneâ—s of it of the dreadfulness of it as the consideration of it in the death and blood of Christ without which there could be no forgiveness of our sins no noâ— of the least of them I beseech you to attend a little â—in is of such a provoking deserving nature First That no creature no not all the creatures in heaven and earth could pacifie God and cleanse us from our sins and procure the pardon of them but Jesus Christ the Son of God alone Neither Angels nor Saints nor righteousness nor prayers nor gold nor silver can give unto God a â—ansome for our soul the redemption of it is more precious it cannot be without the precious blood of Christ Secondly As none can procure the pardon of sin but Christ so Christ could not do it but by dying indeed there was very much excellency and worth in the active obedience of Christ in the holiness of his life and exactness of his works nevertheless to get off our sins his passive obedience is likewise required without that there was no remidion Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood Rev. 5. 9. Thirdly As Christ must dye to get the pardon of sin so every death of Christ is not sufficient but he must dye that accursed death of the Cross and become a curse for us or else he could not have got the pardon of our sins hear the Apostle Gal. 3. 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us for it is written cursed is every one that hangeth on a Tree 1 Pet. 2. 24. Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the Tree Colos 1. 20. He made peace through the blood of his Cross Fourthly Neither would this have sufficed to dye on the Cross there enduring the grievous torments in his soul and body due to our sins if he had not been God as well as man 1 Joh. 3. 16. speaking of the person of Christ he saith God laid down his life for us and indeed that must be of infinite price and merit which must answer the everlasting torments due for all the sins of all the Elect there had not been enough in the death of Christ had it not been the death of a person who was God as well as Man Thus you see even in the blood of Christ the hainousness of sin and the high guilt thereof which may make us to fear and tremble at the consideration of our own exceeding guiltiness c. Secondly To look after Christ in another manner than formerly we have done To look after Christ in another manner than formerly Why will you say because in his blood only we have the remission of sins that it is the only cause for which God doth forgive us Now because this is the principal Use which I think can be made of this point I will therefore briefly speak unto these three questions 1. How we should look after Christ seeing that there is no forgiveness but in and by him 2. Whether we do indeed look after Christ so as that we may get him to be ours and have the benefit of forgiveness in his blood 3. How one may know that he hath got Jesus Christ to be his and consequently an interest in his blood for the pardon of his sins Quest 1. Seeing that there is no forgiveness of sins but for the blood of How we should look after Christ Christ how therefore should we look after Christ Sol. To this I answer First We should look after Christ so as to enjoy him to be ours with With all speediness all speediness as David spake in another case I made haste and delayed not to keep thy Commands Psal 119. 60. So should not we delay from time to time but hasten in to Christ that so our sins may be pardoned Whiles it is called to day to hearken unto his voice Hebr. 3. 7. Isa 60. 8. Who are these that flee as a cloud and as the Doves to their Windows In three cases swiftness and presentness of action are required viz. 1. When the danger is great 2. When the mercy is great 3. When the opportunity is uncertain all these circumstances meet together to stirre us up speedily to look after Christ to get him to be ours for 1. All the guilt of our sins lies upon our own souls untill Christ be ours no sin is forgiven but we are under wrath and condemnation 2. All our sins shall be taken off by the blood of Christ if Christ be ours so that there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8. 1. 3. We have but our day our houre our opportunity our present moment to look after Christ the day of life is uncertain and the day of grace is uncertain the Spirit blows when and where and how long and how short as himself listeth O that thou hadst known even in this thy day c. Luke 19. 42. Secondly We should look after Christ very seriously and carefully our Very seâ—iously souls should make it their solemn work and business yea all that is in our souls should be united and engagâ—d for to get Christ Simile As he said to his son Percute tanquam ad Aratrum Strike as thou wast wont to strike at the Plough so would I say look after Christ as ye are wont to look after the world the riches and honour and pleasure of it earnestly and with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your might the Kingdome of heaven should suffer viâ—lence c. Maâ—th 11. 12. Prov. 8. 17. Those that seek me early shall finde me Thirdly We should look after Christ diligently and laboriously not shrinking Diligently at any pains and any ways and any means to get Christ Prov. 8. 34. Blessed is the man that heareth me watching daily at my gates waiting at the posts of my doâ—rs Cant. 3. 1. By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth
as well as Justification II. That God himself doth undertake to sanctifie or to renew the hearts of his people III. That a new heart and a new spirit God will give unto all his people in Covenant SECT I. Doct. 1. THat Sanctification is promised unto the people of God as well as Justification Sanctification is promised as well as Justification or with Justification God doth promise not only to pardon the sins of his people but also to sanctifie and renew the hearts of his people a new heart also will I give you For the opening of this precious Truth I will shew unto you 1. The distinction or difference between Justification and Sanctification for the word also imports as much 2. The Connexion between them both 3. The Reasons why God promiseth the one with the other First The distinction or difference 'twixt Justification and Sanctification for they The difference between Justification and Sanctification are promised as two distinct or several gifts I will also c. which could not be spoken if they were both of them one and the same thing They differ thus First There is in Justification a change of the state he who was in the state They differ in six things of death and wrath being justified is in the state of life and love he is passed from death to life but in Sanctification of the heart he who was unholy is now made holy his heart is changed Secondly Justification looks at the guilt of sin and frees us from condemnation There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Rom. 8. 1. But Sanctification looks at the filth of sin and frees us from the dominion of sin Sin shall not have dominion over you for ye are not under the Law but under grace Rom. 6. 14. Thirdly In Justification there is the righteousness of Christ imputed to us for which God accounts us righteous but in Sanctification there is grace infused into us by which we are made conformable unto the image of Christ that depends upon the merit of Christ and this depends upon the Spirit of Christ Fourthly The matter of â—â—â—â—â—ification is perfect and without any defect and exception the justice of God cannot finde any want in the obedience of Christ which was full and compleat and perfectly satisfied the Law of God but the matter of our sanctification is imperfect and weak and we cannot stand before Gods Judgment-seat with it Fifthly All who are justified are justified alike there is no difference amongst believers as to their Justification one is not more justified than another for every justified person hath a plenary Remission of his sins and the same righteousness of Christ imputed but in Sanctification there is difference amongst believers every one is not sanctified alike but some are stronger and higher and some are weaker and lower in grace Sixthly In Justification there is nothing of sin remaining which hath any cotrariety to the justified estate but in Sanctification there is something of sin remaining in the sanctified person which is contrary to that grace which is wrought in us by the Holy Spirit Gal. 5. 17. The flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh and these are contrary one to the other c. 2ly The Connexion of Sanctification with Justification You may read in The connexion of Sanctification with Justification Scripture of a four-fold conjunction of these two great gifts of God unto his people First In the promises of the Covenant they joyn hand in hand come forth like A four-fold cennexion In the promises twins out of the womb of grace Jer. 33. 8. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity whereby they have sinned against me and I will pardon all their iniquities whereby they have sinned and whereby they have transgressed against me Here you see them both expressed together in the same deed I will cleanse them from all their iniquity there is our sanctification promised And I will pardon all their iniquities there is justification promised Mich. 7. 