both kinds of works shall be recompensed respectively with blessedness and with torments proportionably to the measure and degree wherein the one have been good and the other have been evil This appears from several places of Scripture as likewise from the reason it self Sect. 13 2 Cor. 9.6 He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly but be that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully To restrain this to a reaping i. e. to what a man is like to receive or shall receive in this present World is contrary to several other Scriptures If saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 15.19 in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable Therefore when the Holy Ghost promiseth that they who sow bountifully shall reap bountifully it evidently follows that this must be expounded of what they shall receive from God in the World which is to come And so in Rev. 14.13 where it is said of those that die in the Lord Blessed are the dead c. their works follow them Which shews that their works do not only stand by them or abide with them here while they are in this life but that when they shall go out of this World then blessed are they that die in the Lord for they rest from their labours and their works follow them out of this World into that which is to come The Apostle gives this by way of Motive to press to good works that whatsoever good thing any man doth the same shall he receive of the Lord namely in proportion let a man do but little and he shall receive but little but let him rise as high as he will and be as fruitful as fruitfulness it self can render him he shall receive all and every particular Work and every particular Service in proportion of reward Know my Brethren there is not any of this precious Seed of glory and future blessedness lost there is not one corne or grain of this that shall rot under the clods The Heavens are the fruitfullest soil that can be sown in The Seed that you sow is the precious Seed of Righteousness and true Holiness and you cannot sow too thick of this seed For the Heavens are other manner of Fields than the Fields of this World They may indeed be sowed too thick with seed of another nature which may hinder the fructification thereof but you cannot sow the Fields of Heaven so thick but that your harvest will be answerable Mat. 25.34 c. our Saviour declares how and after what manner he will entreat those that have or shall have ministred unto him in his members Come ye blessed of my Father inherite the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World For I was an hungry and ye gave me meat c. Our Saviour makes this the very reason and account which he gives unto the World why the Saints were admitted into that Kingdom which was prepared for them i. e. for men and women who did act in the World after such a manner because they had done these things namely fed the hungry and cloathed c. By the way to give a little light unto that question Sect. 14 Whether Faith alone justifies or how and in what sense men are justified by works viz. by the Works of the Law Whensoever the Apostle is disputing with the Jews he treats with them according to their own sense which was that they did expect to be justified by the Works of the Law upon a riged account of their own Righteousness and that upon the merit of what they did and that it would be unrighteousness in God not to justifie them upon such terms Now the Apostle argues that by the Works of the Law in this sense no man can be justified Justification is taken two waies in Scripture either for the putting of men into a state of grace and favour with God or else it may be taken for that final judgement or award which God will pronounce unto men in the great Day Now if we speak of the former this no waies depends upon the Works of the Law nor upon any Works whatsoever for then the bare or meer performance of such Works would justifie men Now the Justification which Paul had chiefly to do with the Jews about was the first of these justifications which stands in the remission of sins which he describes in Rom. 4.7 8. Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered Blessed is the man c. This doth not depend upon the Works of the Law for without shedding of bloud there is no remission of sins Heb. 9.22 therefore Justification in this sense doth wholly depend upon the bloud of Jesus Christ and is procured by it and derived unto the Creature which doth believe and accept of him for a Saviour But if you take Justification in the second sense either for Gods approbation of men or for his final award that he shall give unto men this Justification doth depend wholly upon the matter upon mens Works and upon their righteousness For the Sentence of that justification at that day shall be awarded unto men not according as they have believed but according to the righteousness which they have wrought and so Works are necessary when it is said He that condemneth the Righteous and justifieth the Wicked that both are an abomination unto the Lord Prov. 17.15 Now to justifie here and in many other places signifies to approve or discharge from punishment so that for men to approve of the wicked in their evil waies and to discharge them from such punishment which ought to be inflicted on them is an abomination to the Lord. Thus then we see that what the Scriptures speak concerning God's rewarding mens good works it is not to be restrained to any thing they receive from him in this life yea if what God in the Scripture promiseth unto worthy and well-doing or unto men righteous and holy were confined to what they are like to receive from him in this World all the service that any mans righteousness or fruitfulness in well doing would do him would not amount to an exempting of him from being of all men the most miserable according to that passage of the Apostle lately mentioned 1 Cor. 15. If in this life only we have hope in Christ c. But this only by the way Sect. 15 That which we have in hand is this viz. That the good things which men and women do in respect of the reward of them are not limited unto this present life Besides the Scripture already mentioned there are very many others which speak directly as to this viz. that there shall be different degrees of rewards Dan. 12.3 They that be wise shall shin as â—h brightness of the firmament and they that turn many unto righteousnâ—sâ— as the Stars for ever and ever And so Mat. 10 41. He that receivâ—th a Prophet in the name of a Prophet shall receive a Prophets reward which clearly
his beloved Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and compounds it with a Verb which without it signified somewhat more than simply an abundance and so calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Grace superabounding or rather grace superredounding But where sin aboundeth grace superaboundeth or abounded much more Rom. 5.20 Thirdly Sect. 10 A third thing wherein the graciousness and freeness of the Spirit consists Huge Grot. in Rom. 5.20 is that in all that he acts and moves and works in men according to all that variety and manifoldness of working which proceeds from him at any time he doth proceed by his own Laws and these every waies gracious full of equity and sweetness and not by any thing any Law engagement or terms imposed upon him by men When men by having as the Scripture expression is that is by imploying and improving what they have viz. from the Spirit for men have nothing of any spiritual or gracious import but from him come to have more given viz. by this gracious Spirit more light more knowledge more wisdom love zeal courage faithfulness c. they come by this means to have in abundance Now they that have in this sense according to our Saviours promise this advance of his presence and growing tenour of his operation do not procure or draw it from him by any vertue or engagement of merit nor by any terms imposed upon him by the endeavours actings or improvements of their own but only the rich efficacy and vertue of his most gracious good pleasure and will who was pleased to prescribe the Law of this grace and goodness unto himself As when God justifies and saves those that believe he doth it freely of himself and from himself because he hath made this Law unto himself and established it he hath published and declared That whosoever believeth in Jesus Christ shall be justified and consequently saved he doth it freely and of meer grace not by judging himself obliged to do it by any worth or merit found in mens believing and yet he doth it constantly toties quoties and without failing as oft as he meets with believers in Jesus Christ he justifieth them he saveth them And indeed it is impossible he should do otherwise because as the A postle informeth us he cannot lie neither can he deny himself in his truth and faithfulness In like manner the Spirit of God hath prescribed unto himself the like Laws and terms for all his transactions dealings and proceedings with men according to the tenour whereof he will inlarge and advance his presence in the hearts and souls and spirits of men and will not walk contrary to them nor advance or put forth himself in any eminency of working but only where his lower or former motions have been obeyed and consented unto Yet he doth not this because men regard his presence but because he regards his own righteous counsels and purposes That which the Creature doth in this case is but a weak and inconsiderable thing to ingage such an infinite Spirit as the Spirit of God is to do such great things as those in men And as God will not save those that believe because of any merit that is in their Faith but because the counsel of his will is so to do So the Spirit of God will not do as hath been said because of any worthiness in mens compliance with him but he hath made this for a Law unto himself and honoureth his own Law and himself too by observing it To him that hath shall be given and he shall have more abundantly but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath Now we shall prove from that very passage that it is a Law which the Holy Ghost hath made and declares that he would walk by it towards the Sons and Daughters of men in all their succeeding Generations to the worlds end To him that hath that is that shews that he hath that declares that he hath that improves and imploys that which he hath namely that which is given originally to him by way of stock from the Spirit of God to him that thus hath shall be given namely by way of addition he shall have more abundantly he shall still be going on and be having and having and having he shall have and have still At last he shall have abundance he shall have a full and glorious estate in Spiritual riches in wisdom in knowledge in understanding in Faith in humility in love in zeal in temperance in patience and whatever else is necessary to enrich the soul of a man and to prepare him and put him into a capacity of the richest and highest glory So that we see this is a clear and declared method by which the Holy Ghost will proceed with men and women in his communications of himself unto them And though their be nothing in the creature to invite and move him in this kind yet nevertheless there is his own wisdom his own righteousuess and goodness by which he made this Law and imposed it upon himself these are sacred ingagements upon him to do all that he doth in the case we speak of And doubtless there was abundance of reason which did induce him to it whereof though we be not so capable for his Counsels are very deep yet something in the business may with good probability be conceived by us But for the thing it self he it seems will do it as constantly as universally at least in his ordinary dispensations as if it were the greatest injustice in him and most inconsistent with the rectitude and purity of his nature not to do it It may be here objected Sect. 11 and said that the Holy Ghost doth not observe any such Law or Rule in his actings or workings in men as now you ascribe unto him or at least tell us that he hath prescribed unto himself For doth he not sometimes come upon such men that have been formerly prophane vain and sinful above measure Doth he not sometimes come upon such men after some such manner as he came upon the A postles at the time of Pentecost like a mighty rushing wind I mean with an high hand of power and conviction and so in short time works the great work of Conversion and Repentance in them Was not Paul a stiff-necked Pharisee and Blasphemer a Persecutor of the Gospel and of the Saints all his daies before Yea as himself saith the chiefest of sinners And did not the Spirit of God come upon him as a whirlwind with a strong and high hand in an irresistible and miraculous manner to effect his Conversion To this I answer First That when with the Holy Ghost himself we say that unto him that hath shall be given and interpret this to be meant of the Holy Ghost advancing his presence and operations in men even as they hearken unto him and respectively comport with him in his preventing and lower motions And so again on the other hand
