is this fable declareth that all men are by birth the sons of God but they fall from that right by alienating themselves from God it deserveth a double Animadversion one for calling this Parable fabula which although in a critical notion it may have a right sense yet use doth not now indure it It would be very offensive to call Christs Parables Christs Fables Secondly he sheweth unsound Divinity worse then Pelagians or Arminians as his very expression declareth but to passe that The Parable doth represent a godly man foully lapsed in sin and now returning to God and he accuseth himself aggravating sin that his Father took notice of it and whatsoever other Doctors teach yet this is the best way for godly persons repenting to aggravate their sinfulnesse in reference to Gods beholding of them and being angry with them Quicunque sibi se excusat accusat Deo whosoever excuseth himself to himself accuseth himself to God said Salvian and Tertul. In quantum non peperceris tibi in tantum tibi Deus crede parcet so much as thou shalt not spare thy self God beleeve it will spare thee Lastly This is to be observed that after his father had kissed him which was a sign of reconciliation and pardon yet the son confesseth he had sinned against heaven and before him A second rank of Arguments shall be from those places where the Spirit of God is said to mortifie our sins or we by his help to crucifie our sins if the Spirit of God do inable us to crucifie and mortifie sin as that which is an enemy and loathsome to him then notwithstanding Christs righteousness imputed God doth take notice of that which is filthy and to be removed in the godly But we are assisted by Gods Spirit to this Ergo. Rom. 8.11 13. If ye by the Spirit mortifie the deeds of the body Gal. 3.18 If ye be led by the Spirit ye shall not fulfill the deeds of the flesh In these words are two plain Conclusions First That the godly have still sins in them for these are called the deeds of the flesh By deeds of the flesh are not meant grosse sins but all the inward motions and thoughts of the soul corrupted Secondly That the Spirit of God seeth them takes notice of them they are loathsome to him and therefore he mortifieth them Now the Spirit of God being the same with God that which he mortifieth must needs be taken notice of by him as offensive To this what do they answer They say We do not mortifie sin no not by Gods Spirit out of Gods sight but only out of our own sight so that when the Spirit of God overcometh a corruption in us this is not by removing it out of Gods sight but our own only Honey-Comb pag. 164. for say they Christs righteousnesse being made ours we are all clean before God and that which the Spirit of God doth afterwards in sanctification is cleansing away sin only declaratively before men Hence as you heard they distinguish of a two fold cleansing one secret and mysticall by Christs righteousnesse and the other palpable and grosse to our sense and feeling which is by Gods spirit in us but here are many mistakes and errours 1. That they oppose Christs cleansing and the Spirits cleansing together for what Christs bloud doth meritoriously cleanse away the same Christs Spirit doth by efficacious application Hence Christ by his death doth quite remove sin in respect of the guilt of it here on earth and doth give his Spirit to crucifie the power of it so that both Christs cleansing and the Spirits cleansing do relate to Gods sight for it is Gods will that we should not only be clean by imputed righteousnesse but also by inherent holinesse 2. It is false that we only mortifie sin declaratively to men for it is really and indeed done even to God-ward Hence this is the great difference between a Pharisaicall or externall mortification and a spirituall The former is from humane principles to humane motives the other is from God and to God and through God so that as that is not a divine faith but humane which is not from a divine principle and because of divine Authority so neither can that be divine and spirituall mortification which is not from divine efficiency and because of divine grounds Hereby it is that the whole work of grace is called a new creature and it is a new creature not only man-ward but God-ward and who can think when Eph. 4. we are exhorted to put on the new man which after God is created in righteousnesse that any other sense can be drawn out of it then that the putting off the old man and putting on the new have relation to God as well as man It is therefore well observed by Musculus on the former Text that both these are put together If ye through the Spirit do mortifie we and the Spirit The Spirit and that sheweth all the Popish means of mortification to be unprofitable the Spirit of God neither appointing them or working by them Then he addeth ye denoting that we also are to work and act being first quickned with a spiritual life put into us and not as some do now dangerously maintain give up all expecting the operation of the Spirit only 3. The falshood of this Assertion will further appear If the Spirit of God by mortification doth not remove sin out of us as to Gods sight then by further sanctification it brings no good thing into us as to Gods sight likewise and thus as God shall see no sin in his people so neither no good thing inherently in his people for this must necessarily follow by their principles as God takes no notice of sin inherent in believers to be angry with them so likewise no notice of inherent grace to be well pleased with them for if the Spirit of God do not cleanse our corruption from Gods sight then still the more corruption is washed away God still doth no waies approve that holinesse but it is only the imputed holines of Christ which he regards Therefore he that maintaineth God seeth no sin in believers to chastise must maintain he seeth no graces in them to reward them and take their own similitude as he say they that looks thorow a red glasse seeth every thing in it red if there be dirt in it it looks red if there be pearls in it it looketh red all is one to the sight so when God looketh upon us in Christ if there be sin if there be our own inherent holines it is all one God seeth only Christs holiness Thus while the Antinomian laboureth to have our sins covered from Gods eies he likewise spreads a covering over all the fruits of Gods Spirit in us that they shall not be taken notice of whereas none ever denied but that the graces of Gods people are acceptable to him though not to justification and many promises he makes to them
it is not so in the second Adam Neither do those places Ephes 2.5 6. Colos 2.13 14. prove any more then that in and through him we do obtain such mercies there spoken off and although we are said to sit in heavenly places already yet that is because of the certain right we have thereunto in which sense also he that believeth is said to have eternal life and Christ being the first fruits doth sanctifie the whole lump As for that place 1 Tim. 3. where Christ is said to be justified in the spirit that makes nothing at all to this Justification we speak of For the meaning is That Christ was declared just and absolved from all the reproaches cast upon him by the spirit of God which was done several waies as by the witness exhibited from heaven unto him by the innumerable miracles he wrought In which sense Mat. 11. Wisdom is said to be justified of her children So that Act. 2.22 seemeth to be a full Commentary on this place Jesus of Nazareth a man approved of God among you by signs and wonders which God did by him in the midst of you And this is that Justification of himself which Christ speaks of Isa 50.8 It is true the Apostle doth apply that spoken of Christ to every believer Rom. 8. by way of allusion and the rather because Christ being the head of the elect it will be made good of them in time when they do believe otherwise election is not enough to free from present accusation or condemnation unless by faith they be actually in Christ as is to be shewed more at large But this is a digression It is the constant opinion of the Orthodox That a man is not justified or hath his sins pardoned till he doth beleeve I have brought Arguments to prove the point and now addresse my self to remove their Objections The first is brought from Infants who are justified and yet do not beleeve therefore before faith some are justified First The case of Infants is of a peculiar consideration and therefore not to be attended unto in most Questions yea the Scripture pressing the things requisite to salvation as repentance obedience c. cannot be understood of Infants And Suarez argueth against Justification by faith in the general upon this ground Because Infants are justified without it so that the Argument if it proveth any thing would prove a Justification without faith rather then before faith Suppose a man should argue about glorification as the adversary doth about Justification Infants are glorified without fruits meet for repentance Therefore men grown up also may be How absurd would that be Therefore if the conclusion of the Argument were granted viz. Some that do not believe are justified restraining it to Infants the main Question would have no detriment The opponent laieth down this conclusion Reconc of man with God p. 5. That mans actual reconciliation to God requireth previous conditions to be wrought in him by Gods Spirit before he can be reconciled actually to God among which he reckoneth believing as the chief Now I may retort on him thus Infants are actually reconciled to God but Infants do not believe Therefore some are actually reconciled to God that do not believe Secondly The opponent cannot but know that there are Learned men who hold Infants have actual faith and do believe Therefore to them his Argument is of no force It may very well be thought that they have actual sins not such as are in men grown up accompanied with reason and will but those immediate motions of original corruption in them For although original sin be not peccatum actuale yet it is peccatum actuosum if it be not an actual sin yet it is an active sin and therefore may not be thought idle in an Infant Austin lib. 1. Confes c. 2. Vidi ego Zelantem parvulum c. I have observed envy in an Infant when another little childe hath sucked his breast and so they have sinfull anger which made the same Father say Imbecillit as mâ—mbrorum infantilium innocens est non animus infantum There is more innocency in their bodies then in their souls Now if there be actuall motions of sin before the use of reason why not actuall motions of Gods Spirit That it is possible John Baptist makes it without question all the doubt is Whether God doth ordinarily so to Infants Aretius is alledged by some to hold That even repentance may be attributed to Infants out of Joel 2.16 but the command there is That parents should bring their children into the publike humiliation that by the sight of them they may be the more fervently stirred up to pour out their praiers before God Thirdly That which the most solid Divines pitch upon is That Infants have I speak not generally but indefinitely a seed of faith because they have the Spirit of God and regeneration otherwaies they could not be saved and by this seed of faith they become members of Christ and that relation which is in their faith to Christs merits is the instrument by which they obtain remission of sin As for that place Faith cometh by hearing it is to be applyed to the ordinary means of faith and that in persons grown up Neither can I say that an Infant is bound to have actuall faith for happily in the state of integrity Infants then though they had the image of God yet could not have put forth the actuall exercise of graces and if they could not do it in that state it is not to be expected they do so now Fourthly It is not enough for him to prove they are justified before they beleeve but also before they be any way united to Christ Let that union be conceived how it can by us For if a man be justified because he is elected as his third Argument would prove then he is to shew that Infants not only before they beleeve but before they have any union with Christ are justified for the election of Infants must needs go before their union with Christ And howsoever the opponent quoteth Austin saying That which was wrought in John Baptist to be a singular miracle yet Serm. 14. dâ— Verbis Apostoli on those words He that beleeveth not shall be damned makes this question Vbi ponis parvulos baptizatos Where put you little children baptized profectò in numero credentium truly in the number of beleevers His second Argument is to this effect He that is in Christ is justified Now a man is in Christ before he doth beleeve because the tree must be good before the fruit can be Therefore a man must be justified before he do beleeve In answering this Argument many things are considerable First It must be acknowledged a very hard task to set down the true order of the benefits bestowed upon us by God The assigning of the priority and posteriority of them is very various according to the severall judgements of men interessed in
