applying of the Redemption purchased by Christ to all those whom he has redeemed by his blood Not that the Spirit may be said to believe in the elect but that he doth work that faith in them whereby they as Members are united to Christ their Head and so do mystically and spiritually but really become one with him for they that are thus joined to the Lord are one spirit and so being one with Christ what was done for them by Christ as their Mediator Head and Husband is accounted as done by themselves he having pay'd their debt as their Surety they receive their discharge and shall never come into condemnation or be cast into Prison after they are once thus one with Christ and effectually called by the Spirit A. 31. Effectual Calling is the work of Gods Spirit whereby convincing us of our sin and misery enlightning our minds in the knowledg of Christ and renewing our wills he doth perswade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the Gospel Artic. X. The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself by his own natural strength and good works to faith and calling upon God Wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God without the grace of God by Christ preventing us that we may have a good will and working with us when we have that good will Hom. II. Of Alms p. 2. The good deeds of man are not the cause of making him good but he is first made good by the Spirit and grace of God that effectually worketh in him and afterward he bringeth forth good fruit God of his mercy and special favour towards them whom he hath appointed to everlasting salvation hath so offer'd his grace especially and they have so received it fruitfully that though by reason of their sinful living outwardly they seemed before to have been the children of wrath and perdition yet now the Spirit of God mightily working in them unto obedience to Gods will and commandments they declare by their outward deeds and life in the shewing of mercy and charity which cannot come but of the Spirit of God and his especial grace that they are the undoubted children of God appointed to everlasting life Expl. 31. That we may the better know what effectual Calling is we are to consider of a double Call which doth many times prove ineffectual as 1. Outward in the preaching of the Word and the voice of the Rod or any Providence whatsoever which doth call men to repentance faith and holiness but notwithstanding all these outward Calls there are Millions in the world who turn the deaf ear to God and will not return to him by repentance nor come to Christ by faith 2 dly There is an inward Call which is no less ineffectual than the former and it is the Spirits Call as when he proceeds no further than that which Divines call a common work as 1. Common illumination or some kind of floating knowledg in the head concerning the word of God and spiritual matters and no doubt but many men who have wicked hearts and lead bad lives may be well stored with gifts of this kind as Iudas for one 2. Some kind of flashy affections excited and stir'd up in the Soul towards good things called foretasts of the powers of the world to come and such was in Herod and Balaam 3. Some kind of faint languishing inclinations in the will to obedience such as Herod had when he did many things 4. Some kind of sense of sin both in its guilt and horrour such as Iudas had and yet notwithstanding all this inward work of the Spirit his Call may be ineffectual And if all this may be without success then no wonder if the Arminians Call that of moral suasion or of arguments do prove no better But then 2 dly There is another inward Call of the Spirit which is effectual to the Elect sc. that whereby the Spirit doth not only call but enable them to come at his call as when he doth renew the mind and change the will sanctifie the heart purifie the conscience and affections and doth work a lively faith in such persons and repentance from dead works A. 32. They that are Effectually called do in this life partake of Justistification Adoption Sanctification and the several benefits which in this life do either accompany or flow from them Artic. xvij They through grace obey the Calling they be justified freely they be made Sons of God by Adoption they be made like the image of his only begotten Son Jesus Christ they walk religiously in good works and at length by Gods mercy they attain to everlasting felicity Expl. 32. Into the nature of these particular Benefits of Effectual Calling there will be occasion to enquire hereafter but as to the certainty of the thing that all that are effectually called shall partake of these is evident from these grounds 1. In that Christ did purchase these benefits not for himself but for them nay he had never laid down such a price in his Fathers hands but for the sake of Believers 2. The tenour of the Covenant of Grace doth ascertain this for when God the Father and Son did treat together concerning the redemption of the Elect it was upon these terms sc. That upon the Sons undertaking to satisfie both the Law and Justice of God and upon the full performance of this undertaking all those that do believe in Christ though by nature they had been children of wrath as well as others should upon their believing be justified adopted sanctified and saved 3. Upon their believing they do receive Christ and he gives himself freely to them and how shall they not with him have all things else they stand in need of A. 33. Justification is an Act of Gods free-grace wherein he pardoneth all our sins and accepteth us as righteous in his fight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone Artic. II. We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by faith and not for our own works or deservings To. I. Hom. III. Because all men be sinners and offen-ders and breakers of his Law and Commandments therefore can no man by his own acts works and deeds seem they never so good be justified and made righteous before God but every one is constrained to see for another righteousness and this which we so receive of Gods mercy and Christs merits embraced by faith is taken accepted and allow'd of God for our perfect and full justification Part 3. Our works do not merit or deserve remission of our sins and make us of unjust just before God but God of his own mercy through the only merits and deservings of his Son Jesus Christ doth justifie us Nevertheless because Faith
