Speculum Theologiae in Christo

A View of Some Divine Truths

by Edward Polhill

Table of Contents

To The Christian Reader

CHAPTER I: A short view of God's all-sufficiency and condescension in revealing himself.

CHAPTER II: Christ considered as a prophet and a speculum. The divine attributes shine in him; particularly, wisdom.

CHAPTER III: Holiness the glory of the Deity: by it God acts like himself, and doth all for his own glory: it imports a hatred of sin, and love of holiness in man.

CHAPTER IV: God's punitive justice asserted from scripture and nature.

CHAPTER V: God's love and mercy manifested

CHAPTER VI: The power of God manifest in Christ: in his incarnation and conception: in his miracles.

CHAPTER VII: The truth of God manifested in Christ. The promise of the Messiah.

CHAPTER VIII: God's providence asserted from scripture, philosophy, and reason.

CHAPTER IX: The doctrine of original sin; the great moment of it. Adam's sin imputed to us. The proof of it from scripture.

CHAPTER X: Touching grace: the fountain of it God's love. The streams supernatural gifts.

CHAPTER XI: Touching justification as to the law. Christ's righteousness constitutes us righteous. A double imputation; one to the proper agent, another to those in conjunction.

CHAPTER XII: Touching a holy life. It is not from principles of nature: it is the fruit of a renewed, regenerated heart: it issues out of faith and love.

TO THE CHRISTIAN READER

IT was anciently observed by St. Austin, touching the prophets under the Old Testament—Non tantum lingua illorum hominum, verum etiam vita fuit prophetica—they did not only prophesy, or reveal the mind of God by words, but by things done by or upon them. Isaiah must walk naked and barefoot, to show the shame of the Egyptian captivity. Jeremy must go down to the potter's house, and there see the vessel marred, to give the Jews a pregnant demonstration that God could unmake and destroy them. Ezekiel was to remove and bring forth his stuff, to give them a lively representation of their captivity. Above all, this was eminently seen in our great prophet Jesus Christ: he did not only reveal the gospel, but he himself is the substance and marrow of it. He is the very mirror of divine truths and perfections. His style is the image of the invisible God, the brightness of the Father's glory. As an eternal Son, he is such in himself; as incarnate, he is such to us. The Messiah (say the Rabbins) is facies Dei, the face of God. The glory of God (saith the apostle) is in the face of Jesus Christ. The divine perfections appear in him, as beauty doth in the face. The invisible one may here be seen; the inaccessible Majesty may be approached unto. Infinity, to accommodate itself to our model, appears nube carnis, in a cloud of flesh, that his glory might not swallow us up. In our Emmanuel we have a body of theology, an excellent summary of divine truths, in a very lively manner set forth to us. The atheist, who owns not a God in heaven, might here, if he had eyes of faith, see God in the flesh. The wisdom of God doth here appear, not in the orders and harmonies of nature; but in a plot much greater, and more admirable—God and man, infinite and finite, eternal and temporal, are met in conjunction, that the human, finite, temporal nature in Christ might be the theatre for the divine, infinite, eternal nature to show its perfections in. The truth of God manifests itself illustriously, in that no difficulty could hinder the early promise of the Messiah made immediately after the fall of man; neither could any time bury it in oblivion. He would be true in that which was the hardest thing for him to do, in parting with his only begotten out of his bosom for us. After many ages the promise must bud and blossom, and bring forth the Messiah. We see here, that God is the holy one, his hatred of sin is writ in red characters, in the blood and wounds of our dear Lord. His love to holiness was such, that he would send his own Son in the flesh, to recover holiness into the heart of man again. We have here providence accurately watching over our Saviour all along; first over his genealogy, then over his birth, life, death, resurrection: and lastly, over the issue of all—a church raised up to sing hosannahs to him for ever. Omnia plena sacramentorum, saith an ancient; every thing in Christ reads us a lecture of divinity. He being the second Adam, who brought in righteousness and life unto men; we are sure that there was a first, who brought in sin and death to them. From his conception, being an extraordinary one, we may plainly gather what the two states of nature and grace are. By the common generation we are flesh of flesh, unclean creatures. By the power of the regenerating Spirit overshadowing our hearts, we become spirit of spirit, holy new creatures. In his life and preaching we have miracles triumphing over nature and all the order of it; mysteries exceeding reason, and all its acumen; and a samplar of humility, meekness, mercy, righteousness, holiness, obedience, such as the sun never saw. In his death we have, what the proud Socinian thinks impossible, infinite mercy and infinite justice kissing and embracing each other. Mercy was seen, that God should give his only, his dearly beloved Son for us. Justice was seen, that God should exact of him, standing in our stead, as much as would counterpoise the sin and suffering of a world, in his glorious satisfaction. We see what that is which justifies sinners, and makes them stand before the holy God. In his excellent example, we see how justified ones, which are mystical parts and pieces of him, ought to walk and tread in his steps. These things are the subject matter of the ensuing discourse. May all, who are called christians, study Jesus Christ. The little λόγος, the reason of man, is much cried up in this age; may we much more adore the infinite word and wisdom of God. The temper of St. Bernard may be recommended to all: Si scribas, non sapit mihi, nisi legero ibi Jesum; si disputes aut conferas, non sapit mihi, nisi sonuerit ibi Jesus. The devout Father could not relish any thing but Jesus Christ; may our hearts ever burn and be inflamed with love to him, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; may we desire none but Christ: Non aliud præter illum, non aliud tanquam illum, non aliud post illum; nothing besides him, nothing like him, nothing after him. This is the scope of my book; if it profit or do good to any, it is enough, and as much as is desired by him, who is

January 21, 1677.

A LOVER OF TRUTH,

EDWARD POLHILL.

CHAPTER I:

A short view of God's all-sufficiency and condescension in revealing himself

A short view of God's all-sufficiency and condescension in revealing himself—The various ways of manifestation—In the making of the world and man—After the fall, in the moral law; and in types and shadows—Lastly, and above all, in and by Jesus Christ.

GOD All-sufficient must needs be his own happiness; he hath his being from himself, and his happiness is no other than his being radiant with all excellencies, and by intellectual and amatorious reflexions, turning back into the fruition of itself. His understanding hath prospect enough in his own infinite perfections: his will hath rest enough in his own infinite goodness; he needed not the pleasure of a world, who hath an eternal Son in his bosom to joy in, nor the breath of angels or men who hath an eternal Spirit of his own; he is the Great All, comprising all within himself: nay, unless he were so, he could not be God. Had he let out no beams of his glory, or made no intelligent creatures to gather up and return them back to himself, his happiness would have suffered no eclipse or diminution at all, his power would have been the same, if it had folded up all the possible worlds within its own arms, and poured forth never an one into being to be a monument of itself. His wisdom the same, if it had kept in all the orders and infinite harmonies lying in its bosom, and set forth no such series and curious contexture of things as now are before our eyes. His goodness might have kept an eternal Sabbath in itself, and never have come forth in those drops and models of being which make up the creation. His eternity stood not in need of any such thing as time or a succession of instants to measure its duration; nor his immensity of any such temple as heaven and earth to dwell in, and fill with his presence. His holiness wanted not such pictures of itself as are in laws or saints; nor his grace such a channel to run in as covenants or promises. His majesty would have made no abatement, if it had had no train or host of creatures to wait upon it, or no rational ones among them, such as angels and men, to sound forth its praises in the upper or lower world. Creature-praises, though in the highest tune of angels, are but as silence to him, as that text may be read. (Psalm 65:1.) Were he to be served according to his greatness, all the men in the world would not be enough to make a priest, nor all the other creatures enough to make a sacrifice fit for him. Is it any pleasure to him that thou art righteous? saith Eliphaz. (Job. 22:3.) No doubt he takes pleasure in our righteousness, but the complacence is without indigence, and while he likes it, he wants it not.

That such an infinite All-sufficient One should manifest himself, must needs be an act of admirable supereffluent goodness, such as indeed could not be done without stooping down below his own infinity, that he might gratify our weakness. Those two Hebrew words, בָּשָּר, which imports flesh or weakness, and בִּשֵׁר, which is to annunciate and declare good tidings, are of a near affinity. In the mystery of the incarnation, God came down into our flesh; and in every other manifestation of himself, he comes down, as it were, into the weakness of creatures or notions, that we, who cannot hear or understand the eternal word in itself, or enter the light inaccessible, might see him in reflexes and finite glasses, such as we are able to bear. Every manifestation imports condescension. The world, as fair and goodly a structure as it is, is but instar puncti aut nihili, like a little drop or small dust to him. Creature reason, though a divine particle, and more glorious than the sun itself, is but a little spark for the infinite light to shew himself in. No words, no, not those in the purest laws and richest promises, are able to reach him; who, as an ancient hath it, is ὑπερούσιος, ὑπεράγαθος, ὑπέρσοφος, essence, goodness, wisdom, all in hyperbole, in a transcendent excess above words or notions. His name is above every name; nevertheless, he humbles himself to appear to our minds in a scripture image; nay, to our very senses in the body of nature, that we might clasp the arms of faith and love about the holy beams, and in their light and warmth ascend up to their great Original, the Father of lights and mercies.

God hath manifested himself many ways. He set up the material world, that he, though an invisible spirit, might render himself visible therein: all the hosts of creatures wear his colours. Sensible things, say the Platonists, are but the types and resemblances of spiritual, which are the primitive and archetypal beings. Every thing here below, say the Jewish Cabalists, hath some root above, and all worlds have the print and seal of God upon them. Eternity shadows forth itself in time; infinite power, wisdom, and goodness pourtray out themselves upon finite things in such legible characters, that, as soon as we open our eyes upon them, we see innumerable creatures pointing to the Creator, and teaching that wisdom, which Archytas the philosopher placed in the reduction of all things to one great original. Almighty power hath printed itself upon the world, nay, upon every little particle of it: all the creatures came out of nothing, and between that and being is a very vast gulf. It was an infinite power, which filled it up and fetched over the creatures into being; it was an Almighty word, which made the creatures at an infinite distance hear and rise up out of nothing. The old axiom, ex nihilo nihil fit, is nature's limit and a true measure of finite powers; but when, as in the creation, nature overflows the banks, when nullity itself springs up and runs over into a world, we are sure that the moving power was an infinite one. And as infinite power appears in the being of the creatures, so doth infinite wisdom in their orders and harmonies. The curious ideas and congruities, which before were latent in the Divine breast, are limned out upon outward and sensible things, standing in delicate order and proportion before our eyes. The world is a system of contraries made up into one body, in which disagreeing natures conspire together for the common good: each creature keeps its station, and all the parts of nature hang one upon another in a sweet confederacy. Mere natural agents operate towards their ends, as if they were masters of reason, and hit their proper mark, as if they had a providence within them. Such things as these teach us to conclude with Zeno, that λόγος, reason, is the great artist which made all; and to break out with the Psalmist, O Lord, how manifold are thy works? in wisdom hast thou made them all. And as the two former attributes show forth themselves in the creatures, so also doth infinite goodness: all the drops and measures of goodness in the creature lead us to that infinite goodness which is the fountain and spring of all. Pherecydes the philosopher, said, that Jupiter first transformed himself into love, and then made the world; he, who is essential love, so framed it, that goodness appears every where: it shines in the sun, breathes in the air, flows in the sea, and springs in the earth; it is reason in men, sense in brutes, life in plants, and more than mere being in the least particles of matter. The Manichees, who would have had their name from pouring out of manna, did brook their true name from mania, that is, madness, in denying so excellent a world to be from the good God. The light in their eyes, breath in their nostrils, bread in their mouths, and all the good creatures round about them, were pregnant refutations of their senseless heresy: the prints of goodness everywhere extant in nature, shew the good hand which framed all.

In the making of man in his original integrity, there was yet a greater manifestation. In other creatures there were the footsteps of God, but in man there was his image; a natural image in the very make of his soul, in the essential faculties of reason and will, upon which were derived more noble and divine prints of a Deity than upon all the world besides. And in that natural image there was seated a moral one, standing in that perfect knowledge and righteousness, in which more of the beauty and glory of God did shine forth, than in the very essence of the soul itself. His mind was a pure lamp of knowledge, without any mists or dark shades about it, his will a mirror of sanctity and rectitude without any spot in it; and, as an accession to the two former images, there was an image of God's sovereignty in him, he was made Lord over the brutal world; without, the beasts were in perfect subjection to him: and within, the affections. Now to such an excellent creature, in his primitive glory, with a reason in its just ἀκμὴ or full stature, the world was a very rare spectacle; the stamps and signatures upon the creatures looked very fresh to his pure paradisical eyes: from within and from without he was filled with illustrious rays of a Deity: he saw God everywhere: within, in the frame and divine furniture of his soul, and without, in the creatures and the impresses of goodness on them: he heard God everywhere; in his own breast in the voice of a clear unveiled reason, and abroad in the high language and dialect of nature. All was in splendour; the world shone as an outward temple, and his heart was in lustre like an oracle or inward sanctuary; everything in both spake to God's honour. Such an excellent appearance as this was worthy of a Sabbath to celebrate the praises of the Creator in. But, alas! sin soon entered, and cast a vail upon this manifestation; on the world there fell a curse, which pressed it into groans and travailing pains of vanity; the earth had its thistles, the heavens their spots and malignant influences, all was out of tune, and jarring into confusion. In man all the images of God more or less suffered; the orient reason was miserably clouded, the holy rectitude utterly lost: without, the beasts turned rebels; and within, the affections. Nevertheless God, who is unwearied in goodness, would further manifest himself. Promises of the Messiah, and of grace in him, brake forth unto lapsed man; and as appendants thereof, there came forth sacrifices and other types to be figures of heavenly things, and a kind of Astrolabe to the pious Jews, that by earthly things they might ascend unto celestial. Also the moral law was given forth by God: the spiritual tables being broken, material ones were made; holiness and righteousness being by the fall driven out of their proper place, the heart of man, were set forth in letters and words in the decalogue. This was so glorious a manifestation, that the Rabbins say that mountains of sense hang upon every iota of it. The Psalmist, in the 19th Psalm, having set forth how the sun and heavens shew forth God's glory, raises up his discourse to the perfect law, which, as it enlightens the inward man, is a brighter luminary than the sun which shines to sense; and, as it comprises all duties within itself, is a nobler circle in morality than the heavens, which environ all other bodies, are in nature. "The commandment," saith the Psalmist, "is exceeding broad," (Ps. 119:96:) it is an ocean of sanctity and equity, such as human reason, the soul and measure of civil laws, cannot search to the bottom. Love to God and our neighbour is the centre of it; and as many right lines as may be drawn thither, so many are the duties of it. Whatsoever it be that makes up the just posture of man towards his Maker or fellow-creatures, is required therein. Human laws are δίκαια κινούμενα, moveable orders, such as turn about with time; but the moral law is by its intrinsical rectitude so immortalized, that, as long as God is God, and man, it cannot be altered.

After all these manifestations, God revealed himself to the world in and by Jesus Christ; this is the last and greatest appearance of all. In the inferior creatures there is a footstep of God, but not his image; in man there is his image, but a finite, a created one: but Jesus Christ is the infinite uncreated image of God. The nearer any creature doth in its perfections approach to God, the more it reveals him; life shews forth more of him than mere being, sense than life, reason than all the rest: but, oh! what a spectacle hath faith, when a human nature shall be taken into the person of God, when the fulness of the Godhead shall dwell in a creature hypostatically! Here the eternal word which framed the world was made flesh; the infinite wisdom which lighted up reason in man assumed a humanity; never was God so in man, never was man so united to God, as in this wonderful dispensation; more glory breaks forth from hence, than from all the creation. We have here the centre of the promises, the substance of the types and shadows, the complement of the moral law, and holiness and righteousness, not in letters and syllables, but living, breathing, walking, practically exemplified in the human nature of Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER II:

Christ considered as a prophet and a speculum

Christ considered as a prophet and a speculum—The divine attributes shine in him, particularly wisdom—The obstacles of redemption to be removed—The Son of God fit for the work—Many admirable conjunctions of God and man, of justice and mercy, of punishment and obedience in Christ's sufferings; of satisfaction and a kind of execution of the law; of satisfaction and merit; of merit and example; all tending to our salvation—The rare conquest of sin, satan, the world, death—Humility of mind necessary—The desperate issue of the pride of human reason—Need of humility from the threefold state of reason, in integrity, after the fall, after faith.

JESUS CHRIST, as he is the eternal Son of God, is the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person. (Heb. 1:3.) But because our weakness could not bear so excellent a glory without being swallowed up by it, he veiled himself in our flesh, that he, who was light of light in the eternal generation, might become the light of the world in an admirable incarnation; and such he was, under a double notion. He may be considered either as revealing the gospel, and thus he is the great Prophet, who from his Father's bosom brought down so many precious truths and mysteries to the world; or else as set forth in the gospel in his conception, birth, life, death, resurrection, and exaltation at God's right hand; and thus he is speculum theologiæ a pure glass of divinity. Hence the apostle tells us, that "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, is in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Cor. 4:6.) This latter notion is that which this discourse aims at, to contemplate those many truths which are either lively expressed in the incarnate Word, or may be reasonably drawn from that incomparable dispensation.

God, that he might help our weakness, and attract our faith to himself, hath been pleased to come, as it were, out of his unapproachable light, and manifest himself in attributes, such as wisdom, holiness, justice, grace, mercy, power, with the like. These rays of the divine perfection are let down on purpose, that we might sanctify him in our hearts, that our souls might be in a posture of holy humility, faith, fear, love, joy, and obedience, suitable to those excellencies in him. My first work, therefore, must be, to shew how these attributes are displayed in Jesus Christ: "We all with open face behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord," saith the apostle, (2 Cor. 3:18.) Jesus Christ is that pure glass wherein the glory of God, that is, the divine attributes, so eminently shine forth to us, that we may contemplate them with open face.

To begin first with the attribute of wisdom. This is the great disposer, which in all things places the centre and draws the lines, fixes the end, and harmonizes the means thereunto. There is a fair impress of it in the work of creation, much more in that of redemption. A nobler end there cannot be than God's glory in the salvation of lost man, nor a more admirable means than God manifest in the flesh. This is the "wisdom of God in a mystery," (1 Cor. 2:7.); a thing more sublime than all the secrets in the creation. Human reason may by its own innate light go into the outward temple of nature, but into the sanctuary of evangelical mysteries it cannot, unless supernaturally illuminated, ever enter; and when it is there, it is capable but of a little portion thereof: nay, the very angels, who stoop down to pry into it, are not able to search it to the bottom, nor to tell over the treasures of wisdom which are in it. This is πολυποίκιλος σοφία, "the manifold wisdom of God," (Ephes. 3:10.) Never was such a constellation of attributes as there is here: that power, wisdom, and goodness, which appeared in creation, are here in greater lustre; and over and above holiness, justice and mercy shine forth in their orient excellencies: never did the glory of God so break forth, as it doth in this wonderful dispensation.

That we may the better view it, it will be requisite to consider, first, the obstacles in the way, and then how admirably the divine wisdom did pass through them, and accomplish the great work.

The obstacles were such as these: 1st. Man turning apostate from his God and primitive integrity, justly sunk himself into an horrible gulf of sin and misery. Sin lay upon him, and wrath for sin. The broken law pronounced death, an eternal curse against him. Divine justice appeared through the threatening like devouring fire, ready to catch hold on him as fit fuel for eternal flames. Unless satisfaction were made, he must have gone into hell, the proper place for irremediable sinners: in this forlorn estate, what may he, can he, do? Shall he melt himself into repentant tears, or consecrate himself unto perpetual holiness? Alas! depraved nature cannot elevate itself unto these, nor will grace dispense them to an unatoned sinner: nay, could they be had, they would be as finite nothings in comparison of that infinite satisfaction which justice calls for. Sin is an infinite evil, objectively infinite, a kind of deicidium, a striking at the majesty, holiness, justice, nay, the very life and being of God, and without another deicidium, a crucifying the Lord of glory, which is a sacrifice of infinite value, not to be expiated. Which consideration also tells us, that all the angels in heaven, though creatures without spot, could not have been able to have satisfied for the sin of man; all that they have is but finite, the burden of God's wrath was much too heavy for them. One sin sunk their fellow-angels into chains of darkness, and how could they stand under a world of iniquity? The titles of Saviour and Redeemer, which equal, if not exceed that of Creator, were too high for them: and how could they who knew their own station, and were confirmed therein, attempt, or so much as cast an aspiring glance after them? Upon the whole matter, we see this first obstacle is such, as no creature in heaven and earth was able to remove out of the way.

2. Ex parte creaturæ, the impossibility is apparent: may we look up to heaven? There seems to be a division above, a kind of variance among the divine attributes. On the one hand mercy, that tender indulgent attribute, seems to melt and cry out over fallen man. What! shall man, made after the divine image, a poor seduced creature, shall he, nay, his whole race, eternally perish! shall I have never a monument among the sons of men, nay, nor in the whole creation? shall nothing of the human nature serve God or enjoy him? On the other, justice pleaded, that every one must have his due; the wages of sin is death; the Majesty of heaven must not be offended, nor his sacred law violated, without a just recompence. Holiness, which cannot but abhor sin, could do no less than stand on the same side. Truth remembered, that that threatening, moriendo morieris,—Thou shalt surely die, was too sacred a thing to be made nothing of; some way or other, it ought to be satisfied. Thus the attributes themselves seem to be at a distance.

3. Could a ransom be found out to the content of justice, how should man, depraved, polluted man, be made capable of receiving such a benefit? who should unscale his eyes, that he might look upon such a mystery? who should break his iron-sinewed will, that he might yield to such terms, as salvation was to be given upon? It is certain, that blind impenitent creatures cannot enter into heaven; before they can arrive thither, their eyes must be opened upon the great offer, their hearts must be dissolved into the divine will; and how this shall come to pass, is another difficulty. Now after the difficulties, let us see the admirable solution of them: when all finite understandings were posed and nonplussed at the case of fallen man, when neither men nor angels could so much as start a thought touching a remedy, infinite wisdom found out a way of salvation for us. The incomparable contrivance was thus: a creature, a finite person, could not satisfy justice, but an infinite one shall do it. There are three persons in the sacred Trinity, but the Son of God shall do it; he shall assume a human nature; in it he shall obey and die upon a cross, and thereby he shall satisfy divine justice, and purchase grace and eternal life for us. That the Son should do it rather than any other person, was very congruous many ways. God's beloved one was fit to reconcile us, his essential image was fit to repair the gracious one; none could be more meet to usher in adoption than God's natural son, nor to enlighten the world than the brightness of his glory: the eternal Word incarnate must needs be an excellent prophet, the middle person in the sacred Trinity a most congruous mediator. The blessed Father shewed forth himself in a former work in creation; the Holy Spirit appears in a subsequent work in sanctification: it was therefore very meet that the Son, the second person in the Trinity, should manifest himself in the middle work, in redemption. But that we may look a little further into this admirable design, it will not be amiss to fix our eyes upon those rare conjunctions, which the divine wisdom hath framed in order to our salvation.

1. There is a conjunction of natures, God and man in one person. Jesus Christ, who was consubstantial with the Father as to his divinity, was made consubstantial with us as to his humanity; heaven and earth were united together in an ineffable manner; the distance between God and man, was, as it were, filled up in this wonderful incarnation, supremum infimi did attingere infimum supremi, the creature came as near God as possibly could be. Admirable are the tendencies of this union. He was man, that he might be capable of suffering, and that by suffering he might satisfy in the same nature which had sinned. He was God, that he might stamp such an infinite value upon his sufferings; that those, though but the sufferings of one, might answer for a world, and, though but temporal sufferings, might counterpoise eternal. He was man, that in condescension to our weakness he might speak to us through a veil of flesh. He was God, that he might speak to our hearts in divine illuminations; in words of life and power. He was man, that he might be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, and melt into tender compassions towards us. He was God, that he might break all the powers of darkness, and erect a holy throne in our hearts. This was the first fundamental conjunction, a thing worthy to attract from us a much higher admiration than what is due to the wonders in nature.

2. There is a conjunction of justice and mercy. These in men do usually, like the sun and moon, reign by turns; but in this wonderful dispensation these are in exercise and glory both at once. Justice appears, in that Jesus Christ, our sponsor, was smitten and wounded to death, and that an accursed one, for our sins. Mercy shines forth, in that sinners repenting and believing are spared, nay, and advanced to glory. Justice did not spare the surety, but exacted all; mercy doth not exact ought from the believer, but forgive all. The sufferings of Christ respect both attributes; they satisfied the law, and founded the gospel. Justice had a full compensation, and mercy sprung up in promises of grace and life.

3. Holiness in God, which hates sin, is the fundamental root of that justice, which punisheth it. Punishment issues out of justice: justice springs out of holiness. Now that holiness may be contented, and so justice satisfied, not only in itself, but in its very foundation, there was in Christ's sufferings a conjunction of punishment and obedience. It is true, the Socinians think these two altogether inconsistent,* because obedience is a virtue, but punishment is inflicted for disobedience. But in scripture the thing is clear: there was a virtuous action in his passion, a signal obedience in his sufferings: he poured out his soul, he was obedient unto death. Pure entire obedience run through his whole life to the last gasp upon the cross: it was not at all broken or interrupted by the bloody agony, nor lost or forsaken in that night of desertion, when he cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me!" His sufferings were very penal in themselves, and inflicted by justice, yet freely undertaken, and obedientially undergone. Here, therefore, was an admirable work of wisdom: his sufferings as penal satisfied justice, and as obediential gratified holiness.

4. The truth of God was concerned in that first threatening, "Thou shalt surely die;" and in that other, which is a kind of commentary upon it, "Cursed is he that continueth not in all things." These threatenings, which were the sanction of that eternal law, touching which our Saviour assures us, that one jot or tittle of it shall not pass away, are not to be confounded with those conditional threatenings which are extant in scripture, and were by God used to induce men unto repentance. Now that truth might be saved, there was in Christ's sufferings a conjunction of a satisfaction, and a kind of execution of the law. Indeed, an execution of it in the rigour or strict letter of it there was not, neither could that be but upon the sinner himself: yet there was a kind of execution of it in an equitable sense in our sponsor Jesus Christ: his satisfaction, though it was not the idem, the very same which the letter of the law called for, yet in infinite wisdom it was accommodated to the terms of the law, as far as the decorum of his sacred person could admit of: in the threatening there was death and a curse, and both these were in the sufferings of Christ: hence the apostle saith, "That sin was so condemned in his flesh, that the righteousness of the law was fulfilled. (Rom. 8:4.) It was in a sort executed in our surety, that in the same sufferings there might be a satisfaction to justice, and a compliance with truth. He that considers these conjunctions will have cause to cry out with the Psalmist, "Mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other. (Psalm 85:10.)

5. That poor lapsed man with his blind eyes and hard heart, utterly incapable in himself of heaven, may be made meet for it, there was in Christ's sufferings a conjunction of satisfaction and merit: justice was compensated, and grace impetrated. Indeed the Socinians, blind with their own corrupt reason, cannot see how these two should stand together; satisfaction being the payment of a just debt, and merit the doing of an undue work. To which I answer: it is true, that when one pays a finite sum for his own debt, there is not, there cannot be a merit in it; but when Jesus Christ paid down sufferings of an infinite value for us, there cannot but be an immense merit in them. Infinity is an ocean, and may run over in effects as far as it pleases; those sufferings had a kind of infinity in them, enough to pay divine justice, and over and above by a redundance of merit to purchase all grace for us. Hence the apostle saith, "That the Holy Ghost is shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ. (Tit. 3:6.) Christ ascended up to heaven in the glory of his merits, and from thence poured down the Holy Spirit on men, that their blind eyes might be opened upon the mysteries of the gospel, and their hard hearts might be melted into repentance. Thus a fair way is opened to make fallen man capable of eternal life.

6. Because the inward vital principles of grace in men must needs flourish most, when there is an outward excellent pattern of holiness set before them; there was therefore in Christ's sufferings a conjunction of merit and example: the merit procured the principles of grace, and the example, by its divine beauty, drew them out into imitation. Socinus thinks* that a satisfaction and an example can very hardly meet together in the same thing: the like scruple may be made touching merit and example: and the very truth is, satisfaction and merit are a cup which we cannot drink of, a sea in which we cannot trace or follow our Saviour. Nevertheless, infinite wisdom laid one plot under another; and under inimitable satisfaction and merit, couched an incomparable pattern of holiness for us. We may clearly see in him how we are to mortify corruptions, bear afflictions, learn obedience by sufferings, and obey unto the death. In these he hath left us an example, that we might follow his steps. (1 Pet. 2:21.)

Having seen the contrivance in these rare conjunctions, let us now consider how the Divine wisdom set ambushments for our spiritual enemies: I mean sin, Satan, the world, and death; all which are in a very admirable manner overcome by Jesus Christ. Sin, which meritoriously was the bloody crucifier of the Son of God, was crucified together with him when he suffered: it was in his flesh condemned as an accursed thing worthy to die; no sooner are we in him by faith, but it loses its kingdom, and by a divine virtue from his cross, it droops and languishes away in us.

