in the end to encline so farr as to look upon the fruit to cover it to touch it and tast it too And so the Vâ—nome of the Serpent infected Soul and Body Neither staid it here but did diffuse and Communicate it self to man who hearkened to his Wiâ—e and did eate and so transgresse Upon which the victory became compleat And though the temptation and plot was deeply laid and managed with greatest subtlety yet they could not be excused For the law was plain the power to observe it sufficient and God did in no wayes desert them in any thing necessary They did both willingly consent and yield They were too precipitate and did too hastily determin and resolve before they had sufficiently considered the matter either severally or joyntly together And their sin was in the issue so much the more heynous because they believed the false suggestions of the Devill and harkened to his damned Counsel contrary to the clear Command and peremptory Commination of their Creator In all this they had not the least cause to complain of God Their Sin and misery was from themselves and there was much of will in the transgression The Woman was first in the sin and was deceived Yet the Man followed her example Otherwiâ—e it might have been better with all mankind And in this place something may be â—aid of the permission of sin and Gods providence in respect of the same No doubt God could have prevented both the sin and the temptation yet being no wayes bound to do either he suffered both And this is one of the deep Counâ—ells of God whereof man can give no reason Arminiuâ— doth discourse of this subject and observes the acts of Divine providence about sin to be reducible to three heads 1. In respect of the Beginning 2. Of the Progress 3. The Consummation of it In respect of the Beginning the Acts of Providence are either permission or hinderance In respect of the Progress Direction and Limitation In respect of Sin Consummate Punishment or Remission But he that will accurately discuss this Point of Doctrine must distinguish 1. Between the first sin of Angels and the first sin of Man and other sinnes following these For in respect of these later that which we call permission may be a Desertion and to a Punishment which in the first sinnes cannot be 2. He must put a difference between a Moral and a Physical permission and also between the sinful Disposition and immediate Act of the Will as sinful and such Acts as follow and are not formally and intrinsecally sinful but bâ— participation 3. He must discern which of these Acts belong to Judgment as the two last evidently do and which not 4. It should be distinctly known what this Permission is For it 's not any Licence or Liberty to sin given by God to the Creature nor any toleration connivence indulgence much less any approbation of sin The proper and immediate first subject and cause of sin is the Will as free Therefore when Scotus had defined sin to be Carentia justitiae actui inesse debitae Occam corrects him and defines it to be Carentia justitiae voluntati inesse debitae And whereas many out of Austin take it for granted that Peccatum non habet causam efficientem sed deâ—icientem He â—aith That 's true onely of sins of Omission not of Commission and doth positively â—ffirm that God is the Author of every sin of Commission because in Commission there is something positive which is forbidden by the Law directly as well as that which is privative yet gives the reason why man is guilty and God not because man is under a Law and bound God is not And whereas some in sins of Commission distinguish between the Act whereof they grant God to be the Author and the Sinfulness of the Act whereof he is not the Author He answers That in sins of Commission the very Act is forbidden and therefore the very Act is so sin that you cannot make it the subject of sin is any ways different from sin In this making of God the Author of all sins he seems to be very bold and heterodox though very acute But let his Judgment in this be true or false these things are certain 1. That all the difficulty in this point ariseth from our ignorance of the manner how God concurs with the Free will of man in sin 2. That God could prevent all sins and every sin though he doth not 3. That God doth not necessitate much less force the intelligent Creature to sin for then sin could be no sin 4. That let Permission be what it will yet he so permits sin that he can justly punish it in the Parties guilty who alone are chargeable with it 5. The reason why God doth not cannot sin is not onely because he is under no Law but because he is absolutely just and holy and hates sin as he doth forbid it threaten it give power against it and punisheth it 6. We must not think that God doth so permit sin as not to order the sinner and out of evil bring good as once out of Darkness he created Light To think that God who is the Universal Judge is a bare Spectator of sin must needs be an Errour The cause of this sin § XI which was blameless was the Law which did forbid sin command obedience promise life to the Obedient threaten death to the Disobedient This could not by any inward native power or quality be a cause of Sin or Death for it was spiritual holy just good and so contrary to sin For every thing acts according to the inward power and quality And how should that be for sin which was the Rule of Holiness and for Death which was given for Life Yet a cause of sin it might be though not per Se yet per Accidens as the Logicians speak Not by any thing in it self yet by something from without in Man or the Devil Some instance in the dashing of a Pitcher against a Wall so that it 's broken The breaking of the Pitcher is an Effect but the Cause thereof is rather the force of him who purposely casts it against the wall then the Wall it self yet this Comparison is not so fuâ—l and perfect If there had been no Law there had been no sin For where there is no Law there is no Transgression saith the Apostle Rom. 4. 15. An if no transgression then no guilt no punishment If there had been no Law man might have done â—omething worthy of punishment yet without a Law he could have contracted no guilt so as to be bound to suffer punishment And though God knew that if he did give a Law it would be disobeyed yet he might justly give it For as he knew man would transgress it yet he knew likewise that he might keep it No Governour will forbear to enact Laws to regulate his People because he knows many will disobey them That the Law
his bodily life were many For his body became mortal subject to weariness infirmities languishing hunger thirst diseases grievous pangs and torments and monstrous deformities and of it self by little and little mouldred into dust Besides He was exposed to nakednesse cold heat lightening thunderbolts stings of Serpents rage of wild beast unmercifull and cruel murderers treacheries assassinations exquisite tortures and many other accidents destructive of his life which was every moment and in every place in danger to be cut off from without Besides the principles of mortality were alwayes within his body And the danger was the greater because he had lost the Ministery Guardiance and direction of Angels and was deprived of the speciall care and providence of his Lord and maker the Heavens above him were made like iron or brasse and either denied their light and influence or powred down stormes and terrified him with fiery Meteors and strange prodigious Comets or apparitions The earth was cursed barâ—en or fruitfull in proâ—â—cing unprofitable Weeds ingendring Toads Serpents and Pestilent Vermine and other creatures to consume fruites And the best soyl refused to give him bread without sweat labour care and both Heaven and Earth did often threaten him with hunger thirst and so with famine If the Earth and Heaven too did favour him so that through Gods Blessing and his industry they both promised a plentiful harvest and return yet it was subject to many casualties before it could be reaped and inned as to blasting mildew peâ—iâ—ential ayr inundatious fire Locusts Caterpillars and several sorts of worms and devouring Creatures which threaten death to man and beast If the fruits of the earth were layd up in his barnes and store-houses yet they were in danger If his house was furnished and his treasuries stored with rich and precious goods yet he was in peril of thieves Oppressours plunderers by Land and his Merchandise by Sea of Pirats and merciles enemies Neither could the Liberty of his Person be secure because of imprisonment banishment captivity His credit and reputation could not be safe but he might suffer in this particular and be stayned by reproaches slanders his own imprudent or base carriage His publique peace and safety might be disturbed by seditions rebellions civil Wars and forreign invasions and his houses Lands goods possessed by Strangers or made desolate And he might suffer from enemies desertion of Friends treachery ill neighbours bad servants his parents bretheren sisters near kinred nay from his own children issuing out of his own Bowels He might be cursed in his Cattle in his Children in his Lands in all his designs By his sinâ—â—e provoked God armed Heaven Earth Ayr Sea and all Creatures againâ—â— him His spirituall Condition was much prejudiced by evil education bad example pernicious counsail ungodly company and many other wayes These penalties and many more are recorded in the Scriptures and in the great Volum of divine Providence and stored up in the treasures of Gods Almighty and severe Justice To make a more full enumeration of the miseries whereunto Man by his first sin and Gods just judgments is exposed and reduce them into a Method would take up a great Volum Of the Penalties to be endured after this life I will not now say any thing These Penalties 1. Are spiritual § V bodily temporal private publick personal social and all may be reduced to Privative which we call punishments of losse or Positive which we call punishments of Sense 2. There be many degrees of these punishments and the continuance of them might be for ever so far as man is capable for ever to suffer them 3. Though every son of Adam be subject to these yet God doth not inflict them all upon any son of Adam 4. These Punishments may be deserved by other sins Against the Law of nature which the Gentiles violated Against the Law of Moses which the Jews transgressed Against the Gospel which Christians violate And many of Gods own Children may justly suffer For all actuall sins are not merely from Originall Corruption though it be a cursed root of all kind of iniquity 5. These Penalties become unremoveable either by Negative or Positive Impenitency and Unbelief or by Apostacy 6. All these Punishments in Scripture are signified by one word DEATH For the Wages of Sin is DEATH CHAP. XV. Of Original Sin and the Derivation of it from Adam to his Posterity IT s to be known § I 1. What the Authors who write or speak of it mean by Original Sin 2. Whether it be properly a Sin 3. How it is derived from Adam to his Posterity 1. Some distinguish of Original Sin and inform us that its Originans aut Originatum By the first they understand the first sin of Adam and this onely Pighius defines to be Original Sin By the second they understand the want of Original Righteousness and the depravation of our Nature following thereupon And thus it is commonly taken So that in it we may consider two things 1. Not onely the want or absence but the privation of the Righteousness which God gave Adam in the day of his Creation So that it is a want of it in the subject where it should be and was at first Yet this privation may be understood actively or passively Actively and so it 's a taking away from one that had it or denying it to one who never actually received it In the first sense God took it from Adam In the latter sense he denies it to all his Posterity In what manner God is in this Act to be considered or what was the reason why he did thus I do not here inquire Passively considered it respects the Subject from whom it 's taken or to whom iâ—'â— denied Upon this deprivation follows a depravation in the Moral and Spiritual Qualities and of the Acts of the Party deprived And this Depravation is either Negative or Positive Negative as Ignorance Positive as Errour in the Understanding Negative as no affection to good Positive as inclination to evil in the Will This Depravation doth not destroy the Essence of man nor his qualities nor his Acts but the perfection and excellency of them all and doth necessarily presuppose the Being Qualities Acts as the Subject All this doth imply that this Rightâ—ousness being an excellent Quality doth much ennoble and perfect man and did depend both in fieri in facto as they speak upon a superiour and intelligent-supernatural-tree Agent who could give it continue it as also upon cause take it away And if once the Soul lost it upon demerit or any other ways it was made imperfect defective and base and the inclinations and motions were unworthy so noble a Creature and so much the more because a Superiour Spirit had power to delude and deceive the mind and incline the heart to evil This is the reason why so many are said to walk after the Prince of the power of Darkness that now worketh in the
Children of Disobedience But § II secondly Whether is this Corruption which in Scripture is called the Flesh Concupiscence Sin the Body of Sin c. properly a Sin That it is from sinne called sin and is a cause of sin is generally confessed But that it is a sin in proper senâ—e is denied absolutely by Pighius But he is singular and differs from his own Church which generally acknowledgeth it to be a sin but not in such as are baptized Because Baptism being a Sacrament of Remission and Regeneration takes away the nature of sin from it so that the formal part of sin is taken away but the material remaineth For so I understand them because they call that which remains Concupiscence and the Fuel of Sin This were something if Regeneration did always accompany or immediatly follow upon Baptism which cannot be proved or if it did so accompany and follow Baptism as to be perfect and make the soul perfectly righteous and holy which it doth not as experience in God's own Children teacheâ—â— us yet this Doctrine doth confess plainly that it was sin before the formal reason and nature of sin was taken away and by the same reason it will follow that so far as it is not taken away it is properly sin It is placed by many of them especially in the Sensitive Appetite but certainly it 's found in the Rational Appetite and the Will and must needs be morally evil and they confess that it must be resisted and subduâ—d Some Remonstrants and Corvinus amongst the rest deny it to be properly sin upon another account because though it be materially contrary unto the Law yet formally it is not so And why Because the Law forbids future ill acts not habits But yet this is not precisely true because the Law forbids to all such as are under a Law not onely the future evil acts but also dispositions and habits especially such as depend any ways on Acts. But to give a more perfect Resolve of this Question § III we must 1. Distinguish of Sin Habitual and Actual And Actual Sin it is not 2. We may consider it as it 's in us by Conception and Birth and a Naturall Habit if I may so speak or as improved and increased by many Actual Sins and so become an acquired vitious habit and thus in this latter sense Paul seems to take it Rom. 7. and elsewhere In this latter sense few will deny it to be sin and by the same reason it may be sin in the former sense 3. We may conceive of this Original Corruption and the want of Originall Righteousness as taken away or denied upon a former demerit and so it 's certainly a punishment or absolutely in it self as a quality disposition or habit inherent in us and so it 's not properly a punishment but a sin Yet it 's not so a sin in us as it was in Adam For Adam once had Original Righteousness entire we have not Adam lost it by the demerit of an actual sin but Infants have not actual sin for which it 's denied unto them It seems to be rather a punishment then a sin though both in them who never were perfectly and personally righteous especially in such as never had the use of reason It 's certain that God never allowed in Man or Angel any vitious quality or disposition contrary unto his Law But the reason why it is a sin in Adam's Posterity is singular as will appear in the Derivation of sin from Adam which is the next thing In the third place § IV this which we call Original Sin is derived from Adam to his Posterity with many evils besides And first we must prove that it is derived Secondly shew how it is derived from him to us 1. The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it is so seems to be evident from those words By one man sin entred into the world and by Sin Death and so Death passed over all men in that or as some turn it in whom all men have sinned Rom. 5. 12. And by those As in Adam all die so in Christ shall all be made alive 1 Cor. 15. 22. The meaning is not as some conceive that one man the first man Adam was the first that sinned and so by his Example sin entred into the World As though his Posterity were sinners onely by imitation But the plain and clear sense is that by the sin offence and disobedience of one man many yea all men were made sinners and so liable to death as appears by the words following This sin was his first sin in eating the forbidden fruit For his after-sins were personal and not derived to Posterity in that manner as the first sin was So that the person from whom sin was derived was one man even Adam the means whereby it was derived was sin one sin the first sin of that one man that first man The parties to whom it was derived were All men The thing that was derived by this one sin was Death the death of all This sin offence disobedience is opposed to the obedience of Christ unto Death the death of the Cross and the Death from this Sir is oppoâ—ed to that Eternal Life which Believers obtain by Jesus Christ. So that the sin of Adam is the sin of all and the guilt of Adam is the guilt of all But the great difficulty is § V How Adam's sin and guilt is transmitted and derived to all The ordinary determination is that it 's derived by Propagation It 's true that without natural propagation it 's not derived because without it we cannot Be or if we could have our Being without it yet we could not be his children and except we be his children we cannot be any subject capable so as to derive any thing from him Yet this natural propagation doth onely make us subjects of this derivation of sin and guilt from him Therefore this participation of sin guilt death from him is an Act of just Judgment This therefore presupposeth 1. That Adam was sinful and guilty 2. That we are descended from him as sinful by Natural Generation 3. That we are some ways one person with him either by Nature or Law or both and God did so account of us 4. That in Adam innocent God judgeth us innocent in him guilty us guilty And though we be descended immediatly from our next Parents yet we deâ—ive the sin and guilt from Adam immediatly though we have our Being from him mediately by intermediate Ancestours and Parents All men were one man in Adam and in none else We were in him by Nature and Law By Nature for he was the Root and all men the Branches and it was God's Will that all Mankind should descend from him By Law for as all Nations account the Parents and Children as one person in many things and Children part of their Parents so that Children and Parents make but one body So likewise God did account Adam and all Mankind
as one And so far as God judged him one and made Adam the Head and Representative of all so far in Adam all men might be bound to obedience or penalty and so far judgments or rewards might be transmitted from him to all and no further And if God had not considered Adam and all his posterity as one person By one man sin could not have entred into the World and by sin Death so as to pass upon all men That this derivation was an act of judgment is evident from the Apostle because Sin and Death which is punishment presupposed a Law To impute sin and punish for sin and that with Death are Acts of Judgment and that according to a Law which was in force when Adam sinned and long before Moses Otherwise how could sin have reigned even over Adam and that from Adam to Moses and this by a Sentence of Judgment in force to this day according to a Law in force when Adam transgressed it For upon that transgression God condemned Adam and in him all Mankind In this respect the doubt how the Soul being made by God becomes corrupted is vain and that conceit that it is polluted by entrance into the body or from the body is false For 1. God in the Creation of the Soul of every individual person is to be considered as a Creatour and a Judge As a Creatour he makes a Soul and gives it Essence and all things necessary flowing from the Essence and appertaining to it As a Judge he denies that person as one with Adam sinning his sanctifying Spirit which Adam received for him and his and in him sinning was lost to him and his 2. It is evident that the Soul is not so much polluted by the body as the body by it and it from it self For there are many Spiritual sins as Pride Envie Malice and such like which are purely from the Soul and in the Soul as they are in Angels who have no bodies but are spirits And those sins which have their Rise from the sensitive appetite could not pollute the Soul except it were depraved in it self And the first sin began in the Soul as may easily be understood from Gen. 3. and was there compleatly moulded before Eve looked upon the forbidden fruit to covet it and desire it as a bodily food Yet whilest we discourse of the Derivation of Original Sin as it is a Deprivation and a depravation following thereupon because man falls under the power of Death yet we must consider that Adam's Posterity derive not onely that original corruption from him but many other evils together with their Being All the evils are reduced to Sin and Death We participate with him in some manner in the first sin and in him sinning we sin and in him being guilty we are guilty in him dying we die And by Death all Punishments God sentenced us to in him are understood not onely that which we call Original Sin but all Actual Sins virtually included in it and issuing purely from it by vertue of the first Desertion And here we may wonder at the severity of God's Judgment yet we must in no wise question the Justice and Equity thereof CHAP. XVI Of the Attributes of God manifested in this Judgment of Men and Angels THE last thing to be considered in this Judgment and Execution is the manifestation of the Attributes § I and perfections of God and of his Supream Power judicial as well as Legislative The Attributes manifested are these His Wisdom his Holiness his Power his Knowledge but principally his Justice and Mercy His Wisdom was wonderful in this particular in that he laid the Foundation of man's Eternal Life to be recovered again in sentencing the Devil to Eternal Death and in a wonderful way so that the Devil himself should be powerfully active to the ruine of his own Kingdom whilest he â—eeks to confirm and enlarge it His Holiness was evident in this that he spared not sin in his most noble Creatures punishing the Devils without mercy as first in the sin not sparing man made in his own Image though tempted to sin and in accursing the Serpent though an irrational Creature and but onely an Instrument abused All this signifies that he detests and abominates sin and being holy Himself requires holiness in Men and Angels made holy and if by sin they pollute themselves he casts them out of his presence His Power appeared in that he so presently and so fully executed his Sentence and makes it good to this day and none can hinder him His Knowledge is as exact for he evidently knew the sin of Men and Angels with the measure and circumstances thereof and proportions his Judgment accordingly But principally his Justice and Mercy shined forth in this judicial Proceeding § II First his Justice must be considered The Justice of God is Legislative or judicial Legislative Justice determines man's duty and binds him unto the performance thereof and also defines the rewards and punishments which shall be due upon the Creatures obedience or disobedience His judicial Justice which is called distributive is that whereby he renders unto the intellectual Creatures according to their Works This is remunerative or vindictive For taking cognizance of their cause he rewards the obedient and punisheth the disobedient The justice manifested in this judgment was punitive and vindictive and it did appear in that 1. He spared not sinners much less rewarded them 2. He punished none but sinners and such as did concur in this sin 3. He punished onely for sin and not out of any absolute and arbitrary power Therefore God said to the Serpent Because thou hast done this therefore thus and thus shalt thou be punished The Woman suffered and is condemned because she hearkened and gave consent to the Serpents temptation The man is judged to death because he had hearkened to the voyce of his wiâ—e 4. The punishments determined and executed did not exceed the measure of their sin 5. The Devil sinned most and therefore his punishment is the greatest and no ways mitigated or allayed by mercy The Woman and Man sinned being tempted and their sin was less and it was allayed by mercy yet the womans sin was greater then Adam's though less then the Devils For she was first in the transgression and brought man into the snare being instrumental to the Devil and therefore she was adjudged to two punishments to which man was not liable This Justice is not an Attribute but the exercise and manifestation of an Attribute as here it 's taken It 's called Anger Wrath Fury Rage Jealousie Indignation as the sin is more or less heinous and he more or less displeased It 's called Revenge in that it renders the evil of punishment for the evil of sin It 's Judgment because he proceeds according to Law upon the evident knowledge of the violation of the same It 's punishment as God inflicts it and the Creatures suffer it The principal
too For he doth not say to our first Parents Go ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels But you shall suffer Temporal punishments yet so that through my Grace and sanctifying Spirit they shall be Corrections and Chassisements for Humiliation Mortification and Reformation and you shall be banished out of Earthly Paradise and from this Tree of Life that you may more earnestly long after and seek the Paradise and Tree of Life in Heaven For you shall know that it 's a bitter thing to forsake your God and disobey his Command Yet this was the great punishment that the Spirit of Sanctification and Comfort was departed and no ways to be recovered but by Jesus Christ the great Redeemer as a gift of Free-grace And now consider all Mankind in Adam as innocent and obedient they are innocent and obedient Consider them in him as sinful guilty convicted they are sinful miserable convicted and in a lost condition Consider them in him as receiving the Promise of Christ they are in a possibility of Salvation and Deliverance And all such as are born in the Bosome of the Church and under the means of Conversion are in a better condition then such as are strangers from the Covenants of Promise as all Children or Apostlates are Yet we must understand and take special notice of it that after the Fall there is not any thing in man tending either to holiness or happiness or the abatement of sin or misery but from the mere mercy of God which doth shine forth most clearly in two things The first is the giving of Christ or the Promise to give him and this was not upon any merit no nor of Christ himself And howsoever all other Spiritual Mercies may be promised and given for and in respect of the satisfaction and merit of Christ yet the gift of Christ was from purest love without any respect to any merit at all The second is in calling wherein he prevents both by giving the means of Conversion and the grace of his Spirit to make them effectual Therefore the Scripture so much magnifies God's abundant love and free grace manifested in both 1. For the first it 's said God so loved the World that he gave his onely begotten Son Joh. 3. 16. And God commendeth his love towards us in that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners Rom. 5. 8. And in this was manifested the love of God towards us because that God sent his onely Begotten Son into the World that we should live by him Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the Propitiation for our sins 1 Joh. 4. 9 10. For some mercies we receive from God loving us before we love him as these two Some after we begin to love him 2. For the second we read that God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins hath quickned us together with Christ by grace we are saved and hath raised us up together and made us sit together with Christ Jesus in Heavenly places Eph. 2. 4 5 6. Yet this latter is merited by Christ. Besides the manifestation of these Attributes it 's remarkable that God exercised his transcendent and absolute power above his Law For to reverse the Law of Works to require and accept satisfaction and the same made by another even Christ and not the Delinquents and thereupon to promise Pardon and Eternal Life upon condition of Faith were acts of Him as above his Law and dispensing with it in his judicial proceedings For if he had according to his ordinary power made the Law of Works requiring perfect and perpetuall obedience as the onely condition of life the rule of judgment he could have done none of the fore-mentioned Acts but must have condemned man unto Death and punished him according to the demerit of his sin which if he had done neither Adam nor any Son of Adam could have had the least possibility of Salvation So that in this Judgment the Foundation of the second Government of greatest mercy was laid and then even then God began to constitute another Form of Government over Man and to administer the same And the former continued but a little while and the latter hath continued long and shall be An everlasting Kingdom The Second Scheme Acquired by the Word made Flesh by His Conception Birth Anointed King Priest Prophet in His Humiliation taking upon Him the form of a servant being obedient unto Death which presupposing His former Holiness and Obedience was an act of Obedience unto the great Command of His Father accepting Him as the Surety and Hostage of Mankind laying on Him the iniquities of us all a Sacrifice offered to God as Supream Judge to expiate the sin of Man and being accepted did satisfie Divine Iustice offended merit for Himself Eternal Glory and Power sinful Man immediately the Abrogation of the Law of Works Covenant of Grace Power of the Spirit to enable Him to keep it These Effects formally include exclude no person mediately upon the Covenant observed Iustification Glorification Exercised in the Constitution which determines the Sovereign God-Redeemer Administrator-General Christ at the right hand of God Enemies Devils Men Rebels Apostates Subjects men who being reduced by Vocation according to Predestination do voluntarily submit and that sincerely to God-Redeemer their Soveraign Administration considered in general according to the degrees alterations from the time of Adam till the Commencement of that glorious Reign wherein God shall be all in all special in giving Laws which being Moral considered as given to Adam Innocent continued to Gentiles Iews Christians with the different Obligations thereof determines man's duty to God Creator Redeemer Man Positive in Ceremonies especially Sacrifices Ilastical Eucharistical Sacraments of the Law extraordinary ordinary Gospel Baptism Eucharist an Examination by whom to whom How these may be admiâ—â— are a rule of Man's duty in Precepts Prohibitions God's judgment in Promises Threatnings Iudgment particular in Punishments Temporal Spiritual in this life upon single persons Societies Ecclesiastical Civil after Death before the Resurrection Rewards Temporal Spiritual in this life Conversion Iustification begun continued in the state thereof after Death before the Resurrection Universal determining and rendring the Eternal Punishments Rewards of Men Angels THE DOCTRINE OF The Kingdom of God OR The Government of God-Redeemer The Second BOOK CHAP. I. Concerning the Power of God-Redeemer and by whom it was acquired WHen the first Government did determine § I the second did begin For after the Fall of two of God's most noble Creatures there followed a great alteration in the World and such that if God had followed strictly the Rules of his former Government all Mankind must needs have perished But this his Mercy could not suffer therefore his Divine Wisdom contriveth a way how to recover Man fâ—llen and began to govern him according
Circumincession the nearest Union that can be with any distinction in the World In the Natures § VI we must consider 1. The number 2. The union 3. The distinction of them The Natures are two 1. Divine 2. Humane The Divine is He was the Word The Humane as He was Flesh. For if He was that Word which was in the beginning with God and was God so that all things were created and upholden by Him He must needs be God as the Father is God yet not the Father yet one God with the Father If He be Flesh He must needs be Man As God and the Word He is Eternal as Flesh and Man He is not Eternal That Jesus Christ was Man and that such a man there was both Jews and Mahumetans confess Yet Orthodox Christians onely acknowledge him to be God and that according to the Scriptures which in these great Mysteries are the onely infallible Rule And in them we do not read that ever the Word assumed the Nature of any irrational Creature nor of any of the Intellectual but the Nature of Man For he took not on him the Angels or the Nature of Angels but he took on him the Seed of Abraham Heb. 2. 16 For the Children being partakers of flesh and bloud he also himself likewise took part of the same that through Death he might destroy him that had the power of Death that is the Devil For 1. He redeemed not Angels 2. He redeemed Men. 3. He redeemed them Onely 4. He redeemed them by Death 5. Because the Word as the Word could not dye therefore the Word was made Flesh that he might dye This seemed good unto the Divine Wisdom and this was determined in the secret Counsel of the Eternal Deity The Union of these two Natures is personal § VII The Person and one Nature was Divine The other Nature was Humane This Union was by assumption the Person assuming was the Word the Nature assumed was that of Man This Assumption was begun in Conception consummate in Birth As His Birth was both mean on Earth and glorious from Heaven so his Conception was wonderful For He was so conceived that He had a Mother and the same a Virgin in her Conception yet he had no immediate Father who begot him and because his Mother was descended from David and Abraham therefore in respect of his Humane Nature he was the Son of David the Son of Abraham according to Divine Prediction and Promise and the Seed of the Woman in a special manner Concerning this Conception we are informed That the Virgin Mary after she was espoused and before she and Joseph came together was found with child of the Holy Ghost and to satisfie him an Angel was sent from Heaven to signifie unto him that that which was conceived in her was of the Holy Ghost and that according to a Prophesie Behold a Virgin shall conceive Math. 1. 18 20 22. And we read in another Evangelist that an Angel answered to this Blessed Virgin demanding how she should conceive such a Son seeing she was a Virgin and knew no man That the Holy Ghost should come upon her and the power of the Highest should over-shadow her therefore that Holy Thing which should be born other should be called the Son of God Luke 1. 34 35. So that this Conception was singular extraordinary and supernatural and no ways to be paralleâ—d And there was a two-fold end why it pleased God to have him thus conceived 1. That he should be holy 2. That he should be called the Son of God And certainly these two things followed upon it 1. He was holy and so free from Original Corruption either as considered in it self or as a punishment for the first sin For this Originall Sin was prevented 1. By the Sanctification of the Spirit 2. By this extraordinary Propagation For two things concur to this Native Corruption 1. That the man be in Adam as sinning and so sentenced for sin 2. And also descend from him by naturall propagation But neither of these did agree to him For though he was the Son of Adam and the seed of the Woman yet he was not in Adam sinning nor the Son of Adam in that manner as all other men were 2. He was called the Son of God not onely because he was conceived in a divine manner by the Holy Ghost but also as the Word was the Son of God and had that relation to his Father so this Nature assumed being personally one with this Word must have the same relation to the father too This incarnation of the Word and Son of God is a great mystery That Jesus Christ is the Word and not only flesh and not onely the Word but the Word made flesh is plain and expresse Scripture But the manner of this union is unsearchable And we must simply believe what is plain that it is so not curiously enquire how it is for that 's above our capacity Aquinas contra Gentes endeavours to exemplify this by the union of the Soul and body As the body is the instrument of the Soul and supposeth an universall reason or intellect which assumes and unites it self to the nature of man so as to use it as a Proper instrument as the hand is to the body and by the same worketh divine works proper to God and that not sometimes transiently but after the manner of a constant and permanent Act. This is the Sum of his exemplification which as he confesseth is very imperfect and farr too short This assumption was an act ad extra and therefore both Father Word and Spirit must concur in it yet so that the Word did in a special manner assume and was the proper terme of this Act. And that word in which was life which life was the light of men in the Creation did assume possesse dwell in and act by the Soul and body of man so as to be a Fountaine of Life and Spiritual light to man for ever This Word § VIII so became and was made flesh as that he assumed not onely the body but the Soul of man even whole man and the same at first subject to frailtyes and infirmityes to violence and death yet without sin And this union was indissoluble for ever And many were the consequents of this union as 1. The communication of Idioms in predication So that because the Word which was God was flesh and word and flesh are one therefore what is true of the word may be affirmed of that flesh and that which was properly true of that flâ—sh might be truly affirmed of that Word which was God So that it may be truly said That the flesh and man did that which God did and God might be said to suffer that which the flesh did suffer and that by a Metonymy and such as no Rhetorick ever taught us 2. A neare relation between the Word and that flesh and such as is not to be found in all the world 3.
