an hundreth pound Scots ye would not be so secure till ye knew that ye were fred of it And if it be true that this is your Condition by Nature to be under the standing Sentence of the Law and the Curse of God How is it ye never try if ye be come out of that Condition I ask the most Prophane Men among you were ye never under this Sentence If ye say not the word of God will stand up against you and say to you that ye lie falsly and if ye be under it is it not hazardous to be so But I fear that many of you dream that the Curse of God wears away as ye grow up 3dly Think ye never of coming to Judgement and of Gods proceeding in Judgement against you Think ye never that ye will die and after death come to Judgement according to the general appointment past upon all Men How cometh it that ye are not thinking on it and what may be the Judges procedour towards you He will Judge you according to this Word and all that are out of Christ and not Justified by Him will be cast into the Pit of Hell There is no new Sentence to be past or to be executed upon you but that which was standing over your head before 4ly Know ye how long He may treat with you or how long ye may be in Capacity to get your state changed Are there not many taken suddenly away of whose estate we shall not Judge but may it not be so with you why are ye then so secure why decline ye the Word and refuse to let it search you while ye know not whether the Curse be removed and whether the Sentence be changed or recalled Some of you perhaps will say The Lord knows that it is not for us to know And that sayes that ye do never so much as essay to know and to win to clearness about your state Others of you will it may be say that ye hope all will be well and yet that at the best is but a guessing and ye would be loath to speak so of a Decreet that were past against you about a Sum of Money in any poor Court of Judicature on Earth and will ye suffer this terrible Sentence to stand over your head in the Court of Gods Justice and not study to be distinct and at a point upon solid and good grounds that it is repealled If ye did really believe that it was once so with you and that yet ye are in hazard of this Sentence ye would not ye could not I am sure ye should not be at rest till ye knew that it were removed It would put you to make use of Christ in good earnest for your Peace and to seek after an extract of the repealled Sentence and of your Absolution Sealed up in your Bosome And this is the thing that we aim at in all this even that as ye would not have a terrible meeting with God before the Bar of His Justice that ye would seek to have the Curse that ye are naturally lying under removed and to have your peace made with God and to have some well grounded clearness about it that ye might live comfortedly and die with solid confidence and Christian Courage without which ye can do neither SERMON LII ISAIAH LIII XI Vers 11. He shall see of the travell of his soul and shall be satisfied By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many for he shall bear their iniquities THE way of Absolving a Guilty Sinner in the Justice of God is the great sum and scope of all the Gospel Even to shew how a lost Sinner Obnoxious to the Sentence of a transgrest Law may without prejudice to the Justice of God come to be Justified we are perswaded that there is nothing of greater concernment to Sinners And if we knew our Debt and our Hazard we would think that there is nothing of greater concernment to us in particular The Sum of the Covenant of Redemption runs on this and it is the great thing aimed at in all this Chapter wherein the Prophet lets us see 1. What is the great thing that Satisfies Justice And for this end much hath been spoken of Christs Sufferings and Soul-travel 2. He lets us see what is the benefit that comes to us by Christs Sufferings and that is Justification or Absolution from the guilt of Sin and from the Curse which it deserves 3. He lets us see the way how this benefit is derived And it is by his knowledge This faith He shall be the great result of Christ's Sufferings Many shall be justified And this shall be the way how it shall be derived to these many and that is by his knowledge or by Faith in Him resting on His Righteousnesse and Satisfaction We opened up the meaning of the Words the last day and pointed at two Doctrines from them 1. That all Men and Women have a Judgement to abide before God an Arraignment and Indictment there to which they must answer They must all come to get a Sentence from God 2. That all Men Naturally are lyable to the Sentence of Condemnation This is supposed here For in as far as Sinners are only by Faith in Christ Justified in as far the Sentence of the Law and of the Covenant of Works is standing against them and over their heads who are not by Faith united to Christ Jesus and Justified by His Righteousnesse The 3. Doctrine Which is almost the very Words of the Text that now we intend to speak to is this That although all Men naturally be obnoxious to the Sentence of the Law and to the Curse of God yet there is a way laid down how a Sinner so obnoxious may be Justified and fred from that Sentence and this is by Faith in Jesus Christ only If any Doctrine be of concernment for us to know and to be well and experimentally acquainted with This is of concernment to us By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many There are Three things in this Doctrine implyed which by one and the same labour will be proven and therefore we shall put them together 1. That although all Men be naturally obnoxious to the Wrath and Curse of God yet He hath appointed away how guilty Sinners may be Justified and Absolved 2. That the way of attaining to this benefit of Justification and freedome from the Curse is by Faith in Christs Righteousness It 's by his knowledge saith the Text. 3. That there is no other way by which a Sinner obnoxious to the Curse can be Justified but by Faith in Christ's Righteousnesse allanarly This last branch of the Doctrine sayes not only That there is no other mean to Satisfie Justice but Christs Merit and Satisfaction But that there is no other way but the way of Faith to win to the application of His Satisfaction whereby many Questions may be Answered and many Errors in Doctrine and Practice confuted But our
present purpose is to shew how a guilty Sinner may be Justified And therefore we shall 1. Give you a general view of the Truth of the Doctrine by confirming it from Scripture in all the parts of it 2. We shall â—peak more paticularly to the severall branches of it And 3ly To the way of attaining Justification in the severall Causes of it as it is here holden forth For Confirmation of the General Doctrine ye shall 1. Look upon some Scriptures And 2. To some Grounds of Reason As for the Confirmation of it by Scripture If we look through the Gospel it is Our Lord Jesus Christ His own Doctrine which He preached and the way which He laid down therein for Justifying and saving a Sinner So John 3. Where it is three or four times repeated As v. 16. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have eternal life v. 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he believeth not in the name of the only begotten Son of God v. 36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not the son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him And v. 14 15. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have eternal life And that is all one as to say he that believes shall be Justified Mark 16.16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned These are the terms on which the Apostles are by Christ warranded to preach the Gospel and to make the offer of Life to every Creature And therefore if we look forward to their Preaching we will find it to run in the same sâ—rain A Acts 13.38 39. Be it known unto you therefore men and brethren that through this man is preached unto you the forgivenness of sins and that by him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses Where while Paul is summing up the whole Message that he had to deliver he goes upon the same ground And wherein we have these three clearly holden forth 1. That all Mâ—n are lyable as in their Natural Estate to God's Curse and by the Law cannot be Justified 2. That there is a way laid down through Jesus Christ to come by Justification and Remission of Sins 3. That the way how Sinners came by this is Faith in Christ All that believe are justified Look to the Epistles especially these written to the Romans and Galatians Where this question about Justification is exprâ—sly and of purpose handled and we will find that it is the sum of both As Rom. 3. Where having said v. 23 That all have sinned and come short of the glory of God And so that all are lyable to Gods Judgement he subjoyns v. 24. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ Where is the great mean of our Justification and then he adds v. 25. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood Where we have the mean of Application to wit Faith and Chap. 4.5 To him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness Which place demonstrats this That an ungodly Person taking hold by Faith of Christs Righteousnesse may be and is Justified and Absolved and fred from the guilt of Sin as if he had never Sinned So Gal. 2.15 16. We who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles or not without the Covenant as they are Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified Which place shews not only this that through Faith in Christ is Justification and Life to be had but it also excludes all other wayes of Justificâ—tion Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith But that which we are now speaking to is only the positive part of the Doctrine To shew that a Guilty Sinner obnoxious to the Curse May by Faith come to be Justified and made free from the Guilt of Sin and from the Curse as if he had never Sinned nor been under the Curse For further Confirmation of the Doctrine ye would consider these Four Grounds and ye will see from them good reason for it Only remember this That Justification looks alway to a Judicial Procedour as we hinted before Wherein the Lord is as it were on the Throne and the Guilty Sinner at the Bar pleading through Christs Righteousnesse and Satisfaction to be Absolved which is even as if a Debtor were arrested for Debt should plead for a Liberation not because he is not owing the Debt neither because he hath payed the Debt but because his Cautioner hath payed it for him This being supposed and remembred ye would we say consider these Grounds or Reasons for confirming the Doctrine 1. The Sufferings that Christ hath endured and the Satisfaction that He hath made in the Room of Sinners as the next Words hold out For he shall bear their iniquities And v. ult He bare the sin of many Nay this is the great scope of the Chapter Therefore it 's said That he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows and that the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all This makes a Ground of Confirmation 2. Consider How that there is not only a sufficient price payed but there is a Covenant of Redemption warranding Him to pay it and accepting it off His hand as compleat Payment and Satisfaction for the Elects Debt And except there be a look had to this Covenant Faith hath not a sufficient Ground to rest on for Justification through Jesus His Satisfaction because otherwayes we see not a Reason why His Sufferings can be accepted for us For suppose if such a supposition may warrantably be made Christ to have Suffered yet it was free for God to have accepted that as a Satisfaction for our Debt or not But the consideration of the Covenant of Redemption removes that Doubt and gives Faith a Ground to lay hold on Christ's Sufferings as Satisfactory to the Justice of God because in the Covenant of Redemption it 's so transacted and agreed upon betwixt God and the Mediator Therefore the Apostle speaking Heb. 10.8 9. and forward from Psal 40. of this Covenant shews That when Sacrifices and Offerings will not do the turn Christ comes in Saying Lo I come in the volume of thy book it is written of me I delight to do thy
Sin and Wrath may come to be absolved And this leads you in to know that there is a New Covenant made through a Mediator in which there is a Promise of Life and Salvation through believing in Him which Rom. 10. is called the law of faith which gives a Sinner ground of hope to be Justified by the Righteousnesse of a Cautioner and leads him in to know the Defence that he may and ought to plead upon before God And there is here presupposed as a necessity of knowing your selves so a necessity of knowing the Law and Covenant of Works for if we plead innocent in any one Sin whereof we are guilty it may hazard our eternal ruine And a necessity of knowing Jesus Christ who is the Meritorious Cause of our Justification that He became man and did take to Himself a true Humane Body and a reasonable Soul that by the Union of His two Natures He might be God and Man in one Person in reference to which He must needs be known for if we know Him not to be Man we cannot understand how Divine Justice is Satisfied and if we know Him not to be God we cannot understand how the Humane Nature can be sustained and supported and carried through in Satisfying the Justice of God and withal a necessity of knowing how the Mediator procures this Justification and this leads us in to know His Office how He was a Priest and interposed betwixt God and Sinners and made Himself an Offering for our Sin and maketh intercession for us how He was a Prophet and how when the thing was unknown to wit how a Sinner might have peace with God He revealed it of Old by His Prophets in the Old Testament and by His Apostles and Ministers in the New Testament and doth by His Spirit ellighten the Soul to take up the difference betwixt Justification by Faith and Justification by Works how He is a King to subdue Sin in us to mortifie our Corrupt Nature that will still boast till it be subdued to guide us in His way to fight our Spiritual Battels in us and for us and to take course with all His and our Enemies Otherwayes if we know not this though we were justified just now we would be led captive by Sin and Satan to our ruine within an hour but knowing Him to be King it gives Faith footing to expect Through-beating and Victory 4. As we must know what Christ is so we must know what is in Christ and what is communicated and applyed to Sinners by Him and so the condition of the Covenant of Grace which is Faith whereby we come to be united to Christ and that this Faith is not a bare assenting to the Truth but a closing with and a resting on Him for we can never believe except we know what Faith is 5. It is needful that we know what Dutie is called for from a Justified Person to wit Repentance and Holiness because though He Justifies none for Repentance yet He Justifies none but Penitents and He requires Repentance from all whom He Jusâ—ifies Except ye repent saith Christ ye shall all likewise perish For the Curse lyes at the door and we are so to Repent as that with grief and hatred of Sin we turn from it unto God with full purpose of heart and endeavour after new Obedience 6. There is also a necessity of the Knowledge of Christs Ordinance though non absoluâ—ely in order to Justification to know the Sacraments and how thâ—y represent Christ and the benefits that come by Him and how they do Ratifie and Confirm the Believers Right to Him and these good things promised through Him Let me intreat you Believers and as many as look for Justification to â—â—ndy throughly to know that these things are necessary to be known even to know God and your selves and what ye may be justly charged with before Him that your mouths may be stoped to know Jesus Christ and His Offices For ye can never upon ground expect Justification except ye know who hath procured it to know what God requires of these who are Justified in a Word study so much as may bring you to know your lost estate and the remedy thereof and how to found your Defence when ye come before God c. And if ye would study thus to know God and know your selves and your Natural Condition and Jesus Christ and the way how ye come to be Justified through Him and your Duty to Him and so make a Catechisme to your selves out of these few heads it were a short and sure way to come to knowledge The 2d Use Serves for Reproof and Conviction to them that lye still in ignorance which is a most Sinful and Dangerous Condition for if Knowledge be a Duty and if Ignorance be a Sin and such a Sin as hazards the Soul then what a woful case are many of you in who now hear me Lay aside all other Sins I would be ashamed to speak of the great Ignorance that is among you How many of you are there that cannot give any tollerable account of your Catechism who know not your natural State and Condition nor the way how to come at peace with God nor any ground for your Faith to rest upon nor Christ nor His Offices and alace if it be so what better are ye then Heathens Sure ye are much worse because ye have dispised Knowledge Can the Gospel give you Faith to whom it never gave Knowledge There are several sorts of Persons to whom I would here speak a Word 1 There are some that never lay the necessity of Knowledge to heart betwixt whom and Turks and Pagans there is in this respâ—ct but little difference and yet such will be ready to say we live and do as well as we may that there may not be a quarrel or contraversie betwixt God and us But is it possible but there must be a quarrel if it were but on this alone account that ye think there is none O! that ye would consider what a Sin Ignorance is when the Devil appeared in the World he made it a great part of his first Work to extinguish and put out the light of Knowledge and by this means he labours still to keep Folk in Ignorance hence the Apostle sayes 2 Cor. 3. If our gospel he hid it is hid to them who are lost whose eyes the god of this world hath blinded Prophanity and Error are great Baits and Snares but Ignorance carries moe to hell then both these do for Ignorance fostereth and cheerisheth if it do not also beget Prophanity and Error as the Apostle Peter insinuats when he sayes that the Ignorant or Unlearned Wrest or pervert the Scriptures unto their own destruction much Ignorance and Conceit of Knowledge will soon and easily shake people loose and make them a Prey to Error and also to Prophanity must not Ignorance then be an evil thing when it leads the way to so many other Sins and at
Faith comes by hearing as it is Rom. 10.17 and hearing by the word of God and in the same Chap. v. 14 15. How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without a preacher and how shall they preach except they be sent Where the Apostle clearly and convincingly inâ—â—rt the necessity of a lawfully called Ministry for preaching of the Gospel and for carrying on the Work of Justifying and Sâ—ving Faith The reason is because if their be a necessity of Faith and if no Faith can â—e without Knowledge then there must necessarily be something to reveal it I speâ—k here of the ordinary way of Gods revealling Himself what He may do â—xtraordinarly towards Dumb and Deaff Persons to Idiots and Young Children I midle not with that but leave it to Himself as a Secret which He thinketh not fit to impart to u I call the Gospel the external mean of promoving our Justâ—fication in Four respects 1. Because it layes before us the Object of our Faith for in it as it is Rom. 1.17 is the righteousness of God revealled c. and Rom. 11.21 22. it 's said Now the righteousnesse of God without the law is manifested c. We would never know the way how a Sinner comes to be at peace with God and to be Justified without the Gospel 2. Because it not only reveals the Object of Faith but it makes offer of it and hereby a Sinner that hears the Gospel hath warrand to imbrace and make use of Jesus Christ's Righteousnesse and to rest upon it and therefore if tentation should say to the Sinner though Christ dyed what is that for thee Faith hath this to reply The Gospel calls me and that warrands me to come to Him and to make use of His Death the Promise as it is Act. 2. Is to as many as the Lord our God shall call And in this respect the Promise is our Right and Evident whereby we come to have a claim to Christ 3. Because God makes use of the Word preached for ingaging of Sinners to Christ and for making them to take hold of Him It 's true that it is not powerful of it self and without the Spirit yet it 's the ordinary mean that God maketh use of Therefore sayeth the Apostle 2 Cor. 10.4 The weapons of our warefare are not carnal though they be weak in themselves yet they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds And in this respect the Gospel not only offers Life but through Gods blessing as a mean begets Life and by the Spirit accompanying it Sinners are ingaged to take hold of Christ and to rest on Him for Salvation 4ly Because this Word being taken hold of and closed with contains the pronuncing of the Sinners Absolvitor of His absolving Sentence when it sayes If thou believest thou shalt be justified and saved upon supposition of believing the Sentence stands good to the Believer Thou art past from death to Life There being no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus The 1. Use Serves to clear that which we hinted at before in naming this for a cause of Justification though it be the external instrumental cause yet it is a Cause The 2. Use Serves to teach you to put a Pryce on the Gospel It 's the bane both of prophane secure Sinners and of a sort of vain and giddy People among us that they prize not the Preaching of the Gospel as the external instrumental Cause that concurres in the Justification of Sinners but if ever ye be absolved ye will be beholden to this preached Gospel I will not say alwayes to the Preaching but sure to the Gospel that is Preached This on the one hand reproves these who will be ready to say that they have Faith who yet never knew the Gospel to do them good and such also who seldom come to hear and who never care for preaching And upon the other hand it reproves these who when they fall a Tottering Reeling and wavering and begine to incline to error cast at the preaching of the Gospel having it may be slighted it before in their hearts whether when Satan once gets them he tosses them in a great measure as he pleases and makes them so giddy by frequent turning about that they scarcely leave to themselves a foot-broad of Scripture-ground to stand upon But as ye respect the glory of Christ the good of your Souls and your absolution before God esteem much of the Gospel For it 's the power of God to salvation And if ever ye ye come to Heaven it will be by this Gospel as the external mean These Nations that never heard it will think you to be most desperatly wicked and miserable who have had it and yet so unworthily slighted it For pressing of this Use a little Take Two or Three Directions in reference to it 1. Walk under the Convictions of the necessity of the Gospel For there is no absolution without it It is true God might have taken another way but on the supposition that He hath appointed Faith to be a mids to Justification and that Faith supposes Knowledge then certainly Knowledge doth suppose a necessity of hearing the Gospel ye will never value Preaching nor any other Ordinances of Christ if ye see not a necessity of them and know them not to be for your good 2. Study to know what is the main End and Design of and what is the advantage that is to be had by the Ordinances many come to the Preaching of the Gospel to hear and learn some Lesson for informing their Judgement some come to get Directions in refâ—rence to some particular Dutie some to get a doubt loosed none of which are to be dissallowed in themselves but rather in so far to be commended but how few come to it as to a mean to carry on and bring about their Justification and to bring them out of Black Nâ—ture into a State of Grace It 's the sum of Pauls Preaching and the end of it as the Divine Historian shews Act. 26.18 To open blind eyes to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of satan unto God that they may receive forgivenesse of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith that is in him 3. Aim in your practice to carry on this Design even to put a close to the Treaty anent Justification betwixt God and you when ye come to the Preaching and hears us declare in the name of the Lord that a believing Sinner hath accesse to have his Sin taken away and to be Justified through the imputation of Christs Righteousnesse ye would step to hearing this Proclamation made of the pardon of Sin by one of Christs Ambassadors in His Name and accept of embrace and cordially close with it if it were just now at this very occasion 4. This would be the great design both of Preachers and Hearers Of Preachers to follow
and please Him with Duties they will ingage Him to give them pardon and in this they have to speak so an under hand Covenant of Works They will do something to please the Mediator and wherein they come short they expect that he will make it up and this is very ordinary in practice If ye ask some what hope have ye of Justification They will answer through Christs Righteousnesse and that is good in so far but ask them again how they will get it they will answer that they will do what they dow or may and they hope that He will pity them ye would look in upon your own hearts and see whether it be not secretly making something of this kind the ground of your title to Christ and of your Justification And yet all this may be and often is in them that will not stoop to the way of Grace nor submit themselves to the Righteousnesse of God They will speak of Christs Righteousness and yet they will needs give Him some compensation and so come never really to renounce their own Righteousnesse and to flee unto His and to hold it up as their defence before God Take but an impartial view of these steps and many of you who suppose that ye are believers will not be found to be so nor Justified before God because ye lay nor claim to it by Faith but as it were by the works of the Law Use 3. There is here ground for all that neglect Christ and do not by Faith take hold of Him to look for a most dreadful Sentence and ground for others who seek Righteousnesse through Faith to look for a most comfortable Sentence 1. Then is this a Truth that Justification is through Faith in Christ then many of you are not Justified And if the Lord prevent it not ye will never be Justified If so then it must be a most dreadful thing not to believe If ye would know what is your condition ye may read it John 3.18 36. He that believeth not is condemned already and he shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him and Gal. 3.10 As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse For it is written cursed is every one that continues not in all things written in the book of the law to do them If ye really believed this many of you would be under horror to hear what a sad condition ye are in even condemned already and having the Wrath and Curse of God abiding on you because the Word curseth and condemneth all that are not in Christ by Faith This I fear belongs to very many who are altogether secure and carelesse and yet are in reputation amongst us And is it not very sad to be professing fair to have the offer of life and to be treating with God about your peace and yet to be still in the State of enmity with Him So that if death were within twenty four hours march to you you could have nothing to expect but the ratifying of this Sentence of Gods curse upon you We are sure there is as much in this as might in reason put you by all means to study 1. To be Believers for without Faith ye are never over the borders of Gods curse which may lay a chase to you and put you to the necessity of fleeing to Christ for refuge 2. To take some pains to try whether ye be in the Faith as the Apostle exhorts 2 Cor. 13.5 Examine your selves whether ye be in the faith prove your selves know ye not your own selves how that Christ is in you except ye be reprobats His meaning is know ye not that this is a truth that ye are in a reprobat or unapproven condition except Christ be in you and Christ is in none but in the Believer If so ought ye not to try your selves if ye be in the Faith if ye be Believers There is no ordinary way to win to the sure and comfortable Knowledge of it but by tryal and if ye be not Believers is there not reason and is it not of your concernment to endeavour by tryall to come to the Knowledge of it As this is ground of terror to the unbeliever so it 's ground of notable consolation to the believer who if he were even put to the reckoning with Paul I was a blasphemer a persecuter injurious yet here is hope for him that he shall be found in Christ not having his own Righteousnesse but Christs believing in Christ will obtain Justification to such a person His Righteousnesse taken hold of and put on by Faith is as pleasing and acceptable to God as the unrighteousnesse of the Sinner is displeasing to him This was it that made David to sing sweetly Psal 32. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth no iniquity to wit through the imputation of Christs Righteousnesse as the Apostle clears Rom. 4. As the first branch of the Use shew the necessity of Faith for Chasing Sinners to Christ so this branch is a sweet motive to draw them to Him and if there were moe sensible Sinners amongst us whose own Righteousness misgives them and who are brought to that pass that the Jaylor and Peters hearers were in crying out what shall we do to be saved This word believe in the Lord Jesus and ye shall be saved would make them come in cheerful as he did from the brink not only of Temporal but of Eternal Death It 's this Faith by which we have access to stand before God ye would therefore be earnestly intreated to betake your selves to it and to Jesus Christ by it for your pardon and peace even for your Justification before God 2dly Consider these Words as they hold out the Object of Justifying Faith which is the great thing in them even to discribe Justifying Faith as to it's Object and Effect and in it's concurring to produce this effect And here there are mistakes and errors both in the doctrinal and practical part of all these 1. The Object of it then is Him Jesus Christ the knowledge of him or the Faith of Him or Faith in Him as other Scriptures have it Or looking more nearly to the words it 's Faith in Him as Suffering as Satisfying for Sin as in Soul-travel bearing our iniquities Hence Observe That Christ Jesus His Rightnousnesse holden forth in Gods promise of free Grace is the native and proper Object that saving and justifying Faith takes hold of and rests upon or to the same purpose the saving Grace of Faith that Justifies is that Faith that does peculiarly apply and rest upon Christ Jesus holden forth in Gods promise in the Gospel as the Righteousnesse of a Sinner that believes on him hence the Prophet calleth it here Not Knowledge more generally taken but the knowledge of him and that as He is holden out in this Chapter to wit as surety for Sinners and suffering for
comprehended the way of a Sinners Justification in the Gospel Covenant and promises and makes offer of it to all that hear of it saying He that believes in the Son shall not perish but have eternal life and all that believe on him shall be justified from all things whereby they could not be justified by the law of Moses This is the external instrumental cause of Justification that holds out the way to Life which supposes the former 4. When this is made offer of in the Gospel there is the oâ—eration of Gods Spirit on the Soul illightning the Mind of the Sinner convincing him of his hazard chasing him to Christ and powerfully perswading him to take hold of His Righteousnesse made offer of to him whereupon the Soul comes to put forth the Act of Faith and to rest upon His Righteousnesse as when it was said by Philip to the Eunuch Act. 8. If thou believest thou mayest justified The Soul answers I believe in Christ the Son of God whereupon it becomes a bargain and this is the inward mean or instrumental cause of Justification 5. Follows Gods imputing to that Sinner that receives Christ as He is offered and rests upon Him by Faith His Righteousnesse and Christs payment and satisfâ—ction to Justice is counted his and according to this his Sins are pardoned for the merit of that Righteousness and he himself is accepted accounted Righteous as if he had never sinned and he hath such a sentence past on him as is held forth in these words of Psal 32.1 Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered to whom the Lord imputs to iniquity and in these Rom. 8.1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus c. Even as before he fled to Christ there was a Curse standing against him And this is an Act of God the Soveraign and efficient Cause To declare his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him that believes in Jesus as it is Rom. 3.26 which is the final cause We may confirm this either as to the positive part that by believing a Sinner is Justified or as to the negative part that there is no other way possible whereby a Sinner can be Justified but by believing So that this great Effect follows from a sensible Sinners taking hold of Christs Righteousnesse by Faith Ye may look upon a few Scriptures to this purpose as namely Gal. 2.16 Where the Apostle entering in the debate layes down this conclusion Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ as if he had said we have taken this way for the attaining of this end believing that we might be justified The Apostle speaks here 1. Of a Justification by Faith which is opposit to Works and as he ascribes it to Faith so he denyes it to Works 2. He makes it exclusive and will have no other thing to concur in the manner at least but Faith Knowing saith he that a man is not justified by works but by faith 3. He holds out his own and other Believers practice Even we have believed that we might be justified As if he said we took this way of Faith to be absolved before God which by the Law or the Works of the Law would never have been See also to this purpose the Epistle to the Romans 1 2 3 4. and 5. Chapters especially the 3 and 4. In the 3d. chap. v. 25. When he is summing the Doctrine of Justification into a compend he sayes Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith to declare his righteousnesse for the remission of sins c. Where Christs Righteousnesse is called a Propitiation through faith and Faith is holden out as the Channel in which Justification runs and in the words following the Believer is holden out as the Object of it So Chap. 4. It 's holden out in the instance of Abraham particularly v. 5. To him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousnesse Where the Apostle propones Two wayes of a persons aiming to be Justified The 1. whereof is when a man works or worketh not on that account to be Justified by them and on that account seeks to be Justified and that way is rejected The 2. is when a man hath no works but by Faith betakes himself to Christ's Satisfaction and that way is established for that mans Faith is counted for Righteousnesse and is the ground of his peace before God we gave some Scriptures before for this and shall not therefore now insist There is also good reason why it cannot be otherwayes 1. If we consider what man is in himself ungodly rebellious having nothing to present unto God but when a Righteousnesse is presented to him by way of offer and he is through Grace brought to accept of the offer of Righteousnesse of another nothing can be conceived to be brought to receive it but his Faith and iâ— Christs Satisfaction be his Justification and if it be Faith that takes hold of it we have a clear reason why Justification is attributed as to Faith 2. Consider That this contributs most to Gods end which is to glorifie himself especially in his Grace in the Justification of Sinners even to hold forth the manifold riches of His Grace and nothing contributs to this so much and so well aâ— that which speaks the Sinner to be empty and nothing empties the Sinner more then Faith it being the great Act of Faith to bring the Soul of it's own bottom and to stop all boasting to drive it out of it self to be found in Him Therefore it 's said to be of faith that it might be of grace Rom. 14.16 As if he had said if it were by any other thing it could not be by Grace but Faith claims nothing but the Righteousnesse of Christ to rest on He hath payed the price and made the Satisfaction and that Satisfaction is mine saith Faith because it was offered to me and I have been brought to lay hold on it and the nature of this pleading stops the mouth of the creature and proclaims Justification to be alone the effect of Gods Grace and of Christs procurement 3. Consider That if it depended on any other thing our Justification could never be perfit when we speak of Justification and call it perfite It is not so to be understood as if Faith were perfite but Christs Satisfaction which is our Righteousnesse and which Faith layes hold on is perfite â—hough our Faiths grip be weak Hence it is that the weak Believer is Justified as well as the strong all who look unto Christ though with a weak sighted eye yet Salvation through him as well as Abraham because His Righteousnesse is perfite which weak Faith takes hold of as well as