Satan, the arch-enemy, at Christ's death seemed to be a conqueror; that God incarnate should be slain by his hellish instruments, that the whole church should die in its head, looks like a mighty victory: when the head shall die, what shall the members do? when the sun, the great globe of light in the spiritual world, shall be turned into blood; what should remain but that darkness which Satan hath the power of? Upon the death of the Duke of Guise, Henry the Third broke out thus: Nunc demum rex sum. Now at last I am king. Upon the death of our Saviour, Satan might suppose himself absolute prince in the lower world; a greater Adam than the first being fallen, no man can probably stand before him. But here infinite wisdom shows forth itself. Satan is taken in his own snare; by that very death of Christ, which was procured by his own agents, is he utterly overthrown. Christ upon the cross did spoil principalities and powers, and triumph over them in it. (Col. 2:15.) The satisfaction in his sufferings paid off divine justice, and the merit in them procured that divine Spirit, which is able to bind and cast out Satan from the hearts of men. The cross was now turned into a triumphant chariot: and, as an ancient hath it, there were two affixed to it; Christ visibly, freely, for a time; the devil invisibly, co-actively, forever: that cross was a final victory over him. He was overcome, not by a man only, but by a man suffering, bleeding, dying upon a cross; the Lord reigneth ἀπο ξύλου from the cross, (as some of the ancients read that 10th verse in the 96th Psalm), through death he destroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. (Heb. 2:14.) The devil was destroyed by death, his own weapon, and overcome in that which he had the power of.

The wicked world at the death of Christ triumphed and insulted even to blasphemy: "He saved others, himself he cannot save." (Matt. 27:42: as if all his miraculous power were now swallowed up in weakness: "Let him come down from the cross, and we will believe him." (Matt. 27:42.) As if, without a fresh miracle, all his holy doctrines would vanish into nothing. The Jews, who were for signs, stumbled and fell in the midst of those glorious miracles which he wrought among them. The Greeks, who were for wisdom, saw nothing but foolishness in the midst of the divine mysteries, which he brought down out of his Father's bosom. A crucified Christ looked like a spectacle of weakness and folly. But here the Divine wisdom appears in that, as the apostle hath it: The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God stronger than men. This crucified Christ shall attract a church out of the corrupt mass of mankind; the foolishness of preaching shall do it. The Platos or Aristotles of the world shall not be employed in the work; no, there shall be only piscatoria simplicitas, a few fishermen shall catch men, and draw them home unto God; to the effectually called, this despised Christ shall be the power and wisdom of God. The Divine Spirit, merited by him, shall endue them with a wisdom much higher than that of nature and philosophy, and clothe them with a power to make them live above all the hopes and fears of this world.

Death, the last enemy, which had devoured so much human flesh, did not spare that sacred portion, which was assumed into the Son of God: but in his death, death itself was swallowed up in victory. It passes indeed upon all men; but when it comes to a believer, it lays by its sting, and becomes only a passage into life eternal.

To conclude: In all these conquests, we may see one contrary brought out of another; life out of death, power out of weakness, a blessing out of a curse, and a victory out of sufferings, which speaks no less than an admirable contrivance therein.

These appearances of divine wisdom naturally teach us humility of mind. Human reason is indeed in its own orb an excellent light; but a greater than it, the reason of God himself, comes forth to us in supernatural mysteries, to make us sit down at his feet for instruction. Nothing can be more just and purely rational, than for our intellect, being finite, to be subject to the infinite truth; and being lighted up by God, to do homage to its great original. It is true, ever since man tasted of the tree of knowledge, his reason hath had a malignant pride in it: of a minister, it would be a lord over our faith; assuming the magisterial chair, it would fall a-judging divine mysteries; it would comprehensively span them within itself; and what could not be so comprised, it would out of enmity cast away as spurious. This in the issue hath, so far as it hath prevailed, desperately overturned all faith, in the act and in the object: in the act, for to believe a thing because I can comprehend it is not faith in God, but trusting in my own heart; not a sealing to his veracity, but a subscribing to my own sagacity. Hence the learned Maresius saith of the Socinians, that they have manus oculatas—hands with eyes in them; that only do they believe that which they see; they will trust God no further than they see him. Also in the object; this hath been very subversive to the gospel. In the pagan philosophers (whose motto was soli rationi cedo), it cast away Christ crucified as foolishness, and the gospel as an absurd fable; it reflected on Christians as mere simpletons, men of an easy and irrational faith; hence that jeer of Cato, stultitia est morte alterius sperare salutem; it is folly to hope for salvation in the death of another. In the Socinians, (whose rule is, nihil credi potest, quod a ratione nequeat capi, nothing can be believed, which cannot be comprehended by reason); it hath blown up the fundamental articles of Christianity: the sacred Trinity to them is a contradiction; the hypostatical union an irrational repugnancy; the satisfaction of Christ a contumely to God's grace. And in all this they do but build a tower, a name to their own reason; and, as a just punishment, in the doing of it they fall into confusion and inconsistencies. Sometimes they make the law to exact a more perfect obedience than the gospel; sometimes the gospel to call for a more accurate righteousness than the law. To evert satisfaction, they lift up grace; but to elevate free-will, they depress it. They own a God, yet deny his prescience; they say Christ is but a creature, yet they worship him. Thus that great thing, reason, falling from the supreme truth, becomes a forlorn spectacle of vanity: in a kind of self-splendor it goes out in the darkness of error and confusion. But now to humble our minds, it is of excellent use to consider the divine wisdom, which is so much above us. When our reason stands by sense, it hath a noble stature and greatness; but, as soon as it turns about to infinite wisdom, it perceives a greater presence than itself, and must in all reason confess itself a little spark, a very nothing in comparison. It cannot step out into the sphere of nature, but it finds matter of humility; being true to itself, it can do no less than say, that it is everywhere posed and nonplussed. It is not able rationally to stand under the secrets of nature, much more must it stoop and do reverence before such a mystery as that is,—God manifest in the flesh; in which the transcendent mystery amazes us, and the unparalleled pattern draws us into humility. Thither must we come, or else turn infidels, and allow reason for a deity; saying with Seneca, Quid aliud voces animam, quam Deum in humano corpore hospitantem?—What is the rational soul but God dwelling in flesh, a kind of Christ, or rather Antichrist? This, I am sure Christian ears cannot bear. But a little more to demonstrate how necessary a thing humility of mind is, let us consider reason in a three-fold state: then it will appear that reason in its integrity could not find out supernatural mysteries; in its fall cannot spiritually know them; and lastly, in the irradiations of faith cannot comprehend them.

1. Reason in its integrity could not find them out. The pure primitive light in Adam could dive into the secrets of nature, but it could not reach such a mystery as that of the sacred Trinity, which is the fundamental centre of Christian religion. He could name the creatures, and that significantly to their natures, but that question, What is his son's name, (Prov. 30:4), would have been too hard for him. There are, say the school-men, some obscure images of the Trinity in the volume of nature, but they were found out a posteriori, and not to be read till after revelation; and how should human reason dictate in those things which it could not find out? or know anything from itself, when it hath all from revelation? Nothing can be more absurd than such a presumption.

2. Reason in its fall could not spiritually know them. Evangelical mysteries being proposed, it can go as far as its own line, unto letters and words, and sentences: it can gather in a notion, a form of knowledge, but it wants a congruous light; it cannot spiritually discern them, there being no alliance or resemblance between an unregenerate mind and supernatural mysteries. Were it not thus, the new creature would be new only ex parte, there would need no renovation in the spirit of the mind; God, who proposes the object, need not shine in the heart; the Spirit of wisdom which reveals the gospel, need not open the eyes. We must either affirm such things as these, or else confess that reason of itself hath not light enough to be umpire in supernatural mysteries. It doth not spiritually discern them, and for that cause cannot be an umpire; and, as soon as by supernatural illumination it discerns them, it will not, dares not be such, but with all reverence acquiesces, and reposes itself in the divine testimony: Deus dixit, then is enough.

3. Reason in the irradiations of faith cannot comprehend them: a discerning there is, but no comprehension; let the believer sail as far as he can in the pursuit of holy truths, still there will be a plus ultra, an abyss, a vast ocean, such as the human understanding can never pass through. Faith seals to God's veracity, but it offers not to measure the mystery; it believes the thing so to be, but it pries not into the modus, nor saith, How can these things be? that is the voice of depraved reason, not of faith, whose excellent genius is to crucify how's and why's, and to subject the mind to the word and authority of God.

These things being so, we should be all over clothed with humility, understanding, and all. The higher the faculty is, the more excellent is the humility; then is God honoured indeed, when πᾶν νόημα, all the intellect, the highest thing in man, is subjected unto him.

CHAPTER III:

Holiness the glory of the Deity; by it God acts like himself, and doth all for his own glory

Holiness the glory of the Deity; by it God acts like himself, and doth all for his own glory—It imports a hatred of sin, and love of holiness in man—In all these respects it was manifest in Christ—It was not indecent for God to come in the flesh and die; the glory of God breaks forth therein—His hatred of sin, and design to extirpate it; his love to holiness, in doing so much to recover it, and linking it with salvation—We should be followers of God therein.

HAVING seen the attribute of wisdom in God, I proceed to that of holiness, which is the glory of the Deity. He is called the Holy One above thirty times in Scripture: the seraphims in an ecstacy cry out, Holy, holy, holy! denoting by that repetition the superlative eminency of his holiness. This is an universal attribute which runs through all the other. Hence we find in Scripture that his power or arm is holy, (Isaiah, 52:10.) His truth or promise holy, (Ps. 105:42.) His mercy holy, (Acts, 13:34.) A vein of purity runs through his whole name. Without holiness his wisdom would be subtilty, his justice cruelty, his sovereignty tyranny, his mercy foolish pity: all would degenerate into something unworthy of God. Holiness is the infinite purity and rectitude of his essence; and it may be considered either respectively to himself, or to the creature. Respectively to himself it includes two things:

1. That God, in all that he doth, acts like himself, in a just decorum to his excellent being and attributes, having no law without or above himself. He conforms to his essence, and carries himself so fitly to himself, that no spot, no darkness, no shadow of turning, no indecency or irregularity can possibly happen to him. He cannot deny himself, or do anything unworthy of his being or attributes. He doth whatever he doth, in such a manner as becomes him. Hence Anselm observes,* That when God spares and is merciful towards sinners, he is just to himself, and that because he acts condecently to his infinite goodness. This is the first and prime part of his holiness, to be just and true to himself, to do all congruously to his own excellency.

2. That God doth all things for himself, his own glory. He that is Alpha, the first principle of all things, must of necessity be Omega, the last end of them: his sanctity requires, that all his works should return and give glory to their original; he should not be true or just to himself, if he should have any centre besides himself; his holiness is a transcendent above that in man. Supreme self-love, which in man is a Belial thing, is a perfection in him; to do all for one's self, which in man is idolatry, it is true sanctity in him. It is most proper for him, the supreme cause and essence, to make all things for himself; as of and through him, so to him are all things.

Again, God's holiness taken respectively to the creature, imports two things:

1. It imports an hatred of sin: his pure eyes cannot look upon it with approbation; his righteous hands will not let it go unpunished. Sin is a very vile thing; it despises God's authority, casts off his sovereignty, contradicts his purity, provokes his justice, nay, it strikes at his very being; it says, Who is Lord, that he should be obeyed? It is the most prodigious rebel that ever was; weakness, folly, corruption, rising up in arms against power, wisdom, and infinite perfection. The Holy One, because he is such, must needs hate such a filthy abominable thing; he can no more cease to hate it, than he can cease to be holy. His antipathy against it is so great, that he can no more admit one drop of it into himself, than he can suffer an extinction of his essence.

2. It imports a love of holiness in the creature. Holiness is a very choice thing; it is a pure breath from God, a participation of the divine nature, an image or resemblance of the Deity; more of the beauty and glory of God shines forth in it, than in all the world besides. The other creatures are but a dark shadow to it, nay, it is a thousand times more divine than the soul itself. The Holy One, who loves himself, must needs love so excellent a picture of his own sanctity. The righteous Lord loveth righteousness, (Ps. 11:7;) because he is righteous in himself, therefore he loves righteousness in the creature.

Such, as I said, is God's holiness; the display of it in Jesus Christ succeeds.

1. The first part of his holiness, by which he does all in a just decorum to his excellent being, seems to be contradicted in this dispensation. May God be made flesh? May majesty be humbled? May the immutable One be changed in an incarnation? May the immortal One die in a bloody passion? These things at the first blush look as if they could not be congruously done. But I answer, The corrupt reason of man, which would shape all things according to its own model and idea, hath, under colour of avoiding indecencies and inconveniencies, made very strange work about this mystery. In the Pagan Sophi, it looked upon a crucified God as mere folly and indecency. In the unbelieving Jews, it reproached Christ as a Talui, a poor hanged man, altogether incapable to be a Messiah or Saviour. In the heretics of the church, it tore and mangled his sacred person all to pieces, and that under pretence of avoiding one inconvenience or other. Arius, that he might not fall into that Gentile vanity, a plurality of Gods, took away Christ's deity. Apollinaris spared his deity, but took away his human soul; the room of that being better supplied by the Deity. Saturninus and Basilides took away his body, leaving only a phantasm, a mere umbra in the room of it: or if there must be a real body, Apelles thought fit that it should be a sidereal one, which in his passage from heaven he assumed, and after his resurrection restored again. Nestorius, lest the impassable Deity should suffer, would have two Christs; one the Son of man who suffered, another the Son of God, who dwelt in the other as in his temple. Eutyches, supposing that there could not be two natures in Christ, without two persons, thought it convenient, that after the union there should be but one nature in Christ; the human nature being swallowed up in the divine. And the reason of all this is, because, as an ancient hath it touching the Eutychians,* they look not so much to the sacred scriptures, as to themselves, being willing that their own reason should be umpire in sacred mysteries; they become masters of error, who would not be disciples of truth. By this heap of experiments we may plainly see, that the decorum of this mystery is too great a thing to be judged by human reason; if we will know anything of it, we must address ourselves to the divine oracle, Jesus Christ, the infinite increated wisdom of God, who never had so much as an indecorous thought, delighted in the sons of men, (Prov. 8:31.) in the prospect of a future incarnation. It was τὸ πρέπον a thing becoming him, to fulfil all righteousness, (Matt. 3:15.); when yet it could not have become him in an unbecoming nature. There was a Δεῖ, a must, upon his death and sufferings, (Matt. 16:21.); when yet it was utterly impossible, that any necessity should press him into an indecency. There was therefore an excellent congruity in this mystery. God indeed was made flesh, but how? Non mutando quod erat, sed assumendo quod non erat, not by changing his Deity, but by assuming his humanity. Majesty was humbled, not in itself, but in the assumed flesh, which was as a veil over all the glory. The change and death was not in the divine, but human nature, which was taken into his sacred person in the incarnation, and suffered death in his passion upon the cross. There was a just decorum in all: nay, in this very mystery, at which human reason cries out of indecency, God hath hid such an abyss of wisdom, as no created understanding is able to fathom; a glimpse of which appears in the next particular.

2. That part of holiness, by which God doth all things for himself, for his own glory, eminently appears in Jesus Christ.

In general it appears, that God is the great centre, the ultimate end of all; and all creatures, none excepted, are as so many fines and mediums tending thereunto. The human nature of Christ, a creature above all creatures, lifted up above the highest pitch of angels, elevated into an union with an infinite person, was not yet a centre to itself. It had no subsistence of its own, neither did it operate for itself: "I seek not mine own glory," saith Christ. (John. 8:50.) Nay, he adds, "If I honour myself, my honour is nothing; as much as to say, a creature referred to itself, is an unprofitable nullity. In all his doings and sufferings, he did but minister to the will and glory of God; in the end he will deliver up the kingdom to the Father, "that God may be all in all." (1 Cor. 15:24, 28.) Hence it is demonstratively evident, that no creature, no, not the highest, is or can be an end or centre to itself; all of them are but as mediums to the glory of God; all must circulate into their first fontal-principle, that it in all things may be glorified. In particular, the glory of God breaks forth in this dispensation. Jesus Christ, who in respect of the eternal generation is the ἀπαύγασμα, the splendour or glorious effulgence of his Father's glory, is in the incarnation the glass or bright evidence of the divine excellencies. Never was there such a constellation of attributes as here. Wisdom in the deep of its unsearchable counsels laid the great plot of our salvation. Justice was paid to the full in sufferings infinitely valuable, such as did more than balance the sufferings of a world. Holiness was abundantly gratified in the pure and spotless obedience of our Saviour, which was as a gloss and living commentary upon the whole law. Mercy and love opened a bosom of infinite sweetness to receive penitent souls into favour and a blessed immortality. Power raised up a human nature in an extraordinary way, and then shewed forth itself therein in the glory of innumerable miracles. Truth triumphed, in that he who is the complement of the law, the substance of the shadows, and the centre of the promises, was come into the world. Never did the brightness of glory so excellently manifest itself as upon the theatre of Christ's human nature. Hence heaven and earth ring with the high praises of it. At his nativity an host of angels cry out, "Glory to God in the highest." (Luke 2:14.) In the church there is glory to him by Jesus Christ throughout all ages, world without end. (Ephes. 3:21. Saints and angels must now fall upon their faces, and say, "Blessing, glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen." (Rev. 7:12.) Eternity itself will be little enough to spend in the praises of this incomparable mystery.

3. Holiness, as it imports an hatred of sin, signally demonstrates itself in this dispensation. God hath many ways manifested his hatred of sin. It appears in the threatening, in which he speaks, as it were, out of the fire, and breathes out a death and a curse against it. It further appears, when the threatening comes forth in actual judgments, in which God falls upon his own creature, the work of his own hands. It more appears, when wrath comes down, not upon this or that sinner, but upon multitudes; and not upon the offending persons only, but upon their infant relations: upon their fellow-creatures, upon the very places where they acted their iniquities. Adam sinned, and wrath fell upon the whole race of mankind: nay, and a blast and a curse fell upon the creation; such as makes it groan and travail in pain with an universal vanity. The old world was drowned in sensualities, and a deluge sweeps away them and their fellow-creatures. The Sodomites burned in their unnatural lusts, and fire and brimstone was rained down upon them. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram turned rebels, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up them, and all that appertained to them. These are notable tokens of displeasure, but a greater is yet behind. The eternal Son of God cannot assume our flesh, and stand as a sponsor for us, but he must bear an infinite wrath, such as was due to the sin of a world. Though he were the wisdom of God, he must be sore amazed, and ready to faint away in a fit of horror; though the Father's joy, he must be περίλυπος, surrounded with sorrows even unto death. He bore up all things, yet now under the burden of wrath he must fall and grovel upon the ground: he must pour out tears and strong cries to God, that the bitter cup may pass; he must be in an agony, a dismal conflict with the wrath of God, and sweat great drops and clotters of blood under the pressure of it. The blessed and beloved one of God he was, yet he must be made a curse, and upon a tormenting cross cry out, My God! My God! why hast thou forsaken me? The sun must now withdraw his light, and the earth quake in sympathy with their Creator. Oh! What a spectacle of displeasure was here! What is a deluge, or the groans of a dissolving world in comparison? There mere creatures suffer, but here God in the flesh. The marks of divine wrath were now set upon that human nature, which, as assumed into an infinite person, is far above all the creation. Never was there so high a demonstration of God's infinite hatred and antipathy against sin, as there is here. No created understanding of men or angels could ever have found out such a wonderful manifestation as this is. Infinite wisdom did it, to make sin look like itself, infinitely odious.

Moreover, as it is the nature of hatred to be a murderer, to seek the not-being of the thing hated; so it was the great design of this mystery to extirpate sin out of the hearts of men. "For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." (1 John 3:8.) There are three things in sin: the guilt, the power, and the being. The aim of a crucified Christ was to extirpate them all: Christ was made sin and a curse for us. He did by his sweet-smelling sacrifice fully satisfy the law and justice of God. And why did he do it, but that the bonds of guilt might be broken off from us? The strength of sin, in binding us over to death and hell, is the law; and the law, in its threatening of a curse and condemnation, is the voice of vindictive justice: these two being fully satisfied in Christ, the guilt of sin becomes powerless, and unable to hold such sinners, as faith and repentance partake in that satisfaction. There was in Christ's sufferings, not only a fulness of satisfaction, but a redundance of merit. Thereby he procured the Holy Spirit for us; and why so, but that the power of sin might be dissolved in us? Our own spirit of itself could not, would not do this: but the Divine Spirit, which Christ hath procured, doth in true believers effect it. Sin is no longer a prevailing law in the heart; the Holy Spirit takes away its dominion, that the throne of Christ may be set there. It is true, as Saint Bernard saith, Velis, nolis, infra fines tuos habitat Jebusæus, sin hath a being in believers: but even that doth the Holy Spirit in the article of death remove from them, that their souls may fly away into that pure region, where are the spirits of just men made perfect. Thus God manifests his hatred of sin, in that he laid in the sufferings of Christ, a design for the extirpation of it.

4. God's holiness, as it imports a love of holiness in man, is here, clearly seen, in that, when it was lost, he did so much for the recovery of it. Holiness, that divine life (being by the fall beaten out of the heart of man), stood without in the letter of the law: but that it might be recovered into the heart of man again, that his heart might be made a sanctuary, a holy place for the Divine Majesty to dwell and take pleasure in, God hath done very much, and been at a vast expense about it. He hath not only wished for holiness: "O that there were such a heart in them!" (Deut. 5:29.) But he hath sent his own Son into the flesh to be a rare pattern and samplar of it: nay, and to bleed and die upon a cross, that it might be revived in poor fallen man. It could not be revived there without the Holy Spirit, and that could never have been had, unless justice were satisfied; and satisfaction could not be made without a sacrifice of infinite value. Christ therefore was made such an one, that the Holy Spirit might come and re-imprint holiness in man again. God died in the flesh, that man might live in the Spirit. One great end of Christ's sufferings was holiness. "He gave himself for us, that he might purify to himself a peculiar people." (Tit. 2:14.) "That he might have a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle." (Ephes. 5:27.) Rather than lose holiness, which is the glory, he would humble himself to the shame of a cross; rather than we should not be sanctified, or consecrated to God in holiness, he would sanctify and consecrate himself to be a sacrifice to justice. Oh! what a rate or value doth God set upon holiness in man! How highly must he delight and take pleasure in it, when he will come in the flesh and die, rather than suffer it to be extinct in the world? a greater demonstration of love to it than this cannot possibly be imagined.

Further, God's love to holiness appears in this, that he orders things so, that no man can partake of Jesus Christ, unless he subject himself to the holy terms of the gospel; he that names the name of Christ, must depart from iniquity. What if Christ be a most glorious Saviour and Redeemer? What though he fulfilled righteousness and made satisfaction? What though he opened a way into the holy of holies, into the glory and immortality there? Notwithstanding all this, without repenting there is nothing but perishing; without holiness there is no seeing of God. A life after the flesh must end in death. The divine justice and law, which was fully satisfied in Christ, will seize upon rebellious sinners, and ask a second satisfaction, as if there had been none before: the divine hatred of sin, which was so signally evident in the sufferings of Christ, will appear again in their utter ruin and destruction. Things are so knit together, that holiness must be necessary to make us happy. Christ is a Saviour, and a Lord too: where he saves from hell, there he rules in the pure ways towards heaven. His blood and Spirit are ever in conjunction: if the one deliver from guilt and wrath, the other subdues sin, and implants holiness. Promises and precepts, which are intermixed in the Word, must be both taken together into the heart; where the latter hath not obedience, the former can minister no comfort. True faith receives an entire Christ; as it rests upon his merits and righteousness, so it subjects to his Spirit and Word in all things. That hope of heaven, which purifies not, is indeed a presumption, and not a hope; a cobweb hanging in a vain heart, and not an anchor sure and steadfast, entering into that within the vail. God, out of love to holiness, hath linked it in with Christ, promises, faith, heaven, and salvation, that no man can or may enjoy the one without the other; till Christ can be divided, his sacrifice from his sceptre; till promises can be rent off from the holy precepts, to which they are annexed; till a vital faith can cease to do its function in acts of obedience; till the holy heavens can admit an unclean thing into them: till then, an unholy person cannot arrive at happiness. In all this we see, how high a respect God hath for holiness.

Now what remains, but that christians, who have this glorious attribute set before them, should bethink themselves, what manner of persons they ought to be. God acts like himself—should not they do so? Their decorum stands in an holy assimilation to him. Christianity is, as an ancient hath it, Θεοῦ ὁμοίωσις, a likeness to God, to be after him in his imitable perfections: to be loving, merciful, holy, patient, as he is, is to be, and act like themselves. One virtue of God or other should be still breaking forth from them, to tell the world that they are christians: their finite love and mercy to fellow-creatures, should speak their sense of that infinite love and mercy which they have tasted of: their patience under injuries should carry a resemblance of those riches of goodness and forbearance, which God hath spent upon themselves: all their holy graces should appear as so many rays and little images of him, who is the great fountain and pattern of holiness. For them to walk worthy of God, and in imitation of him, is to walk condecently to themselves, and in correspondence to christianity. Again, God doth all things for himself, his own glory, and this must be the aim of Christians. To be a centre to themselves, they must not do it; an higher and nobler end than God himself cannot be. It is naturally just, that He, who is the first principle of all things, should be the last end. That axiom, that, God in all things must be glorified, is fundamental divinity; that is the very thing, which they must look to as their ultimate scope. They should put away the by-glances at sell, and the unbecoming squints at base and false ends; that they may have a single eye, and a pure intention to the true and great end of all things. This is the very life and marrow of religion: it sanctifies holy duties, it spiritualizes civil and natural actions; it elevates the life unto the great centre of all things, and by consecrating the actions unto God, gives them a kind of immortality. It transforms the soul into a deiformity or divine nature, that it becomes one spirit with the Lord, and falls in with the same will and end with him. If we will be like Christians, the frame of our heart must be above the interests of flesh and self. All those things which are off from the true end and centre, must be in our eyes as so many impertinent follies; the whole of our hearts and lives must be under a consecration to that eternal design, the glory of God blessed for ever. Moreover, God hath an hatred of sin, and a love of holiness; and what is the work of Christians but to follow him? Sin is so vile an evil, that it cannot but be worthy of hatred. To the holy God and his attributes it is mere enmity and rebellion; to the world it is a curse, a blast of vanity; to the soul an ataxy, turpitude, and corruption; to the Lord Christ as nails, a bloody cross, and cup of wrath. A horrible evil it is, and to be hated accordingly; a mere evil without mixture of good, and to be hated with a pure hatred without mixture of love. An all-evil opposite to God the all-goodness, and to be hated with all-hatred; not a drop or degree of hatred should be let out upon anything else. All of it in the most intense degree and measure should be poured out upon it; in what place or time soever it be, still it is evil, and upon that account to be hated perpetually and in all places. And, indeed, if we do bethink ourselves, the groans of the poor creatures which are constant and everywhere round about us, do very strongly move us hereunto; the blots and turpitudes upon our own souls tell us, that we must hate it as much as we love the beauty and glory of our immortal spirits. The blood and wounds of our dear Saviour cry out for justice and vengeance to be executed upon it. And, if we have any love for him, we must crucify it and cast it away as an accursed thing. On the other hand, holiness cannot but be a fit object for our love. It is a pure thing let down from heaven; and, if our love be there, it can do no less than embrace so divine an offspring as that is. It is the very rectitude and true temper of souls, that which sets them in a right posture towards God and all holy things; and for that reason more love is to be set upon it than that which is due to our own souls. Though in man it be but a little ray or spark, yet, because of its divine nature, it doth in little resemble him, who is all holiness and purity; and upon that account our love, which in its highest measures ascends up to him, must in proportion be due to it. The amiableness of it in the letter made the holy man cry out, "Oh, how I love thy law!" (Ps. 119:97;) and how illustrious and attractive must it be, when it is in its proper ubi, living and breathing in the spirits of men? Rather than it should not revive there, God would be manifest in the flesh, and die in it. And how should we die to ourselves and the world, that it may live in us? which, when it doth, we live indeed, and that a life more divine and of higher excellency than is the life of mere sense or reason; nay, this life is complicated with happiness, and makes us meet for life eternal. If we would live for ever in bliss and glory, we must follow after holiness; heart and life must be consecrated unto God, else heaven will not be capable to receive us, nor shall we be fit to enter in there.

CHAPTER IV:

God's punitive justice asserted from scripture and nature

God's punitive justice asserted from scripture and nature—It was necessary that there should be a satisfaction for sin: rectoral justice required it—Unless Christ's sufferings were satisfactory, no good account can be given of them—It is not enough to say, that he was an example of patience; that he confirmed the covenant; that God's immense love was manifested therein, or that his resurrection assured ours—God's justice appears, in that He, though of infinite mercy, inflicted those sufferings on Christ; in that Christ, the patient, was man, the Son of God, an holy innocent one; in that the sufferings of Christ were proportionable to the sinning powers in man; to the law; to the sin and sufferings of a world—The fruits of his sufferings as to himself, and as to us—The dreadfulness of sin, in respect of the sufferings of Christ, and the miserable end of impenitent sinners.

