righteousness of faith that is by believing in Jesus Christ cannot please God Now the righteousness of the Law as a Covenant of works is not the righteousness of faith Therefore the righteousness of the Law as acted by us being under that Covenant cannot please God The first is proved in Heb. 1â— 6. But without faith it is impossible to please him mark it is impossible The second thus The Law is not of faith Gal. 3. 12. Rom. 10. 5 6. compared with Gal. 3. 11. But that no man is justified in the sight of the Lord by the Law it is evident for the just shall live by faith and the Law is not of faith But for the better understanding of those that are weak of apprehension I shall prove it thus First That soul that hath eternal life he must have it by right of purchase or redemption Heb. 9. 22. Eph. 1. 7. Secondly this purchase or redemption must be through the Blood of Christ. You have redemption through his Blood Without shedding of blood there is no remission Now the Law is not in a capacity to die and so to redeem sinners by the purchase of Blood which satisfaction justice calls for read the same Scriptures Heb. 9. 22. justice calls for satisfaction because thou hast transgressed and sinned against it and that must have satisfaction therefore all that ever thou canst do cannot bring in redemption though thou follow the Law up to the nail-head as I may say because all this is not shedding of blood for believe it and know it for certain that though thou hadst sinned but one sin before thou didst turn to the Law that one sin will murther thy soul if it be not washed away by blood even by the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ that was shed when he did hang upon the Cross on Mount Calvary Object But you will say methinks that giving up you selves to live a righteous life should make God like better on us and so let us be saved by Christ because we are so willing to obey his Law Answ. The motive that moveth God to have mercy upon sinners is not because they are willing to follow the Law but because he is willing to save them Not for thy righteousness or for thy uprightness of heart doest thou possess the Land Deut. 9. 4 5 6. Now understand this if thy will to do righteousness was the first moving cause why God had mercy on thee through Christ then it must not be freely by grace I say freely but the Lord loves thee and saves thee upon free terms having nothing before-hand to make him accept of thy soul but only the Blood of Christ therefore to allow of such a principle it is to allow that grace is to be obtained by the works of the Law which is so gross darkness as lies in the darkest dungeon in Popery and is also directly opposite to Scripture For we are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ not through the good that is in our selves or done by us Rom. 3. 24 〈◊〉 No But by faith without mark that without the deeds of the Law verse 28. Again not of vvorks lest any man should boast Eph. 2. 9. No no saith he Not according to our vvorks or righteousness but according to his ovvn purpose mark according to his ovvn purpose and grace which was a free gift given us in Christ Jesus not lately but before the world began 2 Tim. 1. 9. Object But you will say then why did God give the Law if we cannot have salvation by following of it Answ. I told you before that the Law was given for these following reasons First That thou mightest be convinced by it of thy sins and that thy sins might indeed appear very sinful unto thee which is done by the Law these ways First By shewing of thee what a holy God he is that did give the Law and secondly By shewing thee thy vileness and wickedness in that thou contrary to this holy God hast transgressed against and broken this his holy Law therefore saith Paul The Law was added that the offence might abound Rom. 5. 20. that is by shewing the creature the holiness of God and also it s own vileness Secondly That thou mayest know that God will not damn thee for nothing in the Judgment day Thirdly Because he would have no quarrelling at his just condemning of them at that day Fourthly Because he will make thee to know that he is a holy God and pure Quest. But seeing you have spoken thus far I wish you would do so much as to shew in some particulars both what men have done and how far they have gone and what they have received being yet under this Covenant which you call the ministration of condemnation Ansvv. This is something a difficult question and had need be not only warily but also home and soundly answered The question consists of three particulars First What men have done Secondly How far men have gone Thirdly What they have received and yet to beunder the Law or Covenant of Works and so in a state of condemnation As for the first I have spoken something in general to that already but for thy better understanding I shall speak yet more particularly First a man hath and may be convinced and troubled for his sins and yet be under this Covenant and that in a very heavy and dreadful manner in so much that he may find the weight of them to be intollerable and too heavy for him to bear as it was with Cain Gen. 4. 13. My punishment saith he is greater than I can bear Secondly A man living thus under a sense of his sins may repent and be sorry for them and yet be under this Covenant and yet be in a damned state Mat. 27. 3. And when he Judas saw what was done he repeated Thirdly Men may not only be convinced and also repent for their sins but they may also desire the prayers of the Children of God for them too and yet be under this Covenant and Curse Exod. 10. 16 17. And Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said I have sinned intreat the Lord your God that he may take away from me these plagues Fourthly A man may also humble himself for his offences and disobedience against his God and yet be under this Covenant see 1 Kings 21. 24 25 26 27 28 29. Fifthly A man may make restitution unto men for the offence he hath done unto them and yet be under this Covenant Sixthly A man may do much work for God in his generation and yet be under this first Covenant as Jehu who did do that which God bid him 2 King 9 25 26. and yet God threatneth even Jehu because though he did do the thing that the Lord commanded him yet he did it not from a right principle for had he the Lord would not have said Yet a little while and I will aâ—enge the blood of Jezreel
others go upright to the great Prejudice of thy poor Soul Object But alas I have nothing to carry with me how then should I go Answ. Hast thou no Sins If thou hast carry them and exchange them for his Righteousness because he hath said Cast thy Burthen upon the Lord and he will sustain thee Psal. 55. 22. and again because he hath said Though thou be heavy laden yet if thou do but come to him he will give thee rest Mat. 11. 28. Object But you will say Satan telleth me that I am so cold in Prayers so weak in believing so great a Sinner that I do go so slothfully on in the way of God that I am so apt to slip at every Temptation and to be entangled therewith together with other things so that I shall never be able to attain those blessed things that are held forth to sinners by Jesus Christ and therefore my trouble is much upon this account also and many times I fear that will come upon me which Satan suggesteth to me that is I shall miss of eternal Life 1. Answ. As to the latter part of the Objection that thou shalt never attain to everlasting Life That is obtained for thee already without thy doing either thy praying striving or wrestling against sin If we speak properly it is Christ that hath in his own Body abolished Death on the Cross and brought Light Life and Glory to us through this his thus doing But this is the thing that thou aimest at that thou shalt never have a share in this Life already obtained for so many as do come by Faith to Jesus Christ and all because thou art so slothful so cold so weak so great a Sinner so subject to slip and commit Infirmities 2. Answ. I answer Didst thou never learn for to out-shoot the Devil in his own Bow and to cut off his Head with his own Sword as David served Goliah who was a Type of him Quest. O how should a poor Soul do this this is rare indeed Answ. Why truly thus Doth Satan tell thee thou prayest but faintly and with very cold Devotion answer him thus and say I am glad you told me for this will make me trust the more to Christs Prayers and the less to my own also I will endeavour henceforward to groan to sigh and to be so fervent in my crying at the Throne of Grace that I will If I can make the Heavens rattle again with the mighty Groans thereof And whereas thou sayest that I am so weak in believing I am glad you mind me of it I hope it will hence forward stir me up to cry the more heartily to God for strong Faith and make me the more restless till I have it And seeing thou tellest me that I run so softly and that I shall go near to miss of Glory this also shall be through Grace to my advantage and cause me to press the more earnestly towards the mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus And seeing thou doest tell me that my Sins are wonderous great hereby thou bringest the remembrance of the unsupportable Vengeance of God into my mind if I dye out of Jesus Christ and also the necessity of the Blood Death and Merits of Christ to help me I hope it will make me fly the faster and press the harder after an interest in him and the rather because as thou tellest me my state will be unspeakable miserable without him And so all along if he tell thee of thy Deadness Dulness Coldness or Unbelief or the greatness of thy Sins answer him and say I am glad you told me I hope it will be a means to make me run faster seek earnestlier and to be the more restless after Jesus Christ. If thou didst but get this art as to out run him in his own Shooes as I may say and to make his own Darts to pierce himself then thou mightest also say now doth Satans Temptations as well as all other things work together for my Good for my Advantage Rom. 8. 28. Object But I do find so many weaknesses in every Duty that I do perform as when I pray when I read when I hear or any other Duty that it maketh me out of conceit with my self it maketh me think that my Duties are nothing worth Answ. I answer It may be it is thy Mercy that thou art sensible of Infirmities in thy best things thou doest I a greater Mercy then thou art aware of Quest. Can it be a Mercy for me to be troubled with my Corruptions Can it be a Priviledge for me to be annoyed with Infirmities and to have my best Duties infected with it How can it possibly be Answ. Verily thy Sins appearing in thy best Duties do work for thy Advantage these wayes First in that thou findest ground enough thereby to make thee humble and when thou hast done all yet to count thy self but an unprofitable Servant And secondly thou by this means art taken off from leaning on any thing below a naked Jesus for eternal Life It is like if thou wast not sensible of many by-Thoughts and Wickednesses in thy best Performances thou wouldest go near to be some proud abominable Hypocrite or a silly proud dissembling Wretch at the best such a one as would send thy Soul to the Devil in a bundle of thy own Righteousness but now thou through Grace seest that all and every thing thou doest there is sin enough in it to condemn thee This in the first place makes thee have a care of trusting in thy own doings And secondly sheweth thee that there is nothing in thy self which will do thee any good by working in thee as to the meritorious cause of thy Salvation No but thou must have a share in the Birth of Jesus in the Death of Jesus in the Blood Resurrection Ascension and Intercession of a crucified Jesus And how sayest thou doth not thy finding of this in thee cause thee to flie from a depending on thy own doings And doth it not also make thee the more earnestly to groan after the Lord Jesus Yea and let me tell thee also it will be a cause to make thee admire the freeness and tender-heartedness of Christ to thee when he shall lift up the light of his Countenance upon thee because he hath regarded such a one as thou sinful thou And therefore in this sense it will be a mercy to the Saints that they do find the reliques of sin still struggling in their Hearts But this is not simply the nature of sin but the Mercy and Wisdom of God who causeth all things to work together for the good of those that love and fear God Rom. 8. And therefore whatever thou findest in thy Soul though it be sin of never so black a Soul-scaring nature let it move thee to run the faster to the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt not be ashamed that is of thy running to him But secondly When thou