doth directly send us to Christ for remission of our sins and that by faith given us of God we embrace the promise of Gods mercy and of the remission of our sins which thing none other of our virtues or works properly doth therefore the Scripture useth to say that faith without works doth justifie or only faith doth justifie Not through the merit of any virtue that we have within us or of any work that cometh from us therefore in that respect we forsake as it were altogether again faith works and all other virtues For our own imperfection is so great through the corruption of Original sin that all is imperfect that is within us faith charity hope dread thoughts words and works and therefore not apt to merit and deserve any part of our justification for us Tom. 2. Hom. IV. It is of the free grace and mercy of God by the mediation of the blood of his Son Jesus Christ without merit or deserving on our part that our sins are forgiven us that we are reconciled and brought again into his favour and are made heirs of his heavenly Kingdom Expl. 33. This word justification doth signifie not only to make just or righteous but also to make a man appear so yet not by infusing or working grace or righteousness in the Soul for this is the meaning of that word sanctification or it signifies the believing sinners being reputed or accounted righteous in the sight of God in and through the righteousness of Christ imputed to the sinner or accounted as his own for as condemnation doth suppose a man guilty because the just God doth not condemn men for nothing so justification doth suppose a man discharged from guilt and so not obnoxious to the penalty or curse of the Law now because the sinner cannot expect to receive this discharge by vertue of his own personal righteousness because all his righteousness is imperfect or as a menstrous rag therefore he must be found not having on his own righteousness for his justification but the righteousness of Christ. But more particularly in this A. we have 1. The principal Author or prime efficient cause of justification and this is God Who is he that condemneth it is God that justifieth God the Father as accepting of what Christ has done for sinners and God the Son as procuring our discharge and God the Holy Ghost as applying the merits of Christ to us and working faith in us whereby we receive so great a benefit 2. The inward moving cause free-grace and not any foresight of faith or obedience in the sinner to move him to it 3. The matter of justification or in reference to what the sinner is justified namely the guilt of sin and curse of the Law 4. The manner which consists in a legal discharge of the sinner from his former obligation to punishment here called the pardon of his sins and accepting of him as righteous 5. The meritorious cause only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to the believing sinner 6. The instrumental cause or condition sc. faith for the sinner through the means of his faith or upon the condition of his believing is thus justified A. 34. Adoption is an Act of Gods free-grace whereby we are received into the number and have right to all the priviledges of the Sons of God Tom. 1. Hom. III. p. 3. So making us also his dear children brethren unto his only Son our Saviour Christ and inheritors for ever with him of his eternal Kingdom of Heaven Hom. X. p. 2. He is a rising up to none other than those which are Gods children by adoption Hom. xi p. 2. By their obedience they declare openly unto to the sight of men that they are Sons of God and elect of him unto Salvation Expl. 34. More plainly Adoption it is Gods taking of those into his care and Family as his children by grace who were by nature the children of wrath and by practice the children of disobedience and all that they may enjoy the honour advantages and priviledges of his children as 1. They bear their Fathers Name and likeness or his badg and cognizance whereby they are known to belong to him and that is their holiness So that those who are afraid to be accounted godly they are afraid to be God-like and so disown their Father as if ashamed of him 2. They are all heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ their elder Brother to an heavenly Inheritance 3. They have the Spirit of his Son given to them whereby they are inabled to call God Father and to come to a throne of grace with the boldness of children 4. They are under Gods fatherly protection so that nothing can harm them 5. They are provided for by him and therefore can want no good thing 6. They have a sanctified use of the creatures and of all temporal good things yea afflictions themselves are for their good A. 35. Sanctification is the work of Gods free-grace whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the Image of God and are enabled more and more to dye unto sin and live unto righteousness Hom. II. p. 2. The holy Apostle calleth us Saints because we are sanctified and made holy by the blood of Christ through the Holy Ghost Hom. xvi p. 1. It is he which inwardly worketh the regeneration and new birth The more it is hid from the understanding the more it ought to move all men to wonder at the secret and mighty working of Gods holy Spirit which is within us For it is the Holy Ghost and no other thing that doth quicken the minds of men stirring up good and godly motions in their hearts which are agreeable to the will and commandment of God such as otherwise of their own crooked and perverse nature they should never have That which is born of the spirit is spirit As who should say man of his own nature is fleshly and carnal corrupt and naught sinful and disobedient to God without any spark of goodness in him without any virtuous or godly motion only given to evil thoughts and wicked deeds As for the works of the Spirit the fruits of Faith charitable and godly motions if he have any at all in him they proceed only of the Holy Ghost who is the only worker of our sanctification and maketh us new men in Christ Jesus Such is the power of the Holy Ghost to regenerate men and as it were to bring forth a-new that they shall be nothing like the men they were before Expl. 35. As for sanctification it is no less a work of free-grace than justification and adoption and in Scripture-phrase it is the new man new creature and a mans being created a-new in Christ Jesus unto good works in which and the like expressions is plainly set before us the large compass extent and comprehension of this work for herein all things must become new the nature renewed or changed from
understanding will and subsistence by it self and distinguished from any thing else by some peculiar property that belongs to it and to nothing else besides it self as there is something peculiar in every one man to distinguish him from another this for a person in general But now for a Divine person or a person in the Godhead 'T is a substance that is undivided and absolutely perfect in Being Understanding Will and manner of Subsistence yet actually really and eternally distinguished from any other person by some relative property that belongs to it and not to that person 2. For the number of the persons in the Godhead they are three not only in the reckoning of man or according to humane apprehension but also in reality and in Gods account whether men should reckon them so or no and are therefore called a Trinity of Persons Yet 3. though they be so distinguished one from another as that the Father is not the Son and the Son not the Father and the Holy Ghost neither Father nor Son yet they are not cannot be divided or separated one from another because the whole and single Godhead is wholly coequally and coessentially in all three by virtue whereof 't is said these three are one i. e. one God A. 7. The Decrees of God are his eternal purpose according to the counsel of his own will whereby for his own glory he hath fore-ordained whatsoever comes to pass Artic. xvij Everlasting purpose of God whereby before the foundations of the world were laid he hath constantly decreed by his counsel secret to us c. Expl. 7. In this A. we have 1. the nature and