Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	beget_v	love_v	only_a	2,697	5	6.4558	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A46354	Several sermons preach'd on the whole eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans eighteen of which preach'd on the first, second, third, fourth verses are here published : wherein the saints exemption from condemnation, the mystical union, the spiritual life, the dominion of sin and the spirits agency in freeing from it, the law's inability to justifie and save, Christ's mission, eternal sonship, incarnation, his being an expiatory sacrifice, fulfilling the laws righteousness (which is imputed to believers) are opened, confirmed, vindicated, and applied / by Tho. Jacomb.	Jacombe, Thomas, 1622-1687.	1672 (1672)	Wing J119; ESTC R26816	712,556	668

and save undone Sinners if send he will why did he not send an Angel or a body of Angels to try their skill and see what they could do nay why did he not send an Angel as he once did with a * Gen. 3.24 flaming Sword in his hand to keep off Sinners from the tree of life O this did not comport with his gracious designs though it did too well with the Creatures merit therefore he would not do it no his own Son shall be pitch'd upon he 's the Person whom God will send And his End in sending this Son was as gracious as the Person whom he sent was glorious surely here was Love great Love great even to the degree of infiniteness Millions of Angels were nothing to one Son to one such Son the nearer the relation was 'twixt God and Christ the greater was the affection shown to us Christ God's own Son his first born his only begotten Son the Son of his Love who lay in his bosome had been his delight from everlasting for him to be sent to recover and save Man vile sinful wicked undone man the Son to be imploy'd for the Servant the Slave the Enemy O astonishing mercy O admirable goodness and condescension How may we here cry out Lord * Psal 8.4 Psal 144.3 what is man that thou art thus mindful of him and the † Joh. 3.16 Son of man that thou makest this account of him Here was God's so loving of the world so as can never be express'd he so loved the world as that he gave his only begotten Son c. So loved the world what is there in this so why so inexpressibly so unconceivably Joh. 4.9 10. In this was manifested the love of God towards us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him Herein is Love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins God own'd it as a great discovery of Abraham's Love to him when upon his command he was willing to offer up his only begotten Son but alas how infinitely short did that come of his own Love in his sending and parting with his only begotten Son for the good of Sinners here he intended to give out the highest manifestation of his Grace and he hath done it to purpose The * Isa 1.2 heavens and the earth were once called upon to be filled with astonishment because of the ingratitude of a sinful people may not now Heaven and Earth Angels and Men all Creatures whatsoever be called upon to be filled with astonishment because of the stupendious Love of God O Christians what influence hath this upon your dull and sluggish hearts what are you made of that you are no more in the sense of it drawn out in the blessing loving admiring of God Pray if there be any holy ingenuity in you take some pains with your selves that you may be much more affected with it and give not over till you have such thoughts and affections upon God's sending his own Son raised in you as may in some measure answer to those thoughts and affections which you shall have about it when you shall be in Heaven Use 3. For Comfort from Christ's Sonship So much for Exhortation the third and last Vse shall be for Comfort and surely here is ground of strong Consolation to Believers that which may highly conduce to the furthering of their joy and the strengthning of their faith You who are such study this Sonship of Christ dwell upon it often in your most serious thoughts make the best of it and then tell me whether you do not find that solid Support and Comfort from it which you desire and need Shall I broach this full Vessel and draw out a little of that heart-chearing liquour which is in it then know that 1. As Christ is the Son of God so are you When I say SO are you you must understand me of the Verity not of the Kind or Manner of the Sonship you are not Sons as Christ is viz. by eternal Generation yet Sons you are in another way viz. by regeneration and adoption and though herein you come short of Christ you being but adopted Sons and he the natural Son yet as you are but such there is greater glory put upon you than if you were descended from or adopted by the greatest Monarch of the World May not this be matter of great comfort to you to consider that whatever Christ is that you are according to your capacity and necessary subordination to him that all that Grace which fell upon him falls upon you likewise and yet so it is is he the anointed of God so are you is he a Son so are you is he the beloved of God so are you is he the Heir of God so are you in these respects also 't is * Joh. 1.16 Grace for Grace I am upon your Sonship in conformity to Christ's Sonship the truth of which you have no reason to question since the procuring of this for you was one thing that God in special aimed at in the sending of his Great Son into the world Gal. 4.4 5. When the fulness of time was come God sent forth his Son c. that we might receive the adoption of Sons and therefore in this relation Christ takes you in with