for himself as soon as Christ had he been very God as Jesus Christ was For the reason why the posterity of Adam even so many of them as fall short of life must lye broyling in hell to all eternity is this They are not able to give the justice of Gods satisfaction they being not infinite as aforesaid But Christ that is God-man being come an high Priest that is to offer and give satisfaction of good things to comè by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands that is to say not of this building Neither by the blood of goats and calves but by his own mark you that but by his own blood he hath entered into the holy place having already obtained eternal redemption for us But how For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of an beifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purging of the flesh how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit who through the power and vertue of his infinite Godhead offered himself without spot to God purge your consciences from dead works to serve the living God And for this cause that is for that he is God as well as man and so able to give justice an infinite satisfaction therefore he is the Mediator of the New Covenant that by the means of his death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance Heb. 9. 11 12 13 14 15. as I said before Object This is much but is God contented with this Is he satisfied now in the behalf of sinners by this mans thus suffering If he is then how doth it appear Answ. It is evident yea wonderful evident that this hath pleased him to the full as appeareth by these following Demonstrations First In that God did admit him into his presence yea receive him with joy and musick even with the sound of a Trumpet at his ascension into Heaven Psal. 47. 5. and Christ makes it an argument to his Children that his righteousness was sufficient in that he went to his Father and they saw him no more John 16. 10. Of righteousness saith he because I go to my Father 〈◊〉 ye see me no more As if he had said My Spirit shall shew to the world that I have brought in a sufficient righteousness to justifie sinners withal in that when I go to appear in the presence of my Father on their behalf he shall give me entertainment and not throw me down from heaven because I did not do it sufficiently Again If you consider the high esteem that God the father doth set on the death of his Son you will find that he hath received good content thereby When the Lord Jesus by way of complaint told his Father that he and his merits were not valued to the worth his Father answered It is a light thing that I should give thee O my servant to bring Jacob again I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth Isa. 49. 1 2 3 4 5 6. As if the Lord had said My Son I do value thy death at a higher rate then that thou shouldest save the Tribes of Israel only behold the Gentiles the barbarous Heathens they also shall be brought in as the price of thy blood It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant only to bring or redeem the Tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayest be my salvation to the ends of the earth Again You may see it also by the carriage of God the Father to all the great sinners to whom mercy was proffered We do not find that God maketh any objection against them that come to him for the pardon of their sins because he did want a satisfaction suitable to the greatness of their sins There was Manasseth who was one that burnt his children in the fire to the devil 2 Chron. 33. from 1. to 12. that used witchcraft that used to worship the host of heaven that turned his back on the word that God sent unto him nay that did worse than the very heathen that God cast out before the children of Israel Also those that are spoken of Acts 19. 19. that did spend so much time in conjuration and the like Acts 8. for such I judge they were that when they came to burn their books they counted the price thereof to be fifty thousand pieces of Silver Simon Magus also that was a Sorcerer and bewitched the whole City yet he had mercy proffered to him once and again I say it was not the greatness of the sins of these sinners no nor of an innumerable company of others that made God at all to object against the salvation of their souls which justice would have constrained him to had he not had satisfaction sufficient by the blood of the Lord Jesus Nay further I do find that because God the Father would not have the merits of his Son to be undervalued I say he doth therefore freely by his consent let mercy be proffered to the greatest sinners in the first place for the Jews that were the worst of men in that day for blasphemy against the Gospel yet the Apostle proffered mercy to them in the first place It is necessary saith he that the word of God should first have been spoken unto you Acts 13. 46. Acts 3. 26. And Christ gave them commission so to do for saith he Let repentance and remission of sins be preached in my name among all nations and begin mark that begin at Jerusalem Luke 24. 47. Let them that but the other day had their hands up to the elbows in my heart blood have the first proffer of my mercy And saith Paul For this cause I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them that should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting 1 Tim. 15 16. As the Apostle saith those sinners that were dead possessed with the devil and the children of wrath he hath quickned delivered and saved Ephes. 2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. that he might even in the very ages to come shew forth the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us and that through Jesus Christ. Secondly It is evident that that which this man did as a common person he did it compleatly and satisfactorily as appears by the openness as I may so call it which was in the heart of God to him at his resurrection and ascension Ask of me saith he and I will give thee the very heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession Psal. 2. 8. And this was at his resurrection Acts 13. 33. Whereas though he had asked yet if he had not given a full and compleat
him Devil seeing he cares for me no more no but he followed me still and won upon my heart by giving of me some understanding not only into my miserable state which I was very sensible of but also that there might be hopes of mercy also taking away that love to lust and placing in the room thereof a love to religion and thus the Lord won over my heart to some desire after the means to hear the word and to grow a stranger to my old companions and to accompany the people of God together with giving of me many sweet encouragements from several promises in the Scriptures but after this the Lord did wonderfully set my sins upon my conscience those sins especially that I had committed since the first convictions temptations also followed me very hard and especially such temptations as did tend to the making of me question the very way of salvation viz. whether Jesus Christ was the Saviour or no and whether I had best to venture my soul upon his blood for salvation or take some other course But being through grace kept close with God in some measure in prayer and the rest of the ordinances but went about a year and upwards without any sound evidence as from God to my soul touching the salvation as comes by Jesus Christ. But at the last as I may say when the set time was come then the Lord just before the men called Quaker's came into the Countrey did set me down 〈◊〉 blessedly in the truth of the Doctrine of Jesâ—s Christ that it made me marvail to see first how Jesus Christ was born of a Virgin walked in the world a while with his Disciples afterwards hanged on the Cross spilt his Blood was Buried Rose again Ascended above the Clouds and Heavens their lives to make intercession and that he also will come again at the last day to judge the World and take his Saints unto himself These things I say I did see so evidently even as if I had stood by when he was in the world and also when he was caught up I having such a change as this upon my soul it made me wonder and musing with my self at the great alteration that was in my spirit for the Lord did also very gloriously give me in his precious word to back the discovery of the Son of God unto me so that I can say through grace it was according to the Scriptures 1 Cor. 15. 