is more distinctly explain'd Christ fulfill'd all righteousness for us and so the Righteousness of the Law is said to be fulfilled in us we may observe that 't is no such Evangelical Righteousness consisting in Faith Repentance and new obedience which some are pleased to call the works of the Gospel as is made use of to pervert the Genuin Doctrine of Justification but the Righteousness of the Law It was necessary that such a Righteousness should be fulfill'd one that was imperfect how sincere soever could not suffice it was impossible that we should fulfil such a righteousness in our own persons after we were disabled by the fall when the Law as to it's justfying power is said to be weak through our flesh God therefore appointed that his Son should do this in our stead and when he had so done God accepted it on our behalf and we are therefore lookt upon in Christ and for his sake to be as just and righteous as if we had done all our selves We have the benefit of all that obedience which fill'd up and adorn'd the Life of Christ Fourthly it imployes our being sharers in his Absolute victory over all our Spiritual Enemies sin and Satan death and Hell This ought to be laid down as an unquestionable truth that Jesus Christ did not overcome these Enemies so much for himself as for us as God he was not lyable to be assaulted by them but as Mediator he freely and voluntarily Submitted to their assaults to shew how easily and effectually he could over power them and disarm them from hurting Beleivers The Devil could not have tempted him Death could not have seiz'd him no not for so short a time not for the smallest moment unless he had so far unchain'd them and yielded himself but his End was to make his own Victory the more conspicuous and ours the more secure All the Souldiers of Christ overcome by vertue of their Captains overcoming because he baffled our Adversaries we cannot be worsted by them Heb. 2.14 15. Christs destroying of him that had the power of death was a delivering of us from the just fear of death When the Apostle had reckoned up a great many evils which Christians lye open to he says Rom. 8.37 In all these things we are more than Conquerers through him that loved us His Conquest is ours the Scripture often intimates this The same Apostle makes twice a solemn acknowledgment of it 1 Cor. 15.57 Thanks be unto God who giveth us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ And again Thanks be unto God 2 Cor. 2.14 which always causeth us to triumph in Christ His bruising of the head of the serpent enables us to trample on him too Fifthly It includes our Everlasting Fellowship with Christ in his Kingdom and Glory To have a part with him is finally to enjoy the same reward and to communicate in the happiness of his Exalted State This is to be according to that lofty Expression Joynt Heirs with Christ Rom. 8.17 He himself says that the faithful Servant shall enter into the joy of his Lord not another joy different from his Matth. 25.21 23. but his joy that which he as our forerunner is entred into already for us He animates and excites us to follow him in this World by this consideration relating to the next John 12.26 Where I am there also shall my Servant be This he repeats and confirms afterwards I will come again â— 14.13 and receive you to my self not to any separate Inferiour Mansion in my Fathers House but to my own presence that where I am there you may be also The nearer we come to the conclusion of the Bible the more and greater assurances we have of this Phil. 1.23 Having a desire says Paul to depart and to be with Christ this is a proper description of the Nature of the Heavenly felicity the same he gives to his Thessalonians so shall we be ever with the Lord 1 Thess 4.17 't is plain that he means that Lord Jesus who as we read in the foregoing words shall descend from Heaven with a shout v. 16 and snatch up all that survive at his last coming thither Timothy is supported under his sufferings by this that we shall both live and reign with Christ 2 Tim. 2.11 12. And the most transporting passage of all is yet behind Revel 3.21 To him that overcometh says our Lord in that Epistle to the Church of Laodicea will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I c. Herod stretcht very far and shew'd his mighty affection to the Daughter of Herodias when he said that he would give her whatever she askt Mar. 6.23 to the half of his Kingdom Christ goes much farther as his Kingdom is much better the whole of it shall be as much ours his He was partaker with us in our Infirmities and Sorrows we shall be Partners with him in his Glory and Blessedness The second thing is to shew How Sinners are washt by Christ that this Proposition may be fully cleared If I wash thee not c. Ans Christs washing of us is Twofold according to the double disadvantage which we lye under of Guilt and Impurity the one renders us obnoxious to God's Justice the other makes us odious to his Holiness For the removal of both these there must be a washing of Justification and of Sanctification and both of them are and must be performed by our Lord Jesus As will particularly appear First There