19. He will subdue our iniquities and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea Here you finde them again in promise He will subdue our iniquities this is sanctifying and he will cast all c. there is justifying Heb. 8. 10. I will put my Laws into their mindes and write them in their hearts there is the promise of sanctification Ver. 12. And I will be mercifull to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more there is the promise of justification Rev. 2. 17. I will give him a white stone and in the stone a new name written c. Secondly In people of the Covenant All who are effectually called and In the people of the Covenant brought into Covenant they are justified and they are sanctified they partake of mercy and they partake of grace If any man be in Christ he is a new creature 2 Cor. 5. 17. He is made holy so 1 Cor. 6. 11. Such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God And in 1 Cor. 1. 30. Of him are ye all in Christ Jesus who of God is made unto us Righteousness and Sanctification So Ephes 1. 7. In whom we have redemption through his blood the forgivenesse of sins Chap. 2. 1. And you hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins Thirdly In the desires of the people of the Covenant Their hearts are drawn In the desires of the people of the Covenant forth with the desires of both Psal 51. 1. Have mercy upon me O God according to thy loving-kindness according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions Here is earnest prayer for mercy to pardon sin Ver. 10. Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me here is earnest prayer for grace to sanctifie Fourthly In the Mediatour of the Covenant who is the Head of his Church as well In the Mediatour as the Saviour of his body Ephes 5. 23. And gave himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word Ver. 26. as well as to wash it from its sins in his own blood Rev. 1. 5. And gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Tit. 2. 19. And bare our iniquities in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sin should live unto Righteousness by whose stripes we are healed 1 Pet. 2. 24. He was anointed not only to be our Priest to take away our sins by his body but also to be a Prophet to reveal unto us the whole will of God And this is the will of God even our sanctification 1 Thes 4. 3. 3ly The Reasons why God doth promise
joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one sinner that repenteth Luke 15. 10. I call it an eminent and great change because it surpasseth all other changes which may be found in men who yet have no newness of heart There may be a change 1. From rudeness of life to civility of conversation 2. From profaneness of walking to formality in Religion 3. From ignorance and blindness of mind to knowledge 4. From the practice of sin to a forbearance of sin 5. From quietness of Conscience to perplexity and trouble of Conscience and yet no newness of heart The change which constitutes a new heart is a very deep change it makes man to be a new creature it doth quite alter the frame and estate of a mans heart and Spirit It is a change in the soul Thirdly When the heart is made new there is a change made in the soul and in the whole soul 1. It is a change in the soule Simile It is one thing to plaister an old house and it is another thing to build a new house It is one thing to adorn a dead man and it is another thing to inform or enliven a dead man Newness of life doth principally respect the root and spring The work of renewing grace begins where sin begins it begins the Reformation where sin begins the deformation it begins to change and cleanse where sin begins to corrupt and defile and that is in the soul Outward Reformation is one thing and inward Reformation is another thing The Pharisees made clean the outside of the cup and they were painted Sepulchres which within were full of rotten bones Hypocrisie can make a new garbe of visible actions but it can never make an new heart it never changes and alters the soul that still remains under the love and power of sin But when the heart is made new there is some inward work of grace by which the soul is changed from death to life from unholiness to holiness 2. It is a change in the whole soul when the heart is made new all the soul In the whole soule is divinely changed Therefore this newness or Renewingness is compared to the light which disperseth itself into the whole body of the Aire so that there is not any one part of the Aire which is not enlightned To the oyntment which fills the whole room with sweet Odour To leaven which diffuseth itself over the whole lump As it is with Original sin it is an universal defilement it infects all the soul there is not one faculty of the soul but it is defiled by it So it is with Renewing grace or newness of heart it is an universal alteration or change it alters all the soul and all the faculties of the soul when a new heart is given there is a change made 1. In the minde or understanding which now is freed from darkness and enjoys an heavenly light to know the things of God and to discern things that are excellent and the mysteries of Christ and salvation appear in their glory We all with open face beholding as in a glasse the glory of the Lord c. 2 Cor. 3. 18. 2. In the Judgement which is now freed from mistakes and Errors and high imaginations and carnal reasonings and disputes and is now captivated to the Truth and approves of what is good and condemneth what is evil It counts sin the gâ—eatest evil and Christ the most incomparable happiness and the enjoyment of God the only portion I count all things but drosse for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ said Paul Phil. 3. 8. Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none on earth that I desire besides thee saith David Psal 73. 25. Thirdly In the Will which was proud and stubborn and unwilling and averse and perverse nothing would perswade it to hearken to Christ to yield to receive to obey all the arguments of mercy and glory would not â—ffect and take it Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life Joh. 5. 40. But when the heart is made new the Will also is changed now it falls down before Christ Lord what wilt thou have me to do Acts 9. 6. Draw me and I will run after thee Cant. 1. 4. In all the affections of the soul Never was there such a change such a newness how they fall out with one another Grief falls out with Love and Love with hatred nay they seem to be changed one into another Joy into Grief and Love into Hatred and Hatred into Love what a man did love he now hates and what a man did hate he now loves and what a man desired he now fears and what a man delighted in he now grieves at it Nay look on them distinctly in their several motion The desires were Who will shew us any good Now the desires are What shall we do to be saved The delights were in sin in sensualities in vanities in vain societies now they are in the favour of God in Christ in pardoning mercy in holy and heavenly society in doing the will of God The like may be said for love for grief for fear c. Fourthly This change which constitutes newness of heart is wrought by the Spirit of Christ Therefore our Sanctification which is the same with the giving A change wrought by the Spirit of Christ of a new heart is called the Sanctification of the Spirit 1. Pet. 1. 2. And our change into the image of glory from glory to glory is by the Spirit of the Lord 2 Cor. 3. 18. And the newness of heart is the work of the Spirit of Christ no man changeth or renews his own heart but the Spirit doth all And therefore he is called the Spirit 1. Of Knowledge because he illuminates and gives knowledge and light 1 Cor. 12. 8. 2. Of Grace and holiness because he makes us holy Ephes 4. 30. 3. Of Faith because he causeth our hearts to believe 2 Cor. 4. 13. 4. Of Love and joy because he worketh these in our hearts All saving good comes from the Father as the Fountain and through the Son as the Mediator and is wrought in us by the Spirit As in the Creation the Spirit moved upon the waters and so did as it were brood and frame all the Creatures To in Regeneration the Spirit descends upon the hearts and by his vigour doth forme all the newness and spiritual change in it This change is wrought by infusing a new Principle Fifthly The Spirit works this change in the heart by infusing a new Principle or quality of grace A new Principle is necessary to make a new heart there must be something put into the heart to change the heart in all alterations thus it is Simile If you would have the cold removed from the water heat must come in and if you would have darkness removed from the Aire the light must come in and if you would have sickness