properties of Gods Decrees they are like Himself from everlasting whatever God did purpose and determine to do or permit to be done he did thus purpose from eternity 2. Here is the Rule of Gods Decree the counsel of his own Will and yet nothing that he decrees can be any other than reasonable and good because by reason of the infinite perfection of his Nature his Will is essentially just and holy and cannot be otherwise 3. The matter of his Decrees is whatsoever comes to pass though there be never so much of that which we call hap-hazard in them 4. The end of his Decrees for his glory for God neither does nor designs any thing but for the highest end and that is his own glory A. 8. God executeth his Decrees in the Work of Creation and Providence Homil. xvij Praise of Almighty God in the consideration of the marvelous Creation of this world or Conservation and Government thereof wherein his great Power and Wisdom might excellently appear to move us to dread and honour him Expl. 8. Here is shew'd how God doth bring to pass what he hath purposed 1. In the work of Creation by which we are to understand not only Gods making the world and all things therein in six days but also Gods producing or bringing into Being every thing else that came into Being since that time to the worlds end whether it became a Being in an ordinary way and by means as in the natural generation of things or in an extraordinary way by the immediate or miraculous power of God 2. In the work of Providence which is not only to be restrain'd to what is naturally good as every creature of God is but also reaches to what is naturally evil as affliction and to what is morally evil as sin A. 9. The work of Creation is Gods making all things of nothing by the word of his power in the space of six days and all very good To. 2. Hom. viij God through his Almighty power wisdom and goodness created in the beginning Heaven and Earth the Sun the Moon the Stars the Fowls of the Air the Beasts of the Earth the Fishes in the Sea and all other Creatures for the benefit and use of man Hom. xij Among all the Creatures that God made in the beginning of the World most excellent and wonderful in their kind there was none as the Scripture beareth witness to be compared in any point almost unto Man who in Body and Soul exceeded Expl. 9. By the work of Creation we are to understand Gods making of the world in time or in the beginning according as he had purposed from eternity or before all beginning of time and here it is observable 1. That this work is ascribed only to God the true God in opposition to Idols yet is not so to be ascribed to any one person in the Godhead as to exclude the other for all the three persons sc. Father Son and Holy Ghost being one in Essence or Godhead they must necessarily be one in working or as it were joyn hand in hand in all external works whether of Creation or Providence And therefore when the Creation is ascribed in the Apostles Creed to the Father Almighty it doth not exclude the Son or Holy Ghost from being Almighty or from joining with the Father in the work of Creation but only because the Father is the first in order of the three persons when we conceive of them and because there might be in the Church an outward distinction made but no real separation among the three persons in those works which are more eminently and peculiarly affirmed of each person as that the Father creates the Son redeems and the Spirit sanctifies 2. That he did not as an Artificer begin his work upon or out of materials which is beyond the skill of art and power of nature 3. Without any instrument or help for 1. There was nothing then in Being when he began his work therefore no instrument 2. He needed none being infinite in power 3. To have used any would not have been so consistent with the glory of his Wisdom and Power 4. Obs. That he did his work in six days that we might see it was a work of Wisdom and Counsel and not of Chance and to set us an example to work six days and rest the seventh 5 ly That he made all very good in their nature in their order and in their end A. 10. God created man male and female after his own image in knowledg righteousness and holiness with dominion over the creatures Homil. xij He was made after the similitude and image of God endued with all kind of heavenly gifts he had no spot of uncleanness in him was sound and perfect in all parts both inwardly and outwardly his reason was uncorrupt his understanding was pure and good his will was obedient and godly he was made altogether like unto God in righteousness and holiness in wisdom and truth to be short in all kind of perfection God made him Lord and Ruler over all the works of his hands Homil. viij Whom also he had created to his own image and likeness and given him the use and government over them all to the end he should use them in such
gage or pledg of thy salvation Rising with him by our faith we shall have our bodies likewise raised again from death to have them glorified in immortality and joined to his glorious body having in the mean while his holy Spirit in our hearts as a seal and pledg of our everlasting inheritance Expl. 38. At the resurrection of a Believer 1. There is a re-union of a soul which is free from corruption or sin to a glorified body that is incorruptible 2. These two parts being thus re-united in the very same individual person to whom they did belong before death will be actually capable at the resurrection of all that eternal bliss which Christ hath purchased and prepared for them 3. Then Christ will openly acknowledg own and approve every true Christian to be a part of his body mystical and that before his Father and all the holy Angels 4. The Believer then shall receive his general discharge and acquitment in a most solemn publick and triumphant manner from all manner of guilt whatsoever so as that none shall be able to lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect For though a Believer does receive his private discharge from all his sins at his death and as it were under the privy Seal yet his discharge is ratified confirmed and as it were enter'd into the publick Records at the day of Judgment CHAP. II. Of things to be done in the Ten Commandments with a short Explanation of 46 A. from 38 to 85. A. 39. THE duty which God requireth of man is obedience to his revealed Will. To. 1. Hom. V. The good works God hath commanded his people to walk in are such as he hath commanded in the holy Scripture and not such works as men have studied out of their own brain of a blind zeal and devotion without the word of God And by mistaking the nature of good works man hath most highly displeased God and hath gone from his Will and Commandments To. 2. Hom. X. p. 3. Mark diligently what his Will is you should do and with all your endeavour apply your selves to follow the same Expl. 39. By obedience to the revealed Will of God we are in the general to understand the conformity of our wills affections words and actions to the preceptive or commanding Will of God for all this is comprehended in that one Scripture Fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole duty of man It is the will of Gods command which doth declare and require what is our duty but as for the secret will