1 2 3 4. and as I was musing with my self what these things should mean methought I heard such a word in my heart as this I have set thee down on purpose for I have something more than ordinary for thee to do which made me the more marvel saying What my Lord such a poor wretch as I yet still this continued I have set thee down on purpose and so forth with more fresh incomes of the Lord Jesus and the power of the blood of his Cross upon my soul even so evidently that I saw through grace that it was the blood shed on Mount Calvary that did save and redeem sinners as clearly and as really with the eyes of my soul as ever methoughts I had seen a penny-loaf bought with a penny which things then discovered had such operation upon my soul that I do hope they did sweetly season every faculty thereof Reader I speak in the presence of God and he knows I lye not much of this and such like dealings of his could I tell thee of but my business at this time is not so to do but only to tell what operation the blood of Christ hath had over and upon my conscience and that at several times and also when I have been in several frames of spirit As first sometimes I have been so loaden with my sins that I could not tell where to rest nor what to do yea at such times I thought it would have taken away my senses yet at that time God through grace hath all of a suddenâ— so effectually applied the blood that was spilt at Mount Calvary out of the side of Jesus unto my poor wounded guilty conscience that presently I have found such a sweet solid sober heart comforting peace that it hath made me as if it had not been and withal the same I may say and I ought to say the power of it hath had such a powerful operation upon my soul that I have for a time been in a straight and trouble to think that I should love and honour him no more the vertue of his blood hath so constrained me Again sometimes methinks my sins have appeared so big to me that I thought one of my sins have been as big as all the sins of all the men in the Nation I and of other Nations too Reader these things be not fancies for I have smarted for this experience but yet the least stream of the heart blood of this man Jesus hath vanished all away and hath made it to flie to the astonishment of such a poor sinner and as I said before hath delivered me up into sweet and heavenly peace and joy in the holy Ghost Again sometimes when my heart hath been hard dead slothful blind and senseless which indeed are sad frames for a poor Christian to be in yet at such a time when I have been in such a case then hath the blood of Christ the precious blood of Christ the admirable blood of the God of Heaven that run out of his body when it did hang on the Cross so softned livened quickned and inlightned my soul that truly Reader I can say O it makes me wonder Again when I have been loaden with sin and pâ—stâ—red with several temptations and in very sad manner then have I had the trial of the vertue of Christs blood with the trial of the vertue of other things and I have found that when tears would not do prayers would not do repentings and all other things could not reach my heart O then one touch one drop one shining of the vertue of the blood of that blood that was let out with a spear it hath in a very blessed manner delivered me that it hath made me to marvel O â—methinks it hath come with such life such power with such irresistible and marvellous glory that it wipes off all the slurs silences all the out-cries and quenches all the fiery darts and all the flames of hell fire that are begotten by the charges of the Law Satan and doubtful remembrances of my sinful life Friends as Peter saith to the Church so I say to you I have not preached to you cunningly devised â—ables in telling you of the blood of Christ and what authority it hath had upon my Conscience O no but as Peter saith touching the coming of the Lord Jesus into the world so in some measure I can say of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that was shed when he did come into the world There is not only my single testimony
the false brethren spoken of Asts 15. Gal. the whole Epistle whose judgement was that unless such and such things were done they could not be saved As now a days we have also some that say unless your Infants be baptized they cannot be saved and others say unless you be rightly baptized you have no ground to be assured that you are believers or members of Churches which is so far off from being so good as a Legal Spirit that it is the Spirit of Blasphemy as is evident because they do reckon that the Spirit Righteousness and Faith of Jesus and the confession thereof is not sufficient to declare men to be members of the Lord Jesus when on the other side though they be rank hypocrites yet if they do yield an outward subjection to this or that they are counted presently communicable members which doth clearly discover that there is not so much honour given to the putting on the righteousness of the Son of God as there is given to that which a man may do and yet go to hell within an hour after nay in the very doing of it doth shut himself for ever from Jesus Christ. 2. Men may do things from a Legal or Old Covenant-Spirit when they content themselves with their doing of such and such a thing as prayers reading hearing baptism breaking of bread or the like I say when they can content themselves with the thing done and sit down at ease and content because the the thing is done As for instance some men they being persuaded that such and such a thing is their duty and that unless they do do it God will not be pleased with them nor suffer them to be heirs of his kingdom they from this spirit do rush into and do the thing which being done they are content as being persuaded that now they are without doubt in a happy condition because they have done such things like unto the Pharisee who because he had done this and the other thing said therefore in a bragging way Lord I thank thee that I am not as this Publican for I have done thus and thus when alas the Lord gives him never a good word for his labour but rather a reproof 3. That man doth act from a Legal Spirit who maketh the strictness of his walking the ground of his assurance for eternal life Some men all the ground they have to believe that they shall be saved it is because they walk not so loose as their neighbours they are not so bad as others are and therefore they question not but that they shall do well now this is a false ground and a thing that is verily Legal and savours only of some slight and shallow apprehensions of the Old Covenant I call them shallow apprehensions because they are not right and sound and are such as will do the Soul no good but beguile it in that the knowledge of the nature of this Covenant doth not appear to the Soul only some commanding power it hath on the Soul which the Soul endeavouring to give up it self unto it doth find some peace and content and especially if it find it self to be pretty willing to yield it self to its commands and is not this the very ground of thy hoping that God will save thee from the wrath to come If one should ask thee what ground thou hast to think thou shalt be saved wouldst thou not say truly because I have left my sins and because I am more inclinable to do good and to learn and get more knowledge I endeavour to walk in Church order as they call it and therefore I hope God hath done a good work for me and I hope will save my soul. Alas alas this is a very trick of the Devil to make Souls build the ground of their salvation upon this their strictness and abstaining from the wickedness of their former lives and because they desire to be stricter and stricter Now if you would know such a man or woman you shall find them in this frame namely when they think their hearts are good then they think also that Christ will have mercy upon them but when their corruptions work then they doubt and scruple untill again they have their hearts more ready to do the things contained in the Law and Ordinances of the Gospel Again such men do commonly chear up their hearts and encourage themselves still to hope all shall be well and that because they are not so bad as the rest but more inclinable than they saying I am glad I am not as this Publican but better than he more righteous than he Luke 18. 11. 4. That is a Legal and Old Covenant-Spirit that secretly persuades the Soul that if ever it will be saved by Christ it must first be â—itted for Christ by its getting of a good heart and good intentions to do this and that for Christ I say that the Soul when it comes to Christ may not be rejected or turned off when indeed and in truth this is the very way for the Soul to turn it self from Jesus Christ instead of turning to him for such a Soul looks upon Christ rather to be a painted Saviour or a Cipher then a very and real Saviour Friend if thou canst fit thy self what need hast thou of Christ If thou canst get qualifications to carry to Christ that thou mightest be accepted thou doest not look to be accepted in the beloved Shall I tell thee thou art as if a man should say I will make my self clean and then I will go to Christ that he may wash me or like to a man possessed that will first cast the Devils out of himself and then come to Christ for cure for him Thou must therefore if thou wilt so lay hold of Christ as not to be rejected by him I say thou must come to him as the basest in the world more fitter to be damned if thou hadst thy right then to have the least smile hope or comfort from him come with the fire of hell in thy conscience come with thy heart hard dead cold full of wickedness and madness against thy own Salvation come as renouncing all thy tears prayers watchings fastings come as a blood-red sinner do not stay from Christ till thou hast a greater sense of thy own misery nor of the reality of Gods mercy do not stay while thy heart is softer and thy spirit in a better frame but go against thy mind and against the mind of the Devil and Sin throw thy self down at the foot of Christ with a halter about thy neck and say Lord Jesus hear a sinner a hard-hearted sinner a sinner that deserveth to be damned to be cast to hell and resolve never to return or to give over crying unto him till thou do find that he hath washed thy Conscience from dead works with his blood vertually and clothed thee with his own righteousness and made thee compleat in himself this is the way to
in a condition to attain the mercy of God by the Law these thoughts do flow from gross ignorance both of the nature of sin and also of the nature of the justice of God And if I was to give you a description of one in a lost condition for the present I would brand him out with such a mark of ignorance as this is 2. Answ. The Law as it is a Covenant of works doth not allow of any repentance unto life to those that live and die under it for the Law being once broken by thee never speaks good unto thee neither doth God at all regard thee If thou be under that Covenant notwithstanding all thy repentings and also promises to do so no more No saith the Law thou hast sinned therefore I must curse thee for it is my nature to curse even and nothing else but curse every 〈◊〉 that doth in any point transgress against me Gal. 3. 