act Restraining grace especially such as are scandalous and dangerous in the opinion of men With this do many men sit down and blesse themselves for renewed and changed persons for they are not as other men neither whore nor thief and dare not commit such and such sins But Beloved there is a vast difference between restraining grace and renewing grace they differ in six particulars Difference betwixt restaining and renewing grace Restraining grace is only an impediment to sinful actions First Restraining grace is only an impediment to sinful actions but renewing grace is an amendment of our sinful inclinations When a man is only restrained from sin Simile it is with him as with a thief in prison who doth not commit any thievish act yet even then he doth retain his thievish heart or as with a dogge that is chained up and cannot tear and devour but yâ—â— the same curst and revenging nature remains in him Simile So when a man is only restrained from sin although he forbears any visible acts of sin yet his heart is as wicked as ever and his sinful inclinations and affections the same as before But this it is not when the heart is renewed by grace for renewing grace is not only a cord to with-hold but it is likewise a plaister to heal and change as it is a preservative against sinful actions and works so it is a spiritual salve to cure our sinful natures the renewed Christian doth not only forbear sin but he doth also hate sin a restrained sinner at sometimes cannot sin a renewed sinner at no time would sin the one doth not commit the sin which yet he still loves but the other doth sometimes do the sin which yet his soul still hates It is an unvoluntary impediment Secondly when a man forbears sin by the sole power of restraining grace it is involuntary There is a secret regretting or rising of the heart against this restraining power Simile The heart looks on it as under a force or extreamly burdened or oppressed it is discontented and impatient like a horse that is kept in by a bridle or like water which is stopt it riseth and swelleth the more and the sinner counts it a great part of his misery that such awing and restraining circumstances are upon him but when a person is renewed by grace it is no grief or burden of heart to him that he may not sin but he prayes earnestly to be kept from sin Keep thy servant c. So David Psal 19. 13. and he heartily blesses God for being kept from sin Blessed be the Lord God of Israel c. 1 Sam. 25. 32. and is more troubled and discontented and burdened that he carries within himself a body of sin which rebels against the law of his mind than that he is hindred and kept from sin Thirdly A person acting only under the strength of restraining grace though a while he may hold off from gross sins yet he will not strive seriously to mortifie It doth not mortifie those sins it restraines from the lusts from which those sins do arise but he will give his heart leave to a delightful contemplation of them and to secret desires after them and will venture very near to the commission of them But when the heart is renewed by grace the person flies from sin yea from all appearances of evil and is so far from sparing of any sin that he layes the Axe to the root of the Tree and endeavours in good earnest the mortifying and crucifying of sin Fourthly when a person hath only that grace which we call restraining his Sin breaks out with more violence upon the removing of the restraint sinful corruptions upon the removing of those restraints do break out with more rage and violence if once it recover its liberty the course of it now is with more strength and fury Take you any child or servant or any other person loving of sin yet not daring to commit sin of their fear of those under whom they live if these once get but their liberty none prove more insolently and outragiously wicked But where the heart is renewed by grace it hath a constant tenderness and habitual fear a fixed contrariety and detestation of sin Though Parents be dead though Governours be absent though Friends be departed it is all one God still lives and God still sees and therefore how can the renewed person commit any wickedness and sin against God and the longer he lives the more he hates sin Fifthly Though men acting by restraining grace may and do sometimes forbear He forbears sin upon other grounds to sin yet it is upon other grounds than those do who abstain from sin from renewing grace In restriction men abstain from sin for fear of outward shame or of outward loss or for fear of Gods wrath or for fear of terror of conscience which hath formerly befallen them for sinning But in Renovation men abstain from sin out of a love to God and out of an hatred of the filthiness of sin because it will offend and grieve their God and defile and pollute their souls Sixthly Lastly though by restraining grace there is some temporary cessation from There is only a temporal cessation sinful evil yet there is no setled inclination unto nor delight in spiritual good no heart to prize God or Christ or holiness or the wayes or works of new obedience But where God gives renewing grace to the heart as there is more than a meere ceasing to sinne So there is another heart given inclining to God to 〈◊〉 his Will to love his Commands to walk in his Paths to delight to do his Will I delight in the Law of God after the inner man said Paul Rom. 7. 22. O that my wayes were directed to keep thy statutes Psal 119. 5. And ver 112. I have enclined my heart to perform thy statutes alwayes to the end III. The presence of common gifts The presence of common gifts I call then those gifts common gifts which the Spirit of God doth give though not to every man yet unto men who are really bad and unconverted as well as to men who are really good and converted of which some do respect What those gifts are First The mind in light or knowledge of the Scripture in general and of Christ and the way of salvation by him in particular 1 Cor. 12. 8 9 10. Secondly The judgement in a credence or assent unto what God reveals in his Word as true King Agrippa believest thou the Prophets I know that thou believest Acts 26. 27. Thirdly The heart as those tasts you read of in Heb. 6. 4. The tasting of the heavenly gift ver 5. The tasting of the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come Fourthly The Conscience unto which may be given a deep sense of sin and extream trouble for it as you read in Ahab and Judas c. Fifthly The affections
an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile 2 Cor. 1. 12. Our rejoycing is this the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our Conversation in the world 8. Vnbelief discontentment impatience discord and variance these are other principles of the old heart but when the Lord gives a new heart then he works in us contrary principles unto these viz. faith Phil. 1. 29. Vnto you it is given to believe Repentance Acts 11. 18. God hath granted to the Gentiles also repentance unto life Contentment Phil. 4. 11. I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content Patience 1 Cor. 4. 12. Being reviled we bless being persecuted we suffer it Love 1 Thes 4. 9. Ye are taught of God to love one another I could name many more such heavenly principles and qualities contrary to the old sinful principles and qualities which are certainly found though not in the same measure or degree yet in truâ—h in every man whom the Lord doth give a new heart Fifthly Whensoever the Lord gives a man a new heart there is presently a new A new combate and conflict combate and conflict Gal. 5. 17. The flesh lusheth against the Spirit and the Spirit lusteth against the flesh and they are contrary the one to the other c. Rom. 7. 23. But I see another Law in my members warring against the Law of my mind The flesh which is our corrupt heart or nature the old man the Law in our members and the Spirit which is our new heart or renewed nature the new man the Law of our mind these are both in the same regenerate person and they are dispersed over every faculty of the soul and they are contrary the one to the other and do warre one against another and that war is from the first moment that renewing grace enters into the heart to the last moment that the soule leaves the body Object Now here it may be objected that this cannot be a true and real sign of newness of heart because in a natural and unregenerate man there is many times a combate and conflict between their judgement and their affections and between their conscience and their temptations unto sin Sol. That there are such combates and conflicts in unregenerate men I grant Differences betwixt the conflicts in a regenerate and unregenerate man In their Principles but then they are of another nature different from those in a renewed or regenerate person First In their Principles The conflict in the one ariseth from servile fear the conflict in the other ariseth from spiritual hatred A natural Conscience may see the danger of sinning and thereupon oppose the affections inclining to sin but a renewed heart sees the baseness of sin and thereupon inclines the heart to hate it As sin a coal of fire there is the fire which burneth and there is the coal which defileth so in sin there is considerable the wrath unto which it doth expose and the filthiness whereby it doth pollute the soul The fear of burning wrath this makes the unregenerate conscience to hold off and to argue against the temptations to sin but it is the defilement and pollution by sin which makes the renewed heart to abhor and contest with it Not only or principally the evil by sin but the evil of sin which is so extreamly contrary to God in his Nature and Will and Glory which we entirely love c. In the Seat Secondly In the Seate and place of combate Simile The combate in unregenerate men is like that between Souldiers in several Forts and that in renewed persons is like the fight of Souldiers in the same Fort where every ones sword is against every one The conflict or combate in the unregenerate is only 'twixt one faculty and another distinct faculty the affections go one way and the judgement and conscience another