great Office and Dignities of the Priesthood as became the Honour and Holiness and Majesty of it then the Priesthood should never have been translated from him And so Acts 27.24 Paul saith that an Angel of God appeared unto him bidding him to be of a good courage God had given him the lives of all that were in the Ship with him Now though this was absolutely delivered unto Paul by the Angel yet in the 31 verse it appears that it was a conditional promise for saith Paul to those in the Ship concerning the Mariners except these abide in the ship ye cannot be saved And so Ezek. 33.13 When I shall say unto the righteous man he shall surely live that is when I shall declare it as my positive and real purpose and intention yet if he shall trust to his own righteousness and commit iniquity notwithstanding this promise of mine in his iniquity he shall dye And indeed more generally all the threatnings of destruction denounced by God against wicked and ungodly persons you shall find them more generally I say if not constantly delivered in positive and absolute forms of speech 1 Cor. 6.9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers c. shall inherite the Kingdom of God Here you see that this threatning against wicked men is deliver'd absolutly And yet we all know that there is a Condition of repentance included which intervening keepeth off the threatning from being executed upon the offender If a man be a covetous person or an unclean person the threatning goeth forth against him absolutely and yet through the grace of the Gospel if this person shall repent and turn him from the evil of his ways he shall not be excluded from the Kingdom of God Jonah 3.4 Yet forty daies and Nineveh shall be destroyed yet we know that forty and twice forty daies passed over their heads and yet the City not destroyed The reason was because the threatning was but Conditional though not a letter or tittle of it did appear unto Jonah untill the event declared it So that when by authority of our Saviour his declaration of that great Law of heaven mentioned touching the Holy Ghosts proceedings and treatings with men in and about the great matters of their Salvation we teach and affirm that the Holy Ghost still advanceth or retreateth in the souls of men as his entertainment is either kind or unkind We do not intend to affirm either that there never was or that there never will be any case wherein he will not take liberty to act above the line of that grace which is stretched over the world in that Law But only thus as hath been already touched that the Law mentioned so understood as has been opened is the common Law it is all the Law God would have the world to take notice of in particular and according unto which he would have men expect measure from him and from his Spirit If sometimes he acts by another Law this is but Lex horae as the Jewish Doctors are wont to call a Precept or Law given man in an extraordinary Case the Law of an hour whereas the other is Lex seculi the Law of an Age and this doth not reflect any error falshood or disparagement upon the general Law Secondly Sect. 13 We have oft signified upon occasion that God in Scripture treatie frequently applies himself unto men in such usages and forms of transactions as are ordinarily found amongst men themselves and used by them in their occasions yea and walking with them by the same principles and notions of reason and equity which are in request amongst them and generally owned by them and practised by those of them that deal any thing regularly Thus because amongst men a Covenant or Deed in writing is made good in Law by a Seal regularly affixed to it therefore God will seal his Covenant likewise And so because amongst men an Oath for confirmation is an end of all strife therefore God also because he would put an end to all doubtings jealousies and troublesome debates in the minds of men concerning his truth and faithfulness in his Word and great Promises of the Gospel he swears too So likewise in Laws enacted by men this being a common and standing principle Lex non curat particularia the Law doth not regard and take notice of particular or extraordinary Cases Laws are made and ought to be made only for ordinary Cases for Cases of ordinary and frequent occurrence or concernment amongst men There may be a Constellation or meeting together of such Circumstances once or at some one time which are not like to be found in the same Position again for many Ages after And so may constitute a case extraordinary like unto which another may not fall out in many Generations Therefore men do not nor indeed well can make Laws for the regulating of such Cases but leave all such to be regulated by the known and general principles of common Equity together with the Soveraign Law the good and benefit and welfare of the Publick for which the ordinary and standing Law was made So that in case the benefit of a variation or digression from the standing Law be manifestly expedient for the good and safety of the Publick the standing Law is not thereby violated or broken And doubtless it was the very intention of the Law-makers themselves that their Law calculated for the regulating ordinary cases only in such cases as these I mean extraordinaries should be waved So that now upon the account of the benefit and safety of the Publick men may walk contrary to the Letter of the Law and yet be blameless and no transgressours of the Law In like manner when God maketh general Laws and Rules and declares them unto the world that these are they by which he will move and act and treat with the children of men his intent is notwithstanding to leave these Laws to be regulated by himself according to the exigency and requirement of the general good and publick benefit of mankind which by his wisdom he is able to estimate and judge of knowing how to regulate all his proceedings with men as well in extraordinary as ordinary cases for their profit in conjunction with his own glory Thirdly Sect. 14 As there is nothing ought to cause a suspension of or variation from any general Law justly and equitably made and established amongst men but only that soveraign or supreme Law of Laws the good and benefit of the Society of men for which the Law it self was established So neither doth God or the Spirit of God at any time or in any case take liberty to digress or vary from his common and standing Law but only when some grand necessity either of the glory of God or the benefit and accommodation of men intervene And as in case those who are Law-givers amongst men could have
varying from that which he took in after Ages for the propagating of the members of it Yea or of such of the members of it who in Faith and holiness resembled Abraham their head So likewise when God began to take unto himself a Church of the Gentiles he proceeded we know in sundry particulars in somewhat an extraordinary manner which we shall not at present stand to mention We may yet take another instance When God set on foot that great Ordinance of Circumcision the Command was that Abraham being now ninety nine years old should be circumcized whereas the common and standing Law for the administration of this Ordinance afterwards was that the Male-child was to be circumcized at eight days old So likewise in case of Baptism in the beginning of this ministration there was one called to this imployment in an extraordinary manner and who himself had not been baptized but none of the after Dispensations of this Ordinance was to be performed or practised upon such terms either in the one respect or the other So then Paul being the first Founder under Christ and great Father of the Gentile Churches 1 Cor. 4.15 as Abraham was though in somewhat another sense of the Church of the Jews and being intended by God as we lately heard for a Pattern of believing unto the unbelieving Jews it is agreeable to the general Rule concerning beginnings and beginners of Administrations formerly mentioned that there should be somewhat more than ordinary in his conversion Fifthly But then in the next place though God Sect. 16 for the most part in laying the foundation of a new Administration doth not proceed or go by such a Law by which he doth intend to carry on the course of this Administration in the future practices of it yet he doth not wholly vary from nor altogether decline those general Rules by which he intends to carry on the same dispensation afterwards Though it be true that Paul said of himself that he was the chiefest of sinners yet notwithstanding this saith he I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly and in unbelief Therefore there was something in Paul though far from any thing that did ballance in value or consideration the extraordinary mercy vouchsafed unto him yet something I say there was there was a certain negative frame of heart as we may call it in him and that during all the time of his wickedness which God did take notice of as comparatively good and had it not been found in him the grace which he so much magnifies had not been vouchsafed to him For if therefore he was received to mercy because though he did thus and thus wickedly and unworthily yet he did it ignorantly and in unbelief that is not knowing not believing the Gospel to be from God nor those to be his servants whom he persecuted he did it upon lightning and easing Circumstances which took off much of the guilt and provocations of it in the eyes of God If this was the reason why he received mercy or at least that without which he had not received mercy it followeth clearly that had he done these things with knowledge and against the light of his judgment and conscience or believing the things of the Gospel to have been true certainly he had never seen that great salvation of God but had been excluded from it with the rest of the wicked of the world So he had another strain which God was much delighted in which was to be zealous for him and in his cause according to the real perswasion of his soul and conscience and therefore saith he God who counted me faithful putting me into the Ministry 1 Tim. 1.12 And thus we see that even in Pauls Conversion it self which was objected to infringe the credit and disparage the truth of that which from the Scriptures we shewed to be the general standing Law or Rule by which the Holy Ghost walks towards men in all things wherein he hath to do with them as in his fluxes and refluxes in his advances and in his retreats c. We may see I say in the case of Pauls Conversion as it hath been briefly and in some particulars only presented that when he doth upon some extraordinary occasions recede from the said Rule yet he keeps as close and near to it as conveniently he may he walks as it were within sight of it For though Paul had been a grievous sinner and blasphemer as we heard yet he had not debauched his conscience nor offered any indignity or affront to this great Vicegerent of God within him For as himself afterwards when he was not like to speak an untruth being now filled with the Spirit of Christ professed He verily thought with himself that he ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth Acts 26.9 And that as touching the righteousness of the Law he was blameless Phil. 3.6 That he was zealous towards God Acts 22 3. And for his great sins of persecuting and blaspheming these were committed by him not only ignorantly that is without his knowing them to be sins but out of ignorance that is upon such terms of an ingenuity of conscience that had he but known them to be sins he would not have committed them For he that is zealous towards God as Paul was as we lately heard cannot but upon knowledge and conviction that any of his waies are hateful unto God presently hate and abandon them Now such things as these being in Paul before his Conversion though I am not willing to say because I am not confident in believing it that they did reduce him into the number of those who in our Saviours Rule all this while discoursed are said to have in the sense formerly declared to whom it is promised that more shall be given and that they shall have abundantly yet doubtless they were both of them of such an import in themselves and of such an interpretation with God as to place him in a very near neighbourhood unto them So that if it must be granted that God or the Spirit of God did not in Pauls Conversion act by that Rule which we affirmed to be his odinary or standing Rule observed by him in his actings yet certainly he did herein act by such a rule which holds good correspondence therewith and is of near affinity with it However By what hath been formerly argued and said you may see clearly that it is no derogation from the truth or from the authority of a general rule that there are some instances now and then that do digress and vary from it The credit and authority of the Law or Rule under present consideration is not impaired nor at all shaken thereby because in such Cases there is another Rule and Law of grace though this be a Law of grace too yet there is a Law of superiour grace and of more transcendent goodness which doth over-rule the common and standing Law which God hath thought fit
themselves For when because of any weakness or infirmities which men are subject unto or because of any discourteous behaviour in word or deed used towards us we shall be at any greater distance from them or shall be less kind or serviceable unto them than otherwise we would be in case no such weakness were found upon them or no such unkindness had been done unto us this is the casting of mens burthens upon their own necks and to reject the Commandment of Christ by which we our selves stand charged to bear them The Apostle in this injunction of hearing one another burthens seems to suppose that even in men of the best temper and most Consciencious and Circumspect in their lives and waies there is somewhat more or less that is burthensome that is distasteful unpleasing and in some degree offensive unto others This notwithstanding if men would but fulfil the Law of Christ and cut Tallies one with another every man gratifying other with bearing his burthens the great Common-wealth of Mankind would be prosperous and happy and little or no damage or inconvenience accrue unto it by the weaknesses or want of wisdom in the respective members of it There would be the same as full as quick an entercourse and commerce of love and of the services thereof as there would or could be in case they were all perfect and as so many Angels of God Yea my Brethren this bearing the burthens of one another did we freely submit unto it and practice it would turn to a very happy account ot us in another day For God will not give greater rewards for any kind of works or service than for bearing the burthens of men especially the burthens of the Saints and most of all for the bearing the burthens of Christ viz. persecution for righteousness and a good conscience sake We shall hardly find any of the Commands of God or of jesus Christ but the keeping of them would turn to the peace and comfort of men These are they that in the very nature of them all are apt to create peace and prosperity in the World and the want of a diligent and faithful performance of them is that that doth occasion trouble between man and man and maketh breaches upon their mutual Comforts You can hardly break any of the Commands of Jesus Christ but you will make a breach upon the peace of the World you will fall foul one of another But so long as you keep on in the waies of Christ's Commands you comply and comport with the peace and comfort of the World round about you Secondly Sect. 5 The very Example of a through Conformity and subjection to the Law of God must needs be of a very choice and high accommodation to the World besides the nature and tendency of the actions themselves The very Example though but of one single person his Conformity to the Laws of God may be of singular concernment to the World Your Zeal saith the Apostle to the Corinthians hath provoked many 2 Cor. 9.2 And as the Scripture demandeth a little fire how great a matter or how great a wood for so it is in the original how great a wood or forest of wood doth it kindle or set on fire So one person one man or woman that doth clearly and in the face of the World walk in a through Conformity to the Law of Christ that is tender and circumspect and taketh all his Commands in their respective seasons along with him in his course may propagate a great Generation of Conformists in the same kind For who knoweth how many trees of the Forest of this World may be set on fire by this Example Men and Women more generally seem to look upon the Laws of Jesus Christ as if they were given to men only to hear and speak of or at most to live by in another World and so the neglect or breach of them toucheth few mens Consciences makes no breach upon their peace Whereas if these Laws were but translated into practice by flesh and bloud by men and women subject to like passions and infirmities with themselves this would beget other manner of thoughts in the hearts and consciences of the World generally concerning them Did men but seriously consider it with themselves that if flesh and bloud men of the same nature liable to the same tentations with themselves by the same means and assistance both inward and outward which are afforded unto them can keep the Commandments of Jesus Christ and walk holily they could not lightly but be convinced that certainly the God of Heaven will look for it at their hands that they go and do likewise Again secondly Sect. 6 He that shall diligently and faithfully keep the Commandments of Jesus in the view and sight of the World must needs be a signal Benefactor unto it in the things of their Eternal peace which are of a thousand times greater consequence than all the concernments of this life Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works c. Mat. 5.16 Our Saviour in this passage clearly implies that there is a proper tendency in mens good works to prevail with others to glorifie their Father which is in Heaven viz. by repenting and believing in him and living unto him and this is a most blessed accommodation unto the World The Apostle speaketh concerning the faithful behaviour of Servants towards their Masters Tit. 2.9 10. telling them that by such a carriage and behaviour they shall adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things Now Brethren What is the reason that the hearts of men are not drawn out more freely to the Doctrine of God and Christ Why do mens hearts stand off and make no more treasure of it than they do Doubtless one main reason hereof is it wants adorning and beautifying it is not set forth before their eyes with that advantage to take the hearts of men wherewith it might and ought to be But who are they that do adorn this Doctrine and consequently that commend it in the sight of men and make it a beautiful lovely and desirable object unto them They that deal by their Great Lord and Master Jesus Christ as the Apostle would have other Servants to deal by theirs viz. by being obedient unto them and pleasing them well in all things Tit. 2.9 They that shall diligently and faithfully observe and keep the Commands of Jesus Christ they will adorn it they will commend it with authority and power to the souls and consciences of men Such men when they shall but utter and assert the plain words of the Gospel when they shall say unto any man or unto any numbers of men that certainly Jesus Christ is He He is the Saviour of the World and whosoever cometh unto him shall be saved by him or the like such persons I say as these we speak of by such plain and known words as these are like to pierce and wound
Treatise is gravely and with solidity penned and worthy the perusal of those whose feer are taken in the snare of that Error or others remaining in any measure dis-satisfied about the Point Though the truth is they have as much reason to be dis-satisfied about their Christianity it self and whether Salvation is to be obtained by Jesus Christ and Faith in his bloud as to be dis-satisfied about the Holy Ghost being God We might argue the Deity of the Holy Ghost from other particulars observable Sect. 10 upon such an account from the said passages of Scripture lying yet before us As 1. That Christ saith of him that he should teach them all things 2. That he should bring to their remembrance all things that he had spake to them 3. That he proceedeth from God the Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I shall but only glance at them First our Saviour undertakes for the Holy Ghost that when he comes he shall teach his Disciples all truth To be able to teach all truth is a Royalty too rich to be vested in any Creature it is most worthy God himself and meet only for him The Eph. 3.9 10. Angels learn many things from the Church and from the Min stry and Dispensation of the Gospel there And the Apostle Paul himself professeth of himself and the rest of his fellow Apostles 1 Cor. 13.9 who knew more than all the World besides of the mystery of Christ and of God that they knew but in part Therefore no Angel was in a capacity to teach them all things when as they themselves were in a condition to learn some things of them If it be demanded But how can these two stand together 1. That Christ should say unto the Apostles that the Holy Ghost should teach them all things and lead them into the way of all truth And yet 2. That Paul should say notwithstanding that they knew but in part Can he be said to know but in part who hath been taught all things or led into the way of all Truth I answer 1. That the all things which the Holy Ghost according to our Saviours Promise here was to teach the Disciples is to be restrained to the business in hand which is very frequent in Scripture and so such things as were necessary and meet for them to know in order to the performance of their Apostolical Office as well in teaching as in planting Churches and ordering the Government hereof For it was not for them to know the times and seasons which God had reserved in his own hand Nor doth it follow from hence either that the Holy Ghost was not able to teach them that restrained all things or that the teaching of this restrained all things should be no sufficient proof of the Holy Ghosts being God The former of these is evident enough from the common principle in reason God and Nature as they are not defective in things that be necessary so neither do they abound in things that be superfluous And therefore if the Apostles had no need of any further knowledge of any thing which did any waies conduce to the performance of their great Office as they were Apostles It is not to be conceived that the Holy Ghost should impart such things unto them which were not expedient for them to know The latter viz. That the teaching of that limited all things we speak of especially taken with that Clause that goeth along with it and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you Joh. 14.26 is an Argument no waies defective in proof that the Holy Ghost who was to do all these things is truly God this I say is evident from hence For 1. He that shall be able to teach all that was necessary for the Apostles to know for the discharge of their great Office must be supposed to know all the heights and depths of the Scriptures all things that are contained and comprehended there For doubtless there is nothing in the Word of God but what was fitting and necessary for the Apostles to know and understand As namely the sitting and applying of all the Figures Shadows and Ceremonies under the Law to and with the Gospel and so likewise to know and understand all obscure Prophesies for otherwise they might have been foyled and intangled by their Adversaries which would have been matter of prejudice to them in the fulfilling of their Office Now then to be able to do this certainly doth prove sufficiently that he must needs be God For 1 Cor. 2.1 1. saith the Apostle what man knoweth the things of a man save the Spirit of a man which is in him It is the Spirit within a man who knoweth all the motions of the heart all the Purposes Counsels Hopes Sorrows c. No man knows all these things but the spirit of a man which is within him which is intimous to him and upon the matter himself Even so after the same manner we may say no man knows the things of God but the spirit of God The Spirit God searcheth the deep things of God As the Spirit of a man is privy to the most secret things of a man even so the Spirit of God is privy to the secrets of God So there is no man and consequently no Spirit besides no Creature no Angel though never so great and near unto God in point of Office and Ministry that is able to search the deep things of God but only the Spirit of God which is intimately acquainted with the deep things of God 2. He that was able to bring so the Apostles remembrance whatsoever Christ had said unto them must neds be God because he must know their hearts and their thoughts and what of themselves they did remember without him and withall to know what was worn or blotted out of their memories For I suppose the meaning is not that when the Spirit comes he should be a Remembrancer unto them of such things which they remembred already and therefore it supposes that the Holy Ghost of whom it is said he should remember them of all things that Christ had formerly spoken unto them did know the state of their minds and inward parts and that he knew what things they had or did remember and what things they had forgotten and lost and accordingly shouldsupply them Which is another consideration that doth argue that certainly this Spirit of God this samje great Remembrancer of the Apostles can be no other but God 3. We might also argue from that other Clause where our Saviour describes the Holy Ghost or the Spirit of God there being no plurality of Holy Ghosts to be one individual Spirit of Truth And then denotes his Process which proceeds from or out of the Father For both words should be put in from the Father and proceeds out of the Father after an ineffable and inconceivable manner Now if any such Character as this or any near to it can be found to be given of
