and that for this cause he delivered Himeneus and Alexander unto Satan He sheweth that Heresies are doctrines of devils and Lyes spoken in Hypocrisie and foretelling the perillous times that should come in these last dayes that men should be lovers of their own selves c. then he addeth of this sort are they which creep into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sins led away with divers lusts ever learning c. He compareth them to Iannes and Iambres that withstood Moses meaning I suppose the Egyptian Sorcerers or Juglers so do these also resist the truth men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith and afterwards he sheweth the miserable progress that they shall make scil from bad to worse Evil men and Seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived Yea he sheweth the folly of those that hearken to seducers The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears and they shall turn away their ears from the truth anâ— shall be turned unto fables He calleth falsâ— teachers unruly and vain talkers and deceivers whose mouths must be stopped who subvert whoâ—â— houses teaching things which they ought not for filthy lucre sake And he giveth this chargâ— to Titus concerning such a man that is aâ— Heretick after the first and second admonition reject knowing that he that is such is subverted and sinneth being condemned of himself It is conceived that the Epistle to the Hebrew was written by this Apostle and how largely doth he there confute the corrupt doctrine of them that maintained the necessary use 〈◊〉 legal cremonies and giveth this admonitioâ— Be not carried about with divers and strangâ— doctrines and saith We have an Altar whereâ— they have have no right to eat which servâ— the Tabernacle shewing they have no paâ— in Christ which obstinately prefer the shâ—dows of the old Testament before Christ theâ— substance Secondly to these Examples may be addâ— divers Arguments or Reasons whereby it mâ—â— appear why Heresies false doctrines opinnions that oppose or corrupt the truths 〈◊〉 Christ are odious to the godly and abhoâ—red by them First because the glory of God is exceedingly wronged by false doctrines and Heresies anâ— the grosser any such Heresies are the more 〈◊〉 God dishonoured by them God the Fatheâ— is such as Christ witnesseth of him he thâ—â— sent me is true yea he cannot lye God the Son is Truth God the holy Ghost is the spirit of Truth Now what a high dishoâ—our is it to the God of Truth when lyes are fathered npon him and attributed to him errours and false opinions in matters of Religion are taught professed received as Truths of God What is this but to go about to derive darkness from light lyes from the Fountain of Truth The Apostle disputing against that great errour of them that denyed the Resurrection of the dead bringeth this Argument amongst others that Christ is risen and the resurrection of the Head proveth the Resurrection of the Members and sheweth that divers absurdities would follow if the resurrection of Saints should be denyed among the rest this We are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom be raised not up if so be the dead rise not They that maintain any falshood in point of Religion as a Truth they bear false witness of God as much as in them lies they make him a lyar the Author of falshood Which tendeth highly to the dishonour of his great and glorious name and therefore all that are born of God all that love the Lord Jesus in sincerity abhor errours and Heresies Secondly There is a contrariety in the hearts of the godly against errours and Heresies They have in them a principle of opposition against false doctrine A stranger will they not follow but will flee from him for they know not the voice of strangers There is something within them which suiteth not with strange doctrine but is averse from it For 1. They are begotten with the word of Truth Of his own will begat he us with the word of Truth As they are new creatures they have their original from the word of truth it iâ— as it were one of the ingredients of their new nature and so in that regard there is a natural antipathy and contrariety betwixt them and false doctrines The Apostle Iohn saith oâ— the godly we know that we are of the Truth They do as it were derive their new being from the Truth and therefore errour and falsâ— doctrine is hateful and abominable in their sight 2. They are the children of the God of Truth they are united unto Jesus Christ who is fulâ— of grace and truth they are led by the spirit of Christ who is the spirit of truth and therefore abhor and detest lyes spoken in Hypocrisie Thirdly The godly have learned that errouâ— tend to the destruction of poor Souls and therefore Peter calleth them damnable Heresies Paul calleth them doctrines of Devils It 〈◊〉 said they eat like a canker or gangrene whicâ— is such a malignant disease that it requireâ—â— the cutting off of a limb otherwise the whoâ— body is in danger to be destroyed Now 〈◊〉 people of God being tender and compassionate toward immortal Souls How can theâ— chuse but abhor such deadly poyson when theâ— find it offered by Seducers and readily swallowed down by the simple Is it not strange that some would have protection and encouragement given to all false doctrines and to those that spread and propagate them and that under a pretence of tenderness Is it not rather a high degree of cruelty to protect any in destroying Souls to give them full liberty to wander about with their Plague-sores running upon them freely to spread their contagious and pestilent Errours to the infecting of thousands Fourthly one errour begetteth many one false principle may be the cursed root of many rotten branches and a spring of many streams How many gross absurdities as the Apostle sheweth follow as conseâ—uents from that one grand errour of denying the Resurrection of the body as that Christ is not risen the preaching of the Gospel is vain the faith of believers vain and they still in their sins under the guilt and power of them and when they die they perish and that they have hope only in this life and so are of all men most miserable because they expose themselves to the scorn and malice of the wicked in hope of a better life And doth not experience shew how people when once they depart from the truth fall from errour to errour and with giddy heads run about in a maze of vain delusions Satan the Father of lyes having once seduced and gotten them into his circle leadeth them from one by-path to another Now how can a man
