redeemed word of the Law written in the heart of man is the Image of God in his Son Christ Iesus in the truth of his fulfilled promise of the blessed seed enabling all men by morall saith to beleeve the Lords fulfilled promise of the blessed seed And the Lords day the seventh day of the Evangelicall Law of faith blessed and sanctified by the truth of the merit of the Lords Evangelicall rest is now objected to the externall senses obliging all the Nations of the World to believe the truth of the Lords merit by his rest from the fulfilling oâ— the promise of the blessed seed To whose faith the blessing of the Lords eternall rest is due by the Evangelicall Law of faith As for the formall difference of the word of every severall seventh daies rest of the Law from the beginning it doth consist in these two pointes First the formall difference of the seventh day of the Law implying the command of the whole Law doth arise from the formall manner of Gods revealing of himselfe by the word of his severall seventh daies rest by the formallity of which severall rest the formall worship of the seventh day is commanded The second difference is that by the least transgression of the Law of righteousnes in the state of perfection the sinne was without all hope of any revealed mercy or time of repentance But the transgression of the Law of righteousnes of faith is withall hope of mercy and time of repentance while there is day in this life Of this declaration of the Evangelicall word as it is the redeemed word of truth written in the heart of man And as it is the Evangelicall word of the Lords day the seventh day of the Evangelicall Law of faith implying the perfection of the redepmtion of man from the curse of the Law for the sinne of Adam I infer these subsequent necessary demonstrative conclusions CHAP. IX Conclusion 1. IT is by the redeemed word of the Law as the Law is spirituall immediatly written in the soule of man necessarily implying the power of intelectuall life and light that the soule doth live and hath its intellectuall moving and being which is the first act of the soule of man as he is intelectuall and a true humane spirit in potency to his second intelectuall act And it is by the word of the Law literally written in the heart of man necessarily implying the power of naturall life and light that man as he is man doth live move and hath his redeemed being which is the first act of man as he is man and a rationall creature in potency to his second naturall and morall act by the species of the externall sensitive object and this is the reason that Iohn saith Iohn 1.4 in it was life and that life was the light of man Conclusion 2. It is by the litterall light of the word of the Lords day the seventh day of the Evangelicall Law of faith objected to the externall senses which is one reall light with the literall light of the redeemed word of the Law in the heart that the understanding and will of the naturall man is formally and morally produced in act necessarily implying the naturall light without which the species of the externall object can neither be morally or naturally apprehended by the act of the understanding of man Conclusion 3. Though man as he is a spirituall man shut up in spirituall darknesse till he be regenerate be said to be dead as he is a spirituall man because he is deprived of the spirituall light of the holy Spirit for the time yet by the word of the Law immediately and spiritually written in the soule necessarily implying the intelectuall life and light the soule of man humane spirit doth live and move intelectually which intelectuall life and light the spirituall light of the holy Spirit doth necessarily presuppose for the formall action of holines doth as necessarily presuppose the intelectuall act of the soule as the formall morall action the naturall action of man which are both by one reall light though the intelectuall be a pure unmixed light and the naturall a mixed light by the essentiall union of the intelectuall and sensitive nature of man without which light man were neither an intelectuall or rationall creature as hath bin formerly demonstrate Conclusion 4. As by the internall word of the Law which is eternally spiritually and immediatly written in the soule the soule of man humane spirit is spiritually immediatly and eternally obliged to the Law as the Law is â—pirituall So by the eternall word of the Law literally written in the h art of man man as he is man is eternally and morally obliged to the Law of God and consequently the sensitive body being resolved from the soule must remaine in its principle to be reunited to the soule in the great day Conclusion 5. The Lords day blessed and sanctified by the Lords blessed resurrection and rest from the fulfilling of the promise of the blessed seed in time was in the eternall purpose and councell of God before all time the decâ—eed seventh day of the Evangelicall Law of righteousnes of faith Conclusion 6. The literall light of the Lords day the seventh day of the Lords Evangelicall rest doth farre surmount the light of all the severall seventh dayes rest of the eternall word from the foundation of the world for by the literall light of the Lords day the naturall man is fundamentally and literally led to all the former seventh daies rest of the eternall word from the beginning all proceding from the love of God to man Conclusion 7. The literall light of the word of the Lords day doth emply the literall light of all the Scripture of God and consequently the whole excercite act of the sacred decree of predestination so farre as is revealed to man in this life Conclusion 8. By the Lords daies Evangelicall rest from the fulfilling of his promise of the blessed seed arising from his bloody rest the Lord did manifest himselfe truth and in that truth love and mercy to man Conclusion 9. As our Saviour by his birth life death and by his rest in the grave did manifest himselfe true man and by his wonders and miracles did manifest himselfe the Son of God begot of the seed of the woman by the immediate unction of the holy Spirit So by the infinit power of his Evangelicall rest in his triumphant victory over the power of Satan sinne eternall death and darknesse of Hell over the power of the curse of the Law and over the power of the grave his last enemy the Lord did manifest himselfe Lord God and man in the three coessentiall distinct Persons of the glorious Trinity the maner whereof is clearly set downe in the Chapter following Conclusion 10. As by the Lords Evangelicall rest from the fulfilling of the promise of the blessed seed arising from his bloody rest was by his infinit power So his merit by his rest
are contradictory to the truth of the Lords infinit merit contradictory to the whole current of the sacred word and consequently to the sacred decree of predestination Conclusion 19. All tenents and assertions denying the freedome of the naturall mans redeemed grace by the free act of his understanding will and senses without any manner of the necessitating of the free act of man either naturally or morally are contradictory to the perfection of the redemption of man by the Lords infinit merit For the naturall mans will being necessitate either naturally or morally man is no man as hath bin formerly demonstrate And consequently the naturall man by the perfection of his redemption is enabled with morall grace by the act of his understanding actually enlightned by the literall light of the Lords day to understand morally the grace of the Lords merit of eternall life and rest and by the act of his will to beleeve morally the Lords offered grace as hath bin formerly declared Conclusion 20. All tenents and assertions affirming the universall spirituall grace of man by the only act of the redemption which grace is only by the spirituall light of the holy Spirit enlightning the spirituall darknesse of the naturall man in the act of regeneration are contradictory to the sacred word and consequently to the sacred decree of predestination For all men freed from the curse of eternall death and darknesse are shut up in temporall spiritual darknes called unbeleef and sin by the eternall decree of God Conclusion 21. By all tenents and assertions affirming that the naturall man by his morall good workes doth merit eternall life The infinitnesse of the Lords merit is denied Such assertions are contradictory to the very words of the new Covenant For by the new covenant the morall blessing of the Lords merit of eternall life is immediatly offered to the morall faith of the beleever And therefore the Evangelicall Law is called the Law of righteousnesse of faith and not the Law of workes for from the morall faith of the naturall man his morall good workes doe immediatly proceed and consequently can merit nothing at all and therefore the morall blessing of the Lords day as it is the seventh day of the Evangelicall Law is due morally and immediatly by the Law to the morall faith of the naturall man whose faithfull workes of truth love and mercy are mediatly commanded as the effects of his morall faith whereby the truth of the Lords infinit love and mercy is testified by the naturall man without the blessing of whose truth by the Lords infinit merit the naturall man could not so much as craule upon the earth Conclusion 22. All tenents and assertions affirming that the free grace of the Lords infinit merit by the new Covenat is offered only to the elect are contradictory to the very words of the new Covenant whereby the free grace â—f thâ— Lords infinit merit of eternall life and rest is freely offered to all the Nations of the world And therefore this state is called the state of grace for though the state of man under the propheticall obligement of the Law of faith in the promise of the blessed seed was likewise the state of grace yet that was the estate of promised grace and this is the state of grace of that fulfilled promise for as the faithfull Fathers were saved from the curse of the propheticall Law by faith in the promise of the blessed seed So the faithfull are now sâ—ved by faith in the fulfilled promise Conclusion 23. All tenents and assertions whereby the faith of the beleever and the Lords infinit merit are seperate and devided which is the Rocke whereon the Lord told Peter the Church of God is builded are false and adulterous tenents and assertions arising from the false light of errour Now because the Church of God is so much distempered by a multitude of such tenents and objections all arising from the false light of the spirit of error two short Theologicall Canons or rules shall be set downe whereby the judicious Reader is enabled to make the strongest objection against the truth of the sacred word to vanish with the objecters breath By meanes whereof the spirit of error is discovered according to the Apostles command CHAP. X. The first Canon ALL tenents and assertions of faith repugnant to the literall light and truth of the Evangelicall word of the Lords day the seventh day of the Evangelicall Law of righteousnesse of faith are from the false light of the spirit of error The second Canon All pretended worship of God repugnant to the truth of the commanded Evangelicall worship of the Lords day is a false adulterous worship The explanation of the twofold Canon As the immediate object of faith is the Lords infinit merit by his rest and resurrection from the fulfilling of his promise of the blessed seed the eternall life light and rest of man So is the literall light of the Lords day the light whereby the object is enlightned to be apprehended by the faith of man which being one reall light with the literall light of the redeemed word of truth love and mercy written in the heart of man whereby man doth live move and hath his being As by this literall light the naturall mans understanding is morally produced in act to apprehend the object of the Lords merit as it is the Lords truth So his will by its love to that truth is moved to apprehend the object of the Lords merit as it is the eternall life light and rest of man This literall light is in the sound of the word of the Lords dâ—y For as by the light of the Sunne fire or of any materiall light the understanding of man is produced in act by the mediate sense of seeing So the sâ—uâ—d of the word is the light whereby the understanding is produce in act by the mediate sense of hearing I doe not meane heare the light of the sound of the words â—s â—â—â—y are simply words but as they are the sound of the Evangelicaâ— word of the Lords day the seventh day of the Evangelicall law of faith the word of the eternall life and light of man which being founded by the faithfull Minister in the naturall mans hearing his understanding and will is morally produced in act to understand and believe the truth of the Lords fulfilled promise of the blessed seed as the Lord did graciously oblige himself to man by covenant which was fulfilled by the Lords twofold resurrection The first was by his resurrection from the grave the second was by his resurrectiâ—â— from the earth to the heavens from whence he did descend For as the Word is man the Son of God with the Father and holy Spirit before all time he did descend from the heavens to the earth and as the Word is man the Son of God made flesh of the seed of the woman in time he did ascend again to the heavens This twofold resurrection of the
Word doth comprehend the twelve Articles of Christian faith all depending one upon another like as many links of a chain linked one into another all arising from the literall light of the Lords day by his rest and resurrection from the fulfilling of his promise of the blâ—ssed seed as the Lord did graciously oblige himself to man by the covenant First therefore of the Lords resurrection from the grave and next of his resurrection from the earth by his ascention to the heavens The Lords resurrection from the grave doth comprehend these ten fundamentall points of faith First by the literal light of the sound of the evangelicall Word of the Lords day really one with the literall light of the redeemed Word of the Law written in the heart of man whereby man doth live move and hath his redeemed state of being the naturall mans understanding is morally produced in act by the mediate sense of hearing to understand that the Lords resurrection from the grave was the last period of his rest from the redemption of man and all things lost by man from the curse of the Law for the first sin of Adam And that the Lords resurrection from the grave was from the bloody rest in the grave and his bloody rest in the grave from his sustâ—iâ—ing of the bloody cursed death of the crosse and his bloody cursed death of the crosse from his love and mercy to man Secondly as by our Saviâ—urs bloody death and rest in the grave necessarily presupposing his birth and life our Saviour did manifest himself true man so by our Saviours gracious words glorious wonders and miracles while he was personally upon earth as our Saviour was man the Son of God before all time so he did manifest himself man the Son of God in time begot of the seed of the woman by the overshadowing act of the Almighty Thirdly as our Saviour as he is the eternall Son of God by his sustaining of the eternall curse of the Law did merit the salvation of Adam and of all men naturally to descend of Adam from the first death which was the curse of the Law for the sin of Adam so our Saviour by his bloody rest in the grave for the full space of the seventh day of the last Sabbath whereby the Law was fulfilled as he was obliged to the Law for man as our Saviour is the eternall Son of God he did merit the eternall life and rest of the first seventh day lost by Adam due by the Law to his eternall merit which is the blessing of the Lords day offered to the faith of all the nations of the world by the new covenant whereby all the faithfull are saved from the second death which is the curse of the Law of faith Fourthly by the literall light of the sound of the word of the Lords day the naturall mans understanding is morally produced in act by the mediat sense of hearing to understand that the Lords resurrection from the grave was by his rest from the power of eternall death and darknesse of hell from the eternall curse of the Law the cause of eternall death from sin which he made himself for man the cause of the curse of the Law from the power of Satan the cause of sin and from the power of the grave his last enemy whereby the Lord by the immediate act of his own immediate infinite power did gloriously and triumphantly manifest himself truth to man by the fulfilling of his promise of the blessed seed and in that truth love and mercy to man and by that truth love and mercy Lord God and man in the essentiall union of the divine and humane nature Lord God and man equall with the Father and holy Spirit Lord God and man equall with the Father by the work of the redemption of man eternally lost by the eternall curse of the Law and by the redemption of the creatures which were cursed for the sin of man which are equall to the works of the creation and the Lord did manifest himself Lord God and man equall with the holy Spirit as by the continuall influence of his blessing the creatures which he hath redeemed are conserved in their redeemed estate which is the proper blessing of the holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son The name Lord therefore is the name of the essentiall union of the divine and humane nature necessarily implying the three coessentiall distinct persons of the glorious Trinity and consequently implying the name Jesus and Christ For as by the Lord God and man the lost creatures are râ—stored the Lord is the Father Lord and commander of the creatures And as he is the Saviour of man from eternall death he is Jesus the eternall Son of God aâ—d as by the continuall influence of his blessing the creatures are conserved he is Christ the anointed with the oile of gladnesse the holy Spirit and sanctifier and consequently as the redeemed word written in the heart of man by the power of which redeemed word the naturall man doth live move and hath his redeemed state and grace of naturall and morall being is the Image of God in his Son Christ Jesus so the redeemed word in the heart of man is the Image of the Lords truth love and mercy whereby the naturall man is morally enabled by the act of his understanding and will to produce the works of truth love and mercy Fifthly the Lords rest and resurrection from the fulfilling of his promise of the blessed seed being by his infinite immediate power his merit by his resurrection and rest is infinite and his love and mercy to man by his rest is infinite Sixthly as by the infinit power of the Lords merit by his resurrection and rest the day of the Lords resurrection is blessed and sanctified for his worship by man to whose faithfull worship the infinite blessing of the Lords merit of eternall life and rest is due by the Evangelicall law of faith so by the infinite power of his merit the Evangelicall worship of the Lords day is immediatly commanded and in that immediate worship as the Lords day is the Evangelicall seventh day of the Evangelicall law of faith implying the command of the whole law the whole Evangelicall law is commanded obliging all the nations of the world to believe the truth of the Lords fulfilled promise to whose faith the blessing of the Lords Evangelicall eternall rest is due by the law whereby the faithfull man is saved from the second death which is the curse of the law of faith and doth enjoy eternall life Seventhly the naturall man being commanded to believe that by faith in the Lords merit he is saved from the second death and Evangelicall faith being the act of the redeemed heart of man and the originall of all his naturall and morall actions to which all men are inabled by the power of the redeemed Word of truth love and mercy written in the heart of man faith
