Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God Tit. 3.5 According to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost The Knowledg of secret Sins is ascribed to the Holy Ghost Acts 5.3 4. Why hath Satan filled thy Heart to lie to the Holy Ghost thou hast not lied unto Men but unto God Likewise the Sin against the Holy Ghost is declared to be unpardonable Mark 3.29 He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never Forgiveness but is in danger of Damnation These and many other Scriptures evidence the Truth of the Unity of Essence in the Trinity of the Divine Persons Joh. 10.30 I and my Father are one I John 5.7 For there are three that bear Record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one Compare also 2 Tim. 3.16 All Scripture is given by Inspiration of God And 2 Pet. 1.21 Holy Men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost Likewise in the last words of David 2 Sam. 23.2 3. The Spirit of the Lord spake by me and his VVord was in my Tongue the God of Israel said c. Thus the Doctrine of the blessed Trinity is not meerly Notional but Real it is not fictitious but eternally true it is infinitely good therefore necessary to be believed and adoringly received in Love as the Principle of Felicity to Intellectual Creatures The Divine Trinity is Incomprehensible therefore to be adored not doubted nor subjected to Human Argumentation which cannot illustrate that which in all respects necessarily excels all Methods of finite Proof or Evidence tho the Reality and Efficacy thereof be most certainly and feelingly perceived and enjoyed The curious Inquiry is like gazing upon the Sun which dazles our weak Eyes For now we see through a Glass darkly now we know in part but when we shall know even as also we are known when we are brought into the third Heaven then we shall hear those unspeakable words which in this State of Mortality are not possible to be uttered fully to reveal the Glory of the Divine Trinity What the Lord said unto Moses is also spoken unto us We cannot see the Glory of God and live but the Lord maketh his Goodness pass before us and proclaims his Name before us that he will be gracious to whom he will be gracious and will shew Mercy on whom he will shew Mercy according to the eternal Election of God the Father and the Redemption by God the Son and Sanctification by God the Holy Ghost into which Truth all Believers who shall be saved are baptized The Duty of common Philanthropy obliges deeply to grieve at the Folly and Madness of Epicurean Sensualists who renounce the Glory of the Image of God and the hope of immortal Felicity and corrupt themselves to be like natural Brute Beasts made to be taken and destroyed vainly imagining to evade the impartial Justice of the Almighty God with whom is terrible Majesty No less miserable are the Profane who take up a scoffing Name of Deist to act the Atheist renouncing the Fear of God which is the only Bond of Human Society and rejecting Hope in God which is the only distinguishing Excellency of Man above the Beasts that perish Unreasonable also is the Pride of those who deny the predestinating Prescience of God the Father changing the Glory of the Incorruptible God in 〈…〉 of corruptible Man as if they thought God to be altogether such an one as themselves who upon any Disappointment or unexpected Accident endeavour to patch up a Remedy for unforeseen Inconvenience But let the Potsherds of the Earth strive with and discourse of the Potsherds of the Earth But unto the eternal Wisdom of God are known all his Works from the beginning of the World according to that determinate Counsel and Knowledg of his own Will who hath appointed all things that ever shall come to pass and all for his own Glory so that not any the least thing even the falling of a Sparrow to the Ground befals by chance but by Divine Appointment Also the most flagitious Wickedness that ever was contrived and acted even the crucifying the Prince of Life was to fulfil the determinate Counsel of God for this very end to accomplish the highest Exaltation of Divine Glory and Goodness in the Salvation of Man Which Salvation likewise is made effectual only to such as are ordained to Eternal Life They also deny the meritorious Satifaction to the infinite Justice of God by the Death and Righteousness of Jesus Christ for the Redemption of Sinners from Wrath to come by which miserable Error is effectually and really denied and evacuated the Essential Justice of God They also deny the necessity of the Almighty efficacious Grace of the Spirit of God to sanctify regenerate and quicken those that are naturally dead in Trespasses and Sins under that Corruption and Impotence wherein all are alienated from the Life of God Now concerning the words used by the Orthodox to express the Mystery of the Divine Trinity It ought to be considered that Words of Rational Speech being the Signatures of Things there are many more things to be expressed than are words to represent them For such is