mortifie corruption the very root of sin in us The death of Christ should be the death of sin in us and the remembrance of his sufferings should break our hearts humble us and separate us from sin That Christ should die and we should live and his death should be our life was often signified by the ancient Sacrifices wherein the bloud and death of the thing sacrificed was a kind of expiation of the sin of man Man sins and Beasts suffer to signifie that there must be a far better Sacrifice to purge away the sin of Man and purifie his Conscience Therefore Order requires that we consider the death of the Cross so willingly suffered as a Sacrifice And if it was a Sacrifice as no doubt it was we must observe 1. The Priest 2. The thing offered 3. The Party in whom it was offered 4. The Parties to be sanctified by this Offering The Priest is CHRIST The Sacrifice HIMSELF The Party to whom it was offered GOD. The Parties to be sanctified SINFVL MEN for whom He suffered That Christ was a Priest the Apostle proves Heb. 5. 6. For there he first describes a Priest to be a Mediatour between God and Man in matters of Religion and in his Offerings and Prayers represents the People In blessing of the People He represents God though of this He saith nothing in that Chapter yet in the 7th in Melchizedeck blessing and tithing Abraham he implies that in both these Acts a Priest represents God And because a Priesthood is an Office and a Priest and Officer in Religion and things pertaining to God he informs us that very one cannot be a Priest but one taken from amongst men and ordained for men And as an Officer is made by the Will and Commission of the Supream Power and must not presume upon and usurp the Office therefore Christ did not glorifie himself but was chosen called ordained a Priest and that immediatly by God And his Commission he finds in Psal. 2. 7. 110. 4. And his Priesthood was powerful most excellent personal immutable made so by Oath and Eternal and he himself holy without sin He must minister in the Heavenly Tabernacle and his Ministery must be Spiritual and himself the Mediatour of the New Testament to procure and dispose of the Spiritual and Eternal Blessings promised in the same Amongst many other Services to be performed by a Priest one and a principal was Sacrifice and in the Levitical Service that of Expiation yearly offered on the 10th day of the 7th Month was most eminent and this the Apostle singles out as the most excellent Sacrifice to typifie the death of Christ as far more excellent then that Sacrifice of the Levitical High-Priest Chap. 9. Therefore the death of Christ was a Sacrifice Ilastical and Propitiatory His willing-suffering of death was the Offering the Thing offered was Himself For he offered himself without spot The Party to whom he offered himself was God considered 1. As Law-giver offended 2. As Judge who had power to refuse or accept the Offering and upon the same accepted to pardon sin and give Eternal Life The Parties to be sanctified by this Offering were sinful and guilty Persons acknowledging Christ alone to be the Priest and this Death the full and onely expiation of sin and resting in the same alone So that this Sacrifice so was offered unto God and this Offering was an Act of Christ as a Priest and in particular it was an Act of Obedience to that great and transcendent Command of His Heavenly Father that He should suffer death for the sin of Man and the intention of it was to take away and expiate the sin of Man and in this respect it 's said that by His own blood He entred in once into the Holy Place and obtained Eternal Redemption or Remission Christ entred two several times into Heaven 1. Immediately upon His Death when His Soul separated from His Body was received into Paradise 2. When He was risen He ascended both Soul and Body as immortal into the Heaven of Heavens where He doth and shall continue until the time of the Restitution of all things The first entrance seems to be that which obtained Eternal Redemption For as the High-Priest presently upon the slaying of the Sacrifice takes the blood and enters into the Holy Place and appears before the Mâ—rcy-Seat and when that was done the expiation of the sins of the People was finished So Christ being slain and dying upon the Cross His Soul enters the Holy Place of Heaven as separated from the Body and so presented himself before the Throne of the Eternal Judge as having suffered death as God commanded humbly demands that which God had promised and so speeds For He obtained Eternal Redemption And lest this Death of Christ should seem to be an ordinary thing The Sun was darkened the Earth did tremble the Rocks were torn asunder the Veil of the Temple was rent from the top to the bottome and all this to signifie that the Great High-Priest was entered by His Death and blood into the Holy Place of Heaven and had obtained Eternal Remission the great Encounter between the Son of God and the Prince of Darkness was past and Christ obtained the Victory and the sin of Man was now punished in the Surety and Hostage of Mankind and the greatest Execution in the World was ended and by the same an entrance was made into the place of Glory After that it hath been made evident § IV that this Suffering of Christ was an Act of Obediâ—nce unto the Death of the Cross and a Sacriâ—ice â—he next thing in the second place to be inquired is what the effects of this Sacrifice were And they are of two sorts 1. Immediate 2. Mediate Immediate are reduced to two The First is called satisfaction The Second Merit And both these in respect of man are called Propitiation yet the immediate effect in respect of Christ is Merit and onely Merit In respect of man it 's written That God set forth Christ the Propitiation for our sins by Faith through His Blood Rom. 3. 25. And He is the Propitiation for our sins and the sins of the whole World 1 Joh. 2. 2. And that God did manifest His love in sending His Son to be the Propitiation for our sins 1 Joh. 4. 10. To be a Propitiation is to make God offended propitious unto guilty Man This Propitiation therefore in respect of sin which is also called Redemption may be truly said to be Satisfaction made to the Supream Judge offended so as to free the party guilty from the obligation unto punishment Neither need we scruple the word Satisfaction as not found in Scripture for it 's expresly used by our Translators Numb 35. 31. Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a Murtherer that is guilty of death c. The word in the Original is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 turned by the Septuagâ—◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
the Scriptures make evident by Doctrine Threatnings Examples Eating the Forbidden Fruit was not the Personal Sin of any of Adam's Posterity and yet they all are punished for it For by one Man sin entred into the World and by sin Death and Death passed over all men c. Josuah and the Princes of the Congregation of Israel swear unto the Gibeonites not to put them to death Saul 450 years and more afterwards slays them and so violates that Oath For this sin of that King Israelâ—â—â—ers â—â—â—ers three years Famine and this sin is not expiated nor the Judgment turn'd away 〈◊〉 7. of Saul's Son long after were given to the Gibeonites and hanged up unto the Lord. Saul sins Israel suffers Famine and 7 of Saul's Sons are slain and this by the direction of God declaring the Perjury of Saul to be the cause of Israelsâ—â—sfering â—â—sfering Achan commits Sacriledge not onely He but his Sons and Daughters are stoned to death for it But I shall have occasion hereafter to say something more of this Particular The Socinians in opposing this truth deny plain Scriptures and charge God with injustice by consequence and whilest they deny Christ's Sufferings to be Punishments lest they should make God unjust they charge Him with injustice For if it be unjust to punish Christ being innocent for the sinnes of others for whom He voluntarily suffered according to the Appointment and Command of His Heavenly Father much more unjust it must needs be to afflict him and that so grievously without any cause at all or demerit of others And whereas they say That though some may suffer for the sins of others when they are sinful themselves and not otherwise they do but trifle For if one may justly be punished for the sin of another whereof he is not guilty then an innocent person may justly suffer for another who is guilty This was the case of Israel when David sinned He out of Pride numbers the People God is offended herewith and punisheth for this sin and that with death 70000 of his Subjects The King sins the People suffer and they suffer death for the Kings sin whereof they were not guilty as appears by those words of David's Repentance But these sheep what have they done 2 Sam. 24. 17. That is I not they have sinned They are innocent in this particular By all this we may understand how and how far Christ's Sacrifice is communicable to us How we come to be actuall Partakers of these Benefits shall be shewed hereafter Before I proceed § VIII I will take occasion to examine the Extent of Christ's Death Whether He died for all men and so Redemption be universal as some use to speak or no. 1. That Christ dyed for all in some sense must needs be granted because the Scripture expresly affirms it For by the Righteousness of One the free gift came upon All Men to justification of life Rom. 5. 18. And if One died for all then were all dead 2. That onely Believers actually enjoy the Benefit of this Death unto Salvation is as clear also 3. Neither God's love in giving Christ nor Christ's love dying for Man do exclude any as love 4. The benefit of Salvation is communicable to all upon certain tearms expressed in the Covenant which yet limits the actual benefit of Remission and Eternal Liâ—e by prescribing a qualification in the Parties to be saved by Christ's death 5. The Qualification is such that it excludes no man as a man or a sinful man but as impenitent and not believing at least So that it may truly be said that by Christ's Sacrifice all men are save-able some way though all shall not be saved And if any become not save-able it 's upon some demerit and speciall cause antecedent The immediate Effects called Satisfaction and Merit both signified by the word Propitiation make God propitious and in that respect man in a capacity of Salvation or save-able and do not precisely exclude or include any But Justification Reconciliation Adoption Glorification are so simiâ—ed by God's Promise that they formally and immediately belong to none but Believers This Question is needless if men would content themselves with the plain and simple truth of the Scriptures and rather use all means to believe then dispùte For if I once sincâ—rely believe I may be sure I have a right unto those Benefits If I believe not I can have no comâ—ort in this blessed and most meritorious Sacrifice There is another question and the same unprofitably handled Whether the Propitiation which includes both satisfaction and merit be to be ascribed to the active or passive obedience of Christ as their distinction and expression proposeth it For solution whereof it s to be observed 1. That both his active personal perfect and perpetual obedience which by reason of his humane nature assumed and subjection unto God was due and also that obedience unto the great and transcendent command of suffering the death of the Crosse both concur as causes of Remission and justification 2. The Scriptures usually ascribe it to the Blood Death and Sacrifice of Christ and never to the personall active obedience of Christ to the Morall law 3. That yet this active obedience is necessary because without it he could not have offered that great sacrifice of himself without spot unto God and if it had not been without spot it could not have been Propitiatory and effectuall for expiation 4. That if Christ as our surety had performed for us perfect and perpetual obedience so that we might have been judged to have perfectly and fully kept the law by him then no sin could have been chargeable upon us and the death of Christ had been needlesse and superfluous 5. Christs propitiation frees the Believer not onely from the obligation unto punishment of sense but of losse and procured for him not onely deliverance from evil deserved but the enjoyment of all good necessary to our full happinesse Therefore there is no ground of Scripture for that opinion That the death of Christ and his sufferings free us from punishment and by his active obedience imputed to us we are made righteous and the heyres of life 6. If Christ was bound to perform perfect and perpetuall obedience for us and he also performed it for us then we are freed not onely from sin but obedience too and this obedience as distinct and seperate from obedience unto death may be pleaded for justification of life and will be suffiâ—ient to carry the cause For the tenour of the law was this Do this and Live And if man do this by himself or surety so as that the law-giver and supreme Judge accept it the Law can require no more It could not bind to perfect obedience and to punishment too There never was any such law made by God or just men Before I conclude this particular concerning the extent of Christs merit propitiation I thought good to inform the Reader that as the
Propitiation of Christ makes no man absolutely but upon certain terms pardonable and savable so it was never made either to prevent all sin or all punishments For it presupposeth man both sinful and miserable And we know that the guilt and punishment of Adams sin lyes heavy upon all his posterity to this day And not onely that but the guilt of actual and personal sins lyes wholly upon us whilst impenitent and unbelieving and so out of Christ and the regenerate themselves are not fully freed from all punishments till the finall resurrection and judgement So that his propitiation doth not altogether prevent but remove sin and punishment by degees Many sins may be said to be remissible by vertue of this sacrifice which never shall be remitted In this sense it may be understood that some deny that Lord that bought them 2 Pet. â— 1. For Christ by his death acquired a right unto and so a power over all flesh but so that he must give eternall life onely to such as his Father gave him For one immediate effect of Christs death was to make God placable and sin pardoned yet he never merited that any sin should be actually pardoned but upon such terms as his heavenly Father should prescribe It may also in a sense be said that Christ dyed onely for the elect That is that onely they shall obtayn actual pardon Yet they who thus affirm must give us out of the Scriptures the true notion of Election and of the Elect and not seek to obtrude upon us their own false Conceits For the Elect as the elect in decree are no subject capable of actual Remission as such for they are no subject at all because they have no actual existence though they may be and are an object or Logicall subject of Gods decree And after that they have actual being yet they are not immediately capable of actual pardon before they are called and actually believe And whereas some affirm that Christ dyed onely for the Elect in their sense it cannot be proved Because they presupposing an order in the decrees of God take it for granted that the decrees of Election and Reprobation are antecedent to the decâ—ee of Redemption and â—o by these very decrees formally exclude the greatest part of mankind and include the rest which cannot stand with the plain texts of Scripture which signifie that we are predessinated to be conformed to the image of Christ That we are elected in Christ and predestinated to the Adoption of Children by Jesus Câ—rist unto himself The 4th and last thing in this discourse of Christs death § IX is to consider the attribuâ—es and perfections which were principally manifested in this work of Redemption For bâ—sides his absolute power by which he acted in this work above the lâ—w of Creation many of his perfections did most gloriously appeare And first his Wiâ—dom For this was one of the highest designes of God and this work of redemption was contrived and ordered in the highest degree of Wisdome that God did ever exercise out of Himself The Apostle determined to know nothing amongst the Corinthians but Christ Jesus and him crucified And though this Doctrin of the Crosse seem'd foolishnesse to men devoyd of the Spirit yet when he preached it he spake Wisdome to them who were perfect the Wisdome of God in a mystery evâ—n the hidâ—en Wisdome which God ordayned before the world was to our glory 1 Cor. 2. 2. 6 7. And by the preaching of the Gospel was made known to Principalityes and powers in heavenly places the manifold Wisdome of God Ephes. 3. 10. And the Doctrin of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow thereupon was such and so excellent for Wisdome that the very Angels desired to pry or look in it 1 Peter 1. 12. That Wisdome must needs be wonderfull which contrived such glorious things For the seed of â—rayl Woman deceived by the Devil and now guilty before the tribunall of God must bruise and break the head and power of the Devil and shake his Kingdome over mankind in pieces The Word and eternal Son of God must be made flesh as though mortality and eternity had been united together Weaknesse must vanquish strength Mortality must be away to immortality Death to eternal life the most cruel paines to full and everlasting pleaâ—ures the moâ— bitter sorrowes to the sweetest joyes the lowest humility to the highest honour and the greatest shame to the most excellent glory And which is strange that the Devil himself must use his utmost strength and policy to overthrow himself And his deepest Counsels must be the cause of his own ruine These are the wonderfull wayes of Gods unsearchable Wisdome discovered in the humiliation of the Son of God The Holinesse § X and Justice of God appeares in this work many wayes For though he be slow to anger inclined to forgive abundant in mercy and delighting in kindnesse and doing good unto his unworthy creatures and resolved to give his Son to remit sin and to save sinners yet he will not free any man from the guilt of sin nor yield that any sin should be pardonable without expiation be made his divine justice satisfied and the honour of his law violated be vindicated He will admit of no reconciliation except propitiation be made by blood to declare his righteouâ—nesse that he might be just and the justifier of him that beleeveth on Jesus Christ Rom. 3. 25. And this propitiation must be made by the Word made flesh Therefore he sends his son his dearly beloved his onely begotten son whom he esteemed above all men and Angells He smites him wounds him and layes on him the iniquityes of us all He must not only suffer but suffer death the death of the Crosse and he must for a time be a servant and lay aside 〈◊〉 his shining Robes of Glory be content to want the joyes and pleasures of Heaven and be deprived of God's sweetest comforts be exposed to the malice of the Devill and his malicious enemies ly under the pressure of most bitter pains sorrows and anguish and suffer and that from basest wretches the basâ—â— indignityes that ever any suffered And thus though he were a son must he learn obedience by suffering and before all these things were endured his Soul seperated from his Body and his Body layd in the Grave he must not rise again to Glory And he makes an unchangeable decree that whosoever will not be willing to deny himself take up his Crosse be obedient not onely in doing good but also in suffering evill even death the most cruell and tormenting death and that with patience for his sake shall derive no benefit from his Saviour who did not only expiate sin seal the Truth with his blood but also give us an example of most eminent humility patience meeknes charity obedience all other heavenly virtues that we might follow him if we will be saved And sinful man must know
essential And that perfect and perpetual obedience should be that condition upon which perâ—ormed it was God's Will Eternal Life should follow and no ways else was accidental So likewise it was that the sin of one should be the sin of all and His Death their death For the Law might have been a Law without any such thing This Law may be considered § IV 1. As given to Adam and in him to all Mankind 2. As continued yet with several accidental and extrinsecal alterations in the Kingdom of God-Redeemer As it was given to Adam it 's of a two-fold consideration in respect 1. Of him as Innocent 2. Of him as Fallen Adam as Innocent received this Law and it was given unto him as righteous and holy by Creation and he was able to keep it And he was bound to perform it perfectly and perpetually together with other Positives And this perfect and perpetual obedience was the onely condition of life to him and his and one sin one committed made him and his liable to death After that Adam and in him all his had sinned it was a Law of Sin and Death unto them and if God had made it a standing Rule of Judgment in strict Justice man must needs have bâ—en condemned to Eternal Death and there was no hope or possibility of Eternal Life by this Law For suppose God had pardoned this first sin and yet continued this Law in force man could not have been saved by it For he lost the Spirit of Sanctification and if God had continued to say Do this and live because he could not do this he could not live Neither was there any Promise of a Saviour to expiate his sin nor of the Spirit to enable him to keep it nor of Pardon upon expiation made if he afterwards transgressed it After that God in passing Sentence upon the Devil had said § V that the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpents Head this Law continued but with a great alteration in respect of man A Redeemer who should satisfie God's Justice and merit God's favour unto man was promised his satisfaction accepted the Spirit restored pardon and eternal life promised Faith in the Redeemer made the condition of life the Law of the forbidden Fruit ceased the Law of Works as the condition of life and rule of judgment for punishments and rewards repealed And all this was done in great mercy by God as Supream and absolute Lord above his own Law which bound not Him the Soveraign but Man His Subject Thus much I observed when I spake of the Judgment which God passed upon the Authors of the first sin But how the Law-Moral continued you shall hear-anon The knowledge of this Law § VI as applyed to the Acts Dispositions Habits of men is commonâ—y called Conscience which is nothing else but the knowledge of a man's Acts Dispositions Habits as agreeable or disagreeable to this or other Laws of God This Knowledge in respect of acts future is the Law of God within him to bind him to obedience and restrain him from disobedience In respect of acts past it 's a Judge within himself or a Witness for or against him before the Tribunal of God This it is properly yet tropically in Scripture it 's several times taken in another sense according to the several adjuncts thereof For the practical judgment of man is sometimes more sometimes less perfect and great is his Ignorance and many his Errours both in matter of Law and of Fact and most of all in applying the Law unto the Fact or Fact unto the Law Sometimes it 's a false Witness and an unjust Judge and hence man's Security in greatest Guilt and Despair when there is hope of Mercy This Knowledge of this Law-Moral in Adam innocent was more perfect § VII in his Posterity more imperfect For the enlightening Spirit was taken from him it was not so purely diligently constantly taught neither was the outward Revelation thereof renewed to all Besides the erroneous Traditions without the Corruptions of man's Heart within with other vicious Habits together with God's just judgment had much impaired this Knowledge though not utterly razed it out For even the wicked Heathen who had not the Law written yet by Nature did something contained in the Law and were a Law unto themselves which did shew the Works of the Law of God written in their hearts Rom. 2. 13 14 15. Yet the knowledge of it was always preserved in the Church by constant Teaching and reiterated Revelations improving the Natural Light of Reason Yet some Positives and Ceremonials were always added and it was joyned to the Law of Faith God renewed the Doctrine of it more perfectly and in a more solemn manner unto Israel both by an audible Voice and by writing it in Tables of stone Moses and the Prophets Christ and His Apostles more fully and clearly explain it And by outward Teaching and inward Illumination God writes it by degrees in the hearts of His people The use of the Law may be considered § VIII 1. In respect of the Gentile 2. Of the Jew 3. Of the Church in general but especially Christian. In respect of the Gentiles who had other positive Laws and Customs either by Tradition or the invention of the Devil and wicked men this Moral-Law so far as it was left written in their hearts taught them their Duty to the onely true God and also unto Man For it was a Rule in matters of Religion and in matters of Justice unto them both as they were single persons and also associated in a Family or a Common-wealth It was the Rule of their Civil Government both in making Laws and in Judgment And according to the violation of this Law God judged single persons Families Nations and Kingdoms And the knowledge thereof which they had or might have had though imperfect did manifest in their own Conscience the justice of God's Judgments executed upon them And so much the more because by His patience long-suffering and bounty together with this law he sought to draw them to Repentance But they holding the truth of God in unrighteousness and continuing impenitent were inexcusable and justly delivered up unto a Reprobate mind as may appear Rom. 1. from ver 18. ad finem Chap. 2. from ver 1. to the 17th And they that disobeyed this clear light of Nature were justly punished by God with the ignorance of Jesus Christ and the want of the Laws and Promises of God-Redeemer It was of singular use to the Jew For § IX 1. It was added to the Promise made to Abraham four hundred and thirty years before 2. It was so revealed that it reduced all Moral Duties to a few Heads and digesteâ— those Heads into an exact and excellent Method and was given with a special application to that People 3. It was Supernaturally written in two Tables of Stone that it might be reserved in the Ark as a rare and lasting Monument from Heaven
1. That as purely Moral it is always in force and God did never at any time dispense with it but made it the Foundation of all other Laws and it shall continue in force in Heaven For in the very estate of perfect glory all the Subjects of that eternal glorious Kingdom shall be bound eternally to love their God themselves and one another 2. God bound Adam in the day of Creation to the perfect and perpetual personal obedience of this Law and of other Positives as the onely condition of life and so that upon one sin he and all his should be liable to death without any remedy as from that Law This was the highest obligation 3. After that Adam and in him all his had once sinned this Law with the Positives did render him liable and bound to death 4. After that Christ was once promised as a Surety and Hostage to satisfie God's Justice offended by the sin of man it made him liable to death and all such punishments as God should inflict upon him 5. After the Fall of Adam it was in force so fa◠as to bind all such as were out of the Church to Temporal and Eternal Punishments for their sins against it without any hope of Pardon and all such as were in the visible Church to Temporal and Eternal Punishments no ways removable but upon Faith in the Death of Christ. 6. It is in force always since sinful Man received the New Law and Covenant of Grace to bind him to repentance present repentance and return unto the sincere obedience of it to be performed by the power of the Spirit 7. It always is in force to bind the Regenerate Children of God here on Earth to endeavour and aym at an universal perpetual and perfect obedience and upon defect or default presently to return to God-Redeemer for mercy and pardon of what is past to be obtained by a Plea of Christ's Satisfaction and Merit and also further for the continuance and increase of His Sanctifying Grace Lastly after that Man is perfectly sanctified it 's so far in force as to bind him to perfect and eternal obedience unto it Such is the excellency of this Law as purely Moral that 1. If Man had kept it God would give life by it 2. That God never gave Man a liberty to be free from the Obligation of it 3. That God would never pardon any sinne against it without satisfaction made by the Blood of Christ believed and pleaded by sinful Man 4. That Christ merited and God restored the Spirit of Sanctification that Man might keep it 5. That He will not spare His own children when they transgress it by heynous and especially scandalous sins 6. That no Man can have union with Christ except he willingly separate from sin and return to the obedience of this Law 7. That no man can have full communion with God before he perfectly obey it 8. That there is one great change in respect of this Law First perfect Obedience unto it with other Positives was made the onely condition of life But afterwards that Promise of Life upon those strict tearms and that severe commination of Death upon Sin were abolished and Faith was made the onely condition of life So that it may be truly said that the Law of Works is abrogated but not the Moral Law considered in it Self Yet this change was but accidental as before These things premised § III concerning the Moral Law in general I proceed unto the Exposition of the DECALOGVE which though it was given to the Jewes contains the Heads and Method of the Morall Law And it may be considered either as a part of the Law of Works or merely as the Moral Law in general or as part of the Gospel in an Evangelical Notion As it was delivered in that terrible manner with these Clauses Do this and live and Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in this Book it had something of the Law of Works in it As it was annexed to the Promise made to Abraham and joyned with the Ceremonies typifying Christ it was Evangelical As considered in general abstracted from both these it was an Abridgement of the Moral Law respecting Man in this life not in the life to come It 's to be understood not strictly as given to Israel at that time but in a Latitude as it is explained in other parts of the Books of Moses especially in Deuteronomy in the Prophets and most of all as in the New Testament where it is explained by our Blessed Saviour and the Duties thereof pressed by Him and the Apostles upon all Christians And this is an Argument that some ways it continues in force in the Gospel As delivered in Exodus and repeated in Deuteronomy it rather contains the Heads to which other Duties not there expressed may be reduced rather then the Principles from whence they may be deduced It 's abridged in many places of Moses the Prophets and Apostles Yet that of our Saviour is most perfect wherein according to Moses he reduceth all to Love For Love is the whole Law This Loves either of God or of our Neighbour To love God above all is the first and great Commandement of the first Table To love our Neighbour as our Selves is the last Commandement of the second Table These two are purely Moral especially the former and the rest are such by participation as before Therefore the first is said to be the great Commandement The last to be like it CHAP. VII An Exposition of the Moral Law as methodically reduced to Ten Heads in the Decalogue by God himself And of the first Commandement With the Preface THE Decalogue so called by the Septuagint § I because consisting of ten words or Commands we find first delivered Exod. 20. and repeated Deut. 5. Wherein we have 1. The Preface 2. The Precepts or Commandements themselves The Preface is two-fold 1. Of Moses the Historian 2. Of God Himself The first Preface in these words God spake all these words The meaning is that 1. These Words or Commandements for so the Word in the Original sometimes signifies These I say and none else 2. These and all these 3. Were spoken published and promulgate 4. By God and God alone immediately in a wonderful and extraordinary manner in the hearing of all Israel prepared and assembled before Mount Sina in Arabia By this we understand that God Himself was the La-wgiver and the immediate Author of this Law And therefore it 's more excellent then any Law or Laws of any Nation in the World And seeing He spake these and these onely these and all these it 's not for Man to add and diminish And all and every one are authentick and of Divine Authority in an high degree The second Preface we have in these words I am the Lord thy God who brought thee out of the Land of Aegypt out of the House of Bondage This second Preface is of God
may suffer and have a share in publick and general calamityes and ruins and sometimes may bear the sins of their Parents The performance of the promise doth most appear either in the times of peace and prosperity or in deliverances and comforts in the time of misery or in those fearfull curses which fall upon such as have been disobedient stubborn and undutifull Children who are punished sometimes with penâ—ry and want sometimes with crosses and discomforts in their own Children Sometimes with losse of their estates and banishment from their native soyl and place of inheritance sometimes with a violent and shamefull death or an ignominious life and all this for the violation of this precept besides other temporall and eternall punishments for their other sins Examples of those rewards and punishments we may read in Scripture and in other Historyes Hitherto I have explained the expresse words of the Commandement § VII There is something further implyed and that 's the duty of parents in respect of their Children For if they be in Gods place and must be honoured then they must be like unto God do good be beneficial to inferiours so as to deserve honour which unnatuall and carelesse parents cannot so much expect As God by the Apostle exhorts Children to obey their Parents so he forbids Parents to provoke their Children Ephes. 6. 4. Where we may observe that in duties the inferiour must be first The Wife must be subject to the Husband first The Children must be obedient to their Parents first Servants to their Mâ—sters first Subjects to the higher Powers first Yet so that superiours have their dutyes which they are bound to perform The dutyes of Parents are either negative or affirmative Negative are many as opposed to the Affirmative The Apostle in the former place expresseth onely one They must not provoke them This is done when they deny that which is necessary and convenient for them in respect of theiâ— ability and estate when they command them unjust or unreasonable things when in their rash passion they revile them and give them ignominious terms though they deserve them not When they use too much severity and sometimes plain cruelty not so much out of a desire to amend them as for to satisfie their own humours and fury as though they would revenge themselves upon them as enemyes To this purpose the Reverend and Learned Bishop Dâ—venant expounds those words Col. 3. 21. Parents must know that there is a great difference between Children and Slaves and a greaâ—er between Children and Enemyes If they will punish them they must be Judges not partyes know the cause and the merit of it be just and not cruel Correct them not Confound them The affirmative dutyes may be reduced to two 1. Preservation 2. Education 1. They must preserve them have a tender care of them maintayn them and provide for them according to their ability lest that life which God by them hath given be miserable or perish They must have a care of their education and bring them up for this life and that which is to come For this life they must train them and teach them or cause them to be taught in some honest kind of proâ—ession as in Husbandry trade or Merchandiâ—e or Learning according to their inclination and capacity Thus Adam and Eve brought up their Children Cain to be an Husband-man and tiâ—â—er of the ground and Abel to be a Shepherd They must not be suffered to spend their time in idlenesse playes sports and Vanity but must exercise themselves in some honest profession whereby they might benefit them and be usefull to their Countrey For the life to come so they must bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and learn them betimes even in their tender yeares so far as they shall be capable to serve their God know their Saviour and seek Eternall Life Ephes. 6. 4. Children have Souls as well as Bodyes and are capable not onely of a temporal but an eternal estate And Parents should endeavour to provide for both especially for the better that their Children might be the Sons and Daughters of the Living God and Heires of Eternall glory What comfort can it be to have Children miserable in this life or if in this life happy eternally miserable in the life to come as it often falls out through want of education To this education belong instruction example correction Familyes should be nurseryes and Seminaryes of Religion And if Parents for want of knowledge or leasure cannot thus educate them let them commit them to School-Masters Trades-men Ministers and others who are fit for that purpose What Parents in this Particular should do Tutours Guardians and such as are trusted with Orphans are bound to perform By this discourse we may easily understand § VIII what the sins both of Children and Parents against this Commandement be For they are contrary to the dutyes here commanded The sins of Children are disobedience to their Parents commands irreverence to their persons rebellion against their power ingratitude and neglect of them in their weaknesse want and misery when they shall take bad courses so as to be a shame grief and discomfort to their Parents who did carefully endeavour and seek their good God will surely punish them For the promise of life peace and prosperity to good Children implyes a commination of a curse against wicked and grace-lesse wretches who cannot be obedient to God when they are disobedient to Parents God high displeasure against incorrigible Children is signified by that law he gave to Israel If a man have a stubborn and rebellious Son which will not obey the voyce of his Father or the voyce of his Mother and that when they have chastned him will not hearken unto them Then shall his Father and Mother lay hold on him and bring him out to the Elders of his City unto the gates of his place and they shall say unto the Elders of his City this our son is stubborn and rebellious he will not obey our voyce He is a glutton and a Drunkard And all the men of his City shall stone him with stones that he dye So shalt thou put evil away from amongst you And all Israel shall hear and fear Deut. 21. 18 19 20 21. These are the sins of Parents § IX as Parents 1. To be unnatural Of this sin many Fornicatours and Adulterers are guilty For fearing shame or some other punishment from men more then from God they murder their Children either before or after their birth or desert them being born and leave them to perish 2. To take no care to maintayn them and provide for them or prodigally to wast that which should relieve them 3. To discourage them dul their Spirits provoke them use them as slaves or beasts or enemyes 4. To be ignorant or negligent so that they either cannot or will not instruct them or cause them to be instructed 5. To be prophane
