Life IV. Wicked Men Tempt others to Sin by their false and fallacious Argueings against the Necessity of a Holy Life One would think there should be none professing Christianity that should openly Plead for Sin but yet such Factors and Agents Satan has amongst us as will openly Avow his Cause and will endeavour to Perswade you that you are not Obliged to that Strictness of Living which we Preachers are continually sounding in Men's Ears And to this Purpose you shall hear them Argue so hotly that God no doubt is a Merciful Being and will not surely for the Sins of a short Life Condemn the Guilty to an Eternity of Woe and Misery And as to the Duties of Religion you shall hear 'em argue that they are hard Sayings and who can bear ' em And as to themselves you shall hear these Men often Pleading that they are made of Flesh and Blood and therefore sure God will not require Men upon the Hazard of Salvation to mortify the Flesh and that they are set in a World full of Temptations and abounding in Delights and Pleasures and that therefore God who has Plac'd 'em in it will not command 'em upon Pain of Damnation to Overcome these strong Temptations and to deny these Pleasures of the World These are the common and pernicious and licentious Argueings of Men to perswade both themselves and others into such easy Notions of God and Religion that they may Sin with more Security and less Fear And this has been a powerful Art in all times and such Arguments as these Men are most ready to Believe because they love the Thing they Plead for because they favour their Lusts and grant 'em so much Liberty in what they long for the satisfying the Flesh and enjoying the World All which wicked Reasonings we must fortify our selves against as when they Plead But do you beware and fortify your selves well against those false Argueings of Sinful men in Behalf of their Lusts and against the Strictness of Religion whereby they would Perswade you as well as themselves into a sinful Security and with-draw you from or slacken you in your Duty They are false and fallacious Arguments that would perswade us to Comply in the least with Sin for there is nothing more plain in Scripture than that Sin must with all possible Care be avoided It tells us positively That we must deny all Vngodliness and worldly Lusts and live soberly righteously and godly in this present World Tim. 2.12 And that all that name the Name of Christ must depart from Iniquity 2 Tim. 2.19 And that all true Christians must be Cleansed from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit and perfect Holiness in the fear of God 2 Cor. 7.1 And in order to Perfection that they must Cut off right Hands and put out right Eyes when they offend 'em that is any Lusts that are so dear and useful to you as these Members are Matth. 29.30 What shall I say It tells us that the Friendship of the world is Enmity against God and that whosoever will be a Friend of the world is an Enemy of God Jam. 4.4 And then as for the Punishment of Sin there is not One but has the Penalty of Eternal Death and Misery if Unrepented of affixt to it Particularly Rev. 21.8 it is said that the Fearful or those who Apostatize from the Faith out of fear and Vnbelieving and the Abominable and Murderers and Whore-mongers and Sorcerers and Idolaters and all Liars shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with Fire and Brimstone which is the second death This the Word of God does assure us and then for Men to raise to themselves Hopes of Impunity so contrary to the express Declarations of Scripture when if they shall be mistaken and find after all God's Threatnings to prove real as there is infinite Reason to believe they shall this is certainly the most desperate Presumption in the World But if you consider these Arguments asunder there is no strength in 'em wherefore any should venture to rely upon ' em For in the first place it is in no wise Inconsistent with God's Mercy for the Sins of a short Life to Condemn the Guilty to an Eternity of Woe and Misery I. That it is inconsistent w th God's Mercy for the Sins of a short life to Condemn the Guilty to an Eternity of Woe and Misery His Mercy is sufficiently satisfied in laying no Tyrannical Impositions upon us as Satan and all false Gods have done upon their superstitious Votaries It is yet a farther Demonstration of his Mercy that our vertuous Performances tho' they are their own Reward here yet they shall be also abundantly Recompenced hereafter He does moreover let us see his Mercy in his long Forbearance of us notwithstanding that by our numberless Provocations we do Grieve his Holy Spirit But he has given us the greatest Discoveries of his Mercy beyond what could ever enter into the Hearts of Men to expect when he gave his own Son to be an Atonement and Expiation for our Sins that his Justice might not proceed against us and when he sent him to us with a Covenant of Grace as an Act of Pardon proposing to us not only a perfect Reconciliation with our offended God but infinite Rewards in Heaven if we would return to our due Obedience and Pay him no other but a reasonable Service I think this is sufficient for Mercy to do and if such immensurable Mercies will not win upon us it is time that as severe a Justice should then take place for we are to consider God as the supreme Governour of Men and Justice is as necessary an Attribute in Government as Mercy Nor is his Severity in Punishing the Sins of a short Life with an Eternity of Woe and Misery but what is agreeable to his Justice and Wisdom as supreme Governour of the World It is necessary in all Governments that the Laws thereof should be enforc'd with such Penalties as shall be sufficient to deter People from the Transgression of those Laws And therefore the Penalties being future it is necessary they should be vastly Great to Over-balance the Profits or Pleasures of Sin which are present It may seem hard indeed at first sight in Humane Governments that a Person for Clipping a Peice of Silver which bears the Image and Superscription of Caesar or for Stealing it from another should forfeit not only his Good and Chattels but also his Life it self but yet since upon the Temptations of present Profit bad Men will adventure to commit such Facts and the Authority of Laws cannot otherwise be kept up nor Men's Rights and Properties preserv'd It is not thought by the Honest Part of Mankind Inconsistent with the Wisdom and Justice of Governours to inflict even such Punishments as extend to the loss of Life It is these alone are sufficient to Out-weigh the present Consideration of Profit to the Offender and effectually to move him
should be dignify'd with the Title of the Kingdom of Heaven viz. Because it so directly tends to render Men so exactly like the Blessed Saints the Inhabitants of the Kingdom of Heaven 78 This is not the meaning of the Kingdom of Heaven here in the Catechism Secondly the Kingdom of Heaven signifies the Kingdom of Glory This a most noble and glorious State as being dignify'd with so honourable and glorious a Title as the Kingdom of Heaven 79 Hence all those things in this World wherein we conceive the highest Glory and Happiness are used as Emblems to set off our future Glory All which things come short of expressing it An Inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven what An Heir is one who has a legal Right and Title to a Possession made over to him Such who have entred into the Covenant of Grace are in like manner Heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven as Children are Heirs 80 It is through Christ alone not owing to the Merit of our Obedience that we are Intitled to the Inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven The vastness of a Christian's Priviledge in being made an Inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven First it is in it self a very great Priviledge to have the invaluable Possessions of Heaven so setled and ensur'd as to have a legal Claim and Title thereto made over to one 81 Secondly if compar'd with what others enjoy it is a singular Priviledge The best amongst the moral Heathens could have but faint Hopes built upon uncertain Conjectures of a future Happiness And their Hopes being faint they could not in the strength thereof overcome great Temptations But the Christian's Hopes are sure and stedfast being founded upon the express Promises and Covenant of the God of Truth And being such there is no Temptation so alluring nor Suffering so great which he may not overcome 82 And whatever Certainty an honest Pagan might have that God would reward his Vertue yet depending only on the Uncovenanted Goodness of God he could promise himself no greater a measure of Happiness than what his good Deeds did of themselves deserve which must fall vastly short of what is meant by the Kingdom of Heaven But a Christian to whom God has Covenanted to make sure a Crown of Glory may without Presumption rely upon him to make good the same As Life and Immortality is brought to light through the Gospel so by Embracing it and by coming into Covenant alone Salvation can be expected And to a sincere Christian who is faithful in the Covenant the Heavenly Inheritance is certain 83 Asumm of those invaluable Priviledges made over to us on God's Part in the Covenant of Grace 84 LECT IX Whereof the First is to Renounce the Devil the World and the Flesh 85 The Devil his Names and their Importance He was once one of the highest Angels and is now that Arch-Rebel againsts God He with many Legions of Inferiour Angels whom he drew into the same Conspiracy is Banisht Heaven 86 Being acted with a Spirit of Revenge against God he afterwards withdrew Mankind to join with him in his Rebellion And prevailed so far till God's Authority was almost utterly Banished from amongst Men. Which occasion'd the Son of God's coming into the World to recover Mankind The Works of the Devil in general are First Sin By Sin God's Authority is thrown off which is the Devil 's constant work 87 Whoever therefore does wilfully sin does strike at God's Authority For which Reason no Sin ought to be the Subject of any Man's Mirth Some Sins more particularly the works of the Devil First Such as are directly level'd against God's Authority viz. Idolatry Sorcery Charming Witch-craft and Conjuring as also Resorting to such as use those unlawful Arts. 88 Secondly Such as express more of the Devil's Temper than others viz. Pride Envy 89 Malice Thirdly Such as are more the Practice of Satan himself than other Sins viz. Murder Apostacy Lying and especially Calumniating and Evil-speaking 90 To Renounce a Word of various Importance according to the Renounced 91 To Renounce the Devil in the sence of the Ancient Church was to disclaim his Usurp'd Dominion and Authority over Mankind To Renounce his Works of Sin was in their sence to abandon and forsake every Sin as being the proper Service of the Devil 92 The Words are to be understood in much the same Sence at this day Satan having his Kingdom still in the World and even amongst Christians and the Laws of Sin which are the Laws of his Kingdom being still obey'd by the greatest Part of Mankind This Renunciation for the most part the same with Repentance 93 The Devil and all his Works of Sin must be absolutely and entirely Renounced because There is nothing but Evil proceeds from Satan And Sin whether we consider it in its original Cause and Nature or in its sad Effects and Consequents is the utmost Evil. Therefore no one Sin nor any thing the least of Sin must willingly be comply'd with 94 And indeed if the Nature of Satan and of Sin and the horrid Consequence of yielding to either be well consider'd it is hardly possible not absolutely and entirely to Renounce both However this if we do not do we shall forfeit all Right and Title to those infinite Blessings held forth in the Covenant of Grace 95 LECT X. To Tempt is to make a tryal of a Person To Tempt a thing morally Good or Evil according to the End thereof To Tempt a Person in order to prove his Vertue or discover his Corruption consistent with the Justice Wisdom and Goodness of a Governour and thus God does Tempt Men. 97 First Thus he tempted Abraham to try his Faith and to reward him for it Secondly Hezekiah to discover his Hypocrisy and to humble him in the sight thereof These Temptations of God are therefore in no sence to be Renounced but to be Rejoyced in because for our Good 98 A Temptation to ensnare a Person into some Sin that so God's Anger may be kindled against him And the Person punished for this Transgression is wicked and malicious and so the Devil together with the World and the Flesh do tempt us The vast Concernment it is to us to know his Temptations The several Heads of Satan's Temptations 99 By what Methods he first tempted our first Parents and still does continue to tempt us First By insinuating into the Minds of Adam and Eve false Notions of God and an ill Opinion of their Maker and Governour particularly with respect to his Justice and Mercy 100 And by Entertaining false Notions of God's Justice and Mercy do Men generally Encourage themselves in Sin at this Day But all such Conceits of God are to be utterly renounced and cast out of our Thoughts as Diabolical Suggestions most destructive to our Souls Secondly By Corrupting the Understanding and Reason of Man by putting him upon curious Enquiries after useless Matters and upon making a sinful Experiment of the differences
a Place it will not make you go there because it is a Promise that you are not Concern'd in but the other Person if he be certainly perswaded the Promise will be made good to him will certainly go to the appointed Place because it is a Promise that he is Concerned in And so likewise as to the Case in hand That a sure Promise of the Pardon of our Sins and Eternal Happiness is made over to us in the Second Covenant on Condition we will forsake the Service of Satan and of Sin that we will Repent heartily Believe practically and Obey sincerely is a Truth that the Devils to their great Grief are fully perswaded of for they believe and tremble St. James tells us But this Faith of theirs does not put them upon Repentance and Amendment because those gracious Promises do not Concern them and they have no Promise of Salvation tho' they should Repent and Amend But as to us whom they do Concern and to whom they are made if we are really perswaded that if we amend we shall be certainly Saved we shall immediately upon such Perswasion seriously Repent of what has been done amiss heretofore and take care to Obey God for the future For every Man that hath this Hope in God purifieth himself even as he is pure 1 Joh. 3.3 In short the Articles of our Christian Faith are every one of 'em so many Motives and those the most powerful ones in the World to stir us up to a diligent Reformation of our Hearts and Lives They are in themselves the most obliging Arguments to it and with respect to us they are the most Concerning and Important Truths that can be containing in the meaning of 'em either Threatnings to scare us out of Sin or Promises to allure us to Obedience Either such Considerations as are apt to excite our Fears when we are in a Course of Impiety or are Grounds whereon we may build the vastest Hopes in the Performance of our Duty And if any One does not live accordingly a Godly Righteous and a Sober Life I dare be bold to say it is owing to some spice of Infidelity lurking in his Heart whereby he is not throughly perswaded of or does not actually consider these Truths But he that does throughly Believe and Consider them can hardly fail of being a Good Liver Thus necessary you see it is that our Belief of all the Articles of our Christian Faith be such as does Influence us to good Works And then after all II. To Believe savingly we must apply our selves to Jesus Christ to intercede w th God the Father for our Gracious Acceptance II. It must be a Belief that causes us to betake our selves to Jesus Christ to Intercede with God the Father for their Gracious Acceptance This I have formerly in the beginning of my Exposition insisted upon yet such is the growing Infidelity of