THE THEOLOGICALL KEY Of the three first COVENANTS Made by God with Man in the severall state of Man obliging Man to his Law after a severall formall manner from the beginning according to his sacred Decree of Predestination Fundamentally declared according to his sacred WORD and TRUTH By David Dunbar Esq This is life eternall to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent John 17.3 LONDON Printed in the yeere 1646. TO THE CHRISTIAN READER BY the Judicious reading of this small Tractate fundamentally from the beginning the Reader is enabled to make the most powerfull objection against the word of truth to vanish with the objecters breath And to determine of all the misconceived opinions concerning universall redemption universall grace falling away totally and finally from grace originall sinne naturall corruption freedome of will merit by workes children departing this life unbaptized and such like all proceeding from the mistake of the sacred decree of Predestination which is here demonstratively and fundamentally resolved from the lowest effect in the supreme cause so farre as is revealed to man in this life arising from the three first Covenants made by God with man Thine in the Lord David Dunbar The Introduction leading the judicious Reader to the understanding of this Tractate THe perfect essentiall understanding of God being infinite as God in himselfe is infinite and consequently God in this sense being incomprehensible by the finite act of any created understanding God therefore is comprehensible by man by the onely light of the word of his severall seventh dayes rest as God from the beginning did manifest himselfe to man in his severall state and condition to bee honoured and worshipped by man upon the seventh day of his law of righteousnesse To whose worship the eternall blessing of the seventh dayes rest is due by the law to man in the severall state and condition of man The reason is because in the fulfilling of the commanded worship of God upon the seventh day of the Law of righteousnesse the whole law is necessarily fulfilled for the command of the seventh day of the Law of righteousnesse is that command which the Lord doth call the first and greatest Command to which the lesser command is like and necessarily implyed in the great command For as by the great Command the seventh dayes formall worship of God is first and immediately commanded by the immediate power of the word of the seventh dayes rest commanding all the actions of man proceeding from his love to God to worship God upon the seventh day of his law which is the summe of the first table of the law So by the lesser command all the actions of man proceeding from his love are commanded to the image of God to wit man Which twofold command is necessarily fulfilled in the fulfilling of the commanded formall worship of the seventh day of the law as God hath revealed himselfe to man by the word of his severall seventh dayes rest For as no man can love God whom he hath not seen who doth not love his image man whom he doth see And in this sense it is said that love is the fulfilling of the law So no man can love Gods image man but he must love God whose image man is and therefore it is said That he that loveth his brother hath fulfilled the Law As in the great Command therefore of the word of every severall seventh dayes rest of the Law of righteousnesse the whole Law is necessarily commanded So in the fulfilling of the great Command of the seventh dayes rest the whole law is as necessariâ—â— fulfilled for if the love of man be defective either to God or to his image man mans worship is no worship And this is the reason that all the Covenants made by God with man from the beginning are established upon the immediate command of the word of every severall seventh dayes rest as God did manifest himself to man from the beginning to be worshipped by man in the severall state and condition of man for every severall covenant is established upon the condition of the fulfilling of the command of the word of the seventh dayes rest of the law of righteousnesse implying the command of the whole law though after a severall formall manner as God hath mafest himselfe to man in his severall state and condition by the word of his severall seventh dayes rest Now all the covenants made by God with man from the beginning being but the exercite act of his most sacred and most comfortable eternal decree of Predestination By the understanding therefore of the severall Covenants made by God with man from the beginning we are led fundamentally in the knowledge of God at God did manifest himselfe to man from the beginning The new Covenant therefore which is the last Covenant made by God with man being established upon the immediate command of the word of the seventh daies rest of the Evangelicall law of righteousnesse of faith which is the Lords day upon which blessed day the Lord by his glorious resurrection did rest from his fulfilling of his promise of the blessed seed The Lords day therefore is the last period of the exercite act of the sacred decree of Predestination necessarily implying the exercite act of the whole decree so farre therefore as is revealed to man in this life As for the mystery of the Lords day after what manner it is the word of the seventh day of the Evangelicall law of righteousnesse of faith it is demonstrate from the truth of the sacred word immediately in this Tractate and set downe in the proper place For the Lords day must be the true seventh day of the Evangelicall law of righteousnes of faith or there is no object for the faith of man or any law to command man or any covenant to oblige God to man or any blessing by the Lords infinite merit by his Evangelicall seventh dayes rest to man for it is by the immediate power of the blessing of his infinite merit that man and the whole worke of the redemption is continued while there is day in this life By the light therefore of the Lords day which is the word of the seventh daies rest of the Evangelicall Law of righteousnesse of faith we are led fundamentally and demonstratively from the lowest effect of the sacred decree of predestination to the first supreme cause necessarily implying the light of all the Covenants made by God with man from the beginning Which supreme cause is God The understanding therefore of the Covenants made by God with man from the beginning is the understanding of God which is called the mystery of God In which understanding is eternall life and therfore the Lord saith this is life eternall to know thee to be the only true God The reason is because the word of promise whereby God and man are mutually obliged by Covenant is the immediate object of faith without which it
righteousnesse of faith written in the heart of man and the deed of the will which is the work of morall faith proceeding from the immediate power of the life of righteousnesse of faith is the gift of God in his Son Christ Jesus by the immediate act of the redemption given to man by the immediate act of which gracious gift man doth both will and do moral good Neither is it affirmed by us that the redeemed man by the morall free act of his will hath the power simply to will or do any good but that he hath this morall freedome without any manner of necessitating of his will to morall disobedience For otherwise as hath been formerly and necessarily demonstrate it were impossible for God without injustice to oblige man either to his old or new covenant Thirdly it is objected The thoughts of man are only and continually evill Gen. 6.5 Man therefore by the perfection of the redemption cannot so much as think of any good much lesse to do any good To this I answer The thoughts of man in this place and in all such other places of the Scripture to this purpose must be understood of the thoughts of the naturall man and not of the regenerate as he is a spirituall man for the regenerate man 1 John 3.9 is born of God and cannot sin neither can his thought be evill as he is a spirituall man And though the regenerate man as he is a naturall man and not perfectly sanctified in this life doth actually sin too often against the command of the Law both as the Law is spirituall and literall for as the regenerate man doth know but in part so he doth do but in part while he is in this life yet by the regenerate mans spiriâ—uall faith in the Lords merit all his actuall sins are covered and herein stands the regenerate mans only comfort And therefore Paul doth affirm Rom. 7.22 23. that in the inner man that is as he is regenerate he doth delight in the Law of God and doth disclaim his actuall sins both of thought and deed to be his to wit as he is regenerate but as he is a naturall man attributing all his actuall sins to the rebellious will of his flesh The thoughts of man therefore in this place are to be understood chiefly of the thoughts of the wicked man though they may be always understood of the naturall man in generall before he be regenerate For all the naturall mans thoughts and works before he be regenerate are spirituall sin and spirituall evill because he wants spirituall faith and because his morall evill action is both actuall spirituall and morall sin and evill and therefore his thoughts accordingly are evill continually for at the best they spiritually and continually evill and this is the reason that Job saith Job 14.4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean thing that is to say who is able to bring forth a clean thought or work out of an unclean heart For Job doth acknowledge himself as he is a naturall man to be corrupted from his youth by actuall sin But Job doth justifie himself as he is regenerate by faith in the assurance of his salvation But though the naturall man before he be regenerate hath not the spirituall power either to think or do any spirituall good yet by the power of the redeemed word of the Law and â—ife of Righteousnesse of faith written in his heart he is enabled with the morall power both to think and to do a good morall work of faith without any manner of necessitating of his will to morall disobedience As by the power of that word he is likewise enabled with the morall grace of repentance to repent morally of his sin when he falls by the Devils temptation and that without any power to necessitate his impenitencie Fourthly it is objected that the will of the flesh is enmity against God Rom. 8.7 and cannot be subject to the Law of God The redeemed naturall man therfore by the perfection of the redemption cannot produce a good morall work of faith because his best morall work is enmity against God I answer This subjection of man to the Law of God meaned in this place by the Apostle is the subjection of man to the spirituall command of the Law as the Law is spirituall and this enmity is spirituall enmity against God In which sense it is impossible for the redeemed naturall man before he be regenerate to be subject to the spirituall command of the Law but though the naturall man before he be regenerate cannot be subject to the spirituall command of the Law as the Law is spirituall yet as the command of the Law is literall and morall the naturall man by the power of the word of the Law and life of righteousnesse of faith in his heart he is morally enabled to be subject to the literall command of the Law without any manner of necessitating of his will to morall disobedience and though the moral act of his will be necessarily spirituall enmity against the spirituall command of the Law through want of spirituall faith yet the act of his morall obedience is not morall enmity against God or his Law Fifthly it is objected Man is born in the corruption of nature which is originall sin by which naturall corruption man is necessitate to actuall sin The act of the will of man therefore by the perfection of the redemption is not free from all manner of necessitating to morall disobedience I answer Though originall sin be commonly called the corruption of nature yet it is falsly called the corruption of nature though I do not deny that actuall sin may be called the corruption of nature and yet this assertion must be warily conceived For we must not think that the nature of man is essentially corrupted for so the incorruptible soul of man which is the first act of man as he is man must be corrupted which is impossible But it is the formall morall act of the will only which is corrupted by the multiplied acts of sin which is only actuall and not originall sin For if we should take the corrupted act of the will by the multiplied acts of sin for originall sin God must be the inevitable author of actuall sin since the fall and originall sin which is no sin to death must be a sin to death I mean actuall death contrary to all truth for God by concluding all redeemed men in spirituall darknesse Rom. 11.32 which is called unbelief and originall sin hath mercy upon all men for without the concluding of man in spirituall darknesse it is impossible in the ordinary calling of God that any man can be regenerate by spirituall faith and consequently and necessarily originall sin is not the corruption of nature Sixthly the objection is further prest The Apostle Ephes 2.3 doth affirm that all men are the children of wrath by nature This wrath of God therefore must be for the originall sin
curse of the Law of righteousnes by the curse of eternall death and darknes Adam therefore and all men naturally to descend of Adam as head out of the infinit love and mercy of God to man in his Son Christ Iesus according to his decree from all eternity being redeemed from the curse of the Law by the cursed death of his only Son which was to be sustained in his prefixed time the word of the Law then written in the heart of man was the redeemed Image of God in his Son Christ Iesus by the power of which redeemed word Adam after the fall did live move and had his redeemed grace of naturall and morall being but shut up in spirituall darknes till he was regenerate And the word of the seventh day of the Law was then objected to Adams externall senses as it was the propheticall word of the seventh day of the Law of righteousnes of faith in the promise of the blessed seed then by the name of the Sabbath of the Lord prophesying the rest of the Lord to wit the blessed seed upon the Sabbath from the redemption of man from the curse of the Law for the sinne of Adam whereby Adam and all men naturally to descend of Adam till the promise of the blessed seed was fulfilled were obliged to beleeve the promised rest of the blessed seed To whose faith the blessing of the Lords promised rest by the propheticall Sabbath was due by the Law The word of God therefore to the Fathers till the promise was fulfilled was the propheticall word of the seventh day of the Law of righteousnes of faith in the promise of the blessed seed by the light of the sabbaticall seventh day leading the faith of man to the blessing of the Lords promised rest of the blessed seed By which faith all the Fathers were saved before the promise was fulfilled in the Lords prefixed time according to his eternall decree Thirdly the promise of the blessed seed being fulfilled by the Lords daies Evangelicall rest as by the redeemed word of the Law written in the heart the naturall man doth live move and hath his redeemed grace of naturall and morall being shut up in spirituall darknes till he be regenerate So the Evangelicall word of the Lords day as it is the seventh day of the Evangelicall Law of righteousnes of faith is objected to the externall senses of man as it is the word of the truth of the Lords Evangelicall rest from the fulfilling of his promise of the blessed seed obliging the faith of all the Nations of the World to beleeve the truth of the Lords fulfilled promise to whose faith the blessing of the Lords merit of eternall life and rest by the fulfilling of his promise is due morally by the Law whereby the naturall mans redeemed grace of naturall and morall being is continued while he is in this life and being regenerat hath his eternall life light and rest in the life to come The judicious reader therefore may plainly observe that the Evangelicall word of the Lords day the seventh day of the Evangelicall Law of righteousnes of faith is the same reall word which was from the beginning in the true knowledge wherof is the life light eternal rest of man for as by the literall light of the Lords day the naturall man is literally led to the morall blessing of the Lords merit by the Lords daies Evangelicall rest So by the Lords spirituall light in Gods prefixed time the naturall man apprehending himselfe dead in actuall spirituall sinne as sinne is a fearfull contempt against the infinit Majesty of God The naturall man in this spirituall feare being led by this spirituall light to the Lords infinit merit doth by the hands of his spirituall faith lay such spirituall hold on the Lords infinit merit as all the created powers of God and all the temptations of the Divell and the World are not able to part the naturall man being regenerate from the grace of his spirituall hold And this is that faith which the Lord saith is able to command the greatest Mountaine of temptation and to cast it selfe in the Sea if it stand in the way to seperate the regenerate man from his spirituall hold of eternall life Though his spirituall faith be so litle as a graine of mustard seed For the threatned Mountaine of naturall death it selfe is not able to seperate the regenerate man from this spirituall hold totally and finally This light of the Lords day therefore is that light of that spirituall fire which came downe from Heaven not the fearfull firie light of Gods consuming fire which came downe from Heaven to burne the Holocaust Sacrifice of the Lambe of God but the gracious light of the Lords deare love warning quickning inlightning and raising from the dead where it doth shine By which gracious light as all men were raised from the first death of the curse of the Law for the sinne of Adam So this gracious light doth now shine to enlighten the faith of all the Nations of the World to save them from the merciles curse of the Law of faith which is the second death Heere two speciall things are to be observed by the reader CHAP. VIII THe first is the difference of the word of the Law written in the heart of man and the word of the seventh day of the Law implying the command of the whole Law externally objected to the externall senses of man Tâ—e second is the formall difference of the word of the seventh day of the Law from the beginning First in the state of perfection the word of the Law written in Adams heart was the power of the Image of righteousnes and holines enabling Adam to merit eternall life and rest upon earth And the word of the first seventh day of the Law of righteousnes was objected to Adams externall senses obliging the perfection of Adams obedience to the command of the Law of God to whose merit by his actions of holines the blessing of the first seventh daies eternall rest was due by the Law to Adams merit Secondly man being redeemed from the curse of the Law the word of the Law written in the heart is the redeemed word and Image of God in his Son Christ Iesus first in the promise of the blessed seed enabling Adam from faith to faith to beleeve the promise of the blessed seed And the word of the seventh day of the Law of righteousnes of faith by the name of the Sabbath of the Lord was objected to Adams externall senses prophesying the rest of the blessed seed upon the Sabbath from the redemption of man from the curse of the Law obliging and commanding Adam to beleeve the promised rest of the blessed seed to whose faith the blessing of the Lords eternall rest was due by the Law to Adams faith in beleeving the the promised rest of the blessed seed Thirdly after the Lords resurrection the promise of the blessed seed being fulfilled the
from the redemption of man from the curse of the Law and from his fulfilling of the Law for man by his bloody rest was likewise infinit By the power of whose infinit merit by the Lords daies Evangelicall rest as it is the word of the eternall life and rest of man the formall worship of the Lords day is commanded in spirit and truth And therefore the Lord told the Samaritan woman The houre commeth and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father and consequently the Son and holy Spirit in Spirit and truth For God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and truth By which words the formall Evangelicall worship of the Lords day is both set downe and commanded by the Lord of the Lords day For first the Lord told the Samaritan woman commanding her to beleeve that the houre should come which is the houre of the Lords day which was then to come Secondly the Lord commanded the Samaritan woman to beleeve that God is a Spirit and must be worshipped in Spirit and truth that is in the Spirit of faith in the truth of his Evangelicall rest fâ—om the fulfilling of his promise of the blessed seed Which is the formall Evangelicall commanded worship of the Lords day which must be sanctified by man after that formall manner in the Spirit of faith in the truth of the Lords merit by his Evangelicall rest as he hath manifested himselfe to man by the day of his resurrection to wit Lord God and man in the three coessentiall distinct Persons of the glorious Trinity Thirdly whereas the Lord told the Samaritan woman that God must be worshipped in Spirit and truth and that the Father requireth such worship The formall Evangelicall worship of the Lords day is immediatly commanded by the Lord of the Lords day for Gods will and requiring of man by his word is the Lords immediate command to man Fourthly whereas the Lord said to the Samaritan woman the houre is in these words the Lords last will testament to be executed after the testators death is fully implied for in the commanded worship of the Lords day the whole Evangelicall morall Law of God which is the whole Evangelicall word is necessarily implied Fiftly while as the Lord saith to the Samaritan woman the houre cometh when ye shall neither worship the Father in this Mountaine or at Jerusalem By these words the formall ceremoniall worship of the propheticall Sabbath implying the whole propheticall ceremoniall Law is actually determined by the actuall immediate commanded Evangelicall worship of the Lords day to the great comfort of both Jewes and Gentiles in tâ—eir freedome from the sore yoake of the ceremoniall Law Conclusion 11. All propheticall ceremoniall worship is barred from the truth of the Lords commanded worship for by such ceremoniall worship the truth of the Lords fulfilling of his promise of the blessed seed is belied and necessarily denied by the will worship of man Conclusion 12. All ceremoniall pretended worship of God by any maner of carved or painted Image objectively representing to the eyes of man the Son of God as he is man is contradictory to the truth of the Lords commanded worship by his Evangelicall rest from the fulfilling of his promise of the blessed seed as he is God and man For first by this ceremoniall pretended worship God is immediatly worshipped as he is man Secondly by the intervening of the sensitive object between the Lord and his worship the Lords worship is necessarily interrupted and consequently the worship a false faithles idolatrous worship necessarily denying the truth of the Lords commanded worship Conclusion 13. All mediate pretended worship of God by invocation of Angels or Saints departed this life is repugnant to the Lords infinit merit by the truth of his Evangelicall rest For first by the immediate object of such worship intervening between the worshipper and the Lord as by his infinit merit he is eternall life rest the infinitnes of his merit is confined Secondly prayer being a most essentiall part of Gods immediate worship by such invocation of the object to which the prayer is directed the worship of God is necessarily interrupted while as man by the Lords owne immediate command is commanded to call upon the Lord himselfe immediatly in the day of trouble and neither upon Saint or Angel And consequently such mediate pretended worship of God equall idolatry with the former Conclusion 14. As all men for their first sinne in Adam as head were condemned to the curse of eternall death and darknes So by the infinit powâ—â— of the Lords merit all men were redeemed in Adam as head from the curse of eternall death and from eternall naturall and spirituall darknes shuâ— up its â—â—mâ—orall spirituall darknes called unbeleefe and originall sinne for â—he infinit good of man Conclusion 15. As by the perfection of the redemption of man by the power of the Lords infinit free merit all men are freed from the curse of eternall naturall morall and spirituall death and from the eternall curse of naturall morall and spirituall darknesse though shut up in temporall spirituall darknes So all men by the redeemed free power of the word in the heart as they are naturall men are restored to the free grace of naturall and morall life and light without any manner of necessitating the act of the understanding will or senses either naturally or morally Conclusion 16. All men redeemed from the curse of the Law by the eternall decree of predestination being concluded in spirituall darknes called unbeleefe and originall sinne all naturall men comming to actual morall understanding and action before they be regenerate are necessarily dead in actuall sinne by their transgression of the Law of faith Conclusion 17. By the redeemed word of the Law in the heart of man man is the Image of God in his Son Christ Jesus as he hath revealed himselfe by the light of the word of the Lords day truth love and mercy First therefore the naturall man by the power of the redeemed word of the Law written in his heart is enabled to produce the workes of truth love and mercy morally though not spiritually which are the workes of morall faith Secondly and consequently by the reall unity of the power of light and command of the word of the Law in his heart with the light and command of the Lords day the naturall mans heart is morally moved to assent and to beleeve the truth of the Lords day and to give morall obedience to the command of the Law implied in the Lords day Thirdly and consequently by the power of the redeemed word in the heart man is enabled to morall repentance which doth necessarily proceed the act of morall faith Conclusion 18. All tenents and assertions denying the universall grace of the redemption of all men from the curse of the Law for their sinne in Adam shut up in spirituall darknes called unbeleefe and sinne