HAVING discoursed of God's holiness, I now come to his vindictive justice; which, as a learned man saith*, is a branch or emanation from the other. That pure essence which cannot but hate sin, must needs have a propensity to punish it. That propensity cannot be separated from the hatred of sin, nor that hatred from infinite rectitude. The Socinians, that they might raze Christ's satisfaction to the very foundation, deny this attribute:—This justice, say they, is not an attribute in God. Neither is it called justice in scripture, but rather severity, which is not resident in God, but only an effect of his will. But, that there is such an attribute in God is evident in scripture: He is called ישר, right, and צדיק, righteous. As the first chiefly respects his universal righteousness, so the second doth his judicial one. "He is said to be just in his judging." (Rev. 16:5.) "His judgment is a righteous judgment." (Rom. 2:5.) "It is a righteous thing with him to render tribulation." (2 Thess. 1:6.) Punishment is called a just recompense. (Heb. 2:2.) Punishment, how afflictive soever, cannot be punishment unless justice be declared in it; nor can justice be declared in that, which it requires not. The Greek word δίκη, sometimes denotes the punishment, (Jude v. 7.) Sometimes the punitive justice itself, (Acts, 28:4.) One δίκη is from another; just punishment issues out from vindictive justice: with respect to that only it is, that God is called a consuming fire. (Heb. 12:29.) As he is light in his essential purity, so he is fire in his essential justice, which is ever in conjunction with his purity, and, as it were the ardour of it, breaking out in flames of wrath in such sort as seems fit to him. Thus scripture. But further: nature concurs to make it good. This, that God is just, is graven in the minds of all men. The very heathens, by the indelible characters which they find there, are able to read the judgment of God, and say, that he hath ξκδικον ὄμμα, an avenging eye; a ray of it shines in their own bosom. The barbarians, upon the sight of the viper on Paul's hand, cry out of a δίκη, a vengeance that pursued him a murderer. The very instinct of nature told them, that there was a connexion between guilt and punishment. Conscience is Dei vicarius, a kind of representative numen in men: it hath a secret tribunal in the heart, and from that seal and impress which divine justice hath set upon it, dooms and judges offenders unto misery. Hence that saying—

—— Prima est hæc ultio, quod se

Judice, nemo nocens absolvitur.

Punishment is coetaneous to guilt. Sin, in its egress out of the heart, leaves a sting behind. The offender cannot be well within, his distemper is ῆ σύνεσις, a conscience of his evil deeds; his mind reflects torment upon itself: inwardly he is nothing but wounds and amazing horrors; the apparitions of wrath haunt him; conscience is sensus et præjudicium judicii divini, a kind of anticipation and presensation of the last judgment. After all this, to deny God to be just, is to offer violence to the principles of nature, and put a lie upon those notions which are born with, and in-stamped upon our reason: it is to say, that the image and impress of a Deity upon our hearts is but a counterfeit; that conscience is but a cheat, and all the terrors there but a false alarm. In a word, it is to eradicate all religion, and open a flood-gate to all wickedness and impiety. These being intolerable absurdities, it cannot but be granted that there is such an attribute in God: τῷ θεῷ ἕπεται δίκη, saith Plutarch; justice follows God, or rather it is his very essence.

It is an enquiry among divines, how far it was necessary that sin should be punished; that without satisfaction there should be no remission. It is an indubitable verity, that it was necessary by virtue of God's decree. He hath declared himself, that he will by no means acquit the guilty. But this is not all. In scripture, punishment is not attributed merely to his will or decree, but to his just and righteous nature: "Thou art righteous, O Lord, because thou hast judged thus." (Revel. 16:5.) Though the mode and circumstance of punishment be determined by his sovereign pleasure, yet the punishment itself issues out from his justice. Sin merits punishment. They that do such things are worthy of death. (Rom. 1:32.) It is not merely God's will, but his justice, which renders unto sin its due. The proportion which is between sin and punishment, shows who holds the balance. Were it merely at the divine pleasure to punish sin or not, God need not punish obstinate and impenitent persons. This the Socinians themselves cannot bear. They say,* There is one justice in God, which he ever useth in punishing contumacious sinners; nay, it would be unworthy of God not to punish them. Now, here two things may be observed: the one is this; obstinacy is not punished for itself, for in good it is constancy and worthy of praise; but it is punished because it is in evil. Sin is punished καθʼ ἀυτὸ for itself, but obstinacy for the sin only; and if sin be punished for itself, then every sin must be punished. The other is this: if Jesus Christ had not come and satisfied for us, all sinners would have been impenitent and contumacious: the grace of repentance would never have been given by an un-atoned God; neither is it now derived to us, but through a mediator. "Him hath God exalted with his right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance." (Acts 5:31.) Hence it appears, that without Christ, all sin would have been in conjunction with impenitency, and consequently necessarily punished. But a little more to clear this necessity, I shall lay down some particulars.

1. Man, a rational creature, could not be created, but he would immediately, by the very frame of his soul, be under a law. His reason, by the innate notion of a deity, could not but be bound to know the supreme truth. His will, by its propension to its proper object, could not but be bound to love the supreme goodness. The respects, which are in the rational powers towards their Creator, are a law never to be altered. God will no more dissolve them, than he will contradict his own work. Man cannot loose himself from them, which are interwoven with his immortal faculties. As long as God is God, the supreme truth and goodness; and man is man, an intellective and elective creature; it must needs be indispensably just for us to know and love our Creator. The differences of good and evil are founded in nature. The image of righteousness is not a moveable thing, for then the love of God might be it to-day, and by a counter-motion, the hatred of him might be such to-morrow, which is utterly impossible.

2. Man, by his very creation being under a law, it could not be otherwise but God must be a rector and judge over him. He that made must rule him; he that put a law into his faculties must be his judge: his rectitude and justice made him fit to be so. Hence that of the apostle, "Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? I speak as a man, God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world." (Rom. 3:5, 6.) As if he had said, Unless God cease to be himself—unless his righteousness and justice fail, he must needs be Judge.

3. God being rector and judge, he must needs carry himself as becomes one of infinite rectitude and justice. It is right that sin should be punished. And shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? After man, nay all the race of mankind, had for many ages turned rebels against God, and violated and, as much as in them lieth, made void his sacred laws: after they had, by the contempt of their sins, despised his majesty and sovereignty, and by the turpitude of them offended his purity and holiness, should all this pass unpunished, how black would the consequence be? Would it not be a blot to his government to nod and let fall the reins of discipline? a slight to his law to neglect it as a thing ill-contrived, or unworthy of a vindication? Would not the great things of the law appear very small, and the horrible ataxy of sin a minute inconsiderable nothing? Must not the divine attributes of rectitude and justice be co-sufferers with that law, upon whose commands and comminations their very image is engraven? Would not the face of things look, as if the moral foundations, the differences of good and evil, were shaken and destroyed; as if all things were indifferent, and sin or no sin, were all one to the Holy One? Which way should his infinite hatred and abhorrence of sin be manifested; no more displeasure outwardly appearing at a world of sin, than there would at none at all? The total managery of things no way demonstrating sin to be odious, or holiness grateful; obedience failing, and there being nothing vicarious, no punishment to supply the room of it; how could the order between the Creator and the creature be preserved? or what would become of that moral dependance and subjection which we owe to our Maker? Doubtless no defect, no jeofail can be in his sacred government. His just anger requires that discipline should be kept, manners corrected, and licentiousness suppressed. As an ancient speaks:* Man being under a law, God must needs be rector; and being such, he cannot choose but act like himself, in a just decorum to his holy attributes and law: no blot or irregularity can light upon his government. Sin, which makes a breach upon the sacred order, must be reduced in such a punitive way, as may bear witness to his rectitude and justice. There are two things in sin; a macula, a corrupting spot; and a reatus, an obliging guilt. The spot is such a turpitude and ill-temper of mind, that the soul, in which it is resident and regnant, cannot have happiness; the guilt is such a chain and strong binder unto wrath, that the soul, to which it adheres, cannot have impunity. The wisdom of God secures and ascertains the first; why should not his justice secure and ascertain the second, seeing God, by the law of his essence, is as much bound to act in congruity to his justice as to his wisdom.

4. Upon supposal that a punishment or satisfaction were not necessary, what should those millions of sacrifices and slain beasts under the law mean? If the substance, the sacrifice of Christ, might have been spared, what should the types and shadows do? Nay, why should the Son of God come, and sweat, and bleed, and die upon a cross under divine wrath, if all this might have been spared? God doth not multiply things without cause, much less did he make his dear Son the curse causeless. The Apostle tells us, that it was not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin, (Heb. 10:4). But why so? if a mere nothing, a no-sacrifice might do it? He signally distinguishes; the blood of beasts purifies the flesh, and takes away ceremonial guilt. But, which is infinitely more, the blood of Christ purges the conscience, and takes away real guilt. (Heb. 9:13, 14.) But will not this distinction be altogether vain, if no blood at all were requisite to take away guilt? Also, the apostle asserts, That we are justified by Christ's blood, (Rom 5:9.); but why not without it, if a satisfaction were unnecessary? It is very hardly imaginable, that the all-wise God should fetch a compass, and go round about by his Son's blood, when a word, a merciful pleasure, might have done the work without it.

These things premised, I now proceed to shew how punitive justice was manifested in the sufferings of Christ. The apostle speaks memorably, "God set forth Christ to be a propitiation to declare his righteousness, for the remission of sins;" as if he had said, There could be no remission without it: and to make it the more emphatical, he doubles the phrase, "To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness;" and withal he adds, "That he may be just." (Rom. 3:25, 26.) Righteousness, that is, punitive justice, was eminently demonstrated in the propitiatory sufferings of Christ; unless this were so, no sufficient account could be possibly given of them. The Socinians, who deny Christ's satisfaction, cannot give a tolerable reason thereof; for what say they? Christ in his sufferings was an example of patience. I answer, he was so; but there was a cloud of suffering martyrs before his incarnation: and then what singular thing was there in his passion? It is true, he was the greatest pattern that ever was; but had that been all, why did he suffer as our Sponsor and Mediator? why did he bear the sin of a world, and the wrath of God due to it? Here he was alone; no man, no angel was able to trace or follow him. The saints may fill up the sufferings of Christ in his mystical body; but they cannot, dare not aspire so far, as to go about to imitate him in those satisfactory ones which were in his own proper body. Had he been only an exemplary Saviour, he could have saved none at all: not those under the old Testament; for example doth not, like merit, look backward to those who were before it: nor those under the new; for no mere example, no, not that of an incarnate God, could have raised up man out of the ruins of the fall, unless there had been in his sufferings a satisfaction to justice. The guilt of sin could not have been done away, unless there had been therein a merit to procure the Holy Spirit. The power of sin could not have been subdued; a mere exemplary Christ would have been but a titular Saviour. The great design of raising up a church out of the corrupt mass of mankind would have failed, a pattern only being too weak a bottom for it to stand upon. Again they say, Christ suffered, that he might confirm the covenant with his own blood. I answer, the covenant was confirmed in Abraham's time. (Gal. 3:17.) It was made immutable by God's word and oath. (Heb. 6:17.) It was ratified by the glorious miracles of Christ; it was sealed up by the precious blood of martyrs: and why must the Son of God die for it? or if he must, might not a simple death serve? Why was there a curse, and an horrible desertion upon him? There can be no imaginable coherence or connection between his bearing the tokens of God's wrath, and his confirming the covenant of grace; the one can have no congruity or subserviency to the other. The scripture, therefore, which gives a better account, tells us that he died to pay a λύτρον, a ransom for us; obtain eternal redemption, abolish, and make an end of sin; deliver from the world and the wrath to come; reconcile to God, purchase a church, and bring in everlasting righteousness, and a happy immortality suitable thereunto. These noble and excellent ends could not be compassed, but by sufferings penal and satisfactory, such as had the bitter ingredients of divine wrath and displeasure in them. Christ was not a mere witness, but a priest, redeemer, and mediator: his blood was not only μαρτύριον, a testimony, but ἱλασήριον, a propitiation; neither was it only confirmative of the covenant, but fundative: all the promises of grace and glory sprung up out of his satisfactory and meritorious passion. Further they say, that in his sufferings the immense love of God was manifested. I answer, his immense love was indeed very illustrious in giving his Son; but to what purpose was he given, but to be a propitiation? ἐν τούτῳ, "In this was love, that he sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins," saith the apostle, (1 John, 4:10.) When inexorable justice stood as an obstacle in the way; when satisfaction must be made, or mankind eternally perish; then infinite love appeared, in giving the only begotten Son to be an expiatory sacrifice for us, to satisfy justice, that we might partake of mercy. But if a satisfaction were needless, if the sufferings of Christ might have been spared;—where is the vehemence of love? It may seem rather to be in remission of sin, than in the passion of our Saviour. That remission should come to us through his intervenient death, when that death was not necessary, looks not so much like an act of love, as of sapience: and yet how sapience should unnecessarily, and without just cause, order so great a thing as the death of Christ to be, I cannot understand. Moreover they say, Christ suffered, that his death intervening, we might be assured by his resurrection, of our own, and of life eternal to be obtained in a way of obedience. But I answer, this is rather to assign the end of Christ's resurrection, than of his death: for his death here comes in only by the bye, as a mere intervenient thing, a causa sine qua non, a thing which hath no proper end of its own. It is not to me imaginable, that such an one as he was, should die merely to testify to those things, which were before secured by the immutable word and oath of God himself. O beatos nos, quorum causa Deus jurat! miseros, si ne juranti credimus! saith Tertullian: his oath cannot but be a sufficient security. It is true, Christ's death and resurrection do assure believers, that they shall rise and live for ever in glory: but how do they do it? what, exemplarily only? No. Surely his death was satisfactory for sin, and meritorious of life eternal. His resurrection was a seal, a pregnant proof, that the satisfaction made by his death was full and consummate. Hence arises in believers an assurance of life and immortality, the same being purchased and paid for by the blood of Jesus. Had his death and resurrection been exemplary only, which way should an assurance be drawn from it? The argument, if any, must run after some such rate as this: Jesus Christ, God as well as man, one having power over his own life, free from all sin, never seeing corruption, able to overcome death itself, did rise from the grave; Ergo, mere men, having no power over their lives, tainted with sin, subject to corruption, unable to conquer death, shall rise also: the inconsequence is apparent. On the other hand, let the argument run thus: Jesus Christ did, by a passion of infinite merit and satisfaction, purchase eternal life for believers; Ergo, they shall be sure to have it: here the consequence must needs be sure and infallible. Upon the whole matter it appears, that no tolerable account can be given of Christ's sufferings, unless justice were satisfied and declared therein. But to explicate this more distinctly, I shall a little consider three things.

1. God, the great rector, who inflicted those sufferings on Christ.

2. Christ, the patient, who bore them.

3. The sufferings in themselves, and in their fruits.

1. God, the righteous rector, who inflicted them, was one of infinite mercy. Mercy in men, though but finite, is sometimes a remora to punishment. Joseph, being δίκαιος, a just, that is, (as the word there must be taken) a merciful man, would not παραδειγματίσαι, make Mary a public spectacle of justice. (Matt. 1:19.) But though God were one of infinite mercy, and that not merely resident in his nature, but as it were in motion, triumphantly going forth in a most compassionate design towards mankind; yet he would have justice satisfied in the sufferings of his Son: "To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness," saith the apostle, (Rom. 3:26.) Observe, it was at this time, it was then a day of salvation, a jubilee of redemption to mankind; yet for all that, justice must have its due, and be declared in the sufferings of Christ. But here the Socinians object, that infinite justice and infinite mercy are opposites, and cannot both be together in God; or if they were, God, who cannot act contrary to any thing in his nature, could neither punish because of his mercy, nor yet pardon because of his justice. But I answer, mercy and justice are not opposites in man. After the idolatry of Israel in the molten calf, Moses would in justice have every one slay his brother; yet in an high excess of mercy and charity he would pray, "Forgive their sin; if not, blot me out of thy book." (Exod. 32:27 and 32.) Neither are they opposites in God, when he proclaims his name in those stately titles; The Lord merciful, gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin: he yet adds in the close of all, "That he will by no means clear the guilty." (Exod. 34:6, 7.) Mercy and justice in God have different objects: the penitents, who partake of mercy, are not the objects of justice: the impenitents, who feel justice, are not the objects of mercy. Yet these attributes are not contrary the one to the other; being both divine perfections, they can no more be contrary the one to the other than the divine essence, which both of them are, can be contrary to itself. Cruelty, not justice, is opposite to mercy; injustice, not mercy, is opposite to justice. Neither doth God, in pardoning or punishing, act contrary to any thing in his nature. In pardoning penitents, he acts not against his justice, for that was satisfied in their sponsor Jesus Christ: in punishing impenitents, he acts not against his mercy; for that, as the Socinians themselves confess, extends not to obstinate sinners, neither are they at all capable of it. These two attributes do mutually illustrate one another: the mercy of God is the more illustrious, because when justice was inexorable, it sent his Son to suffer for us. The justice of God is the more glorious in Christ's sufferings, because they were inflicted by one whose mercy was infinite in his nature, and in his design towards men.

2. Christ, the patient, who bore those sufferings, may be considered under divers respects, each of which show justice to be illustrious in his sufferings. Take him as man, justice appears in that the penal sufferings were in the same nature which had sinned. The nature of angels was not assumed; the sacrifice of beasts would not serve the turn, neither had the same nature with man; but that justice might be exact, that the sufferings might be in the same nature which had sinned, the Son of God was made flesh, and suffered in it as an expiatory sacrifice for us. Notable is that of the prophet, "All their wickedness is in Gilgal, there I hated them." (Hos. 9:15.) Sin was found in the human nature, and there it must be punished. Take him as the Son of God, justice appears, in that so great, so dear a person suffered for us. David spared Joab, because he was a great, a potent man in the army. And Absolom, because he was a dearly beloved son. In the former he said, The sons of Zeruiah are too hard for me: and in the latter, Deal gently with the young man. But though Jesus Christ was very great, God, and God's fellow, one who thought it no robbery to be equal with God; though he was very dear, a son, and an only begotten, the Father's essential image, and eternal joy: yet for all this, standing in the room of sinners, he must not be spared. It was a great wrath in Henry the Second of France, which made him, by a passionate throw, to smite, though but occasionally, his own son then sitting at his feet. But oh! how great, how wonderful was the justice of God in Christ's sufferings, when no greatness, no dearness, though infinite, did obviate or turn away the stroke? When he bruised and wounded to death his own Son, and that intentionally, and on purpose to vindicate the honour of his justice and law? In other punishments he falls but upon mere creatures; but here, with reverence be it spoken, he falls upon himself: the Son of God, very God, (and a dearer or greater person there could not be) was the sufferer. Further, take him as a holy innocent one, justice, which usually hath only to do with sinners, will yet appear. He was holiness itself, in his divine nature. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, in his human; yet, if he will stand as a surety for mankind, he cannot be excused. It is observable in scripture, that penal sufferings stay not merely at the offender's door, but run over upon those in conjunction with him. Achan sinned in the accursed thing, and his sons and daughters were stoned, and burned with fire. David sinned in numbering the people, and no less than seventy thousand subjects fell by a pestilence. But the Holy Jesus is an instance above all others; their sufferings fell indeed upon relations, yet still upon sinners: here they fell upon the Holy One. Justice is illustrious when sinners suffer in conjunction with sinners; but how highly doth it act when innocency itself suffers in conjunction with them, I mean as a sponsor on their behalf? But here the Socinians cry out,* That if God should punish the innocent for the guilty, Christ for us sinners, he would be unjust, a cruel tyrant, one like Hannibal, who looked upon a ditch full of human blood as a fair spectacle. Unto which I answer, the Scripture is very pregnant: our sins were laid upon him, they were condemned in his flesh, he bore them in his body: he was wounded and bruised for them, and that even unto death, and that not a mere simple death, but one that had a penal curse in it. And if these phrases express not punishment, no words can do it. Yet for all this, corrupt reason is so desperate, that rather than subscribe to the sacred oracles, it will blaspheme and call God tyrant. Indeed an innocent cannot be punished for the guilty compulsorily, but Christ suffered by consent: "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." (Heb. 10:7.) The law of redemption was in his heart: "He gave himself for us, an offering, and a sacrifice." (Eph. 5:2.) And what is freer than gift? or what colour of injustice can there be in such a suffering? The reason and justice of all nations agree in this, that one may, by his own consent, be punished for another. It is true, he cannot justly consent to suffer in that which he hath not a just power over. Men have not such a power over their lives as they have over their estates. The only blemish in the ἀντιψυχοὶ of old, who engaged life for life, was this, that they had not a just power over their lives to give them as a compensation for others; but Christ might justly consent, he had power over his own life: I have power, saith he, ἐξουσίαν, authority to lay down my life, and authority to take it up again. (John 10:18.) Hence it appears, that his consent to suffer punishment for us was a very just valid one, it being in that, which he had authority over; and where there is such a just consent, there an innocent one may suffer for the guilty. It is true, an innocent one, merely as such, cannot be punished: neither did our Saviour suffer as such, but as one in conjunction with us, as our goel and sponsor, who undertook to bear the punishment of our sins. It could not be unjust for him to undertake it; and after undertaking, it could not but be just for him to perform it: especially, seeing his person could not sink under his sufferings, and his sufferings could not be in vain, or to no purpose. He rose as a glorious victor, and out of his penal evils sprung that great good, the redemption of a world.

3. The sufferings of Christ are to be considered in themselves, and in their fruits. Take them in themselves, justice appears in the proportionableness of them: in punishing, justice holds the balance, it weighs and measures out penal evils for moral: judgments on sinners are called "the portion of their measures," (Jer. 13:25,) as being inflicted in a due proportion. Now the sufferings of Christ were proportionable in divers respects.

1. There was a proportion between the seats of suffering in Christ, and the seats of sin in us. Man sinned in his body, sin was organically and instrumentally there; proportionably Christ suffered in his body, no part of it but was racked upon a tormenting cross: because our corporeal parts had been weapons of iniquity, justice made is the subjects of misery. Man sinned in his soul, there was the prime and chief seat of sin; proportionably Christ suffered in his soul; nay, there was the prime and chief seat of suffering, because the main residence and venom of sin was in our souls, the greatest pressure and bitterness of wrath was upon his. He was exceeding sorrowful, even to death; he was sore amazed, and as it were fainted away; yea, for very anguish he sweat drops of blood, and upon the cross cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? All this befel him, who was fortitude and constancy itself. Under the law, justice had eye for eye, tooth for tooth, wound for wound, stripe for stripe; in Jesus Christ it had a suffering body and soul, as a compensation for the sinning bodies and souls of men.

2. There was a proportion between the penal sufferings in Christ, and those in the threatening of the law. Christ suffered not the very idem, neither indeed could he do so; because there was a change of person, and in strictness, Si alius solvit, aliud solvitur: but his sufferings came as near to those in the law, as could possibly stand with a just decorum to his sacred person; as little was abated as might be. This will appear by the many steps of his humiliation. He, the Son of God, very God, assumed our frail nature. But might this infinite and wonderful condescension satisfy justice for the sin of the world? no, he must be under the law, and fulfil all righteousness. Well, that being done, might that obedience (wherein so high an honour was reflected upon the law, as that it was obeyed perfectly in all things, and that by its Maker) satisfy for sin? No, that alone was not enough; there must be shedding of blood, or no remission. But if there must be blood, might not a few drops of his blood, the same being of an infinite value, do the work? No, the law calls for death, without that he could not be an expiatory sacrifice for us. But if a death must be, might not a simple one, being of so great a person, serve the turn? No, the law pronounces a curse, and that he was made, the marks and tokens of wrath were upon him: and why all this, but that God would have his sufferings comply, and come as near the terms of the law as might be? It is true, he did not bear the accidentals of punishment, his sufferings were not eternal; but in the law punishment is eternal, only as it relates to a finite creature, which can never satisfy, but not as it relates to a mighty sponsor, who could pay down all at once, and swallow up death in victory. He suffered not the worm of conscience, or desperation. But the first of these is from sin, inherent, and putrifying in conscience; and the second, from the imbecility of the creature, sinking under its burden, neither of which could be in him. He bore not the accidentals of punishment; but as great a person as he was, the essentials could not be abated. There was in his sufferings, pæna sensus, when the fire of wrath melted him into a bloody sweat; and pæna damni, when the eclipse of favour made him cry out of forsaking. Though God in his sovereignty would relax the law, and introduce his own Son, as a sponsor to satisfy for us; yet his Son standing in that capacity, he would in justice have him suffer as near the penalty in the law as could be.

3. There was a proportion between the sufferings of Christ, and the sin of a world. Sin is an infinite evil; and his sufferings, to compensate it, were of an infinite value. Sufferings are not to be estimated as money, which, in whose hands soever it be, is one and the same, but according to the dignity of the person. Hence that of the people to David, Thou art worth ten thousand of us. (2 Sam. 18:3.) Hence, that Spanish proverb, used to Charles the Ninth, to move him to seize upon the chief protestants, One salmon's head is more worth than the heads of fifty frogs. In the Roman laws, punishments were varied according to the conditions of persons. Free men were not under the same punishments as servants. The lex porcia would not leave rods upon the back of a free man: the sufferings of a prince and a private man, are not to be valued at the same rate. At the death of Abner, David took special notice of it, and cried out, A prince, a great man is fallen this day in Israel. (2 Sam. 3:38.) The sufferings of great men are very estimable; what then are the sufferings of a God, such as our Saviour? The Scripture is very emphatical in setting forth this to us: God purchased the church with his own blood. (Acts. 20:28.) God laid down his life for us. (1 John 3:16.) The Lord of glory was crucified. (1 Cor. 2:8.) The man, God's fellow, was smitten. (Zach. 13:7.) He offered up himself through the eternal Spirit. (Heb. 9:14.) The Prince of life was killed. (Acts 3:15.) His Deity stamped an infinite value upon his sufferings, such as made them a full compensation for the sin of a world. That, therefore, of Socinus,* that the sufferings of Christ have no more virtue in themselves, than if a mere man had suffered, is no less than horrible blasphemy, and for ever to be abhorred by us.

4. There was a proportion between the sufferings of Christ, and the sufferings of a world. "One died for all," saith the apostle. (2 Cor. 5:14. But what an one was he? No less than very God: his Deity elevated his sufferings into a kind of infinity. Upon this account his sufferings, though but the sufferings of one, did equalize, nay, superexceed the sufferings of a world. For as the French divines have observed;† if you multiply one, you shall at last have the number of all men: but a collection of all men, however multiplied, will never equal the power, authority, dignity, wisdom, sanctity, and Deity of Christ. In the sufferings of a world, every sufferer would have been but a mere creature; but in his sufferings, the sufferer was no less than God himself. Here therefore, justice appears more signally, than if all the world had suffered and that for ever. His sufferings, though but temporary, did more than counterpoise the eternal sufferings of a world. Should we suppose, which is impossible, that all men had paid and passed through eternal sufferings, those would have delivered them from the curse of the law; the sufferings of Christ (which shews their equivalency, and more) produce the same effect, and over and above, merit life eternal. There is a double order in punishing; the order of justice would have a punishment infinite in magnitude; but because a finite creature cannot bear it, the order of wisdom will have it infinite in duration. But, as the French divines have observed, Christ being substituted in our room, the order of justice returns again. Our Saviour's sufferings were of an infinite value, the sum of sufferings was paid down all at once. In these, therefore, justice is more illustrious than it could have been in eternal ones; wherein mere finite creatures would have been ever paying a little, and a little, but could never have satisfied divine justice.

Thus the sufferings of Christ in themselves, do by their excellent proportionableness manifest the justice of God; but besides the consequents and fruits of them, shew the fulness of his satisfaction to that justice. And these may be considered with respect to Christ himself, or else with respect to us.

As to Christ himself, what were the consequents of his sufferings? The pains of death were loosed, as not able to hold such a satisfier as he was; "He was taken from prison," (Isa. 53:8.) as having discharged all. He had an acquittance in his resurrection, as a sure proof that he had made full payment in his death: "The God of peace brought him again from the dead." (Heb. 13:20.) Observe, it was the God of peace. First, the divine justice was appeased, and then the divine power raised him up. He had all the power in heaven, and in earth, (Matth. 28:18.) as an infallible witness, that he had by his blood reconciled all things there. He ascended, and entered into the true sanctuary, into heaven itself; and this tells us, that the expiatory and satisfactory blood was shed before in his death; "He appears in the presence of God for us." (Heb. 9:24.) And that assures us, that the divine anger is over: "Having by himself purged our sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high." (Heb. 1:3.) His satisfactory work was perfectly done, and then he rested in state. All these glorious consequents make it appear, that his satisfaction was a plenary one.

As to us, the fulness of his satisfaction appears, in that justice hath nothing at all to demand from such as are in him, and by faith become mystical parts and pieces of him; the atoning blood is upon them, and the damning law passes over them. Thus the apostle saith, "There is no condemnation to those which are in Christ Jesus." (Rom. 8:1.) The apostle saith not, that there is nihil condemnabile, for the relics of sin are in them. But he saith, there is nulla condemnatio, no condemnation to them; for the satisfaction applied cleanses away sin, and delivers from wrath. It is true, believers may have afflictions, but what are they? They are only castigatory, and for their good; not vindictive, or for the satisfaction of justice. Again, the fulness of his satisfaction appears, in that his sufferings were not merely satisfactory, but redundantly meritorious. These have opened heaven, as well to let down those influences of grace to us, which, unless justice had been appeased, would never have fallen upon us, as to introduce us into that life and blessed immortality which we guilty and defiled creatures, while such, could not be capable of. We see here, that the satisfaction of our Saviour was not a poor, short, or scanty thing; but good measure, pressed down, and running over in the purchase of all good things for us.

