had a Son from eternity yet he had none of humane race none of our kind all being fallen in Adam 4. Our spiritual Sonship runs thus If children then heirs 't is not so among men all Sons are not Heirs but only the eldest but we shall every one possess the whole Inheritance Come ye blessed of my father inherit the kingdom c. Mat. 25. 34. 5. Adoption among men implies a succession into the inheritance after the death of the Adopter Haereditas est successio in universum jus defuncti Civil A Testament is of force after men are dead Heb. 9. 17. The Heir whether Natural or Adopted has nothing to do with the Estate till then But our Heavenly Father never dies our Elder brother never dies and yet we enter into possession have a present Copartnership with the Father and the Son Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ 1 John 1. 3. Nay we actually enjoy the whole inheritance with the Father and the Son indeed they are our inheritance the only portion of our Souls Had God left us never so much to be enjoyed by it self apart from God 't would be as nothing to us Heaven would not be Heaven if God were not there therefore we are said to be glorified together Rom. 8. 17. Christ will be always among his Brethren John 17. 24. Their Glory lies in beholding his the Father and the Son will have all things to be in common between them and the Saints and that to all Eternity Here is a Glorious Adoption indeed the world never knew the like What manner of love is this that we we should be called the children of God Tho our Heavenly Father never die nor our Elder Brother never die yet we must die before we can have full possession of the whole inheritance so did the Man Christ and so must we If we suffer with him we shall reign with him 2 Tim. 2. 12. CHAP. III. Fourthly The signs of Adoption 1. A Loving peaceable disposition Blessed are the peace-makers for they shall be called the children of God Mat. 5. 9. Who is the God of peace and hath commanded us with great earnestness if it be possible and as much as lies in us to live peaceably with all men Rom. 12. 18. So far as may be without wrong to the truth and our own Consciences we must so follow Peace as not to quit Holiness Heb. 12. 14. A zealous contending for the Truth is very consistent with the peaceable Temper of a true Christian We may have salt in our selves and yet have peace one with another Mark 9. 50. Adoption is an uniting principle the Saints should live together in Love as the Children of one Father as joined in the same interest Behold how good and how pleasant is it for brethren to dwell together in unity Psal. 133. 1. What Abraham said unto Lot Gen. 13. 8. we should say to each other Let there be no strife I pray thee between me and thee for we be brethren I wish there were more of this sign of Adoption among the Children of God this day We have reason all of us to pray for more of that Wisdom that is from above Which is first pure then peaceable gentle and easy to be intreated James 3. 17. 2. A spiritual and holy Conversation Abraham's children do the works of Abraham Joh. 8. 39. Walk in the steps of his faith Rom. 4. 12. Who is the father of us all V. 16. The Children of God should not debase themselves to the sordid practices of the men of the World they should shine out as lights in the midst of a crooked Generation making streight paths for their feet walking evenly and uprightly as those who are led by the Spirit of God and thereby do approve themselves to be the Children of God Rom. 8. 14 3. A reverential Fear of God in all our ways 1 Pet. 1. 17. Mal. 1. 6. joined with filial Obedience 1 Pet. 1. 14. which they are led to not from a mercenary hope of reward but from an innate Principle of Love to God as their Heavenly Father they cannot but take after that will of God of which they were begotten 4. A restless breathing and panting after God when he hides his face from us in any displeasure A child of God can't bear the least distance between God and his soul Psa. 42. 1 2. There is nothing that a gracious Soul more desires than the presence of God Psal. 84 10. Psal. 65. 4. He is carried out by a Divine instinct after God his joy is full when he is in communion with God and he is presently troubled when his face is hid The more God sheds abroad his Love in our hearts the more are our hearts captivated to him made more willing in the day of his power to serve him The Love of God is a conquering Love a heart-subduing Love it has a mighty constraining power over us drawing the will after it The Law presses duty but gives us no strength to perform it it pricks us forward as with the point of a Sword but does not bear us up in doing it The Law commands Holiness but under the Gospel Holiness commands us the Principles of it being inlaid in our renewed Natures We consent unto the law that it is good we delight in it after the inward man Rom. 7. 16. 22. 'T is written in our hearts we are a Law to our selves and therefore not without Law to God but under the Law to Christ 1 Cor. 9. 21. The Grace of the Gospel suits our wills to the will of God the free Spirit of Christ inclines us to new Obedience God knows how to commend his Love to us how to ingratiate himself with us till he has so taken our hearts that we begin to be sick of love towards him Cant. 5. 9. Full of vehement desires and longings after him David's heart was ready to break under this most holy frame Psalm 119. 20. Till we are Adopted children we are as to our state under the Law To be under the Law is to be without a Spirit of Grace to be a debtor to the Law when we have nothing to pay to be under the curse and servitude of the Law acting out of Fear not Love We can't Love God or Godliness till we Believe God loves us in Christ this molifies and changes the heart we are holy by choice now are a Law to our selves ergo the Doctrine of Free-Grace is no licentious Doctrine as some would make us believe 'T is not wrangling about Faith and Works but living by Faith that gives us an experimental knowledge of the truth and power of the Doctrine of Free-grace which makes us own God as our God We must break the First Commandment before we can break any of the other Nine In a dying hour Bellarmine's Tutissimum est will be good Doctrine When we bring things to an issue between God and our own