Lord Christ gave her Jesus saith unto her Woman beleeve me the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this Mountain nor yet at Hierusalem worship the Father Ye worship ye know not what we know what we worship for salvation is of the Iews But the hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and Truth for the Father seeketh such to wrship him God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in Truth The woman saith unto him I know that Messias cometh which is called Christ when he is come he will tell us all things Iesus saith unto her I that speak unto thee am he I conceive in this Answer the Lord Christ sheweth 1. That both the Iews and Samaritans were in an errour for it seemeth both of them thought that the Lord had confined his most solemn worship to one certain place throughout all ages as one party said at Mount Gerizim the other at Hierusalem and that the Ceremonies and Sacrifices there used should be alwaies continued Bus the Lord Christ told the woman that God had not limited himself to either of these places and that the time was now at hand when it should be as free to worship God in any other place as in either of these 2. He passeth sentence for the Iews against the Samaritans in this Controversie So far as concerned the present state of things saith he ye scil ye Samaritans worship ye know not what We scil we Iews know what we worship for salvation is of the Iews Ye Samaritans do ye know not what in your worshipping ye know not God aright ye have no warrant from his word either for your Temple once standing on this Mount or for limiting the worship of God to this place or for the way of worship Ye blindly follow the groundless Traditions of your Fathers But we know what we worship we follow the directions of God himself delivered by Moses and the Prophets both for the place and manner of Gods worship for salvation is of the Iews They are the Church of God to whom God hath committed his oracles teaching the way of Salvation and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ the Saviour of the world was to come 3. He confirmeth and amplifieth the first part of his Answer shewing that the Lord in a short time would set up a more spiritual way of worship in his Church more sutable to his spiritual Nature to which these carnal ordinances and Ceremonial ordinances should give place Secondly I Answer affirmatively that the doctrine of the Gospel and in particular this Gospel-doctrine of free justification through the righteousness of Christ doth establish the Ceremonial Law For 1. Then is a thing established when it attaineth its proper end Now by the Gospel the Law of Ceremonies attained its proper end For 1. The end of it was to be a School-master to bring men to Christ. Circumcision sealed the righteousness of faith which Circumcision it self could not give but was to be found in Christ it taught men to look after the Circumcision of the heart which was to be had in Christ alone by union with him by faith and partaking of his spirit The Passeover pointed out unto them Christ the Lamb of God without spot which taketh away the sins of the world The Sacrifices directed them to Christ the perfect Sacrifice The blood of the Sacrifices led them to the sprinkling of the blood of Christ which alone was sufficient to take away sin Now these and other Ceremonies attained their end in Christ and in the justification of sinners through the blood death satisfaction righteousness of Christ apprehended and applied by faith according to the doctrine of the Gospel and so this Law of Ceremonies was established and the validity of it declared But on the other side they that pretend so much zeal for Circumcision and other Ceremonies of the Law making it a part of the matter of their justification and resting in the bare outward observance as pleasing to the Lord in it self did cross the main end of the Ceremonial Law and propose such false ends as were impossible to be attained Secondly The doctrine of the Gospel making Christ the end of the Law for righteousness in whom wisdom righteousness sanctification redemption and salvation alone is to be had sheweth that the Ceremonial Ordinances were no empty shadowes and vain appearances like those of the Heathen but significant signs and Types full of deep Mysteries of exceeding great weight and importance pointing at the person of the Lord Jesus his office his actings his sufferings and the fruits and benefits of these whereas they that so stiffely opposed the strict observation of the Ceremonies of the Law against the doctrine of Christ delivered in the Gospel what did they make of them but begerly elements empty appearances without fruit use or profit So that the Preachers of the Gospel did honour the Ceremonial Law though they took away the observation of them by declaring the substance whereof they were shadowes and the observers of the Ceremonies in the times of the Gospel did greatly disparage them Thirdly The doctrine of the Gospel