exhortation to this purpose Examine your selves if ye be in the faith prove your own selves know ye not your own selves that â—hrist is in you except ye be reprobats We do the rather presse this because if we were serious in the tryal there would through Gods blessing be more Faith in some and lesse presumption in others and these that have Faith would have more peace and comfort in it But that which makes many content themselves with a counterfit instead of Faith is that they put it not to the tryal and that which makes them who have Faith to want peace and to live in much anxiety is that they do not more prove themselves as to their Faith These are then the Two main parts of a Believers Dutie by Faith to take hold of Christ and to rest on and in Him and by tryal to make it clear and sure to themselves that they are Believers and these Two are the great up shot of all this Doctrine to perswade us to believe that we may be sure and to perswade us to study to be sure and clear in it that we may be comforted thereby SERMON LXI ISAIAH LIII XI Verse 11. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many for he shall bear their iniquities THe Doctrine of Justification through Faith in Christ Jesus was wont to be much thought of among the People of God it is called Gal. 3.8 The preaching of the Gospel to Abraham when God fore-told him of a way of Justification and Salvation through Christs coming of him That in him all the Nations of the earth should be blessed This was the telling of Good news to him and we are sure it is as good news now as ever it was and would be so to us if we could look on it Spiritually as they did For there is as great hazard in Sin and the Curse is as terrible and insufferable and the love of God as fresh now as they were then We have for some dayes been speaking of this Doctrine of Justification and it will be much to speak and hear of it profitably we desire not to insist of what may be unuseful but we conceive there is some necessity in insisting in this It 's our own negligence and ignorance that makes many things of this kind to be very unuseful evenso that we scarcely conceive them and we are made heartless in speaking of them because to many they are as if spoken in a strange language which is and should be for a lamentation The last thing we proposed was to hold forth the mean by which Justification is attained to wit Faith which we observed to shew how Faith concurres in the attaining of Justification Few or none ever denyed Faith to be necessary for the attaining of Justification neither can any that read the Word of God with the least consideration but have that impression of it But the great thing wherein the difference lyes and wherein men miscarry is in attributing to Faith the right or wrong manner of it's concurrence in the attaining of this effect Though these things may at first blush look like meerly notional spiculations and such as do not concern Christians practice yet there is no error in Doctrine about this matter but there is something in folks practice that looks like it and is influenced by it And it's mens inclination to error in practice that makes them as it were to coyn errors in Judgement We shall Observe two generals further and proceed The 1. whereof is That Faith hath a peculiar way of concurrence for the attaining of Justification which can agree to no other Grace nor Work nay nor to Faith it self considered as a Work Therefore Justification of many is here deryved to them by his knowledge or by Faith in Him that is by Faith in Christ as secluding all other things It 's by Faith that Justification is deryved and applyed to us and by Faith we come to have right to it and an Interest in it The 2d is That however Faith concure for attaining of Justification yet it 's not Faith of it self or by any vertue or efficacy in it self but as taking hold of Christ as the Object of it that it justifies Therefore it 's said to be by the knowledge of him or by Faith in Him it 's by receiving Him uniting us to Him and resting on Him that we are Justified We shall shortly explicat both these branches and then come to some practical use of them together 1. Then we say that there is something in Justification attributed to Faith that cannot agree to any other thing which is implyed in many Scriptural Phrases and in this Text in as far as it is said that by his knowledge or by Faith in Him Justification is attained And therefore when we are said to be justified by Faith we affirm that Faith hath a peculiar way of concurring for the attaining of Justification which can agree to no other Grace as to Repentance Love Meeknesse Patience c. not to Prayer Almesdeed or any other good Works or Work For confirming of this consider 1. That we are said to be Justified by Faith in opposition to Works and that there is something attributed to Faith which is denyed to Works Generally this is clear in these Epistles written to the Romans and Galatians Particularly Rom. 4.2 3. If Abraham were justified by works he hath whereof to glory but not before God for what saith the Scriptures Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt but to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is commited to him for righteousness where most clearly and convincingly believing and working are directly opposit the one to the other and Gal. 2.16 We who are Jews by nature knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ or as the word is no not but by Faith that is a man is not justified by Works but by Faith Even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law Where the Apostle cannot more purposely and pressingly make a difference betwixt any two things then he doth betwixt these two Justification by Works and Justification by Faith And in all this discourse it cannot be said that the Apostle only excluds Works in respect of merit or Works as they look to the Works of the Ceremonial Law For he opposeth Faith and all sorts of Works or Works in whatsoever respect as inconsistent It 's not one or two sorts of Works but all sorts of Works of the Law and there can be no Works but such as are commended by the Law which are excluded Now if the Apostle seclude all these what are the Works that we can be justified by 2. Consider the peculiar
the Gospel The heads judge for a reward and the priests teach for hire and the prophets divine for money yet will they lean upon the Lord and say is not the Lord among us none evil can come upon us It is not for real Believing that they are charged but for their confident asserting their Believing when there was no ground for it So it is with many they will say they hope to escape Hell and to get their Sin pardoned and to win to Heaven and they believe it will be so when in the mean time there is no ground for it but clear ground to the contrary A fifth Ground is Folks spiritual and practical Ignorance of the Righteousness of God whereof the Apostle speaking Rom. 10.3 sayeth Being ignorant of the righteousness of God they go about to establish their own c. that which I mean is Folks being ignorant of their Natural Condition of the Spiritualness of God's Law what it requires and of the way of Faith and of the command of Believing and the nature of it It 's from the ignorance of these three to wit of the Mischief that is in them by Nature of the Spiritualness of the Law and of the Spiritualness of Faith and of the Exercise of it that they sleep on in Security and think they have Faith when they have it not And though sometimes they will say their Faith is weak yet they cannot be beaten from it but that they Believe and their Faith is up and down as their Security stands or falls This the Apostle makes clear from his own experience Rom. 7.9 where before his Conversion he says he was a living Man but after his Conversion he begins to think himself nothing but a dead and gone Man the reason is because before Conversion he knew not himself he knew not the Law nor the nature of the Covenant of Grace Before the Law came saith he I was alive he knew not the spiritual meaning of it and therefore he thought he observed it and so thought himself sure of Heaven and had no doubts nor disputings concerning his Interest in God But saith he when the commandment came sin revived and I died I saw my self then to be lost and gone and in every thing guilty that which I thought had been Humility I saw it to be Pride that which I took for Faith I found it to be Presumption anâ— Unbelief and my Holiness I found to be Hypocrisie not that his Sin grew more upon his hand but the Sin that before was vailed was now discovered and staired him in the face This is a sad truth yet a most real truth The good Believing as many of you call it and the Faith that ye have is a surer ground of your strangeness to God and of your Unbelief then any other thing ye have can be a ground whereupon to conclude ye have Faith and are good Friends with God ye are yet alive Strangers to God Strangers to your Selves Strangers to the spiritual meaning of the Law and to the exercise of Faith If ye would set your selves to ponder seriously this one Consideration I think ye might be somewhat convinced of it Do ye not see many that understand more of God then ye do and that are more tender in their Walk then ye are who yet are loather more difficuâ—ted and affraid to assert their Faith and Confidence in God then ye are and they are oftener brangled and put to question their Faith will ye then consider what can be the reason that ye have so strong a Faith that ye never doubted and they are troubled with doubting sometimes yea often though they Pray more and are more diligent in the use of all the Means and holier in their Conversation then ye are and ye wilâ— it may be say well's them that are like such a Person this is the reason of it they see their Sin and the spiritualness of the Law and the nature of Faith and are dead to the Law but ye are yet alive in your conceit Do ye or can ye think that much Praying Reading Meditation and Tenderness in Folks Walk will weaken Faith and occasion Doubting or is it not rather like that Faith will be more confirmed by these then by the neglect of them how is it then that ye are so strong in your Faith when they find themselves so weak and doubting or have ye an infused Faith without the Means or doeth God deal with you in a more indulgent way then He uses to deal with His People how is it then that these of whom ye cannot say but they are more tender then ye are cannot almost name Faith or assert their confidâ—nce in God without trembling and fear that they presume and yet ye dare very confidently take a mouthful of it without any hiâ—k or â—esitation and yet live carnally and without fear Do not many of you wonder whâ—t ails some Folks what need they to be so much troubled and why do they stand in need of some to Pray for them and with them and to answer their Doubts and ye mean while need no such thing and all your remedy is that ye assure your selves ye Believe and think the questioning of your Security is the very undoing of your Faith God help ye are in a woful taking A sixth Reason is That Folk drink in some Carnal Principles that have no warrand in the Word of God and accordingly square every thing that comes in their way 1. They lay it for a Ground that Folk should never doubt of God's Mercy we do not say that Folk should doubt of God's being most real in His offer of Mercy to Sinners in the Gospel but from that it will not follow that never one should doubt of God's love to them or of their coming to Heaven whether they close with the Offer or not Are there not many whom God curseth and should not these doubt A second Carnal Principle is That there is no such reality in the Threatnings of God as there is in His Promises as if He were utterly averse from executing a Threaâ—ning and as if it were a rare thing to Him to condemn any and is there any thing more opposite to Scripture then this Principle is Hath He not said in the same place to wit Ex. 34. where He proclaims Himself to be gracious merciful long-suffering c. That He is a God that will not clear the guilty And hath not the Scripture said that it 's but a remnant that are saved but as it were here one and there one and that there are many damned for one that is saved But know it of a certain that He will make you one day vomit up these Principles with exquisite torment when out of your own Mouth He will convince you of your Mistake and Delusion 3. When Folks want many things they supply all with an honest Mind This supplies your want of Knowledge your want of Faith and of Repentance and of
will O! my God By which will saith the Apostle we are sanctified And had there not been such a Will His Sufferings had not been usefull to us 3. Consider the Offer that is made in the Gospel to Sinners which is the object of our Faith For the Covenant of Redemption is not the Ground and Object of our Faith though it clears the Ground and Reason of our Faith but it 's Gods Offer in the Gospel according to that place Mark 16.15 16. Go ye and preach the gospel to every creature he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved He warrands them to go and make it known to all to whom they shall Preach that there is Remission of Sinâ— to be had through Faith in Christ and this is a Ground to Faith when God makes offer of Christ's Satisfaction in the Gospel on condition that we believe and accept of Him When we by Faith close with the offer it gives us as it were an Assignation to Christs Purchase The Gospel sayes as Paul doth Acts 13.38 Be it known to you that through this man is preached to you remission of sins and by him all that believe are Justified And Faith consents to that as giving God credit and accordingly closes with and rests upon it as the ground of it's Plea before God So that when the Question comes to be asked What have ye to Answer the Law and to pay your Debt with Faith or the believing Sinners Answers I have nothing of my own but there is a Satisfaction in Christ according to the Covenant of Redemption which is holden out and made offer of to me in the Gospel and is given and allowed to me for defence against what the Law or Justice can say And I betake me to that And this is the native and kindly Act of Faith in Justification when it makes use of this Defence and Trusts to it alone This is even it that Paul hath Philip. 3.9 compared with v. 8. I count all things loss that I may win Christ and be found in him That when it shall be asked Paul where art thou I may have it to say I am here Lord even in Christ and in His Righteousness this is the ground of his Plea having given up with his own Righteousnesse as to his Justification before God and he will have no other defence but that 4. Consider the end of all these to wit of Christ's Sufferings of the Covenant of Redemption and of the Offer of the Gospel It 's the Praise of the Glory of His Grace that God may make it known that He is Gracious and freely Gracious without respect to any thing in in the Sinner This End is not only set out in these two peaces put together one is Rom. 3.26 To declare I say his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus That he might be Just That is one that will fulfill His threatnings and therefore He hath provided One to Satisfie His Justice and One that is Faithfull in keeping His Promises and therefore He is the Justifier of them that believe in Jesus The other place is Ephes 1.6 Where when the Apostle hath spoken of Election Predestination and Adoption he sets down the end of all to wit To the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved And this is a Ground that makes all sure For God cannot fail to Justifie the Sinner that believeth in Christ as He is offered in the Gospel because that is the very end of His Justifying Sinners the Praise of the Glory of Grace which He will not miss but most certainly and infrustrably come by The Uses are 4. in general The 1 whereof is for Information and it 's such a Lesson of Information as without it all the Preaching of the Gospel is to no purpose and the hope of Eternal Life were utterly desperat if such a Doctrine were not in the Gospel that through Faith in Christ a Sinner may be Justified would any know then how they may be Absolved this Answers the Question and tells us that it is through Faith in Christs Righteousness and no other way And if we digestedly believed the former two Doctrines 1. That we must all come before the tribunal of God And 2. That we are all obnoxious to the Curse of God we would think this were a very concerning Question to be put how such a guilty Sinner may be Absolved and Justified And indeed if we be not clear in this point It 's as to any Fruit in vain for us to Preach and for you to hear or to think of coming to Heaven Which is in a Word that a Sinner through resting on Christs Righteousness according to the Covenant of Grace may come to be absolved and fred from the Guilt of Sin and from the Curse as if he had never sinned nor been lyable to that Curse For further clearing of this Use Consider 1. What Justification is 2. What we mean by Faith And 3. What are the Causes of this Justification spoken of in the Text. 1. By Justification in this place is not to be understood the making of a Person perfectly holy nor to have Grace infused into him for that is Sanctification But it is to be absolved and declared free in respect of the Guilt of Sin and of the Curse as if a Man had never Sinned As it 's said Ephes 1.6 Wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved It 's an Act of Gods free Grace whereby our Sins are pardoned and we accepted as Righteous in His sight c. as our Catechisme hath it as if our Sin had never been 2. When we speak of Faith we mean not a General Historical Faith that Devils or Reprobat Men may have and whereby an assent of the Judgement is given to the Truths of the Word though indeed Justifying Faith doth presuppose that neither by Faith do we mean such a Faith whereby a man doth at the very first believe that he is Pardoned and which puts away all doubting and lifts him in his own conceit to the hight of assurance about the obtaining of the thing It 's the Antinomian presumption to believe at first hand that I am Justified and Pardoned But it 's such a Faith that takes hold of Christs Righteousness made offer of in the Gospel that I may obtain Justification and pardon of Sin through Him According as it 's said Gal. 2.16 We believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the Faith of Christ It 's an actuall closing with the offer of Christs Righteousnesse and a submitting to the terms of it for Justification The Souls founding of all it's defence before God on Christs Righteousnesse and Purchase offered to it in the Gospel and resting on it for Life and Salvation As suppose there were a Multitude of Rebels to whom Pardon were by Proclamation offered on condition that at such a time they should
the Jews miscarriage in the point of Justification but being ignorant of the righteousnesse of God they went about to establish their own righteousness That is being ignorant oâ— that which God would accept for Righteousnesse they thought to patch up one of their own and so is it still For some hope to come speed by their Prayers others think to come speed by their good Heart to God a third sort puts in their good Works if not in express Words yet practically all which may let us see the necessity of Knowledge to Justification 4. Consider that there must be Repentence ere a Sinner can be Justified which supposeth Knowledge For he must needs know his Sin and that his own Righteousnesse will not do his rurn and so long as he is ignorant he cannot Repent nor renunce his own Righteousnesse For while he is so he cannot know what is Sin and what is not Sin what is Faith and what is presumption unlesse it be by guess and folk will never be suitably affected with Sin by guesâ— The Apostle Paul as it is Rom. 7 9. Before the law came I was alive that is before it came to him in the knowledge of it's spiritual meaning and broad extent of it while he was a Pharisee he was alive in his own esteem But when the commandment came sin revived and he died He then saw need of another Righteousnesse then his own We preach to you sometimes the necessity of Repentance and of your being humbled and that ye should deny your own Righteousnesse and betake you to Christs but except there be knowledge of your unrighteousnesse It 's as if we should bid you wash where there is no spot seen 5. Look so reward to the Duties of Holinesse which are necessary though not to Justifie you yet that ye may live as it becomes Justified Persons though not to make your peace yet to glorifie God and to keep up friendship with Him Now can any know or do duties who are ignorant Hence it comes to passe that some hazard on Sin taking it to be Dutie and scar sometimes at Duty as if it were Sin 6ly Consider your own peace and in order to it there is a necessity of Knowledge else there will be still a doubting whether ye are right or wrong hence it 's said Rom. 14. He that doubteth or doth doubtingly is damned For he hath a Sentence in his own Conscience against himself though he may be doing that which on the matter is Right 7ly In a Word Ignorance puts us out of case to make use of many notable opportunities and priviledges we know not what use to make of the Word of the Sacraments or of Christ How many have lived a considerable number of years strangers to the advantages that are to be gotten by him through their want of Knowledge Therefore John 4. Christ sayes to the Samaritan Woman If thou hadest known who it is that asked it of thee thou wouldest have given him drink and he should have given thee living water where He insinuats that her Ignorance was a great cause why she keeped at such a distance from Him It 's hardly possible that so many poor Souls would abide at such a distance from Christ if they knew Him There is no desire after that which is unknown and therefore many do live at such a distance from Christ because they have not so much as the literal Knowledge or Historical Faith of His Worth The Uses are Three 1. Take it for granted if ever ye would see the face of God that there is a necessity of Knowledge For Knowledge is a piece of God's Image as well as Holinesse and Knowledge is commanded as well as Holinesse Knowledge was placed in the first Man Adam as well as Holiness and when we are renewed after the Image of God in conformity to the second Adam we are renewed in knowledge And not only so but Knowledge is a mean of the exercise of Faith of Repentance and of Holiness and if such a thing be needful by the necessity of a mids in order to an end if obedience to a command or if the thing it self that is to be known be needful then Knowledge must be needful It 's true we would beware of extremities here as either to say on the one hand that their must be such a high degree of Knowledge For in the speculative part of Knowledge to speak so Reprobats may go beyond Believers Or upon the other hand to think that Knowledge is enough and that there needs no more but Knowledge as alace many do rest upon their Knowledge and therefore we would beware of seperating these two Knowledge and Faith If it be asked here what Knowledge is requisite to Justification I would speak a Word to this Question not so much for satisfying of curiosity but for your Instruction who are more Ignorant and to shew the necessity of the thing and to give you a short view of these things that are necessary to be known about this matter and therefore 1. Ye must know God that Justifies you ere ye can be Justified as it is John 17.3 This is life eternal to know thee the only true God and him whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ If ever ye be absolved before such a Judicatory ye must know your Judge That there is one God that He is one in His Essence and that there are three Persons yet so as the Trinity of Persons doth not hinder or obstruct the Unity or Onness of the Godhead John 5.7 There are three that bear record in heaven the father the word and the holy ghost and these three are one Study then to know God who is your Judge not so much out of curiosity seeking to know how the Persons differ as to their manner of subsisting as how to be fixed in the Faith of the thing 2. Ye would know your selves and what may be charged on you before God Can men carry rightly before a Judge or before a Judicatory if they know not how it stands with them And this will lead you to know the State and Case wherein ye were made at first And the Covenant of Works which God made with Man at the beginning when He gave to Him the promise of Life upon condition of Obedience and that ye are lyable to the Curse due for the breach of that Law and Covenant else ye will never know your hazard and knowing the breach of the Law and Covenant of Works it will make you through God's blessing to seek after Justification which otherwayes ye will never do And so ye are to know that the first Covenant was broken by Adam and that this made him and all his posterity lyable to the Curse as being guilty of his transgression and this takes in the knowledge of Originall Sin even of the sinfull Estate wherein ye were born and of your Actual Sins 3. Ye must know how a Sinner lying in such a State and Case under
Faith as it is a laying hold upon Christ 3. When we speak of the necessity of Faith in order to Justification we mean not as if there were such an absolute necessity of it in it self that God could not do otherwayes or Justifie without it but we mean a necessity in respect of the order which God hath laid down and held forth in the Gospel which is by the Knowledge of His Son to Justifie many And from these considerations many Arguments of our Adversaries are made very little regardable yea utterly void For Confirmation of the Doctrine then 1. Consider these Scriptures that expresly limit confine and bound Justification and pardon of Sin to the Person that doth believe So Rom. 1.17 The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written the just shall live by faith Rom. 3.24 25. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood c. Col. 3.22 God hath concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe Act. 13.38.39 Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins and by him all that believe are justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses Consult the Scriptures and we will find that Paul clears both these Questions 1. who are Justified All that believe 2. When are they Justified When they believe 2ly Consider these Scriptures that place all men before believing into a state of Wrath and they will furnish a second ground for this as John 3.18 He that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already He lyes under the Covenant of Works and is condemned as considered in himself though God may have a purpose to make a change of his state So Ephes 2.1 2 3. You hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins wherein in time past ye walked and were children of wrath even as others c. and v. 12 13. We were sometimes without Christ being alians from the common wealth of Israel and strangers from the Covenant of promise without hope and without God in the world but now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far of are made near by the blood of Christ and v. 8. By grace are ye saved through faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God not of works least any man should boast it 's Faith that gives the Title which we had not before 3. Consider That the Scriptures do expresly make believing to preceed Justification and make Justification to be an effect or rather a consequent of Faith to which Faith necessarly concurrs as all these places which say that we are Justified by Faith in Christ do clear as Rom. 5.1 Being justified by Faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ which place looks on Faiths concurring in Justification with a kind of causality Rom. 3.22.25 The righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe c. Ephes 2.8 By grace are ye saved through faith See more fully to this purpose Gal. 2.16 where the Apostle designedly as it were sets himself to confirm this Truth For speaking of the way how Sinners come to be Justified and as it were entring in the Debate he says Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ even as we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ In which place we have three things considerable to make out the point 1. He compares the concurring of Faith to Justification in the Covenant of Gracâ— to the concurring of Works to Justification or to the obtaining of Life in the Covenant of Works as Works did Justifie in the Covenant of Works so does Faith in the Covenant of Grace Now certainly the performing of Works in the Covenant of Works behoved to go before Justification that way therefore the want of Works made Adam to come short of Justification by Works 2. He looks on Faith and speaks of it as concurring to Justification with a respect to Christ and never looks on it in this matter as a Grace considered in and by it self but as acting on Christ in a peculiar manner 3. In expresse words he sayes We have believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified which clearly implyes that they could not be Justified before they believed and we may well and easily gather that the Justification here meant is that which is real and actual and not the declaring of a man to be Justified to Himself else Works might declare a man to be Justified to himself as well as Faith But he contradistinguishes Faith and Works here and opposes the one to the other The 1. Use Serves for clearing of this Truth That there is a necessity of Faith's taking hold of and resting on Christ ere we can be absolved and Justified And so both these Errors of Antinomians fall to the ground 1. That by which they assert that these who are Justified were Justified from Eternity and were never under God's Curse And 2. That Faith is not necessary to the attaining of Justification but only to a Persons knowing that he is Justified and so they say that Faith enters us not in the Covenant which is false it being the terms or condition on which God proposeth and promiseth pardon in his Covenant as is clear John 3.18 Whosoever believes shall not be condemned but shall have everlasting life and Mark 16.16 He that believes and is baptized shall be saved with this opposition He that believeth not shall be damned Faith being it which enters us in the Covenant For either Sinners are Justified before they can be in Covenant with God which is an absurdity and inconsistent with Gods Covenant or it 's by Faith that they are entered in the Covenant There is here also a clear discovery and confutation of a 3d. Error of Antinomians concerning the nature of Faith That it is Persons believing that they are Justified No not so For as the Apostle sayes Gal. 2.16 We have believed that we might be justified We believe in order to Justification And to say as Antinomians do would do much to infer universality of Justification as well as of Redemption It 's Gods mercy that this Error is discovered and that we have His Truth pointing out to us that Justification must have Faith going before it and alongst with it The 2d Use Serves to demonstrat the absolute necessity of believing and taking hold of Christ If Absolution and Justification be necessary Faith must be necessary And therefore if Christ be preached to you and if by Him all that believe are Justified Take hold then I beseech you of the Offer receive embrace close with it and let
common favours that they have received as evidences of Gods care and kindnesse conclude their Justification It may be some have had now and then deep convictions or have win to Tears in Prayer or at a Sermon Others it may be have had some joy now and then at hearing the Word Others will it may be dream of such and such Heavenly things and have as they suppose a vision of them in their sleep and some joy will follow on it when they are awaked Others may have met with many deliveries by Sea and Land and God hath dealt wel with them and their Children in external things but alace these things may befall unbelievers not one of them nor all of them together if there be no more will Justifie ye would rather try these things whether they be found and evidences of special Love or not by your believing If they have Faith in Christ carried along with them It 's well If ye can say that after ye believed ye were sealed with the holy spirit of promise and that your joy followed upon your closing with and resting upon Christ ye have no reason to question it but where such tastes goes before and are without believing it 's suspect-like there are many of you that have multitudes of things that ye lean to beside Christ and never seriously put your selves to the tryal whether ye be indeed fled to Him 2. Use We would commend this to you as a ground of Tryal of your selves if ye be Justified if ye have seriously taken with your sin and embraced God's offer of the Righteousnesse of Christ and rested on it make this once sure that ye have been sensible of Sin that ye have been beaten from your own Righteousnesse and that ye have fled to Jesus Christ and closed with His Righteousnesse offered in the Gospel then this will natively follow that by His Knowledge thou art Justified His Word speaks it out plain to thee It may be that some think this to be a broad mark and that others will think it narrow Yet it 's a solid mark and no other thing is or can be a mark but as it implyes this though some may presumptuously gather from it a broad conclusion yet it will be found to be as straining and searching a mark when well considered as other marks and evidences are that we cannot at first so easily lay hold upon and therefore we would say that it 's not every one that thinks he believes but it 's such as really believe who have this evidence and for preventing of mistakes we shall follow this evidence of Justification to wit Faith to the very rise of it 1. It supposes a Charge and Summonds as it were given to the Persons to appear before God 2. There is a Sentence discovered standing against them and over their heads by the Covenant of Works now what can ye say to these Two where I desire you not so much to speak your light as your practice and experience what a Charge or Summonds was put in your hands Have ye read the Lybel of your Sins And have ye seen the breaches of the Law and your lyableness to the Curse of God for the same If so then what means the good opinion that many of you have of your selves This is even the thing that the Apostle sayeth of himself before his conversion Rom. 7.9 Before the law came I was alive but when the commandement came sin revived and I died That is before the charge was put in my hand and I summoned to appear before Gods Bar I had a good opinion of my self and I thought that all was well but when I came to take up the Law in the Spiritual Meaning and broad extent of it I saw my self lost and gone and that conceat fell These Three then usually preceed Faith 1. That a person hath had a good opinion of himself 2. That this person is Summoned or Charged to answer at Gods Bar. 3. That the person is made to passe Sentence on himself as lost and undone by reason of the Laws Sentence and Curse standing over his head unrepealled Now how hath it been with you as to these The most part are quite of another disposition then Paul was They think they are well enough because they never discovered their rotten condition but try well how it is with you go in and see if ever ye discovered in your selves 1. An inclination to establish your own Righteousnesse 2. Was ye ever under a work of the Law humbling you and 3. Was ye ever in your own apprehension lost If so then ye are such as Christ came to call 2ly In the next room consider what ye betook your selves to for answering that Charge and for a remedy of that lost condition there is no remedy but the offer of Christ's Righteousnesse in the Gospel Some being charged wirh Guilt betakes themselves to Prayer and that is well done in so far but if ye hold there and go no further it 's not right It 's here as it was with these who lived under the Law who when they had Sinned made use of Sacrifices and the greatest part held there and went no further whereas the believer looked through the Sacrifices to Christ So if ye hold at Prayer and other Duties and go no further these will not profit you but know ye what it is to go to Prayer and in Prayer to go to Christ and rest on his Sacrifice for your acceptance I fear there be great ignorance here The most part know not what they have done when they were charged or if they did any thing they prayed or if they went any further on they looked to the promise of Gods mercy but that is not far enough gone How many such are there who have made their Prayer their only intercessour and have presumed to step in on God's mercy without a Mediator 3. Suppone that ye have betaken your selves to Christ as to the remedy come on and try how your union hath been made up with him where did ye seek and find him Christ Jesus is to be found in the Gospel in the Ministry of the Word Therefore that is put in on good reason in the definition of Faith given to us in the Catechism That its a resting on him as he is offered in the Gospel but I fear and suppose that many have another Christ to speak so whom they have gotten without knowing or making any use of the Word or offer of the Gospel which is the power of God for salvation to them that believe 4. Wherewith did ye take hold on him or how did ye act on him was it by Faith or not There are many who act on him as they think by Prayer not as the meritorious Cause but as the efficient cause of Justification praying for pity and pardon from Him but this is not to take hold of Christs Righteousnesse by Faith Others think that if they can love and serve Him