and resurrection from the grave the naturall mans understaning is morally enlightened So by the power of the redeemed Word of truth written in the heart the naturall man is morally enabled to believe these twelve fundamentall points of faith And therefore by the new covenant all men are obliged and commanded to believe these tweâ—ve fundamentall points of faith upon the twofold reward of the law By this literall light therefore of the sound of the truth of the Evangelicall word of the Lords day the judicious Reader is enabled with all boldnesse to condemn all tenents and assertions of faith repugnant to the truth of this light for false adulterous tenents and assertions And with the like boldnesse to condemn all pretended worship of God repugnant to the truth of the Lords Evangelicall commanded worship in spirit and truth for a false adulterous worship of God arising from the false light of error This false light from whence this adulterous worship of God doth arise is the ceremoniall light of some sensitive visible object whereby the understanding is produced in act by the mediate sense of seeing which for the most part is the sensitive objective carved or painted image of the eternall Son of God as he is man which is a most faithlesse false adulterous and idolatrous worship It is faithlesse because faith is by hearing of the Word the Image of God in his Son Christ Jesus and not by the seeing of the Image of our Saviour in his humility as he is man It is false worship because it doth belie the truth of the Lords glorious resurrection it is an adulterous worship because it is repugnant to the truth of the light of the Lords commanded Evangelicall worship in spirit and in truth It is an adulterous worship because the sensitive visible object doth interveen between the Lord and his worship and in this sense a lier is called an Idolater because the falshood which the lier doth maintain doth interveen between the lier and the light of the Word of truth love and mercy in his heart which is the Image of God obliging the heart of the lier to declare and witnesse the truth which is called the light and law of conscience and so is the covetous man under which name the lier hypocrite coozener cheater extortioner briber whoremaster drunkard murderer and in a word the foul malitious cruell affection of man for by all such foul desire of the covetous man the light of the word of truth love and mercy in the heart redeemed by our Saviours sacred blood is belied darkned and obscured and the foul desire worshipped as an Idol contrary to the light of the command of the word of the seventh day of the law really one with the literall light of the law written in the heart of man And though our Saviours bloody rest be necessarily implied in the Lords Evangelicall rest yet his bloody rest is not to be represented by any sensitive visible object to the sense of seeing but by the light of the sound of the commanded word of truth to wit the Lords day to the sense of hearing preached by the faithfull Minister of the Word Neither must any man excuse the hanging up of our Saviours Image in his humility as he is man pretending that he hath the Image objected to his eyes only to put him in minde of our Saviâ—â—â— love by his death To whom I answer that by this manner of putting thee in minde of our Saviours love thou putst the Lord in minde of his fearfull wrath against thee For first it is by the Lords Evangelicall rest that thou art immediatly saved the truth whereof thou art commanded to worship in the Spirit of faith upon the mercilesse curse of the law Secondly the species of the sensitive Image doth interveen between thy mind and the Lords worship whom thou art commanded to worship immediatly and consequently thy putting in minde an Idolatrous mentall worship for preventing of which Idolatrous worship the faithfull Minister by the sound of the word is commanded to instruct the people committed to his charge at his peril for by the new covenant the Apostles are immediately commanded to teach and to preach the truth of the Lords Evangelicall worship to all the Nations of the world as the Lord hath revealed himselfe by the Evangelicall rest of the Lords day And in the Apostles the Apostolicall successors the Ministers of the word are commanded to the like teaching and preaching of the truth of the Lords Evangelicall commanded worship to the people committed to their charge The new Covenant therefore being commanded as well upon the mercilesse curse of the Law of faith as upon the blessing of the Lords Evangelicall rest It doth stand the Ministers of the Sacred word in hand to look to the faithfull discharge of so strict an imposed task Now though in the commanded Evangelicall Sacraments implying the Lords whole last Will and Testament which is the Evangelicall word the word be objectively presented to the sense of seeing touching tasting and smelling as by the light of the sound of the word it is objected to the sense of hearing that man as he is man may receive the word sacramentally that is by faith in the word represented by the externall elements Yet this sacramentall object doth not represent the object of faith to wit the Word Jesus Christ the Son of God to come and to suffer for the sins of man but doth represent him by his cursed death of the Crosse by his bloudy rest in the grave and by his Resurrection from the grave to be received sacramentally by faith in his merit by his cursed death of the Crosse by his bloudy rest in the grave and by his Resurrection and rest from the fulfilling of his promise of the blessed seed which both the Sacraments doe most lively signifie for the better conceiving whereof it is to be understood that the Sacraments were not delivered in the primitive Church but to such as were come to actuall naturall and morall understanding and action First therefore in the Sacrament of Baptisme by the baptizeds ducking and as it were drowning in the water according to the manner of the primitive Câ—â—â—ch the party to be baptized freed from the curse of the Law 〈◊〉 â—n of Adam is signified to be drowned and dead in actuall sin by 〈◊〉 â—â—anâ—gression of the â—aw of faith as by his arising out of the water his rising 〈◊〉 the death of actuall sin to the new life of faith and that his actuall â—â—ns arâ—â—â—â—ffied â—waâ— by his faith in the Lords merit which is the water of eternall life purchased by the water and bloud issuing from our Saviours â—eaâ—â— represented by the sacramentall water So in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper by the sacramentall bread the bread of life is signified whereby the baptizeds faith is nourished and preserved as by the naturall bread his naturall life is maintained and continued By the breaking of
the same reall power of the word spiritually written in the intellectuall spirit of both though after a differing manner And though the intellectuall soule of man while it is in the essentiall union with the sensitive nature doth act by the mediate organicall sensitive powers yet the soule in its intellectuall operations doth advance it selfe above all sensitive power and doth exercise its intellectuall operation without the help of any sensitive organ And therfore Aristotle that true light of all Philosophicall truth doth peremptorily affirme that it is not to be fained or imagined that the soule of man in its intellectuall operations doth use the help of any sensitive organ but that is meerely independent from any sensitive organ And consequently I doe necessarily conclude that the soule of man is likewise independent from any sensitive organ in its being For according to that Philosophicall principle The maner of the creatures action doth necessarily follow the creatures being The intellectuall soule of man therefore being independent from all sensitive organ both in being and in intellectuall operation the soule of man is separable from all sensitive power and consequently immortall And though while the soule is in the essentiall union of both the natures the understanding faculty of the soule doth depend objectively upon the sense of phansie yet the dependence is but an accidence and not essentiall And though Aristotle doth affirme and that most truly that in the act of understanding the species of the eternall object being received in the understanding doth become one with the understanding for in this union doth consist the understanding of the received species yet this union is likewise accidentall and separable for otherwise the understanding should stand alwayes affected which is repugnant to all Philosophicall truth Heere by the way the judicious Reader may observe the prerogative of the soule of man above all sublunary formes informing the materiall composit For as all other sublunary formes doe arise from the materiality of the composit so they doe stand and fall with the composit but though the intellectuall soule of man which is the first act of man as he is man doth essentially informe the sensitive materiall nature of man yet the intellectuall soule being every way independent in being from the sensitive body and no waies arising from the materiality thereof is separable from the sensitive body and consequently immortall Because the immortality of the soule is a most concerning fundamentall point of faith and a maine fundamentall point of this tractat for the Readers more full satisfaction I referre the truth of the point from the truth of the sacred Word First the intellectuall soule of man humane spirit is begotten by the eternall father of spirits as the father therefore is eternity it self to speak with the Schoolmen both from the part before and from the part after that is without all beginning or ending excluding all quantitative termes of time so humane spirit begotten of the eternall father is eternall from the part after For though the soule of man hath its beginning from the eternall father yet the soule of man humane spirit is without all ending with the father This begotten humane spirit by the eternall father since the creation is by the eternall fathers immediate concurring with the sensitive body while as the sensitive body commeth to such sensitive perfection in the wombe as the high elaborate vitall spirits of the heart doe appetite the intellectuall information of the soule For in that point of time the eternall father as he hath obliged himselfe by covenant doth concurre and by the immediate power of the word doth unite the intellectuall nature and spirit of man elaborate to the vitall spirits of the heart from whence the life of man as he is man is diffused o all the parts and powers of the sensitive body By this intellectuall information the infant in the wombe is man and in the prefixed time of birth brought forth man in the world by man female the woman Secondly the intellectuall soule of man humane spirt is of the same spheriphicall sphere with the humane spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ begotten of the same eternall Father The soule of man therefore humane spirit is eternall and immortall Thirdly the Lord himselfe doth affirme Luke 12.4 That the soule of man humane spirit cannot be killed and consequently the soule of man is eternall and immortall Fourthly God is not the God of the dead but of the living Mark 12.27 The soule of the very reprobate therefore though eternally tortured in hell and ever dying yet the soule must live in that eternall dying Fifthly the soule of man by the commanding power of the eternall word spiritually and immediately written in the soule is eternally bound and obliged to the command of the Law of God which is eternall the soule of man therefore and the law of God are necessarily coeviternall one with another Sixthly the twofold reward of the law is eternall as the law of God is eternall which is due by the law to man according to the merit of man The soule of man therefore by the immediate power of the word of the law written in the soule of man must bee enabled to receive the eternall reward of the law according to the merrit of man or the eternity of the reward of the law and consequently the law it selfe must perish which is blasphemy to affirme And as in this eternity of the reward of the law the comfort of the faithfull depâ—rting this life doth rest So in this eternity of the reward of the law the fearefull horror of the reprobate departing this life doth arise for in the point of the dissolution of the soul of the faithfull from the sensitive body by reason of the eternity of the reward of the law as the humane spirit of the faithfull in that instant of time is necessarily and actually united to the mysticall head the Lord Iesus Christ according to the unseparable union of the faiâ—â— of the faithfull to the Lords merit in this life where the soule rests and doth actually enjoy all heavenly happinesse in the mysticall head which is the promise of eternall blessing of the word of the Evangelicall seventh daies rest of the law of righteousnesse of faith So in the point of the dissolution of the humane spirit of the reprobate from the sensitive body the soule of the reprobate in that very instant of time is as necessarily united to eternall death and to the fearefull torture of the unquenchable fire of Gods consuming wrath which is the promise of the eternall curse of the Evangelicall law of righteousnesse of faith for as there is no intermission of time either for the actuall injoying of the Kingdome of glory by the humane spirit of the faithful howsoever the faithfull doth depart this life according to our Saviours word this night shalt thou be with me in paradise Luke 23.43 So there is no intermission of
written in his heart And next of his life and light of righteousnesse This naturall light proceeding from the naturall life of man is called the rationall light of man And from this rationall light which is a mixed light man is said to be a rationall creature As from the pure intellectuall light of the soule man is said to be an intellectuall creature By this rationall light proceeding from the naturall life of man as hee is man intellectuall and sensitive as the naturall understanding of man is rationally produced in act to understand the species of the externall sensitive object received in the understanding so his sensitive powers are produced in act to know the externall sensitive object rationally And the externall light whereby the externall sensitive object is actually enlightned to bee apprehended by the act of the senses of man is the naturall light of the creatures created for man as the light of the Sunne Moon Stars the light of fire and such like whereby the sense of seeing is produced rationally in act So is found to the sense of hearing relish to the taste odour to the smelling and taction if I may use the terme to the tactive sense all arising from the severall nature of the creature and proportionate to the severall externall sense of man which naturall light of the creatures is really one with the naturall light of the words in the heart of man though of a formall difference the one formally naturall the other formally rationall And as the creatures were created for man so man and the creatures were continued in the state of their created perfection by the immediat blessing of God by his word of the first seventh dayes rest of the law of righteousnesse while man did stand in the perfection of his obedience to the commands of God for it is by the only immediate blessing of the word of the seventh dayes rest that God doth give the influence of his blessing to the naturall life and light of man and to the creatures created for man and to the spirituall life and light of man By this rationall light the understanding of man as he is man intellectuall and sensitive is rationally produced in act by the three operations of the act of the understanding according to Aristotle the first whereof is the apprehension of the simple tearmes of the species of the externall sensitive object received in the understanding as the received species doth represent the truth of the sensitive externall object The second is the compounding of things inseperable apprehended in the received species and the dividing of things separable The third is in discurring and as it were running from the things apprehended and knowne in the received species to conclude things unknowne And from this last operation of the understanding the rationall act of the understanding is called discursive And the conclusion inferred by this discursive act is only probable and hence doth arise the formall difference of the act of the understanding of man as he is man intellectuall and sensitive and of the act of the understanding of man as he is intellectuall for the rationall discursive act of the understanding is formally probable inferring only a probable conclusion called Opinion But the intellectuall act of the understanding is formally necessary definitive and scientificall equall with the perfect demonstration called Science But the rationall light whereby the rationall and intellectuall act of the understanding is produced in act is one reall act light though the one to wit the intellectuall light bee a pure unmixed light which is the naturall light of the word as is immediately written in the soule and the other a mixed light proportionate to the rationall act of the understanding and senses of man To make this appear by a familiar example of the Sun As the Sun is placed in the midst of the planets the three superiour planets are inlightened by the pure light of the Sun whereby they give downe the influence of their severall natures to the sublunary creatures And as the Sunne doth passe through the orbs of the three inferiour planets through the region of the fire and the three regions of the aire the light and heat of the Sun is mixed qualified and proportionate to the temper of the severall natures of the sublunary creatures As this twofold light therefore of the Sun is really one so is the light of the word written in the soule and heart of man which is the image of the naturall life and light of the Son of righteosnesse really one Next of the light of man proceeding from his life of righteousnesse By the literall light of the word in the heart of man which is the light of the letter of the Law the understanding of man as hee is man intellectuall and sensitive is l terally produced in act according to the letter of the Law of righteousnesse implyed in the command of the word of the seventh dayes rest of the Law of God for the literall light and command of the word of the seventh dayes rest and the literall light and command of the word of the Law of righteousnesse written in the heart of man is one reall light and command And this light of the word written in the heart of man as it is the lighâ— of the word as the word is a Law to man is as it were a great lumpe of light set upon a table in the heart enlightning all the species of the externall sensitive objects as they are received in the understanding By this great light first man is inabled by the act of his understanding as he is man intellectuall and sensitive to discerne and to judge the species received in the understanding by the act of his mediate senses whether the sensitive object be apprehended by the senses inlightened by the light of the Law or whether it be apprehended by the act of the senses inlightned by the false adultrous light of Satan whereby Satan doth continually betray man to transgresse the Law of God Secondly by this great light as it is the light of the word commanding man really one with the light and command of the word of the seventh dayes rest of the law of righteousnesse man is inlightened to understand that he is commanded to reject the species of the sensitive object inlightened by the false adulterous light of Satan which is alwayes contrary to the command of the Law and to apprehend the species inlightened by the light of the Law at his pleasure And this is that great light which is called the light and Law of conscience As by the power of this great literall light in the heart of man really one with the literall light of the word of the seventh dayes rest of the Law the understanding of man as he is man intellectuall and sensitive is literally and morally produced in act So by the power of this light his senses are literally cognoscitively produced in act to