doth still establish the Ceremonial Law as an illustration of the mystery of Christ in the Gospel and sheweth that great use may still be made of them that way for the Ceremonies were as it were visible Prophesies of Christ and the things of Christ. And as Prophesies are dark before they are fulfilled but clear after they are accomplished and do much illustrate the events so these Ceremonies were obscure resemblances of Christ but now since what they signified is fulfilled the comparing the Types with the Antitypes giveth much light The Use which I intend to make of this point is to compare some of the principal Ceremonies of the old Testament with the Mysteries of the Gospel that so we may more clearly see how they are established by Christ and that we may improve them for our edification And first to begin with the Sacraments of the Ceremonial Law and there in 1. Circumcision The institution of this Sacrament is laid down Genesis the sevententh saith the Lord to Abraham This is my Covenant which ye shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee every man child among you shall be Circumcised and ye shall Circumcise the flesh of your foreskin and it shall be a token of the Covenant betwixt me and you And elsewhere Moses saith to the people of Israel Circumcise the foreskin of your heart and be no more stiffe-necked This sheweth that the Circumcision of the flesh directed them to the inward Circumcision of the heart the mortification of sinful lusts inordinate affections and all sorts of corruptions To which agreeth that of the Apostle Circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter whose praise is not
l. 16. r. Consequents p. 44. l. penult r. exhort p. 53. l. 12. r. tolerable for Chap. IV r. V. p. 125. in the margin for Officers r. Offerer p. 130. l. 33. dele him p. 153. l. 22. r. persons p. 160. l. 1. for An r. any p. 212. l. 2. for no r not p. 239. l. 21. r. woman p. 240. l. 17. for state r. stead p. 243. l. 6. r. enduring p. 263. l. 25. r. For. Rom. 3. 31. Do we then make void the Law through Faith God forbid yea we establish the Law CHAP. I. THe holy Apostle in this divine Epistle according to the wisdom given unto him as his fellow Apostle saith of him having laid down that great fundamental truth of the Gospel that righteousness and everlasting life is to be obtained by faith that is by the perfect Righteousness of Christ imputed to Believers by God the Father and applied by Faith proveth it by shewing that none are justified any other way and this he cleareth by making it evident that all sorts of men Israelites and Gentiles are sinful and guilty before the Lord and therefore none of them justified by any works of their own in the fight of God He proveth the Gentiles to have sinned against the law and light of Nature and Reason the Israelites to have sinned against that Law not only so but against the written Law and that both Ceremonial and Moral against thâ— Ceremonial Law in that they rested in the outward observation of it not looking to the substance and end of it and so their Circumcision was made uncircumcision The moral Law condemned them because their corrupt natures were enmity against it contrary unto it they sinned against it in omissions commissions their best performances fell far short of the full perfection of it and therefore they all stood condemned before the Lord whose exact justice alloweth of no righteousness but that which is every way perfect These things being cleared from the 17th verse of the first Chapter to the 20th verse of this third Chapter Then he declareth another way of justification revealed in the Gospel even by the full satisfaction and perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ imputed by God the righteous Judge of all the world to Believers and applied by faith And having proved this in the latter part of this and in the two next Chapters he inâ—â—rtâ—th thâ—se words in the end of the third Chapter Do we then c. although he had not finished his discourse of free justification by faith through the righteousness of Christ yet he wouâ—d put in a caveat against the licentious â—buse of this excelâ—ent Doctrine though it seemeth a little out of order not tying himself so precisely to method as to neglâ—ct the vindicating the honour of Christ and the preventing or removing of such a mistake upon which poor souls are apt to make Shipwrack So that in these words we may note first a Question or Objection Do we make void the Law through faith secondly an Answer 1. By way of detestation or abhorrence God forbid or let it not be far be it from us 2. By way of denial implied in a contrary Assertion and that with advantage We are so far from making void the Law through faith that by this doctrine we establish the Law Do we make void the Law Do we make the Law a vain empty useless thing of no force Do we take away all authority and binding power from the Law through faith through the Doctrine of the Gospel teaching men another way of obtaining justification and righteousness by the perfect righteousness of Christ apprehended by faith without any respect unto or consideration of the works of the Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let it not be far be it from us Yea we establish the Law we give more honour to the Law we acknowledge more fully and truly the perfection purity authority of the Law than they do which teach and seek righteousness by the works of the Law From this objection may be noted this point That Ignorance and malice is apt to mistake slander or pervert the most precious Truths of the Gospel or thus The corrupt Nature of man is apt to corrupt the most precious Truths of the Gospel So in this present Chapter For the Apostle having before proved the people of Israel