that they should submit unto them The Reason hereof hath been lately intimated in part viz. because they have not a sanction like that of the Law given upon Mount Sinai they are not given or enjoyned with Thunder Earthquakes or Fire but as with a still voice And the Children of God themselves as we lately had occasion to observe having much servility of Spirit hanging on them and so being more intent and taken up in their thoughts about escaping hell and damnation and not so much upon obtaining Heaven and Salvation but only in a collateral and and consequential way hence it cometh to pass that they chiefly and mainly set their hearts and minds upon such Precepts the disobedience and neglect whereof is threatned with the vengeance of Hell fire or with exclusion of the Kingdom of Heaven and think that those which have not this Iron Rod in their hand to over-aw the Consciences of men into obedience unto them are less considerable For this is much to be minded which I do not remember that I have had occasion heretofore to offer unto you viz. Sect. 3 That God hath built and framed the body of his Laws and Precepts given unto men upon the like terms by such Principles and Rules of Wisdom and Equity according unto which prudent Law-makers amongst men are wont to compile and frame the body of those Civil or Politick Laws which they make for the benefit or use of their States or Communities respectively and very probably nay the thing is very little or not at all questionable God hath imprinted that Principle of Reason and Equity we now speak of in the hearts of men in conformity to the Original Copy in himself Now it is generally found in the Systeme of all Politick Laws and Constitutions that though there be rewards in several kinds and degrees assigned and decreed by Law unto persons that shall do any eminent or worthy service unto their State or Country yet there is no penalty or punishment enacted against those who shall not quit themselves thus worthily and honourably for the benefit of this state Penal Laws and Statutes are not made for those or against those that are not eminently vertuous eminently valiant liberal bountiful wise or the like But only against those who are eminently vicious and shall act to the detriment prejudice or hurt of the Community of which they are Members Thus the Romans had Laws for the rewarding of the high Services of their Souldiers he that first sealed the Walls of a City or Town besieged had his Corona muralis i.e. A certain Garland or Crown which was a Badge of honour appropriate to that Service so he that first entred the Trenches of the Enemies had his Corona vallaris so he that preserved the life of any Citizen or free Denizon of Rome had his Corona civica But they had no Laws that inflicted any punishment upon those that did not perform those Services or had not valour or courage sufficient to atchieve them Anciently in our own Land there was by Law a reward appointed unto him that should kill a Wolf and bring forth his head So Josh 15.16 Caleb made a Law or Decree that he that shall smite Kiriath-Sephar and take it should have his Daughter to Wife Now as the Romans did not enact any penalty to be inflicted upon any that did not attain any of those excellent Atchievements neither did the Law in this Land inflict any punishment upon those who could not kill a Wolf In like manner God hath so contrived and tempered the frame and Systeme of his Laws in the Scriptures which are made for the orderly regulation and benefit of the great Community or Body Politick of the World that though there be rewards and encouragements Enacted and Decreed in them for those that shall excel in vertue and quit themselves above the ordinary rate of men either for the honour and glory of God or for the publick benefit or service of men yet there is no threatning of punishment in one kind or other against those who shall not attain to that excellent strain above their Fellows unless haply it be that they shall not partake in the signal reward of the other which to speak properly is no punishment But the threatnings in the Law of God are bent against those who shall be wicked that shall live and act to the dishonour of his name or to the damage prejudice or trouble of the Community of men amongst whom they should have their being We shall see in the course of the Scriptures how the threatnings of God lie against that kind of sin or sinners that are directly set and bent against the holy and righteous Law of God 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God c. Eph. 5.5 6. For this ye know that no Whoremonger nor Covetous man who is an Idolater c. Let no man deceive you with vain words c. and compare Rev. 21.8 27. But the Fearful and Vnbelieving and Sorcerers and Idolaters c. shall have their portion in the Lake c. As Civil Constitutions and Politick Laws of men do provide for the peace safety and comfort of those that shall live in subjection to them prohibiting and punishing all waies and actions that are prejudicial and hurtful to the publick yet not enacting or inflicting any punishment on those that do no rare or excellent service as though they be not eminent defenders of the State c. In like manner God by his Laws hath provided for the safety for the Eternal Salvation of those that shall live in subjection unto such Laws and Commands of his by which men are restrained from waies and actions signally dishonourable unto him or disturbing and mischievous to those amongst whom they live and converse although they do not attain unto the eminent Services of Noah Daniel and Job nor deserve to be numbred amongst the Worthies of the Christian World yet for those who shall rise up to the Line of those famous men we speak of and serve God and men at such a worthy rate as they served them in their Generation he hath in his Law provided better and greater things than simply safety and salvation viz. salvation with an Emphasis or Superlative weight of glory To this purpose I conceive the two Parables of our Saviour both recorded by Luke Sect. 4 the one in Chap. 12.36 37. the other in Chap. 17.7 8 c. are very considerable The former of these And ye your selves like men that wait for their Lord when he will return from the Wedding that when he cometh and knocketh they may open unto him immediately blessed are those Servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching Verily I say unto you that he shall gird himself and make them to sit down to meat and will come forth and serve them Compare this Parable with that Luke 17.7.8 Which of you having a
kind of service which shall receive grace and thanks from the hands of God For God estimateth the works of men much after the manner that men do the services of their Children if they perform such services after the manner of Sons not as if they were a burthen unto them they shall not simply have the reward of a Servant but they shall have a further reward the reward of a Son The Parable Luke 12. implieth that Christ did thank such a Servant Why Because though in a simple consideration he did not act above what he was commanded yet he did more and above what he was commanded upon the penalty of Damnation We read Luke 17.12 of Ten Lepers that were cleansed and we know that there was an express Injunction in the Law that when they were healed they should shew themselves to the Priest and probable it is that all the Ten did according to the Law in this case only here is mention of one that did return and give the Lord Christ thanks Now though this person did no more in that Act of Thanksgiving than was a duty lying upon him in a special consideration to do and though the Nine did fulfill the Letter of the Law and so did that whereby they might escape punishment yet they did not rise up to that grace and acceptation which the other person did who did not only go to the High Priest but returned and gave thanks to his Physician also and did hereby obtain favour and high acceptation from the hands of God and Jesus Christ upon the account of such a behaviour he was as a Son of a Son-like and ingenuous frame of heart Consider that passage of the Apostle Paul 1 Cor. 9.16 Sect. 5 For though I preach the Gospel I have nothing to glory of For a necessity is laid upon me and woe is me if I preach not the Gospel For though I preach the Gospel c. Meaning that this is nothing by way of special acceptation at the hands of God because he had a necessity lying upon him in respect of the Command of God yea under the Penalty of a Woe Woe is unto me c. But if I preach the Gospel willingly and with freeness of heart and soul so as if there were no express and particular Law lying upon me to necessitate me thereunto then I have somewhat to boast of for this Service I know my Lord and Master will give me a peculiarity of reward The Apostle in this place clearly distinguisheth the preaching of the Gospel when necessitated thereunto by a Command of God from the preaching of it willingly If I preach the Gospel I have nothing whereof to boast for a necessity is laid upon me c. A man that hath nothing to engage him to an Action or Service but meerly to be delivered from punishment hath nothing to boast of But saith he if I do this thing willingly I have my reward c. Therefore to preach the Gospel and to preach it willingly are two different Services by doing the one a man shall escape punishment it being obedience to a necessity lying upon him But if I preach it willingly then saith he I know I shall have consideration in abundance from the hand of my great Lord and Master It follows ver 18. What is my reward then The word is taken two waies sometimes more largely sometimes more strictly It is sometimes translated Wages sometimes Reward or that consideration which doth precisely answer in value to the work which is done and for which it is given But sometimes a reward as when it exceeds in value the work done and doth in a transcendent degree rise above the strict worthiness of the Service so then What is my reward That is How must I go to work in this great Commission which is given unto me to preach the Gospel to make my self capable of my reward Why thus saith he when I preach the Gospel that I make it without charge This noble excellent and worthy strain of the Apostle in performing the Service which was committed to him this was the ground-work of his rejoycing and that which filled him with so much confidence and boldness in the presence of God and this you will all find if you will but stir up your hearts and be ingenuous and noble towards God and not stand picking and huckstering with your hearts to know how you must do to escape hell fire under such a frame of heart you shall still be full of fears and doubtings you will not be like those that are genuine and noble and high spirited in the Service of God My Brethren we shall all find if we stir up our hearts and strengthen our hands to those excellent Commands which are apt when they are obeyed to enoble our Spirits the obedience unto them is that which will give us confidence and boldness before God When as your obedience to the other will possibly give you some kind of faint hope that you shall be saved and that you shall escape the wrath and vengeance that is to come but will hardly carry you up further but that your confidence will ever and anon be full of stands and your Enemy the Devil will be ready to triumph over you Whereas those that have given up themselves to obey their heavenly Father in those great Commands these are the men who are likely to have the Spirit of Adoption to be able to come with boldness unto God and to call God Father with a good courage Thirdly Sect. 6 For Instruction If it be the Will of God that all men especially Believers should be filled with the Spirit of God then take knowledge from hence that a being filled with the Spirit is no impossible attainment is an estate of happiness which is accessible to the endeavours and engagements of men why else should God call men unto it or impose it as a duty upon them Doth he invite or exhort the Saints to impossibilities those whom he desireth to put beauty and excellency upon doth he invite these to do things absolutely and altogether out of their reach Doth he perswade men to purchase the wind or to lay out themselves for that which can never be had or enjoyed Surely he doth not because it is not a thing that doth any waies answer the infinite grace and wisdom of God Some men indeed strive to perswade themselves and others that God commandeth many things which he intendeth not that any man should perform yea and which he knoweth are impossible for any man to perform But I trust none of us know these depths of Satan I mean are spiritually adulterous with them in our minds or thoughts or practically know them To be perswaded to think that God intends not desires not our obedience unto whatsoever he demands of us what is it but to break the very heart and to cut in sunder the very sinews of our obedience and weaken the hand of our preparations