and by his knowledge shall many be justified and again it is subjoyned as the reason why many shall by Faith in Him be justified Because he shall bear their iniquities By the Knowledge of Him that Offered Himself in a Sacrifice many are Justified and many are Justified because He bears their iniquities which will infer this that Faith considers Him as satisfying for the iniquities of His People in it's acting on Him for Justification and Pardon of Sin it is true Christs Offices are not divided and it is not true Faith if it take not hold of Him and make not use of Him in all His Offices but as there are several evils in us which His Offices do meet with and are suited unto so should Faith take hold of them and make use of them for curing and removing of these evils He is King Priest and Prophet and Faith takes hold of Him as a King to command and subdue us to Himself as a Prophet to illuminat us and cure our blindnesse and as a Priest to satisfie Divine Justice and to procure the pardon of Sin as we are not to seperat so we are not to confound these we use not to say that Christ as a Prophet doth Justifie us nor that as a Priest He doth illuminat us no more should we nor can we well say that as a King He satisfied Justice for us The same blessed God is Wise Righteous Holy Faithful Just Merciful c. Yet He is diversly considered in respect of our conceiving and use-making according to our need so is it here For clearing whereof take these grounds 1. The Scripture speaks of and points Christ out in His Sufferings as the Object of Justifying Faith Rom. 3.25 Whom God hath set forth for a propitiation through faith in his blood where the Blood of Christ and He as Suffering is proposed as Faiths Object so 1 Cor. 1. We preach Christ crucified 1 John 2. We have an advocat with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins where He is holden forth in His Sufferings as the propitiation that Faith layeth hold on John 3.14 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the Son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth on him c. Where Christ lifted up and as dying on the Cross is made the Object of Justifying Faith even as the brazen Serpent lifted up was the Object that they looked to when they were stung and cured 2. It 's also clear from the Laws lybelling and charging us for the Debt of our Sin that makes us lyable to condemnation and Faith being the mean of our Justification and absolution from the Debt it must needs look to the Cautioners paying of our Debt and so answering the Charge which was done in His Death for He payed our Debt Satisfyed the Penalty of the Law and came under the Curse in suffering Death as is clear Gal. 3. the 10. v. being compared with v. 13. So Rom. 8.34 Who shall lay any thing to the Charge of Gods elect it is God that justifies who shall condemn it is Christ that died which is brought in as Faith's answer to the charge The charge cannot be denyed for we are guilty of so many Sins and therefore lyable to condemnation but saith Faith Christ hath died It proposes Him dying as a Satisfaction for answering the charge and for obtaining of absolution 3. Christ as Suffering and Satisfying Justice is our Righteousnesse and therefore must be the object of Faith as it 's Justifying whereupon it pleads an absolution before the Throne of God So that when we come to plead and found our Defence before Gods Throne it is not on this that Christ is a King and hath subdued us but it is on this groâ—â—d That He is our Priest and hath satisfied Justice for us and payed our Debt and procured a discharge to us So the Apostle speaking of Christs Sufferings Col. 2. Sayes That he blotted out the hand-writing of ordinances that was against us and took it out of the way nailing it to his cross It 's Christ as Suffering that is the ground of our Peace and therefore Faith as Justifying must so consider Him Though we desire to move nothing needlesly yet laying it once for a ground That Justifying Faith layes hold on Christ as a King This will follow as a consequence and as we suppose as a reason That our obedience to Christ as a King hath the same influence and the same Causality in our Justification that Faith 's resting on Christ's Satisfying for as a Priest hath because as Christs Priestly Office gives us a warrand to rest upon Him for Justification so would His Kingly Office if it were the Object of Justifying Faith as such when taken hold of for our obedience We have touched on this 1. That ye may see the warrantableness of this Doctrine which is received in the Churches of Christ and that ye may consider Christ as the high priest of your profession and plead Justification from His Sacrifice acting Faith upon Him accordingly 2. That we may put a Bar against the introducing of Justification by Works under one pretext or another how specious soever seing the Scripture so directly opposes Faith and Works in our Justification For if we once admit that Christ as King is the Object of Justifying Faith as such it would overturn the distinct way of Faith's acting upon Christs Righteousnesse for answering the Charge put in the Sinners hand by the Law and when the soul getteth a challenge for Sin would put it to look what obedience it hath given to Christ as a King to answer that challenge or charge by and would in the same manner also put the Soul to gather the ground of it's peace from the one as well as from the other that is both from Christs Righteousness and from it's own obedience not only as an evidence but a social cause or not only to it 's own sense but as to the effect But we leave this as a â—hing to be regrated that when theâ—e is ground enough of stumbling because of our ignorance and blindness there should and that very unnecessarily be such new occasion of stumbling to Souls cast in the way of Faith We come now to speak of the Act of Faith as Justifying called here Knowledge and the knowledge of him to shew that it points at Justifying Faith for if it were not so it were the same with common Knowledge whereby we believe any History of the Bible but this being Justifying Knowledge it must be Knowledge of another kind We shall here clear 1. Wherein the Act of Justifying Faith consists 2. Remove some mistakes about it and make some Use of it For the First we suppose there are these Four requisit in or to Justifying Faith though not alwayes in the same degree 1. That there be distinct Knowledge in some measure of the Object an antecedent that Faith presupposes and
is not this a gross believing of the Lord God shall beat back many of your vain confidences in your faces and your hearts shall tremble and your faces wax pale when God shall cause your Charge and Summonds to come unto Judgement sound in your Ears These and such like confidences will never bear you through it is not these we speak of Yet 2ly We say that the right exercise of Faith wants not it's own confidence comfort and assurance when taken in a right sense much whereof is attributed by by some to the definition of Faith for some mistake Faith and others are mistaken or misunderstood in their speaking of Faith Some Divines that writ of Faith speak of it's being an assurance defining it at it's hight yet generally they take in and presuppose the active Act of Faith resting on Christ others define it by these two Acts a receiving of and resting upon Christ Therefore we would never conceive of them at least of many of them as making this assurance to our sense to be essential and absolutely necessary to the being of Justifying Faith much lesse would we think that they mistaken and passe by the true Acts of receiving and resting upon Christ only some of them which we humbly think is their mistake having to do with Papists who place Faith in the understanding adde an assurance of Faith to the Former Acts In which we say there is a ground of confidence or a conditional assurance upon supposition that Souls receive Christ and rest upon Him they may be confident that that is a ground that will not fail them They may be confident that He will not deceive them a confidence in this that they may step to or lean upon Christ and not fear that He fail them or that they may without all fear of hazard cast themselves on Christ Therefore He is called a tryed elect precious corner-stone a sure foundation and indeed that is no small ground of confidence That when a Soul comes to Christ by believing it may be sure He will not fail it 2. Being sure that we have committed our selves to Christ which supposes Faith's being put to exercise and practice there may be a confidence in this respect we may be sure He will not fail us in particular 2 Tim. 1.12 I know in whom I have believed and that he is able to keep that I have committed to him and that I shall not be ashamed He puts both these together I know that He is able and that He will not fail me I shall not be ashamed So Rom. 8. I am perswaded that neither death nor life c. shall be able to separat us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus If Souls have received the offer they may be sure it will not misgive them 3. Adde that this actual or active resting on Christ may be seperat from the sense of it or from the passive Act of Faith or quietnesse that follows on resting on Christ for there is a resting on Christ which is very Faith it self and not the effect come and ye shall find rest coming is before finding of rest to our sense at least we are not to knit this passive rest with the other active Act of resting as if it were impossible to rest on Christ without present sensible ease Beside it is this active resting that gives us right to Christ and not the passive Gal. 2.16 We believe that we may be justified This necessarily goes before our believing that we are Justified To close with a Word of more particular Use let me exhort you to lay lesse weight on your bare thinking that ye believe on your present ill grounded hope and peace Aim and endeavour to Act and exercise Faith on Christ actively receiving and resting on Him for winning to Peace This practice of Faith is the over word to say so of the Doctrine of Just fication That seing there is such ground of Justification laid down the Righteousnesse of Christ and that it is proposed to you and seing this is the very Act of Justifying Faith to receive and rest on Christ as He is proposed and offered when this offer is made to you let your Faith receive take hold of and consent to the bargain and ground and found your Defence here for answering all challenges that the Law and Justice may present against you That there was a Saviour offered to you and that ye received Him and rested upon Him will be a ground that shall bear you out when ye come before God and except this be made sure our speaking and your hearing of Faith will be to no purpose SERMON LX. ISAIAH LIII XI Vers 11. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many For he shall be or their iniquitâ—eâ— THis is a great assertion and of mighty moment wherâ—in to the Knowledge of Christ the Justification of many is attributed and indeed if we knew what an advantâ—ge and benefit it were there would be nothing more studied then how to obtain it For it is the vâ—ry in let and opens the door to Glorification and if to be happy in the enjoyment of God be a benefit of great concerment then this of Justification must be so We proposed to speak of the way how this benefit is applyed and that is by Faith set out under this expression His knowledge or the knowledge of him and touched on the benefit of Faith and the necessity thereof for attaining Justification God having so ordered it in the Covenant that none others should be Justified but such as have Faith 2. We spoke also to the Object of this Faith Christ Jesus as our Righteousnesse and Peace So that Christ becomes in a peculiar manner the Object of Faith beside any other thing Because it 's only in Christ it can find a shelter Therefore it 's only to Christ that it flâ—es when it is pursued 3. We spake likewise of the nature of this Faith or it's Act it being the hearts trusting it self to Christs Righteousnesse whereon it hazards the weight of it's Peace and relyes here And as all the Terms of Justification are borrowed from Law wherein there is supposed a Charge a Tribunal and a Judge So is this resting in like manner It 's in effect an arraigned Persons making of Christ's Righteousneesse his Legal Defence against all Challenges The substance of the phrase is in that of Philip. 3.9 That I may be found in him not having my righteousness c. Where presupposing a lybelling and Charge where to does the Apostle betake himself and what is his refuge It 's Christ and His Righteousnesse even to be found in Him as if the question were proposed Paul what wilt thou do in the day of Judgement what wilt thou lean to for a Defence in that day To which he answers not to my own Righteousnesse but this is it even to be found in Him which he expones to be the having on His Righteousness by Faith
strong Faith Now if Justification were founded on ought within us it could never be perfit but by him all that believe are justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses And one of them made at free as another It 's not here as if one part of the Debt were scored and blotted out and not anoâ—her but all is blotted out becausâ— the Righteousnesse presented before God's Tribunâ—l and imputed to us which is the Defence that Faith gives in is perfiâ—e We may compare strong and weak Faith to two Advocats the one more able and the other weâ—ker pleading the cause before a just Judge strong Faith pleads more strâ—ngly fully and distinctly weak Faith pleads not so fully and distinctly but both pleading on the same ground God the Judge Judgeth not according to the distinctnesse or undistinctnesse of the pleading but according to the Defence or Reason given in and absolves both alike and the weak Believer is as fully pardoned as the strong is The Uses are many and comfortable 1. It serves for our Direction if any were asking how they may come to be Justified This Doctrine answers by Faith in Jesus Christ by taking with your Sin and taking hold of Christs Righteousnesse offered to you in the Gospel and by making that your Dâ—fence before God And is not this a Lesson worthy the learning which the whole Word of God aims at even to instruct you how to make your peace with Him It 's by the knowledge of Christ or by Faith in Him by resting on Him as He is offered in the Gospel and this cannot but be a solid and sicker way of Justification because we have Gods Word for it it 's founded on His Faithfulnesse and on the Transaction made betwixt God and the Mediator we have also the experience of all the Saints for it Abraham before the Law David under the Law and Paul since the Law all of them were led the same way ye would take noâ—ice of this not only as the great question in Catechizing or Examination but as ground whereon ye build your peace if ye were dying There is a perfite Righteousnesse in Christ made offer of to you in the Gospel on condition ye will receive Him as He is offered and if ye so receive Him it shall be yours and ye shall at Gods Ear be absolved the Righteousnesse of Christ shall be as effectual for your absolution as if it were inherent in your selves and Faith shall unite you to Him and make you one with Him In a word ye must all come before Gods Tribunal and there are but two Defences to be proposed either something in your selves as your love and charity or good carriage and duties or to take with your Sin to condemn your selves and to flee to Christ and present His Righteousenesse as the Righteousnesse of the Cautioner that hath payed your Debt and according as ye take the one way or the other ye may expect to be Justified or not and this Doctrine rejects the one way and ownâ— and confirms the other which is by Faith And therefore 2. which is the great Use of all this Doctrine here there is ground laid down to any that would be Justified how they may win to it and a warrand to propose Justification as a thing attainable through Faith in Him ye have it in your offer on these terms and therefore let me earnestly intreat you to accept of the offer if this be the way of Justification take this way seing there is an absolute necessity of Faith in every one that should be at Justification make it sure that ye are indeed fled to Christ and that it is His Righteousnesse which ye make your Defence before the Bar of Gods Tribunal We shall branch forth this Use of Exhortation in these Two or Three words 1. When Christ is spoken of in the Gospel let him be by Faith received and if ye would know what this is labour 1. To know and to take up the difference betwixt self-Righteousnesse and that Righteousnesse which is by Faith For many are so ignorant that they know neither the one nor the other or at least not the one by the other 2. When ye are come to know the difference betwixt these two and are soberly weighing what ye would lippen to in your coming before God with indignation shuffle out and cast by disclaim and renunce your own Righteousnesse and grip to the Righteousnesse of Christ here Faith will have a double Work upon the one hand to reject Self-righteousnesse and upon the other hand to rest upon the Righteousnesse of Christ alone according to that Philip. 3.9 3. When ye have gotten your own Righteousnesse casten and Christs Righteousnesse closed with there is a necessity to cover and hide your selves in it that ye may never so much as in the vaging conceit of your mind be found out of it It alluds to the City of refuge wherein when once entered into and abiden in the person was safe buâ— if he was at any time found without he was in hazard to be killed by the avengâ—â— of blood which held out not only the Act of Faith fleeing to Christ but it 's abiding in Him being hide in Him containing and keeping it self in Him and continuing to plead it's Defence on that ground There may be in a fit of sad exercise a renouncing of our own Righteousnesse but when that is over and we begin to conceit something of that which we have done we are ready to forget Christs Righteousnesse and to lean to our own and that it in a manner to come out of Christ and from our City of Refuge if ever we were in Him Faith as it betakes it self to Christ so it States it self in Christ where only it dare abide the tryal 2. We would commend this to you as the great ground of your Peace and Hope even that ye would put it to the tryal and make it sure whether ye be in the Faith or not It is true there are many beguiled in this and take themselves to be in the Faith when they are not and others question their Faith and their being Justified without just ground yet it 's impossible to win to clearnesse of interest in Christ or to the having of any solid and comfortable hope of enjoying God except there be some clearnesse that we are in the Faith and have indeed betaken our selves to Christ which cannot be win at without putting it to the tâ—â—al Other evidences serve to clear our Justification as they clear our Faith and as they prâ—ve Faith so they conclude and prove our Justification and the out-gate promised Now if believing be such an evidence of Justification and of a well grounded hope of Hâ—aven is there not reason we should put it in good â—earâ—esâ— and frequently to the tryal and seek to know whether we be in the Faith or not The Apostle 2. Cor. 13.5 Doubles his
Phrases that the Scripture useth to this purpose and where we are said to be Justified by faith There is a sort of causality attributed to Faith that can be attributed to no other Grace nor Works Hence the Righteousnesse of Christ is called the Righteousness of faith and we are said to be Justified by faith in his blood So Phil. 3.8 9. I count all things to be but dung that I may win Christ and be found in him not having my own righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousnesse which is of God bâ— faith and Rom. 3.25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood many moe such Phrases there are And truly it would look very unlike the Scripture to expone these Scripture Phrases of a Righteousnesse of Works or by Works 3. Consider how the Apostle opposeth the two Covenants The Covenant of Works made with Adam and the Covenant of Grace made with Believers in Jesus Christ Rom. 10.5 6 7. Moses describeth the righteousness of the law that the man which doth these things shall live by them The Righteousnesse of the Law speaks of doing by which we come to be Justified But the righteousnesse of faith or the Covenant of Grace Speaketh on this wise The word is near thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart That if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved Where the Apostle opposeth these two Covenants not in respect of merit only as if the one were inconsistent with Grace and not the other but he opposeth them in this that the Righteousnesse of the one Covenant is in doing and the Riâ—hteousness of the other Covenant is by believing And therefore according to this opposition whaâ—ever is a mans doing is not the ground of his Peace and Justification before God because the Righteousnesse of his doing is the condition of the Covenâ—nt of Works and the Righteousnesse of the Covenant of Grace is quite of another nature to wit Believing in him who justifieth the ungodly 4. Consider that the thing that is the ground of our Justification before God is Christ's Righteousness inherent in Himself and imputed to us for the covering of our nakedness because He is as our Cautioner hath payed our Debt Hence it follows that Faith hath another way of concurring in Justification then any other thing can have because it 's Faith which receives and puâ—s on that Righteousnesse which no other thing doth That I may be found in him saith the Apostle Philip. 3.9 not having my own righteousness but the righteousness which is by the faith of Christ So that to be in him is to hâ—ve His Righteousnesse and this Righteousnesse is put on by Faith Only take two words of Adverisement ere we come to clear the other branch of the Doctrine The 1. is this when we speak of the peculiarness of the way of Faith's concurring in Justification so as no other Grace or Work doth we design not to weaken or cry down the necessity of Repentance and of other Graces nor of good Works the very thoughts whereof we abhore but to give every one of them their own and the right place and therefore it 's a gross calumnie to say that we affirm that the study and practice of Holiness and good Works is not necessary we only cry them down on this account that when we come before God our Works or Holinesse aâ—e not to be presented to Him as the ground of our Justification and Absolution but the Righteousnesse of Christ that Faith takes hold of and in this we say that Faith peculiarly concurres as no other Grace doth because iâ—'s fitted with an aptitude to receive and apply Christs Righteousnesse which no other Grace is as we say iâ—'s by the eye that a man sees though if he had not a â—ead and brains he would not see So though Fai h and Hol nesse or good Works be not sepâ—rat yet Faith is as it were â—he eye of the Soul that discerns and takes hold of Christs Righteousnesse The 2. is this That when we speak of good Works we speak of tâ—â—m as the Apostle doth Tit. 3.5 where 〈◊〉 saith not â—y the works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us and by good Works denyed in the point of Justification we understand all that is our own doing not excluding â—nly some things that were so accounted iâ— the time of darkness as almesdeedâ— and the like but as we have said all that is our own doing The 2d Branch is that this peculiarness of Faiths concurring in Justification is not from any efficacy in Faith or from Faith considered as our Deed or Work but as it Acts on Christ as the Objâ—ct of it and therefore when it is said Rom. 4.3 That Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness The meaning is not as if God had accepted his believing as an Act or Work for his Righteousnesse and that it was accounted as a perfite Grace but the meaning is that Christ Jesus the promised Seed received by Faith or his betaking of himself to the Riâ—hteousness of Christ holden out to him in the Promise was accounted his Righteousnesse as if he had had an inherent Righteousnesse of his own and so Faith is imputed not in respect of it's Act but in respect of it's Object By his union with Christ through Faith Christs Satisfaction becomes his To clear it a little take these considerâ—tions 1. Consider Faith as a Grace in us and so it cannot be imputed for Righteousness for in that respect it 's a Work and is excluded by the Apostles opposition made of Grace and Works It must therefore be Faith considered as acting in it's Object 2. Consider that in Scripture to be Justified by Christ by his blood and by Faith are all one because when it is said we are justified by Christ or by His Blood it takes in Christ and His Blood laid hold on by Faith therefore sometimes Christ sometimes Faith is called our Righteousnesse because as Christ considered as suffering and satisfying is the meritorious cause of our Justification so Faith is the instrumental cause taking hold of His Satisfaction which is our Righteousnesse both are necessary in their own way and Christs Righteousnesse implyes Faith and Faith implyes Christ and His Righteousnesse the one implyes the other necessarily 3. Consider the Phrases used in Scripture to this purpose as where we are said to be justified by faith it ever respects Christ and where we are said by faith to put on Christ It is not Faith considered as Righteousness of it self but it 's Faith considered as Acting on Christ and His Righteousness Therefore it 's the Righteousness which is by Faith the Righteousnesse which is in Christ and by Faith taken hold of by us and
Sinners Justification is to table Christ's Satisfaction for his defence before God and to plead his absolution that ground The believing Sinner's Faith sayes it is true I was own so much Debt of Sin but Jesus Christ my Cautioner to whom I am fled hath satisfied for it therefore I ought to be absolved and the Law allowes of this sort of pleading and upon this ground in which respect Faith concurreth in attaining and may well be called the Instrumental Cause of our Justification I shall say no more on this Use but these two words we may partly regrat our great ignorance that we know so little of the use of Faith in our Justification And partly we mâ—y lament the great confusion that is in these times wherein men are set to overturn such a clear truth as if Faith had no instrumentality in our Justification but as if it and other Duties and Works were equal sharers and alike in it Which 1. overturns the nature of Gods Covenant of Grace in making Works the condition of it as if there were no difference betwixt the two Covenants of Works and of Grace 2. It hath this miserable ill attending it that it shoulders out Christs Righteousnesse and shuffles in an inherent Rrighteousnesse of our own as our defence when we come immediatly before the Throne of God whereas the Gospel puts us to a Righteousnesse without us and imputed to us This way leads us to seek Righteousnesse in our selves whether Works or Faith as a Work be made the ground of our Justification it is all one For if Faith considered as a Work in us disposing us to Holiness and as a part of sincere Holiness be the thing presented to God as the ground of our Justification it is still something within us and such a thing as is still imperfite which would miserably mar poor Souls comfort whereas the Righteousnesse of Christ laid hold on by Faith being made the ground of our Justification it affoords solid consolation For though Faith in us be weak and imperfite yet His Righteousnesse is perfite and as it was not the Israelites looking as we said that was the ground of their health and cure but Gods appointing of such a mean for their cure looked to Otherwayes they that were weak-sighted and had bleared eyes might think themselves not in such capacity of healling as these who were strong and more clear-sighted whereas they were all alike cured if once they looked even so is it here A 2d Use of this and the other Doctrine formerly spoken of is for Direction and practical Information would any know how to get Justification by Christ here is the way It 's by Faith in Him when Christ Jesus and His Satisfaction is made offer of in the Gospel for Justifying all self-condemning Sinners that lay hold on Him Sinners by Faith fleeing to Him and resting on Him get a title to His Righteousnesse that cannot but save them So that if it were 1. asked what is that which a man appearing before the Throne dare hazard to present to God as the ground of his defence It 's answered Christs Righteousness His Satisfaction 2. If it were asked How comes one to have Title and Right to that Righteousnesse so as he may own and present it for his defence It is answered that it is attained by believing in Him If it be asked how comes Faith to get a Title to that Righteousnesse is it by any vertue or efficacy in Faith as a Work in us It 's answered no but it comes to get Title to it by going out of it self by receiving and taking hold and making use of the worthinesse that is in Christs Righteousness which is as a Garment able to cover the Sinners nakednesse and to hide all his spots and as a compleat Ransom to pay all his Debt And this we see here upon the one side a necessity of Faith in order to Justification and upon the other side a warning not to count Grace and the Righteousnesse of Christ the less free that Faith hath an instrumentality in the application of it Faith having Two things that it pleads upon 1. Emptiness and need in it self whence it arrogats nothing to it's own pleading but 2. founds it's defence on the good ground it hath to propose And therefore as upon the one hand we would know that there is away to come by Justification by taking hold of Christs Righteousnesse by Faith So upon the other hand we would be afraid to let any thing stick to us from our Faith as if we had a meritorious or efficient hand in or were to be thanked for our winning to Justification For as a Beggar in receiving an Alms can alleadge no merit to be in his receiving or calling for it so no more does Faiths receiving mar the freedom of our Justification by any merit in it Use 3. Seing Faith concurres instrumentally in the attaining of Justification there is here clear ground to exhort you by Faith to receive Christ and to commend to you the exercise of believing because without it ye cannot be Justified and by it ye shall certainly be Justified Use 4. Here O! here is ground of consolation to poor Sinners sensible of Sin trembling at Gods Bar as being obnoxious to the Curse that by receiving of Jesus Christ they may be absolved from the Debt of Sin and fred from the Curse Therefore if there be any such here put forth your hands and receive what is in your offer open your Souâ—s mouth wide and let in Christ and He will fill it Faith having as to our Spiritual Life the same place that the mouth hath to the body as to the entertaining of the natural and bodily Life it opens and receives what is needful to keep in the Life of the Body And were not this good news to poor Souls burdened with Sin loathing themselves and their own Righteousnesse seing it all to be but as filthy Rags and crying out with the Jaylour what shall we do to be saved Paul would say to such and we say it in the Lords name Believe in the Lord Jesus and you shall be justified and saved for Justification is derived by Faith in Him to the Sinner Use 5. This serves exceedingly to humble a Sinner whether it be a Sinner aiming and seeking to be Justified or a Sinner that hath attained Justification in so far as there is no ground of boasting here If ye be aiming to be Justified it may humble you for what can ye contribute to it being enabled ye can indeed receive what is offered and that is all neither can ye receive except ye be enabled as is said It serves also to humble such as are Justified Have ye Righteousnesse it's not your own but Christ's It 's He only that did the turn if it should be said ye beliâ—ved and may boast of that I ask what did ye when ye believed did ye any more but this ye pleaded guilty and did consent
this cursed thing Sin For which though he graciously for the sake of these sufferings of Christ pardon the guilt of it to his people and hear their Prayers yet will needs take vengeance on their inventions Psal 99.8 be they never so seriously holy and eminently serviceable to him and to their generation according to his will whereof Moses the Man of God is a most memorable instance That Ancient conceived rightly of the nature of sin who said That if he behoved necessarily either to commit the least sin or go to Hell to be tormented there eternally he would rather wish to desire to go to Hell if he could be there without sin Secondly Concerning the severity of Divine Justice in punishing sin whereof its punishment in the Person of the Son of God at such a rate is one of the greatest clearest and most convincing evidences imaginable to whom he would not abate one farthing of the Elects debt but did with holy and spotless severity exact the whole of it And though he was the Fathers Fellow yet he would needs have him smitten with the awakened Sword of sin-revenging Justice and Wrath Zech. 13.7 As if all the executions that had heed done in the earth on men for sin as on the old World of the ungodly drowned by the Deludge On the miscreant Inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah and of these other Cities upon whom he showered down liquid flames of fire and brimstone even somewhat of Hell in a manner out of Heaven Coelum pluebat Gehennam burning them quick and frying them to death in their own skins On Core Dathan and Abiram and their associats upon whom the earth opened and swallowed them up in a most stupendious manner alive the rest being consumed by fire sent down from Heaven On the one hundred eighty five thousand men of Senacheribs Army all slain in one night by an Angel And on the Israelites who by many and various plagues were wasted and worn out to the number of six hundred thousand fighting men in the short space of fourty years Reflections on which made Moses a witness of all with astonishment to cry out Psal 90.11 Who knows the power of thy anger As if I say all these terrible executions of Justice had been done by a Sword asleep or in the Scabbard in comparison of the execution it did on Jesus Christ the Elects Cautioner against whom it awakened was unsheathed forbished and made to glitter So that we may say had all the Sons and Daughters of Adam without the exception of so much as one been eternally destroyed it would not have been a greater demonstration of the severity of the Justice of God in punishing sin Thirdly Concerning the greatness incomprehensible vastness and unparalellableness of the love of God to the Elect World which he so loved O wonderful so Eternity will but be sufficient to unfold all that is infolded in that mysterious so an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that hath not an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an ita that hath not a sicut a so that hath not an as That he gave his only begotten Son to suffer all these things Joh. 3.16 and to be thus dealt with for them And of the Mediator who was content Phil. 2.6 7 8. Isa 53.3 5 though thinking it no robbery to be equal with God to empty himself and be of no reputation to take on him the shape of a servant to be a man of sorrows and acquainted with griâ—f to be chastized smitten wounded and bruised for their iniquities To step off the throne of his declarative Glory oâ— of his Glory manifested to the Creatures and in a manner to creep on the Foot-stool thereof in the capacity of a Worm and to become obedient even unto the death the shameful and cursed death of the Cross This is indeed matchless and marvellous love Joh. 15.13 Greater then which no man hâ—th to lay down his life for his friends But he being God-man laid down his life for his enemies that he might make them friends Rom. 5.10 Eph. 39 10 O! the hight and depth the breadâ—h and length of the love of Christ whereof when all that can be said is said this must needs be said that it 's a love that passeth not only expression but knowledge its dimensions being altogether unmeasurable So that we may say if it had seemed good to the Lord and been compatible with his spotless Justice and with his infinite Wisdome as Supream Rector and Governour of the World giving a Law to his Creatures to have pardoned the sins of the Elect in the absoluteneâ—s of his dominion that knows no boundary but what the other Divine attributes set to it without any intervenient satisfaction to his Justice at all which needs not to be debated here especially since God hath determined and in the Scriptures of truth made publication of his determination that he will not pardon sin without a satisfaction and particularly without this satisfaction made by Jesus Christ It would not have been a greater and more glorious demonstration of the freeness and riches of his love then he hath given in pardoning them through the intervention of so difficult and toilsome of so chargeable and costly a satisfaction as is the sad sufferings and the sore soul-travel of his own dear Son Who yet is pleased to account sinners coming to him and getting good of him satisfaction for all that soul-travel And indeed which of these is the greatest wonder and demonstration of his love whether that he should have undergone such soul-travel for sinners or that he should account their getting good of it satisfaction to him for the same is not easie to determine but sure both in conjunction together make a wonder passing great even a most wonderful demonstration of love Fourthly Concerning what dreadful measure all they may look for who have heard of these sufferings of Christ and make not conscience in his own way to improve them for their being reconciled to God thereby and whose bond to Justice will be found still standing over their heads uncancelled in their own name as proper debters without a Cautioner When the innocent Son of God who had never done wrong Isa 53.9 and in whose mouth no guile was ever found having but become Surety for the Elects debt was thus hotly pursued and hardly handled and put through sad soul-trouble to cry What shâ—ll I say Joh. 12.27 And falling a-groof on the ground with the tear in his eye in much sorrow and heaviness even to death and in a great agony causing a sweat of blood though in a cold night and lying on the earth conditionally to pray for the passing of that Cup from him and for his being saved from that hour So formidable was it to his holy Humane Nature which had a sinless aversation from and an innocent horrour at what threatned ruine and destruction to it self simply considered And which
at all even as a fallen-Star may seem to glance more then a fixed one that is over-clouded yet it hath no solid Light Know then that Faith is called for but take not every sort of Faith for Saving Faith it would make tender Hearts bleed to see so many mistake in the matter of their Faith there are some who say they had Faith all their days O that ye were convinced of the lamentable deceit and delusion that ye are under and that ye could distinguish betwixt Faith and Presumption betwixt Historical and Temporary Faith and true Saving Faith though the two former be not Delusions but in so far as ye rest on the same and take them for Saving Faith ye are deluded for Saving Faith puts you out of your selves to rest on Jesus Christ SERMON IV. ISAIAH LIII I Who hath believed our report And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed THE Gospel is a sweet Message and ought to be glad News when it comes to a People and therefore when this Report of our Lord Jesus Christ is made to Sinners O! but it 's a sad Complaint that follows on the refusal and not welcoming of it there is no better News a Minister can carry then these brought to the Shepherds by the Angels Luke 2.10 11. Fear not behold we bring you glad tydings of great joy to all people unto you is born in the city of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord but were it an Isaiah it will weight him when he looks on a fruitless Ministry and despised Gospel and will make him complain Who hath believed our report O! that we may experimentally know the cheerfulness and gladness that follows the Gospel where it is embraced and that we may not know the sorrow and sadness that will follow the challenge for dispising of it one of these two the preached Gospel will be either it will be joyful News to you or a sad ground of complaint to God against you We entred to speak of the great Duty of a People that hears the Gospel and the great mean whereby these News become delightsome and that is by Faith to receive the Report of the Gospel or to Believe on Christ reported of in it This is clearly implyed for the regrate which holds out the sin is Who hath believed our report and therefore the great Duty must be to Believe and by Faith to receive the Report We come now to speak of the Use and because it 's the great design of the whole Gospel yea it 's the design of the Law also both of which level at this End and Scope even Faith in Christ It will be expedient and no ways impertinent that we insist a little on this especially when so many thousands are utterly ignorant of Faith being Strangers to what Believing in Christ is and so great Strangers to the native End of the Gospel and out of the way of getting good by the Preaching of it so that to this day they have not learned this one Lesson to wit concerning Faith in Christ and other Lessons will be to little or no purpose till this be learned We shall not insist to speak at large of the Doctrine of Faith but only in a plain way glance at what this great Duty is that is required of the Hearers of the Gospel it 's Believing in Christ savingly or Saving Faith for no other thing will hold off the Complaint against you ye will be complained of though ye would believe with all other Faith therefore it 's this Faith that is here meaned That we may come the sooner to that which we would be at we shall premit two or three words First When we speak of Believing here we presuppose these things that are necessary for clearing the Object of Faith and capacitating us to Believe though they be not Saving Faith As namely 1. That the Offer of the Gospel must come to People that the Object of Faith be held out to them that it be told them that there is a way for a Sinner's Justification through Christ Jesus and that Sinners may be accepted before God on His account or through Him There must also 2. Be an understanding of this a conceiving in the Judgment what it is Folks cannot Believe except they Hear and Understand what they Hear in so far as distinctly to fix their Faith on the thing known they must know and understand the Mediator's fulness the Covenants freeness and the efficacy of Faith to make Christ theirs Yea 3. It 's necessary there be some acquaintance with our own condition as that we are naturally under Sin that we are lost and under the Curse sick and utterly unable and even desperate to get our selves recovered by any thing that is in or by any thing that we can do of our selves that we are for ever undone if we get not a Saviour that our mouth may be stoped 4. Not only must we know this but it 's necessary there be an Historical Faith of it to Believe that there is Fulness and Sufficiency in Châ—ist that He is able to cure and take away the guilt of Sin in all that rest on Him these must be believed in general ere ever Sinners can rest on Him for their own Salvation which supposes that there may be an Historical where there is not a Saving Faith Now when all this length is gone Saving Faiâ—h is that which the Gospel calleth for and it is the Hearts acting according to what sound light and conviction it hath on Jesus Christ as holden out in the Promise for obtaining of Life and Salvation through Him so that when the Soul is lying still under its conviction and knows it cannot have Life but by resting on Christ and hears that there is a Sufficiency in Him for up making of all its wants then the work of the Spirit prevails with the Soul to cast it self over on Him for obtaining of Life and of every other thing needful it brings the Soul to embrace and lay hold on Him not only as one able to save Sinners but to save it self in particular and this is the native work of Faith that waits the Soul to Christ and puâ—s it over the bound-road or march of all Delusion it 's like a sinking Man's leaping to catch hold of a Rock or Rope it 's the bâ—inging of a lost Sinner from the serious apprehension of his own naughtiness and undone Estate to cast himseâ—f over on Jesus Christ for the obtaining of Life through Him Secondly When we speak of Faith we would premit this That even this true and Saving Faith which is not only in kind true that is such as hath a real Being but is Saving may be considered in its different acts or actings for its different needs or necessities Though the Covenant be one yet the acts of Faith are many we having to do with Pardon of Sin with Sanctification in its parts Vivification and Mortification with Peace
