rejoice and triumph in the Happiness of one another With what an unimaginable tenderness do they embrace What Reciprocations of Endearments are between them O their ravishing Conversation and sweet Entercourse for their Presence together in Heaven is not a silent Show In the Transfiguration Moses and Elias talk'd with Christ We may understand a little of it by the sensible complacence that is among sincere Friends here In pure Amity there is a threefold Union a Union of Resemblance that is the principle of it likeness causes Love a Union of Affection that is its Essence 't is said of Jonathan that incomparable Friend his Soul was knit with the Soul of David and he loved him as his own Soul the Union of Conversation that is requisite to the satisfaction of Love What an entertainment of Love and Joy is there in the presence and discourses of dear Friends their mutual Aspects like a Chain compos'd of Spirits luminous and active draw and fasten their Souls to one another The Felicity of Love consists in their Conversation Now in Heaven whatever is pleasant in Friendship is in Perfection and whatever is distastful by Mens Folly and Weakness is abolish'd With what excellent Discourses do they entertain one another If David felt such inward Pleasure from the sense of God's Favours that he could not restrain the expression of it but invites the Saints Come and hear all ye that fear the Lord and I will tell you what he has done for my Soul Certainly in Heaven the Blessed with overflowing Affections recount the Divine Benefits the admirable Methods whereby the Life of Grace was begun preserv'd and carried on in the midst of Temptations the continual Succession of Mercies in the time of their Hopes and the Consummation of all in the time of their enjoyment How joyfully do they concur in their Thanksgivings to God for the Goodness of Creation in making them reasonable Creatures capable to know love and enjoy him when they might have been of the lowest Order in the whole Sphere of Beings for his compassionate Care and Providence over them in this World but especially for his sovereign and singular Mercy in electing them to be Vessels of Honour for his powerful Grace in rescuing them from the cruel and ignominious Bondage of Sin for his most free Love that justified them from all their Guilt by the Death of his only Son and glorified them with himself They are never weary in this delightful Exercise but continually bless him for his Mercy that endures for ever We may judg by the Saints here when they are in a fit disposition to praise God what Fervors they feel in their united Praises of him in Heaven The Psalmist in an Extasy calls to all the parts of the World to join with him The Lord reigns let the Heavens rejoice and the Earth be glad let the Sea roar let the Fields be joyful and all that dwell therein He desires that Nature should be elevated above it self that the dead parts be inspired with Life the insensible feel motions of Joy and those that want a Voice break forth in Praises to adorn the Divine Triumph With what Life and Alacrity will the Saints in their blessed Communion celebrate the Object of their Love and Praises The Seraphims about the Throne cried to one another to express their Zeal and Joy in celebrating his Eternal Purity and Power and the Glory of his Goodness O the unspeakable Pleasure of this Concert when every Soul is harmonious and contributes his part to the full Musick of Heaven O could we hear but some Eccho of those Songs wherewith the Heaven of Heavens resounds some remains of those Voices wherewith the Saints above triumph in the Praises in the solemn Adoration of the King of Spirits how would it inflame our Desires to be join'd with them Blessed are those that are in thy House they always praise thee 3. The fulness of Joy in Heaven is everlasting without defect and without end 1. 'T is undecaying the productive Causes are conservative of it being always equal Those are the beatifick Object and the continual fruition of it Whilst we are here below the Sun of Righteousness as to our perception and sense has Ascensions and Declinations Accesses and Recesses And our Earth is not so purified but some Vapours arise that intercept his chearful refreshing Light From hence there are alternate successions of Spiritual Comforts and Sorrows of Doubts and filial Confidence in the Saints 'T is a rare Favour of Heaven when an humble Believer in his whole course is so circumspect as not to provoke God to appear displeased against him When a Christian as those tutelar Angels spoken of in the Gospel always beholds the Face of his Heavenly Father and converses with him with an holy Liberty And what a torment the hiding of God's Face is to a deserted Soul only they know who feel it External troubles are many times attended with more Consolations to the Spirit than Afflictions to Sense but to love God with a transcendent Affection and to fear he is our Enemy no Punishment exceeds or is equal to it As his Loving-kindness in their esteem is better than Life so his Displeasure is worse than Death How do they wrestle with God by Prayers and Tears and offer as it were a holy Violence to the King of Heaven to recover their first serenity of Mind the lost Peace of Heart How passionately do they cry out with Job in the Book of his Patience O that I were as in months past as in the days when God preserved me when his Candle shin'd upon my head and when by his Light I walk'd through darkness As I was in the days of my youth when the Secret of God was upon my Tabernacle And sometimes God delays the revealing himself even to his dearest Children not that he does not see their Necessities and hears their Prayers or is so hard that till their Extremities he is not moved with Compassion but for wise and holy Reasons Either that they may not return to folly if by any presumptuous Sin they forfeited their Peace or if they have been careful to please him yet he may deprive them of Spiritual Comforts for a time to keep them humble and that with an obedient resignation to his Sovereign Pleasure they may wait for his reviving Presence And then Joy returns greater than before For thus God usually renders with interest what he suspended only for trial But the Saints above are for ever enlightned with the vital splendor and dear regards of his Countenance always enjoy his beamy smiles A continual effusion of Glory illustrates Heaven and all its blessed Inhabitants And their Contemplation of God is fixed If the Object though extraordinary glorious were transient or the Eye so weak that it could only see it but by glances the height of Joy would not be perpetual But the mind is prepar'd with supernatural vigour to see the brightness
of Paradise that Men should still seek for substantial Blessedness to fill the Soul in vain shows that can only feed the Eye is beyond all degrees of Folly Astonishing madness that God and Heaven should be despised in comparison of painted Trifles This adds the greatest contumely to their Impiety What powerful Charm obstructs their true judging of things What Spirit of Errour possesses them Alas Eternal things are unseen not of conspicuous moment and therefore in the carnal Ballance are esteemed light against temporal things present to the Sense It does not appear what we shall be The Vail of the visible Heavens covers the Sanctuary where JESUS our High-Priest is entred and stops the enquiring Eye But have we not assurance by the most infallible Principles of Faith that the Son of God came down from Heaven to live with us and die for us and that he rose again to confirm our Belief in his exceeding great and precious Promises concerning this Happiness in the Future State And do not the most evident Principles of Reason and universal Experience prove that this World cannot afford true Happiness to us How wretchedly do we forfeit the Prerogative of the reasonable Nature by neglecting our last and blessed End If the Mind be darkned that it does not see the amiable Excellencies of God and the Will be depraved that it does not feel their ravishing Power the Man ceases to be a Man and becomes like the Beasts that perish As a blind Eye is no longer an Eye being absolutely useless to that end for which it was made And though in this present state Men are stupid and unconcern'd yet hereafter their Misery