how can we expect any cooling streams from Him If we consider him as Man he is resembled to a root out of a dry ground the Justice of the Divine and the infirmity of the Humane Nature did not promise any comfort to us But what cannot infinite Love united to infinite Power perform Divine Goodness hath chang'd the Laws of Nature in our favour and by an admirable act open'd the Rock to refresh us 3. The Rock was struck with the Rod of Moses a Type of the Law before it sent forth its streams thus our Spiritual Rock was wounded for our Transgressions bruised for our Iniquities then opened all his treasures to us Being consecrated by Sufferings he is the Author of Eternal Salvation In this respect the Gospel propounds him for the object of saving Faith I determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and him Crucified The Sacraments the Seals of the New Covenant have a special reference to his Death the Foundation of it 4. The Miraculous Waters followed the Israelites in their Journey without which they had perisht in the Wilderness This represents that Indeficiency of the Grace of Christ. A Soveraign stream flows from him to satisfy all Believers He tells us Whosoever drinketh of the Water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the Water that I shall give him shall be in him a Well of Water springing up unto Everlasting Life 3. The Brasen Serpent sensibly exprest the manner of his Death and the benefits derived from it Therefore Jesus being the Minister of the Circumcision chose this Figure for the Instruction of the Jews As Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever beleeves in him should not perish but have Eternal Life The Sacred Story relates that the Israelites by their rebellious murmuring provoked God to send Serpents among them whose Poison was so fiery and mortal that it brought the most Painful Death In this affliction they addrest themselves to the Father of Mercies who World by their Repentance Commanded Moses to make a Serpent of Brass and erect it on a Pole in the view of the whole Camp that whosoever lookt on it should be healed By this account from Scripture we may clearly understand something of greatest consequence was represented by it For the only Wise God ordains nothing without just reason Why must a Serpent of Brass be elevated on a Pole could not the Divine Power recover them without it Why must they look towards it could not a healing vertue be conveyed to their wounds but through their eyes All this had a direct reference to the Mystery of Christ. For the biting of the Israelites by the fiery Serpents doth naturaly represent the effects of Sin that torments the Conscience and inflames the Soul with the apprehensions of Future Judgment And the erecting a Brasen Serpent upon a Pole that had the Figure not the Poison of those Serpents doth in a lively manner set forth the lifting up of Jesus Christ on the Cross who only had the similitude of sinful flesh The looking towards the Brasen Serpent is a fit resemblance of Believing in Christ Crucified for Salvation The Sight of the eye was the only means to derive vertue from it and the Faith of the heart is the means by which the Sovereign efficacy of our Redeemer is conveyed This is the will of him that sent me saith our Saviour that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have Eternal Life As in the camp of Israel whoever lookt towards the Brasen Serpent whatever his wounds were or the weakness of his sight had a present remedy so how numerous and grievous soever our Sins be how infirm our Faith yet if we sincerely regard the Son of God suffering he will preserve us from Death For this end he is presented in the Gospel as crucified before the eyes of all Persons 2. Things endued with Life and Sense prefigur'd the Messiah I Shall particularly consider the Paschal Lamb an illustrious Type of him Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us The whole scene as it is laid down in the 12th of Exodus shows an admirable agreement tween them 1. A Lamb in respect of its natural innocency and meekness that suffers without resistance waas fit emblem of our Saviour whose voice was not heard in the street who did not break the Bruised Reed nor quench the smoking Flax. He was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he open'd not his Mouth He is brought as a Lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before the shearers is dumb so he openeth not his Mouth 2. The Lamb was to be without Spot to signify his absolute perfection We are Redeemed with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without Spot 3. The Lamb was to be separated from the Flock four days the Lord Jesus was separated from Men and consecrated to be the Sacrifice for the World after three or four years spent in his Ministerial office preparing himself for that great Work 4. The Paschal Lamb was sacrificed and substituted in the place of the first-Born The Levitical Priesthood not being instituted