had as much need of the Righteousness of Christ to save them from condemnation and to justifie them and present them as righteous before God as the Heathen their sins and guilt being as great as that of the Heathens or rather greater It seems hereupon some were ready to argue What advantage then hath the Iew and what profit is there of Circumcision As if they had said this doctrine taketh away all difference betwixt Iew and Gentile it giveth unto Israel the peculiar people of God no more priviledge or dignity in things pertaining to God than to the worst of Heathen Idolaters it was to no purpose that God distinguished them from other Nations by the ordinance of Circumcision Thus is corrupt Nature apt to corrupt the precious Truths of the Gospel But the Apostle shews that the Iews had much advantage over the Gentiles chiefly because that unto them were committed the Oracles of God They had the word of God the writings of Moses and the Prophets given by the inspiration of the holy Ghost directing them to the Messias to whom they were to seek for Righteousness and in whom they were to believe that they might be justified They had Sacrifices prescribed them by the wisdom of God as special helps to strengthen their faith in the perfect Sacrifice of Christ the Redeemer and therefore they had much advantage above the Heathens if they improved it for their eternal good and yet notwithstanding all this it was as impossible for them to be justified by their own works and righteousness as for the Heathens and they had as much need of Christ and his righteousness for justification as aâ—ese In this the Iews had the advantage above the Heathens that they had far better means to lead them unto Christ than the Heathens Herein they were both alike that neither the one nor the other could be justified and saved by their own works but only by Christ and his righteousness Again in this regard the condition of the obstinate and unbelieving Iews was worse than that of the profane Gentiles that they sinned against greater light and means not improving their priviledges and advantages but receiving the grace of God in vain Then followeth another objection If mans unrighteousness commendeth the Righteousness of God if Gods Righteousness in justifying sinners be the more gloriously manifested by reason of mens wickedness how then can it stand with the righteousness of God to punish men for sin and again if the glory of God his rich Grace do appear and shine forth so much the more admirably by the heinousness of peoples sins why should
like Locusts overspreading the earth devouring the fruits of it These came out of the smoak of the bottomless pit the smoak of errours and superstitions for when such doctrines passed for currant that men might be saved by observing vain humane traditions that there was a Treasure in the Church filled up with the merits of those that had an overplus besides what was needful for themselves and that they who were benefactors to the Monks should be partakers of their merits how mad was the world in building Monasteries and giving their Land and goods to the Friers devoting their children to that profession Yea it seemeth divers noble persons and some Kings and Queens turning Monks and Nuns And as the smoak of the pit did breed the Locusts so the Locusts encreased the smoak and made the mists of darkness greater and thicker multiplying errours and superstitions If this were one of those grievous woes whereof the Angel flying through the midst of Heaven gave warning to the world how should we be humbled and ashamed in respect of the great earthliness dulness senselesness of spirit that is among us yea too much in those that have some love to the Truth that this great and woful evil doth so abound with us and is so little laid to heart Should not the very thought of it startle us that such thick and dark vollies of smoak in our days should break out of the bottomless pit and cover so great a part of our Land darkning the Air and Sun eclipsing the Light of the truth and putting out the eyes of many and so many Locusts deceivers and deceived coming out of the smoak of errours This ought to be for a Lamentation But how many that profess themselves Christians set their hearts so much upon their own private concernments their business wealth ease and pleasure c. and those that have something of a publick spirit yet confine their serious thoughts to the external good of the Common-wealth that they little or nothing regard these destructive evils that are of a spiritual nature If Gallio his temper who when complaint was made to him about differences in Religion slighted them as words and names and cared for none of these things may be thought tolerably or at at least not much to be marvailed at in an Heathen yet doubtless it is shameful and odious in a Christian. What! a Christian and not moved that Christ who is the Truth is so highly dishonoured by lyes and falshood taught and received instead of Truths that multitudes of poor souls are in a ready way to be destroyed by damnable doctrines that errours beget errours and are likely to overgrow the Truth to spread far and wide that so many are both infected by them and alienated from the remedy shunning the publick Ordinances where sound doctrine is taught that such bleeding wounds and Rents are made in the Church Art thou a Christian and so one that pretendest to be begotten with the word of Truth and hast thou no such principle of contrariety planted in thee against errours and false doctrines as to make them bitter and grievous to thee Some may raile at those that are misled and others may make a sport of their folly but how small is the number of those who like Christians mourn for them as dishonourable to Christ pernicious