It was a good saying, vulnera Christi sunt biblia practica, the sufferings of Christ, in which justice so eminently appears, are a strong motive to repentance; enough, if duly considered, to set all men a weeping over their iniquities. What, did the Creator suffer? Was the Lord of Glory crucified? Was the blessed One made a curse? Did the Son of God, very God, so dear, so great a person, sweat, bleed, cry out and expire upon a tormenting Cross, and all this to take away sin? What a spectacle is this? Who can look upon it with dry eyes, or an unmelting heart? When the Son of God was broken, should our hearts be untouched? May we spare our tears, when he parted with his blood? To look upon his wounds, and not mourn over our sins, can be no less than unnatural hardness. Oh! what a thing is sin? how horrible, how infinite an evil, that it could not be expiated at an easier rate than the blood of God himself? what plea can be made, or colour given for so vile a thing, that it should have a being in the world, or so much as a residence in a human thought? Should that be indulged which cost Jesus Christ so dear? or that go free which nailed him to the cross? Canst thou love that which stabbed him at the heart; or live in that for which he died? May that be light, which pressed him into an agony and bloody sweat? or that sweet, which put so much gall and vinegar into his cup? Canst thou bless thyself in that which made him a curse? or follow after that which made him cry out of forsaking? Think, and again think, if thy blind eyes and hard heart will let thee, what, and how dreadful a thing it is for thee to go on in thine iniquities. In so doing, thou dost not merely run upon the authority and sovereignty of the Almighty, but upon the wounds and blood of thy dear Saviour, impiously trampling them under thy impure feet: and how grievous a thing is this! If thou art fearless, and stoppest not here, what hope canst thou have? It becomes thee to sit down and lament that hellish impetus in thy own heart, which moves swiftly towards hell without admitting any remora. A few words from God gave check to Abimelech. (Gen. 20) And shall not the wounds and blood of thy dear Lord do as much to thee? The sword of an angel put a stop to Balaam in his perverse way, (Num. 22) and wilt thou go on, who hast seen the sword of God drawn against the Man, his Fellow, for thine iniquities? If the groans of the creatures, all round about, sounding in thine ears, did not startle thee, yet shouldst thou be deaf and senseless to the sufferings of thy Saviour, bleeding and dying upon a cross, in comparison of which the dashing down of a world is a poor nothing? If the breaches of the sacred law, dearer to God than heaven and earth, do not move thee, yet wilt thou not be moved when thou seest that amazing sight, God for our sins bruising and breaking his Son, his essential image, in our assumed nature? If thou dost not blush at the blots and turpitudes which sin hath made in thy own soul, yet methinks it should deeply affect thee, that the Son of God was made sin and a curse for thee. Should God let thee down to hell, and after some scorches from the fire unquenchable, take thee up again, wouldest thou yet go on in sin? no surely; and why wilt thou do it now, after thou hast seen such a spectacle of justice in the Lord Jesus, as more than countervails the sufferings of a world? When a temptation approaches, how is it that thou seest not the price of blood writ upon it? Which way dost thou forget the nails and bloody cross of thy Redeemer? Thou seest plainly that God is a just, a righteous one; and for a full proof of it, he hath written justice in red letters, in the passion of his own Son; if thou run on in thy sins, how, which way canst thou escape? God spared not his own Son, standing in our room, and will he spare thee in thy impenitent sinning? Wrath fell very severely upon the holy, innocent, meek Lamb of God; and will it pass over thee, wallowing in thy filthy lusts and corruptions? What, did God exact so great a satisfaction for sin, that it might be allowed? Did he vindicate his broken law at so high a rate, that it might be more broken, and that with impunity? It is utterly impossible: those sufferings of Christ which did witness God's hatred of sin, could not open a gap to it: the Surety did not sweat, pray, bleed, and die under wrath, that the impenitent sinner might be spared. O how profane and blasphemous is such a thought, which makes the great Redeemer a patron of iniquity! He came to save us from our sins, not in them; to redeem from iniquity, not to encourage it. What then, where is thy hope, O impenitent sinner? Is it in God's mercy? As infinite as it is, it will not let out a drop to the impenitent, neither indeed, can it do so, unless, which is impossible, one attribute can cross another; mercy can reproach holiness or justice. Believe it, salvation itself cannot save thee in thy sins. Is it in Christ and his merits? He is the Saviour of the body, but thou art out of it. He is the author of eternal salvation to them that obey him; but thou art a rebel. May Christ be divided? Canst thou have a part in his priestly office, who art in arms daily against his kingly? Shall the promises comfort thee, who castest off the righteous commands? It cannot be. What concord hath Christ with Belial? How ill suited are a hard heart and a bleeding Saviour? How canst thou trust in that Jesus, whom thou despisest, and crucifiest afresh by thy rebellions? or depend on his merits, when thou livest in enmity against his divine Spirit and life? These are mere inconsistencies. Thy case, while thou art in thy sins, is very forlorn and desperate. God will be a consuming fire to thee; thyself must be as dry stubble before him; every lust will be a never-dying worm; thy soul will furiously reflect upon itself for its prodigious folly; abused mercy will turn into fury. Christ, the great Saviour, will doom thee to perdition; fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest will be rained down upon thee, and that for ever. If then thou hast any fear of God, or love to thyself, cast away thy transgressions, and return to him, that thou mayest escape the wrath to come, and enjoy the pure beatitudes which are in heaven.

CHAPTER V:

God's love and mercy manifested, in that he stood not upon the old terms as he might, and in giving his Son for us

God's love and mercy manifested, in that he stood not upon the old terms as he might, and in giving his Son for us—The Socinian objection (that if God loved us, he was not angry) answered—The earliness and freeness of God's love in giving his Son—The greatness of the gift—The manner how he was given—The persons for whom—The evils removed, and the good procured by it—The excellent evangelical terms built upon it—These are easy and sure—The love and mercy of God an excellent motive to stir up our love towards God and man.

HAVING spoken of God's justice, I now proceed to his love, mercy, and grace. These are eminently ascribed to him in Scripture: He is love itself, (1 John 4:16.) essentially such. He is the Father of mercies. (2 Cor. 1:3.) Mercy is his offspring and joy. He is the God of all grace. (1 Pet. 5:10.) The fountain of it is in him, and all graces in the creature issue from thence. Love communicates good to the creature. Mercy communicates it to the creature in misery. Grace communicates it to a creature, though unworthy. All the drops and measures of goodness in the creature, are from love: when the good is suited to the misery of the creature, it is mercy: when it exceeds desert, and as it were triumphs over unworthiness, it is grace in a special manner. I shall not discourse of these distinctly, but, as the usage in Scripture is, promiscuously; these are in a very signal manner manifested in Christ. So admirable a glass is he, that not only wisdom, holiness, and justice are represented in him, but love, mercy, and grace also. In these it is that this wonderful economy terminates. Wisdom laid the plot, holiness and justice appeared in our Saviour's passion, but the centre of all is grace and mercy. These are highly exalted in the reconciliation and salvation of men.

The first appearance of these stands in this, that God did not stand upon the first terms, upon the old covenant of works: God made Adam a very knowing and righteous creature, he gave him excellent laws, moral ones inscribed in his heart; and, over and above, one positive law in the tree of knowledge; he entered into a covenant with him as the head and root of all mankind; the terms were, that all his posterity should stand or fall in him. He transgressed the command of God, and so sin and death came upon all the human world. Here God might have stood upon the first terms; he was not bound to make new ones, but might have stood upon the old, and prosecuted them to the utter ruin of all mankind. This is plain by these considerations:—

1. The laws given by God to Adam were such as became God to give, and Adam to receive, very just and righteous. The moral ones were congruous to his holy faculties, and conducible to his happiness; they were interwoven into his very rational powers, and obedience might have come forth in the easiness of his holy principles. The positive one was a just one. God, who made man lord of the lower world, might well except one tree as a token of his supreme sovereignty, when the thing forbidden was not a thing in itself evil, but indifferent. God's authority appears the more sacred, and man's obedience would have been the more pure; the tree, as lovely to the eyes, was a fit curb to the sensitive appetite. And as a tree of knowledge was a just restraint to intellectual curiosity, the prohibition of such a tree was an excellent item to man to look to both faculties; the terms were just, not only as to himself, but as to his posterity. Had not God made them, he would never have told us that all sinned in one, "and that by one, judgment came upon all," (Rom. 5:12, 18.) Which, without such terms, would have been impossible; and if he made them, it was no less impossible that they should be unjust. Adam was the root and head of mankind; we were in him naturally, as latent in his loins; and legally, as comprised within the covenant. His person was the fountain of ours, and his will the representative of ours. The thing therefore was equal; unjust laws should be abrogated; but in this case, the laws and terms being righteous, God might have stood strictly upon them.

2. Adam having holy powers sufficient for obedience, was bound to keep them with all diligence; that which was formally spoken to the church in Thyatira, "Hold fast that which thou hast," (Rev. 2:25,) was virtually spoken to Adam. Nature dictates, that duty should be returned where benefits are received. The law of fidelity requires that a trustee should keep the depositum. God intrusted man with excellent endowments; but if he will by his transgression cast them away, must God make them good? Must he follow after a rebel, a wasting bankrupt creature, to repair the lost image, and set him up again with a new stock of grace? No: he who made him ex beneplacito, cannot be bound ex justitia, to new-frame him, being broken; he might, without the least spot of injustice, have left all mankind in the ruins of the fall.

3. The case of the fallen angels determines this point: when they left their principal or first estate, did God capitulate, or enter into new articles with them? Was there a tabula post naufragium, a room for faith or repentance? Had they a Christ, or a gospel tendered unto them? No; they were cast down immediately into chains of darkness. The sentence was irreversible, their misery eternal; annihilation would have been a kind of favour to them. That God, who stood upon the first terms with angels, superior creatures, might have done so with man, being a little lower than those glorious creatures. I know there are differences assigned between the two cases. Angels were the first transgressors, the ringleaders in sin; man followed after. The angels had a most pure light, and that without any allay of flesh: man's intellect was lower, and in conjunction with matter. The angels sinned by self-motion, and of their own merely; man sinned by seduction, and through the guile of the serpent. In the fall of angels all the angelical nature fell not: in Adam's fall, all the human nature fell; no religion was left in the lower world. But, notwithstanding all this, God might in justice have stood upon the first terms with man, as well as with angels; and that he did not do so it was from mere grace, as the primary reason thereof.

4. Grace is in a very eminent manner lifted up in the gospel. Grace gives Christ, and faith to believe in him. Grace justifies and sanctifies. Grace saves, and crowns with a blessed immortality. Everywhere in the gospel sounds forth, grace, grace! but if God might not justly have stood upon the old terms, the giving of new ones to man was not grace, but debt; not mercy, but justice. Those novatores who say, that it would have been unjust for God to have condemned Adam's posterity for the first sin, do thereby overturn the grace of the gospel. The apostle, who is much rather to be believed, saith expressly, "That by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation," (Rom. 5:18;) that is, according to the terms of the old covenant; but if the old terms might not have been stood upon, the new ones must be necessary and due to mankind, and so no grace at all. They who deny the justice of the old covenant, overturn the grace of the new.

God, as we see, might have stood upon the old terms, even to the utter ruin of fallen mankind. But oh! immense love! He would not; he would do so with angels, but he would not with men; an abatement was made to them, not afforded to those nobler creatures, once inmates of heaven. In the case of Sodom, God came down lower and lower, from fifty righteous persons to forty-five; and so at last to ten: "I will not do it for ten's sake." (Gen. 18:32.) But in the case of fallen man, when all had sinned, when there was none righteous, no, not one, God comes down from the first terms made with man, to such lower ones as might comply with his frailty. Under the law there were sacrifices called by the Jewish doctors, gnoleh vajored, ascending and descending. The rich man offered a lamb; the poor, whose hand could not reach so far, offered two turtle doves. While man was rich in holy powers and excellencies, God called for pure, perfect, sinless obedience; but after the fall, he being poor in spirituals, altogether unable to pay such a sum, God stoops and accommodates himself to human weakness; a faithful conatus, a sincere though imperfect obedience, will serve the turn in order to man's happiness. This is the first step which infinite mercy takes in raising up man out of the ruins of the fall; the old terms were not stood upon.

But now, that new terms might be made and established, that the second covenant might have an happier issue than the first, mercy goes on to give the Son of God for us: "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John. 3:16.) This (so) is unutterable, this love unmeasurable, diffusing itself, not to Jews only, but to a world, and that overwhelmed in sin; giving, and that freely, without any merit of ours, a Son, and an only begotten Son, that we through faith in him might have life eternal, and there enjoy him who is love itself, forever. Here is a mine of love too deep and rich for any creature to fathom, or count the value of it. But before I open it, I shall first remove the ill use which the Socinians make of this love, to overturn Christ's satisfaction. If God, say they*, so loved us, as to give his Son for us, then he was not angry with us; and if not angry, then there was no need at all of a satisfaction to be made for us. Unto which I answer, anger and love are not inconsistencies; in scripture both are attributed unto God: He gave his Son for us: was not that love, immense love? He wounded and bruised him for our iniquities: he made him to be sin and a curse for us: was not there wrath, great wrath? We have both together in one text: "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:10.) The high emphasis of his love, was in giving his Son to be a propitiation for us: unless there had been just anger, a propitiation would have been needless: unless there had been immense love, his Son should not have been made one for us. We have a plain instance in Job's friends; God's wrath was kindled against them, and yet in love he directs them to atone him by a sacrifice. (Job 42:7, 8.) God could not but be angry at the sin of the world, and yet in love he gave his Son to be an expiatory sacrifice. But for a more full answer, I shall lay down several things.

1. God may be considered either as a rector, or as a benefactor. As a rector, he acts out of a just anger, in vindicating his broken law by penal sufferings. As a benefactor, he acts out of admirable love in giving his Son to be a propitiation for us. When he vindicates his law by punishments, is it not anger? When he gives his Son for us, is it not love? If he be a rector, can he not be a benefactor too? Then he could not give his Son without laying down of his government. If he be a benefactor, can he not be a rector too? Then he could not govern, without laying down his love; but if, as the truth is, he may be both, then anger and love may consist together.

2. God's displeasure may be taken either as it terminates on the sin, or as it terminates on the sinner; as it terminates on the sin, it is altogether unremoveable. God himself, with reverence be it spoken, can no more remove it, than he can lay down his sanctity, which in the very notion of it, includes an abhorrency of sin: as it terminates on the sinner, so it may be removed. This appears, in that God pardons sin, and that (as the scripture-phrase נשא עון imports) in such a way, that the penal sufferings are translated from the sinner himself to his sponsor. The divine displeasure did pass off from us, or else we could not have been pardoned or saved; and it did light upon Christ, or else that Holy One could not have been made a curse, which no mere sufferings, if abstracted from divine wrath, can amount unto. We see here, there is displeasure at the sin, and yet infinite love towards the sinner, in translating the punishment upon another.

3. God's love is double—a love of complacence, which delights in the creature, and a love of benevolence, which designs good to it. The first takes pleasure in the saints, who bear his holy image. The second diffuses itself to sinners, who in themselves are worthy of wrath. Hence the apostle tells us, "God commended his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8.) Sinners are objects of displeasure, and yet love breaks out towards them in that great instance, the death of Christ. If ever there were anger in God, it was at the sin of a world; if ever there were love in him, it was in the gift of his Son. These two may very well stand together.

4. Man may be considered, either as a sinner, or as a creature. A man who hath a rebellious son, may be angry with him as rebellious, and yet compassionate him as a son. In like manner, God may be angry with us as sinners, and yet love us as creatures.

Having removed the Socinian cavil, I shall now proceed to speak of God's love, in giving his Son for us. Here I shall distinctly consider the giver—the gift—the manner how it was given—the persons for whom—the evil removed, and good procured by it, and the excellent evangelical terms built upon it. Each one of these will illustrate this love in giving his Son for us.

The giver is God himself; no other could do it. And here two things offer themselves to us; the one is the earliness of his love. It was no novel, temporary thing, but ancient, nay eternal. Upon the prescience of the fall he eternally designed, that his Son should assume our nature, and in it die as an expiatory sacrifice for us: "Christ was the Lamb foreordained before the foundation of the world." (1 Pet. 1:20.) He was set down for a Redeemer in the eternal volumes before the world was up; and slain above in decree, long before he was slain below in time. A plaister was provided before the wound, a saviour before the fall of man. When David would set forth God's mercy in the highest strain, he doth it thus; "His mercy is from everlasting to everlasting." (Psalm 103:17.) Such is his love in Christ, reaching, as I may say, from one end of eternity to another: each one of us may cry out, as that ancient did, Sero te amavi, domine, Lord, it was late ere I loved thee. Our love is but of yesterday, a temporary thing, but his was as early as eternity itself.

The other is the freeness of it. Love, as the philosopher speaks,* wills good to another for his sake, not for our own. In that wonderful gift of Christ, the love was God's, the profit ours. Mercy in man hath a kind of respect to the donor: frail humanity, and the wheel of a mutable world tell him, that himself, the now giver, may peradventure come to be a receiver. Hence the apostle would have us "remember them in adversity, as being in the body," (Heb. 13:3.) "and restore the lapsed, considering thyself," (Gal. 6:1.) It may be our own case. There is in such acts of mercy, a kind of respect to our future self, which possibly may become an object for mercy. But mercy in God, which is the suavity of his essence, issues out in a pure gratuitous way; no such respect can fall upon him, who is immutable and blessed for ever. In the freeness of his love, there are two things considerable: on God's part there was no want, on man's no attractive.

On God's part there was no want of us or our services; were there want with him, he could not be God; could we supply him, we should be greater than himself, in furnishing him with that which he could not do for himself. He is all-sufficient, and what want can be in him? Infinite, and what can be added to him. An ocean, though vast, yet, because finite, may receive an addition from a little drop. But what can be added to infinity, which in its unmeasurable excellency comprises all things within itself? All nations to him are but as the drop of the bucket, and as the small dust of the balance. (Isaiah 40:15.) Their righteousness cannot add one beam to his essential glory, neither can their iniquity in the least eclipse it. However it be with the creature, he is still himself. His own happiness a sphere of all perfections, a theatre of glory to himself. Hence it appears that God's love in giving his Son for us was not a love of indigence, but of fulness and redundance, flowing out in a pure gratuitous manner towards us, that the honour might be his, and the profit ours. He gives like himself, out of super-effluent goodness, as becomes one who is a donor only, but no receiver.

On man's part there was no attractive to move God to give his Son for us. Man's love is usually drawn out by some excellency or other in the object, but what can draw out God's? Could the origin of all goodness be attracted by anything in the creature? Yet is it possible that I anything should be found in a fallen creature to attract it? Man's misery was indeed the occasion, but what was the attractive? Was our love first, and a charm to his? Oh, no! to say that a creature is first in love, is to blaspheme the supreme goodness which sets up love in it. The apostle is express, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:10). Between men, love is ordinarily reciprocal; he that loves is beloved again: but here the love was on one side only. God loved his very enemies so far as to give his Son for them, to raise up their love to its great original. Among men an harmony of spirits, a sameness of tempers is a motive to love. But what! was there, could there be any such thing in fallen man as such? How then was he fallen? What need was there of a Saviour? That holy harmony was man's primitive rectitude, and whilst it lasted, there was no need of any restorer. Alas! fallen man was a very chaos of corruption, his very rational powers were depraved; there was flesh in his spirit, enmity in his mind against him who lighted up a pure reason in him at the first. There was bondage in his will, it could not, nay, such was its horrible perverseness, it would not elevate itself to the fountain of its liberty. Among men, goodness is an allective to love: but what goodness was there in a fallen, degenerate creature, full-fraught with sin, and opposite to its Maker? The very relics of the divine image, which sin could not utterly expel out of the human nature, were yet so captivated and imprisoned there, that gross idolatry filled the world, in spite of all the notions of a deity implanted in the hearts of men. We see clearly there was no attractive on our part; why then did God give his Son for us? The only reason was from himself, it was mere grace, self-moving mercy, a pure emanation of love towards us unworthy creatures, who might have been made the objects of his wrath, and that for ever.

The next thing considerable is the gift itself, and that was the Son of God, very God; a greater, a dearer person could not be given; if we measure God's love by the gift, it is like that, altogether unmeasurable. Hence the apostle tells us, "That there is a breadth, and length, and depth and height, infinite dimensions in it, such as pass the knowledge of men and angels." (Eph. 3:18, 19.) When God gave us the creatures for our use, he gave us but the drops and models of his goodness; but when he gave his Son for us, he gave himself: God was the giver, and God the gift. When God could swear by no greater, he sware by himself; when he could give no greater, he gave himself. Here was love acted to the uttermost, elevated to the highest point; a greater gift there could not be. It was great love in Jonathan to David, that for him he would strip himself of his robe, nay, and venture the cast of a javelin from an angry father. But what manner of love was it in God, that he would strip himself of his orient pearl; that he would give his Son, his eternal joy, out of his bosom, to assume an human nature, and in it to bear the horrible stroke of justice, which was due to us for our iniquities? In giving laws and promises, God gives but a created image of his sanctity and grace; but in giving his Son, he gave his essential increated image to suffer in the flesh for us, that his holy image, broken in the fall, might be repaired again in us. When we were off from God, the centre of souls, and wandering in the foul ways of sin, God, out of his immense love, sent no less person than his only begotten Son to seek us, and bring us back unto himself, that we might be for ever happy in the fruition of him.

The greatness of this love will yet further appear, if we consider the manner how the Son of God was given for us. The lower a man stoops and condescends to do another good, the higher and more eminent is his love: the steps wherein the Son of God came down and humbled himself for us, evidently declare the infinite height of that love, which made him stoop so low to compass our salvation. The first step was his incarnation—the word was made flesh; he, who was in the form of God, took on him a human nature. In the creation, infinite produced finite, but here infinite assumed finite: there eternal brought forth temporal, but here eternal took temporal into itself: and what a wonderful condescension was this? It is true, reason in the Socinian laughs at it, but faith in the christian must needs admire it. Had the greatest monarch on earth confined himself to the poorest cottage there, it would have been nothing to God tabernacling in the flesh. Should the highest angel in heaven have put off his perfections, and come down into a human nature, and from thence have passed into a brutal bestial one, and so on into a tree or stone, and at last into nullity: it would not have been a condescension comparable to that of the Son of God coming in the flesh. His sacred person was infinitely more above human nature, than an angel is above matter or nullity itself; and what unparalleled love was here? The Creator became a creature; the Son of God assumed our nature, and that after it was in us tainted with sin. "The natural distance," saith that excellent man,* "between God and the creature, is infinite: the moral, between God and the sinful creature, if possible, is more than infinite. Yet the mercy of our Redeemer overcame this distance. What an extacy of love transported the Son of God so far, as to espouse our nature, after it was defiled and debased with sin? He was essential innocence and purity; yet he came in the similitude of sinful flesh, which to outward view was not different from what was really sinful." Thus he, St. Austin, calls love, junctura duo copulans, a coupling of two together: that after man had rent off himself from God by his apostacy, God should assume a human nature into himself, to make up the breach, and reduce man into a union with himself again, must needs be love in a transcendent excess infinite. This made St. Cyprian overlook the wonders in nature, that he might ravish himself in the admirations of an incarnate God.* The condescension was here so great, that God seems to neglect his own majesty, that he may comply with our necessities; yet infinite love would have the Son of God stoop a little lower, and do honour to that sacred law which we had violated. His human nature being an inmate in his infinite person, could not but have a right to Heaven, and might have been immediately wrapt up thither: but love set him another task. He, the great lawgiver, was made under the law: he, who knew the Father in an infinity of light, now knew him in a finite reason: he who embraced the Father in an infinity of love, now loved him in a finite will: he, who was Lord of all, was subject to parents and magistrates: he, who upholds the world, went up and down as a man doing good; he stooped as low as the ceremonial law: his pure flesh was circumcised, he kept the passover, and so obedientially stood under his own shadow. This is a condescension much greater than if all the angels in heaven had put themselves under the laws of the lowest matter; yet infinite love would have the Son of God go down a little lower. We have him hungry, thirsty, weary, weeping, suffering the contradiction of sinners, enduring the temptations of Satan, all his life through a man of sorrows. At last we have him bleeding on a cross, hanging there as a spectacle of shame; his hands and his feet were pierced, his body was racked and tortured to death in a stinking Golgotha. But, which was the greatest of all, he bore the wrath of God: and what was that wrath, which was due to the sin of a world? or what those sufferings, which satisfied justice for it? What a great thing was the passion of God? and how much beyond the dissolution of a world? Words cannot utter it, thoughts cannot measure it. That love must be no less than immense, which made the Son of God stoop so low, to take us up out of the ruins of the fall.

The love of God will yet more appear, if we take notice of the persons for whom Christ was given; it was for man, poor impotent man, a creature worth nothing, a bankrupt in spirituals, one void of all those primitive excellencies which at first crowned the human nature; for him it was, that God was at so vast an expence, as that of his own blood. It was great charity in Paulinus, bishop of Nola, that he would give himself in pawn to the Vandals for a poor child;† but it was transcendent superlative love in God, to give his Son, one worth millions of worlds, and as rich in excellencies as a Deity could make him, to be emptied and humbled to death for poor, worthless worms, such as we are. "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich," saith the apostle. (2 Cor. 8:9.) The riches of a God were laid out to set up broken man again. But further, it was for sinners, for enemies, such as were in arms against God; such as had broken his laws, despised his authority cast off his sovereignty, and as much as in them lay, stained his glory. These were the persons, upon whose salvation infinite love set so high a rate, that rather than fail, the life of God should be paid down for it. The apostle notably sets forth this: "Scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die: but God commended his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:7, 8.) Sometimes possibly, though but rarely, one may die for a righteous good man, who is a blessing to the place where he lives: but this was Christ's prerogative, to die for sinners; this was the super-eminency of Divine love to give him so to do. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13.) Thus our Saviour. A greater proof or effect of love than death there cannot be; but love is then in an higher and more excellent degree, when that death is, as in our Saviour's case it was, for enemies, than it is when the death is for friends. Damon and Pythias, two intimate friends, were willing to die one for another; but Christ died for enemies. In creation God overcame nullity; but in redemption he overcomes enmity itself, and that in a wonderful way. He assumes a human nature, and in it pours out his precious blood, to melt and break that horrible enmity, which was in us against him.

If we would see more of this love, let us turn our eyes upon the evils removed, and the good procured by our Saviour Christ.

All evils are either moral, such as sin; or, which waits upon the other, physical, such as punishment: all of them are removed by our Saviour, who saves from sin and wrath. Man was under the guilt of sin, and so under the wrath of God. Wrath in the threatening hung as an horrible tempest over his head, and within there was the dreadful echo of it in conscience. But the sufferings of Christ were so satisfactory and meritorious for us, that as soon as we return and believe on him, all our guilt is done away. It is true, the guilt in itself, in the intrinsical desert of punishment, is perpetual, because sin cannot cease to be sin; but it doth no longer redound upon our persons, to oblige us to punishment. The heavy burden is now lifted off from conscience, the black cloud of wrath is dissolved, the cursing law hath nothing to say against us: "There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ." (Rom. 8:1.) It is true, afflictions may fall upon a believer, but there is no condemnation, there is not a jot of wrath in them: they are rather castigatory than penal, managed in the hand of mercy rather than justice. In the issue, it appears that there was love and faithfulness in them; that even in those afflicting paths, mercy and truth are found: all things shall work together for good unto the believer, afflictions and all. These serve for excellent purposes, to fan off his vanity, melt away his corruption, alarm his spiritual watch, refine his golden graces, cast him into the image of a meek suffering Christ, unearth, unself him, and elevate his affections towards the everlasting rest which is above. Affliction, after it hath budded and blossomed with such precious fruits, is no longer evil, but an excellent good. It is true, also, that death temporal will seize upon him, but the curse is gone, the sting out; death, which at first was a punishment, now hath a blessing in it. It was originally introduced by sin; but through the admirable grace of our Saviour, it carries away those relics of sin which no tears, prayers, watchings, pious endeavours, could utterly extirpate, whilst we are in the body: it throws down the earthen walls into their mother-dust. But who would not die, and with Hilarion bid his soul go out, that he might be rid of sin? There is indeed a passage out of a temporal life, but it is into an eternal one. The soul, when it leaves its old friend the body, flies into the blessed region, there to enjoy God in an immediate manner: to read truth in its original, and taste goodness in the fountain. The body, which at present dissolves into dust, shall wake again, and be made like to the glorious body of Christ. Mortal shall put on immortality, corruptible incorruption, death shall be swallowed up in victory; it is no longer an evil to the believer.