will awaken them to discover what is that Supream Good wherein their Perfection and Felicity consists When their Folly shall be exposed before God Angels and Saints in what extream confusion will they appear before that glorious and immense Theatre Our Saviour told the unbelieving Jews There shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God and you your selves turn'd out They shall be tortur'd with the desire of Happiness without possible Satisfaction 'T is most just that those who err without excuse should repent without remedy 2. Let us be seriously excited to apply our selves with inflamed desires and our utmost diligence to obtain this unchangeable Happiness In order to this we shall consider the causes of it and the means whereby 't is obtain'd The Original moving Cause is the pure rich Mercy of God that prepared it for his People and prepares them for it The procuring Cause is the meritorious efficacy of Christ's Obedience and Sufferings This is expresly declared by the Apostle The wages of Sin is Death but the gift of God is eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. I. The designing the preparation and actual bestowing of the Heavenly Glory is from the Mercy of God This will appear by considering 1. That it is absolutely impossible that a meer Creature though perfect should deserve any thing from God For enjoying its being and powers of working from his Goodness the product of all is entirely due to him And the payment of a Debt acquires no Title to a Reward He is the Proprietary and Lord of all by Creation Hence 't is clear that in the order of distributive Justice nothing can be challenged from him 2. Besides such is the infinite Perfection of God in Himself that no benefit can redound to him by the Service of the Creature When you have done all say you are unprofitable Servants for we have done but what we ought to do The neglect of our duty justly exposes to punishment but the performance of it deserves no Reward because no advantage accrues to God by it Who hath first given unto him and it shall be recompensed to him again He challenges all Creatures even of the highest order To speak strictly therefore When God crowns the Angels with Glory he gives what is meerly his own and does not render what is theirs If he should leave them in their pure Nature or deprive them of their Being he were no loser nor injurious to them For what Law binds him to enrich them with Immortal Glory who are no ways profitable to him or to preserve that being they had from his unexcited Goodness No Creature can give to him therefore none can receive from him by way of valuable Consideration 3. There is no proportion between the best Works of Men and the excellency of the Reward much less an equivalence 'T was the just and humble acknowledgment of Jacob to God I am less than the least of all thy Mercies those that common Providence dispenses for the support and refreshment of this temporal Life But how much less than the glorious Excellencies of the supernatural Divine Life wherein the Saints reign with God for ever The most costly the most difficult and hazardous Services are equally nothing in point of Merit with the giving but a Cup of cold Water to a Disciple of Christ there being no correspondence in value between them and the Kingdom of Heaven The Apostle tells us I count the Sufferings of the present Life are not to be compar'd to the Glory that shall be revealed in us And suffering is more than doing God rewards his faithful Servants not according to the dignity of their Works but his own Liberality and Magnificence As Alexander having ordered fifty Talents of Gold to be given to a Gentleman in Poverty to supply his want and he surpris'd with that immense Bounty modestly said ten were enough He replied If fifty are too much for you to receive ten are too little for me to give therefore do you receive as Poor I will give as a King Thus God in the dispensing his Favours does not respect the meanness of our Persons or Services but gives to us as a God And the clearest Notion of the Deity is that he is a Being infinite in all Perfections therefore all-sufficient and most willing to make his Creatures compleatly happy 4. If a Creature perfectly Holy that never sinn'd is uncapable to merit any thing from God much less can those who are born in a sinful State and guilty of innumerable actual Transgressions pretend to deserve any Reward for their Works This were presumption inspir'd by prodigious Vanity For 1. By his most free Grace they are restored in conversion to that Spiritual Power by which they serve him The Chaos was not a deader Lump before the Spirit of God moved on the Face of the Waters than the best of Men were before the vital influences of the Spirit wrought upon them And for this they are so deeply obliged to God that if a thousand times more for his Glory were perform'd yet they cannot discharge what they owe. 2. The continuance and increase of the powerful supplies of Grace to the Saints who even since their holy calling by many
that seals up the Damnation of Sinners is Impenitence Now he that delays the returning to his Duty shall have more cause to repent hereafter but less Will and Power for Sin repeated makes him more uncapable of Repentance and that which is Indisposition will become Averseness and Obstinacy The Heart with Difficulty changes its last End Actions may be suddenly chang'd when there is a Disability to perform them but the inward Inclinations to Sin without supernatural renewing Grace remain 'T is therefore the Subtilty of the old Serpent to make the Entrance of Sin easy for he knows that Custom is a second Nature and has a mighty Power in us Can an Ethiopian change his Skin or the Leopard change his Spots then may you who are accustomed to do Evil do good If Sin in its Infancy can make such Resistance that the Spirit of Grace is foil'd in his Motions to rescue the Soul from its Bondage how much more when 't is grown into a confirm'd Habit Therefore the Apostle urges so zealously To Day if you will hear his Voice harden not your Hearts lest any be hardned through the Deceitfulness of Sin 3. How uncertain is it whether God will accept the Addresses of such at last We are commanded Seek the Lord while he may be found call upon him while he is near The Limitation implies if the Season be neglected he will hide his Face for ever Now in cases of great Moment and Hazard what Diligence what Caution should be used 1 st Consider how derogatory it is to his Majesty to offer to him the Dregs of our Age the Reliques of a licentious careless Life spent in the Works of Vanity Is this to give Glory to God Contempt provokes Superiours as much as actual Injuries How vilifying is it of his excellent Greatness that Men lavishly waste the best of their Time and Strength upon their Lusts and when through Weakness of Age or the Violence of a Disease they can no more do the Acts of Sin nor relish the Pleasures of Sin to presume that God will upon their Prayers forgive their Sins so long indulg'd and of such violent Provocations and receive them into his Kingdom as if he could not be happy without them and it were his Interest to receive them God has laid his Exceptions against such Addresses He may justly stand upon his Greatness and Honour If ye offer the Blind for a Sacrifice is it not evil And if ye offer the Lame and Sick is it not evil Offer it now to thy Governour will he be pleased with it to accept thy Person saith the Lord of Hosts As the Lord upbraids the Jews for their black Ingratitude in barginning for thirty pieces of Silver to have him betrayed to their Malice a goodly Price that I was prized at of them So when there is an universal Prostration of all the Powers and Faculties when the Spirits are damp'd the vital Heat is check'd and the function of the senses is obstructed then to seek to God for Mercy and to make fair Promises of Obedience he may justly reproach the Presumer a goodly time you have alotted for me Your Youth and Strength the Golden Age of Life has been wasted on your Lusts and in the Business of the World and the wretched remains you think worthy of my Acceptance 2 dly Consider what Sincerity or moral Value is in Religion that meerly proceeds from bitter Constraint 'T is a Rule in Law Falsum est eam peperisse cui mortuae filius extractus est 'T is