at their going forth from Egypt every Master of a Family had a right to exercise it in his own House Our Redeemer suffer'd in our stead to propitiate Gods Justice towards us 5. The Blood was to be sprinkled upon the Posts of the door that Death might not enter into their Houses That sacred Ceremony was typical for the sign it self had no resemblance of sparing and certainly the Angel could distinguish between the Israelites and the Egyptians without the bloody mark of Gods Favour but it had a final respect to Christ. We are secur'd from destruction by the blood of sprinkling They were to eat the whole Flesh of the Lamb to signify our intire taking of Christ upon the terms of the Gospel to be our Prince and Saviour 6. The effects attributed to the Paschal Lamb viz. Redemption from Death and Bondage clearly represent the Glorious Benefits we enjoy by Jesus Christ. The destroying Angel past over their houses and caus'd the Egiptians to restore them to full liberty That which all the dreadful signs wrought by Moses could not do was effected by the Passover that overcame the stubbornness of Pharaoh and inspir'd the Israelites with courage to undertake their journey to the promised Land Thus we pass from Death to Life and from bondage to the Glorious liberty of the Sons of God by vertue of Christs Blood 3. Reasonable Persons represented our Saviour either in their Offices actions or the memorable accidents that befel them Joseph the beloved of his Father sent by him to visit his Brethren by them unworthily sold to strangers and thereby rais'd to be their Lord and Saviour was a lively type of him Jonach three dayes and nights in the Whales belly and miraculously restor'd
had in his Creation an original Power to perform 2. There is a moral Impotence which arises from a perverse disposition of the Will and is join'd with a delight to Sin and a strong aversion from the holy Commands of God and the more deep and inveterate this is the more worthy 't is of punishment Aristotle asserts That those who contract invincible Habits by Custome are inexcusable though they cannot abstain from evil For since Liberty consists in doing what one wils this impossibility doth not destroy Liberty the depravation of the Faculties doth not hinder their voluntary operations The Understanding conceives the Will chooses the Appetite desires freely A distracted Person that kils is not guilty of Murder and therefore secure from the Sentence of the Law For his Understanding being distemper'd by the disorder of the images in his Fancy it doth not judg aright so that the action is involuntary and therefore not culpable But there is a vast difference between the causes of Distraction and those which induce a carnal Man to sin The first are seated in the distemper of the Brain over which the Will hath no Power whereas there should be a regular subjection of the lower appetite to the Will enlightned and directed by the Mind The Will it self is corrupted and brought into captivity by things pleasing to the lower Faculties It cannot disintangle it self but its impotence lies in its obstinacy This is the meaning of St. Peter speaking concerning unclean Persons That their eyes are full of adultery and they cannot cease from Sin 'T is from their fault alone that they are without power Therefore the Scripture represents Man to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 weak but wicked His disability to supernatural Good arises from an inordinate Affection to that which is sensual So that 't is so far from excusing that it renders inexcusable being voluntary and vitious And in this the Diseases of the Body are different from those of the Soul In the first the desire of healing is ineffectual through want of knowledg or power to apply Sovereign Remedies Whereas in the second the sincere desire of their Cure is sufficient for the Diseases are corrupt desires The Natural Man is wholly led by Sence by Fancy and the Passions and he esteems it his infelicity to be otherwise as the degenerous Slave who was displeased with a Jubile and refused Liberty Servitude is his Sensuality He is not only in love with the unworthy object but with the vitious affection and abhors the cure of it As one in the Poet that was so delighted in his pleasant Madness that he was offended at his Recovery Cui sic extorta voluptas Et demptus per vim mentis gratissimus error This is acknowledged by St. Austin in his Confessions where he describes the conflict between Conviction and Corruption in his Soul He tells us in the strife between Reason and Lust that he had recourse to God and his Prayer was Da mihi continentiam sed noli modo he desired Chastity but not too soon This is the general sence though not the general discourse of men As the Sick Person that desired his Physician to remove his Fever but not his thirst which made his drink very pleasing to him So Man in his sensual state would fain be freed from the aestuations of Conscience but he cherishes those