10. They brake my Covenant and I regarded 〈◊〉 not saith the Lord Heb. 8. Let them cry I will not regard them let them report I will not regard them they have broken my Covenant and done that in which I delighted not therefore by that Covenant I do curse and not bless damn and not save frown and not smile reject and not embrace charge sin and not forgive it They brake my Covenant and I regarded them not So that I say if thou break the Law the first Covenant and thou being found there God looking on thee thorow that he hath no regard on thee no pity for thee no delight in thee Object 2. But hath not the Law promises as well as threatnings saying The man that doth these things shall live mark he shall live by them or in them Answ. First to break the Commandments is not to keep or fulfil the same but thou hast broken them therefore the promise doth not belong to thee by that Covenant Secondly the promises that are of the Law are conditional and so not performed unless there be a full and continual obedience to every particular of it and that without the feast sin Do this mark do this and afterwards thou shalt live but if thou break one point of it once in all thy life thou hast not done the Law therefore the the promises following the Law do not belong unto thee if one sin hath been committed by thee As thus I will give you a plain instance Set the case there be a Law made by the King that if any man speak a word against him he must be put to death and this must not be revoked but must for certain be expected on the offender though though there be a promise made to them that do not speak a word against him that they shall have great love from him yet this promise is nothing to the offender he is like to have no share in it or to be ever the better for it but contrariwise the Law that he hath offended must be executed on him for his sin shutteth him out from a share of or in the Promises So it is here there is a promise made indeed but to whom Why it is to none but those that live without sinning against the Law but if thou I say sin one time against it in all thy lifetime thou art gone and not one promise belongs to thee if thou continue under this Covenant Methinks the Prisoners at the bar having offended the Law and the charge of a just Judge towards them do much hold forth the Law as it is a Covenant of Works and how it deals with them that are under it The Prisoner having offended cries out for mercy good my Lord mercy saith he pray my Lord pity me the Judge saith What canst thou say for thy self that Sentence of Death should not be passed upon thee Why nothing but this I pray my Lord be merciful But he answers again Friend the Law must take place the Law must not be broken The Prisoner saith Good my Lord spare me and I will never do so any more The Judge notwithstanding the mans out-cries and sad condition must according to the tenor of the Law pass Judgment upon him and the Sentence of the Condemnation must be read to the Prisoner though it makes them fall down dead to hear it if he executes the Law as he ought to do And just thus it is concerning the Law of God Object 3. I but sometimes for all your haste the Judge doth also give some Pardons and forgive some offenders notwithstanding their offences though he be a Judge Answ. It is not because the Law is merciful but because there is manifested the love of the Judge not the love of the Law I beseech you to mark this distinction for if a man that hath deserved death by the Law be notwithstanding this forgiven his offence it is not because the Law saith spare him but it is the love of the Judge or Chief Magistrate that doth set the man free from the Condemnation of the Law But mark here the Law of Men and the Law of God do differ the Law of Man is not so irrevokable but if the Supream please he may sometimes grant a Pardon without satisfaction given for the offence but the Law of God is of this nature that if the Man be found under it and a transgrssor or one that hath transgressed against it before that Prisoner can be released there must be a full and compleat satisfaction given to it either by the mans own life or by the blood of some other man For without shedding of blood there is no remission Heb. 9. 22. that is there is no deliverance from under the curse of the Law of God and therefore however the Law of man may be made of none effect sometimes by shewing mercy without giving of a full satisfaction yet the Law of God cannot be so contented nor at the least give way that the person offending that should escape the curse and not be damned except some one do give a full and compleat satisfaction to it for him and bring the Prisoner into another Covenant to wit the Covenant of Grace which is more easie and soul-refreshing and sin-pardoning I say therefore you must understand that if there be a Law made that reaches the life to take it away for the 〈◊〉 given by the offender against it then it is clear that if the man be spared and saved it is not the Law that doth give the man this advantage but it is the meer mercy of the King either because he hath a ransom or satisfaction some other way or being provoked thereto out of his own love to the person whom he saveth Now thou also having transgressed and broken the Law of God if the Law be not executed upon thee it is not because the Law is merciful or can pass by the least offence done by thee but thy deliverance comes another way Therefore I say however it be by the Laws of
upon them therefore saith the Apostle What things soever the Law saith it saith to them that are under the Law that is all the commands all the curses and threatnings that are spoken by it are spoken saith he that every mouth may be stopped mark I beseech you it saith saith he that every mouth might be stopped and that all the world might become guilty before God Rom. 3. 19. So that now in case any in the judgment day should object against the judgment of God as those in the 25. of Matthew do saying Lord when saw we thee thus and thus And why dost thou pass such a sad sentence of condemnation upon us surely this is injustice and not equity Now for the preventing of this the Law was given I and that it might prevent thee to purpose God gave it betimes before either thy first father had sinned or thou wast born So that again if there should be these Objections offered against the proceedings of the Lord in justice and judgment saying Lord why am I thus condemned I did not know it was sin now against these two was the Law given and that betimes so that both these are answered If the first come in and say why am I judged why am I damned then will the Law come in even all the Ten Commandments with every one of their cries against thy soul the first saying he hath sinned against me damn him the second saying also he hath transgressed against me damn him the third also saying the same together with the 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. even all of them will discharge themselves against thy soul if thou die under the first Covenant saying he or they have transgressed against us damn them damn them and I tell thee also that these ten great guns the Ten Commandments will with discharging themselves in justice against thy soul so rattle in thy conscience that thou wilt in spight of thy teeth be immediately put to silence and have thy mouth stopped and let me tell thee further that if thou shalt appear before God to have the Ten Commandments discharge themselves against thee thou hadst better be tied to a tree and have ten yea ten thousand of the biggest pieces of Ordnance in the world to be shot off against thee for these could go no further but only to kill the body but they both body and soul to be tormented in Hell with the Devil to all eternity 3. Again if the second thing should be objected saying But Lord I did not think this had been sin or the other had been sin for no body told me so then also will the giving of the Law take off that saying nay but I was given to thy father Adam before he had sinned or before thou wast born and have ever since been in thy soul to convince thee of thy sins and to controul thee for doing the thing that was not right Did not I secretly tell thee at such a time in such a place when thou wast doing of such a thing with such a one or when thou wast all alone that this was a sin and that God did forbid it therefore if thou didst commit it God would be displeased with thee for it And when thou wast thinking to do such a thing at such a time did not I say forbear do not so God will smite thee and punish thee for it if thou doest do it And besides God did so order it that you had me in your Houses in your Bibles and also you could speak and talk of me thus pleading the truth thou shalt be forced to confess it is so nay it shall be so in some sort with the very Gentiles and barbarous People that fall far short of that light we have in these parts of the world for saith the Apostle The Gentiles which have not the Law these do by nature the things contained in the Law these having not the Law that is not written as we have yet they are a Law unto themselves which sheweth the works of the Lavv is vvriten in their hearts Rom. 2. 14 15. that is they have the Law of works in them by nature and therefore they shall be left without excuse for their own consciences shall stand up for the truth of this where he saith Their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another I but when Why in the day vvhen God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospel Rom. 2. 15 16. So this I say is another end for which the Lord did give the Law namely that God might pass a sentence in righteousness without being charged with any injustice by those that shall fall under it in the judgment 4. A fourth end why the Lord did give the Law it was because they that die out of Jesus Christ might not only have their mouths stopped but also that their persons might become guilty before God Rom. 3. 19. and indeed this will be the ground of silencing as I said before they finding themselves guilty their consciences backing the truth of the judgment of God passed upon them they shall become guilty that is they shall be fit vessels for the wrath of God to be poured out into being filled with guilt by reason of transgressions against the Commandments thus therefore shall the parties under the first Covenant be fitted to destruction Rom. 9. 22. even as wood or straw being well dried is fitted for the fire and the Law was added and given and speaks to this very end that sins might be shewn mouths might be stopt from quarrelling And that all the vvorld mark the vvorld might become guilty before God and so be in justice for ever and ever overthrown because of their sins And this will be so for these reasons First Because God hath a time to magnifie his justice and holiness as well as to shew his forbearance and mercy We read in Scripture that his eyes are too pure to behold iniquity Hab 1. 13. and then we shall find it true We read in Scripture that he will magnifie the Law and make it honourable and then he will do it indeed Now because the Lord doth not strike so soon as he is provoked by sin therefore poor souls will not know nor regard the Justice of God neither do they consider the time in which it must be advanced which will be when men drop under the wrath of God as fast as hail in a mighty storm 2 Pet. 3. 9. Psal. 50. 21 22. Now therefore look to it all you that count the long-suffering and forbearance of Gods slackness and because for the present he keepeth silence therefore to think that he is like unto your selves No no but know that God hath his set time for every purpose of his and in its time it shall be advanced most marvellously to the everlasting astonishment and overthrow of that soul that shall be dealt withal by Justice