not a natural Birth when the Child is extracted from the dead Mother 'T is not genuine Piety that is extorted by the rack whilst the Heart full of Reluctancy does not truly consent Pure Religion flows uncompell'd from Love to God 't is the Dregs that come forth with pressing 'T is observ'd of the Israelites that when God slew them they sought him and returned and enquired early after God But 't is added Nevertheless they did flatter him with their Mouths and they lied to him with their Tongues for their Hearts were not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant How often does Experience convince us of the Inefficacy of a Sickbed-Repentance How many that were very devout and mournful with one Foot as it were in the Grave and another in Hell and were as a Brand pluck'd out of the Fire yet when the Fear of Death is removed all the Terrors of Conscience the religious Affections that were felt and express'd by them vanish as the Morning-Dew Now converting Grace is distinguish'd by its radication and efficacy not only from the mere Pretences of those who know their own Insincerity but from the real Workings of Conscience and the imperfect Dispositions to Good that are in the Unrenewed And those Persons who with the return of Health have returned to their Sins if they had died with their religious Resolutions would have presum'd that their Repentance was unto Life and of their Interest in the Divine Mercy The Heart is deceitful above all things and above all things deceitful to it self Besides when Sinners are plunged in deep Distress when the shadow of Death sits upon their Eye-lids they may with plentiful effusions of Tears desire God to receive them to Heaven not to see and praise his adorable Excellencies not to please and glorify him for ever but as a Sanctuary from revenging Justice a Refuge from Hell And will such Prayers prevail What swells the Confidence of Sinners but unworthy Notions of God as if a forc'd and formal Confession of their Sins could deceive his all-discerning Eye and Desires merely terminated on themselves were sufficient to reconcile his offended Majesty 3. There is nothing renders Men more unworthy of Mercy than continuance in Sin upon presumption of an easy Pardon at last This is the most provoking Abuse of his Goodness and Long-suffering that should lead them unto Repentance He can in the twinkling of an eye in the beating of a Pulse cut off the Sinner 't is as easy to his Power as to will it And there is no Consideration should be so melting and moving as his Clemency We read of David that he had more than once in his power Saul his unjust and cruel Enemy yet spared him the effect of it was that Saul was softened and under such compunction of Spirit that he wept confess'd his Guilt and persecuted him no more overcome by that unexampled Love If a Man find his Enemy will he let him go Yet Men take advantage from the Goodness of God securely to despise his Laws The habitual Sinner thinks that God is so gracious such a Lover of Souls so easy to be intreated that upon his dying Prayer Lord remember me in thy Kingdom the Answer will be To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise This is the deceitful Principle upon which Men usually build their Hopes as their Actions that bear the Image of their
and active to prevent a threatning Evil or to sustain it in the best manner 'T is observable in the brute Creatures that the Weak and Fearful are most subtile and ingenious to secure themselves and supply the want of Strength with Artifice But when Fear is inordinate 't is a tyrannous Master that vexes the weary Soul and hinders its free and noble Operations Cesar chose rather to be expos'd to sudden death than to be continually harrass'd with fears how to avoid it The Greek word implies the binding of the Spirit that causes an inward Slavery And in the Apostle's Writings the Spirit of Fear and the Spirit of Bondage are equivalent Ishbosheth when Abner provok'd by the Charge about Saul's Concubine imperiously threatned to translate the Kingdom to David was struck with such a fear that he could not answer Abner a word 2 Sam. 3.10 11. The sudden Passion stifled his Reply and reduc'd him to a defenceless Silence Now the fear of Death as 't is remiss or vehement such are the degrees of Bondage from it 1. It embitters the enjoyments of the present Life and makes the most prosperous in the World even in the fulness of their sufficiency to be in straits Though the Senses are pleased with the quick sweetness of Change from one Object to another yet the Soul cannot have a delightful undisturbed Fruition foreseeing that the stream of Pleasure will issue into the dead Sea Truly Light is sweet and 't is a pleasant thing to behold the Sun But how short is this Life with all its Pleasures in comparison of the Days of Darkness that follow Now though 't is our best Wisdom and truest Liberty to rejoice in this World as if we rejoiced not and frequently to meditate on the cooling Doctrines of Death and Judgment to repress the transports of the voluptuous Appetite yet since the Comforts of this Life are liberally indulged to us by the Love of God to be the Motives of our grateful and affectionate Obedience to sweeten our passage to Heaven we may with tranquillity of Spirit make a pure and chearful use of them in his Service and 't is an oppressing bondage when the disquieting anxious Fears of Death hinder our temperate enjoyment of his Favours and Blessings 2. The fear of Death oppresses the Souls of Men under a miserable Bondage to the Devil for his Dominion is maintain'd by the Allurements and Terrors of the World Though Men do not explicitly acknowledg his Soveraignty yet by voluntary yielding to his pleasing Temptations they are really his Slaves And the apprehension of temporal Evils especially of Death dress'd up in a frightful representation with its bloody Pomp is the strongest snare to the Soul The Faint-hearted prove false-hearted in the time of trial For the timerous Spirit being wholly intent how to avoid the incursion of a present Evil forgets or neglects what is indispensably to be done and thinks to find an excuse in the pretended necessity How many have been terrified from their clearest Duty and resolved Constancy To escape Death they have been guilty of the most insufferable Impieties by renouncing God their Maker and Saviour and worshipping the Devils for Deities Every Age presents sad Spectacles of many that choose Iniquity rather than Affliction that relinquish their Duty and by wicked Compliances save their Lives and lose their Souls Carnal Desires and carnal Fears are the Chains of Hell that retain Men Satan's Captives But what folly what madness is it for the avoiding the impotent fury of the Creature to venture on the powerful Wrath of God that exceeds all the Terrors that can be conceived by Fear This renders them more brutish than the Horse that starting at his Shadow springs over a desperate Precipice The Fearful are excluded from Heaven and cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone for ever 3. The extream fear of Death and Judgment dejects and discourages the Soul from the use of means to prevent eternal Misery and induces a most woful Bondage Fear anticipates and exasperates future Evils for as Knowledg excites Fear so Fear encreases Knowledg by the uncessant working of the Thoughts upon terrible Objects The fearful Mind aggravates the foreseen Evil and distils the Poison from all the Circumstances and Consequences of it And when the Evil is apprehended as insuperable and indeclinable all endeavours to escape are cut off What a Philosopher observes of an Earthquake compared with other destructive Evils is true in this case There may be a safe retreat from Fire from Inundations from Storms from War from Pestilence but an Earthquake astonishes with so violent a perturbation that stops our flight from the imminent Danger So the vehement impressions of Fear from the approaches of Death and the severe executions upon the Sinner after it distracts the Mind and disables from flying from the Wrath to come These Fears are more heavy by the suggestions of Satan who represents God so terrible in his Majesty inexorable in his Justice and unchangeable in his Threatnings that all Hopes of obtaining his Favour are lost As the Egyptian Darkness was not