the World with respect to this which is the most Essential part of Christian Faith that it would not be unseasonable should I again shew you that we must depend upon the Mediation of Christ with the Father for us that our imperfect Righteousness may be graciously accepted to our Justification This is that Act of Faith which is called in Scripture Believing in Christ and to such a Believing as this it is that our Justification is Attributed by St. Paul Gal. 2.16 Know this that a Man is not Justified by the Works of the Law but by the Faith of Jesus Christ even we have Believed in Jesus Christ that we might be Justified by the Faith of Christ and not by the Works of the Law for by the Works of the Law shall no Flesh be Justified And as this Act of Faith the Relying upon God's Mercies in Christ does wonderfully exalt the Divine Justice and Mercy so it leaves no place to the Creature to Attribute any part of its Happiness to it self but does utterly exclude all occasions of Boasting God hath set forth Jesus Christ his Son to be a Propitiation through Faith in his blood to declare his Righteousness for the Remission of Sins that are past through the forbearance of God Where is Boasting then it is excluded By what Law of Works nay but by the Law of Faith Rom. 2.25.27 So that it is not enough that we Believe punctually but it is moreover necessary that we rely also on God's Mercies in Christ that our imperfect Holiness may be accepted or otherwise even our Assent to all the Articles of the Christian Faith will not avail us to our Justification and Salvation which brings me Lastly To shew you what it is to Believe ALL the Articles of our Christian Faith What to Believe All the Articles of the Christian Faith And 1. To Believe them All does Import that we must Assent to all and every one of those great Articles of Christian Doctrine contain'd in the Apostle's Creed 1. To Believe ALL these Articles does Import that we must Assent with a through Perswasion of their undoubted Truth and of their Divine Authority to all and every one of those great Articles of Christian Doctrine contained in the Apostle's Creed This Collection or Summary of Christian Doctrine is called by St. Paul Rom. 6.17 That Form of Doctrine which was deliver'd to the Christians that is that Summary of Christian Doctrine to the Belief and Practice of which they were deliver'd up and solemnly Consecrated in their Baptism And the same is call'd 2 Tim. 1.13 The Form of sound words which was heard of the Apostle himself and we are commanded to hold it fast that is to take care not to depart from it in any part thereof And as we must not shrink from the Confession and Belief of any one of those Articles which have been Handed down to us from the Apostles in that Summary or Form of sound words which makes up the Body of our Christian Faith so we must content our selves with the Belief of All those saving Truths and must not think there is any thing more to be Believ'd by our selves or others as necessary to Salvation But especially Such as tend to destroy a good Life and send us to other Mediators than Christ to Intercede with the Father for its Acceptance no Articles of Christian Faith we must take care of possessing our Minds with a Perswasion of the Truth of such Articles as do tend to destroy what the true Genuine Doctrines of Christianity viz. All the Articles of our Christian Faith do Build as do all or most at leastwise of the New Articles impos'd upon the Belief of Christians in the Romish Church Some of those Articles in the Romish Creed do plainly take away the necessity of a Good Life as might be easily made appear were it proper here to inlarge on that Point And other Doctrines of that Church do as apparently take Men off from depending solely upon the Mediation of Christ with his Father that he would graciously accept
if we please And now Thirdly it will be infinitely worth our Enquiry That by the Mediation of Jesus Christ it was that we obtained such a gracious Covenant whereby we are restored to a state of Salvation by whose Mediation we obtain'd such a Covenant of Grace and were restored thereby into a state of Salvation And it was through Jesus Christ our Saviour You have seen how wretchedly Man did break his Covenant with his Maker and into what a miserable State he plung'd himself thereby And now behold the unspeakable Goodness of God the Father Almighty declared in Jesus Christ his Son When God's Justice required that Sin should be punish'd when his Holiness forbid that a thing so contrary to his Nature and hateful unto him as Sin is should escape the severest Marks of his Displeasure and when his Wisdom would not suffer it to escape Punishment lest his Creatures should take occasion from thence to Rebel the more against him when for these Reasons it was necessary that the Sin of Man should be most severely punish'd then did Jesus Christ the Son of God interpose Himself betwixt Vengeance and us and did mediate and intercede with his Father to pardon and forgive us the Breach of our Covenant he laying down his own Life a Ransom for our Sins to redeem us from Misery and paying his own Blood a Satisfaction for our Offences This we have taught us 1 Tim. 2.5 There is one Mediator betwixt God and Man the Man Christ Jesus who gave himself a Ransom for all And moreover because having fallen from our Uprightness and lost that perfect Light and Strength whereby in a State of Innocence we had been able to perform a perfect exact and unsinning Obedience the Conditions of the First Covenant because this we were no longer able to do and therefore so long as we remained bound to perform the First Covenant we must have been however lost Jesus Christ did therefore I say moreover mediate and intercede with his Father in our behalf and purchasing the Grace and Favour with his precious Blood did obtain for us a better Covenant a Second and more Gracious Covenant instead of the First which was more Rigorous a Covenant consisting of such Conditions as by his Grace we shall be enabled to perform and of far better Promises to encourage our Endeavours and Performances for which reason he is therefore styled the Mediator of a better Covenant which was established upon better Promises Heb. 8.6 In particular He did obtain these infinitely happy Terms and Conditions for us as has been already shewn you that if we would renounce God's Enemies the World the Flesh and the Devil and return to our Obedience which is in other Words to Repent we should be accounted as his Children and have all our former Rebellions pardoned us That if we will firmly and practically Believe in God and in Jesus Christ who died and suffered for us we should be Members of his Body the CHVRCH and partake of all those manifold Graces and Priviledges he has Purchas'd for it And lastly if instead of a perfect exact unsinning Obedience we would but perform a Sincere and Honest one such as by the Grace he would afford us we should be enabled to we should finally be made Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven Thus did Jesus Christ mediate and intercede with God the Father for our Pardon upon the Breach of the First Covenant paying down his own Life a Satisfaction for the Injustice done by us to God in violating of it and did purchase and procure of God the Father to be reconciled to us upon easier Terms such as those in the Covenant of Grace now mention'd And now let us behold here and admire the infinite Wisdom also as well as Goodness in this Method of our Redemption through and by the Mediation of Jesus Christ our Saviour Was it necessary as a due Reparation of God's Honour that the Divine Justice must be satisfied for the Breach of the First Covenant Who then could be sufficient for so vast an Undertaking except the Son of God who is God Himself The Sufferings of such a Person as a Satisfaction to the Divine Justice could alone fully proclaim the infinite Guilt of Sin and How extreamly God was incens'd against it and could alone sufficiently pacify and attone the Divine Anger thereupon Was it again on the other side requisite to Man's Restoration that a Covenant should be obtained of such Conditions as we in our state of Weakness might be capable of performing Who then was so proper to propose to and obtain of the Father such gracious Terms for us as one who was himself Man and so could be sensible of all the Weakness and Infirmities of Man Sin excepted and had experienced himself what was in the Power of Man to perform Why all this does of it self appear to have been consider'd in the Divine Wisdom and in the Contrivance of Man's Recovery to a state of Salvation through the Mediation of Jesus Christ our Saviour but for our better assurance the Author to the Hebrews does expresly declare it to have been so Heb. 2.17 18. telling us That since he had undertaken to mediate a Peace for us with God that therefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his Brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in Things pertaining to God to make Reconciliation for the Sins of the People For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted By being God he was qualified to be a faithful High Priest in Things pertaining to God and to make Reconciliation for the Sins of the People That is as God alone he knew what Satisfaction was sufficient to be offered to God and was fit for him to accept e're he would be reconciled to Sinners and by being Man he was also qualified to be a merciful High Priest for in that he himself hath suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted That is as Man who is sensible what Temptations and Infirmities we lie under he was more proper to be entrusted with the Appointment of such Terms and Conditions as Man was capable to perform and therefore did prescribe us a Covenant of Grace consisting accordingly of such reasonable and performable Conditions And thus you see also by whose Mediation we obtain'd such a Covenant of Grace such a state of Salvation viz. that it was through Jesus Christ our Saviour And now Fourthly let us consider The infinite Care of God the Father to call us into it as you are also taught in your Catechism by whom and how you are called to this state of Salvation And truly the same Heavenly Father who granted us and the same Jesus Christ our Saviour who purchased this state of Salvation for us have also most mercifully called us to it And behold and consider first I beseech you what infinite
act with that Decency and Becomingness as shall advance the Reputation thereof Hence the Lawyer as he cannot ordinarily endure except he be a profligate Person his Profession of the Law nor the Physician his nor the Tradesman his to be run down Expos'd and made Ridiculous so each of these will be as much as possible for maintaining in their several Dealings a Reputation of Fairness and Honesty as that alone which will raise and Preserve an Esteem for them And how then comes it about that a Christian can endure to hear his Christian Profession reproach'd and scorn'd by reason of his scandalous Living Whence is it but from the greater Zeal Men generally have for the Honour of their worldly Callings and Professions than for the Honour of their Christian Religion Profession and Calling And now therefore Thirdly Let me Exhort you An Exhortation therefore to Christians to stand upon the Dignity of their Christian Name and Profession to stand upon the Dignity of your Christian Name and Profession by living such good Lives as may be an Honour not a Disgrace unto it Let me therefore Admonish you from this very Name wherewith you are Honoured to render your selves wholly conformable to those Christian Principles and Doctrines to which you have given up your Names to be governed by and which being taught you in your Catechism I shall by God's leave with all the Plainness and in the most useful manner I can explain unto you And pray let me Entreat you my Dear Youth seriously and diligently to hearken to me your Spiritual Father that studies no less the Eternal Interest of your Souls and to make you Heirs of Heaven than your Natural Parents do your Temporal Interest to gather you Riches and to leave you Estates in this World You have been Ask'd and you have Answer'd to your Christian Name and you see with what Title you are dignify'd viz. with the Name of Christians And First Wonder not at what I say those Titles of Honour I. As that which is more considerable than Titles of Honour which we daily hear sounding in our Ears and which are so much admired and doted upon I mean the Titles of Emperors Kings Dukes Earls Lords ought to be accounted as very inconsiderable in respect of our Christian Title They are but Earthly Glories and will soon decay and vanish away but this is of a Divine Original which will never fade but will Ennoble you to all Eternity I beseech you therefore seriously consider this and let a due Honour and Regard to so worthy a Name continually admonish every one of you that you never commit in your whole Lives any thing that does unbecome it I do also Secondly II. Because of that near Alliance there is between the Christian Name and Profession Entreat every One of you to consider the near Alliance there is betwixt your Christian Names and your Christian Profession insomuch that they both began and will both end together In your Baptism you put on both your Name and your Profession of Christianity together and if ever you should abjure your Religion which God forbid you must also therewith abjure your Christian Names so near are they linkt one with another And therefore let this ever admonish you to Adorn your selves with Christian Graces Temperance Chastity Charity Justice Piety and not to defile your selves with Heathenish Brutish Vices Drunkenness Uncleanness Cruelty Infidelity Thirdly III. Because the primitive Christians did in vertue of the Christian Name resist the fiercest Temptations And is it Examples of this good Use of your Christian Name that you want Why the Christians of old took Courage from this very Name whereby they overcame all their Enemies both Bodily and Ghostly the World the Flesh and the Devil and encourag'd themselves thereby to the Discharge of their Christian Duties In the Vertue of this Name they extinguisht their Lusts they overcame Tyrants they put to flight the Devil Their Persecutors with Fire and Fagot and all manner of cruel Torments would have forc'd them to Blaspheme Christ to sacrifice and burn Incense to Devils to worship Idols But they in the midst of Flames and Torments would answer with Smiles on their Faces We are Christians we cannot do these Things Forbear your Assemblies and Church-meetings would the Heathen Persecutors say We are Christians and must not therefore Forsake the Assembling our selves together would they answer Such great things did the Primitive Christians perform under the Power of the Christian Name And let your very Christian Names likewise my Christian Youth encourage you to all manner of Vertuous and Religious Practices in imitation of those Blessed Primitive Christians and to the Examples of those that shall come after you IV. Because of the Indecency of Living unsuitable to the Christian Name and Profession Nay Fourthly Look upon it ever as a most monstrous piece of Wickedness for Christian Men to live Antichristian Heathenish Lives but on the contrary ever look upon your selves as you are Christians bound even in Decency to Abstain from all Appearances of Evil 1 Thess 5.22 What shall you that have given up your Names to Christ and are in Covenant with God fight the Devil's Battels Know you not that your Bodies are the Members of Christ and shall you take the Members of Christ and make them the Members of an Harlot God forbid 1 Cor. 6.15 Shall you that are Heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven walk in Darkness Have you Renounced the Devil the World and the Flesh and shall you for all that yield your selves slaves to the Devil the World and the Flesh You Believe the Gospel and all the Articles of your Christian Faith and shall any of you live as those that neither know nor fear God nor dread the Devil You have vowed Obedience to God and shall you trample under Foot all Laws Divine and Humane You have been dedicated to God and have given up your Names to him in your Baptism and shall you live as if you had been Listed in Satan's Service Nothing so contrary so contradictory as these things V. That to quite other Purposes we gave up our Names to be Christians Alas Consider Fifthly That you have given up your Names unto Christ for other Reasons than that you should fight under the Devil's Banner and do the works of the Flesh Namely that you might ever live to the Honour of God You have been call'd forth out of the World not that you should add by your own to the Iniquities of the Times but to nobler Purposes that you might re-establish the World now tottering and ready to sink under the weight of Wickedness that you might re-establish it I say by the Practice of all Christian Graces and Vertues And for that reason it is you must consider that you Christians are called the Salt of the Earth Matth. 5.13 the Light of the World ver 14. A Candle put upon a Candlestick that