Christ into the Soul begets Hope And also How Christ received doth feed nourish and maintain this Hope keep it up I begin with the First To consider the Nature of Faith as it is a Cause of Hope When the Apostle saith Christ in us is the Hope of Glory he means Christ received by us or Christ believed on For nothing but Faith can raise up Hope no not from Christ himself Faith is before all other Graces is the Mother of them all Hope Love Fear Joy Zeal and the like are but the several Motions of the Heart towards Christ as he is represented to us by Faith Faith raises and sanctifies our Affections lets them out upon Christ so leading out our Souls towards him by all those holy Passions that may be any way expressive of the high Veneration we have for him Our Affections do express the sense of our Souls whether we like or dislike how we stand affected towards any thing proposed to us My business is To shew how Faith begets Hope how naturally Hope rises out of Faith and is founded upon it And I shall argue from the Nature of Faith as it stands in relation to Hope so it is spoken of Heb. 11. 1. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen It is the Substance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quasi fulcrum rerum sperendarum It is Calvin's Notation upon the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Institut lib. 3. c. 2. Sect. 41. Faith is that which under-props Hope and therefore rendred the substance of things hoped for à substando denoting not only the subsistance of the things hoped for in the Understanding of a Believer but also the help that Faith gives our Minds to conceive of things to come as if they were now before our eyes and in our hands Faith is Hypostasis that which under-props our Hope that which Hope stands upon Faith bears up Hope Hope stands upon the shoulders of Faith and looks over into Eternity upon things to come which are lifted up as it were by Faith out of their Futurity and rendred as present to us in their very substance that is The Objects of a lively Hope do affect the Mind of a Believer as much as present Objects do our Senses Hence Faith is also called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Index Ostension Probation or Conviction of things hoped for that is it is the evidence of things not appearing the sight or intellectual Vision of things not seen it is the Perspicuity or plain Appearance of things obscure it is the presence of things absent the demonstration of things occult and hidden and all this because Faith doth secure to us what is hoped for from the Promise of God Evidence is a rational intellectual thing the demonstration of something to our Understandings But the Substance of a Thing is the Thing it self it is as if it were so to a Lively Hope thus raised and influenced by Faith Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen Besides Faith sees that in Christ that answers all Objections against our Hope His Power and Ability to save is unquestionable to every true Believer whether he will save such vile sinners as we are many doubts may come in at this door but it is of the Essence of Saving Faith to believe the Power and Ability of Christ to save to the uttermost there can be no Faith till then neither weak nor strong Where there is nothing to relye upon there can be no reliance That which we rely upon must be sure and certain in it self Hence Christ is compared to a Rock to a Foundation to a Corner-Stone that bears up the Weight of the whole Building He is one mighty to save and must be looked upon as such before a poor trembling Sinner will venture to trust in him I grant they who don't question his Power may doubt of his Will as that Leper Matth. 18. 2. If thou wilt thou canst make me whole Yet when things come to extremity between God and a Sinner Faith in the Power and Ability in Christ to save us will carry it against all surmizes of any unwillingness in him to save us When we are put to it indeed Faith will make the venture the Consideration whether he will or will not save thee is out of doors then you 'll cast your selves upon him at all adventure if I perish I perish tho thou killest me I will trust in thee To whom should we go with thee only are the words of eternal life There is no other name under heaven salvation is in no other Acts 4. 12. There is many a soul goes o Christ for Salvation who at the same time may fear and think and it may be say That Christ will not save them will not own them nor look upon them but having none else to flye unto to him they must and to him they will go at last if they belong to God Lord save us we perish say they They come to Christ under fears of perishing as appears by their Outcries and yet not without some hope of Deliverance as appears by their Coming I am persuaded many a dear Child of God goes out of the world under such a trembling Act of Faith and blessed are they that do so for certainly that is dying in the Lord. It may not be so comfortable yet it is a safe state And this may be not only the concluding Act of Faith in a dying hour but Faith may and doth so act in weak Christians at other seasons it brings them to the feet of Christ full of Fears and Doubts and there they lye and there they will lye till help comes from the Lord. They are long a coming to Christ but come they will first or last It shews they have some hope more it may be than they themselves take notice of They express it rather by their Actions than by their Words They act like those who have hope tho they speak like those who have none Master save us we perish I must allow something for these doubts and fears of our Acceptance with God upon the account of our own unworthiness as consistent with the Nature of Saving Faith in the main Yet whatever shew of Humility they have they are but a proud piece of Unbelief And I will further say That these distrustful Thoughts of Christ's Willingness to save us are most directly opposite to the Hope in the Text and do arise I am persuaded from a secret Distrust of his All-sufficiency and Power tho we may not discern this in our selves That act of Unbelief that is uppermost and most palpable goes for all the Unbelief that is in our heart when it is quite otherwise if they were searched to the bottom Unbelief hath many Strings and Fibres it is a complicated thing all evil is in it even Atheism it self let us carry it how we will it is a denial of God