this latter is Saving Faith when we dare trust and lippen our selves to Him and to His Word and we think this Expression holds forth as much of the nature of Saving Faith as any of the former if we could take it up when we dare concredit our selves to Him because He hath said the word Thus also to act and exercise Faith on Him for Temporal or for Spiritual things it 's to expect the event from God but so as we expect and look for it on this ground that Christ hath purchased it and we have accepted Him on His Offer which gives us a right to these things needful for us and purchased by Him It 's said Matth. 22.5 when the Invitation comes that some made light of it but Faith on the contrary is a laying weight on it and a concrediting of our selves to God on that ground It 's called Rom. 6. a delivering up of our selves to the word and to Him in it it 's even to put a Blank in Christ's Hand to be filled up as He pleases Ye see then what ye are called to it is to open to Christ to come to Him to marry Him to roll your selves on Him to commit your selves to Him to give Him credit c. and is there any of these unreasonable or prejudicial to you and if they be very reasonable and advantageous as indeed they are we would exhort you to come to Him to receive Him to apprehend Him to flee to Him to take hold of Him to marry Him c. Believe on Him and by believing be united to Him and get a right to Him and to all His Purchase give Him the credit of saving your Souls This we call for from you and if ye do it not the complaint in the Text will stand against you Who hath believed our report SERMON V. ISAIAH LIII I Who hath believed our report And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed IT 's a great matter once to get the Gospel brought amongst a People and such Messengers as may make the savoury Report of Jesus Christ unto them yet this is not all there is a greater work behind and that is to get Christ believed on and to get the Report concerning Him received by the People to whom it is made This being the greatest and gravest work of the Prophets and of the Ministers of the Gospel and the most eminent not so much to get a word to say as to get the Word believed and this is Isaiah's complaint that though he himself brought the Report concerning Christ and foresaw many moe would bring it yet that the exercise of Faith in these who should hear it would be very rare We spoke of the great thing called for from a People to whom this Gospel comes and the Report of Christ is made and that is to Believe on Him to receive and rest on Him of whom the Report is made except this be though there were never so many Preachers and encouragements to Preach though ye should flock to the Ordinances every day the ground of Complaint will still remain if there be not Saving Faith in Jesus Christ which is the substance of the Gospel After confirmation of this Point We shew what Faith is from the several names the Scripture giveth it and wherein the exercise of Saving Faith is holden out all which imply these three 1. A great hazard and danger that the Hearers of the Gospel are in whether they be sensible of it in such a measure at least or not we speak not now yet they are so really so much fleeing coming laying-hold apprehending c. insinuate 2. A fulness and sufficiency in Christ Jesus holden forth to them as the object of their Faith as one that can deliver out of that danger and can right what ever is wrong 3. An act wherein mainly the exercise of Faith is holden forth and it 's the act of the Soul under that danger and distress betaking it self to Christ's fulness for help It 's a fleeing from the Curse of the Law to Him as to the City of Refuge so every name that Faith gets sets out a Man acting and moving some way for Christ's remeeding the evil and removing the hazard he is in Having spoken a little to this that Faith is the main duty that is called for we may now follow the Exhortation to press you to it it being to no purpose to speak of Christ and of Faith in Him except He be received This is the end of the Word written and taught John 20. at the close even to believe in the Name of the Son of God and by believing to receive Life in and through Him And therefore Secondly Seing this is the main Duty called for by the Gospel that by Faith ye should receive it and Christ offered in it we earnestly exhort you to it It is not so much to this or that particular Duty though these be implyed it 's not so much to attendance on Ordinances nor to submission to Discipline and Censures though these also be Duties that we exhort you to but it 's to obedience to the great command of Faith even to believe on Him whom the Father hath sent and sealed It is to receive this Gospel to submit to the Righteousness of Faith to open to Him that is knocking at the Door to yield to Him and to give Him the Hand that bygone Quarels may be removed and taken out of the way except this be we profess to you in His Name that ye bring not forth the Fruit that this Gospel calleth for from you and that no less will be acceptable to God nor taken off your Hand by Him And to add here the third Branch of the Doctrine We say that no less will do your turn as a necessary mean for attaining the Promise and that which is promised 1. Look to all the Promises whether of Pardon of Sin or of Peace with God of Joy in the Holy Ghost of Holiness and Conformity to God there is no access to these or to any of them but by Faith this is the very proper condition of the Covenant of Grace and the Door whereby we step into it and if ye think Pardon of Sin Peace with God and Holiness to be necessary then this great Gospel-Duty of Believing is no less necessary for the Lord saith John 3.36 He that believes not is condemned already 2. Look to the performance of any Duty or mortification of any Lust or Idol and Faith is necessary to that 1 John 5.5 It is by Faith we obtain victory over the world it was by Faith Heb. 11. that all the Worthies spoken of there wrought Righteousness c. 3. When any Duty is done of whatsoever nature it be there is no acceptation of it without Faith It is not our Praying or coming to the Church that will make Duty to be accepted but it 's Faith the word profited them not saith the Apostle Heb. 4.2 because it was
generality of you and let not others wrong themselves nor mistake the intent of this Scripture How is it I say that the generality of you that hear this Gospel come under this common and epidemick Temper or rather Distemper to maintain your Peace and Confidence when ye can in the mean time give so little proof of it think ye that Faith cannot be a missing nor mistaken or that it is ordinary and common or that it is indifferent whether ye have it or not we are perswaded that many of you think that if ye have a good Mind as ye call it and a square civil honest Walk and keep still your good Hope that all will be well ye never doubt nor question whether ye have received Christ or not but if Unbelief ly in your Bosom I mean not doubting-desperation or questioning of the God-head but the not receiving of Christ and His Righteousness though ye had more than ordinary Hypocrites have ye will for this Sin of Unbelief find your selves under the standing Curse of God for our Lord says John 3.18 He that believes not is condemned already and vers 36. the wrath of God abideth on him In pressing of this Use I shall shew by a few Aggravations of this Sin why the Lord layeth so much weight upon it and that not so much as it opposeth Faith as as it is a condition of the Covenant of Grace and a mean to unite us to Christ but mainly as it is 〈◊〉 Sin thwarting His Command And 1. It thwarteth with both the Law and the Gospel it thwarteth with the Commands of the first Table and so is a greater Sin than Murther or Adultery nay than Sodomy though these be great vile and abominable Sins which may be thought strange yet it 's true it makes the Person guilty of it more vile before God than a Pagan-Sodomite the nature of the Sin being more hainous as being against the first Table of the Law in both the first and second Commands thereof it being by Faith in God that we make God our God and worship God in Christ acceptably Next it s not only a Sin against the Law but a Sin against the Gospel and the prime Flower to speak so of the Gospel it comes in contradiction to the very design of the Gospel which is to manifest the glory of the Grace of God in bringing Sinners to believe on Christ and to be saved through Him but He can do no great things of this sort amongst unbelieving People because of their Unbelief it bindeth up His Hands as it were to speak so with reverence that He cannot do them a good turn 2. It strikes more nearly against the Honour of God and of the Mediator and doth more prejudice to the Ministry of the Gospel and causeth greater destruction of Souls than any other Sin it 's possible notwithstanding of other Sins that Christ may have satisfaction for the travel of His Soul and there may be a relation bound up betwixt Him and Sinners notwithstanding of them but if this Sin of Unbelief were universal He should never get a Soul to Heaven the salvation of Souls is called the pleasure of the Lord but this obstructs it and closeth the Door betwixt Sinners and access to God it strikes also at the main Fruit of the Ministry it makes them complain to God that the Word is not taken off their Hand it frustrats the very end of the Ministry and it comes nearest the destruction of immortal Souls we need not say it brings on but it holds and keeps on the Wrath of God on Sinners for ever He that believes not as we shew before from John 3. is condemned already and the wrath of God abides on him 3. More particularly There is nothing in God even that which is most excellent in Him if we may speak so not excepte◠but it strikes against it It strikes gainst His Grace and frustrates that when Christ is not received some sort and degree of despite is done to the Spirit of Grace Unbelievers thwart with Him in the way of His Grace and will have no spiritual Good from Him it comes in opposition to His Goodness for where Unbelief reigns He hath no access in a manner to communicate it it strikes against His Faithfulness there is no weight laid on His Promises it counts Him a Liar in a word it strikes against all His Attributes 4. There is no Sin that hath such a train of sad Consequents following on It it 's that which keeps all other Sins livly for none hath victory over any Sin but the Believer the Unbeliever lyes as a bound Slave to every Sin and it 's impossible to come to the acceptable performance of any Duty without Faith for none can come sutably to any Duty without a Promise and can any but a Believer comfort himself in use-making of any Promise We shall close our Discourse with speaking a word to that which we hinted at before even to let you see not only the rifeness of Unbelief but the great hazard that flows from it and the exceeding great evil of it if we be only convinced of the rifeness of it it will not much trouble us except we be also convinced and believe the hazard of it but if we were convinced of both through God's blessing it might affect us more and necessitate us to make more use of Christ ye that stand yet a distance from Christ can ye endure to ly under this great Guilt and ground of Contraversie that is betwixt Him and you do ye think little to hazard on His Upbraidings and Woes even such Woes as are beyond these that came on Sodom the heavy Curse and Malediction of God and yet we say to you who are most civil discreet formal and blameless in your Conversation if there be not a fleeing in earnest to Christ and an exercising of Faith on Him the Wrath of God not only waits for you but it abides on you O tremble at the thoughts of it it were better to have your Head thrust in the Fire than your Souls and Bodies to be under the Wrath and Curse of God for ever it 's not only the Ignorant prophane Drunkard Swearer Adulterer Whoremonger c. that we have to complain of and expostulate with but it 's the Unbeliever who though He be lift up to Heaven shall be cast down to the Pit of Hell If ye ask what is all this that we would be at it's only this in a word we would have you receiving Christ if ye think that Unbelief is an exceeding great Evil and that it 's an horribly hazardous thing to ly under it then haste you out of it to Christ O! haste haste you out of it to Christ kiss the Son lest He be angry embrace Him yield to Him there is no other possible way to be free of the Evil or to prevent the hazard SERMON VIII ISAIAH LIII I Who hath believed our report And to whom
the other necessarily along with it never love that Faith that leaves the Heart as a Swines-sty to Lusts that leaves it swarming with unclean and vain Thoughts or that leaves the Heart just as it was before or that Faith that only cleanseth the outside and does no more such a Faith however esteemed by the Man will never be accounted for true Saving Faith before God I do not I dare not say that Believers will always discern this heart-purity or cleanness but this I say that true Faith will set the Man a work to purify the Heart and will be making use of Christ for that end not only to have the arm of the dominion of Sin broken but to have the Soul more and more delivered from the indwelling power of it and this will the design that he will sincerely drive to get the Heart purified within as well as the outward Man inward Heart-abominations will be grievous and burdensome to him as well as scandalous out-breakings A second place is Gal. 2.20 21. I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life c If ye would know a Companion of true Faith here is one it hath a life of Faith with it There is one life killed and another life is quickened the life that is killed is that whereby the Man sometime lived to the Law I am dead to the Law says the Apostle a Man's good conceit of himself that once he had is killed and taken away he wonders how it came that he thought himself Holy or a Believer or how he could promise to himself Heaven in the condition he was in There is another life comes in the place of that and it 's a life that is quickened and maintained by and from nothing in the Man himself but it 's wholly from and by Christ The Believer hath his holiness and strength for doing all called for Duties and his comfort also from Christ and he holds withall his very Natural Life his present Being in the World from Christ his all is in Christ his stock of life strength and furniture is not in himself but he lives by a continual Traffick as it were on Bills of Exchange betwixt Christ and him when he wants he sends a Bill to Christ and it 's answered in every thing that he stands in need of and that is good for him He is a dead Man and he is a living Man and where-ever true Faith is there the Man is dead and there the Man is living Do not I pray mistake it by thinking that true Faith is but vented puts forth it self only in reference to this or that particular or at this or that particular time only for Fâ—ith must be exercised not only at starts as when when we are under Challenges for Sin or at Prayer but we must design and endeavour to exercise Faith thorow all our Life that is we must by Faith look for every thing that is useful and needful for us from Christ and be always endeavouring to drive on a common Trade of living this way we must be habituating our selves to seek after Peace Strength and Consolation and what else we need out of the fulness that is in Him This Life of Faith is to see the want of all things in our selves and yet to have all things by making use of Christ in all things contenting and comforting our selves that there is Strength in Him though we be weak in our selves and that He hath gotten the victory over all His and our Enemies and that we shall at last through Him be victorious in our own Persons contenting and satisfying our selves that He hath compleat Righteousness though we be Bankrupt and have none of our own and betaking our selves allenarly to that Righteousness for our Justification before God Thus making a Life to our selves in Him He living in us by His Spirit and we living in Him by Faith O sweet and desirable but mysteriouâ— Life The third place is Gal. 5.6 In Christ Jesus neither circumsion availeth any thing nor uncircumcision but faith that worketh by love He doth not simply say Faith but faith that works by love for Faith is an operative Grace and this is the main vent of it the thing by which it works it works by Love Faith is the hand of the new Creature whereby every thing is wrought it having Life from Christ and we may say that Love is in a manner the hand of Faith or rather like the fingers upon the hand of Faith whereby it handleth every thing tenderly even out of love to God in Christ and to others for His sake Faith works and it works by Love that 's a sound and good Faith that warms the Heart with love to Christ and the nearer that Faith brings the Believer to Him it warms the Heart with more love to others And therefore love to the People of God is given as an evidence of one that is born of God 1 Joh. 5.1 because wherever true Faith is there cannot but be love to the Children of God flowing from love to Him that begets them That Faith that 's not affected with God's dishonour out of love to Him and that can endure to look upon the Difficulties Sufferings and Afflictions of the Children of God without sympathizing and being kindly affected therewith is not to be taken for a sound Faith but to be suspected for a Counterfeit The fourth place is James 2 14. Shew me thy saith by thy works c. True Faith hath always sound Holiness with it in all manner of Conversation in the design and endeavour of the Believer which is withall through Grace in some measure attained What avails it for a Man to say that he loves another when being naked or destitute he bidâ— him depart in Peace be warmed be filled and yet in the mean time gives him nothing that he stands in need of would not such a poor Man think himself but mocked Even so will not God reckon you to be but Mock-believers or Mockers of Faith when ye profess your selves to be Believers in Christ while in the mean time ye have neither indeed Heart-purity nor Holiness in your outside Conversation that is but such a Faith as Devils may have that will never do you good Ye would believe this for a truth that there will never a Faith pass for Faith in God's account and so there should never a Faith pass for Faith in your account but that Faith that sets the Man a work to the study of Holiness that Faith that works by Love that Faith that purifies the Heart and that Faith that puts the Person in whom it is to study to have Christ living in him and himself living in Christ I promised to name a few Scriptures that speak out some more condescending Characters of Faith And 1. I would think it a good token of Faith to have Folk feared for missing and falling short of the Promises
which may be gathered from Heb. 4.1 that stout confidence that thinks it's impossible to miss the Promises is a suspect and dangerous Faith not to be loved it 's a much better Faith that fears then that Faith that 's more stout except there be a sweet mixture of holy stoutness and fear together It 's said Heb. 11.7 that by Faith Noah being moved with fear prepared an Ark c. Noah had the Faith of God's Promise that he should be keeped free from being drowned by the Deluge with the rest of the World and yet he was mourning and trembling in preparing the Ark If there were much Faith among you it would make many of you more holily feared then ye are Love not that Faith the worse that ye never hear a threatning but ye tremble at it and are touched by it in the quick 2. It 's a good token of Saving Faith when it hath a discovery and holy suspition of Unbelief wairing on it so that the Person dare not so lippen and trust his own Faith as not to dread Unbelief and to tell Christ of it There is a poor Man that comes to Christ Mat. 9.23 24. to whom the Lord faith If thou canst believe or canst thou believe yes Lord says he I believe help thou mine unbelief there was some Faith in him but there was also Unbelief mixed with it his Unbelief was so great that it was almost like to drown his Faith but he puts it in Christ's hand and will neither deny his Faith nor his Unbelief but puts the matter sincerely over upon Christ to strengthen his Faith and to amend and help his Unbelief It 's a suspect Faith that 's at the top of Perfection at the very first and ere ever ye wot There are some serious Souls that think because they have some Unbelief that therefore they have no Faith at all but true Faith is such a Faith that is by and beside suspected and feared or seen Unbelief That Faith is surest where Folk fear and suspect Unbelief and see it and when they are weighted with their Unbelief and cry out under it and make their Unbelief an errand to Christ it 's a token there is Faith there 3. The third Character is That it will have with it a sticking to Christ and a fear to presume in sticking to Him There will be two things striving together an eagerness to be at Him and a fear that they be found presumptuous in medling with Him and an holy trembling to think on it yet notwithstanding it must and will be adventured upon the Woman spoken of Mark 5.28 lays this reckoning with her self If I can but touch his cloathes I shall be whole and she not only believeth this to be truth but crouds and thrimbles in to be at him yet vers 33. when she comes before Christ she trembles as if she had been taken in a fault not having dared to come openly to Him but behind him she behoved to have a touch of him but she durst not in a manner own and avouch her doing of it till she be unavoidably put to it It 's a suspect and unsound Faith that never trembled at minting to Believe there is reason to be jealous that Faith not to be of the right stamp that never walked under the impression of the great distance between Christ and the Person the sense whereof is the thing that makes the trembling I say not desperation nor any utter distrust of Christ's kindness but trembling arising from the consideration of the great distance and disproportion that 's between Him and the Person Faith holds the Sinner a going to Christ and the sense of its own sinfulness and worthlesness keeps him under holy fear and in the exercise of Humility Paul once thought himself a jolly man as we may see Rom. 7.9 but when he was brought to believe in Christ he sees that he was a dead and undone man before I give you these three marks of a true Faith from that Chapter 1. It discovers to a Man his former Sinfulness and particularly his former Self-conceit Pride and Presumption I was saith Paul alive without the Law once c. a man living upon the thoughts of his own Holiness but when the Law came I died he fell quite from these high thoughts A second Mark is A greater restlesness of the Body of Death it becoming in some respect worse Company more fretful and strugling more then ever it did before Sin revived saith Paul though he had no more Corruption in him then he had before but it wakened and bestirred it self more I dare say that though there be not so much Corruption in a Believer as there is in a natural Man yet it strugleth much more and is more painful and disquieting to the Believer and breeds him a greate dale more trouble for says the Apostle on the matter when God graciously poured Light and Life into me Sin took that occasion to grow angry and to be enraged that such a neighbour was brought in beside it it could not endure that as an unruly and currish Dog barks most bitterly when an honest Guest comes to the House so doth Corruption bark and make more noise then it did before when Grace takes place in the Soul There are some that trow they have the more Faith because they feel no Corruption stir in them and there are others that think they have no Faith at all because they feel Corruption strâ—gling more and growing more troublesome to them but the stirring and strugling of Corruption if Folk be indeed burdened and affected and afflicted with it will rather prove their having of Faith then their wanting of it Love that Faith well that puts and keeps Folk bickerring to say so in the Fight with the Body of Death for though this be not good in it self that Corruption stirreth yet Sin is of that sinful nature that it flies always more in their face that look God and Heaven-wards then of others that are sleeping securely under its Dominion A third Mark is When the Soul hath never Peace in any of its Conflicts or Combats with Corruption but when it resolves in Faith exercised on Jesus Christ as it was with Paul in that Chapter after his Conversion That is a sound Faith that only makes Peace at first by Christ but that cannot to say so fight one fair stroke in the Spiritual Warfare nor look Corruption in the face nor promise to it self an outgate from any assault of the Enemy but by Faith in Jesus Christ as it was with the Apostle who toward the end of that Chapter lamentably crys O! wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death yet immediatly subjoyns Faiths triumphing in Christ I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord he belike before his Conversion thought he could do well enough all alone but it is not so now when he can do nothing without Christ especially in this sore
the Apostles and yet when he is Preaching Acts 28.25 and some believed and others believed not before he dismisses the multitude he adds this one word Well spake the Holy Ghost by Isaiah the Prophet unto our fathers saying Go unto this People and say Hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand and seeing ye shall see and not perceive c. where he expressly differenceth his external Preaching from God's inward working and tells that so long as there was a judicial stroke on the Hearts of the People untaken away no external Preaching could do the turn as to their Conversion and bringing of them to Believe which he also does to guard against any offence that might be taken at the unsuccesfulness of his Ministry by any who would be ready to say what aileth these Folk that they will not receive the Gospel to whom he answers Isaiah long before told the reason of it to wit that there is a Plague on their Hearts and Minds which God must remove ere they can receive it 2. To these plain and clear instances we may add two or three Grounds or Reasons As 1. The exceeding greatness of the work of Conversion O how great and difficult is it Therefore it 's set out by the similitudes and expressions of raising the dead creating a new heart of removing the stony heart and the like all tending to set out the necessity of an omnipotent Power or a powerful work of Grace in the begetting of Souls to Christ and if it be so great a work what can the outward Ministry do if the Power of God be not added or what can the Man himself do here can a Mâ—n quicken raise creat or beget himself it's true these comparisons are not to be extended and and applied in every respect yet they hold out that Man being naturally dead can no more contribute to his own quickening and raising and to the bâ—getting of spiritual life in himself then a dead Mâ—n can contribute to his own quickening and raising to his natural life for which cause the Holy Ghost hath made choice of these expressions even to hold out the exceeding greatness of the work 2. Consider the condition that Mâ—n are in when this work is wrought and we will see they can contribute nothing to it thâ—t they have no aptitude for it except that they are subjects capable to be wrought upon being as it is Eph 2.1 dead in sins and trespasses being as to their Souls estate and as to their Spiritual condition like Adam's Body before the Lord breathed in it the Breath of Life and made him a living Soul as his Body could not move stir nor act till then no more can the Natural Man stir or act in the ways of God till a new principle of Spiritual Life be put in him To clear it further we would consider that the Scripture speaks of these three in the Natural Man 1. Of an utter inability and deadness as to that which is Good Dead in Sins Eph. 2.1 We are not sufficient saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 3.5 of our selves as of our selves to think any thing not so much as a good thought 2. The Scripture holds him out not only as unable for good but perverse and bent to every thing that is Evil Col. 1.21 Alienated and enemies in our minds by wicked works the carnal mind being enmity against God Rom. 8.7 it 's plainly opposite to any thing that is Good and so to the way of Faith 3. Man's Mind is not only naturally perverse and stuffed with Enmity but in an incapacity to be healed while it remaineth such Rom. 8.7 It is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be and therefore in the work of Conversion there is not only an amending but also a renewing of our Nature called for there is more requisite then the rectifying of something in the Man even the creating of new Habits and the infusing of the Principles of Spiritual Life and Motion into the Soul It is true in some Sense the whole Image of God is not absolutely removed the faculties of the rational Soul still remain for Man hath an Understanding and a Will and some sort of Reason but without any tendency to Spiritual Life or to any action for God he hath an Understanding but it 's wholly darkened he hath a Will but wholly perverse and not in the least enclined to Good he hath Affections but wholly disordered and corrupted and set wholly upon wrong Objects so that it 's with Man's Soul as to Good as it is with spoiled Wine Wine when wholesome serves to cheer and refresh but when it 's spoiled it 's quite another thing not only not conducing to Health but it 's noisome and hurtful It 's just so we say with Man's Soul it 's by the Fall quite spoiled and corrupted it is not indeed annihilated or made to be nothing for it retains the same faculties still it hath to speak so the same quantity still but as to it's qualities it 's utterly corrupted and carried closs contrary to God it 's not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be and renovation by Grace is the taking away of the corrupt qualities in part in this Life and wholly in the other Life and the bringing in of new qualities for recovering the beauty of that Image of God which Man hath lost 4. Consider the end that God hath in the administration of His Grace and the Glory that He will needs have it getting in every gracious work and more especially in the work of Conversion and the silence as to any boasting that He will have all put unto that shall partake of it His end in the administration of His Grace is to bring down Pride to stop all Mouths and to remove all grounds of boasting from the Creature that He only may have the glory of Conversion that when ever that question is proposed What hast thou O man but what thou hast received and if thou hast received it why doest thou boast who made thee to differ from another the Soul may answer it was not external Preaching nor my own Free-will nor any thing in me but the power of God's Grace I have nothing but what I have received It is on this ground that the Apostle Phil. 2.12 13. presseth and encourageth Christians to their great work Work out saith he your own salvation in fear and trembling for it's God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure the Lord leaveth not to Man the working of the Will in himself and of him saith the same Apostle 1 Cor. 30.31 are ye in Christ Jesus who is made of God unto us wisdom righteousness sanctification and redemption that he that glorieth should glory in the Lord as he said before vers 29. that no flesh should glory in his presence there is one ground of boasting that the Lord wiâ—l have removed in a Sinner's Justification and
Promises without the including of the effect the giving of the new Heart is not only a perswading to Believe but the actual giving of the new Heart whereof Faith is a special part which Promise is peculiar to the Elect though the offer of it be more large and be further extended and what can that Promise of Gods writing the Law in the Heart be but an effectual inclining of the Heart to the Will of God or inward renovation contradistinguished to the external Ministry that can only hold out His Will in a Book and speak it to the Ear. 3. This may be cleared and confirmed from the nature of the work of Grace which is such a mighty work and so powerful as it is impossible it can be frustrated or disappointed unless we could say that Grace in God or the Grace of God is not so powerful as Corruption in us which were Blasphemy to this purpose the Apostle prayeth in behalf of the Christian Ephesians chap. 1.19 20. that they may know what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead he speaketh so in this high strain to set out both the exceeding stubbornness of our Nature that needs such a work and the exceeding great power of the Grace of God that worketh irresistably not only in the Conversion of the Elect at first but in all the after-acts of Believing so Eph. 3.7 the same Apostle hath it according to the gift of the Grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power and Col. 1.29 according to his working which worketh in me mightily The Power that worketh in Believers is Gods omnipotent Power which worketh effectually and mightily and if this Power be exercised in the continuing and promoving of Faith as is said before it must be much more exercised in the begetting of Faith yea and what need is there that He should exercise it if not for this end that where He exerciseth it it may also prevail A 4th ground of Confirmation may be drawen from the Lords great end which He hath before Him in this work and that is the gaining of glory to His Grace and to have the whole work of Conversion attributed to it and if this be His end He must and will prevail by His Grace in throughing the work in order to this end if it were left indifferent to Man to yield oâ— not to yield to God as he pleaseth the whole weight of the work of Conversion should not ly upon Grace Mans Mouth should not be stopped but when that question should be asked who hath made thee to differ and what hast thou O man but what thou hast received he should still have something to boast of and the work of his Conversion should at best be halfed betwixt Grace and his own Free-will this would necessarily follow if Grace did not through the work and so God should miss of His end A 5th ground of Confirmation is taken from the consideration of Gods Decree of the Covenant of Redemption betwixt Jehovah and the Mediator and of the Power and Wisdom of God in carrying on this work which we put together for brevities cause From all which it will be clear that there is and must be a necessary connexion betwixt the work of Grace on Believers and the Effect and that it is not in the power of Mans Free-will to resist it which indeed is not freedom but bondage 1. Then We say That if we consider the Decree of Election we will find that where Grace is applied Faith and Conversion must follow otherwise if the work of Grace were not effectual to convert Gods Decree should be suspended on the Creatures Free-will and be effectual or not effectual according as it pleased and is that any little matter to make His Decree depend upon and be effectual or not according to Man's pleasure that which sickereth His Decree and makes it infrustrably to take effect is that He hath effectual Means to bring about His Decree 2 If we consider the Covenant of Redemption betwixt Jehovah and the Mediator we will find that upon the one side the Mediator particularly undertaketh for them that are given to Him that He shall loss none of them and upon the other side we have to speak with reverence of the Majesty of God after the manner of Men the Father's Obligation to make such Persons in due time Believers that Christ the Mediator may see of the travel of His Soul and be satisfied according to that Promise made to Him Psal 110.3 In the day of thy power thy people shal be willing and that other Isa 53.11 He shall see of the travel of his soul and be satisfied by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many c. and accordingly Himself saith John 6.37 All that the Father hath given to me shall come unto me where it is clear that these who are given must necessarily come and He also saith John 10.16 Other sheep have I which are not of this sold them also I must bring and it cannot be supposed without horrour and blasphemy that this determinate solid and sure transaction having all its midses included in it and being as to its end so peremptory shall as to these midses and that end and as to their throughing not be in Gods hand but in the hand of Mans Free-will if it were there O! how unsicker and loose would the bargain and God's design in begetting Faith and in bringing Souls through Grace to Glory be 3. If we consider the Lords Power in beginning and promoving and His Wisdom in carrying on of this work His Power whereby he raiseth the Dead and His Wisdom whereby He leads from Death to Life is it possible to conceive or imagine these to be applied by the Lord in the Conversion of a Sinner but this Doctrine must needs hold that the work of His Grace powerfully applied hath always Faith and Conversion following on it and that the Lord leaveth it not to the option of Elect Souls to believe or not to believe as they please He must not He cannot be frustrate of His end and design but He must bring them to a cordial closure with Christ by Faith in order to their Salvation Use 1. The first Use serves to fix you in the Faith of this great Truth and though we use not neither is it needful to trouble you with long Questions and Debates yet when the like of this Doctrine comes in our way especially in such a time wherein the pure Truths of God and this among the rest are troubled and called in question it is requisite that a word be spoken for your confirmation and establishment and we would hence have you fixed in the Faith of these two 1. Of the impotency of Nature in the beginning or promoving ought of the work of Grace which belongs to