of Gods eternal purpose though it be a rule to himself whereby he acts yet it neither is nor can be the rule of our actions because not known to us nor indeed curiously to be enquired after nor is it barely the revelation of Gods will that makes it our duty to observe it but the revelation of it to this very end and purpose that man do willingly conform to it A. 40. The Rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience was the Moral Law To. 2. Hom. X. Let us esteem the holy Table of Gods Word appointed by him to instruct us in all necessary works so that we may be perfect before him in the whole course of our life To. 1. Hom. 1. p. 3. Such hath been the corrupt inclination of man ever superstitiously given to make new honouring of God of his own head and then to have more affection and devotion to keep that than to search out Gods holy Commandments and to keep them Which we should know to separate or sever Gods Commandments from the commandments of men In keeping the Commandments of God standeth the pure principal right honour of God and which wrought in faith God hath ordained to be the right trade and pathway to heaven Expl. 40. When it is here said that the Moral Law was at first i. e. in a state of innocency revealed to man i. e. to our first Parents in Paradise we are not to understand that this revelation was visible to the eye as afterwards the writing of it was in two Tables of Stone nor to be heard by the ear as when it was first given by God in Mount Sinai But it was at first revealed inwardly i. e. it was imprinted in the hearts and minds of our first Parents except that positive prohibition of eating the forbidden fruit yet being in a great part blotted out was afterwards written in two Tables of Stone A. 41. The Moral Law is summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments Ham. V. Christ rehearsing the Commandments declared that the Laws of God be the very way that doth lead to everlasting life and not the Traditions and Laws of men So that the works of the Moral Commandments of God be the very true works of Faith which lead to the blessed life to come To. 2. Hom. II. Containing the immutable Law and Ordinances of God in no age or time to be altered nor of any persons of any Nation of any age to be disobey'd Expl. 41. By a Law in the general we are to understand the Will of the Lawgiver requiring duty But here by the Moral Law we are to understand 1. More generally the revealed Will of God of what man is to believe and do in order to salvation 2. More particularly the Decalogue which is the sum of all Moral Laws which are scattered up and down in the Scripture And this Decalogue or Ten Words or Ten Commandments may be called Moral 1. Because of the universality of it for the Decalogue doth oblige all mankind it being that very Law for substance which was written in very legible Characters in the heart of Adam and is not quite blotted out of the minds of the veryest Gentiles in the world 2. It doth oblige at all times 3. The whole man for it requires as well the internal obedience of the soul and all its powers and faculties as outward obedience of the body A. 42. The sum of the Ten Commandments is to love the Lord our God with all our heart with all our soul with all our strength and with all our mind and our neighbour as our selves Hom. 5. p. 3. Mark diligently what Gods will is that you should do and with all your endeavour apply your selves to follow the same 〈◊〉 You must have assured faith in God and give your selves wholly unto him love him in prosperity and adversity and dread to offend him ever more Then for his sake love all men Cast in your mind how you may do good unto all men to your power and hurt no man Expl. 42. The sum of these Ten Commandments or Ten Words we may take in one Word and 't is Love for Love is the fulfilling of the Law and this Love is threefold 1. To God and this must be in the highest degree or more than we are to love either our selves or neighbours yea this later love in
corrupt kind and nature to that most odious and abominable Vice Expl. 52. The reasons here annexed are such as are attempered and suited to those two affections in man namely fear and hope which are the two hinges upon which all Religion doth turn for 1. here is a severe threatning to move and stir up that passion of fear which may prevent or restrain our disobedience to this command or at least to scare us from continuing in any kind of Idolatry Superstition c. which it doth forbid And in this threatning we have 1. The hainousness of the Sin forbidden for 't is here intimated spiritual Whoredom because God is here represented as jealous over his people that are entered into a marriage-Covenant with him under the notion of a Husband that is inraged with jealousie in reference to the unchast behaviour of his Wife 2. In the punishment threatned the grievousness of the sin is intimated when God doth threaten to punish this Sin to the third and fourth Generation 3. 'T is here implyed that this Sin is a hating of God when 't is said of them that hate me in reference to Idolaters 2 dly We have here a gracious promise for the encouraging of hope to the careful observers of this command and in this promise there is observable 1. Gods love to them in shewing mercy to thousands of them 2. Their love to God in keeping his commands and consequently the love of the world or any thing more than God is flat Idolatry and the Apostle doth call covetousness by that name A. 53. The third Commandment is Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain Hom. VII Almighty God to the intent his holy Name should be had in honour and evermore be magnified of the people commandeth that no man should take his name vainly in his mouth threatning punishment unto him that irreverently abuseth it by swearing forswearing and blasphemy Expl. 53. The infinitely wise God very well knowing that if any seem to be Religious and bridleth not his tongue that man's Religion is vain he doth therefore in this command lay a restraint upon man's tongue that it may not any way break forth to the dishonour of his great name for although God does give a particular command for the direction of the tongue in reference to our neighbour sc. the ninth Command yet he doth provide for his own honour first in this third command A. 54. The third Commandment requireth the holy and reverent use of Gods Names Titles Attributes Ordinances Word and Works Artic. 