there are Conditions therein on our side so express Promises on the other It was farther added in the Definition that In a Covenant there are certain Promises Rewards and profitable Considerations made over on one Part on certain Conditions to be perform'd on the other And herein also with respect to these Promises there seems to be another main Difference betwixt the Imposing of the Law and the Making of a Covenant The Difference seems to be in this That in the Imposing of a Law the Law-giver does not necessarily oblige himself to confer any Benefits more than natural Equity does oblige him to and it is sufficient to the Validity of his Law to render it Obligatory if there be a threatning of Punishments great enough to deter the Subject from the Violation of that Law But a Covenant does imply something more comfortable in the Notion of it and therein the Party Covenanting tho' it be God himself does graciously Condescend to oblige and bind himself by express Promises and usually by some outward Solemnities as visible Signs and Seals to the performance of such Promises And here also is another very considerable Difference betwixt the Obligations of a Law and a Covenant that whereas one performance of Obedience to the Laws of a Superiour the Subject upon such his Obedience can have only by vertue of the Law some general and faint Hopes of Benefit so far as is Equitable and as those who do well may expect to receive well But by vertue of a Covenant the Party promising has moreover given to the other a full assurance of certain Benefits to be made good to him insomuch that upon our Repentance and Confession of our Sins God will reckon himself in Justice and Faithfulness bound since the giving of the New Covenant to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all Vnrighteousness 1 Joh. 1.9 So that in short A Covenant lays a greater Obligation than the mere imposing of a Law does upon both the Parties joyn'd in Covenant a greater Obligation I say upon the One to perform the Conditions upon the other to make good the Promises And let this suffice to have remark'd upon the more general Notion and Nature of a Covenant A View of the Covenant of Grace But for our better understanding the distinct Nature and Notion of the Covenant of Grace in particular we must take our Rise from the very Creation and consider the several Dispensations of God by way of Covenant with Mankind And to begin with the Covenant made with Adam and in him with all Mankind the whole Proceeding stands thus God having made Man upright and in a capacity never to have violated his Covenant did Engage him to a perfect exact and unsinning Obedience God having made Man upright and given him a great measure of Light to direct him and of Strength to enable him to do as he should appoint proceeded then to make this very reasonable Covenant and Agreement with him He agreed to continue and increase that Light and Strength to him and to reward his acting according to it with immortal Life and Happiness provided he making use of his Understanding and Power would persevere to obey his Maker's Commands which if he should not do in every particular Instance of Duty he threatned him with Death and eternal Misery But then leaving him to act according to that freedom of Will wherewith as a reasonable Creature he had endow'd him Man did violate it Man did by his own voluntary Disobedience thro' the Cunning of Satan tempting him thereto transgress the Law given him by his Maker Gen. 2.17 and did thereby cast himself into a State of Sin and Misery under the Bondage of Satan without any power or possibility to recover himself out of that wretched Condition And thus he broke his Covenant with God Sinn'd against his Creatour and so forfeited all the Happiness convey'd to him therein both for himself and his Posterity And now was Man in a desperate and forlorn Condition His own Sin had made him liable to the severest Strokes of God's Displeasure and the Divine Justice and Wisdom The Divine Justice Wisdom and Holiness requir'd satisfaction and Holiness would not permit the Almighty however his Goodness inclin'd him to Pity to let his Sin go unpunisht and to restore him to a capacity of Happiness without a valuable Satisfaction made to infinite Justice such as should shew the Divine hatred of and severity against Sin for the security of his Government in the World And yet no Creature in the Heavens above or in the Earth beneath was sufficient for so great an Undertaking as to satisfy for him For There is no Man can Redeem his Brother or pay God a Ransom for him for the Redemption of his Soul is precious Psal 49.7 And what now shall be done to rescue Mankind out of this miserable State Why Man being himself uncapable to make it by less than suffering an everlasting Punishment when unhappy Man was in this desperate and forlorn Condition past all hopes of Remedy or Recovery then did God's unspeakable Goodness choose to appear for to the wonder of Men and Angels he does himself find out this way to raise us out of the Abyss of Misery into a State of Happiness again that he So loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting Life Joh. 3.16 So infinitely great I say were the Mercies of God to us The Son of God undertook and so admirable was his Wisdom in the Expression of 'em that he himself contriv'd when no one else could this Expedient for our Deliverance out of this desperate and forlorn State First I. To satisfy for the Breach of the First Because his Justice must be satisfied for the Breach of his Covenant and yet on the other side he would not have us eternally Punisht he therefore gave his own Son to dye in our stead and by the infinite Merit of his Sufferings to make Satisfaction to infinite Justice which we could not so 2 Cor. 5.21 He made him to be Sin or a Sin-offering for us who knew no Sin that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him And then Secondly II. To Cancel it and in its stead to make a Covenant of Grace consisting of conditions performable in our fallen State Because it was impossible to be Sav'd by the First Covenant which required Unsinning Obedience which we in our fallen State could not perform he gave him therefore to Cancel the First Covenant and by his Blood-shedding to Purchase for us a Second whose Terms and Conditions being more possible and easy we might be capable of obtaining Salvation under it Hence is he styl'd The Mediatour of a better Covenant Heb. 8.6 And his Blood call'd The Blood of the New Covenant or the Blood by which the New Covenant was purchas'd and which was shed
Good Matth. 5.45 was as it were a New Commandment to them Joh. 13.34 And yet such an unbounded Charity and Kindness as this is the great and necessary Duty of Christianity So that Judaism at the best and before that it was Corrupted by the false Interpretations put upon the Law by the Scribes and Pharisees was but an imperfect Draught of Religion begun by Moses but left to be finished by the more perfect Stroaks of our Saviour's Pencil afterwards who is therefore said to have Come not to destroy the Law or the Prophets but to fill 'em up Matth. 5.17 Thus Imperfect at best was the Jewish Law But now consider Fourthly The whole Body of that Religion Christianity a most excellent Religion which Christ our supreme Head and Governour has given us and under whose Guidance we have the Happiness to be as we are the Members of Christ's Church and nothing can represent God in more Noble Characters and Glorious Perfections nothing can give a more Honourable and Rational Account of his Proceedings with Man both in his Creation and Redemption of him than it does And as his Laws are infinitely beyond what the Wisdom of any Humane Law-givers did ever yet contrive for the good Order of Man in this World and his real Happiness both in this and the World to come so no Motives nor Reasons can possibly be more Powerful than those which Christianity does give us to Obey those Laws It gives a most excellent Representation of God As to the Nature of God Christianity does plainly represent him as a Being that has no manner of Imperfection in his Nature but as One that is adorn'd with all the most glorious Attributes and highest Perfections possible It represents him to us so infinitely Wise Just and Holy and yet so wonderfully beyond all Comparison Good and Merciful and to add to all this so intimately Present to all we say or do so Omniscient in discerning the very Thoughts and Intents of our Hearts and withal so absolutely Powerful in doing whatsoever he pleases in Heaven and in Earth that Shall not this his Excellency make us afraid Job 13.11 It gives an Honourable account of his Proceedings with Mankind with reference both to his Creation and Redemption of us And then as to his Proceedings with Man both in his Creation and Redemption of him Christianity gives us the most plain and rational account thereof in the World It gives us to know how that God made man Upright and being so we were at perfect Agreement with him but that afterwards we fell by Transgression from him and must have suffered the Doom of Rebels for so doing It lets us then know That God taking Pity of us in this miserable Case sent his own Son to Preach Repentance and to offer Terms of Reconciliation to us And moreover because it was not consistent with God's Holiness nor with his Wisdom and Justice as Governour of the World to let Sin go unpunish't or to accept of a Sacrifice and Satisfaction less infinite in Value than he was in Majesty who was Offended that he therefore gave this his only Begotten Son also to Dye for us and accepted of his infinitely meritorious Sufferings here instead of our suffering Eternally hereafter and as a sufficient Satisfaction to his injur'd Justice which we in our own Persons could not pay without perishing Everlastingly Christianity does withal Reveal to us that this our High-Priest after having Offer'd himself for us here on Earth a Sacrifice for our Sins he is now gone into Heaven to Intercede with the Father in the merit thereof that it may be accepted to the Pardon of ' em And it also informs us that being ascended to his Father which is in Heaven in order fully to reconcile him to Man he has substituted his Holy Spirit here on Earth to perfect the Reconciliation and Conformity of our Natures to God by moving and moulding our Hearts to true Repentance and Faith in him This is in short that account which Christianity gives us both of our Creation and of our Redemption And so every way Rational it is in it self and so exceedingly agreeable to the wisest Methods of Government in the World that tho' it was beyond the reach of our Reasons before this whole Mystery of Redemption was reveal'd to us in the Gospel to think of such an extraordinary way for our Recovery out of a lost and undone Condition and of Reconciliation to God yet now since it is revealed all the reason of Mankind whose Vnderstandings the God of this world hath not blinded must own that there is no method of Proceeding in such a Case could be more worthy of the Holiness Justice Mercy and Wisdom of God nor so likely to work Repentance in Man not consequently more agreeable to the wise Governour of the World to take than this So agreeable to the best improved Reason of Mankind are the Doctrinal and even the most mysterious Parts of the Christian Religion that Religion which it is our Happiness as we are Members of Christ's Church to be under the direction of Nor can any thing be better contriv'd for the Happiness of Men Its Laws are excellently contrived for the good Order and Happiness of mankind with relation to themselves or others than what the Laws of our Saviour do directly tend to As to our selves they do so powerfully tend to mortify our Lusts and Appetites those Rebels to our own Reason to moderate our Passions and Affections which so violently rack and disturb our own Breasts and they are excellently fitted also to make us so Humble and Self-denying so Temperate and Sober so Chast and Pure as Men on Earth would appear to be Angels come from Heaven were the Laws of Christ universally followed And lastly as to Others such Justice and Uprightness such Charity and Kindness such Quiet and Peaceableness does Christianity incline men to upon which account the State of the Gospel is represented as that In which nothing should destroy nor hurt in the holy Mountain Isa 11.9 And let me also add such Prudent and Fatherly Care of Children Servants and Dependants do the Laws of Christ prescribe as would make a Heaven here upon Earth were they universally Obey'd I say were they universally Obey'd And yet to add to all this Excellency of Christ's Government and Laws over us already seen And are enforc'd by most powerful Principles Motives so powerfully is our Obedience to all these Laws Enforc'd by those mighty Principles and Motives of Christianity viz. The Articles of our Christian Faith I mean so very Perswasive and Forcible are the Motives which Christ does give us to the Practice of these Vertues beyond what was in any Reasons and Motives which the Philosophers or even Moses did give the Gentiles or the Jews to be in any degree Vertuous that this is another addition to our Advantage in having Christ for our Supreme Head and Law-giver and in