himself Joh. 20.17 Go to my brethren and say unto them I ascend unto my Father and your Father and to my God and your God 2. You may now upon this confidently expect the bestowing of all good For Christ being God's own Son and he having given him to you what can come after that can be too great or too good for him to give to you what will God now deny after the gift of such a Son He * Rom. 8.32 that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things Saints let this be thought of as all blessings come to you from God as he is the God and Father of Christ for 't is * Eph. 1.3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ so all blessings are assur'd to you from this relative consideration of God viz. as he is first the God and Father of Christ and then in him your God and Father too 3. You may he sure that there is an infinite value worth and efficacy in Christ's Obedience and that he was a person able to accomplish your Redemption Christ being such a Son this speaks him to be a Person of great dignity that dignity of his Person gives the highest assurance to Faith both that he was every way able to go through what he undertook and also that there must be an infinite Virtue and Merit in what ever he did or suffered What can be so

forth like the Sun after it hath been shut up under a dark and thick cloud then God owned him as his own Son before all the world and made it to appear who and what he was And this is that which the Apostle aimed at in the place cited his onely design there being to prove that God had given the World sufficient Evidence that Christ was his very Son and amongst other Evidences of it he instances in the miraculous raising of him out of the Grave So that the begetting in Psal 2. and in Acts 13. are of a quite different nature the one being proper as relating to the thing it self the other improper as relating only to the declaration or manifestation of the thing We argue from the proper and primary sense of the words Thou art my Son c. the Adverse Party from their improper and secondary sence as the Apostle makes use of them in that place In the Scripture dialect several things are said to be done when they are declared and manifested to be done so Paul brings in Christ as begotten at the day of his Resurrection because it was then declared that he was the eternally begotten Son of God A Fourth False Ground of Christ's Sonship 4. 'T is said Christ is God's Son and so called because of the preheminence and dignity of his Person or because of his great advancement and exaltation to the Offices of King and Priest Heb. 1.4 5. Being made so much better than the Angels Deus misit suum Filium i. e. Christum illum suum cui communis alioqui Filii Dei Titulus propter singularitatem excellentiam proprius est factus Slichting in Loc. as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they For unto which of the Angels said he at any time Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee And again I will be to him a Father and he shall be to me a Son Heb. 5.5 Christ glorified not himself to be made an high Priest but he that said unto him Thou art my Son to day have I begotten thee Here you see Christ's Sonship comes in upon his exaltation with respect to his Person and Office Christ not God's Son in respect of his dignity and advancement I answer this proves as little as that which went before for here also 1. 'T is clear that Christ was the Son of God before he was thus exalted 2. His Exaltation was not the ground but the result and consequent of his Sonship he was not a Son because he was exalted but he was exalted because he was a Son First the Apostle describes him in what relates to the formality and Essence of his Sonship Heb. 1.3 Who being the brightness of his Glory and the express image of his Person and then he sets down the Honour which the Father put upon him not to be a Son for that he was already but because he was a Son for that 's the ground of the more excellent name given to him and so the words in Vers 4 5. come in 3. 'T is strange that this day of Christ's begetting should be so multiplied there 's the day of his Nativity and then it was to day have I begotten thee there 's the day of his Resurrection and then too it was To day have c. there 's the day of his Exaltation and then again it was To day have c. Had this Text been cited forty times in forty several Cases we must have had so many several grounds and Causes of Christ's Sonship But why then Some may say is this place so often repeated in the New Testament I answer not only because 't is apply'd to the several declarations of Christ's Sonship but also to shew that all which the Father did to and for Christ was all to be resolv'd into his eternal Sonship as the ground thereof he was raised again because he was the Son of God exalted to great Honour and Dignity because he was the Son all was grounded upon this his Relation And therefore when ever such great things are brought in concerning Christ this Text is mentioned as pointing to that Sonship which was the ground of them but not to assert that they were the ground of it * Christ not the Son of God because of his Kingly Dominion Vide Jacob. ad Portum contra Ostorod Def. Fid. Orthod c. 37. p. 512 ad 518. Not because of his preheminence c. Epiph. adv Heres p. 740. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 4. Though the glory which the Father hath conferr'd upon Christ as King Prophet and Priest be very great yet it will not reach that which is wrapp'd up in his being the proper and only begotten Son of God Sonship and Office are different things and the highest Office can never come up to what is in Sonship by eternal Generation A Fifth False Ground of Christ's Sonship 5. Fifthly 't is said that Christ is the Son of God in respect of that special love and affection which the Father bears to him Matth. 