39. As we confess vain and rash swearing is forbidden Christian men by our Lord Jesus Christ and Iames his Apostle So we judg that Christian Religion doth not prohibit but that a man may swear when the Magistrate requireth in a cause of Faith and Charity so it be done according to the Prophets teaching in justice judgment and truth Thus an Oath if it have with it these three conditions is a part of Gods glory which we are bound by his Commandments to give unto him Expl. 54. In this 't is observable that when the abuse of Gods name in any kind whatsoever is here forbidden the Religious and reverent use of it is thereby commanded Now by Gods Name we are in the general to understand that whereby he is in a peculiar manner made known to us and distinguished from all false Gods whatsoever just as a man is made known by his name and distinguished from all other men not but that more men may have the same name but that there doth belong some peculiar property to a man of such a particular name whereby he is known from every body else and so though there be Gods many and Lords many in name yet to us there is but one God who by something or other in his Titles attributes words and works is distinguished from all other Gods ex gr when we call God wise we are to understand that he is infinitely so and consequently distinct from all his creatures hereby Then next for his Ordinances Word and Works they must be holily and reverently used that is with a serious sense of his Divine Majesty whether these be used in our thoughts words or actions but most especially this command requireth that when we take Oaths or make lawful vows we do it from such principles in such a religious manner and to such right ends as that the Name of God be thereby honoured A. 55. The third Commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing of any thing whereby God maketh himself known Hom. VII He forbiddeth all vain swearing and forswearing both by God and by his creatures as the common use of swearing in buying selling and our daily communication When men do swear of custom in reasoning buying and selling or other daily communications as many be common and great swearers such kind of swearing is ungodly unlawful and forbidden by the Commandment of God for such swearing is nothing else but taking of Gods holy Name in vain To. 2. Hom. X. p. 2. Let us not be scorners jesters and deriders of the Scripture for that is the uttermost token and shew of a Reprobate of a plain enemy to God his Wisdom Expl. 55. Here is forbidden in the general all manner of prophanation or abuse of any name of God as any of his Titles as wise good holy c. any of his works as those of Creation or Providence his Word written or preached any of his Ordinances as Prayer Preaching Sacraments as when we make any unhandsom reflection upon any of these in our words or carriage or do not use them at all when we should and when we do not as we ought more particularly here are forbid 1. All rash Oaths whether before a Magistrate or in a mans private passion 2. All horrid and prophane Oaths as when men swear Wounds Blood c. and use their Dammees and Sinkmees 3. All blasphemous Oaths ex gr All such wherein the name of God or Christ are prophanely abused 4. All mincing or contracting of Oaths and here some tell us that I marry is but the contracting of I by St. Mary though some use it only as an expletive 5. All mock-Oaths or apeing of them 6. All injurious and perjurious Oaths 7. All cursing c. 8. All violation of lawful Oaths Vows Covenants 9. All wilful forbearing of Oaths in necessary cases 10. All prophane scoffing c. A. 56. The reason annexed to the third Commandment is that however the breakers of this Commandment may escape punishment from men yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment To. 1. Hom. VII The most holy Name of God being commonly used and abused vainly and unreverently talk'd of sworn by and forsworn to the breaking of Gods Commandment is the procurement of
day in Scripture there being no question moved about it that we read of in the Apostles time yet by consequence the matter of fact is clear A. 60. The Sabbath is to be sanctified by an holy resting all that day even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days and spending the whole time in publick and private exercises of Gods Worship except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy To. 2. Hom. VIII God hath given express charge to all men that upon the Sabbath-day which is now our Sunday i. e. Lords-day they should cease from all weekly and work-day labour that like as God himself rested and consecrated it to quietness and rest from labour so Gods obedient people should use the Sunday i. e. Lords-day holily and rest from their common and daily business and also give themselves wholly to heavenly exercises of Gods true Religion and service Thus it may plainly appear that Gods will and Commandment was to have a solemn time and standing day in the week wherein the people should come together and have in remembrance his wonderful benefits and to render him thanks for them as appertaineth to loving kind and obedient people St. Iohn saith Rev. 1. I was in the spirit on the Lords-day Since which time Gods people hath always in all Ages without any gain-saying used to come together upon the Sunday to celebrate and honour the Lords blessed name and carefully to keep that day in holy rest and quietness both man woman child servant and stranger Expl. 60. As to the particular manner of the Sanctification of the Sabbath it is there expressed to be 1 by an holy rest by which we are not to understand that brutal and sluggish rest whereby men do indulge themselves in sloth and laziness as if their bodies were not to move though it be to the Church upon this day but this rest must be from all kind of imployment whether it be of body or mind which doth any way indispose a man for or distract him in the service of God whether such actions thoughts or words be in themselves sinful which men ought to forbear and rest from at all times or in themselves lawful as the cares thoughts and business of a mans honest calling they are to be forborn this day and much more all kind of recreations whether lawful or no. 2 By exercising our selves unto godliness not only in those duties of Religion which we perform on other days either alone or with others as Prayer reading Scripture and other good Books holy Conference but in those duties also which are more peculiar to this day as Hearing Meditation receiving of the Sacraments Singing of Psalms c. and thus the whole day is to be spent except so much of it as is to be taken up in works of such eminent necessity as is brought upon men by the Providence of God and not such necessity as men make for their own gain or pleasure and in works of mercy A. 61. The fourth Commandment forbiddeth the omission or careless performance of the Duties required and the profaning the day by Idleness or doing that which is in it self sinful or by unnecessary thoughts words or works about worldly employments or recreations To. 2. Hom. VIII For the transgression and breach of the Sabbath-day God hath declared himself much to be grieved as Num. 15. but alas the wicked boldness of those that will be accounted Gods people who pass nothing at all of keeping and hallowing the Sunday i. e. Lords-day They though there be no extream need must drive and carry row and ferry buy and sell on the Sunday i. e. Lords-day they use all days alike The other though they will not travel nor labour as on the week-day yet they will not rest in holiness as God commandeth but they rest in ungodliness and filthiness prancing in their pride pranking and pricking pointing and painting themselves to be gorgeous and gay they rest in excess and superfluity in gluttony and drunkenness like Rats and Swine they rest in brawling and railing in quarrelling and fighting they rest in wantonness in toyish talking in filthy fleshliness So that it doth evidently appear that God is more dishonoured and the Devil better serv'd on the Sunday i. e. Lords-day