Again: man was under the power of sin, and so under the tyranny of satan. Sin was a lord, a ruler over him; not only over his outward man, whose members were the weapons of it, but over the inward too. It had strong-holds in his reason, and a throne in his will; he was a drudge, a slave to his lusts, hurried up and down by one corruption or other; wandering in error, or swelling in pride, or pining in envy, or boiling in malice, or burning in lust, or drowning in sensual pleasures, some way or other serving his iniquity. Satan, the ruler of darkness, hath a palace in his heart, and keeps possession there; upon all occasions he blows up original corruption into sinful motions, motions into consents, consents into acts, acts into habits. Thus he carries on the sinner in a circle of sinning, till inevitable ruin overtake him; but in and through Christ there is deliverance from this horrible servitude. The Holy Spirit comes and rescues the sinner; it opens his eyes to see himself standing, as he doth, at the brink of hell and death: it melts him into tears and godly sorrows for sin; it breaks down the strong-holds and throne of sin in the heart; it casts out Satan and the hellish furniture; it translates the poor sinner from the power of darkness into the kingdom of Christ, into a region of grace and power, where sin and Satan cannot have the victory. Those precious promises, that sin shall not have dominion, that Satan shall be bruised under our feet, are now sealed and experimented in the heart. The poor captive is now brought out of bondage, into the true liberty of holiness and obedience. Here we see the matchless incomparable love of God, which delivered us from so many great evils. Hezekiah being rescued from death, made his acknowledgments; O Lord, thou hast in love to my soul delivered me from the pit of corruption: or as the original hath it, thou hast loved my soul from the pit of corruption. Every believer who hath tasted of the great salvation, may say, Lord, thou hast loved me from sin, Satan, death, hell, by delivering me from all these evils.

Moreover, as all evils were removed, so all good things were procured by Christ. Temporals were so, the world owes its standing to him. Justice, but for his expiatory sacrifice, would have dashed it down about the sinner's ears. Sin, but for the cement of his blood, would have unframed all things in nature: that right to the creature, which we forfeited by our iniquity, was restored again by his merits. The believer shall now have so much of the world as infinite wisdom and mercy (more competent judges than human reason and will,) shall think a fit portion for him; and what he hath he shall have with the love of God, which, as it is the highest suavity in itself, so it pours out a delicious relish into all outward things. Spirituals were so, those initial graces of faith and repentance, which introduce us into a union with Christ, are from him. "He is a Prince and Saviour to give repentance." (Acts 5:31). "To you it is given in the behalf of Christ to believe on him." (Phil. 1:29). As soon as we repent and believe, we are justified in his blood, and by a conjunction with him, the natural Son, we have power and right to become the sons of God by adoption and grace. The Holy Spirit, the fountain of graces and comforts, which was upon him, the head, above measure, will fall down upon us his members in a proportion; every grace, every piece of the glorious new creature is created in him. In the power of his merits and Spirit, every comfort, every beam of divine favour comes down to us through him. He is the true mercy-seat, where God meets and communes in words of grace with us. Eternals were so too; all the weights of glory, and crowns of life in heaven, were purchased by him. His blood opens the holy of holies, the pure river of life springs out of his merits; the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. (Rom. 6:23.) Had it not been for him, we could never have entered into such a blessed region as heaven. What a gift is Christ, which virtually contains all gifts and good things in him! How incomparable that love, which gave us so comprehensive a gift!

In the last place, let us consider the excellent evangelical terms, which were founded on the death of Christ. Here two things are considerable.

The one is this, the terms are easier. The covenant of works was, Do this and live: the covenant of grace is, Believe, repent, and live. The first called for pure, sinless, perfect obedience: the last stoops and condescends to fallen man; it accepts of sincere, though imperfect obedience; uprightness passes for perfection; the main of the heart for all of it; the will is accepted for the work; pure aims are taken for complete performances; infirmities are covered with indulgence; duties are taken into the hand of a Mediator, and perfumed with his infinite merits; and hence they are acceptable, and as sweet odours to God. O how low doth infinite love and mercy stoop to poor sinners! It will save a repenting, believing sinner, and how can it possibly go lower? That God should justify an impenitent, unbelieving sinner, is utterly impossible to his holiness, unless he would open a gap to all sin and wickedness, and make it capable to have a crown of happiness at last. He could not more condescend than he hath done in the terms of the gospel: there is a kingdom for the poor in spirit; a comfort for the mourners; an acceptance for a willing mind; a favourable respect for the least spark of grace which is latent in a desire, and but as a little smoke or wick in the socket, (as the expression is, Matt. 12:20). And what condescending love is here? How could God stoop lower for the salvation of men?

The other is this, the terms are surer. It is true, Adam, had he stood in righteousness, would have had a reward. But the difference is this, under the first covenant it was not certain that Adam, though he had sufficient grace, should stand; but under the second it is as sure as God's truth and faithfulness in the promise can make it, that a people shall be gathered up out of the corrupt mass of mankind: that Christ shall have a repenting, believing seed, and that they shall abide and persevere till they come to the recompense of reward in heaven. St. Austin distinguishes of a double adjutorium gratiæ, or help of grace.* Adam had that grace, without which he could not have obeyed; God's people have that, which causes them to obey. The first gave him a posse, a power to obey and persevere. The second gives us the very velle et perficere, the very willing and working with perseverance. Hereupon he observes, that Adam's will, though sound and without spot, did not persevere in an ampler good, whilst our will, though weak and infected with indwelling corruption, doth persevere in a lesser. Adam, with all his holiness, fell before an apple, a little titillation of pleasure; but the christian martyrs have stood it out, notwithstanding the relics of sin in them, against racks and torments. Under the first covenant the stock of grace was in man's own hand, the stress lay upon his will; the principle of holiness in him was subjected to it, to be continued or forfeited. But under the second covenant, which was founded at so vast an expense as the blood of God, man's will is not made trustee a second time, the stock is not in his own hand: grace is a victor, and subdues the will unto itself. Hence this covenant cannot, as the other did, miscarry. God was a friend to innocent Adam: but in the second covenant God comes nearer to us in a double union, such as Adam never dreamt of. There is an hypostatical union, the Son of God taking our nature into himself, and, which is founded thereon, a mystical union, believers being in a wonderful manner united unto Christ, as members unto their head. In the first union of the divine and human nature in Christ, there is one person. In the second, Christ and believers make one Christ. (1 Cor. 12:12.) Believers are but Christ displayed: he lives in them, he counts himself incomplete without them. By virtue of these two unions it is, that believers finally persevere. "Because I live," saith Christ, "ye shall live also." (John 14:19.) Their life is bound up in his; as long as Christ, the head, is alive above, the believing members below shall not fail of quickening grace to maintain spiritual life unto eternal. "The Holy Spirit is in them a well of water, springing up to everlasting life;" (John 4:14.) and to secure the abode of the Spirit with them, Christ is a priest "after the power of an endless life." (Heb. 7:16.) In the covenant of works there was no promise of perseverance; but in the covenant of grace there are many such promises: "God shall confirm you unto the end," (1 Cor. 1:8): "He will put his fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from him." (Jer. 32:40.) The apostle praying for the Thessalonians, that they may be preserved blameless unto the coming of Christ, immediately adds, "Faithful is he that called you, who also will do it." (1 Thes. 5:23, 24.) Evidently God undertakes it, and engages his faithfulness in it. To take these promises conditionally, is utterly to evacuate them; to make them run thus, If we will persevere, we shall persevere; and so much was true under the old covenant, and without any promise at all. The clear scope of those promises is, that believers are not left in their own hand, but kept in God's; and how sure a hand that is, our Saviour tells us, "None can pluck them out of my Father's hand." (John 10:29.) I know some take these words with a limitation, none can pluck them away without their own voluntary consent: but this limitation makes the words altogether insignificant; it is not possible that they should be plucked away without their consent. The words, therefore, with that limitation, run thus: None can pluck them, but in such a way as the same is possible to be done; and thus they signify nothing. That which our Saviour makes impossible in the text, becomes in the gloss as possible as any other thing. Here we see the incomparable love of God to his people; there is in Christ an everlasting covenant ordered in all things, and sure; they are preserved in Christ, and that unto salvation.

This infinite immense love of God in Christ can do no less than call for a return. What! was it not enough for him to give us a world of creatures? Hath he given his Son, his only begotten, dearly beloved Son for us? Hath he given him so far as to be made flesh, and made under the law, the command and curse of it? Hath he thereby removed all evils, and procured all good things for us? Hath he done this for sinners, for enemies, and that out of an eternal design of grace; out of such love as was an impulse to itself, without any attractive on our part to move him thereunto? And after all this, shall not our hearts take fire, and burn within us with love to him again? When his love was up in eternity, shall not ours appear in time? When he loved us worthless, meritless creatures, shall not we love him upon the highest and greatest attractives? When he gave his Son, when the giver and the gift were both infinite, shall our finite affections be shut up from him, or denied unto him? Our love to his is but a little drop, a poor inconsiderable nothing; and with what face or reason can we withhold it, when infinite love calls for it? Hath God himself come down as it were from his altitude, and in admirable grace followed us? First into our flesh, and then into a law-subjection, and at last into a curse and penal sufferings; and all this upon an errand of peace and reconciliation to reduce us again to himself, and to happiness in him, and shall we yet fly away from him, and by an horrible indignity turn our backs upon such admirable pursuits of love and grace? After such a deliverance from sin and hell as this, may we think ourselves our own, or turn away our hearts, so much as in the glance of a thought, from so great a Saviour? After such a purchase of grace and heaven, should we not lie down at his feet in ecstatical admirations, and send up our dearest affections to the great donor? If creatures, if laws, if ordinances move us not, shall we yet be unaffected at the spectacle of a God incarnate, obeying, bleeding, dying for us sinners and enemies? It is horrible ingratitude, having such a prospect of infinite love before our eyes. Let us do as becomes us, give God our heart, not a piece or corner of it, but all; not in some weak languid velleities, but in the highest strains and raisures of spirit; not in some drops or rivulets, but in a full stream and current of affections, such as is due to him who is the original of souls. Our desires, before vagrant on earth, should now take wing and fly up to heaven; our love, once in corrupt conjunction with creatures, should now aspire after a pure union with him, who is love itself. Our delights should no longer toy or sport with vanity, but spread, and sweetly dilate themselves in the beams of infinite goodness; all the powers of our souls should now be gathered in from the world, and upon a full deliberate choice should be placed upon the centre of perfections. The proof of all this must be in a life of obedience; without this it is mere vanity to say that we love him. Holy love goes not alone, or without a train of good works following after it; the warmth and ardour of it in the heart purifies the life; the inward suavity of it facilitates the outward command, and naturalizes us to obedience; as it sets a high rate and estimation upon God himself, so upon every jot and tittle of his law. The complacency which we find in him makes us take pleasure in all the pure ways which he hath set before us; if we esteem him above worlds and creatures, we will allow his will to be above all wills, and subject ours to it.

Moreover, the love of God moves us to love our neighbour. What? hath God gone before us in such admirable steps of love? and shall we not be followers of him as dear children, and walk in love, as the apostle speaks? (Eph. 5:1, 2.) Can there be a higher or nobler pattern than love itself? Shall he do good in the sphere of nature, and more and higher good in the sphere of grace, and we do none in our little sphere? Shall infinite bowels and mercies be open, and finite ones shut? When God hath given so great a gift as his own Son, may we withold our little pittances of charity? Would we receive all, and give nothing? Exact pence from our brother when talents are forgiven to ourselves? Is God come into our flesh? and shall we hide ourselves from it, I mean in the neglect or contempt of the poor? Did he take humanity, that we should put it off? No, in so doing we should reproach not our Maker only, but our Redeemer too. Inhumanity is now double, treble to what it was before our Saviour took a human nature, to read us a lecture of love and goodness in: the old commandment of love is now a new one, urged upon us by a new motive, the incomparable love of God in his giving his Son for us? If we now shut up our bowels and mercies from others, how dwelleth the love of God in us. What sense can we have of it upon our hearts? Charity was the badge of the primitive Christians. The impress of God's love upon Mr. Fox was so great, that he never denied any that asked for Jesus' sake. Our love towards men should be a little picture or resemblance of God's love towards us. Our mercies and compassions should tell the world, that we have tasted of that infinite grace and mercy which is above. Our charity towards all should bear witness that we have been great receivers from God. Our love towards enemies should be a thankful acknowledgment, that we being such, were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.

CHAPTER VI:

The power of God manifest in Christ—In his incarnation and conception—In his miracles

The power of God manifest in Christ—In his incarnation and conception—In his miracles—These were true in the history—True in the nature of miracles—They were numerous and great—They were suited to the evangelical design—Divine power manifest in converting the world; notwithstanding its deep corruption, and the opposition of potentates and philosophers to the Gospel—The instruments mean, that the power might be of God—The Gospel proposes super-rational mysteries, super-moral virtues, super-mundane rewards; things so much above us, that without a Divine power the proposal would have been fruitless

IN the next place I come to consider the power of God. Power being a perfection, must needs be in him, and being (as all other attributes are) his very essence, it must needs be infinite. The very light of nature reveals this attribute. In the Grecian philosophers he is called παντοκράτος, omnipotent; Nihil est quod Deus efficere non posset, saith Tully. Ludovicus Vives wonders that so learned a man as Pliny should cavil at God's omnipotence, as if he could not do all things, because he could not die. In Scripture he is called Gibbor, a mighty one; Shaddai, an all-sufficient God: He is the only potentate. (1 Tim. 6:15.) He can do everything. (Job 42:2.) Nothing is too hard for him. (Gen. 18:14.) Power belongeth to him. (Psalm 62:11.) Whatever is an act of power, that he can do; that he cannot do contradictories, is not impotency but power and perfection. For him to lie, were to deny his own truth; for him to die, were to cast off his immortality; for him to make a thing be, and at the same instant to make it not to be, were to act repugnantly, and overturn his own action. These argue impotency, not power. We may more properly say that these cannot be done, than that God cannot do them; he can do all things which, being done, do argue power or perfection; but what argues impotency can no more fall upon him, than darkness can seize upon the sun.

This excellent attribute of power was eminently set forth in Christ: he is called the Power of God. (1 Cor. 1:24.) Divine power shows forth itself in him in several respects.

First, it breaks out in his incarnation. "The Word was made flesh." (John 1:14.) "He who was in the form of God, took upon him the form of a servant." (Phil. 2:6, 7.) That is, he who had the essence and majesty of God, assumed so low a thing as a human nature; he did not lay down his deity, but assumed a humanity; two natures, a divine and human, were in one person. Never did God come so near the creature as here. He was in the world by his universal presence; he was in the temple in types and symbols; in the saints he is by his grace; in heaven he is in immediate glory: but in the incarnation he is hypostatically in a human nature. The person of the Word, which was from eternity an hypostasis to his divine nature, became an hypostasis to his human nature in time. O what wonders of power are here! Here God was made man; the Creator became one with his creature! Had the whole world been crowded into a single atom, it would have been infinitely a less wonder than this; the putting a greater finite into a less, cannot be comparable to the taking of finite into infinite. Here are two natures, a divine and a human, in themselves infinitely distant, met in personal conjunction; finite is not absorbed by infinite, infinite is not changed by finite. Here eternal dwells in the same person with temporal, yet runs not into succession; immortal dwells with mortal, yet falls not into passion. Here a human nature is united to a person infinitely simple, and infinitely complete; yet he loses not his simplicity, nor yet doth he receive any additional perfection. Here is a human nature without any personality of its own. Naturally the human nature of Christ would have had a subsistence of its own; a personality would have flown from it; but the resultance was miraculously prevented; the want of its own finite subsistence was supplied by the presence of an infinite one; the Son of God communicated his hypostasis to it, to sustain it. Here we have, in some respect, more of divine power manifested than there was in the making of the world. When mere nothing was by an almighty word elevated into elements, plants, beasts, men, angels, still it was but into finite; but here a finite human nature was taken into infinite: and between the infinite God and the human nature the disparity must be far greater than it is between a world and nothing. Here indeed God did not create an infinite, that being impossible; but he came as near it as possibly could be, by assuming a finite nature into himself. All other creatures are comparatively extra Deum; but here the human nature was in the very instant of its production interwoven with the infinite person of the Son. Thus we see, that in this stupendous work divine power acted magnificently, and congruously to its own infinity; never any work did so fully answer and correspond to omnipotence as this.

A second instance of power we have in the conception of our Saviour: his body was not formed in an ordinary way, by the concurrence of man and woman, but in a way supernatural; a virgin was with child. As the body of the first Adam was wonderfully framed out of the dust, so the body of the second was admirably framed out of the virgin. That a virgin should be with child, was a great, a high miracle, far above all the power of nature. How then was it effected? The evangelist tells us, "The Holy Ghost came upon her, the power of the Highest did overshadow her." (Luke 1:3.) This is a sublime, tremendous mystery: the Holy Ghost, as the word (overshadow) imports, did, as it were, cast a cloud over her, to teach us that we should not over-curiously pry into so great a work as this was. The body of our Saviour was not produced spermatically, out of the substance of the Holy Ghost, but operatively, by the power of it. The matter of his body was from the substance of the virgin; the active principle was the infinite Spirit. The seed of man was not here used; it was not congruous that he who had God for his Father should have any man to be so; it was a miraculous, extraordinary operation. Hence Christ is called "The stone cut out of the mountains without hands." (Dan. 2:24.) There was an almighty power in the framing of his human nature; the tabernacle of his body was not pitched by man, but by the Lord. (Heb. 8:2.) There was a supernatural operation in the making of it; it is called "A tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building." (Heb. 9:11.) It was not made in a natural ordinary way of generation. It is true he took part of our flesh and blood; but the manner of framing his body was in an extraordinary way, the structure of it was divine, and much above that of our bodies.

Another instance of the Divine power we have in the miracles wrought by Jesus Christ. The Jewish rabbins distinguish of a twofold work of God; they call his ordinary works of nature, opus Bereshith, from the first words of Genesis; and his miraculous works, opus Merchebha, from Ezekiel's chariot. A miracle is a work lifted up above the order and power of nature: it is a specimen of creation; something is made out of nothing. What second causes cannot reach, that is done by the first; no man, no angel can do such a work. These are but parts of nature, and therefore cannot in their operations exceed nature; quod est totaliter sub ordine constitutum, non potest ultra istius naturæ ordinem agere; it is only God's prerogative to work miracles. He that set the order of nature can work above it; he can lift nature off the hinges, and set it on again; and when he doth it, he doth it as becomes his infinite wisdom, upon very great and weighty reasons. When he brought his people out of Egypt, then his wonders appeared; when he delivered his law on Sinai, his wonders appeared again. In those great dispensations he showed himself, not in the ordinary dress of nature, but in royal state and majesty; much more did he do so when his Son, very God, was manifested in the Mesh. Then the water was turned into wine, the wind and the seas did obeisance to their incarnate Creator: the blind received their sight, the lame did walk, the lepers were cleansed, the deaf did hear, the dead were raised, the devils were cast out of men. Here the right hand of the Lord was glorious in power. Nature did, as it were, leap and triumph in miraculous elevations above itself, at the coming down of its Creator to redeem the world: a mighty train of wonders attended on that greatest wonder of all, God incarnate; a life of miracles ensued upon his miraculous conception. Now touching the miracles of Christ, there are three or four things to be taken notice of.

1. The miracles of Christ were true, and that upon a double account.

The one is this: They were true in the history of them; they were really done: we have them upon record in the sacred volume of scripture; they were not done in a corner, or before a few, but openly, and before multitudes; there were thousands of eye-witnesses, from whom the truth of them hath been handed down in all ages of the church. There is no colour at all to imagine that those first reporters did utter an untruth, or go about to put a cheat upon the world: their own integrity would not suffer it, neither was the thing itself indeed practicable. How should so many thousands, for the most part unknown to, and distant from each other, ever agree and conspire together in the very same story? Or, if they could, what should they propose to themselves? or which way could they think, that a relation of things to have been done openly, if false, should ever pass in a contradicting world? They knew very well that there were innumerable prying malicious enemies round about them, who would persecute them for that relation, though true, and brand them as liars for it, if false. Christianity was then a poor persecuted thing, and it would have been strange folly and madness in them to have ventured their lives and estates merely to broach a lie unto the world; especially seeing it must have been such an one as would have been surely discovered to be such, and severely punished upon the authors. In all reason, therefore, what the first witnesses spake was true; and what after ages heard was but the echo of their report. The miracles wrought by our Saviour were so great, that none of the adversaries ever durst deny that they were done. The Jews did not deny it: their ancient rabbins take those words of the prophet: "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped: the lame shall leap as the hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing," (Isa. 35:5, 6,) to be spoken of the Messiah. Their own Josephus speaks of Jesus as one more than a man, and a worker of great miracles; only the Jews, out of their desperate malice against our Saviour, defamed his miracles as done by magic: and, as Dr. Lightfoot tells us*, it is said in Talm. Bab. that Ben Sarda (which is a blasphemous name they give to Jesus of Nazareth) did bring enchantments out of Egypt in incision in his flesh. But there cannot be a vainer thought than to imagine, that Satan should contribute wonders to confirm that doctrine which he knew would utterly ruin his kingdom. When the Pharisees said that Christ did cast out devils by Beelzebub; he answered two things: first, that Satan's kingdom, if divided, could not stand. (Matt. 12:26.) And then, that they, in saying so, did maliciously oppose their light, and run into the unpardonable sin. (Ver. 31, 32.) But when the Jews saw that this pretence would not serve their turn, they betook themselves to a contrary shift, and said, that the Messiah, when he came, should do no miracles at all. The pagans did not deny Christ's miracles. In Pilate's letter to the Emperor Tiberius, there is an enumeration made of his miracles. In the epistle of Lentulus to Tiberius, he is styled, Homo magnæ virtutis. The pagans, conscious to themselves that the thing was not to be denied, cried up Æsculapius and Apollonius, in opposition to Christ; and withal, framed an impudent lie, that our Saviour had magical books, according to which he did his miracles. Such devices as these were, I suppose, first started by Julian the apostate, and by him instilled into others. The Mahometans, fairer than the other, confess Christ's miracles to have been done, and that from God. Their alcoran saith*, that God's Spirit was a help and witness to Jesus, that the soul of God was given to him. Thus it appears on all hands, that the matter of fact touching our Saviour's miracles cannot be denied.

The other is this, They were true for the nature of miracles; they were not, as the devil's wonders are, mere spectrums or apparitions, but real miracles, things which are above the order of nature, and lie within the line of omnipotence only; the matter, mode, and end, signally declare them to be such. Some miracles of Christ, such as raising the dead, were such for the matter of them, that no conatus of nature, no concurrence or conjunction of created powers could ever have effected them, no not in millions of ages; some of them, such as curing the sick, nature might have done, but in a tract of time, and with the help of second causes. But our Saviour dispatched them out of hand instantly, immediately, with a word or a touch. To operate after this sort is only proper to God, who is excellent in working. When Satan, who labours to emulate divine works, doth wonders, the end of them declares their original: suitably to the author, they serve only to lead men into lies and idolatries. Antichrist comes with lying wonders. (2 Thess. 2:9.) Lying wonders in themselves, as being phantasms and mockeries of sense; and lying wonders as tending to confirm men in false doctrine and worship: but the miracles of Christ, being real ones, were done to I ratify the supernatural truths and pure worship of God. The Jews have a rule, that we should believe him who doth miracles, unless he be the author of idolatrous worship: had they adhered to this rule, they could not but have embraced our Saviour, who with so many miracles sealed up the true doctrine and worship of God.

2. The miracles of Christ were not a few, but very numerous; not in one or two places, but diffused over the creation, thereby to proclaim that the Creator was come down to redeem the world. There were miracles upon the water: he turned it into wine. (John 2:9.) Showing himself to be the Lord of nature: here doing that in an instant which he doth every year in the vine. Miracles in the sea; a fish brings him the tribute-money, (Matt. 17:27): to declare that all creatures were tributaries to him. After a whole night's toil to no purpose, the net being let down at his word, "enclosed a great multitude of fishes," (Luke 5:5, 6): so that the awe of his divine power fell upon all the spectators. Miracles upon the sea and air together; in a tempest he "rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm," (Matt. 8:26); as a proof that all the elements were his servants. Miracles upon the loaves, in multiplying of them, (John 6:11); and upon the fig-tree in making it to wither away, (Matt. 21:19): as a clear demonstration, that his blessing and curse were great things. Miracles upon the bodies of men, in healing all manner of sickness and disease, (Matt. 4:23); and upon their souls too, in making them every whit whole, (John 7:23); in token that he was the great physician of both. Miracles in heaven: at his birth a star conducted the wise men to him, (Matt. 2:2); at his passion the sun was darkened, (Matt. 27:45). The star waited upon its Creator at his birth, the sun sympathised with him in his passion. Miracles upon the devils, in casting them out by his word, (Matt. 8:16); a sure sign that the powers of hell could not stand it out against him. Very various are the miracles of our Saviour recorded in scripture; but "if all had been written, the world could net have contained the books," saith St. John (chap. 21:25). The words are hyperbolical, yet they import that many of his works were not committed to writing. Arnobius enumerates the miraculous works of Christ, and then cries out, "Quid simile Dii omnes, a quibus opem dicitis ægris et periclitantibus latam?"* When did the pagan gods do the like, from whom you say, that help is afforded to men in sickness or danger? Never was there such plenty of miracles as here.

3. The miracles of Christ were very great; he did those works which no other man did. (John 15:24.) "It was never so seen in Israel." (Matt. 9:33.) I shall instance in two or three things: First, he raised up the dead: the maid in her father's house, the young man carried out upon the bier, and Lazarus four days dead and stinking in the grave. What things are these? How much above all the powers in nature? In the sixth Council at Constantinople, Polychronius, a Monothelite, in confirmation of his opinion, offered to raise up a dead man; but upon trial he could do nothing at all, which made the people cry out, "Novo Simoni anathema, Polychronio seductori populi anathema." The Emperor Basilius being in great grief for his deceased son, Theodorus Santabarenus presented his son to him as alive; but this was but a mere spectrum, an illusion of sense. After a few kisses and embraces, the emperor saw his son no more. Apollonius did call up the ghost of Achilles, that is to say, a devil, as the noble Mornay speaks. Elisha raised the Shunamite's son to life, but he was only a minister and a type of Christ; the power of God did the work: but our Saviour raised the dead by his own divine power. Another instance is, his restoring sight to one born blind. (John 9) Touching which the blind man saith, "Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind." (verse 32.) It was a work fit for the Messiah. It is indeed storied that Vespasian the emperor restored sight to the blind; but it may be the person was not really blind, at least not naturally. Satan, as Bellarmine well observes, might possibly reside in his eye, and impede the use of' that part, that he might seem to cure when he did but cease to hurt. But our Saviour, by a power above nature and art, did cure one really and naturally blind, and that with clay; a thing in itself more probable to put out eyes than to cure them. And so there was, as the rabbins speak, miraculum in miraculo, one miracle within another; much as it was when the bitter waters were made sweet by salt. (2 Kings 2:21.) Another instance we have in his casting out devils: this was the finger and power of God. It is said indeed that Apollonius did cast devils out of men,* but how? It was in the very method and discipline of devils, by such words and symbols as they themselves had prescribed; so it was not an ejection, but a going out by consent, to honour the sacraments of their own making. But our Saviour did not cast them out in their own way, but whether they would or not, by his almighty power. It is further to be noted, that soon after the death of our Saviour, the devil's oracles were struck dumb. The oracle told Augustus, that the Hebrew child bid him leave that house and be gone to hell: no more answers were to be expected from thence. Whereupon Augustus erected an altar in the capitol with this inscription upon it, "Hæc ara est primogeniti Dei," the altar of the first begotten of God. The evangelical light made the oracles cease; the priests of Delphos were brought to beggary. Plutarch, writing touching the ceasing of oracles, at last cometh to this point, that the spirits were mortal, and by their death the oracles ceased. Oh! what a one was our Saviour, who made the pagan gods shrink and hide their heads? What a divine light was he, who chased away those false lights? These works were for greatness such as became God manifest in the flesh.

4. The miracles of Christ were excellently suited to the evangelical design. Miracles, in their general nature, are excesses of nature; and therefore things very congruous to seal up those supernatural truths, which are above our reason. Evangelical mysteries are such as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have they entered into man's heart. They are above the line of reason, and so very aptly ratified by those miraculous works, which are above the line of nature. We are in all reason to conclude that God, who acts above nature, is to be believed, even when he speaks above reason; which, being but a part of nature, may be as well exceeded by mysteries, as other parts of nature are by miracles. But further: his miracles had a special aptitude in them to confirm the gospel; they were not destructive, as the wonders in Egypt were; nor merely to raise an admiration, as Simon Magus's were, who would present himself flying in the air, frame walking-statues, and make bread out of stones, that he might be esteemed a great one, a kind of deity among men. No, our Saviour's miracles were for the good of mankind; he went up and down doing good, he healed the distempers of men, and cast devils out of their bodies. And what works could be more admirably fitted to the gospel, which was ordained to heal inward distempers, and cast Satan out of the souls of men? What can better accord together than healing miracles, and healing doctrines? It is very reasonable to believe that he, who did such wonders on the bodies of men, can do as much and more upon their souls. He, who cast Satan out of the outward man, can eject him and all his furniture out of the inward. Moreover it is to be observed, that his miracles were ordinarily wrought upon faith. Thus he said to the Centurion: "As thou hast believed, so be it done to thee." (Matt. 8:13.) Thus to the blind men: "According to your faith be it unto you." (Matt. 9:29.) Thus to the father of the possessed child: "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." (Mark 9:23.) As if the Divine power were made over to faith. We see here how our Saviour in doing his miracles did put an honour upon faith, which is the condition of the gospel; and withal, what great reason we have to go to him for spiritual miracles, who hath done so many corporal.