our Saviour does therefore direct us And thus he does usually Gild over his Errors Thus especially he Gilds his Errors where the Light of the Gospel does most clearly shine as here with the Resemblance of Divine Truth especially in those Churches and Countries where the Light of the Gospel does most clearly shine And I think I cannot do you better Service than to Instance in some of those pernicious Errors both in Faith and Practice of this Kind which do at present Infest this Church and Nation that so you may be Caution'd against the Entertainment of them And First It is usual with Satan here amongst us I. When under the plausible Appearance of Advanceing God's Honour in some of his Attributes he renders him Odious and Despis'd in Others Vnder the plausible Appearance and Colour of Advancing God's Honour in some of his Attributes to render him Odious and Despised in other Thus for Instance By infusing into Men's Hearts a Belief that God has Created the far greatest Part of the World on purpose to manifest his Dominion and Power and Justice in Damning them afterwards for their Sins he Robs him of the Honour of being a Gracious Merciful and Good God to the utter abolishing of all Veneration towards him and Love of him Insomuch that the very Atheist who denies there is a God does not so much Affront him as even a sober Heathen thought as those who think so Dishonourably of him II. When under the Colour of Advancing Gospel truths he propagates Heresies which do undermine Religion and the Necessity of a holy Life Secondly Vnder the Colour of Setting up as the most precious Gospel Truths some Opinions that seem to have a great Resemblance of Truth he brings in such Heresies into the Church as do utterly undermine Religion and the necessity of a good Life Thus by his Teaching that Christ has so Paid the whole Debt for our Sins that the vilest Wretch that Lives need no more but be perswaded that he is an Elected Person and that the Promises belong to him on the Assurance of his particular Election and that such a Faith as this will save him But by Vertue of such an Opinion of Satan's infusing no doubt you shall too often find an Envious Malicious Viper a Covetous Worldling a Rebel and an Adulterer even before his Sins are Repented of talk of Recumbing and Leaning upon Christ and Roling upon the Promises as they are pleas'd to express it with more Assurance than the best and holiest Livers and the faithfullest Servants of Christ III. When he teaches to prefer some eminent Christian Duty or some Part of a Duty or one Way of performing a Duty to the disparagement of another Thirdly A most fatal and mischievous Delusion of Satan rise amongst us in this Nation at this Day is his Teaching Men to prefer some Eminent Christian Duty or One Part of a Duty or One way and manner of performing a Duty to the Disparagement of another Thus you shall often see some careless whether they come to Prayers or not so they can be but at the Sermon and others on the contrary say they care not whether they shall hear a Sermon in their Lives so they can have but Prayers But the most notorious Cheat he puts upon Men is his infusing into their Hearts to Prefer One Part of a Duty to the utter Contempt of the other Thus because in the Worship of God in Prayers and Praises to perform this with an Hearty inward Devotion is principally required and we are commanded that since God is a Spirit Christians must Worship him in Spirit and in Truth As to prefer Prayer to the neglect of Preaching or Sermons to the Contempt of Prayer Hence vast Numbers of Men do conclude that Outward Reverence by Kneeling lifting up the Eyes and the like is a meer Outward Ceremony not at all necessary under the Gospel insomuch that God is now most highly Dishonour'd even in our Publick Assemblies where we come to do him Honour by the shameful want of Reverence appearing in most People by sitting at their very Prayers So true it is what One said That such a rude and slovenly Kind of Religion As also praying in Spirit to the regard of Bodily Worship hath made its way into the World by this Policy of Satan and such a shameful Carelessness in Divine Worship that should a Stranger to our Religion come into our Assemblies he could not by the Carriage of the Generality of People imagine what they were doing and that they were Worshiping of the glorious Majesty of Heaven would perhaps be one of the last Things he could Conjecture And Extemporary Prayer to the utter Contempt of Forms of Prayer But the most fatal Error of this Kind the most mischievous to the Church and Nation and to Men's Souls therein Is the Preferring a way of performing a Duty that is Vnpracticable by the Generality of Christians to the utter Disparagement of another more easy and no less acceptable way of discharging it This is eminently seen in Advancing Extemporary Prayer as the only Spiritual way of Worshiping and in raising Prejudices in the Minds of Christians against Forms of Prayer as not Spiritual enough if at all Lawful It is very certain that the far greatest Part of Christians are utterly unable to Conceive for themselves much less before others such Prayers or Praises as are proper for their Occasions and fit to be Offer'd in Decency and Honour to so Great and Wise a Majesty as God is And this consider'd if Prayers of other Godly Men's nay of a whole Church's composing must not be Us'd does it not necessarily follow that this Principal of all Christian of all Natural Duties must suffer if not a total Neglect at least-wise that it must be very indecently and rudely Perform'd and in too familiar a manner with God as is too usual Why woful Experience does plainly shew us that for this very Reason it does And therefore By this latter Means Satan has utterly Defeated those excellent Helps we have in our Church and brought in a great Neglect of Publick Family and private Devotion tho' no Church through the Care of its Pious Bishops and Pastors did ever Abound with more excellent Forms and Helps and those better fitted for Publick Family and Private Devotion than our Church does at this Day yet upon the account of Men's Prejudices which they have been taught to Entertain against Forms of Prayer as not Lawful or not Expedient or not Spiritual enough never did Persons so sadly Profane the Worship and Service of God so heartlesly join in the Common-Prayer so scandalously throw aside Family Religion and so universally I fear neglect Private Devotion as now they do I fear that those who so zealously decry Forms of Prayer and that on purpose to Advance in its stead a more Spiritual way of Worship as they think will take it ill that
to live in Obedience to Government and therefore these as great as they be are esteem'd but Just and Equal So here in the Government of God over us The Pleasures and Profits of Sin to compass which Men will Transgress the Laws of Heaven are but short true it is but yet being present and the Punishments Threaten'd to 'em being apprehended by most Sinners to be at a great distance they are therefore generally prevailing and Men for that Reason do venture to Transgress the Laws of God a Thing of worse Consequence than the Violation of Humane Ordinances and therefore it is no other than what can be expected from the Justice and Wisdom of the supreme Governour of the World to inflict such infinite and eternal Punishments In short Divine Vengeance as well as Humane must be such as will Over-balance the Reasons and Motives to Sin And the Pleasures and Profits of Sin being present and the Divine Punishments not taking place but in another World according to the Fundamental Rules and Reasons of Government they must be Infinite and Eternal and all little enough or otherwise they will not be sufficient to secure our Obedience to the Laws of Heaven So that there is no Strength in this Argument of Sinful Men against the Justice of Eternal Torments in the behalf of their Lusts whereby they would perswade you as well as themselves into a most dangerous Security and withdraw you from or slacken you in your Duty Secondly Nor are the Duties of our Religion hard Sayings which no Man can bear II. That the Duties of Religion are hard sayings which no Man can bear as they will likewise plead All the Duties enjoin'd us in the Gospel respect either God our Neighbour or our Selves Those to God as we find 'em laid down in pure and undefiled Christianity undefiled I say with the Inventions of Men are no superstitious senseless and uncouth Observances so much the matter of all other Worships besides the Christian but are all of 'em indeed a most Reasonable Service Those which respect our Neighbour are no other than Acts of Justice Peace and Charity the contrary of which would destroy Humane Society or make us Beasts of Prey one to another And as to those Duties we owe to our selves why they are no other than that we should truly and justly value our selves neither overmuch by Pride nor too little by letting base Lusts to reign over us or the inferiour part of our Nature to Domineer it over our Reason and Understanding the Superiour and in all Equity the Governing Part of us And what is there hard in all this that we should quarrel with our Duty except we count it hard that God who has made us reasonable Creatures would not suffer us to Transform our selves into unreasonable Brutes Thirdly And this is a sufficient Answer also to that other Pleading of sinful Men That they are made of Flesh and Blood and therefore sure God will not require Men upon the Forfeiture of Salvation if they do not to mortify the Flesh III. That they are made of Flesh and Blood and that therefore sure God will not require Men upon the forfeiture of Salvation if they do not to mortify the flesh For these Men who Plead thus ought to consider that they consist of Soul and Spirit as well as of Flesh and Blood and as the Soul is Superiour and the Governing Part within us so it is highly reasonable it should have the Obedience of the Other And this is all the Mortification which Religion puts the Flesh to It would keep it in Subjection to the Dictates of Right Reason and that is all And tho' this Mortification of the Flesh is to be exercis'd by Imposing some Severities sometimes upon the Body as by Fasting and Watching c. Yet this is no more to be complain'd of than that Refractory Children and Servants and Subjects must be sometimes kept up under Discipline as there shall be occasion Nay but Lastly say these Men God has set us in a World full of Temptations and abounding with sensual Delights and Pleasures and he therefore who has Plac'd us in it sure will not command us upon Pain of Damnation to Overcome those strong Temptations and to Deny these Pleasures of the World Lastly that God has set us in a World full of Temptations and abounding with sensual Delights and Pleasures and that he therefore who has placed us in it will not command us upon Pain of Damnation to over-come those strong Temptations and to deny these Pleasures of the World And we 'll grant it that he has Plac'd us in a State of Probation and Trial where we have sensual Pleasures and Delights and many other Temptations besetting us on the one side as well as the Rewards of Heaven awaiting us on the other and where were the Vertue and what Place would there be for Reward if there were not those Difficulties to overcome But in short there is not any thing Unreasonable nor a Hardship unsupportable in any thing that God has Enjoin'd us for the same Almighty Goodness which gives us the Command to do these things gives us also the Will and Power to Obey and besides proposes to us Enjoyments infinitely surpassing those Worldly Pleasures as the Rewards of such Obedience And so I have given you sufficient Answers to those false and fallacious Argueings of sinful Men against the Necessity of a Holy Life I know 'em to be too common in the Discourses of such Persons who love their Lusts and therefore I thought it requisite to fortify you against them But to proceed Fifthly Wicked Men will not be content by the secret Influence of their Examples and Company only nor by their false and fallacious Arguments to Tempt you to Sin but Will moreover sometimes add Kindnesses and Promises to oblige you to do ill Things and on the contrary will much discourage you nay sometimes Threaten you to forbear your Duty V. Wicked Men will add Kindnesses Promises to Oblige us to do ill Things and on the contrary will much discourage us nay sometimes Threaten us to forbear our Duty The Kindnesses of Friendship are of all things the most Engageing and if your Choice of a Friend has not been so discreetly and happily made but he happens to be a wicked Man who upon the Score of former Obligations laid upon you will require in Return that some ill Thing should be done by you to serve his Interest you will be drawn thereby into a very great Snare for besides that there is in very many whom we call Good-natur'd Men such an Easiness of Mind that they can hardly deny any thing to those who have once Oblig'd 'em but are ready to Pleasure and Comply with 'em tho' in things most directly contrary to their own Minds and Inclination Besides this if you should refuse to Gratify in any thing One that has done you former Kindnesses the World will
and pass by the Imperfection of the Good they do teaching 'em to apply themselves to the Blessed Virgin and other Saints as Mediators with God for ' em Nay and some of their Doctrines as that of Merits and of Works of Super-errogation do teach 'em proudly to over-value their own Performances and to boast themselves in their Merit And therefore so far must we be from suffering our selves to be perswaded of the Truth of All these and the like Doctrines as Articles of our Christian Faith that we must utterly dissent from them all as unjust and unreasonable Impositions on the Belief of Christians In a word as we must strengthen our selves in the Belief of all those True and Genuine Articles of the Christian Faith so to Believe all these as necessary to Salvation is enough But to Believe more under the Character of Articles of a Christian's Faith especially if they be such Doctrines as do take off the Fears of Sinning and send us to other Mediators betwixt God and Man besides the Man Christ Jesus this is indeed a Belief not only superfluous as being a Belief of more than All the necessary Articles of a Christian's Faith but is a very sinful and criminal and superstitious Perswasion 2. To Believe ALL the Articles of the Christian Faith is not only to assent to All and every of those Articles in the Gross but to be fully perswaded of all and every of those single Truths contained in each of those Articles 2. To Believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith is to be fully perswaded of all and of every of those single Truths contain'd in each of those Articles Every one of the Articles of our Christian Faith is full of a great deal of Meaning and many of them do contain Truths of various Kinds and Importance Thus for Instance To believe that Jesus Christ was Crucified Dead and Buried does import this Comfortable as well as Fundamental Doctrine of Christianity That the Only Son of God suffered Death upon the Cross for our Redemption and that he made there by that one Oblation of himself once offered a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice Oblation and Satisfaction for the Sins of the whole World And accordingly it is said 1 Pet. 3.18 That Christ once suffered for Sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God And 21.24 it is said That he himself did bear our Sins in his own Body on the Tree But then this is not the whole that is meant in that Grand Article but also this other Doctrine That he suffered to Redeem us from all Iniquity that is he suffered on the Cross the Punishment of our Sins that we seeing how odious a Thing Sin is which could not be Atton'd for by a Sacrifice less valuable than the Blood of the Son of God might therefore abhor it and forsake it And this is also taught us in the very place now cited from St. Peter viz. 1 Epist 2.24 He his own self bear our Sins in his own Body upon the Tree that we being dead to Sin should live unto Righteousness A Heretick must be such by Believing only of one of those Truths contained in the Article And now a Person may become Guilty of Heresy by believing only One of those Truths contain'd in the Articles And accordingly there are Two opposite Heresies which do at this day most grievously afflict the Church of Christ amongst us and they do divide these two great Doctrines contain'd in this one Article betwixt ' em And they are therefore Heresies because they do so divide 'em and do not each of 'em Believe both these important Doctrines The Antinomians do Believe indeed that Christ did satisfy the Divine Justice for our Sins but so as to leave no Conditions to be perform'd by them And the Socinians on the other side owning that he came to draw us off from Sin deny that he made any Satisfaction for us So that both do fundamentally Err in the Faith tho' they Believe the Article in the gross that Christ was Crucify'd Dead and Buried because neither of them Believe the whole Truth contain'd in that Article And therefore as you must Believe All the Articles so All those Divine and Necessary Truths which are contain'd in every Article of your Christian Faith according to the full Explication and Meaning thereof given us in the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds These Creeds do not contain more or different Articles of Faith than the Apostle's Creed does but in these Creeds many Articles of our Christian Faith are exprest in the full Sence and Importance of 'em in opposition to those Heresies which did and do still pervert or restrain the Meaning of those Articles And thus you also see how you are to Believe All the Articles of your Christian Faith that you are not only to Believe every One of 'em but all that Divine Truth which is contained in each And so as I have before laid before you how you are to Renounce the Devil the World and the Flesh so now what it is to Believe all the Articles of your Christian Faith And so it only remains and then I shall have fully Explain'd to you all the Conditions of the Covenant of Grace that I shew you next what it is to Obey God's Holy Will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the days of our Life THE XXIII Lecture Thirdly That I should obey God's holy Will and Commandments and walk in the same all the days of my Life I Hope I have sufficiently Explain'd unto you the Two first Conditions bound upon you in your Baptismal Covenant as indispensibly necessary to your obtaining the Benefits of it which Conditions are First that you should Renounce the Devil c. Secondly That you should Believe c. And now I come to the Third which is That you should Obey c. And that I may fully and to the purpose Explain this to you I will First Lay before you what it is to Obey God's Holy Will and Commandments or how far you must be Obedient to the Holy Will and Commandments of God as ever you will hope to obtain Salvation or to be Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven Secondly I will shew you what it is to Walk in the same all the Days of your Life or how long you must persevere in such Obedience which must be to the End of your Lives And Thirdly I will clear the Doctrine of Evangelical Obedience as so stated from those Doubts that may be raised against it And First I. What it is to obey God's Holy Will and Commandments Because nothing can be more necessary for you to be Instructed in than the Measures of that Obedience now under the Gospel or Covenant of Grace upon the performance of less than which you cannot expect to be made Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven I will with what clearness I can shew you How far we must be Obedient