blessing from Adam before the law was transgressed by Adam for so Adam must necessarily fall under the eternall curse of the law neither could God by any act or decree whatsoever necessitate the will of man to fall under the fearefull eternall curse of the law by necessitating his free intellectuall creature man to a ten thousand million of times a worse being than if man should have had no being at all 8. The first Covenant being established between God and Adam and Adam being left to the freedome of his election by covenant to stand or fall at his pleasure or perill God without infinite prejudice to his justice could neither barre Satan from tempting of Adam created in such state of spirituall perfection neither could God uphold and support Adam tempted by the mighty temptation of Satan for so the Covenant had not been made with man but with God himselfe Against the truth of that which hath been here faithfully delivered arising from the truth of the sacred word it is objected that Adam in his state of perfection was neither obliged to the Law of God or commanded to the seventh dayes worship of God and consequently and necessarily I conclude First Adam in his state of perfection was not obliged to the first Covenant made by God with man for the first Covenant is established upon the immediate command of the word of the first seventh dayes rest of the Law of righteousnesse necessarily implying the command of the whole Law Secondly and consequently the first Covenant being denyed the Covenant in the promise of the blessed seed and the new Covenant made with all the nations of the world is necessarily denyed which doe necessarily and fundamentally depend upon the first Covenant Thirdly there was no law to command man in his state of perfection for the Law of God formally commanding Adam was the word of the first seventh dayes rest of the law of righteousnesse necessarily implying the command of the whole law Fourthly neither could Adam or any man created in Adam transgresse the Law of God for where there is no law there is no transgression of the law and the seventh day of the law of God being denyed there is no law of God to command man Fifthly and consequently Christ suffered the ignominious curse of the Crosse in vaine for the transgression of the Law of God by man Sixthly by denying of the obligement of man to the command of the Law of righteousnesse by the first Covenant the truth of God is fundamentally denyed Seventhly and consequently by this denyall all Christian faith is rased from the very foundation for the foundation of all Christian faith is in the obligement of all men in Adam the head to the first Covenant established upon the immediate command of the word of the first seventh dayes rest of the law and upon the transgression of the law by man But the objection is proved by two strong Arguments the first is that the formall obligement of the Law now commanding man was not sutable to the perfection of Adam which is most certaine for neither the formall propheticall ceremoniall obligement of the law or the formall Evangelicall obligement of the Law of righteousnesse of faith was sutable to Adam in his state of perfection But the simple formall obligement of the Law of righteousnesse was so sutable to Adams state of perfection as the objecter Adam and all men created in Adam their head for the transgression of the Law of righteousnesse were condemned by the law to the curse of eternall death and darknesse which nothing could redeem but the sacred Blood of the Son of God which the objecter by denying that Adam in his state of perfection was not bound to the law of God doth most unthankfully deny The second Argument to prove this fearefull objection is this Adam in his state of perfection had no other obligatory precept but the command of abstenance from eating of the fruit of the Tree of knowledge and in the very termes of this Argument a flat contradiction is necessarily involved for this obligatory precept doth necessarily imply the command of the whole Law of righteousnesse as hath been formerly declared for by the transgression of this obligatory precept the whole Law of righteousnesse was necessarily transgressed and therefore Adam and all men naturally to descend of Adam for the transgression of this obligatory precept were condemned to the eternall curse of the law of righteousnesse But of all the fearefull blasphemous objections which was ever objected by the devill or man against the truth of God this may stand upon record for the first Thus have we finished the first Book of our Theologicall Key wherein the fundamentall points of the first Covenant are Theologically and fundamentally opened for the foundation of all Christian faith containing the first part of the exercit act of the sacred decree of predestination execute by the infinite essentiall word in the Creation of heaven and the Hoast thereof of the earth of man and of the creatures created for man and in the obligement of man to the first Covenant established upon the immediate command of the word of the first seventh dayes rest of the law of righteousnesse The Second Booke of the Theologicall Key Contayning the second Covenant made by God with man CHAP. I. It is contrary to the truth of the sacred Word to affirme that our first Parents did fall the same day that they were created AS the first Covenant made by God with man did necessarily presuppose the perfection of mans creation so the second Covenant doth as necessarily presuppose the fall of man from the perfection wherein he was created unto the eternall curse of the law of righteousnesse and the redemption of man from the eternall curse of the Law condemned by the first Covenant The second Covenant therefore doth containe the second part of the exercit act of the sacred decree of predestination in the declaration whereof the order and method set downe by Moses Gen. 3. shall be observed where first the transgression of the law by our first parents is set downe Secondly the arraignment of our first parents by God for their transgression of the law Thirdly the censure of God upon the arraignment containing the second Covenant according to which method this second Booke shall be divided in these two parts In the first part the fall of man under the eternall curse of the law shall be briefly declared In the second part the arraignment of our first parents and the censure of God upon the arraignment shall be set downe containing the second Covenant necessarily presupposing the declaration of the redeemed state of man first therefore of the fall of man from his created state of perfection under the eternall curse of the law of righteousnesse as he was obliged by the first Covenant In the declaration of the fall of man two questions may be moved first it may be demanded how long did our
be broke by the seed of the woman which suggested remedy the Jews did divers times attempt but the Lord did prevent their purpose by escaping their bloody hands because his hour was not come yet this fear did so possesse Satan as he never left with all diligence to watch his opportunity till the hour was come that our Saviour was to suffer for the sins of man for then Satan did bestir himself by incensing of the high Priest Scribes Pharisees and the rabblement of the Jews and Gentiles with most cruell bloody hands to murder the Lord of life the Word whereby the light of the whole Word was obscured and darkned for a time And then both Satan and the Jews thought themselves secure But after the Lords resurrection from the dead Satan apprehending himself so horribly deceived the roaring Lyion did so rage as he did incense the Jews to keep afoot the ceremoniall worship of the Jews propheticall Sabbath for which effect Satans instruments were set awork to persecute the planters of the Evangell amongst wâ—ich crue who was so busie as Paul before his conversion By this means Satan again did attempt to obscure and darken the light of the whole Word by a false deceiving morall light contradictory to the Evangelicall light of the word of the seventh dayes rest of the Evangelicall Law â—f Righteousnesse of faith For by keeping afoot the ceremoniall worship of the propheticall Sabbath the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ was plainly denied and the Evangelicall light of the Lords day implying the whole Evangell attempted to be obscured As Satan by his false morall light did obscure the light of the word of the seventh dayes rest from the beginning totally and in generall So doth he now by his false deceiving morall light obscure the Evangelicall light of the word of the seventh dayes rest of the Law of Righteousnesse of faith in particular which Satan doth effect by suggesting a false morall deceiving light contradictory to the light of the Evangelicall Law of faith whereby some fundamentall points of faith is subverted and stifly maintained contrary to the Evangelicall Law of faith some of which points be ancient some modern of the ancient subjected points of faith such are these First salvation from the curse of the Evangelicall Law of righteousnesse of faith may be merited by the good works of man Secondly Christ died for originall sin only Thirdly the actuall sins of the dead and of the quick are taken away by the surmised sacrifice of the fictious ceremoniall altar Fourthly the power to pardon actuall sin as it is a transgression against the spirituall command of the Law is in the Church Fifthly universality of spirituall grace to fulfill the command of the Law is by the act of the externall sacrament of baptisme The authority of canonicall Scripture depends upon the allowance of man and a world of such errors So of modern fundamentall errors be such as these First the elect only not all men lost in Adam the head are redeemed from the curse of the Law for the sin of Adam Secondly all the promises of salvation are made to the elect only and not to all men in generall Thirdly universall grace of morall faith by the perfection of the redemption is peremptorily denyed and consequently and necessarily the grace of morall repentance Fourthly the morall freedome of the will without any necessitating of the will of man to morall disobedience is denyed by the act of the redemption Fifthly the election of man to salvation is out of the alone free pleasure of God without all subordinate respect to the Lords merit Sixthly the condemnation of man to the eternall torments of hel is out of the alone pleasure of God without all subordinate respect to the Law of God or to the merit of man by transgression of the Law Seventhly children dying unbaptized are saved by the parents faith and a number of such All which pretended fundamentall points of faith are contradictory to the light of the truth of the Evangelicall Law of righteousnesse of faith for removing of which false fundamentall errors and of all manner of erronious tenents repugnant to the command of the Evangelicall Law of faith the judicious Reader is enabled by a short rule or canon in the third Book And so much for answer to the first objection by answering whereof the judicious Reader may plainly observe that though Satan and his instruments hath the power by his false deceiving naturall light to unite the naturall love of man irresistibly to the sensitive object of his pleasure yet the union is by the free yeelding and assent of the will of man to be so induced by Satan and not by Satans necessitating of the free love of man And that it is in the freedome of mans naturall election before Satans temptation to be induced to disobedience by his false deceiving envious naturall light As for Satans false deceiving morall light whereby he doth incense the heart of man to maintain such pretended points of faith so contradictory to the Evangelical Law of faith The judicious Reader may likewise plainly perceive that it is in the freedome of manâ— morall election to be induced or not induced by any such false moral light to maintain any such pretended points of faith while as by his maintaining of which erronious tenents he doth divide his faith from the proper object of the Lords merit by the intervention of a false object though after the faith of man and the false object be once united and the erronious tenent being once set abroach it shall not want a world of propugnators whose hearts by the Devils false morall light are incensed to maintain the tenent for a main pretended point of faith by the multiplication of which united maintainers of the opinion such strength is added to the tenent as doth resist all Evangelicall light of the Word and command of the Evangelicall Law of faith by the only power of which Evangelicall light all tenents contradictory to the Law of faith are discovered and by the power of command of the Evangelicall Law of faith all exploded from the Church of God And so much for answer to the first objection CHAP. XXXIV The true sense of the words that both the will and deed is from God and the sense of the words that the thoughts of man are only and continually evill originall sin is not the corruption of nature and of the rebellious will of the flesh which is said to be enmity against God IT is secondly objected God giveth both the will and the deed man therefore by the perfection of the redemption hath neither the free power of will neither to will or do any good I answer the Antecedent is most true but the Inference is false for the grace of morall faith which is the act of the redeemed will of man proceeding from the power of the redeemed word of the Law and life of
whereby the faith of man is overthrown And this is the reason that all Imagery painted or carved of our Saviour as he is man implying his death and humility are condemned for Idolatry as hath been formerly declared No such surmised sacrifice therefore being offered by our Saviour in his institution of the Sacrament of his last Supper no command was given to the Apostles to offer any such fictious sacrifice and consequently the Apostles and the Apostolicall successors the Ministers of the Word and Sacraments no commanded Priests to offer any such fictious sensitive sacrifice at the materiall altar as is falsly pretended by the objection Next I answer to the affirmed reall unity of this pretended imaginary sacrifice with our Saviours sacrifice of the crosse Leaving the Philosophicall distinction of unity as genericall sperificall udomericall reall formall and such like In this encounter I take the two last distinctions of unity Theologically to wit one really and one formally This affirmed unity therefore of the two sacrifices cannot be formall and therefore it must be reall This affirmed reall unity therefore of the two sacrifice is all one to say as that our Saviour in the institution of the Sacrament of his last Supper by offering of his reall body and blood under the externall forms of bread and wine in a propitiatory sacrifice for the dead and for the quick did as really and in effect sustain the curse of the Law in the full extent by the cursed death of soul and body as he did by his cursed sacrifice of the crosse which fearfull assertion is repugnant to the truth of all Christian faith For by this affirmed reall unity of the two sacrifices these subsequent inevitable conclusions must necessarily follow First by this affirmed reall unity of the two sacrifices the first surmised propitiatory sacrifice pretended to be offered by our Saviour must be a cursed sacrifice For such was our Saviours sacrifice of the crosse Gal. 3.13 And consequently our Saviours sacrificed reall body and blood which is pretended to be given to the Apostles cursed which is highest blasphemy to affirm Secondly by the affirmed reall unity of these two sacrifices the pretended propitiatory sacrifice affirmed to be offered by our Saviour in the instituting of the Sacrament of his last Supper must be a sensitive reall bloody sacrifice for there is no propitiatory sacrifice for sin Heb. 9.22 without the sensitive blood of the sacrificed for such was our Saviours propitiatory sacrifice of the crosse But the propugnators of this surmised propitiatory sacrifice will acknowledge no sensitive reall blood in their sacrifice and therefore they must acknowledge this pretended propitiatory sacrifice to be no propitiatory sacrifice Thirdly by the affirmed reall unity of these two sacrifices this surmised pretended sacrifice affirmed to be offered by our Saviour must be a deadly sacrifice by the sensitive death of the sacrificed for such was our Saviours sacrifice of the crosse But the propagnators of this surmised sacrifice must acknowledge no such sensitive death of our Saviour by the institution of the Sacrament of his last Supper and therefore they must acknowledge their pretended sacrifice to be no sacrifice Fourthly by the reall affirmed unity of these two sacrifices the only one sacrifice of our Saviour by the death of the crosse as be is high Priest after the order of Melchisedeck once offered for all is plainly denied For by this affirmed reall unity of the two sacrifices our Saviour died twice Fifthly by the affirmed reall unity of the two sacrifices the first surmised pretended sacrifice is a false sacrifice For by the adoration of this imaginary sacrifice the truth of the Lords commanded worship by the Lords Day is contradicted which is commanded to be celebrate in spirit and truth and not in the adoration of such a false sacrifice Sixthly by the affirmed reall uniâ—y of these two sacrifices the first pretended sacrifice is a faithlesse sacrifice For by this pretended sacrifice the faith of man and the immediate object of faith which is the Lords merit are actually separate Seventhly by the reall affirmed unity of these two sacrifices the pretended sacrifice affirmed to be offered by our Saviour in the institution of the Sacrament of his last Supper is an Idolatrous sacrifice For by the adoring of this sacrifice the sensitive object doth interveen between the Lord and his immediate commanded worship Eighthly by the reall affirmed unity of these two sacrifices Christ was really dead before his last Will and Testament was sealed by the sacrament of his last Supper implying the whole Evangel and new Testament and consequently his last Will and Testament no Will. Ninthly by the affirmed reall unity of these two sacrifices man was actually redeemed from the curse of the Law for the sin of Adam and the Law was fulfilled for man by our Saviour before his death of the crosse before his bloody rest in the grave and before his resurrection from the dead Tenthly by this affirmed reall unity of the two sacrifices all the prophesies prophcying of the blessed seed from the foundation of the world were fulfilled before our Saviours death by the cursed altar of the crosse and resurrection from the dead Eleventhly by this affirmed reall unity of the two sacrifices all the types rites figures and ceremonies prefigurating the death of the blessed seed from the foundation of the world were actually determined by the first pretended sacrifice which all the sacrifices of all the creatures of God could never determine till they were all actually determined by our Saviours last breath upon the cursed altar of the crosse while as he said It is finished The twelfth conclusion doth necessarily follow from the former three For by the affirmed reall unity of the two sacrifices our Saviours death by the cursed altar of the crosse was superfluous Thirteenthly by the affirmed reall unity of these two sacrifices this first surmised sacrifice pretended to be offered by our Saviour in the institution of the sacrament of his last Supper must be a reall Holocaust sacrifice cursed and burnt up by the fiery consuming wrath of God for sin no part or portion whereof must remain to be given to the Apostles for such was our Saviours sacrifice of the crosse prefigurate by the Holocaust sacrifice of the brazen altar Hence I necessarily inferre that by this affirmed reall unity the Sacrament of the Lords Supper is falsly denied to be given to the Apostles for by this pretended surmised sacrifice our Saviours reall sacrificed body and blood which in this case profiteth nothing Joh. 6.63 is affirmed to be given to the Apostles as a sacrament while as in the sacrament of the Lords Supper by the sacramentall bread and wine given by our Saviour to the Apostles the bread of eternall life purchased by his sacrificed reall body and blood is signified to be given By the faithfull receiving whereof God in his Son Christ Jesus dwelleth in the heart of man by his