The last instance of the Divine power is in converting the world to Christianity, in raising up a people to God out of the ruins of the fall. The Son of God did not come in the flesh, merely to do miracles upon the bodies of men; no, his greatest work is upon their souls. Corporal miracles were pledges of spiritual. Some of them, as the enlightening of the blind, and raising of the dead, did, as Estius observes*, type out the giving of the vital principles of grace to restore the fallen faculties in men. Some of them, as Peter walking on the waters by the helping-hand of Christ, did shadow forth the giving of auxiliary grace to saints, to keep them from sinking under temptations. As the external miracles were wrought by the power and Spirit of God, so are the internal also. When a blind mind is irradiated, there is a word of power, such as at first commanded light out of darkness. When a dead sinner is raised up to a divine life, the glory of God may be seen in it, even as it was upon Lazarus's coming out of the grave. Now, that we may see some rays of this glorious power, several things are to be considered by us.

First of all, let us look upon the state of the world as it was at our Saviour's coming. The world was made up of Jews and Gentiles; both of them were not only tainted with original sin, but deeply corrupted with actual; out of both God would raise up a church to himself, to make the power of his grace known.

The Jews, once God's special people, were now desperately degenerate; blindness was upon them, notwithstanding that rabbinical learning was at the height in the schools of Hillel and Shammai: they interpreted the holy scriptures, as the vail upon their hearts would let them, in a very gross, carnal manner, as if they had lost all savour of things divine and spiritual. Thus the establishing the mountain of the Lord's house in the top of the mountains, (Isa. 2:2,) is with one of them, the bringing of Tabor and Carmel, and setting Jerusalem upon the top of them. The calling the Sabbath a delight, (Isa. 58:13,) is to eat and drink, and indulge their genius. They made the sacred law, whose primary aim was at the heart, to bind only the outward man. According to their corrupt gloss, there was no murder but what purpled the hand with blood; nor no adultery but what was in the gross act: evil thoughts and purposes were not so much as peccadillos; neither did God take notice of them, so as to punish for them. A thought or purpose of sacrilege in Antiochus was nothing with Josephus; regarding or seeing iniquity in the heart, was nothing with David Kimchi, as appears by his gloss upon the 66th Psalm. Thus the law was dispirited and stripped of its divinity. Religion went off from its centre, the heart, to paint and varnish over the outward man. Sin might reign and do what it would within, so as it did not break out and profane the life. Having thus humbled the law according to their own model, they stood upon their terms with God: they would establish their own righteousness, though it were a poor cadaverous thing, without any divine life or spirit in it; yet they would prop it up, and make it stand before God: they were full of their own righteousness, and complete in themselves; they looked only for a temporal Messiah, one who, by his outward greatness, might subdue their enemies, and feast them in the holy land. A spiritual saviour they expected not, neither could it be thought according to their principles, what such an one should do for them. As for his suffering or dying for them, they jested at it as a horrible absurdity, saying, Tobias deliquit et sigog plectitur; their own temporal death was expiation enough for all their sins. Hence the sick man was to pray thus: Sit mors mea expiatio pro omnibus peccatis meis*. As for regenerating grace to be procured for them, they dreamt of no regeneration, but a ritual one. The baptized proselyte was accounted by them as recens natus, one new born. The sick man, having but his name changed, was esteemed as nova creatura, a new creature. As for eternal life, they thought they could earn it by their own works. In none of these respects would the pride of their hearts suffer them to see any need of a spiritual Saviour. Further; they advanced their traditions above the written word; their Talmud is, Lux illa magna, that great light, (Isa. 9:2,) it is fundamentum legis, the foundation of the law. The words of the scribes, say they, are more worthy than the words of the law, and more weighty than the words of the prophets.† Thus departed they from the scriptures, and run themselves into a labyrinth of errors; the power and vigour of religion was evaporated into rituals and empty formalities; if their phylacteries were broad, it was no matter how narrow the law or obedience to it were. A clean outside would serve the turn, though within there were nothing but hellish pollution. Great vices might pass, so as they were but sub umbra virtutis, under a shadow of virtue; their honesty was confined to those of their own religion, none else were neighbours with them: they might lie or deal falsely with a stranger, he was no neighbour; if they did kill a stranger, they were not to die for it by the sentence of the Sanhedrin, he was no neighbour*. Nay, and among themselves their corban was able to untie the bonds of nature, and free them from duty and charity to their very parents; they seemed to be for cleansing the outside, yet they fell into gross abominations. The very scribes and pharisees, their great rabbies and leaders, (from whom they were not to decline, though they were told by them that their right hand were their left,) would devour widows' houses: and what but frauds and oppressions could be looked for among the ordinary sort? Indeed, among great and small ones, there was a deluge of iniquity; they had made their sins great, and to fill up the measure, they killed the Lord of life. This was the fearful state of the Jews.

The Gentile world lay ἑν τῷ πονηρῷ, (1 John 5:19,) "in the evil one;" in the hand and power of the devil, or in that which is evil, in wickedness, corrupting as a dead man doth in his grave. It is true, within they had an implanted notion of a deity; without, they had the creatures proclaiming their Creator. But, alas! "They held the truth in unrighteousness." (Rom. 1:18.) That little spark in their bosom which revealed a deity, was but a captive; it could not break out to give glory to its Maker, nor was it able to bear up the honour of God in the world. They could not but know God, yet acknowledge him they would not: though he made and bare up all things; yet they owned him not no, not in his own world. They "changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." (Rom. 1:23.) And a little after, "They changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever." (verse 25.) They fell into all manner of idolatries; anything might be God but the true one. A high dishonour it was for them to prefer the vilest creatures before the optimus maximus, the best and greatest of beings. A horrible lie it was for them practically to say, that a brute, or a man, or a star was a God; or that a stock, or a stone, or a little dead matter in an image, did resemble the infinite Spirit. Upon their idolatry, being an accursed departure from God the fountain of goodness, immediately followed a black train of abominations: they were "filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful." (Rom. 1:29–31.) They were in these things, as in their element, acting out of sinful hearts and habits, and so gratifying their first and second corrupt nature both at once. And for all this they seemed to have a patent from heaven in the vices of their gods, which their own authors set before them; they did but follow their deities; their sins were made divine by the highest example. This was the state of the Gentiles.

And now, what manner of power was that which raised up a holy people to God out of so corrupted a world? And how much work was there to be done about it? The light was to be commanded out of darkness. The blind minds were to be opened upon divine mysteries. The law was to come forth in its pure spirituality. The great necessity of Christ and grace was to be inwardly felt. Shadows were to be turned into substance. Religion was to be brought back to the heart. The musty traditions were to vanish before the word. The old idols to be cast to the bats and the moles, those blind creatures. The fallen nature was to be new-framed. The sinful habits to be unravelled. Sinners twice dead in sin were to be raised up into a divine life. Here a very excellent power was manifested. Hence the apostle prays for the Ephesians, "That they may have eyes to see it, that they may know what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead." (Ephes. 1:19, 20.) The words are very magnificent—power, mighty power, exceeding greatness of power, all working, and in act, as it was in the raising up Christ from the dead; so great a work is it to bring home sinners to God!

The divine power will yet be more illustrious in our eyes, if we look upon the state of the world in the great men of it, such as were great in power or wisdom.

The great men in power, the emperors and potentates of the world, were utter enemies to Christianity, breathing out nothing but blood against the professors of it. Nero first kindled the furnace of persecution against them: he took occasion, as pure malice uses to do, from his own barbarous act; first causing Rome to be set on fire, and then casting the odium of that horrid act upon the christians. He set forth edicts, commanding to persecute them unto death, as enemies of mankind: which made Tertullian say, that it was grande bonum, some great good that Nero condemned. Domitian first slew his brother Titus, and then blew up the furnace of persecution against the christians. He spent most of his time in catching of flies, yet would not omit the christians. Trajan, no Nero, no Domitian, but in esteem a pattern of uprightness, carried on the bloody work; he would not indeed have the christians sought for, yet if found, he would have them punished. Antoninus Philosophus was amiable to all others, yet cruel to christians. Severus, though illustrious in moral virtues, was stained with their innocent blood. Afterwards Maximinus, Decius, Valerianus, Aurelianus, Dioclesianus, turned their bloody swords upon them. The very name of a christian was crime enough; upon every ill accident the christians were cried out upon as worthy of death, as the only causes of the incumbent calamity. Thus the powers of the world, for the three first centuries, though ordained for good, were patrons of that great evil, idolatry, and utter enemies to that great good, Christianity; no christian in those times could imagine to retain his religion, unless he were willing to part with his life for it.

The great men in wisdom, the philosophers of the world, were adversaries to Christianity; their wits, as well as the emperor's swords, were bent against it: outwardly they were in the splendour of morality, and seemed to make some approaches towards Christian virtues, but inwardly they were black with enmity against the gospel, and at a vast distance from the holy temper of it. Many cavils they made against the Christians, but the root of their enmity lay in two or three things:

1. Their carnal reason would not stoop to the supernatural truths revealed in the gospel; they were for human wisdom, but against divine. Those natural truths which were within the sphere of reason, they looked on as wisdom; but those supernatural ones, which were above it, they esteemed no better than foolishness; scorning that which they could not measure, and casting that down below their reason which indeed was above it. With them St. Paul was but a babbler, (Acts. 17:18) one who had gathered up some vanities that he might scatter them abroad to others. The resurrection was a matter of mockery (ver. 32); as if the limits of nature could not be exceeded, no, not by the God of it. They thought that there was nothing in the Christian doctrines, præter stultitiam et nugas, but toys and follies. That God should be born a man was against reason, a thing utterly incredible. That a crucified man should be second to God, the Father of all, was madness and intolerable folly. They thought that all the wisdom lay on their own side. Celsus could find much wiser things in Plato, than in the sacred Scriptures. Julian boasted that the Gentiles had all the learning, the Christians had only their creed; as if faith, which is a key to infinite treasures of wisdom, were a poor inconsiderable nothing. These wise men of the world would not be made wiser than their own reason had made them, and upon that account they set themselves against the great mysteries of the gospel.

2. Their corrupt hearts would not brook that simplicity and sincerity which the gospel called for; they knew well enough that there was but one God; yet in their very worship (in which, if in anything, they should have been sincere and pure-hearted) they dissembled, and made as if there were many, complying with the idols of the place where they lived, and doing many things: Non tanquam Diis grata, sed tanquam legibus jussa, not as grateful to the gods, but as commanded by the laws. Hence St. Austin saith of Seneca, that "Colebat quod reprehendebat, agebat quod arguebat:" he worshipped what he reproved, he acted what he found fault with; under all the beauty of moral virtues there lay a false heart, such as could not bear a command of internal purity.

3. They were animalia gloriæ, creatures which lived upon popular air. Accordingly, their design was as opposite to that of the gospel, as pride is to the grace of God. That which the gospel aimed at was, that pride might be stained, that no flesh might glory in itself; that we might be saved by mere grace, that God might be exalted therein. But the aim of the philosophers was quite contrary to this; they were lifted up in self-excellencies: in all their moral virtues they did but sacrifice to the pride of their own reason and will; they needed no such thing as grace, or prayer for it. "Quid votis opus est? fac te fælicem," saith Seneca: what need of prayers? thou mayest make thyself happy. Their fundamental maxim, the very firmament of their happiness, was, sibi fidere, to trust to themselves; they would be virtuous, as Ajax would be victorious, without the help of God, that the glory might be entirely their own. In homine id laudandum quod ipsius est, that only is praiseworthy which is a man's own. Their virtuoso was Deorum socius, a peer to the gods: he did cum Diis ex pari vivere, live equally with them; nay, he did in one thing go before them, they were such by nature, he by virtue. This makes Seneca cry out, "Ecce res magna, habere imbecillitatem hominis, securitatem Dei." Behold! a great thing; to have the frailty of a man, the security of a God. This horrible pride, the venom in their moral virtues, (which was so near and intimate to them, that one looking into Plato's vomit said, "I see his choler here, but not his pride," meaning, that that stuck too close to him to be cast up by him) was a temper as opposite to the gospel as anything could be; it did utterly evacuate Christ and grace. What room could there be for grace, when nature might do the work? What need that the Eternal Word, the brightness of glory, should be incarnate, when the little λόγος, the small spark of reason in our bosom, was enough to make us virtuous and happy? No frame of mind, no, not that of the profane man, could be at a greater distance from heaven than this. Inter multos reos, nullus est criminosior, quam qui se non putat, criminosum.* Among many guilty persons, none is more criminal than the presumptuous self-justitiary, who thinks himself not criminal at all. Thus stood the philosophers, all in armour of pride, opposing the gospel, and the grace of it.

We see here, to make men Christians, was an admirable work, a great deal of power was to be laid out upon it. Such a faith was to be raised up, as might render them victorious over all the power and wisdom of the world. Such a temper of mind was to be wrought, as might make them ready to welcome death in what shape or terror soever it came, and to pour out their dearest blood and life for the Gospel. Those spirits, which before hung about earth, and these lower things, were to be tuned for heaven, and wound up to so divine a pitch, that the whole world should not be able to unbend them, to loosen them from Christ, or let them down into earthly vanities. The great emperors, with all their engines of power and cruelty, could not rend them off from the world to come, or piece them to the present evil one. The philosophers, with all their arts and eloquence, could not decoy them from supernatural mysteries, or induce them to take up their repose in human learning or wisdom. The whole world was annihilated to them, and they unto themselves; they became fools that they might be wise, and nothing, that God might be all; the ornaments and self-excellencies were put off, that they might be complete in Christ. They lay at God's feet for mercy, and lived in a continual dependence upon the influences of his Spirit and grace. In such a work as this the arm of God must needs be revealed in a very eminent manner. Here we have just cause to say, What hath God wrought!

The Divine power will yet more appear, if we look upon the instruments in this work. In making the world there were none at all, no levers or engines to rear up the great fabric. An Almighty word absolved it: in converting it, instruments were used; but such, that by the no-proportion between them and the great effect, it might appear that the power was of God only. He sent not the glorious angels to preach up a crucified Christ, but men. The treasure was in earthen vessels, in poor frail mortals, who carried about bodies of clay, "That the excellency of the power might be of God," (2 Cor. 4:7); that it might be clearly seen, that the great work was God's. Among men he sent not the Anshe Shem, persons of renown for learning or wisdom, but mean illiterate men. Hence the Apostle saith, "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the mighty," (1 Cor. 1:27), that the Divine power might appear in the work. These mean men preached, "not with excellency of speech or wisdom," (1 Cor. 2:1), with the charms of eloquence, or the pomp of human wisdom; but with plain words: their preaching was looked upon as foolishness. That salvation should be by a crucified Christ seemed foolish; that it should be communicated by preaching, seemed more foolish, that it should be done by preaching in a low, simple, plain manner, seemed most foolish of all. Yet in this way it was that Christ would ride conquering, and to conquer the world to himself. The great success of their preaching, was a signal proof that God was with them of a truth. At Peter's first sermon three thousand souls were converted unto God, (Acts 2:41) and at his second they were increased to five thousand (Acts 4:4): multitudes of believers came in to Christianity. In a little time the Gospel was propagated over a great part of the world; one Paul spread it from Jerusalem to Illyricum. And what did all the rest of the apostles, who carried about this evangelical light, do? What did the seventy disciples do, who, as ecclesiastical writers say, had their several provinces to preach the Gospel in? The word did then run, and was glorified; it passed through many countries with a Divine swiftness and success; at the sound of the Gospel the world was spiritually turned upside down, and of Pagan became Christian. Tertullian enumerates divers nations, and at last adds touching us, Britannorum inaccessa Romanis loca, Christo tamen subdita sunt; the evangelical power entered there where the Roman could not. By such weak means to produce so great an effect, was a work worthy of Omnipotence.

Moreover, the divine power will yet more appear, if we consider the things proposed in the Gospel. Narces, the Roman general, discontented at the Empress Sophia, to invite the Lombards into Italy, sent them many sorts of excellent fruits from thence. The present being congruous to sense, the project took effect. The gospel indeed proposes very excellent things to us. But they are so great, and so far above human nature, that the proposal, if not accompanied with a divine power, would have been altogether ineffectual. I shall instance in two or three things:—

1. It proposes super-rational mysteries, such as the doctrine of the sacred Trinity. The incarnation of the Son of God. The satisfaction made to justice by his blood. These are objects of faith, and so depend one upon another, that unless we believe the Trinity, we cannot believe the incarnation; and, unless we believe that, we cannot believe a satisfaction; and without believing that, we cannot fulfil the condition of the gospel, which requires us to rest upon Christ for salvation. These therefore are necessary objects of faith: but without an act of divine power, faith in these cannot be had. Two things evidence this: the one is ex parte objecti, the things are above reason. As the things of reason are above sense, so the things of faith are above reason: without a revelation reason could not have found out these mysteries, after it, reason cannot comprehend them. It may shadow them out by similitudes; but there is in them a light unapproachable, such as reason cannot look into; an infinite abyss, such as reason cannot measure. The other is ex parte subjecti, man who is to believe these things, is fallen, and in his fall not one or two faculties fell, but all of them; and among the rest his intellectual and believing faculties fell also. The intellect hath lost its subjection to God the Supreme Truth. The believing faculty centers in the creature, and without the power of grace cannot lift up itself to supernatural truths. A divine power is requisite, to captivate the understanding to the first truth, to elevate the believing faculty to super-rational mysteries. Hence in Scripture faith is called the gift and work of God, such an one as is the product of divine power: it is wrought by power, (Eph. 1:19.), it is fulfilled and consummated by power, (2 Thes. 1:11), it is stiled the spirit of faith, (2 Cor. 4:13). It is not from our own spirit, but God's outwardly revealing the mysterious object in Scripture, and inwardly enlightening and elevating the heart to entertain it. Hence, Fulgentius* compares the production of faith in the heart, with the conception of Christ in the virgin's womb; both are by one and the same Spirit. Christ is no less formed in the heart by it, than his flesh was in the virgin. It is therefore a work of power to raise up the mind of man to believe those supernatural mysteries, which are far above itself.

2. It proposes super-moral virtues. It would have us to be humble and deny ourselves. To sanctify the Lord in our hearts. To have a love for his goodness; a fear for his majesty and greatness; a faith for his truth and mercy; a sincerity for his all-seeing eye: and such a posture of soul, that the inward affections and motions may in a holy manner answer and correspond to one divine attribute or other. It calls upon us to have internal purity, to indulge no lust, no, not in a thought; to baulk never a holy duty, to love our very enemies, and overcome evil with good. These I call super-moral, because they are above the power of nature. Mere moral virtues may spring out of the principles of improved nature, but these do not do so. The philosophers, those improvers of nature, and masters of morality, never arrived at them. They were so far from humility and self-denial, that pride was their temper, and self their centre. Their splendid virtues did not glance only, but directly look at vain glory. They did not sanctify God in their hearts, but set up their own reason, taking it, not in its own place as a minister of God, but abstractively from him; they turned it into an idol, and sacrificed unto it in their virtuous actions, doing them as congruous to reason, but not in respect to God, who inspired it; or to his will, which was declared in it; or to his glory, which was to be promoted by it. They would talk of internal purity, but were indeed strangers to it. Internal corruption was no burden to them; regenerating grace no desire. They dissembled and complied with the outward idols of the place where they lived, and within, in the secret of the heart, they had their idols and indulged lusts. Socrates had immoral, impure corruptions. Zeno and Chrysippus allowed unnatural lust. Seneca was insatiably covetous. In the very best of them sensual sins were but swallowed up of spiritual. The beauty in their life, was but to gratify the pride in their heart; they knew nothing touching love to enemies. Ultion looked like a piece of natural justice. Cicero tells us, "Justitiæ primum munus est, ut ne cui noceat, nisi lacessitus injuriâ;" they thought that upon injury they might revenge, or if revenge might be forborne, they little thought of love to enemies. Nature, we see, cannot ascend above itself, nor produce these evangelical virtues; the Divine power and Spirit must do it. Hence they are called, the virtues of God (1 Pet. 2:9), as being far above the virtues of men; and the fruits of the Spirit, (Gal. 5:22), as being produced by a spirit and power much higher than that of man. Without a Divine power it is not imaginable how such excellent virtues should ever be found in the heart of poor fallen creatures.

3. It proposes super-mundane rewards, which are no attractives to a carnal heart, unless it be elevated unto them by the power of grace. This plainly appears by comparing the heavenly rewards and the earthly man together. The rewards are at a great distance from sense. They lie in another world. The treasure is in heaven. The recompense is above. A red sea of death is to be passed through before we can come at it. The man, to whom the tender is made, is earthly, carnal, living by sense, wrapt in the veil of time; one like the infirm woman in the gospel, who is bowed together, and can in no wise lift up himself, no, not to a heaven of glory and blessedness freely offered unto him. He hangs in the clay of one earthly thing or other, and by bonds of strong concupiscence is fastened to this lower world; and, which is a prodigy in an immortal soul, he loves to be so, and thinks that it is good being here. A little earth with him, is better than heaven. Sensual pleasures out-relish the pure rivers above. O how unfit is such a man to close in with such a reward! How much work must be done to make him capable of it! The man must be unearthed and unbound from this lower world. The concupiscential strings, which tie him thereunto, must be cut, that his soul may have a free ascent towards heaven. A precious faith must be raised up, that this world may appear, such as it is, a shadow, a figure, a nothing to make man happy; that heaven with its beatitudes may be realised and presented to the mind. A divine temper must be wrought, that he may be able to rend off the veil of time, and take a prospect of eternity; to put by all the world, and look into heaven. He must be a pilgrim on earth, living by faith, walking in holiness, every step preparing for, and breathing after the heavenly country. He must pray, work, strive, wrestle, watch, wait, serve God instantly, and all this to be rewarded in another world; without such a temper heaven will signify nothing, and without a Divine power such a temper cannot be had. Hence St. Peter tells us, "That God hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible." (1 Pet. 1:3, 4.) The lively hope, which takes hold upon the great reward, is not from the power of nature; no, it is from a divine generation, it is a heavenly touch from Christ risen and sitting at the right hand of majesty, from thence to do spiritual miracles, as upon earth he did corporeal. Hence St. Paul argues, "If you be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above." (Col. 3:1.) The natural man, dead in sin, cannot seek them; only those who are spiritual and risen with Christ can do it. It is therefore from the Divine power and spirit, that men, naturally carnal and earthly, are made capable of closing with the heavenly and supernal rewards which are tendered in the gospel.

The power of God being so gloriously revealed, how humble should our minds be? How should our reason kneel and bow down before such a mystery as that, God manifest in the flesh? There was a pattern of humility in the condescension of it, and withal there was matter of adoration in the mystery. Presume not, O man, to measure divine mysteries by thy reason, which bears not so much proportion to them as a little shell doth to the great ocean. Remember, thy reason is short and finite; the mysteries are deep and infinite. If God could not work above the measure of man, he would cease to be God. If mysteries were not above the line of reason, they would cease to be mysteries. When these are before thee, do as an ancient advises, πρόφερε τὴν πίσιν, bring forth thy faith, subject thy intellect to the supreme truth, captivate thy thoughts to Scripture, humbly adore and confess, "That the Lord doth great things and unsearchable, marvellous things without number." (Job. 5:9.) This is the way to have knowledge and establishment, like the pious man in Gerson, whose certainty in articles of faith was not from reason or demonstration, but from humiliation and illumination, a montibus æternis. The Socinians, who in intellectual pride do θεομαχε͂ιν, fight against God and supernatural truths, lose themselves and the mystery together. But the humble soul, who subjects his reason to God and his truth, is rooted in faith, and established by grace.

Again, the power of God being revealed in a way of grace, how should we look up to him by faith, that he may do great things for us? He, who gave his own Son to come in the flesh, can do every thing for us. He can raise up children to Abraham out of the very stones: he can melt the rocky heart into repentance: he can write his law in the inward parts: he can make us willing in the day of his power: he can subdue the most strong and inveterate lusts: he can new-frame the heart, and draw his own image upon it: he can make all grace abound towards us, and supply all our need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Let us look unto him and be saved. Let our souls ever be in a posture of waiting and dependence upon him, that the divine power, which was so eminently manifested in Christ, may in a measure be felt and experimented in us, that we, who are poor impotent creatures in ourselves, may be able to do all things through Christ strengthening us.

CHAPTER VII:

The truth of God manifested in Christ—The promise of the Messiah

The truth of God manifested in Christ—The promise of the Messiah—The Messiah is already come—Jesus is the true Messiah—All the other promises are built upon him—The truth of the moral law evidenced in him—The mandatory part proved by his active obedience; the minatory by his sufferings—He is the substance of the types and sacrifices—Somewhat in him answers to them; and somewhat in him infinitely transcends them—The truth of worship set forth in him: he unclogged it from rituals, opened the spiritual mode of it, communicates grace for it, reveals the great reward of eternal life.

HAVING spoken of other attributes, I proceed in the last place to consider the truth of God. It was a notable speech of a philosopher, "That truth is so great a perfection, that if God would render himself visible unto men, he would choose light for his body, and truth for his soul." Indeed, God is ipsissima veritas, very truth itself; and can no more cease to be such, than he can cease to be himself. He is true in his essence: others are only gods by fancy or fiction, but he is God by nature and essence. He is true in his promises; he means what he promises, and he doth what he means. "Promissa tua sunt, quis falli timeat, cum promittit veritas?" saith St. Austin.* He is true in his commands; these are the counterpanes of his will: he approves what he commands, and rewards what he approves. He is true in all his works: the creatures have first an ideal being in him, before they have a real one in themselves: they are therefore true, because congruous to the first truth. He is so true, that it is impossible that he should lie. A lie, which arises from weakness or wickedness, can no more be found in him, than weakness can be found in power, or wickedness in sanctity itself.

The truth of God doth in an excellent manner appear in Jesus Christ; he is the complement of the law, the pearl of the gospel. The truths of the Old Testament run unto him as to an ocean, to be swallowed up in his perfection. The truths of the New meet in him as in the centre, to receive all their strength and stability from him. The divine truth is manifested in Jesus Christ several ways.

First, it is manifested in him, in that all the promises and predictions of a Messiah to come, are accomplished and completed in him. Two things will clearly evidence this:

The one is this: It is plain that the promised Messiah is already come: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be," saith Jacob. (Gen. 49:10.) Shiloh is the name of the Messiah, the ancient rabbins confess it. Messiah, saith one of them, shall not come till there be a clean riddance of judges and magistrates in Israel. The Jews had kings in their own land, heads or princes of the captivity in Babylon; and after their return from thence, they had governors and judges: but now government and judiciary power hath been for 1600 years departed from them. The Messiah therefore is already come. Again, within the compass of the seventy weeks mentioned in Dan. 9 many things were to come to pass: the re-edifying the city and temple of Jerusalem, the coming and cutting off the Messiah, the confirmation of the covenant, the cessation of the sacrifices; and after all these, the universal destruction was to ensue. However these weeks be computed, yet it evidently appears that first the Messiah was to come and be cut off, (ver. 26;) and afterwards the oblation and sacrifice was to cease, (ver. 27:) this being the true order of things in the text, the Messiah must needs come whilst the sacrifices were standing. If the sacrifices under this second temple have for these 1600 years ceased, as they have, then the Messiah must needs be come many centuries since. Franzius* used this argument to a learned Jew, who only returned this answer: Perhaps one week in Daniel might be one thousand years. Franzius replied, If that were admitted, yet, if he thought that Daniel's weeks were not expired, he would entreat him to show where the Jews do now sacrifice: seeing, according to Daniel, the Messiah was to come before the abrogation of the sacrifices, it must needs be that the sacrifices must still stand in being, if the Messiah were not yet come. To this no answer at all was made, the knot being indeed too hard to be untied. Further, the Messiah was to come while the second temple was standing; hence that of the prophet, "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former." (Hag. 2:9.) The first temple had more of outward glory and magnificence than the second. Under the first there were, as the rabbins observe, five things, the ark, the fire from heaven, the majesty, or shecinah, the spirit of prophecy, the urim and the thummim, which were wanting under the second. From whence then came that greater glory in the second? The prophet tells us, God would shake the heavens and the earth, that is, do a very great work: the Messiah, the desire of all nations should come, (ver. 6, 7;) his presence should put a greater glory upon the second temple than was upon the first. In the first there were the types and symbols of God's presence, but into the second the Lord himself came in our assumed nature, (Mal. 3:1,) and so filled it with glory. This is the only tolerable account can be given of that greater glory. This second temple being long since destroyed, it must needs be that the Messiah did come before the fall of it.