meerly from the absence of the Sun but from feculent Vapours condensing the Air that it might be felt So these dark and fearful expectations of the Divine Wrath are not only from the withdrawing the Light of God's Countenance but from the Prince of Darkness that foul Spirit And as we read of the Egyptians that no Man arose from his place for three days as if they had been buried in that Darkness and deprived of all active Power and Motion so the despairing Soul sits down mourning at the Gates of Death totally disabled from prosecuting the Things that belong to its Peace 'T is Hope inspires and warms us with alacrity encourages our Endeavours Despair blunts our edg and industry The Soul suffers the hardest Bondage and the Condition is unexpressibly sad under the tyranny of this Fear O how enthralled how desolately miserable Despair does meritoriously and effectually ruin the Soul For whereas there is no Attribute more Divine no clearer Notion of the Deity than Love and Mercy this Passion disparages his Mercy as if Sin were more omnipotent than his Power to pardon and all the Tears that flow from it are so far from expiating that they encrease Guilt and whereas the believing view of Christ would as compleatly and presently recover the Soul-wounded Sinner as the Israelites were by looking to the ordained visible Sign of their Salvation Despair turns away the Eye from our Deliverer and fixes it upon Misery as remediless and final 4. How comes it to pass that Men are not always under the actual fear of Death but subject to the revolutions of it all their Lives The Seeds of this Fear are hid in the guilty Breasts of Men and at times especially in their Calamities break forth and kindle upon them In their Leisure and Retirement intercurrent thoughts of
stinging Reproach of his perfidious Villany Thus it appears how dangerous it is to delay Repentance and Reconciliation with God till Sickness and a Death-bed when the remembrance or forgetfulness of Sin the sense or security of Conscience may be equally destructive The Sum of what has been amplified in this Part is this A vain hope of living long and being reconcil'd to God when Men please is the fatal Foundation of their Sins and Misery They apply the Word of God against the Mind of God and securely provoke him as if they could take Heaven by Violence in contradiction to the Gospel But they usually dispose of that time they shall never enjoy and presume upon that Mercy and Grace they shall never obtain We are commanded to seek the Lord while he may be found a sad Intimation that 't is not in our power to find him to our Comfort when we please He spares long but abused Patience will deliver Sinners to revenging Justice Sampson was three times in the Chamber of his Lust expos'd to Treachery and escap'd but the fourth time he said I will arise but was surprized by his Enemies and lost his Strength and Sight and Liberty How justly will the wilful neglect of Salvation so long and so compassionately offer'd to Sinners render the Divine Mercy inexorable to their Prayers and Tears at last When a Roman Gentleman that was wont to revel in the night and sleep in the day had wasted a great Estate by Luxury he petitioned the Emperor Tiberius to relieve his Poverty and was dismiss'd with this upbraiding Answer Serò experrectus es you are risen too late He never open'd his Eyes to see his Condition till it was past Remedy This is the sad Case of many that waste the Seasons of Grace and are careless of their Duty till upon the point of perishing and then address themselves to God for his Favour and Pardon but are justly rejected with the reproaches of their obstinate neglect of Salvation in the time of their Lives I doubt not that some are wonderfully converted and saved at last but these special Mercies are like our Saviour's miraculous healing the two blind Persons as he was passing in the way when great numbers of the Blind remain'd uncur'd We read a prodigious Story in the Book of Kings that a Captain and his fifty Men commanded Elias to come to the King and immediately a Tempest of Lightning destroyed them Now who would think that another Captain with his fifty should be so desperate that having the Ashes and Relicks of those miserable Carcasses before their Eyes as to make the same Citation to the Prophet yet they did and provok'd the Justice of Heaven to consume them And this Madness is exemplified in thousands every day for notwithstanding they see Sinners like themselves cut off in their evil Ways they continue unreformed as if they were fearless of Hell as if resolved to secure their own Damnation I would not from what has been represented in this Matter so universally useful discourage any that have lived in a course of Sin from earnest seeking to God in their last Hours For even then they are not utterly destitute of Hope The Gospel sets forth the Mercy of God to returning Sinners in various Representations and Expressions of admirable Tenderness When the lost Sheep was recovered there was Joy as if a Treasure had been found The Prodigal had wasted his Estate in Lasciviousness and Luxury and by a harsh reduction came to himself reflected with shame upon his Folly and Rebellion and the sense of his Misery not a more ingenuous or noble Principle at first compell'd him to go to his Father to try what his Affection would do And it was not a vain presumption for he found the effects of fatherly and compassionate Love When he was a great way off his Father saw him and had Compassion and ran and fell on his Neck and kissed him And the Son said Father I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy Son But the Father said to his Servants Bring out the best Robes and put a Ring on his Finger and Shoes on his Feet and bring hither the fatted Calf and kill it let us eat and be merry for this my Son was dead and is alive again was lost and is found The Design of Christ was to represent his Heavenly Father in that Parable and to wounded Spirits that feel the intolerable weight of Sin the Mercy and Mildness of the Gospel is to be exhibited God is rich in Mercy to all that call upon him in Truth But to tell Sinners who securely proceed in their sinful Ways that they may be saved at last and notwithstanding their presumptuous Repulses of God's Calls to his Service yet think they may come into the Vineyard at the eleventh hour and be rewarded is to give countenance and protection to Sin and to harden them to Destruction Poison is not cured by giving Food but Antidotes that put Nature into a Passion till it be expelled The Terrors of the Lord can only prove medicinal to such depraved Souls To conclude this Argument let us seriously consider the Revelation God has afforded of himself in the Gospel He is a Father and a Judg Justice and Holiness as well as Mercy are essential to his Nature that our Affections may be accordingly moved towards him If ye call on the Father who without respect of Persons judgeth according to every Man's Work pass the time of your sojourning here in fear Presumption and Despair are very dishonourable to God and pernicious to the Soul the one destroys the Fear the other the Love of God But Hope contemper'd with Fear has an excellent Influence in the Christian Life As the Ballast and the Wind are both necessary that the Ship may sail safely without the Wind the Ship can make no way and without Ballast 't is in danger of oversetting by every Gust Thus Hope and Fear are necessary to bring us safely to Heaven Fear without Hope chills and stupifies the Vigour and Alacrity of the Soul that it cannot come to God and Hope without Fear makes it vain and careless of its Duty and liable to be overthrown by every pleasing Temptation Briefly let us rightly understand the Tenor of the Evangelical Promises of Pardon and Grace they are conditional and applicable only to penitent Believers And unfeigned Faith purifies the Heart works by Love and is the living Principle of universal Obedience And Repentance unto Life is productive of all good Fruits in their Season Without Faith and Repentance we can neither be justified in this World nor glorified in the next Be not deceived God is not mocked as a Man sows so shall he reap He that sows to the Flesh shall of the Flesh reap Corruption he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap Life everlasting 2. The careful preserving our selves from wilful presumptuous Sins