that controversie The opponent it may be knoweth that there are some who say Christ or the Spirit of Christ is first in us by way of a moving or preparing principle and afterwards as a principle inhabiting and dwelling in us That as some say Anima fabricat sibi domicilium the soul makes its body to lodge in it works first efficiently that afterwards it may formally so they say Christ doth in us As the silk-worm prepareth those silken lodgings for her self to rest in So that according to the judgement of these men Christ or his Spirit doth efficiently work in us the act of believing by which act Christ is received to dwell in us And in this way Christ hath no union with us till we do believe He worketh indeed in us before but not as united to us Now according to this opinion the answer were easie That we are not in Christ till we do beleeve Though Christ be in us as working in us and upon us Yea faith would first be wrought and then Christ with his benefits of justification c. would be vouchsafed to us but there are Reasons why it is not safe to go this way And indeed that Charta magna or grand promise for regeneration doth evidently argue the habits or internall principles of grace are before the actions of grace Ezek 36.26 God takes away the heart of stone and giveth a new heart an heart of flesh which is the principle of grace and afterwards causeth them to walk in his Commandments which is the effect of grace But secondly which doth fully answer the Objection It is true our being ingraffed into Christ is the root and fountain of faith and of Justification too but yet so that these being correlates faith and Justification they both flow from the root together though with this order that faith is to be conceived in order of nature before Justification that being the instrument to receive it though both be together in time Therefore the major Proposition should be thus regulated He that is in Christ doth believe and is justified or believing is justified for Justification as our Glorification though it flow from Christ yet it is in that order and time which God hath appointed Neither is it any new thing in Philosophy to say Those causes which produce an effect though they be in time together yet are mutually before one another in order of nature in divers respects to their severall causalities Christ is in us and we in Christ Christ is in us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by way of gift and actual working and we are in Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by way of receiving and both these are necessary as appeareth Joh. 15.5 and both are together in time yet so that in order of nature Christs being in us is before our being in him and the ground of all our comfort and fruit is not because we are in him but he in us even as the branch beareth fruit not because it is in the Vine but because the Vine is in it communicating efficacy to it Thus also faith and Justification are together yet so as one is produced by the other we are not justified and therefore believe but we believe and are therefore justified Lastly This may be retorted upon the opponent who as was alleadged before denieth any actual reconciliation till we do believe But may not we strike the adversary with his own reason in this manner He that is in Christ is actually reconciled But we must be in Christ before we do believe Therefore we must be actually reconciled before we do believe I pass over the third and reserve the fourth and sixth Argument being all one for the next Lecture because in them is matter worthy of a large consideration I come therefore to the fifth Argument which is taken from the collation between the first Adam and second out of Rom. 5.18 19. From whence is argued As in the first Adam we are accounted sinners before any thing done on our part so in the second Adam we are to be justified before any thing wrought in us This the opponent doth much triumph in but without cause as the answer will manifest And in the first place we cannot but reject those Expositors of that text fore-quoted who understand us to be sinners in Adam only by imitation or by propagation meerly as from a corrupted fountain but we suppose it to be by imputation Adam by Gods Covenant being an universal person and so as Austin said Omnes ille unus homo fuerunt All were that one man And therefore these do not rise up to the full scope of the text who parallel Christ and Adam only as two roots Origens or fountains for there must be a further consideration of them as two common persons for our immediate fathers are a corrupted root and we are corrupted by them yet their sins are not made ours as Adams was Hence the Apostle laieth the whole transgression upon one as by one mans disobedience c. Those that deny imputation of Adams sin as the Pelagians of old and Erasmus with others of late do not relish that translation of those words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in whom all have sinned but prefer the other Forasmuch as all have sinned in him but both come to the same sense and howsoever Erasmus say that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a dative case must be understood causally yet that is not universally true for Mar. 2.4 there is mention made of the bed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in which the paralytique lay it would be ridiculous to translate that inasmuch So Act. 2. Be baptized 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the name Heb. 9. Those ordinances consisted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in meats We therefore grant That Adams sin was ours by imputation before we had any actual consent to it In which sense Bernard called it Alienum nostrum anothers sin and ours yea it is so farre from being ours by consent that if a man on purpose should now will that Adams sin should be his this would not make Adams sin imputed to him it would be a new actual sin in the man it would not be Adams sin imputed to him Now although all this be concluded upon yet it followeth not that therefore we are justified in Christ before we believe I acknowledge some eminent Divines have pressed this comparison but there is a vast difference in this very act of imputation and the ground of it for supposing the Covenant at first made with Adam all his posterity by a naturall way are involved in his guilt and so whether they will or no antecedently to their own acts they are obnoxious to this guilt Hence all men none excepted that are propagated in a natural way are thus corrupted but in Christ we are by a supernatural way and none are made his but such as beleeve in him and he doth not represent any to God as his members till
his justification before God so that there is nothing clearer then that the word is a judicial word and with John who in his Epistles never useth the word justifie the sense of it is expressed by not to come into judgement or to be translated from death unto life And certainly if to justifie were to make righteous inherently it would not be an abomination in that sense to justifie the wicked Fifthly There can be properly no justification but where there is accusation or a charge Therefore condemnation is opposite to it Hence it is that though it be said that Angels and Adam were justified and that by works yet if we would speak properly they were no more justified then they had an Advocate or Intercessor Thus when Christ is said to be justified in the Spirit that is declared to be the Son of God by the Spirit which was spoken in reference to those calumnies and reproaches that were cast upon him so that this consideration may comfort a godly man even in that particular wherein he is most troubled for thus the godly argue my heart chargeth me with such folly and so the devil doth oh it is too plain I cannot dissemble it I cannot hide it oh what shall I do even this very thing may support for how could there be Justification if there were not a charge What need a Christ to justifie if there were no fault Sixtly No man can do any thing whereby he should be accounted just before God This is the grand truth that is such a stumbling block to the world this makes the Papist gibe and scoff this makes God say they to dissemble this makes him a lyar to account that ours which is his Sons who will say a lame Vulcan goeth upright with another mans legs who will compare some deformed Thersites to a fair Absalom because of some imaginary beauty which is not in him But the Scripture is too plain 2 Cor. 5. to be eluded Ipse factus est peccatum sicut nos justitia non nostra sed Dei nec in nobis sed in ipso sicut ipse factus est peccatum non suum sed nostrum nec inse sed in nobis constitutum He is made sin as we are righteousness not our righteousnesse but the righteousnesse of God not in us but in him as he was made sin not his own but ours not in himself but in us Neither do we say we are made righteous without a righteousnesse that indeed were absurd but we say it is not in us Seventhly That righteousnes whereby we are made just is only by Christ of this more hereafter only the Scripture doth carry us alwaies from our own righteousness to that of Faith which is by his bloud this made Bernard say Quid tam ad mortem quod morte Christi non salvetur Meum meritum est miseratio Domini non planè sum meriti inops quamdiu ille miserationum non fuerit inops Though we want Christ doth not want though we sinned away our good yet not Christ his merits And if a man were made perfectly holy yet he could not be justified for all that but he needs a Christ to satisfie for his former transgressions Eightly This description of Justification in a judicial way containeth much terrour and also much comfort It is good for a Christian to meditate why God describes the way of pardon