The other is this: Our Jesus, the son of Mary, is the true Messiah; he is that seed of the woman who broke the serpent's head, (Gen. 3:15;) no other seed, no mere man could do it; but the Son of God, being made of a woman, did destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8.) "Partaking of flesh and blood, he did, through death, destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil." (Heb. 2:14.) That first promise made almost four thousand years before, was accomplished in him. He is that seed of Abraham in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed. (Gen. 22:18.) Never was it said of any man but himself, that all nations should be blessed in him: never was any man but he, who was God as well as man, able to turn that curse which lay upon the human nature into a blessing. He is Jacob's Shiloh, (Gen. 49:10;) at his coming the sceptre departed: Herod, an Edomite, ruled over the Jews; and, to make himself the more absolute, he slew the Sanhedrin; in a little time all government was taken away from the Jews; hence that outcry in the Talmud, "Væ nobis," Wo to us, because the sceptre is departed from Judah. The temporal sceptre vanished, but our Saviour had a spiritual one; to him, as to the true Shiloh, was the gathering of the people; multitudes of Jews and Gentiles were converted to Christianity. He is Moses' prophet, (Deut. 18:15,) "Never man spake as he spake;" none but himself ever brought down sacred mysteries from the bosom of God unto the world. He is the star out of Jacob, (Numb. 24:17.) The Jews' Barchochebas was but Barchozba, the son of a lie, a false light, and soon extinct: but our JESUS is the "bright and morning star," (Rev. 22:16,) who chases away darkness, and communicates a divine light to men. He is the Lord's anointed, against whom "the heathen did rage, and the kings set themselves," (Psalm, 2) but all in vain; God laughed at them, and set up his king upon Zion. The Jews cannot but confess that this Psalm speaks of the Messiah; but that the Minæi, the Christians, with them esteemed heretics, may be answered, they think it expedient to interpret it of David. He is the child, in Isaiah, who was born of a virgin, (Isa. 7:14,) which never man was; who hath these high titles, "Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace," (Isa. 9:6,) which are too great for a mere man. He is the righteous branch, whose name is, "The Lord our righteousness," (Jer. 23:5, 6.) No other man since the fall had righteousness enough for himself; but he had enough for himself and a world. He is the Messiah in Daniel; his blood made an end of sin; his perfect sacrifice put an end to all the legal ones. Under the Messiah there was only to be the sacrifice of Thoda, or thanksgiving. He is the ruler come out of "Bethlehem Ephratah," (Micah, 5:2.) As God, his goings forth were of old, from everlasting; as man, he came in time out of Bethlehem: never such an one as he came from thence. He is the desire of the nations, in Haggai, who filled the second temple with glory: the man, God's fellow, in Zachary, who was smitten for us, and in his wounds opened a fountain for sin and for uncleanness. The Sun of righteousness, in Malachi, who with enlightening and healing beams shines into the hearts of men. The promises of the Messiah are all accomplished in him. What the Old Testament foretold, the New exhibited. The respects and sweet correspondencies which are between the two Testaments, clearly and punctually shew that Jesus is the Christ.

Again: here appears the truth of all the other promises in the gospel, which are as so many superstructures upon the first fundamental promise of the Messiah. "The earth," saith Rabbi Eliezer,* "stands upon Tsadich, upon the righteous one, that is, upon the Messiah." I may add, heaven and all the graces which lead thither, stand upon him too. "In him all the promises are yea and amen, (2 Cor. 1:20;) sure and stable, as being founded upon his blood; hence, his blood is called "the blood of the covenant," (Heb. 13:20,) as procuring it for us; and the New Testament is called "the new testament in his blood," (Luke, 22:20,) as being founded upon it. God is now obliged to perform the evangelical promises, not merely by is own infinite veracity, but by his contract with his Son, from whom he hath received a valuable consideration in his blood for the doing of it. The promises are secured by a double seal,—God's veracity and Christ's blood; so they can no more fail, than the truth of the one and the merit of the other. The apostle argued thus: "God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things?" (Rom. 8:32.) We may thus argue; if God would not go back, but perform the promise of the Messiah, which could not be done but at an expence so vast, that in the doing of it he must part with his Son out of his bosom, and his Son must part with his blood for us; how shall he not fulfil all other promises? The promise of the Messiah was the most difficult of all, either for God to perform, or for us to believe: the foolish builder lays the foundation, and is not able to finish; but the wise and true God, who laid the foundation of promises in his Son's blood, will be sure to accomplish them; not one thing of them shall fail: upon what promise soever we can regularly set our faith, we may take it as our own; all the blessings of it shall be made good to us.

Further; we see here the truth of the moral law that is made up of two parts, a mandatory part, and a minatory. The mandatory part stands in precepts; the truth of these consists in this, that they are the counterpanes of God's heart, real copies of his approving will; the matter of them is consonant to his sanctity and rectitude, acceptable and well-pleasing in his eyes: obedience to them is very grateful, and sure of an euge, an approbation from him. A notable evidence of this we have in our Saviour. It is true, the law proves itself to be divine by its intrinsical rectitude and justice; but the sin of a world lying as a cloud upon that glory, God would have it proved such by obedience: no man since the fall being able enough for this work, the Son of God came down from heaven to do it. As God, he could not be under the law, but he assumed humanity, and with it moral duty; "he was made of a woman, and so made under the law," (Gal. 4:4,) which reflected a greater honour upon it than the being of all men under it could do. He perfectly obeyed it, and in his obedience the law had its end, and a higher proof of its divinity than it would have had if all men had obeyed it. None can now doubt that the law came from heaven, from the Father's bosom, when the Son of God who came from thence did subject himself, and obey it. Never was such a seal set to the law as here; never did such a person as he obey it. Here the Lord did magnify his law and make it honourable, and that after a long and dark eclipse put upon it by the sins of a world. Here the antinomian, who opposes the law, might satisfy himself. The law doth not condemn believers, but it is and must be a rule. Our Saviour's whole life was a proof of it, and commentary upon it; and our lives should imitate his, we should tread in his steps, and walk as he walked; in both a homage is done to the law. The minatory part of the law denounced a death and a curse against the transgressor. It is true, here God acted by prerogative; he relaxed the rigor and letter of the law, that the death and curse might not fall upon the sinner himself; but was the threatening totally neglected? was sin altogether unpunished? No, our sins were punished in our sponsor Jesus Christ. It is true, Socinus will not admit this*; Quas vos dicitis Christi pœnas, non vere et proprie sunt pœnæ; Christ's sufferings, however we call them, were not such as were properly and truly penal. He would not have them properly penal, lest they should be properly satisfactory. But I answer, where sin is not the impulsive cause, there sufferings are not penal. Sin is the foundation of punishment; there cannot be pœna sine fundamento; a punishment without a why or a wherefore is a punishment for nothing, that is, no punishment. But in Christ's sufferings there wanted not an impulsive, our sins were laid upon him, (Isa. 53:6,) they were condemned in his flesh, (Rom. 8:3,) he bore them in his body, (1 Pet. 2:24,) he was wounded and bruised for them. (Isa. 53:5.) His sufferings were for sin, and therefore penal. Where mere sovereignty inflicts, there sufferings are not penal. What is penal is from justice, not power. What is from power is mere suffering, not punishment. But our Saviour's sufferings were inflicted by justice. Indeed the relaxation of the law, the introduction of a sponsor, were acts of prerogative and supreme power; but the inflicting of sufferings upon our sponsor, the punishing of our sins in him, were acts of rectoral justice. Jesus Christ was set forth to be a propitiation, εἰς ἔνδειξιν δικαιοσύνης, (Rom. 3:25,) to declare, not he dominion, but justice of God. His sufferings were inflicted by justice, and therefore penal. But if they were penal, might they not have been somewhat less than a death and a curse? No, he bore both; God had a respect to his threatening: his sufferings were, as much as might be, to comply with the terms of the law. Though the threatening was not executed in a strict rigorous manner in the first debtor, yet in an equitable way it was in a sort executed in the sponsor; he did undergo the essentials of punishment, though not the accidentals. Thus the truth of both parts of the law was manifested in our Saviour.

Moreover, the truth of all the types and shadows was set forth in our Saviour, who was the body and substance of them all: there was in him somewhat that did symbolize with them, and somewhat that did infinitely transcend them. Manna came down from heaven, and so did Christ; but from the highest heaven, the place of God's glorious presence, to give, not a temporal life, but a spiritual, an eternal one: not to one nation only, but to a world: Ex hoc pane cœli sancti reficiuntur et angeli, with this bread of heaven saints and angels are refreshed, as an ancient speaks. The rock smitten by Moses's rod supplied the Israelites; and Christ smitten by the curse of the law supplies the church, not with earthly water, but with heavenly, with rivers of living graces and comforts; following believers not for a time, but indeficiently, and forever. Hence the Jewish rabbins say, that the turning the rock into water, was the turning the property of judgment into the property of mercy. All mercies issue out from this spiritual rock. The brazen serpent was lifted up upon a pole, and Christ was lifted up upon the cross; that healed the wounds made by the outward serpents in the body, and he heals the wounds made by sin in the conscience. The corporal cure came by the eye, by looking to the brazen serpent; the spiritual one comes by faith, by looking to our Saviour for salvation. God dwelt in the tabernacle and temple, and in Christ he dwelt in the flesh; not in types and symbols, but really and hypostatically; not for a time, but for ever. Christ is the true tabernacle and temple, who hath all the holy things in him. Here is the Shecinah, the Divine Majesty appearing in our nature. Here is the ark, where the tables of the law, broken by men, are kept inviolate. Here is the mercy-seat, or propitiatory, which covers our sins, and from whence God communes with us in words of grace. Here is the vail, the flesh of Christ, which hid his deity, and through which there is a way into heaven itself. Here are the holy lamps, the spirit of wisdom and grace derived from our Saviour. Here is the altar of burnt offering, the deity of Christ sanctified his humanity to be a sufficient sacrifice for a world: and the altar of incense, the odours of his merit perfume all our services, and render them acceptable unto God. Almost everything did breathe forth Christ, and speak to his honour. He was, in one, all the sacrifices, and more than all of them. Sacrifices began with the first promise of the Messiah, "The seed of the woman shall break the serpent's head," (Gen. 3:15): and after almost 4000 years standing, they ended in his death: a singular respect they had to him, and a full compliment in his perfect sacrifice. Adam and the ancient Patriarchs (as the learned Franzius observes) used at the sacrifices to speak of the Messiah and his sufferings: these being the scope and ultimate mark of all the sacrifices, were not altogether unknown to them: a hint of them we have in that first promise of the Messiah, the seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15), who was to suffer a bruise in his heel, his human nature, that the serpent's, that is, Satan's head might be broken. Those ancients knowing something of Christ's sufferings, though imperfectly, and at a distance, did in all probability at their sacrifices speak of them. The believing Jews did not hang upon the shadow, the outward sacrifices only, but look at Christ, the substance and marrow of them; else they did, as it seems, worship God in their sacrifices in an ignorant manner, without knowing the spiritual meaning of them: nay, else they offered them up in a mistake, in the belief of that false impossible thing, that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sin: they knew, that there was no remission without expiation; they knew that moral guilt did as much, nay more require it, than ceremonial; and if they knew nothing of an expiating Messiah, they sought no further for the expiation of moral guilt, than the blood of bulls and goats. Now touching the sacrifices, two things are to be noted: the one is this—there is somewhat in Christ which answers to the expiatory sacrifices. The sacrifice was to be perfect, and without blemish, that it might be accepted; the blind, or broken, or maimed, or corrupted thing, was not to be offered up to God: answerably, the human nature of Christ, which was the great sacrifice, was without spot or guile; it was formed by the Holy Spirit, and breathed out nothing but sanctity, that it might be a pure offering unto God. Had there been any blemish in it, it could not have been united to the person of the Word, nor offered up as a sacrifice to God for us. The sacrifice, pure in itself, was substituted in the room of sinful, defective men; there was ψυχὴ ἀντὶ ψυχῆς, the life of a beast instead of that of a man. Suitably, Christ the meek, patient, immaculate Lamb of God, stood in our room; he died for us, he gave his life a ransom ἀντὶ πολλῶν, instead of many. (Matt. 20:28.) His person was put in the room of ours, and his sufferings too in the room of ours. Had he not stood in our stead, he could not have been capable either to bear the stroke of penal sufferings, or to free us from the same; not to bear penal sufferings, he being nothing but mere innocency in himself; nor to free us from them, he being in no conjunction with us. The sacrifice being put in the sinner's room, had sin imputed to it; they were to lay their hands upon the head of it, (Lev. 1:4): a confession of sins was made over the scape-goat, (Lev. 16:21): their sins were in a sort transferred upon the sacrifice, that it might bear them away. Thus it was with Christ, "He was made sin for us." (2 Cor. 5:21.) "The Lord laid on him the iniquities of us all." (Isaiah 53:6.) Our guilt, as it was fundamentum pœnæ, was imputed to him so far, as to render his sufferings penal: and, as an ancient hath it, he was "delictorum susceptor, non commissor;" having no guilt of his own, he stood under ours, in order to a glorious expiation and abolition of it in his death and satisfaction. Sin being charged upon the sacrifice, there was destructio rei oblatæ, a destroying of the thing offered: so it was with Christ, when our sins were laid upon him; with the corn he was bruised, with the wine and oil poured out, with the lamb slain and roasted in the fire of God's wrath, and with the scape-goat driven into the wilderness of desertion, crying out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" His sufferings were very many and great for us. The sacrifice being slain, its blood did expiate sin, an atonement was made, remission ensued upon it: thus Christ dying on the cross, his blood was expiatory, our fault was compensated, justice was satisfied, wrath was averted, and God appeased and reconciled towards us. In these things appears a fair analogy between those ancient sacrifices and Christ the great sacrifice.

The other is this: There is that in Christ which infinitely transcends all the legal sacrifices. In the sacrifice there was only a brute in perfection, but in Christ there was a human nature in perfection; a human nature which had the Spirit above measure, and was as full of grace as the capacity of a creature could hold: there was in his humanity such a beauty and unmatchable perfection of grace, as far surpassed the united and accumulated excellencies of all the angels in heaven. The sacrifice stood and suffered in the room of offenders by constraint and compulsion, it was bound with cords to the horns of the altar: but Christ stood and suffered in our room by choice and voluntary sponsion; his soul was not snatched away, but poured out; his life was not merely taken away, but laid down; he was under no constraint but that of his own compassion; he was tied with no cords but those of his own love. In the private sacrifice some particular sin was charged upon it; in the public one, the sins of the Jewish nation were charged upon it: but upon Christ were laid the sins of a world, sins of vast distances, as far remote in place as the quarters of the earth, and in time, as the morning and evening of the world, met altogether upon him. In the sacrifice there was a mere simple death, and the blood was but the blood of a brute: but Christ's death was not a mere simple one, but a death with a sting and a curse in it; a death with as much wrath in it, as was due to the sin of a world; nor was his blood the blood of a brute, but the blood of a man, nay, of God himself; and what manner of sacrifice was this! how compensative for sin! how satisfactory to justice! how aversive of wrath! how impetrative of all good! In every respect it was infinitely valuable and sufficient. The sacrifice suo modo did expiate sin, it took away civil guilt, by freeing the offender from that temporal death which in the strict sanction of the law was due to him. It took away ceremonial guilt, by freeing him from those legal impurities which excluded him from the public worship; hence the apostle saith, "That the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, did sanctify to the purifying of the flesh." (Heb. 9:13.) Thus far went the sacrifice, but it could go no further: the moral guilt was still unremoved, justice was still unsatisfied, the wrath to come was still unaverted, God as yet was unreconciled; there was somewhat done to the flesh, nothing to the conscience: somewhat in foro soli, in the Jewish judicature, nothing in foro poli, in the court of heaven, to give a full satisfaction to divine justice. Hence the apostle saith, that those sacrifices, though often repeated, could not make the comers thereunto perfect, (Heb. 10:1.) The blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin, (ver. 4). Still there was a conscience of sin, and a remembrance of it every year, (ver. 2, 3.) Hence God reprobated all those sacrifices, and would have none of them; they were not rejected for the hypocrisy of the offerer, as they were Isa. 1:12, 13; nor comparatively, as being in the outward work less than mercy, (Hos. 6:6.): But they were rejected as not able to do the great work, to expiate sin; they were to vanish as clouds before the sun, as types before the substance. But when Christ gave himself an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour," (Ephes. 5:2), "there was a plenal, total expiation of sin; not the flesh but the conscience was purged, not ceremonial, but moral guilt was done away. Thus the apostle, comparing his sacrifice with the legal ones, saith, "The blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered up himself without spot to God, shall purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." (Heb. 9:14.) Emphatica omnia, et totidem pene causæ, quot verba, æternæ λυτρώσεως per christum partæ, saith the worthy Paræus; all things in the text are emphatical, and there are almost as many causes as words, of the eternal redemption obtained by Christ. He offered, not as the Gentiles to devils, but to God; he offered not as the priest under that law, a sacrifice distinct from himself, but he offered himself: the thing offered and the priest, beyond all parallel, were one and the same. He offered, not as the deceiver, a corrupt thing (Mal 1:14): but his pure and innocent self, in whom there was no spot or blemish. He offered up himself, not merely through a human spirit, but through a divine eternal one, through his divinity, which inspired an eternal vigour and fragrancy into his sacrifice, so that it needed not, as the legal ones, any reiteration: for, as the apostle hath it, "he hath by one offering perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (Heb. 10:14.) This is that great sacrifice, more than all other sacrifices, which satisfied justice, expiated moral guilt, averted the wrath of heaven, and procured an eternal redemption for us.

Further, Christ was not only the substance of the sacrifices, but of the high priests also. He hath the true holy garments, the graces of the Spirit: the true Urim and Thummim, lights and perfections. His girdle is truth, his golden bells pure doctrine, his anointing the Spirit and power. He entered not with the blood of goats and calves into the holy of holies here below, but with his own blood into heaven, there to appear in the presence of God, and bear the names of his people upon his heart. He is a high priest above all high priests; not a mere man, but God, whose deity poured out an infinite virtue upon his sacrifice. He was not made a high priest only, but made such by an oath: "The Lord sware, Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedeck." (Heb. 7:21.) The Aaronical priesthood was temporary and of less moment, but Christ's was unchangeable and of far greater moment; hence God pawned his holiness, life, being itself, to make it immutable for ever. Other high priests died as men; but Christ, though he died as a sacrifice, yet as a high priest he lives for ever: hence the apostle saith, that "He was a priest after the power of an endless life." (Heb. 7:16.) His deity made him an everliving priest, and transfused an endless life of merit into his sacrifice. "He is consecrated for evermore." (Heb. 7:28.) He is a perfect priest, the efficacy of his sacrifice is perpetual: the holy unction on his head is indeficient, and ever running down upon believers. This is the great high priest, the substance of all those under the law.

Lastly: The truth of God's worship is set forth in and by Christ. Though the truth and sincerity of worship were required under the law, though external worship as well as internal be due under the gospel; yet the truth of worship was never so excellently set forth, as it is in and by Christ. This appears in three or four things.

1. The matter of worship is now more free and pure than it was; the clog of ceremonies and ritual observances, is now removed. Under the law there was abundance of carnal ordinances, a great number of sacrifices, circumcisions, washings, purifyings, fringes, festivals, travels to the temple, and distinctions of meats; but in and by Christ the yoke is broken, the carnal ordinances cease, and all is turned into spirituality. Our sacrifice is to present and consecrate ourselves to God, which is a service highly reasonable, and indeed no other than the right posture of the soul towards him. Our circumcision is in the spirit, and a cutting off the corrupt flesh of it. Our washing is that of regeneration and reformation. Our purifying is that of faith, which purifies the heart by the blood and Spirit of Christ apprehended by it. Our fringes are no outward ones, those being supplied by the law in the heart. Christ is our passover; the holy Spirit poured out, our Pentecost. Our feast is τὰ δεόντα πράττειν, to do our duty, as one saith; to delight in works of virtue, as another hath it. There is now no tie to this or that place: Omnis locus viro bono templum, every place is a temple to a good man; everywhere we may lift up holy hands to God. Nor any distinctions of meat; "To the pure all things are pure." The Levitical uncleanness in beasts, did shadow out the moral uncleanness in men: Quod Judæi vitabant in pecore, id nos vitare oportet in more; what the Jews avoided in the beast, that we are to avoid in our conversation. If there be no discretion of things in us, the beast doth not part the hoof; if no heavenly rumination, it doth not chew the cud. An idle person is a fish without fins or scales, seldom in motion. An earthly man is a creeping thing, that goes upon his belly and feeds on dust. Thus in and by Christ, religion is refined, the load of carnal and ritual observations is cast off, and worship is brought forth in its pure and spiritual glory.

2. The mode of worship is excellently set forth in the gospel. God, who is a Spirit, must be served as becomes him, in spirit and truth: there must be a lowliness and humility of mind, a reverence and godly fear, an elevation and devotional ascension of the soul to God, a filial love and obedience to his command, a single eye, a pure intention at his glory, a divine fervour and freedom of spirit in the work, a faith in the great Mediator for acceptance, a waiting and holy expectancy upon God, that he would bless his own ordinance, and irradiate the duty with the light of his countenance. It is true, this mode of worship was known under the Old Testament; but it was never so illustriously set forth as by our Saviour Jesus Christ. "As a painter," saith Theophylact, "doth not destroy the old lineaments, but only make them more glorious and beautiful, so did Christ about the law; by his pure discoveries he put a gloss and glory upon the Divine worship."

3. The help to worship is communicated in and by Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit, which first new-frames the heart for pure spiritual worship, and then stirs up and actuates the holy graces in it, is more largely afforded under the gospel than ever it was before. Under the law there were some dews and droppings of it in the Jewish church; but under the gospel it is poured out upon all flesh. It was a Judaical axiom, "The Divine majesty dwells in none without the land of Israel." But after Jesus Christ had by his sweet-smelling sacrifice purchased the Spirit, and in the glory of his merits had ascended into heaven, he shed forth the Spirit in a rich and abundant measure upon all sorts of men, Jews and Gentiles. Into what place soever the gospel comes, there the Spirit is at work to frame new creatures, and set them in motion, that God may be served, "not in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the Spirit," that his worship, under the gales and sweet influences of the Spirit, may come forth as it ought in its life and pure spirituality.

4. The great motive to worship, the reward of eternal life, was never so manifested as it was by Jesus Christ. It is true, holy men of old had some glimmerings of it; Abraham sought after a heavenly country; Jacob waited for God's salvation; Moses had respect to the recompence of reward; Job speaks of seeing God in his flesh; the believing Jews could see eternal things in temporal, and measure heaven by an astrolabe of earth. In their Ikkarim, in the articles of their creed, there is one touching the resurrection of the dead. Those ancients had some obscure knowledge of life eternal; but in and by Christ it is set forth plainly and clearly, in lively and orient colours. Heaven, as it were, opens itself, and in pure discoveries comes down and approaches near unto our faith. It is now plain that the true worshippers shall ever be with the Lord, shall see him and be like him; shall enter into his joy, and be swallowed up there; shall have a crown of life, a weight of glory, and that to all eternity. All this is as clear as if it were writ with a sunbeam; hence the apostle saith, "That Christ brought life and immortality to light," (2 Tim. 1:10;) and again; that before "the way into the holiest of all was not made manifest," (Heb. 9:8;) that is, that light or manifestation of this reward which was under the law, was as none at all in comparison of the pure and great discovery of it which is under the gospel. The servants of God need not say, What shall we have? The reward is before them, the celestial paradise is in plain view, to attract their hearts into the holy ways which lead thither.

In this display of truth, we have a notable proof of the truth of our religion. Admirable are the harmonies and compliances between the two testaments; the substance, though but one, corresponds to the types and shadows, though very many. The Messiah in the flesh, notwithstanding the vast distance in time, fully answers to the Messiah in promises and predictions. All things concur and conspire together to evidence the truth of our religion. It was the observation of some of the ancient fathers, that there is umbra in lege, imago in evangelio, veritas in cœlo, a shadow in the law, an image in the gospel, the truth in heaven. Hence we may thus conclude, that religion, which was in the law in shadow, in a darker representation; which is in the gospel in the image, in a more lively representation; and which leads to heaven, where is perfection of light, and eternal life in the thing itself; that religion must needs be true. Or we may go higher than the Mosaical law, and conclude thus: that religion which in the morning of the world, immediately after the fall of man, appeared in the first promise of the Messiah; which afterwards appeared in types and more promises; which after these, shone out illustriously in Jesus Christ; which at last introduces into the perfect day in heaven; that must needs be true. The succession and harmony which is in these things, tell us, that infinite wisdom did order and dispose the same. Now after the evangelical light is clearly revealed to us, "what manner of persons ought we to be?" How thankful should we be that we live in the shining days of the Son of man? The pagans are in gross darkness, but we have the divine light shining round about us. The Jews had some dawnings and strictures of light; but we have the sun, the full globe of light: we need not now grope in the dark after happiness, Christ the true light is come, the glory of the Lord is risen upon us in the pure light of the gospel. How should we believe and adhere to the promises! God hath performed the great promise of the Messiah, and it is not imaginable that he should fail in the other, which are but appendants to that great promise. The promises now have a double seal—God's veracity and Christ's blood; and in all reason we should seal them up by our faith; not to do so, is practically to say, that God may lie, or Christ's merits fail. In what truth and obedience should we walk! No lust should now be indulged, no duty should now be baulked. Every holy beam must be welcome, as coming from heaven to guide us thither. Every command of God must be precious, as being the counterpane of his heart, and proved to be such by the obedience of his own Son in the flesh. Now to walk in darkness, is to reproach the holy light which shines round about us. To be false to God who is so true to us, is no less than horrible ingratitude to him, and in the end wall prove utter ruin to our souls; it being utterly impossible for us, while we are false to him, to be true to ourselves or our own happiness. How spiritual should we be in worship! With what holy fear, faith, zeal, devotion, should we serve him! Our spirits should be consecrated and offered up to God: our duties should have warmth and life from the inward parts; the infinite Spirit must not be mocked with a shell, a mere body of worship. Jesus Christ the substance being come, we must not rest in the shadows and rituals of religion. God is real in promises, and we should be so in services. He will give us the best reward, even heaven itself; and we should give him the best we have, even our hearts, that he may dwell there till he take us up into the blessed region, to dwell with him in glory; in so doing we shall at once be true to him, and to our own happiness.

CHAPTER VIII:

God's providence asserted from Scripture, philosophy, and reason

God's providence asserted from Scripture, philosophy, and reason—It hath a double act, conservative, and ordinative; both are manifested in Christ—It was over Christ, over his genealogy, birth, life, death—Over the fruit of his satisfaction, in raising up a church—It aimed at a church; directed the means, and added the blessing—That opinion, That Christ might have died, and yet there might have been no Church, is false—All other Providences reduced to those over Christ and the church—Epicurus's objections against Providence answered—Providence over free acts of men asserted, and yet liberty not destroyed—The objections touching the afflictions of good men, and the event of sin solved—The entity in sinful actions distinct from the anomy: the order from the ataxy.

HAVING spoken of the divine attributes, I now proceed to speak of Providence, which, in a special manner, directed this great dispensation, God manifest in the flesh; in which, as we have seen, the attributes of God do eminently appear. Providence is more than previdence; πρόνοια is not nude prescience; it is, as a learned man speaks, præcognitio cum curâ, a precognition with care. It is the divine reason of the supreme Lord, which disposes of all things; it is that act of God whereby he doth in eternity pre-ordain, and in time direct every thing to the great end of all, his own glory. The scripture doth very fully set forth this: "Of him, and through him, and to him, are all things." (Rom. 11:36.) Of him as the author, through him as the conservator and director, and to him as the ultimate end, are all things. "He giveth life, and breath, and all things." (Acts 17:25.) "In him we live, and move, and have our being." (Ver. 28.) The original, the continuance, the guidance of all is from him. As a mighty monarch, "He doth whatsoever he pleaseth in heaven and in earth." (Psal. 135:6.) "He doth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth. None can stay his hand, or say unto him, What dost thou?" (Dan. 4:35.) All places are within his dominion, all creatures are under his government: "Known unto him are all his works, ἀπʼ αἰῶνος, from eternity." (Acts 15:18.) "He worketh all things, after the counsel of his own will." (Eph. 1:11.) That the things in time may answer and go true to the counsels in eternity, Providence works and watches over every thing; angels are not above, nor worms below the care of it. It reaches to the great image of earthly monarchy. (Dan. 2) It humbles itself to hairs and sparrows. (Mat. 10:29, 30.) Natural agents, though determined ad unum, cannot act without the concurrence of it. Free agents, though upon the wings of liberty, cannot fly out of its dominions. Mere contingents, as the lot, are ascertained by it. In every thing it sits at the stern, and moderates the event.

The philosophers do, at least in some sort, own a Providence. Thus Theophrast, Θεῖα γὰρ πάντων ἀρχὴ, δἰ ἥς ἃπαντα καὶ ἐσι καὶ διαμένει, there is a divine principle, by which all things both are, and continue to be. Thus Aristotle: What the governor is in the ship, the driver in the chariot, the master in the dance, the law in the city, the leader in the army, that is God in the world. Thus Tully argues: God is the most excellent being, and therefore must needs be governor of the world. Plato's ideas existing in the mind of God, were, as is thought, no other than his decrees. The fate of the Stoicks is, by some, taken for nothing else but the providence of God. Hence the Epicureans, who denied providence, in contempt called it, anum fatidicam Stoicorum, the Stoicks foretelling old woman. There was excellent divinity in the ancient fable, that Πρόνοια, or providence, was midwife to Latona, that is, nature. The creature, though never so pregnant with power, brings forth just nothing without it. Plotinus disputes*, that the providence of God reaches to the lowest things. The flowers have their beauty from an incommutable form; the sensible world comes from that intelligible one which is with God.