way But when a mans heart is renewed by grace there now ariseth a war and combate within every faculty The judgment is divided against the judgment and the will is divided against the will and the affection against the affection The reason whereof is this because there is flesh and Spirit sin and grace co-existent and co-habiting in every faculty of the soul sin is not driven up to one faculty whilst grace possesseth the other faculties but renewing grace is in every faculty and remaining corruption is also in every faculty Simile Like Jacob and Esau strugling in the same womb or like heat and cold in the same water and in every part of it Thirdly In the Extent of the combate that in unregenerate persons is only with some gross scandalous and infamous sins but for secret sins or other In the Exteâ—t sins which the world applauds these are still favoured and harboured the natural man can go no farther than his light which in him cannot make a clear and full discovery of sins nor will he quarrel with his sins further than he needs must to save his ease in Conscience and credit with men But when the heart is renewed by grace there the combate is against all known sin the reason whereof is this because the ground of opposition is not accidental and particular but natural and universal the newness of the heart is not an humour but a contrary nature to that of sin and therefore the heat doth conflict with all that is cold because it is naturally contrary unto it so doth renewing grace combate with all sin because it is a nature contrary to sin as sin not as little or great secret or open c. but as sin 4. In the event In regenerate men the issue of the conflict is either a plain giving up to the will of lust in the affections the man being tyred and In the event vexed with the violent sollicitations of them as Sampson was with Dalilahs importunities or in case that natural conscience doth prevail it is not to the mortifying of any sin but only to a temporary repressing and restraining of sin but the combate ends otherwise where the heart is renewed by grace for it makes a more constant and resolute resistance and at the last though perhaps after some foiles it gets the victory over sin and wins the field Thus you see that the new spiritual combate or conflict is a true character of a heart indeed renewed by grace It is not a sign of true grace that a man hath no sin but that his heart is conflicting with all sin Sixthly Whensoever a new heart is given by God unto any person then are New abilities there given new abilities unto that person Beloved two things I take for granted 1. That renewing grace is in itself a very powerful quality There is a Spirit of power and might in it and going along with it if it were not so it could never change the heart of a sinner nor unthrown sin nor maintain conflict with all the powers
that seek thee I believe all this Lord help my unbelief c. 3. Perseverance hold on this request and against all the rebellious workings of your old heart and against all the fears and disputes and discouragements of your old hearts yet lift up one Prayer more and one Prayer more you shall certainly prevail if you can persevere in Prayer There are three Requests which a poor broken-heart is sure to speed in if he will pray alwayes and not faint One is for a Christ and another is for pardoning mercy and a third is for a new heart Thirdly Diligently and patienly attend the Word by which God converts Attend the Word and changeth and renews the heart Psal 19. 7. The Law of the Lord is perfect converting souls Jam. 1. 18. Of his own Will begat he us with the Word of Truth Ephes 5. 26. That he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word How many old sinful hearts hath God convinced and converted by his Word that have come unto it with ignorance and been sent from it with knowledge that have come to it with hardness and have been sent from it with tenderness that have come to it with pride and have been sent from it with humility that have come to it with all manner of profaneness and have been sent from it with all manner of holiness with the Love of God and fear of God and hatred of sin and real purpose to walk with God in newness of obedience O therefore attend the Word of the Gospel which is the power of God unto salvation and therefore the power of God to Renovation c. Fourthly Lastly beseech the Lord to give you the uniting faith that faith which will unite your hearts to Jesus Christ which will effectually bring you into Begge uniting Faith relation with him as Members of the Body of which he is the head as Branches of himself the true Vine Object Why what will this do may some of you say Sol. I will tell you what it will do it will infallibly bring in renewing grace to your hearts You can never be changed and renewed Creatures unless you be in Christ 2 Cor 5. 17. For our spiritual life is in and from him he is the Authour of life unto us as Adam was the authour of death unto us And he was anointed with the Spirit that we from him might be Anointed with the Spirit And if once you be united by Faith unto him you partake of his Spirit to sanctifie and renew and conform you unto himself He that is joyned to the Lord is one spirit 1 Cor. 6. 17. EZEK 36. 26. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh THese words are yet a further Declaration of the gracious will and intention of God towards the people of his Covenant Two things already hath God promised unto them one was to justifie them to pardon all their sins another was to sanctifie them to renew all their hearts And there are two more choice mercies and blessings which he doth graciously undertake to bestow upon them First One is to take away the stony heart out of their flesh Secondly The other is to give them an heart of flesh O what a mercy is it to be rid of the stone in the body which puts us to such exquisite pain and torment your mercy is infinitely greater to be delivered from the stone in the heart which is the depth of sin and the height of judgement There are three Propositions which these words do hold forth unto us viz. First There is a stony heart or an heart of stone in every man Secondly That God will take away the stony heart from his people Thirdly He will not only take away from them the heart of stone but he will also give them an heart of flesh CHAP. IX A heart of stone in every man Doctr. 1. THat there is a stony heart in every man I will take away the There is a stony heart in every man stony heart out of your flesh there it was else it could not be taken away the natural heart is a stony heart not Physically so as if it were so indeed but Metaphoriaclly so it is like the stone it is a hard heart spiritually hard that is meant by the stony heart Zach. 7. 12. They have made their hearts as an Adamant stone Isa 48. 4. Thy neck is an iron sinew and thy brow brass q. d. Thy heart is exceeding hard like Iron which will not bow and like brass which will not change both which are explained in the first words of the verse Thou art obstinate For the opening of this Point I will shew unto you 1. Why the hard heart which is in every man is called a stony heart 2. What stonyness or hardness of heart is to be found in man 3. Several Demonstrations or Convictions that the heart of every man naturally is a hard or stony heart SECT I. Quest 1. VVHY is the hard heart called a stony heart Why called a stony heart It is so called for the resemblance which it hath with a stone and in five particulars 1. Unsensibleness 2. Unflexibleness 3. Resistingness 4. Heaviness 5. Unfruitfulness First Because it is an unsensible heart What sense is there in a Rock in a An unsensible heart Stone in the Adamant in Ephes 4. 18 19. hardened sinners are said to be past feeling and that expression past feeling seems to be taken from the hands of labouring men which are so thickned and hardned by pains that they can grasp nettles and thorns and yet not feel the sharpness nor sting the natural heart is in this respect a stony heart i. e. unsensible Though he hath as many sins upon the soul which makes the very Creation to groan and to travail in pain Rom. 8. 22. yet he neither complains nor feels he goes on fâ—om day to day and adds drunkenness to thirst and drinks up iniquity as water yet he saith What evil have I done and there is no iniquity in my doings though the judgements of God be very near him and the tokens do abundantly appear yet like Ephraim when gray hairs were here and there upon him he perceived them not Hosea 7. 9. Yea though the anger of the Lord be poured upon him and sets him on fire round about yet he knows it not nay though it burn him yet he lays it not to heart Isa 42. 25. Such a gross stupidity is there in the natural and stony heart What one spake of himself in an humble way Erubescenda video nec erubesco dolenda intueor nec doleo peccata inspicio Bern. in Med. cap. 12. p. 1200. nec geno This and much more may be said of him that hath the hard and stony heart he blushes not he grieves not he sighs not for his sins nay he rejoyceth and boasteth and makes