love and man by faith in the love of God which is the only means whereby a man knoweth himself to stand in the state of Grace whereof no man can be ever assured till he find his love such to the truth of the Lords love by his merit implying the truth of the whole Evangell and Law of God as neither all the hopefull preferments of this life nor all the threatned dangers of naturall death it self can move him to deny the truth of that merit and this is that faith which our Saviour saith is able to remove the greatest mountain of temptation By the reall affirmed unity therefore of these two sacrifices all Christian faith is rased from the foundation And so much for answer to the objection And for the declaration of our Saviours sacrifice by his death of the crosse we are next to return to the place where the Lord was laid But because the main point doth consist in the Declaration of the new covenant immediatly depending upon the Lords resurrection from the grave which we must no wayes interrupt We will therefore first briefly in a word set down the discharge of our Saviours kingly office upon earth prefigurate by Melchisedeck and then come to the declaration of the place where the Lord was laid Melchisedeck was the figure of Christ as he was Priest Prophet and King And though we reade not of any Prophesie of Melchisedeck yet Melchisedeck as he was Priest in discharging of the Priestly office did necessarily prophesie For by the Priests ceremoniall execution of the sacrifice of the altar and of the rites of the propheticall Sabbath the Priest did necessarily prophesie And this is the reason that Christ saith Luke 11.50 51. that the Law and the Prophets did prophesie from Abel which is chiefly meant by the Priestly office And therefore it is said that Caiphas did prophesie the death of our blessed Saviour as high Priest that yeer saying Joh. 11.49 50 51 52. Ye perceive nothing neither do ye consider that it is expedient that one man die then the whole nation should perish Though Caiphas did prophesie out of his fear of the overthrow of the Priestly preferment yet his prophesie was no other indeed then the prophesie of the propheticall Sabbath As Melchisedeck therefore did prefigurate our Saviour as he was Priest and Prophet so Melchisedeck did prefigurate Christ Jesus as he was King For Melchisedeck was king of peace and righteousnesse and so he was the true type and figure of our Saviour Exod. 25.11 whose regall authority was signified by the golden crown placed above the ark of the Covenant compassing the cherubims overshadowing with their wings the Mercy-seat The discharge of our Saviours Kingly authority upon earth was chiefly in these three respects First Christ Jesus by the infinite act of his own immediate power by his resurrection from the grave in his resting from the work of the redemption did as a royall King redeem his subjects to wit Adam and all men naturally descended and to descend of Adam from the captivity of sin Satan eternall death and darknesse from the curse of the Law to which all men were condemned for the sin of Adam Secondly our Saviour as he is King of Peace did reconcile all men to the love and favour of God by removing of the wrath of God from all men for the sin of Adam Thirdly Christ Jesus as he is King of Righteousnesse out of his Kingly authority did command all his subjects of the world thus redeemed to the obedience of his Law of righteousnesse of faith upon the twofold reward of his Law by his new covenant And so much briefly for the discharge of our Saviours Kingly office upon earth We do therefore now return to the Declaration of the second part of the sacrifice of our blessed Saviour the high Priest after the order of Melchisedeck and to the Declaration of the place where the Lord was laid after his cruell bloody death prefigurate by the ashes of the sacrifice and the clean place where the ashes were laid apart from the Altar CHAP. V. The mystery of the last Sabbath which was no wayes propheticall VVE are come to the Declaration of the most sorrowfull mournfull and most lamentable estate of the Church of God from the foundation of the world And likewise to the declaration of the most joyfull comfortable and Evangelicall estate that ever came to all the nations of the world arising from that sorrow For there could never come a sorer cut and temptation to the Church and children of God then to see the rock of their hopes thus troden under foot massacred despised and cast down to the ground Though for fear of the Priests Scribes and Pharisees they durst not shew their sorrow and passion And though by this tragicall bloody persecution of the Shepherd the sheep were scattered yet Joseph of Arimathea one of Christs Disciples and a man of note and worth with honest Nicodemus and others of that religious company out of the loyalty of their love to our Saviour did gracefully intomb his gracious body in a new tomb hewn out of a rock wherein no man was formerly laid And though for their great care and gracefull neatnesse in intombing of the body of our blessed Saviour they be only named yet out of all doubt there must be more at the carryiâ—g of the blessed body of our Saviour from the crosse to the place where the Lord was laid though the place was not far distant from the crosse But to the point of our purpose in hand In our Saviours rest in the grave and in his resurrection from the grave doth consist the very period of the mystery of all mysteries hid from the beginning of the world to wit the mystery of the Lords Day Aâ—d though the mysterie be plainly revealed yet because some men will have it a mysterie still we must use the help of our Theologicall Key to open this mysterie by the concealing of the truth whereof the glory of the Lords Day implying the command of the whole Evangelicall Law hath received for too long a time such great prejudice The declaration of the truth of this fundamentall point of faith doth consist in the twofold rest of the eternall Word The first was his bloody rest as he is man made flesh oâ— the seed of the woman by his resting in his sacred grave after his bloody cruâ—ll dâ—â—â—h for the full space and time of the last Sabbath from end to end Thâ— sâ—cond was his Evangelicall joyfull rest as he is the infinite eternall Word by the day of his resurrection from the grave whereby he did rest from the fulfilling of the promise of the blessed seed both which rests were mysticall The mysterie of his bloody rest is twofold The first mysterie is in the propheticall covenant and in the last Sabbath obliged by the covenant For as the eternall Word did oblige Adam and all men naturally to descend of Adam to
believe his promised rest of the blessed seed to rest upon the last Sabbath from the redemption of man from the curse of the Law prophesied by the propheticall Sabbath to whose beliefe the blessing of his promised rest was due by the Law So he graciously and freely obliged himself to man to redeem man from the curse of the Law for the sin of Adam and to redeem all which was lost by that sin and consequently to redeem the blessing of the first seventh dayes rest lost by Adam which was the blessing of his promised rest by the propheticall Sabbath all which he graciously performed by his bloody rest in the grave upon the last Sabbath For our Saviour upon the last Sabbath did rest from the redemption of man from the curse of the Law for the sin of Adam And by his resting in his sacred grave for the whole space of the last Sabbath our Saviour in the seventh day having fulfilled the whole Law as he was obliged to the fulfilling of the Law in the promise of the blessed seed the eternall rest of the first seventh day lost by Adam was due by the Law of God to the merit of his bloody seventh dayes rest where three main fundamentall points of faith are precisely to be observed by the juditious Reader The first point is that the last Sabbath whereon our Saviour did rest in his sacred grave after his death was no wayes propheticall For all the prophesies prophecying the birth and death of the blessed seed from the foundation of the world were all fulfilled and determined by our Saviours bloody rest upon this last Sabbath by whose bloody rest in his grave for the space of the whole last Sabbath from end to end the Law was fulfilled for man And this is the reason that our Saviour said Mat. 5.17 that he came to fulfill the Law The second point of faith is that no man naturally to descend of Adam was obliged to fulfill the command of the Law by this last Sabbath For Christ Jesus only the Son of God as he is man begot of the seed of the woman was only obliged to fulfill the command of the seventh day by the last Sabbath as he graciously obliged himself by the propheticall covenant The third point of faith is that Adam and all men naturally to descend of Adam were only obliged to fulfill the command of the seventh day of the propheticall Sabbath And therefore Christ Jesus being born under the propheticall Law obliged by the propheticall Sabbath was circumcised the eighth day and did observe other ceremonies of the Law as other men did For though our Saviour did not naturally descend of Adam yet he did descend of the seed of Adam according to the flesh The second mystery of his bloody rest was that by his bloody rest the promise renewed to Abraham was fulfilled which was the same reall promise first made to Adam though renewed to Abraham after a more cleere and particular manner which promise had two branches The first was that the blessed seed according to the flesh should descend of the seed of Abraham which promise was prefigurate first by the glorious light of the Golden Candlestick by the table of shew-bread signifying the life which was in that light wherby the blessed seed who is light and life to descend of Abrahams seed was prefigurate Secondly by the sweet insence burned upon the Golden Altar the appeasing of Gods wrath by the blessed seed to descend of Abraham was prefigurate all which were placed in the holy place of the Tabernacle The second branch of the promise made to Abraham was that in Abrahams seed all the nations of the earth should bee blessed which was likewise prefigurate by the sacrifice of the brazen Altar For at our Saviors giving up of his last spirit upon the cursed altar of the crosse the vaile of the Temple was rent from the top to the bottom within which vaile which was the holiest place was the Arke with the word therin and the Golden Crowne the Cherubint covering with their wings the mercy-seat prefigurating the conception of our Saviour of the seed of the woman wherby the first promise made to Adam was signified Now the vaile of the Temple being rent asunder by the power of our Saviours death the first promise made to Adam was laied open and made patent both to the Jewes and Gentiles who were mutually called the next day by the new covenant which was the day of Christs resurrection Now the new covenant being made with all the nations of the world the promise made to Abraham that all the nations of the earth should be blessed in his seed was fulfilled And so much for the twofold mystery of our Saviours bloody rest The mystery of his joyfull Evangellicall rest did consist in these two maine fundamentall points of faith The first was by his resurrection from the grave wherby our Saviour by his triumphant victory over sin Satan eternall darknes and death the curse of the Law and the grave by the infinit act of his owne immediate power did manifest himselfe Truth to man in his faithfull fulfilling of his promised rest of the blessed seed and in that Truth Lord Jesus Christ God and man in the three coessentiall distinct persons of the glorious Trinity God by the infinit act of his owne immediate power Man begotten of the father of the seed of the woman by the immediate act of the holy spirit in the essentiall union of his divine and humane nature implied in the word Lord which is the sacred name of the essentiall union of the divine and humane nature of the Lord of life comprehending both the names of Jesus and Christ afterwards to be declared For though Jesus Christ as he is the Son of God begotten man of the seed of the woman did performe his bloody rest Yet his Evangelicall rest by his resting from the fulfilling of the Law implying his rest from the redemption of man was performed by our Saviour as he is Lord Jesus Christ God equall with the Father and holy Spirit in whom the Godhead dwelleth bodily And therfore the day of his resurrection is called the Lords day In the second point of the mystery of the Lords Evangelicall rest doth stand the very period of the mystery of the Lords day for man naturally descended of Adā being only obliged to the cōmand of the seventh day of the Prophetical Sabbath and no waies to the seventh day of the last Sabbath to which man Christ Jesus only was obliged the day of our Saviours resurrection from the grave the Lords day doth fall out to be the just seventh day from the last formall propheticall Jewes Sabbath still obliging man to the seventh day of the Law Though by including the last formall propheticall Jewes Sabbath in the account the Lords day is the eight day as it was prefigurate by the eight day of the Sacrament of circumcision To the administration wherof
the great propheticall Sabbath did necessarily give place wherby the Lords day was mystically prefigurate to succeed in place of the Jewes propheticall Sabbath The day of our Saviours resurrection therefore being the next day immediatly succeeding the last Sabbath wheron our Saviour rested in his sacred grave is the just seventh day of the Law from the last formall propheticall Jewes Sabbath As man naturally descended of Adam is obliged to the command of the seventh day of the Law of God implying the command of the whole Law The Lords day therefore the day of the Lords resurrection from the grave is the true seventh day of the Evangelicall Law of God decreed by God from all eternity Where three fundamentall points of faith are necessarily to bee observed by the Christian Reader First as the first seventh day of the Law was blessed sanctified by the Lords rest from the workes of the creation And as the next seventh day of the propheticall Sabbath was blessed and sanctified by the truth of the word of the Lords promised rest in the promise of the blessed seede to rest upon the last Sabbath from the redemption of man from the curse of the Law for the sinne of Adam So the Lords day the seventh day of the Evangelicall Law of faith is blessed and sanctified by the truth of the Lords fulfilled promise by his Evangelicall rest The last period of whose fulfilled promise was in his conquest of his last enemy by his resurrection from the power of the grave upon the Lords day Whereby the Lord rested from the fulfilling of his promise of the blessed seed By the power of whose infinit merit by his Evangelicall rest the Lords day is the blessed and sanctified seventh day of the Evangelicall Law the word of eternall life rest and the immediate object of Christian faith Secondly as the seventh day of the propheticall Sabbath was immediatly commanded by the power of the Lords word by his promised rest commanding Adam and the Fathers to beleeve in the truth of his merit by his promised rest which was then prophesied by the word of the propheticall Sabbath commanding the ceremoniall worship of the Sabbath immediatly as it was the seventh day of the propheticall Law and in the seventh day the obedience of man to the command of the whole propheticall Law by faith in the promise of the blessed seed to whose faith the eternall blessing of the Lords promised Sabbaticall rest was due by the propheticall Law So the Lords day is immediatly commanded by the power of his immediate word commanding all the nations of the world to beleeve the truth of his fulfilled promise by his seventh daies Evangelicall rest as the Lords day is the seventh day of the Evangelicall Law implying the command of the whole Law first immediatly commanding the seventh daies worship by faith in the truth of the Lords fulfilled promise to whose faith the blessing of the Lords merit by his Evangelicall rest is due by the Evangelicall Law of faith which is the blessing of the Lords day This is therefore the howre and blessed day which the Lord told the Samaritan woman should come when God should be worshiped In spirit and truth that is in the spirit of faith in the truth of the Lords fulfilled promise Thirdly as by the light of the propheticall Sabbath day Adam and the Fathers were literally lead to the blessing of the Lords promised rest So by the light of the Lords day all the nations of the world are literally lead to the blessing of the Lords merit by the truth of his fulfilled promise Whosoever therefore doth denie the light of the truth of the Lords day sealed by the precious blood of his blessed heart doth necessarily denie the Lord truth it selfe By this opening of the mystery of the Lords day blessed sanctified by his Evangelicall rest necessarily implying his bloody rest the judicious Reader may easily perceive the reason of the mistake of the lords day the only cause of which mistake is in the mistaking of the last Sabbath for the formall propheticall Jewes Sabbath which was no waies the Jewes propheticall Sabbath neither was either Jew or Gentile obliged to the command of this last Sabbath or had any hand in the fulfilling of the command of this last Sabbath being too hard and impossible a task for man as he is man Let us leave therefore the command of this last Sabbath to the Lord of the Sabbath who as he did in his great mercy oblige himselfe to the obedience of the command of this last Sabbath so in his love and mercy to man the Lord graciously fulfilled the command thereof for man Let us leave I say this last Sabbath to the Lord of the Sabbath who was only obliged to the command of this last Sabbath as it is the seventh day of the Law obliging the Lord himselfe as he is man and we shall have the Lords day the just seventh day of the Evangelicall Law as the Law of God obligeth man naturally descended of Adam And this is properly the Sabbath whereby the Lord is intituled Lord of the Sabbath And the Sabbath properly that the Lord saith was made for man For by the Lords fulfilling of this last Sabbath by his bloody rest the Lord rested from his cursed death of the Crosse for the redemption of man and by his bloody rest in the grave did merit the eternall rest lost by Adam By whose resurrection from the grave the Lord did triumphantly and Evangelically rest from the fulfilling of his promise of the blessed seed This twofold rest of the eternall word arising from the last mysticall Sabbath was prefigurate by a twofold type and figure Of which twofold type and figure next CHAP. VI. The twofold type and figure whereby the last Sabbath was prefigurate THe last Sabbath according to the mysticall sense was prefigurate by a twofold type and figure First the fulfilling of this Sabbath was prefigurate by the blessed Virgin Secondly by the yeare of Jubile First therefore of the prefigurating thereof by the blessed Virgin As by the Arke with the word placed therein and the Cherubins overshadowing the Mercie-seat the blessed Virgin was prefigurate from her conception of the blessed seed till her delivery of the blessed Child So by the bessed Virgin the rest of Christ Jesus in the grave upon the last Sabbath till the day of his resurrection was prefigurate Wherein a threefold type most worthy of observation is to be marked First by the virginall conception of the blessed seed the virginall conception of the blessed body of our Saviour in the new hewen Tombe out of a Rocke wherein no man was ever laid was prefigurate Secondly by the Virgins going three quarters of a yeare with the blessed Child the three daies rest of the blessed body of Christ Jesus in the grave was prefigurate Thirdly as the renting the Vaile of the Temple did prefigurate the renting of of the sacred
Virgins wombe in the bringing forth of her first borne the word made flesh without the help of woman or man which was the naturall birth day of the Son of God So by the Virgins bringing forth of her first borne the word made flesh the mysticall bringing forth of the first borne evangelicall Word by the mysticall Virgin Sabbath without the help of any created power was prefigurate Which was the mystical birth day of the Evangelicall word Whose mysticall birth day being the just seventh day frō the last formall propheticall Jewes Sabbath as man naturally descended of Adam is obliged to the Law of God his mystical birth day is the true seventh day of the Evangelicall Law By the power of the word of his seventh daies Evangelicall rest commanding the Evangelicall worship of the seventh day of his Law by man and in the seventh day the Evangelicall obedience of man to his whole Evangelicall Law implied in the seventh day To whose faithfull obedience the eternall blessing of his Evangelicall birth daies rest is due by the Law of God The second type and figure whereby the mysticall Virgin Sabbath was prefigurate was the Sabbaticall yeare of Jubile For first as in the yeare of Jubile all bound men all sold and pawned Land the earth and the labouring Cattell were set at liberty So by the bloody rest of Christ Jesus blessed body in the grave for the space of the whole last Sabbath all men condemned and bound by the curse of the Law for the sin of Adam to eternall death and darknes and the creatures created for man where freed from the eternall curse of the Law and set at liberty Secondly as the yeare of Jubile by the immediate influence of God without all labour help or industry of man the earth of its owne accord did produce the fruit thereof for the comfort of man and for the creatures created for man So by the mysticall Sabbath without all the help aide or asistance of any man naturally descended of Adam did bring forth the Evangelicall word enabled by the immediate act of his owne infinit power upon the joyfull day of his resurrection Who is the life light and foode of man and by whom only man and all the creatures created for man doe live move and have the continuation of their redeemed being The blessed day of whose mysticall Evangelicall birth being the just seventh day from the last formall Jewes prophetical Sabbath as man naturally descended of Adam is obliged to the Law of God the blessed day therefore of the Lords resurrection is the true seventh day of the Evangelicall Law of righteousnes of faith whereby the Son of righteousnes in his blessed day began to shine one high by inlightning the ceremoniall darknesse of the propheticall Sabbath prophesying his death through all the Nations of the world by the light of his blessed day leading all men by the hands of faith to lay hold on the Evangelicall word the Lord of the life light and rest of man and of the creatures created for man to be inbelized by the thankfull praises and Jubiles of all the Nations of the world The mysticall Evangelicall birth day therefore of the Evangelicall word the Lords day is the true joyfull day of all the years of this life prophesied by the mysticall yeere of Jubile which by the truth of the Lords Evangelicall rest from the fulfilling of the promise of the blessed seed arising from his bloody rest is the true Evangelical word of the seventh day of the Law of righteousnes of faith next to be declared CHAP. VII The declaration of the Evangelicall word THe Evangelicall word is taken in a twofold sense first the Evangelicall word is taken essentially for the second person of the sacred Trinity God equal with the Father and Holy Spirit in which sense the Evangelical word is incommunicable to man or Angel Secondly the Evangelical word is taken for the word of the Lords day the 7th day of the Evangelical Law of faith as it is the Image of God in his Son Christ Iesus For as the Lords daies Evangelicall rest is the Image of the Lords eternall life and rest So the light of the Lords day is the Image of his inaccessable light and in this sense the Evangelicall word is communicable to man and it is the life and light of man and hath a twofold acception first the Evangelicall word is taken for the word of the Lords day as it is the Evangelicall word of the seventh day of the Law of righteousnes of faith Secondly the Evangelicall word is taken for the word of promise and new covenant whereby both God and man are mutually obliged For though the word of the seventh day of the Law and the word of promise and covenant be really one yet they are of a formall difference First therefore of the Evangelicall word of the Lords day as it is the word of the seventh day of the Evangelicall Law of righteousnes of faith The Evangelicall word of the Lords day is the same reall word which was from the beginning And therefore it is said by Iohn 1.4.5 that in it that is in that word was life and that that life was the light of man which doth in this manner appeare First in the state of perfection by the word of the Law written in Adams heart spiritually enlightned Adam did live move and had the perfection of his naturall and spirituall being and felicity Wherby Adam was the Image of righteousnes and holines And the word of the first seventh day of the Law of righteousnes implying the command of the whole Law was objected to Adams externall senses obliging Adam to the command of the Law of righteousnes To the merit of whose perfect obedience the blessing of the first seventh daies eternall rest was due by the Law of righteousnes Wherby Adam had the continuation of his created estate of perfection and felicity while Adam did stand in the perfection of his obedience And was to have continued eternally upon earth to Adam by covenant if Adam had continued in the perfection of his obedience The word of God therefore to Adam before the fall as he was the head of all men naturall to descend of his loines was the word of the first seventh day of the Law of righteousnes implying the command of the whole Law Secondly Adam in whome as in the head all were created having transgressed the command of God of the Law of righteousnes the transgression was infinit for the transgression of the Law as it is the Law of righteousnes is an immediate contempt against the infinit Majesty of God and consequently the sinne infinit And the second Person of the Trinity in whom is only mercy being then not revealed to Adam the sinne was without any hope of revealed mercy wherby Adam and all men created in Adam as head naturally to descend of Adam were in the justice of God by covenant condemned to the eternall