than upon all the days in the week beside The Beasts which are commanded to rest on the Sunday i. e. Lords-day honour God better than this kind of people for they offend not God they break not their holy days Expl. 61. More particularly this command forbiddeth 1 all unpreparedness for the Sanctification of the Sabbath 2 All forgetfulness of the day or duties of it and both these in that one word Remember 3 All negligent omission or performance of any Sabbath-exercise as Prayer hearing the Word Meditation c. 4 All direct prophaning of the Sabbath by doing nothing or by bodily sloth for on this day we are in an especial manner to glorifie God with our bodies and spirits which are Gods 5 All manner of words thoughts affections cares designes and actions which do directly tend to 1 Worldly profit and gain as journeys fairs markets and all manner of buying and selling except of that of which there is a real and present necessity towards the sustenance of mans life 2 To sensual pleasure as all manner of gaming bowling idle talking and walking and all such kind of visits as have more of Complement than of real necessity in them more of recreation in them to the body or carnal mind than of Religion towards God or of charity towards our neghbour 6 All manner of servile works not only in reference to Supeperiors and Governours but also in reference to those that are under their care and charge for that all excuses for worldly or sinful employment may be taken away from all persons 'T is said neither thou nor thou c. A. 62. The Reasons annexed to the fourth Commandment are Gods allowing us six days of the week for our own employments his challenging special propriety in the seventh his own example and his blessing the Sabbath-day To. 2. Hom. VIII Like as it appeareth by this Commandment that no man in the six days ought to be slothful or idle but diligently to labour in that state wherein God hath set him So God doth not only command the observation of this holy day but also by his own example doth stir and provoke us to the keeping of it Wherefore O ye people of God! lay your hands upon your hearts repent and amend this grievous and dangerous wickedness stand in awe of the Commandments of God gladly follow the example of God himself be not disobedient to the godly order of Christs Church used and kept from the Apostles time to this day Fear the displeasure and just plagues of almighty God if ye be negligent and
deserve grace of congruity yea rather for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done we doubt not but they have the nature of sin Hom. III. p. 2. We have neither faith charity hope patience chastity nor any thing else that good is but of God and therefore those virtues be called the fruits of the Holy Ghost and not the fruits of man Truly there be imperfections in our best works Let us therefore not be asham'd to confess plainly our state of imperfection yea let us not be ashamed to confess imperfection even in all our best works To. 2. Hom. XVII The holy company of Saints in heaven confesseth constantly that all the goods and graces wherewith they were endued in soul came of the goodness of God only It is meet therefore to think that all spiritual goodness cometh from God only Expl. 82. When 't is said no meer man since the fall c. 'T is clearly imply'd that before the fall man had power to keep the Law of God perfectly but now since the fall he has not this power in this life neither 1 in his corrupt estate before conversion nor 2 in his regenerate after conversion 1 st Not in his corrupt estate for though men unconverted either to Christianity as the Gentiles or to Christ as all prophane Christians may by the power of nature and freewill or by the help of common grace be able to do some things contained in the Law which in themselves considered are good for the matter yet not in a right manner because not from a right principle true grace and not to a right end Gods Glory nor by a right rule the Law of God in the spiritual meaning of it Nor 2 dly in his regenerate state here in this life for 1 his knowledg of his duty is but in part And how can he do it perfectly when he does not know perfectly 2 His grace imperfect Ex. gr faith love c. because mingled with more or less of the opposite corruption A. 83. Some sins in themselves and by reason of several aggravations are more hainous in the sight of God than others Hom. V. p. 3. Christ saith Wo be unto you for you devour widows houses under colour of long prayers therefore your damnation shall be greater You make them children of hell worse than your selves be Hom. VIII p. 2. Children of unbelief of two sorts who despair and presume and both these sorts of men be in a damnable state as the one should believe the promises so the other the threatnings not over-boldly presume of Gods mercy and live dissolutely Expl. 83. If we consider sin only with reference to the Infiniteness of Gods majesty who is thereby provoked in this respect all sins are equally hainous because all against an Infinite Majesty but if we consider them either in their own nature as transgressions or in their several circumstances then some sins are greater or more hainous than others for though every sin be a transgression of the Law of God yet every Law of God doth not equally and so directly and immediately concern the Glory of God and the salvation of man neither is every Law so clearly promulgated or made known Besides there are some aggravations in the sin it self as when it is not only in the heart but in word and deed so the greater the scandal the greater the means to prevent it the greater the person by whom and against whom the greater the sin as also it may receive its aggravations from many circumstances as time when a man is drunk upon the Lords day place as to cut a purse in the Church or at the Bar before the Judg Company as to be debauch'd in Civil or prophane in Religious company A. 84. Every sin deserveth Gods wrath and curse both in this life and that which is to come Hom. XX. p. 1. We do daily and hourly by our wickedness and stubborn disobedience horribly fall away from God thereby purchasing unto our selves if he should deal with us according to his justice eternal damnation Expl. 84. Every sin being a breach of the Law deserves the curse of the Law or the penalty which is due to the sinner upon every the least sin and that penalty is death not only temporal but spiritual and eternal or the wrath of God to be inflicted upon the sinner both here and hereafter Obj. But if every sin deserve hell then this would seem to take away the difference in punishments Answ. No for this doth not ly in the duration of the punishment for that will be eternal to all who come into that state where the worm never dyes and the fire never goeth out but it will be in the degrees of the punishment some belike shall lose more good and endure more evil or torment than others CHAP. III. Of things to be practis'd according to the Gospel Or the Ordinances of the Gospel particularly of the two Sacraments in 13 Articles with their Explanation From A. 85. to 98. A. 85. TO escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin God requireth of us Faith in Jesus Christ repentance unto life with the diligent use of all outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of Redemption Hom. XX. p. 1. We have here a perpetual Rule appointed unto us which ought to be kept at all times and that there is no other way whereby the wrath of God may be pacified and his anger asswaged which no man is able to abide but is mov'd by repentance to obtain mercy And with a full purpose of amendment of life fleeing to the mercy of God taking sure hold thereupon through faith in his Son Jesus Christ there is an assured and infallible hope of pardon and remission and that we shall be received into the favour of our heavenly Father To. 1. Hom. VIII p. 2. If we turn to him with an humble and a very penitent heart he will receive us to his favour and grace for his name sake for his promise sake for his truth and mercies sake promised to all faithful believers in Jesus Christ his only natural Son Expl. 85. There were never any more than these two ways prescribed by God unto man for his keeping or obtaining of that happiness which doth consist in the favour of God 1 Perfect and sinless obedience to the whole will of his Creator and this was prescribed in innocency for his keeping in favour with God 2 Faith in Iesus Christ which was prescribed immediately after the Fall for the recovery of the favour of God which he had lost for we are to look upon God not only as the party offended by transgression but also as the supreme Lawgiver and great Governour of the world and therefore God as the supreme Governour was bound by vertue of the perfection of his own Government and for the preservation of the honour of his Law
sort as he had given them in charge and commandment and also that he should declare himself thankful c. Expl. 10. God created man male and female i. e. in both Sexes man out of the dust of the earth and the woman of the Rib that he took out of the mans Side which creation is to be understood concerning the bodies of both not of the soul of either of them for the soul was not made of any materials at all but the reasonable soul was immediately infused into their bodies when God breathed into them the breath of life so that the soul is q.d. the breath of God There is a twofold image of God 1. That which is in God and so Christ the Second person in the Trinity is said to be the express image of the person of God the Father because in him the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily 2. There is the image of God which is out of God or external to him and such an image of God was man in his first Creation 1 st In respect of his soul and that more generally in the nature of it God is a Spirit and so is mans soul God's immortal so that But more particularly 1. In knowledg of what was necessary to be known by him in order to Gods glory or his own happiness 2. In righteousness or uprightness i. e. his will did freely and fully comply with the will of God the Law of God being written in his heart 3. In holiness or with a power to do Gods will perfectly 2 dly In respect of his body wherein he did resemble the majesty not the spirituality of God for there was so much of majesty especially in mans countenance that the inferior creatures did stand in awe of him 3. In respect of the whole man because in his dominion over the creatures he did resemble his Creator in his dominion over the world A. 11. Gods works of Providence are his most holy wise and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions Homil. xvij Conservation and governance of the world of liberal goodness which he daily bestoweth on us his reasonable creatures for whose sake he made the whole universal world with all the commodities and goods therein Take him for God omnipotent invisible having rule in Heaven and Earth having all things in subjection and will have none in counsel with him nor any to ask the reason of his doing for he may do what liketh him and none can resist him Dan. 11. For he worketh all things in his secret judgment to his own pleasure yea even the wicked to damnation saith Solomon Prov. 16. God hath not so created the world that he is careless of it but he still preserveth it by his goodness he still stayeth it in his creation To make our humble suits in prayers to his fatherly Providence Expl. 11. By Gods actual Providence we are to understand his ordering of all things in time according to his eternal purpose or the counsel of his own will or in plain English 't is his doing what he will in the world whether it be in Heaven or Earth For further explanation of this matter we are to know 1 st That according to our apprehension there are these distinctions and kinds of Providence 1. We have his eternal Providence or his decreeing purposing designing Providence which is nothing else but that frame method or order of government which was in the mind of God from everlasting before there was a world or any creature in it to be govern'd and of this was spoken before 2. His actual Providence which he hath exercised ever since he made the world as 1. In the conservation of things in their beings so that of all the species or kinds of creatures which he made he has lost none Individuals indeed do dye and perish and return to their dust but the species or kinds of creatures do not men dye this and that and t'other individual person in reference to their bodies but man does not or rather mankind does not 2. In the actual government of all things by his wisdom which he doth preserve by his infinite power for God does not do by the World as the Ship-Carpenter by the Ship build and leave it and never look after it more but he doth look after the preservation of it as the Owner and the government of it as the Pilot. Other distinctions there are of Providence as 2. That it is either mediate and ordinary as where God makes use of means and second causes and therein does observe the order which he has set in nature as Hos. 2.22 and this order in nature is called the Law of nature Or else immediate and extraordinary when in the works of Providence as well as of Creation he works without means as in the preserving of Daniel in the Lyons Den. 2 dly For the matter and extent of Providence it reaches to all creatures even to the Sparrows and to the hair of the head 3 dly For the manner and this 1. Holy or most perfect or in a way suitable to the perfection of his nature 2. Wise for he does not only do all in the best way but for the highest end 3. Powerful for he brings to pass what he will have done with an almighty easiness and without any difficulty to himself A. 12. When God had created man he entred into a Covenant of life with him upon condition of perfect obedience forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledg of good and evil upon pain of death To. 2. Homil. xxi God as soon as he had created man gave unto him a certain Precept and Law which he being yet in the state of innocency and remaining in Paradise should observe as a pledg and token of his due and bounden obedience with denunciation of death if he did transgress and break the said Law and Commandment In the which obedience if man had continued still there had been no poverty no diseases no sickness no death c. Expl. 12. The wise and gracious Creator having made man a reasonable creature and having also stampt his own image upon him and thereby rendered him fit for and capable of happiness in the enjoyment of himself and there being no other way to this enjoyment but by union and communion with himself he was most graciously pleased in order thereunto to make a Covenant with man giving a Law to him as soon as he had made him and in him with all his posterity wherein he promised life to him and in him to all mankind upon condition of perfect and personal obedience And that God might try him how he would carry it being now brought within the bounds of this Covenant he was pleased to lay this particular positive Precept upon him That he should not eat of the tree of knowledg of good and evil c. upon pain of death which Precept he