carnal desires which give a high tast to objects suitable to them From hence it appears that although in the corrupt Nature there is no liberty of indifferency to good and evil yet there is a liberty of delight in evil and though the Will in its natural capacity may choose good yet 't is morally determin'd by its love to evil· In short There is so much power not to sin as is sufficient to sin that is that the forbidden action be free and so become a Sin Which strange combination of Liberty and Necessity is excellently exprest by St. Bernard That the Soul which fell by its own choice can't recover it self is from the corruption of the Will which overcome by the vitious love of the Body rejects the love of Righteousness so that in a manner as strange as evil the Will being corrupted with Sin makes a necessity to it self yet so that the necessity being voluntary doth not excuse the Will nor the Will being pleasantly and powerfully allur'd exclude Necessity The Law therefore remains in its full force and God is righteous in the commanding and condemning Sinners From all that hath been discours'd 't is evident how impossible it is for corrupt Man to recover his lost Holiness For there are only two Motives to induce the reasonable Creature to seek after it 1. It s Beauâ—y and Loveliness 2. The Reward that attends it And both these Arguments are ineffectual to work upon him 1. The Beauty of Holiness which excels all other created Perfections it being a conformity to the most glorious Attribute of the Deity doth not allure him For Unusquisque ut affectus est ita judicat Man understands according to his Affections The renewed Mind can only see the essential and intimate Beauty of Holiness Now in faln Man the clearness of the discerning power is lost As the natural Eye till 't is purged from vicious qualities can't look on things that are bright and sublime and if it hath been long in darkness it suffers by the most pleasing Object the light so the internal eye of the Mind that it may see the lively lustre of Holiness it must be cleansed from the filthiness of carnal Affections and having been so long under thick darkness it must be strengthned before it can sustain the brightness of things spiritual Till it be prepar'd it can see nothing amiable and desireable in the Image of God 2. The Reward of Holiness hath no attractive power on the carnal Will because 't is Future and Spiritual 1. 'T is Future and therefore the conceptions of it are very dark and imperfect The Soul is sunk down into the Senses and they are short-sighted and can't look beyond what is present to the next life And as the images of things are weaken'd and confus'd proportionably to their distance and make a fainter impression upon the Faculty so the representation of Heaven and Blessedness as a Happiness to come hereafter and therefore remote doth but coldly affect the Will A present vanity in the judgment of the carnal Soul outweighs the most glorious futurity 'Till there be taken from before its eyes the in Tertullian's language thick curtain of the visible World it cannot discern the difference between them nor value the reward for its excellency and duration 2. 'T is Spiritual and there must be a divine Disposition of the Soul before it is capable of it The pure in heart can only see the pure God The Felicity above is that which Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither hath it
Poison which required such a dreadful Cure And the benefit we receive in so costly a way is justly magnified by us Now what is more apt to inflame our love to God than the admirable expression of his Love to us in that with the most precious Blood he ransom'd us from Hell How doth it endear Obedience that God hath sacrificed his Son to keep us from acts of hostility So that the Grace of the Gospel is so far from indulging Sin that it gives the most deadly wound to it Especially when the tenour of the new Covenant is That the Condemned Creature in order to receiving Pardon and the Benefits that are purchased must receive the Benefactor with the most intire consent for his Prince and Saviour The Law of Faith requires us to submit to his Scepter as well as to depend upon his Sacrifice The Gospel is a conditional Act of Oblivion that none may venture to sin upon confidence of Pardon And since the occasion of the Fall was from a conceit that Man could better his estate by complying with the Tempter and obtain a more desirable Happiness in the Creature than in the Favour of God his Recovery is by revealing to him wherein true Blessedness consists and giving him an assurance that he may obtain it For Man will never subject himself to God as his Highest Lord till he looks on him as his last End and Soveraign Good Now the Gospel offers to us the most effectual means to convince Man of the folly of his choice in making the Creature his Happiness For the Son of God who was Heir of all things when He came into the world was in the perpetual exercise of