is a washing of Justification which the Holy Ghost ascribes to Jesus Christ Ye are washed ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus 1 Cor. 6.11 c. The same Apostle who says this says indeed likewise Rom. 8.33 It is God that justfieth 't is properly the Authoritative Act of the Soveraign Judge but he does it in the name of his Son as he is said to send the Spirit in his Sons Name i.e. upon his Sons Account John 14.26 who hath obtained by his sufferings the remission of our Sins This is asserted very often 1 John 1.7 The Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin Revel 1.5 Again To him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own Blood i.e. Jesus Christ as the foregoing part of that verse shews Now this Washing or cleansing by his Blood is effected both by the shedding and by the sprinkling of it First By the sheding of Christs Blood above 1600 years ago upon the Cross All Believers were virtually and meritoriously washt There was then a General Expiation made for all their sins and one Sacrifice offered to God which would never afterwards need a Repetition There remains no more Sacrifice now the Work was finisht and perfected by that Christ then purged our sins Heb. 1.3 and made way for our free pardon by his full satisfaction Therefore the Blood of Jesus
the righteousness of Faith 't is necessary that he should expect from us the Duties of Obedience David an holy Prince Ps 101.4 resolv'd that he would not know i.e. not tolerate or countenance a wicked person and can we imagine that our Lord Jesus will fall short of his Type and shelter the workers of iniquity under his wing or give protection to those that renounce his Dominion It becomes a good Magistrate to make his best Subjects his onely Favorites and shall the Kingdom of Christ be worse order'd than the Kingdoms of Men Is not the Scepter of his Kingdom Heb. 1.8 a Scepter of Righteousness and must he turn it into a Rod of Wickedness by gratifying the Lusts of those that would be a blemish and reproach to him Surely Christ will not prostitute his own Name and dignity as he is exalted to be a King nor so far give up that Office as to lay them in his bosom who trample his Laws under foot He cannot suffer a contempt of his Authority in those that are partakers of his Grace Thirdly As Christ is the Mediator of an Holy Covenant he must look after and require a performance of the necessary terms God and Man are the two Parties in the Covenant he medeates between both and engages as a Surety for both He undertakes not onely for God's Reconciliation to us but for our return to God if there be a failure on one part there can be no accomplishment of the other if we remain impenitent God must remain implacable and Christ's Suretiship will be of no use or advantage to us His great business in the World was to confirm the Covenant with many i.e. Dan. 9.27 the New Covenant which though it be not strictly a Covenant of Works yet works are not altogether excluded by it Works are thrust out from being the meritorious condition of our blessedness but they are taken in as a needful qualification for it The Covenant of Grace does oblige us to all holy services as well as assure us of a glorious Salvation it tends to deliver us from being slaves to sin as well as from being Prisoners in Hell It is manifest therefore that we continue under the Old Covenant while we are unpurged from our old sins when we are brought into the bond of the New Covenant God does infuse new frames and dispositions itno us A sinner in his filth is evidently a stranger to this Covenant we may gather thus much from what God says by the Prophet Ezek. 16.8 9. I sware unto thee and entred into a Covenant with thee a Covenant different from that at first c. Then washed I thee with water yea I throughtly washt away thy bloud from thee Rom. 6.14 Sin hath dominion over those that are under the Law but not over such as are under Grace So that Christs ratifying of the second Covenant makes Sanctification necessary to our partaking with him Fourthly As Christ must present us to an holy God it is requisite that he should first make us an holy people The Church must be sanctified and cleans'd by Grace Eph. 5.27 that it may be presented a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but holy and without blemish Concerning this act of Christ the Presentation of Souls to God the Scripture speaks in several places To present you holy and unblameable Col. 1.22 and unreprovable in his i.e. in the Fathers sight Jude 24. To him that is able to present you faultless before the presence of his Glory with exceeding joy This is done more privately and particularly at our Death Eccl. 12.7 for then the spirit returns unto God that gave it and Jesus Christ sends his Angels to convey the Soul from Earth to Heaven where at its arrival he immediately presents it unto God 'T is done more publickly and solemnly at the End of the World when there shall be a General Assembly of Christssanctified ones then Christ will stand at the head of his whole flock Heb. 2.13 and say to God Here am I and the children which thou hast given me Christs Kingdom as Redeemer