the Poverty of every the most copious Language that there is necessity to apply the same syllabical Word to signify various and different things which yet receive the Certainty of Interpretation from the Rational Contexture of the respective Discourse Thus in the Controversies raised by Heretical Blasphemers against the Doctrine of the blessed Trinity The Orthodox to vindicate the Truth of the Scriptures which abundantly testify both the Essenâ—â—â—◠〈◊〉 and the distinct â—â—â—perties of God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost have made use of several words as Person and Co-essential to express and signify the scriptural Truth of the Identical Substance and distinct Properties of the Divine Trinity in Unity Therefore the possession and use of the aforesaid Words or Phrases are duly retained by the Church according to the Meaning and Intention clearly made known in the holy Scriptures which ascribe as before mentioned unto the Father unto the Son and unto the Holy Ghost Attributes of Essential Divine Perfection incommunicable to any but unto the only living and true God who from everlasting to everlasting is God blessed for ever Religious Worship being the absolute Soveraignty of the only living and true God both in respect of the Object of Worship which can only be God and in respect of the Rule of Worship which can only be appointed by God For all other Objects of Worship are despicable vain Idols and all Rules Mediums and Ways of Religion not instituted by God are blasphemous Detraction from the Truth and Majesty of God It must therefore be that the great Temptation to Atheism is Superstition that is a Human Composition of Religion when the Fear
Blood if he were found out of the City of Refuge it was only the City of Refuge which conferr'd and established his Preservation and Safety So the Sinner cannot be saved from Wrath to come without Faith in Christ But the Propitiation according to the Will of God by the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant can only make a Sinner perfect before the Tribunal of God's infinite Justice Therefore to assign any degree of Ability to any Act of Faith as meritorious of Justification is to usurp upon Christ and to incur the severe Animadversion of the Almighty Then will I confess unto thee that thine own Right-hand can save thee The everlasting Covenant of Grace is ordered in all things and sure For the Foundation of God standeth sure having this Seal The Lord knoweth them that are his And let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from Iniquity But unto the wicked God saith What hast thou to do to declare my Statutes or that thou shouldst take my Covenant into thy Mouth These Scriptures fully evidence that altho the Covenant of Mercy to Sinners is established only in the free Grace of God and the meritorious Satisfaction and Righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ yet there remains an utter Incapacity in any Person to partake actually of the Benefit thereof until by the Spirit of Christ without which not any can be Christ's he be born again and made a new Creature For the State of every Man since the Fall is a Complication of Misery under Condemuation Dementation and mortal Corruption Accordingly the necessary Remedies are distinct Justification to take away Condemnation and Sanctification to free from Corruption by a new Principle of Life by a renewed Faculty of Life acted by a new Rule the Word of God written in the Heart directed to and aiming at a new End and Mark the Glory of God and the Prize of our high Calling in Christ Jesus our Eternal Salvation Accordingly the Tenour of the New Covenant is both promised and expressed in the Old and New Testament Then will I sprinkle clean Water upon you and ye shall be clean This imports that washing throughly and cleansing from Iniquity and Sin so as to be whiter than Snow which is supplicated by David and promised by God to Sins of the deepest Stain being effected by the Blood of Sprinkling the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant which makes us perfect to do his Will For the End why the Blood of Christ who by the Eternal Spirit offered himself without Spot to God purges the Conscience from dead Works is to serve the Living God But God is the God of the Living not of the Dead Therefore as the Condemnation of Death is to be taken away in Christ Jesus so the Corruption of Death is to be abolished which cannot be without a new Principle and Faculties of Life and being made a new Creature Accordingly the Covenant of Grace proceeds to promise A new Heart also will I give you and a new Spirit will I put within you This is that renewing of the Holy Ghost vouchsased unto the foolish and disobedient who are unperswadable by any Moral Argumentation being deceived serving divers Lusts and Pleasures because the Heart of Man is full of Evil and Madness is in his Heart while he lives and after that he goes to the Dead This is the native Misery of every one and the Recovery