3. 17. Lo a voice from heaven saying This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased And whereas Christ is called the only begotten Son of God they with whom I have to do say there 's no more in it than only this that Christ is the most beloved of God As Isaac is stilled Abraham's only Son Gen. 22.2 his only begotten Son Heb. 11.17 now how is this to be taken had not Abraham an Ishmael as well as an Isaac how is Isaac then called his only begotten Son why only as he had a greater share in his Fathers love than Ishmael had For the same reason Solomon calls himself an only Son Prov. 4.3 therefore the Septuagint render the word there used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the beloved and so our Translators fill it up and only beloved in the sight of my Mother So say they 't is here as to Christ's being the only begotten Son of God God hath a special love for him and that 's all Christ not the Son of God in respect of his Fathers special Love Answ But we must not suffer this great Title of our Lord Jesus to be thus wrested out of our hands Without all question God hath transcendent superlative love for Christ his dear Son he is called Col. 1.13 but yet we say 1. As before this Love is not the Cause of his Sonship but his Sonship the cause of it He is not a Son because belov'd but he is belov'd because a Son therefore it cannot be the Cause which is but the Effect 2. If this was the proper foundation of Christ's Sonship then there would be only a * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epiph. adv Haer. l. 1. c. 2. p. 741. gradual difference betwixt his Sonship and the Sonship of Believers For they being belov'd of the Father as well as he and even as he is

for the nature and quality of the Love though not for the degree of it Joh. 17.23 c. and hast loved them as thou hast loved me I say it being so if the Love of the Father to Christ was the proper ground of his Sonship it would then follow that they are Sons just as Christ is only in a lower degree But surely the Scripture holds forth more than a gradual difference betwixt his Sonship and theirs that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 † Heb. 1.4 more excellent name which the Apostle speaks of carry's more in it than barely an higher degree of Sonship it points even to a different kind and order thereof 3. As to the Instances alledged for that use and signification of the word which might undermine that which we put upon it 't is answered that Isaac is called the only Son and the only begotten of Abraham not only because of all the Sons he had his greatest love but there were other grounds and reasons of it he was the only Son by Sarah the only Son by Promise and the only Heir of the Promise upon which accounts as well as upon the highest proportion of his Fathers love to him he is stiled the only begotten Son The same under different Circumstances may be said concerning Solomon But suppose that this was the only thing held forth in the Vnigeniture of these Persons will it follow that therefore 't is all in the unigeniture of Christ too when there is so great a disparity 'twixt Person and Person Sonship and Sonship as hath been already and might yet further be demonstrated if it was needful 4. There is in Scripture another Title given to Christ to which the Father's greater love towards him than towards others doth more properly belong namely his being the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first-born or the first-begotten Heb. 1.6 When he bringeth in the first begotten into the world c. Col. 1.15 The image of the invisible God the first-born of every Creature And elsewhere upon some special and particular Considerations with respect to his Resurrection he is called the first-born from the dead Col. 1.18 the first-begotten from the dead Rev. 1.5 but as the Title in that reference is applied to Christ I am not now to meddle with it What doth his being the First-born or First-begotten hold forth Answ * Quomodo primogenitus esse potuit nisi quia secundum Divinitatem ante omnem creaturam ex Deo Patre sermo processit Tertull. Some expound it of his eternal Generation by the Father Some of the preheminence and dignity of his Person as also of the immunities and priviledges which belong to him above others As the First-born under the Law had an excellency put upon him from his Primogeniture to him the dominion and † Gen. 27.29 49.8 authority over the Family did belong as also the ‖ Deut. 21.15 16 17. double portion in the inheritance and he was the most beloved In reference to which the people of Israel are stiled Gods first-born Exod. 4.22 Israel is my Son even my first-born because of that great glory which God put upon that people and that singular affection which he bore to them In all these respects Christ is God's First-born if you understand it of his eternal Generation so 't is incommunicable to any Other so he is primogenitus unigenitus first-begotten and only begotten too but if you understand it of the excellency of his Person and of the Other particulars mentioned so in such a degree 't is communicable to others For Israel you see in a subordinate and allusive sense was stiled God's first-born and all Believers too may be so stiled in respect of the dignity of their Persons and of God's special love towards them As Christ is the Only begotten of the Father that 's exclusive to all as he is the first-begotten of the Father that signifies praelation but not exclusion Saints are excellent though not so excellent as Christ beloved though not so beloved as Christ heirs though not such heirs as Christ And therefore had Christ been called only the first-born and that too in its second import and significancy something then might have been inferred from it for the nulling of that Sonship which we plead for as only belonging to him but besides this he is also called the only begotten wherefore he must be alone in this relation And though the Saints do in a lower degree share with him in the Father's love as he is the first-born yet they do not at all share with him in the glory of his eternal Generation as he is the only begotten A Sixth False Ground of Christ's Sonship 6. Sixthly we are told that Christ is the Son of God in respect of Adoption that he is not the Natural or Essential only the adopted Son of God This our Opposers are not afraid nor ashamed to assert O how low will they bring the Sonship of our blessed Lord and Saviour Christ not Gods Son in respect of Adoption they 'l make him any thing rather than grant what indeed he is but for Answer This is no novel Opinion or that which was never broached in the Church before 't was the old Heresie of those two Spanish Bishops * See Forbesii Instruct Historico-Theolog L. 6. C. 1. Felix and Elipandus condemned in a † Concil Tom. 20. p. 82. c. secundum Edit Reg. Paris Council held at Frankford very near a thousand years ago both ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyrill Hierosol Quod si etiam unigenitùs Filius dicitur ex Gratiâ non verè genitus ex naturâ proculdubio Nomen veritatem unigeniti perdidit postquam Fratres habere jam caepit Privatur enim hujus veritate nominis si in unigenito non est de Patre veritas naturalis Fulgent Si quaeritur an Christus sit adoptivus Filius secundum quod Homo sive alio modo Respondemus Christum non esse adoptivum Filium aliquo modo sed tantum Naturalem quia Naturâ Filius Dei est non Adoptionis gratiâ Lombard Vide alios è Scholasticis in Hoorneb Socin Confut. tom 2. c. 1. de Christo p. 30. è Patribus in Zanch. de Tribus Elohim p. 249. Fathers and Schoolmen all but Durandus argue much against it Take in brief these Four Arguments against it 1. In all the * Legi relegi Scripturas Jèsum Filium Dei Adoptione nusquam inveni Ambros Scriptures Christ is never stiled the Adopted Son of God nay there 's nothing there to be found in the least to countenance the attributing of such a Sonship to him 't is a meer forgery of man to evade and put off what the Word expresly asserts We read much of God's adopting of Saints but nothing at all of his adopting of Christ 2. Then Christ and Believers would have the same Sonship they being Sons by Adoption as well as he

the Gospel answers to the hyssop under the Law Well! after our Saviours being an offering for sin as we have nothing further to do but only through Grace enabling of us * Vid. Cameron Misc p. 529. to perform these Evangelical conditions so nothing less than that will serve our turn for a share and interest in the great effects and fruits thereof Frequent application to be made to this Sacrifice 6. Sixthly you are not to rest in some one single application of your selves or in the first application of your selves at your first believing to this great Sacrifice for expiation and remission but you are to repeat and renew it daily For though 't is true all the guilt of believers is removed thereby yet that is done in this method 't is removed as 't is contracted and as the benefit of it is accordingly drawn forth by the fresh applications of it O do not rest in what you did at your first Conversion but be you every day applying your selves to a sacrific'd Christ new guilt must have new pardons and daily sins call for daily expiations 'T is observable that Christ is set forth not only by the yearly expiatory Sacrifices or by those that were but seldom offered but also by the daily Sacrifices Joh. 1.29 Behold the Lamb of God c. We should not lie down in our beds at night before we have applyed our selves to a dying Christ for the cleansing of our persons from the guilt of the sins of the day past Yea we should never go to God in duty but we should revive upon our thoughts and make use of this Sacrifice Under the Law the blood was to be sprinkled even upon the Mercy-seat Levit. 16.14 God sits upon a Throne of Mercy but even that requires the blood of Christ no mercy from him no acceptance with him can be expected but upon the intervention of this Sacrifice God and Christ to be admired and adored upon this 7. Seventhly Upon this Sacrifice and what followed thereupon God and Christ are highly to be admired and adored by you This holy admiration hath been already again again press'd upon you under the foregoing gracious acts mention'd in the Text but surely that which is now before us doth as much deserve and call for it as they or any other whatsoever Is God to be admired because he sent his own Son because he sent this Son in flesh yea in the likeness of sinful flesh and is he not to be admired also for his making of him to be a Sacrifice for sin and for the condemning of sin in his flesh doubtless he is What Christ a Sacrifice a Sacrifice for such as we such great things brought about thereby O what matter is here to draw out admiration what so great so wonderful as this how much are the highest thoughts the most raised affections below the greatness of this mystery It hath my Brethren been largely