and open to the strength of temptations And certainly all these will cause or occasion exceeding hardness of heart therefore if you would be rid of a hard heart beseech the Lord to cure you of a proud heart which is above counsel and without fear Thirdly Vnbelief of heart Take heed saith the Apostle Hebr. 3. 12. lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God Unbelief but Ver. 13. Exhorting one another daily lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin One said well that Unbelief will in time make a man an Atheist When a man believes not that there is a God or that God is true in his threatnings or in his promises this man will not fear to sin where there is no faith there is no fear and where there is no fear of God there is no fear to sin against God and where there is no fear to sin there the heart will let out it self to all wickedness and who can now question but all this will cause exceeding hardness of heart Fourthly Hypocrisie of heart this likewise breeds and strengthens hardness Hypocrisie of heart When a man will dâ—ssemble with God and godliness pretends love to them and zeal to them and yet secretly his soul loves sin and keeps up a way of wickedness and bears down the light and actings of conscience this man doth wofully obdurate his own heart and fears his conscience by speaking lies in hypocrisie Fifthly Deceitfulness of sin Hebr. 3. 13. Lest any of you be hardned through Deceitfulness of sin Lib. de Consc p. 1749. Edit Basil the deceitfulness of sin Bernard doth notably describe the degrees by which a man steps up unto hardness of heart 1. Saith he the man with much ado ventures to commit a sin and this sinful act or work it is importabile oh the terror and hell that it is unto him 2. Then after a while when the terror is off he ventures to sin again and now that which was importabile becomes grave it is only a burden but not a terror unto him 3. Then after some little time he commits the sin again and now that which was grave becomes love it is no such great matter vulnera non sentit verbera non attendit 4. After a lesser space he returns again to folly and now leve becomes dulce non solum non sentit sed placet that sin which was light is now become delight and pleasant 5. And after this Dulcedo becomes consuetudo that which was pleasant to him now becomes constant with him it is no more to sin than it is to eat and drink 6. And at last Consuetudo vertitur in naturam whereas at the first it did almost seem impossible to draw him to commit the sin now it proves more impossible to restrain him from sinning sic itur in aversionem duritiem cordis thus the sinner makes way for the hardning of his own heaâ—t Take heed of this and keep far from this and break off all progressive ways of sinning or else you will never get off hardness of heart but you will dye and perish under it Sixthly Wicked Society From this you must be removed if ever you would Wicked society have hardness of heart removed wicked company will easily entice you to sin and will cunningly lead you on to more sin and will teach how to plead for sin and how to despise and reject the counsel of friends and the commands of God to turn from sin 2ly You must take such Medicines you must use such means as are proper Medicines for cure to cure the stonyness or hardness of your hearts Now these means I shall reduce unto 1. Meditations 2. Practical Actions 1. The solemn and serious Meditations First Consider and Meditate upon the multitude and greatness of our sins which Serious Meditations Of the multitude and greatness of oursins are 1. A separation from God O what is this to be in such a condition wherein a mans soul is separated from God and blessedness 2. A vexing and a provocation of God What is it to provoke the Lord to wrath and to kindle his displeasure against you 3. A rebellion against God and trampling under feet his holy and righteous will 4. A dishonouring of God it had been better that thou hadst never been born than that God should lose so much of his honour by thee 5. An exposure to the curse of God who may every moment damn thee for thy wickedness and transgression 6. An unutterable madness to set thy delight on that and serve that and take pains to accomplish that which only brings all misery and destruct on on you Secondly Consider and Meditate on the wonderful evil of an hard heart by which Of the evil of an hard hearâ— 1. You are so unlike to God he is tender and thy heart is hard he is sensible of thy sinnings but thou art not sensible of them he is troubled at thy sins but thou art not troubled for thy sins he cryes out against them but thou cryest not out for them forty years long was I grieved c. 2. You are unlike to Jesus Christ the Son of God Christ did gâ—ieve at the hardness of mans heart and yet thou dost not grieve at the hardness of thine own heart he shed tears and wept over the hardness of Jerusalem and yet thou weepest not at the hardness of thine heart he complained of this yet thou complainest not of this 3. You are unlike to the Holy Ghost the Spirit of God thy hard heart grieves him who hath moved so often and striven so long with thee yet thou grievest not but rejoycest thy hard heart vexes the Spirit of God and yet thou art not sensible at all 4. You are worse than the Divels who tremble but thou fearest not by reason of any Word that God doth speak nor of any wrath or judgement which God hath threatned 5. You have been more brutish than the very beasts they are teachable and they are tractable and they are sensible of love and anger but nothing doth thee good thou art unteachable and untractable and unsensible and stupid 6. You maintain an enmity and contradiction to God whom you are bound to obey as creatures as redeemed c. Thirdly Meditate of the judgements upon hardned sinners the judgements Of the judgements of God upon hardned sinners 1. Threatned by God against them Job 9. 4. They shall not prosper Prov. 28. 14. They shall fall into mischief Rom. 2. 5. They treasure up wrath against the day of wrath Prov. 29. 1. They shall be destroyed suddenly and without remedy 2. Executed Pharaoh drowned in the red Sea Saul falling and dying upon his own Sword the King Zedekiah his eyes put out and bound with chains and carried into Babylon the Jews scattered over all the world Jerusalem a desolation by the Romans Julian killed with
as most sure because God hath given his Spirit unto you 2ly In Particular But let us descend unto particulars which if we do rightly understand and consider of we must confess that to have the Spirit given unto us it is an unspeakable blessing and mercy You read in Scripture of several Attributes if I may so call them given unto the Spirit and all of them in relation unto those to whom he is given And every one of them respecting their good and benefit all the dayes of their life He is called 1. A holy and sanctifying Spirit What the spirit is called in Scripture 2. A revealing and manifesting Spirit 3. A strengthening and helping Spirit 4. A restoring and recovering Spirit 5. A comforting and quickning Spirit 6. A dwelling and an abiding Spirit 1 Fifthly The Spirit of God which is given unto you is a holy and sanctifying He is a holy and sanctifying spirit Spirit He is the holy Spirit of God Ephes 4. 30. And the Spirit sanctifies 1 Cor. 6. 11. Now there are three comforts from this that the Spirit of God within you is a sanctifying Spirit 1. He sanctifies you in truth he renews your very hearts it is not a formal or Sanctifies in truth deceivable work but a real and effectual work which is indeen the new Creation 2 Cor. 5. 17 18. the image of God the life and glory of Christ which shall certainly end in happiness Partakers of the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. 2. He will go on with his sanctifying work he will begin and make an end Causeth growth in grace 1 Thes 5. 23. He will change you from glory to glory 2 Cor. 3. 18. Though it begins in weakness he will carry it on in power This sanctifying work of the Spirit shall move on in the soul as the sun doth in the firmament from strength to strength the Spirit within will more and more mortifie and weaken and destroy the body of sin and he will be renewing your inward man day by day 2 Cor. 4. 3. He will still maintain and preserve this sanctifying work against all the rebellions Defends it against all its enemies of our corruptions and against all the assaults of Satan and will never leave untill he hath crowned it with glory Secondly The Spirit of God which is given unto you is a revealing and manifesting Spirit He is expresly called the Spirit of revelation in Ephes 1. 17. and He is a revealing spirit verily herein doth lie most admirable comfort and joy yea all our actual soul joy in this life If all the thoughts and works of grace were hid from us we should have but sad dayes all our life long we should be in perpetual fears and doubts and complaints But the discovery of them which is by the light of the Spirit makes day with us makes joy and rejoycing abound within us Now there are four things which the Spirit of God given unto the people of God can and doth reveal unto them First The presence of Christ within us Though Christ be in us for he dwells The spirit reveals Christs presence within us in our hearts by faith Ephes 3. 17 yet we cannot see or discover his presence but by the Spirit Hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us â— Joh. 3. 24. To know that Christ is mine and in me and that I am Christs and in him cannot be without the Spirit and this manifestation is from the Spirit and is not this joy and comfort indeed to know that Christ is in us Know ye not that Christ is in you except you be reprobates 2 Cor. 13. 