by these tearms and first it may be to rouse up secure and Epicurean consciences Thy heart will not alwaies be quiet neither will thy sin alwaies lie still at the door but it will awaken thee and hale thee to judgement O the terrour thy soul will then be put into And as it doth thus terrifie so it doth the more comfort nothing is so welcome as a pardon after a man is condemned and his head laid upon the block Thus when all this charge is laid upon thee and thou summoned before the tribunall how precious must grace then be to thee LECTURE II. ROM 3.23 Being justified freely by his grace c. THe ninth Proposition is concerning the reality and truth of this Justification for when we say God doth justifie that is account and pronounce righteous this is taken by Papists as if here were nothing but a meer fiction and imagination without any truth indeed Therefore the godly are for their comfort to know that this Justification of theirs is no lesse a reall and solid foundation for comfort yea it is more then if they had the most perfect and compleat inherent righteousnesse that could be for all things that are constitutive of this Justification are reall God his gracious accounting and esteeming of us so is reall and seeing he is most wise just and holy what he doth judge must needs be so we many times justifie our selves but then it is sometimes a meer opinion we are indeed condemned at that present but it cannot be so with God Again the foundation of this Justification is as solid and firm as any rock it being the righteousnesse of Christ if therefore the righteousnesse of Christ be not a fancy or imagination no more is this And lastly the effects of this are reall viz. deliverance from wrath peace with God joy in the holy Ghost and the spirit of Adoption Now in this treasure the godly heart may much inrich himself he is not in a dream when his soul is ravished with this priviledge thou mayest be in this transfiguration and say it 's good for us to be here and still know what thou saiest What shame then is it to thee when if thou hadst inherent perfect righteousnes thou wouldst bid thy soul take her spirituall ease for she hath much good stored up for her and thou canst not do this upon an imputed righteousnesse imputed righteousnesse and inherent differ only in the manner not in reality it is all one as to Gods glory and as to thy comfort whether righteousnesse be thine inherent or thine imputed if it be a true real righteousnesse Tenthly Consider the Scripture speaks of this justification as to us still in a passive sense we are justified and that whether it speaks upon a supposition of Justification by works of the Law or in an Evangelicall manner and this it doth to shew that God only doth justifie for sin is only against him and therefore none but himself can remit his own offence Besides none can condemn but God therefore none can Justifie Who can lay trouble on thy soul binde thee in chains and throw thee into hell but God and who but God can command all the tempests and waves in thy troubled soul to be still When therefore others are said to Justifie that is only to be understood declaratively and no more Now this particular may suppress all those proud Pharisaicall thoughts in us whereby we are apt to be puffed up within our selves what if we Justifie our selves and clear our waies yet if God doth not
the imperfection being done away by Christ But in their way as God takes no notice of Pauls sinfull motions to be offended at them so neither of all his labourings and sufferings in the Gospel way Lastly If the Spirit of God do only mortifie as to our feeling and not to Gods sight then when the soul departs into glory all that inherent purity must only be declaratively also but in heaven we are made holy perfectly in Gods sight and that without any imputed righteousnesse of Christ though Christ did purchase and obtain that for us Now what the Spirit of God doth finish and consummate upon the souls dissolution he had begun even in this life A third sort of Arguments is from those places which commend repentance humiliation and godly sorrow for sin for if God takes no notice of our sin be not offended at it we may indeed be sorrowfull for sin because of men but not because of God Shall I be sorrowfull because God is offended when he is not offended shall I weep because God is angry when he is not angry If you ask Peter why he weeps bitterly will he not say Because he offended God If you ask the Corinthians why they are so deeply humbled will not they say because by their sins they provoked God to bring temporal calamities upon them so that the poisonous nature of this Doctrine appeareth in nothing more then in this it taketh away all grounds of humiliation and repentance of sin in those that do believe Therefore mark it He that saith there is no sin in the Church of God now which is their express opinion he must likewise say There is no godly sorrow in the Church of God now For what is the reason there can be no godly sorrow in heaven there was none in the state of innocency but because there was no sin there and it must be thus now in the Church of God This error eateth into the vitals of godlinesse therefore beware of it Say I will have no such free grace as shall take away godly sorrow Remember the gracious Promise Zech. 12. where God promiseth a spirit of prayer and mourning for sin as well as to blot out sin he shall not obtain the promise for the later that feeleth not the promise for the former And certainly if this Doctrine were true why did Paul say Though I made you sorry I did not repent We Ministers ought to repent that ever we made you sorry and you are to repent that ever you have been sorrowfull A fourth kinde is from all those places where God is said so to take notice of the sins of justified persons as that he doth grievously afflict them for their transgressions This Argument doth properly and directly overthrow the whole Antinomian assertion but because I have largely proved this already I will not insist on it To make good their assertion that God seeth no sin they are forced also to hold that all the afflictions upon the godly are only trials of their faith preservatives from sin but not correctives for sin But did not God see sin in Moses when for his unbelief he kept him out of Canaan Did not he see sin in David though pardoned grievously chastising him afterwards Did he not see sin in Jonah who would fain have run from Gods face that he might not have seen him Did he not see sin in the Corinthians when many of them were sick and weak for abusing the Ordinances yet many of them were such that therefore were chastened that they might not be condemned of the Lord. There are more arguments but at this time I conclude with an use of exhortation to broken-hearted and contrite sinners again and again to meditate upon the great and glorious expressions which the Scripture useth about forgivenesse of sin Your fears and doubs are so great that only such great remedies can cure you Tell me ye afflicted and wounded for sin is not this the best oyl that can be poured into your sores Tell me ye spiritual Lazarusses that lie at the gate of God daily who is rich in mercy desiring the very crumbs that fall from this table of grace are you thankfull because God provideth food and raiment and not much rather because of a pardon how great is Gods goodnesse he might have removed us out of his sight and he hath done so to our sins he might have thrown us into the bottom of hell and he hath cast our iniquities into the bottom of the sea he might have blotted our names out of the book of life and he hath blotted out our sins from his remembrance LECTURE VIII JEREMIAH 50.20 In those daies and at that time the iniquity of Judah shall be sought for and it shall not be found c A Fifth rank of arguments is from those places of Scripture wherein the people of God in their petitions and supplications doe necessarily imply this truth that God seeth taketh notice and is angry with their sins Now all petitions use to be in a two-fold faith one applicative and fiduciall the other doctrinall and assertive which is the foundation of the former If a Papist pray for the deliverance of any out of purgatory it is a vain prayer because there is not a theologicall verity to ground his prayer upon thus a Socinian cannot truly pray to God in Christ because he hath not a dogmaticall or assenting faith to the truth of Christs divine nature and so cannot have a fiduciall faith in the same Thus it would be with the people of God how can they in their prayers entreat God to turn away his anger from them to hide his face from their sins if he were not indeed angry Now that the petitions of Gods people are for this end will appear by severall places I shall not here mention that petition we are directed to in the Lords prayer viz. forgive us our sins for that is a noble instance and deserveth a single consideration of its self but we have many other instances as Psa 51.9 Hide thy face from my sins It is plain by this praier Gods face and so his eyes were upon Davids sins though justified and that a godly man falling into grievous sins hath them not presently covered from Gods eyes for his meaning by this phrase is that God would not regard them to visit them on him the contrary whereof is Psa 119.15 Let their sin be continually before thee and this is observable that David doth again and again petition for pardon whereby is shewed how difficult a thing it is to obtain the favour of God after we have offended him by our sins Neither let that be replied that this is done by Believers in the Old Testament for Paul bringeth a proof from Psa 32.1 to shew what is the nature of Justification even under the Gospel And that I may once for all this dissolve this objection of theirs I shall handle distinctly this question