to souls How deeply was the holy Apostle affected with the obstinacy of the Iews in their errours in preferring the ceremonies of the Law above Christ the Substance and their own imaginary legal righteousness above the perfect righteousness of Christ applied by faith I say the truth in Christ. I lye not my Conscience also bearing me witness in the holy Ghost that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart for I could wish that I my self were accursed from Christ for my Brethren my kinsmen according to the flesh How passionately did he express himself to the Galatians who had once embraced the pure doctrine of the Gospel but afterwards suffered themselves to be so deluded by seducers as to seek justification by the Law My little children of whom I travel in birth again until Christ be formed in you He felt such sorrow such fear such strong and compassionate workings of heart towards them as were answerable to the pangs of a woman in child-bearing Saith the Psalmist I beheld the transgressours and was grieved because they kept not thy word This I conceive doth plainly concern both transgressions in practice and in doctrine or belief Both these forts of transgressiours are guilty of not keeping Gods word They that live in a course of sin they keep the word in their judgement and profession but keep it not in their lives and actions They that go on in errours keep not the word so much as in judgment and profession Besides how can a man forsake any truth of God which he hath once received but he must ipso facto in that very act transgress in point of practise He transgresseth that precept Prov. 23 buy the truth and sell it not that of the Apostle be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine c. and that hold fast the form of sound words c. Now the Psalmist beheld those with a mournful eye I beheld the transgressours and was grieved c. Is it not a sign of a graceless heart to behold transgressours without grief If we moan not for these things out of spiritual respects the Lord may justly make us mourn for those outward evils that they may bring upon us The Divel as he is the Father of lyes so he is a murderer Spiritus mendax est homicida and they that are led by a lying spirit if they can establish their facton and party so as to grow confident of their power may soon discover a murtherous spirit and then those that are lukewarm and indifferent in matters of Religion may feel their fury as well as they that are most zealous Secondly This truth may shame those who plead for a toleration of all sorts of errours Hereticks Seducers false prophets It seemeth the Apostle Paul accounted them intolerable when he pronounced them accursed and wished them cut off But such pretend Christian charity meekness mercy I answer 1. Will they boast of more love than Paul had who could have wished himself accursed that Israel might have been saved Will they pretend to more meekness than Moses who was very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth and yet ye heard how he acted against Balaam and the Midianites and we find also that he caused three thousand to be slain for Idolatry If men will approve themselves to be of such a spirit as Paul and Moses let them shew meekness and love in â—earing and forgiving private and personal injuries offered to themselves and on the other side manifest true zeal for the Truth and
The reason that was given for it is this in effect that the Lord that night would pass through the Land oâ— Egypt and smite all the first born both of man and beast among the Egyptians but would spare those houses of the Israeliteâ— when he saw the blood of the Lamb on the door-posts This in it self was a great deliverance but there was a far greater mystery and deliverance intended which was accomplished in Christ. First then The Lamb was a figure of Christ whom Iohn Baptist according to his office pointed out to the people saying Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world and another day Behold the Lamb of God And the Apostle saith Christ our Passeover is Sacrificed for us And the Apostle Peter saith Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your Fathers but with the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot As the Lamb appointed for the Passeover was to be without blemish so Christ the Lamb of God was without all blemish or spot of sin actual or original being conceived by the divine power of the holy Ghost in the wombe of a pure Virgin Again as the Lamb of the Passeover was taken from the rest of the flock so Christ in regard of his humane Nature was taken from the rest of mankind and made one person with the Son of God that he might be all-sufficient for this great end scil to take away the sins of the world The Lamb for the Passeover was set apart certain days before it was slain Christ was set apart in the eternal counsel of God fore-ordained before the foundation of the world And as the blood of the Lamb was to be put upon the door posts of the Israelites houses that so the destroyer might pass over them and not destroy any of them whereas the first-born were slain in those houses that were not marked with the blood of the Paschal Lamb So the most precious blood of Christ is to be sprinkled by faith upon the souls of Believers his blood death satisfaction righteousness is to be applied to their souls by faith unfeigned that so the destroying curse of the Law and wrath of God may not abide upon them but pass over them while others who have no interest in this Lamb of God and his most precious blood lye open to the curse of the Law and the wrath to come So that we see also how this Ceremony and Sacrament of the Passeover attained its end in Christ and is accomplished in him and in that sense