5. Secondly The love of God towards us 'T is true that God doth love his people with a most gracious love and with a great love and with a most kind love Gods love towaâ—ds us his love is called loving-kindness Hose 2. 19. with a love that surpasseth all love And it is also true that the apprehension and experience of his love is most sweet and transcendent Thy loving-kindness is better than life Psal 63. 3. And if we could know his love unto us this would pacifie us and how should we come to tast how gracious the Lord is by the holy Ghost Rom. 5. 5. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost Simile The love of God is like a fountain that is sealed it is like a vessel of precious liquor like that box of oyntment none can open it unto us none can poure it into our hearts none can make us see and tast it he can and oftentimes doth make us to know that the Father loves us Thirdly The wonderful glory prepared for us Mark what the Apostle saith The glory prepared for us 1 Cor. 2. 9. Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Ver. 10 But God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit for the Spirt searcheth all things yea the deep things of God the quality and quantity of future happiness prepared from eternity and must answer the blood of Christ c. Fourthly All the precious works of the Spirit himself with his finger hath The precious works of the spirit wrought in us Though there be an aptitude in them to manifest and discover themselves yet we cannot see them without the Spirit How often are we in darkness how often in doubts and enquiries but have I faith but have I repentance but have I godly sorrow but have I the new heart the tender heart the humble heart In truth Simile Beloved as there is no seeing of the heavenly bodies but by an heavenly light so there is no discovering of the graces of the Spirit but by the light of the Spirit 1 Cor. 2. 12. We have received the Spirit which is of God that we might know the things which are freely given us of God O what happiness is all this to enjoy the Spirit of God by whom we come to know Jesus Christ and as present in my soul to know the love of God and tast the sweetness of it in my heart to know the future heavenly happiness that is prepared from eternity and prepared for my soul and to know all that God hath freely given me in order unto my own eternal happiness Thirdly The Spirit of God which is given unto us is a strengthening and helping He is a stâ—enthening spirit Spirit Ephes 3. 16. That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man Rom. 8. 26. Likewise also the Spirit helpeth our infirmities c. Is it not a benefit when one is weak and faint to find a friend to relieve to support assist uphold and help him we are weak we are fainting we are oppressed distressed burdened ready to sink to fail
new born babes as the Apostle calls them 1 Pet. 2. 2. The graces of the Spirit are sometimes in so weak and so low a ebb that they are compared to a bruised reed and to smoaking flax and to the dawning of of light in the morning and to a grain of mustardseed and to a little leaven in the lump Now here I would shew you three things 1. How one may know that he hath as yet but a very weak measure of the Spirit of grace 2. How one may know that the weak measure of grace is not false but true grace 3. That no Christian should discourage himself because his grace is weak but rather encourage himself because grace is sound although it be weak How to know our grace to be weak 1. Quest How one may know that he hath as yet but a very weak measure of the Spirit of grace Sol. This may be known In our first conversion First By the time of the implantation of it this is a truth that grace begins in weakness if a man be but newly converted his grace cannot be but weak Simile The Christian at first is but as a plant newly set and but as a sick man newly recovered or as the Sun newly risen although it may seem much unto him and he may find many stirrings in his spirit and in his affections yet this grace is but weak it hath but little strength in it Simile As a prisoner who hath been long in captivity and bondage when he is delivered his rejoycing may be great and yet his body may be very weak so when the Lord converts a man and so delivers him from the bondage of sin his heart may exceedingly rejoyce in his mercy that he is translated from death to life and yet his Spiritual strength of grace is very weak in him Secondly By the strength of corruptions The stronger that any mans corruptions By the strength of our corruptions are this is a sign that his graces are but weak I call those sinful corruptions strong which do often prevail upon us and lead us captive which are able to hinder us from doing what is good and to drive and force us to do that which is evil nor are we able to withstand this why this ariseth from weakness of grace Simile When it is with us as with a little Child who is ready to stumble and fall at every straw as we speak at every stone at every chip is not this the weakness of the Child So when every temptation every occasion every strong motion of sin is apt to shake us and stagger us and to surprize us is not grace very weak within us If this be a truth that sin grows weak as grace grows stronger Simile that the darkness is less when the light is clear then this also holds true that grace is weak when sin is strong Simile when grace is like a little light in the mid'st of much darkness By the proportions of actings Thirdly by the proportion of actings Every true grace of the Spirit is of an active nature it is apt to put forth itself Simile in this respect it is like all true fire and light which in the least degrees are apt and do put forth themselves but they have their different proportions in acting a little fire acts but little and a great fire acts much so weak grace hath but a weak operation and strong grace stronger operations weak grace acts most in desires and most in the will and most in tears and most in sighs and groans O that I could believe Lord help my unbelief answered the father of child with tears O that I could mourn that I could obey To will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not Rom. 7. 18. Fourthly By the mixture of contrary workings a little of grace and much of corruption a little of faith and much of doubtings a little of hope and By the mixture of contrary workings much of fear a little of sorrow and much of hardness a little of prayer and much of distraction a little of zeal and much of flatness a little that is done and much that is undone a little of knowledge and much of ignorance a little heavenly-mindedness and much of earthliness a little fire and much smoak a little going and much halting c. Fifthly By the aptness to live not by faith but by sense when God draws up all our helps and hopes into his promises and puts us now to fetch all our supplies By aptness to live by sence and comforts from his good and faithful Word Here is my Word that I will pardon your sins and here is my Word that I will subdue your iniquities and here is my Word that I will answer your prayers and here is my Word that I will supply your wants and I will never leave you nor forsake you O but because we feel not the assurance of pardon and because we find not victory over our sins and because we do not see the answet of our prayers and because we cannot discern the means and wayes how our wants may be supplyed therefore our hearts fail us and we are troubled and perplexed and sad thoughts do arise in our hearts and they are much cast down within us If it be thus with us certainly our graces are weak very weak the lesse able are ye to trust an All sufficient and faithful God in his promises but you must have the portion in your own hands you must see or else you will not believe you cannot so stedfastly believe that Gods Bond is sufficient c. Simile The child is but weak which must still be held by the hand c. Sixthly By the prevailing of discouragements If we be apt to be offended By the prevailing of discouragements and discouraged this shews weakness of grace there are discouragements taken from Gods dealing with us as when he delayes our suits and denies some of the requests and tries and exercises us with smart afflictions and suffers temptations to abide on us From the wayes of Christianity the strictness of them and the danger by them and the greatness of them From men that wicked men do so vex and trouble us that good men are so strange and unkind unto us From ouâ— selves that we go on so slowly and exactly and uncomfortably and others get so far before us and attain so much Discouragements from any of these shew that there is in us but small knowledge little faith much fear and weak grace Seventhly By the presence of censoriousness of strife and contentions and envyings 1 Cor. 3. 3. For ye are yet carnal for whereas there is among By the presence of censoriousness you envying and strife and division are you not carnal and walk as men 2. Quest How may one know that the weak measure of grace is not false but true grace and the very effect of