congregation in particular From hence ariseth a relation of Pastour and People The Duty of the people is to esteem their Pastours and Teachers highly in love for their works sake 1 Thes. 5. 13. To obey them and submit unto them Obey them saith the Apostle who have rule over you and submit unto them for they watch over your Souls Heb. 13. 17. They must atttend unto their Doctrine and follow their good example Heb. 13. 7. They must maintain them and provide for them For Christ hath ordained that they who preach the Gospell should live of the Gospel 1 Cor. 9. 14. And let him that is taught in the Word communicate to him that teacheth in all his goods Gal. 6. 6. The Duty of Ministers and Pastours amongst others are these To be rightly qualified and also called to their places binding themselves to do Christ service in that Office They must plant and water preach catechize and edifie the people wholly in the saving Doctrine of the Gospel and though they cannot confirm their Doctrine by Miracles yet let them do it by good example They must administer the Sacraments according to Christ's institution pray for the People perform all publick services of Religion and do all things that tend to the conversion confirmation and Salvation of the People The Sins of the People § XIX as subject to their Pastours are many amongst the rest these They neglect and contemn their persons places doctrines reprooâ—s admonitions good example They deny them maintainance have itching ears affect novel opinions are carried away with strange Doctrine They prove schismaticall desert their faithfull Pastours vex them persecute them Ministers offend when not rightly qualified enter upon the place without a due call and in an undue manner when their end is gain not the good of the peoples souls when they neglect their calling or are carelesse or remisse in the discharge of the Ministery preach false or unprofitable Doctrine give bad example corrupt Religion are Authors of Schism Faction Rebellion and so disgrace their calling dishonour Christ and drive multitudes to Hell Many of these are ambitious and insolent domineering over men's Consciences Christians may associate for Discipline § XX and the outward Government of their Society and that in greater and lesser Associations and for this end declare and constitute Canons and Orders chuse and ordain Officers erect several Courts of Jurisdiction Spiritual In these Ecclesiastical States the Supream Power of the Keys or Church-Government is in the whole Combination the delegated Power is in their Officers and in their Representatives This Constitution finished the Superiours and Governours are the Officers and Representatives whereby the whole Church doth exercise her Power and every particular member whether Officer or any other is subject This Constitution should be agreeable to Christ's Institution and it 's no ways safe that the Association should be of too little or too great extent And most certain it is that Christ did never ordain that there should be one Universal Supream Court in any part of the World to which all Christian of all Nations should submit or make Appeals The Duty of the People and Members of this Spiritual Common-wealth and every particular Person Officer or any other is to submit to this Order once established according to the Laws and Rules of Christ obey the Canons acknowledge the Officers receive their Jurisdiction The Duty of the Governours is to consider whether the Constitution be according to the Gospel to have a special care to make good Canons and to constitute able prudent pious and sit Officers to inform the Ignorant reform the Scandalous reprove admonish suspend or excommunicate absolve and in such a manner that Doctrine and Discipline may be preserved pure the People reformed the Church edifyed and Christ glorified And the Civil Magistrate should countenance protect assist them so far as his Civil Power in this particular may be useful The Discipline is easily corrupted hardly reformed the Primitive and Apostolical Order little known And in this point many are our Divisions Men have their several conceits of it Every Party fancy their own way to be the Pattern in the Mount and few are impartial and unprejudiced and though a good Discipline may be proposed yet the greatest part cannot endure it Schools § XXI Colledges Vniversities are a kind of little Common-Wealth wherein we have Ordinem Imperii Subjectionis wherein the Governours have power the governed are subject according to their Charters and Statutes and as there be Duties so there are contrary Offences in both There be also Superiours and Inferiours in respect of excellency and age yet without any power Those who for Wisdom Parts Experience rare Exploits do excel others should according to their eminency benefit others and others should honour them Yet Pride is the usual sinne of the one and Envy of the other Age and the gray-head if accompanied with Wisdom and Vertue should be reverenced and it 's a bad sign of a declining State when the Child shall behave himself proudly against the Ancient and the Base against the Honourable Esa. 3. 5. CHAP. XII The Sixth Commandement GOD § I by the former Commandement determined the right of Persons and in this He begins to define man's right in things which He commands to be observed The first and principal thing which a man hath right unto is his life and therefore after the duty to be performed to our Parents by whom we receive life from Him he takes care and provides for the safety of man's person and the preservation of his life by prohibiting Murder This Commandement presupposeth that God alone according to his absolute propriety hath the absolute power to dispose of man's life and can take it away and that justly at will and pleasure and that no man can do without Warrant extraordinary or ordinary from him Man hath no absolute right to dispose of his own life whereof he hath onely the possession and use but not the propriety and therefore he must not so much as hazard it without Divine Warrant The subject therefore of this Commandement § II is this mortal and bodily life of man which we receive by Conception and Birth and part with by Death It consists in the union of Soul and Body which is not so firm since that sin entred into the World but that it easily may be dissolved For man consists of two parts Soul and Body The Soul in it self is incorruptible and immortal and no man can kill it though man and many things else may separate it from the Body and the Body from it Therefore in the profession of the Gospel we need not fear men who kill the Body but are not able to kill the Soul Math. 10. 28. The malice and violence of man may make the Body an unfit Habitation for the Soul to dwell in and no fit Instrument for the Soul to act by and then the Soul no ways able to animate the
as consecrated unto God were apt to represent Christ sanctified and set apart to be our Saviour and deliverer The bread was fit to signifie his body and the Wine his blood the bread broken his body crucified the Wine powred out his blood shed and both separated and given a part did resemble his death the virtue of both to preserve life the vertue and power of Christ dying to give us eternal life The eating of the one and drinking of the other our participation of Christ for remission of our sins and our Eternal Salvation The actions in the use of these Elements are either common to both joyntly or § XIV proper to them severally The common are 1. Blessing 2. Giving 3. Taking 1. Blessing which some call Consecration was by Word and Prayer For as other Meats are sanctified by Word and Prayer 1 Tim. 4. 5. so these were blessed and sanctifyed in a peculiar manner by Word and Prayer The Prayer was 1. A Thanksgiving 2. A Petition A Thanksgiving for the Bread and Wine as Blessings of God given us for the preservation of our bodily life and for Christ the Bread of Life that came down from Heaven The Petition was for a Blessing upon our use of these Elements in this Sacrament for our Spiritual Comfort and Happiness It 's written that our Saviour gave thanks and blessed But what form of words He used is not related by any of the Evangelists Therefore we are not bound in this act of Consecration to any set-form of words yet our words must be such as are agreeable to the Scriptures and proper to this Sacrament The Prayers used in most Liturgies are such and agree not onely with the Scriptures but are suitable to the Sacrament The next common act is Giving and that some make to be twofold 1. A giving to God as Grenaeus and some others at least seem to intimate an offering of the Bread and Cup to God though it 's certain that the whole Service taken together and being a part of Divine Worship is an Offering made to God 2. A giving of both unto the People who are called Communicants The 3d Action is the taking the Elements given The Actions proper are 1. The Breaking of the Bread and the Powring out the Wine 2. The Eating of the Bread and Drinking of the Cup. The first is fit to signifie the Death and Sacrifice of Christ. The second the participation of the benefit thereof by Faith These Actions may be orderly distinguished into 1. The Acts of the Party Administring which are 1. The Blessing 2. The Breaking 3. The Giving And 2. The Acts of the Communicants which are 1. Taking 2. Eating 3. Drinking They are reducible to Three 1. Consecration 2. Distribution 3. Participation The words are the last § XV and they concern either the Participation as Take Eat Drink or the things participated and they are concerning 1. The Bread 2. The Cup. In both we may observe 1. The great Work of Redemption 2. The Covenant both which are represented by the Elements and the use of them The Redemption is signifyed by the words My Body broken and My Blood shed For these inform us that Christ dyed and offered Himself a Sacrifice unto God offended by the sin of Man to propitiate Him by satisfying His Justice and meriting His Favour This was the Foundation of the Covenant and Man's Salvation For it made Sin Pardonable and Man Save-able That His Body was broken and being broken was given it informs us that He suffered Death and offered Himself dying That this Offering was propitiatory it 's implyed in that Bloud was shed for Remission In the words of the Covenant we have 1. The Promise 2. The Precept 1. The Promise in the words This is my Body broken and given for you and This is the New Covenant in my Blood which was shed for the Remission of Sin For though remission of sins and Salvation were merited and purchased by Christ's Death and Sacrifice and so trusted in his hands yet they are conveyed in the Covenant by a Promise or Grant Yet the Word is turned A Testament and if we follow that metaphor that which is called a Promise is a Bequest Yet though the Expressions may be different yet the thing is the same and informs us That it is the Purpose and Will of God for and in consideration of the Death of Christ suffered for our sins to give man remission and eternal life And this His Will He hath signified in His Promise whereby He hath bound Himself upon certain tearms unto sinful Man Upon which tearms Man may challenge them as due unto him And whereas we read in Luke and Paul This is the New Testament or Covenant in my Blood and in Matthew and Mark This is my Blood of the New Testament You must understand 1. That the words are taken out of Exod. 24. 8. 2. That Matthew and Mark follow the Hebrew and Septuagint more expresly then Luke and Paul 3. That the Sense of both is the same For to be a Covenant in the Blood of Christ is to be a Covenant confirmed by the Bloud of Christ and to be the Bloud of the Covenant is to be the Bloud whereby the Covenant is made firm and so both teach us that by the Death of Christ the Covenant of Grace was made for ever unalterable as you heard before out of Heb. 9. 15 16 17. And the Covenant was sounded upon Christ's Death 4. That this Covenant is called the New Covenant to distinguish it from the Covenant of Works and that Covenant that was made and confirmed with Israel Exod. 24. 8. 5. That as Christ's Bloud did merit so the New Covenant did convey the Benefits merited by the Death of Christ. This is the Promise The Precept is in these words Do this in remembrance of me That is As I dyed for thee gave my Body for thee shed my Blood for thee So eat thou this Bread drink thou this Cup in remembrance of my Death suffered willingly out of the greatest love for thee This Remembrance must be practical And as the thing remembred is Christ's Death for our Sins it requires 1. A Confession of our sins a Sense of them an Hatred a Desire to be pardoned and Purpose to forsake them 2. A Belief that Christ dyed for the expiation of those sins and that His Sacrifice was accepted of God as a sufficient Satisfaction 3. An acknowledgment of God's wonderful Love and the great benefit of Redemption and desire to be for ever Thankful Thus far the Rites § XVI wherein the Elements were chosen in Excellent Wisdom the Actions ordered in an admirable manner the words though few yet very comprehensive of much and weighty matter expressing the mystical and hidden part concerning the Incarnation of the Son of God the Glorious Work of Redemption the Blessed Covenant of Grace wherein we have the Laws and Constitutions of this Glorious Kingdom whereof we discourse The
difference and the abrogation of the Law of Works which to a guilty person denyes all possibility of salvation To come nearer to the intended Scope § III These punishments may be distinguished 1. In to those of losse and paine Because some deprive us of that good we have or may have Some vex us with some evil which either lyes upon us or threatens us Some do both But this is a generall distinction and agrees to punishments in generall 2. They may be distinguished in respect of the principall cause or instrumentall For some are from God immediately Some are inflicted from him by some of his Creatures as by fire destroying Sodome by the water drowning Pharoah by the earth swallowing up Dathan and Abiram by the Pestilentiall vapours of the aire infecting many thousands by Wild Beasts Locusts Cater-pillars Frogs and other animate or inanimate Creatures by Angels good or bad and God punisheth man by man and that many wayes For all the just judgments and penaltyes inflicted by humane jurisdiction are punishments of God who judgeth amongst the Gods and rulers of the earth Many times the unjust judgments of man are the just judgments of God For man may be adjudged unjustly to death in a cause wherein he is innocent and yet justly suffer that death from God for some other Crime whereof he is guilty 3. They may be distinguished in respect of the subject whether single persons or societyes lesse or greater A single person may be the subject of these punishments in respect of his goods his body his person his Soul A society may be considered as one body in respect of it self for the present or joyntly with posterity for time to come There are penaltyes proper to Familyes to Cityes to Viâ—inityes to States and whole nations wherein they are involved at one time There may be penaltyes transmitted from Parents to their Familyes as from Gehezi to his posterity and so likewise from Joab and from Judas and so from States and other Societyes But I spake before particularly though briefly of the punishments both of Civil and Ecclesiasticall Polityes 4. The punishments may be distinguished into ordinary and usual incident to the generality of Mankind or extraordinary For the punishment of Cain the old World Babel's builders Sodome Lots Wife and such like were extraordinary and rare and so will be the burning of the World in the end But 5. The principall distinction of punishments is that of Temporal and Spirituall and by temporall I mean all such as are different from spirituall The one deprives men of the comfort and happinesse which we may enjoy in this life and the other touch a man more nearly and tend more directly to his eternall misery hereafter The temporall punishments of single persons are easily known by the History of the Scriptures and others Writers and especially by Gods threatnings against the Jews for their disobedience Levit. 26. and Deut. 28. which though they had some speciall reference to the Law and the Jewes yet are incident to all even those that live under the Gospel The greatest punishments § IV and most to be feared which men do suffer in this life are spirituall When it 's said The Wages of sin is Death Rom. 6. 23 By death is meant not onely that death which is seperation of Soul and body for the time and all the fore-running miseryes of this life but all kind of punishments and especially spirituall because death in that place is opposed to eternall life which is an aggregation of all spirituall mercyes If we should follow the order of time then all the spirituall penaltyes inflicted by God and suffered by man since the first promise of Christ for the sins following are reducible to this head as the rejection of Cains offering his excommunication the Rejection of the greatest part of the World before the flood as being the Sons of men and seperated from the Sons of God After the flood seeing all first in Noah's person then in his family had the Word and other means of conversion yet the greatest part of them for Apostasie were punished with the losse of these meanes and were left without the Oracles of God the promise of Christ and the power of the restoring Spirit and this punishment lay many yeares upon their posterity continuing Apostates After God had singled out the Posterity of Abraham by Jacob and renewed the promise unto them and continued the meanes of conversion in that nation the rest of mankind being rejected were called Heathens Yet to these he left the light of nature and some remnants of the truth continued from their first Apostate-Parents and Ancestours by tradition and some if not very many had not onely a possibility but opportunityes to be Proselytes and so incorporated into the Church of the Jews Yet these did generally not onely neglect these opportunities but held the truth in unrighteousnesse lived contrary to the light of nature left unto them and worshipped the creature above the Creatour God blessed for ever And for this sin God gave them up to vile affections delivered them up unto a reprobate mind whereby they became full of all unrighteousnesse and this was that fearfull judgment and penalty whereby all hope of Salvation was taken from them Their sad condition is described unto us not onely at large Rom. 1. from verse 18. to the end but briefly yet fully Ephes. 2. 1 2 3. 11 12. The taking away the Word and the Spirit of grace and sending upon them the spirit of slamber was also the punishment of the Jew after they refused their Saviour and rejected the Gospel But to proceed to the particular degrees of these punishments § III according to the different nature and degrees of sin against the Law of grace and the Lord Redeemer we must distinguish of persons never sincerely converted and â—o regenerate and of such as have been truly regenerate and are entred the state of justification Amongst those who were never truly regenerate some reject some receive the meanes of conversion and their punishments are inflicted in this life or after death For here I speak not of Heathens which never enjoyed the meanes neither can say that they were tendred unto them For such as to whom God sends his Messengers and by them offers the meanes their sin if they reject them is Rebellion and they refuse to submit themselves to their Lord and Saviour These say We will not have this man reign over us Luk. 19. 14. Their punishment is this for the present that they shall be accounted enemyes be devoted and deâ—â—ined to final and utter destruction verse 27. Such must be sure and they must certainly know this that the Kingdome of God came nigh unto them and their Condition shall be very sad and wofull For Christ himself saith that it shall be more tolerable in the last day for Sodom then for them Luke 10 11 12. Others receive these meanes and proceed to profession
Spiritual as opposed to Temporal For otherwise Bodily punishments which we call Temporal may by continuance be Eternal To pass by therefore these Temporal Penalties one Spiritual Punishment and the greatest is the want and loss of the Holy Spirit to be a continual and constant Principle and cause of Sanctification This Spirit was given Man in the day of his Creation and was taken away from Adam and in him from all his Posterity by the judgment of God and a Sentence yet in power and force and to continue to the end of the World The Law indeed of Works is abâ—ogated but it was in force at that very time when the Sentence was passed and upon the Promise of Christ the Law was abrogated as a Law of Works but the Sentence remained in force still Concerning the sanctifying Spirit we may observe and consider 1 That the loss and so the want of it is a punishment 2 This punishment lying upon every Man before this Spirit be restored presupposeth a guilt 3 This punishment and guilt is never taken away till this Spirit be restored 4 This Spirit may be testored for preparation of a sinner for justification or in and after to continue as a constant cause of Sanctification Or as others express it for perpetual Habitation to prevent the Dominion of Sin and Damnation for time to come It doth not prevent all sin and so the contracting of new guilt nor is given in that measure to us and this is the reason why your estate of Justification is not perfect at the first 5 God never justifies any man with that justification whereof Paul speaks in the Epistle to the Romans and Galatians and elsewhere but in justifying them He gave them instantly this Spirit as the Spirit of Christ to be in them a constant cause of Regeneration and Sanctification and therefore that Justification is not without some Execution 6 Consider this restoring of the Spirit as the removal of a Punishment and the loss and want of the Spirit as a Punishment it must needs be essentially included in Justification and Remission of Sin For that which 1 Takes away the Punishment of sin And 2 The Guilt and Obligation unto Punishment is properly remission of sin If the Punishment as a Punishment should remain so far as it doth remain it doth invincibly prove that the guilt is not taken away so far and in that respect If any distinguish of the Sentence and Execution and make the one the cause the other the effect I will not quarrel about words Onely I will demand Whether it 's not better to say in this particular judgment of God that the Sentence and Execution are really the same and differ onely in respect or at most in degree 7 The active sanctification of this Spirit taken in it self either habitually or actually and as inherent in us can in no wise be Justification or any Branch of Justification as Justification is a remission of sins For God gave this Spirit to Angels He gave it to Adam in the day of Creation and this Spirit did sanctifie and now doth sanctifie the blessed Angels yet this Sanctification is not reâ—mission But consider remission of sin as a removal of punishment as punishment whether of sense or loss deserved by sin and the loss of the Spirit and the blindness perversness and slavery under the power of Sathan following necessarily upon the taking away and denying the Spirit by a just Judgment as a Penalty then this restoring of the Spirit must needs put on another Notion as it hath another Nature This restoring of the Spirit is so necessary that a bare Sentence without it can give a man no comfort nay Heaven without it is no Heaven or place of Bliss and abode But lest I may be thought to agree with the Doctrine of the Councel of Trent or at least come too near it Let us consider what they say Their Doctrine Sess. 6. Cap. 7. is this That Justification is not onely remission of sins but also the sanctification and renovation of the Inner-Man by the susception of Grace and Gifts whereby or whereupon a man of unjust is made just and of an Enemy a Friend that he may be an Heir according to the hope of Eternal Life And afterwards The onely formal cause of Justification is the Righteousness of God not whereby he is just but whereby He makes us just They mean inherently just Thus far they Now let 's examine Whether there be any Agreement between the former Doctrine and this And 1 I grant with all our Divines that Justification and Sanctification go always inseparably together and this they of Rome know well enough to have been always the constant Doctrine of the Reformed Churches 2 They say that Justification is not onely remission of sins but Sanctification I say it 's onely remission 3 They assert that this Sanctification and Renovation is by voluntary Susception and so understand this Sanctification passively as formally inherent I make neither Sanctification active nor much less passive as considered in themselves to be justification nor any part of justification 4 They make the formal cause of Justification to be this Sanctification I utterly disclaim this I had said before that Sanctification in it self is no remission and is in Angels without any such thing and do affirm that this Sanctification as they understand it is no part of that justification which the Gospel speaks of and that the restoring of the sanctifying Spirit for Renovation as an act of God as Judge for to remove a punishment as a punishment and the obligation thereunto is properly remission And here I cannot but much wonder what these Tridentine Divines did understand by Remission For if the formal cause of Justification be Sanctification and inherent Righteousness as they make it so to be I find no place nor need of any place for remission Yet first they make it a part of Justification distinct from Sanctification It 's neither final nor efficient nor meritorious nor material neither by their own words can it enter the formal That this Sanctification considered in it self especially Passive and inherent cannot be Justification is evident For 1 Sanctification thus understood is not properly any act of God as a Judge much less a Sentence passed upon a guilty Wretch 2 That justification of Believers in this life whereof the Scripture speaks doth leave the party chargeable with no sin is perfect and bears out the severity of God's Justice before His Throne This our inherent Righteousness in this life can never do both because we are guilty before and also it 's imperfect 3 A man may be sanctifyed and that perfectly so as to prevent all sin for time to come and yet the party may remain guilty and liable to Eternal Death for the guilt of former sins committed before this Sanctification and not remitted by it Some make remission two-fold Remissio Culpae Remissio Poenae 1. Of Sin 2. Of
doth not hence follow that we shall be justified by our works In the matter of Judgment and the Cause to be tried there are two things the Merit and the Evidence And who dare say that good works are the merit of the cause which are only the Evidence Gregory the Great distinguisheth in this case saith we shall be judged and so rewarded Secundum sed non propter Opera Where Promises of Life Blessing Reward and of Glory and of Remission of Sin are made to such as do works of Mercy or suffer for Christ's sake or love God or serve and fear him we must observe that where any one of these is named all the rest are meant and that the Person qualified with one is qualified with all and the reason is because there is such a connexion between them that where one is predominant and in sincerity all the rest are inseparably joyned Yet none of these can be where faith in Christ is not neither can a living faith continue without all these or any of these and where such a faith is not none of these can be in such a Subject or if they could be without it yet without it they could not be acceptable nor rewardable Neither could this qualifie the Person aright nor faith qualify aright if it were not fixed on Christ. The Apostle James indeed saith that Abraham was justified by works and that by works a man is justified and not by faith onely Chap. 2. 23. Yet we must consider 1. That he speaks of the same justification of Abraham wherein Paul instanceth who affirmeth that Abraham was justified by faith and not by works and proves it out of Psal. 32. 12. 2. That James speaks against such as professe â—aith without practise and his principall Scope is to shew that a vain faith a dead faith a faith without works the faith of Devills which may be in Devills cannot justify nor can any man be justified by such a faith and implies that when Paul or any Apostle speaks of justifying faith they do not mean such a faith and that no Solifidian can be justified at all before God He speaks of such works as follow faith and Justification by saith which did evidently prove the sincerity of their faith and the certainty of their Justification One cause of this mistake both in them of Rome and others is 1. Because they do not consider that the Righteousnesse required before the Judgment Seat of God especially at last triall must be perfect and such as the party to be justified cannot by law that Law which should be the Rule of Judgment be chargeable with any the least Sin 2. They do not consider that the party to be justified is in himself a guilty Sinner and as such can in no wise be justifiable before the most just and sin-detesting Judge 3. That the Justification so much spoken of in Scripture especially in the Apostles writings is Remission and onely Remission of Sin in which respect no man guilty can be justified by Works For all the good works a man can do in a thousand years cannot expiate one Sin antecedent intervenient or consequent nor free him from the guilt of eternall death Austin saith truly that our righteousnesse is true because referred to the right end yet in this life it consists potius remissione Peccatorum quà m perfectione Virtutum rather in Remission of Sin then perfection of Virtue For as he manifestly shews our righteousnesse of good works is imperfect many wayes imperfect therefore he exhorts us to give thanks to God for our good works whereby he implies that they are God's gifts and more God's then ours And certainly they are so and God never gave them to us that we should stand upon Terms with God and plead that the Righteousnesse of them was such as that for them he in Justice was bound to justify them No penitent Sinner dare plead so No wise man will plead so and the best of men in that last day of Triall will wave the Plea of Works and will onely plead God'â— Mercy and Christ's Merit and his own faith in the one and the other onely What shall we plead Merit or righteouâ—ness of works or any title to reward by them because God hath freed us from the Dominion of Sin and the Power of Satan and by his Spirit enabled us to do a few good Works and the same through our own default imperfect whereas he might have bound us to a thousand years oâ— Penance and as many of service in good Works without promising any Reward the least Men may dispute acutely and subtilly for justification by Works now and here but then and there summond to be tried before the great glorious and most just King they will recant be ashamed of their arguments and abhor themselvs as in themselvs most sinfull and guilty wretches God did never ordain good works which are the fruits of a sincere faith in Christ to acquire a right unto Remission of Sin and eternall life but to be a means whereby we may obtain the Possession of these Rewards he hath promised And whosoever will take the words of St. James in proper Sense neglecting the true Scope of the Apostle can hardly avoid it but must contradict the Doctrine of St. Paul agree with the Papists in their Doctrine of justification by Works for the main use the same arguments to maintain it and give the same Answers to Objections against it which they do though in some Terms and Circumstances they may differ CHAP. XXIII Of the several Branches Parts and Degrees of Justification and the continuance of them unto us until the Final Judgment HItherto of Justification by Faith in Christ § I in general After which follow the several Branches or Parts and degrees thereof if we may so call them and the continuance of them to us till the final and universal Judgment of our great and glorious Lord and King-Redeemer These are Regeneration Reconciliation Adoption Ministery of Angels and the rest And they may be considered 1 As they free us from the guilt and punishment of sin Whether the punishment be privative or positive 2 As they make the estate of the justified person of miserable to be happy and blessed The first is Regeneration which in the Execution of this great and special Judgment frees us from that great Penalty of Original Unrighteousness the Dominion of sin and slavery under Sathan of this you have heard before and shall hear more distinctly and particularly of it in the continuance hereafter For the first thing in order though not in time seeing all go together is the restoring of the regenerating and sanctifying Spirit to abide in us after it hath prepared us and it is so necessary a part of Justification that if we distinguish between the Sentence removing the guilt and the Execution removing the punishment the Sentence without the Execution could be little advantage unto us nor could it minister any
when we are once in Christ and the Spirit is derived from him to us in him to abide as a constant Spring of Regeneration at the first is that I call Regeneration as a Branch of Justification and as neither before nor after the first judgment of justification 3 This Sanctification active not being perfect in respect of the Subject is continued For we being in Christ as Branches in the Vine derive continual Sap or sanctifying Vigour from him that we may bring forth Fruit. Christ communicating this continually unto us by his Spirit may be said to continue to sanctifie us From all this you may understand a three-fold Sanctification 1 Preparing 2 Initiating us prepared 3 Continued to consummate us For the First Work of the Spirit is to prepare us and ingrast us into CHRIST The Second Is to regenerate and renew us once in CHRIST at the first The Third Is a continuance of the Second to perfect us In the first sense it seems to be taken 2 Thes. 2. 13. 1 Pet. 1. 2. In the second sense Joh. 15. 1 2 3 c. Rom. 6. 4 5 c. 1 Cor. 6. 11. In the third sense 1 Thes. 5. 23. Yet this must be known that Regeneration Sanctification Renovation are taken for the same several times and Sanctification in Scripture is taken for Justification and that we call Sanctification too as Ephes. 5. 26. Heb. 9. 15. 10. 10 14. 13. 12. and many other places Sometimes it 's taken for that purity we acquire by the Works of Sanctification and the constant practise of Righteousness as Rom. 6. 19 22. As for Sanctification Passive it 's easily understood by the Active This Sanctification differs from that of Adam § IX and the Blessed Angels for this finds us unsanctified corrupted unclean perverse and blind Therefore it 's called Regeneration and Renovation and Cleansing the other did not find them such What this doth at first it continues to do it makes us at the first Righteous and holy and imprints God's Image upon us and continued it continues us such and makes us more and more holy And the more we exercise this Active Power the more we are sanctified according to that Promise To him that hath that is useth and exerciseth it shall be given that is more shall be given It 's a Reward given at the first and it 's a Reward continued enabling us to perform Duty that the Reward may be greater and greater For the effect of it is to cause us to walk in God's Statutes and the more our obedience is improved the more our comfort is increased because our estate of Justification and our Title to Eternall Glory is thereby the more evident There is an ablute necessity of the continuance thereof For if God desert us but a moment there presently follows a Relapse The subject of it is the whole man Soul and Body the Soul chiefly and primarily the Body secondarily In the Soul it enlightneth the Understanding more and more and dispelleth the Mists of Ignorance and Errour and rect fies the Heart declining it from sin inclining it to Righteousnesse It fixeth it upon the right Object Christ and Eternal Glory in Him and continues to strengthen and incite us to the performance of Obedience and the practise of those Duties whereby Eternall Life is obtained All the Motions and Inclinations and Dispositions and those we call Affections are by it set in a right order especially the Affections of Love and Hatred which principally move and sway the Soul It limits and directs the Sensitive Appetite and makes the Body and the Members thereof Instruments of Righteousness to Holiness Yet this Sanctification was neither given to expiate sin past nor merit life to come but to prevent sin and bring forth the fruits of Righteousness In respect of Sin and Corruption yet inherent it 's called Mortification in respect of righteousnesse this heavenly active power is called Vivification And by vertue of Christ's death it destroies Sin and by vertue of Christ's Resurrection it quickens us to an heavenly life Yet this Mortification and Vivification are not properly integrall Parts but onely Adjuncts of this Sanctification For take away Corruption wholly there will be no Mortification because there remains nothing to be mortified Because this regenerate power is not consummated at the first § X therefore it will meet with continuall opposition from Corruption within and the Devill and the World without For in every regenerate man there is in this life Flesh and Spirit Corruption and Grace and these two being contrary one unto another have continuall conflicts both habituall and actuall Yet Grace and the Spirit is predominate otherwise Regeneration could not be Regeneration These are Jacob and Esau continually striving in the Bowels and Womb of our Souls The Assistants to the Flesh are the Devill and the World The Assistants of Grace are the Father Son and Holy Ghost the blessed Angels Ministers and sanctified Christians For as God useth the Ministery and Discipline of the Church in the declaring outwardly with the Word the Sentence of Absolution so he useth them to stir up continually to holy Duties to restrain Sin to strengthen us and promote our Sanctification And I cannot see but the blessed Angels should have as much power to help us as the Devill to hurt us For they are ministring Spirits not onely for temporall Safety but spirituall Assistance And from this opposition ariseth that spirituall Warr so much mentioned in Scripture in respect of which all spirituall and heavenly Vertues are called Armour the Armour of God and the more we exercise them with Prayer and Watchfullnesse the more and the faster we gird them upon us the stronger and safer we are Some of these though onely the principall are named Ephes. 6. 11 12 13. c. 1 Thes. 5. 8. Yet all are understood for Sanctification inclines to Obedience and fenceth us against all Sin The event of this War is either intermediate § XI or finall The intermediate from the first Regeneration is often and for the most part Victory yet not without many wounds hurts foils falls and the same sometimes very grievous And though Grace in us be habitually predominant yet actually it is not alwayes so We may neglect our watch be too carelesse and then we suffer Yet the weaker by Humility Prayer Watchfulnesse may stand when the stronger fall And the Victory doth not depend so much upon the eminent degrees of gifts and graces in us as upon divine Assistance from without The more we fight according to the rules of this war the stronger we are by God's Assistance and our Saviours intercession who prayed that Peter's faith and so ours though fearfully sometimes shaken might not fail This war is to be waged not onely by strength but policy and holy prudence whereby we foresee dangers to prevent them and take all opportunities and advantages for our safety and our Enemies ruine Because our weaknesse