having broken became liable unto death or to the curse of the Law This Covenant which God entered into with the first Adam was in Paradise a Covenant or Law of Works Do this and live But that Covenant which God hath establisht in Christ the second Adam with all Believers since the Fall whether in the Old or New Testament 't is a Covenant of Grace and the grand Condition of this Covenant on mans part or the qualification whereby he is fitted and capacitated to receive the benefit of this Covenant 't is the righteousness of Faith for it runs thus Believe and live not that the Covenant of Grace whether in the Old or New Testament does not require new obedience but that it does not require this in order to justification for this new obedience or this obedience of Faith it is rather the fruit or effect than the instrumental cause means or condition of justification But more distinctly amongst those many differences which are wont to be assigned by Divines betwixt the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace we may take notice of these 1. The Covenant of Works was made with man before the Fall before he had sinned against God the Covenant of Grace afterward 2. The Covenant of Works did not promise pardon upon repentance the Covenant of Grace does because Christ the Mediator of this Covenant has purchased pardon for all penitent sinners who have but a hand of Faith to receive it 3. The Covenant of Works was without a Mediator for till man had sinned he needed none to mediate peace betwixt God and him but the Covenant of Grace is established in the hands of a Mediator sc. Christ Jesus perfect God and perfect man that he might make a reconciliation betwixt God and Man 4. In the Covenant of Nature or Works Adam was only the Son of God by Creation but in the Covenant of Grace those who were children of wrath do through Faith become the Children of God by Grace and Adoption 5. The Covenant of Works had for its Seals of confirmation or for the Sacraments of it the Tree of life so called because it did sacramentally confirm the promise of life upon condition of perfect obedience and the Tree of knowledg of good and evil which was so called from the event because man having sinned in eating the forbidden fruit he presently came to know by a sad experiment what an infinite good he had lost in losing Gods favour and what misery and mischief he had brought upon himself But now the Seals or Sacraments of the Covenant of Grace were under the Old Testament Circumcision and the Paschal Lamb and now under the New Testament Baptism and the Lords Supper 6. In the Covenant of Works there was no place at all for Gods further exercising of his patience grace and mercy but in the Covenant of Grace his mercy most is signally display'd yea and that which is a mystery as well as a miracle of Divine Wisdom here we may see mercy and justice kiss each other in the satisfaction that Christ has made And as the Covenant of Grace and the Covenant of Works do differ in the foregoing particulars so doth the Covenant of Grace under the Old Testament differ from the Covenant of Grace under the New Testament though these are not two but one Covenant in substance in clearness for till the Law or from Adam to Moses the Promise of Grace was more obscure under Moses more clear from Moses to the Prophets yet more clear from them to Iohn the Baptist yet more clear and from him to Christ yet more clear and under the preaching of Christ whilst he was fulfilling the Promises yet abundantly more clear than under Iohn but most clear of all when Christ had finished the work of Redemption by price and was ascended into Heaven and had sent down his Spirit upon his Apostles in that plentiful effusion of the Spirit at the time of Pentecost Act. 2. A. 13. Our first Parents being left to the freedom of their own will fell from the state wherein they were created by sinning against God To. 2. Hom. xiij Par. 2. When our great Grandfather Adam had broken Gods Commandment in eating the Apple forbidden him in Paradise at the motion and suggestion of his wife he purchased thereby not only to himself but also to his posterity for ever the just wrath and indignation of God who according to his former Sentence pronounced at the giving of the Commandment condemned both him and all his to everlasting death both of body and soul. Expl. 13. Here for explanation sake we may observe 1. That our first Parents were created with freedom of will i. e. if they would have continued in their obedience they might for they had a power to obey God perfectly and if they would sin they might God left them and that very justly to themselves he being not bound to hinder them though he could from sinning against him 2. That by their sinning against God they lost this freedom and with it all that happiness which did belong to a state of innocence and integrity for by their fall they were so bruised in all their powers and faculties that they became unable to serve God and so bemired with the guilt and pollution of sin that they were altogether unfit to enjoy God A. 14. Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the Law of God Expl. 14. This description of sin doth agree to sins of all sorts original or actual and these whether in thought word or deed whether of omission or commission of ignorance or of knowledg of infirmity or presumption and to sins of all degrees and sizes whether great or small for in all sin whatsoever whether it be of men or Devils there is a want of conformity to the Law of God and a violation of his just will as well as a repugnancy to the holiness of his nature Neither is it improper to place the nature of sin in a privation or want of conformity for it is that which doth deprive and rob the rational creature of the rectitude or moral perfection of his own nature which doth consist in his being like to God and in being conformable to his will A. 15. The sin whereby our first Parents fell from the estate wherein they were created was their eating the forbidden fruit Homil. xij This first man Adam who having but one Commandment at Gods hand namely that he should not eat of the fruit of knowledg of good and evil did notwithstanding most unmindfully or rather most wilfully break it in forgetting the strait charge of his Maker and giving ear to the crafty suggestion of that wicked Serpent the Devil Expl. 15. In this A. there are two things remarkable 1. That our Parents by sinning lost that state of perfection which they had in Paradise and Christ only excepted whatever some Quakers dream there was never any