Thus the Carnal Mind is apt with some colour to traduce the Righteousness of God's Government But it will be clearly vindicated by considering 1. The Law supposes Man in a state of integrity furnish'd with sufficient Power to comply with every Precept though free to fall from his Duty and Happiness To command absolute Impossibilities is tyrannical and utterly inconsistent with the Nature of the Blessed God 2. The first Man wilfully transgress'd the Law and lost his Holiness And Nature being poison'd in the Fountain is corrupt in all the descendants from him Mankind was justly degraded in rebellious Adam and is destitute of spiritual Strength to perform all that the Law requires 3. This disability is vicious and culpable and can be no pretence against the Rights of the Law-giver A natural disability from the want of requisite Faculties is a just excuse 'T is no Fault that a Man cannot stop the Sun as Joshua did nor calm a Tempest as our Saviour did by his Word But the disability that arises from a depraved disposition renders a Person more guilty And this is the present Case The Will of Man is disobedient and perverse and as soon as it can exercise Election chooses Evil and by custom in Sin becomes more hardened and obstinate And from hence the Prophet charges the contumacious Jews Behold their Ear is uncircumcised and they cannot hearken Were they uncapable of hearing the Divine Commands No but the Word of the Lord was to them a Reproach they had no delight in it And our Saviour upbraids the Pharisees How can ye believe which receive Honour one of another and seek not the Honour that comes from God only They were in high reputation for their Holiness which made it impossible for them in an humble penitent manner to submit to our Saviour In short the primary end of the Law was the Happiness of Man in the performance of his Duty and his first Sin and consequent Impotence to fulfil it was by his own fault As the Obliquity of a Line cannot be ascrib'd to the strait Rule but to the Error of the Hand that draws it And from hence 't is clear that if God should with a terrible exactness require of Men unsinning Obedience upon the pain of Damnation he could not be tax'd with Unrighteousness 2. But God has been pleased to mitigate and allay the Severity of the Law by the Gospel so that although the least breach of it makes a Person an Offender and obnoxious to Judgment yet the Law of Faith propounds such merciful Conditions to the Guilty that upon the performance of them they may plead their Pardon seal'd with the Blood of their Redeemer and shall be saved and crown'd in the Day of Judgment We are commanded so to speak and do as they that shall be judged by the Law of Liberty Thus the Gospel is stiled in that it frees the Conscience though not from the Obedience yet from the Terrors and Condemnation of the Law for there was not the least signification of Mercy by it But in the Gospel the Grace of God most illustriously appears 1. In that when our Innocence was lost there may be a renovation of the Sinner by Repentance to which the plenary Pardon of Sin is assured Wash ye make ye clean put away the evil of your Doings from before mine Eyes Cease to do evil and learn to do well saith the Lord and though your Sins be as Scarlet they shall be white as Snow though they be red like Crimson they shall be white like Wooll God will not pardon those who forgive and flatter themselves in their Sins but those who confess and forsake them shall find Mercy 2. Sincerity of Obedience is accepted where Perfection is wanting When a Person with consent of Heart and serious Endeavours strives to obey the holy Will of God without the exception of any known Duty or the indulgence of any Sin God will spare him as a Father spares his Son that serves him 'T is not so much the Matter as the Allowance that makes Sin deadly Where there is guile in the Heart it will be severely imputed 'T is not according to some particular Acts of Sin but the Tenor of the Life that the state of Men will be decided 3. Unfeigned Faith in the Lord Jesus that is such a belief of the Truth and Goodness of his Promises as induces us to receive him as our Prince and Saviour as purifies the Conscience the Heart and Life will free us from Hell and entitle us to Heaven according to the Covenant of Grace In short the final Resolution of a Man's Trial and Case will be this either he has performed the gracious Conditions of the Gospel and he shall be saved or rejected them and he shall be damned If it be objected that the Terms of Evangelical Justification though in themselves comparatively easy yet are of impossible performance to Men in their natural sinful State The Answer is clear 1. That although the natural Man be dead in Sin without spiritual strength to resolve and perform his Duty and holy heat of desires to it and nothing is alive in him but his corrupt Passions that are like Worms generated in a Carcass yet by the Grace that is offered in the Gospel he may be enabled to perform the Conditions of it for in this the Gospel excels the Law the Law discovers Sin but affords no degrees of supernatural Power to subdue it and directs to no Means for the expiation of its Guilt As the Fire in the Bush discovered the Thorns without consuming them But the sanctifying Spirit the true Spring of Life and Power is the concomitant of the Gospel as St. Peter declares With the preaching of the Gospel the Holy Ghost was sent down from Heaven And the Spirit by illuminating preventing and exciting-Grace assists Men to repent and believe and is promised in rich and liberal Supplies to all that humbly and ardently pray for it This our Saviour assures to us by a most tender and endearing Comparison If ye that are evil know how to give good things to your Children how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those that ask it 2. From hence it follows that 't is from the perverseness of the Will and the love of Sin that Men do not obey the Gospel For the Holy Spirit never withdraws his gracious assistance till resisted grieved and quenched by them It will be no excuse that Divine Grace is not conferr'd in the same eminent degree upon some as upon others that are converted for the Impenitent shall not be condemned for want of that singular powerful Grace that was the Priviledg of the Elect but for receiving in vain that measure of common Grace that they had If he that received one Talent had faithfully improved it he had been rewarded with more but upon the slothful and ingrateful neglect of his Duty he was
omnipresent and that what-ever Sin is done though in the deepest and darkest recess is manifest to him have no need of Lucian's Lamp to make our Judg to be feared by us 3. The Impartiality of the Sentence will make the Justice of God conspicuous before the whole World This consists in two things 1. There will be no distinction of Persons 2. There will be a distinction of Causes in that Judgment and according to their Nature the Sentence will pass upon all 1. There will be no distinction of Persons In humane Courts the Judges sometimes extend and amplify sometimes contract or smother the Evidence and are more rigorous or favourable in their Sentence as they are biass'd towards the Persons before them But the Righteous Judg of the World is uncapable of being inclin'd to Favour or Severity upon such base Motives This is frequently declared in Scripture to possess us with his Fear If ye call upon the Father who without respect of Persons judges according to every Man's Work pass the time of your sojourning here in fear No spiritual Priviledges upon which Men are so apt to presume viz. that they are Members of the Reformed Church that they are enrich'd with excellent Gifts that they enjoy the Ordinances in their purest Administration will avail them without real Holiness in their Hearts and Lives The being united to Societies of the most glorious Profession of strictest Purity and sublime Devotion does no more prove one to be a real Saint than the being of an eminent Company of Merchants proves one to be a rich Citizen Those that bow the Knee and not the Heart in faithful Reverence that give the empty Title of Lord to Christ without the tribute of Obedience will be rejected by him Many shall say at the Day of Judgment