therefore being commanded immediatly by the literall command of the law though necessarily implying the spirituall command in the command of faith the works of truth love and mercy are necessarily commanded which are the works of faith without which faith is but a dead faith and man but a dead man dead in actuall sin though he doth live all the days of this life To the knowledge of which actuall sin as the naturall man is led by the literall light of the law implyed in the command of the Lords day So by the knowledge of death by actuall sin the naturall man is moved to morall repentance And by repentance to amendment of life by the works of truth love and mercy to which he is morally enabled by the power of the redeemed Word of truth love and mercy in his heart which are the works of faith whereby the Lords merit is morally apprehended Eighthly the new covenant made between God and man being established upon the immediat command of the Lords day the seventh day of the Evangelicall law of faith as the Lord doth oblige himself to man to conferre the actuall blessing of the Lords dayes eternall rest to the faithfull believer so the Lord by his covenant doth oblige the finall contemner of his infinit merit to the actuall mercilesse eternall curse of his Law The Lords merit of mercy therefore being infinit there is mercy for man all the day of this life For the new covenant is made to all men whatsoever and at what time soever For Mar. 13.13 whosoever shall endure to the end shall be saved This end to the naturall man is his finall perseverance in his morall obedience till the Lords prefixed time of his spirituall calling by the spirituall grace of faith whereby the naturall man being regenerate is saved who hath nothing to necessitate his morall disobedience And though he doth stumble and fall yet by the power of the redeemed word written in his heart the naturall man hath freedome to repent morally without necessitating of his impenitency for morall repentance must necessarily precede morall faith As the naturall man therefore is no wayes to dispaire of the Lords infinite mercy while there is day in this life for the dispairer of the Lords infinite mercy doth belie the Lords mercy and doth detract from the infinitensse of the Lords merit so the naturall man is no wayes by his presumptuous continuance in sin and wickednesse to contemn the Lords long patience leading him so graciously to repentance lest the Lord in his justice give him over to a reprobate minde that he cannot repent though he hath all the dayes of this life to repent by covenant Ninthly the law of God being eternall eternally obliging man as he is man and the reward of the law due by the law to the merit of man being according to the law eternall there must be therefore resurrection from the dead that man as he is man intellectuall and sensitive may receive the eternall reward of the law in the full extent to wit eternall life and rest to the faithfull believer in the merit of man Jesus Christ the eternall Son of God and the curse of the law by eternall death to the merit of man the proud finall contemner of the Lords infinit merit offered so freely to him in this life The reward therefore of the law in the full extent as the reward is eternall cannot be received by man till the last day Tenthly the Lord being the head of all men redeemed from the curse of the law for the sin of Adam as the Lord hath his universall redeemed Church in all the nations of the world who by the power of the redeemed word of truth love and mercy written in their heart are all morally united by one faith in one body and by that faith morally united to their head the gracious Redeemer of all men So the Lord being the mysticall head of his mysticall members the Lord hath his mysticall universall Church all united in one mysticall body by spirituall faith and by spirituall faith all spiritually and indivisibly united to their mysticall head These are the first ten fundamentall points of faith arising from the literall light of the Evangelicall sound of the word of the Lords day by the Lords rest and resurrection from the grave leading the naturall mans understanding by faith to apprehend the Lords merit to save him from the curse of the law of faith Next therefore of the fundamentall points of faith arising from the Lords resurrection from the earth by his ascention to the heavens to which his resurrection from his grave doth extend where the Lord sitteth at the right hand of the infinite power of the Father whence two fundamentall points of faith doth arise First the Lord according to his promise that the seed of the woman shall break the head of the old Serpent and the head of his cursed seed hath obliged himself by the new covenant that by his second coming from the heavens gloriously united to his mysticall members shall revenge the blood of man upon Satan and his cursed seed First the blood of man first betrayed by Satan to fall under the curse of the law Secondly the blood of man Jesus Christ the eternall Son of God by his redemption of man from the eternall curse of the law Thirdly the blood of the Lords mystical members persecute by Satan and his cursed seed for their valorous defending of his sacred truth in this life For the Lord as head united to his mysticall members is the mysticall man who must break the old Serpents head and the head of his cursed seed in the grat day afterwards more fully to be declared This breaking of the head of the old Serpent and of the head of his cursed seed is by the Lords judging condemning and by the actuall inflicting of the eternall curse and reward of the law in the full extent to the greâ—t glory of God the eternall comfort of the faithfull and to the finall eternall and utter confusion of Satan and his cursed seed in the great day The second fundamentall point of faith arising from the Lords resurrection from the earth by his ascention to the heavens is that the Lord hath graciously obliged himself by the covenant to send the Comforter John 16.7 the Spirit of truth by whose spirituall light enlightening the spirituall darknesse of the naturall man the Lords mysticall members are begot and by the spirituall power of whose spirituall life by that spirituall light the regenerate are enabled with the gift of patience to overcome all the afflictions and temptations of Satan and of his cursed seed in this life which is the Lords earnest of their incorruptible crown of glory in the life to come for their valor in their defence of his truth in this life In these twelve fundamentall points of faith as by the literall light of the sound of the word of the Lords day by his rest
the world built thereon by which partition the Gentiles were barred from the judiciall service of God all are rased from the very foundation never to be reiterate in the Church of God Last of all Mary Magdalen did not know the Lord of life John 20.16 17 the eternall rest of his blessed day though Mary did see the Lord with her bodily eyes till she heard the sound of the word of the Evangelicall seventh dayes eternall rest calling Mary At the hearing of the sound of whose Evangelicall word while Mary knowing the Lord would have embraced him in her armes the Lord said Mary touch me not to wit but by thine arms of faith The Lord after his resurrection did first honour Mary to be the joyfull trumpeter to sound the news of the word of his mysticall Evangelicall birth-day to the Apostles themselves as the Lord of life the Son of God as he is man did honour Mary the blessed Virgin to be inclosed in her wombe and to be the first proclaimer of the joyfull day of his naturall birth Though woman therefore seduced by the false trechery of Satan was the instrument of the fall of man yet woman first and last was the most happy news-bringer of the most joyfull tidings that ever came to man or Angel Let a man therefore honour woman whom God the Lord hath so highly honoured For first woman was the happy instrument of the salvation of man and of the confirmed grace of the Angels Secondly woman was the happy instrument that man is crowned with the incorruptible crown of glory eternally in all heavenly happinesse whereas though man had stood in the state of perfection man must have enjoyed his perfection and felicity but eternally upon earth And so much for the declaration of the Evangelicall word as the word is the seventh day of the Evangelicall law of faith implying the command of the whole law which is the Lords day the blessed day of dayes We are next according to our method to declare the Evangelicall word as it is the word of the new covenant and promise of God But a question doth arise of the Lords day first necessarily to be answered CHAP. XIII The Evangelicall sense of the bowing of the knee at the name of Jesus THe Question here may be moved Since at the name of Jesus every knee must bow Phil. 2.10 11. of things in heaven of things upon earth and of things under the earth wherefore is not the seventh day of the Evangelicall law of faith called rather by the name of Jesus day then by the name of the Lords day I answer because it is by the light of the seventh day of the Evangelicall law of faith by the truth of the Lords Evangelicall rest and resurrection from the fulfilling of his promise of the blessed seed that Jesus is known to be the Saviour of man the eternall Son of God Lord God and man equall to the Father and holy Spirit as hath been formerly declared by the infinite sanctified power of whose blessed merit the Lords day is blessed and sanctified and the Evangelicall worship of the Lords day immediatly commanded Though Jesus therefore be the name of the Son of God as he is man begot of the seed of the woman and the Saviour of man by his cursed death and bloody rest in the grave without whose resurrection from the dead Jesus the Son of God Adam and all men created in Adam as head must have diâ—d eternally under the eternall curse of the law yet the name Lord is 〈◊〉 name by his infinit power he hath overcome the power of death and the grave necessarily implying the name Jesus and Christ as hath formerly been declared The Lords day therefore is the day of our Lord Jesus Christ immediatly and not immediatly the day of Jesus And consequently the bowing of the knee at the name of Jesus is the bowing of the knee at the name of the Lord Jesus by which bowing of the knee the Evangelicall commanded worship of the Lords day is implied as may plainly appear by the Apostles words saying that God hath given him a name above all names that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and that every tongue shall confesse that Jesus Christ is the Lord For as the religious bowing of the knee is from the believing heart implying the Spirit of the mind that Jesus the Saviour of man is the Lord wherâ—by the internall and externall worship of God is expressed So the confession of the tongue as likewise from the Spirit of faith in the heart that Jesus the Saviour of man is the Lord by the truth of his merit by his Evangelicall rest and resurrection from the fulfilling of his promise of the blessed seed upon the Lords day whereby the worship of the Lords day is commanded in spirit and truth In which commanded worship â—ll the internall and externall worship of God is necessarily implied In this sense thâ— Apostle saith Rom. 10.10 with the heart man doth believe to righteousnesse and with the mouth man doth confesse to salvation that is with the heart implying the Spirit of the mind enlightened by the light of the Lords day really one with the light of the redeemed word of the law in the heart man doth believe that the Lord hath fulfilled the law of righteousnesse by whose merit the believer is saved and with the mouth man doth confesse before God and man that he is saved by faith in the truth of the Lords only merit for as by his only merit all men are saved from the first death which is the curse of the law for the sin of Adam so all the faithfull are saved from the second death which is the curse of the law of faith The externall bowing of the knee therefore at the name of Jesus without adding or implying Lord proceeding from the believing of the heart is but a faithlesse and irreligious worship of God by man In these words of the Apostle concering the bowing of the knee which is a Prophesie and now fulfilled by the Lords dayes Evangelicall rest and resurrection three speciall things are to be observed First though the name Jesus signifying a Saviour be given to man as at the power of the Lords command â—â—n is saved by man from temporall danger yet the name Jesus as he is Lord God and man is incommuâ—icable to man or Angel and a name above all names propâ—rly and immediatly ascribed to the Son the second person of the Trinity And therefore we see that in the Apostles salutations by their Epistles they do pray for peace and grace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ For as the Lord is man the Son of God equall with the Father and holy Spirit before all time so he is man the Son of God in time of the seed of the woman in the essentiall union of the divine nature of the Father Son and holy Spirit with the humane nature
rest which is the blessing of the Lords day is the immediate object of faith and therefore the Evangelicall law is called the law of righteousnesse of faith though the works of faith which are the works of truth love and mercy are equally commanded in the command of faith which is the necessary sole immediate efficient cause of the works of faith and therefore necessarily commanded in the command of faith while the Apostle therefore doth affirm that man is justified by faith without the works of the law we must understand that the works meaned by the Apostle are the ceremoniall works of the Propheticall law and not the Evangelicall works of faith to which works the Apostle doth exhort both the Jews and Gentiles and therefore the Apostle James saith shew me thy faith by thy works Now the Lords merit of eternall life which is the blessing of the Lords day being really one the word of promise and new covenant and the word of the seventh day of the Evangelicall law are really one and so much for the reall unity of both next of the formall difference The formall difference of both doth consist in this that by the new covenant God and man are mutually obliged in the Evangelicall word of the Lords day For as God by his new covenant doth formally oblige man to believe the truth of his fulfilled promise of the blessed seed by his Evangelicall rest So the Lord doth mutually oblige himself by the truth of his merit by his Evangelicall rest to save the believer from the curse of the second death obliging likewise the unbeliever and finall contemner of his free gracious offer to the mercilesse curse of the law of faith But by the Evangelicall word of the Lords day the seventh day of the Evangelicall law the Lord doth formally command man to testifie his beliefe to the word of eternall life as the Lords Word is his law to man The chief precept of whose law is the commanded worship of the Lords day in which commanded worship the whole Evangelicall law of righteousnesse of faith as formally and necessarily commanded commanding the faith of man in the originall which is the love of the heart where the redeemed word of the law is written really one with the Evangelicall word of the seventh day of the law the Lords day by the power of which redeemed word in the heart which is the Image of God in his Son Christ Jesus truth love and mercy it self all men are morally enabled by the works of truth love and mercy to give morall obedience to the command of the Evangelicall law which are the works of faith the chief work whereof is the truth of the commanded worship of the Lords day whereby the Lord by his Evangelicall rest hath manifested himself truth love and mercy to man The judicious Reader therefore may plainly perceive that though there be a formall difference between the word of the seventh day of the Evangelicall law and of the word of promise and the new covenant yet they are really one and the one necessarily implyed in the other For as hath been formerly declared God cannot morally command man to his new covenant but by the immediate command of the word of the seventh day of the law implying the command of the whole Evangelicall law which is the Evangelicall word of the Lords day For there is neither life light or the power of command in any precept of the Evangelicall law of righteousnesse of faith but by the only immediate commanded worship of the Lords day in that commanded worship implying the command of the whole law And therefore the blessing of the Lords merit by the Lords dayes Evangelicall rest is only and immediatly due by the law to the faithfull worship of the Lords day for the fulfilling of the whole law which is fulfilled by faith in the Lords infinite merit by whose infinite sanctified merit by his Evangelicall resurrection and rest from the fulfilling of his promise the Lords day is the word of eternall life and the immediate object of Christian faith without the command therefore of the Lord day as it is his law to man there is neither life or light for man or any law or new covenant or any object for the faith of man dead in actuall sin as all men freed from the curse of the law for the sin of Adam are before they be regenerate by their transgression of the law of faith And therfore as our Saviour by his bloody rest in the grave by his fulfilling of the command of the seventh day did fulfill the whole law as our Saviour was oblieged to the law for man to whose merit the eternall life and rest lost by Adam is due by the law so the Lord Iesus Christ eternall life and rest by his resurrection and rest from the fulfilling of his promise of the blessed seed upon the day of his resurrection did obliege all men again to his new Covenant by the immediate command of the Lords dayes commanded worship blessed and sanctified by his merit to believe in his fulfilled promise of the blessed seed to whose faith the blessing of his merit of eternall life is due by the law which is commanded in the cōmanded worship of the Lords day as may appear by the word of promise new covenant Go and teach preach the Evangel to all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Spirit Mar. 16.15 16. he that shal believe shall be saved but he that wil not believe shall be condemned The sense of the word of the covenant is this Go and preach the Evangel that is go and preach proclaim the glad tidings of my resurrection and rest this day from the fulfilling of my promise of the blessed seed which is the summe of the whole Evangel implied in the Lords day by the Lords Evangelicall rest go therefore preach the Evangel to all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Spirit as my my resurrection and rest this day from the power of sin Satan hell eternall death the curse of the law and the power of the grave I have manifested my self by mine own infinit immediate power Truth to man by the fulfilling of my promise and in that truth love and mercy to man and in that truth love and mercy God and man in the three coessentiall distinct persons of the Trinity whosoever shall believe in me to wit eternall life and rest by the power of my infinit merit by my Evangelicall rest shall be saved from the curse of the second death for the transgression of the law of faith as by my bloody rest in the grave from the cursed death of the crosse all men are saved from the curse of the law for their transgression of the law in Adam which is the first death he that will not believe in me shall be condemned to