smiteth him so Moses was denied entring into the land of Canaan which was an heavy affliction to him because he spake unadvisedly with his lips Commentators are at loss to finde out what his sin was So Davids sin in numbring the people it s disputed wherein the transgression lay Elies heavy judgements that came so frequently one upon another were for a want of that measure of zeal which should have burnt within him Oh therefore consider that God doth not only see sins that are mountains but that are mole-hils comparatively He doth not only see the beams but the motes that are in us he doth not only take notice of our mire and vomit if we return to that but of the least spot and wrinkle how deeply maiest thou humble thy self under every Religious duty performed by thee How often do we fail in the manner of a command as Vzzah in the order How often out of pride and self-confidence do we number our earthly props and refuges relying upon them How unadvised are our thoughts and words now these hairs of sins as I may so call them both for number and seeming littlenesse are all numbred before God As the Lord is angry with these lesser sins and defects in graces so also for Errors in Judgements and false opinions How well would it be for the Antinomian if God did not see this sin in them that they hold he seeth no sin in Believers I fear me God seeth and taketh notice of their erroneous Sermons of their corrupt Doctrines and seducing Books There are indeed those who would make heresie almost innocency and that it is more to be pitied then punished but the Apostle Gal. 5. reckons heresies among gross sins such as exclude from the Kingdom of heaven and how severe Gods anger is to those who do erre though in less matters and although they keep the foundation appeareth in that notable place 1 Cor. 3.12 13 14 15. It is a difficult place and those that would build Purgatory out of it they are the Architects of that hay and stubble the text speaks of Not to join with that exposition of some who by hay and stubble do understand evil works nor with Beza who denieth it to be meant of false doctrine but only of the manner of preaching He makes the building of gold and silver c. to be the pure and sincere doctrine of Christ the hay and stubble to be the vain affecting of eloquence and words but I rather go along with those that interpret the place of false doctrines but not such as do overthrow the foundation only they build superfluous unsound doctrine upon the true foundation which is as uncomely as if you should see a royall palace which hath gold for the foundation and precious stones for the wals yet have the covering of straw and stubble what deformity would this be yet so it is with the best preachers that are who yet adde some errors to the sound Doctrine they deliver Now for the opening of the place it is wholly Allegorical The preachers of Gods word are builders and they are to raise up a stately palace the materials are compared to gold and silver to precious stones The place is an allusion to Isa 54.12 I will make thy windows of Agats and thy gates of Carbuncles and all thy borders of pleasant stones it is a description of the precious Graces and Doctrines which the Ministers of God are cloathed with and this sheweth with what esteem and high price all the truths of Christ ought to be received by you The Ark Ex. 25.3 4 5 6. was to be made of gold silver and other precious materials this is the nature of true Doctrine Now false Doctrine though it be not in fundamentals but in meer accessories is called hay and stubble and he that preacheth these shall come to a severe trial Every mans work saith the Text shall be made manifest where you see the spreading of false Doctrine is called the work of a man as in the second Epist of John it s called evil deeds and this evil work hath a two-fold effect First it makes the owner to suffer losse that is all that labour and pains he hath taken shall bring him no profit whereas if he had imployed himself in the truth his reward would have been great The lucrum cessans is as great a losse as the damnum emergens Oh! what a fearfull thing will it be for false teachers who have made it their whole business to spread new opinions to lose all their labour The other effect is that though he be saved yet it shall be so as by fire that is he shall be in extream danger and he shall have sad tribulations and miseries falling upon him see the like phrase Jude 23. pulling them out of the fire That which thou comfortest thy self with and gloriest in as if it were persecution it may be is nothing but part of the fire in the Text which is to afflict thee that thy drosse may be purged out let therefore all false teachers though belonging to God expect a fire of burning great afflictions and tribulations And if Antinomians have trouble for their Doctrine they are bound to believe God chastiseth them for this very opinion that he doth not chastise for sin I have bin the longer on this place because of the multitude of hay and stubble that is built every where God will have his day when a fire shall rise to consume it all and the true Doctrine will only continue The Apostle speaks as terribly afterwards v. 17. If any man defile the temple of God him shall God destroy where the Apostle calleth the Corinthians The temple of God now this is not so much true of every single Christian as when collected together in a Church or body and the Spirit dwelling among them is much more admirable then his presence in the Ark and he defileth this Temple who by any false Doctrine and error corrupts that society now the greatness of this sin is seen by the words following The Lord will destroy him for so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that as God destroyed Athaliah and Beltashazzar for prophaning the Temple and the offerings or gifts of the Temple no lesse punishment unlesse they repent shall fall upon those who pervert the Doctrines of Christ I come to the second demonstration of Gods anger to believers when sinning and that is in spiritual and internal things now they are of two sorts first the consolations of the holy Ghost with the light of Gods favour secondly the flourishing and sprouting of the graces of sanctification In both these you shall finde the godly man after sin much withered What anger in the first sense after sin the godly may feel David will abundantly tell you Ps 11. he cals it the breaking of his bones you know how terrible and grievous that is and in the
of Religion is kept up by acknowledging the fulness and perfection of the Scripture Both Papists and Illuminatists agree in this dangerous Error that they look for and expect a Doctrinal teaching immediately by Gods Spirit above and besides that of the Word Hence as the Papists make the Scripture but a sheath to receive any sword either of gold or iron words that will bear any sense you put upon them so do the Illuminatists that a godly man is above all books teachers writings and feels nothing but God working and acting in him We have therefore the greater cause to set up the Scriptures in their Divine authority and fulnes by how much the more others indeavor to diminish it This noble encomium of Gods word begineth v. 12. where you have the subject of the commendation the commendation it self The subject is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word of God Bellarmine and other Papists that they might depress the Authority of the Scriptures understand this of Christ who is often called the Word Their reasons are partly because Christ is in other places called so as Joh. 1.1 alibi and partly because this Word is spoken of as a person and therefore all things are said to be open and naked to his sight But these are not Cogent for although in other places Christ is called the word yet the context doth there clearly evince it whereas here the contrary will appear for having before exhorted them to receive the Gospel and to hearken to the voice while it cals to day among other Arguments he brings this from the nature of Gods word which is to be understood both of the Law and the Gospel and its further observed as a peculiar thing to John only in his Gospel and the Epistles to call Christ the word of God and although the Text speaks of the word of God as preached and not as written yet because the word written and preached differ not essentially but accidentally in respect of the manner therefore this Argument holds true of the Scriptures As for the second reason it is ordinary by a metonymy to attribute that to the Scripture which belongs to God speaking by the Scripture as Gal. 3.22 The Scripture hath concluded all under sin c. so the Scripture is said to speak Ja. 4.5 So that it is no wonder if here the word of God be spoken of as knowing all things because God by this doth discover and manifest every thing In the next place consider the commendation and that is 1. from the adjunct qualities 2. from the powerfull effects The adjunct qualities are quick and powerfull that is it is not dead or frustrated but puts forth its power and efficacy which our words cannot do It is thought to be an allusive expression to the fire which was on the altar of sacrifices that was not to go out Secondly It s commended from the effect it s sharper then a two-edged sword it s an Hebraism to give a mouth to the sword because it doth so devour but because a two-edged or two-mouthed sword doth divide more forcibly therefore is Gods word compared to that Such a sword they say the Levites in the Old Testament did use in dividing and opening the sacrifices in which Metaphor the Apostle continueth afterwards Now by this comparison two things are insinuated 1. That God knoweth all sin even the most hidden 2. This knowledge is not a meer bare knowledge but such as is of a Judge examining and punishing For as the sword doth pierce and hurt so Gods word doth see and punish therefore it is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is most exactly discerning and separating gold from drosse and judging accordingly so that the Text speaking not barely of an omniscient eye of God but an eye discerning judging and punishing doth in this consideration pertinently belong to the controversie We need not be curious in distinguishing between the spirit and the soul only the Scripture doth not confound these together nor between the things understood by the marrow and joints which are translated from the body to the soul This is intended in the general by the joints he means the minima the least things and by the marrow the intima the most secret and inward things Having thus described the efficacy of Gods word he layeth down two Propositions in my Text one negative the other affirmative Negative There is no creature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inapparent but he seeth thorow it Affirmative All things are naked and opened opened is more then naked Naked is that which is not clothed or covered Opened is that whose inwards are discovered and made conspicuous Much is said by Criticks concerning the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cameron thinks it translated from wrastlers who are said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their adversary when they so take him by the neck and turn him upside down so as to object him in every part to the eyes of the beholders some say the Metaphor may be taken from those who being before the Judge hold down their neck and face to the ground as not daring to behold his face but that which is most received and which is most consonant to the context is of those who take the word from those who begin at the neck and divide the sacrifice in the middle so that all the inwards do appear Thus you see how emphatical and full the Scripture is in describing of Gods omniscient eye of any sin wheresover it is and that not by a meer bare cognition but of judging so that the Observation is That seeing there is sin in justified persons Gods eye must needs see it and judge it To this it is answered very confidently by a distinction never heard of before That God indeed knoweth the sins of believers but he doth not see them Hon. Comb p. 67 68 69 70. and this distinction they plead so boldly for that they say although all men Devils and Angels would gain-say it yet it must stand for the opening of this silly distinction they expresse themselves thus That although to see and know be all one in the pure uncompounded nature of God yet they are not so to us even as justice and mercy are all one in God but not to us yea contrary and the Author giveth two strong reasons as he cals them to prove this first The Scripture saith he distinguisheth them now he argueth that as it is a sin to distinguish where the Scripture doth not and thereupon he instanceth in the distinction of the guilt of sin and the nature of sin making it a new distinction and suspecting it for a corrupter of the Gospel as if Christ had taken away the guilt of our sins and not the sins themselves so where the Scripture doth distinguish there it is a sin for us not to distinguish Now concerning the former that there is in the Scripture a distinction betweeen the guilt