Promise so he becomes our God he makes a Covenant with us in Christ to be our God that for his sake he will freely pardon our sins and receive us into a state of Grace and Favour again thus God offers himself in the Covenant to be our God But an outward tender of grace if not closed in with and accepted is but a bare offer not a gift till we receive it when God intends to give grace he secretly joyns with the outward call speaks himself to the heart and inclines us to receive it herein lyes the difference between an outward and an inward effectual Call An effectual Call is that which hath its effect upon the Soul makes us answer to the call and obey it we are called to come to Christ and when we actually come then is the Call effectual and not before when God offered himself to Abraham it was with a purpose not to be refused and therefore he inclined the heart of Abraham to believe You may live long under an outward Call and not be effectually called i. e. not called with such a Call as God gives his Elect at thir Conversion many are called but few chosen i. e. few called with such a Call as God gives his Elect. We cannot be sure of our Election till we are thus effectually called To be frequent Hearers of the word calling us to Christ and yet find no inclinations in our hearts to come to him is a sign that God hath not yet spoken to us himself Ministers have but God hath not yet by his Spirit set home his word upon our hearts The inclinations of the Soul towards Christ that arise from an effectually Call are very strong they put the Soul upon coming to Christ urge us to it every day there is something writ upon the heart whch he that runs may read Conscience is reading over that inward Writing every day to the Soul calls for a speedy answer why is not this done that God requires that God has left upon record in thy heart Why so backward why so slow of heart to believe Arise arise away to Christ as fast as you can run for your life to the City of refuge that God has appointed They who know what an inward Call is cannot resist it an awakened Conscience is in hast will have the business dispatched out of hand nothing can stop that man who is effectually called O that every one here present were under such a Call this day God is able to give it and I am sure none of you are able to resist it Christ is offered to us in the New Covenant as our Peace-maker and Mediator therefore called the covenant of the people Isa. 42. 6. the sure foundation of it Isa. 26. 16. The Covenant made with Abraham is said to be confirmed of God in Christ before his Incarnation Gal. 3. 17. This Covenant was made between the Father and the Son from Eternity Isa. 42. 6. Tit. 1. 2. 2 Tim. 1. 9. The first outward declaration or revelation of it was in time Gen. 3. 15. The actual application of this Grace to our selves is when we first Believe We enter into Covenant by Faith we set our seal to the truth of the Promise and receive that right that Christ Believed on gives to Eternal life Faith it self gives no right to Salvation unto us but what it first receives from Christ we have nothing to do with the promise till we are in Christ by Faith Eph. 2. 12. Rom. 8. 32. Faith discerns the Grace and Love of God to us in Christ and accepts of the offer of life upon Gospel terms which the Soul could never be brought to till Faith came Who has believed the report and to whom has the arm of the Lord been reveal'd i. e. to beget Faith which wins over a Sinner to Christ We should be much in the first direct acts of Faith coming to Christ casting our selves on Christ relying on Christ these direct acts of Faith often repeated will sooner clear up our Interest in Christ than our judging by marks signs effects and fruits which can give no clearer Evidence of their truth than Faith does of its truth in a real closing with Christ in an absolute Promise this is the first act of Saving Grace antecedent to all qualifications in us or conditions performed by us this alters our State They understand not the Gospel who keep off from Christ for want of such and such qualifications which Christ expects not we should bring to him but derive from him an humble sense of our vileness and unworthiness is qualification enough for a Sinner to come to Christ and cast himself upon him When God has once said he will be our God he is ever after minding us of that speaking it over again and again upon all occasions Isa. 43. 1 2 3. c. Isa. 41. 10. Heb. 8. 11 12. I will and they shall God undertakes both parts of the Covenant The Covenant in the first initial Grace of it must be first executed on God's part towards us before it can be executed on our part towards God God begins with us doth his part first and that enables us to do our part i. e. we cannot give up our selves to him to be his people till he has writ his Laws in our Hearts and put his Spirit within us thereby declaring himself to be our God and strongly inclining us to give up our selves to him as his People God first enters into Covenant with us brings us under the bond of it and then governs us ever after by the Grace of that Covenant freely conferred upon us There may be conditions in the Covenant that speak out the order of it what is first and what follows upon it according to the method of the All-wise God in bringing hom-Sinners to Christ But I do not conceive there are any conditions previously required in us in order to our first entring into Covenant God takes whom he will into Covenant and leaves out whom he will 't is not of him that wills nor of him that runs but of God that shews Mercy 't is a Covenant of Free Grace consisting of absolute Promises what God will do our doing comes afterwards as a fruit and effect of God's work in us That which is done by us in the virtue and power of that which is first done in us by God must be ascribed to him and not to our selves Turn thou me and I shall be turned God gives the first turn before we can perceive any such thing as Conversion in our selves God lays in the principle and then draws us in the Power of it after himself The Terms of the Covenant may be outwardly propounded to many who never enter into Covenant with God nor God with them the Covenant is never executed in them and towards them though it be often preacht to them How often would I have gathered you and you would not Mat. 23. 37. When the word of
