without which cur Faith is vain and we are yet in our Sins void of any sufficient Plea to answer the Charge of the Law of Righteousness at the dreadful Tribunal of the Divine Majesty The manifold unfearehable Wisdom of God in the Administration of the Riches of insinite Grace exceeds what Creatures can ask or think The most large and advantagious Pardon from an Earthly Soveraign to a Rebel cannot reclaim a Felon's Mind or alter a Traitor's Heart But they who are in Christ Jesus and free from Condemnation they have the Spirit of Christ by which they are made new Creatures and enabled to walk nor after the Flesh but after the Sprit This is the Comprehension of the Love of God in Christ extended to all Saints Yet the primary Reason of the Death of our Lord Jesus Christ was to make Satisfaction to the Justice of the holy Creator for the Sins of Rebel Apostate Creatures It then became a consequent Corollary of our Lord's Death to awe from Sin and represent the abominable Sinfulness of Sin In all the righteous Administration of Rewards and Punishments supreme Justice obtains the first and necessary Consideration so that if there were no Persons to be deterred from future Crimes yet Justice requires severe Animadversion upon the present Malefactor otherwise How shall God judg the World God cannot be unrighteous in taking Vengeance upon the Damned in everlasting Torments where there is no place for Repentance nor Capacity for the Benefit of a deterring Example The happy Sum of the Doctrine of Man's eternal Redemption and Salvation is That God hath given us the sure Mercies of David He hath made with us an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure and this is all our Salvation where no proud Pharisee can assume or impute to himself nor any humble repenting Sinner doubt or despair Wherein God willing more abundantly to shew unto the Heirs of Promise the Immutability of his Counsel confirmed it by an Oath that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie we might have a strong Consolation who have fled for Refuge to lay hold upon the Hope set before us which we have as an Anchor of the Soul sure and stedfast Jesus Christ the same yesterday to day and for ever Amen Now for a Corollary to the precedent Discourse that it may be evidenced not to be a private Opinion but the Doctrine of the Church of England according to the Scriptures here are subjoined the Expressions of the Homily of the Salvation of Mankind only by Christ our Saviour from Sin and Death Everlasting Homily Because all Men be Sinners and Offenders against God and Breakers of his Law and Commandments therefore can no Man by his own Acts Works and Deeds seem they never so good be justified and made righteous before God But every Man of necessity is constrained to seek for another Righteousness or Justification to be received at God's own Hands that is to say the Forgiveness of his Sins and Trespasses in such things as he hath offended And this Justification or Righteousness which we so receive of God's Mercy and Christ's Merits embraced by Faith is taken accepted and allowed of God for our perfect and full Justification For the more full understanding hereof it is our Parts and Duties ever to remember the great Mercy of God how that all the World being wrapped in Sin by breaking of the Law God sent his only Son our Saviour Christ into this World to fulfil the Law for us by shedding of his most precious Blood to make a Sacrifice and Satisfaction or as it may be called amends to his Father for our Sins to asswage his Wrath and Indignation conceived against us for the same But here may Man's Reason be astonied reasoning after this fashion If a Ransom be paid for our Redemption then is it not given us freely For a Prisoner that paid his Ransom is not let go freely for if he goes freely then he goeth without Ransom For what is it else to go freely than to be set at liberty without paying of Ransom This Reason is satisfied by the great Wisdom of God in this Mystery of our Redemption who hath so tempered his Justice and Mercy together that he would neither by his Justice condemn into the everlasting Captivity of the Devil and his Prison of Hell remediless for ever without Mercy nor by his Mercy deliver us clearly without Justice or Payment of a just Ransom But with his endless Mercy he joined his most upright and equal Justice His great Mercy he shewed unto us in delivering us from our former Captivity without requiring any Ransom to be paid or Amends to be made on our parts which thing by us had been impossible to be done And whereas it lay not in us that to do he provided a Ransom for us that was the most precious Body and Blood of his own most dear and best beloved Son Jesus Christ who besides this Ransom fulfilled the Law for us perfectly and so the Justice of God and his Mercy did embrace together and fulfil the Mystery of our Redemption And of this Justice and Mercy of God knit together speaketh St. Paul in the third Chapter to the Romans All have offended and have need of the Glory of God but are justified freely by his Grace by Redemption which is in Jesus Christ whom God hath sent forth for us for a Reconciler and Peace-maker through Faith in his Blood to shew his Righteousness And in the 10th Chapter Christ is the End of the Law unto Righteousness to every Man that believeth And in the 8th Chapter That which was impossible by the Law in as much as it was weak by the Flesh God sending his own Son in the similitude of sinful Flesh by Sin damned Sin in the Flesh that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us which walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit In these aforesaid places the Apostle toucheth specially three things which must go together in our Justification Upon God's part his great Mercy and Grace Upon Christ's part Justice that is the Satisfaction of God's Justice or the Price of our Redemption by the offering of his Body and shedding of his Blood with the fulfilling of the Law perfectly and throughly And upon our part true and lively Faith in the Merits of Jesus Christ which yet is not ours but by God's working in us So that in our Justification is not only God's Mercy and Grace but also his Justice which the Apostle calleth the Justice of God and it consisteth in paying our Ransom and fulfilling of the Law And so the Grace of God doth not shut out the Justice of God in our justification but only shutteth out the Justice of Man that is to say the Justice of our Works as to be Merits of deserving our Justification And therefore St. Paul declareth here nothing upon the behalf of