established And in particular this is declared in the doctrine of justification through the satisfaction and righteousness of Christ apprehended by faith For as the houses marked with the blood of the Paschal Lamb escaped the destroyer so those souls who by faith unfeigned apply the blood and righteousness of Christ to themselves are delivered from condemnation and accepted of God as righteous Let us labour to improvâ— this First As the Israelites were never delivered out of Egyptian bondage until they kept the Passeover so let us assure our selves that As it had been impossible for any men and women to get out of the slavery of sin and Satan unless the Lamb of God had been slain for thâ—â— Redemption so none are actually redeemed and delivered from this woful bondage untill they keep the Passeover in a spiritual manner until they imbrace Christ the Lamb of God and feed upon him by the lively actings and exercisings of faith unfeined Many may be convinced of their misery and sigh for hard bondage as the Israelites did in Egypt but they cannot be made free unless they keep this Passeover If the Son shall make you free ye shall be free indeed If ye be found in Christ and feed upon this Lamb of God ye shall be free indeed not otherwise Secondly Admire with all Thankfulness the infinite goodness of God who before the foundation of the world provided such a precious remedy for poor sinners even a Lamb without blemish and without spot â—eparated from the rest of the flock one of the seed of the woman set apart from among all the rest of the children of men and personally united to the eternal Son of God that so he might be a full and perfect propitiation for sin Thirdly As Christ is a Lamb without spot so let all that will be saved by him labour to be more conformed to him in holiness purging themselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit for every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself as he is pure What is that but an unsound self-deceiving hope which doth not stir up the soul to conform it self to Christ in purity and holiness Fourthly Labour with all diligence for faith unfeigned whereby ye may sprinkle the most precious blood of Christ upon your Souls applying his death suffering satisfaction righteousness to your selves that ye may escape the destroying curse of the Law and wrath of God that being justified by faith in the blood and righteousness of Christ there may be no condemnation unto you What had it profited the Israelites that the Lamb for the Passeover was slain if they had not followed the Lord his direction in putting the blood upon the door posts of their houses What shall it profit any that live under the Gospel that Christ the Lamb of God is slain and in the preaching of the word set forth as it were crucified before their eyes if they do not sprinkle their souls in particular with his blood rightly applying his satisfaction and righteousness to themselves Will not the Lord look upon them rather as Egyptians then Israelites and deal with them accordingly Fifthly As they did eat the Lamb at the feast of the Passeover So let Christians endeavour every day to keep this feast unto the Lord by feeding upon this living bread upon the body and blood of Christ in lively actings of faith upon him and more especially in the use of his ordinances his word and the holy Supper As they kept the Passeover with unleavened bread so let us keep the feast not with old leven neither with the leven of malice and of wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth The Lord Christ warned his Disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharises and of the Sadduces and though at the first they mistook his meaning yet afterward they understood it of the doctrine of the Pharises and Sadduces so he said unto his Disciples Beware of the Leaven of the Pharises which is Hypocrisie So that all manner of evil outward and inward in heart in opinion in conversation may be comprehended under this Leaven and they that will rightly feast with Christ and feed upon him must
manifested and made visible and so framed this humane nature thus united to his God-head after the image of God in perfect Righteousness and holiness and inabled it to perform full and compleat obedience to the Law And thus the work of Satan was destroyed one of the Sons of Adam one of the seed of the woman after the fall of mankind being inabled to fulfill the Righteousness of the Law Fourthly Ye may note by the way that I do not speak of this as the full sense of this Text as it this were all that Christ did in destroying the works of the Devil and in restoring what he had ruined but I speak of it as a part of the Apostles meaning and a part of that work of Christ concerning the point in hand Fifthly Observe that by this work Christ established the Law For first As the Law was given to man so the Son of God took upon him the nature of man and subjected it to the Law as it is said he was made under the Law 2. He wrote this Law of perfect holiness and Righteousness upon this humane Soul thus united to his God-head 3. In this nature of man He perfectly fulfilled the Law by all which he acknowledged the Law to be a perfect Rule of Righteousness which as man he was bound to obey and so did really confirm and ratifie the Authority of it whereas on the contrary they that taught mâ—n to seek justification and to approve themselves as Righteous in the sight of God by their own personal works of obedience to the Law though they pretended to magnifie the Law they did make void the Law because their Righteousness was far short of what the Law required and therefore to profess that they looked to be justified or found Righteous in the sight of God by their own imperfect works done in