down and to take it up again and this commandment have I reecived of my Father John 10. 15 16 17 18. even this commandment hath my Father given me that I should both do this thing and also tell it unto you Thirdly He was not only sent as a Messenger to declare this hit Fathers love but also how dearly he himself loved sinners what a heart he had to do them good where he saith All that the Father hath given me shall come to me and let me tell you my heart too saith Christ He that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out As my Father is willing to give you unto me even so am I as willing to receive you As my Father is willing to give you Heaven so am I willing to make you fit for it by washing you with my own blood I lay down my life that you might have life and this I was sent to tell you of my Father Fourthly His Message was further he came to tell them how and which way they should come to enjoy these glorious benefits also by laying down motives to stir them up to accept of the benefits The way is laid down in John 3. 14 15. where Christ saith As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up or caused to be hanged on the Cross and die the death That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life The way therefore that thou shalt have the benefit and comfort of that which my Father and I have covenanted for thee I am come down from heaven to earth on purpose to give thee intelligence and to certifie thee of it know therefore that as I have been born of a woman and have taken this body upon me it is on purpose that I might offer it up upon the Cross a Sacrifice to God to give him satisfaction for thy sins that his mercy may be extended to thy soul without any wrong done to justice and this thou art to believe and not in the notion but from thy very whole soul. Now the motives are many First If they do not leave their sins and come to Jesus Christ that their sins may be washed away by his blood they are sure to be damned in hell for the Law hath condemned them already John 3. 18 19. Secondly But if they do come they shall have the bosome of Christ to lye in the kingdom of Heaven to dwell in the Angels and Saints for their companions shall shine there like the Sun shall be there for ever shall sit upon the Thrones of Judgment c. Here is Grace Methinks if I had but time to speak fully to all things that I could speak to from these two heavenly Truths and to make application thereof surely with the blessing of God I think it might perswade some vile and abominable wretch to lay down his arms that he hath taken up in defiance against God and is marching hell-wards poste haste with the Devil I say methinks it should stop them and make them willing to look back and accept of salvation for their poor condemned fouls before Gods eternal vengeance is executed upon them O therefore you that are upon this march I beseech you consider a little What shall Christ become a drudge for you and will you be drudges for the Devil Shall Christ covenant with God for the salvation of sinners and shall sinners covenant with Hell Death and the Devil for the damnation of their souls Shall Christ come down from Heaven to Earth to declare this to sinners and shall sinners stop their ears against this good tidings Will you not hear the errand of Christ although he telleth you tidings of peace and salvation How if he had came having taken a command from his Father to damn you and to send you to the Devils in Hell Sinner hear his message he speaketh no harm his words are eternal life all men that give ear unto them they have eternal advantage by them Advantage I say that never hath an end Besides do but consider these two things 't is like they may have some sway upon thy soul. First When he came on his message he came with tears in his eyes and did even weepingly tender the terms of reconciliation to them I say with tears in his eyes And when he came near the City i. e. with his message of peace beholding the hardness of their hearts he wept over it and took up a lamentation over it because he saw they rejected his mercy which was tidings of peace I say wilt thou then slight a weeping Jesus one that so loveth thy soul that rather then he will lose thee he will with tears perswade with thee 2. Not only so but also when he came he came all on a goar blood to proffer mercy to thee to shew thee still how dearly he did love thee as if he had said sinner here is mercy for thee but behold my bloody sweat my bloody wounds my cursed death behold and see what danger I have gone through to come unto thy soul I am come indeed unto thee and do bring thee tidings of salvation but it cost me my heart blood before I could come at thee to give thee the fruits of my everlasting love But more of this anon Thus have I spoken something concerning Christ being the messenger of the New Covenant but because I am not willing to cut too short of what shall come after I shall pass by these things not half touched and come to the other which I promised even now which was to shew you that as there was Levitical Ceremonies in or belonging to the first Covenant so these Types or Levitical Ceremonies did represent the glorious things of the New Covenant In those Ceremonies you read of a Sacrifice of a Priest to offer up the Sacrifice the place where and the manner how he was to offer it of which I shall speak something First As touching the Sacrifice you find that it was not to be offered up of all kind of beasts as of Lions Bears Wolves Tigers Dragons Serpents or such like To signifie that not all kind of Creatures that had sinned as Devils the fallen Angels should be saved but the Sacrifice was to be taken out of some kind of Beasts and Birds to signifie that some of Gods Creatures that had sinned he would be pleased to reconcile them to himself again as poor fallen Man and Woman those miserable Creatures God the God of Heaven had a good look for after their fall but not for the cursed Devils though more noble Creatures by Creation than We. Here is grace Now though these Sacrifices were offered yet they were not offered to the end they should make the comers to or offerers thereof perfect but the things was to represent to the world what God had in after ages for to do which was even the salvation of his Creatures by that offering
sin-offering which is for the people and bring his blood within the vail and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat and before the mercy-seat verse 11 12 13 14 15. Now this was for the priest and the people all which doth signifie that Jesus Christ was after his death to go into heaven it self of which this holy place was a figure Heb. 9. and there to carry the sacrifice that he offered upon the Cross into the presence of God for to obtain mercy for the people in a way of justice And in that he is said to take his hands full of sweet incense it signifies that Jesus Christ was to offer up his sacrifice in the presence of his Father in a way of intercession and prayers I might have branched these things out into several particulars but I would be brief I say therefore the office of the Priests was to carry the blood into the holy place and there to present it before the mercy-seat with his heart full of intercessions for the people for whom he was a Priest Luke 1. 8 9 10 11. This is Jesus Christs work now in the kingdom of glory to plead his own blood the nature and vertue of it with a perpetual intercession to the God of mercy on the behalf of us poor miserable sinners Heb. 7. 24. Now in the intercession of this Jesus which is part of his priestly office there is these things to be considered for our comfort First There is a pleading of the vertue of his blood for them that are already come in that they may be kept from the evils of heresies delusions temptations pleasures profits or any thing of this world which may be too hard for them Father I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world saith Christ but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil John 17. 15. Secondly in case the devil should aspire up into the presence of God to acuse any of the poor Saints and to plead their back-slidings against them as he will do if he can then there is Jesus our Lord Jesus ready in the Court of Heaven at the right hand of God to plead the vertue of his blood not only for the great and general satisfaction that he did give when he was on the Cross but also the vertue that is in it now for the cleansing and fresh purging of his poor Saints under their several temptations and infirmities as saith the Apostle For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more then being reconciled we shall be saved by his life that is by his intercession Rom. 5. 10. Thirdly The maintaining of grace also is by Jesus Christs intercession being the second part of his Priestly Office O! had we not a Jesus at the right hand of God making intercession for us and to convey fresh supplies of Grace unto us through the vertue of his blood being pleaded at Gods right hand how soon would it be with us as it is with those for whom he prays not at all John 17. 9. But the reason why thou standest while others fall the reason why thou goest through the many temptations of the world and shakest them off from thee while others are ensnared and intangled therein it is because thou hast an interceding Jesus I have prayed saith he that thy saith fail not Luke 22. 3 2. Fourthly It is partly by the vertue of Christs intercession that the elect are brought in there is many that are to come to Christ which are not yet brought in to Christ and it is one part of his work to pray for their salvation too Neither pray I for these alone but for all those that shall believe though as yet they do not believe on me but that they may believe through their word John 17. 20. And let me tell thee soul for thy comfort who art a coming in to Christ panting and sighing as if thy heart would break I tell thee soul thou wouldest never have come to Christ if he had not first by the vertue of his blood and intercession sent into thy heart an earnest desire after Christ and let me tell thee also that it is his business to make intercession for thee not only that thou mightest come in but that thou mightest be preserved when thou art come in Compare Heb. 7. 25. with Rom. 8. 33 34 35 c. Fifthly It is by the intercession of Christ that the infirmities of the Saints in their holy duties are forgiven Alas if it was not for the priestly office of Christ Jesus the prayers alms and other duties of the Saints might be rejected because of the sin that is in them but Jesus being our high Priest he is ready to take away the iniquities of our holy things perfuming our prayers with the glory of his own perfections and therefore it is that there is an answer given to the Saints prayers and also acceptance of their holy duties Rev. 8. 3 4. But Christ being come an high Priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect Tabernacle not made with hands that is to say not of this building Neither by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood he entred in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your consciences from dead works to serve the living God And for this cause he is the Mediator of the New Testament or Covenant that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first Testament they which are called notwithstanding all their sins might receive the promise of eternal inheritance Heb. 9. 11 12 13 14 15. The third thing now to be spoken to it is to shew where and how Jesus Christ out-went and goes beyond these priests in all their qualifications and offices for the comfort of poor Saints First They that were called to the priest-hood under the Law were but men but he is both God and Man Heb. 7. 28. 3. 2. Their qualifications were in them in a very scanty way but Jesus was every way qualified in an infinite and full way They were consecrated but for a time Heb. 7. 23. but he for ever more ver 24. 4. They were made without an oath ver 20 21. but he with an oath 5. They as servants but he as a Son Heb. 3. 6. 6. Their garments were but such as could be made with hands Ez. 28. but his the very righteousness of God Rom. 3. 22. 7. Their offerings were but the body and blood of beasts and such like Phil. 3. 8. but his offering was his own body and soul Heb.