Lord Lord we have prophesied in thy Name and done many wondrous Works Then will the Judg say I know you not Depart from me ye Workers of Iniquity No degrees of Civil Greatness will be of any moment and advantage in that day Saint John testifies I saw the Dead small and great stand before God in an equal Line to receive their Trial. Kings shall then be devested of their Imperial Titles of their Crowns and Scepters and their Robes of State and only be accompanied with their Works Of this we have an undoubted Proof in that they are no more exempted from the common Law of dying than the meanest Slave Death that rugged Officer arrests them without Ceremony and summons them to appear before that Tribunal The Royal Purple could not protect Herod from being devoured by Worms The Apostle speaks indefinitely in the fore-cited Place He that does wrong shall receive for the wrong he has done and there is no respect of Persons No circumstantial Accidents can derive true worth or truly debase Persons but inherent Qualities and the Actions that flow from them and accordingly the High and Holy God will accept or disapprove them What St. Paul observes of the saving Grace of the Gospel being indifferently offer'd to all is applicable in this case He tells us There is neither Greek nor Jew Barbarian nor Scythian Bond nor Free that are preferr'd or excluded upon a Carnal account but that all may equally partake of spiritual Blessings Thus the difference of Nations will be no Priviledg or Prejudice to any in the Day of Judgment The most rude and contemptible shall have as fair and equal a Trial as the most polite and civiliz'd The ignorant Barbarians as the Learned Grecians that so much boasted of their vain Excellencies above them The Negroes in Africa as the People of Europe for they have the same Relation to God their Maker and as truly bear the impression of God stamped upon the Humane Nature in the Creation and therefore common to the whole species of Mankind An Image may be fashion'd in Ebony as well as in Ivory Briefly all Men are equally subject to his Laws and shall be equally accountable for their Actions The Rich and the Poor shall then meet together without distinction before God the Maker and Judg of them all 2. There shall be a distinction of Causes and every Man be judged according to his Works the tenour of good Works and the desert of bad The Apostle assures us That whatsoever a Man sows that shall he reap He that soweth to the Flesh shall of the Flesh reap Corruption but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap Life everlasting The Harvest shall be according to the Seed both in kind and measure 1. Those who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality shall obtain eternal Life Indeed eternal Life is the Gift of infinite Bounty nay of pure Mercy and Mercy excludes Merit 'T is said of the blessed Martyrs who contended for the Truth and Purity of the Gospel to the Death that their Robes were wash'd white in the Blood of the Lamb not in their own Blood Their Right to Heaven was from the application of his Merits to them But the Reward is dispens'd from God according to the Evangelical Law not only as a magnificent Prince but as a Righteous Judg. All those to whom the Gospel promises eternal Life shall infallibly obtain it and none that the Gospel excludes Those who were sensible of their Sins and cordially forsaking them did humbly and entirely depend upon the Grace of God through the blessed Reconciler and Saviour shall be justified and glorified Then the Judg will discern between unfeigned Faith and vain Presumption and will justify the Faith of the Saints by the genuine Fruits of it the Godliness Righteousness and Sobriety of their Lives and a victorious perseverance in their Duty notwithstanding all the pleasing Temptations or Tortures to withdraw them from it Thus the Apostle expresses his humble Confidence I have fought the good Fight I have finish'd my Course henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which God the Righteous Judg will give me at that day and not only to me but to all that love his Appearance We read in the Description of the Last Judgment That the Book of Life was opened the Names of all that were written in Heaven shall then be declared that it may appear they are saved by Grace For it was his most free pleasure to select some from the common Mass of Perdition who were naturally as guilty and corrupted as others and to predestinate them to Eternal Glory and effectual persevering Grace to prepare them for it The Saints are created in Christ Jesus unto good Works which God hath before ordained that they should walk in them And the New Creation is as undeserved and entire an Effect of God's Love as the first was But 't is said That every Man was judged according to his Works For Eternal Election does not entitle a Person immediately to Heaven but according to the
Order establish'd in the Gospel Thus the King at the last Day speaks to the Elect Come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you before the Foundation of the World for I was hungry and ye fed me naked and ye clothed me And according as the Saints have excel'd in Fidelity Zeal in God's Service they shall be rewarded with a more excellent Glory The Stars of the supreme Heaven are of a different brightness and greatness as the Stars of the visible Firmament Indeed all are perfectly happy without jealousy that any is equal or superior to them in that Kingdom But God will crown his own Graces as the Saints have improved them Our Saviour valued the Widow's two Mites as transcending all the magnificent Gifts of others because of the degrees of Love in the Giver There was a richer Mine of Affection in her Heart Gold of a more noble Vein more pure and precious than all their Riches This was of greater price in God's Account who weighs the Spirits in his Ballance God will accept and reward according to what a Man has and not according to what he has not He that improves but two Talents with his best skill and diligence shall have a greater Reward than another that had ten Talents and was remiss and less careful to employ them for his Master's Profit The Rule will be exactly observed He that sows bountifully shall reap bountifully and he that sows sparingly shall reap sparingly And if God will be thus impartial in rewarding the Saints much more in punishing the Wicked For the remuneration of our Duty is the effect of his most free Favour but the recompences of Sin are due and decreed by Justice in Number Weight and Measure The severity of the Sentence will be in proportion as Mens Sins have been more numerous and heinous Although all the Damned shall be equally miserable in Despair all broken on an endless Wheel yet the degrees of their Torment are different Sins of Ignorance are extenuated in comparison of rebellious Sins against Knowledg The first are like a Servant's dashing against his Master in the dark the oother like the insolent striking of him in the light And as they incur greater Guilt will expose to greater Punishment Accordingly our Saviour predicts That the Servant which knew his Lord's Will and prepared not himself neither did according to his Will shall be beaten with many Stripes But he that knew not and did commit things worthy of Stripes shall be beaten with few Stripes Unactive Knowledg is worse than Ignorance For this reason the Case of Heathens will be more tolerable than of the Jews for though some natural Principles were strong and quick in their Minds that made them sensible of their Duty and Danger yet they were not so clear and perfect as the Law delivered by Moses Those Sins that were Infirmities in a Pagan were presumptuous in a Jew And the Case of the Jews will be more tolerable than of disobedient Christians who enjoy the Gospel less charged with Ceremonies and more abundant in Grace than the Mosaical Dispensation Those that have set before them the Life of Christ the Model of all Perfection that are excited by such loud Calls to flee from the Wrath to come and yet are deaf and regardless to the Commands nay to the melting Invitations and precious Promises of the Gospel shall have a more intolerable Judgment than the most guilty Sinners even the Sodomites and Sidonians that were Strangers to it The precious Blood of the Son of God despised induces a