Self-denial He lived a despised Life and died an ignominious Death to discover to us That as the miseries of this Life can't make us miserable so the good things of it can't make us happy Besides how is it possible that the wretched enjoyment of this World should be the Blessedness for which He spent his Sweat his Tears his Blood The rich price he laid down doth most powerfully convince us That our Felicity is infinitely more valuable than all earthly things and can be no less than the fruition of God himself Thus the Divine Wisdom hath so ordered the way of our Salvation that as Mercy and Justice in God so Holiness and Comfort may be perfectly united in the reasonable Creature CHAP. VI. Practical Inferences A superlative degree of Praise and Thankfulness due to God for the revelation of the Gospel 'T is not discovered by the Creation 'T is above the reach of Natural Reason The Heathen World is intirely ignorant of it 'T is pure Grace that distinguishes one Nation from another in sending the Gospel Evangelical Knowledg deserves our most serious study The Gospel exceeds all contemplative and practick Sciences Contemplative in the greatness of its object and the certainty of its principle Practick in the excellency of its End and the efficacy of the Means 1. WHat a Superlative degree of Praise and Thankfulness is due to God for revealing his eternal and compassionate Counsel in order to our Salvation The Fall of Man was so wounding and deadly that only an Infinite Understanding could find out the means for his Recovery And if that Mercy which mov'd the Lord to ordain the Remedy had not discover'd it a thick cloud of Despair had cover'd Mankind being for ever unable to conceive the way of our Redemption 'T is a Mystery which eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor â—ath entred into the heart of man to conceive All Humane Knowledg is acquir'd by two sorts of Faculties the external and internal Of the first Sight and Hearing are the most spiritual and convey the knowledge of the most worthy objects They are the Senses of Discipline the other three or immerst in matter and are incapable to make such clear discoveries Besides those impressions that are made on the senses we may form some Ideas in the imagination upon which the mind reflecting may argue and discourse Thus far the light and vigour of the understanding can only go So that the Apostle declares that the whole plot of the Gospel was without the compass of our most searching faculties this will be evident by considering 1. There was no discovery of it in the Creation the Voice of the Heavens instruct us concerning the being of God but not in the secrets of his Will The oeconomy of Mans Redemption is the merciful design of God which hath no connection with the existence of the creatures but depends only upon his good pleasure 'T is as impossible to read the Divine Decrees in the Volume of the World as for the eye to discover a sound which hath neither Figure Colour nor visible motion Besides the Glorious Nature of God in three Persons which is the foundation of this Mysterious Mercy is not made known by the visible frame of the Universe 'T is true in all External Works the three Persons are equally concerned being of one Essence they are of one Efficacy and the Essential perfections of the Deity as they concur so they are evident in the production of all things The first motive is Goodness that which orders and directs is Wisdom that which executes is Power And the several ranks of Creatures according to their state reflect an honour on their Author Things endued with life declare him to be the fountain of Life and intellectual creatures represent him to be the Father of Lights But the personal being as Personal operating nothing out of the Divine Nature there is no resemblance in the World that expresses the Distinction Propriety and Singularity of the Persons so as to discover them to the humane understanding Those deeper Mysteries of the Deity are only made known by the Word of God 2. 'T is above the strain and reach of natural Reason to attain to the knowledge of it There are seminal sparks of the Law in the heart of Man some common principles of Piety Justice and Charity without which the World would soon disband and fall into confusion but there is not the least presumption or conjecture of the contrivance of the Gospel Though misery sharpens the mind and makes it more ingenious to find out wayes of Deliverance yet here Reason was utterly at a loss How could it ever enter into the thoughts of the Israelites that by erecting a Brazen Serpent on a Pole and looking towards it the wounds made by the Fiery Serpents should be healed And how could guilty Man find out a way to satisfie Infinite Justice by the Sufferings of a Mediator and to heal the wounded spirit by believing on him The most inquiring Reason could never have thought of the Wonders of the Incarnation that a Virgin should conceive and a God be born nor of the Death of the Prince of Life and the Resurrection and Ascension of the Lord of Glory We may see how impossible it is for