God's grace comes to us we either receive it or put it from us and 't will be no joy of heart to us in a dying Hour to think how often we have refused our own Mercies offered to us which nothing but our final unbelief can hinder us of you who do not now believe know assuredly that you will never believe 'till God turn your hearts and he then begins to turn them when he puts you upon seeking earnestly to him for it as that which none can do besides I wish this sign of Conversion were more apparent in us all how diligently should we wait upon God for converting Grace in the use of means the reason why many receive so little benefit from the word is because they expect so little from it they do not come with raised expectations of a powerful Revelation of the Arm of God upon their hearts you that do have I doubt not seen and felt the mighty works of God upon your Souls Faith begins at the promises is raised from thence and ever after waits for the performance of them it shall be done according to your Faith Some think they must bring Faith to the Covenant as a preparatory Qualification for all the Grace that is there promised whereas we must come to the Covenant for our first Faith and fetch it thence the Spirit by the outward proposal of the Covenant kindles Faith in us by which we cast our selves upon the free Grace of God in Christ We have nothing to believe till then Do this and then look for the Law written in your hearts for the Spirit of God and all the fruits of the Spirit in your repentance Love Obedience and holy walking with God all Graces flow from the Covenant of Grace Pray that God will give you a heart to assent to and close with Christ upon the terms of the Covenant and then see if all be not made good to you God will do much for the Glory of his Grace but he will do nothing to nourish your Pride and Conceitedness of your selves and your own righteousness seek all from Grace and you have all but if you go about to establish your own righteousness you will never attain unto righteousness if you seek it not by Faith Rom. 9. 32. 3. How come we to discern God to be our God in Christ or what is there in Christ that makes out this unto us 1. Christ as Man does own God to be his God and the God of all who are in him My Father and your Father my God and your God John 20. 17. God is not only the God of Christ Personal but of Christ Mystical his Head both ways 1 Cor. 11. 3. When we are one in Christ then the God of Christ is our God we cannot since the fall have an Interest in God but through a Mediator he is the great Peace maker 't is Christ makes God to be ours who otherwise would be against us not for us God is in Christ reconciling the World unto himself As Christ owns God to be his God so God the Father owns Christ incarnate as his wellbelovedSon and the same love he beareth to him he beareth to all his Members John 17. 23 26. We can have no immediate Knowledg of God in his own Divine Essence So he is perfectly known only to himself all that concerns us to know of him he has revealed in Christ Without a personal knowledge of God in Christ we cannot act our Faith upon him nor have any real Communion with him Notions are not Persons or Subsistencies but Mental Conceptions neither can we apply our selves to those Speculations if we know not the Person to whom they belong all Divine Attributes relate to their proper Subject nay more all Divine Attributes are of the essence of God they are God himself neither do our thoughts of Omnipotency Allsufficiency c. signify any thing to our relief unless we know him who is all this we cannot know Omnipotency to be God himself unless we see it acted and expressed by him who is God 't is a hard matter to prove the reality of that which was never acted and 't is impossible to know that such Attributes have been exerted unless we know by whom None of the idol gods were ever able to act over any one of the essential Attributes of God by the help of the Devil they pretended something that way but it was a mere pretence easily disproved by any considering man strictly examining either their Predictions of future Events or their feigned Miracles which were all mere Delusions false and groundless Christ out-did them all he did the works of God indeed and for his work-sake ought to be believed to be God indeed 2. In Christ we see God's Wrath appeased his Justice satisfied for all our Offences all causes of Enmity between God and us are taken away by Christ Eph. 2. 13 14. The body of sin destroyed Rom. 6. 6. We Crucified to the World Gal. 6. 14. The Image of God restored his Law writ in our hearts 3. The Spirit of Christ dwelling in us tells us so teaches us to cry Abba Father As no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 12. 3. So none can say that God is their God but by the Holy Ghost By the Spirit of Christ which is the Spirit of God Rom. 8. 9. When God himself tells you by his own Spirit that he is your God he makes you to understand what he says and to see how happy you are in having God for your God Till we come to some sense of this we lose the comfort of our Religion it has little Influence upon us whence does the power of godliness arise but from the power of God who is the Author of true Religion and puts that power into it that belongs to true godliness take away the relation that is between Godliness and God and you quite destroy the power of godliness Religion is a weak thing if it be not maintained and supported by the authority and power of God himself 4. We see that of God in Jesus Christ that makes us fall down and Worship him as our God crying out with Thomas John 20. 28. My Lord and my God When we look upon Christ with an eye of Faith we do with open face behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord 2 Cor. 3. 18. God causes his glory to pass before us le ts out some beams of his Divine Majesty that we may know him to be the Lord such Manifestations of God to the Soul through Christ have I hope fallen under your own experience many a time and that you are not now without such a sight of God in Christ as does create in you a holy Reverence towards him a holy trembling at his word if you receive it as the word of God of your God it must have this effect upon you any thing from our God that bears his