them and so I think should we Answ. This comparison is wrongly applied if you bring it to shew us how we must do when we come to Christ. He that can make himself clean hath no need of Christ for the whole the clean and righteous have no need of Christ but those that are foul and sick Physicians you know if they love to be honoured they will not bid the Patients first make themselves whole and then come to them no but bid them come with their sores all running on them as the woman with her bloody issue Mark 5. And as Mary Magdalen with her Belly full of Devils and the Leppers all scabbed and that is the right coming to Jesus Christ. Reply Well I hope that Christ will save me for his promises and mercy is very large and as long as he hath promised to give us life I fear my state the less Answ. It is very true Christs promises are very large blessed be the Lord for ever and also so is his mercy but notwithstanding all that there is many go in at the broad gate and therefore I say your business is seriously to enquire whether you are under the first or second Covenant for unless you are under the second you will never be regarded of the Lord for as much as you are a sinner Heb. 89. And the rather because if God should be so good to you as to give you a share in the second you shall have all your sins pardoned and for certain have eternal life though you have been a great sinner But do not expect that thou shalt have any part or share in the large promises and mercy of God for the benefit and comfort of thy poor soul whilst thou art under the Old Covenant because so long thou art out of Christ through whom God conveyeth his mercy grace and love to sinners For all the promises of God in him are yea and in him Amen Indeed his mercy grace and love is very great but it 's treasured up in him given forth in him through him But God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us that he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace But which way In his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus But out of Christ thou shalt find God a just God a sin revenging God a God that will by no means spare the guilty and be sure that every one that is found out of Jesus Christ will be found guilty in the Judgment day upon whom the wrath of God shall smoke to their eternal ruine Now therefore consider of it and take the counsel of the Apostle in 2 Cor. 13. 5. Which is to examine thy self whether thou art in the faith and to prove thy own self whether thou hast received the Spirit of Christ inâ—â— thy soul whether thou hast been converted whether thou hast been born again and made a new creature whether thou hast had thy sins washed away in the blood of Christ whether thou hast been brought from under the Old Covenant into the New and do not make a slight examination for thou hast a precious soul either to be saved or damned And that thou mayest not be deceived consider that it is one thing to be convinced and another to be converted one thing to be wounded and another to be killed and so to be made alive by the faith of Jesus Christ. When men are killed they are killed to all things they lived to before both sin and righteousness as all their old faith and supposed grace that they thought they had Indeed the Old Covenant will shew thee that thou art a sinner and that a great one too but the Old Covenant the Law will not shew thee without the help of the spirit that thou art without all grace by nature no but in the midst of thy troubles thou wilt keep thy self from coming to Christ by perswading thy soul that thou art come already and hast some grace already O therefore be earnest in begging the spirit that thy soul may be enlightned and the wickedness of thy heart discovered that thou mayest see the miserable state that thou art in by reason of sin and unbelief which is the great condemning sin and so in a sight and sense of thy sad condition if God should deal with thee in severity according to thy deservings do thou cry to God for faith in a Crucified Christ that thou mayest have all thy sins washed away in his blood and such a right work of grace wrought in thy soul that may stand in the Judgment-day Again secondly In the next place you know I told you that a man might go a great way in a profession and have many excellent gifts so as to do many wondrous works and yet be but under the Law from hence you may learn not to judge your selves to be the children of God 1 Cor. 1. because you may have some gifts of knowledge or understanding more than others no for thou mayest be the knowingest man in all the Countrey as to head-knowledge and yet be but under the Law and so consequently under the â—urse notwithstanding that Now seeing it is so that men may have all this and yet perish then what will become of those that do no good at all and have no understanding neither of their own sadness nor of Christs mercy O sad Read with understanding Isa. 27. 11. Therefore he that made them will have mercy on them and he that formed them will shew them no favour See also 2 Thes. 1. 8 9. Now there is one thing which for want of most people do miscarry in a very sad manner and that is because they are not able to distinguish between the nature of the Law and the Gospel O people people your being blinded here as to the knowledge of this is one great cause of the ruining of many As Paul saith While Moses is read or while the Law is discovered the vail is over their hearts 2 Cor. 3. 15. that is the vail of ignorance is still upon their hearts so that they cannot discern either the nature of the Law or the nature of the Gospel they being so dark and blind in their minds as you may see if you compare it with Chap. 4. 3 4. And truly I am confident that were you but well examined I doubt many of you would be found so ignorant that you would not be able to give a word of right answer concerning either the Law or the Gospel Nay my Friends set the case one should ask you what time you spend what pains you take to the end you may understand the nature and difference of these two Covenants would you not say if you should speak the truth that you did not so much as regard whether there was two or more would you not say I did not think of Covenants or study the nature of them I thought that if I had lived honestly and did as well as
I could that God would accept of me and have mercy upon me as he had on others Ah friends this is the cause of the ruine of thousands for if they are blinded to this both the right use of the Law and also of the Gospel is hid from their eyes and so for certain they will be in danger of perishing most miserably poor souls that they are unless God of his meer mercy and love doth rend the vail from off their hearts the vail of ignorance for that is it which doth keep these poor souls in this besetted and blindfolded condition in which if they dye they may be lamented for but not helped they may be pittied but not preserved from the stroak of Gods everlasting vengeance In the next place if you would indeed be delivered from the first into the second Covenant I do admonish you to the observing of these following particulars First Have a care that you do not content your selves though you do good works that is which in themselves are good in and with a Legal Spirit which are done these ways as followeth First If you do any thing commanded in Scripture and in your doing of it do think that God is well pleased therewith because you as you are religious men do do the same upon this mistake was Paul himself in danger of being destroyed for he thought because he was zealous and one of the strictest sect for Religion therefore God would have been good unto him and have accepted his doings as it is clear for he counted them his gain Philipians 3. 4 5 6 7 8. Now this is done thus When a man doth think that because he thinks he is more sincere more liberal with more difficulty or to the weakning of his estate I say if a man because of this doth think that God accepteth his labour it is done from an Old Covenant Spirit Again Some men they think that they shall be heard because they have prayer in their families because they can pray long and speak expressions or express themselves excellently in prayer that because they have great enlargements in prayer I say that therefore to think that God doth delight in their doings and accept their works this is from a Legal Spirit Again Some men think that because their Parents have been religious before them and have been indeed the people of God they think if they also do as to the outward observing of that which they learned from their fore-runners that therefore God doth accept them but this also is from a wrong spirit and yet how many are there in England at this day that think the better of themselves meerly upon that account I and think the people of God ought to think so too not understanding that it is ordinary for an Eli to have an Hophni and a Phinâ—has both sons of Belial Also a good Samuel to have a perverse off-spring likewise David an Absalom I say their being ignorant of or else negligent in regarding this they do think that because they do spring from such and such as the Jews in their generations did that therefore they have a priviledge with God more than others when there is no such thing John 8 33 34 35. Mat. 3. 7 8 9. but for certain if the same faith be not in them which was in their fore-runners to lay hold of the Christ of God in the same spirit as they did they must utterly perish for all their high conceits that they have of themselves Secondly When People come into the presence of God without having their eye upon their Divine Majesty through the flesh and blood of the Son of Mary the Son of God then also do they come before God and do whatsoever they do from a Legal Spirit an old Covenant Spirit As for instance you have some people 't is true they will go to Prayer in appearance very fervently and will plead very hard with God that he would grant them their desires pleading their want and the abundance thereof they will also plead with God his great mercy and also his free promises but yet they neglecting the aforesaid Body or Person of Christ the righteous Lamb of God to appear before him in I say in thus doing they do not appear before the Lord no otherwayes then in an old Covenant Spirit for they go to God only as a merciful Creator and they themselves as his Creatures not as he is their Father in the Son and they his children by Regeneration through the Lord Jesus I and though they may call God their Father in the Notion not knowing what they say only having learned such things by tradition as the Pharisees did yet Christ will have his time to say to them even to their faces as he did once to the Jews Your father for all this your profession is the Devil to their own grief and everlasting misery John 8. 44. The third thing that is to be observed if we would not be under the Law or do things in a Legal Spirit is this to have a care that we do none of the works of the holy Law of God for life or acceptance with him no nor of the Gospel neither To do the works of the Law to the end we may be accepted of God or that we may please him and to have our desires of him is to do things from a Legal or old Covenant-Spirit and that is expresly laid down where it is said To him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt that is he appears before God through the Law and his obedience to it Rom. 4. 4 5. And again though they be in themselves Gospel-Ordinances as baptism breaking of bread hearing praying meditating or the like yet I say if they be not done in a right Spirit they are thereby used as a hand by the Devil to pull thee under the Covenant of Works as in former times he used circumcision which was no part of the Covenant of Works the ten Commands but a Seal of the righteousness of Faith yet I say they being done in a Legal Spirit the Soul was thereby brought under the Covenant of Works and so most miserably destroyed unawares to it self and that because there was not a right understanding of the nature and terms of the said Covenants And so it is now Souls being ignorant of the nature of the old Covenant do even by their subjecting to several Gospel-ordinances run themselves under the old Covenant and fly off from Christ even when they think they are a coming closer to him O miserable If you would know when or how this is done whether in one particular or more I shall shew you as followeth 1. That man doth bring himself under the Covenant of Works by Gospel-Ordinances when he cannot be persuaded that God will have mercy upon him except he do yield obedience to such or such a particular thing commanded in the Word this is the very same spirit that was in