is as wonderful as to restore the Habit and Exercise of Reason into a Person depraved with Idiotism or Madness Now as they who are such tho they are sometimes capable of uttering some words sensible and rational yet they are utterly unable to perform or maintain the Tenour of reasonable Discourse or Conversation So neither can any meer animal Man dead in Sins and Trespasses before he be made a new Creature by being born again live to the Glory of God the End of Being or in Communion with God the highest Felicity of every Intelligent Being This is the Gift of God as our Lord saith to the Jews No Man can come to me except it were given him of my Father Judas indeed came to our Lord as many do in Profession but not in Heart He did believe with a Faith of general Assent and of particular Fiducial Assiance in the Power of Christ for miraculous Operation but not with a Faith of vital Union with Christ so as to dwell in Christ and Christ in them so as to live by Christ which cannot be without having the Spirit of Christ Also our Lord saith I have chosen you and ordained you to bring forth Fruit that should remain and persevere even much Fruit to the Glory of God Election Vocation Justification and Sanctification are inseparable Eternal Election is unto Holiness and Justification of Life is universally and necessarily conjoin'd with Renovation of Life The End of which is Activity Operation Fruitfulness without which there is Death Burning Destruction for good Works are ordained by God to be the Walk and Conversation of every Child of God For this is the Covenant God makes with every Israelite to put his Laws into their Minds and write them in their Hearts as both the Rule and Inclination of Life which is indeed to be taught of God to know God without which it is impossible that God shall be to any a God Covenant-Relation or that any can be a People to God Now as the Principle of Life and the Operation of Life so Justification and Sanctification are not confoundable yet always inseparable For of God are we in Christ Jesus who of God is made unto us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption That no Flesh should glory in his sight but according as it is written Let him that glorieth glory in the Lord. From the beginning of Apostacy the Devil was a Murderer and a Liar When he speaketh a Lie he speaketh of his own for he is a Liar and the Father of it He envenomed the old World with the evil Imaginations of continual Contempt of God and profane Irreligion which broke out in all the Acts of Wickedness and Violence justly provoking the Vengeance of God to destroy that World of Atheistical Rebels When through infinite Mercy a small Remnant of eight Persons were not only spared to survive the Deluge that had swept away the World of the Ungodly but much more a Covenant of Grace and the Blessing thereof was renewed to them and to their Seed confirmed unto Noah by the Acceptance of instituted Sacrifice Then again the great Adversary and Deceiver of Mankind tempted the new World to distrust Safety in the Promise of the living and true God and to attempt Self preservation in a Structure of Babel or Confusion in the Land of Shinar the proper Base upon which was to be built and established the House of Wickedness that is the
of the Devil and more evidently by the Institution of Sacrifices For it is a most absurd Derogation from the Soveraignty of a Creator and Contradiction to the Duty of a Creature to impose upon God the necessity of accepting the groundless Fancy of a guilty Malefactor in the highest degree of desperate Wickedness to be a Price of Redemption from everlasting Wrath Considering also that Man had no Title of Interest or rightful Power over any of his Follow-Creatures to substitute any of them a Sacrifice for his Sin Indeed It was an early and due Apprehension that every Sin was of capital Guilt and Forfeiture of Life But it could never have entered into the Heart of Man to conceive how God could be just and the Justifier of Sinners until God had revealed it by his Spirit and the Word of his Grace The Apprehension of Propitiation attainable by Sanguinary Sacrifices could not be a Primary Notion in any Human Mind but consequent and derivative from the Institution of Sacrifices by the express Command and Appointment of God without which it was impossible to please God For Faith cannot be or subsist without a word of Command and Promise But to fancy a Religious Worship to appease the just Wrath and to conciliate the Favour of the Majesty of the Great and Terrible God the Creator of all Beings by any performance of Offering not instituted expresly by God is a presumption becoming a dumb Idol or some precarious Superstition and is an effectual practical Denial of the insinite Perfections of God obtruding and imposing the Blood and Carcass of a wretched Calf or Sheep to expiate the Guilt of most nefandous Crimes and satisfy infinite Justce Neither can there be any possible ground of Reason to imagine that the Ceremonial