obedience to the Law was to accuse the Law of imperfection and so to make void the Law Saith David The Law of the Lord is perfect and therefore none can be justified by the Law unless their Righteousness be perfect Now for sinful men whose natures are contrary to the Law whose sinful omissions and commissions are numberless whose best works are exceedingly imperfect and defective to profess themselves justified by the Law is to deny the perfection of the Law and so to abolish or make void the Law So much for the first particular point comprehended in the general doctrine The second is this That the Lord Iesus Christ established the Law by making full satisfaction to the Law where note two particulars 1. That Christ did make full satisfaction to the Law 2. That hereby he did establish it 1. For the former When Christ was gloriously transfigured upon a certain mountain in the sight of three of his Disciples Behold there talked with him two men which were Moses and Elias who appeared in glory and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Ierusalem These two holy men of God who many ages before had been taken out of this world by an extraordinary dispensation of God were sent to meet the Lord Christ upon this Mount and why these two Moses was the Lawgiver I mean the ministerial Law-giver the Minister Servant or Instrument of the Lord by whom God who is the only authentical the supream Law-giver delivered and as it were handed over his Law to the people of Israel Elias was one of the most eminent among all the Prophets and exceeding zealous of the Law and by an extraordinary warrant from God slew divers hundreds of false Prophets for Idolatary and for teaching the people to transgress the Law and when he complained against Israel for their heinous sins against the Law the Lord directed him to annoint Hazael to be King over Syria Iehu to be King over Israel and Elisha to be Prophet in his stead as so many executioners of Gods justice upon backsliding Israel for their horrible sins against the Law It seemeth then that these two were sent to shew that the Lord Jesus Christ was he of whom the Law and the Prophets spake whom the Ceremonial Law shadowed out by Types and Figures who was to perform full obedience to the Moral Law and make full satisfaction for the transgressions of men against the Law and to accomplish what was foretold by the Prophets and it is said expresly that they spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Hierusalem They spake of his death and sufferings whereby he should make full satisfaction for the sins and transgressions of men against the Law and fulfill the sayings of the Prophets It is not barely said he should dye or suffer death but that he should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 accomplish his decease He should fully and compleatly suffer such a death as should make full satisfaction to the Law He should undergo the full penalty of the Law and make full payment of all the debts which the Law could charge upon his people To make this appear more clearly consider these particulars 1. That the Lord Iesus Christ was very God in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God the same was in the beginning with God all things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made The Son of God is called the word God the Father manifesting himself by the Son as a man maketh known his mind by his words or speech There is the coessential word of God and there is the declarative word of God the Son of God is the coessential word of God of the same essence with God the Father The declarative word of God is that which we have in the holy Scriptures So Christ prayed to his Father for his people Sanctifie them through thy Truth thy word is truth For this cause saith the Apostle thank we God without ceasing because when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us ye received it not as the word of men but as it is in truth the word of God which worketh effectually in you that believe These and the like places shew the folly of those who seem to hold that there is no other word of God but Christ whereas it is plain that the holy Ghost calleth the word written in the Scriptures and the word preached and taught according to the Scriptures the Word of God scil his declarative word but Christ is the coessential or co substantial word of God and here it iâ— said He was in the beginning declaring his eternity when the world and the creatures in it were made He was not made but he was from eternity before all things and accordingly he saith to his Father O Father glorifie thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was that is from all eternity And the word was with God that sheweth the personal distinction betwixt the Father and the
so far from this that when Christ according to the antient Prophesies and types had offered up himself in Sacrifice for the sins of the world they made his death an occasion of stumbling and took that to be an argument that he was not the Christ which was one of the main evidences that he was the Christ. In their legal washings how did they rest in the purifying of the flesh without any care to wash their hearts from wickedness Did not they rest in the High-priest of the order of Aaron without minding an eternal High-priest after the order of Melchisedeck A multitude of such instances might be given Thirdly They seemed to have minded the outward observation of these ceremonial ordinances more than the keeping of the moral Law So the Lord complaineth by the Prophet Isaiah that they rebelled against him knew him not forsook him provoked him to anger revolted from him had hands full of blood and yet it seemeth they were very forward in the ceremonial observances bringing