of God dying to deliver Men from Sin and the effects of it The fallen Angels may understand and believe it without any Affections being unconcernâ—d in it To them 't is a naked History but to Men 't is a Promise and cannot be rightly received without the most ardent Affections This is a faithful Saying and worthy of all acceptation That Jesus Christ came into the world to save Sinners 'T is essentiaâ—â—â— good as true its Sweetness and Profit are equal to its Certainty So that it commends it self to all our Faculties There are severe and sad Truths which are attended with fearful expectation and the Mind is averse from receiving them As the Law which like Lightning terrifies the Soul with its amazing Brightness and there are pleasant illusions which have no solid Foundation And as Truth doth not delight the Mind unless united to Goodness such as is suitable to its Palate so Goodness doth not affect the Will unless it be real Now the Doctrine of the Gospel is as certain as the Law and infinitly more comfortable than all the Inventions of Men. 'T is in the knowledg of it alone that the sensible and considering Soul enjoys perfect Satisfaction and the most composed Rest. 'T is evident that the Understanding doth not behold these Truths in their proper light when the Will doth not embrace them For the rational Appetite follows the last judgment of the Mind When the Apostle had a powerful Conviction of The Excellency of the Knowledg of Christ this made him so earnest to gain an interest in Him For this reason those who are only Christians in Title Having a form of Godliness and denying the power of it are in Scripture-language stiled Infidels It being impossible that those who truly and heartily believe this great Mystery of Godliness should remain ungodly 'T is a strong and effectual Assent that descends from the Brain to the Heart and Life that denominates us true Believers So that when the Death of Christ is propounded as the cause of our Reconciliation with God the wonder of the Mystery doth not make it incredible when as the reason of the Mortiâ—â—â—ation of our Lusts the Pleasures of Sin do not disguise its horrour When Salvation is offer'd upon our accepting of Christ for our Prince and Saviour the Soul is ravisht with its Beauty and chooses it for an everlasting portion To conclude The Doctrine of the Gospel clearly discovers its Divine Original 'T is so reasonable in itself and profitable to us so sublime and elevated above Man yet hath such an admirable agreement with Natural Truths 't is so perfectly corresponding in all its parts that without affected Obstinacy no man can reject it And if after the open revelation of it we are so stupid and wicked as not to see its Superlative Excellency and not to receive it with the Faith Love and Obedience which is due to it what contempt is this of that infinite Wisdom which contriv'd the astonishing way of our Salvation What a reproach to the Divine Understanding as if it had been employed from Eternity about a matter of no moment and that deserves not our serious Consideration and Acceptance The neglect of it will justly bring a more severe punishment than the Hell of the uninstructed Heathens who are strangers to Supernatural Mysteries CHAP. VIII The Mercy of God is represented with peculiar advantages above the other Attributes 'T is eminently glorified in our Redemption in respect of its freeness and greatness The freeness of it amplified from the consideration of the original and object of it God is perfectly happy in Himself and needs not the Creature to preserve or heighten his felicity The glorious reward conferred upon our Saviour doth not prejudice the freeness of his love to Man There was no tie upon God to save Man The Object of Mercy is Man in his lapsed state 'T is illustrated by the consideration of what he is in himself No motives of love are in him He is a rebel impotent and obstinate The freeness of mercy set forth by comparing him with the fallen Angels who are left in perfect irremediable misery Their first state fall and punishment The Reasons why the Wisdom of God made no provision for their recovery ALthough all the Divine Attributes are equal as they are in God for one Infinite cannot exceed another yet in their exercise and effects they shine with a different glory And Mercy is represented in Scripture with peculiar advantages above the rest 'T is God's natural off-spring he is stiled the Father of Mercies 'T is his dear Attribute that which he places next to himself He is proclaim'd the Lord God Gracious and Merciful 'T is his delight Mercy pleases him 'T is his Treasure he is rich in Mercy 'T is his triumphant Attribute and the special matter of his Glory Mercy rejoyces over Judgment Now in the performance of our Redemption Mercy is the predominant Attribute that sets all the rest a working The acts of his Wisdom