set before you now I would ask How are your hearts affected with it 't is very sad if we can hear of such stupendious mercy and yet be but little wrought upon under the hearing of it Pray fancy to your selves what the Angels thought of this what frame they were in when they saw the Son of God hanging and dying upon the Cross as an expiatory Sacrifice Oh you may well suppose that it fill'd them with astonishment they were even amaz'd at this strange and wonderful spectacle never such wondring in Heaven as when the Lord Jesus was thus suffering on earth now shall that be little to you which was so great to them shall they thus admire and will you who were most concern'd in the thing and the greatest gainers by it be stupid and unaffected In Christ's being a Sacrifice God on his part hath display'd and advanc'd all his Attributes yea they by this have received their utmost advancement infinite Wisdom Justice Holiness Mercy could go no higher than a Christ crucifi'd and on your part by this your work is done your happiness being every way secur'd and your misery fully prevented by this you are reconcil'd to God and God to you condemning-sin is condemn'd it-self all its guilt expiated the righteousness of the Law fulfill'd c. by a strange and unthought-of method God hath fetch'd the greatest good out of the greatest evil by Christ's dying you live all which being considered is there not sufficient ground why you and all should admire and adore God And amongst other things pray in special admire his love his transcendent superlative matchless love what manner of love was this that God should give his Son to be a sacrifice for you 1 Joh. 4.10 Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins Rom. 5.8 But God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us Had not Christ been a person infinitely dear to God the thing had not been so much but that he should devote him to be sacrific'd whom he so dearly lov'd there 's the incomprehensibleness of his love 'T is reported of the PHOENICIANS that in their Sacrifices they did not use to Sacrifice an enemy or a stranger but * Porphyr do Abstin l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some one that they had a special love for this I 'm sure was done by God in his giving of the Son of his love to be a Sacrifice for us therefore what admiration can be high enough for him When * Gen. 22.10 c. Abrahaham had the knife in his hand and was just going to offer his Son Isaac God stop'd his hand and provided a cheaper Sacrifice for him this was more than what he did for his own Son him he would have to be offered up and would admit of no other Sacrifice and when the hand of Justice was lifted up ready to destroy us then God to secure us interpos'd and found out a Sacrifice of propitiation not a Ram but his only begotten Son O the heights bredths lengths depths of his love And must not Christ be admired also surely yes was not his love too admirable as well as the Fathers Oh well might the Apostle say Gal. 2.20 Who loved me and gave himself for me Eph. 5.2 And walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour Vers 25. as Christ also loved the Church and gave himself for it Rev. 1.5 Vnto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood this was loving indeed When the * Joh. 11.36 JEWS saw Jesus weeping over LAZARVS they said Behold how he loved him but alas what was Christs weeping over him to his dying for us what was the shedding of a few tears to the shedding of his blood how may we come with a more emphatical Behold behold how he

the matter of believing or not believing O do you close with Christ and receive him upon the Gospel-offer not only He himself but his Father also is highly pleased herewith and takes it very kindly at your hands I sayes God here are Souls that do not throw away or tread upon that costly remedy which I provided for them who give me the glory of my Wisdom and Mercy who would not have my great designs in the sending of my Son to be frustrated who duly entertain the Messenger whom I sent to transact the great affairs of my Glory and their Good who answer my expectations in my highest Love c. I say this pleases God exceedingly But on the other hand do you reject Christ make little of him stand it out against him refuse to believe how heinously doth God resent such carriage this he looks upon as an high despising and undervaluing of his Mercy a desperate striking at his Glory which is very dear to him a very unworthy requital of his Love a dangerous attempt to make all his Grace to be to no purpose and must not all this highly provoke him Suppose some Great Person hearing of the sad condition of some poor Captives should out of meer compassion to them send from a far Country his own and only Son to redeem them and this Son should in Person come to them and treat with them about their redemption he offering to pay down their ransom to free them from all their misery provided they will but trust on him and be subject to him If now these Captives should slight all this and choose still to continue in their chains rather than upon these terms to accept of deliverance would not this folly and obstinacy greatly incense both Father and Son Or suppose again some offended Prince against whom the Treason had been committed should send his Son to the Traytor with a Pardon in his hand and he should take no notice of this Son or Pardon brought by him but reject and slight both what could be expected to follow upon this but the greatest indignation Now is not this the very case of Vnbelievers nay is not theirs much worse in respect