did bid him go and Anoint David King which Service was sure to draw upon him the implacable Hatred of Saul through the sudden force of that frightful Thought instead of Obeying he answers again saying How can I go for if Saul hear of it he will kill me 1 Sam. 16.1 2. So that as for those Slips which we do unwillingly commit through either of these Causes of Inconsideration they are a matter of God's Mercy and will be graciously born with and forgiven now under the Gospel and Covenant of Grace for all those Persons now mention'd as guilty of the like St. Paul Job and Samuel were in a State of Grace and the dear Children of God I say therefore they will be graciously born with and forgiven Provided first we never be guilty of 'em Ignorance Inconsideration excuse not these Sins 1. Which we have time to understand and observe nor 2. Crying Sins nor 3. Those we do not endeavour against nor lastly Which we are not sorry for when we have understanding of and time to observe 'em nor secondly in any great and crying Sin as Murder Adultery c. for no Man can pretend he did unwittingly commit such things as a Man's Conscience will presently start at Provided thirdly we do endeavour and strive and watch against 'em And lastly after we find that we have fallen into'em provided we be sorry and earnestly beg God's Pardon for ' em Provided thus such Slips and Infirmities as we do commit unadvisedly and inconsiderately shall not be laid to our Charge And thus you see that our unavoidable Infirmities and our unwilling Transgressions which through an unaffected Ignorance and an involuntary Inconsideration we do commit shall not be imputed to our Condemnation now under the Gospel or Covenant of Grace And this is the first great Difference between the First Covenant wherein the least Sin was unpardonable and this Second Covenant or the Covenant of Grace wherein through the Mediation of CHRIST all our unwilling involuntary Infirmities shall be graciously pass'd by The 2d Difference betwixt Legal and Evangelical Obedience That our wilful more heinous Sins when repented of through the Mediation of Christ according to the Terms he has obtained for us in the Covenant of Grace shall be forgiven us The Second great Difference is That even our wilful and more heinous Sins when by our Repentance we bewail and forsake 'em and take better care to avoid 'em for the future they also through the Mediation of Christ according to the Terms he has obtained for us in the Covenant of Grace shall be forgiven us and not prejudice our being Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven Among the Jews according to the strictness of Moses's Law the Punishment took place upon the first wilful Breach He that despised Moses 's Law saith the Apostle if it were in an instance where the Law threaten'd Death died without Mercy Heb. 10.28 A Man that had committed Adultery or Murder or any other Crime whereof Death was the establish'd Punishment was to Die without Remedy for no Sacrifice would be accepted for him nor would the Law admit of any Favour or Dispensation But when Christ came into the World his Business was to abrogate all the Rigour of Moses's Law as well as that of the First Covenant and to Preach an Universal Pardon upon Repentance Now under the Covenant of Grace God doth not cast us off upon the Commission of every Sin but as he is heartily desirous that we should repent of it according to that of Ezek. 33.11 As I live saith the Lord I do not delight in the death of a Sinner but rather that he return and live So when we repent he has oblig'd Himself by his Truth and Faithfulness to forgive it according to that of St. John Epist 1.9 If we confess our Sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our Sins Remission of Sins upon Repentance the great Doctrine of the Gospel This is the great Doctrine of the Gospel which is a Covenant of Remission of Sins upon our Repentance and therefore our Saviour when he began himself to Preach it he said Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Matth. 4.17 And when he left the World he commanded his Disciples that they should declare to the World the Pardon of Sins upon their Repentance for so St. Luke tells us Ch. 24.47 that he gave 'em in Charge That Repentance and Remission of Sins should be preach'd in his Name to all Nations Thus has God provided us of Means which will most certainly restore us to his Favour He has not left us in a forsaken State but has prescribed us this Method of Repentance to recover us out of it Repentance will be accepted to our pardon for our known or secret Sins whether wilfully or unwillingly committed but now forgot though generally repented of and to be the great Instrument of our Pardon and Reconciliation And our Repentance through the Mediation of Christ will be accepted for our Pardon whatever our Sins have been whether known or unknown whether they have been wilful or involuntary Sins First Our unknown or secret Sins which whether wilfully or unwillingly we have committed but now we have forgot shall be forgiven us upon our hearty though general Prayer to God to forgive us such as was that of David O cleanse me from my secret Faults Psal 19.12 and upon our diligent care hereafter not knowingly and wilfully to transgress any of God's Laws And Secondly Our most unknown and wilful Sins even they shall also be forgiven us if for every particular Sin we know our selves to have committed 2. For our most known and wilful Sins if particularly repented of we particularly repent of it by confessing it to God and by taking care to amend and forsake it for the future 'Till we are reclaim'd indeed from our former Sins and are become God's dutiful Sons and faithful Servants for the present and for the future it is not consistent with the Honour of his Justice and Holiness with the Authority of his Laws and with the Wisdom of his Government to receive us into his Favour But as soon as ever we are conscientiously reform'd from our Sins he will be reconciled to us if we are heartily sorry for what has been past and amended for the future and in case of Injury or Wrong done to God or Man we undo as much as in us lies what has been done amiss by making amends and reparation for what we have injured either We cannot be said to repent of a Sin unless we undo And in case of Injury to Man if Restitution be made as much as in us lies what has been done amiss Therefore if any one has offended his Neighbour and given him just cause of Anger against him he that will truly repent and expect that God will hear his Prayers for his Pardon must go and acknowledge his Offence endeavour to
Care our Heavenly Father hath taken in this great Affair to call us to this state of Salvation And we have seen and do testify says St. John that the Father hath sent the Son to be the Saviour of the World 1 Epist 4.14 And how hath he sent him to save it Why as was long before Prophesied Isai 61.1 He put the Spirit of the Lord upon him to preach the Gospel to the Poor he sent him to heal the broken-hearted to preach deliverance to the Captives and recovering of Sight to the Blind to set at liberty them that are bruised to preach the acceptable Year of the Lord Luke 4.18 19. Such was the very earnest Care of the Father that he Commissioned and sent his own Son to invite us his Rebellious Creatures and Subjects to lay down our Rebellious Arms against him and to embrace those Overtures and Conditions of Mercy and Salvation that he offered to us by the Preaching of the Gospel Nor was the Ever-blessed Son of God less intent upon this Blessed Work The Ever-blessed Son of God no less intent upon this blessed Work than the Father No sure it was his Meat to do the Will of Him that sent him and to finish his Work John 4.34 It was his Meat and Drink to save Men's Souls and therefore He went about doing good Acts 10.38 Doing good that is Executing that Office to which the Father had Authorized him in order to the Salvation of Men that Office of Mercy instructing and calling of the World to Repentance and in order to that winning 'em to it by other Works of bodily Charity with which carnal Men are most taken as Curing their Diseases Casting out Devils by the Power of him who was present with him He went about doing good of all kinds but all in order to the good of Men's Souls and he was zealous also to the highest degree in this blessed Work How mightily he importuned us to come into this state of Salvation For good God! with what mighty Importunity and winning Rhetorick did he the Son of GOD address himself to his own foolish Rebellious Subjects to come into this state and to receive freely the Means of Salvation Ho every one that thirsteth cries he as the Evangelical Prophet represents him bespeaking the World Isa 55.1 2 3. come ye to the Waters and he that hath no Money come ye buy and eat yea come buy Wine and Milk without Money and without Price Wherefore do you spend Money for that which is not Bread and your Labour for that which satisfieth not Hearken diligently unto me and eat ye that which is good and let your Soul delight it self in fatness Encline your Ear and come unto me hear and your Soul shall live and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you even the sure Mercies of David It is not to be expressed nor imagined with what mighty Zeal and Perswasion he did himself whilst on Earth pursue this blessed Work of our Salvation He has left a Succession of Ministers behind him to do the like Nor was he contented himself whilst on Earth thus to call us into this state of Salvation but moreover when he was to leave the World he provided a Succession of Ministers which he has left behind him to continue to the end of the World to do the same good Office under him for the Salvation of Mankind empowering them with the Gifts of the Holy Ghost to enable 'em to do it effectually As my Father hath sent me so send I you John 20.21 And accordingly has he committed it to our care as he made it his own to Preach the Gospel to Mankind to make known the Love of God as manifested in Christ to the World to receive those that Believe into the Covenant of Grace and Society of Christians by Baptism and by this means to call you into a state of Salvation And as he hath committed to us the Word of Reconciliation we therefore as the Ambassadors for Christ and as though God did beseech you by us we do pray you in Christ's stead to be reconciled to God 2 Cor. 5.19 20. We are perpetually preaching and declaring this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this good Tydings to you we instruct you in the Nature of that Salvation which is wrought for you we direct you to the means of attaining it and with all the powerful Motives drawn from the Word of GOD we do all we can to move you to seek this Salvation in the way that infinite Wisdom has appointed for the attaining of it And what I beseech you can be done more What can be done to call you into a State of Salvation if this will not When God our Heavenly Father when Jesus Christ his Son when his Holy Spirit by his good Inspirations when his Apostles Evangelists and a whole Succession of Pastors and Teachers since do spend so much Care upon this one Work what can be done more to save you Nay What could have been done more to my Vineyard that I have not done in it Will God most justly expostulate with us as he did with the Jewish Church Isa 5.4 which brings me to the Last thing which was to be spoke to in the Explication of these Words I am now upon viz. what infinite reason we have Heartily to Thank Almighty God our Heavenly Father that he hath Called us to this State of Salvation through Jesus Christ our Saviour And indeed it is a matter that infinitely deserves the deepest Sense and utmost Acknowledgements of the Divine Goodness to us whether we consider barely the Advantages of having GOD in Covenant with us or our own singular Happiness of being Called into it And First This great matter of Thankfulness whether we consider 1. The extraordinary Advantage of having God in Covenant with us As to the extraordinary Advantage it is to have GOD in Covenant with us which I have frequent occasion in this Argument to mind you of and consequently that it affords great matter of our Praise and Thanksgivings to him upon that account it is worthy your Notice that in this case GOD does condescend even to oblige Himself by Contract and Agreement with us whom he might Oblige to Odedience by his mere Authority without any Assurance of Reward that if we will but do our part Repent Believe and Obey he will be even bound in Justice having given his solemn Word and Promise for it to confer upon us the richest Blessings that Heaven and Earth can bestow viz. Pardon of Sins and Eternal Life and Happiness Alas if we were left to build our Hopes meerly upon the Merit of our own Righteousness and Vertue we could none of us have the least Expectations of obtaining as the Reward thereof such unspeakable Blessings as are now laid up in Heaven for us But GOD condescending by Covenant to engage himself to make 'em good to us we have thereby the fullest Assurance given us that we