put no other sense upon any Scripture that is not consistent with and agreeable to this great fundamental Principle keeping close to the just analogy of Faith in all your tenents and opinions I know there are other things to be considered besides Remission of Sin but be sure you begin here don't suppose that some previous qualifications in your selves are required to incline God to pardon your sins for this will carry you unavoidably into a self-righteousness and then Christ will profit you nothing We are not pardon'd because we repent and lead holy lives but we repent and lead holy lives because we are fully Pardoned for Christ's sake Shut all self-righteousness out of your justification and take all that is Christ's into it both his active and passive Obedience though I had rather joyn them together as the Scriptures do and say That by the obedience of one man many are made righteous i. e. by the Obedience of Christ in Suffering and doing all that the Law required And in the Application of this Grace to us 't is clear to me that upon the Remission of all our Sins Righteousness is imputed to us and this is that which the Apostle calls Righteousness without works Rom. 4. 6 7 8. The Righteousness of works so far as it can be attained in this life is but an effect of the Righteousness of Faith You know not the right way of Salvation till you know how to obtain the Pardon of all your Sins then you will see how Christ is become your Righteousness Let us not be too curious in placing one part of our Justification upon his Passive and another part upon his Active Obedience Let us be sure to place all upon Christ and then we are right the Spirit does not reveal the whole Mystery of Christ at once to Believers there is a great deal of Christ to be learned by those who are Justified and Pardoned even after they are in a state of Grace Let us believe Christ to be our Righteousness and leave it to him to make out the way and manner of his being so Our terms and distinctions applied to the fundamental Points of Religion have occasioned many mistakes about them Let us therefore attend more strictly to the simplicity of our own Faith and not call in our Reason to prompt our Faith but rather submit our Reason to the instructions of Faith I would have all Christians study their own Faith more and dwell more in the light of it then they will be more familiarly acquainted with it and better understand themselves in every act of Faith they put forth Let us give our Faith time to act to open it self further to us and our selves time to take in the full sense of our Faith Generally our acts of Faith are too short sudden and transient We make a formal profession of Faith and say We believe in Christ for the Pardon of Sin but don't so well weigh and consider what we say or what we belâ—eve we turn off presently to something else as if we had done with our Faith when the Mystery of it is not half apprehended by us We should attend to it ponder it well in our minds look round it this is the way to keep up a presence of mind in us about what we Believe One act of Faith attended to will fill us with such thoughts and apprehensions of the Love of Christ that will furnish us with matter of discourse for many days But I don't find Professors so much concerned in their own Faith so much affected with it as they should they pass it over as a plain ordinary piece of Religion and having once declared they believe in Christ for the Pardon of Sin they have no more to do with him Whereas the Mystery of Faith should be studied all our lives long we should pray as Paul did Eph â— â—7 c. vide That we may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints Faith has more in it than most People are aware of 't is not so easy a matter to know comprehend and remember what is contained in an act of Saving-Faith we should discourse more with our own Faith look into all particulars search to the bottom by gathering up more and more of the unsearcheable riches of Christ. He that would judge of a curious piece of Workmanship brings it to the light views it round in every part till he has gathered up all the excellencies of it into his mind then he can speak knowingly in the praise and commendation of such a thing having made observations before of all that was admirable in it So you should sit down and consider the consequence of an act of Faith upon Christ for Justification and Pardon what depends upon it what you gain by it what you expect from it all is yours if Christ be yours therefore be persuaded to enter into your Chambers and Closets sit down with a Bible in your hands stir up your Faith consider the state of a Believer and then gather up what makes for your comfort out of the Word of God O how would your Faces shine you would be filled with joy unspeakable and full of Glory by Believing there is not that Joy among Believers because they don't think enough of what they Believe Do you Believe in Christ for the Remission of Sin Then there is a great deal in Christ a great deal in Sin a great deal in the actings of thy own Soul under this Faith to be considered of The knowledge experience and evidence of Faith are things that should be particularly examined and seriously thought of There is a full business in Faith enough to imploy a gracious Soul all his days Faith fills the mind with deep apprehensions of our own great concernments in Christ Jesus Were we wise indeed unto Salvation we should think of nothing oftner than of what we believe there may be Faith and there may be Truth in the heart and yet these Two may not be sufficiently mingled together therefore we should often apply our Faith to the Word that what it does not see at one time it may see at another what it does not reach by one act it may take in by the next The oftner Faith looks into the Word the more distinctly does it gather up the full sense of the Word it dwells in us in more Wisdom and Spiritual Understanding Did we take this course we should quickly find the benefit of it out of our Bellies would flow Rivers of living water we should be more skilful in the word of Righteousness more expert Believers ready to give a reason of the hope that is in us Believers have much to say in defence of Christ the Gospel and their own Profession and the more they study the point the more ready are they to give an answer to them who ask them any questions about their Religion they keep