to be wounded and melted within us at that time And indeed why is there a promise Zech. 12. for the spirit of prayer and mourning together if it were so easie and customary a work Why Rom. 8. are these groans unutterable wrought by the Spirit of God in us at that time insomuch that a soul in prayer is in spiritual travel and heavenly Agonies All which cannot be unlesse the heart of a man be deeply humbled within for sin so that this Petition doth not only imply sin is in us and that God seeth it but also that all within us ought to be moved and troubled at it Beg therefore for pardon with the same zeal and movings of bowels as David did Psal 51. who had his broken bones A tear in our eye for sin doth more adorn it then a jewel doth the ear Now the Antinomian Doctrine is like an Eastern or Northern winde that drieth up or bloweth away this spiritual rain If God seeth no sin in us then he would see no humiliation nor debasement in us for sin and so whereas as heretofore repentance in believers hath been necessary now it shall be prejudicial to salvation and all sorrow shall be ungodly What direct Antipodes are these to Scripture-directions Hence they repent that ever they did so much repent and look upon their sorrow for sinne as Christ upon his enemies Lord forgive me for I did not know what I did But we have not so learned the Gospel The people of God when sinning are called upon to afflict themselves and to mourn and because the Corinthians did not so at first though afterwards they did therefore the Apostle threatens to come with a rod unto them Take heed then of all Doctrines or practices that may obstruct the running streams of thy soul Keep thy self alwayes in this spirituall sweat Take not the Limbeck from the fire that so spirituall distillations may flow continually 4. It supposeth earnestnesse and importunity with perseverance till we do obtain That which is requisite in every prayer must not be excluded here Prayer without fervency is like a messenger without legs an arrow without feathers an advocate without a tongue Hence are those phrases Be instant in prayer and Watch unto prayer and Pray without ceasing Till the heart be deaded to every creature and minde this thing only it will not pray aright Seeing therefore our blessednesse and happinesse is made to consist in this That our sins are pardoned how ought we to lay every thing aside till this be vouchsafed unto us Hierom complained of his distractions and dulness in praier Siccine putas orasse Jonam Sic Danielem inter leones Sic latronem in cruce Where is thy faith Did Jonah pray thus in the Whales belly Did Daniel thus among the Lions Did the thief thus upon the crosse If spiritual things were as truly and really apprehended by us as temporal are how should we bid all comforts stand afar off even refusing to be comforted till Gods favour shine upon us If the frowning of a King be like the roaring of a Lion how terrible then are the frowns of God for sin Lastly It supposeth in the subject constant renewed acts of faith For as there is constant pardon begged and offered so there must be a continual lifting up and stretching out the hand to receive As the branch in the Olive doth constantly suck juice and nourishment so ought we perpetually to be receiving from the fulnesse of Christ This then is the only grace that hath the promise of pardon made to it although where this is there will also be the presence of all other graces Neither may we with Spalato judge the distinction that is made between faith and other graces in this matter of Justification and Remission of sins a meer metaphysicall subtilty and formality as is to be shewed If therefore thy faith be asleep within no marvel if such tempests and storms arise that thou fear drowning As a tradesman will part with any thing rather then his tools for they are instrumental to his whole livelihood so above all we ought to look to our faith 3. In the object matter we suppose these things 1. That forgivenesse of sin may be had after Baptism That although we sin after that solemn stipulation yet God will not divorce us or cast us as it were out of the Ark into the deluge There have been some of old as the Novatians and Anabaptists of late who have maintained There is no hope of pardon to those that after their Baptism do fouly sinne for there they suppose is given the plenary Remission but this is false and uncomfortable for we have the incestuous person after his repentance received into favour again How desperate had Peters condition been if this had been true And when our Saviour bids us Forgive our brother seventy times seven we may not think there is more love in the creature then in the Creator and Gods kindenesse beyond that of a mans is most emphatically described Jer. 3.1 Where God promiseth a reconciliation to his people though they played the adulteresse with him 2. That we may with hope and faith pray for the pardon of great sins as well as lesse In Justification by Christ greater sins are as easily forgiven as lesse Though as is to be shewed the party offending doth not come by pardon so easily and more is required of him now this is a good cordial to the afflicted spirit who is apt to limit God in his pardon He may forgive such and such sins but can these great mountains ever be removed out of his sight sins of such a magnitude and aggravation But our Saviour doth not determine us in our Petition but whatsoever your sins are pray for the pardon of them Had it not been a great dishonour to Christ if any diseased man had said his malady was greater then Christ could cure he might heal others but not him No lesse injurious is thy doubting when the greatnesse of thy sin makes thee stagger The obedience of Christ is as much above thy greatest sin as Christs person is above thy person 3. It supposeth iteration of pardon that God is not wearied out neither doth upbraid us Who would not think that the soul should be ashamed and blush to go for the pardon of the same sins committed over and over again How easily might we think What hope is there to have me speed Have I not a thousand and thousand times intreated God to forgive me such pride such vain thoughts such negligence in his service and must I still go to ask pardon How shall I look up into Heaven any more and this temptation is more terrible as is to be shewed if it be a sin or sins of a more grievous nature that the petitioner hath been overtaken frequently with but as we are commanded to forgive to a brother offending in a day many times against us so
may we expect greater things of God Know then as we sinne daily so there are out-goings of pardon continually and the goodnesse of God doth like the Sunne rejoyce to run his race without any wearinesse Lastly In the Person to whom we pray there is supposed First That God only can forgive sins This is an incommunicable property of God Isa 43.1 and Exod. 34.7 It is there reckoned as one of his prerogatives Hence Matth. 9. this is made an argument of Christs Deity that by his meer command he forgave sin for this power to forgive sin is greater then to create Heaven or Earth or to work the greatest miracles Therefore a power to work miracles hath been vouchsafed to the Apostles but not of forgiving of sin unlesse declaratively onely When therefore our Saviour Matth. 9. asketh which is easier To forgive sin or to say Take up thy bed and walk intending by this miracle to prove that he did also forgive sin it is not spoken as if this later were greater then the former but only the curing of the paralytical man was a more visible sign to confirm the other for when they saw that which he commanded accomplished upon the mans body they might well conclude the other fulfilled in his soul Now when we say God only can forgive sin this is to be extended both to the forgivenesse in Heaven and to that in a mans own conscience for the former it is plain because the injury is done only against him when we sin and for the later it is clear because he is the Father of Spirits and so can command whatsoever peace and security he pleaseth in the conscience We see when Friends and Ministers do pour oil into a wounded soul they feel no benefit or refreshment till God speak to the heart This is notably asserted by Elihu Job 34.29 When he giveth quietnesse who then can make trouble and when he hideth his face who then can behold him O therefore with all humble thankfulnesse acknowledge this great mercy of pardon if thou art made partaker of it If the Lord should work miracles for thee he would not display so much power and mercy as he doth in this forgivenesse of thy sins Secondly It supposeth God doth see and take notice of sinne in us after we have believed For how can God be said to forgive that which he taketh no notice of If forgiving be covering of sinne and a blotting it out then it is seen and open to God and uncancelled till this be done Suppose our Saviour had used these words in this Petition Cover our iniquities as we cover the sins of others would not that expression have necessarily implied That God did see them and look on them till he covered them Certainly Joseph did upon a good ground abstain from sin when he said How can I do this and sinne against God That is who seeth me and beholdeth me in secret and will be angry with me But if God take no notice of my sinne how can I truly awe my self from sinne saying How can I do this evil in Gods eyes How can I provoke him to anger Let the Application then be to importune for this mercy of forgivenesse which makes all other things mercy Health riches learning peace are mercies if with these there be a pardon of all our sins especially be pressed to seek for it from this motive which I shall only mention at this time viz. That pardon of sin is the onely support and help in all miseries and calamities whatsoever This onely can sweeten thy pain thy poverty thy fears of death When the Apostle Rom. 5.1 had spoken of Justification by faith and the peace we have thereby with God inferreth from thence We glory in tribulation Alas there would be little glory if at the same time man be against us and God also So Rom. 8.33 34 37. when the Apostle had gloriously triumphed in this priviledge of Justification and that none could lay any thing to our charge then he concludeth We are more then conquerors Again 1 Pet. 3.16 17 18. exhorting the people of God to be ready to suffer for well-doing giveth this reason For Christ once suffered for sins the just for the unjust c. So that no misery or calamity can be joyfully undergone unlesse the Lord forgive our sins to us In these times of warre while we have been under continual fears of an enemie vvhat could rightly support us but remission of our sins To have men accusing and condemning of us but to have God clearing and absolving this can make an Heaven in the midst of an hell LECTURE XVI MAT. 6.12 And forgive us our debts HAving explained this Petition positively and practically we come to handle those Questions which may make to the clearing of that truth which is contained in the Text. And I shall pitch upon those that are usefull and necessary not on thorny and perplexed God indeed once spake out of the thorny bush but seldom doth truth discover her self in those thickets which the Schoolmen have made The first in order that should be discussed is What remission of sin is Or What is meant