which is subordinate unto Gods and consequently distinct from it was appointed to continue no longer than this world when the world to come takes place His Kingdom is to be delivered up and his fidelity to his trust must be accounted for and therefore all the Souls wherewith he was entrusted by the Father are to be presented to him the Father gave them to him and when he hath finished his work upon them he must give them back to the Father Now can we think that a God who is glorious in Holiness will receive us if we are defiled by Sin Will he that loves Righteousness accept of those that are far from Righteousness Will he acquit his Son in the execution of his Office if so great a branch of it is the washing us from our filthiness be neglected and undone Fifthly As Christ is no lodge us in an holy place he must fit us by Holiness to be the Inhabitants One of the ends of his Ascension was thus express't by himself I go to prepare a place for you John 14.2 but the work of Christ would be no more than half done if he did not send his Spirit in his stead to prepare us for that place Our Lord purchast an Inheritance for us by his Death he went to take possession of it for us when he ascended upon high And is it not after all as necessary now that we should be made meet for his Inheritance Colos 1.12 Vessels of Wrath are fitted for destruction before they are punish with it and must not the Vessel of Mercy be prepared unto Glory before they are advanc't to it Rom. 9.22 23. What an Hell would Heaven be to those that rejoyce in Iniquity and have pleasure in unrighteousness What a Prison would Paradise be to those that love to wander What delight could the Old man take in the New Jernsalem The Souls of the Unsanctified are now the Habitation of unclean spirits what agreement therefore can be hereafter between them and the habitation of Gods Holiness How unfit must we be to dwell in the presence of God at last unless we are made living and sacred Temples for God to dwell in here The Holy Ghost hath put this bar upon the Gate of the City Revel 21.27 There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth Angels were expelled out of it assoon as they sinned can we then suppose that God will take up sinners from hence and admit them into it It is styled Gods holy Heaven Ps 20.6 't is his peculiar Palace and Throne which he will not have stain'd by the approach of any uncleansed Soul The purity of that State does call for answerable purity in us There is a necessity of being undefiled in the way Ps 119.1 if we would be
considering its Infinite value may well be represented as a Sea deep enough to drown all our guilt in according to that Promise in the Prophet Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the Sea Micah 7.19 Christ's Blood is to our sins as the Red Sea was to the Egyptians a perpetual Grave from which they can never be raised again Now that Blood which stifles the Guilt even in so doing washes the Person Jer. 33.8 I will cleanse them says God from all their Iniquity and I will pardon all their Iniquities Pardoning and cleansing are the same thing and the Blood of the Cross is the only consideration with God upon which 't is done If that had not been pour'd out Isa 1.18 the Dye of Scarlet and Crimson sins could never have been turn'd into the whiteness of Wool and Snow All things by the Law says the great Apostle are purged with Blood Heb. 9.22 and without shedding of Blood is no remission The same Method holds under the Gospel as before under the Law so that there is neither Real nor Typical neither Ceremonial nor Spiritual remission or purgation but by Blood shed Typical and Ceremonial by the Blood of Calves and Goats c. Real and Spiritual by the Blood of Christ. Secondly By the sprinkling of Christs ' Blood upon the Conscience of every Believer they come to be actually washt For there must be a particular application of the Merit of that Blood to every one by Faith or else no one can have any advantage by it We must through the operations of Gods Grace in and upon us positively concur to the sprinkling of Christs Blood upon our hearts though the shedding of it upon the Tree was wholy without us That great multitude of whom John speaks Rev. 7.14 are said to have washed their own Robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. This intimates a Believers betaking of himself and flying for refuge to the satisfaction of Jesus Christ for till then sin is not actually remitted nor the preson justified If this were not a necessary antecedent qualification for Actual forgiveness how is it to be understood that God hath set forth Christ to be a propitiation through faith in his Blood Rom. 3.25 And that we are justified by Faith c. 5.1 We are therefore commanded to draw near to God Heb. 10.22 having our Hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience i.e. not only having a pardon procur'd and prepar'd for us by Christ but brought home to us by believing in him And the Blood of Jesus thus apprehended and laid hold of by Faith is called the Blood of sprinkling c. 12.24 Hence it is that we read of our being Elected through the sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1.2 as a means to attain the end of Election It is one of the excellent Characters given to Moses Heb. 11.28 that by faith he kept the Passeover and sprinkling of Bolld For after the Sacrifices were offered he took of the Blood Exod. 24.8 and sprinkled it upon the people David very plainly alludes to this in that famous Penitential Pasalm Isal 31.7 Purge me with Hyssop and I shall be clean because that was used by Gods appointment in the cleansing of the Leper Levit. 