Man necessarily supposed for otherwise the refusal to consent would have been a Sin preceding the Transgression in eating the forbidden Fruit. The Equity of this is owned by the universal Justice of all Nations according to which capital Crimes of Parents corrupt the Blood and devest the Posterity of all Privilege conferred upon such Families Thus all the World must justfy the Ways of God to be most equal 9. The Apostacy of Mankind was not only one transient Act of Offence against a positive Command but the Sinfulness of Sin extended to an utter Renunciation of the Love and Fear of God and introduced a Corruption which the Scripture stiles Death in all the Powers and Faculties of a created Life 10. The Justice of God being infinite the rebellious Offence against that Justice must necessarily incur an everlasting Punishment Such as the Infinite Wisdom Righteousness and Holiness of God the Creator determines to inflict to vindicate his Glory 11. The Salvation and Redemption of Man liable to eternal Wrath as it proceeds only from the free Grace of God so it is impossible to be effected without Satisfaction to the infinite Justice of God For without such Satisfaction the Godhead would be exposed to continual Dishonour and the Fountain of all Righteousness residing only in the infinite Justice of God the violation thereof remaining unsatisfied consequently there must be always a failure of common Justice in the World 12. It was impossible for any meer finite Creature to satisfy the Offence done by Sin against the infinite Justice and Majesty of the Creator 13. It was impossible and also unlawful for any finite created Intelligence to imagine or contrive or effect a due Satisfaction for the Rebellion of the Creature 14. It is the undeniable Sovereign Propriety and Right of God blessed for ever the Creator and Possessor of all Beings to contrive appoint and accomplish the Means of Satisfaction to his own infinite Justice and of Salvation for his miserable condemned corrupted Creature 15. Right Reason is the Faculty of discerning the difference between Good and Evil The Lamp of God for intellectual Evidence for the practical Judgment concerning all Objects being derived from and the Exercise of Knowledg which is part of the Image of God in Man but this being lost by Man's sinful Apostacy from God there is necessity of the recovery and renewal of the Faculty of right Reason by supernatural Light and Power 16. Tho the invisible things of God even his eternal Power and Godhead are clearly seen from the Creation of the World so as to leave Man without Excuse Yet the Manifestation of the Grace of God for the Salvation of Sinners through the Satisfaction of his Justice by a Redeemer is and can only be revealed by the Word of God contained in the holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament and made effectual upon the Heart and Mind of Man by the holy Spirit For the things of God knoweth no Man but the Spirit of God But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God 17. God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days compleated the whole Canon and comprehensive Cycle of the Revelation of his Will as the only Standard in Truth and Goodness for the Faith and Obedience of Mankind 18. The Word of God contained in the holy Scriptures fully makes known the Love of God in Christ which passeth Knowledg 〈◊〉 the Kindness and Love of God our Saviour towards Man which first appeared in the Promise of a Redeemer confirm'd according to the manifold wisdom of God by the Institution of propitiatory Typical Sacrifices and Ceremonial Worships as Shadows and Pledges and symbols that in the fulness of Time God should be manifested in the Flesh even Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God who is the true God and eternal Life 19. It is impossible for an intelligent Beings to devest the knowledg and obligation of Dependance upon God his Creator and Preserver Consequently the Devotion of continual Worship is indispensable Duty and Felicity in drawing near to God the only infinite eternal all-sufficient and necessary Good It is also undeniably true that the only Rule of acceptable advantagious Worship must be the revealed Will of God For only God can direct and teach how He will be supplicated and worshipped The knowledg of this Rule in the Manifestation of the Light and Perfection of Divine Truth and Goodness is only to be found in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament wherein is revealed the absolute Simplicity and Perfection of the Christian Religion freed from the Confusion of vain and fabulous Superstition and Will-worship 20. The Covenant of Life and Happiness vouchsafed by God to Man upon his first Creation being by Man's Apostacy forfeited and the Ability to fulfil it utterly lost A second Covenant called the Covenant of Grace absolutely free on God's part but intirely necessary on the part of Man is by God instituted for the Salvation of Man The Tenor of the Engagement to which Covenant is the Institution of Baptism in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost In which Ordinance is summarily represented the Truth of the Doctrine of the Divine Trinity in the Unity of the Godhead for as the Father is revealed to be the God of Glory so is the Son to be the Lord of Glory and the Holy Ghost the Spirit of Glory The incommunnicable Attributes of the Deity being ascribed unto the Son and 〈◊〉 the Holy Ghost as unto the Father in respect of Creation of Preservation of Regeneration of Omniscience the Necessity of Redemption and Regeneration is evinced by the Misery and Death common to all and by the universal depraved Vitiosity of all Mankind Nor it is impossible that either Redemption or Regeneration can be effected by less Power than Divine Omnipotence and Omniscience The knowledg of the Heart in all the inmost Recesses of Thought and Imagination is ascribed to Jesus Christ and to the Holy Ghost The contrary cannot be fancied without the greatest Absurdity For if the Redeemer and Mediator were not essentially able to know all the Thoughts and Dispositions of the Heart of Man then some profane Hypocrite might mock or defeat with false pretended Devotion the Intercession of our Redeemer or wickedly and securely lie to the Holy Ghost Also something most necessary for a Sinner might escape the discern of our Mediator so that he could not be a Saviour to the uttermost consequently they who come to God by him must remain most miserable The essential Being of God is of such terrible Majesty covered with the Light dwelling in the Light inaccessible so that no created Intelligence can possibly arrive at any due Perception of the Godhead but only according to the Revelation whereby God vouchsafed the
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