by the generality of them thought to be little better than crazed in his brain 2 Cor. 5.13 or head-shaken and that too much Learning had made him mad Whether we be beside our selves it is to God or whether we be sober it is for your sakes Now when he saith whether we be besides our selves he doth not mean that he acted any thing out of madness or distemper nay certainly he was never himself more than when he did act these things for which they thought him besides himself and a man singular and engaged with some odd kind of Speculations and Notions and therefore saith the Apostle as for such things as these if we be besides our selves and like men distempered we are this unto God we have our eyes upon and approve our selves unto him in these things we easily believe you cannot tell what to make of them you cannot make wisdom nor obedience nor subjection unto God in them you do not understand nor comprehend those Laws nor those Rules nor Principles by which we act and move in such waies but saith he we look unto God and he understands it though we speak as it were in an unknown Tongue unto you yet in a Language which God well knows and understands But now saith he if we be sober it is for your sakes in these things he had respect unto them for their Edification In like manner when persons are carried and lifted up by the power of the Spirit of God above the ordinary Line of men either in speaking or acting for the glory of God or advantage of the Gospel Men that do not know and believe that there is any such Spirit at least acting or working in men are ready to blaspheme him in his Saints and to impute the things that are wrought by the power of his Presence in men to some dishonourable and untoward Principle or other as that they pretend to be led by the Spirit of God whereas they do such things upon their own fansie and upon some such suggestion which Sathan hath put into them As the Roman Historian speaking of Nero the Monster of men reporteth his conceit to be which he did express publickly that there was no man in the World but was as vicious as himself only herein was the difference between him and them he was open and would act above board and other men were more afraid But he did not believe that there was any such thing as Temperance and Sobriety Even so this is the very strain and temper and inward thoughts of ignorant persons in the World that have no heart nor spirit for God nor for waies of excellency that are lovely and honourable When they see that there are other men and women of their Ranke that do such things which they cannot do They cannot go along with them they cannot fast and pray they cannot follow such and such Religious Duties or Exercises they think that these men do but dissemble they love their money as well as we they love their ease as well as we only the Devil tempteth them and putteth them upon these waies that so they may have credit and repute and be thought more holy and greater lovers of God than other men and by this means they judge themselves better because they know they are plain and have no reserves in their breasts but what they are in the frame of their hearts and spirits and affections they act and utter themselves accordingly Whereas those persons that are externally so godly and would be so judged are every whit as bad or worse than we because they seek to cover and hide and to dissemble those wicked and vile thoughts which are in them by an external shew of holiness they can take their turns privately and secretly to do the very self same thing or things that are worse and more sinful than any that we do This is I say an express strain of the Spirit of that Monster Nero This is the reason that such persons fall foul upon the Saints especially when the Spirit shall draw them forth unto waies that are so excellent in their kind Now they that shall thus impute this to Sathan or unto the vile hearts of men these are they who do obstruct the force of this Exhortation of mens being filled with the Spirit of God and do what in them lie to make mens hearts to sink and to discourage them from seeking after such a Royal Priviledge A second sort to be reproved upon the former account Sect. 2 viz. as Enemies unto the heavenly Exhortation of being filled with the Spirit discouraging mens hearts from pursuing the blessed Counsel given unto them by God himself in it are they who labour to perswade men that the Spirit wherewith God exhorteth men to be filled is but a Finite a Created Spirit an Angel and not God Evil words saith the Apostle corrupt good manners 1 Cor. 15.33 So do erroneous and lying conceits and imaginations infused into the minds of men obstruct many holy and worthy endeavours and layings out of mens selves which otherwise in all likelihood they would not refrain and which undertaken and put forth by them would turn to a blessed account unto them Instances might readily be given in many particulars in this kind we shall consider the truth of the Observation at present only in the Point in hand For what doth such a Doctrine or Notion as this That the Spirit the Holy Ghost is not God but only a finite Spirit being interpreted signifie but that it is but in vain for men and women so much as to think of ever being filled with him and consequently of ever being excellent For fust the Created Spirits the good Angels are Ministers and Servants even all of them without exception of any unto the Saints as they are Members of that body whereof their Lord and Master Christ is the head We know that place Heb. 1.14 Are they not all Ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation So then Angels however in respect of the excellency and dignity of their natures they be superiour unto men yet in respect of that Ministry and Service unto men whereunto they are deputed and set forth by God they are inferiour unto them Now the heart and soul of man cannot frame and bring it self to expect or look for from its fellow Creatures especially such a Creature which God in respect of Ministry and Service hath subjected unto it any thing so excellent or so desirable as it reasonably may work and prevail with its self to expect or promise unto it self from its Creator from a Spirit that is infinite in his being and an inexhaust Abyss of all excellency My Brethren it is repugnant to the inbred nature and innate Principles of the heart and soul of a man to go forth with a like courage alacrity or confidence to seek its desires or supplies where either he knows not whether they are to
given of any different consideration wherein the action is ascribed unto God and wherein it is ascribed unto the Holy Ghost whereas for all those other Scriptures the very tenour of the words and many of the Phrases do give light sufficient whereby to discern when God is said to do such and such a thing and when the same action is attributed to the Creature and in what sense it is ascribed unto the one and unto the other Secondly The clause formerly taken notice of dividing unto every man as he will speaking of the Spirit plainly sheweth that the Spirit in working and giving the gifts here spoken of acteth in the capacity of God or of an independent being who hath power to order and manage all things according to the counsel of his will and not as a Creature for it is the Character of every Creature and second Agent or instrument not to act any thing according to his own will but according to the will of the Principal Agent 11ly That Spirit which is to fill all the Saints had need to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a searcher of the reins or knower of the heards of the Children of men otherwise how should he know when and upon what account to fill them with his presence and how to fall in with such a creature as man is in order to such an end Now we know that this Prerogative of searching the hearts and trying the reins the Scripture appropriates unto God yea and all Interpreters have acknowledged it as one of his incommunicable properties To make this therefore a universal and standing Priviledge to any created being whatsoever What is this but to rob God of that which is incommunicable and to transfer upon the Creature that which is beyond its Line a priviledge only commensurable unto him that is God himself and appropriate unto his own transcendent glory 12ly Sect. 10 Let me add one thing more which I have had occasion given me to think of and consider since I last spake unto you by means of a little book which came to my hand lately I suppose published by that importune Spirit which laboureth might and main to fill the World with dishonourable thoughts at least comparatively concerning the Holy Ghost unweariedly propagating and spreading abroad this dangerous Opinion which we oppose As it is said of some who have itching ears heaping up Teachers after their own Lusts so there are Teachers who have itching heads and are restless in drawing Disciples after them Now in this little Book in a short Epistle directed to the Christian Reader prefixed by the Author unto this Book he conjures his Reader as he tenders his own salvation that he would thoroughly examine his disputation and discourse plainly enough intimating hereby that without being of his opinion and judgment which according to the sense of those who understand the Scripture yea and sound Principles of Reason better than he judgeth that he breatheth no less than blasphemy against the Holy Ghost yet by the said conjurement of his Reader he plainly enough declares his sense to be that without being of his mind in denying the Godhead of the Holy Ghost there is no salvation Now I cannot but look upon this as little less than or next to a demonstrative Argument against that opinion which is obtruded upon the World upon those terms and that the opinion it self is erronious and of a dangerous consequence unto men For it is matter of ready observation that when men take up any new or by opinion which they desire for the honour of their names and glory of their parts and abilities to propagate in the World and being not furnished to their minds with grounds and reasons otherwise to convince and satisfie the judgments of men about them they are still wont to attempt the amusing and stumbling the Consciences and Judgments of men by a confident and importune bearing them in hand that the opinion which they commend unto them is no less than matter of eternal Life and eternal Death Thus the Jewish Doctors in the Apostles times would bear the Christians in hand Acts 15.1 That except they were circumcized after the Law of Moses they could not be saved We see here they made Circumcision a matter of life and death and that not Circumcision only or simply but Circumcision after that manner and mode But the Apostle knew better what did belong unto Circumcision and taught them a contrary Doctrine I Paul saith he say unto you if you be circumcized Christ shall profit you nothing And the truth is that such Notions and Doctrines for the most part which are thrust upon men or violently urged upon their Judgments and Consciences upon such an account as this as they stand charged as they love their Souls or desire Salvation to entertain this or that for truth these are more contrary and destructive than other to the salvation of the Promoters and Abettors of them As particularly I believe with the consent of all the ancient Fathers that this Opinion or Notion which denieth the Holy Ghost to be God is destructive unto the salvation of men destructive certainly it is whether destruction alwaies follows actually or no The tendency and course of it if it be not otherwise hindered will lead men to destruction but it may be hampered with other cross Doctrines in Christian Religion and so eternal ruine haply may be prevented The Christian Learning that was in the World in those Fathers daies could not tell how to frame and build up the body of Christian Religion nor how to make head or foot of the Gospel without this Doctrine that the Holy Ghost was one and the same God with the Father and with the Son and yet now we have a quite contrary commended unto us and thrust upon us and that upon such terms as that we hazard the loss of salvation unless we be of the same mind with them that deny the Deity of the Holy Ghost But to let you see how inconsistent men of this mind are with themselves there is another that is full of the same opinion denying both the Godhead of the Son and of the Holy Ghost that yet find faults with those that are opposite unto him for handling and writing so particularly and fully concerning the great Mysterie of the Trinity and he maketh this his pretense That however the case be if it should be so sure as we say yet we trouble and intangle the thoughts and minds of the Common people And the reason is because the Doctrine of the Trinity is no waies necessary unto salvation This is the sense of another as great a Master in his way and one who was able to say as much or more to this Opinion than they that are troublesome to us herein 13ly and lastly For this suppose we that there be some yet unsatisfied Sect. 11 that cannot tell which way to turn themselves because it may be there is so much said