intention towards him Upon the other side the more consolation be in this to Believers it speaks the greater ground of terrour to unbelievers because of the prejudice they sustain by the want of this And as many of you as make not Faith and Holiness your study ye ly out of the reach of this consolation that flows from Christs bearing the griefs and sorrows of his own And therefore let the prophane senâ—â—ess multitude that know not what it is to die to the Law or to live to Holiness as ye would not commit Sacriledge stand a-back and not dar to meddle with this redemption till ye stoop and come in at this door of Faith and Holiness And let as many as are in this way admit of the consolation for it 's the Lords allowance upon you But for others if ye presume to take hold of it the Lord will wring it from you and let you know to your cost that ye had nothing to do with it SERMON XXI ISAIAH LIII IV V. Vers 4. Surely he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we did esteem him stricken smitten of God and afflicted Vers 5. But he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed THese words and all this Chapter look liker a piece of the History of the Gospel then a Prophecy of the Old Testament The sufferings of the Messiah being so directly pointed at in them We shew that this first part of the 4. Verse holds forth the cause of his sufferings and it is applyed to our Lord Matth. 8.17 and 1 Pet. 2.24 As for the second part of the Verse in these words yet we esteemed him smitten of God stricken and afflicted any who are acquainted with the Gospel cannot but know that it was fulfilled in him and it is an aggravation of their sin who did so undervalue and despise him that though he condescended to come so low for us yet we slighted him even then when there was greatest love let out we abused it and made it the rise of greatest malice and for the 5. Verse it is applied by Peter 1 Pet. 21.24 This whole Chapter then being so Gospel like and having a direct fulfilling in Christ we may draw this general Doctrine from it That our Lord Jesus Christ who was born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified died and was buried and rose again the third day is the very same Messiah that was prophesied of in the Old Testâ—ment and was promised to Abraham Isaac and Jacob whom the Fathers before his coming in the Flesh were waiting for And though this may be looked on as but a very common and useless Doctrine yet it is the main ground and foundâ—tion of our Faith we take many things for granted wherein if we were well tried and put to it we would be found unsicker and in this among the rest Now for confirmation of it this same one argument will make it out we shall not follow it at length but in the prosecuâ—ing of it shall astrict our selv s to this Chapter the argument runneth thus if in Christ Jesus that which was prophesied of the Messiah and promised to the Fathers have its fulfilling and accomplishment then he must be the same Messiah that was prophesied of and promised to them for these things spoken of the one and alone Messiah can agree to no other But whatever was prophesied and spoken or promised of the Messiah to the Fathers to the least circumstance of it was all fully accomplished and fulfiled in Christ therefore the conclusion laid down in the Doctrine follows to wit that our blessed Lord Jesus is the same Messiah that was prophesied of promised to the Fathers and whom they before his coming were looking for So that that question needs not now to be proposed art thou he that should come or do we look â—or another Go says Christ Mat. 11.4 5.6 and tell John the blind receive their sight the lame walk and the lepers are cleansed the deaf hear and the dead are raised and the poor have the Gospel preached to them and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me blessed is he who because of my Humiliation is not stumbled Now not to make a rehearsal of the general Prophesies in Scripture all of which have their exact fulfilling in Christ we shall only speak to two things here for makâ—ng out of the Argument proposed 1. That this Chapter speaks of the Messiah 2. That what is spoken in it is literally fulfilled in Christ 1. That this Chapter speaks of the Messiah Though of old the blinded Jâ—ws granted it yet now they say that it speaks of some other but that it speaks of him these things will make it evident 1. If we look to the 13. Verse of the former Chapter where it is said My servant shall deal prudentâ—y he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high there our Lord Jesus is spoken of as the Fathers Servant or great Lord-Deputy and the Jews themselves grant that this is mean'd of the Messiah and there is nothing more clear then that what is spoken in this Chapter relates to him who is called the Lords Servant in the former Chapter as we shew at our entering to speak of it 2 If we look to the description of his Person it can aggree to no other for it 's said There was no guile found in his mouth he was brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before the shearer is dumb so he openâ—d not his mouth c. he had no sin of his oâ—n which can be said of no other therefore this Chapt r speaks of him 3. If we consider the end and effects of his Sufferings they do also clear it the end of his Sufferings for it 's for the transgressions of his People and as it is Dan. 9.26 He was to be cut off but not for himself the effects He shall see his feed and by his knowledge justifie many And the New Testament is full to this purpose there being no Scripture in all the Old Testament more made use of nor oftener applyed to Christ then this is 2. What is spoken in this Chapter is really and literally fulfilled in Christ and we may shortly draw what is in it to these five Heads all which we will find clearly fulfiâ—led in him 1. To his Suffâ—rings 2. To the ground of his Sufferings 3. To Mens account and estimation of him 4. To the Promises made to him 5. To the effects that followed on his Sufferings 1. For his Sufferings it 's said that he should be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief that he should be despised and rejâ—cted of men and not be esteemed that he should be looked on as stricken smitten of God and afflicted that he should bear ouâ— sorrows and griefs and be wounded for our transgressions
may the sinner apply it Answer Not only because it 's free and freely offered but by gripping to it by Faith as the Prophet doth here It 's not only to apply it simply but to step in and rest upon it in the terms it is made offer of so that as on the one part Jesus Christ became really lyable to suffering and satisfied for our sins when he said Lo I come in the volume of thy book it is written of me I delight to do thy will So upon the other part the believing sinner comes to apply the price payed by imbracing the price and acquiescing in the satisfaction and gripping to it as his own and by his being brought to say in Faith Let his wounding be my pardon let his chastisement be my peace and let his stripes be my healing By this means as the Law had a right to Christ for his paying the Elects debt so they by believing get a right to the promise of pardon and healing For if the bargain was ficker on the one side to procure wounding to Christ as if he had been the sinner himself so on the other side the bargain is as sure The Believer is set free and may be as really comforted as if he had a righteousness of his own or had never had sinned Use 2. Therefore there is here wonderful matter of consolation to Believers that what was Justice to Christ is Grace and Mercy to us that which was pain to him is pleasure to us His sorrow our comfort his wounding our pardon his stripes our healing c. Use 3. As ye would not prejudge your selves of these benefites which Christ hath purchased make your peace with God through Christ If your pardon and peace be not obtained this way ye will never get it but ye shall be made to pay your own debt and be lyable to wrath eternally because of inability to pay your debt to the full Therefore step to and make the offer welcome how sinful and undone soever ye be The more sensible ye be ye are the more welcome This is the particular use of the Doctrine O! Let these things sink in your hearts that ye are sinners great sinners under wrath and at feud with God that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of lost sinners and that there is no way to pardon and peace but by closing with him and saying hold on his satisfaction That ye may be drawn to cast your selves over on this everlasting Covenant for obtaining the benefits that Christ hath purchased 〈◊〉 â—d himself bless what hath been spâ—ken for this end and use SERMON XXIII ISAIAH LIII V Vers 5. But he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed IT were no small progress in Christianity to know and believe the truths that are implyed and contained in this same verse The Lord by the Prophet is giving a little compend of the work of Redemption by his saving of sinners from death through and by the wounding of the Mediator We did a little open the meaning of the words and gave a sum of the Doctrines contained in them at least of some of them which do contribute to this scope The Prophet is here speaking of Christ's sufferings with a respect to the cause of them and the effect that followed them and shews how this was indeed the mistake and blasphemous imputation that we had of and were ready to put on him even to judge him smitten and plagued of God for his own sins whereas God hath another design He was altogether without sin but he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities We were at feud with God and he took on him the chastisement of our peace And this is the effect to procure healing to us We shall now speak a word to three Doctrines further beside what we spoke to the last day which are these 1. That there was an eternal design plot and transaction betwixt God and the Mediator as to Christs suffering for the redeeming of elect sinners before he actually suffered This the Prophet speaks of as a thing concluded For the cause of his sufferings was condescended on and the end and fruit of them was determined which implyes an antecedamus transaction betwixt the Father and him for putting him in the room of sinners And by this transaction Justice hath access to exact the payment of this price He interposed and the Father exacts of him the payment of their debt and seeks satisfaction from him for all that he bargained for 2. That this transaction or design concerning the Redemption of elect sinners is in respect of Christs suffering and satisfying of Justice fully and actually performed he undertook to be wounded and bruised and he was accordingly actually wounded and bruised The transaction as to the engagement in it and efficacy of it took place in Isaiah's time and before his time but as to the actual performance of what the Mediator engaged himself to suffer it is spoken of prophetically by him as a thing done because to be done and now it is done and indeed long ago 3. That the satisfying of Justice by the Mediators Sufferings according to his engagement proves as effectual to absolve justifie and heal these even the grossest Sinners that come under this Bargain and Transaction as if they had actually suffered and payed and satisfied their own Debt themselves these Sins are pardoned through his Sufferings their deadly Wounds are healed by his Stripes as if they had never had a wound their Compt is dashed and scored as clean out as if they had never had any Debt they are acquitted and set free as if they had never been guilty These three Doctrines ly very near the life of the Gospel and the Prophet in this Chapter and particularly in this Verse is often on them Our purpose is only shortly to explicate them to you as a short sum and compend of the tract of the Covenant of Redemption The first of them shews the rise of the work of Redemption The second shews the mids by which it is executed The third holds out the effect and consequence and the end of all For the first then There is we say an eternal transaction betwixt God and Jesus Christ the Mediator concerning the Redemption of Sinners his actual redeeming by being wounded and bruised supposeth this for the Son is no more lyable to suffering not to speak of his suitableness then any other of the Persons of the blessed God-head had there not been an antecedent transaction there was no obligation nor ty on him to be wounded and to enter into the room of Sinners as their Cautioner for payment of their Debt if there had not been a prior engagement neither could his wounding and bruising have proven useful or have brought healing to us if this prior engagement had not been And this is it which
hold of and close with Christ and to rest upon his satisfaction for his Justification and healing because he hath God and the Mediator Covenanting for this very end the Mediator engaging to satisfie and God engaging to receive the satisfaction and to justifie all these who shall accept of it and rest upon it 4. It s therefore a notable ground of encouragement and of exhortation to take hold of Jesus Christ and of his satisfaction Folk would not skar at him but lippen their Salvation to him and be sure the bargain will not fail As it is sure that the Mediator hath satisfied it is as sure that his satisfaction shall be made forth-coming to Believers in him 5. To reprove the neglecters and slighters of Jesus Christ and of this offered Salvation through him when he hath taken the threatning and curse of the Law on himself to make out the Promise to them it must be a great aggravation of folks guilt to slight him It serves also to comfort a poor sinner that hath may sins and challenges and knows not how to be quit of them The Covenant sayes our sins are translated on the Mediator that we might be set free Christ Jesus Covenanted on the terms of Justice to make way for us to Covenant on the terms of Mercy God Covenanted with him to pursue our sin in him and he Covenanted to impuâ—e that satisfaction freely to us Hence is that never enough noted saying 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself It 's Justice on his part he satisfies for pardon of sin and peace to them But on the Elects part it's grace God is reconciled to them not imputing their sin to them but it s for Christ's satisfaction that he freely forgives them their sin so that what cost him dear comes most freely to us and this is no small ground of comfort to a Conscience pressed with sin God fix these things in your Hearts SERMON XXIV ISAIAH LIII V Vers 5. But he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed IF there were more deep conviction amongst us of our natural deadness in sin and of that fearful condition that naturally we ly under by our lyableness to the wrath and curse of God all Men and Women having by nature Gods curse as the sentence of the Law registrate against them the reading of such a Text wherein a way of remedy is holden forth would be more welcome to us and we are perswaded that such a thorow conviction would not only make the Word more lovely and delightsome to us but more plain and easie to be understood by us and would be sooner taken up by us and one Preaching would thus be more profitable and effectual than many are to you while in a secure condition when People are not under the deep and due conviction of their sin and misery they have no serious thoughts that the word of the Gospel concerns them in particular and that their souls stand in need of that which is spoken to them therein Ye may remember we spoke somewhat from these words for clearing the way of making Peace betwixt God and Sinners and for holding forth the way that God in his infinite wisdom hath laid down for setting of poor sinners that are lying under his Curse free for this end there was an eternal Transaction and Covenant entered into by the Father and the Son the Father demanding and the Son accepting and satisfying as Mediator and Sinners-Cautioner what was due to Justice for the sins of the Elect as was determined in the counsel of God from which bless'd Bargain all our Salvation flows as from the Fountain and runs down as a river to us That which now we are to speak a little to is some profitable Uses which are the scope of all and tend to lead you in to know the use of such Doctrine and not only to know it but to engage you to make suitable practical improvement of it There are several sorts of Uses that flow from this Verse whence the preceeding Doctrines have been drawen The first sort is for Information which ye who are more ignorant and have not so much light in â—ou as to discover the way to Heaven would especially take heed to though they be useful to all And 1. Ye would know and be informed in this that all Men and Women without exception are lying under Transgressions and Iniquities and lyable to be smitten and cursed of God till these be taken away But this having been spoke of in the Forenoon we need nor insist on it now but the truth is neither Law nor Gospel hath gained this much ground on the great part of you as to bring you really to know that naturally ye are dead in sins and trespasses and till this be drunk in and digested other Truths cannot to any purpose profite you 2. Ye would know and consider the necessity of a satisfaction to the justice of God before Sinners can be fred from sin and from the curse and wrath of God that they are under and liable to by reason of their original corruption and actual transgressions Do ye think that Jesus Christ did needlesly enter into the Covenant of Redemption and engage to satisfie and actually and really did suffer and satisfie Justice If men might come so easily to Heâ—ven as many suppose it had been needlesse Wouâ—d God think ye have wounded the Cautioner his own dear Son if those who ly under Sin and Wrath might have by another way satisfied his Justice and restored him to his Honour Nay Eâ—etheir Peace could be made this bâ—hoved to be and yet I must doubt if many do think that there is any such distance betwixt God and them which a word of Prayer or Confâ—ssion or some Pennance cannot remove This is alas the woful Ignorance of many that live under this Gospel but ye would know that a Satisfaction behoved to be and such a Satisfaction as was equivalent to the wrong done and suitable and satisfying to him that was wronged by sin and that among all the Creatures it could not be found Yea ye may read from this the dreadful effects of sin and what a horriblâ— thing it is to have your Transgressions to count for with God your selves If sin brought such heavy things on the Cauâ—ioner what will it bring on thee a Sinner who hath continued all his days in tops with God to speak so and would not make pâ—â—ce with him when he was earnestly iâ—vited to it Yea we may from this know what is that most horrible dreadful and confounding Sentence which is abiding all of you that stand it out and do not make your Peace with God through this Satisfaction of our blessed Lord Jesus When ye shall be made eternally to bear the wrath that Sin deserves which yet is intollerable 3. Ye would hence
on this Satisfaction even such a way as procures Justificatâ—on and Healing to them And for your confirmation consider in general if it be possible that this Covenant of Redemption the Sufferings of the Mediator and the Promises made to Believing can be for nought did the Father pursue the Cautioner so hotly for nothing or did the Cautioner pay such a Ransom for nothing no certainly if it had not been to communicate Pardon and Peace with Healing by his Wounds anâ— Stripes to them who were lyâ—â—le to Condemnation and under the dominion of Sin neither of these would have been And therâ—fore for grounds of your Faith more particularly see here 1. A full Satisfaction God hath made way to Sinners Peace with himself by satisfying himself fully in Christ the Mediator for the sins of elect Believers so that a sinner that in the sense of sin betakes himself to him needs not to fear any back-accompts because what ever might make for our Peace was fully said on him so that we may with holy and humble boldness say that we are not come to the mount that might not be touched nor to blackness and darkness tempest and the sound of a trumpet but we are come unto mount Sion the city of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant and to the blood of sprinkling Our invitation therefore to you is not to bid you come and compt for your own Debt your selves but to come and accept of Christs payment of it and of his Satisfaction whereby Justice is compleatly satisfied 2. See here as another ground of Faith the Justice of God not with respect to us but to the Bargain betwixt the Father and the Son who are the principal Parties and we to speak so but Parties accidentally in this Covenant the Covenant being primarly and mainly betwixt God and the Mediator the Justice of it appears in this that it hath respect to a Covenant which is fulfilled on all sides and therefore the Elects believing and taking hold of the Mediators Satisfaction cannot but be accepted as if he had payed the the Debt himself the Father to speak so had the carving of the Bargain and what satisfaction his Justice was to receive to his own mind and as it was Justice on the Sons side to satisfie according to his undertaking so it 's Justice on the Fathers side to pardon and be at peace with the Sinner that by Faith flies unto Jesus Christ 3. See in this Bargain not only Justice but Mercy as its just so it s a graciously free Bargain which is wonderful and may seem somewhat strange if not paradoxal yet it s nothing inconsistent with the way of Grace it 's just that the Cautioner should pay the Debt and yet that Debt is most freely and frankly pardoned as to us it 's Justice in the height as to the Mediator but free Grace as to us in the height we come to it freely and without price though it cost him dear And that is one of the Mediators Undertakings that it should be free to his Seed Joh. 6.40 This is the will of him that sent me that he who seeth the Son and believeth on him should have eternal life 4. Consider the reality and sureness of the Bargain it is such as it cannot fail having such Pillars to lean on the Faithfulness of God engaged on just and equal terms and the glory of God as the end and having a most necessary and câ—rtain effect to wit Healing to all to whom this soveraign Medicine is applyed This stability and sureness of the Covenant flows from Gods engaging to the Mediator and the Mediators engaging to God from the Mediators satisfying and the Fathers accepting of his Satisfaction which being confirmed by the Blood of the Testator it becomes a Testament which cannot be annulled nor altered or changed And if all this be so let me put the question is there not good ground here to exhort the Hearers of the Gospel to believe in Christ and on Believing to look for Life through him and a most solid ground laid down whereupon to build the hopes of Eternal Life and therefore seing this is the up-shot of all that Life is to be gotten freely by Faith in Jesus Christ improve this way of Salvation for making your Peace under no less certification than this even as ye would eshew reckoning with Divine Justice in your own Persons for the least Farthing of your Debt If it be objected here by any 1. We are at enmity with God and cannot satisfie I answer This Text tells you that satisfaction is not sought from you but from the Mediator who hath already given it and the Father hath accepted it for all such as shall by Faith plead the benefit of it 2. If ye shall say we know not how to win at God we are such as cannot step on foot forward and so very sinful and miserable that we know no such Transgressors and Wretches I answer Was it not for such that the Mediator transacted even for such as we Transgressors Rebels Despisers of him and such as judged him to be smitten and plagued of God If he had been Caution only for righteous Folks there had been some reason for such an objection but it is for Sinners for most hainous Sinners Nay this way of reasoning and pleading says on the matter that Christ needed not have laid down his life 3. If it be said We are so sinful and backsliding so filthy and polluâ—ed that we think we are not within the reach of healing I answer This reasoning would if it held turn in effect to this that ye are not within the reach of Gods Grace and for Christs Satisfaction which is not only injurious but even blasphemous to the Grace of God and to the Satisfaction of the Mediator if your sin be ugly and horrible he suffered horrible Wraâ—h he was wounded bruised chastised c. 4. If it be said further We can do nothing for our selves we cannot come to Christ we know not what it is to Bâ—lieve or if we win to do any thing alace all our Goodness is as the morning Cloud and early Dew that soon passeth away I answer The Covenant is not transacted betwixt God and you but betwixt God and the Mediator and the ground of your Peace as to the procuring cause depends on the Mediators performing his part of the Covenant in your name And further as for your Believing it is a piece of the Fathers engagement to the Mediator and must certainly be made as effectual as the Father must keep his word to the Son according to these Promises of the Covenant I will put my law in their hearts and write it in their minds they shall all know me and they shall be all taught of God And thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power and the like All these Promises were in the Covenant betwixt the Father
be done And so hotly and hardly was he pursued by Justice that he must needs come to the cursed death of the Cross and actually die And as if death had gotten a piece of dominion over the Lord of Life he is laid in the grave So Zech. 13. the Lord saith Awake O sword against my shepherd and against the man that is my fellow smite the shepherd Where we see that when the good Shepherd and great Bishop of Souls hath undertaken for the Elects debt Justice gives a Commission as it were to its own holy revenge to pursue the man that is God's fellow for that debt That which we design to confirm in the Doctrine is not only that our Lord Jesus suffered but that his suffering was by Justice it's exacting of him the debt of the Elects sin according to the engagement that he came under to the Father For the scope is to shew not only that he suffered so great things as oppressed and brought him very low But also that he was put at by Justice in these sad sufferings to pay the debt that he had taken on For confirming and clearing of this a little ye may consider 1. The Titles which he gets in Scripture he is called the Cautioner or Surety of the better Testament or Covenant Heb. 7.22 And by that Title he is shewed to be instated in our room and answerable for our debt And he is called the Lamb that takes away the debt of our sin by the sacrifice of himself He steped in into our place and kept off the stroak of the Sword of Justice that would have lighted on us had he not interposed 2. Consider the Titles which his sufferings and death gets Heb. 9.12 He is said to purchase to wit by it eternal Redemption for us And Rom. 3.24 we are said to be justified through the Redemption that is in Jesus We were slaves to the Devil subject to the curse discerned and adjudged to suffer for the wrongs that we had done to Justice And his suffering is called Redemption because as the man that redeems the Captive gives a ransom for him so he interposed and payed a ransom for us It 's also called a propitiation 1 John 2.2 He is the propitiation for our sins to wit pleasing to God and accepted of him in the room of all the Elect And this word propitiation as it supposeth God's being displeased with the Elect before Christ's satisfaction so it plainly holds forth his being well pleased with them on the account of his satisfaction 3. Consider these Scriptures that speak not only of Christ's sufferings but of their end and scope even the drawing of him down to speak so into the Elects room as v. 5. of this Chapter He was wounded for our transgressions c. He got the stroaks and we got the cure 2 Cor. 5.21 He was made sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God through him We are sinners and Christ is to purchase righteousness to us And the way how he doth it is by steping in into our room and becoming our Cautioner and he ingaging as Surety the Law wins at him on that ground so Gal. 3.13 He hath redeemed us from the curse of the law by being made a curse for us we were under the Curse and lyable to be pursued by it and our Lord Jesus becomes a Curse to deliver us from it Considering then the end of Gods Covenant which is to glorify his Justice aâ—d Grace that Sinners may know it is an evil thing to sin and depart from God and that Grace is a very costly thing whereunto he hath made access through the Vail which is his Flesh and considering Christs undertaking without which they could not be set free it could not be otherways This is a truth that hath in it much of the marrow of the Gospel and tends much to humble us and is also very much for our comfort What was Justice seeking of Christ when he suffered and was in an agony if thou beest a Believer or an elect Sinner it was even exacting thy Debt of him and would it not affect an ingenuous Debtor to see his Cautioner dragged haled and hurried to Prison for his Debt Even so if we could look on Christs Sufferings as so many Summons and Pursevants arresting him for our Debt it could not but affect us with much sorrow for our sins that brought him to this and with much love to him who was content to be so dealt with for them and no doubt this is one of the reasons why he will have his death remembered till he come again even that we may see our obligation to him and be suitably affected with it 2ly Observe That the Debt of the Elects sins was severely and with holy rigidity exacted of Christ to the very full worth or value this proceeding was as to Christ by way of Justice whether we look to the purchase that he made to wit the Elects Souls he laid down as good in their room or whether we look to a Transaction or Bargain going before whatever was in the stipulation he payed and satisfied to the full nothing was remitted nor given him down or whether we look to the Curse due to the Elect that was inflicted on him and he himself was made a Curse for us looking on the Curse simply as penal and what was bitter in it which shews his condescendency in his Sufferings so much the more 3ly Observe That our Lord Jesus was brought exceeding low while the Debt of the Elect was exacted of him He was put to exceeding sore affliction much straitned and stressed by the Justice of God exacting of him the Debt due by elect Sinners We spoke to some words before which bare out this as he was wounded bruised chastified c. and now we see the effect here when Justice puts him to it After he hath taken on the Debt he is tried stripped as it were to the skin punished and distressed ere he get it payed If we consider our Lord Jesus as God he is neither less nor more punished being so considered utterly incapable of any such thing But if we look on him as Mediator God-man God much withdrawing from him the influence of his comforting presence while he hath the cup of wrath in his hand so he is brought exceeding low and sadly afflicted And these four considerations under which we may see him paying our Debt may clear it 1. That he laid aside the glory which before the World was he had with the Father for a time which therefore that it may be restored to him again he prayeth John 17.5 it having been as to the manifestation thereof in his person eclipsed interrupted and darkened for a season hence the Apostle says Philip. 2. that he emptied himself and became of no reputation as if his glory had not been discernable for a time He that is Judge of Quick and Dead is himself
straits out of which ye will not be able to extricate your selves and he shall appear like everlasting burning when the great day of his wrath comes and when it shall be said by you who can stand before it or abide it It were good that ye who are most atheistical and who with a sort of triumph and gallantry will needs destroy your selves would lay this to heart and remember that the day comes when ye will be brought to this Bar and gravely consider what a Hell that will be to have the desperateness of the outgate sealed up in your Consciences and these evidences of Gods hatred and these aggravations that our Lords holy nature could not admit of in your bosome when Wrath meets with Corruption and Corruption with Wrath and when these mingle how dreadful will your case be 3ly Let Believers see here what ye are obliged to Christ Consider what he hath payed and what the satisfaction of Justice for you cost him Folks are ready to think that it was an easie thing to satisfie Justice and to drink of the brook by the way but if Sinners were sensible of challanges for sin and if they had the Arrows of the Almighty drinking up their spirits they would think otherwise of Christs drinking out the cup of Wrath for them not leaving so much as one drop of it It 's but the shorings or threatnings with some drops of it that any of you meet with in your sharpest Soul-exercises O! believing Sinners are ye not then eternally obliged to Christ who drunk out this wrathful-cup for you 4ly There is notable consolation here to poor Souls that would fain make use of Christ As 1. That Christ hath stepped thorow this deep Foord or rather Sea before them and if the Cup come in their hand it 's empty Freedom from the Wrath of God is a great consolation and yet it 's the consolation of all them that are fled unto him for refuge 2. It 's comfortable to them in their comparatively petty straits and difficulties when they wot not what to do when the Law seizeth and Justice pursueth and when the Conscience challengeth to consider that Christ was a prisoner before them though he had no challenge for his own debt yet he was challenged for ours that he might be a compassionate high Priest being made like to us but without sin Justice pursued him the Law arrested him wrath seized on him so that when we are set upon by these he will be tender of us for he knows our frame and that we cannot bear much and therefore on this ground a believing sinner may go with boldness to the Throne of Grace because Christ the Cautioner who hath payed his Debt is there it 's a shame for believing sinners to walk so heartlesly even under these things that are terrible as if Christ had not gone thorow them before them and for them 3. There is consolation here when they are under any pinshing cross and difficulty as there is also ground for patient and pleasant bearing of it because it was another sort of prison that Christ was put in for them ye may I grant lament over the long want of sensible presence it being kindly to the Believer to miss it and to long for it but ye should not be heartless under the want of it nor complain as the Lords people do lament Is there any sorrow like unto my sorrow but submissively and contentedly bear it without fretting seing our Lord bare so much for you 5ly There is here a notable encouragement to believe and a notable ground for the Believer to expect freedom from sin and from the pinshing straits that it deserveth because Christ payed dear for it wherefore was all this pinshing but to pay Believers Debt But when we come to speak of his outgate it will clear this more 2. While it 's said That he was brought from judgment which supposes and implyes that he was once at or under judgment even the judgment of God who is his great party all along He laid on him the iniquity of us all and vers 10. It pleased the Lord to bruise him He was the Creditor that caused take and arrest him Observe That in all the Soul-vexation in all the pinshing pressure of spirit that our Lord sustained he was standing judicially before the bar of God and was judicially proceeded against as the Elects Cautioner and Surety there was no access to bring Christ to â—udgment had he not engaged to be Surety and had not God laid on him our iniquities for it was for no Debt that he was owing himself but for what by his engagement as the Elects Surety he came under and was made lyable to That which I mean by his being brought to Judgment is not only that he suffered was occasionally condemned by a Court of men or by a humane Judicatory which was rather like a tumultuary Meeting or a company of men in an uproar than indeed a Court but whatever was before men there was a legal and judicial procedure before God For clearing whereof ye would consider 1. The account whereon he suffered and was brought before Gods Court of Judgment to speak so It was not for any thing that the Scribes or Pharisees or Pilate had to lay to his charge it was envy in them the former at least that stirred them in what they did but the next words tell us what it was for the transgression of my people was he striken The Priests and People had no mind of this but this was indeed the ground of his judicial Challenge and Arraignment before God the Elect were in their sins and he by the Covenant of Redemption stood lyable for their Debt because in it he had undertaken for them as their Cautioner and Surety 2. Consider who was his great party in his Sufferings it was not Pilate and the Jews he cared not so much for them but it is God and therefore he crys My God my God why hast thou forsaken me and therefore he makes his address to God Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me he cared not for answering them but looks to a higher hand and upon himself as standing before another Tribunal therefore it 's said v. 10. yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him he looked not to Pilate but to the Lord pursuing him 3. Coâ—sider our Lords submission to his being brought to Judgment not only nor chiefly before men but before God therefore says he John 12.48 Father save me from this hour but for this cause came I to this hour come thâ—n Fâ—ther and let us compt he looks not only to the present dispensation but also to the ground whence it came and to the end that God had in it for this cause came I unto this hour even to have my soul troubled and to be put to answer for the D bt of my elect People according to my Engagement Lo I come saith he in that