when we say God doth forgive sinne But before we can come to that another Doubt must be rouled out of the way and that is What sinne is and what are the proper effects of sinne For a man can never understand what it is to have sinne blotted out or taken away unlesse he be first informed What the nature of sinne is and what effects it hath wrought upon the sinner Of this therefore in the first place And first I shall speak of sinne abstractedly in its own nature Secondly Relatively to the person who sinneth Thirdly The proper effects of it Fourthly The weight or aggravation of every sin Let us begin with the former Sinne in the Scripture hath several names which do in some measure describe the nature of it The Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used commonly for sin and it doth in a proper signification wherein it is once used denote an aberration from the mark we shoot at Judg. 20.16 Every one could sling stones at an hairs breadth and not misse and from hence metaphorically is signified the nature of sinne for every mans action is to have an end which end is manifested by the Scripture and when a man reacheth not to this he is said to sinne answerable unto this word in the Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to erre from the scope And another word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is going beyond the bounds and limits which are set us Though a learned Critick Dieu doth make 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to signifie beyond but by as if it did denote a negligent and carelesse passing by the commands of God Another word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which cometh of a word that properly signifieth crookednesse
it is not reported that she found such grief for her sins So that as in corporal things a man would choose the tooth-ach rather then a pestilent feaver yet a man is more afflicted and pained at the tooth-ach or burning of his finger then at a feaver So it may be here a godly man would rather choose the losse of his children or dearest relations then lose the favour of God by his sinne yet it may be have more painfull grief in the one then the other Again it is to be observed That the Scripture requiring sorrow or repentance for sin doth not limit such a degree or such a length of time which if necessary would certainly have been prescribed 6. It cannot be denied but that the ancient Fathers have spoken hyperbolically of tears and repentance which phrases were the occasion of that corrupt doctrine in Popery Chrysostom compareth repentance to the fire which taketh away all rust of sin in us Basil cals it The medicine of the soul yea those things which God properly doth are attributed to tears and sorrow as if the water of the eyes were as satisfactory as the bloud of Christ his bloud is clean enough to purge us but our very tears need washing It is true indeed we reade of a promise made to those who turn from their evil wayes Ezek. 18.27 he shall save his soul alive but this is not the fruit of his repentance but the gift of God by promise It qualifieth the subject it hath no influence upon the priviledge Even as a man doth by the power of nature dispose and prepare the body to receive the soul but it is the work of God immediately to infuse it 7. Though therefore repentance be necessary to qualifie the subject yet we run into falshood when we make it a cause of pardon of sinne And thus ignorant and erroneous people do Ask why they hope to be saved or justified why they hope to have their sins pardoned they return this answer Because they have repented and because they lead a godly life Thus they put their trust and confidence in what they have done But the Scripture though it doth indispensably command repentance in every one yet the efficient cause of pardon is Gods grace and the meritorious is Christs bloud And if repentance come under the name of a cause it can be only of the material which doth qualifie the subject but hath no influence into the mercy it self We reade Luk. 7. that Mary Magdalen had many sins pardoned her because she loved much But the Parable of a Creditor which forgave debts that is brought by our Saviour to aggravate her kindnesse doth plainly shew That he speaks not of a love that was the cause of pardon of her sin but which was the effect of it Gods love melting her heart even as the Sun doth snow The highest expressions that we meet with in Scripture where pardon of sinne seemeth to be ascribed to godlinesse as a cause is Dan. 4.27 Break off thy iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor Here we would think that if a man would on purpose hold that doing of a good work would be a proper cause to remove sin he would use no other expression But first it appeareth by the context that Daniel giveth not this counsel in reference to Justification and the pardon of his sin so as to be accepted with God but to prolong and keep off that temporall judgement which was revealed in the vision as appeareth by those words If there may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity And we have the like instance in Ahab who prorogued his calamity by an external humiliation Again although the Vulgar translate it Redeem thy sins yet the Hebrew word doth properly signifie To break a thing as we translate it and although by a metaphor it be applied to redeem and deliver yet that is alwayes of men and persons not things especially it would be ridiculous to say Redeem thy sins so that the meaning is That whereas before Nebuchadnezzar had by injustice and oppression done much rapine and violence now Daniel counselleth him to break off such wicked wayes by the contrary expressions of love and chastity So that this place giveth not any spiritual mercy to repentance as the proper cause thereof 8. As repentance is thus necessary but not as a cause of pardon so neither is it required as that whereby we appease and satisfie God and this all Popery goeth upon yea and all Pharisaical spirits in their humiliation that by those afflictions and debasements of their souls they shall satisfie God and make him amends But this is so grosse that the more learned of the Papists are fain to mitigate the matter and say That satisfaction cannot be properly made to God by any thing we do because all we have and do is from God and therefore there must be an acceptation or covenant by way of gift interposed whereby we may be able to satisfie And then further they say There cannot be satisfaction made to gain the friendship of God which sin hath violated but to take away some thing of temporall punishment that belongs to sinne So that by all this which hath been delivered we may give repentance those just and true bounds which Gods Word doth assign to it and yet not give more then Gods Word doth Neither may we think it a nicety or subtilty to make a difference between a qualification and a cause for if we do not we take off the due glory that belongs to Christ and his merits and give it to the works we do and we do make Christ and his sufferings imperfect and insufficient and by this we may see in what sense grace inherent or sanctification doth expel sin for if we speak of the filth and pollution of sin so sanctifying grace expels it as light doth darknesse heat doth cold by a reall mutation and change So that God in sanctifying doth no more to expel the sin in the filth of it afterwards even as the Physitian needs to do no more to the removing of the leprosie then by producing a sound health in the body But when we speak of the guilt of sin it is not grace sanctifying within us that doth remove the guilt but grace justifying without us Insomuch that although a man after sin committed were perfectly sanctified yet that would not take off the guilt his sin had brought upon him So that although that man needed in such a case no further grace of sanctification to make him holy yet he needed the grace of remission to take away this guilt So that the guilt of sin doth not cease by a natural necessity upon the removing of the nature of the sin but upon a distinct and new act of Gods favour in forgiving for if this were so then Gods mercy in giving a repenting heart and his mercy in pardoning should not be two distinct mercies which yet are evidently distinguished by
do not make to the internal Happinesse of God yet he is pleased with this and commands it of men and threatens to punish where it is denied him and certainly we may not think the Scripture doth aggravate sinâ—e under this title as an injury to him as that which offends him and is disobedience unto him if so be there were not some Reality Besides the Necessity of Christs death by way of satisfaction doth necessarily argue That sinne is a reall offence and dishonour to him And lastly a sinner as much as lieth in him depriveth God of all his inward happinesse and glory insomuch that if it were possible God would be made lesse happy by our sins It is no thanks to a sinner that he is not but it ariseth from his infinite Perfection that he cannot Let the first Use be To commend Repentance in the necessity of it if ever we would have pardon God hath appointed no other way for thy healing Never perswade thy self of the pardon of sinne where sinne it self hath not been bitter to thee Besides where godly sorrow is there will be earnest prayer and heavenly ascensions of the soul unto God for his pardon Hence Zech. 12. The spirit of Prayer and Mourning is put together and Rom. 8. Prayer and groans unutterable As the fowls of the Heaven were at first created out of the water so do thy heavenly breathings after God arise from thy humbled and broken soul It is presumption to expect pardon for that sinne which hath not either actually or habitually been humbled for by thee If a man should expect health and life yet never eat or drink would you not say he tempted God and was a murderer of himself So if a man hope for pardon and yet never debase or loath himself repenting of his sins will you not â—â—y he is a murderer of his soul And be encouraged to it because God hath annexed such a gracious Promise to it He might have filled thee with sorrow here and hereafter It might be with thee as the damned Angels who have neither the grace of repentance nor the mercy of pardon 2. Not to trust in repentance but after all thy humiliations still to depend only upon Christ Though Christ died and was crucified yet he did not lose his strength and efficacy This was represented in that passage of Gods providence That a bone of his was a broken Relie therefore upon Christ wounded for sinne not upon thy own heart that is wounded use this but trust only in Christ Dependance upon Evangelical graces doth evacuate Christ as well as confidence in the Law A man may not only preach the Law and the duties thereof to the prejudice of Christs glory but also the duties and graces of the Gospel If a man relieth upon his repentance and believing he maketh Justification and Salvation to be of works though it be of faith for he makes his faith a work and gives that glory which belongs to Christ to his own repentance LECTURE XX. MAT. 6.12 And forgive us our Debts IT hath already been demonstrated at large How God doth remit or forgive sins We come now to shew What kinde of act forgivenesse of sin is and whether it be antecedent to our faith and repentance Both these Questions have a dependency one upon another and therefore must be handled together The first Doubt is What