of the Person sending the Person sent the Benefits offered the Conditions required and therefore must not they incur an higher displeasure and make themselves obnoxious to a worser severity Sinners shall not these things be thought of will nothing prevail upon you to believe Was Christ sent and did he come to you and will not you come to him will you not yet understand that it is He only who must save you to allude to that Act. 7.25 He supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them but they understood not do you look for another Son or another Saviour to be sent indeed hath God such another Son to send or was not the once sending of this Son enough hath not God in Christ given you his last Way and Method for Salvation so that there is no Other to be expected after that And was he only sent did he not do all for which he was sent and so returned back again to his Father is there any thing further to be done but only that you will repent and believe Methinks these Considerations should work upon you yet I 'm sure they will not unless the Lord persuade your hearts to believe and he himself be pleased to work Faith in you We may speak much to convince you of your Duty but when we have said all 't is God who must both incline and inable you to believe who must over-powre against unwillingness and strengthen against weakness Faith is his Gift Eph. 2.8 he who gives the Christ to be believed on must give the Grace to believe with he who sent Christ to you must draw you to Christ * Joh. 6.44 No man can or will come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him So much for the Duties proper to be urged upon God's sending of Christ in which you have the First Vse Use 2. Comfort to Believers from God's sending Christ Secondly It affords abundant matter of Comfort to all sincere Christians The Truth which I have been upon Christ sent by God may be useful not only as a powerful incentive to Duty but also as a firm foundation of inward Comfort O believers set your Faith Hope Joy as high as ever you can this Sending of Christ will bear you out in it you cannot God having done this over-believe or over-rejoyce I 'le shew you what there is wrapped up in a Christ sent and for the better raising of your Comfort I 'le instance in Particulars for 't is with Gospel-Truths as 't is with your perfumed things which so long as they are wrapp'd up do but weakly affect the Sense but when they are taken out opened and parted then they do more strongly send forth their fragrant odours 1. Did God send Christ surely then great was his good Will towards you For had it not been so would he ever have done such a great thing for you as this therefore that heavenly Quire of Angels singing in consort upon the Birth of Christ made this a part of their Spiritual Song * Luke 2.14 Glory to God in the Highest and on Earth peace good will towards men I follow our reading of the latter Clause though I know it might be and is otherwise rendred why did they say good will towards men O because now in the Sending and Incarnation of Christ God had given out the highest demonstration that was possible of his good Will towards them Had there been any thing but that in his Heart and had there not been an abundance of that in his Heart he would never have sent and so sent his own Son 2. Did God send Christ surely then he is in good earnest real hearty in the matters of Salvation After such a thing as this Saints have not the least reason to be jealous of God or to question the reality of his Call offers invitations intentions promises declarations concerning their happiness What higher assurance could God give of his heartiness and reality in these than this if he once send his Son there 's no room left for suspicion or doubting This assures us that God is real in his Promises and will be faithful to his Promises for by it they are all at once ratified and confirmed If God make good the grand Promise of Sending his Son what other promise will he not make good a Christ sent is the Seal of all the Promises See Isa 7.14 3. Did God send Christ then you need not fear but that the work of Redemption is compleated When such a Person sends and such a Person is sent the Thing shall be done effectually and throughly be it never so high so hard if Christ undertake it hee 'l accomplish it Had a Creature indeed been sent there might

have been some ground of fear that he would not have been able to have gone throught such a work but when Christ is pitch'd upon all ground of fear is removed to be sure he can and will finish what he engages in And 't is evident that he perfected what he came about from the Father's re-admitting him into Heaven had there been any thing left undone by him would the Father have given him such a reception as he did Believers do not fear all is * Joh. 17.4 finished Christ gave not over till he brought it * Joh. 19.30 to that You do your work by halfes very weakly and imperfectly but Christ did his compleatly yea though the Law it self through your flesh was weak yet Christ in your flesh was strong he did that throughly which the Law was altogether unable to do 4. Did God send Christ know to your Comfort he hath not yet done As to his own Satisfaction he hath no more to do but as to Your Glory and Happiness he will yet do more He sent Christ once into the Flesh and he will send him again in the Flesh not to suffer and die again no Christ † Rom. 6.9 being dead dies no more there 's now no further need of any suffering and dying but to appear * c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Athan. de Incar Verbi p. 110. like