differs in many things from all other Books especially in respect of the Authority thereof which is primarily Divine in the Original Copies secundarily in the Transcripts and Translations These sacred Writings are learned and known several ways and by several means of men that are not infallibly directed further then they follow the Scriptures rightly understood And by these especially Ministers by whom God speaks to men another way they are taught several ways in a certain order How these must be heard understood applyed so as the Hearer may attain to a Divine Faith and a Saving Knowledge Where something of the Tradition of the Church CHAP. III. The Doctrine of this Kingdom is contracted by Christ and His Apostles as such is the ground of all the Apostolical Creeds and Confessions all agreeing in method and matter The manner of the handling of the subject in this Treatise is different from that of ordinary Systems Catechisms and common places where something is said of Faith in general and of Divine Faith A Confession taken out of Tertullian CHAP. IV. Of the Divine Essence and Attributes How God's Essence is intelligible and how represented to us by certain Attributes What Attributes are and certain Rules concerning them The imperfect definition of God including all the Attributes CHAP. V. The Attributes in particular The distribution of them into Greatness Goodness In the Greatness unity infiniteness Infiniteness in Immensity from which ariseth His Incomprehensibility Vbiquity and in Eternity CHAP. VI. God's goodness being one and infinite is known by his excellent and most eminent Acts and Vertues of his Vnderstanding Will Power as His most excellent Knowledge and Wisdom the integrity of his Will and the perfection of his power CHAP. VII The Father Son and Holy Ghost their unity order distinction They are not Three Persons in that sense as Men or Angels are called persons The vanity of the Socinian Argument against the Trinity grounded upon the word person strictly taken How the Soul may be said to be an Image and imperfect resemblance of the Father Son and Holy Ghost CHAP. VIII God considered in his Regal Capacity in respect of his power acquired by Creation and continued by preservation How God is a cause of all things by his Counsel contriving Will decreeing Power actually producing The knowledge of GOD in respect of things out of Himself His Decrees free wise unchangeable The cooperation of the Persons their distinct manner of working The Creation in general the special Creation of Man The Conclusions deducible from this Principle God created Heaven and Earth and all things therein By this Work God hath a propriety in all things and may dispose of them and order them to the ends whereunto He hath made them ordinable Hence his supream universal absolute power How all things created are preserved and ordered Ordination in general the first act of God's Power acquired and continued CHAP. IX The Exercise of God's Power in general CHAP. X. The special Ordination and Government of the Intellectual and Immortall Creatures Angels Men. The government of Angels constituted administred according to certain Laws Judgment whereby some being obedient were confirmed rewarded Others disobeying rebelling and forsaking their station were punished and cast out of God's presence reserved for greater punishments in the end of the World CHAP. XI The special Government of Man which is two-fold 1. Of Justice without Christ. 2. Of Mercy in Christ. The constitution of the first Model The administrations Laws Moral Positive considered as a rule of Man's obedience God's Judgment CHAP. XII The Judgment of God-Creatour passed upon Man according to the Laws of Creation and strict Justice The Object of this Judgment 1. Man obedient rewarded with the continuance of a comfortable condition in Paradise 2. Sinning Sin in general is a disobedience to God's Laws The degrees and the consequents thereof The first sin of our first Parents in particular The causes of it The effects thereof before Judgment CHAP. XIII God's judicial proceeding against Adam Eve the Serpent Satan Their Convention Conviction Sentence Execution More particularly God's Sentence passed upon the old Serpent the Devil In which God new models his Kingdom of mercy in Christ promised and gives Man hope of Pardon and everlasting comfort CHAP. XIV The Penalties more particular both Bodily and Spiritual publike private Temporal Eternal all signified by Death to which Sin made man liable yet all by Christ removable CHAP. XV. Original sin what it is Whether it be properly so Whether Concupiscence in persons baptized be such in proper sense The derivation of Original sin Whether it be derived by Propagation or the just Judgment of God or both CHAP. XVI The principal Attributes of God manifested in this Judgment as Holinesse Justice especially Mercy in the manifestation whereof he exercised his transcendent power above the former Constitution and Laws LIB II. CHAP. I. THe Coherence of this Book with the former The difference of the two Models both the former and latter The acquisition of a New Power by the Word made Flesh and annointed taking upon him the form of a servant and being obedient to the Death of the Cross. A Description of the Redeemer His Person Nature Offices The union and distinction of the two Natures His particular Offices CHAP. II. The Humiliation of the Son of God 1. In taking upon Him the Form of a servant 2. In suffering Death A brief Historical Narration of His Sufferings 1. Before Judgment 2. His Judgment The Preparations of His Tryal His Tryal 1. Before the Ecclesiastical 2. The Civil Judge His Condemnation Execution with the Prodigies which hapned about that time CHAP. III. A more large Discourse concerning the Suffering and Death of Christ. It was an Act of Obedience to His Heavenly Father commanding Him to suffer for the sins of Man whereby He was offended To this Death He became obnoxious not onely by His Fathers Command but His own voluntary submission to be an Hostage and Surety for Man as guilty It was a Sacrifice offered freely to God as Law-giver offended and as supream Judge The effects of this sacrifice accepted are immediate mediate Immediate Satisfaction of Divine Justice and Merit What He merited for Himself what for Man How the benefit of this Sacrifiâ—â— became communicate from Christ as a Representator General and the Will of God the great Soveraign Of the extent of this benefit Whether Propitiation is to be ascribed to His active or passive Obedience severally or to both joyntly Whether this Death prevents all punishments or onely the Eternal And if not what punishments it removes The Attributes manifested in this great Work of Humiliation of the Word made Flesh by which a new Power was acquired CHAP. IV. The exercise of the new Power of God-Redeemer in the Constitution of His New Monarchy The Soveraign and Monarch The Subjects the Officers the Administrator-General the Enemies The manner of reducing Man to subjection the nature
agreeable to his Counsel and that most exactly For as his Wisdom did dictate so his Will determined and no otherwise and without this will and determination nothing could have bin done or effected From it all things future recâ—ive their â—ututition according to the School-mens expression These Decrees are not strictly and properly eternall as was observed before Yet they are Antecedent to all time as it measures the Existence of things They are said to be many and may be conceived in a certain order according to the multitude and order of the things decreed That this Will should first decree the end and then the meanes is but a fancy and hath no ground either in Scripture or in solid reason Yet though they be many yet they may be reduced to two sorts for tâ—ey may be said to be generall or speciall The general Decrees are those which extend to all things For there neither was nor is nor shall be any thing which God did not Determine The special Decrees are such as are limited to Angels and Men in respect of their Spirituall and Eternall estate and especially to men These are called by a Synechdoche Predestination and Reprobation And these presuppose 1. Their Object intellectual and immortal Creatures especially men considered in a spirituall capacity as dirigible to an eternal estate 2. The Counsel of God contriving a certain order according to which men were to be directed to their final estate The nature of them in speciall is to determine and according to this order to direct certain individual persons unto their last end For in these decrees we may observe 1. Persons 2. Meanes 3. End The End is eternal Happinesse or Misery The Meanes Laws and Judgments The Persons such as are capable of Laws and Judgments But of these Decrees more particularly hereafter These Decrees are free § V For there was no Law to bind or morally necessitate him but his Wisdom and his Justice Neither did these bind him to decree any thing at all but onely if he did decree any thing to decree it wisely and justly Both the Creature and every thing in the Creature were nothing before they did Exist and as such could have no influence to move or incline the Will of God Neither could the Prevision of perfect obedience in the Angels or finall faith in man determin the Will of God much lesse necessitate it to give them eternall glory Neither can finall disobedience or unbelief do any such thing as fore-seen or actually existent determine much lesse necessitate God to passe the Sentence of Eternal Death upon them or to execute the same The determination of Gods will is freely from himself not from my thing without Himself God my foresee the highest degree of obedience in the Creature and yet be no wayes bound to reward it There is no necessary connexion between obedience and reward or between the foresight of obedience and the decree to reward onely the decree it self freely ties them together There can be no efficient cause out of God of the decree of God Some materiall objective Logicall cause there may be The decree to give Christ unto Death for enemies To call Wretched man dead in his sins and trespasses by repentance and saith unto eternall glory was not onely free but also the issue of unspeakable love and compassion and to destinate man upon faith in Christ fore-seen is an act of free grace Faith it self can be no efficient because it is not neither can the fore-knowledge or prevision of this faith though final be any such thing For God may foresee final faith and yet not determine to reward it though without prevision he cannot decree to do so The reason of all this is because nothing but the Being of God and the acting upon himself is or can be necessary These Decrees are not onely free § VI but also Wise Just and Stable They are wise because made according unto and directed by Wisdom His Wisdom and Knowledge are Antecedent to his Will and must be conceived by us so to be otherwise we should affirm that He decreed things ignorantly and rashly But so to think is impious and absurd There are many works and so decrees of God whereof we can give no reason but his absolute will and power He may love Iacob hate Esau without respect to any merit or demerit in the persons and decree the elder to serve the younger Yet thus As it was done so it was decreed wisely and according to Counsel We can give no reason of this yet He can The reason indeed is secret to us as not revealed yet known to Him And though many things may be done by him above the Laws given in Scripture yet they are not against them Though his decrees may be truly said to depend upon his knowledge yet they depend not upon the things known As they are wise so are they just though sometimes they seem to us to be otherwise The wicked prosper many times when the Righteous are afflicted and chastened very much And the innocent suffer and sometimes temporally perish with the Wicked and the children often beare the heavy burthen of their Fathers sins and yet are not guilty of their crimes These things may seem to be unjust yet are not so but exactly agreeable to the eternall rules of justice The reason why they must needs be just is because he is essentially and necessarily justice though his justice in his secret judgements doth not appear to us He made no Decree whereby man or Angels was necessitated to Sin He indeed did decree the freedome of their will their subjection to his power their obligation by his Lawes Yet as he did not Decree that they should sin so he did not decree to prevent all sin but decreed that if they should sin they should be liable to punishment He made as he decreed the Will of man mutable Yet this mutability was no disadvantage to him or any necessary cause of Sin And in the last judgement it will appear that Sin was from the Creature but not from the Decree of the Creator They are also stable For the Counsell of his Will standeth for ever and his thoughts to all generations Psal. 33. 11. And though there be many Devices in the heart of man yet the Counsell of the Lord shall stand Prov. 19. 21. The reason hereof is because they are made in Wisdome and Justice and there can be no cause of alteration Besides he is Almighty and cannot be hindered to do what he hath once determined Upon the stability of these decrees depends the stability of the world and stability of the Church and the certainty of our Eternall glorification The power of God is that whereby he is able to effect all according to the Counsell of his Will SECT VII This power is not Passive for God can neither receive nor suffer any thing It 's active and efficient yet truly Power because it was not is not
Judgment Execution tends no further He is subject to God and accountable and his power is perpetuated by Succession and in the end shall totally determine and be dissolved In this government God is the Governour the souls and consciences of men the Subjects the wisdom justice and power thereof perfect the end is Spirituall Righteousnesse and eternal peace to which the Laws and judgments do effectually tend it continues for ever and the estate which it orders men unto is everlasting and it hath the Civill goverment subordinate unto it and in some respect a part of it That there is a first § IV and second government I take it for graunted and shall afterwards prove it The description of the first is this It 's Gods ordination of man whereby he bound all mankind in one man made holy and righteous and subjected to Him unto Perfect and perpetuall Obedience or death and according to his Obedience or Disobedience passed judgment upon him That there was such a government may be proved from many places in Gods book I will instance in that one As by one man sin entered into the World and by sin death As death passed over all men c. Rom. 5. 12 13 14. In which words we may observe 1. That there was sin entering into the world 2. That sin presupposeth a Law a Law the power of the Law-giver and the subjection of the party sinning 3. We have the sin of one man and the sin of all men 4. That this sin entered by one man and was from him derived unto all 5. There was death which is Punishment and the death of one man and the Death of all and that for sin and the sin of all 6. This death presupposeth Judgment and the execution of the same because death passed and reigned 7. This sin and judgment began with one man and that was Adam 8. As there can be no judgment or punishment but of sin so there could be no sin without a Law 9. This Law was given to Adam and it was the Law of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil annexed to the morall Lawes All this may be clearly understood by the History of Moses Gen. the 2d and the 3d. Chapters In this description We may observe § V 1. The constitution of the government in the Soveraignty of God and the Subjection of man 2. The administration in the Laws Judgment of God For the subjection of man unto God his Soveraign we must consider that it may be threefold according to a threefold ground For it may arise 1. From his totall and absolute dependence upon God both in his Creation and Preservation 2. From his Voluntary submission 3. From Gods Command The two latter add nothing to Gods Power which by his absolute Propriety is absolute and so great that it cannot be greater yet it may add unto the obligation and bind man more strongly both to subjection and obedience There is some resemblance of these degrees of subjection in the Israelites who though they were subject unto God by Creation and Preservation as all other men were yet as they were free men they received a new and better kind of Being by that great deliverance from Egypt and the Egyptian bondage and so 1. Became Subject to God in the first degree 2. They voluntarily submit and receive him for their Lord and God and engage themselves to serve him and obey him Exod. 19. 8. Deut. 5. 27. And they avouched the Lord their God Deut. 26. 17. This was their allegiance and fealty whereby they became his Servants and Vassals 3. God commanded and said They must have no other Gods This Voluntary submission and Promise of obedience on mans part and the Promise of Protection and reward on Gods side seemes to be a kind of contract and together with the condition a Covenant That there was any foederall contract between God stipulating and man restipulating at the first is not so expresse in Scripture But that in the constitution and fundamentall Law of Gods Soveraignty and mans subjection unto God at first there was something Positive wherein God limited his absolute Power is certain And this is evident from the tree of Life and the Law concerning the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the threatning of Death and that God made Adam the head of mankind and as such did stipulate with him and bound both him and his by the same Law And the Contract seems to have bin confirmed by solemnities For the two Trees in the midst of the Garden imply so much And whereas some make the Promise and the threat to be a Sanction to confirm the Law it 's certain that the Command of God did bind with full power without any such Sanction onely the Promise did bind God upon mans performance of his Duty and the threatning made man liable to Punishment upon Disobedience After the Constitution follows the administration of this first Government § VI For constitution must necessarily go before or else there can be no Regular administration and administration must follow or else the constitution will be in vain The body of man must first be made up of all his members united unto the Head and amongst themselves and then the head must give lie sense motion and direction So these bodies politick must first be moulded and made up of Soveraign and Subject and after that it 's once animated and hath received Being and life Political it begins to Act The Soveraign begins to Protect and Direct and order by Laws and judgments and the People continue their subjection loyalty and obedience and accoâ—ding to their regular or irregular motions they are judged And this I call Administration whereof There are two Parts Lawes Judgements The first Work of God after the constitution was Legislation or giving of Lawes For so God dealt with Israel 1. They avouch him to be their God and submitt unto him and promise obedience And after that 2 He gives them Lawes which are not onely rules to direct but have a binding force so as to give the obedient a right to rewards and make the disobedient liable to punishment So Jethro's advice to Moses as Governour of the People as subjects directs him 1. To teach them Lawes then 2. To appoint officers and judges and so to proced to judgment This Legislation was the first part of the administration whereby God bound man holy and righteous to perfect and perpetuall obedience with a promise of Life upon that condition or unto death if he once disobeyed The party to whom God gave these Lawes was Adam and in him all Mankind and he being made in the Image of God righteous and holy had power to understand and perfectly obey these Lawes and continue in subjection and obedience The obligation was strict and required perfect obedience without any promise of Pardon if he once offended and by constant obedience he might obtayne Life These Lawes are Morall § VII
severall persons may do the same act and yet not be equally sinfull there may be a great inequality in the sin 2. That there are degrees of sins as there shall be of punishments 3. That the more of will there is in any sin the more heynous the sin is and it 's the principall and intrinsecall aggravation of it This greater measure of Will appeares to be and manifests it self 1. In such as have helps meanes power to do that which is just and many and powerfull restraints from sin and yet commit it 2. In such as have many helps meanes motives to repentance and yet continue senslesse and secure 3. Those are most heynons which proceed not from ignorance and infirmity within nor from violence of temptation opposition and impediments without but from the pure and mere malignity of the Will Ignorance infirmity and strength of temptation make sin lesse the more excusable and pardonable Yet we may willfully or at least carelesly cast our selves upon temptation be ignorant through out negligence or willfulnesse we may go on in sin till it prove habitual and make us Slaves unto our own lust We may give way to one sin as Drunkennesse Covetousenesse or Ambition and so necessarily entangle our selves in other sins which those once having possessed our hearts make unavoydable In these cases sin is lesse excusable because we are the cause of our ignorance infirmity and disadvantage If any say that to intend murder and act it is more then barely to intend it the Answer is easy That if any not only intend it but proceed if not hindered to act it that doth manifest more of will and inclination to be in the heart then if he should only intend it and yet when he hath power doth not act it And so of Adultery and other sins 3. There be aggravations extrinsecal as from the qualification of the party offending from the party offended from the circumstances of time and place and such like which I passe by and come to the consequents of sin And they are of three sorts Such as follow 1. In respect of sin it self 2. In respect of the Law-giver and the Law 3. In respect of the Judge and judicial processe 1. In respect of sin it self the consequents are 1. Stain because it 's filthy 2. Shame because it 's base 3. Weakning the inclination to good because it 's contrary 2. In respect of the Law-giver and the law the Consequents are 1. Offence 2. Blame for it makes the party accusable and chargeable with it 3. Guilt because it makes liable to punishment 3. In respect of the Judge and judgement the consequents are fear sorrow conviction condemnation and suffering of punishment if not pardoned And the punishment deserved by mâ—n and inflicted by God is not only losse of that good which we enjoyed whilâ— obedient by obedience might have obtayned but the pressure of all evill threatned in the Law which the party hath justly deserved For God doth punish men in their Persons Bodyes Soules Name Friends Goods and other wayes and doth not onely take away blessings received but denyes and that justly mercyes promised but man suffers many positive evills even in this Life and yet all these are but the Beginning of Woe everlasting if not by mans timely repentance and Gods great mercy prevented These things concerning sin in generall premisd I proceed to the first sin of Adam in particular which was the subject of the first judgement passed upon Adam and all mankind And therein I will consider 1. The Sin it self 2. The causes of it 1. The sin it self was the disobedience to a Law of God and more particularly a positive Law that positive Law concerning the tree of knowledge of good and evill This sin in respect of the matter and the outward Act of eating the fruit of the tree seems not to be heynous And certainly if there had been no divine prohibition the act was in it self indifferent Morally and intrinsecally it was neither good nor evill But to eate of that fruit contrary to Gods prohibition and peremptory commination was heynous as being a contempt of Gods absolute powers and a breach of the first and great command from which all the rest derive their morality And it was a contempt not onely of his absolute power but of his severe justice And he that doth not regard the supreme and legislative power of any Prince will not feare to disobay any of his Lawes And it was more grievous for other reasons For the observation of that Law was very easie because the thing commanded was the forbearance of and abstinence from the fruit of one onely Tree whereof he had not the least need as having such plenty and variety of so many kinds of delicates He that will not yearly pay a pepper-corn in acknowledgment of the eminent dominion of a chief-Lord for a vast estate freely given him upon such easie termes is most unworthy of it Againe the law was cleare and easie to be understood and he knew it well and had full and perfect power to keep it and that without any difficulty Besides upon this petty act of obedience the eternall welfare of him and mankind his Posterity did depend and if he once tranâ—grest it he had not the least colour to expect any thing but absolute condemnation to eternal death Neither could all the Powers of darknesse force or necessitate him to touch â—ast the forbidden fruit To eare it therefore must be a complication of a multitude of heynous sins as ingratitude unbelief cruelty to himself and his posterity Yet though it was so heynous yet it came short of and was lesse grievous then the first revolt of Angels For he was tempted surprized circumvented but so they were not After that we know § VII what the first sin in particular is let 's consider the causes and they are 1. Blameable 2. Blamelesse Blameable were the persons tempting and the Persons tempted The partyes tempting were the Devills united in a body Politick under the Prince of Devills their Generall and Commander in chief To understand this better I will enquire into the nature of temptation examine Who the tempter and what this temptation in particular is 1. Temptation unto evill and Sin is opposed to the truth of God to his law and therein to his Precepts prohibitions promises threats as they are meanes to inform the understanding in the truth and move the Will unto obedience The end of it is to blind the understanding and pervert the Will It blinds the understanding either by taking away or hindering the clear light of the truth or deluding it with falshood or errours by representing that as good and just which is evill and unjust or that which is just and good as evill and unjust and if it once cause the mind to doubt of or deny the truth it 's likely to prevaylâ—e For by this meanes it takes away the feare of punishment
when we are once in Christ we are not wholly freed from that Sentence because it continues partly in force untill the Resurrection But of these more fully hereafter CHAP. XIV Of the Penalties Executed on Mankind more Partiuclary As also to which the Sentence made it liable FOr the more full understanding of this Judgment § I it will be very convenient to declare 1. More particularly the punishments which were executed upon mankind and whereunto the Sentence made it liable 2. The extent of sin and death in respect of the subject and the Derivation of the same from Adam to his posterity Where something shall be said of Original sin 3. The Attributes of God chiefly manifested in this Judgment 1. For the punishments we must know they were lesse then the desert of this sin For in strict justice man had deserved far more and more grievous punishments then this Sentence did determine For as you shall hear hereafter God punished man Citra condignum far lesse then he deserved And he in great mercy ordained meanes whereby many of these Judgments might be prevented and all in the processe of time removed as he reserved a power to abate them or aggravate them at will and pleasure So that man hath cause to blesse God that though he might Yet he will not always chide neither will he keep his anger for ever He hath not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities Psal. 103. 9 10. Where we may observe the intermission interruption and mitigation of his Justice 1. The intermission of his chiding He sometimes chides but not alwayes as he might 2. The abruption of his anger He chides sometimes and is angry yet he breaks off and continues not his wrath as he might do for ever 3. The mitigation He punisheth and sometimes grievously yet not according to our sins and so much as we deserve And thus his Sentence is to be understood For his execution is the best intepretation of his own mind which he knew best himself when he passed this Judgment Besides the punishment formerly mention'd § II there be many others not there exepressed but either implied and that darkly in that Scripture or more fully expressed in others These are either spirituall and such as immediately affect the soul of man and tend to it's spirituall and eternall misery or such as referr unto his body and temporal estate in this life or such as afflict both body and soul for ever in the world to come if not prevented The first and great penalty spiritual was the losse of Original Righteousness and Holiness when God took away his sanctifying Spirit By this it came to passe that the active free power of man to do good and that which was pleasing to God was not onely weakned but wholly taken away For though the essence and faculties of man remained yet the Spirituall and divine vigour was lost A natural but not a spiritual free will he hath The Councel of Trent tells us that Liberum Arbitriâ—us fuit viribus attenuatum non penitus sublatum Free-will by the Fall was weakned but not wholly lost If they mean that it was so weakned that it lost all spiritual and supernaturall power clearly to understand and effectually to prosecute spirituall good or if any such strength doth remain yet it was given to man and left in his soul for the merit of Jesus Christ promised then they speak the truth otherwise they cannot be excused By this incomparable lâ—sse there followed in mans understanding ignorance and errour and in his wâ—ll perversnesse and a disorder in his faculties and a difference between the rational and sensitive appetite A pronesse or strong inclination to that God forbids and a disaffection to all Heavenly good The soul hath loâ—â— all rellish of heavenly things Besides this Man became subject and a slave to Sathan who thereupon could easily bâ—ind and delude his understanding and pervert his will so that nothing so heynous but he could perswade him unto it and work in his heart an hatred of the Power of Godlinesse That there was such a Penalty which passed upon Adam and Eve and all their Posterity may be made evident out of Gods word For 1. The nakednesse shame fear hiding from Gods presence false pretences of fear and slight and excuses of their sin in our first parents do imply this 2. What necessity is there of every son of Adam even the best to be born again and that of water and the spirit before he can enter into the kingdom of God if man by this fall had not lost the Sanctifying spirit How comes it to passe that except the spirit of Christ be in us we are carnally minded at enmity against God so that we are neither subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be 3. What necessity is there to turn men from the power of Satan to God Act. â—6 18. and to be deâ—â—â—ered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of Gods Dear Son Col. 1. 13 To this purpose I might multdiply other 〈◊〉 of Scripture to prove that this was one great penalty consequent to the sin of Adam Another penalty was § III the loss of Gods comforting spirit For where the spirit doth ceaâ—e to sanctifie it doth cease to comfort And hence the losse of boâ—dnesse confidence peace heavenly joy sweet communion with God testimony of a good conâ—cience right to the life and all Solace that might arise from the hope and assurance thereof Instead of these succeeded horror grief anguish perplexity an â— despair so that he conceived and found himself cast out of Gods presence and favour This seems to be signified by Gods casting him out of Paradise denying him accesse to the Tree of Life and that must needs torment his soul grievously and perpetually the passage into that Holy happy place was guarded by Angels with a fiery sword This was the Sentence of Excommunication executed upon him signifying that seeing man had sinned and polluted himself there was no possibility of Life by the Law of works And except Christ by his blood had quenched the fire of Gods wrath and made a new passage to Life we had perished for evermore and to draw near to God was to approach to a consuming fire to our eternall destruction We must needs think that Adam looked back towards the Tree of Liâ—e with weeping eyes and an heavy heart especially when he considered the distance and the impossibility of accesse How grievously did wicked cursed Cain complain of this that he was cast out of Gods sight How importunately doth David deprecate this punishment saying Lord cast me not out of thy presence and take not thine Holy spirit from me Besides this he became timerous and of a dejected spirit 〈◊〉 having lost that Majesty whereby he awed the inferiour creatures and his dominion over them was much impaired The penalties § IV which referred unto his body
and of great power and policy therefore he must be a King invested with Universal and Eternal Power to make Laws and Officers to judge and to execute Judgment in rendring eternal rewards and punishments according to the Works of such as shall be judged that so he may subdue all Enemies even Death it self protect his people and give Eternal Peace and Felicity to such as shall unfeignedly submit unto his Power and continue loyal and obedient Subjects to the end As God hath decreed before the World upon the fore-sight of man's sin that the World should be made flesh so he likewise decreed that he should be invested with this three-fold power and to confer it upon him as Flesh united to the Word Upon the Fall of Adam this Office was promised in his Conception and Birth he was designed unto it in his Baptism he was declared to be the Son of God Upon his manifestation after his Baptism he began to act in this Three-fold Office Upon his Resurrection he was constituted a compleat Priest Prophet King and all power in Heaven and Earth given Him Upon his Ascension he was solemnly invested and confirmed in the place and began at the right hand of God to exercise his Power more gloriously CHAP. II. Concerning the Humiliation of Jesus Christ whereby this New Power was acquired And a brief Historical Narration of His Sufferings THis New Power as you heard before was acquired by the Word made flesh § I and now we know by whom In the next place we must enquire by what it was acquired It was acquired by the Humiliation of the Son of God This Humiliation of Jesus Christ is that whereby He in the form of a Servant was obedient unto Death the Death of the Cross. In this Humiliation we have two degrees 1. He took upon him the form of a Servant 2. In that form he suffered the Death of the Cross. 1. He was a Servant For being in the form of God he thought it not Robbery or Sacriledge to be equal with God yet he made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a Servant and was made in the likeness of men Phil. 2. 6 7. This state and condition of a Servant taken upon Him was the first part of his Humiliation But here it 's to be noted 1. That He was not a Slave taken in War nor sold nor born of Servile Parents or Parent 2. As He was the Word and equal with God He could not be a Servant but as He was flesh and made Man For as Man He was a reasonable Creature and so subject to God and bound to Obedience 3. Yet to be Man was not all For He was a Servant in respect of the mean condition of His Humane Nature For He was born of a Mother though of Royal Extraction from the house of King David at a great distance yet poor and mean as appears in that she was espoused and married to Joseph a Carpenter and so a Mechanick and of the lowest Rank of Subjects and also by his poor Birth in a Stable 4. He as Man for the time laid aside or did not assume the Robes of Glory the State and Dignity which did agree unto Him as He was the Son of God neither did He take upon Him any Civil Command or Jurisdiction much less that Universal and Supream Power wherewith He was invested afterward 5. He was born not onely a Man but a Jew under the Bondage and Servitude of the Law as was manifest by His Circumcision and Presentation in the Temple 6. He subjected himself unto the Ecclesiastical Power of His own Nation and the Civil Power of the Romanes so far as to be tried and condemned by both though He was innocent and was willing to be obedient not onely in doing the good commanded but to suffer the evil even Death the death of Servants nay of Slaves nay of Dogs which He no way deserved So that He wholly denied Himself renounced his own Will even in things lawful and was a Servant to his Father in one of the hardest and lowest services that ever was the service of Sin excepted This was a way which the unsearchable depth of Eternal Wisdom contrived to acquire a new transcendent Power It 's true that alter He appeared in publique He took upon him some power and acted accordingly He began to preach the Gospel with power and majesty not onely in private but publick He gathered Disciples and made Apostles and other Officers instituted Sacraments and gave Laws and Commissions and signified that He was the Son of God and should one day come in the Clouds of Heaven yet still He was a Servant The second degree of his Humiliation was § II that as a Servant he was obedient unto Death the Death of the Cross. He was always obedient both to God and Man in all things so far as He was bound He observed not onely the Moral but the Ceremonial Laws of the Jews and the Civil Laws of the Romans so far as they were just He many ways manifested himself to be the Word made flesh and the onely Begotten Son of God and that not onely by his eminent Vertues but by his Heavenly Doctrine and glorious Works So that never any gave better Example taught better Doctrine or did greater Works so beneficiall to Mankind and to destructive to Sathan's power Yet he manifested himself in this manner onely amongst his own people seeking earnestly not onely their Temporal Peace but their Eternal Salvation And all this may be called his Active Obedience which though so excellent and perfect yet could not free him from obedience in sufferings which were many and ended in the death of the Cross. The History hereof I will 1. Deliver briefly out of the Evangelists And 2. Discourse of the same more at large out of these and other places of Scripture Though he suffered by the Determinate Counsel and sore-knowledge of God and God had shewed before by the mouth of all his Prophets that he should suffer yet the Counsel of God and Predictions of the Prophets were fulfilled in the manner following 1. By his Sufferings before Judgment 2. By his Sufferings in Judgment 1. Before Judgment He by his Example Doctrine Works gathered many Disciples and the people followed him in great multitudes This was a provocation to the ambitious Rulers of the Jews many of whom were Pharisees a Sect in those times in great account and admiration with the people for eminent Piety and Learning wherein they seemed to excel And this did grieve them much that He did neither comply with them nor their Designs nor receive any Commission from them but did reprove their Hypocrisie and took off their Vizard of Sanctity and open before the people their Ambition Covetousness Cruelty Oppression and other enormous Sins confuted their false Doctrine and denounced most fearful Woes against them His eminency and respect with the People with the multitude of Disciples
in all places especially at Jerusalem were matter of Envy and the rest intended for Reformation ended in their malice and his suffering Out of this envy and malice they traduce him amongst the People Censure and condemn him amongst themselves and design his death most unjustly though under pretence of Justice and the Publique good Sometimes they are ready to stone him Otherwhiles they tempt him by Questions cunningly devised to intangle him in his Answers so that they might have some ground to accuse him before the Governour Sometimes they lye in wait for him and otherwhiles seek to take him by violence yet none of these take effect till his hour was come And he suffered all these things with patience and a constant mind Those were but the beginning of sorrows The night wherein he ate his last Supper with his Disciples instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist for the perpetual remembrance of this Death and came to Gethseman then they began to be more bitter For after he had washed his Disciples seet fore-told that one of them should betray him Peter deny him and all forsake him made his farewell Sermon so full of Heavenly Comfort and concluded it with a most excellent Prayer he entred the Garden and the fatal place There his Soul began to be troubled and was heavy unto death and so that bitter agony above all other most grievous began wherein He thus had the greatest power and patience to suffer more then Man or Angel was able to indure seemed to stoop and He fell groveling and proâ—rate upon the ground as though He had been a Worm and no Man and prays earnestly with strong cries and tears unto his Heavenly Father three times that this Cup of his Passion might pass from Him yet He limited his vehement desire and resigned himself wholly to his Hevenly Father's Will and was resolved to drink the very dregs of it if his Fathers Will was so So unwilling was He to disobey His Heavenly Father's Commandement and so willing to save sinful Man though it cost him dear And such impression this Conflict of His Soul made upon his Body that He did sweat and His sweat was as it were great drops of bloud falling upon the ground In this saddest condition none of his Disciples no not the three nearest unto Him though earnestly desired could watch and pray with Him one hour Even Peter who so resolutely promised to dye with Him failed to be any comfort to his Master in this exigency So that He had not any comfort from any Creature or from any Man or from any of His Disciples or Apostles or nearest and most intimate Friends till an Angel from Heaven was sent by His Father to comfort strengthen and encourage Him What was the particular distinct case of this trouble is doubted by many and many have fancied many things yet this is certain that He had a lively apprehension and sense of this Bitter Cup which He did so much deprecate and did clearly fore-see 1. That God would smite him would him and put him to death by laying upon him the iniquities of us all 2. That all kind of miseries would rush upon him as it were in one violent stream to over-whelm him 3. That all sorts of people would conspire against Him and that with greatest and most cruel malice to torment and confound â—im 4. That the Prince of Darkness with all his Damned Power would be let loose and permitted with greatest violence to assault Him for it was the hour of the power of Darkness That in all this his Father for a time would with-draw his sweetest comforts and suffer his Enemies to prevail and put him to a shameful death And that which He most feared was left by impatience or distrust or some other way He should offend His Heavenly Father and so have made void the great Design of Redemption and given the Devil the Victory For Satan's chief intention was not to torment his body and put him to a Temporal Death but to tempt him to sin and herein he was disappointed For Christ in the days of his flesh when He had offered up Prayers and Supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him who is able to save Him was heard that is delivered from what He feared though not from the Death of the Cross. These were His Sufferings before judgment § III In Judgment we may observe 1. The Preparatives or Fore-runners 2. The Trial. 3. The Execution The Preparatives for Trial were the betraying of Him His Attachment the bringing of Him bound to the Place of Trial. For He was most unworthily betrayed by one of His own Disciples yea one of His Apostles who being covetous became treacherous and receiving the Devil into his Heart when no admonition would divert Him from His cursed Enterprise contracted with the High-Priests and Rulers for 30 pieces of silver to betray His Master who was better then the whole world and according to the Damned Contract unto his own Eternal Woe he directs a Company armed to the place where Christ was and lest He should escape or not be taken he betrays Him by a Kiss a sign of love in it self but in this business an effect and act of horrid treachery After He was betrayed and so discovered they apprehend and attach him in a disgraceful way For though He never hid or concealed Himself but taught openly and often and but the day before in the greatest and chiefest City and in the Temple the most publique place and so was ready at any time to appear before the Rulers to clear his own innocency yet as though he had been a Malefactour a Thief a Murtherer conscious of his Crime who hid himself declined Judgment and sought to escape so they deal with him Thus he was presumed to be guilty of some capital crime and therfore not fairly summoned and dealt withall as a free subject This Christ told them of and charged them with it After He is apprehended they bind him as a prisoner to secure him and lead him to the place of Trial. A very great Trial it was wherein God did condemn and punish Mankind in his own Son and though He proceeded justly yet the judgment of man in this particular was abominably unjust His Trial is two-fold before 1. The Ecclesiastical 2. The Civil Judge The Ecclesiastical Court had Cognisance of false Doctrine Blasphemy and such like Crimes and accordingly proceed in the examination of the party and the Witnesses and with that care and diligence as though they feared lest they should not find sufficient Evidence against Him and such as might satisfie the Procurator Pontius Pilate When they failed of all sufficient proofs the High-Priest took a new and uncouth way to convince him from his own words and so adjures him to tell them plainly or expresly Whether He were the Son of God To this He answers directly that He was the Son of God and the day would come when