kinde of act in God forgivenesse of sin is Whether it be an immanent act in-dwelling and abiding in God or transient working some reall effect and change upon the creature Now in handling of this I shall not trouble you with that perplex Question so much vexed by the Schoolmen Whether a transient action be in the Agent or in the Patient but lay down some differences between an immanent action and a transient action only you must take notice that we are in meer darknesse and not able to comprehend how God is said to act or work For on the one side we must not hold that there are any accidents in God or that he can be a subject recipient of such because of his most pure and simple Essence so that whatsoever is in God is God And yet on the other side the Scripture doth represent God doing and working such mercies and judgements as seemeth good to him Only this some conclude of wherein others with some probability dissent that Gods knowledge and will is the cause of all things that are done so that there is not an executive power besides them whereby he doth this or that As we see there is in man though an Artificer wils such a thing to be done yet that is not existent till he hath wrought it but now God worketh all things by a meer command of his will as appeareth Gen. 1. God said Let there be light and there was light Here was Gods will to have it so no executing power distinct from that will Therefore it is a sure truth De Deo etiam vera dicere periculosum est It is dangerous to assert things though true of God and Tunc dignè Deum aestimamus cum inaestimabilem dicimus then do we rightly esteem of him when we judge him above our thoughts or esteem We must not therefore apprehend of God as having a new will to do a thing in time which he had not from eternity as Vorstius and others blaspheme but his will was from all eternity that such a thing be in time accomplished by his wisdome As for example in Creation God did not then begin to have a will to create but he had a will from all eternity that the world should exist in time and thus it is in Justification and Sanctification not that these effects are from eternity but Gods will is And if you ask Why seeing Gods will to create or justifie is from eternity Creation and Justification are not also from eternity The answer is because God is a free Agent and so his will is not a necessary cause of the thing for then it would be immediately as the Sun beams are necessarily as soon as the Sun is but it is a voluntary principle and so maketh the effect to be at the time he prescribeth As if there were an Artificer or Carpenter that could by his meer wiâ— cause an house to be reared up he might will this to be done in such and such a year long after his will of it to be So God when the world is made when a sinner is justified willed these things from all eternity and when they come to have a being these effects cause an extrinsecal denomination to be attributed to God which was not before as now he is a Creator and was not before now he justifieth and did not before There is no change made in God but the alteration is in the creature But of this more in its time Let us come to give the differences between an immanent action and a transient and then we
dispelluntur poison is driven out by oison And thus much for the Negative we come to the Affirmative and in the general we say A godly man committing such a gross sin till he doth repent is in a state of suspension from all the effects of Gods Grace in Justication though not of abdication or exheredation He is under Sequestration though not Ejection he is under an interdiction though not an exile He is as Absolom that was cast out of his fathers family though not from being a son The English Divines expressed it well in the Synod of Dort by a leper who was shut out from his own house so that although he had a right to his house yet he had no claim by any law to enjoy his house So though a godly man have a right to pardon of sin yet he cannot claim this as due to him as long as the guilt of sin abideth on him Hence that is expounded Purge me with hysop as an allusion to the leper who in such a manner was cleansed not that this state is to be conceived a third estate between a state of Justification and Condemnation but a suspending of the benefits of the former In which sense a godly man justly cast out by Church-officers for a sin is said to have his sins bound in Heaven And in this respect Zanchy saith he doth Quodammodo excidere à gratiâ Dei and that they are made quasi inimici as it were enemies Thus Perkins also Upon the committing of such sins saith he God turneth the effects of his grace into the effects cujus dam odii of a kinde of hatred to their sins so that quodammodo fiunt inimici Dei Now that the terrour of this condition may more fasten on the godly to make them cautelous against such fals let us consider what particulars this general doth include And first it supposeth a present unfitness for the Kingdom of Heaven or any gracious Priviledge There is no aptitude or preparation in a godly man so lapsed for comfort or salvation but like the unclean man is to stand aloof off from all this Now how woful is this to consider that such a man who had Gods gracious Scepter alwayes held out to bid him come into his presence must now finde the doors and gates of mercy for a season shut upon him Now the Master of the feast may say to him How camest thou in here without a wedding Garment When David sate not according to his custom at the Kings Table it was excused he had uncleanness upon him Alas it is a godly mans aggravation of this guilt why doth he not apply the Promises as formerly Why is he not had into the Spouses Wine-cellar Alas uncleanness is upon him As Christ said to Mary Touch me not for I am not yet ascended we may apply otherwise the Promise of Grace Christ saith to thee Touch me not lay not hold upon me for thou art not yet risen out of thy filth 2. As there is no aptitude for gracious priviledges So also God doth now change all his dealings and administrations towards them Those effects of love delight comfort assurance and sweetness they had are now turned into the bitter effects of wrath displeasure trouble and grief of soul sad pangs and convulsions of conscience so that they have no peace with God nor themselves Thus their sins swallow them up like Jonahs Whale and they are as it were in the bottome of hell God is really offended and displeased with them hereupon their conscience doth truly and sadly accuse them And all this being set home by Gods Spirit convincing of them of sin in all the aggravations of it O the groans and agonies their souls must needs conflict with This David doth evidently teach us in what he felt upon him Hearken then to Davids cryings and groanings and take you heed how you abuse the Grace of God either doctrinally or practically to a secure committing of gross sinne Be sure if ye belong to God your sinne will finde you out and no Doctrine of free Grace will be Altar or Sanctuary safe enough for you to hide your selves in God who was the God of all consolation is now the God of all sorrow and fear Thou thinkest on him and thy meditations are not sweet but troublesome Now it s not the Spirit of God that seals and comforts but of Conviction and Humiliation Now Christs bloud which thou despisedst doth speak bitter things against thee A drop of Gods anger fals into the conscience of a godly man thus awakened like a drop of scalding lead into a mans eye O what comfort do those pleasures those lusts now afford him Now he may say of them as she of her husband Thou art a bloudy husband 3. Although he hath a right to the Covenant of Grace to the priviledges contained therein yet as you have heard He may not without renewed Repentance claim any of these He cannot say my God my Christ my Pardon No God hath spit in his face as the expression is to Miriam and the soul is become filthy and noisome and she must be washed again ere Christ will receive her Though there be a Well of Salvation yet thou hast no bucket to draw out of it As long as a godly mans heart stands thus averse from God and hath a purpose to continue in sin all the Promises are like a fountain sealed up and a Garden enclosed He is in a worse condition then the wounded man in the way to Jericho for not only the Priest and the Levite the Moral Law pass by him but even the good Samaritan Christ and the Promises pour no oil into his wounds All the while he applieth comforts to his soul and supports himself with hopes of Gods favour he liveth upon spiritual robbery And he can with no more truth if we speak of the actual use and application say of the Promises then the devil of the world and the glorious things thereof All these are mine 4. By this they incur the guilt of eternal damnation There is a two-fold guilt as some distinguish one potential which by others is Reatus simplex a simple guilt another actual which by others is Reatus redundans in personam a guilt falling upon the person Now it is upon all sides agreed That by those sins he deserveth eternal damnation And therefore a godly man so offending ought to bewail the forfeiture he hath made If God should deal with him according to that strict rule Cursed be every one that abideth not in all the things that the Law requireth where should he appear But may we not say they have an actual guilt obliging them to eternal wrath not absolutely but conditionally till they take the means appointed by God for their pardon I see not but in a sound sense this may be said for God doth not will to them salvation while they abide in that state though at that time he wils to give them
way of Justification by faith in Christ ariseth because of our imperfection and sinfulness remaining in us and therefore is justificatio viae not patriae a justification of us in our way not when we come to our home Fourthly Although pardon of sin be compleated at that great day yet this is not to be understood as if Gods pardon of any sin were imperfect and something of sinne did still remain to be done away No those expressions of forgivenes of sin in the Scripture denote such a full and plenary pardon that a sin cannot be more remitted then it is But because we commit new sinnes daily and so need pardon daily Therefore it is that we are not compleatly pardoned till then As also because the perfect pardon we have here shall then solemnly and publikely be declared to all the world These things thus premised I come to shew the grounds or particulars wherein our pardon of sinne is thus compleated And first In our sense and feeling For howsoever God pardon a sinne perfectly yet our faith which receiveth it is weak This Jewell is taken with a trembling and shaking hand Hence it is that we have not full faith and confidence in our spirits We may see this in David though Nathan told him his sinnes were forgiven him yet his faith was not so vigorous and powerfull as wholly to apply this to his own soul and therefore he had much anguish and trouble of heart afterwards But now at the last day all these fears diffidence and darknesse will be quite removed out of our hearts There shall be no more disturbance in our souls then there can be corruption in the highest heavens we shall then have such a gourd as no worm can devour Our souls shall not then know the meaning of sitting in darknesse and wanting Gods favour There will then be no complaints Why hath the Lord forsaken me Well