essential properties of a Creature As if now when exalted he were wholly or only God or as if the properties of the Humane Nature were swallowed up in the God-head That were inconsistent with his being true Man and would marr and obstruct our consolation exceedingly But his Exaltation consisteth 1. In the manifestation and decâ—aration of the person that was humbled and brought low to be God Omnipotent Omnipresent Alsufficient infinitly Wise Powerful Just c. For though these properties agree not to the Humane Nature yet they agree to his person and they are manifested to be in him without question 2. In the Exaltation of the Humane Nature of Christ-man to an inconceivable hight of glory such as the Humane Nature united to the Divine Nature is capable of by very many degrees beyond any thing that the Elect whether Angels or Men are capable of The personal union making him capable of far more glory and his excellent Offices calling for it 3. This Exaltation consists in his absolute Dominion and Kingly Power which is more observably directly and plainly manifested in the dayes of the Gospel-administration then it was under the Law So that now he is clearly known in respect of his Kingly Office to be God in our nature cloathed with our flesh and to be Immanuel Goâ—â—â—th us and that this Immanuel hath aâ—â—â—â—â—er in Heaven and Earth committed to him He hath the keys of Hell and of death and is King of kings and Lord of lords is exalted far above all principalities and powers and is given to be head over all things to the Church In which respect that is most properly to be understood when it is said that he is set on the right hand of God So that now Jesus Christ God and Man in one Person is in highest Glory and in absolutest Dominion nearest unto God far above that which Angels or Saints are capable of As Kings use to set their greatest Courtiers and Minions whom they would honour most on their right hand and as Solomon set his Mother on his right hand so is our Lord set on the right hand of God in highest glory It is true that as God he hath an absolutely Soveraign and independent Kingdom yet as Mediâ—tor God-man he hath a dispensatory Kingdom next unto the Father in glory 4. This Exaltation consists in Christs being furnished with qualifications suitable to that glorious condition wherein he is invested And though these qualifications of the Man Christ be not simply infinit yet they are far above what we can conceive And the qualifications of the Person God-man are infinite in which respect he is Omnipotent All-seeing and infinitly wise to provide every thing that may be for the good of his Church and People and to prevent what may tend to their hurt Omnipresent c. The Uses are three 1. This would waken and rouze our Spirits to a high holy and reverend esteem of Christ he is God above all gods Kiâ—g above all kings he hath gotten a name above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow not superstitiously when he is named but holily and reverently to think of him and to worship and serve him We conceive among many faults and evils in Believers this is a root-evil even low thoughts of glorious Christ so that because he hath become low to lift us up we are ready to think the less of him but O! that we could behold the glorious condition he is exalted unto and could look upon 〈◊〉 as ere long coming in the clouds with 〈◊〉 and great glory in the glory of his Father and all the holy angels with him it would furnish reverend thoughts of him though not to hurt faith and confidence yet to breed holy awe and reverence in us to him-wards The 2d Use serves to shew what a formidable party they engage to top with them who slight our Lord Jesus Christ what loss they are at who loss him and what a great aggravation their sin hath who sin against him ye that slight refuse and oppose him do ye know whom ye refuse and whose dominion ye spurn against and how hard it will be for you to kick against the pricks do ye know your loss who loss him and how it will aggrege your guilt who despise him the more glorious Christ be the greater will the sin of the Unbeliever be therefore be aware what ye are doing ye have a mighty great and strong party to deal with and when the great day of his wrath comes and when he shall appear in his glory how will you be able to abide the least touch of it it will aggrege your sin and highten your misery that he whom the Father exalted was undervalued by you that ye scorned to take a direction from him or to submit to a censure drawen forth in his name and said at least by your practice Let us break his bands asunder and cast away his cords from us but he hath set his king on his holy hill of Zion for all that and he that sits in heaven will laugh the Lord will have you in derision think on it seriously and know that he is no mean person whom ye slight and despise and though this may now seem less than other sins yet it will one day ly heavy on your score and Conscience above many yea above all other sins The 3d. Use serves to be a motive and encouragemt to them that hear this Gospel to receive Christ and for the consolation of Believers who have received him 1. It serves to encourage you all to receive him He is no mean person that wooes you but King of kings and Lord of lords and if ye think it a happiness to be for ever with him then let it move you to close with him if ye do so ye shall be made glorious as he is glorious a due proportion betwixt the Head and the Members being kept ye shall sit on the same throne with him and behold his glory as he prayeth John 17. I will that these whom thou hast given me may be with me to behold my glory this is certainly a great Bargain if Christ be glorious he calleth you to share with him in the same glory 2. It serves for the consolation of Believers who have received him ye have an excellent Mediator a most glorious Head and Husband and a most excellent Dowry and ye shall know it to your superabundant satisfaction and joy in that day when as it is Psal 45. Ye shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needle work and shall enter into the kings palace and share of his glory and see him face to face and sit with him on his throne even as he hath overcome and is set down with his Father on his throne labour to be stayed in the faith and hope of this good glorious and desireable day that is coming when we shall not only see but partake of and be fully and
forbid wo unto them that make such an use of this truth nor do I speak of it to allow any to dispense with or to give way to themselves to sin for we shew before that Christ is here proposed as our Patern and we are bidden purifie our selves as he is pure But this we say that none living here on the earth are without sin the most perfect men that are on this side Eternity carry about with them a body of death called five or six times sin Rom. 7. that hath actual lustings and a power as a law of sin to lead captive and that makes the man guilty before God Use 2. For reproof to two sorts of enemies to this Truth 1. These inveterate enemies of the Sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ to wit the Papists that black train that follows Antichrist who plead for a perfection according to the law as attainable in this life saying down two grounds to prove this perfection 1. That the inward lustings or first risings and moâ—ions at least of the body of Death are no sins And 2. Their exponing of the law so as it may suit to their own apprehension and opinion yet so as they say that every Believer or godly Person wins not to this perfection to keep the law wholly but only some of their Grandees This the Lord hath mercifully banished out of the Reformed Churches as Inconsistent with the experience of the Saints who find a law in their members warring against the law of their mind and leading them captive to the law of sin that is in their members inconsistent with the Scriptures which clear that none have attained nor do attâ—in perfection in this life but the contrary that in many things we offend all and inconsistent with Grace that leaves sinners still in Châ—ists common and debt as standing in need of his imputed Righteousness This perfection they place in inherent Holiness and habitual Grace but we insist not on it 2ly Another sort of enemies reproved here are the old Familists who are owned by these who are called Antinomians several of which miserable persons are now going up and down amongst us who say that the People of God have no sin in them wherein they are worse then Papists for Papists make it peculiar to some only but they make it common to all Believers And Papists make their perfection to consist in inherent holiness but they make the nature of sin to be changed and say that sin is no more so in a Believer even though it be contrary to the Law of God We grant indeed that the people of God are free of sin in these respects 1. In this respect that no sin can condemn them they are not under the Law but under Grace in that respâ—ct Rom. 8.1 It 's said that There is no condemnation to them who are in Christ 2. In his respect that they cannot fall into that sin which as unto death as is clear 1 John 5.17 18 And 3. in this respect that they cannoâ—â—o sin â—s to ly or be under thâ—â—â—â—gn and â—omiâ—ion of sin as is evident Rom. 6 14. The Believer delights in thâ— Lâ—w â—f God according to the inner man Râ—m 7.22 And is not in sin neither doth câ—mmit sin as the unbeliever doth for the seed of God abideth in him and is kept from being involved in that which hiâ— corrupt nature inclines the Believer to So then what the Scriptuâ—e speaks of the Believers being free of sin is to be understood in one of these respects But to â—ay 1. That a Believer cannot sin at all sad expâ—rience and the practice of the Saints is a proof of the contrary Or 2. To say that sin in a Believer is no sin because of his faith in Christ is as contrâ—â—y to Scripture For the Law of God is the same to the Believer and the unbeliever and sin is the same in both Adultery is Adultery and Murâ—her is Murther in David as well as in â—ny other man Sure when Christ bade his Disciples pray for forgivenness of sin daily he taught them no such Doctrine as to account their sins to be no sins For if so they should neither repent of sin nor seek the pardon of it as some are not a shamed to say they should not That which we aim at is to â—lear it to be Christs prerogative only to be free of sin none oâ—her in this life can claim it And to teach Bâ—lievers to carry about with them daily all along their mortal life that which is for their good even the sense â—f sin I know it is now an up cast â—rom some pretended perfectionists to the people of God that they think and say that they have sin and aâ—e not perfect And we are by these men called Antichristian Priests and Jesuits because we Preach that Doctrine Buâ— let it be soberly considered whether it doth better agree with Papists and Jesuits to say that Believers are without sin or to say that they have sin They who say that Believers or the Saints have no sin do agree in this with the Papists who maintain a perfection of holiness or a conformity to the Law in some in this life and who deny the lustings of the body of death to be sin without which opinâ—on though most gross they would not nor could with the least shadow of reason mainâ—ain their Doctrine of Juâ—tification by Works And yet some now among us will needs call us Popish because we say that we have sin and that none of God's people are â—ithout sin in this life Tâ—is seems to be very strâ—â—ge But that wâ—ich hath been the thought of some sharp-sighted and sagacious men since the bâ—ginning of our confusions to wit that Popery is a working as an under-hand design is by this and other things mâ—de to be more and more apparent Is there any thing more like Popery working in a mystery yea more Popish then to say that the motions of corruption in Believers are no sins thaâ— a man or woman may attain to perfection in holiness here and yet to carry on this with that subtilty as confidently to averr that it's Popery to say the contrary Nay if the Scâ—iptures they make use of in their Papers or Pamphlets be well considered we will find that not only a perfection in Holinâ—â—s and Good works is pleaded for but a possibility of fulfilling the Law and Covenant oâ— Works as namely 1 Pet. 1.15 1 John 3.3 and 5.5 and Matth. 5. ult Will ye say they call your selves Saints that are not purified even as he is pure And will ye câ—ll your selves Believers that havâ— not overcome the world c As if all that is commanded duty might be or were perfectly reached in this life and as if no diâ—tinction betwixt begun yea considerably advanced holiness and intire perfection were to be adâ—itted That for which I mark this is to shew that the design of Popery seems to be on foot the Devil
that was caught 〈◊〉 the thicket of Thorns whereby Elect Sinners are fred and Himself made the Sacrifice that was provided in their room and place Thus in the Name that our Lord Jesus gets we have holden out to us the posture that all of us are in by nature if Christ interveen not to take the stroak off us on Himself laying Himself open to the stroak of Justice for Sin To clear it consider these three things which will hold out what this state and posture of ours is 1. The natural sinfulness and guilt that Men are lying under which makes them naked and to be as that wretched Infant spoken of Ezek. 16. Lying in their Blood cast forth into the open field to the loathing of their persons This makes God and them to be at feed and layes them open to the stroak of Justice 2. Consider the interveening of the Law of God that threatens the Curse on sin wherever it is and pronunces this Sentence that the wages of sin is death and sayes to the Sinner as it is said to Cain If thou sin death lyes at the door and in this sense Sinners are not only lyke to Malefactors taken and apprehended but like to such when sentenced to death Therefore John 3.18 It 's said He that believes not is condemned already 3. Consider that Men in their natural state who have broken the Covenant of Works have Justice some way pursuing them to the executing of the Sentence which God in His Law hath pronunced against them and they are as these shedders of Blood before they betook themselves in to the City of Refuge having the avenger of Blood following hard at their heell's in which sense John 3.36 It 's said He that believes not the wrath of God abids on him There is an actual appointment or ordination of the Curse added to the Laws Sentence till by Christ it be removed and this is in some sort gripping Him and taking Him as it were by the throat By the First of these Man is found guilty and lyable to Judgement by the Second he is Sentenced but by the Third the Sentence stands over his head ready to be executed and bespeaks him thus therefore thou art cursed therefore thou art a dead Man Soberly think upon this and make these Uses of it 1. See here the condition of all Men by nature and your own in particular a very terrible and dreadfull condition wherein they are like Men lying bound to be a Sacrifice to the wrath of God the Lords hand being streatched out to lay on the stroak and the wrath of God abiding on them do ye indeed belleve this to be your state and posture till application be made of Christs Sacrifice and till there be a laying of your Sin over on Him by Faith that ever till then ye are lyable to the Laws Sentence and that the Curâ—e and Wrath of God abydeth on you and yet this is the state and posture of all the Children of Adam that have not got Jesus Christ put in their room It was Typicall if the People did not bring an offering as was prescribed their Sin remained in them but it 's reall here Sin and Wrath remain where Christ is not made use of by Faith The 2. Use is for Expostulation with many of you that are still in Nature and I wish there were fewer of you in this case to be spoken to How comes it to passe when this is your condition by Nature that ye are so secure and that ye have few or no apprehensions at all of the Wrath of God and of the hazard of your immortal Souls Ah! are there none such here that apprehend there hazard were ye ever under it and if so how have ye been delivered out of it or who is come in your room do ye think it nothing to be under Sin and the Curse of God to have Wrath abiding in you yea abiding on you There are many of you who are sleeping sound now and that disdain to notice Challenges but as Solomon speaks of the Man that was sleeping on the top of a Mast and compleaning of that and of them that deceived him So shall it be with you that can lye still securely sleeping in sin and that put by one day after another and do not make use of this Sacrifice All that the Gospel aims at is this that ye would seek to change rooms with Christ that the feed may be rem ved and that the quarrel that is betwixt God and you may not be continued and keeped up especially seing there is a way laid down how to get your Debt satisfied for which if ye neglect what wil ye do when your day is gone are there not many dying dayly and is there not a day of reckoning coming when the stroak that is hanging and hovering over your head will light and seeing it is so why do ye lye still and slight Jesus Christ If it were believed what dreadful wrath is abiding many whereof your secure senslesness and sensless security is a part and what a terror it will waken in your Consciences one day ye would certainly think it good news to have the Sufferings of Christ spoken of and the Benefit of them offered to you now The 3. Use is to stir up Sinners to thankfulnesse especially such of you as are blest with effectual counsel to make the right use of this Sacrifice O! Consider how much ye are oblidged to God and to Christ the Mediator the preaching of the Gospel is now thought little of and is tastlesse to many but did ye know what is your state and posture by Nature how near ye are to hell and how near the Curse and Wrath are unto you even ready to grasp at you to tear and devour you the Mediators interposing to Satisfie for you would make him more lovely to you and ye that have gotten interest in Him secured would think your selves much unspeakably much in His common to say so and in the Debt of His Grace this was the posture that Grace found you in even lyable to the stroak of Gods drawn Sword of Justice and our Lord Jesus on the one side stepped in and said hold Lord let that be on me and let them go free and upon the other side there was Gods good pleasure condescending to except of His offer and saying Awake O sword and smite the shepherd and spare the sheep what obligation should this lay upon you to love and be thankfull to God and to the Mediator who interposed to keep the stroak off you I say upon you who are sinners and apprehensive of Wrath This is Christs offer and if ye be flâ—d to Him for refuge he hath changed Rooms with you ye are much as I said in His Debt He hath fred you of your Debt and purchased an absolution to you and there is no condemnation to you as it is Rom. 8.1 Whereas before ye were in a manner condemned already
would needs be Apprehended by a number of Poor Worms that will with many moe one day craul at His Foot-stooll That being the Over-word of every Article of the Covenant of Redemption on the Mediators part both as to the undertaking and the performance I delight to do thy will O my God And now for what End are all these things spoken Is it think ye only that we should speak and that ye should hear of them and no more Surely no It 's a wonder that this which concerns us so nearly is not more affectiâ—g to us Are there any here that have any hope of benefit from Christ's Sufferings or that have win comfortably to apply them do not ye behold a depth of Love here that cannot be sounded Is it suitable think ye that Sinners who have the hope of Heaven through Christ's Sufferings should be so little moved at the Hearing and Reading of them He suffers much by Sinners when His Love shining forth in His Sufferings is not taken notice of I would pose you when was your heart suitably affâ—cted with thinking on them Or when did ye make it an Errand to God purposely to blesse Him for this that He sent His Son to Suffer and that the Mediator came and Suffered such things for you Sinners This is a Part and a considerable Part of your Duty And Gratitude should constrain you to it and you should not Minch nor Derogat from the Juâ—â— Esteem of His Love though through your own Fault ye be not sure of your Interest in it yet His condescending Grace is not the less Use 3. Behold here as upon the one side the exceeding severity of Justice and terribleness of Wrath So upon the other side The exceeding Abominableness and Desperatness of Sin Would ye know what Sin is what Wrath is how Just and Severe the Law is Read all these here even in what is exacted by Justice off the Cautioner for the Elect's Sins the most part of Men and Women alace do not believe how evil and bitter a thing Sin is and therefore they Dally and Play with it They know not what Wrath is and therefore they dar hazard on it they know not how strict the Law is and therefore they promise themselves Peace Though they walk in the imagination of their own hearts and add drunkenness to thirst But O! secure Sinners what mean ye Have ye or can ye have any hops that God will deall more gently with you then He dealt with His own Son when He was but Cautioner and the Sinner only by imputation Ye are finit Creatures and drink in Sin as the ox drinks water and havean inward Sinfull Principle and an evil Conscience filled with just grounds of many Challenges consider with your selves what a desperat condition under inevitable and intollerable Wrath ye have to look for who have no ground to look otherwayes on God then as an Enemy when Wrath was so hoâ—rible to Innocent Jesus Christ who had no Sin no Challenge no Doubt of an Interest in God what will it be to you Certainly the Day is coming when many of you will think ye have greatly beguiled and cheated your selves in thinking that Justice would be so easily satisfied as ye did O! then ye will be made to know to your coast the Nature of Wrath and Justice and the Nature of Sin who would never suffer these things to Light before The Case of the Rich Glutton in Hell may perswade many that the Law is strick and that Sin is an ill and bitter thing and that Wrath is sore to bide Therefore let me intreat you as ye would eschew the Wrath of God and the Lash of His revenging Justice bewar of Sin dally not with it as ye would not have it aggravated by this Circumstance above many that ye hazarded to commit it upon the consideration of God's Goodness that in Reason should have led you to Repentance Use 4. See here the absolute necessity that lyes on Sinners who hear this Gospel to receive Christ by Faith and to improve His Satisfaction for obtaining of Life through Him For one of these two must be resolved on either to come to this Reckoning with Justice your selves or to endeavour the removal of Wrath by the Satisfaction of Christ their being no other way to come to freedom from Guilt and from the Wrath that Guilt draws on That Christ Jesus Suffered thus as Sinners Cautioner it says that where ever Sin is God will exact satisfaction and where He exacts He does it Severely though most Justly and if He exact it Severely of the Cautioner what will He do with the Dyvour Debtor especially when He hath slighted the Cautioner and despised the Grace offered through Him And therefore not only in respect of the ommand but of the Consequent that will follow the Disobedience of it Be txhorted if ye mind not to take your hazard of Wrath to endeavour in God's way to get your Interest in this Satisfaction which the Cautioner hath made well secured Ther is here a solid ground for Faith to expect that this Satisfaction will do the turn of all them who will make use of it And a most pressing Motive to ingadge them that are lying under Sin to embrace to close with and to rest upon this Offered Salvation That this Grace be not received in vain Is there not a Testimony in your Consciences of the Former and why do ye not make use of the Latter Will ye but once be prevailed with to put your selves to it thus What if I be made to Reckon for my own Sins What horrid Wrath will I meet with when the Mediator had such sore Soul-travel even when there was a Covenant-relation standing still not doubted of betwixt â—he Father and Him when formidable Wrath shall be seen palpâ—bly pursuing me the Sinner having no Covenant-relation to support me We would not put it â—o your choise Not whether ye will count or not for that must be and shall be whether ye Choose or Refuse It 's appointed for all men once to die and after to come to judgement And we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ But that which we would put to your Choise is the ways of coming to this Judgement and Reckoning and there are but two wayes either ye must step to at your own hand or ye must betake you to Christ's Righteousness as being throughly convinced of the necessity of it and that it will do your turn The Day of the Lord will discover that many have spoken of their Faith and Repentance that never really exercised the same I shall now say no more Only remember that it 's a fearfull thing to fall into the hands of the living God who when His Wrath is kindled but a little can cause the stoutest and proudest of His Enemies to perish in the midst of all their Designs and Projects They will all then be found to be happy who have put their
Curse as if he had never had Sin But the difference lyeth here that this last acception of the Word absolves a Man though he have Sin in himself by the interposing of a Surety and Cautioner who payes his Dâ—bt and procures the Sentence of Absolution to him And in this Sense Justification is as if a Man were standing at the Bar of Gods Tribunal Guilty and having a witness of his Guilt in himself and God out of Respect to the Mediator His Satisfaction and Payment of His Debt which He hath laid hold upon by Faith does pronunce that sinfull Person to be Free Absolved and Acquitted from the Guilt and Punishment of Sin and doth accordingly Absolve him upon that accompt So then Justification is not to be considered as Gods Creating and Infusing of gracious habits in us but the declaring of us to be Free and Acquitted from the Guilt of Sin upon the account of Christs Satisfying for our Debt This we will find to be very clear if we consider how the Word is taken both in the Old and new Testament as namely Isaiah 5.23 Woe unto them that justifie the wicked for a reward and take away the righteousnesse of the righteous from him And Prov. 17.15 He that justifieth the wicked and he that condemneth the just even they both are abomination to the Lord. Where the plain meaning of the Word can be no other then this that when a Judge pronounces a man to be Just although he be unjust it is a wicked thing which the Lord abhores And so Psal 51.4 That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest That is that thou might be declared to be so And Matth. 11.19 Wisdom is justified of her children 2. We will find this meaning of the Word to be clear if we consider Justification as distinguished from Sanctification For in that Popish sense they are both made one and the same but they are distinguished in Scripture As 1 Cor. 6.11 Such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified Where he looks on these two Benefits of Justification and Sanctification as distiâ—ct and distinguisheth the one of them from the other now Sanctification being the Grace that renews our nature and makes an inward spiritual change Justification must needs be that Act of Gods Grace that takes away the Guilt of Sin and makes Sinners to be friends with God through Christs Righteousness and so is a relative change of their State 3. It will be clear if we consider to what it is opposed in Scripture it is not opposed to sinning as Sanctification is but to these two 1. To the charging of a Sinner with somewhat unto Condemnation And 2. To the Act of Condemning now the opposit to Condemnation is Absolution as is clear Rom. 8.33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that justifies who shall condemn c. Gods Justifying is put in as opposit to the Charging and Lybelling of the Elect and to the Condemning of them therefore none of these can be and so Justification there looks both to the part of an Advocat pleading and declaring a man to be Free and to the part of a Judge pronouncing him to be Absolved and Justified which well agrees to Our Lord Jesus who Justifies His People both wayes 4. It may also be cleared from parallel Scriptures where Justifying is called Reconciling As 2 Cor. 5.18 19 20. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself not imputing their trespasses unto them and hath committed to us c. And how that comes to pass is told in the last v. For he made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him So that to be made the Righteousness of God is to be Justified and to be Justified is to be made friends with or to be reconciled to God and that not by working a moral Change but upon the account of Christ's Satisfact on bringing us into friendship with God So Eph. 1.6 Where to be Justified is exponed to be made accepted in the Beloved And what else is that but to be in good terms with God to have him passing by all quarrels as having nothing to say against us but accepting us through Christ as Righteous So Acts 13.38 39. Be it known unto you that through this man is preached unto you forgiveness of sins and by him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could be justified by the law of Moses A place that clearly holds forth that as all the Elect are naturally chargable by the Law as being Guilty of the breach thereof and that they cannot be absolved from it by ought in themselves so they are through Faith in Jesus Christ freed from it As if the Lord had said ye are fred from the Sentence of the Law because through Christ is preached unto you Remission of Sins and there is away laid down for your Absolution who believe from the Guilt of Sin and from all the consequents of it 5ly It 's clear from the Text because it 's such a Justifying as hath in it Christs being Sentenced in our Room as the cause of it now He was Sentenced in our Room not by having Sin infused in Him which were Blasphemous to think but by having our Sin imputed to Him and therefore our Justification must be our Absolution by having His Righteousnesse imputed to us As is clear throughout this Chapter Therefore it s said He hath carried our sorrows and born our griefs He was wounded for our transgressions He was bruised for our iniquities by his strips we are healed He laid on him the inquitie of us all And in these words By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many for he shall bear their iniquities It 's a Justification that comes to us by Christ's taking on our Debt And this we cannot imagine to be otherwayes but by a Legal Change or by a Change of Law-rooms He coming as Surety in our Room and we having Absolution by vertue of His Satisfaction So that the meaning of the Words in short is As if the Prophet had said would ye know what we have by Christ's Sufferings Even this to wit That many as many as whose iniquities He bore and satisfied for shall be Acquitted and Absolved from the Guilt and Punishment of their Sin through His Satisfaction They shall be fred from the Sentence and Curse of the Law which they deserved And shall be declared Righteous through the Righteousnesse of their Cautioner which they have laid hold upon by Faith Hence Observe 1. That all Men and Women even all the Elect themselves are by nature lyable to an arraignment before the Justice-seat of God That they are Justified supposes a bringing of them as it were before His Tribunal ere they can be Justified and have the Sentence of Absolution past in their favours The Apostle takes this for granted
it will leave you in a worâ—â— condition then it found you in It 's not now whether ye will perish or not though that be a great matter the most Barbarous Heathens will readily think that Gods Justice is terrible to meet with but it layeth these two in the Ballance It 's either a most inconceivable condition beyond what others who have not heard the Gospel will come under if the Offer be slighted or Eternall Salvation if it be imbraced Woe to thee Chorazin woe to thee Bethsaida saith the Lord Matth. 11.21 22. For if the mighty works which are done in thee had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long agoe And it shall be more tollerable for Sodom in the day of judgement then for Capernaum who because they were lifted up to heaven in respect of a glorious Dispensation of Gospel-ordinances and improved them not shall be cast down to hell and whereon is this dreadfull denunciation founded Even on this ground just now hinted at the Gospel was more plainly and powerfully Preached to them then it was to Tyre and Sidon to Sodom and Gomorrah who had Lots Testimony but Christ's and His Apostles Testimony in a manner swallowed up that which Testimony they slighted Now pose your selves whether this Gospel hath not sounded loud in your ears have ye not heard it yes verily We may here allude to that Word Rom. 10.16 Doubtless ye have heard the sound thereof is come to you and ye shall never have that to object that ye heard it not This Text and this same Sermon on it and others will bear witness that through Jesus Christ ye had a way laid down to you for remission of Sins and for Justification and what will follow either ye must betake your selves to Christ's Righteousness for Justification and study to be Holy or else ye will bring upon your selves a more terrible Condemnation then came upon the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah who were consumed and burnt quick by fire and brimstone from Heaven And therefore there is ground here for all to look well about us what use we make of this benefit offered to us that we miscarry not and make not our selves most inexcusable for slighting of it I shall here speak a little to some sorts of Persons that ought mainly to lay this to heart 1. To some that are so utterly carelesse and indifferent in making their Peace with God that to this day all warnings threatnings and dispensations that they have met with could never prevail with them once to make them that far serious as to ask that Question what they should do to be saved to whom much preaching is but a beating in the Air to whom such Preaching is Fruitlesse and Christ uselesse It 's of these that He speaks Matth. 22. Who being invited to the Wedding They made light of it and went away one to his farm another to his merchandize There is a Generation of such Persons amongst us to this day who never thought seriously of the Gospel nor of this Doctrine which is the Substance and Life of the Gospel and without which we can enjoy no Mercy nor Benefit holden forth and made offer of in the Word But slight Pardon of Sin and think little of Justification who will the day is coming when it will be much thought of and when many of you if God prevent not would give all the World for an Offer of it and would be glad to be burnt with the World or covered with and smothered under a Hill or Mountain rather then to come and receive your fearful Doom and Sentence from the Judge because ye had this favour in your Offer and made not use of it A 2d Sort are a Prophane Company who if there carriage be looked on it sayes plainly nay it openly Proclames that such Men believe not that there is a Judgement coming otherwayes they durst not for a World live as they do Is this think ye the way to be Justified to be Laughing Sporting Gaming Tipling and Trifling away your time in spending it in Decking and Dressing your Bodies in bestowing of more time in one day on the Body then ye do in eight or many moe dayes on the Soul To be glutting in the World to be following the desires of your hearts and the sight of your eyes Prophane as ye are think upon it for we declare even unto you that there is a way how the ungodly may be Justified held forth and offered in this Gospel and if ye contemn it God shall vindicat His Grace and your trampling on it shall return on your own head A 3d. Sort are such as have never taken with their Sin nor with the fead betwixt God and them We invite the filthy to come and wash Sinners to come and get Pardon the Ungodly to come and be Justified but alace we cannot get Sinners that walk under the due sense of their Sin to Preach to I dar say that to many of you the Doctrine of Justification is in some respect needlesse I am sure for the time useless For ye were never convinced of your Sin nor of your hazard but thought that ye were alwayes sure of your Justification ye never evened your selves to speak so to Hell God alwayes ye think loved you and perish who will ye will not perish These and such as these have been your thoughts of your selves and of your state And we have more difficulty to get you prevailed with to think seriously of making your Peace with God then we would readily have in this to prevail with Pagans or with Adulterers and Murderers whose Natural Conscience would sooner be awakened then yours Justification is not a serious matter to many of you ye think to slip through Gods Judgement If ye be asked whether or no ye be Absolved yes that we are will ye say long since But ah how came ye to be Absolved was ye ever Chased and did ye ever flee for refuge to the Hope set before you was ye ever pursued by the Law to Christ and were ye ever made cordially to close with Him and to found your Plea on His Righteousness It will be strange if so many shall slip in to Heaven and never know how we grant there may be some brought in who have not distinctly discerned the manner how but that almost whole Congregations and Countreysides should be made Friends with God and never know or at least never kindly take with the Fead we professe we see not through it it 's to us an unintelligible Riddle and a Paradox Therefore be intreated to Reckon over again Though there be a Justification through the Blood of Christ to be gotten yet assure your selves that ye are not in the way to it while ye continue sensless of your Sin and of your hazard A 4. Sort are these who think that they have nothing to do with this Doctrine they are Rich they are Wise they are of honest Rank and