Himself in Glory and then to take you up into Glory Once already he came down from Heaven to Earth from thence hee 'l come again for what end why to carry you up from Earth to Heaven Heb. 9.28 Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many that 's past and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto Salvation this is yet to come O long for it and rejoyce in it His First-Sending was to make the Purchase his Second shall be to put you into Possession which shall be done as certainly as the former is done and then there will be nothing further to be done 5. Wherefore did God send Christ for most gracious ends and purposes 1 Tim. 1.15 Christ Jesus came into the World to save Sinners c. 1 Joh. 4.9 10. In this was manifested the love of God towards us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him herein is Love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins Joh. 3.17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved Now were these God's Ends and shall they not be accomplished may not Faith fetch strong encouragement from these for in order to the strengthning of Faith we are to look to God's Works and their great Ends as well as to his Word and Promise 6. Did God send Christ set this against All. Against the weakness of the Law that which the Law could not do Christ did that which was too hard for it was not too hard for him the Text tells you he was sent on purpose to make up what was defective in the Law Set it also against the guilt of Sin upon Christ's Sending presently you read of the condemning of sin God sent his own Son c. and for sin condemned sin in the flesh Sin was to be destroy'd and the Wise God took a fit course imploy'd a fit messenger for that end as the Scape-Goat with the Sin of the people was to be sent away by the hand of a fit man into the Wilderness Lev. 16.21 Several Other things might be instanced in whatever it is which troubles the dejected Christian let him therein study a God sending a Son sent and there he may find very proper and considerable satisfaction in every Case 7. God sent Christ for whom for you who see your lost and undone condition Matth. 15.24 I am not sent but unto the lost Sheep of the house of Israel so his Commission was straitned at first but afterwards it was enlarged to the lost sheep of the Gentiles also Luke 19.10 The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost Matt. 9.13 I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance Tim. 1.15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save Sinners of whom I am chief 8. He that sent Christ was also pleased to lay a special Trust and Charge upon him to secure all the Elect and to look to it that not One of those should perish Here 's a Truth which is like the full Honey-comb you cannot touch it but Honey and sweetness drops from it And I the rather here take notice of it because I find our Saviour himself when he is speaking of his Sending to make mention of it or when he mentions it to take in also his sending as Joh. 6.39 40. This is the Father's Will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day And this is the Will of him that sent me that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day O when the Father sent Christ he made this known to him as his Will and Pleasure that he should take special care of all his Elect and see that not one of them should be lost And this Christ submitted to as a part of his Surety-ship and ever since he hath with all faithfulness observed this his Father's Will and made good his Trust in the securing of every sincere Christian And for your Comfort know that this Trust doth as much lie upon Christ's hands now as ever it did that even as to your individual Persons if you be true Believers it is the Father's Will to Christ that he should not lose one of you or let one of you perish A child of God perish O by no means that neither Father nor Son will permit Rather than that should befal any of the Elect God would send his Son again to do and suffer all over again if such a thing was to be imagined Here then Believers is matter of strong Consolation for you viz. as to your Spiritual and Eternal State you are safe Christ is under a special obligation to secure you For the Father did not only send him in order to the bringing of you into a good estate but he did also then entrust him with the keeping of you in that estate when he should have brought you into it and what can be spoken higher for your support and comfort But I must leave these things with you O that you would often think of them especially in Soul-distresses and be ever drawing from them till your Hearts be even brim-full of Heavenly Consolation A Third Vse offers it self

to be Sinners so the best must cry out Vnclean unclean or as they are in Christ they being justified through the imputation of his righteousness and accepted in him as their Head and Surety and so who will deny them to be righteous He fulfilled the Law for them which obedience of his being reckoned to them in God's account and imputatively they may be said to be without sin there 's no ANTINOMISME in this if it be rightly understood yet as they are in themselves and as to what is inherent and done by them there is God knows too much of sin in them 'T is no absurdity for the same Subject under diverse considerations to be look'd upon as sinles● and yet as sinful * Cant. 1.5 I am black but comely O what a pure spotless righteous person is the Believer in respect of imputation and yet what an impure defiled sinful person is he in respect of inhering corruption As to the other