may Gods children be called upon to lift up their heads when such a redemption draweth nigh and well may that day be called the times of refreshment seeing the people of God are so often scorched with the fiery darts of Satan Secondly Pardon of sin will at that day be perfected Because all the effects of pardon will then be accomplished and not so much as any scars remain the wound will be so fully healed Although God doth fully pardon sin yet the effects of this are delaied many chastisements and sad afflictions are to be undergone howsoever death it self and the corruption in the grave must seize upon justified persons now these are the fruit of sin and howsoever the sting of these be taken away yet they are not wholly conquered till that last day Then therefore may we justly say Sin is pardoned when there shall be no more grave no more death no more corruption but all shall be swallowed up in immortality and glory Thirdly Then and not till then may we say remission of sins will be compleated because then shall no more iteration of pardon be Here in this life because the root of corruption abideth in us there are daily pullulant branches of sinnes and so frequent guilt is contracted whereby as we have daily sores so we need daily plaisters It is with originall corruption in us as in that Tree in Dan. 4.14 15. although the branches be cut off yet the stump is still in the earth and that sprouts out too fast by the temptations that are alwaies by it Hence it is that we alwaies pray Forgive us our sins and because of thâ—se failings the Apostle 2 Cor. 5.20 writeth to and exhorteth the godly Corinthians who were already reconciled to God to be further reconciled to him But then this Petition shall wholly cease then there will be no serpent to sting us nor will the eye of justifying faith to look upon the brazen serpent exalted be necessary any more The Lord will not only wipe away the tear of wordly grief but also of godly sorrow at that time Then and not till then will it be true That God seeth no sin in his children Then will the Church be without wrinkles or any spot within her In this respect it is the Church of God pâ—aieth so earnestly for the Bridegrooms coming For this it is They look for and hasten in their praiers that day Fourthly At that day will pardon of sin only be compleated if you consider the nature of justification For what is that but an overcoming the accusing adversary and clearing of us against every charge Now this is most eminently and fully done in those last assizes The Syriack word to justifie is also to conquer and overcome because when a man is justified he overcometh all those bils and indictments which were brought in against him now this is manifestly done in the day of judgement when God shall before men and Angels acquit and absolve his people and if the Apostle say in this life Rom. 6.7 of a godly man dead in Christ he is justified from his sins 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in respect of sanctification that sin doth not conquer him but he sinne how much more will this be true at that day when all the guilt and filth of sin shall be totally removed Oh what a glorious conquest will that be over sin hell and the devil when the Judge of the whole world shall pronounce them free from all sinne and command them to enter into his glorious rest Having thus cleared the Doctrine one Question may be briefly touched upon Whether the sins of Gods people shall be manifested at the day of judgement and God for Christs sake then acquit them There are learned men for the affirmative They shall be published and there are learned men for the negative Those that are for the affirmative they say indeed godly mens sins shall not be examined for their ignominy or confusion but only that the goodnesse and grace of God may be made the more illustrious For this they urge these Arguments First Those places of Scripture which speak of the universality of the reall objects and personal Of the reall as when it 's said A man must give an account of every idle word Mat 12.36 2 Cor. 5.10 an account must be made for every thing done in the body For the universality of the object personal 2 Cor. 5. We must all appear before the Tribunall seat Again They urge the opening of the book which shall be at that day and that is nothing but the manifesting of the consciences of men Furtther Many wicked mens sins and godly mens are mingled together and there cannot be a judgement of discussion preceding that of condemnation unlesse godly mens sinnes also be produced In summe They think this conduceth more to the setting up of Gods justice the exaltation of his mercy neither say they will this breed shame to the godly for in heaven they shall remember their sins committed on earth but without any grief
his sins in particular And others that there is only this later and therefore the fore-mentioned Author in his Treatise of Gospel-repentance makes this only Gospel-repentance but as Gospel-faith is not that reflect act of the soul in a man whereby it is perswaded that Christ is his but a direct act of taking and receiving Christ to be ours so a Gospel-repentance is not that mainly whereby we are humbled because we receive Gods love to us in pardoning but principally in that loathing of our selves to obtaâ—n pardon It is therefore great ignorance in that Author in his Treatise of Gospel-repentance when pag. 58. he cals Repentance that goeth before this Faith viz. that my sins are pardoned a dead work as if the Faith that justifieth and without which it is impossible to please God were the believing that my sins are pardoned whereas the Scripture makes it to be the receiving of Christ and laying hold on him and seeing that the object must in order of nature be before the act that is imployed about it it followeth infallibly that I must have Justification before I can believe I have it Repentance therefore may be thought to go before a two-fold act of Faith First That whereby Christ is laid hold upon and made ours and so the Repentance that precedeth this may be called legal and slavish Or secondly Before a perswasion that my sins are pardoned and before this act of Faith Repentance must necessarily go because the Covenant of Grace dispenseth pardon only to such But because I have already spoken enough of the former kinde of Repentance anteceding Remission of sins vindicating the necessity of it I shall press upon this later as being most proper to my Text. And that assurance of apprehension of pardon doth not beget security but rather increase godliness will appear several wayes And first thus Those places which speak of Gods gracious Properties do represent them as grounds of duty as well as of consolation Psal 130.4 There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared Mark that expression There is forgiveness with thee which implieth forgiveness to be in God as in a fountain and therefore he doth easily and plentifully forgive but lest any Spider should suck poison out of this sweet flower he addeth That thou mayest be feared here is no incouragement to security Thus Hos 3.5 there is a gracious Promise of God to his children that they shall fear him and his goodness As it is Gods glorious Property to work good out of evil so it is a most devilish quality to work evil out of good 2. The Promises of God they also require an holy and humble walking 2 Cor. 7.1 The Apostle having in the Chapter before mentioned those glorious Promises in the Covenant of Grace That he would be our God and we his sons and daughters makes this inference Having those promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness perfecting holiness in the fear of God So that here is no danger as long as we keep close to the genuine use of the Scripture Thus also Eph. 4.30 Grieve not the Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed c. Where Assurance is so far from incouraging to sin that by sin it is weakned and destroyed The more gracious then we perceive God to us the more humiliation and debasement we finde in our selves Thus the Apostle Peter 1 Pet. 1.17 If ye call on the Father who without respect of persons judgeth all men pass the time of your sojourning here in fear To make therefore doubting a duty and meritorious as some Papists have done is to betray great ignorance of Scripture motives 3. That Assurance of pardon is apâ— to kindle spiritual affections in us is plain if you consider the nature of such Assurance 1. Originally it is wrought by the Spirit of God as a man by the power of Free-will is not able to do any supernatural good thing so neither by the strength of natural light can he discern the gracious priviledges God bestoweth upon him 1 Cor. 2.12 The Spirit whereby we know the things that are freely given us of God is opposed to the spirit of the world If then this perswasion be not the fruit of the flesh but of the Spirit is it any wonder that it inclineth us to holy things Again 2. This perswasion of pardon cometh in the use of those means appointed by God 2 Pet. 1.10 By giving great diligence in the use of the means we only come to Assurance How then can such a perswasion of forgiveness cause a neglect of the means Lastly That Spirit which doth thus assure doth work also at the same time concomitant gracious effects especially servent and effectual prayer Rom. 8. Gal. 3. Now where constant powerful Prayer is that soul is like a tree planted by the waters side 4. That this perswasion of pardon doth inflame much to Holiness appeareth from the nature and state of those who are in it They are sons Now by experience we see that in an ingenuous son the more apprehension there is of his fathers tender love and kindeness to him the more obsequious and serviceable he is Can we think that the fathers great love to his prodigal son was not like coals of fire poured on him to melt and thaw him We rather see jealousies and suspitions of love to breed hatred at last Hence diffidence worketh despair and despair hatred of God It is therefore a special duty lying upon the people of God to entertain good thoughts of God and to be perswaded of his loving kindeness to them 5. That the people of God do yet mourn and abhorre themselves for their sins though perswaded of the pardon of them ariseth from the sincerity and uprightness of their heart whereby they hate sin as sin and grieve for the dishonour they have put upon God It is indeed lawful yea a duty to repent of sin that it may be pardoned because the Scripture propounds this as a motive and incouragement to the duty And it is a vain thing to affect more high and spiritual strains then the Scripture But Humiliation of sin when pardoned and after the knowledge of the pardon doth evidently discover an upright heart that the dishonour of God is more trouble and grief to him then his own punishment and destruction Whereby it is that hedoth so accuse and condemn himself for dealing so wretchedly and frowardly with so gracious a God 6. That ingenious principle of Gratitude and Thankfulness which reigneth in the godly will put them upon all these services Godliness in the lives of the godly may be considered two wayes First as a means wherein they attain to eternal life Secondly as an expression of Thankfulness unto God Hence Vrsine in his Catechism inscribeth that part of Divinity which containeth our duty de gratitudine of Thankfulness Bern. Ep. 107. Justus quis est nisi qui amanti se Deo vicem rependit amoris quod non