who out of his unspeakable love gave him this command to be servant for a while and suffer death for sinful man's salvation This was an Act of transcendent power to give such a Law and Christ willingly out of pitty unto his Brethren submitted to this power and was willing to be bound by this Law and become a servant and was obedient unto this Death Therefore it is written Loe I come to do thy will that is this great Command of suffering death not for himself but for others being guilty and bound in their own persons to suffer which was an act of greatest love that possibly can be expressed In that it was an act of obedience it signifies his willingness and doth teach us that he suffered freely For all obedience is free and willing or else no obedience That it was willing and free is many ways evident For no man saith he taketh my life from me but I laid it down of my self Joh. 10. 18. No man took it from him because no one could do it if he had not bin willing to have parted with it His Prayer wherein he so earnestly three several times deprecated the Cup of his Passion makes it clear by that clause wherein he corrected his natural desire Thy will not mine be done It was often attempted both by fraud and force to take away his life but it could not be done before that hour-wherein he was willing to lay it down himself He offered himself unto the Band of Souldiers which came to apprehend him and said unto them Whom seek ye They said Jesus of Nazareth He answers I am he and resently at that word they went backward fell down to the ground Besides he could have called for 12 Legions of Angels to defend or rescue him and yet he would not do it To be a servant and suffer the death of the Cross was an act of greatest humility For the Son of God the Word made flesh Humane Nature united so nearly to the Deity to deny himself so far as to be below the Angels below so many men to be a Servant in the meanest rank of men subject to the Law to Civill and Ecclesiastical Power and though Lord of Angels yet to abase himself so low as to suffer such reproach and all kind of indignities from the basest sort of Abjects and Refuse of the people and as it were to be trampled upon as though he were a Worm and the baâ—eâ—â— and most guilty Wretch in the World though he was most innocent was humility indeed and a stupendious humiliation This Act of Obedience was performed with greatest patience and charity that ever any was For he opened not his mouth was dumb as the sheep befor the Shearer When he was reviled he reviled not again They curse him blaspheme him deride him and many ways abuse him yet he is quiet and his Soul so calm as though he suffered nothing though he suffered more than ever any did And this was his Charity that he humbled himself and suffered all this for unworthy ungodly sinners and enemies even for the Eternal Salvation of those who did afflict and crucifie him praying to his Father to forgive them for they knew not what they did In that § II as a Servant he was obedient unto Death the Death of the Cross and endured such cruel pains and so shameful a death though he was so excellent and innocent this doth give us occasion to think and consider of many things For 1. By this we may understand that his sufferings were very great not onely in respect of the multitude of them the quality of the persons from whom the parts wherein he suffered and the nature of his sufferings But from this that he died the death of the Cross. And this Death was 1. Violent not Natural 2. Cruel and full of Pain 3. Ignominious and most Reproachful 4. Most accursed 5. Joyned with far greater Torments and trouble of the Soul then we can conceive 2. Seeing Death is the wages of Sin it must be for Sin and seeing he had no sin of his own it must be for the sins of others And because where there is no Law there is no sin therefore must there be some Law transgressed whereby He became liable to this punishment of death The Law of it self made none liable to death but the parties violating it which Christ never did therefore there must be a Law-giver and a Judge above the Law who had power to transfer the punishment from the guilty upon One innocent who was willing to take it upon him The Law-giver was God and He was the Judge and gave a Command to Jesus Christ to suffer this death due to sinful man and he willingly submitted and became Surety or Hostage for man And by vertue of this Command and Christ's Voluntary Submission the Law transgressed had power over him and he became liable to this death And so he who knew no sin became sin for us that we might be the righteousness of God in Him 2 Cor. 5. ult So that in this suffering of death though the Devil and the Jews with Pontius Pilate were active in crucifying Christ We must consider God as Supream Judge did pass the Sentence and execute the same Christ is the Head of and Hostage for Mankind and a general person suffering for many that the benefit might redound to many In this respect that Christ suffered for the sin of others we may conclude that his suffering was a punishment in proper sense and that God in threatning death to Adam and Mankind sinning reserved a power and liberty to himself to punish the party sinning or some other for him Yet because the thing in the obligation was the punishment of the guilty offending and not the Innocent it must needs be an Act of Grace in God by his Command to substitute another and also to accept his Suffering as an Expiation of their sins It was Justice in Him that He would punish Sin but free Mercy to punish it in Christ and be satisfied with that death of another person But of these particulars more hereafter when I shall declare how and how far the benefit of this Redemption may be derived to others This Death was Death § III and Death of the Cross to signifie the justice and severity of God and the desert of sin which is shame pain a Curse For this death was shameful painful accursed Therefore it is said that Christ endured the Cross and despised the shame Heb. 12. 2. and that he became a Curse for us God 3. 13. Therefore the bitter passion of our Saviour may perswade us all for ever to â—ear and hate that sin which so much offended the just God that He punished it so severely in our Saviour For he never suffered death neither did he lay upon him the iniquities of us all to this end that we might have liberty to sin but that we should repent with godly sorrow and ever
Actual Enjoyment of Salvation and Eternal Glory is granted as merited by this Death ver 28. All these are summed up in that one of the Eternal Consecration of the Sanctified Chap. 10. 14. Seeing Christ merited many and glorious things for sinful man § VI he must needs merit some greater thing for himself and so he did For because he humbled himself so low and took upon him the form of a Servant and was obedient unto death the death of the Cross Therefore God highly exalted Him and gave Him a Name which is above every Name Phil. 2. 9. And God advanced Him far above all Principality and Power and Might and Dominion and every Name that is named not onely in this World but in that which is to come and hath put all things under his feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the Church Ephes. 1. 21 22. By which we may understand that He merited to Himself a Supream and Universal Power in Heaven and Earth and not onely power over all flesh but over all Creatures even over all Angels And He was invested with this power immediately upon the Resurrection for then He was made universal Prophet Priest and King and upon His Ascension followed His Solemn Inauguration and Coronation as we may so speak when He was set at the right hand of God and then His Eternal and unchangeable Priest-hood was confirmed unto Him by an Oath 2. He merited Immortality the Place and Throne of Glory fulness of joy in His Fathers presence and pleasures at His right hand for evermore He attained Immortality upon His Resurrection the Place and Throne of Glory fulness of joy and Eternal Pleasures upon His Aâ—cension 3. He merited a Judgment to be passed upon the Devil to lose his power over Mankind and the same to be transferred upon Himself and a strength to rescue him out of Sathan's possession aâ— will and pleasure 4. He merited a power to send down the Holy Ghost to reveal the Gospel and in a special manner to head His Church protect it guide it give it everlasting peace and in respect of His highest Dignity that not onely Men but Angels shall worship and honour Him and all such as refuse so to do must be dashed in pieces with His Iron-Scepter and cast into Hell Christ's Sufferings being 1. An Obedience unto the Death of the Cross § VII and a Sacrifice And 2. Having many and glorious Effects one and the same principal being the Acquisition of a new Power over Mankind The 3. Thing in order is the manner and measure of the communication of the benefit thereof unto others That the benefit of this Death and Sacrifice is communicable to sinful Man is express Scripture For as by the offence of One Judgment came upon all men unto condemnation even so by the Righteousness of One the free gift came unto all men unto justification of life And again As by one man's disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous Rom. 5. 18 19. And since by man came death by Man came also the Resurrection of the Dead for as in Adam all dye so in Christ shall all be made alive 1 Cor. 15. 21 22. From which places it 's clear that as from Adam Sin and Death were derived upon all men so Righteousness and Life are derived upon Mankind by Christ. But the Question will be 1. How 2. How far this Benefit is derived 1. If we enquire of the manner how Righteousness and Life is derived from Christ being One unto so many we shall find that this cannot be except Christ be a general Head of Mankind and one person with them as Adam was And this He could not be as He was the Word properly but as the Word made Flesh for if He will sanctifie them he must take Flesh and Bloud with the Sanctified and so be Man Yet He may be Man and not a general Person so as to be one with them and we do not read of any but onely two who were general Heads and in some respect virtually all Mankind the first and second Adam Such Christ was not but by the Will of God and His own voluntary Consent The Will of God appoints Him to be the Head of Mankind and their Surety and Hostage and so accounted Him and He did willingly submit and took upon Him the Person of others And the principal cause of this Representation whereby He is one Person with us is the Will of God who as Lord made Him such and as Law-giver and Judge did so account Him But 2. How far is He One Person with us The Answer is 1. In general so far as it pleased God to make Him so and no farther 2. In particular He and We are One so far 1. As to make Him liable to the Penalty of the Law which He suffered not for Himself but for us 2. So far as to free us from that Obligation and derive the benefit of His Death to Us. I may instance in a Debtour and his Surety who are one person and the Law so accounts them so far as 1. The Surety becomes liable to the Debt And 2. If he pay it the Principal is freed from the Obligation Yet the Surety is not the Principal nor if he pay the Debt with his own money doth the Principal pay it with his So though Christ be so far one with us as to be liable to the Penalty of the Law and to suffer it and upon this Suffering we are freed yet Christ is not the sinner nor the sinner Christ. Christ is the Word made Flesh innocent and without sin an universal Priest and King but we are none of these Though we be accounted as one person in Law with him by a Trope yet in proper sense it cannot be said that in Christ satisfying we satisfied for our own sins For then we should have been the Word made Flesh able to plead innocency with perfect and perpetual obedience have dyed upon the Cross when He was crucified and by our own blood entring into the Holy Place to have obtained Eternal Redemption But all these things are false impossible blasphemous if affirmed by any It 's true that we were so one with Him that He satisfied for us and the benefits of this Satisfaction redounds to us and is communicable to all upon certain tearms though not actually communicated to all From this Vnity and Identity of Person in Law if I may so speak it follows clearly that Christ's Sufferings were not onely Afflictions but Punishments in proper sense For it is not material whether He suffer for His own sins which He could not because He was innocent or for the sins of others For if He suffered for sins then His Sufferings were Punishments For Poena is Vindâ—cta noxae sive propriae sive alienae That one may suffer for the sins of others and that justly except we will accuse God of injustice
his sin confess it be sensible of it hate it resolv against it return unto his God rely upon his Saviour who must plead his cause with his own blood and the sinner must be washed in that blood and sanctified by his Spirit before he can be admitted to the Throne of Grace and have accesse unto and acceptation with his God And he must be cleansed fully from all sin before he can enter into Glory and no man must expect eternall life upon other Terms The Mercy § XI Love and free Grace of God appears in that he was willing to save man though a grievous offender that he would transfer the punishment due to us and deserved by us upon another and he must be his onely begotten that must bear it that he doth all this freely when there was nothing out of himself to move him of merit it for us That he should do thus for unworthy Wretches enemies ungodly miserable base polluted deserving to be cast out of his presence and condemned to eternall death Upon the very foresight of our sin and misery he out of love decrees to send his Son and give him unto death and in him elects us and predestinates us unto eternall Glory When man was created had sinned he promiseth Christ renews this promise often in fulnesse of time he sends him and severely punisheth our sins in him accepts his suffering and sacrifice as a sufficient satisfaction for all our sins and meritorious of Remission and eternall life He reveales him in the Gospell offers him unto us calls us gives his Spirit and with patience and long-suffering waits for our Repentance abrogates the law of works and promiseth eternall life anew upon fairest terms constitutes him an High-Priest in Heaven and ever hears his Intercession which he ever lives to make for us Nay upon this suffering of Christ foreseen and fore-accepted he gives his Spirit who justifies and saves all Believers of the World who lived before his Incarnation and the finishing the work of Redemption When we cry to him with penitent and believing hearts and come unto our Saviour our sins though many and grâ—evous are pardoned and Christ hath a charge given him to receive us have a care of us protect us guide us raise us up at the last day and give us everlasting life Angells must be ministring Spirits to guard us all things must work together for our good And this is strange The Son of God must be punished that we might be spared must be condemned that we may be justified dy that we may live be humbled very low that we may be exalted very high endure most bitter pains that we may enjoy eternall pleasures and be miserable that we may be for ever happy But what Tongue of Men or Angells is able to expresse the exceeding greatnesse of his Love to us which was the greatest that ever God did manifest Who is able to number and reckon up the particular mercyes and benefits which Christ did merit and we receive by him This Mercy in Christ is to be remembred not onely on earth but to be matter of eternall praise and thanksgiving in Heaven The subject of this discourse is the Acquisition of a new Power § XII and by all this dâ—th appear not onely that another power is acquired and added to that of Creation and preservation but also that it was acquired by the humiliation of the Son of God made Man And now man in respect of his spirituall capacity and eternall estate is wholly Gods and subjected to him anew and now are we not our own for we are bought with a price 1 Cor. 6. 19 20. And Christ hath given himself a Ransome for us 1 Timothy cap. 2 ver 6. And we are redeemed by his pretious Blood as of a Lamb without blemish and immaculate 1 Pet. 1. 19. And as God acquired a new right unto us by Redemption so likewise by Regeneration which is a new creation so that our spirituall being is wholly his and he hath acquired a new power to dispose of us and give us laws and bind us to obedience and his service upon another account For wee are delivered out of the hands of our enemies to serve him without fear in holinesse and righteousnesse before him all the dayes of our life This power being acquired we must consider to whom it was acquired and to whom it was communicated God acquired this power unto himself and he communicates it to Christ as man so farr as he is capable That God did acquire it 't is evident for he sent Christ he gave him he transferred the punishment of our sins upon him he accepted his death and sacrifice as a full propitiation He regenerates and renews us by his spirit and gives us our new being And if althese be his works then the Power as also the Glory is his and he hath a new propâ—iety inus For the Word made flesh was his son The work of Redemption and Humiliation of this son was his work Therefore we are said to be purchased by his Blood his own Blood Act. 20. 28. We are said to be his workmanship created anew in Christ Jesus Ephes. 2. 10. All that we are in respect of our spirituall estate we are wholly wholly his and al things that we have as New-creatures are from him who quickned us raised us up set us in heavenly places in Christ Jesus Though it be said that Christ is our Lord § XIII our Head our Saviour who hath washed us in his blood redeemed us out of all Nations made us Kings and Priests to God for ever and reconciled us to the Father so that whether we live or dy we are the Lords because to this end Christ both died and revived and rose again that he might be Lord both of the living and the dead Rom. 14. 8 9. Yet God did all this likewise and put him to death and raised him up again and made him Lord and King This power therefore is Christs but so as that it is derived and communicated unto him from his heavenly Father For he gave him power as he himself confesseth over all flesh he exalted him and gave him a name above all names he by his mighty power raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places farr above all principality power and might and Dominion And though he had all power in heaven earth yet he acknowledgeth it as given him The son hath an universal jurisdiction yet all judgment was committed unto him Joh. 5. 22. so that he hath it by commission From all this it 's evident that God acquired this power and Christ acquired it God hath it Christ hath it God hath it originally and primitively Christ hath it derivatively as man and by commission God is the principall cause of the work of Redemption Christ as man united to the Word is the ministeriall agent And as God by Christ did
for an Act of Divine Power as it is a cause of subjection which must â—o before admission To understand this we must consider the Subject of it and that is Man as sub alienâ potestate under the power of Sin and Sathan and so out of God's Kingâ—om and as an Alien to this Heavenly Common-wealth and such is every one by Nature as he is out of Jesus Christ. Yet there are degrees of this distance some are further off some nearer to this Kingdom This is evident from the condition of Jews and Gentiles in former times and always especially since the times of the Gospel Because all men are either in the visible Church or out of it And men may be out of the Church two ways 1. As never admitted into the same Or 2. Such as being in the Church prove Apostates The Gentiles once were not Gentiles For their first Apostate Fathers were in the Church and the Jews in former times were God's people but for their unbelief are cast out and continue LO-AMMI none of God's people and this shall be their condition till such time as the fulness of the Gentiles be come in And we must distinguish of such as are in the visible Church for some are sincerely subjected unto God-Redeemer according to their Allegiance Some are Subjects onely by Name and Profession and by their ignorance unbelief disobedience are little better then Heathens and Aliens Some are subject in some measure but come short of that degree which is required to admission All these excepting one sort are out of this Kingdome as it consists of reall Saints and living members of Christ. Apostates shall never be called much lesse admitted if they be personally and wilfully such For if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for sins Heb. 10. 26. and if no more Sacrifice then calling is in vain and to no purpose Yet the posterity of Apostates may be and have been called And if once God vouchsafe the meanes of conversion to Idolators who have forsaken not only God as their Redeemer but as Creatour and Preserver he requires of them to renounce the Devil and turn from their Idols to the living God first and then unto him as Redeemer by Jesus Christ. They which have forsaken Jesus Christ or deny him as their Saviour and yet acknowledge and worship God alone as the Creatour of Heaven and Earth the Preserver and Governour of the World as Turks all Mahumetans and the unbelieving Jews do at this day are bound to acknowledge Christ as their Saviour and Redeemer and sure his incarnation and glorification as already come into the World The case of the Jew in the times of Christ and the Apostles was singular For the sincere Proselyte and Jew had onely this to do to believe in Christ already come as before they believed in him to come and so they became compleat members of the Church Christian and perfectly subjects of the Kingdome of Christ glorified The Ignorant and Prophane as also the Hypocrits must forsake their wicked wayes and sincerely submit themselves Yet none of these things can be done without a power from Heaven and a Vocation which is a gracious work of God Redeemer wherein he by his Word and Spirit reduceth man to subjection so that he is fitted to be a subject of his Blessed Kingdome For by Calling we are delivered from the power of darknesse and translated into the Kingdome of His Dear Son Col. 1. 13. Therefore said to be called out of darknesse into his marveylous light 1 Pet. 2. 9. And upon this they who were not a people are made the people of God verse 10. For God will put his lawes into their mind and write them in their hearts and thereupon He will be their God and they shall be to him a People Heb. 8. 10. In all these Passages and many more it 's evident 1. That by nature and as born of sinfull Adam we are in darknesse out of Gods Kingdome none of Gods People 2. That we passe out of darknesse into light and into Christs Kingdom 3. This is not a work of our own merit or power For it 's God that delivers us translates us writes his lawes in our hearts and this of his free mercy and by his great and wonderfull power 4. By this we become Gods people and subjects of Christ's Kingdom And all this is said to be by calling For he called us out of darknesse into his marvaylous light All these particulars are expressed or implyed in those words of the Apostle who signifies that God would send him to the Gentiles to open their eves and to turn them from darknesse to light and from the power of Sathan unto God that they may receive remission of sins and as inheritance among them which are sanctifyed by saith in Christ Act. 26. 17 18. This Vocation § VII as it is an act of power and great mercy and free grace for by grace we are saved so it s a work which is effected by the Word and Spirit For as we are regenerate so we are called and we are regenerate 1. By the Word 2. By the Spirit By the Word For of his own will he begat us with the word of truth Jam. 1. 18. By the Spirit For except a man be born again of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdome of God Joh. 3. 5. In the Word God commands and promiseth The command binds man to submit The promise is a motive to enforce the performance of the precept This we maâ— understand and observe in the Call of Abraham For 1. He is commanded to get him out of his Countrey and from his kindred and from his Fathers house unto a land that God would shew him and to perswade him God promiseth to make him a great nation and to blesse him c. But the principall promise was that in him all the familyes of the earth should be blessed Gen. 12. 1. 2 3. This precept implyes that man is under the domiâ—ion of sin and Sathan and therefore commands him to forsake his sin and Sathan and turn from Satan unto God In this God makes use of the Doctrine of the fall of Adam and the Morall Law as given unto him and binding him to perfect and perpetual obedience and upon disobedience threatning Death And by the precept is discovered mans sin and by threatning his misery to humble him break his heart make him weary of sin and desirous of deliverance and willing upon any termes to accept a Saviour Yet this gives him no Comfort nor any Power to do that which is his duty though God make use of it to prepare mans heart The first dutyes commanded are 1. A sight of sin as sin in our selves whereby we are miserable The 2. Is saith whereby we believe that God being satisfyed and attoned by the blood of Christ will be mercifull and pardon sin This faith
Jew was much mistaken when he conceived that it made voyde the Promise For the Covenant which was confirmed before of God in Christ the Law which was 430. yeares after could not disannull that it should make the promise of none effect Gal. 3. 17. If it had been given for to give life it certainly had made voyd the promise But that was not God's intention in giving the Law And the regenerate Saints of God who lived under the Law were sanctified justified and saved not by vertue of the Law but of the promise confirmed of God in Christ. The law was proper to the Jew and Proselytes incorporated into that state and Church and bound them and no others unto the Ceremonialls to be performed by them in the land of Canaan And though the moral law doth alwayes bind all men to obedience upon certain terms yet it was given in Mount Sinai to them alone and in special relation unto them as appeares by that preface to the decalogue I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of Egypt out of the house of Bondage The law is called the law of workes and the first Covenant in respect unto the Gospel preached first unto the Jew and to be renned unto them in the latter dayes From all this § III it is apparent that from the times of Adam after that God had said The seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpent's head the fundamentall lawes of God-Redeemer were the same After that John Baptist appeared in the Wildernesse God began to administer this Kingdome in a different manner For all the Prophets and the law prophesied unto John Math. 11. 14. He was the Horizon as some expresse it between the Old and New Testament Moses and the Prophets foretold Christ more darkly and at a great distance But Hee 1. Signifies that he was neer at hand and that a farr more glorious administration of this Spiritual Kingdome would shortly follow 2. God by him institutes a new rite of admission that was Baptism 3. He Baptizeth Christ the Messias 4. By his Baptism and Doctrin he made way for him 5. Upon the Baptism of our Saviour he discovers him to the people and perswades his disciples to believe in him and gives an excellent testimony of him Yet these things neither tooke away the law nor brought in the Gospel but were a preparative for the same After that Christ was initiated by Baptism § IV and entred into his Office he began to act publickly He baptiseth teacheth the Doctrin of the Kingdom more clearly reveales the mysteryes of Heaven gathereth Disciples ordaines Apostles adds 70 Assistants to them layes the foundation of the Church Christian and by his miracles manifests himself to be the Son of God and Saviour of the world Yet all this was done in the Land of Canaan and amongst his own People For he was sent first to gather the lost sheep of Israel Thus he continued to administer the Kingdom in his own person till his death After and immediately upon his Resurrection he receives universall power manifests himself to his Apostles and many of his Disciples gives commission to his Apostles to go and preach to all Nations after that he had given them instructions and commanded them to stay at Jerusalem till he should send down the Holy-Ghost and begins to exercise his universall power And so that administration which shall continue to the end of the World without alteration did commence But before I speak of this more particularly § V order requires that I say something of his Exaltation which as the Scripture informs us was a reward of his humiliation For because he taking upon him the forme of a Servant became obedient unto death the death of the Crosse therefore God exalted him and gave him a name above every name c. Philip. 2. 8 9 10. This exaltation was properly in respect of his humane nature For as he that exalted him was God so the nature exalted was Man The Power of the Godhead was infinite and eternall and could neither be increased nor communicated The Resurrection of Christ is made by many to be the first degree of his exaltation Yet this considered in it self did give him no power but it freed him from mortality and all kind of sufferings and by it he was made immortall Yet instantly upon his resurrection he was made an everlasting Priest and King and ready and fit as a Priest to Minister and as a King to reign in Heaven This Resurrection for the manner was glorious and wonderfull and for the manifestation of it full and 〈◊〉 That 〈◊〉 the manner it was wonderfull and glorious God made it appear because at the time there was an Earthquake the stone that shut the entrance of his grave was tumbled away an Angel descends with a glorious light the guard that kept the Sepulcher was terrified and fled the bodyes of the dead aroâ—e out of their graves and divers of the Saints raised up together with Christ did appear in the Holy City Thus did God manifest the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead Ephes. 1. 19 20. This manner of Resurrection became him who was the first fruits of them that slept 1 Cor. 15. 20. and the head of all those which rise again to glory and his rising is a pattern of the universall Resurrection God is said in many places to have raised him from the dead yet so that his own immortall soul might have some hand in that work For he had power to lay down his life and power to take it up again Joh. 10. 18. He did not rise to dy again as Lazarus did but to be immortall For being raised from the dead he dyeth no more death hath no more dominion over him Rom. 6. 9. The time of his Resurrection was no sooner that he might appear to be dead and no later lest his Disciples Faith already shaken should have â—ayled This day was a day of greater blisse and glory then any since the Creation It was the beginning of the new World and the foundation of the Christian Sabbath celebrated in all times since by the universall Church in memory of this blessed and glorious work This was his justification the confirmation of his satisfaction and merit and Gods acception of that great sacrifice and an absolute Conquest of death which is the last enemy to be subdued in the bodyes of the Saints who are his Church By this also sin and Satan received a fatall wound and Regeneration and the hope of eternall glory depend upon the same They depend upon it not onely in respect of divine institution but because as he had merited so he received a power to regenerate all such as should believe in him and to raise them up to eternall Life For to whomsoever he gives his Regenerating Spirit in this Life that very Spirit once dwelling in us is an evidence and assurance
an everlasting Priest-hood and confirmed upon Him by a Solemn Oath For God sware unto Him and would not alter That He should be a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchizedeck So that now He is made Vniversal Supream Eternal King and Priest and as He is next unto God by Personal Union so He is by Power Ten dayes were spent in this Solemnity and the Preparation for the Administration of this Kingdom and upon the 10th day after His Ascension the Holy Ghost was sent down from Heaven upon the Apostles and the Son of God made Man having by Death acquired this Power and now received it began by the Holy Ghost to exercise the same After that Christ was exalted § IX and thus glorified the Administration differed much For Christ as King sends down the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles and so makes New Officers new Laws and executeth judgment accordingly As Prophet reveals clearly and fully the great Mystery of the Gospel As Priest begins His intercession in Heaven He begins this Administration in Jerusalem and the first tender of Eternal Life by Him as Saviour is made to the Jew For the Rod of His Power must go out of SION So it was prophecied of old He abolisheth the Temple-Worship and for the sin of that People destroys the Temple and the City and both lye desolate to this day And He not onely took away the Customs and Rites of Moses but all mystical and typical Ceremonies and Sacrifices used from the times of Adam and also the Sacraments of Circumcision and the Passover The Levitical Priests and Ministers and all such as served in the Temple or in the Tabernacle He removed In stead of the Sacraments of Circumcision and the Passover He instituted the Sacrament of Baptism and the Supper of the Lord Of Baptism as a Solemn Rite of Regeneration and admission into His Kingdom the Lords Supper as a Rite of Commemoration of the great Sacrifice of His Death and of the continuance of their subjection unto Him and communion amongst themselves His Territory is enlarged For He takes in the Gentiles and all Nations unto the ends of the Earth The Synagogue Woâ—ship in Word and Prayer and other Moral-Services remained yet this was to be performed unto God in the name of Christ glorified And now they were neither bound to worship in the Land of Canaan nor in Jerusalem nor in the Temple according to the words of our Saviour to the Woman of Samaria Believe me the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this Mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the Father Joh. 4. 41. Therefore we may worship and pray every where lifting up holy hands without wrath doubting 1 Tim. 2. 8. The Officers in stead of the former Priests and Prophets ordinary and extraordinary are Apostles Prophets and Evangelists Pastours and Teachers The extraordinary besides Prophets and Evangelists were the Apostles who being Universal Officers invested with transcendent power laid the Foundation of the Church-Christian not onely amongst the Jews but the Gentiles and finished the Canon of the New-Testament which is the perpetual â—â—le of Doctrine-Worship and Discipline unto the Worlds end To this purpose they were endued with extraordinary gifts of Knowledge Wisdom Languages power of doing Miracles and by imposition of hands of giving the Holy Ghost The ordinary Officers are Pastours and Teachers These succeed the Apostles in their ordinary power both of Teaching Praying Administration of the Sacraments and the exercise of Discipline so far as Christ hath left power in the Church For their Associates or Assistants and their Order and imparity in the use of the Keyes this is no place to speak of particularly So that now by Christ glorified all Laws are made and published all judgment exercised all Officers ordained By Him as a Priest all Petitions Thanksgivings Praises Doxologies Services are presented to the Father and to be performed in His Name Nay Glory and Worship are given by the Universal Church to God and the Lamb Rev. 5. 13. 7. 10. By Him all Pardons and Spiritual Blessings are dispensed and disposed of and all the Promises are performed by Him and in His Name and for His merit No man can come unto the Father but by Him nor any service be accepted but for His sake By Him we have access into His Fathers presence and by Him we come with boldness and confidence unto the Throne of Grace And this Administration shall not be altered but shall continue till Death shall be destroyed and then Christ shall deliver up this Commission and God shall be All in All. CHAP. VI. Concerning the Parts of the Administration and the Laws THE Administration in particular follows and it refers either to Enemies § I or Subjects In respect of the end of this Administration and the ultimate Effect it 's safety and preservation and the same in the end is full and everlasting Peace The Church which is the number and Society of God's loyal and sincere Subjects hath always had Her Enemies How else could she be militant And if not first militant how could she prove in the end victorious and triumphant The principal Enemy is the Devil the old Serpent ever since God put emnity between him and the Seed of the Woman His design is their Temporal and Eternal Ruine and his opposition is very terrible and so violently managed with such power and policy that nothing but destruction could be expected but that God is our defence and by Jesus Christ our General will not onely defend us but dash in pieces all his power His Instruments and Agents are wicked men without or Hypocrites within the Church The one are like Forreign the other like Domestick and Intestine Foes The one by Persecution without and the other by Heresies Schisms and Scandals within assault us Both these have a great advantage because of our corruptions in our Bowels The greatest hurt God suffers them to do us is to chastise us and exercise our Spiritual Graces and Heavenly Vertues And Death it self whether Natural because of the first sin or violent from them can but destroy our bodies for a time which God will raise again but they cannot take away our Eternal Estate nor deprive us of Eternal Glory Nay such is the Wisdom of God that He can order all their opposition so as it shall further and not hinder our Salvation and such will be His care of us out of His dear and tender love unto us that it shall actually tend unto and end in our everlasting peace And in the end all Enemies shall be subdued Death the last Enemy shall be destroyed The Devil and all his Angels with all his Agents shall be cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone there to be tormented for evermore This shall be done in Justice and in Judgment And after this follows our Eternal Peace and Triumph and we shall be Kings and Priests and reign with God for ever This emnity and the