part of the Objection I deny the Consequence may we not be righteous but upon this we must be as righteous as Christ himself was as the former I would be loth to deny so the latter I would be as loth to affirm It doth not follow if Christ's obedience and righteousness be imputed to us that therefore we must be as righteous as he was because it is made over to us not in the fulness and infiniteness of it but * Per justitiam Christi nobis imputatam non possumus dici absolutà sive omni modo justi c. sed eatenus nos justos factos aestimat Deus quatenus Legis Divinae transgressores extiterimus Ut in tantum ex illâ Christi justitiâ justi facti dicamur in quantum ex inobedientiâ nostrâ injusti constituti simus Bradsh de Justif c. 24. sect 27. only so far as our case and necessity doth require or not absolutely in the utmost extent and degree of it but in tantum quod hoc that we may be look'd upon as fulfillers of the Law and as partakers of that righteousness which we need and are capable of And pray wherein doth the imputation of Christ's passive obedience come short as to what is here charged upon the imputation of his active will not the Argument lie as much against that as against this For upon that 't is said the Law was fully satisfied and received from Christ in our stead its full accomplishment upon that we are look'd upon as having committed no evil and omitted no good that Christ's infinite merit and Satisfaction is ours c. wherefore may it not with equal strength be infer'd from the imputation of this that we are not Sinners and that we are righteous as Christ was as it may from the imputation of the other Obj. This makes Christ to have done that very thing for matter which we our selves should 10. Object that he paid that very debt of Obedience in kind and not in value only which the Law required and which we should have paid which if so and that that be reckoned to us we are then justified by Works and our righteousness is Legal rather than Evangelical Answ Answ I have had occasion in what went before to speak a little of the idem and tantundem as they refer to Christ's Sufferings in answer to that Question Whether he suffered the self-same penalty which the Law threatned and the Sinner himself should have endured or whether he suffered only that which was equivalent thereunto In the deciding of which I closed with the common determination that Christ's Sufferings for kind and substance were the same which the Law threatned but as to some certain Circumstances and Accidents they were but equivalent The same resolution I shall give concerning the idem and tantundem with respect to his active obedience as to the substantial duties required by the Moral Law to them in kind he submitted and to that very obedience which we were obliged unto so it was the idem But then there were some Circumstances arising from some special Considerations about his person which in other things made a difference with respect to which it was but the tantundem What all were bound to do in the great and indispensable duties of the Law as Holiness Love to God c. that Christ did but what some only are bound to do upon certain special obligations lying upon them as they stand in such and such relations as Magistrates Husbands c. that was not done by Christ in specie he not standing in those relations In the substantial duties of the Law and in those acts of obedience which were in general necessary Christ did just that which we should have done understand me that I speak of Legal not of Evangelical Obedience for though Christ did that for us which the Law demanded yet he did not do that for us which the Gospel demands but as to some particular duties of the Law proper to such persons in such circumstances those he not being under those circumstances did not do and yet there is no defect in his Obedience the want of this particular being supply'd and made up by his general Obedience The Text saith that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us now why may we not content our selves with this that Christ fulfilled the Laws righteousness without running of our selves upon perplexing debates about the idem and the tantundem The case in brief stands thus the Law must be obey'd in our selves we neither did nor could obey it our Surety therefore must do it for us he doing it for us his Obedience must be imputed to us this imputation must be of that very obedience which we were bound unto otherwise this not something else in the lieu of it being demanded by the Law we are yet debtors to the Law therefore it follows that Christ did the idem which we should have done For as he delivered us from the curse of the Law by bearing that very curse in his own person which we should have bore so he fulfilled the righteousness of the Law for us by comforming to that very righteousness in his own person which we should have come up to As to our justification by Works which is pleaded against this imputation to that I shall speak immediately in the Vse And thus I have with no small grief and trouble the Lord knows to see in this point differences amongst persons so godly so learned and as to my self that I should so unavoidably be concern'd in these unhappy Controversies gone over and answered the most material Objections that I have met with against the imputation of Christ's active Obedience I would not be so fond or weak as to hope that what I have said should have any influence upon those learned and judicious persons from whom I differ so as to alter their opinion they knew it all before and had it from others with great advantage and yet