Justice and Power were in order to the illustration of his Mercy And if we duly consider that Glorious Work we shall find in it all the ingredients of the most sovereign Mercy In discoursing of it I shall principally consider two things wherein this Attribute is eminently glorified the Freeness and the Greatness of it The Freeness of this Mercy will appear by considering the original and object of it 1. The Original is God and the notion of a Deity includes infinite perfections so that it neeessarily follows that he hath no need of the creatures service to preserve or heighten his feliâ—ity If thou be righteous what givest thou him or what receiveth he of thine hand From Eternity he was without external honour yet in that infinite duration he was perfectly joyful and happy He is the fountain of his own blessedness the Theatre of his own Glory the Glass of his own Beauty One drop encreases the Ocean but to God a million of Worlds â—an add nothing Every thing hath so much of Goodness as it derives from him As there was no gain to him by the Creation so there can be no loss by the annihilation of all things The World proceeded from his Wisdom as the Idea and Exemplar and from his Power as the efficient cause and it so proceeds from him as to remain more perfectly in him And as the possession of all things and the obedience of Angels and Men is of no advantage to God so the opposition of impenitent Rebels cannot lessen his Blessedness If thou sinnest what doâ—t thou against him or if thy transgressions be multiplied what dost thou unto him The Sun suffers no loss of its light by the darkness of the night or an Eclipse but the World loâ—es its day if intelligent Beings do not esteem him for his Greatness and love him for his Goodness 't is no injury to him but their own infelicity Were it for his
the primitive and main reason of the necessity of things but only a sign of the certainty of the event In strictness things do not arrive because of their prediction but are foretold because they shall arrive It is apparent there was a Divine Decree before the Prophesies and that in the Light of God's Infinite Knowledg things are before they were foretold So 't is not said a Man must be of a ruddy complexion because his Picture is so but on the contrary because he is ruddy his Picture must be so That Christ by dying on the Cross should Redeem Man was the reason that the Serpent of brass was erected on a pole to heal the Israelites and not on the contrary Briefly the Apostle supposes this necessity of Satisfaction as an evident principle when he proves wilful Apostates to be incapable of Salvation Because there remains no more Sacrifice for sin For the consequence were of no force if sin might be pardoned without Sacrifice that is without Satisfaction 3. This account of Christs Death takes off the scandal of the Cross and changes the offence into admiration 'T was foretold of Christ that he should be a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offence not a just cause but an occasion of offence to the corrupt hearts of Men and principally for his Sufferings The Jews were pleased with the titles of honour given to the Messiah that he should be a King Powerful and Glorious But that poverty disgrace and the suffering Death should be his character they could not endure therefore they endeavoured to prevert the sense of the Prophets His Disciples who attended him in his mean state expected those sad apappearances would terminate in visible Glory and Greatness but when they saw him arrested by his Enemies Condemned and Crucified this was so opposite to their expectation that they fainted under the disappointment And when Christ Crucified was Preacht to the Gentile World they rejected him with scorn His Death seemed so contrary to the Dignity of his Person and the design of his Office that they could not relish the Doctrine of the Gospel They judged it absurd to expect Life from one that was subjected to Death and Blessedness from him who was made a Curse To those who look on the Death of Christ with the eyes of carnal wisdom and according to the Laws of corrupt reason it appears folly and weakness and most unworthy of God but if we consider it in its principles and ends all the prejudices vanish and we clearly discover it to be the most noble and eminent effect of the Wisdom Power Goodness and Justice of God To the eye of sense 't was a spectacle of horrour that a perfect Innocent should be cruelly tormented but to the eye of Faith under that sad and ignominious appearance there was a Divine Mystery able to raise our wonder and ravish our affections For he that was naked and nailed to the Cross was really the Son of God and the Saviour of Men And his Death with all the penal circumstances of dishonour and pain is the only Expiation of sin and Satisfaction to Justice He by offering up his Blood appea'sd the wrath of God quencht the flaming Sword that made Paradise inaccessible to us he took away sin the true