Name comes with authority commands a due respect from us Since we are redeemed with the precious Blood of Christ 1 Pet. 1. 19. Justified by his Blood saved from Wrath through him reconciled to God by the death of his Son Rom. 5. 9 10. We may conclude from all that has passed between God and Christ concerning our Salvation that God is our God Christ has made him so When we know who is our God what he will be unto us and do for us we may enter into rest for ever rejoycing in his Salvation Two things prove God to be ours 1. His giving himself to us in a Promise 2. Our receiving him in that Promise by Faith which holds him fast will not let him go neither will God wrest himself out of the hand of our Faith for that would be to recede from his own Promise to deny himself no he will approve himself to be every way ours taking a universal Care of us and providing eternally for us causing his fulness to flow in upon our Souls more and more every day Jer. 17. 8. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters that spreadeth her roots by the river and shall not see when heat cometh but her leaf shall be green nor shall cease from yeilding fruit CHAP. VII Some further Evidences of God's being OVR God 1. LOOK into your own hearts for this see what impressions of his Love and Fear you can find there what measure of the Spirit of his Son breathing in you examine prove your own selves that you may know whether Christ be in you of a truth he who has God for his God his heart is much set upon Christ who has brought this about and by a Spirit of Adoption made it known to us that God is our Father the Spirit does not tell us this only by an external Declaration of it in the word but by an internal operation or breathing in our hearts as the Spirit of the Son inclining us to go to God as Children of our Heavenly Father We know God to be our Father by a Divine Instinct the spirit of the Son leads us naturally to our Heavenly Father the Spirit of the Son knows no other Father but God and God acts as a Father towards all in whom he sees the Spirit of his Son when we are joyned to the Lord in one Spirit we stand in the same relation to God the Father as Christ our elder Brother does then it is I and the children which thou hast given me Heb. 2. 13. All Children of the same Father I the first born and these my Brethren Being partakers of the Divine Nature that Nature tells us who is our Heavenly Father we need not say with Philip shew us the Father we shall see the Father in the Son and move towards him in the Spirit of the Son feeling in our selves such childlike affections towards God as will make us call him Father We must be clear in the actings of our Faith upon Christ before we can apprehend God to be our Father still remembring that it 's the Father of Christ who is our Father 2. By that inward satisfaction and rest we find in our selves under this new Covenant-relation to God he that believes doth enter into rest Heb. 4. 3. Soul take thine ease a Child of God may truly say so upon our believing in Christ there is a secret shedding abroad of that love of God in the Soul when we turn to God God turns about to us looks pleasingly upon us we tast and see that God is gracious this is the sinners welcome into a state of Grace he sees it much better with him than before 3. By the confidence we put in him for help and comfort in all our times of need The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want Psalm 23. 1. We see that in God that answers all our fears do we want strength the Lord is our strength would a rock or fortress stand us in any stead God is both would a Buckler a high Tower the Lord is all this to a Believer and Faith understands as much Psal. 18. 1 2. And therefore is confident in God knows that every Promise will be established God will act like a God towards us like a God to Israel as 1 Chron. 17 24 25. We may safely trust in him Dan. 3. 17. Our God is the God of Salvation Psal. 68. 20. Isa. 41. 10. We should apply to him for help upon all occasions Isa. 8. 19. And let others have a care of medling with the people of God to their hurt Jer. 2. 3. All that devour him shall offend evil shall come upon them saith the Lord. They are sensible how God stands engaged to them and they to God God promises to do great things for them and they promise to walk in his ways and to keep his statutes Deut. 26. 16. ad finem Not to do this is to deny God Josh. 24. 27. You say he is your God don't unsay it again by your wilful Disobedience When God owns any for his people he makes them to own him for their God he works answerable Dispositions in their hearts towards himself as he avouches them to be his people so they avouch him to be their God Hos. 2. 23. I will say i. e. I will make them my people Dei dicere est efficere our saying is to believe and obey when we disobey God we disown him we set up something else for our God we say unto God Depart from us Job 21. 14 15. 4. By his appearing for us against all our sworn Enemies as he did for Israel of old bringing them out of Egypt with a Mighty hand when things come to extremities between God and his People he will then save them because he is their God Psalm 3. 7. For his own name sake Isa. 43. 25. David knew the strength of the Argument Psal. 119. 94. Though God may severely Chastise his people yet he will not take away his Loving kindness utterly from them he will not make an utter end of them God cannot do this Hos. 11. 8. 5. By our zealous appearing for God upon all occasions The way of the Lord is strength to the upright Prov. 10. 29. The people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits Dan. 11. 32. 6. The Apostle Phil. 3. 3. when he would prove himself and the Philippians to be the peculiar people of God to belong to him indeed he gives Three Signs of it viz. Worship God in the spirit rejoyce in Christ Jesus have no confidence in the flesh They who say God is their God from a true saving Knowledg of God in Christ they believe there is no other God that he is the only true God Who is God save the Lord who is a rock save our God Psal. 18. 31. Above all gods 2 Chron. 2. 5. And him only will they serve Mat. 4. 10. He is their guide unto death Psal. 48. 14. They