4. It had annexed the whole Body of the Judicials and Ceremonials to continue in force whilest they should be a State Civil and Ecclesiastical even till the glorification of Christ and the Revelation of the Gospel 5. It had joyned with it many Temporal Promises and Curses Yet as before 1. It did minister no power of the Spirit to keep it 2. It promised no Pardon or Spiritual Blessing for those belonged unto the Law of grace in Christ who was promised to Abraham 3. It had no Priest that could expiate Sin or Sacrifice which could purge the Conscience from dead Works 4. It ran in strict tearms as Do this and live 5. It was given in such a manner as to strike a terrour into them as guilty Wretches who seemed to be summoned before God not so much to receive a Law as to hear the Sentence of Death passed upon them The special use therefore unto them was to give them a clearer and more perfect knowledge as of their duty so of their sin and misery Of their Sin by the Precepts of their misery by the threatnings And this to humble them cause them to desire a remedy and have recourse unto the Promise of Christ and that with a longing after his Exhibition And seeing there was no promise of power to keep it or of pardon and the Priesthood Sacrifices and other Services being in themselves an heavy burthen could no ways be able to free them from the guilt of sin they had the greater cause to rely upon him and expect his coming It was also a Rule of their lives both as single persons and as Members of a Body Politick that by obedience unto it they might live happily in that good Land of Canaan and not be obnoxious to those fearful judgments God had threatned and their Posterity for their sin did afterwards suffer Other uses of it as joyned with the Ceremonials I have formerly delivered That many of them sought Righteousness and Justification by this Law together with the Ceremonial was their great mistake For 1. There was no power in the Moral Law to justifie them except they could keep it but seeing they could not do it it was added for transgression Gal. 3. 19. 2. The Law Ceremonial had no power to sanctifie them and free them from sin For the Law was weak and unprofitable and made nothing perfect that is it justified and sanctified no man Heb. 7. 18 19. The Priests by their Offerings and Sacrifices could not take away sin Heb. 10. 11. The use of it to the Church § X especially Christian who have a clearer knowledge of Moral Duties by the example of our Blessed Saviour who was the perfect Mirrour of all Heavenly Virtues and by the Doctrine of the Gospel is 1. To discover Sin 2. To be a Rule of Obedience And of this use it was always both to Patriarchs to Israel and to all Christians The first end is to discover Sin For as where there is no Law there is no Sin so where there is no knowledge of the Law there is no knowledge of Sin Therefore it is said that by the Law is the knowledge of sin Rom. 3. 20. And the more clearly and distinctly God in his Law shall represent our Duty and that measure of Righteousness and Holiness which God requires at our hands and we by the Law of Creation were bound to perform or else suffer eternal death the more vile abominable and miserable we plainly see our selves to be We easily understand what need we have of Christ's death and intercession God's mercy and the Spirit of Regeneration lest we run on endlesly upon this heavy score The more we know our vile and sad condition the more we know the freeness of God's grace and the abundance of his mercy if He will be pleased to deliver us And lest the Law should work despair it was always in the Church joyned with Christ either to come or else exhibited Therefore it 's said That the Law entred that the offence might abound but where sin abounded grace did much more abound From which words we may understand 1. That the Law was not given to justifie us 2. It 's never to be separated from Christ and God's abundant grace in Jesus Christ our Lord. And this is one use to be made of the Law not onely before we are in Christ to prepare us for him but also after that we are in Him that we may renew our Faith and Repentance till we be fully sanctified Yet the Law without the power of the Divine Spirit can never so clearly and distinctly represent unto us our sins and make us sensible of them or keep us from despair In this respect the Law may be said to be Evangelical because subservient to the Gospel He that shall preach the Law without Christ is truly a legal Preacher And he that shall preach Christ without the Law to discover sin is an Antinomian This use cannot be made of the Law without Self-examination and a serious and distinct Review of our lives laid to the Line of this Law And though the Moral Law be the principal in this use yet all positive Laws in force serve to the same end This was not the proper and first intended end for as it found man holy and righteous at the first so it required he should continue Obedience and life were the end To discover disobedience and man's sad condition thereupon and to cause him to look and cast about for a Deliverance and desire Christ represented as a Saviour was not intended at the first but made an end by God-Redeemer in Christ to prepare him for Christ. This use was merely accidental to the Law and was super-added by the Divine Wisdom and Mercy and in this respect it can no ways belong to the first Covenant of Works To strike terrour into guilty man cause him to despair of life might be an effect of it according to that Covenant And now if it be represented as first given to Adam it can have no other effect But thus it was not to be understood after God had signified that He would provide a Redeemer Another use in the second place § XI is to be a Rule of Obedience But 1. It 's not a bare Rule to inform our Understanding of the Duty and so give direction but it 's a binding Rule as every Law is It 's not merely given us for Advice Exhortation Perswasion but with a strong Obligation 2. This Obedience is performed by sinful Man by way of Return For this Law finds man sinful guiltys and disobedient both by Nature and Practise Therefore the Scripture calls so often for turning to the Lord which implies two things 1. That turning from our sins we should for time to come subject our selves to God as our Redeemer and acknowledge Him 2. That being subjected we should be obedient unto His particular Commands And this Obedience by way of Return is called Repentance which cannot
alone so the worshipping of one God in purity according to our duty and His Institution is called Chastity And such as did not pollute themselves with the Worship of Idols are called Virgins Rev. 14. 4. 2. Where there is this pure Virgin-love free from all Idolatry there will be an universal obedience and keeping of God's Commandements especially of the two first which virtually include the rest By Commandements therefore in this place are strictly understood the first and this second with all the Branches thereof Yet because these especially the first are the Root of all the rest therefore the rest may by consequence be understood The extent of this Mercy is to a Thousand Generations that is for ever For if Israel had been faithful to their God they might have continued an happy People unto this day and so God's Promise was God never with-drew His mercy from them nor executed His Judgments upon them but when they forsook him and violated these Commandements It 's true that the last Judgment which lyes upon them at this day had another cause than Image-Worship and it was the rejection of their Saviour and Messias when God had sent Him to save them according to the Promise made unto their Fathers For the more full understanding of this last part of the Commandement § IX in the Commination and Promise we must consider this with the former Commandement 1. As given to the Jews 2. As by the Light of Nature continued to the Gentiles 3. As most clearly manifested to Christians by the Gospel These Promises and Threats are called by some the Sanction that is the confirmation ratification and establishment of a Law Yet they add no binding force unto it for that is wholly from the Will of the Law-giver once expressed Onely this they may do make the Law the more effectual The Threatning is a great restraint from Violation and the Promise of Reward a strong Motive to Obedience These Threatnings and Promises in this place had special reference to Israel in the Land of Canaan and both the Punishments threatned and Mercies promised were Temporal for since the Fall of Adam there is no Promise of Spiritual and Eternal Mercy but in Jesus Christ promised or exhibited And it 's observable 1. That Israâ—ls sin usually if not always began in the Violation of this Commandement 2. That in the publique Judgments executed upon them this is expressed sometimes as the onely sin sometimes the first sin sometimes the chiefest and always implyed as one cause thereof 3. That when they observed this Commandement they enjoyed always this mercy here promised in their Successive Generations 4. The publick judgemâ—nts executed upon them for this sin did seldome at any time lye upon them further then the fourth generation as in the Captivity of Babylon which was the longest continuance of any other which that people suffered so farr as they continued a people Israels Captivity and the penalty of the ten Tribes as a distinct polity lyes upon them to this day For the generality of them were and do continue banished but where we certainly know noâ— A part of them adhered to the Tribe of Judah and Benjamin As for the Gentiles their Apostacy began in the Violation of this and the â—ormer Commandement and theiâ— punishment was not so much temporal as Spiritual For this sin of Idolatry and Image-Worship they were delivered up to vile affections and a reprobate mind and continued excommunicate and accurâ—ed for many yeares This their sin and punishment we may read Rom. 1. from verse 18. to the end And they were never admitted into the Church as Proselytes or Christians but upon renouncing of the Devil and his Pompatical and Idolatrous Worship and their turning from Idols to the living God As for Câ—ristians who turn from the living God and Chriâ—â— their Saviour to Idols and the Worship of the work of mens hands and to receive the cup of Fornication from the hand of the great whore their penaltyes shall be grievous and not onely temporall but spiritual and eternal if they come not out of Babylon and repent betimes as we may read in the book of the Revelation especially Chapters 14 15. 16 17 18. Whether any sin but final unbelief be threatned in the Gospel with death shall be examined God willing when I come to consider the Laws of Goâ— Redeemer as they are a rule of judgement It 's true that the Lawes of God Redeemer pâ—esupposing man as sinfull require a present return by repentance and faith and the continuance in any one sin against the morall Law or any other positive in force is formally a transgression as it is a continuance without repentance and faith There was a special reason why these reasons were given in this Commandement and it was because they were so prone unto this sin and he knew that in time to come this would be the great transgression Thus far the explication of the words of this Commandement § X it followes that we examin What the sins here forbidden and the dutyes here commanded be It 's expresseâ—y negatiâ—e and implicitly and by consequence affirmative The thing forbidden expresly is the making of Images for religious uses and the bowing down to them and worshipping of them The Commandement doth not take any notice whether in this Bowing and Worshipping they terminate their Worship either upon the Image or the thing repreâ—eâ—ted by the Image for both are sins And the distinctions devised by Iconolatrists will not excuse them before God This Image Worship is here represented as not instituted but forbidden by God devised by Men or Devils as corrupting and polluting the Pure Worship of God From hence it followes That 1. All kind of Religious Worship not instituted by God and warranted either by some particular expresse â—uâ—e of Scripture or grounded upon some generall precept is here forbidden 2. So is also all such manner of Worship as is devised and invented by Man or Devil 3. Whatsoever tends to the Corruption of the Pure instituted Worship of God cannot be lawfull 4. To conceive that there is any holinesse or sanctifying power in any such worship or manner of Worship or to think that the observation thereof is acceptabâ—e to God in it self or renders the party performing acceptable to him is a sin here prohibited This sin here forbidden may be called superstition in a large sense For to account that holy and divine as an object of Worship which is not such nor can be proved such by reason or divine revelation and also to invent religious rites and ceremonyes or to use them and this without any warrant from God is superstition It seemes to be an Extream opposed to prophaness For nothing can be holy or unholy but that which God hath made such For man to determin the object the kind the manner of worship and institute rites upon his own head or upon the suggestion of Sathan or any other must needs be an
by it he might make men believe and depend upon His Promise confirmed by Oath Thus far the Sin prohibited The penalty threatned upon the sinne committed follows in these words The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain Where we have the Sin the Punishment the Judge The sin is to â—wear falsly and so to abuse and prophane the Name of God and that either in an Assertory or Promissory Oath For in both truth is required and our Yea should be Yea and our Nay Nay otherwise we shall be guilty The punishment is this That we should not be held as guiltless and innocent Where it 's implyed that as we swear truly or falsly â—o we shall be judged and not to be judged guiltless is to be judged and also punished as guilty and that certainly and unavoidably For the Septuagint uâ—e a double Negative Not Not intimating unto us the true Sense to be this that the perjured Wretch shall in no wise escape but certainly shall be punished The Judge is the Lord who knows the Hearts of men and as a Judge takes special notice of all sins and especially of such heynous Crimes as Perjury is And though such guilty persons should escape the hand of Man yet they shall certainly feel the hand of God The punishment due unto this sin is not onely eternal which certainly if not repented of shall be suffered but also some Temporal exemplary Penalty that men may hear and fear and know that there is a God whole Throne is in Heaven that judgeth the World Thus He punished all Israel with three years Famine and seven of Saul's Sons with death for his Perjury 2 Sam. 21. 11. Zedechiah was guilty of this sin and was fearfully punished for the same even because he had violated his Oath whereby he had solemnly conâ—irmed the League made with the King of Babylon Jer. 17. Not onely the Holy Scriptures but other Histories relate God's just Judgment executed upon perjured persons for the flying Roll hovers over their heads and shall certainly enter into the house of him that sweareth faâ—sly by His Name and it shall remain in the midst of his house and shall consume it with the Timbeâ— thereof Zach. 5. 4. The time when and the manner how they shall be punished God hath reserved to himself He sometimes makes use of the Magistrate though with us the Pillory is a punishment less by far then ought to be inflicted But many times the Magistrate is in this particular too remiss and many times is ignorant yet God will in no wise suffer this sin to escape unpunished Sometimes one who abhorrs the sin may be surprized with feâ—r or violent passion as Peter was and may forswear himself yet when he recollects himself and reâ—lects upon his sin he goes into some secret place and weeps bitterly because he hath offended his God This cannot be so grievous an offender as others who have little or no fear of the Deity There is great reason why this Crime should be so severely punished § VII For 1. God name thereby is prophaned For it argues either plain Atheism oâ— a great measure of unbelief and a contempt of the Divine Majesty and therefore must needs highly dishonour God 2. It cuts in sunder the ligaments or bonds of humane society and fearfully perverts judgement So that if this sin be suffered and not punished Gods name will be dishonoured judgment perverted leagâ—es and contracts invalid and few men can be trusted For if an Oath wherein a man pawnes his soul his interest in God his Eternal estate cannot be believed what can There is also a Vain Swearing § VIII though true which cannot be excused but is here forbidden though it be not so heinous as Perjury Men in Swearing may take the Name of God in Vain several wayes but especially in respect 1. Of the matter 2. Of the end 3. Of the manner 1. The matter may be of little or no moment and such as is no wayes fit to be confirmed by Oath The subject whereof should be weighty and of great importance 2. The end of an Oath is to glorifie God to make that credible to others which cannot any other wayes be made sufficiently evident and which is of special concernment to do right to men to direct judgment to give others security and such like So that there is some kind of necessity of an Oath But many times an Oath taken tends not to any or more of these ends and the matâ—er is such as that it may be believed or not believed without any prejudice to God or man In this case an Oath must needs be vain 3. Gods name is taken in vain for the manner when men swear ignorantly without Knowledge of God or the nature of an Oath or without serious deliberation or without reverence of Gods glorious Name For an Oath is dreadfull as Gods glorious name is dreadfull and our interest in him is all we have to trust to and to pledge this and give our selves as hostages upon every trifling occasion is an high presumption and desperate folly Therefore common swearers are most grievous offenders and ought not to be suffered in any civil State much lesse in a Church Christian. And their sin is so much the more heynous because at first it s so easily avoyded and the custome thereof prevented For there is neither profit nor pleasure nor other worldly advantage to tempt them unto it And there can be no such persons but they must needs be Profane and ungodly Wretches Because the name of God is taken up in other matters § IX as in some kind of Charms Sorceries Witchery Conjurations which are in themselves abominable and unlawfull therefore in this respect they may be reduced unto this Commandement and here forbidden though the things or acts themselves are against the first So likewise the name of God may bâ— Profaned in some kind of Lots Adjurations Vows Curses especially when they are used without warrant and Commission from God Yet some kind of Lots Vowes Cursing Adjuratiâ—â— are lawfull and no wayes against this or any precept of God Extraordinary Lots such was that which was used together with prayer in the choyce of Matthias is no doubt agreeable to Gods law Act. 1. 24 25 26. Vows are promises which are made to God whereby we bind our selves to the performance of some service If the thing be commanded or indifferent in our own power it is lawful Especially when it is made with deliberation and reverence otherwise it is not Excommunication is a Curse and if the cause be just and the offenâ—e such â— shall deserve it and it solemnly performed it 's not prohibited So Adjuration in many Cases is not unlawfull And this is a generall rule that to abuse prophanely any thing sanctified by God is against this Commandement Hither is referred Blasphemy And by Blasphemy may be understood not onely words but thoughts and the disposition of
honour them And whosoever will not perform this duty must needs transgresse against the very light of nature and those principles which God hath imprinted in their Soules So that as Philo saith The offenders are guilty of impiety against God and inhumanity against man and stand liable before the Tribunal both of God and man and those that are undutifull to their Parents are usually prophane and irreligious towards God This duty in respect of Children is generall and binds them all and every one none can be exempted All and every one have Father and Mother too since Adam and Eve were created by God and not procreated by man Therefore Adam is called the Son of God Luke 3. 38. The conception of Jesus Christ and his birth were extraordinary for he had a Mother but no immediate Father therefore he may be excepted Yet it was said that he was subject unto them that is not onely to his Mother Mary but his Father by law Joseph to give example to all Children seeing he the Son of God subjected himself unto them This duty ariseth from the relation as the foundation thereof For by the manner of the receiving and continuing of their being they are inferiours depending upon Parents and under their power The partyes to whom the duty is to be performed are Father and Mother Father who begets them and Mother who conceives beares bring forth nurseth and taketh care of them in their helplesse age In this respect they have propriety superiority of power above them And lest Children should think it sufficient to be subject to their Father he adds and thy Mother For though the Mother be subject as a Wife to her Husband yet she is superiour to her Child as she is a Mother and may command and must in no wiâ—e be neglected or disobeyed The duty it self is expressed in the word Honour which is but single § V yet comprehends severall dutyes as Reverence to their persons in respect of their dignity subjection to their power obedience to their commands maintenance if they be in want and they able to relieve them and covering their infirmityes for maintenance is sometimes called honour and Shem and Japhet honoured their Father when in a modest manner they covered his nakednesse Reverence must be in the heart and expressed in their words their gestures and outward carriage towards them Subjection is a resigning of their own Wills and acknowledgement of their power and superiority and that they themselves are not Sui juris their own Masters but their duty till the time of emancipation is to serve Obedience is to do their just commands and must be regulated by their directions for they must hearken unto their instructions both for the matter to be done and the manner how it ought to be performed and they must execute it freely and with diligence for if it be not free and willing it s no obedience If Parents fall into want grow decrepit and faile not onely in strength but understanding and so cannot help themselves Reason it self much more the Word of God will dictate unto us that Children should not onely cover their infirmities and bear with their imperfections but also help succour relieve them and endeavour to recompence that tender love and kindnesse which their Parents shewed unto them when they were Children And this is to be done unto them with all due respects as unto Parents for in their lowest condition such they are and such they must be accounted And if all these dutyes be not performed how can Children be said to honour Father and Mother as here they are commanded to do And if Heathen Children be bound thus to honour their Parents and some of them by the light of nature have done it how much more are Christian Children of Christian Parents obliged to this duty which should be performed out of knowledge the love of God and Faith in Jesus Christ as a part of Christian obedience and thankfulnesse This is the duty commanded § VI The reward promised is That they may live long in the Land which the Lord their God had given them and that it might go well with them The reward is 1. An enjoyment of that good land God should give them 2. A long life 3. Prosperity and comfort This is said to be the first Commandement with promiâ—e It s the first Commandement and it hath a promise The second Table is called the Law Rom. 13. 8. 10. And all the Law Gal. 5. 14. That is all the Law which prescribes the duty of man to man It hath severall Commandemnents and this is the first of them and it hath a promise and so none of the rest following have It 's neither the first Commandement of the Decalogâ—e nor the first with promise But it 's the first of that Law which prescribeâ— our duty towards man and hath a promise annexed The end of this promâ—â—eâ— to encourage Children For though they are bound by the law of thankfulnesse unto it anâ— by the performance thereof cannot recompence the love and care of their Parâ—nts and they should be very unworthy if they should neglect it yet it was Gods superâ—bundant mercy to add the promise and the Apostle makes the use of it to move Children to obedience The land which the Lord their God should give them was the land of Canaan and therefore it had special reference to the Isralites yet so that all other dutifull Children of all nations have a right in it and especially Christians Why else should the Apostle take it up to move Christian Children to obedience Ephes. 6. 1 2 3. The enjoyment of our own native Country is opposed to captivity banishment dispossession disinheritance and a Vagabond life Long life to an unnatural or a violent death which takes away life even then when natural vigour continues and there be no internal causes of immediate dissolution A prosperous life is opposed to the cuâ—ses and miseryes which others suffer Yea all these mercyes are opposed to all those judgements as inflicted by God and suffered by wicked and undutifull Children for their neglect disobedience contempt and rebellion against their Parents These blessings promised are but temporall not spirituall and Eternal For those are acquired by Faith and derived from Christ and the promises in Christ in whom Christian Children receive not onely this temporal but a spiritual reward upon this obedience performed in Faith Neither doth this promise take effect in all dutifull Children so as that alwayes they enjoy this reward and be free from the like judâ—ements in generall which arâ— contrary to this reward For even dutifull Children many times suffer Captivity banishment untimely death and other miseryes but not for this sin of obedience whereof they are not guilty but for tryall and some other cause best known unto God who will recompence the want or losse of this reward with some far greater mercy There be extraordinary and reserved cases wherein good Children
many rational Servants properly so called Of these be many kinds 1. Such as have little use of Reason and are onely fit to be governed and not to govern yet having health and strength are able to do good service by the direction of others 2. Some through want and penury or a competent Estate or Family of their own became mercenary hired servants who otherwise were free Such are most of our Servants 3 Some for Debt â—ell their Children and sometimes themselves for Servants and Bond-slaves These might be called Vendititii who sold their children and themselves 4. After that a greater multiplication of Mankind into greater Societies as Cities and Civil States They waged War one against another and by the Law and general consent of Nations the goods of the Conquered became a lawful spoyl and the persons captives and slaves to the Conquerours and so Servants were increased These were Servi Capti Servants taken in War who had their life for a prey and their maintainance for their service 5. And if these or any others were detained as servants in a Family and suffered to marry and had children these children were servants called in Latine Verâ—ae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Septuagint Gen. 17. 13. 6. If any were bought they were called in that respect EMPTITII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bought with money Yet these being Servants before by this Act became Servants to those who bought them 7. Many were brought into Servitude most unjustly by Men-stealers who are called Plagiarii 8. Amongst these may be reckoned Apprentices who in some Trade or Profession serve under their Masters till the time of manumission and liberty The Duty of all Servants § XII as such is to do service to their Masters willingly faithfully diligently as in the presence of God the great Master of Heaven Their aym must be to preserve and improve their Masters Estate whose work they do and they must know that they are not Sui juris either free or their own Masters and that their Masters Will must be their Will because they are under their Power and Command These two Duties of Faithfulness and Diligence are proper and though they be bound to Reverence Subjection Obedience yet these are common Duties which all Inferiours under the power of another are bound to perform Let all Servants hearken to the Doctrine of the Apostles and practise it They must be obedient to their own Masters in the flesh with fear and trembling in singlenesse of heart as unto Christ not with Eye-service as men pleasers but as the Servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart with good will doing service to the Lord and not to men Knowing that what good thing any man doth the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free Eph. 6. 5 6 7 8. Knowing that of the Lord yee shall receive the inheritance for ye serve the Lord. But he that doth wrong shall receive for the wrong he hath done and there is no respect of persons Col. 3. 24 25. They must not purloin but shew all fidelity Tit. 2. 10. And they must honour not onely their Christian but their unbelieving Masters 1 Tim. 6. 1. and not onely the gentle and good but the froward 1 Pet. 2. 18. In all which places we may observe the Dutyes the Sins the Rewards the Punishments of servants Their Dutyes are fidelity and diligence in their Service Their Sins murmuring purloining unfaithfulnesse negligence The Reward of good servants is not onely maintenance and wages on earth but God's blessing and a reward in heaven The Punishment of bad servants is not onely such as the severity of their Masters shall inflict but the curse of God here and hereafter Amongst servants may be reckoned Factours and such as undertake the businesse of others for wages and thereupon because they are trusted are bound to account Under this head may be reduced all such as are hired to do work for others Besides all these there are in a family such as neither be children nor servants but such as sojourn and dwell with the Master of the family and are in some sort under his power as strangers and sojourners in a forreign State may be said to be unperfectly subjects to the power of the State where they live for a time The Duty of Masters is to give unto their servants that which is just and equal knowing that they also have a Master in Heaven Col. 4. 1. They must not oppress them abuse them or deny unto them any thing which the Lawes of God the just Lawes of men and their own contract doth allow them If it be a sin to be unmercifull to a Beast much more is it to be unmercifull to a man And though servants cannot right themselves yet God will hear their cry and judge their cause Before I conclude this point of the Duty of Servants and Masters one thing is to be observed That christian Masters should be of all others most just unto their meanest servants because they professe their belief of that Master in heaven and as he is mercifull and just to them so they should be unto their servants Christian servants also should remember that they do service not onely unto man but God and to God not onely as Creator but to him as Redeemer and to Jesus Christ who is exalted at the right hand of God and though they be Servants to men yet if they truly believe they are Sons of God and may expect an inheritance in heaven And besides their other sins this is grievous if they run from their Masters as Onesimus did from Philemon A family is the seminary both of the Church § XIII and civil State And as a State or Church may be said to be a great family so a family well ordered may be called a little common-wealth civill or ecclesiastical Therefore I proceed from oeconomical to politick dutyes which by analogy are reducible to this 5th commandement A family which seems to be onely a private society may multiply into severall familyes and they into Vicinityes and greater multitudes And though every family hath an order of superiority and subjection yet the severall families and Vicinityes being distinct have no power one over another but in that respect are equall Yet these may associate and unite themselves into a community and become one body not onely by confederation for friendship and mutuall help commerce and defence but may enter into a stricter bond of Union and become politick and establish an order of superiority and subjection either for matters of this life or for Religion or for both as Israel set at liberty by God and brought out of Egypt was incorporate into one common-wealth civil and ecclesiastical For in the constitution of a common-wealth the community is the subject and matter the order of superiority and subjection is the form There must be a supreme power one universall Will and Power and the subject
help and comfort and upon the Fall Per accidens the avoiding of Fornication One effect and that a principal one is That the Wife hath not power of her own body but the Husband and likewise also the Husband hath not power of his own body but the Wife and this is the reason why Adultery is so grievous a sin and a just cause of dissolution because the party committing it doth give that body which is anothers and not their own unto a third party contrary to Gods institution the Covenant and the principal end of marriage Amongst Christians this Marriage doth resemble that spiritual and blessed union of Christ and the Church begun on Earth to be consuâ—mate in Heaven and should be entred upon and continued so and also observed in that holy manner as that it may be a furtherance not an hinderance to that more Heavenly bond and society We should first give our selves to be married to Christ before we give our selves to be married one unto another For Redemption did not abolish but perfect Marriage It 's not made necessary to eternal life for as we may be married and not saved so we may be unmarried and yet Married to Christ and Saved Yet all Christians should marry in the Lord Though the Marriage of Heathens as Marriage is lawfull and their children born in Marriage are legitimate By these things premised concerning Marriage § II we may easily understand what Adultery is It is the defiling of the Marriage-bed The Apostle saith Let Marriage be honourable in all and let the bed be undefiled Heb. 13. 4. That the words are a dehortation appeareth from the context The sin dehorted from is Adultery which is a dishonouring of Marriage and a defiling of the Marriage bed This Adultery is opposed to chastity and fidelity in married persons The sense is Let all that are married preserve the honour of Marriage and preserve the Marriage-bed pure This Adultery is committed three wayes 1. When the Adulterer is single and the Adulteresse Married 2. When the Woman is single and the Man or Adulterer Maâ—ried 3. When both the parties are Married When one party onely is Married and the other single one bed onely is defiled but when both the parties are Married two Marriage-beds are defiled by one act This Commandment followeth the former in order For the best and nearest thing is Mans life the next is his Wife who by Gods institution and solemn contract is one Person and one flesh with him And for an Husband or Wife to commit this sin is a wrong unto their bodies which is of more account then their goods can be And Adultery is a wrong more heynous than Theft and next to that of Murther Some have observed that the sixth and seventh Commandement are fitly joyned together because Adultery and Murther often go together And we must avoid Adultery the cause that we may avoid Murther which is often committed to conceal Adultery as in the example of David who having committed Adultery with Vriah's Wife caused him to be slain lest his Adultery should be discovered Others consent to murder that they may enjoy one another more freely Thus Adulterous Wives conspire with their Paramours to poyson or secretly murder their Husbands Adultery in either Party is a grievous sin but especially in the Wife because it may bring in a Bastard and a spurious brood to inherit her Husbands estate This sin appears to be heinous many wayes § III and therefore ought with the greater care to be avoided and abhorred It 's contrary to Gods institution to the sacred and solemn contract of the Married parties it 's a dishonour of the body For every one should know how to possesse his Vessell in Sanctification and honour 1. Thâ—ss 4. 4. This Vessel is the body the Sanctification and honour is chastity Which implies that Adultery as also fornication is the dishonour and slain of the body In this respect it may be said that he that committeth Fornication sinneth against his own body It 's a disgrace to the Children a blot upon the Family the cause of wofull discord the dissolution of the sacred bond the ruine of Families and the â—ource of many miseries This is farther evident from the Penalty determined by God against this sin which was death The Man that committeth Adultery with another Mans wife even he that committeth Adultery with his Neighbours Wife both the Adulterer and Adulteresse shall surely be put to death Levit. 20. 10. Judah adjudgeth his daughter in Lâ—w Thamar to the fire for Adultâ—ry Many Heathen States made it Capital The King of Babylon condemned Ahab and Zedechiah to be burnt for this sin Jer. 29. 22 23. The Tribe of Benjamin was almost destroyed for the same Judg. 19 20. Chapters David commits Adultery in secret and his own Concubines are defiled by his own Son in the sight of the Sun and all Israel And for this sin God was so incensed with the Men of Judah that he saith Shall not I visit for these things Shall not my Soul be avenged on such a Nation as this Jer. 5. 8 9. Diseases and beggery with perpepual inâ—amy and sometimes death follow by Gods just Judgments upon the Parties guilty of this Crime Again this society of Marriage being ordained for propagation is the Seminary of Church and state and if it be stained by Adultery both are stained And to multiply a Bastard brood for the beginning of a Civil or Ecclesiasticall association is to be abhorred by all Wise and honest much more by Religious Persons It 's a curse and dishonour to any people to be derived from any such spurious spawn Therefore all well-ordered states have made strict Laws concerning Marriages and most civilized Nations have their Rites and Customs for the more solemn Celebration of the same Christians appointed the Publication of the Banns and the solemnization of the Marriage it self was to be performed in the open Congregation with holy instructions exhortations and Prayers All this was done to prevent Fornication uncleannesse and Clandestine Marriages Again this Crime amongst Christians is more hainous because our bodies are the members of Christ the Temples of the Holy Ghost and are bought with the price of Christ's blood 1 Cor. 6. 15 16 17 18 19 â—0 This is a sin that shuts out of Heavens Kingdome Chap. 16. verse 9. 10. For this sin as for others the wrath of God comes upon the Children of disobedience Ephes. 5. 6. And Whoremongers and Adulterers God will Judge Heb. 13. 4. And he will punish them not onely with temporall but if they repent not with eternall punishments Though Adultery § IV as most pernicious to humane Society be onely forbidden expresly yet implicitly many other sins come under this Prohibition And for the better understanding of this commandement as of some others we must take notice of some Rules given by Catechists Casuists and Expositors viz. That where one sin is forbidden all of that