that her Father Laban might not find his Images that she had stoln but not being willing that this Reason of her Posture should be known she pretends another viz. That the Custome of women was upon her So the Scribes and Pharisees though the devouring of Widows houses was the real and true end they proposed in making long Prayers yet being loath to own this being so foul and so unworthy they pretended Zeal and largeness of Devotion in its stead Thus the Persons we speak of being ashamed to own the Reason we last discovered and opened from the Scriptures for the ground or reason of their shifting Ministries upon the terms mentioned are wont to pretend others of a more fair and Christian import viz. That the Ministry which they give over is legal and low at least comparatively less spiritual and less edifying at least to them Or else that some Doctrines or Opinions are held forth and maintained in this Ministry which are contrary to their Judgments and Consciences and therefore they judge themselves bound both in Wisdom and Conscience to withdraw from it and attend upon that which is both more edifying and raising men up nearer unto God and also more Orthodox and sound These are common colours and pretenses that are frequently alledged by men and women when their hearts tempt them away from a worthy Ministry to that which is unworthy To speak somewhat to them both For the first Whereas they impute legalness as they call it lowness Sect. 8 and ordinariness and want of spiritfulness to the Ministry under which they have no mind to continue by reason whereof they cannot they say edifie or profit it may be not unworthy consideration that such a Doctrine or Ministry which some count legal and low is far more spiritful and raised than that wherein they pretend to find these high qualifications For you know some call that Ministry legal which uregeth and presseth upon the Consciences of men with all earnestness and zeal those great Duties of Mortification and Self-denial and a thoroughness of subjection and obedience unto the whole Will of God though otherwise upon occasion and as oft as it judgeth it necessary and meet it effectually openeth the whole Counsel of God unto men concerning the freeness of his Grace as well in their Justification as Salvation together with all the secret strains and all the turnings and windings and carriages of his Wisdom in the Gospel as far as they are ordinarily reached and discovered by men whereas this is the most Evangelical Ministry and most likely to bring men to a true faith and belief of the Gospel If you would know what a legal Ministry is to speak properly it is such which teacheth Justification by the Law and such is the Doctrine of the Papists But to charge and to press the Commandments of Jesus Christ and to call upon men with the greatest affection and zeal and withall to handle such great and glorious motives and encouragements which the Gospel affordeth unto men to strengthen their hands in the waies of holiness and withall to lay before men the heavy Judgments which shall abide those who shall be disobedient this is far from being legal for it hath more of the Spirit of the Gospel in it than any other On the other hand they call that a spiritual Ministry which seldom or never chargeth the Souls or Consciences of men with any Moral dutie nor threatens these with exclusion out of the Kingdom of God who either are Thieves Adulterers Covetous c. But spendeth it self from time to time in venting certain airy and windy Notions and Speculations such as have no sufficient footing or foundation either in the Scripture or in good Reason And these for the most part cloathed with a kind of uncouth and antique Language and Expression This Ministry when it hath entertained those that repair unto it for an hour or two may for the most part truly say unto them concerning what hath been delivered by it as Aristotle is reported to have said when some blamed him for publishing and making common his Philosophical Notions and Secrets Edidi saith he non edidi meaning I have and I have not so may it be truly said of such a Ministry as we speak of it preacheth and it preacheth not it teacheth and it teacheth not for it preacheth and teacheth after such a manner that they who have heard are little the wiser can give no reasonable account of any thing they hear to any sober or intelligent man And it is an unworthy humour or property in some both men and women to have only such teachings in admiration and in high esteem which they understand not and to undervalue that as low and ordinary which they are able to make any thing of with sense and understanding On the other hand It is a property of the opposite extreme in some others not to value or regard any Ministry which requireth the use and exercise of their understandings to make them thorougly capable or apprehensive of the things delivered but that only which yieldeth nothing but milk meet only for Babes in Christ or such things which they knew before and have heard ten times over Some care for nothing that is new though it be never so agreeable to their old things I mean to what they knew already and believed and some again care for nothing but what is new whether it be consonant and consistent with their old things or no Novelty and strangeness in one kind or other are sufficient commendations of a Ministry in the eyes of some That passage of our Saviour is very considerable Sect. 9 as in part relating to the business in hand Then said he unto them Therefore every Scribe which is instructed unto or for the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an housholder which bringeth forth out of his Treasury things new and old Mat. 13.52 Note the occasion upon which Christ spake thus unto his Disciples which is expressed ver 51. immediately preceding when he had delivered himself in several Parables unto them he demands of them whether they had understood all that he had spoken they say unto him yea Lord Therefore saith he again unto them every Scribe which is instructed c. As if he had said look as I have done so must ye As I have made you to understand things which are new and which you understood not before by means of those things which ye did know before for all acquired knowledge is obtained by the advantage and help of things formerly known In like manner every Scribe which is instructed unto the Kingdom of Heaven i.e. every Minister or Teacher or Preacher of the Gospel as the Scribes were Teachers and Ministers of the Law which is instructed i.e. which is duly accomplished and furnished with knowledge and understanding for the Kingdom of heaven i.e. to promote and advance the interest and affairs of the Kingdom of
see and perceive upon the minding and narrow considerations of them that surely these things are so and so because they have so clear and happy a consistency with those things which they do believe already But what may be the Reason why the men and women we speak of Sect. 10 should think they edifie by such a kind of Ministry as their hearts are now lift up unto and could not edifie by the other which they did forsake I reply First The reason why they think they edifie by their new Ministry is either because they meet with new and strange terms uncouth phrases and expressions which they had not learned or heard of before or else for want of skill but chiefly for want of will care and desire to compare the substance of the matter which is delivered unto them in such new and strange Phrases and antique kind of Language with what they had learned before they conceive that behold now all things are become new now we are enlightned now we see and understand things that never entred into our thoughts or minds before whereas the truth is the matter that many times lieth under these new and uncouth Phrases and Expressions is but one and the self-same thing with that which they did understand and know before and they themselves might discover as much if they did but weigh and compare the words and phrases and what is imported in them As for instance the plain Doctrine of Mortification and Self-denial it is very strange to hear how and in what kind of habit they do adorn these Doctrines which are plain and wholsome and sound They put them into a new kind of expression that was not seen nor heard of before nor declared by those Ministers who are sound and sincere in their teaching of the Gospel It is in this case only as if a man should meet an old friend of his with a new Suite on his back of an antique and uncouth fashion which he was never seen or known to be in before in such a case as this one would think him to be a new man and some stranger So these men if they have but their old matter put into a new garbe of expression they are pleased and think they have heard excellent Notions and such things as they never did hear before The second Reason hereof seemeth to be this because they received distaste and dislike upon the account formerly mentioned namely that this Ministry is not for their turn it will not serve their lusts and the waies wherein they desire to walk Now upon such an occasion as this is beginning to conceive a distaste thenceforth they do gather from day to day and from time to time all matters which have any colour of dislike in them and if they can put any unworthy sense and interpretation upon any Passage or Doctrine that is delivered by such Teachers all this is put to that account namely to strengthen their own hands and hearts to forsake them and to quit themselves of them as it is with a side of a house which begins to settle all the weight of the house cometh that way So if the credit or authority of a Ministry do but begin a little to fall in the minds of men then all the weight of their infirmities who manage it or any thing in them that can be conceived to look like weakness or miscarriage will be laid upon it and so in a short time men will work themselves to a perfect liberty and thoughts will be made that this is not a Ministry for them and that their soul is not like to prosper under it and therefore they will seek where it may be better with them Again Sect. 11 Whereas the persons under reproof frequently charge that kind of Ministry which they forsake with being a legal Ministry I reply That I verily believe that they who thus pretend either know not or consider not what they speak herein for I would gladly know of them what they mean by a legal Ministry Is not their sense and notion of a legal Ministry this viz. to be frequent and zealous in pressing men to keep the Law to obey the Will and Commands of God and to threaten with wrath and the vengeance of hell fire the Children of disobedience and those that shall walk after the flesh and to promise the love and favour of God to the exact observers of his Law But if such a Ministry as this be legal what Ministry can be more legal than that exercised by the Lord Christ himself and his greatest Apostles both Peter and Paul c What Minister did ever press holiness or the duties required of men in the Law more strictly more zealously with greater authority and power than he Whoever threatned Transgressors with greater severity and dread than he in that most excellent discourse a Sermon of his as it is called upon the Mount Mat. 5. How doth he all along command and press the observation of the Law and the things contained in it The eight Beatitudes as they are commonly called what are they but a pressing by motives of weight certain duties contained in the Law As blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth blessed are the merciful c. Now all these are express duties contained in the Law and yet we see our Saviour commends them unto his Hearers by the great motives of blessedness which shall attend those who shall perform them And in ver 17. and many passages of that Chapter we find that the Lord Christ is very full and high in calling upon men for the duties of the Law Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the Prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil meaning in his own Person first and then to fulfill them likewise by his Doctrine and by the charge which he would leave with his Apostles and by them derive to all his Ministers and Agents to the worlds end So in ver 19. Whosoever therefore shall break one of the least of these Commandments and shall teach men so to do he shall be accounted least in the Kingdom of Heaven But towards the end and conclusion of this Sermon Chap. 7.21 see with what mighty authority and force doth he impose upon men the keeping of the Law Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in heaven which holy and perfect will of God is comprehended and laid down in the Law ver 22. Many will say unto me in that day Lord have we not Prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out Devils c. Yet saith he ver 23. I will profess unto them I never knew them depart from me ye that work iniquity So that from this and many such like Passages it is evident that the Lord Jesus Christ was a great Exacter and Perswader a constant Urger and Presser