Crimson Guilt And as Sins are committed with Pride and Pleasure with eager Appetite and Obstinacy the revenge of Justice will be more heavy upon Persons More particularly Sins of Consesequence whereby others are drawn to Sin will heighten the Guilt and the retribution of Justice will be to every Man according to his Ways and according to the fruit of his Doings This will principally concern Superiours in eminency of Place whose Dignity has always a concomitant proportion of Duty Their vicious Actions are Examples and their Examples more powerful Rules than their Laws and give countenance to others to sin licentiously They sin with an high Hand and involve the Ruin of innumerable Persons that depend upon them As the Dragon in the Revelation whose Fall from Heaven drew a Train of lesser Stars with him And all inferiour Magistrates who by personal commission or partial connivance encourage and harden others in Sin and by their Power discountenance serious Religion and obstruct the Progress of it heap up Damnation to themselves And the Ministers of the Word who are obliged to watch for the Souls of Men and should like the Heavens by their Light Influence and Motion their Doctrine and Lives guide and quicken others in the Ways of Holiness if by their Neglect and Wickedness others are lost for ever their Account will be most heavy and undoing Of this Number are those who by their unholy Conversation weaken the Authority and Efficacy of the Word and more successfully perswade Men to do Evil than by their Preaching to do well for we are apt to take deeper impression through the Eye than thro' the Ear and to follow the Physician 's Practice rather than his Counsel These perish not alone in their Iniquity And such who are unfaithful Dispensers of the Treasures of their Lord and by loose Doctrines corrupt the Minds of Men to fancy a Mercy in God derogatory to his Holiness that although they live indulgently in Sin they may obtain an easy Pardon and Happiness at last And such who employ their high Commission for low and base Ends Those who instead of preaching Jesus Christ and him Crucified the pure and saving Truths derived from the Fountain of the Gospel entertain their Hearers with flashy Conceits and studied Vanities to give a relish to Curiosity and to have the applause of Fools and obscure the native Majesty of the Word enervate its Force and render it powerless to Conscience And those who spend their Zeal in things of no moment to Salvation and let fly bitter Invectives against those that dissent from them in unconcerning Matters by which they harden Atheistical Scorners in vilifying the Office of the Ministry as a Carnal Invention set up and used for Secular Ends and induce others to place Religion in Formalities and slight colours of it as if Conformity to needless Rites would exclude the Defects of substantial Holiness 'T is observ'd in the Chaldee Paraphrase when God was inquiring of Cain concerning Abel that he charges him The Voice of thy Brother's Blood cries unto me As if Cain were a Murderer not of a single Man only but of a numerous Race that might have descended from his Brother Thus a wicked Minister will be charg'd not only for murdering himself but as many precious Souls as might have been converted and saved if he had faithfully performed his Duty And
of all but that those who have appeared zealous in Religion shall be at last rejected is contrary to universal expectation And not only the gross Hypocrite that deceives others but he that deceives himself by the external practice of holy Duties without correspondent lively Affections that prays with that coldness as if he had no desire to be heard and hears with that carelesness as if he had no desire to be sanctified by the Word and is conversant in other parts of divine Service in that slight manner as if he had no design to be saved shall by a convincing upbraiding Light see his Wickedness in dishonouring that God whom he pretended to worship and neglecting his Soul When the Upright as pure Gold shall be more radiant by the Fire the Insincere like reprobate Silver shall not endure that severe trial Thirdly The frequent discussion of Conscience and reviewing our Ways is necessary in order to our comfortable appearing before our Judg. This is a Duty of constant Revolution for while we are in Flesh the best Saints notwithstanding all their vigilance and diligence are overtaken by surprizal and sometimes overborn by strong temptations and 't is more necessary to beg for daily Pardon than for our daily Bread Under the Law if any one had by touching a dead Body contracted Uncleanness he was to wash his Clothes in the Evening and not to lie down in his Uncleanness This was typical of our Duty that we should wash away our sinful Defilements every day in the purifying Fountain of Christ's Blood that is set open for Sin and for Vncleanness And the Method of the Gospel to obtain the grant of Pardon and our comfortable Sense and the blessed Effects of it is this there must be a mournful Sight and serious Acknowledgment of our daily Sins and a judging our selves by the domestical Tribunal in our Breasts as worthy of Condemnation for though we cannot satisfy Divine Justice for the least Sin we must glorify it and with humility and fervency desire that God would graciously forgive our renewed Sins with unfeigned Resolutions and Care against them for the future Thus we are to sue out our Pardon for Sins committed every day And whereas many Errors in regard of our frailty and their fineness do slip from us we should with contrite Spirits implore the divine Majesty to cleanse us from our secret Sins such as through ignorance or inadvertency escape from our observation If we are obliged to be reconciled to an offended or offending Brother before the night and the Sun must not go down upon our Wrath much more to be reconciled to an offended God that his Displeasure may be atoned The Morning and Evening-Sacrifice was a Figure of the constant use of Christ's Merits and Mediation for us The secure neglect of renewing our Repentance for our renewed Sins deprives us of the Comforts of the Covenant and will make the thoughts of Judgment as heavy as Mountains upon the Conscience when 't is awakened out of its slumber But when the Soul's Accounts are kept clear with Heaven every day O what a blessed Rest does the penitent Believer enjoy in the Favour of God! O the divine Calm of Conscience when our Debts are cancell'd in the Book of God's Remembrance If we should be unexpectedly summoned to appear before the Judg of all the sight of our Sins will rather excite thankful Affections and joyful Praises of God for his Mercy that he hath pardoned them than fearful despairing thoughts of his Mercy that he will not pardon them And as this considering our ways leads to Repentance and is a Remedy for past Sins so 't is a powerful Preservative from Sins afterwards For as in War the greatest care is to fortify the weakest Part of a besieged Town and make it impregnable so a Christian by the experience of his infirmity and danger will be more wise and wary more circumspect and resolved against those Sins whereby he has often been foil'd to prevent the daily incursion and sudden surreption by them And according to the degrees of our Innocence we have confidence of Acceptance with God in Judgment Fourthly Let us improve with a wise and singular diligence the Talents committed to our Trust for in that day we shall be responsible for all that we have received All the Blessings we possess whether natural our Life our Faculties our Endowments our Health and Strength or Civil Honour and Dignity Riches and Reputation or Spiritual the Gospel in its Light and Power the Graces and Assistance of the Holy Ghost as they are Gifts from God's Love so they are Talents to be imployed for his Glory We are Stewards not Proprietaries for the Supream Lord does not relinquish his Right in our Blessings that we may dispose of them at our own pleasure but hath prescribed Rules for our using them in order to his Glory our own Good and the Benefit of others And 't is sad to consider that usually those who enjoy the greatest Gifts render the least Acknowledgments and the most abundant in Favours are most barren in Thankfulness Time that unvaluable Treasure that is due to God and the Soul the Price of which