verse is called God And he blessed Joseph and said God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk the God which fed me all my life long unto this day the angel which redeemed me from all evil bless the lads Hence Christ is called our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isa. 43. 14. Thus saith the Lord your redeemer the holy One of Israel Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel and his redeemer the Lord of hosts Isa. 44. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Redemptor ejus This word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies a near kinsman as well as a Redeemer Ruth 4. 4. Blessed be the Lord which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Redeemer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Redemptor propinquus Ruth 3. 12. a near kinsman Christ was both Heb. 2. 14. ad finem vide So in the New Testamen the word used for Redemption or to redeem is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 forum to buy as in a market with ready money as in the Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ye are bought with a price So Rev. 5. 9. Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood And Rev. 14. 3 4. The Hundred forty four thousand were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 redeemed or bought from the earth and from among men Hence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gal. 3. 13. Christ hath Redeemed us from the Curse of the Law emercatus as Merchants who give a valuable consideration for the Commodities they buy so Christ emendo exemit has redeemed us by buying us off The same word you have Gal. 4. 5. God sent forth his Son to redeem them that were under the Law by laying down a sufficient price Hence Christ is said to give his life a ransom for many Mat. 20. 28. He gave himself a ransom for all 1 Tim. 2. 6. The words used in those places are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 solvo to loose one from his bands as Paul was Acts 22. 30. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he loosed him from his bands It signifies also to loose from sin by the Free Pardon of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven Mat. 16. 19. The same word is applied to Christ 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ye are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ or with the honourable invaluable Blood of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As Servants under the Law were redeemed by Price or Compensation Lev. 25. 52. so are we under the Gospel we are Servi emptitii bought Servants By all this it appears That our Redemption by Christ is not a bare simple deliverance and freedom from Misery by a meer act of Power only but a real Price was paid It pleased God to redeem man in a way of Justice as most agreeable to his holy Nature who as a Righteous God punishes sinners Psal. 11. 5 6 7. Rev. 16. 15 16. Rom. 3. 26. Natural Conscience is convinced of the equity of this that a sinner is worthy of death Rom. 1. 32. Justice cannot be taken off from inflicting this Punishment but by Satisfaction given by Christ If sin could have been forgiven without it Christ would never have undergone such Sufferings as he did A Believer may plead both Mercy and Justice for the Pardon of Sin Art thou afraid Grace will not reach thee then know that Justice it self will discharge thee Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died Rom. 8. 33 34. CHAP. III. SIxthly For whom and to what end was this Price paid For all the Elect that not one of them might be lost John 6. 39. 'T was the love of God that procured this Ransom God so loved the world c. John 3. 16. Rom. 3. 24 25. We are brought nigh to God by the blood of Christ Eph. 2. 13. Justice being satisfied nothing can now obstruct the free course of his mercy towards us Christ knew he was able to rescue us out of the power of Sin and Satan undertook this when he laid down the ransom but the actual accomplishment of this in us is a work of time many for whom Christ shed his Blood are not presently freed from Sin and Satan they both have power over them till Christ by his Word and Spirit hath subdued them and set his Elect at perfect liberty some degrees of this liberty they attain in this World but not their full and perfect liberty till the Resurrection then the strong man shall be quite cast out by one stronger than himself then will those Scriptures Heb. 2. 14. Col. 2. 14 15. be fulfilled in us Our Redemption by Christ is the greatest expression of God's love to us that ever was Rom. 5. 8. Rom. 8. 32. Joh. 15. 13. Seventhly By the law of Redemption the Redeemed pass over Body and Soul into the possession of the Redeemer they become his Isa. 43. 1. vide His peculiar people the lot of his Inheritance Deut 4. 20. Deut. 32. 9. God calls them so from their Redemption out of Egypt which was a Type of our Redemption by Christ therefore Believers are called in the New Testament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a peculiar people or a purchased people 1 Pet. 2. 9. To buy is to acquire or procure unto ones self a special right in any thing so bought thus the Church is purchased by the Blood of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Act. 20. 28. Possession follows Purchase the Purchased Possession Eph. 1. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to do something about us God does clasp us round as it were and incircle us he draws us to himself separating us from the rest of Mankind These are mine says Christ I am the sole Proprietor I have purchased an everlasting right in them and dominion over them they are my own I am their Lord and King they are at my disposal 1 Cor. 7 23. I am their father and redeemer Isa. 63. 16. A dwelling-house in a walled city if it were not redeemed within a whole year after 't was sold it was established for ever to him that bought it Levit. 25. 30. But the Saints are Christ's own for ever as soon as he has bought them he will never sell them never part with them What right did God recover in and to us by Redeeming us 1. God has an original right to and dominion over all Creatures by the Law of Creation Hath not the Potter power over the clay of the same lump to make what vessels he pleases unto honour or dishonour Rom. 9. 21. 2. God as a Creator and Judge hath a right to man fallen to dispose of him according to justice to execute his vengeance upon him To make his power known upon vessels of wrath fitted to destruction Rom. 9. 22. But 3.