a multitude of Sacrifices burnt offerings of Rams fat of fed beasts Bullocks Lambs He-Goats Though these were more costly yet they were more forward in these services than in moral duties cleansing their hearts and hands from sin c. Is there not a notable evidence of this in the actings of those Iews who killed the Lord of life They seemed to be so scrupulous in point of Ceremony that they would not enter into the Court or Judgement-Hall least they should be defiled but that they might eat the Passeover and therefore Pilate the Judge was fain to come out of the Court and wait upon them to hear what they could say against him and it seemeth being wearied with going in and out at last he removed and sate upon a Judgement-Seat without doors in the mean time these wicked murtherers were so violently bent to shed innocent blood that they defiled themselves with the guilt of a most heinous sin straining at a Gnat and swallowing of a Camel Fourthly It seemeth they relied upon these Ceremonies or the observation of them as a part of that righteousness whereby they hoped to be justified in the sight of God The Lord having planted a Church at Antioch Certain men which came down from Iudea taught the Brethren Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses ye cannot be saved Saith the Apostle I testifie again to every man that is Circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole Law Christ is become of none effect to you Whosoever of you are justified by the Law ye are fallen from Grace Doth not this intimate that they relied on the Ceremony of Circumcision in part for justification and under Circumcision I understand other Ceremonies of the Law Fifthly I conceive it is very clear that they thought these legal Ceremonies were to be obserfor ever unto the end of the world So in the place mentioned before they said Except ye be Circumcised c. And so it seemeth they counted it blasphemy to say that the Lord Jesus should change the customes delivered by Moses Thirdly The Question is How the Doctrine of the Gospel concerning free justification through the righteousness of Christ apprehended by faith doth establish this Law of Ceremonies To this I Answer 1. Negatively 2. Affirmatively 1. Negatively This doctrine of the Gospel doth not establish the Law of Ceremonies by confirming and continuing the observation of it but on the contrary take it away So Stephen bâ—ing accused for saying that Jesus Christ should change the customes delivered by Moses told the Iews that Moses said unto the children of Israel A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your Brethren like unto me him shall ye hear The Lord Christ was the great Propher by whose spirit Moses and the rest of the Prophets were inspired And as he had directed Moses to deliver these Ceremonial ordinances to Israel to be observed untill his manifestation in the flesh and departure out of the world again so now he was to be heard as one of unquestionable authority declaring unto the Church his will and pleasure concerning the ceasing of these observances That passage between the Lord Christ and the woman of Samaria is notable to this purpose He by telling her of her sinful course had convinced her thus far that she made this acknowledgement Sir I perceive thou art a Prophet and therefore it seemeth thought that he might be able to resolve a Question of great moment wherein she desired satisfaction and that was this Our Fathers worshipped in this Mountain and ye say that in Hierusalem is the place wherein men out to worship the Father I conceive the occasion of this controversie between the Iews and Samaritans was this The Samaritans were the posterity of those Heathens whom Salmanasser King of Assyria had placed there instead of the Israelites whom he carried away Captive and embraced a corrupt Religion mixed of Heathenisme and Judaisme Toward the end of the Persian Monarchy Manasses the Brother of Iaddus the High-Priest married the Daughter of Sanballat a prime man of Samaria whereupon he was required of his Brother to lay down his office his Marriage being condemned by the Law Manasses acquainted Sanballat with his loss and let him know that though he loved his Daughter yet he would not for her sake lose so great a dignity as that of the Priesthood Sanballat answered him that if he would keep his Daughter for his wife he would make him an High-priest and with the license and consent of Darius King of Persia build a Temple upon Mount Gerizim for that purpose But Darius being overthrown in battel soon after by Alexander of Macedon he made this suit to him bringing him eight thousand Souldiers to serve him in the Wars and readily obtained his desire So that this became a receptacle to divers fugitive or apostate Iews who were guilty of breaking the Law by proâ—aning the Sabbath eating meats forbidden or the like crimes This Temple having stood about 200 years was ruined by Hircanus about a hundred years before Christ his coming in the flesh or more Now as they that embrace errours and corrupt inventions of men in things pertaining to Religion and religious worship are obstinate in cleaving to their fancies so the Samaritans would make comparisons between their Temple which was founded without warrant from God yea against his word and the Temple of Hierusalem which the Lord owned for the peculiar place of his worship Yea and after their Temple was laid desolate they seemed to please themselves with the imagination of the holiness of the ground on which it once stood and therefore saith the woman our Fathers worshipped in this Mountain c. as if Mount Gerizim were still an holy Mount though the Temple was down and so there was great enmity between the Iews and Samaritans But observe the Answer which the