Ordinances of Sacrifices and other Rites of Divine Worship and Service were instituted by God with respect to or Motive from the superstitious Practice or Expectation of profane Sinners who offered their Devotion to Devils as the Word of God expresly testifies That the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to Devils and not to God But Sacrifices and all other Typical Services and Ordinances were by God appointed until the time of Reformation when Christ came an High Priest of good things to come that is everlasting who by the eternal Spirit offer'd himself without Spot to God by his own Blood to purge our Consciences from dead Works that is from Sins deserving Death to serve the living God The Ceremonial Law had a Shadow of good things to come but not Virtue to make the Comers thereunto perfect For it is not possible that the Blood of Bulls and of Goats should take away Sin Therefore because in Sacrifices and Offerings for Sin God could not take Pleasure as therein receiving any Satisfaction to Justice When Jesus Christ came into the World he faith A Body hast thou prepared me Lo I come to do thy Will O God by the which Will we are sanctisied through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once But this Will of God was not induced by any Temporary Consideration it was from everlasting God hath chosen us in Christ before the Foundation of the World God hath saved us and called us with an holy Calling not according to our Works but according to his own Purpose and Grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the World began In hope of Eternal Life which God that cannot lie promised before the World began Who verily was fore-ordained before the Foundation of the World but was manifested in these last Times It could not then be in Compliance with any Human Apprehension of Expiation of Sin by any Sacrifice of any Creature that Jesus Christ was constitued and given by God to be the Propitiation and Redemption for Sinners But contrariwise God having according to the Counsel of his own free Will made known to our first Parents in their dismal Fall the Mystery of his Will in the Promise of the Seed of the Woman to break the Serpent's Head And then for the Confirmation of that Promise and for the support of Faith instituted Sacrifices revealed first to Adam then to Noah and consequently in them to the whole World of Mankind Noah builded an Altar unto the Lord and took of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl and offered Burnt-offerings upon the Altar And the Lord smelled a sweet Savour or a Savour of Rest and Satisfaction Now this could not he affirmed or believed unless such Sacrifices had been according to the express Institution of God who as was before observed only could appoint the Discrimination of Beasts clean and unclean All which also was performed and accepted with respect to and in virtue of the Offering and Sacrifice of Christ himself to God for a sweet smelling Savour Immediately upon Noah's Sacrifice God established his Covenant with Noah and his Seed after him Thus all Mankind was by Divine Institution initiated in the Religion of Propitiatory Sacrifices all in reference to and deriving Virtue and Acceptance from the Merits of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sins of the World But as it is charged upon Israel both by David and Moses so all Nations soon forgot God's Works they forgot God their Saviour which had done great things for their Preservation they corrupted themselves their Spot was not the Spot of his People they for sook God which made them and lightly esteemed the Rock of their Salvation they provoked him to Jealousy with strange Gods they sacrificed to Devils not to God So that the offering of Propitiatory Sacrifices by the Universality of Mankind was not a Human Invention but a Derivation from Divine Institution tho wretchedly corrupted by Satanical Suggestion Neither was there any Rite of Religious Worship among the Heathen but what was pretended to be a Direction and Command from Heaven so deeply engraven was the Impression in every Rational Mind that Divine Worship could not be acceptable unto God unless commanded by God The whole Work of Redemption and Salvation of Mankind by Jesus Christ was in every part and respect proceeding originally from and effectually to fulfil the Will of God Salvation by Christ was promised before the World began In the fulness of Time he was made of a Woman his Sufferings in every particular Circumstance was to fulfil the Scriptures Our Lord died according to the Scriptures and rose again according to the Scriptures that is for the End appointed by the Word of God to make full Satisfaction to the infinite Justice of God so as to make perfect the Comers unto God by Jesus Christ by Faith in whom the Heart is sprinkled from an evil Conscience that is from the Conscience of the Guilt of Evil To obtain the Answer of a good Conscience towards God by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