have a Name and Commendation in the Place where they Live and they have may be some School-craft and Learning and therefore they are perswaded that they cannot miss Justification and where is there one Person amongst many if it be not some poor Body even it may be poor in the World that ever thinks that the Severity of the Law or the Threatnings thereof concern them But are there any moe wayes to Heaven but one Or is there one for the Rich and another for the Poor Do not all come in at this Door is not this the way even to take with your Sin and to flee to Christ for Life And yet are there not some among you that cannot endure to think of Hell to dread it or as we use to speak to even your selves to it because ye are thought something of able to do your turn and have some parts and abilities but there are many more Rich more Wise and Learned Folk then you are in Hell that were never absolved before God nor never shall yet there is a propensnesse in Great Men in Rich Men and in Men of Parts to slight this Doctrine But such have in some respect more need to give all diligence to make your calling and election sure then many others and yet ye go not so far as they do who yet go not the just length A 5th Sort are such as never knew any inward Work or exercise of the Spirit of God upon their Consciences but have lived with a sort of wholeness of heart all their dayes If any be called to take notice of this Doctrine they are called to take notice of it There is a generation sayeth Solomon Prov. 30.12 which are pure in their own eyes and yet are not washed from their filthiness They conclude they are Absolved but never look inward to see if there be ground to bear that conclusion 6ly And lastly There are a sort that are Formal and Hypocritical They were never grosly Prophane but they were as little truly and seriously Religious ye had need therefore to take heed whereon ye found your Peace and beware that ye take not the Form of Godlinesse for the Power of it especially when the Form is come to so great a hight And seing this way of Justification is holden out to you through Christ we exhort and beseech you all and especially those of such sorts as we have named to look well that this Grace be not received in vain In a Word these two sorts would take special heed to this Doctrine 1. Some that mind not Religion at all 2. Others who if they mind it mind it not in the way of Grace but as it were by the Works of the Law We declare to you that Justification iâ— by Faith in Jesus Christ and by resting on His Righteousnesse as many as take that way they may be assured to come speed and they that misken and slight that way shall never win to Heaven for there is no other name given whereby a sinner can be saved but the name of Jesus only He is the way the truth and the life and no man cometh to the father but by him SERMON LIII ISAIAH LIII XI Verse 11. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many c. THere is as I said lately nothing of greater Concernment to a Sinner to know then these two 1. What it is that satisfies Justice and makes a Sinner acceptable before God 2. To know how that may be attained or what way it is applyed And this verse shortly but very clearly answers both 1. That which Satisfies Justice is the travel of Christs soul or His Sufferings 2. The way how this is Applyed Derived or Communicat is set down in the latter part of the verse By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many for he shall bear their iniquities This is the effect of Christ's Sufferings that many by them shall be Absolved from the Guilt of Sin and from the Curse And this is the way how these many come to be thus Absolved It is by believing on Him for thus His Satisfaction is accounted theirs as if they themselves had Satisfied We proposed the last day this Doctrine to be spoken to from the Words That there is a way through Faith in Christ and resting on His Sufferings by which a Sinner obnoxious to Gods Curse may attain to be Justified and declared free before the Throne of God This Doctrine implyes these Two things in general 1. That there is such a thing possibly attainable by a Guilty Sinner as Justification 2. That Justification is to be attained allanerly by Faith in Christ Jesus resting on His Righteousnesse By his knowledge shall he justifie many As there is a necessity to be Absolved so there is a necessity to take this way for Absolution because this and this only is holden out to be the way how Justification is attained It 's by Christs knowledge which in short is by Faith in Him We discoursed somewhat of the positive part of this Truth the other day Which is of great Concernment the understanding thereof being the very hinge of the Gospel and that wherein in a special manner the Gospel and Covenâ—nt of Grace differs from the Law and Covenant of Works and pointing out a way for coming by Righteousnesse and Life through Christ in opposition to the Law as a Covenant of Works that holds out a way to Righteousnesse and Life through our own performances We touched also at some Uses of the Doctrine for directing of you to the believing use-making of Christ for coming at Peace with God It would follow now that we should speak a little to that Use of Refutation that flows natively from this Doctrine For if this be the way and the only way of the Justification of a Sinner before God to wit by or through Faith in Christs Righteousnesse Then all these wayes that lead not Sinners to resting on Christ's Righteousness alone for Justification and Peace must be inconsistent with the Gospel and so to be rejected and abhorred whether they be in Doctrine or in Practice And we choose the rather to speak a Word to this because it will clear the Doctrine of Justification by Faith the more when we come to see and consider these Corruptions and Errors that are foisted in by Heterodox Men in this great Truth of God to the Perverting and Corrupting thereof And it will the more provoke us to thankfulnesse to God who hath graciously delivered us from these Snares Errors and Corruptions An Error and mistake here about the Substance of this Truth being such as though we held all other Truths incorrupted will ruine us There are we suppose Four Sorts of Errors especially that contradict this grand Truth anâ—nt Justification by Faith in Christs Righteousnesse to which we shal speak a little The 1. is That old rooted Error of Papists who in this Point â—nervat and overturn the whole way of the
to us in mentioning reading or thinking of it but it should in reason make Sinners glad that ever there was such a subject to be spoken of and to be considered It behoved certainly to be a great businesse that brought the Son of God to die The Salvation of Sinners is a great Work though many of us think but very little of it The Sum and Scop of Christs Sufferings and Death are briefly holden forth in these Words By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many Where we have 1. The great benefit that comes by His Death which is Justification or the Absolving of Sinners from the Guilt of Sin and from the Curse of God due to them for Sin by Christ's interposing Himself to become a Sin-suffering there is a way laid down how Sinners may be relieved 2. The parties made partakers of this benefit and they are called many 3. The way how it is derived to these mâ—ny it is by his knowledge That is by or through Faith in Him We have spoken somewhat of the benefit it self Justification which is the thing aimed at for the most part in preaching and in all other Ordinances That God may by the Righteousnesse of His Son in the Gospel carry on the Justification of S nners through their knowledge of Him or by causing them to rest upon His Righteousnesse by Faith in order to their Salvation It 's sad that in this point which is of so great concernment so many should go so far wrong and mistake so grosly that it is no great matter in some respect whether they be called Christians or not This being the advantage of a Christian that He hath a way to Justification and Absolution from Sin and Wrath before God revealed to Him which others have not who if he come short of this or fall in grosse Errors about it he hath little or no advantage beyond Heathens who may have more of the Fat of the Eâ—rth and of the things of the World than these who are within the visible Church have But in this in a special manner the Christian excells and goes beyond the Pagan or Heathen That he hath a way laid down to him how he may come to be reconciled to God and freed from Wrath and from His Curse due for Sin which we have shewed to be by fleeing to Christ and by Faith resting on His Righteousnesse and Satisfaction For Christ the Cautioner having payed the Debt by laying down a Price fully satisfactory to Divine Justice And this Satisfaction being offered in the Gospel upon the condition of receiving him a Sinner giving his consent to Gods offer and closing therewith may confidently expect according to that offer to be Justified and no other wayes We shew you one particular great and grosse Error wherewith these who are under the darkness of Popery are wofully carried away which we did the rather touch upon because though it be a Doctrinal Error in respect of them and disputed for by them Yet in respect of the practice of many Protestant Christians it 's very rise and ordinary that is to Mistake Error and go wrong in the way of making of their peace with God And there are Three Sorts especially who do exceedingly Mistake Err and go wrong here These of whom I mean and am now speaking are not such as are maintaining Disputing or Writing for such Errors but such as commit themselves to be sound Protestant Christians and haters of the grosse Popish Error That we spake somewhat to the last day The 1. Sort are thâ—se who to this hour never laid down any solid Reckoning how to make their Peace with God or what way to come at Absolution before Him these Persons do in practice deny what ever may be their Professions that there is any such thing as a Reckoning to be made betwixt God and them or that there is a necessity of Justification for preventing of their eternal ruine and destruction They live from their birth with a hope of coming to Heaven without looking how they may passe this great step of Justification before God they never saw nor laid to heart their need of it are their not many hearing me to day that are of this number who will needs keep up confidently their fancied hope of Heaven and yet never knew what it was to answer a challenge for Sin or a threatning of the Curse for the breach of Gods Law from Christs Righteousness nor did they ever fist and arraigne themselves before Gods Tribunal as guilty nor did they ever think seriously of their charge nor of their Summonds nor of the way of making their Peace with God by taking hold of Christs Righteousness A 2d Sort are the generality of Legal Professours I do not say that they are Legal in their Practices that is that they make it their business to keep the Law for they are as little concerned or careful in that as any but they are Legal in this respect that when it comes to the making of their peace with God they know nothing but the Law to deal with as that man spoken of Math. 25. That got the one Talent and was utterly careless to improve it yet when it comes to a Reckoning he stands and sticks to a rigor of the Law Master saith he Lo here thou hast that which is thine just so such will be ready to say we have no more Grace then God hath given us we have a good heart to God we are doing what we dow or can Here come in Prophane Men meer Civil Men and Hypocrites and more especally the meer Civil Men who do much in the duties of the Second Table of the Law and they will profess that they do mind Judgement and a Reckoning but as if they had been bred and brought up in a Popish School they foist in a Legal Righteousnesse in stead of Christ's as the ground of their Justification before the Tribunal of God ye may take in these instances of this sort of Persons which are very common and who in their Practice almost in every thing agree with the Popish Doctrine The 1. Instance is of such Persons that know nothing of the imputation of Christ's Righteousnesse yet if we speak of it they will fall out in such expressions as these we can do nothing of our selves there is no goodness in us It 's God's grace that must do our turn yet in the mean time it is not Christs Righteousness they lay down to themselves as the ground of their Justification but the good which they have done as they suppose in Christs strength and the Grace which is given them to work and do that good by which is the same thing with the Popish way of Justification as if Christ had procured an ability to us to keep the Law our selves in order to our being Justified thereby hence they will Beliâ—ve Pray Hear the Word Praise and go about other Duties and will professe that they acknowledge
Justification before God seclude his own Righteousnesse and betake himself to Christ's Righteousnesse alone as Contra-distinguished to his own 4ly We say That Christ's Righteousness is in Him and imputed to us or made ours by imputation is the alone Meritoritorious Cause of our Justification and Salvation so as that which He hath purchased is reckoned and accounted the Sinners as if it were His own inherently and personally This I also gather from the Words By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many for he shall bear their iniquities Would ye know as if the Prophet had said how Christ is the Meritorious Cause of Justification Thus it is because He shall bear their iniquities if He hath taken on the burden of their Sins and had their Sins imputed to Him then it will follow by proportion that they are Justified by the imputation of His Righteousnesse to them and there is nothing that the Scripture doth more inculcat then this That we are Justified by the Righteousnesse of Christ without us and imputed to us or reckoned ours we by Faith laying hold upon it and Gods accepting of it for us mak s it become ours and yet there is nothing that we do more particularâ—y erre in and which Papists do more scoâ—n and flout at wholly enervating the way and contrivance of Grace by excluding and shouldering out the Righteousnesse of Christ calling it in derision a Putative or meerly fancied and â—maginary Righteousnesse as if there were â—o reality in it and by bringing in and establishing their own Righteousnesse though it be very clear from this and many other Scriptures that Christs Righteousnesse must be ours by imputation because He â—are our iniquities He became our Righteousnesse by paying of our Dâ—bt as our Cautioner and no otherwayes the Scripture never speaks of His being our Righteousnesse by procuring ability to us to pay our own Debt I shall clear this 4th Branch a little further because it will serve to clear the rest That is thâ—t Christ's Righteousnesse as it is in Him and imputed to us is he only Meritorious Cause of our Justification And if we consider 1 The way of Justification that is used among men this will be the more plain There being two Covenants by the one of which Life was once attainable and by the other of which it is only now attainable 1. The Covenant of Works which absolves a man that never brake it which is as when one among men or before mens Court is declared to be free because he was never oâ—ing the Debt 2. The Covenant of Grace that provides a Cautioner to pay the Sinners Debt upon whose payment thereof had recourse to by Faith there is access in Law to the Sinner to call for absolution even as it is in mens Courts though the principal Debter hath nothing to pay yet if the Cautioner pay the Debt it is the principal Debtors clâ—aring and if he should be again charged to pay the Debt his immediat deâ—ence would be that the Cautioner had payed it already So is it here the Lord hath borrowed and made use of this way that is used among men to make the Mystery of Justification which passeth in the Court of God the more clear to us it is as if one should alleadge that such a Person is owing so much and he should say I cannot be charged with it and upon what ground Not because I was not owing the Debt but because such anone has payed it for me So sayeth the Apostle Rom. 8.34 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect it is God that justifies who shall condemne it is Christ that died c. The defence proposed before the Tribunal of God is Chritis dying and that is as much as he hath payed the Price or Debt who then can charge it on the principal Debtor And the frame and contexture of the words shews that it is a judicial precedour for they suppose a charge or lybel and a sentence and the Meritorious Cause of the Sentence of Absolution is that Christ hath died 2ly If we consider the nature of the two Covenants and compare them together it will be clear the Papists confound the two Covenants For works to them is the condition of both Covenants making use of that place Matth 19.17 2â— Keep the commands if thou will be perfect sell all thou hast and give to the poor quite contrary to the scope of it for therein Christ is putting the man to a thing impossible to himself to bring him to see the necessity of a Mediator and discover his unsoundnesse when he will not forgoe his great Possâ—ssions for him But the Scâ—ipture doth so clearly difâ—ereâ—ce the Covenant of Grace and â—he Covenant of works that they are opposed For the Covenant of works sayeth do this and live and the Covenant of Grace sayeth If thou shall believe with thy heart in the Lord Jesus and conâ—â—sse with thy mouth thou shalt or saved And therefore the account of ones being Juâ—â—ified in tâ—e Covenant of Grace must be different from the account whereon one is Justified in the Covenant of Wâ—rks otherwayes they would not be opposit The Covenant of Works respects inhâ—rent Righteousnesse as the condition The Covenant of Grace respects Faith taking hold of the Righteousnesse of Christ and therefore H s Righteousnesse must Justifie as being in Him without us and as imputed to us it cannot be our Righteousnesse within that Justifies for so it should be the same with the Covenant of Works for though Christ did procure inherent Righteousnesse to us it makes no difference in the condition it self which is works 3ly It will be clear if we consider how the Scripture speaks of Christ's Righteousnesse becoming ours even as our Sins became Christ's and was the cause if we may so speak of His condemnation that is as He became lyable to the Curse that as He stood a Legal Person in our Room He became guilty and lyable to the payment of our Debt For otherwayes it is abominable once to speak of His condemnation and if His Righteousnesse become ours as our Sin became His then certainly His Righteousnesse is the cause of our Justification as it is in Him inherently and in us by imputation only The blasphemy of Antinomians is most detestable and not at all pleaded for even by Papists and therefore we stand not on it here Now our Sin became Christ's by imputation therefore His Righteousnesse must be ours the same way If it then were asked How we are Justified The Text answers He shall justifie many because he shall bear their iniquities The Prophet makes his Sufferings to be the antecedent whereof our Justification is the consequent for His bearing of our iniquities is given as the reason of our Justification this is also clear 2 Cor. 5. ult He was made sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousnesse of God in him In which words the Spirit of
Justification But here is a way for the most prophane and gracelesse to be Justified which we do not mention to foster prophanity or an indifferency as to the having or wanting of inherent Gâ—ace and Holinesse God forbid we should but to hold out the excellency of this way of Justification by Grâ—ce whereto if ye kindly submit ye may come to be Justified It 's not your own Righteousnesse whether ye have lesse or more of it that Justifies you for to that ye must be denyed and endeavour to make this sure and sicker Therefore let not this Grace be offered to you in vain if ye slight it it will be a fearful challenge and will make you one day stand with a silent mouth and an empty hand when ye shall be charged because ye have not laid hold on this Righteousness which only can answer all challenges and ye shall stand naked before God because ye had this Robe of Christ's imputed Righteousnesse for covering of your nakednesse in your offer and would not put It on This is it that bare through David Abraham and Paul and all other Believers yea that which to say so bare through Our Lord Jesus who was justified in the Spirit as He stood in the Room of Elect Sinners and Believers in Him may be fully assured of their Justification through His imputed Righteousnesse not that which is His Essential but Cautionary Righteousnesse therefore througâ— in to make use of it and let God Himself blesse through Christ what hath been said to you to this purpose SERMON LVI ISAIAH LIII XI Verse 11. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many for he shall bear their iâ—iquities THese Words shew the great Scope and Design of the Covenant of Râ—demption and of Christ's Sufferings agreed upon therein which have been so much insisted on in the former verses And that 's in a Word that there may be a ground laid down how a Sinner may be Justified therefore there is the greater need that this point be well studied in all the causes of it It follows now that we consider this part of the Words which holds out the mean by which this benefit is made ours and that is by his knowledge which holds out the Instrumental Cause of our Justification It 's ordinarly so called and we see no cogent reason inducing us to a change of the Designation Faith â—here is called Knowedge not as if it were a bare speculative notion such as Devils may have but because Knowledge is a notable antecedent to Faith and Faith is consâ—quent to and supposes preceeding Knowledge as we may see Rom. 10. How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard Thus Faith is exprest by Knowledge John 17.3 This is life eternal to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ c. Now it cannot be eternal life to know by a meer notional or speculative Knowledge For several reprobat men exceed many Believers in this but it 's to know so as to believe in God and to rest on the Mâ—diator for Life through Him as it is 2 Pet. 1.3 He hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godlinâ—ss through the knowledge of him c. Meer speculative knowledge cannot be the condition of the Promises For they are made to the Man that believes which believing takes in not only the Act of the mind knowing and assenting but of the will consenting and closing with the object known and this will be the more clear from these two 1. That by knowledge here is meaned that by which Justification is made ours or applyed to us and that which intitles us to it now meer sâ—eculative knowledge doth not that but it 's Faith embracing Him who is made known 2. If we compare that which is attributed to knowledge here with that which is attributed to Faith else where Rom. 5.1 Being justified by faith we have peace with God and Rom. 3.25 He is the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus We wil find that what is called knowledge here is called Faith there So that we may without hesitation take the meaning of thâ— Words thus My righteous servant shall by faith in him justifie many who by His bearing of their iniquities shall be absolved and set free Therefore what is spoken of knowledge in the Doctrine we may look on it as agreeing to and meant of Faith We shall here insist a little on this Doctrine which is implyed in the Words that Justification through Faith or the obtaining of the Pardon of Sin through Christs Righteousnesse taken hold of by Faith doth necessarily presuppose knowledge in the person that may expect it Or thus Faith where it is Saving and such as Justifies hath alwayes Knowledge going along with it other wayes Faith could not be called Knowledge There may be Knowledge without Faith but there can be no Faith without Knowledge and so consequently a Sinner cannot expect Justification without Knowledge For making out of this ye may consider these things 1. Faith is of it self nothing but as it layes hold on some Object How can Faith lay hold on an Object except it know it as the Word is Rom. 10. How can they believe except they hear Can any person rest on an unknown Mediator that sure were not Faith but a blind guissing It 's just as if ye should say that ye believe such a thing when yet ye cannot at all tell what it is which is not Faith but as I said blind guissing and presumption 2. Faith as Justifying is alwayes holden forth as making use of and giving credit to that which is revealed in the Word hence we that hear the Gospel have that revealed to us therein binding us to the belief of it that Heathens have not as it is Rom. 1.17 I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith Where it is necessarly presupposed that the revealing of the Righteousnesse of the Gospel which here comprehends the knowing of it must go before Faith and as a Person grows in Faith he grows in the knowledge of it hence also they are said to be strong in Faith who were strong in knowledge and they were said to be weak in Knowledge who are weak in Faith Rom 14.1 and 15.1 Because they knew not that the cerimonial Law was taken away and particularly the difference of Meats and so durst not hazard on some things which their Christian Liberty gave them accesse to 3. Consider that in Justification God would have a Sinner to proceed as a man doth who tables his defense before an earthly Tribunal of Justice who if he pleads well and on relevant grounds he comes the better to And as it is dangerous in a weighty cause depending to have an ignorant Advocat who puts in a wrong defence so is it here and in this case to be ignorant hence Rom 10. It 's given as the reason of
your very hearts open to it without which ye can never expect to be Justified before the Tribunal of God Now let God Himself blesse the same Word to you through Jesus Christ SERMON LVIII ISAIAH LIII XI Verse 11. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many for he shall bear their iniquities SOme further and more serious apprehensions of our Sin and hazard would make the reading of these Words to be refreshful and welcome to us The stayed thoughts of an Arrestment laid upon us to appear before God's Tribunal and to reckon for our Debt would make us think much of a Cautioner The want whereof make the glad tydings of the Gospel to be tastlesse and without relish This is the great scope of these Words to shew how a Summonded Sinner arraigned at Gods Bar may be Justified and fred from the charge that he is lyable to For sayes the Prophet By his knowledge who is the surity of the Covenant shall many be justâ—fied That which we last left at was this That Faith in Christ receiving and resting on Him is necessary for the attaining of Justification so that in Gods way these are so linked and knit together That never one shall be Justified but a Believer Though there be a Righteousnesse in Christ yet it shall be derived and communicated to none come to Age but to these who by Faith betake themselves to Christ what way the Lord takes with infants Elect Infants I mean is not that which the Prophet aimes to speak of though it be Christs Righteousnesse that is communicated to them as well as it is to them who are at Age yet as to the manner of communicating it God hath His own way which we know not Now that we may learn in speaking to these Truths not only to get some Light for informing of our Judgement but also some help for our practice take two or three Uses ere we proceed any further The 1. Use then is To let you see the absolute necessity of believing in Christ Jesus and that it is as necessary for the attaining of our Justification as Christs dying is For our Justification is an effect flowing from several Causes and the want of any of them will mar it There must necessarly be a concurrance of them all to bring it about And therefore though their be an excellent worth in Christs Righteousnesse yet there is a necessity of Faith to lay hold upon it and to make it ours Gods order in the Covenant bears this out wherein he hath knit the Promise of Pardon of Sin and of Justification to Faith and resting on Christ and there is good reason for it As 1. The Lord will have a Sinner to know what he is obliged to Christ which Faith contributs much unto For Faith stands not in the way of the freedom of Justification but rather commends it for the Lord would have us know that we hold our Life of Him and not to receive Him by Faith is an evidence of highest presumption Therefore it 's said Rom. 4.16 It is by faIth that it might be of grace God hath chosen this way that the freenesse of His Grace in pardoning of Sin may be seen 2. The Lord by this le ts the unbeliever know that the reason of his own ruine is of himself There shall not be one unbeliever found that shall have it to say that the blame lay on God or on Christ because the offer was made to them on condition of receiving it by Faith and they not performing the condition their Guilt is aggreged by their slighting of the offer It 's true that we are not now dealling with them who down-right deny the Truth of this Doctrine but alace what better are they who do in their practice deny it and live senslesly and securely under the Gospel We conceive that there are Three sorts of Persons that have need of a Word to be spoken to them here 1. Such as live carelesly and securely as we just now said as if God required nothing of them at all as they were born they know not how so they live they know not how and when they are pressed to a change of their state and way they make excuses partly from the sinfulnesse of their Nature that they can do nothing partly from the abundant Grace of God that He must do all But it will never excuse you that ye wanted Grace and had a Sinful Nature for whom I pray can ye blame for it ye that make a bachel of His mercy if ye continue to do so shall never get good of it For He hath said that He will Justifie and save none but the Believer There is none other that hath the promise of Pardon it is not made to any thing that is to be brought forth or done by your own strength or by the strength of Nature or of free-will But God hath laid down this order and method and made it known that ye should believe and receive the offer of Christ in the Gospel renunce your own Righteousnesse and betake you to Christ's Righteousnesse otherwayes ye cannot on good ground expect to be Justified 2. Others will set about many things that are good but the Work of believing they can never be brought to mind or own they will make a sort of Conscience of Prayer of keeping the Church of reading the Scriptures c. But to give obedience to the Command of Believing they mind it not they can live and die without it This was the woful and Soul-ruining practice of the Jews of old as we are told Rom. 9. They took much pains to come by Righteousnesse but they attained it not because they sought it not by faith but as it were by the works of the law for they stumbled at that stumbling stone when they had gone part of the way as it were and come to the Stone of believing there they fell and brake their necks Hence there are many who promise Heaven to themselves and think that they have done something for it who yet never laid hold on Christ for their Justification but let me tell you that though you could go the greatest length in Holinesse that ever any did since Adams fall it will not avail you if ye neglect Faith in Christ I say not this to disswade you from the Duties of Holinesse God forbid but to divert you from seeking Justifiâ—ation by them study the Duties of Holinesse but seek alwayes by any means to be found in Christ and in His Righteousnesse and not in the Righteousnesse of your Duties as to your Justification It is true none that have any tollerable measure of Knowledge will profâ—sse down right that they lean to holy Duties yet many are so ignorant that they cannot distinguish betwixt Faith and Works and there are not a few who have a hope of Heaven such as it is who nâ—ver knew any thing of the exercise of believing A 3d. Sort are these who because of some
their Debt This will be clear if we consider all these Scriptures that make offer of the pardon of Sin for it 's offered not in the condition of Faith in a more general Notion of it but on condition of Faith in him So Rom. 5.22 24 25. The righteousnesse of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood Rom. 5.1 Being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. John 1.12 To as many as received him he gave power to become the Sons of God even to as many as believe in his name Where the Faith that hath the Promise of Justification and the priviledge of Adoption annexed to it is called the receiving of Christ and believing on his name It may also be cleared and confirmed by good reason 1. Faith does not Justifie as it 's cosidered in it self as an Act but as it relates to and units with Christ as the meritorious cause of Justification 2. Neither does Faith Justifie as it looks to every Object which the Word holds forth But as it respects Christ offered in the Gospel whom it receiveth because there is no other thing that can bear the Souls weight and burden Therefore he as offered in the Gospel must be the Object of Faith as it 's saving and justifying 3. The terms of the Covenant and Gods offer clears it also For Gods offer of Justification is not on these terms that a Sinner shall believe his Word in the general but that he believe on His Son whom He hath sent and receive Him as these Scriptures cited before to wit John 3.16.18 and Mark 16.16 Shew where the terms are set down whereon God offers Life to Sinners 4. If we could imagine a man to have all Knowledge and all Faith if Faith Act not on Christ as Redeemer Cautioner and Surety for such as come to Him it will not avail us nor be counted to us for Righteousnesse which may also confirm this truth The Uses of this Doctrine are such as serve both to clear the nature of Faith and to direct us in our practice The 1. Use Then serves to clear the Truth as the Papists corrupt many Truths so they corrupt this Truth concerning the nature of Justifying and Saving Faith in these Three 1. In the Object 2. In the Subject 3. In the Act of it As for the Object of this Faith they make it to be every thing that God reveals and sometimes they take in their own Traditions the reason is because they give not Faith a Causality in Justification nor the capacity and place of a thing acting on Christ particularly but take it in as a common Grace or at the best as a Grace that is Radical and gives Life to other Graces but never as taking hold of Christs Righteousnesse which quite overturns the way of Justification through Faith in Him for Faith that layeth not hold on His Righteousnesse cannot Justifie and their making the Object of Faith to be so broad doth enervat both the immediat merit of Christs Righteousnesse and the exercise of Faith on it 1. Then we grant that there is a Historical Faith requisit as to the whole Word of God yet we say that the Faith that Justifies is properly that Faith that singles out the Righteousnesse of Christ and takes hold of it So that it 's not our believing that the World was made that there will be a day of Judgement nor our believing that a Saviour of Sinners is come into the World and hath suffered c. that Justifies but it 's a closing with a receiving of and a resting on that Saviour a singling out of the Promise that makes offer of him as for instance where it 's said If thou believe on the Lord Jesus thou shall be saved and pitching on that and resting on him holden out in the Promise Faith gives the Soul footing here whereas before it's case was very desperat 2. We may clear what we are to look to as the object of Justifying and Saving Faith by our putting in these Three Words or Expressions in the Doctrine to wit Christ Jesus his Righteousnesse holden forth in the promise of Gods free grace in the Gospel and which are needful to be taken in though it be not alwayes necessary that we be explicit ln the uptaking of them 1. There is need of taking in Christs righteousnesse because it 's our defence at the Bar of Gods Justiâ—e even as a Debitor whose Debt the Cautioner hath payed hath that to answer when he is charged for it that his Cautioner hath payed it 2. There is need to take in this Holden forth in Gods promise in the gospel because though Christ be the Object of Justifying Faith and His Righteousnesse be the ground of the Souls defence before God yet Gods Promise must be looked on by Faith for the use making of Christ and His Righteousnesse and as a warrand to rest on Him and to expect Justification through Him and thus Faith hath Christs fulnesse or His full and compleat Satisfaction for Righteousnesse and Gods Faithfulnesse impledged that the Believer shall be accepted through it And it s on this ground that Faith sometimes looks on God as Able sometimes as Faithful Therefore it 's said Heb. 7.25 He is able to save to the uttermost and Heb. 11. Sarah judged him faithful who had promised whereupon there is a closing with the offer in the Promise and a looking to obtain that which is Promised as if they had a Righteousnesse of their own and this the Apostle calls the law of faith Rom. 3.27 Because to Justification there is beside the payment of the Debt a Law declaring the man to be absolved requisit and the Sinner having Gods offer and Promise that upon his accepting of Christs Righteousnesse he shall be Justified instructs that his Debt is payed by his Cautioner and that therefore he ought to be and is accordingly absolved And though Gods Promise be not so properly a Law yet the Apostle calleth it so and it is a solid defence to the Soul that is fled to Christ Who may thus reason I have no Righteousnesse of my own but Christs Righteousnesse by Proclamation is offered to me in the Gospel and I have heartily received it and closed with it and God is faithfull to make good His Promise to me and this looks to Christ as He is revealed in the Gospel 3. There is need to put in this word The promise of Gods free grace because hereby the Sinner is made to see whence the Promise came and of what nature it is and gives ground to take hold of the Promise and of that which is made offer of in it the Promise is of free Grace therefore it 's alwayes called the Covenant of Grace So Rom.