Grace through the Redemption that is in Christ whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood c. Fourthly How men are to reckon it theirs and that is upon the same terms which God doth offer it which is freely as they are worthless and undeserving Creatures as they are without all good and also unable to do any good This I say is the right way of applying the merits of Christ to thy Soul for they are freely given to thee a poor Sinner nor for any thing that is in thee or done by thee but freely as thou art a Sinner and so standest in absolute need thereof And Christian thou art not in this thing to follow thy sense and feeling but the very Word of God The thing that doth do the People of God the greatest injury it is their too little hearkning to what the Gospel saith and their too much giving credit to what the Law Sin the Devil and Conscience saith and upon this very ground to conclude that because there is the certainty of guilt upon the Soul therefore there is also for certain by Sin Damnation to be brought upon the Soul This is now to set the Word of God aside and to give credit to what is sormed by the contrary but thou must give more credit to one syllable of the written Word of the Gospel than thou must give to all the Saints and Angels in Heaven and Earth much more than to the Devil and thy own guilty Conscience Let me give you a Parable There was a certain man that had committed Treason against his King but for as much as the King had Compassion upon him he sent him by the hand of a faithful Messenger a Pardon under his own Hand and Seal but in the Countrey where this poor man dwelt there was also many that sought to trouble him by often putting of him in mind of his Treason and the Law that was to be executed on the Offender Now which way should this man so honour his King but as believing his Hand-writing which was the Pardon certainly he would honour him more by so doing than to regard all the Clamours of his Enemies continually against him Just thus it is here thou having committed Treason against the King of Heaven he through Compassion for Christs sake hath sent thee a Pardon but the Devil the Law and thy Conscience do continually seek to disturb thee by bringing thy Sins afresh into thy remembrance But now wouldest thou honour thy King why then He that believeth the RECORD that God hath given of his Son hath set to his SEAL that God is true And this is the Record that God hath given to US eternal Life and this Life is in his Son 1 Joh. 5. 11 12. And therefore my Brethren seeing God our Father hath sent us damnable Traitors a Pardon from Heaven even all the Promises of the Gospel and also hath sealed to the certainty of it with the heart-blood of his dear Son let us not be daunted though our Enemies with terrible Voices do bring our former life never so often into our Remembrance Object But saith the Soul how if after I have received a Pardon I should commit Treason again What should I do then Answ. Set the case thou hast committed abundance of Treason he hath by him abundance of Pardons Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Sometimes I my self have been in such a straight that I have been almost driven to my Wits ends with a sight and sense of the greatness of my sins but calling to mind that God was God in his Mercy Pitty and Love as well as in his Holiness Justice c. And again considering the ability of the satisfaction that was given to Holiness and Justice to the end there might be way made for Sinners to lay hold of this Mercy I say I considering this when tempted to doubt and despair I have answered in this manner Lord here is one of the greatest Sinners that ever the the ground bare A Sinner against the Law and a Sinner against the Gospel I have sinned against Light and I have sinned against Mercy and now Lord the guilt of them breaks my heart the Devil also he would have me despair telling of me that thou art so far from hearing my Prayers in this my distress that I cannot anger thee worse then to call upon thee for saith he thou art resolved for ever to damn and not to grant me the least of thy favour yet Lord. I would fain have forgiveness And thy word though much may be inferred from it against me yet it saith If I come unto thee thou wilt in no wise cast me out Lord shall I honour thee most by believing thou canst pardon my Sins or by believing thou canst not Shall I honour thee most by believing thou wilt pardon my Sins or by believing thou wilt not Shall I honour the Blood of thy Son also by despairing that the vertue thereof is not sufficient or by believing that it is sufficient to purge me from all my blood-red and crimson Sins surely thou that couldest find so much Mercy as to pardon Manasseh Mary Magdalen the three thousand Murderers persecuting Paul Murderous and Adulterous David and blaspheming Peter thou that offeredst Mercy to Simon Magus a Witch and didst receive the Astrologers and Conjurers in the nineteenth of Acts thou hast Mercy enough for one poor sinner Lord set the case my Sins were bigger than all these and I less deserved Mercy than any of these yet thou hast said in thy word that he that cometh to thee thou wilt in no wise cast out And God hath given comfort to my Soul even to such a Sinner as I am and I tell you there is no way so to honour God and to beat out the Devil as to stick to the truth of Gods Word and the merits of Christs Blood by believing When Abraham believed even against hope and reason he gave Glory to God Rom. 4. And this is our Victory even our Faith Believe and all things are possible to you He that believeth shall be saved He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting Life and shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my Fathers Hands 1. Joh. 5. 4. And if thou dost indeed believe this thou wilt not only confess him as the Quakers do That is that he was born at Bethlehem of Mary suffered on Mount Calvary under Pontius Pilate was Dead and Buried Rose again and Ascended 〈◊〉 For all this they confess and in the midst of their confession they do verily deny that his Death on that Mount Calvary did give satisfaction to God for the Sins of the World and that his Resurrection out of Josephs Sepulchre is the cause of our Justification in the sight
that is by a final knowing wilful malicious trampling under foot the Blood of Christ which was shed on Mount Calvary when Jesus was there crucified And though it be called the Sin against the Spirit yet as I said before every Sin against the Spirit is not that for if it was then every Sin against the Light and Convictions of the Spirit would be unpardonable but that is an evident untruth for these Reasons First because there be those who have sinned against the movings of the Spirit and that knowingly too and yet did not commit that As Jonah who when God had expresly by his Spirit bid him go to Nineveh he runs thereupon quite another way Secondly because the very People that have sinned against the movings of the Spirit are yet if they do return received to Mercy Witness also Jonah who though he had sinned against the movings of the Spirit of the Lord in doing contrary thereunto Yet when he called as he saith to the Lord out of the Belly of Hell the Lord heard him and gave him deliverance and set him again about his work Read the whole story of that Prophet 2 Answ. But secondly I shall shew you that it must needs be wilfully knowingly and a malicious rejecting of the man Christ Jesus as the Saviour That is counting his Blood his Righteousness his Intercession in his own Person for he that rejects one rejects all to be of no value as to salvation I say this I shall shew you is the unpardonable Sin And then afterwards in brief shew you why it is called the Sin against the Holy Ghost First That man that doth reject as aforesaid the Blood Death Righteousness Resurrection Ascension and Intercession of the man Christ doth reject that Sacrifice that Blood that Righteousness that Victory that Rest that God alone hath appointed for Salvation John 1. 29. Behold the Lamb or sacrifice of God We have Redemption through his Blood Ephes. 1. 7. That I may be found in him to wit in Christs Righteousness with Christs own personal obedience to his Fathers Will Phil. 3. 7 8 9 10. By his Resurrection comes Justification Rom. 4. 25. His Intercession now in his own Person in the Heavens now absent from his Saints is the cause of the Saints Perseverance 2 Cor. 6 7 8. also Rom. 8. 33 34 35 36 c. Secondly They that reject this Sacrifice and the Merits of this Christ which he by himself hath brought in for Sinners hath rejected him through whom alone all the Promises of the New Testament together with all the Mercy discovered thereby doth come unto poor Creatures For all the promises in him are Yea and in him Amen unto the glory of God 2 Cor. 1. 20. And all spiritual Blessings are made over to us through him Ephes. 1. 3 4. That is through and in this Man which is Christ we have all our spiritual Heavenly and eternal Mercies Thirdly He that doth knowingly wilfully and despitefully reject this man for Salvation doth sin the unpardonable Sin because there is never another sacrifice to be offered Heb. 10. 26. There is no more offering for Sin there remaineth no more sacrifice for Sin Heb. 10. 18. namely than the offering of the body of Jesus Christ a Sacrifice once for all Heb. 10. ver 10. and 14. compared with ver 18. and 26. No but they that shall after light and clear conviction reject the first offering of his Body for Salvation do Crucifie him the second time which irrecoverably merits their own Damnation For it is impossible for those who were once enlightned and have tasted of the Heavenly Gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the World to come If they shall fall away to renew them again unto Repentance seeing they Gruâ—â—fiâ— to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open Shame If they fall away to renew them again unto Repentance And why so seeing saith the Apostle they do crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and do put him to open shame O then how miserably hath the Devil deceived some In that he hath got them to reject the merits of the first offering of the Body of Christ which was for Salvation and got them to trust in a fresh Crucifying of Christ which unavoidably brings their speedy Damnation Fourthly they that do reject this Man as aforesaid do sin the unpardonable Sin because in rejecting him they do make way for the Justice of God to break out upon them and to handle them as it shall find them which will be in the first place Sinners against the first Covenant which is the Soul-damning Covenant and also despising of even the Life and Glory and Consolations Pardon Grace and Love that is discovered in the second Covenant forasmuch as they reject the Mediator and Priest of the same which is the Man Jesus And the Man that doth so I would fain see how his Sins should be pardoned and his Soul saved seeing the means which is the Son of Man the Son of Mary and his Merits is rejected For saith he If you believe not that I am he you shall mark you shall do what you can you shall appear where you can you shall follow Moses Law or any holiness whatsoever you shall dye in your Sins Joh. 8. 24. So that I say the Sin that is called the unpardonable Sin is a knowing wilful and despiteful rejecting of the sacrificing of the Son of Man the first time for Sin And now to shew you why it is called the Sin against the Holy Ghost as in these Scriptures Mat. 12. Heb. 10. Mark 3. First Because they Sin against the manifest light of the Spirit as I said before it is a Sin against the light of the Spirit That is they have been formerly enlightened into the nature of the Gospel and the Merits of the Man Christ and his Blood Righteousness Intercession c. And also professed and confessed the same with some life and comfort in and through the profession of him Yet now against all that Light maliciously and with despite to all their former Profession turn their backs and trample upon the same Secondly It is called the Sin against the Holy Ghost because such a Person doth as I may say lay violent hands on it one that sets himself in opposition to and is resolved to resist all the motions that do come in from the Spirit to persuade the contrary For I do verily believe that men in this very rejecting of the Son of God after some knowledge of him especially at their first resisting and refusing of him they have certain motions of the Spirit of God to disswade them from so great a Soul-damning Act. But they being filled with an over-powering measure of the Spirit of the Devil do do despite unto these Convictions and Motions by studying and contriving how they may answer them and get from under