dishonour of our natures and purchased for us the Graces of the Spirit the richest ornaments of the reasonable Creature The Doctrine of the Cross is the only foundation of the Gospel that unites all its parts and supports the whole building 'T is the cause of our Righteousness and Peace of our Redemption and Reconciliation How blessed an exchange have the Merits of his Sufferings made with those of our Sins Life instead of Death Glory for Shame and Happiness for Misery For this reason the Apostle with vehemence declares that to be the sole ground of his boasting and triumph which others esteemed a cause of blushing God forbid that I should Glory save in the Cross of Christ. He rejects with extreme detestation the mention of any other thing as the cause of his Happiness and matter of his Glory The Cross was a tree of Death to Christ and of Life to us The supreme Wisdom is justified of its Children 4. The Satisfaction of Divine Justice by the Sufferings of Christ affords the strongest assurance to Man who is a guilty and suspicious creature that God is most ready to pardon sin There is in the natural Conscience when opened by a piercing conviction of sin such a quick sense of Guilt and Gods Justice that it can never have an intire confidence in his Mercy till Justice be atoned From hence the convinced Sinner is restlesly inquisitive how to find out the way of reconciliation with a Righteous God Thus he is represented inquiring by the Prophet Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the most High God shall I come before him with Burnt-Offerings with Calves of a year old will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams or with ten thousand rivers of oil shall I give my first-born for my transgression the fruit of my Body for the sin of my Soul The Scripture tells us that some consum'd their Children to render their Idols favourable to them But all these means were ineffectual their most costly Sacrifices were only food for the fire Nay instead of expiating their old they committed new sins and were so far from appeasing that they inflamed the Wrath of God by their cruel oblations But in the Gospel there is the most rational and easy way propounded for the Satisfaction of God and the Justification of Man The Righteousness of Faith speaketh on this wise Say not in thy heart Who shall ascend into Heaven that is to bring down Christ from above Or who shall descend into the deep that is to bring up Christ again from the dead But if thou wilt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved The Apostle sets forth the anxiety of an awakened Sinner he is at a loss to find out a way to escape Judgment for things that are on the surface of the Earth or floating on the Waters are within our view and may be obtain'd but those that are above our Understanding to discover or Power to obtain are proverbially said to to be in the Heavens above or in the Deeps And 't is applied here to the different wayes of Justification by the Law and the Gospel The Law propounds Life upon an impossible condition but the Gospel clearly reveals to us that Christ hath performed what is necessary for our Justification and that by a lively and practical Faith we shall have an Interest in it The Lord Jesus being ascended hath given us a convincing proof that the Propitiation for our Sins is perfect For otherwise He had not been received into Gods Sanctuary Therefore to be under
the Word And accordingly all the Promises of Pardon and Salvation are conditional The holy Mercy of the Gospel offers Forgiveness only to Penitent Believers that return from Sin to Obedience We are commanded to repent and be converted that our sins may be blotted out in the time of refreshment from the presence of the Lord. And Heaven is the reward of persevering Obedience To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality eternal life There cannot be the least ground of a rational just Hope in any person without Holiness Whoever hath this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure By which it appears that the genuine and proper use we are to make of the exceeding great and precious Promises is That by them we may be partakers of the Divine Nature and escape the pollution that is in the world through lust Yet the corrupt hearts of men are so strongly enclined to their lusts that they turn the Grace of God into wantonness and make an advantage of Mercy to assist their Security presuming to sin with less fear and more licence upon the account of the glorious Revelation of it by our Redeemer The most live as if they might be saved without being Saints and enjoy the Paradise of the Flesh here and not be excluded from that of the Spirit hereafter But Grace doth not in the least degree authorize and favour their Lusts nor relax the Sinews of Obedience 't is perfectly innocent of their unnatural abuse of it The Poison is not in the Flower but the Spider Therefore the Apostle propounds it with indignation Shall we sin