arises from the Work of Salvation to be done in it how is it squander'd away Conscience would blush at the serious reflection that every day so much is spent in the Business of the World or Pleasures and so little redeemed for Communion with the Holy God that as in the Prophetick Dream the lean Kine devoured the Fat so unconcerning Vanities take up that time that should be employed for our last and blessed End While Time is miserably wasted the Soul lies a bleeding to everlasting Death More particularly we shall be accountable for all the days of the Son of Man that we have seen all the special Seasons of Grace these we should improve for our Eternal Advantage to prepare us for the Divine Presence above But alas the Lord's Day that is consecrated for the immediate Service of God and should be entirely spent in it and in things that have a necessary subordination to it yet neither the enforcement of Duty nor incitations of Love prevail upon the most conscienciously to imploy it in spiritual Affairs If they afford their presence at the Publick Worship 't is thought enough and as if the rest of the Day was unsanctified Time they waste it either in Complemental Visits or Secular Business in Recreations or things impertinent to their Salvation Riches are an excellent Instrument of doing good Gold is the most precious and extensive Metal and by a marvellous Art an Ounce may be beaten out into some hundred Leaves but 't is a more happy Art by giving it to enrich our own Souls and supply the Necessities of many others But great Estates are often used to foment Mens vicious guilty Affections Pride and Sensuality and 't is called Greatness and Magnificence to waste them in sumptuous Vanities I instance
laspes have justly deserved that God should withdraw his grieved Spirit are new Obligations to Thankfulness and the more Grace the less Merit 3. The best Works of Men are imperfect allayed with the mixtures of Infirmities and not of full weight in the Divine Ballance If God should strictly examin our Righteousness 't will be found neither pure nor perfect in his Eyes and without Favour and Indulgence would be rejected And that which wants Pardon cannot deserve Praise and Glory He shews Mercy to thousands that love him and keep his Commandments If Obedience were meritorious it were strict justice to reward them The Apostle prays for Onesiphorus who had exposed himself to great danger for his love to the Gospel The Lord grant he may find Mercy in that day The Divine Mercy gives the Crown of Life to the Faithful in the day of eternal Recompences II. The meritorious Cause of our obtaining Heaven is the Obedience of Jesus Christ comprehending all that he did and suffered to reconcile God to us From him as the eternal Word we have all benefits in the order of Nature for all things were made by him and for him as the incarnate Word all good things in the order of Grace What we enjoy in Time and expect in Eternity is by him To shew what influence his Mediation has to make us happy we must consider 1. Man by his Rebellion justly forfeited his Happiness and the Law exacts precisely the Forfeiture Pure Justice requires the Crime should be punish'd according to its Quality much less will it suffer the guilty to enjoy the favour of God For Sin is not to be considered as an Offence and Injury to a private Person but the violation of a Law and a disturbance in the order of Government so that to preserve the honour of governing Justice an equivalent reparation was appointed Till Sin was expiated by a proper Sacrifice the Divine Goodness was a sealed Spring and its blessed effects restrain'd from the guilty Creature Now the Son of God in our assumed Nature offered up himself a Sacrifice in our stead to satisfy Divine Justice and removed the Bar that Mercy might be glorified in our Salvation The Apostle gives this account of it We have boldness to enter into the Holiest by the Blood of Christ by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the Vail that is to say his Flesh. 2. Such were the most precious Merits of his Obedience that it was not only sufficient to free the guilty contaminated Race of Mankind from Hell but to purchase for them the Kingdom of Heaven If we consider his Humane Nature all Graces were born with him as Rays with the Sun and shin'd in the whole course of his Life in the excellence of Perfection And the dignity of his Divine Person derived an immense Value to all he perform'd as Mediator One Act of his Obedience was more honourable to God than all the Lives of the Saints the Deaths of the Martyrs and the Service of the Angels God was more pleased in the Obedience of his Beloved Son than he was provok'd by the rebellion of his Servants Therefore as the just Recompence of it he constituted him to be Universal Head of the Church supream Judg of the World invested him with Divine Glory and with Power to communicate it to his faithful Servants He is the Prince of Life In short it is as much upon the account of Christ's Sufferings that we are glorified as that we are forgiven The Wounds he received in his Body the Characters of Ignominy and Footsteps of Death are the Fountains of our Glory His Abasement is the cause of our Exaltation If it be said This seems to lessen the freeness of this Gift The answer is clear This was due to Christ but undeserved by us Besides the appointing his Son to be our Mediator in the way of our Ransom was the most glorious Work of his Goodness 2. The Means of our obtaining Heaven are to be considered Though the Divine Goodness be free in its Acts and there can be nothing in the Creature of Merit or Inducement to prevail upon God in the nature of a Cause yet he requires Qualifications in all those who shall enjoy that blessed unchangeable Kingdom The Apostle expresly declares 'T is not of him that wills nor of him that runs but of God that sheweth Mercy But we must distinguish the Effects of this Mercy which are dispensed in that order the Gospel lays down The first Mercy is the powerful calling the Sinner from his corrupt and wretched State a second Mercy is the pardoning his Sins the last and most eminent is the glorifying him in Heaven Now 't is clear that in this place the shewing of Mercy signifies the preventing Grace of God in Conversion for in the 18 th Verse 't is said God shews Mercy to whom he will and whom he will he hardens Where 't is evident that shewing Mercy is oppos'd not to condemning but to hardning and consequently the intent of the words is this That Divine Grace overcomes the Rebellious Will softens the stiff and stubborn Heart and makes it pliant to Obedience This flows from his pure good Will and Pleasure without the least Motive from the Inclinations or Endeavours of sinful Men. But the other Effects of God's Mercy require Conditions in the Subjects that receive them for he pardons only penitent Believers and glorifies none but persevering Saints To make this clear 't is worthy of Observation The Gospel has several Denominations 'T is called a Law a Covenant and a Testament 'T is called the Law of Faith and the Law of the Spiritual Life As a Law it signifies a new Right that God has most freely establish'd in favour of lost Man that commands certain Duties and sets before them Eternal Life as the Reward of Obedience and Eternal Death the Punishment of Disobedience According to this the trial and decision of Mens everlasting States shall be which is the Character of a true Law This Law of Grace is very different from the Law of Nature that requir'd intire Innocence and for the least omission or accusing Act past an irrevocable Doom upon the Offenders for that strictness and severity is mollified by the Gospel which accepts of sincere persevering Obedience tho imperfect accordingly 't is called the Law of Liberty But the Law of Faith is unalterable and admits of no Dispensation from the Duties required in order to our being everlastingly happy 2. The Gospel is stiled a Covenant and that imports a reciprocal Engagement between Parties for the performance of the Matter contained in it The Covenant of Grace includes the Promise of pardoning and rewarding Mercy on God's part and the Conditions on Man's with respect to which 't is to be perform'd There is an inviolable dependence between them He will be our God to make us happy but we must be his People to yield