Obedience to 'em insomuch that God will reckon himself as has been before said in Justice and Faithfulness bound both upon the account of Christ's Purchase and his own Covenanted Promises to forgive us our Sins as you may see 1 Joh. 1.9 and will then own us to have a Right to the Tree of Life Rev. 22.14 We shall then I say have a Right and Title to the Blessings of the Covenant not by virtue of any outward Merit and Desert in our Performances but by virtue of the Divine Promises and Engagements to those who having solemnly entred into Covenant with him do take care faithfully to perform the Conditions of it So that this alone gives us mighty Assurance of the Divine Mercies that we are entitled thereunto by his having Covenanted them unto us as well as he is the more entitled to our Repentance Faith and Obedience because we have Covenanted to perform ' em But yet the more firmly to entitle as God to our Obedience so us to his Mercies because we never take our selves to be so well ensured of the performance of Articles as when we have 'em solemnly sealed to by both Parties God did therefore in compliance with our own Ways and Methods graciously please to Seal to his part the Promises and required us to do the like to our part the Conditions that he might be the better secured of our Covenanted Performances and we of his promised Mercies And then since he has condescended to ensure unto us not only by meer Covenant but moreover to seal unto us these unspeakable Benefits and we on the other side have also sacramentally sealed to the Counter-part of the Covenant the Conditions of it what can there be further thought of to entitle God to our Obedience or us to his Mercies And let this suffice as to the Sacrament or Solemnity whereby we entred into the Covenant of Grace which was by Baptism Baptism as you have seen is an Outward Rite or Sacrament of our Saviour's own Appointment for the solemn admitting of Persons into the Covenant of Grace instituted by Christ for the better Confirmation and Ensurance of its Terms the Promises on God's Part and the Conditions on ours it being thus mutually seal'd to betwixt God and us For agreeably to our Frame and Nature as I have told you which consists of Bodily Senses as well as Spiritual Faculties God has given us besides those most rational Terms and Conditions of the Covenant Recorded in the Gospel being such Promises as are becoming the Wisdom and Goodness of God to make and such Conditions as are highly befitting us to perform besides these he has appointed to us those Outward and Express Solemnities we call the Sacraments to seal these Things betwixt us And because that Baptism is a Rite most significative in it self and would be most acceptable to all sorts of People Jews and Gentiles he was therefore pleas'd to Adopt that to be the Solemnity of our Entrance into and Sealing the Covenant with him And this Covenant you have seen he would have thus mutually Sealed to betwixt Him and us that the Obligations to Performance might be the stronger upon us both to discharge each his Part of the Covenant And thus having spoke to the Sacrament or Solemnity whereby we enter into Covenant exprest in these Words In my Baptism the next thing to be shewed you is the great Obligation which lies upon us to Perform this our Covenant with God THE XXVI Lecture Quest Dost thou then think that thou art bound to Believe and to Do as they have promised for thee Answ Yes verily IN my Exposition of the Preliminary Questions and Answers of your Catechism having already given you a general Account first of the Nature of the Covenant of Grace and secondly of the Sacrament whereby you did solemnly enter into it I shall now think my self Happy if I can but convince you of the mighty Obligations that lie upon you accordingly to perform it And this the Words that I have now read do manifestly lead me to declare unto you for taking the Question and Answer both together they do plainly import this Doctrine viz. The vast Obligations upon us from the Mercies of the Covenant especially from our Vow in Baptism faithfully and conscientiously to discharge our Covenant with God The vast Obligations lieing upon us both from the Mercies of God and our Baptismal Vow to perform the Covenant of Grace And what those several Obligations are which arise from each of these Considerations I will with as much clearness and force of Reason as I can declare unto you And to begin with the Mercies of the Covenant there is not one Article of Grace or Favour on God's Part contain'd therein but if the Nature and Importance of 'em be truly considered they do each of 'em lay inviolable Obligations upon us faithfully and conscientiously to discharge that our Covenant The Obligations thereunto 1. as Members of Christs Church As first if we consider our selves as Members of Christ or Members of the Christian Church why there cannot be a greater Argument to keep us right in a regular orderly Conversation than that one Consideration should be For to be a Member of Christ's Church what else I pray you is it but to be one of those Disciples of our Saviour who by the Preaching of the Word and under the Solemnity and Bond of Sacraments are Called and Chosen out of the rest of the World to live another sort of Life than the World is accustomed to To this purpose it would be exceedingly well worth your while to consult and throughly consider 1 Pet. 2.9 10 11 12. where you have such Characters given of the Church of Christ and the Members of it as speak it to be a selected separated Body of Men who are Consecrated as it were to God's Service And such Inferences are drawn from thence concerning living at an excellent rate upon that very Score as speak the strongest Obligations upon all the Members of Christ's Church to approve themselves therefore upon that very account excellent Men. In the 8th Verse immediately foregoing the Apostle speaking of those who would not come into the Bosom and Pale of the Church he terms them a Disobedient People but coming in the 9 10 11 12. Verses to speak of the Members of the Church But ye says he are a Chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood an Holy Nation a Peculiar People that ye should shew forth the Praises of Him who hath called you out of Darkness into his marvellous Light Which in time past were not a People but are now the People of God which had not obtained Mercy but now have obtained Mercy 11 12. Verses Therefore dearly Beloved I beseech you as Strangers and Pilgrims abstain from Fleshly Lusts which war against the Soul having your Conversation honest among the Gentiles that whereas they speak against you as Evil-doers they may by your good Works which they
the Scripture and given to conduct you to Heaven particularly and especially that you would give an entire Credit to those Great and Fundamental Articles of Christian Faith contain'd in your Creed and that you would so throughly Believe 'em as to be influenc'd by 'em to the performance of the Third thing you engag'd in your Baptism and that was that you would sincerely and entirely obey God's Holy Will and Commandments and walk in the same all the days of your Life This was that Covenant we made with God in our Baptism It was obtain'd for us when we were under Condemnation for the breach of our first Covenant whereby we had rebell'd against God and took part with the Devil For being in this miserable Condition then did the Eternal Son of God sacrifice his own Life to make Satisfaction to the Divine Justice for our Sins and did moreover Mediate with his Father for us that we might be receiv'd into favour upon the Terms now mention'd And he did not only come down from Heaven himself to call us into this State of Salvation but sent also his Prophets Apostles and Ministers as his Embassadors in all Ages to invite Mankind into it and to pray 'em in Christ's stead to be reconciled to God 2 Cor. 5.20 And so many of the World as have hearken'd to that Call have been admitted by Baptism to those Terms of Reconciliation and have in that Solemn Ordinance dedicated themselves to the Service of God and have vowed to perform it as has been now declared To be faithful to which Vow you have all possible Obligations lying upon you and particularly because you have so solemnly at your Baptism sworn to perform it And in order to that since Christian Resolution especially if publickly and solemnly made will have a great force in it to preserve you from the Power of Temptation you must therefore stedfastly resolve to continue faithful in your Covenant only this you must take care of not to resolve so to do in confidence of your own Strength but of God's Grace and Assistance which you must therefore earnestly pray to him for And that you may the better know how to form such Resolution Secondly I am next to shew you the Nature of that Resolution imported in these Words So I will and which will so very much conduce to the performance of your Covenant And by Christian Resolution is meant a peremptory but rational Determination of the Will to a vigorous and speedy Execution of those Vows and Promises made in Baptism notwithstanding all Temptations to the contrary and this publickly delaratively and solemnly made 1. Resolution is a Determination of the Will Before the Mind comes to a Resolution there is usually some Doubtfulness and Hesitation what Course to take but when a Person once puts on a Resolution there is no longer halting between God and Baal the Fault of the unresolved Jews 1 Kings 18.21 The Man is determined within himself to adhere to God And this his Determination must be 2. Fix'd and peremptory opposite to Fickleness and Inconstancy This was the Temper of the Jews the most irresolute People in the World who were continually changing their Gods and their Religion for which the Prophet upbraids ' em Hath a Nation changed their Gods which yet are no Gods But my People have changed their Glory for that which doth not profit Jer. 2.11 And a perpetual round of sinning and repenting and of repenting and sinning again does sadly betray the irresolute Disposition of too many Christians amongst us But 3. Christian Resolution is a Rational Determination of the Will that is It is not a Wilfulness a Stubbornness and an Obstinacy such as makes Men without Reason nay and contrary to Reason to stick unmoveable from an Opinion or to a course of Life they have taken up in despite of all Evidence and Reason to the contrary A Temper very far from being Christian but proceeding from wilful Ignorance and Pride or a sourness and fullenness of Nature Such was that perverse Temper of the Jews of whom Jeremiah complains Jer. 18.12 as being resolute without reason saying We will walk after our own Devices and we will every one do the Imagination of his Heart But a Man of Resolution weighs every thing first before he fixes And the true Method of forming a true Christian Resolution is this The Person who does it as our Saviour represents his Proceeding sits down and considers on the one hand the very great Difficulties and Temptations there are in the Christian Warfare against the World the Flesh and the Devil and moreover that it is better not to Vow than to Vow and not Pay Eccl. 5.4 Nay and he considers his own extream Weakness so as not to be able of himself to Encounter three so formidable Enemies as the World the Flesh and the Devil But then on the other side he considers the Glorious Rewards of those who come off Conquerors that if he does not List himself in God's Service by entring into and often Renewing his Covenant with God he will be a Bond-slave to the Devil and eternally and unavoidably undone and that tho' of himself he is able to do nothing yet through Christ that strenghthens him he can do all things Phil. 4.13 And as the Result of this Consideration he does most rationally and wisely form a fixt and peremptory Resolution to Fight the good Fight of Faith and Maugre all Temptations and Hazards or Losses to continue a faithful Soldier and Servant of his Saviour Christ And this I say is the Importance of that Parable of our Saviour Luke 14.31 32 33. where under the Character of a King going to War against a powerful Enemy considering his Danger and providing accordingly against it he represents how we Christians must form our Resolutions 4. And when the Will is thus Rationally determin'd what course to take then the Resolute Disciple of Christ determines to proceed to a Vigorous Execution of his Vows and Promises This is a part of Resolution opposite to Weakness and Faintness of Purpose as when Persons Wish aad would be glad to do so and so O that I could die the Death of the Righteous said Bulaam Numb 23.10 And also Opposite it is to that Easiness of Disposition a Distemper of Mind which is very falsly but commonly call'd Good Nature which makes Persons ready to yield notwithstanding their former good Purposes to the Importunities Perswasions or Allurements of the next Tempter Thus one of those easie Persons is represented Prov. 7.7 as one whom the Harlot meeting with her much fair Speech caused him to yield so that he went after her straitway as an Ox goeth to the Slaughter or as a Fool to the Correction of the Stocks ver 22. 5. And the Resolute Christian as he determines vigorously so also speedily to put in execution what he has upon mature Deliberation design'd He does not think of putting off his Repentance till another Day
in their Baptismal Covenant And lastly that at the Day oâ— Judgment they will be justify'd or condemn'd according as they have perform'd or not perform'd their Covenant with God All this consider'd I think you would be sensible that there is nothing more fundamentally necessary for every Christian especially for Youth to be acquainted withal than the Nature Terms and Conditions of their Baptismal Covenant It is indeed the General Terms and Conditions only that you have been hitherto instructed in by this Exposition upon the Preliminary Questions and Answers and the more particular understanding of 'em is to be given you in my succeeding Discourses upon the Creed and Decalogue But the most useful Method of Instruction is to begin with Generals and then to proceed to the Knowledge of Particulars And that by both you may be render'd wise unto Salvation may God Almighty grant of his infinite Mercy through Jesus Christ his Son to whom and the Holy Spirit Three Persons and One God be all Honour and Glory Might Majesty and Dominion ascribed both now and for evermore Amen The End of the First Volume THE CONTENTS LECTURE the First THE Meaning of the Word Catechize The Definition of a Catechism page 1 Christian Religion What First a Moral good Life an essential part of Christianity 2 Secondly To act Vertuously upon Christian Principles Thirdly Dependance upon the Mediation of Christ that our imperfect Righteousness may be accepted also necessary 3 Such Dependance the distinguishing Character of a true Christian Dependance upon Christ necessary to take down an arrogant Conceit of our own Righteousness a Temper of Mind most displeasing to God 4 The Nature of Fundamental Principles An Enumeration of Fundamental Principles First The general Doctrine of the Covenant of Grace Secondly The Articles of our Christian Faith 5 Thirdly The Laws of the Ten Commandments Fourthly The Doctrine of Prayer and of the Sacraments A Catechism ought not to be crouded with any thing more than what is purely Fundamental to a good Life here and Happiness hereafter 6 A Catechism is a general Instruction in the fundamental Principles of Christianity Such were the Ancient and Apostolical Catechisms And such is our Church Catechism The Persons that are to be Catechized are every Person 7 The necessity of every Person 's being well grounded in Religious Principles by Catechetical Instruction The Contempt hereof is the effect of Pride and the cause of Ignorance 8 The Seeds of Vertue and Principles of Religion can never be too soon sown in Childrens Hearts However a clear Understanding of Catechetical Doctrines is attainable only by Persons grown up to some Years of Discretion It is not below Persons of any Age or Quality to lay the Foundation of their Knowledge in Catechetical Instruction The End of Catechizing to prepare for Confirmation Confirmation What 9 Confirmation necessary First As a solemn Ratification of the Covenant with God Secondly As it consists in the Episcopal Benediction and laying on of Hands Confirmation Beneficial First As the solemn Profession therein made imprints serious Thoughts and religious Resolutions 10 Secondly As the Episcopal Benediction Prayers and laying on of Hands have spiritual Blessings attending them 11 Catechizing necessary First To the solemn Ratifying of our Covenant with God 12 Secondly To the Receiving Benefit by the Episcopal Benediction Prayers and laying on of Hands 13 LECT II. Catechizing requisite to prepare Persons to be worthy Communicants 15 The want thereof the occasion of People's Ignorance concerning the Sacrament and consequently First of Receiving unworthily Secondly of not Receiving at all 16 Thirdly Catechizing is requisite to Persons being Edify'd by Preaching 17 Fourthly Catechizing necessary to prevent