little Excellency in Christ and doth all this stir up in thy Heart some breathings after him If so then fear not the Day of Grace is not past with thy poor Soul for if the day of Grace should be past with such a Soul as this then that Scripture must be broken where Christ saith He that cometh unto me I will in no wise for no thing by no means upon no terms whatsoever cast out John 6. 37. Object But surely if the day of Grace was not past with me I should not be so long without an answer of Gods love to my Soul that therefore doth make me mistrust my state the more is that I wait and wait and yet am not delivered Answ. Hast thou waited on the Lord so long as the Lord hath waited on thee it may be the Lord hath waited on thee this twenty or thirty yea forty years or more and thou hast not waited on him seven years cast this into thy Mind therefore when Satan tells thee that God doth not love thee because thou hast waited so long without an assurance for it is his temptation for God did wait longer upon thee and was fain to send to thee by his Ambassadors time after time And therefore say thou I will wait to see what the Lord will say unto me and the rather because he will speak Peace for he is the Lord thereof But secondly Know that it is not thy being under trouble a long time that will be an Argument sufficient to prove that thou art past hopes Nay contrariwise for Jesus Christ did take our Nature upon him and also did undertake deliverance for those and bring it in for them who were all their Life Time subject to Bondage Heb. 2. 14 15. Object But alas I am not able to wait all my Strength is gone I have waited so long I can wait no longer Answ. It may be thou hast concluded on this long ago thinking thou shouldest not be able to hold out any longer no not a year a month or a week nay it may be not so long It may be in the morning thou hast thought thou shouldest not hold out till night and at night till morning again yet the Lord hath supported thee and kept thee in waiting upon him many Weeks and Years therefore that is but the Temptation of the Devil to make thee think so that he might drive thee to despair of Gods Mercy and so to leave off following the ways of God and to close in with thy Sins again O therefore do not give way unto it but believe that thou shalt see the Goodness of the Lord in the Land of the Living Wait on the Lord be of good Courage and he shall strengthen thine Heart wait I say on the Lord Psal. 27. 23 24. And that thou mayest so do consider these things First If thou after thou hast waited thus long shouldest now give over and wait no longer thou wouldest lose all thy time and pains that thou hast taken in the way of God hitherto and wilt be like to a man that because he sought long for Gold and did not find it therefore turned back from seeking after it though he was hard by it and had almost found it and all because he was loth to look and seek a little further Secondly Thou wilt not only lose thy time but also lose thy own Soul for Salvation is no where else but in Jesus Christ Acts 4. 12. Thirdly Thou wilt sin the highest sin that ever thou didst sin before in drawing finally back insomuch that God may say my Soul shall have no pleasure in him Heb. 10. 38. But secondly consider thou sayest all my strength is gone and therefore how should I wait why at that time when thou feelest and findest thy strength quite gone even that is the time when the Lord will renew and give thee fresh strength The youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with Wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not be faint Isa. 40. 30 31. Object But though I do wait yet if I be not elected to eternal Life what good will all my waiting do me For it is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but of God that sheweth Mercy Therefore I say if I should not be elected all is in vain 1 Answ. Why in the first place to be sure thy backsliding from God will not prove thy election neither thy growing weary of waiting upon God 2 Answ. But secondly Thou art it may be troubled to know whether thou art elected And sayest thou if I did but know that that would encourage me in my waiting on God Answ. I believe thee but mark thou shalt not know thy election in the first place but in the second That is to say thou must first get acquaintance with God in Christ which doth come by thy giving credit to his Promises and Records which he hath given of Jesus Christ his Blood and Righttousness together with the rest of his Merits That is before thou canst know whether thou art elected thou must believe in Jesus Christ so really that thy faith laying hold of and drinking and eating the Flesh and Blood of Christ even so that there shall be life begotten in thy Soul by the same Life from the condemnings of the Law Life from the guilt of Sin Life over the filth of the same Life also to walk with God in his Son and wayes the Life of Love to God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son Saints and Wayes and that because they are Holy Harmless and such that are altogether contrary to Iniquity For these things must be in thy Soul as a forerunner of thy being made acquainted with the other God hath these two ways to shew to his Children their election First by Testimony of the Spirit That is the Soul being under trouble of Conscience and grieved for Sin the Spirit doth seal up the Soul by its comfortable Testimony perswading of the Soul that God for Christs sake hath forgiven all those Sins that lye so heavy on the Conscieâ—ce and that do so much perplex the Soul by shewing it that that Law which doth utter such horrible curses against it is by Christs Blood satisfied and fulfilled Eph. 1. 13 14. Secondly By consequence that is the Soul finding that God hath been good unto it in that he hath shewed it its lost state and miserable condition and also that he hath given it some comfortable hope that he will save it from the same I say the Soul from a right sight thereof doth or may draw this conclusion that if God had not been minded to have saved it he would not have done for it such things as these But for the more surer dealing with thy Soul it is not good to take any of these apart that is it is
doest apprehend that thou art defiled and also thy best Duties annoyed with many Weaknesses let that Scripture come into thy Thoughts which saith Of him are ye in Christ Jesus who of God is made unto us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption And if thou shalt understand that what thou canst not find in thy self thou shalt find in Christ. Art thou a Fool in thy self then Christ is made of God thy Wisdom Art thou Unrighteous in thy self Christ is made of God thy Righteousness Doest thou find that there is but very little sanctifying Grace in thy Soul still here is Christ made thy Sanctification and all this in his own Person without thee without thy Wisdom without thy Righteousness without thy Sanctification without in his own Person in thy Fathers presence appearing there perfect Wisdom Righteousness and Sanctification in his own Person I say as a publick Person for thee So that thou mayest believe and say to thy Soul My Soul though thou doest find innumerable Infirmities in thy self and in thy Actions yet look upon thy Jesus the man Jesus he is Wisdom and that for thee to govern thee to take care for thee and to order all things for the best for thee He is also thy Righteousness now at Gods right Hand alwayes shining before the Eyes of his Glory So that there it is unmovable though thou art in never such a sad Condition yet thy Righteousness which is the Son of God God-man shines as bright as ever and is as much accepted of God as ever O this sometimes hath been Life to me And so whatever thou O my Soul findest wanting in thy self through Faith thou shalt see all laid up for thee in Jesus Christ whether it be Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification or Redemption Nay not only so but as I said before he is all these in his own Person without thee in the presence of his Father for thee Object But now if any should say in their Hearts O but I am one of the Old Covenant-men I doubt that is I doubt I am not within this glorious Covenant of Grace And how if I should not Answ. Well thou fearest that thou art one of the Old Covenant a Son of the Bond-woman In the first place know that thou wast one of them by Nature for all by Nature are under that Covenant but set the case that thou art to this day under that yet let me tell thee in the first place there is hopes for thee for there is a gap open a way made for Souls to come from under the Covenant of Works by Christ For he hath broken down the middle Wall of Partition between us and you Ephes. 2. 14. And therefore if thou wouldest be saved thou mayest come to Christ. If thou wantest a righteousness as I said before there is one in Christ. If thou wouldest be washed thou mayest come to Christ and if thou wouldest be justified there is justification enough in the Lord Jesus Christ. That 's the first Ans. 2. And secondly thou canst not be so willing to come to Christ as he is willing thou shouldest come to him witness his coming down from Heaven his Humiliation his spilling of his Blood from both his Cheeks Luke 23. 44. by sweat under the burden of sin and his shedding of it by the Spear when he hanged on the Cross. It appears also by his Promises by his Invitations by his sending forth his Messengers to preach the same to poor Sinners and threatneth Damnation upon this very account namely the neglect of him and declares that all the thousands and ten thousands of sins in the World should not be able to damn those that believed in him that he would pardon all forgive and pass by all if they would but come unto him moreover promiseth to cast out none no not the poorest vilest contemptiblest Creature in the whole World Come unto me all every one though you be never so many never so vile though your Load be never so heavy and intollerable though you deserve no help not the least help no Mercy not the least compassion yet cast your Burthen upon me and you shall find rest for your Souls Come unto me and I will heal you love you teach you and tell you the way to the Kingdom of Heaven Come unto me and I will succor you help you and keep you from all Devils and their Temptations from the Law and its Curses and from being for ever overcome with any evil whatsoever Come unto me for what you need and tell me what you would have or what you would have me do for you and all my Strength Love Wisdom and Interest that I have with my Father shall be laid out for you Come unto me your sweet Jesus your loving and tender-hearted Jesus your everlasting and sin-pardoning Jesus Come unto me and I will wash you and put my Righteousness upon you pray to my Father for you and send my Spirit into you that you might be saved Therefore Consider besides this what a priviledge thou shalt have at the day of Judgment above thousands if thou do indeed and in truth close in with this Jesus and accept of him for thou shalt not only have a Priviledge in this Life only but in the Life Everlasting even at the time of Christs second coming from Heaven for then when there shall be the whole World gathered together and all the good Angels bad Angels Saints and Reprobates when all thy Friends and Kindred with thy Neighbours on thy Right-hand and on the left shall be with thee beholding of the wonderful Glory and Majesty of the Son of God then shall the Son of Glory even Jesus in the very view and sight of them all smile and look kindly upon thee when a smile or a kind look from Christ shall be worth more then ten thousand Worlds then thou shalt have it You know it is counted an honour for a poor man to be favourably looked upon by a Judge or a King in the sight of Lords Earls Dukes and Princes why thus it will be with thee in the sight of all the Princely Saints Angels and Devils in the sight of all the great Nobles in the World then even thou that closest in with Christ be thou rich or poor be thou bond or free wise or foolish if thou close in with him he will say unto thee Well done good and faithful Servant even in the midst of the whole World they that love thee shall see it and they that hate thee shall all to their shame behold it for if thou fear him here in secret he will make it manifest even at that day upon the House top Secondly not only thus but thou shalt also be lovingly received and tenderly embraced of him at that day when Christ hath thousands of gallant Saints as old Abraham Isaac Jacob David Isaiah Jeremiah together with all the Prophets and Apostles and Martyrs attending on him together with many thousands of