that 's the Righteousnesse of Christ by Faith taken hold of by me which Fâ—ith shuts up as it were Paul in that Râ—ghteousnesse and hids him so as he is past over as if there were no unrighteousnesse at all in him The Effâ—ct of this Faith follows when a Person â—s chased and hath fled into and laid hold on Christ the effect I say is he shall be Justified we may consider this several ways and for explication's sake I shall shortly put by some of them 1. Then according to the exposition of the words take this observation That there is such a thing as Justification distinct from Sanctâ—fication That benefit of Justification follows on Faith's taking hold of Christ because it's such a benefit as follows Christ taking on our Sin By his knowledge shall he juâ—tifie many for he shall beâ—â— their iniquities Now Sanctification is not that but the infusing of Holâ—nesse in us and is the work of Gods Spirit inwardly working a change in the man we did some way clear and confirm this in the exposition of the Words and shew you how Sanctification differeth from Justification Now ye are justified now ye are sanctified Sayes the Apostle 1 Cor. 6. Making them distinct benefits To clear it a little further Two things are to be considered in Sin both which are to be removed by Christ but differently 1. Something that defils and polluts us and makes at disconform to Gods Image hence Sin is in the Scripture compared to Boills and Sores and menstruous Cloaths and is called filthiness 2. There is a guiltinesse that follows on this whereby we are not only presupposed unclean but are made lyable to the Laws Certification wherein it 's said Cursed is every one that continueth not in every thing written in the book of the law to do it Now if we speak of the removing of these two Justification takes away the guilt of Sin when the Sinner is pursued before God's Tribunal he is discharged by the imputation of Christs Righteousnesse to which he is fled for refuge The Law absolves him not because he wants Sin but because the Mediator hath saâ—isfied for his Sin and that Satisfaction is by Faith laid hold of Sanctification takes away the pollution and blot of Sin the Person that had these Boills and Sores is cleansed or healled or is a healling and under cure for there is no compleat healling while on this side of Heaven As suppone a man by transgressing the Law had wounded himself in wounding or hurting another there is here both a guilt and a deformity a guilt in transgressing the Law by hurting his neighbour and a deformity in wounding himself Justification is as if the penalty of the breach of such a Law were not exacted by the interposing of a Cautioner and Sanctification is like the healling of the Wound in a mans self by taking or application of some Physick or Plaister So is it here Justification sets us free from the guilt and Sanctification cures us of the wound of Sin mans fall was a guilt and by that fall he wounded himself and by Christ boâ—h are removed from the Believer by His Satisfaction He j stifies and by His Grace and Spirit He Sanctifies him Use We observe it only in passing because it serves to clear all that concerns Justification and therefore when we speak of Justification by Christs Righteousâ—esse 1. It 's not as if we had a Righteousnesse communicat to us and were made actuâ—lly holy but it 's the iâ—putation of Christ's Righteousnesse to us the confounding of these two does ill and is very prejudicial not only to Papists but to others who think they are Justified when they think they have some good frame which being wanting they suspect their Justificat on 2. The meaning is not as if Christs Righteousnesse were our Sanctification which is the Error of the Antinomians who make all Sanctification to be Justification even as the Papists make all Justification to be Sanctification therefore we would learn to distinguish these two yet not so as to separat them 2dly Observe That this effect Justification is not only nor mainly the sense of being pardoned and absolved but it 's real absolution and pardon it self because this Justification that follows Faith is that which Christ hath purchased by His Soul-travel and bearing of our iniquities and intitles the Justified Person to Him and makes him to be of His Seed and that is not to have the sense that we are Justified but actually to be Justified And here there is another mistake to be adverted to to think Justification to be the evidence of that which is past before we were born yea from Eternity The Justification here spoken of is that which makes us stand before God is opposit to Works and to the Curse and frees us from it But the sense of Justification is not that whereby we stand before God and is opposit to Works and the Curse and therefore take this Advertisement that Justification is not to be sensible of our Justification but it is really to be so whether we know and be sensible of it or not and that by vertue of Christs Righteousnesse apprehended by Faith The Third and main thiâ—g in this effect is That laying hold on Chrâ—st by Faith as He is offered in the Gospel does before God serve to the Justifying of a Sinner and the absolving of him from the guilt of Sin That is when a Sinner sensible of Sin is brought to lay hold on Christ's Righteousnesse then follows Gods absolving of him as if he had never had Sin or had satisfied for his own Sin which is not only holden out here but is frequently spoken of through the Epistles and is the Justification that stands in opposition to the way of Works to wit when a poor Sinner sensible of Sin is perswaded by Gods Spirit to flee unto and rest upon Christs Righteousnesse offered in the Gospel upon which follows Gods absolving of him This Doctrine takes in the substance of the Text By the knowledge of my righteous servant shall many be justified There are several things that will fall to be cleared in the prosecuting of this which we shall speak to shortly for clearing of that Question of the Catechism what is Justification because this Doctrine holds out the Form of it and deduceth it in this order 1. A Sinner is here supposed to be lying under Gods curse according to that Gal. 3.10 Cursed is every one that continues not in all things written in the law This is mans condition by nature 2. It is supposed that Christ becomes Cautioner for elect Sinners and takes on their Debt and satisfies for them on condition that if they shall believe on Him they shall be Justified and have His satisfaction imputed to them and that the Lord Jehovah accepts of the Mediators Satisfaction and ingageth to make out the condition 3. The Lord in the Word of the Gospel hath revealed this and hath
that gave His Son and of the Mediator that came to buy and redeem Elect Sinners at so dear a rate and to take on such a weighty burden to ease them of it Were there any here as we hope there are that know the weight of Sin O! but they would think much of this even of Christs taking on the burden of Sin and casting it by having Satisfied Justice for it and loosed the knot of the Law and of the Curse that tyed it to them To become Man was much but to bear the burden of our Sins was more Angels wonder at this that He who is their head should become so low as to fist Himself before Gods Tribunal and to undergo the Suffering of Death and to take on the weighty burden of the Elects Debt and to Satisfie for it If we were in a right frame of Spirit we could not hear this word but it would ravish our hearts and put us to a pause and holy nonplus but the most part alace walk lightly under the burden of Sin without ever considering what Christ hath done to remove it from off His People nay I am afraid that Believers who have ground to be lightned through Christs condescending to bear their burden do not as they ought acknowledge Him who hath taken the burden off them 4ly From comparing these words with the former Many shall be justified for he shall bear their iniquities Observe That Christ's bearing of our iniquities and His Satisfaction for our Sins is imputed to us as the immediat ground of our Absolution and Justification before God So that if it were asked what is the ground on which a Sinner is Justified before God The Text answers Because Christ hath born their iniquities He hath payed their Debt even as to make comparison fore clearing of it when a Debtor is pursued and hath nothing to pay yet he pleads that the Debt cannot be exacted of him because his Cautioner hath payed it and the ground on which that Debtor is absolved is his instructing that the Cautioner hath payed that Debt which being done he is set free So is it here The Believer he is Gods Debtor Christ Jesus is his Cautioner who hath payed his Debt who when he is brought to the Bar of God and somewhat is laid to his charge he pleads upon the ground of Christs Satisfying for his Debt and that therefore he ought not to be put to answer for it himself according to that Word Rom. 8.34 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that justifies who shall condemn and the ground fol ows It is Christ that died He hath payed the Debt Use Among other things there are two consequences that follow upon this Doctrine that serves to clear the Doctrine of Justification 1. That the Righteousnesse whereby we are Justified is imputed to us and accepted of God as if it were our own ye are sometimes hearing of imputed Righteousnesse and it 's of great concernment to you to know it well yet I am afraid that many of you are very ignorant of it I shall therefore in a word or two explicat it by comparing the two Covenants The Righteousnesse of the Covenant of Works is an inherent Righteousnesse as it is Tit. 3.5 Not by works of righteousnesse which we have done It 's a Righteousnesse of our own doing made up of our Praying Hearing and other Duties as they are Acts of ours The Righteousnesse of the Covenant of Grace is an imputed Righteousnesse that is when Christs doing and Suffering is accounted ours Take both in this comparison The Righteousnesse of the Covenant of Works is like a Debtor or Tennent his paying of his own Debt or Rent by his managing his businesse providently and dexterously and none other is troubled with it The Righteousnesse of the Covenant of Grace is like one that hath spent up and debauched all and hath not one penny to pay his Debt or Rent with but hath a worthy able and responsal Cautioner who hath payed for him Both being pursued and brought before the Judge The first man is absolved because what he was owing he payed it at the term precisely The other man grants that he was owing the Debt but pleads that his Cautioner hath payed it aâ—d the Law excepts of the Cautioners payment and pursues the Debtor no further but absolves him So is it here when the Believer comes to stand at Gods Bar it is nothing in himself that he pleads upon but it 's Christs Sufferings who said on the Cross it is finished The Debt of my People is fully payed and Faith pleading for Absolution on that ground according to the Law of Faith he is absolved as if he had payed the Debt himself or had been owing none If then it should be asked Believers what ground have ye to expect to be Justified The Prophet answers here Christ hath born our iniquities and this is the Believers Defence and therefore see here a possibility to reconcile these Two that some men scorn and flout at as irreconcileable to wit how one can be a Sinner and yet Righteous he may be sinful in himself and yet Righteous through the imputation of Christs Righteousnesse So 2 Cor. 5. ult He was made sin for us who knew no sin that we might made the righteousnesse of God in him Rom. 4.5 To him that worketh not but believeth on him who justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousnesse The man ungodly in himself is justified through the Satisfâ—ction of Christ imputed to him for Righteousnesse and laid hold on by Faith as if he had not Sinned or had actually satisfied himself 2dly This consequence followeth That it serves to clear how Faith Justifies as when we say Faith is our righteousnesse and is imputed to us for righteousness we are not to look on Faith properly as a Grace in us and divided or abstracted from the Object no by no means but as it is a laying hold on the Object It 's Faith in him that justifies and Through his knowledge shall many be justified because he shall bear their iniquities Faith Justifies by vertue of Christs Satisfaction and as taking hold of it Faith does not Justifie as it is an Act of Grace in the Sinner but as closing with Christ the Object of it even as in the similitude we made use of before It 's not enough that the Cautioner hath pâ—yed such a mans Debs but the man must instruct it by producing the Discharge the production whereof is the cause of his Absolution in Law yet the vertue that makes the Discharge so to concur is not the Discharge it self but the Cautioners payment or Satisfaction mentioned and contained in the Sinners Discharge even so is it here It 's Christs Righteousnesse that concurreth as the meritorious cause of the Sinners Absolution and Faith concurres as the Instrumental Cause in the pleading of that Defence whereon Justification follows as an effect of
And considering the nature of the Mediators death that it was a violent and cursed death that which had extream anguish and sorrow going before and alongst with it It shews that the Lord hath purposly taken that way to make it known how bitter a thing Sin is how terrible a thing His Wrath is and how holily severe His Law is and to let all know that it is a dreadful thing to come in topes with Him who did so put His own Son to it Use 1. This Doctrine though it hath been spoken to before is a soveraign Doctrine yea the Soveraign Doctrine and the corner stone of all Religion That Christ hath died for the Sins of His People It gives us accesse to preach the Gospel which is therefore called the preaching of Christ crucified know therefore and believe that the Mediator died and that it behoved Him to die For it was required as a condition of the Covenant of Redemption to be performed by Him to which He yeelded and consented O! what love is here to article such a thiâ—g before Sinners had any Being It was more then to be hungry and thirsty and weary He behoved to die and to be made a curse when Sacrifices and burnt Offerings will not do He sayes Lo I come in the volumne of the book it 's written of me I delight to do will O! my God I hearitily accept of the bargain Use 2. It speaks an sadly alarming Word to all you who are secure Athiests and care not for the Wrath of God O! what will become of you when the Wrath of God and you shall meet If Sin brought the Cautioner to death O! what Wrath shal ye come under when ye shall be put to reckon for your own Sins The smitting of the Sheperd was more then if all the Sheep had been smitten and though now ye think little of Sin yet the day comes wherein ye shall know to your cost that it is an evil and bitter thing to depart from God and that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Use 3. See here the necessity of making use of Christs Death either ye must do it or die and come under the Curse of God your selves there is not a midse If ye have Sin how will it be gotten put by and satisfied for not by your Prayers let be by a laughter or smile nor by your living of an honest life as ye call it Christ had infinitly more of this then any of you and yet He got not Sin so put by we may here allude to that Eccles 8.8 There is no discharge in tbat war neither shall wickedness deliver these that are given to it Death when it hath a commission and Gods Terrour backing it O! how will it handle the secure stubborn Sinner when the hand of God shall pursue him eternally Alace what are many doing that never fear the Wrath of God that suspend put of and delay the closing of their accompts and all endeavours to die to Sin and to live to Righteousnesse and either passe over their dayes as Athiests or as formal Hypocrites and such are some of you that hear me this day who never seek to be found in Christ nor to improve His death to the mortifying of Sin What will ye do in the day when ye shall be called to a reckoning ye will curse the day that ever ye heard the Gospel and that this was concluded that Christ should die it will be the savour of death to you through all eternity and will be the most Soul-searching and tormenting Word that ever ye heard and ye will wish that the Work of Redemption had never been heard of nor resolved upon Use 4. It 's a comfortable and encourraging Word to sensible Sinners such betaking themselves to Christ may be sure to get good of Him for He hath payed the Price already and hath given His Word for it That such as believe in him shall never perish but that he will raise them up at the last day Ye would not think that it will be displeasing or dissatisfying to the Father or to the Son that ye come to Him and take hold of Him for it was for that end that God sent Him and that He laid down His Life and died but He dies no more It will be no trouble to Him but satisfaction to His Soul for all the travel of it to make application of His purchase to you And seing it will not displease but be most acceptable to Him that ye believe on Him and be saved by Him and since not believing rubes shame in a manner upon Him why do ye not betake your selves unto Him by Faith for His satisfaction and your own Salvation 2dly He not only died but it 's said He poured out his soul unto death which implyes two things 1. The intensness of it it was an uncouth and strange Death not only was His Body afflicted but His Soul was poured out 2. It looks to His good will readiness and cheerfulnesse in dying Father as if He had said must I die and wilt thou have my Soul sorrowful and heavy I am content to be so thou shalt have my Life He comes not prigging to die to speak so but casts down His blessed Life at His Fathers feet and plentifully gives it out to the uttermost so that He will not as it were leave one drop of His Blood but will needs pour and yett it out in aboundance even all of it Hence Observe That our blessed Lord Jesus was most hearty in laying down His Life for Sinners was most cheerful in undertaking and most willing and cheerful in executing what He did undertake He makes not two Words of the bargain to speak so but when Sacrifice and Offering will not do it as it is Psal 40. Then sayes He Lo I come in the volumne of the book it is written of me I delight to do thy will O my God There is no standing nor disputing here on the Mediators side but a present willing and heartsome undertaking Therefore Prov. 8. He sayes Though he was continually with the father even from everlasting yet his delights were with the sons of men rejoycing in the habitable parts of the earth Ere ever the World was made ere there was a Sinner in beeing to be redeemed He rejoyced before hand thinking there would be such an opportunity to manifest His good will grace and mercy And if we look through the Gospel how often will we find this made good No man taketh my life from me but saith He I lay it down of my self and I take it up again and when they came to take Him and Peter drew his sword he said Could not I command twelve legions of Angels but all that is written of me must be fulfilled I have bargained to lay down my Life and it must be and I have a baptisme to be baptized with and how am I straitned till it be accomplished and
〈…〉 keeped from many 〈◊〉 or when they asault thaâ— they prevail not utâ—erly over us Tâ—e Devil lyeâ— alwayes aâ— the waâ— and we are often secure but our Lord Jeâ—us to say so watch â—n the stor or rebound of the tentation and 〈◊〉 it off as to the designed prejudice Luke 22 32. Simon Simon Satan hath desired that he may have you that hâ— may winnow you but I have prayed for thee that thy saith fail not There are many tentations that he keeps off that they beat not on us and when they assault us he breaks the power of them tha the Believer succumbs not under them Hence it is that we are keeped on our feet otherwayes what would become of us when David fell in adultery and Peter denyed his Master what would have become of them had it not been for this there would be no living for us in the multitude of tentations if he were not interceeding for us what could we forsee of Satans snars what strength have weak and witlesse we to resist tentations what could we do with the spear of corruption when it rises like a flood upon us and Satan inforceth his assaults upon us a if he were speaking with mans voicâ— or mouth hiding us do this and that But there is an Intercessour that pleads our cause 3. We have by this Intercession the preventing of many Judgements temporal and spiritual when tâ—e ax is laid to the root of the tree and it is found barren and juâ—â—ice cryes and the command comes out Cut it down why cumbers it the ground How comes it that the ax strikes not why is it not hewed down There is an efficacy in Christs Intercession for paring of it a while longer as it is Luke 13.6 The dresser of the vineyard sayes spare it for this year and it 's granted O! but we would have a most sinful and miserable life if there were not an Intercessour at Gods right hand 4. Disposition for dutie and help in the performance of dutie flows from his Intercession It 's this that makes us pray and that gives us boldnesse in prayer and in other duties that there is such an high Priest over the house of God as it is Heb. 10.19 20.21 Iâ—'s this that gives us ground of approaching to God and to expect a hearing and as it is Luke 13.7 8. It is his digging and pains that makes the barren fig tree fruitâ—ul 5 It flows from this that our prayers are heard though there be much I firmâ—â— in them and that they are not call back in our â—aces as dung but are made s voury to Goâ— it 's through the efficacy of his Intercession We have a type of his Revel 8.4 5. where John sees an Angel come and â—and at the Altar having a golden censer and there was given unto him much incense that he should offer it up with the prayers of all faints and the smoak of the incense which came up with the prayers of the sâ—ints ascended up before God It was savoury and acceptable to God and made the prayers of all Saints acceptaâ—le for the weight of Gods accepting their prayers is laid on the smoak of his incense It 's he that takes the â—â—â—gled and halfe prayers of his People and presents them to God and when they would be cast back as the supplication of an enemy He as great Master of Râ—quists through the acceptation that he hath with God makes them acceptable We should have no ground to pray with confidence nor acceptation to be heard if there were not a golden censer in his hand 6. We have from his Intercession an answer to all challenges There is much debt on our score the Law pursues hâ—rd and curseth us for our habitual enimity and all the particular Acts of it and his Intercession is the last defence on which the triumph of Faith rises by the other stepâ— Rom 8 43. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect Is it because they want a chaâ—ge No for there is the Devil the Law and the Conscience to charge them But it's God that justifies who shal condemne It 's Christ that died yea rather is risen again who is at the right hand of God and maketh intercession for us We have a high Priest there that hath payed our Debt and pleads that the application of his purchase may be made forthcoming and who I pray will lay any thiâ—g to our charge in that Court where God is Judge and Christ is Advocat 7. More particularly our Lord by his Intercession taketh away the guilt of our holy things for when we approach to God in worship there is a carnalness and pollutedness in the best things we do much irreverence much unbelief much want of humility zeal sincerity and tendernesse So that all our righteousnesses are but as filthy rags But the high Priest Exod. 28.38 hath on his fore-head Holiness to the Lord And his Oâ—â—ce is to bear the iniquitie of the holy things of the children of Israel â—hat they may be accepted before the Lord and in this he was a Type of Christ the great high Priest going in unto Heaven to make Intercession for his Peoplâ— who bears not onâ—y their iniqâ—â—ties but the iniquity of their holy tâ—inâ—s Aaron answers for them as the Type Our Lord Jesus as the anti-râ—pe He being emâ—nently holiness to the Lord and having holiness on his forehead and being so well pleasing to the Father however our prayers anâ— praises and other parts of service be but little worth yeâ— he makes them acceptable and procures that they be not rejected when he is for this end imployed and made use of 8. We will find that strength to bear through under a Cross and a good oâ—tgate from under the cross comes from him as Intercessour O! so advertant as he is when his own are under the cross his bowels are then moved though not as they were on earth yet certainly they want not their own holy motion suitable to the glorious estate whereunto he is exalted Therefore Acts 9. He cryes from Heaven Saul Saul why persecuts thou me And Stephen when a stoning to dâ—ath sees him standing at the right hand of God executing this part of his Priestly Oâ—â—ice One part whereof is to keep off a cross and another part whereof is to help to get it honourably born and to a victory over it 9. Our perseverance in the Faith and perfect glorification is a fruit of Christs Intercession so that his own cannot but persevere and be glorified because he interceeds for them This is it that is spoken to several times John 17. especially verses 15. and 24. In the 15. v. I pray for them that they may be keeped from the evil He prayes for them that they may be keeped from the evil of sin especially he prayes for them that they may be keeped that they fall nor from the truth And v. 24. Father I will that these whom thou
without a Mediator and withall an approbation of Gods way who hath appointed a Mediator for that end and a loving to keep up communion with him by a Mediator So that suppose we were clear that our sins are pardoned yet we would know that this coviction and impression is necessary to put us to make dayly use of this part of the Mediators Office for we may have conviction of the First part that is that we cannot make our peace without Christs Satisfaction and yet we may be defective as to our walking under the due conviction of the Second that is of a necessity of keeping up of our communion with God by vertue of his Intercession which is as if a Rebel being reconciled and made a friend by the procurement of some great Person yet having to do with the King should not dare to go unto him without the man that was instrumental in making his peace or we may allude to Absaloms coming home by Joabs procurement who was three years thereafter at Jerusalem ere he saw his Fathers face and had a new dealling with Joab for that end So it 's very suitable to the way of grace and shews that our being and standing in grace is free not to dare to go in to God even when our peace is made without the Mediator 4. Upon the back of all this there is a necessity of the Faith of the Mediator or Intercessor his being at the right hand of God ready to agent our cause through whom we may have access when there is reason enough in our selves why we should be keeped at the door and though we dar not go our selves alone yet to adventure to go through him to God And though this be but the doctrinal Faith of the thing in general yet it 's necessarily presupposed as well as the rest That whâ—n a challenge rises and the Conscience sayes how â—aâ— thou go to God Faith may answer Because there is a friend there in our nature when the sinner is convinced of sin the Conscience challengeth and the Law condemns and there is some sad expectation of the drawing forth of the Sentence Theâ—e is an act of Faith that convinces of a Saviour whose satisfaction if it be made use of and improven all will be well This we say is necessarily presupposed to the use making of Christs Intercession 2dly These 4. being presupposed it follows that we shew what properly it is to make use of Christs Intercession or wherein it consists And 1. when Faith hath laid hold on Christs Satisfaction for peace with God in the improving of his Intercession there is an act of Faith whereby we actually bestir our selves to approach unto God upon the weight we lay on his Intercession that when the Soul sees it self secluded considered in it self yet it will go forward lippening to that so that if a challenge come in its way and say what ground hast thou to look that thou wilt be welcome to God the Soul sayes none in my sâ—lâ— but there is a friend before me with whose satisfaction I have closed for my peace and I lay this weight on his Office and on Gods call to make use of him that on the ground of his moyen with God I dar h zard to go forward even as if a Rebel after his peace were made had some business to do with the Prince and hearing that there is a friend at Court yea the same friend that made his peace he thinks that a good time and fit season to go in and present his suit expecting to come speed through his moyen And this keeps alwayes the weight and honour of our obtaining any thing we seek as a prerogative to Christ and stops the persons own mouth from looking to any thing in it self to boast of even as the Rebel hath no cause to boast of his getting a hearing from the Prince but gives the thanks to him who as he made his peace so also procured him a hearing and it is according to that word Heb. 10.21 Having an high-Priest over the house of God let us draw near with full assurance of faith expecting a hearing and that Heb. 4.15 16. Seeing we have an high Priest who was tempted in all things like as we are yet without sin Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtâ—in mercy and find grace to help in time of need This is the First step of improving Christs Intercession when the juâ—â—ified sinner is at a stand on some new challenge for guilt and dar not go forward nor adventure to approach unto God on this account and ground that there is a Mediator and Advocat at his right hand to hazard if we may speak so or rather with confidence to go forward and present his suit to God 2. There is an act of Faith as in undertaking so in expecting and on-waiting upon God for obtaining a hearing of our suit on this account that Jesus Christ is an intercessour in heaven for such as imploy him And this guards against both the faillings before mentioned to wit against anxiety on the one hand 〈◊〉 presumption on the other against anxâ—â—ty and fainting when as there is not only a proposing of our desire but an on-waiting for and expectation of a hearing from God against presumption and turning carnal when the expectation of a hearing is not founded on our own righteousnesse but on the Intercession of Christ This is it which we have Dan. 9.17 compared with Jonah 2.4 In the 2. of Jonah 4. v. He sayes Then I said I am cast out of thy sight yet will I look again toward thy holy temple The which look was in effect a looking toward the intercession of Christ the Messiah The Temple with it's Sacrifice having been typical of him and the Mercy-seat that was there being typical of his intercession It is as if unbelief had suggested to Jonah now Jonah what will become of thee thou art a gone man and needs not pray any more yet sayes he I will look again towards thy holy temple and though he knew not wel now being in the belly of the Whale where the Temple stood yet his Faith having an suitable exercise on the Messiah signified by the Temple and his looking being an act of Faith carried in his suit to God which was accepted and Indeed this is a main thing by which a poor Believer cast down wins to his feet again The other place is Dan. 9.16 17. Where when he is serious and doubling his petition he hath these words Cause thy face to shine upon thy Sanctuary which is desolat for the Lords sake and to let it be known what he meaned by saying for the Lords sake which looks to him who was to be intercessour in our nature he expones it in the following words O! my God incline thine ear and hear open thine eyes and behold our desâ—lations For we do not present our supplications bâ—fore thee
and come to that which follows in the 11. Verse In this Verse then There are these three 1. An offer and promise made to the Mediator That if He will accept of the proposall and lay down His Life for Redeeming of the lost Elect it shall not be fruitless He shall see of the travell of his soul and shall be satisfied 2. The way how this satisfaction shall be brought about By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many That is by Faith in Him His Purchase shall be applyed to all these for whom He should suffer who thereby should be justified 3. The ground of this which also shews the way how He shall justifie many For he shall bear their iniquities That is by His undertaking and paying of their Debt He should meritoriously procure their Absolution and the setting of them free In the first part we have these three things implyed 1. A supposed condition or restipulation on the Mediator's side That His Soul shall be put to travell which expresses both the Nature of His Sufferings that they shall not only be Bodily but also and mainly Soul-sufferings and Conflicts with the Wrath of God which the Elect's sins deserved as the main and principall thing Articled and that wherein the Price of their Redemption lay And the Greatness and Extremity of His Sufferings here called Travell from the similitude of a Woman in Travell and the Travell of his Soul This being the way foretold how Christ should be used He should Travell in His Sufferings to procure Life to His People 2. A Promise made to Him That He shall see the travell of his soul That is He shall not bring forth wind but shall have a large Off spring which in the 2d part of the verse is called a Justifying of many by his knowledge This is the Fruit He shall have of His Soul-travel 3. The extent of this which is His being Satisfied and quiet Which looks to two things 1. To the certain and infallible success of His Sufferings Not one of the Elect shall be amissing None that He hath bought Life to shall want it He shall get as many Justified and Saved as He conditioned for 2. To the great delight and complacencie that our Lord hath in performing the Work of Redemption and in Sinners getting the benefit of it He shall think all well bestowed when they come to get the Application thereof and by Faith in Him to be Justified From the first of these Observe That the Mediator in performing the Work of Redemption and in satisfying the Justice of God for the Debt of Elect Sinners was not only put to Externall and Bodily but also and mainly to Inward Spirituall and Soul-sufferings Or the Redeeming of lost Sinners cost our Lord Jesus much Soul-travell and Suffering we have hinted at His Sufferings often before but this place especially speaks out His Soul-sufferings and the Inward Anguish and Agony that He was brought under We shall therefore speak alittle to this it being most useful and extensive in the Fruits and Benefits of it to the People of God And shall 1. confirm it by some places in the Gospel where we have the fulfilling of this Prophesie clearly holden out to us And 2dly By a fourfold Reason Only take this for an advertisement that when we speak of the Soul-sufferings of Our Lord we do no mean of any Sufferings after Death as Papists falsly calumniat us but of these Sufferings especially that were about the time of His Passion when He got the full Cup of the Fathers Wrath put in His hand towards His approaching to the Cross and when He was upon it when He was araigned and when He was exacted upon for the Elect's Debt The first passage to confirm it is that of John 12.27 Now is my soul troubled and what shall I say Father save me from this hour Here His Soul-suffâ—rings begin clearly to shew themselves when there was no Cross nor Suffering in His Body yet He is put to such a pinch considered as Man that He is in a manner non-plussed and put to say what shall I say the horror of that which was begun and was further coming on Him being beyond all expression whereupon follows that prayer Father save me from this hour His Sinleâ—s Humane Nature scarring some way to enter on it The 2d passage is that of John 13.21 where it 's said That He began to be troubled in spirit and testified c. But let us come forward and put Matthew Mark and Luke together and we shall see what an inexpressible and unconceivable hight and heap of sorrows His Soul-trouble and travell will amount to Matthew sayes Chap. 26.37 38. That He began to be sorrowful and very heavy And in the next words my soul is exceeding sorrowfull even unto death and what made Him so sorrowfull The next words Father if it be possible let this cup passe from me shew that it was the Cup of His Fathers Wrathfull Justice put in His hand Mark sayes Chap. 14.33 Thar when He came to the Garden He began to be sore amazed and very heavy A wonderfull expression to be used of the Son of God that the Person that was God should be amazed yet being considered as Man he was so Luke sayes Chap. 22.44 That being in an agony he prayed more earnestly There is a sore Exercise and sad Soul-travell indeed when the Sword of Gods Justice awaked against the Man that was Gods fellow and when He hath the Curse that was due to all the Elect to encounter and meet with This was such a Combat the like whereof was never in the World And the effect of it is His sweat as great drops of blood falling down to the ground when there was no hand of Man stirring Him nor any Man to trouble Him by Him but God as a severe and holily rigid exactor puting Him to pay the Debt which He had undertaken to pay according to His Obligation The inward pressour of His Soul presseth great drops of Blood from His Body And if we will yet look a little forward to Math. 27.46 we will find Him brought to that extremity on the Cross that He cryes My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Which though it say that there was still Faith in the Mediator in adhering to the Father as His God yet it sets out that great horrour which He had inwardly to wrestle with when there was some restraint on the sensibly comforting influence of the God-head Now when all the Evangelists concur so massilie emphatically and significantly to express this wealing out and pitching upon such weighty Words to set it forth by We may see it to be designedly holden forth as a speciall Truth thâ—t the Faith of the People of God may be strongly confirmed therein To confirm it yet further put these four together 1. The estate that the Elect are naturally lying in for whom Christ undertakes they are naturally under Sin lyable
to the curse of God for the transgressing of His Law which had said The soul that sins shall die and cursâ—d is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them 2. Add to this the supposition of Christ's undertaking to be the Elects Cautioner and to satisfie for their Debt whereby he steps into their room takes on their Debt And as the word is 2 Cor. 5. ult Becomes sin for them Is content to be lyable to and to be pursued by Justice for their Debt and though here there be a relaxation in respect of the Persons of the Elect for whom the Cautioner stands good yet in respect of the Curse and Death due to them there is no relaxation but the same thing due to them is laid on Him as it is Gal. 3. He hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us In every thing He was put to pay the equivalent for making up the Satisfaction due to Justice and these two being put together that Elect Sinners were obnoxious to Wrath and that our Lord came in their Room He behoved to be put to sad and sore Soul-suffering 3. Consider God's end in the Work of Redemption which is to point out the inconceivableness of His wonderfully condescending Grace and Mercy in exacting of satisfaction from the Cautioner and in setting the Sinner free that His Grace may be so Glorified as their shall be a proof given of His Justice and Soveraignity going along with it and Infinit Wisdom being set on Work to glorifiâ— infinit Grace and Justice there is a necâ—ssity for the promoving of this end that the Mediator shall thus satisfie and the more full the Satisfaction be the more conspicuously do the Grace and Justice of God shine forth and are Glorified according to that word Rom 3.26 To declare his righteousnâ—ss that he might be just and the justifier of him that shall believe in Jesus This is the end of Christ's being made a Propitiation that God may be manifested to be Spotlesse and Pure in His Justice as well as Free and Rich in His Mercy and Grace who having given a Law to Man will not acquite the transgression thereof without a condigne Satisfaction 4 Consider that it is indeed a great thing to satisfie Justice for Sin that it 's more to satisfie Justice for all the Sins of one Person which all the Angells in Heaven and Men on Earth cannot do and therefore the punishment of the Damned in Hell is drawn out to Eternities length and yet there is never a Compleat Equivalent Satisfaction made to Justice but it is most of all to satisfie Justice for all the Sins of all the Elect who though they be few in comparison of the Reprobat World yet simply considered they are many yea even innumerable And our Lord having taken all their Sins on Him He is peremptorly required to satisfie for them all And if this withall be added that He is to satisfie for all the Sins of all the Elect at once in a very short time and hath the Curse and Wrath of God due to them Mustered and Marshaled in Batallie against Him and as it were in a great Body in a most formidable manner marching up towards Him and seriously charging Him and all the Wrath which they should have drunken through all Eternity which yet would never have been drunk out nor made the less put in one Cup and propined to Him as the Word is Psal 110. He shall drink of the brook in the way The Wrath of God running like an impetuous River must be drunk up at once and made dry by Him These being put together do clearly and convincingly shew that it could not but be an inexpressible and inconceivable Soul-travell and Suffering that our Lord Jesus was put to The Use of this Doctrine is large and the 1. Use is this Tâ—at ye would take it for a most certain Truth which the Scriptures doth so Frequently and Significantly hold forth That our Lord Jesus in performing the Work of Redemption had much sad Soul-travell and sorrow The Faith of this is very usefull to demonstrat the great love of God and of the Mediator For doubtless the more Suffering be undergone by the Mediator the more love Kythes therein to the Elâ—ct 2. It serves to hold out the Soveraignity and Justice of God and the horribleness of Sin 3. In respect of God's People it 's usefull that they may be through and clear in the Reality and Worth of Christ's Satisfaction He having no other End in it but to satisfie Justice for their Sin 4. It 's usefull to shew the Vanity and Emptinesse of Mens Supposed and Fancied Merits and of any thing that can be alleadged to be in Mans Suffering or doing for the satisfying of Divine Justice seing it drew so deep on Christ the Cautioner And here two gross Errours come to be Refuted and Reprobated One of the Socinians who seek quite to overturn Christ's Satisfaction And another of the Papists that minish His Satisfaction and Extenuat and Derogat from the great Priviledge of the Pardon of Sin as if any thing could procure it but this Satisfaction of Christ by His Soul-travell both which are aboundantly refuted by this Text. But to speak a word more particularly to the First For clearing of which ye will ask What could there be to affect the Holy Humane Soul of our Lord Or what was that wherein His Soul-sufferings did consist But before we speak to this we would premit this Word of Advertisement in the entry That there are two sorts of Punishments or Penal Effects of Sin The 1. Sort are such as are simply Penal and Satisfying as proceeding from some extrinsick cause The 2d sort are sinfull One Sin in the Righteous Judgement of God drawing on another And this proceeds not simply from the nature of Justice but from the nature of a meer sinfull Creature and so from an intrinsick cause of a Sinful Principle in the Creature Now when we speak of the Soul-sufferings of Christ which He was put to in Satisfying for the Sins of the Elect We mean of the former that is Sufferings that are simply Penall For there was no intrinsick Principle of Corrupt Nature nor ground of Chalâ—enge in Him as there is in Sinfull Creatures And therefore we are to conceive of His Soul-sufferings as of some thing inflicted from without and are not to conceive of them as we do of Sinfull Creatures or that have Sin in them whereof he was altogether free Having premitted this we shall speak a little to these two 1. To that wherein this Soul-suffering did not consist 2. To that wherein it did consist For the former wherein it was not 1. We are not to suppose or imagine any actuall separation betwixt His God-head and His Man-head as if there had been an interruption of the Personall Union not so for the Union of the