wit to the mercilesse curse of the Evangelicall law of faith which is mercilesse This salvation and condemnation of man being the twofold reward of the Evangelicall law due by the law according to the obedience or finall disobedience of man The Lord commands man to his new covenant by the immediate word and command of the Evangelical law by which command the reward is only due The chief precept of whose Evangelicall law being the precept of the Lords commanded worship implying the command of the whole Evangelicall obedience and Religion of man The Lords day therefore by the Lords immediate word is commanded and in the Lords day as it is the seventh day of the Evangelicall law the obedience of man to the whole Evangelicall law is necessarily commanded Thus according to the truth of the sacred word having set down the true sense of the new covenant I next set down the formall obligement of man to the Evangelicall law of God by the new covenant As the Lords resurrection and rest from his fulfilling of his promise of the blessed seed upon the Lords day doth extend to the safety of all men from the curse of eternall death for the first sinne in Adam And to the safety of all beleevers dead in actuall sinne for their owne naturall transgression of the Evangelicall law of righteousnesse of faith So the merit of the Lords resurrection doth likewise extend to the confirmation of the blessed Angels in the grace of their created perfection who are sent as ministring spirits for the saving of the elect from being finally overcome by the temptation of satan and his cruell instruments The Lords resurrection and rest therefore upon the Lords day being the most joyfull newes that ever came to Man or Angell his seventh dayes rest is formally Evangelicall and consequently the commanded worship of the Lords day formally Evangelicall which is therefore commanded in spirit and truth that is in the spirit of faith in the truth of the Lords merit to the joy and comfort of all the Nations of the world For both Iew and Gentile by the immediate command of the Lords dayes commanded Evangelicall worship are freed from the sore yoke of the sabbaticall seventh dayes Propheticall ceremoniall worship implying the whole ceremoniall law According to the formall Evangelicall worship therefore of the Lords day the seventh day of the Evangelicall law the whole Evangelicall law of righteousnesse of faith is formally and Evangelically both obliged and commanded by the immediate word of the Lord of the Lords day by his new Covenant obliging and commanding the faithfull obedience of all the Nations of the world first and immediately to the commanded Evangelicall worship of the Lords day and in that commanded worship commanding the faithfull obedience of man to the command of the whole Evangelicall law of faith that by beleeving in the Lords merit by the Lords dayes evangelicall rest they may be saved from the curse of the second death to which command all men are morally enabled by the redeemed word of the law written in their heart really one with the command of the Lords day CHAP. XV. It was impossible in any morall right by the command of the law that the last Sabbath could have been worshipped either for the Jewes formall Propheticall Sabbath or for the Lords day OF the declaration of the Lords day a twofold Question may be moved The first is whether in any morall right by the command of the law the last Sabbath by the whole space whereof the sacred body of the Lord did rest in his grave might not have been worshipped for the formall Iewes Propheticall sabbath The second question is Whether in any morall right by the command of the law the last Sabbath might not have been worshipped for the Lords day the first Evangelicall seventh day of the law of faith First I answer to the first Question Lest there be a mistake in this Discourse I first state the Question The question here is not in the matter of fact whether the Jews did celebrate or did not celebrate the ceremoniall worship of the last Sabbath for the Jews propheticall Sabbath But the Question is whether in any morall right by the command of the Law the Jews might have worshipped that day by the Ceremoniall worship of their propheticall Sabbath And now I answer And do affirme that it is impossible by any right of the command of the law of God that the Jews might have celebrated the last Sabbath for their propheticall Sabbath for such commanded worship had inferred a twofold necessary contradiction in the command of the law For first by such ceremoniall worship of the last Sabbath Christs death should have been prefigurate to be hereafter while as his sacred body lay in the grave Secondly though the formall propheticall Jews Sabbath day was not actually determined till it was immediately determined by the day of Christs resurrection from the grave yet all the prophesies of all the propheticall Sabbaths all the jubilees of Sabbaths and all the prophesies prophesying of Christ from the foundation of the world were all actually determined by his rest in the grave for the whole space of the last Sabbath So that if there should have beene any such command of the law the prophesies should have beene fulfilled and not fulfilled as by the ceremoniall worship of the last Sabbath Christ should have beene dead and not dead which is a twofold contradiction Neither in all reason durst the High Priest that day offer to celebrate the ceremoniall worship of the golden Altar which he was to discharge after the service of the brazen Alter and that for this twofold feare First the great rent from the top to the bottome of the Vale of the Temple was just betweene the golden Alter and the Table of Shew-bread where a great deale of stones and rubbish must fall whereby the table of Shew-bread and the golden Alter were parted mystically signifying to the High Priest that the bread of life was seperate and departed from the ceremoniall worship of the golden Altar Now the golden Altar standing so neere to the great ruinous wall the Priest in his comming up to offer sweet Incense at the golden Altar might have beene afraid to be brained with the stones falling from the great rent of the Vale. The next feare was farre greater for the high Priest in his comming up to offer Incense at the golden Alter the rent of the wall being so great must have seene the Arke of the Covenant the golden Crown and the Cherubims covering the Mercy-seat to which the glorious lights of the golden Candlesticks were directly opposite Now it was death for the Priest himselfe to looke on the Arke of the Lord with any materiall light Insomuch that out of all question by the reflex of the light of the golden Candlesticks from the golden Crowne Cherubims and Mercy-seat and from the glistring gold of the golden Alter All the Priests were
day of the law by the last Sabbath being fulfilled by our Saviours obedience even to the death of the Crosse and the seventh day of the law as man naturally descended of Adam is oblieged to the law being continued in the command of the Lords day there is not any seventh day or any jot or tittle of the law lost as man is oblieged to the law of God Where the judicious Reader may observe that as the gracious promise of the blessed seed went forth from the eternall Word eternall life and rest So by the fulfilling of his promise the eternall life and rest of man is returned to the Word And this is the reason that God is called Alpha and Omega the first and the last Rev. 22.13 all in all Even as wee see the great Ocean from whence all the wells springs brooks rivers and all the waters falling from the clouds doe proceed So all do returne to the Ocean from whence they came and so much for answer to the first objection The second objection is this Neither Christ Jesus or his Apostles have set downe the command of the Lords day in the written word of God The Lord therefore hath left the power to command the Lords day to the Apostolicke Successours Ministers of the Word and Sacraments to command for that blessed day what day of the weeke they shall thinke fitting Of all the objections that ever was objected by man this is one of the most fearfull which doth rase from the foundation all what hath bin faithfully declared in this tractate and the very foundation of truth it selfe where there is two maine fundamentall points of faith overthrowne the first is in the antecedent the next is in the consequent I answer first to the antecedent By this assertion that the Lord of life the Lord of the Law of righteousnesse of faith or his Apostles hath not commanded the Lords day the Evangelicall seventh day of the Law of righteousnesse of faith the Lord of life is charged with the foule aspertion of untruth For if the seventh day of the Evangelicall Law of faith implying the command of the whole Law be not immediatly commanded by the Lord himselfe by his immediate word there is never a precept of the whole Evangelicall morall Law commanded And therefore to vindicate the truth of God from this horrible aspertion I answer after this threefold manner First if we touch this tenet with the touchstone of the twofold Theologicall Canon set downe in the tenth Chapter of this third booke we shall find this tenet to vanish with the objecters breath first therefore to touch the tenet with the first Canon First the foule adulterous light of the sound of the false word of this assertion is repugnant to the light of the sound of the word of the Lords day and to the truth of the Lords Evangelicall rest For by the immediate power of his infinit merit by his Evangelicall seventh daies rest the seventh is blessed and sanctified and the worship of the seventh day commanded and in the seventh day the whole morall Evangelicall Law of faith To the faithfull obedience of man to which command the temporall blessing of the Lords daies Evangelicall rest is due to man whereby man hath the continuation of his redeemed light life and rest in this life and eternall rest in the life to come contrary to the adulterous light of the sound of the words of this tenet whereby the Lords day is affirmed to be by the immediate command of man by meanes whereof we must hold our life light moveing and being in this life and eternall rest in the life to come immediately from the command of man Next to touch the tenet with the second Theologicall Canon set downe in the forenamed Chapter By the sound of the words of this false assertion the command of man doth interveene and come betweene the faith of the beleever and the Lords merit by his Evangelicall seventh daies rest which being the rocke and rest whereon the visible Church of God is built by this assertion the Church of God it selfe and the Lords commanded worship is rased from the very foundation For my second answer to this assertion to wit that neither Christ or his Apostles hath commanded the Lords day in the written word of God I answer with the Apostle Iohn 1 Iohn 2 7. There is no new command but the same which was from the beginning and that was the sound of the word of the first seventh day of the Law of righteousnesse to Adam and now it is the found of the word of the seventh day of the Law of rigeteousnesse of faith first propheticall and now Evangelicall And though the Apostle to the Hebrewes Hebrewes 7.12 doth affirme that with the Leviticall Priesthood the Law was changed Yet we must understand that the Law of righteousnesse is never really changed though the Law be formerly changed from the formall propheticall ceremoniall obligement by the propheticall Sabbath to the formall Evangelicall obligement of the law by the Lords day by the immediate command whereof the seventh day of the propheticall ceremoniall Sabbath implying the whole morall propheticall ceremoniall law is actually determined the Lords day the seventh day of the Evangelicall law implying the whole moral evangelicall law actually established by the new Covenant Let the thankelesse objecter therefore doe but determine the seventh day of the propheticall Sabbath set downe to Moses in the decalogue by the Lords day as the Lord himselfe hath determined the same by the word of the Lords daies Evangelicall rest And he shall finde that the Lords day and the whole morall Evangelicall law is set downe in ten severall morall precepts My third answer to the antecedent of this fearfull objection is this It was the infinit wisdome and the infinit love and mercy of God to man that the Evangelicall morall law of faith was not set downe in the written word in distinct formall precepts as it was set downe to Moses in the propheticall decalog for if the Evangelicall law had bin so set downe the morall propheticall law and the whole old Testament had bin quite misregarded Without the true knowledge whereof there is no foundation for Christian faith I next answer to the consequent of the objection CHAP. XVII The Lords day is by the immediate command of the Lords owne word and not by the command of the word of the Church THe consequent of the objection is that the Lord hath left the power of the commanding of his blessed day to the Apostolicall successors the Ministers of his Word and Sacraments to appoint for the Lords day what day of the weeke they shall thinke fitting To this I answer that this is all one to affirme that the Lord hath left to the Apostolicall successors the power to be God himselfe For it is by the only merit of the Lords Evangelicall seventh dayes rest arising from his bloudy rest that the Apostolicall
the Theologicall Principle whereon the two first opinions are grounded which are flat repugnant to the twofold Theologicall Canon set downe in the tenth Chapter of the third book of the Theologicall Key and consequently to the whole written word of God CHAP. II. The absolute decree subverted THe third opinion concerning the sacreed decree of predestination is the fearefull absolute respectivelesse decree which according to the authors and maintainers is set downe after this manner God out of his alone inscrutable will and pleasure to be adored by man by his decree of predestination without all respect to the creation fall and redemption of man and without all subordinate respect whatsoever did decree from all eternity to elect a certaine number of men to eternall salvation and to condemne a certaine number of men to wit the rest of the world to the eternall torments of hell And because nothing can come to passe which must not fall under this irresistible decree therefore it is peremptorily affirmed that by this decree Adams will was necessitate to fall under the eternall curse of the law and in Adam all men created in Adam But we must likewise conceive by this opinion that though by this necessitating o the will of Adam Adam was irresistibly necessitate to fall under the eternall curse of the law yet Adam as he was man did likewise freely fall and this falling of man implying his creation is called by the Authors and maintainers of this opinion the execution of his decree of whom if we doe aske the efficient cause of the fall of man it is answered that it was the willing yeelding of man to Satans temptation but necessitate by this absolute irresistible decree Now because the impossibility of the necessitating of Adams will to fall under the fearefull eternall curse of the law by any act or decree of God whatsoever hath beene formally necessarily and demonstratively concluded in the second Chapter of the second booke of this tractâ—◠〈◊〉 contradictory to the written word and truth of God I must therefore without reiterating thereof thither remit the Christian Reader Next therefore it doth rest that this absolute decree be examined which wee will doe by looking thereon with the light of the truth of the sacred word that the Reader may see whether or not there was any such irresistible power in this decree to necessitate Adams will to such as fearefull fall being created in the state of such spirituall perfection as was equall to the perfection of the command of the law whereby he was oblieged though it was in the freedome of his election by the first Covenant to stand or fall at his pleasure or perill First therefore I say and doe boldly and peremptoâ—ily affirme that it doth transcend the power of the understanding of all the intellectuall creatures of God as farre as the absolute decree doth transcend all manner of respect to conceive what manner of God this should be who should decree such a cruell decree or to conceive the man who is pretended to be condemned by this decree to the eternall torments of hell which is the eternall curse of the law of God without respect to the merit of man by transgressing of the law Or to conceive that any man can be elected out of the alone free pleasure of God without respect to his mercy to man in his Son Christ Jesus by fulfilling of the law of faith By the conceiving of God therefore by this opinion First God must be conceived without respect to God as he is God of the law of righteousnesse and secondly and consâ—quently without respect to his justice For by this opinion man is condemned out of the alone pleasure of God without respect to the merit of man Thirdly God must be conceived by this opinion without respect to his attribute of Creator for such respect is subordinate to this absolute decree Fourthly God must be conceived without respect to his word and fiftly and consequently without respect to his law Sixtly by this opinion God must be conceived without respect to the creation of man to his owne Image as God from all eternity decreed to create man whereby man was to be enabled to fulfill the law whereby he was to be obliged by Covenant Seventhly by this opinion God must be conceived without respect to his Covenant whereby he did decree from all eternity to oblige both himselfe and man Eightly by this opinion God must bâ— conceived without respect to his omniprescience in his foreseeing of the inevitable fâ—ll of man under the eternall curse of the law Ninthly â—y this opinion God must be conceived without respect to the redemption of man from the curse of the Law decreed by God from all eternity Tenthly by this opinion God must bee conceived to elect man out of his alone pleasure without respect to the redeemed state of man from the curse of the law by the sacred bloud of the Sonne of God which in the order of causâ— is the immediate object of his election Eleventhly man by this decree must be conceived without respect to his creation or to his merit by his fall or to his redemption by the blood of Christ Iesus Twelfthly by this opinion man must be conceived to be elected without respect to the love and mercy of God to man in his Sonne Christ Iesus and to be condemned by the eternall curse of the law without respect to his merit by any transgression of the law All which respects are subordinate to this absolute decree which the decree doth transcend for it is out of the alone pleasure of God summounting all such subordinate respect And so much for my first affirmation Secondly I doe boldly and peremptorily affirme that man is to conceive and apprehend God only as he hath revealed himselfe to man by his sacred word and covenants established upon his severall seven dayes rest and not to prye saucily in the secret counsell of God and to imagine such a fictious opinion contrary to his word and truth and to obtrude the same to man for his sacred truth for by this opinion all the promises of salvation offered to all the Nations of the world by a world of frivolous distinctions are made onely to the elect and consequently this absolute decree is absolutely repugnant to the truth of the sacred word of God What is regestred in the sacred word of God wee may boldly conclude to bee decreed by God from all eternity but we must not imagine a decree to be decreed by God to constraine us to wrest the Scripture to maintaine the credit of any such imaginary opinion of man Thirdly I doe boldly and peremptorily affirme that the very tearmes whereby the authors and maintainers doe expresse this pretended absolute decree doth necessarily imply all the respects formally set downe by us For first in the naming of God we necessarily name God as God hath revealed himselfe to man which was first God of the law of