of the Consciences of men unto holiness and unto the observation of the Law And Chap. 16.27 he declares that he will reward every man according to his works And Chap. 23. he pronounceth woe upon woe and heaps of woes against the Scribes and Pharisees for their misdemeanours and transgression of the Law in their Places and Calling Yea after his Resurrection being now ready to leave the World and to ascend up into heaven when he delivered the sum and substance of the Gospel unto the Apostles as that which was to be the subject matter of their Preaching one part of it was Minatory and answering the Curse of the Law yea it containeth a sorer and far more grievous curse than that which the Law denounceth He that believeth not saith he shall be damned Mar. 16.16 This damnation of the Gospel is a thousand times more dreadful than the Curse or damnation of the Law and this in two respects First It is irreversible when once it hath seized upon a person whereas the Curse of the Law when a man hath incurred it may be taken from him by the grace of the Gospel Every man that doth not at present believe is under the Curse of the Law but under the Curse of the Gospel he only is that dieth in his unbelief For when it is said But he that believeth not shall be damned The meaning cannot be that whosoever is not at present an actual believer shall be damned but he that dieth in unbelief Again secondly The Curse of the Gospel is much more grievous than the Curse of the Law in respect of the great weight or degree of misery which accompanieth it when it falls upon the Creature The Curse of the Law where it falls it will break in pieces but the Curse of the Gospel will grind all to powder The Apostle implyeth such a difference as this Heb. 2.3 How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation c. And as the Ministry of the Lord Christ was most purely and exemplarily Evangelical Sect. 12 and therefore far from Legal yet pressed the observation of the Moral Law in all points with the greatest exactness and severity that might be yea and threatned the vengeance of hell fire in case of neglect and disobedience Such was the Ministry of the Apostle Paul also How frequent and fervent is he in all his Epistles in perswading and pressing and urging men unto every good way and work Yea how district and terrible is he in his threatnings of the loss of the Kingdom of Heaven and Salvation it self 1 Cor. 6.9 10. We see there how close he bindeth the duties of the Law Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherite the Kingdom of God Be not deceived c My Brethren what Minister if you call that legal in a Minister did ever urge and press the duties of the Law upon higher terms than this Apostle did If you make but observation you shall find throughout all his Writings this was a frequent vein of his Ministry Gal. 5.19 20 21. Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these Adultery Fornication c. So Ephes 5.3 4 5 6. But Fornication and all Vncleanness c. let it not be so much as once named amongst you know you not that no Whoremonger nor Idolater nor Adulterer nor Unclean person shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven Let no man deceive you with vain words making you believe that you shall come off at last Why For or because of these things cometh the wrath of God i. e. cometh in the Present Tense as if it were ready to fall on them the same hour and moment And again the like place Phil. 3.18 19. For many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are Enemies of the Cross of Christ c. So that it is evident from these Passages out of this Apostle that his Writings are full of this Spirit namely to press the duties of the Law of God upon the Consciences of men to fill if it were possible their hearts and so their lives with the observation of them The Ministry of the Apostle Peter also was of the same strain with the two former strongly bent to fill the hearts and lives of men with righteousness and true holiness and this by threatning Judgments and Wrath against the Disobedient 1 Pet. 4.17 18. If Judgment begin at the House of God What shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God And if the Righteous scarcely be saved where shall the Ungodly and Sinner appear It is a very terrible kind of expression and representeth the state of the ungodly and wicked to be such as that no wit of man no nor all the Angels of Heaven were capable of casting up all the horrour or terrour which will befall them And so again 2 Pet. 2.4 5 6. For if God spared not the Angels that sinned but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness c. and made them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly If God had only threatned these namely the Angels and those wicked men the Inhabitants of the Old World c. but had never done execution according to the tenour of his threatnings men might have thought that he had only threatned men to keep them in awe and no more But such examples as these shew that when God doth threaten he doubtless doth it not in vain only to threaten but will do execution according to his threatning in case men continue in their sinful waies So that there is no ground to judge and determine a Ministry to be legal because the bent and face of it is set as it were to press men to the keeping of the Commands of God contained in the Moral Law nor because it threatneth with the greatest severity and with the vengeance of hell fire them that shall neglect any of his Commands it may be excellent and highly Evangelical notwithstanding That which is pretended that it namely the Law should not be pressed upon men because they are not under the Law but under grace Rom. 6.14 8.2 is of no force For the natural conscience in men doth dictate unto them and urge upon them the performance of those very duties which the Law of God doth require and therefore it is not material to insist here upon this question Whether Believers are bound to observe the Moral Law as it was delivered unto the Jews for it is unquestionable that the things contained in this Law are binding upon them otherwise as the Apostle doth distinguish very accurately and carefully in that case Rom. 2.14 15. He doth not say that the Gentiles did subject themselves to Moses Law as it was delivered unto the Jews but they did the things contained in the Law So if Believers be bound to do those duties in every respect which the Law requireth This we may call a
subjection to the Law Nor yet again is it any Character or property of a Legal Ministry if we take the word Legal in any disparaging sense to promise the Love and Favour of God Life and Salvation to those that shall be found the exactest observers of the things required by God in the Law in the Moral Law especially if such obedience proceed from that Faith which worketh by Love for the Ministry both of the Lord Christ and so of the two Apostles mentioned made many Promises upon these terms viz. upon keeping of these Commandments All or the greatest part of the Beatitudes as they are called pronounced by our Saviour in the entrance upon his Sermon on the Mount Mat. 5. of which we lately spake are but so many Promises made unto persons duly observant of things commanded in the Law As when he saith Blessed are the Meck blessed are the Merciful blessed are the Peace-makers c. Now Meekness Mercifulness and Peace-making c. are holy dispositions with their proper fruits and actions commanded in the Law So again Joh. 15.10 If ye keep my Commandments ye shall continue in my love even as I have kept my Fathers Commandments and abide in his love Now his Commandments are no other but the very self-same things which are commanded in the Law of God Joh. 14.21 He that hath my Commandments i. e. that hath them in his mind in his life and conversation he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him c. So that still we see that the Promises are made unto the fulfilling of the Law Rom. 2.6 7 10. where the Apostle speaking of God saith that he will render to every man according to his deeds to them who by patient continuance in well-doing i. e. by keeping the Commands of God seek for glory and honour and immortality eternal life but to them that are contentious c. indignation and wrath By such Passages as these it doth evidently appear that both the Ministry of the Lord Christ and of the Apostle Paul was full of these Promises unto moral qualifications or unto obedience unto the Law Thus then we see that a Ministry is not to be termed Legal in any reprovable sense upon the account of any the three properties mentioned nor yet upon the account of them all though concurring in one and the same Ministry as indeed they ought yea and must if they will be faithful and are like to edifie men in faith and holiness Very like it is that the persons now under censure Sect. 13 do ignorantly asperse that Ministry as Legal against which they seek a quarrel upon the pretense of one or other or all the three particulars specified But the Ministry that deserves that imputation of being Legal to add this briefly by the way is first and most properly such which teacheth Justification i. e. Remission of sins by Works i. e. by the merit of Works for otherwise Faith is a Work and so called by our Saviour himself Joh. 6.29 But to Preach Justification by Faith is not to Preach Legally but most Evangelically For that was the Master vein of the Ministry of Paul viz. to avouch and prove that Justification was to be obtained by Faith in Jesus Christ whereas they the Jews held that it was to be obtained by observing and keeping the Law Now though to Preach Justification by Faith alone as was even now said be not to Preach Legally but Evangelically yet to Preach it by Faith sensu meritorio as if Faith were the meritorious cause of Justification is either to Preach Legally or upon an account every whit as bad and as repugnant to the tenour of the Gospel Secondly That Ministry may in a sense be termed Legal which like unto Pharaoh's Taskmasters in their hard dealings by the Israelites exacteth the full Tale of Brick from men yet gives them no straw whereof to make them I mean which is continually in a manner pressing men unto duties yea the hardest of duties binding the heavie burthens of the Law upon the Consciences of men with the Iron bands of sharp reproofs and sore threatnings seldom or never ministring unto them the rich and high encouragements of the Gospel whereby both their hearts and hands might be strengthened and all that which is distasteful to the flesh in such works and waies be drowned and taken away They that require of men to do Angels work I mean do high and excellent services to God should feed them with the food of Angels they had need have the highest encouragements even such as are in the Gospel They that require of men to be as fruitful and as zealous in serving God and men as Paul was who laboured to promote the interest of God and men more abundantly than they all as himself saith they must endeavour to lift them up higher as high as the third heaven for there doubtless it was that Paul learned that nobleness greatness and worthiness of spirit there he learned to act after another manner of Rate than all the men of the World besides who never came there as he had done The way to draw out mens hearts and souls and all that is within them in serving God and men doing good to their Generation is as far as possible to raise in them the consolation of the Gospel then shall you bring the World under your feet and when that shall be under your feet then shall you be able to lift up your hands to any of the Commands of God But untill men are full of the hope of the life and glory and great things of the World which is to come every good work and way will stick with them and combate with their souls and spirits whereas give men but felicity enough and then if their eyes will do you any service they will pluck them out and give them unto you But this only by the way to give a little light whereby to estimate a legal Ministry which is a Word or Phrase used by many but rightly understood by very few Thirdly Such a Ministry may be termed Legal which sendeth men forth about their spiritual business in their own strength without informing them and that plainly that without Jesus and his Spirit they can do nothing For the gift of the Spirit unto men and so also the Doctrine of Prayer upon which God doth convey his Spirit is Evangelical Received you the Spirit by the hearing of the Law c. therefore they who teach men that they have no need of the Spirit or of the gracious assistance thereof but that they may do things in their own strength are in a sense Anti-Evangelical Teachers Fourthly and lastly That Ministry also may not unproperly be called Legal which bindeth over to Condemnation where the Gospel doth not that concludeth or shutteth men up under Sin and Wrath where the Gospel doth not or that shall make any stricter bands of