being seduc'd into dangerous Errors 18 Lastly Catechizing is exceedingly necessary First to preserve Youth from ever falling into an Ungodly way of living 19 Secondly To recover out of it when fallen therein 20 LECT III. The reason wherefore the Catechism begins with asking the Catechumen his Christian Name is to put him in mind of his Christian Profession The Force there is in a Christian Name to make a Man lead a Christian Life as under that Name having Listed himself First a Disciple of a most holy and excellent Religion 24 Secondly a Servant of a most Holy and Just God Thirdly to Fight against the World the Flesh and the Devil Fourthly as under that Name he professes to believe such Articles as are the most powerful Motives to deny all Ungodliness Fifthly to obey the most righteous Laws Lastly as having under that Name received Promises of most powerful Assistances to do all this 25 The bad Lives of Nominal Christians do an infinite Prejudice and Dishonour to Christianity It hinders the Conversion of Infidels It puts bitter Reproaches in the mouths of Atheists especially when Wickedness is committed under the Guise of Religion Few Men will endure their worldly Calling to be put at naught and reproacht 26 An Exhortation therefore to Christians to stand upon the Dignity of their Christian Name and Profession First as that which is more considerable than Titles of Honour Secondly because of that near Alliance there is between the Christian Name and Profession Thirdly Because the primitive Christians did in vertue of the Christian Name resist the fiercest Temptations 27 Fourthly Because of the Indecency of living unsuitable to the Christian Name and Profession Fifthly That to quite other Purposes we gave up our Names to be Christians Sixthly most Christian Names afford some Examples of Vertue which should prompt Christians to an Imitation of those who were Eminent under those Names 28 And therefore Parents are advis'd to choose for their Children the Names of Persons Eminent for Vertue not Infamous for Vice 29 LECT IV. Our Catechism gives an entire Instruction in the Covenant of Grace both generally and particularly First Generally in the Three first Questions and Answers 32 The Notion of a Covenant It is a mutual Agreement 33 As there are Conditions therein on our side so express Promises on the other A View of the Covenant of Grace God having made Man upright and in a capacity never to have violated his Covenant did engage him to a perfect exact and unsinning Obedience Man did violate it 34 The Divine Justice Wisdom and Holiness required Satisfaction Man being himself uncapable to make it by less than suffering an everlasting Punishment The Son of God undertook First to satisfy for the Breach of the First Secondly to Cancel it and in its stead to make a Covenant of Grace consisting of Conditions performable in our fallen state Wherein Repentance Faith and a sincere Obedience is accepted instead of a perfect exact and unsinning Obedience 35 It resembles Articles of Accommodation made thro' the Intercession of a Prince's Eldest Son betwixt him and his Rebellious Subjects 36 Little more of universal Concernment to be known but the Articles of this Covenant The Catechetical Method most useful to that Purpose 37 LECT V. A Member of
the Vnity in Trinity and of the Trinity in Vnity till I come to the Article And I Believe in Iesus Christ his only Son in which I shall prove the Divinity of the Son in respect of whom principally it is that God is stiled the Father and together with whom and the Holy Ghost the difficulty is to conceive how he should be one To proceed then I shall consider here in their order each of the three former Truths explaining their full Meaning and Importance and shewing the particular Influence each of 'em is to have in the renewing of our Depraved Natures and the Reforming of our Lives and Manners And 1. I am to declare unto you the Nature and Infinite Perfections of that Divine Being which we call God I Believe in God The Knowledge of God's Nature and Attributes highly necessary The Knowledge of God as it is the most Noble Knowledge in respect of the Object whose transcendent Excellencies deserve our most inward and retired Thoughts and can never be sufficiently meditated upon by us so it is the most useful Knowledge in the whole World for there is no Attribute in the Divine Nature but being understood does teach some Vertue or other and all of 'em do necessarily create in the Minds of those who do consider them the highest Veneration Love and Honour towards that Being which does possess ' em The Truth of it is to the want of a due Knowledge of the Divine Nature and Attributes and to Men's Misapprehensions concerning 'em to this for the most part are owing all those higher Enormities which the more degenerate Race of Sinners do commit as Atheism Superstition and whatever other unrepented Habits of Sin The short-sighted Atheist does not behold God as the First Cause of All Things and the Fountain of all those Perfections which are found in the Creatures and therefore he does as Ignorantly as Impiously deny his Being On the other side the Superstitious Religionist does look upon him as a Morose and Arbitrary a Humoursome and Captious Power and therefore does study to flatter him with servile Rites and Observances instead of paying him a Reasonable Service such as the Scripture does prescribe And on the contrary the loose Libertine frames his Notions of God as of one that is wholly made up of Mercy to the Impeachment of his Justice and Holiness and to the utter disanulling the Truth of all his Fearful Threatnings and thereupon does live securely in those Habits of Sin in which he has long indulg'd himself and that without Thoughts of repenting of 'em so mischievous are the Effects of Ignorance and Error concerning the Divine Nature But besides and above all it is to be consider'd that the Knowledge of the Nature and Attributes of God is of such mighty Consequence that it is made the great Condition of Life and Happiness This is Life Eternal to know Thee the only true God Joh. 17.3 As well it may since there is no entring therein 'till we are conform'd to the Image of God but how can we imitate that Nature and those Perfections which we have little or no Knowledge of Not that the Divine Nature can be known to Perfection It is one Attribute thereof that it is Incomprehensible But so far as God has Reveal'd himself to us in the Holy Scripture so far we may safely enough declare that we know him And contenting my self with those accounts which we may be able to derive from thence concerning him I shall adventure to give this very imperfect Description of God Namely That he is a Self-existent Being An Enumeration of the Divine Attributes of Infinite and Incomprehensible Perfections viz. a Spirit Immense and Omnipresent Omnipotent Eternal Independent and All sufficient Immutable that he is a Being transcendent in Knowledge Wisdom Goodness Justice Truth and Holiness and as the Result of all that he is an infinitely Happy and Glorious Majesty And I. I say God is a SELF-EXISTENT BEING 1. He is a Self-Existent Being He it is that is Being it self or self-existent whereas all other Beings whether things in Heaven or things on Earth derive their Being from him and may yet be deprived of their Being or Anihiliated by him But as it is impossible that God shou'd ever heretofore not have been so it is impossible he should ever hereafter cease to be And this is said both by Jews and Christians to be the importance of the word Jehovah by which he would be distinguished from the Crew of Pagan Gods They either had no Being but in the fancy of their Worshippers or else were but meer Creatures Deified by the Superstition of Men but the God whom we serve is and ever was the same from all Eternity and therefore does give that strange account of himself when Moses would needs know by what Name he should set him forth to the People I am that I am thus shalt thou say unto the Children of Israel I am hath sent me unto you Exod. 3.14 II. And as he is necessarily Existent 2. Infinitely Perfect so he is a Being infinitely PERFECT that is all possible Perfection is included in his Nature so that nothing of Perfection can be conceiv'd or seen by us in any of the Creatures but it is infinitely greater in God To understand this we must consider that he is the first Cause of all things for of him and thro' him and to him are all things to whom be Honour and Glory for ever Amen Rom. 11.36 And being whatever Perfection is found in the Effect must needs be eminently greater in the efficient Cause that produc'd it it must therefore follow that considering those manifold and vast Perfections which are found in all the Creatures from the lowest to to the highest God who Created all these and gave 'em these several Perfections must be himself infinitely Perfect such Reason had Zophar in Job 11.7 to cry out Canst thou by searching find out God canst thou find out the Almighty unto Perfection Which brings me III. To shew that as he is of Perfections infinite in themselves 3. Of Incomprehensible Perfections viz so of such as are INCOMPREHENSIBLE by us And indeed how is it possible it should be otherwise For all our Faculties are finite and how then shall we be able to reach that Height or to fathom that Depth of Perfection which is in God It is high as Heaven what canst thou do deeper than Hell what canst thou know The measure thereof is longer than the Earth or broader than the Sea Job 11.8 9. Such reason had St. Paul in Admiration of the Incomprehensibleness thereof to cry out Rom. 11.14 O the depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and of the Knowledge of God how unsearchable are his Judgments and his ways past finding out It is indeed impossible for us to have any Adequate Conception of God or throughly to comprehend his Nature But however we may be able to know a great
of the Will And so great a Perfection it is that this is his Beloved Attribute insomuch that whereas the Exercise of Severity the Act of his Justice is called his strange Work Isa 28.21 Mercy which is the Issue of his Goodness is that which he delighteth in Mich. 7.18 And the Nature of it is this That he is both Infinitely Excellent in his own Nature and communicates thereof in various degrees to his Creatures He is transcendently Good in his own Nature insomuch that in comparison of him none of his Creatures can be termed Good There is none Good but God Matth. 19.17 And he loves out of the inexhaustible Fountain of his own Goodness to communicate himself to his Creatures The Eyes of all Things wait upon Thee O Lord and thou givest 'em their Meat in due Season Thou openest thine Hand and fillest all things living with Plenteousness Psal 145.15 16. The Divine Goodness goes under various Titles according to the difference of the Objects towards which it is exercis'd And according as the Objects towards whom his Goodness is exercis'd do differ accordingly is his Goodness distinguish'd and the Attribute it self goes under several Names Consider him as shewing his Goodness to the whole Creation in general and he is Bountiful in alotting to every one of his Creatures their proportion of Happiness agreeable to their several Natures and Capacities Whence it is said that his Mercy is over all his Works Psal 145.9 Towards all Men God bears a Philanthropy and Loving Kindness Consider next his Kindness to the whole Race of Mankind as well those who are wicked as those who are good and his Goodness is then Philanthropy and Loving Kindness whereby he communicates manifold Blessings and in great Measures to all Men indifferently and is sincerly desirous of their Happiness Hence he maketh his Sun to rise on the Evil and on the Good and sendeth Rain on the Just and on the Vnjust Math. 5 45. More particularly Towards the Wicked he is long-suffering and patient Consider him next as exercising this his Goodness towards wicked Men and impenitent Sinners and then he will appear to be exceedingly Long suffering and Patient The Lord is Long-suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance 2 Pet. 3 9. Consider him as exerting himself nay striving to reclaim these unhappy Men that they may not run themselves headlong into Sin and Misery and then he is Gracious Gracious and his Goodness is call'd the exceeding Riches of his Grace as well it may Eph. 2.7 And then next to this Consider him as pardoning Sinners upon their Repentance and Amendment and his Goodness is then Mercy and Forgiveness Merciful and forgiving And thou art a God ready to pardon Gracious and Merciful slow to Anger and of Great Kindness Neh. 9.17 Ay who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth Iniquity and passeth by the Transgression of his Heritage He retaineth not his Anger for ever because he delighteth in Mercy Mich. 7.18 Thus is he good toward the very wicked But then Consider his Goodness towards the Good and Vertuous Towards the Vertuous he bears a Complacency and Delight those who love and obey him and it is Complacence and Delight in them whereby he cherishes 'em as his Children protects 'em from Dangers or delivers 'em out of them or at leastwise turns all to their Good in the end All this even in this Life O how Great is thy Goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the Sons of Men Psal 31.19 But lastly consider we his Goodness to such hereafter in rewarding those who have been his obedient Servants and there wants then a word to express his Goodness the Measures of it are so exceeding great since neither Eye hath seen nor Ear heard neither hath it enter'd into the heart of Man to conceive what he hath laid up for those that love him 1 Cor. 2.9 Such is the Goodness of God in all the Branches and Issues of it It is not a Fondness to some particular Persons which fixes by Chance and Humour upon 'em and then overlooks their Miscarriages and can see none of their Misdeservings Nor is it an Easiness that will be wrought upon by meer Importunities to pardon the Sins of unrepenting and hardn'd Sinners Nor lastly is it a Tenderness that relents at the sight of a miserable Object and will therefore rescue the Wicked out of their Everlasting Miseries because it cannot bear their Sighs and Groans No certainly his is the Goodness not like that of a fond Mother but of a wise Governor For X. As God is transcendent in Goodness so also in JUSTICE X. Transcendently Just which is another Moral Perfection in the Rational Nature And being the highest Perfection of the Creature is but a meer Shadow of the Divine Excellencies the Righteousness of the most perfect Saints falls infinitely short of the Justice of God which is That Rectitude of the Divine Nature whereby he neither wills nor acts any thing but what is perfectly agreeable to the highest Reason Governs the World by the most Righteous Laws and passes a most just Judgment upon every Man according to his Works without respect of Persons He neither wills nor acts any thing but what is agreeable to the highest Reason And it is no less than Blasphemy to represent God Both willing and acting agreeably to the highest Reason as if he govern'd the World by meer Will and arbitrary Pleasure having no regard to the Qualifications of those whom he justifies or condemns but made Millions of Men and even before he created 'em reprobated 'em to Eternal Damnation meerly to shew the Power of his Justice as they will call it but such would rather deserve the Name of the cruel'st Tyranny in condemning 'em afterwards to Everlasting Torments But far be it from any pious Mind to conceive thus unworthily of God He will be found indeed to inflict the most dismal and terrible Punishments upon both Devils and wicked Men but that will be upon such justifiable Reasons as will leave even the Damn'd themselves and that in the mid'st of all their Tortures without Excuse For why Governing the World by the most Righteous Laws He governs the World by the most Righteous Laws such as are best suited to the Nature and Faculties of Reasonable Creatures and which do all of 'em tend to perfect our Natures even to the