24.47 to sprinkle the Blood upon him All this signifies the particular exercises and actings of Faith upon Christ as the Lamb slain and so our washing of Justification is compleated Secondly There is a washing of Sanctification which is also the work of Christ 1 Joh. 5.6 This is he says the Beloved Bisciple whocame by water as well as by blood A lively Emblem whereof was the water which came out with the Blood Joh. 19.34 when the Souldier pierc'd his side with a Spear Therefore the Prophet describes him by a Fountain opened to the House of David Zech. 13.1 and to the Inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness He cleanses us not only from our Guilt but from our Corruption too This he does principally by his Spirit and instrumentally by his Word and Providences First Christs washing of us as it respects Sanctification is principally performed by the Spirit It was promised under the Old Testament Ezek. 36.25 Then will I sprinkle water upon you c. This is expresly interpreted in the New Testament Joh. 7.33 39. of the Effusion of the Spirit He is the great Operator employed by our Lord Jesus in the purifying of defiled Souls According to his mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration Tit. 3.5 6. and renewing of the Holy Ghost which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour Nature in its present depraved state neither can nor will ever purge it self Solomons Challenge is not to be answer'd Prov. 20.9 Who can say I have made my heart clean He that first made the heart must now make it clean We are no more able to be our own Cleansers than our own Creators for this is such a kind of work Psal 51.10 Create in me a clean heart oh God was Davids earnest request after his Fall Gen. 1.2 It was the Spirits moving upon the face of the waters which produc'd this beautiful World 'T is the influence of the same Spirit which must produce an holy Comeliness in us Job 26.13 God by his Spirit garnisht the vifible Heavens and Christ by his Spirit must fit us to inhabit the Invisible Nor does the Merit of Christs bloud appear more in our forgiveness than its vertue and efficacy does in our renovation Secondly Christ washes us instrumentally by his Word and Providences 1. By his Word This is a Divine Instrument consecrated by a Divine Authority to this very purpose Psul 12.6 The words of the Lord are not onely pure words in themselves but are often blest and succeeded for the working of purity in us So our Lord tells his Disciples sciples Joh. 15.3 Now ye are clean through the word that I have spoken unto you he does not onely tell them that they were clean but by what means they came to be so Thus the Apostle Paul says that Christ gave himself for the Church Eph. 5.25 26. that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word Two great Truths are evidently contained in this Text 1. That our Sanctification is the price of Blood Our Living to God is the effect of Christs dying for us if he had not given himself the Spirit had not been given 2. That the word of Christ is ordinarily made use of by him in the cleansing of those whom he designs to save It hath his special Institution for this end these waters of the Sanctuary are the pool which we must come to and where we must wait to be heal'd of our Impurities This is Gods way for the cleansing of our own way Psal 119.9 Not
Cartwr in locum So the same Expressions must be understood not only in several other places but in the same Book Mercy and Truth shall be to them that devise good c. 14.22 And therefore it seems to be meant only of Gods Mercy in promising and his Truth in performing his free Grace in Christ and faithfulness to his own word The scope of that whole verse appears in this short Paraphrase upon it God out of his meer benignity agreeable to his standing Revelation does purge the sins of Men that they for the future being restrain'd by an holy fear may not return to them 2. If we should understand it of Mercy and Truth in us the sence of it amounts to no more than this that True Faith working by Love is the means of purifying the heart through the blood of Christ It purges Sin not by it s its own power but the efficacy of its Object our Lord Jesus Our Faith hath an alloy of Unbelief and our Repentings a mixture of Sin which require apurgation for themselves Sixthly Another Inference from the main Doctrine may be that the washing of Water in Baptism is no sufficient security that we shall partake with Christ He shall baptize you says his forerunner with the Holy Ghost and with Fire Mat. 3.11 Multitudes come under that Ordinance who know not what this means and yet without this our participation