be possessed with a spirit of joy and of a sound mind but will be ever and anon apt to take hold of fears and he will alwaies be obnoxious unto temptations unless he do run in his obedience round about the Commandments of God so far as they are made known unto him It is true it is not a step awry now and then besides a Commandment of God no nor an habitual or continual omission of an unknown Duty or Precept that will thus endamage the Soul If men and women be truly consciencious and habitually careful to put in practice all they know of the good and holy and perfect will of God concerning them their faces may shine and their hearts be lifted up to Heaven My meaning is the rest and peace of their souls may be glorious and their inward man may be exalted highly yea though through the infirmities of the flesh they should sometimes be prevented with some irregular and unworthy actions supposing that what they scatter thorough the infirmities of the flesh they gather up again by the strength of the Spirit and repent toties quoties As though a man let pieces of money drop out of his hand yet if he presently stoop and take them up again he suffereth no great loss Even so though a man as often as he miscarries drops a proportion or quantity of his peace yet if he stoop and gather up by Repentance that which he lets fall his soul may still prosper But this is that which we say that if a man shall ordinarily or constantly neglect any of the holy Counsels or Precepts of God which have been discovered and made known unto him for such such a person will never thrive in his inner man his Consolations in the Gospel will never be rich or strong no though he should do many things otherwise very commendable and good yea and be zealous for God that disrespect which he sheweth to that one Commandment of God whatever it be will be like a Moth fretting his Garment Or like a dead Fly in his Oyntment that will drown the sweet savour which otherwise it would breath forth For though God can bear with the frailties and weaknesses of men and can endure them with much long suffering and patience under greater provocations than weaknesses and infirmities yet he will not he cannot bear the coals of disrespects and neglects from men neither will he countenance from Heaven man or woman under a contempt of his words upon the account of any other service or obedience whatsoever We know the Charge was very strict under the Law Deut. 4.2 Ye shall not add unto the Word which I command you neither shall ye diminish ought from it that you may keep the Commandments of the Lord your God c. So Chap. 12.32 Whatsoever I command you observe to do it c. You know David that man of God who had that large Testimony from Heaven that he was a man after Gods own heart yet he durst not it seemeth promise himself any security from the Judgments or displeasure of God upon any other terms but upon the condition of his consciencious respects to all the Commandments of God as well one as another Psal 119.6 So shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy Commandments And our Saviour Joh. 5.14 maketh this the touchstone of the Love and Friendship of his Disciples unto him viz. Zealously to do whatsoever they were commanded Ye are my Friends if ye do whatsoever I command you You may understand the word Friend either Actively or Passively thus you shall deserve the name of Friends to God and Jesus Christ he speaketh in the Evangelical Dialect when you shall do or to the utmost of your power endeavour to do or when your hearts stand clearly and singly bent to do whatsoever I command you though many times you may be interrupted in the way of your doing yet shall not this hinder your acceptation with God but you shall be dealt withal by him as if you had actually done the thing whatever it be Or otherwise Passive If you do whatsoever I command you you shall be dealt withal as Friends I will entreat you as he that is the greatest lover of his Friends doth I will bountifully reward you and gratifie you over and over I will make the World to know and see that I indeed do love you My Brethren there is this reason why a neglect or disrespect of any of the Words or Precepts of God being made known unto a man for such should quench the spirit of the joy of all a mans services or obedience besides viz. Because he that despiseth one constructively despiseth all as James reasoneth Jam. 2.10.11 For whosoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all and thus he proves what he had said For he that said do not commit adultery said also do not kill c. As he that breaketh a Staff but in one part yet is said to break the whole Staff Even so this Law of God though it consisteth in many Parcels Branches and Commands yet is it one entire and perfect Rule of life and of the waies of men Now he that breaks this Rule in any one part he is guilty of all i. e. he is in effect guilty of all or it is one and the same unto him as if he had broken and transgressed them all for he speaketh chiefly of matters of Punishment and Curses in the Law Cursed is he that continueth not in all things that are written in the Law to do them If a man should continue in nothing at all that the Law requireth he should but be accursed and if he did not continue in all cursed is he too upon that account I say then if men do neglect or pass by or slight any one of the Counsels of God it is interpretatively the despising of them all When men shall make Elect and Reprobates amongst the Commandments of God some they will keep with all their hearts but others they will trample under their feet this sheweth that the ground of that obedience which they do exhibit and perform unto some is not because they are the Commands of God but something else For if it were out of a pure true and real respect to God and reverence that they have unto him that is the Law-giver they would respect one Law as well as another and every Law as his fellow and would make no difference between them Now then Let this be considered also which hath been propounded in the second place to bind the Exhortation fast and closs unto your Consciences it being one of the Precepts of God and now made known unto you that you ought to be filled with the Spirit of God If you shall cast this behind your backs or trample it under your feet your keeping the rest of the Commands of God will turn but to a slender account unto you Will you
hired in the Morning and then with the rest that came later and then with the last that came at the Eleventh hour When the first saw that there was as much given unto those that had laboured but one hour of the day as there was unto them that had borne the heat and burthen of the day this caused them to break out against the Housholder that had hired them as if he were unequal unreasonable and unjust in giving more unto such as had laboured less as they judged it and less to them who had laboured more the proportion of their labour considered Now Christ shews that this might very well be in the Kingdom of Heaven that is in the business of the Gospel and preaching of that in the World that God may justly and upon his own terms though he would not account with such Murmurers and Quarrellers about his terms yet that God was at liberty to make what Law or Terms he pleased for the disposal of his own and to walk by this Rule accordingly that this was just and equal and there was no cause to contend with him or to murmur against him for so doing But it may be some mans Question Sect. 20 But how could any such Terms or Rules be equal for God to proceed by to make these equal in reward who laboured but one hour with those that laboured many and as themselves pleaded their own cause that had borne the heat and burthen of the day To this I answer That God doth not simply and barely estimate the external Actions and Services of men but doth lay together and puts into the balance whatsoever it may be the inward frame of the heart and soul And so we find in Scripture that when mention is made of the righteousness of God in judging of men it is said that he will judge men according to their works and bring forth every secret thing to judgment That which will bear special weight in the judgment of God is the frame of the heart and spirit which it may be some had not the opportunity fully and thoroughly to express in their outward deportments and service in the World but when God comes to pass Sentence and to give Judgment then he will estimate things according to the strictest and accuratest terms of reason But our Saviour in this Parable sets forth the high presuming nature of the Jews in opposition to the Gentiles whom they despised and who at the Eleventh hour of the day were called into the Service of God He there sets forth their Genius and Disposition who because they had done so much and had been so laborious above others in the Works of the Law and in the Ceremonies and Sacrifices and in the legal Rites and Observations therefore they thought they should have double and trebble and a thousand-fold above the Gentiles that came in so late Now the Lord Christ declares unto the Jews Parabolically that he knew the frames of their hearts how they were much expecting and looking for rewards from him for what they did upon the account of themselves but intimates that the Gentiles were content to submit to the good will and pleasure of God that they came in to serve him freely without indenting or any particular contracting with him after the manner which it seems the Jews did Upon this account he makes equal the performance and Services of the Gentiles though it was not of so long a continuance The Gentiles had not been so long in his Vineyard as they had been yet the Gentiles served him with a better heart and more ingenious mind and affections than the Jews did which they ought to have considered and not so much to have stood upon their ten thousands of Rivers of Oyl their Sacrifices and Legal Observations as to contend with God for a reward in rigour of Justice That by the Peny is not here meant Eternal life Chrysostome of old and sundry later Interpreters have sufficiently proved from hence namely that they who come in at the first hour of the day that is the murmurers and those whose eyes were evil because God was good that envied at the bounty and magnificence of God towards the poor Gentiles that such persons are not like to receive the Kingdom of Heaven Salvation from the hand of God Or if we should in the last place understand by the Peny here the Kingdom of Heaven or Salvation it self yet would it not follow from thence that therefore all these workmen had all the same part and the same portion there or the same degrees in glory Because as when it is said that the Righteous shall shine as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father though they shall be all equal in this that they shall all shine as the Sun yet it doth not follow that they shall all shine with the same lustre and splendor and brightness but that there may be different degrees of shining So it may be said that all those persons even they that were men of an evil eye and were apt to murmur and grudge at them who they thought were inferiour unto themselves and had not been so long in the Service of God as they supposing I say that those persons should be saved as well as the other yet it doth not follow that therefore there should be no difference between the one and the other for every one may have his Peny if we understand Salvation by it for all the Saints and all Believers that have the least Faith and the lowest degree in Grace as well as the highest they shall all be saved But it doth in no wise follow from hence because they shall receive every man a Peny that therefore they shall each one receive no greater proportion than the other I say it hinders not but that there may be degrees and greater proportions and shares in this Salvation to be conferred upon some above what shall be given or conferred upon other So that the truth is though this Parable be very hard and obscure and accordingly hath tried the Judgments and Understandings of men and divided them to purpose Yet there is nothing can reasonably be brought from it which hath any clear or pregnant Argument against that inequality of rewards which we have been arguing until now So that we shall take this for a ground or Basis of that Discourse which we are upon That certainly there is a variety and difference of Rewards in Heaven there are Crowns some greater and more weightier than others Now this we should have added in the close that the Crowns of greatest weight and glory are prepared for the heads of those who are filled with the Spirit of God these are the persons that shall be highest and nearest unto Jesus Christ in his glory they that shall most abound in the work of the Lord they that are fullest of Zeal and Faithfulness they that will make the greatest disposure of themselves that shall be content to