Sports Gaming For if any man take such a course of life as that his Expences shall exceed his Estate he must either reform his ways or if he continue his expensive course he must be a Beggar in time or fall upon some inordinate way or unjust means of acquiring that which is not his own Pride and Ambition are costly and will not be maintained with a little and most men spend their Estates either in Vanity or Iniquity Both these are grievous sins and the latter the rearer 4. Covetousness is a great cause of Theft and Injustice and it 's very unmerciful will pitty no man do right to none wrong to any use the basest and most sordid yea the most horrid means to gain It will not onely oppress but murder the Fatherless and Widow or any other to gain their Estates 5. Fear of want weakness of Faith whereby we should trust in God and cast our care upon him is a temptation to this sin as also discontentedness with that Estate God hath given us and too much love of our selves Lastly if we do not seriously consider and certainly believe that we are but Stewards of our goods and must dispose of them according to God's Will so as not onely to be just but also merciful and both just and merciful in thâ—â— degree not that the Laws of men but of God require we must needs be Transgressours of this Law The affirmative part follows § IX And by what is forbidden may be easily known what is commanded and in one word it's Justice not Justice measured by the Laws of men but the Laws of Christ which includes Equity Mercy Liberâ—lity according to our ability The particular Branches of this Justice may be understood by the several kinds of Injustice formerly mentioned and therefore I need not proceed to particulars The degrees also answer to the degrees of Theft For this Duty as all the rest begins in the Heart which must be resolved out of love to Justice to do no man wrong to do every one right not onely in paying Debts making Satisfaction and Restitution where Wrong hath been done to which he may be forced by the Laws of men but also he must be merciful and relieve the Poor and give to pious Uses and always rather ready to want and suffer wrong then to do wrong It goes on in Words and Writings in all which he must be plain honest faithful constant true and no ways chargeable with Deceit or Dishonesty and Double-dealing In our Deeds we must acquire justly use honestly give freely detain nothing that is due when it 's due nor take any advantage to the injury and dammage of another though it be in our own power and though we swear to our own hurt yet we must not change Psal. 15. 4. The means to the Observation of Justice § X are many For 1. We must consider that these Earthly Goods are given us to preserve our lives in this time of our Pilgrimage and a little will do it and when we come unto our abiding City which God hath prepared we shall not have any need of these things 2. We are but Stewards of our goods and are bound to give an account both how we get them and how we spend them to our God 3. They are given us to be used so as to seek God's Kingdom and lay up Treasure in Heaven where we must expect a glorious Inheritance and an Eternal Estate in comparison of which all the Treasurers of the World are but trash 4. We were not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold which cannot deliver us from Death much less from sin and the Eternal Punishments of Hell 5. Seeing we were redeemed by the precious bloud of Christ we must give our selves and goods wholly to him to be disposed of according to his Will Without the consideration of these things we cannot Evangelically as Christians obey this Commandement These are general means The particulars are 1. Contentedness with our estate which God hath given us be it more or less The Apostle tells us and we may believe him That godliness with contentment is great gain and he gives a reason to perswade us for we brought nothing into this World and it 's certain we can carry nothing out And having Food and Rayment let us therewith be content 1 Tim. 6. 6 7 8. And Experience will tell us that all the rest though never so much besides these are needless 2. We must not be idle but painful and laborious and use some honest Profession to maintain our selves and relieve others 3. We must be provident and wise in using and ordering that which we have 4. We must be frugal and sparing in an honest way not sordid and we must take heed of all expensive courses in things that are vain and sinful and keep within our compass 5. We must know that the way to thrive is to be honest and merciful and if we first of all seek God's Kingdom and His Righteousness trusting in our God we may be sure we shall be provided for To perswade us to the observation of this Law § XI besides the general Reason from the Command of God not onely Creatour but Redeemer the Eternal Punishments threatned and Rewards promised our own Vows and Promises to our God and the power of Grace given us for obedience There are many particular Disswasives from Theft and Injustice and Swasives to just Dealing Equity and Mercy 1. This is directly contrary to the peace and welfare of Humane Society which cannot be continued if Theft Rapine Injustice unmercifulness oppression be suffered For how many Dissentions Quarrels Miseries arise from this Sin 2. The folly of Injustice Oppression and Covetousness appears to be great if we consult the Scriptures For they inform us that whilest men seek to gain they lose whilest they enrich themselves unjustly they become poor For Goods and Estates acquired unjustly waste away the Curse of God consumes them their Lands Houses Treasures fall into the hands of others They â—â—ave them in the midst of their days and find little or no comfort in them And the more uncertain they are in themselves and corruptible the more uncertain the Possession and Enjoyment the more frail and mortal the Owners be the greater the â—olly is They do but load themselves with thick Clay and lay snares for their own lives and bring upon themselves Destruction 3. The Punishments threatned and executed by God and recorded in the Scripture are very fearful For not onely private Persons but great and noble Families and whole Nations have suffered for this sin And God hath many ways signified his detestation of Covetousness and indignation against Oppression hath promised to hear the Cries of the Oppressed and to revenge their cause and wrongs 4. It 's contrary and that directly unto Christianity insomuch as that Christ will punish with Eternal Fire not onely such as have been Thieves covetous Oppressours but even such
Summons to Arrest Attach serve Writs make true returnes content themselves with such fees as are due by Law and execute the Commands of superiour Magistrates and the Judgements of the Judges and honestly and conscionably do all things the Law requires of them in their places But great is the iniquity of many of this kind of Officers To conclude all persons that have any thing to do in judgment should do their best endeavour to advance justice otherwise where innocent just persons should expect right and protection they will find iniquity and the greatest oppression And with the Wise-man of old we shall see under the Sâ—n the place of judgment that wickednesse is there and the place of righteousnesse that iniquity is there Eccles. 3. 16. And in many States we may observe such corruption in all Courts of judgement that the foundations of Laws and justice are overthrown and the righteous have no place of sanctuary on earth but must appeale to God who is in his holy Temple whose Throne is in Heaven Psal. 11. 3. 4. There be many Cases of Conscience reducible to this Commandement wherein such as desire to be satisfied must either consult with the Casuists or with such as are well studied in that kind of learning There be many and weighty reasons given in Scripture § XI to perswade and incline us to the obedience of this Commandement For it 's full and frequent in Prohibitions Reproofs Threatnings against this kind of injustice And we have many examples of Gods judgements severely executed upon Delinquents in this kind Paul condemns it as a sin in Christians to go to Law one with another especially before Heathen Judges and signifies that they should rather suffer themselves to be defrauded 1 Cor. 6. 7. By which words he implyes that Christians should give no cause and that if cause be given we should rather suffer them sin and contend in Law because it gives offence and opens the mouths of prophane persons against our profession of piety and purity in practise And because a false Witnesse perverts judgment leads the Judge aside and wrongs our Neighbour and disappoints him of that right he expected God commanded that a false witnesse should be punished with that punishment the party litigant if condemned should have suffered The Judges must make diligent inquisition and behold if the Witnesse be a false witnesse and hath testified falsly against his Brother then they must do unto him as he had thought to have done unto his Brother so they should put evill from amongst them And those which remaine should hear and feare and from henceforth commit no more any such evill amongst them And their eye shall not pitty but life must go for life eye for eye tooth for tooth hand for hand and foot for foot Deut. 19. 18 19 20 21 For a false-witnesse forsweares himself and so dishonours God wrongs his innocent Neighbour blinds the Judge and so perverts judgement and there is a complication of sins in this one of false witnesse All pâ—rsons that concur any wayes especially willingly make themselves guilty either of dishonour of superiours or Murder or Adultery or Theft as the cause unjustly determined shall be To justifie the Wicked and condemn the innocent are most heynoâ—s crimes and most fearfull woes are denounced against such persons as shall either out of covetousnesse or fear or favour or hatred judge unjustly If either false witnesse or perverting of law or unjust judgement may be suffered no man can be safe or secure of his credit his life his Wife or estate When the administration of justice is neglected much more when Tribunals and Courts of judgement which should be sacred are corrupted with partiality bribery or any other way there must needs follow a liberty to sin impunity in wickednesse the ruine or oppression of the weak the poore the just and innocent and a great confusion thereupon This kind of injustice is contrary to Gods institution of all government and the commission whereby he hath derived jurisdiction unto men and trusted the sword of justice in their hand For it was given unto man to protect the innocent and take vengance on evill doers The effects of it are sad and the event through Gods just judgment is the ruine of many and great familyes the alienation and consumption of many goodly estates the desolation of whole Nations and Kingdomes By receiving false accusations and passing unjust sentence Jesus Christ the Son of God was put to death Steven stoned James slain with the sword and many thousand Saints cut off and others of Gods just ones cruelly persecuted This is reckoned amongst others as a crying sin which brought famin pestilence sword Captivity upon the Jews and the desolation of their goodly City Temple and Kingdome How heavy was the hand of God upon the Jews who so earnestly pressed Pilate to condemn Christ unjustly Neither did Pilate who hearkened unto them escape the hand of God for he murdered himself Rash and unjust censures and judgment extrajudiciall shall not go unpunished All these things briefly mentioned may be sufficient to cause any man to hate this sin and detest to be a false witnesse or an unjust Judge or any wayes concur to pervert judgment If the fear of Gods judgments § XII the love of God and the detestation of unjust judgment cannot disswade us from this and restrain us yet let the commands of God his commendation and approbation of this justice the promises of rewards and the blessed consequents of this virtue move all men to have a speciall care of keeping the affirmative part of this precept As God hath commanded and commended it so hath he promised many mercyes to such as do their duty in this particular desiring endeavouring thirsting after distributive and judiciall righteousnesse Hearken what he saith to the Jews Learn to dowell seek judgment relieve the oppressed Judge the Fatherlesse plead for the Widdow Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord Though your sins be as Scarlet they shall be white as Snow though they be red as Crimson they shall be as Wool If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good of the land But if ye refuse and rebell the sword shall devour you For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Esa. 1. 17 18 19 20 Where we may observe that this justice in judgment prevents or averts judgments and renders men capable of mercy peace and plenty It 's a protection to innocency and piety the scourge of sin the purity and honour of a Nation the love and joy of all good people a meanes to preserve peace and safety the terrour of wicked men the support and pillar of Thrones and Kingdomes CHAP. XVI The Tenth Commandment THis is the last § I though not the least Commandement of this Eternal Law It 's the greateâ—â— of the Second Table as the first is the greatest of the First Table So our Blessed Saviour informed us
is here Virtually and Really present by his Spirit in this Sacrament as in all other his Ordinances and in a speciall manner and the same powerfull and comfortable to the worthy receiver The Papists have put a difference between the Sacrifice of the Masse § XVII and the Sacrament of the Eucharist and for the former Service they have their direction from the Missal for the Later from the Rituall Yet Christ did but institute a Sacrament and not a Sacrifice and in the same the bread and wine is commanded to be used in blessing the giving and receiving of both and not the offering of the body and blood of Christ for that offering was once made never to be made again And whereas they do affirm that the Sacrifice of the Masse is properly a Sacrifice Propitiatory for the Sins of the living and the dead and the same with that Sacrifice which Christ offered upon the Crosse it cannot be true neither can it be credible to any rationall unprejudiced person For a Sacrifice properly so taken especially ilasticall or propitiatory is essentially bloody as wherein the thing Sacrificed is first slain then offered But the Sacrifice of the Crosse as they themselves confesse is INCRUENTUM unbloody and therein is no death of the thing Sacrificed Neither can it be the same with that which Christ offered upon the Crosse For to that it was essential that Christ's body should be broken and the blood shed and offered unto God without spot by the eternall Spirit and without this Death and offering it could not have bin this Sacrifice at all and this Sacrifice was but offered once and once offered was never to be offered again For once in the end of the World hath he appeared to put away sin by the Sacrifice of himself Heb. 10. 14. So that we have here but one Sacrifice and the same once offered yet of eternall vertue If this Sacrifice of the Masse were the same which they affirm with the Sacrifice upon the Crosse it must needs be granted that it is propitiatory But they confesse 1. That it is incruentum 2. That it is not Expiatorium Redemptorium 3. That it 's only Commemoratorium Applicatorium By the First they grant that it 's not essentially the same By the Second that it 's not effectively the same By the Third that it 's only a Commemoration and a meanes of the Application of the same And if they would lay aside the Sacrifice of the Masse and acknowledge the Sacrifice of the Crosse and celebrate the Sacrament as it was instituted by Christ We should easily grant that therein there is a Commemoration of Christ's death and Sacrifice once offered and that this Sacrament is a meanes whereby that Sacrifice is applied Before I conclude this Doctrine of the Sacraments § XVIII I will examine 1. Who have power and right to administer them 2. To whom they may lawfully be administred 3. Whether they are to be administred according to humane judgment which is fallible or divine judgment which is infallible For the first of these Who have power to administer That 's easily and briefly determined For they who are trusted with the word and have Commmission to preach the Gospel they have power to administer these Sacraments This in respect of Baptism appears in the mission of the Apostles into all Nations For by that Commission they who must teach must baptize And we never read of any Commission given to any others either to baptize or administer the Lords supper And the constant practice of the universall Church so far as known to us hath bin conformable to this Commission What may be done in case of necessity which God not man hath brought us unto is another thing For in such cases God dispenseth with many things required in his own Institution As for the second question § XIX To whom may they be administred The answer in generall is 1. They may be administred to such as have a right unto them who are Christ's disciples and may be judged fit to be members of the Church visible and in the number of Christians 2. We must distinguish between the subjects who have a right to the actuall participation of Baptism and such as have aright to the actual participation of the Lords supper 3. Of such as may be subjects capable of Baptism some are Adulti and these if they be disciples and manifest themselves to be such they no doubt may be baptized But all the controversy in our unhappy dayes is Whether Infants of Christians and believing Parents may be baptized or no In this controversy I shall deliver my knowledge and judgment as briefly as may be 1. Infants as Infants and Children of Turks Pagans unbelieving Jews are not capable of Baptism neither as Infants nor Infants of such Parents 2. Infants as Infants and considered Physically as distinct persons from their Parents are not capable of or have any right to Baptism 3. The Infants of Christian Parents so considered as distinct persons from their Christian Parents as Christians have no right unto it 4. The Infants of Christian and believâ—ng Parents considered as one person with them as Christians and believers have right to Baptism For if they be one person with them as Christians they must needs have some kind of right to Baptism as their Parents have 5. They have not this right from them by Nature nor humane Laws for so they only receive their humane nature from them as their Parents have humane nature and this naturally and if their Parents be free or noble by humane Laws they derive freedom or nobility 6. That they derive this right from their Parents as Christians it 's from Gods free mercy and gracious ordination which includes the Children in Covenant with the Parents 7. Children are one person with their parents both by the Law of God and the Laws of Men and that in many things and especially in Obligations in Priviledges in rewards and punishments By the Laws of men in civill matters we know that SUI HEREDES as the Civilians call them derive a right unto their Parents estate though there be no Testament or if a Testament and the same they be excluded because the Law grounded upon nature considers them as one person with their Parents or next kindred deceased If the Father be a subject of a free State and so bound to subjection unto the Laws the Son born of him as a subject of that State is bound to the Lawes and derives that obligation from his Father as one person with him neiâ—her is it materiall whether the Father was a subject naturall or naturaliz'd If the Father dye indebted and the Heir enter upon the estate by vertue of that Will He by the civill Law falls under the same obligation as one with the Father and is bound to discharge the debts Paul was born a Roman Act. 22. 28. and all the Priviledges of a Roman he had by birth
transgress the just and holy Laws of this Spiritual Kingdom That we may he better understand the words of this Petition we must enquire 1. What Temptation is 2. What it is to be â—ed into Temptation 3. What we pray for in these words Temptation morally and strictly taken may be said to be any thing which unduceth and moveth us to sin as of it 's own Nature tending thereunto For we must conceive Temptations as in themselves tending directly to pâ—oduce or cause actual sins Yet because many times they are not onely resistâ—d but overcome they are like Attempts Assaults Endeavours which aim at sin yet do not always take effect They may be actual causes of sin yet sometimes are not sometimes are essicients thereof A Temptation may be called not merely a thing but an act Binsfield the Sâ—ffragan of Triers defines it to be Assimulatio Boni ad fallendum His meaning is that it is a Representation of a thing as good though it be evil to incline us to it or of something that is good as evil to restrain us from it And the end of it is to deceive the party tempted For because the Will of Man is so created of God that it neither can be forced or necessitated to sin not approve like chuse desire love consent unto anything represented and apprehended as eâ—il therefore every Tempter goes about to delude the apprehension pervert the Judgment corrupt the Will and so entice incline and incite it freely unto evil The great Tempter is the Devil § XIV an implacable and eternal Enemy to the Subjects of God's Kingdom And if he can perswade them to sin and to transgress the Laws of their Soveraign he knows he doth them a mischief Because upon their obedience depends their Eternal Peace and Welfare He knows our Constitutions Inclinations Frailties and Imperfections He observes our security and negligence and takes all advantages against us as being active restless subtile strong vigilant raging and malicious ever seeking not onely our Temporal but Eternal Ruine The danger from him is the greater because of his boldness in that he durst attempt our Saviour the Son of God and of his success in that he prevailed not onely against Sampson David Solomon Peter and other great Worthies but also against Adam Innocent He tempts man sometimes immediately and that either invisibly or visibly by some Form or Bodily Shape assumed wherein he appears to Man as once he abused the Serpent to deceive Eve Yet often he doth his cursed Works by others mediately and his most effectual Instruments are the wicked of the world who by their evil example bad Custom false Doctrine pernicious Counsels impious and unjust Laws perverse Judgments Perswasions Menaces Promises Persecutions Gifts Allurements and other ways restraining thousands from doing good stirring them up and inclining them to evil He also takes advantage from the Sensitive Part from the Ignorance of the Understanding the Depravation of the Will the Flesh lusting against the Spirit and rebelling not onely against the Dictates of right Reason but the Illuminations and Motions of the Spirit and from the Violence of our Passions and Vehemency of our inordinate Affection The more of Flesh and Lust is in us the stronger he is against us because we carry in our Bosome nay in our Bowels a treacherous Enemy ready to confederate with him and betray us unto him and so makes our selves to tempt our selves For Man is tempted of himself when he is drawn away of his own Lust and enticed Jam. 1. 14. Thus you understand in some measure what Temptation is and that the parties tempting us without are the Devil and the World and within us the Flesh and Corruption But what is it To be led into Temptation It 's not merely to be tempted for so have many been and have not onely resisted but overcome the Tempter and that sometimes with ease And no Temptation except entertained and in some measure consented unto can do us any hurt And whatsoever God by His Almighty Power may do yet neither Man or Devil can necessitate us to sin To be led or brought into temptation therefore is so to be tempted as that there is great danger we shall be overcome For if we be surprized found neither watching nor armed nor any way prepared for Defence or if we be weak and the Temptation violent and above our strength or if we be deserted and left destitute of help and sufficient assistance or if Divine Providence leave us circumvented so that there is no ways to escape then are we led into Temptation and shall hardly escape The thing § XV therefore prayed for is Not to be led into Temptation It 's not that God would not suffer us to be tempted at all at any time but that He would be pleased when He sees us weak and not able to stand either to divert it or delay it and so for the time to prevent it Or if that it be His Will that we must be tempted that He would not desert us and deny His assistance or not suffer us to presume or despair or that He restrain the violence of the Tempter and abate the strength of the Temptation or proportion it to our strength and our strength to it lest it prove Superiour so that though the Temptation be continued long be violent and extraordinary we may have great and extraordinary power and assistance not onely to resist but conquer or that He would make a way to escape and that He would never suffer us to be secure but stir us up that we may be ever watchful In a word we pray for clearness of Understanding soundness of Judgment integrity of Heart a great measure of Confidence and Prudence in Heavenly Things and all the Graces of the Spirit strong Resolutions against Sin constancy in the profession and practice of His Truth power over Passions and Affections Noble and Divine Affections so that we may be above the fears and desires of the World whereby men are intangled in the snares of Sathan his continual care and assistance until the very hour of Death and that in our hardest and extream Conflicts He would stand at our right hand perfect stablish strengthen settle us and shortly tread Sathan under our feet that so we may obtain a final Victory and the state of safety and security wherein we shall never be in danger of sin and temptation any more We ought to be the more earnest and fervent in this Petition because we know our own weakness the strength and violence of temptation the sad condition of such as are foyled the glory joy and comfort of the Victory And this is our great advantage that Christ hath overcome the World cast out the Prince of Darkness and being tempted and that violently himself He pities us the more and hath the greater care of us Yet Importunity will little avail us except we stand continually upon our Watch strongly armed with the compleat
Armour of God use the strength God hath given us take all opportunity to do good avoid the causes and occasions of sin not presume upon our own power humbly rely upon God be patient and continue fighting defend our selves and resist the Enemy unto Death and if we be sometimes worsted and wounded presently renew our Repentance and Faith return unto the Fight again with greater Care and stronger Resolutions make no Truce with the Enemy give him no respight never faint nor intermit the War till Sin be fully and finally subdued in us The words of this Petition do seem to imply that God doth lead us sometimes into temptation and the expression seems strange For God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth He any man Jam. 1. 13. Therefore we must understand the words so As 1. In no wise to think that God doth or can move or induce any man to sin for this cannot any ways stand with His purest Holiness nor with His most Holy Law 2. Yet because nothing can be done or come to pass without His Divine Providence either effecting or permitting or ordering therefore God may be said to lead into temptation because He either permits us to be tempted and neither restrains the Tempter nor prevents the Temptation For if a Sparrow fall not to the ground much less is Man tempted without His Will and Providence 3. God doth put a Man in such a condition as wherein He shall be tempted and the condition it self is such as no ways in it self tends unto sin yet through Man's Negligence or Corruption may be a great occasion of Temptation And so He may be said to tempt per accidens An estate of Peace and Wealth is good yet such is the subtilty of Sathan and the corruption of Man that few in that condition but are tempted and overcome 4. God may be said to lead us into temptation when He for some just canses denies us deliverance from and out of the same For desertions denial of assistance strength and a competent Superiour Degree of both are many times just Juâ—gments of God 5. God many times brings his own Children into an estate of Temptation on purpose to try their Faith and excellent Vertues and so gives them a glorious Victory Yet we must know that God necessitates no Man to sin and if in temptation we be overcome it 's not His but our own fault The last Petition is § XVI Deliver us from evil Some understand this as a branch of the former Petition as indeed it may be in some sense For suppose it to be meant of the evil of afflictions yet even these are called Trials and Temptations Jam. 1. 2. and Satan from these takes occasion and sometimes advantage from them to tempt us Job's afflictions as from Sathan were temptations Some understand by that word Evil Sathan that great Enemy and terrible Adversary Some say that that Evil is the evil of Sin as though we should say unto our Heavenly Father Though thou suffer us to be tempted yet deliver us from the evil of temptation which is Sin Yet the evil of Affliction Tribulation Persecution and the Misery of this life is not in it self sin though Satan and wicked men may seek by these to draw us to sin And whether they be punishments according to the fifth Petition for former sins or chastisements and corrections for future Reformation or Trials of our Faith and Patience yet we must pray that God would sanctifie us in them sanctifie them unto us and wholly and for ever deliver us from them seeing God hath promised to wipe away all tears and make all things new For they are not good in themselves though He by His Wisdom turn them to our good But we cannot be fully happy till wholly freed from them After the Preface and the Body of the Prayer wherein our Saviour teacheth us by whom for whom to whom in what manner for what things we must pray and give thanks follows the Conclusion in these words For thine is the Kingdom Power and Glory Concerning these words § XVII divers things are to be noted 1. That as Grotius and divers others have observed they are not found in the most ancient Greek Copies in Matthew as they are not mentioned in Luke 2. Yet they are found in the Arabick Syriack and Vulgar Latine Translations whereupon He conceives those Translations to be made after the Liturgies of the Churches were brought unto a certain Form 3. Some understand these words so as to contain certain Reasons whereupon we ought to press our Petitions before the Throne of Grace and so move Him to give them For His is the Kingdom which they desire to come His Power alone which can effect these things and the granting of them tends unto and will end in His Glory We may observe in the Prayers of the Scripture that God's Saints did urge and press their Petitions upon God'â— Mercy His Justice His Power and Glory His place of Universal Judge His Promise and Covenant the Justice of their Cause the Iniquity and Cruelty of their Enemies their misery and sad condition their joy and comfort which would follow upon their Deliverance their Relation to Him His former Favours and such like And with these they added Solemn Vows of Reformation Praise and Thanksgiving 4. They may be understood as a Doxologie with which the Apostles and the Church did use to conclude their Prayers And hereof we have many Examples especially in the New Testament and in ancient Liturgies following the Scriptures And as the Preface and the words thereof spoken unto God with humble Aâ—oration is a fit Salutation of our Heavenly Father upon our entrance into His Preâ—ence by it to make way for our Prayers so a Doxologie is a very fit Valediction when we have ended our Prayers and depart as it were from His Presence 5. This Doxologie doth agree in general with others in the Scripture but it 's not to distinct and particular as many of them be which offer and ascribe praiâ—e and glory unto God either in the Name of or by Christ as Ephes. 3. 21. or unto Christ 1 Tim. 6. 16. or to God and the Lamb Christ Jesus Revel 5. 13. That Doxologie Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost c. was very agreeable to the Scriptures very ancient the Epitome of all other Doxologies and so a Doxologie that it was a Confession of our Faith in God the Father Son and Holy Ghost This seems to be essential to Prayer and to be either implyed or expressed in every Prayer The word Amen is the Epitome of the Prayer summing up the whole and praying it oveâ— again and repeating our desires jointly in one word and in publike Prayers it 's to be uttered by the people by way of answer not onely to signifie the former act of praying all again in one word but also their consent 1 Cor. 14. 16. And it may be
〈◊〉 onely his Protection and Preservation as Humane Law-givers onely do yet He was willing by Promises to bind Himself to reward him gloriously and after he had lost his power to send Christ to redeem him and give him a new power and first to promise to give him excellent Rewards and in the end actually to reward him for Christs sake with full and everlasting glory and that upon easie and fairest terms For this cause is his Mercy so often magnified in the Scriptures and especially in the Gospel Therefore is it said That God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith He loved us even then when we were dead in sins He quickned us by Grace we are saved and raised us up together and made us â—it in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus that in the Ages to come He might shew the exceeding Riches of His Grace in His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus Ephes. 2. 4 5 6 7. And it was His great mercy that He doth threaten no sinners and offenders with punishments unavoidable or unremoveable but final Impenitents and Unbelievers as such From all this His Promises may be described to be A part of the Laws of God-Redeemer whereby He freely bound Himself and did signifie that for Christ's sake He would give all Mercies to Man believing that may make him for ever fully blessed And his Threats are A signification of His Will whereby the party offending should be liable to punishments removeable or unavoible upon certain conditions and onely unremoveable or unavoidable upon â—â—nal unbelief There was one great Promise made presently upon the Fall to give Christ. And this was fully performed in the fulness of time and so to us it 's no Promise and this was not made in consideration of the merit and satisfaction of Christ and did at first include a Promise to call and afford the means of Conversion The rest of the Promises were grounded upon the Satisfaction and Merit of Christ and were better Promises then those of the Law of Works And they are better not onely in respect of the things pâ—omised but of the tearms upon which the Promises were to be performed They are exceeding great and precious that by them we might be partakers of the Divine Nature having escaped the corruption that is in the World through Lust 2 Pet. 1. 4. Some tell us § IV that the Gospel threatens not any sin with Death but final Unbelief And hereupon ariseth a Question about the Threats of the Gospel Whether there be any such Threats of the Gospel which make the Offender liable to Death but onely the final Unbeliever For Solution whereof we must consider 1. That if the Gospel were so strictly taken as it is by many as to contain and consist onely in Promises then it would follow that no sin no not final unbelief could be threatned with Death by the Laws of God-Redeemer as Redeemer 2. We must know that in Scripture by Death is meant punishment in general Whether it be Temporal or Eternal Bodily or Spirituall 3. That every sin deserves Death that is Punishment whether they be sins against the Law of Works or of Grace 4. That the same sins against the morall Law which were threatned with Death by the Law of Works are threatned with Death by the Law of Grace For as that Law bound to obedience or upon Disobedience unto Death so doth this Yet observe 1. That the sins against the Law of grace are sins formally against God-Redeemer as such and giving Laws unto sinful man 2. That these sins have not only the nature of sins as transgressions of a Law of God but also the nature of impenitency and unbelief For whosoever continues in sin or delays if but an hour his return to God Redeemer is not only a sinner against God but an impenitent Sinner against God-Redeemer in Christ requiring repentance and faith instantly and not granting the liberty to continue in sin and to delay repentance for a moment 3. Though the Law threatned every sin against it with punishment and death unremoveable or unavoydable yet the Gospel though it threaten every sin against it with punishment yet it threatens none with punishment unremoveable or unavoyable but finall unbelief or such sins as upon which by his ordination finall unbelief is necessarily consequent 4. This Law of grace threatens not only sins against the morall Law but against the very Ceremonialls of the Gospel How else could the Corinthians have bin guilty of the body and blood of Christ and have suffered so grievous a punishment as many of them did for the unworthy receiving the Lords Supper The rule of this judgment was neither the Law of works as given to Adam nor as given to Israel either in the moralls or positives If any say that Christ died not to satisfie for such sins as finall unbeâ—ief and â—ins unto Death as Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost or some kind of Apostacy it may be said that one immediate effect of Christs death was to satisfie Gods justice and make sin remissible in generall not that it was God's intention that all sins or any sin should be remitted absolutely but upon certain termes defined by his wisdome and justice In this regard these sins as sins in generall were made remissible by Christs Sacrifice Yet in respect of Divine ordination and the termes defined for remission they are irremissible So that as sins by Christs death they are remissible yet made irremissible Per accidens in another respect Yet here we must observe that not only finall unbeliefe and impenitency are sins against the Laws of Redemption and the precepts of the Gospel but every degree of them from the first to the last from the least to the greatest are so too Neither is finall unbelief merely as finall unpardonable but per accidens Because after a certain time granted by God for belief is expired he will never vouchsafe time nor meanes or power for it afterwards and belief he hath made a necessary condition of pardon and hath decree'd never to pardon but upon this condition These promises § V or threats may be considered either formally or materially and in respect of their matter and accordingly may be discovered and summed up in Scripture All such places of Scripture as command and require Repentance and Faith have some promise annexed and the same either expressed or implyed And to such places these promises of God do properly belong For Promises and Duties go together and therefore in most of the promises the duty is expressed And they are made to persons so and so qualified Insomuch that till the person be rightly qualified he hath no immediate right unto the thing promised nor can have any hope of performance For God is only bound to performe his promise when man hath performed his duty This was the Wisdome of God so to make his promises that man might have no cause to presume or deceive himself The
Gen. 18. 25. Where he acknowledgeth 1. His Universall jurisdiction He is Judge of all the World 2. His absolute justice Shall He not do right That is certainly he Shall 6. His power is Almighty and as he can easily summon all before his judgment Seat even the greatest so he can execute his judgments to the full whether in punishments or rewards So that this Judgment is free from all the imperfections of humane Courts whether civil or Ecclesiasticall This judgment differs from that which he pass'd upon Men and Angels at the first For it hath another rule and conâ—iders the persons to be judged and their works under another notion and the Judge also is God as Redeemer The obedience or disobedience which are the proper formall object of this judgment are to be measured by the Laws of Redemption The one is faith the other unbelief And these things must seriously be considered lest we confound the several jurisdictions of this supreme Lord. â— This judgment is two-fold § II 1. Particular 2. Universal and final By Particular I meane the judgment of God passed and executed before the Resurrection By Universall that which follows when God shall keep his last and generall Assises And both these shall be considered 1. In the Punishments 2. In the Rewards To begin with the Punishments of the Particular judgment and they are either such as are determined and inflicted upon Collective bodyes or upon Single persons and they are either temporall or spirituall In the discovery of these punishments as likewise of the rewards I might take a Chronological method beginning with the first times of the World after the promise of Christ was made and â—o go through the Scriptures beginning with Gen. 4. and go on unto the end of the Revelation For even in the dayes of Adam God began to open his Court and set himself in the Throne of Justice and shall continue without any vacation or intermission unto the Resurrection Universal And here I might make use of humane Historyes which if true and wisely composed will manifest much of Gods just Judgments which take up a great part of those Voluâ—s But this to do would make these Divine Politicks and brief Treatise swell unto a Vast Volume Yet if any man of ability would single out this subject and enlarge upon it he might thereby much honour God and do great service unto Man There is another method might be taken and the same very usefuâ—l and that is to reduce the severall judgments to their proper places in the Laws of God Redeemer For as some sins are generall against all the Laws of God Some against the Morals Some against the Positives Some against some of the Moral precepts joyntly considered Some against the severall and particular precepts accordingly the punishments might be ranked and the same order might be observed in the rewards But lest we should confound the judgments of the two severall Governments amongst others two rules may be observed whereby we may difference them and this difference once known I may go on without interruption The 1. Rule is from the judgments themselves The 2. From the Laws and works disagreeable to these Laws 1. The judgments which fall and lye upon all mankind indefinitely as Mortality the curse of the earth ejection out of Paradise the perill and paine of Women in bearing and bringing forth Children and the paenal subjection of them unto their Husbands For these are common to all both believers and unbelievers and are inflicted upon all mankind without exception for the first sin Yet because some of these or some part of them may be in some measure removeable or abateable and yet continue they may become penaltyes inflicted by God Redeemer 2. The Lawes of God Creatour require perfect obedience not onely in all things and degrees but in all times and say thus Do this and live and if thou do not this thus thou must dye and there is no remedy but this Law if it be maâ—e the rule oâ—â—udgment as God might have made it The Law of God Redemeer saith Though thou hast sinned and dost sin yet if thou return by the power of my grace and believe thou shalt live and not dye Though thou art guilty and liable to punishment and the same lye upon thee in part yet upon these conditions the penalty may be removed or prevented Some of the sins forbidden in the Law of work are the same materially with those forbidden in the Gospel and so are some of the dutyes yet they differ formally if we speak after the manner of the Schools This you have heard before For any sâ—n after it once put on the notion of impenitency by delay and neglect to return it presently begins to be a sin against the Gospel And such are all sins committed after the first promise of Christ. Such was the Murder of Cain the corruption of the old world the filthinesse of Sodome and all the rest mentioned in the book of God from Gen. 4. to the end So that all the penaltyes as that of Cain the old World the Builders of Babel and the rest were penaltyes as threatned by so inflicted for the sins against God Redeemer All this is evident from the books of Moses and all the Prophets which speak to men as sinfull promise Christ forbid impenitency Preach and urge repentance and make all penaltyes removeable upon that condition which could not have been done if sin and penaltyes had been looked upon according to the Law of works Therefore it 's in vain to argue that because as the Law of Works commanded love to God love to Neighbour did forbid Idolatry Perjury Mâ—rder Theft c did threaten death and punishment for these sins so the Gospel commands the same dutyes forbids the very same things threatneth the same penaltyes and promiseth life that therefore the Law of works continueth especially the Morall Law For the precepts prohibitions promises threats of the Law of works and the Law of grace come under different notions For an instance we may amongst many places single out this one Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God and he will abundantly pardon Esa. 55. 7. The Law of works saith Be not Wicked Sin not at all The Law of Grace saith Though thou hast sinned and art wicked yet forsake thy wicked way and return unto the Lord against whom thou hast sinned The Law of Works saith Thou hast sinned and must dye I have no promise of life or Pardon for thee The Law of Grace saith though thou by thy sin hast deserved to dye yet upon condition of repentance and return thou shalt be Pardoned and live I touch more often upon this point and here stand more largely upon it because some will take no notice of it others who are sufficiently informed are hardly perswaded of this