Spirit assuredly he hath forgiven thy sins Hath God indeed shewed thee mercy in forgiving thy sins he hath then assuredly given unto thee the Spirit of grace to change thy sinful heart Now would you have your sins forgiven do you look on forgiveness as a desirable mercy as a mercy of life and of peace and of hope O then get the Spirit of God God never forgives a man his sins but he gives his Spirit Forgiveness of sins is the great deed of mercy written in the blood of Christ and the giving of the Spirit is the seal of that deed Thirdly The Spirit and excellency alwayes go together Can we finde such a one as this is a man in whom the Spirit of God is said Pharaoh concerning Joseph Gen. 41. 38. Before we receive the Spirit of God there is no excellency in us we are but The spirit and excellency go together low and vile nothing of worth in our hearts they are wicked corrupt and dead in trespasses and sins and short of the glory of God nothing of worth in our thoughts All the imaginations of the thoughts of our hearts are only evil continually Nothing of worth in our affections they are set upon evil and set upon the world no love of God nor fear of God nor desire of God nor delight in God nothing of worth in our conversations they are unprofitable vile vain loose and dishonouring of God But when the Spirit of God come into us then comes an excellency into us and a true excellency into us The Spirit of God is stiled an excellent Spirit Dan. 6. 3. And they that enjoy the spirit are men of an excellent Spirit Prov. 17. 27. and to be more excellent than other men there is no way to attain unto it but by getting the Spirit and this I shall shew in particular all that have the Spirit they immediately enjoy 1. An excellent Nature They are made partakers of the Divine Nature Such enjoy an excellent nature An excellent Relation 2 Pet. 1. 4. They are changed into the glorious image of Christ 2 Cor. 3. 18. 2. An excellent Relation They are born again of the Spirit Joh. 3. 3. And are made the sons of God they receive the adoption of sons Gal. 4 5. And by the Spirit given unto them cry Abba Father ver 6. 3. Excellent Ornaments Ezek. 16. 7. An excellent wisdom which excelleth folly Excellent Ornaments as far as light excelleth darkness Eccless 2. 13. An excellent knowledge even the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord Phil. 3. 8. An excellent faith which is precious and more precious than gold An excellent love even the love of Jesus Christ in sincerity An excellent joy which is unspeakable and glorious An excellent hope which makes not ashamed which is as an anchor of the soul both sure and stedfast Heb. 6. 19 4. Excellent Priviledges To come with boldness to the throne of grace to have Excellent Priviledges the golden Scepter still held out unto them to lay claim to all the purchases of Christ and to challenge their right in him to make use of and apply any promise of God respecting any condition of their souls or bodies to appeal from themselves to Christ and from the sentence and severity of the Law unto the mercy and salvation of God in the Gospel In a word they that have the Spirit they are thereby made an eternal excellency Isa 60. 15. 5. Excellent conversation Holiness Uprightness Righteousness and unblameableness Excellent conversation The spirit and alsufficiency come together of life a life in Christ according to godliness Fourthly The Spirit and Alsufficiency comes together Whatsoever your condition may be whatsoever your exâ—â—â—ences may be whatsoever your troubles and sorrows may be whatsoever your wants may be whatsoever your works and services may be if you had but the Spirit you had enough for all his presence and efficacy can supply you with all 1. Are you weak he can strengthen you 2. Are you ignorant he can teach you 3. Are you doubtful he can counsel and guide you 4. Are you fallen he can raise you 5. Are you tempted he can succour you and make you to persist and conquer 6. Are you brought low in wants he can make you to live by Faith 7. Are you filled with sorrow he can fill you with comfort 8. Are you in darkness and can see no light he can open your eyes to see the salvation of God 9. Are fears upon you he can satifie and quiet you 10. Is dulness on you he can quicken and enlarge you 11. Are you doubtful of Gods love and mercy he can shed abroad the love of God in your hearts and make mercy turn unto you 12. Are you to 〈◊〉 to suffer to live â—nd dye he can enable you for every good work and in your sufferings be a spirit of glory unto you while you live he can make you to live unto the Lord and when you come to dye he can make you to dye unto the Lord O who would not who should not wrestle with God for this Spirit without whom no Christ no life no peace no joy no faith no help no hope and with whom comes Christ and Mercy and Excellency and Heâ—p and all Spiritual tasts Earnests Sealings Rejoycings and Glory 2ly The Means to get the Spirit Means to get the spirit Lay down prejudices against the spirit First If you would get the Spirit of God you must then lay down all prejudices against the Spirit As men have prejudices against Christ which hinder them from the receiving of Christ so men have prejudices against the Spirit of Christ which do hinder aâ—d withdraw them from desiring of the â—pirit There are four Prejudices especially and Exceptions in this case viz. 1. The humbling work of the Spirit Prejudices against the spirit 2. The mortifâ—ing work of the Spirit 3. The sanctifying work of the Spirit 4. The deâ—isions that befall men for the Spirits sake Object We would be content to have the Spirit but that he will shew us our sins and trouble and humble us for our sins Sol. I answer First Of a truth he will do so for he is a Spirit of Conviction and a spirit of The first prejudice taken away bondage to fear Secondly Nevertheless this should not take off our hearts from desiring the presence of the spirit For 1. The troubles from the Spirit are good troubles Of necessity we must be Troubles from the spirit are good troubles troubled for our sins either in this life or in hell the troubles for sins in hell are unsufferable and remediless but the troubles of this life for our sins especially when they come from the Spirit they are good they are penitential troubles and tend only to stir in us a loathing of our sins and a separation from our sins which have been so dispâ—easing and injurious to God and have
works 1 Pet. 2. 24. Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead unto sin should live unto righteousness 6. That his obedience unto the Law is propounded as a pattern for us to imitate 1 Joh. 2. 6. He that saith he abideth in him ought himsel to walk even as he walked Lastly The Covenant-Faith which is in every one of the people of God as it And so doth the Covenâ—nt faith carries them out to an election of God to be their God so it carries them out unto subjection to God unto obedience Heb. 11. 4. By faith Abel offered up a more excellent sacrifice than Cain Ver. 8. By faith Abraham obeyed God Faith eyes the Word of God for a Rule and warrant and faith propounds unto us the encouragements of the word to quicken our obedience and faith fetches strength from Christ to enable us in all our works of obedience Having spoken these things for the demonstration of the Assertion I shall now speak unto three Questions 1. How this walking in Gods statutes and keeping of his judgements and doing of them may be fixed upon the people of Gods Covenant seeing they are all of them believers and being so are no longer under the Law but are freed and delivered from it 2. What manner of obedience or kind of obedience that is which is required and to be performed by the people of Gods Covenant 3. Why these are in such a special manner thus charged with walking in Gods statutes c. 1. Quest How this walking in Gods statutes c. may be forced upon the people of Gods Covenant seeing they are all under grace and believers and not under How Gods people being not under the Law are bound to obedience the Law as the Apostle expresseth it Rom. 6. 14. Ye are not under the Law but under Grace Sol. For a clear Answer unto this Question I will briefly deliver my thoughts in these distinctions First Concerning the Law of God you know there were some of them 1. Ceremonial which consisted in Rites and Ordinances and Shadows typifying Jesus Christ in his sufferings unto which there was a full period put by the death of Christ 2. Judicial which respecteth the Jews as a peculiar Nation and Common-wealth being made and fitted for them as in such a particular polity And all those Judicial Laws especially these de jure particulari are ceased by the cessation of that Nation and polity 3. Moral which are these set down in the Decalogue and are called the ten words or Commandements which God spake and delivered Of the ten Commandements which we call the Moral Law is the question to be understood whether believers or the people in the New Covenant are bound unto them Secondly This Moral Law may be considered either 1. In the Substance of it Or 2ly in the circumstances of it If you consider the Moral Law in the substance of it so it is 1. An eternal manifestation of the mind and will of God declaring what is good and what is evil what we are to do and what we are not to do what duties we How the Moral Law never ceaseth do owe to God and what duties we do owe to our neighbours what worship God requires and what worship God forbids In this consideration the Moral Law never ceaseth in respect of any person whasoever 2. It discovers sinne For Rom. 3. 19. By the Law cometh the knowledge of sin And the Apostle in Rom. 7. 