with Christ is impossible I cannot but conclude that the wide door of Baptismal Regeneration hath let in vast numbers of Souls to Hell Men being taught to elieve that when they are Baptized they are certainly Regenerate and born again they rest contented and look no further The Apostle Peter tells us plainly how Baptism saves 1 Pet. 3.21 not as it is the putting away of the filth of the flesh but as it is attended with an holy restipulation or the answer of a good Conscience towards God It is not the outward administration of the Element of Water but inward operation of the Spirit and application of Jesus Christ which makes a sinner clean What do we think of that woful Impostor Simon Magus After he was baptized he yet remained in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of Iniquity Acts 8.13 with 23. The same may be perceived and pronounc'd of thousands besides upon as notorious grounds as it was of him Why should this Sacrament be more constantly and infallibly accompanied with cleansing Grace than that other Institution of the Supper which Hypocrites many times partake of and the Devil enters into them afterwards with greater force Seventhly It is easie to collect from hence that Jesus Christ is not meerly the Pattern of our Purification but also the Author It is very true that He is the Pattern of it therefore we are called to purifie our selves 1 John 3.3 even as he is pure but this is not the whole truth nor the principal part The entire Mystery is set forth in those words of the Apostle 1 Pet. 2.21 He suffered for us leaving us an Example c. Indeed Christ in suffering left us an Example but his great end was to suffer for us i.e. in our room and stead as our Substitute and Surety as one that represented us suffering that which was due to us and which if he had not we must have born our selves I condemn none for magnifying the Example of Christ but I must declare an abhorrence of and enter a caution against that Socinian fallacy and cheat which would subvert the Gospel under this pretence Christ does not does not wash us by being a Pattern of absolute purity in himself but by the applying of his merit to us and the workings of his Grace in us The benefit of his Example would be utterly lost and come to nothing if his doing no sin and dying for sin were not accepted by God as the just and valuable price of our Redemption Eighthly This warrants us to infer that those Churches which come up to the highest degree of Reformation are the most likely to share in the glory of the latter dayes These Days are in a special and peculiar manner called Christ's Times 1 Tim. 6.15 Then his Kingdom will be most eminently set up and he shall take to himself his great Power and Reign subduing all that make opposition to him The question now it who shall partake with him to this kind of Heaven upon Earth Whom will the King of Saints delight to honour in those times which will be so glorious I think I may very safely Answer Those that are counted the filth of the World but in truth are most purged from it Rev. 3.4 Thou hast a few names ever iâ— Sardis says Christ to that Church or the Church in that period which hav not defiled their Garments and they shall walk with me in white for they are worthy Walking with Christ in white does note a prosperous and flourishing State as on the contrary a sad and doleful State is often signified by covering with blackness and clothing in Sackcloth and they who have taken care to keep their garments unspotted are the persons whom Christ will reckon worthy of Communion with himself in this State Who are the Hundred and forty four thousand that stand with the Lamb upon Mount Sion c 14.1 but such as are not defiled with Women v. 4 i.e. have had nothing to do with the Mother of Harlots and such as are without fault i.e. have not partaken of Babylons sins Some of the terms of reproach in this Generation will become Characters of honourable distinction and marks of renown when Christ comes in his expected Kingdom for his Measures and Methods of Advancement will not be as Mens are When the Lord dwells in Sion Joel 3. ult our Reformations must be carried on to an higher pitch and he will cleanse what he hath not yet cleansed Isa 4.3 4. He that remaineth then in Jerusalem shall with more reason be called holy because the remainder of our silth will be washt away The Second Improvement of this Point VSE 2 may be by way of Exhortation to those Duties which should be learnt from it First Labour to be deeply sensible of your defiled Natures and Lives Till we are brought to a serious acknowledgment of this we are not fit to be washt tho' we need it If we confess our sins 1 John 1.9 he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness The faithfulness of God does not bind him to cleanse us from that which we will not confess David bewails his secret faults as well as those that were known and open and prays for cleansing from them Psal 19.12 He who is pure in his own eyes shall continue filthy still Till we come to see our own Leprous Faces and thereupon to loathour selves there is no hope of our being clean Methinks that Challenge which God put to