righteousnesse Creator by his word of the first seventh dayes rest Secondly God of the law of righteousnesse of faith in the promise of the blessed seed by the word of his Sabbaticall seventh dayes rest whereby God did manifest himselfe to man God in the three coessentiall distinct persons of the Trinity Creator and Redeemer of man first Prophetically by the woâ—d the Propheticall seventh day of the law then by the name of the Sabbath of the Lord And now Evangelically by the word of the Lords day the seventh day of the Evangelicall law of righteousnesse of faith Secondly by the word of election which is onely in the Lord Iesus Christ the eternall Sonne of God God equall with the Father and holy Spirit the creation of man in the state of perfection the obliging of man to the first covenant the fall of man under the eternall curse of the law and the redemption of man from the curse is necessarily implyed Thirdly by the condemnation of man out of the alone pleasure of God to the eternall torments of hell which is the curse of the law both the merit of man by the transgression of the law and the justice of God by condemning of man are necessarily implyed So that this absolute pretended decree which the Authors doe obtrude to us as free from all respect by the very tearms whereby they doe expresse their imaginary decree is charged with all manner of respect subordinate to God and consequently there is a flat contradiction between the furmised opinion and the tearmes whereby the opinion is expressed The absolute decree therefore being repugnant to the literall light and truth of the word of the Lords day the seventh day of the Evangelicall law of faith necessarily implying the literall light of all the severall word of the seventh dayes rest from the foundation of the world The absolute decree according to our twofold Theologicall Canon set downe in the tenth Chap. of the second book of our Theologicall key is a false and adulterous tenent of faith arising from the spirit of error This error doth proceed from the confounding of the immanent and transeant act of God which must no wayes be confounded for the immanent act of God being God himselfe essentially is only absolute necessary infinite and incomprehensible by the act of any created understanding And his transeant act is only free which as it is transeant and terminate to man it is onely by his word which is his law to man the image of his eternall life and light of righteousnesse necessarily implying the naturall life and light of the word for by the onely power of the word written in the heart of man man is inabled to understand God by the word of the seventh day of the law as God hath revealed himselfe to man by his severall seventh dayes rest from the beginning Now the surmised decree being absolute and without all subordinate respect it is pretended to be the immanent act of God but because the immanent act of God is infinite The maintainers of the absolute decree are constrained to expresse their imaginary opinion by the tearmes of the transeant act of God which is by his word for the salvation and damnation of man is the twofold reward of the word and law of God to wit the blessing and curse of the law Fourthly and lastly by the salvation of man out of the alone pleasure of God without respect to the Lord Jesus Christ the alone pleasure of God doth intervene between the faith of man and the Lords merit whereby the faith of man is overthrown and by the damnation of man out of the alone pleasure of God without respect to the merit of man the alone pleasure of God by the condemning of man doth intervene between the merit of man by the transgression of the law and the law whereby the justice of God is overthrowne Now though the fearefull unworthinesse of this miserable opinion doth not merit the refutation thereof by any Theologicall penne yet for the Readers satisfaction I thus demonstrate that such a pretended absolute decree never was or could be decreed by God 1. That absolute decree whereby God is affirmed to elect and condemne man out of his alone pleasure without all respect to God as he is God of the law of righteousnesse That decree never was or could be decreed by God By this absolute decree God is affirmed to elect and condemne man out of his alone pleasure without all respect to God as he is God of the law of righteousnesse This absolute pretended decree therefore never was or could be decreed by God 2. That pretended absolute decree whereby God is affirmed out of his alone pleasure to elect and condemne man without all respect to his subordinate word as his word is his law to man That decree never was or could be decreed by God By this absolute pretended decree God is affirmed out of his alone pleasure to elect and condemne man without respect to his subordinate word as his word is his law to man This absolute pretended decree therefore never was or could be decreed by God 3. That absolute pretended decree whereby God is affirmed out of his alone pleasure to elect man to salvation without all subordinate respect of his love and mercy to man in his Sonne Christ Jesus that decreee never was or could bee decreed by God By this pretended decree God is affirmed out of his alone pleasure to elect man to salvation without all subordinate respect of his love and mercy to man in his Sonne Christ Iesus This pretended absolute decree therefore never was or could be concluded by God 4. That pretended miserable absolute degree whereby God out of his alone pleasure is affirmed to condemne man to the eternall curse of the law without any subordinate respect to the merit of man by transgressing of his law That miserable decree never was or could be decreed by God By this miserable pretended absolute decree God is affirmed to condemne man to the eternal curse of the law out of Gods alone pleasure without all subordinate respect to the merit of man by transgressing of the law This miserable absolute pretended decree therefore never was or could be decreed by God 5. That pretended miserable absolute decree which is repugnant to his suordinate justice by his law of righteousnesse whereby he decreed from all eternity to oblige both himselfe and man That miserable decree never was or could be decreed by God This miserable pretended absolute decree is repugnant to Gods subordinate justice by his law of righteousnesse whereby he decreed from all eternity to oblige both himselfe and man This miserable pretended decree therefore never was or could be decreed by God 6. That miserable absolute pretended decree whereby it is affirmed that the will of man in his state of perfection was necessitate to fall under the fearefull eternall curse of the law contrary to Gods obliging of himselfe by his
assertion Adams will is not affirmed to be necessitate to fall under the fearfull curse of the law by any actor decree of God Seventhly contradictory to the opinion of the maintainers of the absolute decree the gracious promises of salvation are affirmed to be made to all the nations of the world Eighthly contradictory to the opinion of the maintainers of the absolute decree the redemption of all men from the curse of the law for the sin of Adam is necessarily implied in this assertion Ninthly this assertion ontradictory to the absolute decree is consonant to the literall light of the Lord dayes Evangelicall rest necessarily implying the literall light of his bloody sabbaticall seventh dayes rest and consequently the literall light of all the seventh dayes rest of the eternall word from the foundation of the world upon which severall seven dayes rests all the severall covenants made by God with man are imediatly established as hath been faithfully delivered throughout this whole Tractate whereby the whole exercite act of the sacred decree of predestination is execute by the eternall Word imediatly To the end therefore that the judicious Reader may conceive that this assertion by receiving of this safe construction is consonant with the exercit act of the sacred decree by the severall covenants made by God with man The covenants shall be resolved by demonstrative resolution from the last effect in the supreme cause for a full conclusion of this whole Tractate CHAP. IV. The demonstrative resolution of the sacred decree of eternall predestination from the last effect of the covenants of God made with man in the supreme indemonstrable cause THe first three covenants made by God with man are only the execution or to use the school phrase the exercit act of the eternall decree of predestination so far as is revealed thereof to man in this life by the truth of the sacred word Which three severall formall Covenants are established betweene God and man upon the immediate command of the word of the seventh day of the law of God implying the command of the whole law obliging the obedience of man to his law as God hath revealed himselfe to man by his severall formall seventh daies rest The first Covenant is established upon the immediate command of the word of the first seventh day of the law whereby God by his first seventh daies rest from the works of the creation did manifest himselfe externally by his word to Adam Creator of heaven and earth of man and of the creatures created for man As by the lively word of the law written in Adams heart God did reveale himselfe internally to Adam God of the law of righteousnes By which lively word in Adams heart Adam was enabled to fulfill the command of the law implied in the first seventh day by fulfilling whereof Adam was to merit the continuation of the perfection of his created estate and felicity eternally upon earth But Adam and all men created in Adam naturally to discend of Adam by his disobedience deceived by the trechery of Satan was condemned by the first Covenant to the curse of the law by eternall death and darknesse Vpon Gods eternall prescience of which fearfull fall of man by Satans malicious trechery God out of his infinit love and mercy to man in his Son Christ Jesus did decree from eternity to revenge the blood of man upon Satan by man the only son of his love who according to his eternall decree made his second Covenant with man in the promise of the blessed seed which Covenant called the old Covenant is established upon the word of the second seventh daies promised rest then by the name of the Sabbath of the Lord obliging Adam and all men naturally to descend of Adam to beleeve the Lords promised rest of the blessed seed who did covenant to rest upon the Sabbath from the redemption of man from the curse of the law for the sinne of Adam By the third seventh daies rest which is the Lords daies rest the Lord by his resurrection from the dead did rest from the fulfilling of his promise of the blessed seed upon the immediate command of which seventh day to wit the Lord day The new Covenant is established betweene God and man obliging all men to beleeve the fulfilling of the Lords promise by his Evangelicall seventh daies rest to whose faith the â—lâ—ssing of the Lords infinit meâ—it by his Evangelicall seventh daies rest is due by the new Covenant The old and new Covenant therefore being really one the one containing the gracious promise of the blessed seed the other the fulfilling of the promise by the resolution of the new Covenant both are resolved in this demonstrative resolution therefore the first and new Covenant are resolved For the Readers better conceiving of this resolution First both the first and new Covenant are to be resolved first as both the Covenants are referred to God and next as they are referred to man Secondly it is to be observed that all the mediate effects arising from the Covenants as they are effects produced by the next immediate superior cause So the same effects are the immediate causes of the next immediate subordinate effect All except the supreame indemonstrable cause of all And except the immediate cause of Adams and Eves fal which have no positive influence from the decree of God though God did decree from all eternity to permit the fall of both for God did Covenant with man to leave Adam to the freedome of his own election to stand or fall at his pleasure and perill So that all the mediate causes and effects of the decree are like so many linkes of a chaine linkt one into another all depending from the supreme cause of all for as they doe all proceed from the supreme cause so they doe all returne to the same supreame indemonstrable cause So that if a man be disposed to set out the decree in a table the two linkes of the chain where Satan doth deceive Eve by the Serpent and Eve doth induce Adam to fall must not be linct one into another but must contiguously depend after such a form in a Table which the Author did intend if he had lived Thirdly it is to be observed that God by obliging both of himselfe and man upon the word of the seventh day of his Law God and man by his law are linkt and as it were chained and bound one to another God doth binde himselfe to man to the eternall continuation of the blessing of his seventh dayes rest and man to the eternall continuation of his obedience to the command of his law and to the eternall curse of the law upon his disobedience which mutuall bond is the maine ground from whence all the mediate cause effects of the Covenâ—â—ts do arise to the supream cause both as the Covenants are referred to God and as they are referred to man The fourth thing to be observed in this demonstrative â—â—solution
referred to man where we shall meet with the two like collaterall causes all which 4. Causes as they are effects they are al produced by one and the same next and immediate superior cause from whence we arise to the supreme cause of all By the last and lowest effect therefore of the new Covenant as it is referred to God God in his Son Christ Jesus doth oblige the naturall man in his redeemed state of natural and morall grace First and immediately to the Evanglicall faithfull worship of the Lords day the seventh day of the Evangelicall law as the eternall word Christ Jesus hath revealed himselfe by his Evangelicall seventh dayes rest arising from his bloudy rest Truth in the fulfilling of his promise to man and in that truth God in the three coessentiall distinct persons of the glorious Trinity cleerely and Evangelically without all propheticall mystery or Ceremony Secondly God doth oblige the faithfull Evangelicall obedience of man to the command of his whole Evangelicall law of righteousnesse of faith implyed in the Evangelicall seventh dayes commanded worship both upon the eternal blessing of the Lords dayes Evangelical rest upon the mercilesse curse of the law of faith The immediate cause of Gods obliging of man thus by his new Covenant is Gods eternall purpose to manifest himselfe mercy and justice to man by rendring of the reward of his Evangelicall law of faith according to the faith of man obliged by his law The immediate cause whereof is Gods enabling of the naturall man with such freedome of naturall and morall grace as he is able to give morall obedience to his calling by the new Covenant without any manner of necessitating of his morall disobedience To the naturall mans finall perseverance in which morall obedience till Gods prefixed time of spirituall calling the spirituall grace of faith is due to the naturall man by Covenant whereby he hath the temporall blessing of the Lords dayes of Evangelicall rest in this life and eternal rest in the life to come The immediate cause of such naturall morall grace is the perfection of the redemption of man And here we fall in with the two former causes of the first covenant for both the creation and redemtion of man are by the same immediate cause we must therefore yet stop our resolution till we meet with the fourth colatorall cause arising from the new covenant as the new covenant is referred to man which must be likewise resolved both as the new covenant is fulfilled by man and as the new covenant is broke and transgressed by man The last and lowest effect of the regenerate man as he is obliged to the command of the law of faith by the new Covenant is the faithfull Evangelicall worship of the Lords day to whose thankefull faithfull worship the blessing of the Lords daies Evangelicall rest is temporally naturally and spiritually united in this life and eternally in the life to come as the temporall naturall morall blessing of the Lords daies rest is morally united to the morall worship of the naturall man The immediate cause of the regenerate mans faithfull worship of the seventh day implying his obedience to the command of the whole law is his spirituall faith The immediate cause of his spirituall faith is his love to spirituall righteousnes The immediate cause of his spirituall love is the sanctifying light of the holy Spirit enlightning his understanding by his spirituall calling in the immediate act of regeneration The immediate cause of his spiritnall calling is the finall perseverance of the naturall man in his morall obedience according to the word of promise Mat 13.13 whosoever shall endure to the end shall be saved This end to the naturall man is Gods prefixed time of spirituall calling for the naturall man by his spirituall calling being actually regenerate is saved by spirituall faith and consequently justified The immediate cause of the naturall mans finall perseverance in his morall obedience is first and immediately the perfection of the redemption and secondly Gods speciall free concursive grace in saving of the naturall man from being overcome by Satans temptations This immediate cause of the perfection of the redemtion doth fall in collaterally with the three former causes and so we have foure in number But yet we must not rise without resolution from these foure causes till the new Covenant be resolved as the law is finally contemned and transgressed by man obliged to the new Covenant The lowest and last effect to the Reprobate obliged to the new Covenant is his finall willfull obstinate contempt of the gracious promises of Salvation purchased by the sacred bloud of the son of God To the reprobates finall wilfull contempt whereof by his unthankfull merit the mercilesse curse of the law of fayth is eternally united whereby the reprobate is eternally condemned by God upon his eternall prescience of the reprobates finall contempt according to his eternall decree which is actually inflicted upon the soule of the reprobate so soone as he departeth this life and in the full extent both of soule and body in the great day while by the resurrection from the dead the soule and body being essentially reunited the curse of the Law in the full extent is actually and eternally inflicted upon man as he is man The immediate cause of the reprobates finall wilfull obstinate contempt is the hardning of his heart The immediate cause whereof is the reprobates wilfull impenitent obstinat continuance in all sin and wickednesse by his contemning of God in the contemning of his law and truth and of the professors of the truth The immediate cause whereof as the cause is externall is the objective temptations of Satan and of his wicked instruments whereby the reprobate is spiritually and morally corrupted from his childhood The immediate cause of the reprobates continuance in sin as the cause is internall is his wilfull yeelding to be induced by the temptations of Satan and of his instruments while there is nothing to necessitate his morall disobedience whereby the reprobate doth so wilfully ungraciously unthankfully and presumptuously contemn the blood of the new covenant Thus having the foure causes met together we are to ascend from the foure causes as they are effects produced by the next superior immediate cause to the supreme cause of all The immediate cause therefore of these foure severall effects as they are the immediate subordinate effects of the next and immediate superiour cause is Gods eternall purpose of the election of man in his Son Christ Jesus For the immediate object of Gods eternall purpose of election is the state of man redeemed from the curse of eternall death and darknesse shut up in temporall spirituall darknesse till he be regenerate For in this estate all men are equally redeemed from the curse of eternall death and darknesse for their sin in Adam all equally shut up in temporall spirituall darknesse all equally reconciled to the love and favour of God for that
first sin with such freedom of morall grace as all the created powers of God are not able to necessitate the will of the redeemed naturall man to morall disobedience To whose finall perseverance in his redeemed grace by his morall obedience till Gods prefixed time of spirituall calling the grace of spirituall faith is due by the new covenant which is established with all men in the grace of this redeemed estate Of this redeemed estate of man God without all impeachment to his justice did decree from all eternity to elect to his mercy a certain number of this redeemed state of man known to himself by preserving of them from being finally overcome by the temptation of Satan and of his instruments in this life and to leave a certain number known only to himselfe in this redeemed estate of naturall and morall grace to be induced or not induced by Satan and his instruments to finall disobedience at their pleasure and perill For there is nothing to necessitate their will morally and finally to disobedience The immediate cause of Gods election of man in this redeemed estate is the freedome of his mercy who in this case will shew mercy on whom he will have mery in his Son Christ Jesus The immediate cause of his shewing of mercy to some in this redeemed estate is his foreknowledge of them whom from all eternity he hath predestinate to be made like to the Image of his Son in this life The immediate cause that they are predestinate to be made like to the Image of his Son in this life is that Christ Jesus the eternall Son of God made flesh of the seed of the woman in time may be the first born amongst many brethren who are his mysticall members The immediate cause that they are the mysticall brethren and members of their mysticall head Christ Jesus is that as their mysticall head by the bloody persecution of Satan and his cruell instruments did seal the truth of his fulfilled promise of the blessed seed with his heart blood So his mysticall brethren and members by tasting of the cup of his afflictions by the bloody persecutions of Satan and his cursed crue may stand in the defence of the truth of their mysticall head valiantly to the end of this life The immediate cause whereof is to the end that whereas the Lords mysticall members hath born the Image of his bloody persecution in this life So in the great day they may in their mysticall head revenge the blood of man upon Satan by the finall breaking of the old Serpents head and the head of his cursed seed to their eternall confusion And that in recompence of their valour they may in their mysticall head be crowned with an incorruptible crown of glory eternally and triumphantly in all heavenly happinesse in the life to come The immediate cause whereof is the Lords promise of the blessed seed that the seed of the woman shall break the head of the Serpent which seed of the woman is first the Word the Lord Jesus Christ begot by his Father man of the seed of the blessed Virgine And next his mysticall brethren begot by the literall and spirituall light of the Word brought forth by the woman the Church The immediate cause of the Lords promise of the blessed seed is Gods eternall decree of predestination upon his eternall prescience of the full of man by the malicious treachery of Satan The immediate cause of Gods eternall decree is Gods infinite love a and mercy to man in his Son Christ Jesus the Word made flesh of the seed of the woman from whose infinite love to man as all the effects of his sacred decree do proceed So all return to the infinit eternall word second person of the glorious Trinity God and man God equall with the Father and holy Spirit to whom with the Father and holy Spirit three coessentiall distinct persons one incomprehensible indivisible infinite essence God of all power and majesty be ascribed of all creatures all eternall honour glory power praise and thanksgiving for his infinite truth love and mercy to man the only Rock and Rest of the faith of man FINIS