rendring us like to God and his Holy Angels whereas the Courses and Ways of Life opposite to his Laws do debase Men below the Vileness of the Beasts that perish and render 'em Bruits and Devils in their Natures and Dispositions Rewarding every Man according to his Works And as all God's Laws are infinitely Reasonable and Just so he never sails to pass a most righteous Judgment on every Man according to his Works Both the Rewards of the Righteous and of the Wicked will be greater or less proportionable to the Good and Evil of their Deeds but both the one and the other will be endless and everlasting That the very imperfect Vertues of good Men should be so extraordinarily recompenc'd even with unspeakable and endless Joys none do complain of as any thing contrary to Equity and Reason But there are some who are ready to object against the Justice of God's Alotments with respect to the Wicked that he should punish momentany and transient Sins with eternal Woes and Miseries But to clear the Divine Justice of any Hardship contrary to Reason and Equity in this it must be consider'd that these Everlasting Punishments are Legal Penalties which the Great Law-Giver does inflict for the Violation of his Laws And if all wise Law-givers who will preserve the Authority of their Government and Edicts find it necessary to inflict sometimes severer Penalties for lesser Crimes in their own Nature and indeed be the Offence what it will such as are sufficient to deter Offenders from the Violation of their Laws and to secure their Government over their Subjects The Infliction therefore of Eternal Punishments are no more than Necessary and Reasonable since as great as they are considering the Allurements to Sin are present and consequently more tempting and these Punishments apprehended at a great distance they are found little enough to restrain obstinate and perverse Sinners from persevering in Wickedness In short all those Kinds Measures and Degrees of Punishment are Just Equitable and Reasonable which are no more than necessary to preserve the Authority of Government and the Sacredness of its Law And thus may the Justice of God be fairly accounted for as rewarding no otherwise than according to Men's Works tho' he inflicts upon 'em for their Temporary Transgressions Eternal Punishments Rewarding or punishing without respect of Persons Lastly and in all his Alotments and Distributions of Justice he is very Impartial Rewarding or Punishing without respect of Persons for he accepteth not the Person of Princes nor regardeth the Rich more than the Poor for all are the work of his Hands Job 34.19 Such is the Justice of God XI Transcendently True viz. XI And as he is Infinitely Just so he is Transcendently TRVE His Veracity is an Attribute of the greatest importance to be known and consider'd by us And it consists in these particulars That he is Sincere in all his Declarations Faithful in all his Promises and certain to Execute his Vengeance upon Sinners according to his Threatnings
the Articles of our Christian Faith In order to the Explication of which Point 1. I will declare to you the General Nature of those ARTICLES or Christian Truths which are to be Believed 2. I will shew you What it is to BELIEVE those Articles or Christian Truths so as to make us capable of Life and Happiness And 3. I will shew you how we must Believe ALL the Articles of the Christian Faith And First I am to declare to you something in General Articles of Christian Faith of what Nature The whole Bible the Object of a Christian's Faith both concerning the Nature of those ARTICLES or Christian Truths which are to be Believed The whole Bible both Old and New Testament is the proper Object of a Christian's Faith and whatever we find therein Recorded or deliver'd down to us we are to believe as a Divine Certain and Infallible Truth because all things therein contain'd are the Word of Him who will not who cannot Lie who neither can be deceiv'd himself nor will he deceive others As to the Old Testament and the Writings of the Prophets the Old Testament and the Jehosophat in a solemn Assembly of the whole People upon a solemn Fast-day 2 Chron. 20.20 Proclaimed unto them stood up and said Hear me O Judah and Inhabitants of Jerusalem believe in the Lord your God so shall you be Established believe his Prophets so shall ye Prosper And let the Declarations of God Recorded therein be of what Nature they will the Truth of them is by no means to be called in doubt If you will not Believe surely ye shall not be Established Isa 7.9 And so likewise as to the New Testament New Our Saviour upon his Entrance to preach the Gospel did in the first place require of all Men to Believe it Jesus came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and saying The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand Repent ye and Believe the Gospel Mark 1.14 15. And when he was also leaving the World and Commission'd his Disciples to go into all the World and to preach the Gospel to every Creature He declar'd that he that Believeth shall be Saved but he that Believeth not shall be Damned Mark 16.15 16. So that both the Old and New Testament and every part and parcel of Scripture therein contain'd is firmly to be Believ'd as the Divine Certain and Infallible Truth of God And the reason thereof as to the Old Testament is Because Prophecy came not in Old time by the Will of Man but Holy Men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost 2 Pet. 1.21 And we are also firmly to believe all the parts both of Old and New indifferently because all Scripture is given by Inspiration of God and is profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness that the Man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good Works 2 Tim. 3.16 All the parts of it are the Dictates and Word of God himself and are more or less Useful to our Edification and Improvement in Divine Knowledge Faith and Practice And therefore all Ranks and Degrees of Men and of every Age Young as well as Old ought diligently to Study and firmly to Believe the Holy Scriptures The Bereans did so and they were accounted the more Honourable for so doing The Bereans were more Noble than those in Thessalonica in that they Received or Believed the Word with all readiness of Mind and searched the Scriptures daily Act. 17.11 And it is Recorded to the Immortal Honour of Timothy 2 Epist 3.15 that from a Child he had known the Scriptures which were able to make him wise unto Salvation through Faith which is in Christ Jesus Some Truths Revealed in Scripture of greater Importance and Concernment to us than others Well but tho' all Scripture as being the Infallible Word of him who neither can be deceiv'd himself nor will deceive others does Challenge the Belief of every Christian yet among the great multitude of Truths of various Kinds deliver'd in the Scriptures some are of far greater Importance and Concernment to us than others because they do more immediately and directly tend to give us due and worthy Apprehensions of God and to Instruct us in the only sure Method of Salvation by Jesus Christ There are some Principal Doctrines of Christianity which are in their own Nature apt to have a greater Influence upon our Lives and more powerfully to restrain us from a Course of Sin and to unite us to the Practice of Vertue and Holiness than others and when they have done this to send us to God the Father to seek for Acceptance meerly through Christ his Son And upon these and the like accounts therefore such Truths as these are more particularly necessary to be Believ'd by us in order to our Justification before God and to our Salvation in the other World And must therefore be distinctly Known and explicitely Believ'd and are therefore called the Articles of our Christian Faith being a Summary and Collection of such Doctrines out of the Holy Scriptures as are of a more Concerning Nature than the rest All those other Truths of what Nature soever contain'd in the Holy Scriptures are indeed necessary also to be Believ'd at least-wise Implicitely that is we are to be possest with a General Perswasion that they are all certainly true because God has Reveal'd them as such But these latter which we call the Articles of our Christian Faith must be positively and Explicitely Believ'd that is we must throughly understand 'em and be assuredly and distinctly perswaded of each single Truth contained in 'em as without which understanding and perswasion a Good and Christian Life will not be wrought in us nor a reliance on God's Merits in Christ for the acceptance thereof Created in our Souls Such for instance is the Belief that there is a God Some Instances of such Truths for this is the very first Principle of all Religion and must necessarily make us stand in awe and fear of offending him if we throughly believe and consider it Such is the Belief that he is our Father who Created us and all the World for this will make us love him who gave us our Being And such again is the Belief that he Exercises a just and wise Providence in the Government of the World for this will make us submit our selves to all his Dispensations as being the Appointments of One who knows better than our selves what is Best for us And to instance also in some which are the Truths purely of Reveal'd Religion Such is the Belief that the Son of God came down from Heaven to suffer Death for us to Redeem us from the Punishments of Hell for this as it shews us how Odious a thing Sin is when nothing less could satisfy God's Justice against it than the precious Blood of the Son of God and
consequently does extreamly tend to create in our Hearts an utter Hatred to all Sin So hereby we are taught that Christ has made a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice and Satisfaction for the Sins of the whole World And such lastly is the Belief for I need not now stand to mention every Artiticle that all our Bodies shall rise again at the General Resurrection that then we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ to Receive a Just Sentence for whatever we have done in the Body whether it be good or bad for this will make us careful how to lead our Lives so in this World that we may not be Condemn'd in the next These now are some of those Articles of our Christian Faith and are such Divine Truths as are more particularly necessary to be Believ'd by us as containing in them the greatest reason in the World to restrain us from all manner of Sin and to encourage us in the Practice of all Religious Duties And yet are Doctrines withal of extraordinary force to remove all Conceit out of our Minds concerning our own Merits and to make us rely solely upon God's Mercies in Christ for the Acceptance of our most Holy Performances And let this suffice as to the first Thing proposed which was to declare unto you something in general of the Nature of the Objects or of those Truths to be Believ'd the Articles of our Christian Faith And now Secondly I will also shew you what it is to BELIEVE these Truths so as to make us capable of Life and Happiness And if it be ask'd how we must Believe these things What it is to Believe those Truths so as to make us capable of Life and Happiness why we must be so throughly and firmly perswaded of their undoubted Truth as to be accordingly Influenc'd as I have now said by the Belief thereof to the Practice of Good Works and then to betake our selves to Jesus Christ to Intercede with the Father for their Gracious Acceptance Our Belief thereof must be Operative Practical I say our Faith must be such as does Influence us to a Good Life for such is the Faith that St. Paul tells us is now required in the Christian Religion in order to Salvation Gal. 5.6 In Jesus Christ says he neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Vncircumcision but Faith which worketh by Love Some render the words and that more rightly Faith that is perfected by Love which does more expresly signify the Apostle's meaning that that Faith which will save us must be such as is perfected by the addition of those Duties which we owe to God and our Neighbour And St. James does with great Industry shew that the Christian Faith which has the Promise of Justification and Salvation is a Powerful Practical Belief and that none other has any Promise What says St. James 2.14 doth it profit my Brethren tho' a Man saith he hath Faith and hath not Works can Faith save him Faith if it have not Works is dead being alone ver 17. and is no more than what the Devils have for the Devils believe and tremble ver 19. Such was the Faith of Abraham and of all the Saints And the Faith indeed for which the Holy Patriarchs and Saints were Renown'd of Old and are now so highly Rewarded in Heaven was a Powerful Practical and Working Faith indeed which excited them to the highest and the hardest Acts of Obedience that it was possible for Men to perform Thus Heb. 11.17 18. we read that by Faith Abraham when he was tryed offered up Isaac and he that had received the Promises offered up his only begotten Son and he a Son too in whom God had promised him great Blessings And yet at God's Command he readily Obeyed believing that God would be as good as his Promise to him tho' it was by Raising him again from the Dead By Faith Moses when he was come to Years refused to be called the Son of Pharaoh 's Daughter chusing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of Sin for a season esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt for he had respect to the recompence of reward ver 24 25 26. It was a great Temptation to Moses to be made a Prince if he pleased in which Estate he might enjoy the highest Pleasures this World could afford but he Believing that God would infinitely reward him for his Self-denial in refusing such Worldly Honours and Pleasures chose rather to be one of those mean Persecuted People the Children of Israel By Faith Thousands of Blessed Saints before us endured tryals of cruel Mockings and Scourgings yea moreover of Bonds and Imprisonments they were Stoned they were Sawn asunder were Tempted were Slain with the Sword they wandred about in Sheep-skins and in Goat-skins being destitute afflicted tormented of whom the world was not worthy they wandred in Desarts and in Mountains and in Dens and in Caves of the Earth Heb. 11.35 36 37 38. They were terrible Sufferings which the Servants of God in former times have been put to undergo but as dreadful as they were being supported with a firm Belief that they should be infinitely recompenced for their Sufferings and Losses they thereupon chearfully underwent the severest that the Wit or Malice of Men or Devils could invent or inflict upon ' em Such a powerful practical working Faith indeed was that for which the Holy Patriarchs and Saints were of Old Renown'd and are now Rewarded in Heaven A Faith I say which excited them to the highest and hardest Acts of Obedience that it was possible for Men to perform And such a Powerful Practical Active and Working Principle is Faith And such an Operative and Practical Principle is Faith whenever the Things believed are of great Importance or Concernment to us whensoever the things Believed are of great Importance or Concernment to us Some things indeed as an Excellent Person does well observe are of such a Nature that the Belief or Knowledge of 'em goes no farther but rests in it self as the Knowledge or Belief of bare Speculative Truths that do not at all Concern us but some things again are of such a Nature as being once firmly and truly believ'd and known carry a Man out to Action Thus for Example If you should hear another threaten'd that he should certainly be Kill'd if he stir out of his House to morrow it would not hinder you from going Abroad tho' you firmly believe the Threatning because it is a Truth in which you are not Concern'd But the Person so threatned if he does throughly believe the danger will certainly not stir out of his House that Day because it is a Truth that he is very much Concerned in On the other side If you shall hear of a Promise made to another Person of a Thousand Pound if he will be at the Pains to go but to such