that Grace may abound God forbid He uses this form of Speech to express an extreme abhorrency of a thing that is either impious and dishonourable to God or pernicious and destructive to Men. As when he puts the question Is God unjust who taketh vengeance God forbid And is there iniquity in God God forbid He rejects the mention of it with infinite aversation Indeed what greater disparagement can there be of the Divine Purity than to indulge our selves in Sin upon confidence of an easie Forgiveness As if the Son of God had been consecrated by such terrible Sufferings to purchase and prepare a Pardon for those who sin securely What an unexpressible indignity is it to make a monstrous alliance between Christ and Belial And this abuse of Grace is pernicious to men if the Antidote be turn'd into Poison and the Remedy cherish the Disease the cause is desperate The Apostle tells us Those that do evil that good may come thereby their damnation is just Suppose a presuming Sinner were assured that after he had gratified his carnal vile desires he should repent and be pardon'd yet 't were an unreasonable defect of Self-love to do so What Israelite was so fool-hardy as to provoke a fiery Serpent to bite him though he knew he should be healed by the brazen Serpent But 't is a degree beyond madness for Men to live in a course of Sin upon the hopes of Salvation making the Mercy of God to be his bondage as if he could not be happy without them An unrenewed Sinner may be the object of Gods Compassion but while he remains so he is uncapable of Communion with him here much less hereafter Under the Law the Lepers were excluded the Camp of Israel where the presence of God was in a special manner much more shall those who are cover'd with moral Pollutions be kept out from the habitation of his Holiness 'T is a mortal Delusion for any to pretend that electing Mercy will bring them to Glory or that the all-sufficient Sacrifice of Christ will atone God's displeasure towards them although they indulge themselves in a course of Sin The Book of Life is secret only the Lamb with whose Blood the names of the Elect are written there can open the seals of it But the Gospel that is a lower Book of Life tells us the qualifications of those who are vessels of Mercy they are by Grace prepar'd for Glory and that there can be no benefit by the Death of Christ without conformity to his Life Those who abuse Mercy now shall have Justice for ever 3. From hence we may discover the peculiar excellency of the Christian Religion above all other Institutions and that in respect of its Design and effect The whole Design of the Gospel is exprest in the words of Christ from Heaven to Paul when he sent him to the Gentiles To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them that are sanctified by Faith in Christ. One great End of it is to take away all the filthiness and malignity wherewith Sin hath infected the world and to cause in men a real conformity to Gods Holiness according to their capacity As the Reward it promises is not an earthly Happiness such as we enjoy here but Celestial so the Holiness it requires is not an ordinary natural Perfection which Men honour with the title of Vertue but an Angelical Divine quality that sanctifies us throughout in Spirit Soul and Body that cleanses the Thoughts and Affections and expresses itself in a course of universal Obedience to Gods Will. Indeed there are other things that commend the Gospel to any that with judgment compares it with other Religions The heigth of its Mysteries which are so sacred and venerable that upon the discovery they affect with reverence and admiration Whereas the Religion of the Gentiles was built on Follies and Fables Their most solemn Mysteries to which they were admitted after so long a circuit of Ceremonies and great preparations contain'd nothing but a prodigious mixture of Vanity and Impiety worthy to be conceal'd in everlasting darkness Besides the confirmation of the Gospel by Miracles doth authorize it above all humane Institutions And the glorious eternal Reward of it infinitely exceeds whatever is propounded by them But that which gives it the most visible preheminence is That it is a Doctrine according to godliness The End is the character of its nature The whole contexture and harmony of its Doctrines Precepts Promises Threatnings is for the exaltation of Godliness The objects of Faith revealed are not meerly speculative to be conceived and believed only as true or to be gaz'd on in an Extasie of Wonder but are Mysteries of Godliness that have a powerful influence upon practice The Design of God in the publication of them is not only to enlighten the Mind but to warm the Heart and purifie the Affections God discovers his Nature that we may imitate Him and his Works that we may glorifie Him All the Precepts of the Gospel are to embrace Christ by a lively Faith to seek for Righteousness and Holiness in Him to live Godly Righteously and Soberly in this present