way fitted for the Office of a Mediator touched with the feeling of our Infirmities in all points tempted as we are Heb. 4. 15. A body hast thou prepared me Heb. 10. 5. i. e. Framed to such a temper that Christ through our nature might best express God's love to man Christ acted over the life of God in man's nature therefore it was necessary that the humane Nature of Christ should be adapted and suited to the Divine Nature which was done three ways viz. First By the perfection of it being free from all contagion of sin by a miraculous conception the Holy Ghost over-shadowing the Virgin Mary and separating humane Nature in the first conception of Christ from original sin that descends down upon it in all who come into the World by natural Generation Secondly By the Hypostatical union of the humane Nature to the Divine in the second Person of the Trinity which eternally secures our humane Nature in Christ from all possibility of the least defection puts it quite out of the power of the Devil any way to corrupt or vitiate it by all his subtil contrivances and temptations by which he did vainly attempt such a thing perfect Nature in the first Adam I don't say could not but did not preserve it self Adam did not fall for want of light and knowledge no he could never have fallen unless he would 't was from the mutability of his Will that he fell but the humane Nature of Christ the second Adam being under the Government of a Divine immutable Will can never fall hence it is that our standing in Christ is secured to eternity Thirdly By the pouring out of the Spirit without measure upon him that so strengthned all his humane Faculties that 't was impossible the Devil should ever impose upon him such an overflowing fulness of the Spirit leaves no room for any carnal impression to be made upon him his humane Nature received such a Divine tincture from the essence of the Godhead so powerfully influencing his Manhood that the Devil found nothing in him to work upon he met with God in every thought in every word in every Action of Christ in every motion and affection of his heart and finding one so much greater than himself continually aiding and strengthning the Man Christ he despairs of Victory and leaves him The Devil was not mistaken in the Nature of the Man Christ which was really humane but he was mistaken in the Person of Christ which was solely Divine such a Person in such a Nature he never thought to meet with that which posed the Devil was the Person of Christ he might know him to be God and yet apply himself to him as Man that he is sure he was he could not conceive how humane Nature could subsist but in a humane Person and as such a Person he set upon him but found it hard to kick against the pricks such a mighty Man he never grapled with before he was so shamefully foyled in this encounter that he never durst look Christ in the face afterwards he came behind him often like a Coward in disguise and by his wicked Instruments annoyed him all he could but durst not send him a second Challenge to fight it out with him once more hand to hand no he had enough of that already now he foams and rages at a distance throws his fiery darts here and there strikes at the Image of Christ in the Saints where ever he sees it but dares not come up to his Person face to face the great thing that the Devil dreads in the second coming of Christ he knows that is the time of his torment Therefore having such a high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens Heb. 8. 1. who is not ashamed to call us Brethren let us not be ashamed to call God Father Christ will bear us out in it the Children of God as such are not known to the World 1 John 3. 1. Have hard usage from the World 2 Cor. 48. 9 10. Yet God knows them is kind to them and tender of them Isa. 54. 11. Behold now we are the sons of God 1 John 3. 2. Now under all our infirmities and afflictions God is with us in the fire and in the water he has a great love to and very high esteem of all his Children since thou wast precious in my sight thou hast been honourable and I have loved thee Isa. 43. 2 3 4. He will by no means take away his loving kindness utterly from them Psal. 89 32 33. Deut. 8. 5. We are apt to think otherwise Isa. 49. 14. Zion said the Lord hath forsaken me my Lord hath forgotten me We shall be apt to entertain hard thoughts of God upon all occasions if we live not under the daily sense of our Adoption in which we see the Fatherly love of God flowing down so strongly towards us through Christ that we cannot but greatly rejoyce in it THE NECESSITY OF Preaching CHRIST I COR. I. 23 24. But we preach Christ crucified c. THE design of the Apostle here is to vindicate the Doctrine of our Salvation by Christ from all those Aspersions that were cast upon it both by the Jews and Gentiles the Gospel then was as much cry'd down by some as it was cry'd up by others The Apostle tells you who were for it and who were against it he divides all men into two ranks viz. The Called and Uncalled the Converted and Unconverted he tells you that they who were effectually Called and Converted were for the Gospel but the Uncalled and Unconverted were against it and as it was then so it is now Hence note Obs. That all unregenerate Persons whether Jews or Gentiles will have a fling at the Gospel 't is contrary to them and they are as contrary to it they can't reach the Mystery of it and therefore do slight and contemn it but all who are effectually called and savingly enlightned do highly prize it they see much of the Power and Wisdom of God in that excellent contrivance of Man's Salvation by Christ they desire to know nothing but Christ and him Crucified Let us have a care we do not darken the evidence of our Conversion by a Spirit of opposition to the Gospel in the main fundamental points of it I shall do little else in this Exercise but open the terms of the text observing some things by the way But we preach Christ crucified c. He shews the matter and manner of his Preaching in this Chapter what he Preached and how 1. The matter of his Preaching or what he Preached viz. The Gospel v. 17. The Cross v. 18. Or Christ Crucified v. 23. 2. The manner of his Preaching v. 17. Not with Wisdom of words So 1 Cor. 2. 4. vide Vnto the Jews a stumbling-block they were offended at Christ's low mean humble state in the flesh they did not look for any great matter from such