which doth not cannot rellish affect heavenly and spirituall things so as to be moved by them effectually Because the word finds the heart of man under the guilt and dominion of sin § V and his corrupt lusts therefore one of the first things man is made sensible of is his sinfull and miserable condition Upon this the heart begins to bleed grieve smart as being deeply and mortally wounded And it may be God doth not at the first represent unto man all his sin but it may be one and the same principall or more predominant or some other nor discover all the punishments due but some few or one especially the eternall This may be called that part of judgment which we tearme to be Conviction upon Summons and a charge and the same confessed For when God hath thus made the heart of man sensible he is convinced confesseth accuseth and condemneth himself And though at the first the work begins with the apprehension and sense of one sin yet afterwards he begins to see his sins to be many and heinous and so his condition to be very miserable And in this case a man may continue a longer or a shorter time as it shall please God and this his sad condition is sometimes made more sad by outward afflictions or inward terrours or both and all this while the sinfull wretch is in danger of dispair if God prevent it not by restraining Satans rage who then will be very busie Yet God gives man no occasion to cast away all hope because he doth not at the first represent sin as unpardonable but pardonable nor the punishment as unavoydable but avoydable Some say this is done by the Law and they meane the morall Law discovering unto man his sin by the precept and his misery by the commination But 1. God doth not use onely the morall law but all other laws or any law in force and he maketh use of the History of the first sin and â—all of man nay of the sufferings and death of Christ of his judgments executed upon others 2. No man ought to preach the law of works unto sinfull man as in force for that makes sin unpardonable and is the high way to cause dispaire He indeed that will onely threaten death and punishments according to the Law of works and silence and conceale the promise of the Gospel is a Legal-Preacher indeed and can be no faithfull Servant unto Christ in this work 3. It 's not the Law nor any other Doctrin preached by man which can break his stony heart without the Spirit and power of the Gospel That Doctrin which used by God in this work is most effectuall is the Doctrin of Christ Jesus crucified for our sins and it must be the law of the Spirit of life that must free us from the Law of sin and death In this sad condition § VI whilst man continues guilty and convicted by his own conscience at the bar of divine Justice he will begin to cast about and look on every side to see whether there be any help deliverance and hope of escape and he finds nothing in himself nothing in any Creature no not in Angels to help him and so despairs of any comfort in any thing excepting Christ and so casts away all confidence in any other things and with the Jews pricked in their hearts cryes out Men and Brethren what shall we do Acts 2. 37. And with the Jaylour Sirs what shall I do to be saved Act. 16. 30. To this question made in the anguish and bitternesse of Spirit the answer is Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the Remission of sins and ye shall receive the Holy-Ghost Act. 2. 38. And Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved Act. 16. 31 This implyes 1. That the Sinner is Savable and remission possible 2. That Remission and Salvation is onely by Jesus Christ. 3. That the meanes to obtaine both by Christ is repentance and faith Upon this follows an appeal from the Throne of Justice to the Throne of Grace and mercy Christ is pleaded the guilty person offers the sacrifice of a broken heart and bruised Spirit to the supreme Judge and earnest suit is made not onely for pardon of sin past but for power against sin for the time to come And though man desires and endeavours to repent and beleive and quiet his mind in Christ's merits and Gods promises yet he cannot do these things to purpose nor any man in the world can give him effectuall comfort by the application of the promises till God put his laws in his mind and write them in his heart by his Divine Spirit Thus to do is a work of the Divine Spirit who alone can write immedâ—ately and imprint the Divine precepts and promises of the Gospel upon the heart of man and so give him a divine power to repent to believe to understand to do the Laws of God and apply his promises The word now is no longer onely in books or in mens mouths or in their eares but also in the heart Yet it 's here to be noted 1. That this great promise of the Gospel is not absolute as though God pre-required no duty to be performed by man 2. That he doth not this work without the word both taught heard and learned 3. That this Law is not fully and perfectly written in any mans heart in this life 4. That therefore the most illuminated and sanctified man in this life hath need of the written Word This is not any precept or promise of the Law it 's a performance of a promise upon some precepts performed and so an act of judgment and the same not a bare sentence pronounced out of man but executed in the soul of man and not a punishment but a blessed reward Upon this follows another performance § VII and that is repentance and belief and the same of a far higher degree then can be performed by any strength natural and moral They are divine and supernaturall not performed by any acquired power but by a strength from Heaven For in writing these divine precepts in the heart of man God himself so immediately speaks to man that he receives the Word of God as the Word of God indeed is taught of God drawn to Christ and comes unto him never to depart from him again I will not deny but there may be some supernaturall illumination and alteration in the heart of man and some comforts thereupon in an heart not fully humbled But for God so to write his laws in our hearts as to cause us to walk in his statutes and keep his judgments to do them and that sincerely and constantly Ezek. 36. 27. is a far higher degree of grace in Christ and the duty performed thereupon is far more perfect and excellent In this repentance and faith there are severall branches The 1. Is a sincere and totall submission unto Christ alone as our onely Saviour and to
God as our onely Lord and Redeemer by him and so we take him to be our God The 2. Is totall reliance upon God as our Redeemer in Christ Jesus dying and rising again for us 3. An engagement with the whole heart unto the obedience of his commands and to be his people his loyall and obedient subjects And because this duty is a return unto our God formerly forsaken by us therefore it 's called Repentance And because it 's not onely a belief of his truth but a reliance upon his promises it s called Faith By this we turn from darknesse to light and from the power of Satan unto God The reward that follows upon this is that God will be to us a God and we shall be to Him a people Heb. 8. 10. This is our admission of us as subjects of his Kingdome wherein as we must perform dutyes so we shall enjoy priviledges This makes us one with Christ ingrafts us unto him so as we become his living members and derive from God by him all grace and peace and saving blessings But of this there are degrees 1. We have Christ as our Saviour and Redeemer 2. A right unto the mercyes merited by him and promised by God in him 3. Some degree of possession and enjoyment of them 4. In the end a full communion with God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son so that our joy is made full Before I proceed to the next benefit or reward something must be observed both concerning this duty and this reward 1. The repentance faith and submission unto God Redeemer in Christ is in consistent with the habituall dominion of any sin 2. Though it be such and therefore sincere yet it 's not perfect but admits of degrees and must encrease untill we come to perfection 3. They do not look at any particular promise of God or office of Christ or benefit merited by Christ but at God Redeemer in generall as the fountain of eternall life and all benefits conducing thereunto and at all the offices of Christ and all the merits of Christ even at whole Christ as by whom God will give us this eternall full salvation 4. Yet they virtually include and are the root of all particular acts to be terminated upon particular promises offices merits Concerning the reward 1. The estate of such as have received it is inconsistent with the estate of such as are under the dominion of sin and liable to the condemnation unto eternall death 2. As the duty so the reward is imperfect at the first 3. It 's no particular reward as of justification or reconciliation or adoption or the rest formally actually and particularly considered but virtually all For we have God to be our God whole Christ to be our Saviour and be in Christ Christ is in us by his Spirit And whereas formerly the Spirit was in us to prepare us now he as the Spirit of Christ our head is in us to abide and constantly to sanctifie and comfort and seale us to the day of Redemption And the first reward upon this faith having received Christ and God received him as a member of Christ is Justification a reward The great reward CHAP. XXII Of Justification by Faith in Christ. Justification is a reward of God Redeemer whereby he justifieth a sinner believing in Christ § I as having by his blood satisfied Gods justice merited remission and making intercession in Heaven according to promise or as being the propitiation for sin by his blood and pleading this propitiation before his Father's Tribunall in Heaven In which words we must conder 1. The Judge 2. The party judged 3. The judicial Act or the reward actively considered 1. The Judge is God but 1. Not largely as Judge of men and Angels but as Judge of men 2. Not as Creatour and Judge by the Law of Creation and of works but by the Law of Redemption and grace 3. Not as merely just though just but as mercifull 4. Not as mercifull in generall and ex nuda voluntate without any respect had to satisfaction but as propitiated by the blood of Christ and having accepted the propiation made by his blood 5. Not meerely as propitiated by his blood but as moved by his intercession which he makes as our Advocate in Heaven not onely pleading the propitiation made and accepted but the repentance and faith of the sinner and the promise of him the Judge before whom he pleads 6. The Scripturâ—s in this judiciall processe consider God as a Judge and Christ as an Advocate as may appear Rom. 8. 33 34. Heb. 7. 25. 9. 24. 1 Joh. 2. 1 2. In which places Christ is made the propitiatour and intercessoâ—r or advocate 7. Though God by Christ as King may passe this judgment yet he must before that act be passed by Christ look upon Christ as propitiatour and intercessour as a priest and â—uch he must be before he can be a Judge and so looked upon not onely by God the Judge justifying but the sinner to be justified before this Judge proceed to passe and execute the judgment by his Son as King For man must first be justificable by Christ a Priest before he can be justifyed by Christ a King The generall nature of justification is a reward It 's a reward merited by Christ as Priest and Mediatour promised by God Redeemer as a Law-giver and rendred by him as Judge upon a duty performed by the Sinner to be justified and this doth difference it from the retributions of punishment according to the Laws of Redemption violated The party judged § II and justified is 1. Man 2. Man a Sinner 3. Man a Sinner believing 4. Believing in Christ as propitiatour and intercessour Propitiatour by his blood shed and offered unto God Intercessour by his blood being shed offered and accepted as pleaded 1. The subject of this act and the materiall immediate cause of this act is Man For it 's not a judgment passed upon Angels good or bad 2. Man is here considered not as innocent as he was first Created but as a Sinner and disobedient and so guilty For it is God that justifieth the ungodly that is sinners and guilty persons Rom. 4 5. Therefore the Apostle making way for his Doctrin of Justification proves Jew and Gentile that is all men under sin Rom. 3. 9. and that all the world was guilty before God that is Gods tribunal verse 19. and again affirms that all have sinned verse 23. For death passed over all men because all have sinned in one man Rom. 5. 12. For he that hath the least sin is guilty of the first sin of the first man and lyes under the penalty thereof till he be delivered For by the offence of one many were dead and by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation verse 15 16 17. For there can be but two wayes whereby men or Angels can be justifiable before God the universall and supreme most
just Judge and that is either by their own righteousnesses and perfect obedience or by the mercy of this eternall Judge propitiated pardoning their disobedience upon a certain condition By the former way the Blessed Angels were but man cannot be justifiable or justified 3. It 's man as a Believer For though every man that 's justifiable and justified is a sinner and may be so considered specificative as the School-men speak yet as a sinner for maliter et reduplicative he cannot be justifiable For then every sinner should be justified Therefore it is so often said that man a sinner is justified by Faith 4. To be a Believer so as to be justifiable presupposeth Christ 1. As Propitiatour and Intercessour 2. Faith in him as such It 1. Presupposeth Christ who Christ is what his person natures with the union and distinction of them and his offices be Who sent him and upon what inward motive and to what end he was sent what his work was what the immediate effects and the mediate of the redemption applied were you have heard before and all these things must be understood believed and remembred But the principall thing here to be considered is how Christ made God propitious and placable and how he procures actuall remission That which made God propitious and mercifull to sinfull man was his great Sacrifice That which obtaines actuall remission is his intercession Both these are proper acts of him as Priest and Mediatour For mediatour and Priest the Apostle takes to be the same as if you consider you may observe Heb. 7. 25. 8. 6. 9. 15. He may be called a Mediatour Nuntius inter Deum hominem A messenger between God and Man as Moses was between the Lord and Israel as a third person really and essentially distinct from both Gal. 3. 19. So Christ never was Or he may be a Mediatour participating in nature with both being God with God and Man with Man But though it 's true that Christ may be called Mediatour in these two respects yet where doth the Scripture call him so in either way The man Christ Jesus is the one mediatour between God and Man as giving himself a ransome for all that is as a Priest 1 Tim. 2. 5 6. That He as Priest is the propitiation for our sins through his blood is expresse Scripture Rom. 3. 25. For by his own blood entring once into the holy place he obtained eternal Redemption or Remission for ever Heb. 9. 12. For as the High Priest in the Sacrifice of the great and generall expiation when the Sacrifice was slain enters with the blood thereof into the holiest place and presents and sprinkles it before the throne of God and then comes out again So Christ having suffered and shed his blood being slain presently enters into the Holy place of Heaven and presents his soul as separated from his body and so himself as having suffered and so the propitiation and the eternal expiation was made And to signifie this instantly the Vail of the Earthly Sanctuary was rent from top to bottome that men might know that the great High Priest was entred the eternall Sacrary of Heaven to appear before the Tribunall of the great Judge This Sacrifice was truly propitiatory and by the eternall spirit being offered without spot to God had power to purge the conscience from dead works to serve the living God in the Heavenly Temple to confirme the everlasting Covenant to consecrate the Sanctified for ever Heb. 9. 14 15. 10. 14. And He that knew no sin was made sin that is a Sacrifice for sin for us that we might be the righteousnesse of God through him 2 Cor. 5. â—1 He knew no sin for he was holy and without sin in his Conception Birth Life Death And perfectly obeyed all the Commandements of God Otherwise he could not have offered himself without spot Heb. 9. 14. Nor have been an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling Savour as he was Ephes. 5. 2. Without this purity this sacrifice could have had no expiatory and redemptory power So that we might be Redeemed from our vain conversation with his blood as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot 1 Pet. 1. 19. And as without this spotlesse purity He could not have offered this spotlesse Sacrifice so though He was pure yet without this sacrifice and death He could not have bin a propitiation for sinfull man So that purity and death must both concur to satisfie Gods justice and make sin pardonable Yet sinne can never be actually pardoned nor immediately pardonable to any particular person except this propitiation is made and accepted be pleaded in Heaven by him that was consecrated by Death constituted upon the Resurrection and confirmed upon his Assension to be the High Universal and Eternall Priest in Heaven after the order of Melchizedeck For if we have sinned as who hath not we must have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous who is the propitiation for ours sins c. 1 John 2. 1 2. This Christ and Son of God is King and Prophet yet neither as King or Prophet doth He either make propitiation or intercession but only as a Priest and after His first service of sacrifice was finished and He made immortall and set at His Fathers right hand He begins this second service of His Priest-hood and shall continue it till all His Saints be fully justified for ever And oh How happy are they that have Him Advocate in the Heavenly Court Though Christ hath done all things § III to make sin pardonable and is ever ready to procure actuall pardon this yet is not sufficient except the sinner to be pardoned doth believe in him both as propitiating and pleading his propitiation And here it 's to be noted that He makes intercession in Heaven only for penitent and believing sinners for whom alone His intercession is effectuall For though He died for man as a sinner to make his sin pardonable yet He pleads only for a sinner believing to obtain actuall pardon He ever liveth to make intercession for such as come to God by Him Heb. 7. 25. Where we must observe 1. That the place speaketh of Christ as a Priest 2. Such a Priest as having offered the great Sacrifice of expiation is risen again and entered into the Temple of Heaven 3. Such a Priest as hath obtained an unalterable Priest-hood confirmed to him by the Solemn Oath of the eternall God 4. Such a Priest as is immortall and ever liveth 5. This Priest doth make perpetuall intercession 6. Those for whom he makes intercession are such as come to God by Him 7. To come to God is to present our selvs before His Throne of grace and sue for pardon and Salvation 8. To come to God by Him is to sue for these in His Name by Faith in Him For otherwise there is no accesse for guilty persons to the Throne of grace Therefore is He
Punishment The Learned and profound Bradwardine understands it so that the former of unjust makes a man just and holy the latter renders him of miserable happy The one takes away sin to come the other the punishment of sin past The former is Sanctification as we understand it The latter is Justification properly Here it 's remarkable that He makes both the one and the other to be Remission contrary to the Doctrine of Trent yet to speak properly there is no remission of sin as sin but of the guilt and punishment of sin Before this Chapter be concluded § X three Questions are briefly to be examined 1 Whether God at the first Justifycation or in remission of particular sins after the first Justifycation doth totally remit and justifie at once or sometimes nay often in part 2 Whether there be two parts of Justification the first whereof is remission of sin the second the imputation of Christ's Righteousness 3 Whether good Works be a condition of Justification continued and of final Absolution QVEST. I. FOr this we have the Example of David who after his first justifycation contracts the guilt of two heynous sins Adultery and Murder The Prophet Nathan is sent by God to reprove him and charge him with them Upon this through the mercy of God and the Spirit renewing him he confesseth repenteth prayeth Nathan returns from God declareth the Sentence of Absolution and saith Thou shalt not die Yet withall le ts him know that the Child should die the Sword should not depart from his house his Concubines should be defiled in the sight of the Sun and all Israel And all these things came to pass the event was answerable 2 Sam. 10. 11 12 13 14. where many things are remarkable As 1. That a Regenerate Man though not as Regenerate yet Regenerate may sin grievously and so as to deserve Death and if Death be due to sinne Eternal Death yet in such a person removeable and not onely so but removable in that manner as it is in no unregenerate man For whilest there is Habitual Faith and Repentance though for the time dormant and not acting the Covenant of Grace is not totally violated because the Condition of it is Repentance and Faith both which were in David though through negligence grievous sins divine desertion for a time were laid asleep or stupifyed For onely a total Apostasie and a final Desertion takes these away wholly neither of which can be affirmed and proved of David whom God did not regenerate again but renew and stir up This the Author of Censura Censurae doth confess and further saith That he lost not Spiritum Regenerantem sed obsignantem For the vigour of the Spirit both as sanctifying and sealing was abated and little or none for the time 3 God saith Thy sin is forgiven thee Thou shalt not die Yet he must suffer and for these very sins which are said to be forgiven which doth teach us that The Obligation to Punishment was not wholly taken away but in part onely yet in the principal part The Remission therefore at that time was not total but partial yet it was Remission and Justification 3 In the same kind he sinned he was punished He sinned in Adultery and the Sword By Adultery and the Sword he is punished This is a fair Warning to God's Regenerate Saints To watch and pray and beware of grieving that good Spirit wherewith they are sealed till the Day of Redemption 4 He suffers all this in His Children in the Child begotten and conceived in Adultery in Ammon and Tamar in Absolon and his Concubines This proves clearly that Parents and Children the Head of the Family and the Family are considered by God as one Person in Law and that in Punishments QVEST. II. §. XI Whether there be two Parts of Justification Remission and Imputation of Christ's Righteousness FOr Answer whereunto it may be 1 Remembred what I have said formerly against Imputation of Christs active Righteousness separated or abstracted for Reward from the Passive The Reasons against this Opinion seem to me strong yet when I find the force of them dissolved I shall abate of my confidence 2 If we examine the Doctrine of the Apostle Paul and other Scriptures we shall find if I very much mistake not that Remission and Imputation of Righteousness are taken for the same We read that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for Righteousness Rom. 4. 3. Now to him that worketh is the Reward not reckoned of Grace but oâ— Debt But to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifyeth the Ungodly his Faith is counted for Righteousness Vers. 4 5. Even as David describeth also the blessedness of the Man to whom God imputeth Righteousness without Works saying Blessed is the Man whose Iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not sin Vers. 6 7 8. And therefore it was imputed to him for Righteousness Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him but for us to whom it shall be imputed if we believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the Dead Vers. 22 23 24. Here many things are very observable 1 Abraham believed that is as the Chaldie Paraphrast turns it In the word of Johovah in that word which being with God in the beginning was God by which the World was made and who was made flesh and to whom the Lord said Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine Enemies thy Foot-stool 2 It was reckoned to him for Righteousness that is his Faith or in that he believed in that Eternal Word Christ Jesus to be incarnate The plain meaning whereof is that he judged him believing in Christ to be righteous by Christ. 3 To him that worketh that is to him that so worketh or obeyeth as not to disobey nor sin at all the Reward of Righteousness is adjudged to him as righteous perfectly as of Debt by the Law of Works not of Grace by the Law of Redemption 4 God justifieth the Ungodly or the Sinner and the Guilty Person not as such but believing on him that justifieth the guilty yet as Penitent and Believing 5 This Imputation of Righteousness is the forgiveness of sin for to have Faith counted or imputed for Righteousness is explained by David to have sin forgiven covered not imputed 6 The estate of the Party justified even in this life is blessed and very happy Blessed is he whose sin is forgiven c. 7 That the Party to whom Righteousness is imputed is he that believeth on him that raised up Christ from the Dead not he that believeth that Christ performed perfect obedience active to the Law in his Person For though he perfectly obeyed the Law as without which he could not have offered himself an unâ—potted Sacrifice for us yet He did it not that that active personal Righteousness should be imputed to us Though God in His
comfort And God knowing this doth alwayes in this particular declare the Sentence by the Execution and never did justify and person and left him unsanctified And by this Sactification doth plainly testify unto the party justified that he hath freed him from the guilt and obligation to the greatest Punishment of all Yet this Regeneration is not perfect at the first neither shall be fully perfect in Body and Soul untill the Resurrection This must needs be the first part of branch because all that follow depend upon it and without it we are uncapable of them For as God for order so far as our shallow capacity will reach is first conceived to be holy before he be conceived as happy so man must needs be The greatest and first penalty for Sin was to take away the sanctifying Spirit and the greatest mercy is to restore it again And this as all the rest is derived immediatly from Christ believed upon For by faith we first have Union then Communion with him and derive both Grace and Peace from God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ and are blessed in him with all spirituall Blessings It 's called Regeneration because we are by it delivered from that most fearfull death we call the death of Sin and receive a new and spirituall life being created anew according to his Image in Righteousnesse and true Holinesse It may be said to be begun though at some distance in Vocation when ouâ— Hearts are first prepared for then informed with Faith and so we are ingrafted into Christ and made one with him Yet all this was but a preparation for it and tending unto it to complete our union with our Saviour And when we are once united that Spirit which did onely prepare us is given to abide in us constantly and first as a Spirit of Sanctification In this the foundation of eternall Joy and Glory is laid and now we begin to move directly towards our full happinesse This not onely takes away former guilt but the very Root of former guilt of Sin The second Branch is our Reconciliation § XI for being justified by Faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom also we have accesse into the Grace wherein we stand This is said to be an effect of Justification strictly taken In the words of the Apostle Rom. 5. 1 2. we must consider 1. The Condition of the party to be reconciled before he be reconciled 2. What this Peace with God is 3. Who they are that are thus reconciled and have this Peace 4. How they have it through Jesus Christ our Lord. 1. Because Reconciliation presupposeth Emnity therefore the condition of the party to be reconciled must be that he is at Emnity with God and God at Emnity with him There is Emnity between them and this is a very sad condition to be at Emnity with that God in whom all our comfort is and upon whose favour depends our spirituall and eternall happinesse The cause of this Emnity is Sin considered either in the habit or in the act or guilt By the habit and the act we are contrary to God as just and holy and God must needs abhorr us Therefore the Scripture represents Sin as base and filthy polluting the Sinner and God as pure and holy hating detesting abominating sin For nothing is so contrary to God and so odious in his sight as sinne Therefore is it said Thou art not a God that hast pleasure in Wickedness neither shall evil dwell with thee The foolish shall not stand in thy sight Thou hatest the Workers of Iniquity â— Psal. 5. 4 5. And thou art of purer eyes then to behold evil and canst not look upon Iniquity Hab. 1. 13. And there shall in no wise enter into the new and holy Jerusalem any thing that defileth Rev. 21. 27. And without as in no wise admitted to enter are Dogs and Sorcerers and Whoremongers and Murderers and Idolaters and who so maketh a Lye Rev. 22. 15. That is men polluted and defiled with sin are uncapable of this Society and communion with the most holy God and his most holy people Nay we are commanded to be holy as He is holy and if we be not so He will not admit us into his presence hear our Prayers accept our Persons or our Service nay He will cast us out of His Presence And though He may love us as Men yet He cannot love us as polluted with sin As sin so the Emnity begins on our part for we first sin and so are alienated and Enemies in or by our mind by wicked Works Col. 1. 21. Where the Learned Bishop of Salisbury observes 1 The miserable estate of those Colossians before they were reconciled it was an estate of Emnity and Hostility And 2 The cause and that was the mind in sin set on sin so he with Beza understands it The first Emnity therefore is from sin as sin But this is not all for sin as a transgression of the Law of God threatning punishment offends God and provokes him to anger as it makes man liable to punishment So as that God who as merciful is inclined to reward as just is bent to punish and so not onely take away his mercies but inflict Positive Penalties to take vengeance upon the sinner for the Transgression and Contempt of His Law And he that continueth in his sin without repentance must needs be an Enemy and the subject of His Wrath. God is an enemy to him not as a man but as a sinful man continuing in sin and as he is unclean he can have no fellowship with God who is Light and in whom there is no Darkness because he walks in Darknessâ— and he is deprived of his special favour and love and lies under His heavy displeasure This is the condition of the party before He be reconciled The 2d Thing to be considered is What this peace with God should be And 1 It 's peace after Emnity Therefore called Reconciliation 2 It 's a removal and taking away the emnity by taking away the cause thereof as you shall hear hereafter 3 This Emnity is so taken away that the state of the Person reconciled is not a bare Neutrality between God and him but a state of special love and favour whereupon follows an acceptation of the person and an admittance into God's presence to come with boldness and confidence unto the Throne of Grace a delight in his Prayers and Service and a Peace and quiet calm of Conscience which cannot be without great joy God before did hate hide his face cast out of his presence and man once sensible of his sin doth fear and fly from God's preâ—ence as from a conâ—uming Fire As Adam hearing the voice of God was afraid and hid himself and Israel trembled before Mount Sinai burning with fire up to the midst of Heaven Now God loves and man is bold and confident This is a special favour God bears unto his
is great we must often pray humbly depend upon our God and work out our salvation with fear and trembling because it 's God that worketh in us the Will and the Deed of his good pleasure Because of our many foils and falls one worke of our Sanctification is to renew our Repentance and our Faith in Christ and that daily that as we contract new guilt and are weakned so we may be cleansed and strengthned Therefore David after his grievous fall petitions to God to create in him a clean Heart and renew a right Spirit within him Psal. 51. 10. And Peter goes out and weeps bitterly and no doubt prayes fervently Divine Desertions are fearfull and we must take heed of offending the sanctifying Spirit of God By these frequent returnes unto God and our Saviour Jesus Christ our Sanctifycation is renewed and recovered What should be the reason whereupon the Eternal Wisdom of God should determine to put his Regenerate Ones upon this Bloody War sometimes continued long and not wholly destroy sin at once and so in an instant give us perfect and perpetual Security is hard to know Yet this is certain that he thought it best to teach us Humility so as that we might learn that Lesson perfectly and that we should fully know our total and perpetual dependance is upon his grace For Pride and Security was the ruine of Man at first and the â—inal Fall of the Apostate Angels Besides He knew how to turn all the Events of this War unto our good and greatest glory and He would let the Devil plainly see that he by frail man over whom he had so domineer'd and whom he had so insolently trampled under his feet could not onely Resist him but eternally subdue him This is the intermediate Event of this War § XII The final Event is a final and compleat Victory For we are enabled not onely to withstand in the evil day of Temptation but having done all and finished the War to stand victorious in the Field and see all our Enemies subdued Ephes. 6. 13. For this end the compleat Armour of God was given us And this is the Promise that God the God of Peace who will put an end unto this War will bruise Sathan under our feet shortly Rom. 16. 20. And the God of all grace who hath called us to his Eternal Glory by Christ Jesus after we have suffered a while will make us perfect stablish strengthen settle us 1 Pet. 5. 10. We shall overcome the Great Dragon and Old Serpent by the Blood of the Lamb and his Testimony not loving our lives to Death Revel 12. 2. The Reward upon this Victory is an Eternal Crown which will be certain For when Paul had fought this good Fight had finished his Course and kept the Faith from thenceforth there was laid up for him a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the Righteous Judge would give him at that day and not to him onely but unto them also that love his appearing 2 Tim. 4. 8. This Victory is obtained by final Perseverance which is often in part interrupted by our many failings and falls yet continued by a continual Supply of inward strength and outward Assistance upon which it doth chiefly depend God requires on our part a constant Exercise of that Power He hath given us and humble dependance upon his strength a continual Watchfulness a dayly renewing of our Repentance and Faith For without Duty there is no expectation of solid comfort This Perseverance is never totally interrupted by Apostasie in the Saints of God once regenerate and sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise who have received the first-fruits of glory as an earnest of the full possession of the great Inheritance That these ever did or may according to the Eternal Rules of this Government fall totally and so finally never any yet could clearly prove That others though baptized enlightened changed in their hearts reformed in their lives so as to forsake in some measure their former sins endued not onely with ordinary but extraordinary gifts of the Spirit and out of an imperfect hope of Salvation have tasted of the joys and comforts of the Gospel may fall will not be denied Yet all these things are not sufficient sufficiently to qualifie the subject of this Question concerning Perseverance For the Question Whether those who by a sincere Faith are living Members of Christ have received the Regenerating Spirit as a Seal and Earnest of Eternal Glory can according to the Laws of God-Redeemer fall away totally from the estate of Justification The Question may be § VII De esse aut Posse or both That any such did ever so fall no man yet did ever prove That they may fall according to the tenour of the Gospel hath not been yet nor I think can be made evident The Scripture doth sometimes take Righteousness Calling Regeneration Sanctification the purging away of sin in a large sense and attribute all these to such as have been baptized made profession of their Faith and have not by Scandal or Apostasie stained their Profession and as the Scripture so the ancient Writers also term these Saints Righteous and Regenerate But a thousand such places will not evince this Fall that 's here denied For they changed the subject of the Question and so the Question it self Many do instance in David who no doubt was regenerated and â—ealed with the Spirit of Promise and he fell grievously and contracted the guilt of Adultery and Murther But what though Was this a total Fall It was not For 1 Though the sins were heynous and did highly offend God and deserved Death yet this Death was removeable For they were not the sins of Apostasie or final Unbelief nor properly nor immediately Impenitency and Unbelief which are the sins directly and formally against the Covenant and Fundamental Law of Redemption Therefore they could not make him of a subject to be no subject neither did God wholly reject him and take his Spirit wholly from him A man may commit heynous offences against the Law and yet be a Subject but if he be guilty of Rebellion or High-Treason he loseth all right of a Subject Thus David was not guilty 2 This Death was more easily removable then that Penalty of that Party which never did believe never was regenerate 3 Though the Sins were actually yet they were not habitually contrary to the Law or to Repentance and Faith For to be an Adulterer and Murderer was not his constant temper 4 God made such promises to David and those personal as were not consistent either with total or final rejection This was one promise and that Personall My mercy will I keep for him for evermore and may Covenant shall stand fast with him And for his seed if they transgresse he would chastise them Neverthelesse his loving kindnesse He would not take utterly from them Psal. 89. 28 29 30. c. And this did include an obligation on Gods part to