7. I had not known sin but by the Law for I had not known lust except the Law had said Thou shalt not covet In this respect likewise the Law is still in force even unto the people of God it is the glass which shews them unto themselves and the light which manifests the hidden things and works of darkness in them 3. The Rule of life For as the Gospel is the Rule of faith teaching us what to believe so the Moral Law is the Rule of manners teaching us how to live and as to this directing power it is still of force and use unto believers Psal 119. 105. Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path Ver. 133. Order my steps in thy Word But then secondly the Law may be considered in respect of its circumstances not as it is a Rule of obedience but as it is a condition of life and as thus considered How it ceaseth 1. It requires a personal and perfect obedience and that under a curse Gal. 3. 10. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all that is written to do it Here now it ceaseth unto the people of God the cursing and condemning power is abrogated Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us Gal. 3. 13. 2. It requires an exact obedience as a reason of Justification Do this and live Here likewise the people of God are freed from it who as Luther well speaks shall not be damned for their evil works nor yet shall be justified for their good works but are justified by faith in Christ and the matter of their justification being not inherent righteousness in themselves but only the imputed righteousness of Christ Thus you see in what respects the people of God are freed from and in what respects they are still obliged by the Law The Law hath not power to condem or justifie them and yet it hath a power to direct and instruct them And that it hath such a power unto which we are to conform our selves in obedience may appear thus First By that forementioned place in Matth. 5. 17. Think not that I am come to destroy the Law or the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfill And in Why the Law hath still a power to command us that Chapter he doth both interpret the Law and commend and command unto his Disciples the duties of the Law And surely it is no way probable that Christ would by his own authority so have confirmed the Law had it been his purpose and business to have cancelled the Law Secondly Paul in Rom. 13. 8. that he might shew and clear that in that one precept of love He that loveth another hath fulfilled the Law produceth several precepts of the Law in ver 9. For this Thou shalt not commit adultery Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not steal Thou shalt not bear false witness Thou shalt not covet And if there be any other Commandement it is briefly comprehended in this saying namely Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self All which were a fruitless proof if the Law had nothing to do with the people of God but utterly ceased to them as to point of obedience In like manner in that place of James 2. 8. If ye fulfill the royal Law according to the Scripture Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self ye do well but if the Royal Law were abrogated certainly
this God doth promise to give unto his people Zech. 12. 10. They shall look upon him whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one that mourneth for his only son c. Ezek. 7. 16. They shall be on the mountains as the Doves of the valleys all of them mourning every one for his iniquity Psal 97. 10. Ye that love the Lord hate evil Rom. 12. 9. Abhor that which is evil This also is promised Ezek. 36. 13. Then shall ye remember your own evil wayes and your doings that were not good and shall loath your selves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations Ezek. 18. 30. Turn your selves from your transgressions Hose 14. 1. Return unto the Lord All this is likewise promised to be given unto the people of God Isa 30. 22. Ye shall defile the covering of thy graven images of silver and the ornaments of thy molten images of gold thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth thou shalt say unto it Get thee hence Jer. 24. 7. They shall return unto me with their whole heart Seventhly The Lord commands his people not to suffer sinne to reign in them Rom. 6. 12. Let not sin reign in your mortal body And he promiseth that sin shall not reign in them Rom. 6. ver 14. Sinne shall not have dominion over you Eighthly And he commands his people to make to themselves a new heart and a new spirit Ezek. 18. 31. Make you a new heart and a new spirit and he promiseth to give these Chap. 36. 26. A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you Ninthly What shall I say now The Lord commands his people to walk in his statutes 1. Impartially 2ly Willingly 3ly Affectionately 4ly Uprighlty 5ly Sedfastly And all this he doth promise to cause them to do 1. Impartially Deut. 30. 8. Thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord and do all his Commandements 2. Willingly Psal 110. 3. They people shall be willing in the day of thy power 3. Affectionately Isa 60. 9. Who are these that flee as a cloud and as the Doves to their windows Zech. 8. 21. The inhabitants of one City shall go to another saying Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord and to seek the Lord of Hosts I will go also 4. Uprightly Jer. 31. 9. I will cause them to walk by the Rivers of water in a strait way wherein they shall not stumble for I am a Father to Israel c. Isa 61. 8. I will direct their work in truth Zech. 8. 3. Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth Isa 30. 21. Their ear shall hear a word behind them saying This is the way walk ye in it when ye turn to the right hand and when ye turn to the left 5. Progressively and stedfastly Job 17. 9. The righteous shall hold on in his way and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger Isa 40. 30. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint 2ly The parallels 'twixt Gods promises and experimental instances Parallels betwixt Gods promises and the Saints experiences wherein you may find that God hath enabled his people there to walk as he hath promised First He hath enabled them to know him Gal. 4. 9. After that you have known God or rather are known of God 1 Joh. 5. 20. He hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is true 1 Joh. 2. 21. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth but because ye know it Secondly They are enabled to trust upon him Psal 9. 10. They that know thy Name will trust upon thee Psal 18. 2. The Lord is my Rock and my Fortress and my Deliverer my God and my Strength in whom I will trust Psa 22. 4. Our Fathers trusted in thee 25. 2. My God I trust in thee 31. 1. In thee O Lord do I put my trust 52. 8. I trust in the mercy of God Thirdly They are enabled to fear him I fear God said Joseph Gen. 42. 18. One that feareth God said God of Job Job 1. 1. They that feared the Lord spake one to another Mal. 3. 16. I fear the Lord thy God said Jonah Chap. 1. 9. The Churches walked in the fear of the Lord Act. 9. 31. Fourthly They are enabled to love the Lord so David Psal 116. 1. I love the Lord. And Psal 18. 1. I will love thee O Lord my strength Fifthly And they are enabled to pray unto him and to call upon him David Hezekiah Daniel Paul and to mourn for their sins David Peter and Mary Magdalen and to hate sin David Paul Psal 119. 104. I hate every false way and to forsake sin Hose 14. 8. And 1 Thes 1. 9. Ye turned to God from Idols to serve the living aad true God and Rom. 6. 22. Seventhly And so for all the rest of the Particulars you have clear instances that the people of God have been enabled to walk willingly constantly affectionately uprightly and stedfastly in his waies 3ly The several wayes how God doth cause or enable his people to walk in his Statutes and to do them He doth cause them to walk in his Statutes How God enables his people to walk in his statutes First By giving unto them his Spirit who doth 1. Change their hearts and infuseth into them all Holy and Heavenly Graces which are so many inward principles enabling them to acts or works of obedience as our sinfull and corrupt principles make us willing and ready to walk in the wayes of sin so holy and spiritual principles do make us willing and ready to walk in paths of righteousness 2. Excite and quicken their hearts and stir them up to works of obedience by secret motions and workings and by setting the Commands and Promises of God upon their hearts with strong impressions by which they are led out unto a willing and cheerfull and upright performance of obedience 3. Comes in with his Special and Immediate Assistance to all the works which they are to do he helps their infirmities and guides their feet and strengthens their hands The servants of the Lord are strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man Ephe. 3. 16. In the day when I cried unto thee thou heardest me and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul Secondly By giving faith unto them and enabling of them to live by faith in all their particular walkings and workings Beloved there is a living by faith for mercy and there is a living by faith for duty A man lives by faith for duty when he goes out of himself as insufficient to afford him strength to perform it and applies himself unto and relies upon Jesus Christ and the promise to give him the ability because this and that duty oâ— work of