Reason evinces this truth. A world without a providence is a very great absurdity: in such a case how should God be God? May he be an infinite mind, and without forecast? or a pure act, and do nothing at all among his creatures? May he be everywhere present, and nowhere profitable? Or, fill all things, and signify nothing? May he be an intelligent agent, and without an end? Or the great alpha, and forget that he is omega? May he be creator of all, and yet no provisor? Or Almighty, and yet not reign over his own world? May he be infinitely wise and good, and yet neglect himself and his creatures, his own glory and their good? Is it imaginable that such an one as he should frame a world out of nothing, and set it in delicate order, merely for fortune to sport itself in, or to shuffle down into confusion? And how then could the world be a world? Or how could it stand in order, or its parts hang together by links of amity? Without the hand and touch of providence, nature would jangle and be out of tune: without its glue and virtue, the whole system would unframe and fall asunder in a moment. If God, saith Bradwardine†, should cease to be, there could be nothing past or future, true or false, possible or impossible, necessary or contingent: so necessary is he. I may say, if God should cease to work, there could be nothing in all the world but perfect nullity. So necessary is his providence.

There are two great acts of providence; the one is conservative, which upholds all; the other ordinative, which directs and disposes of all. Both are eminently set forth in Jesus Christ.

The first act of providence is conservative, and upholds all; the creature cannot preserve and immortalize itself, for then it would be a self-subsistence, and a God to itself: it stands juxta non esse, at the brink of nullity; and unless that divine power which brought it from thence into being, hold it up there, it naturally returns and falls back into nothing as its centre. Preservation is an influx of being; and none but the Supreme Being, which is its own original, can afford such a thing. It is a continued creation, and none but he who gives esse primo, the first being to a creature, can give esse porro, the second or protracted being to it. Should he withdraw his influence, or cease continuo facere, still to go on preserving and new making, as it were, his creature, it would vanish into nothing; no creature could begin where he left, or carry on the work. Should all the angels in heaven try and put out all their strength, to guard and keep up in being the least particle of matter, and that but for one moment only, they could do nothing, they could not be creators at second hand, I mean in point of preservation. The earth, being the centre of the world, seems to stand fast, and yet without providence it would waver into nothing. The sea is a vast spreading element; and yet were it not in the hand of providence, it would contract itself into nothing. The heavens are strong bodies, and yet all those glorious arches, unless kept in repair by providence, would fall and totter down. The angels are immortal spirits, and yet their immortality is a donative and a continual spiration from the Father of spirits; the knot of their perpetuity is providence, and without it they would break and dissolve into nothing. Providence, we see, contains and preserves all things: a great truth this is, but it was never so manifested as in Jesus Christ. If ever any creature might preserve itself, one would think that the highest, noblest of all should do so; his human nature was lifted above the top of the creation, above the highest angel. It was, which never any creature was before, assumed into the person of God; yet it had no subsistence of its own, it did not preserve itself; it was held by that deity which it did cohabit with in the person of the Word: still it was a creature; it could not, like the deity, spread itself over the world: it was not a self-subsistent or independent upon its Creator. Here we plainly see, that no creature, no not the highest, can support itself in being without providence. Ellhardus Lubinus, in his book "De Causa Mali," hath drawn a very ingenious scheme to shew the dependence of the creature upon God; he sets the summum ens uppermost, under it the scale of creatures, in their order; first, angels, then men, then beasts, then vegetables, then mere being; under all, imum nihil. As far as the summum ens draws anything, ex imo nihilo, out of mere nothing, so far it ascends the scale into being, or life, or sense, or reason, or angelical perfection: as soon as he leaves it, it sinks down into the imum nihil, into nothing. This doth in a very lively manner set forth the dependence of the creature upon its Maker, but it was never so fully set forth as in Jesus Christ: his human nature, though above the whole scale of creatures, is supported by the Deity: no creature now may presume that it can be a self-subsistent, or stand upon its own bottom; all must confess a providence supporting and bearing of them up in being.

The second act of providence is ordinative, it directs and governs all: God steers the ship of the world and all the passengers in it: he orders the great house, and all the families of creatures in it. Providence turns every wheel in nature; and when there is a wheel within a wheel, intricacy and seeming crossness of motion, yet there is an eye in the wheel, a wise Providence which preserves order in confusion. All things are directed by congruous means to their proper end. There are millions of creatures which know not what an end is, but providence conducts them thither. Millions of events are casual as to us, but there is a certainty in providence. Millions of acts are free as to us, yet providence hath a sovereignty over them. In all things God is Alpha and Omega, the first mover, and the last end; the wise disposer and sure moderator of everything for his own glory. This great truth is excellently set forth in Christ. Three things will make this evident.

1. There was a signal providence over Christ.

2. There was a great providence over the fruit of his satisfaction, in raising up a church.

3. All other providences may be reduced to the other two.

1. There was a signal providence over Christ. God's eye and heart were upon the temple, which was but a type; how much more intent must they be upon Christ who is the substance? Providence all along had an eye upon him: it watched over his genealogy: a deluge swept away the corrupt world, but Noah must have an ark; the true Noah, the Messiah, who is our rest and comfort, was to come from him. Abraham's body, and Sarah's womb, were both dead; yet there must be an Isaac, that the true Isaac, the joy of the Father, may come in the flesh from him. Isaac was in a sort offered up, that he might be a type of Christ; but not sacrificed and actually slain, that Christ might come from him. Judah and Tamar commit incest, yet providence is not at a stand; no medium is too hard for it; even this way came the Holy One into the flesh. Ruth must leave her country, and be married to Boaz, that David, and afterwards Christ, the true David, whose kingdom was to be perpetual, might come from thence. The whole scripture aims at Christ, but the book of Ruth seems to be penned on purpose to show forth his genealogy. The tribe of Judah was carried to Babylon; the family of David was brought into a very low mean condition: but Judah must return again, the withered stem of David must bud and bring forth the Messiah, and that when it was in the lowest ebb. The lamp of David was almost quite extinct; but at the coming of the Messiah it was turned into a glorious sun, which should reign for ever. When Christ was to come, providence took order that it should be in due circumstances: a long train of types and sacrifices, such as filled many ages, passed before his appearance. There was gallicinium prophetarum, the cock-crowing of the prophets, before the rising of this sun. John Baptist came a little before, to prepare the way of the Lord by sermons of repentance. At last he came in the fulness of time, in the pre-appointed hour. When the Gentiles were desperately corrupted, when the Jews were horribly degenerate, then he came to heal the world. He was born in the right place. Augustus' tax calls up Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, the house of bread, that there our Saviour, the true bread from heaven, might be born. He being God and man in one person, providence took order that all along there should be an appearance of majesty and meanness: at his birth there was a star directing to him, wise men worshipping him, a host of angels congratulating the good tidings; yet himself an infant, wrapped in poor clouts, and laid in a manger. In his life he cast out devils, yet was tempted: he healed infirmities, yet was weary. The glory of mysteries and miracles brake forth from him, yet he was in the fashion and frailty of a man. The officers a little before his death, went backward and fell to the ground, yet he was apprehended; he was crucified through weakness, but liveth by the power of God. He hung upon a cross, but even there triumphed over all the powers of darkness. All which suits to God in the flesh. Nothing more sublime than God, nothing more vile than flesh. Accordingly in our Saviour there appeared a mixture of glory and weakness. To add but one thing more; providence would have the righteousness of his life, and the sufferings of his death, to be such as might be a full and ample satisfaction for the sin of the world; and so it was. The righteousness of his life highly honoured the rule of the law; the sufferings of his death were accommodated, as much as could be, to the curse of the law. Here the two great things, in which the law hath as high a completure as could possibly be in a sponsor on our behalf, that is, fulfilling the righteousness, and bearing the curse of the law, were both eminently comprised. Here the two great attributes of God which called for a satisfaction, that is, his holiness, which perfectly hates sin; and his justice, which punisheth it; were both gratified to the full. This satisfaction, as obediential, pleased God's holiness: as penal, satisfied his justice; in both there was ὀσμὴ ἐυωδίας, a sweet smelling savour unto God. He was, at least, as highly, if not more, pleased in it, as he was displeased at the sin of the world. Thus there was, as Providence would have it, a very full and just compensation for sin, and withal a redundancy of merit to procure all good things for us.

2. There was a great providence over the fruit of his satisfaction, in raising up a church to God. The Son of God assuming our nature, and in it making so glorious a satisfaction for us, Providence would not, I may say (without disparagement to its own perfection), could not, suffer so great a thing to be vain, or to no purpose; no, it therein aimed at a church. Two things will make this appear:

The one is the promises of God. He did not only say, that Christ should be a light to the Gentiles, and his salvation to the ends of the earth, (Isa. 49:6), but in express terms, that "he should see his seed," (Isa. 53:10): which promise having no other condition but his death only, did thereby become absolute; it was as sure as the truth of God could make it, that there should be a seed, a progeny of believers: and for the continuance of this seed successively, remarkable is that promise ינון שמו, filiabitur, nomen ejus, His name shall be sonned, or childed, from generation to generation, (Psal. 72:17:) there shall from time to time be a company of believers coming forth as the genuine offspring of Christ. Thus run the promises; and if God take care of anything, he will take care to be true. If providence (which without an aim is not itself) aim at anything in all the world, it will aim at the performance of the promises; the keeping of God's word being more precious to him than the preserving of a world.

The other thing to clear this point, is the end of Christ's death, which is signally set down in scripture. "Christ loved his church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word," (Eph. 5:25, 26.) "He gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works," (Tit. 2:14.) "He died, that he might gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad," (John 11:52.) Here the end of his death is plainly expressed; and if providence did not aim at the same thing, how should the wills of God and Christ stand in harmony, whilst providence neglects what Christ designs? Or now should Christ, after so vast an expense as his own blood, ever arrive at the intended end? To arrive at that by providence, which providence never aimed at, was impossible—to hit it by chance, was uncertain, and infinitely below such an agent as Christ, and such a work as his satisfaction. It was therefore the aim of providence that there should be a church.

Further. Providence doth not only intentionally aim at it, but actually procure it. And here two things are to be noted. 1. Providence directs the outward means of grace: these (which are things so great, that the kingdom of God is said to come nigh unto men in them) go not forth by chance, but by the divine pleasure; they are not hits of fortune, but blessings of providence, and that in a choice special manner. Evangelical light doth not, as the corporeal sun, shine everywhere. Supernatural dews do not, as the common rain, fall in every place: providence directs whither they shall go. Hence the apostles did not, at least for some time, let out their light, or drop their heavenly doctrine, in Asia or Bithynia (Acts, 16:6, 7), but pass into other parts. Their commission was general, to preach to every creature; but they followed the duct of providence in the executing of it. When Paul was at Corinth, his stay there was proportioned to his work; "God had much people in that city," (Acts. 18:10.) There was a great draught of believers to be made, therefore the evangelical net was long, and often cast in that place, as providence would have it; so the holy light was spread abroad in the world.

2. Providence takes order that the Holy Spirit in the use of the means, should so effectually operate, as might infallibly secure a church unto God. Hence, besides the light in the means, there is an in-shining into the heart; besides the outward hearing, there is a hearing and learning of the Father: "Cathedram in cœlo habet, qui corda docet:" "He hath a chair of state in heaven, who teaches hearts," saith St. Austin.* There is not only a proposal of objects, but an infusion of principles, to assimilate the heart thereunto. The gospel "doth not come in word only, but in power and in the Holy Ghost," (1 Thess. 1:5.) A divine power opens the heart, unlocks every faculty, dissolves the stone which is in it, imprints the holy law there, and frames and new-moulds it into the image of God, and thus there comes forth a church of believers, or, as the apostle speaks, "a church of the first-born which are written in heaven," (Heb. 12:23,) and all this is from the providence and good pleasure of God. Hence St. Paul saith, "That they are called according to his purpose and grace," (2 Tim. 1:9.) St. James saith, "That they are begotten of his own will," (James, 1:18.) St. John saith, "That they are born not of the will of man, but of God," (John, 1:13;) all is from the ἑυδοκία, the goodwill and pleasure of God. This providence which watches over the church, though it be a very signal one, and next to that over Christ himself, hath not wanted adversaries. Socinus saith, "That Christ the head was predestinated, but believers, the members, were not." Corvinus saith, "That notwithstanding the death of Christ, it was possible that there might be no church or believer." Grevinchovius asserts, "that redemption might be impetrated for all, and applied to none because of their incredulity." This opinion, to me, is a very impious one. The learned Junius observes, upon that of Socinus, "That it is a portentous and monstrous thing, that there should be a head without a body." And the professors of Leyden* call that of Corvinus dogma δύσφημον καὶ βλάσφημον, an opprobrious and blasphemous opinion. The impiety of it appears in the foul consequences which flow from thence.

1. It puts the lie upon the promises of God. He said that Christ should have a seed, (Isa. 53:10;) and yet, according to this opinion, he may be childless, and have none at all. He said, "That he should have the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession," (Ps. 2:8,) and yet he may have nothing. He said that "he should reign for ever, and of his kingdom there should be no end," (Luke, 1:33;) and yet, by an utter failure of subjects, he might not reign at all, and of his kingdom there might be not so much as a beginning. He said, "That he should be head over all things to the church," (Eph. 1:22;) and yet he may have nobody; nay, nor so much as one poor member of it. Notwithstanding all the promises, he may be a father without children; an heir without an inheritance; a king without subjects; a head without members: and how can these things be? Or how can God be true to his word, which is dearer to him than the whole frame of heaven and earth? Neither will it salve the matter to say, That in the event there was a church, and so much God foreknew: but if he foreknew it, it was a certain immutable thing. Mere casuals, such as may be or may not be, are not the objects of prescience. If a church might be, or might not be, as this opinion would have it, it was not the object of prescience. If a church would certainly be, then it is the object of prescience; but then this tenet, that it might be, or not be, falls to the ground. However, if we suppose a prescience, prescience is not providence. Neither, if there were there only nude prescience, would the church in the event be from providence, but from chance; and then the consequence is, chance, which made no promise, performs all: God, who made the promise, performs nothing. He is so far from taking care about it, that he commits it to the lottery of man's will, whether there shall be a church or not. If the event hit right, yet God is never the truer; he never performed the promise, he took no care about it; that thing, or rather nothing, called fortune, did order all.

2. This opinion doth highly disparage Christ and his precious blood. Creatures, nay the highest of them, angels, may fail and miss the mark; they have semina nihili, seeds of vanity and defectibility in them; but for Jesus Christ, who hath all the treasures of wisdom and power in himself, to fall short of his end, and so, as it were, to fall from himself and his happiness. For him to lay the foundations of a church in his own blood, and to have nothing built upon them: for him to make a laver of his own blood, and to have never a soul washed in it: for him to procure the Holy Spirit, and to have never a temple for it to dwell in, is a wonderful disparagement. The reflection is in effect, as if he were but a mere man, not wise or powerful enough to compass his end, or complete his work; as if his blood had no spirit or divine virtue in it, effectually to procure a church and people to himself. All which are below and extremely unworthy of him, and the great work in his hands. Every little seed in nature hath a body given to it; and yet according to this opinion, the Son of God might sow his own blood and righteousness, and have none at all. A cup of cold water given in charity hath its reward; and yet the blood of Christ poured out in a transcendent excess of love, may want it.

3. This casts a foul blot upon providence, that such is its accuracy, reaches to everything in nature, even to such minute things as hairs and sparrows: yet according to this opinion it neglects Christ's blood, more worth than a world, and the issue of it. It was the horrible folly of the emperor Domitian, to spend his time in catching of flies, while he neglected the great things of the empire. And what just apology can be made for providence, if it wake and watch over the sun, moon, stars, meteors, beasts, plants, nay over the very gnats and minute creatures, while it slumbers and sleeps over the sufferings of the Son of God? How much more tolerable were a neglect of all creatures, than of that one concern, which is a thing of infinite moment! If we believe that providence took no care about so great a thing as Christ's death, how can we persuade ourselves that it should respect the creatures, which are infinitely below it? A greater failure in government there cannot be than this, to be accurate in trifles, and neglective in momentous things. Again, providence reaches to the end of things; it doth not go part of the way only, but conducts them to their end: yet according to this opinion, it doth not do so in a thing of more consequence than all the world. It watched over the genealogy, birth, life, death, resurrection of Christ; but then it made a stand, taking no care what the issue or fruit of all this should be, after all was done; whether Christ should have a church, or so much as one believer in all the world, was not determined by providence, but left to the lottery of man's will. A greater defect cannot be imagined than this, to do great admirable things, and then not to regard what shall become of them. I shall say no more to this opinion, but conclude, That a very great providence did watch over the issue of Christ's death, that a church might be secured unto him. But because it may be said, that the providences over Christ and the church are, though great, yet but particular ones, I shall proceed to the next thing.

3. All other providences may be reduced to the other two. As God hath a special eye upon Christ and the church, so he orders other things to be some way or other subservient unto them. I shall in brief touch upon the reduction of other providences, first, to that over Christ, and then to that over the church.

First, Other providences are to be reduced to that over Christ. It was an ancient saying of the Jews, "That the world was made for the Messiah." The apostle tells us expressly, "That all things were created by him and for him." (Col. 1:16.) That providence which was over him, being the master-piece, the highest providence that ever the sun saw, must in all reason be the rule of the rest, in that we have the noblest prospect of God and the creature, the divine attributes set forth in their glory, and a creature, a human nature, elevated to the highest pitch: unto that, therefore, other providences are to be referred. To give some instances: God permitted Adam to fall and break his beautiful image of holiness all to pieces; and why did he permit it? Doubtless he could have upheld man in his integrity; no man dares deny it: doubtless he permitted it not irrationally; his will is ever irradiated with infinite wisdom. What account then may be given of it? If any at all be given, I suppose a better reason cannot be given than this, that he permitted it, that way might be made for the coming of his Son in the flesh. Hence that speech, "O fœlix culpa, quæ tantum meruit redemptorem!" Estius gives other reasons; but this (saith he) is "ratio omnium potissima, the chief reason of all, That God might be made man. The learned Zanchy saith,* Certum est, It is certain that evil was permitted, that the Son of God might take our flesh. But to go on: After the fall, the providence which watched over Noah, Abraham, Judah, Ruth, David, with others the ancestors of our Saviour, did look at that excellent one who was to come from thence: nay, that providence which keeps the whole world in its being and order, respects him and his satisfaction. Justice would, if unsatisfied, have dashed down the world about the sinner's ears; but it is preserved upon the account of Christ: it stands not now merely by power, but by blood. Redemption is a buttress to creation, to keep it from sinking into a chaos. "By Christ all things consist," (Col. 1:17,) not only subsist in their beings, but consist in their orders. The blessings and prosperities which Providence dispenses and doles out unto sinners, are all founded upon him. It is observable in the Old Testament, that they used this order in praying for blessings, The Lord be with you: thus Boaz to the reapers, (Ruth 2:4,) The Lord be with you; or, which is all one, The Lord be with us. Thus Solomon in his famous prayer: "The Lord our God be with us." (1 Kings 8:57.) The form of words falls in with the precious name of our Saviour Immanuel, or God with us. Were it not for Christ, the true Immanuel, God would not be with us at all to bestow any blessing upon us; but because he is with us in the incarnate Word, therefore he is with us to bless us. It may also be noted, that the mercies and deliverances which the Jews, God's own people, had under the Old Testament, either had a type of the great salvation graven upon them, or else had a promise of the Messiah interwoven with them. They were delivered out of Egypt, but that was a type of deliverance by Christ. Joshua brought them into Canaan, but that was a type of entering into heaven by Christ. God promised them deliverance from Rezin and Pekah; but the promise of the Messiah was interwoven with it, (Isa. 7:14,) he comforted them against a dark and troublous time, but he ushers in the promise of the Messiah. (Isa. 9:6.) All their temporal deliverances pointed to the great salvation. The apostle tells us, that God doth gather together in one, or sum up, all things in Christ. (Eph. 1:10.) In him the types had their truth, the promises were yea and amen. The law had its end, all was summed up in him. In a word, all the temporals in the world, all the spirituals in the church are founded upon him: he is the great centre, where all things concur and meet together.

Again: other providences are to be reduced to that over the church, as being next to that over Christ the most excellent providence of all. The saints, which make up the church, are God's jewels: his peculiar ones, his Jedidiahs, or beloved ones, the apple of his eye; a special providence must needs watch over them: he is called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Cujus omnes gentes sunt, quasi trium hominum Deus esset, saith St. Austin. He, whose all nations are, was the God of three men, a special care was over them; no wonder if other providences carry a respect to them, they are graven upon the palms of his hands. (Isa. 49:16.) In all the works which he sets his hand unto, he remembers and bears a respect to them; the whole world fares the better for them. The Jews say, "That the righteous are the foundation of the world, they bear up the pillars of it." (Psal. 75:3.) Sanctum semen statumen terræ, holy men do in a sort bear up the world. Jacob tells Laban, that the Lord had blessed him since his coming; in the original it is לרגלִי, at my foot. (Gen. 30:30.) Good men procure a blessing, and their masters are blessed at their feet: remarkable is that in Moses' song, "When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel," (Deut. 32:8.) When the world was divided (Gen. 10), Israel was not in being; yet a special respect was had of him, that the Canaanites should have as much land, as should be sufficient for Israel, who afterwards was to inherit it. The Jews say, that the seventy souls which went into Egypt were worth as much as the seventy nations of the world: to be sure, in proportioning out the world God had a singular respect to his own people; nay, he respected them not only in setting the outward bounds of the nations, but in limiting their inward desires also. Thus God assures them, that when they came up to appear before him, no man should desire their land, (Exod. 34:24). For their sakes Providence would not only keep off the hands of the nations round about them, but stint their wills, and curb their very concupiscences. The apostle, to show how great a share believers have m providence, tells us in one place, "that all things work together for their good," (Rom. 8:28.) The great plot of providence is to make all serve them: and in another, "that all things are theirs, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come: all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's," (1 Cor. 3:22, 23); being joint-heirs with Christ the heir of all things, they become in a subordinate sense heirs of all. "Fidelibus totus, mundus divitiarum est; the saints have all the world for their possession, at least such a proportion of it as most conduces to their happiness. If it were possible, saith Dr. Reynolds, for any member of Christ to stand absolutely in need of the use and service of the whole creation; all the creatures in the world should undoubtedly wait upon him, and be appropriated unto him. The moon should stand still, the sun go back, the lions should stop their mouths, the fire should give over burning, the ravens should bring him meat, the heavens should rain down bread, the rocks should gush out with water, all the creatures should muster up themselves to defend the body of Christ. Thus that excellent person. One thing more, as a seal to all the rest, may be noted: Christ, the head of the church, "hath all the power in heaven and in earth." (Mat. 28:18.) "He is head over all things to the church." (Eph. 1:22.) The church is the primary mark and scope of his government; therefore he rules with an eye upon it, and orders other things in a way subservient to it.

Having seen the divine providence manifested in Christ, I shall now consider what objections or exceptions have been made against providence, and how and in what manner they are solved in Christ.

First, Epicurus denied a providence. God, saith he, hath no business, at least not in the lower world. This he said, as Gregory Nyssen observes, because he would not have God to be creator of the world; and if he were not creator, how should he be a provisor? The fundamental reason why Epicurus denied a providence, was, that opinion of his,—that an infinite number of atoms dancing in inanity, did at last by a fortunate chance meet together in a world. To this opinion a no-providence best accords: a world made by chance should be ruled so. Why should God rule in a world not of his own making? But that opinion in itself is very monstrous and absurd, Atoms did by good fortune make a world. But, as an ancient hath it, Unde ista corpuscula? whence came these lucky atoms? Are they temporal or eternal things? If temporal, they must own a maker whom they oppose: if eternal, they must be invariable, that is, dance on in their inanity, and never sit down in a world. How should atoms, if eternal, produce so imperfect a thing as chance; or chance, so irregular in itself, produce such an harmonious order as is in the world? May the blind particles of matter rally themselves into a world? or which way should they sink into an earth, melt into a sea, spread into a firmament, inflame themselves into a sun, moon, and stars, and subtiliate themselves into life, sense, and reason? It is far easier to believe, that letters should casually cast themselves into an accurate poem; or that stones and timber should happily lay their heads together in a delicate structure, than that atoms should chance to meet and settle in a world incomparably transcending all human arts and composures: and could a world be so made, how should it be secured? Who shall clip the wings of these atoms, or chain them to their seats, that they may not fly away from their bodies, and dance again in inanity? It being most rational, that a world made by chance should be so dissolved. Reason tells us, that in this opinion we have nothing but a heap of absurdities; but Scripture tells us, that the world was not made by chance, but by Christ the eternal Word and wisdom of the Father; in whom, as the schoolmen say, was the eternal idea of all things, according to which, as the grand exemplar, all were made: the eternal wisdom, which comprised all in itself, produced all in time.

Another objection which Epicurus made against providence, was this: God, being blessed in himself, must not trouble or disparage himself by taking care of these inferior things. But this is as great nonsense as the other. What! can there be trouble in a pure act, in one who can do every thing by a word of power, who needs only to speak, and the thing is done? May there be a disparagement in ruling over what he hath made? Are not these inferior things the works of his hands? If not, how came they out of nullity? If so, how doth he disparage himself by ruling over his own works? If it be a disparagement to care for them, was it not so to to create them? Nay, as St. Ambrose hath observed*, Not to make them was no injustice; not to care for them being made, is great inclemency. But the greatest solution of all we have in Christ: in him we plainly see the Son of God, very God, not only taking care about his creatures, but (which is a condescension infinitely lower, though without disparagement) assuming a creature, a human nature, into his own sacred person. No man may now dream that providence doth in the least disparage the Deity.

Leaving Epicurus, I pass unto another exception. There may be providence over some things, but surely not over the free acts of men. Epicurus thought some things too low for providence, others think human acts, because free, too high for it. Thus Cicero thought,* that if there were a certain order of things and causes, human liberty would be subverted; there would be no room for laws, or exhortations, or virtues, or vices, or rewards, or punishments. This made St. Austin pass that censure upon him, Dum vult facere liberos, facit sacrilegos: While he would make men free, he made them sacrilegious. Thus the Pelagians affirmed, That the will is destroyed if it want the help of another; that there being a free will, God is no further necessary to us; indeed the posse, or power, is from God; but the velle, or willing, is only from ourselves. Thus Socinus distinguishes between the internal and external acts of men;† the internal are only in man's power, as not belonging to the administration of the world; the external may fall under providence, but not the internal. Volkelius and others go the very same way.

This opinion to me is a very impious one, it highly disparages divine providence: it is in effect as much as to say, God hath nothing to rule over but the brutal world, the rational is lost out of his dominions. It takes away the glory and crown of providence, which rules over free agents in so rare and admirable a manner, that they, though moving upon the wings of liberty, do infallibly hit the mark. It subverts the certainty of providence, and that in those things which were positively decreed by God, and of the highest moment to men. What more positively decreed, or more highly momentous to the Jewish church, than those two famous deliverances from Egypt and Babylon? Or what more positively decreed, or more highly momentous to the whole world, than the sufferings of our Saviour? Yet these things being to come to pass by the free acts of men, and those free acts not being under providence, the event must needs be pendulous and uncertain, as those free acts upon which the event depends, are. Providence, having no sovereign dominion over those free acts, doth not ascertain the event, but leave it dubious and fluctuating till the human will determine itself. And what is this, but to make providence nothing, and man an independent agent? And whither doth this tend, but to the utter subversion of piety? We should say in piety, If the Lord will, we will do this or that, (Jam. 4:15;) but according to this opinion, God himself may say, If man will, I will do this or that. This made the famous Bradwardine justly cry out,‡ Quis enim theologicus aut catholicus, imo vel hæreticus, schismaticus aut paganus audeat se præponere Deo suo, dicere seipsum dominum, Deum suum servum, seipsum superiorem, Deum inferiorem, seipsum architectum et principalem artificem, Deum vero subservientem et suum quodammodo instrumentum? What divine or catholic, yea, what heretic, schismatic, or pagan, dares prefer himself before his God, to say, that he is Lord, God the servant; he superior, God inferior; he the architect and principal artificer, God subservient, and a kind of instrument under him? Moreover, it directly contradicts scripture. God touched their hearts, and Saul had a band. (1 Sam. 10:26.) God opened the heart of Lydia, and the gospel had entrance. (Acts 16:14.) God turneth the king's heart, and that whither he will. (Prov. 21:1.) God draws men, and they come to Christ. (John 6:44.) God put it into the king's heart, and the temple was beautified. (Ezra 7:27.) "God worketh to will and to do of his own good pleasure." (Phil. 2:13.) None of these can be true, if providence rule not over the wills and hearts of men: but that it doth so, is not only clear in these instances, but in an eminent manner appears in Jesus Christ; his human will was free, and yet infallibly guided by his divine. Hence he tells us, that he did nothing of himself, (John 8:28;) nay, and that he could do nothing of himself. (John 5:19.) The divine will inclined the whole suppositum, and moved the human, and that, as the learned professor speaks*, Non suasoriè tantum, sed efficienter et physicè; that man, therefore, who thinks his human will above providence, presumes his liberty to be above that in the human nature of our Saviour.

But here it is objected, that if providence rule over the will, human liberty is destroyed.

I answer, human liberty is so highly magnified by some, that they speak very strangely touching the things of God. Hence Penottus dreams, that the divine decrees touching human acts are not to be conceived as a definitive sentence, but as a pendent one, till the human will have determined itself. God must wait till he see what man will do. Nay, hence Schlictingius confidently lays it down,† that the infallible prescience of God infers a necessity upon human acts, as well as his absolute decree; that necessity, if granted, takes away all piety. It seems that man may be free; God must not only suspend his eternal decrees, but part with his prescience also. Thus presumptuous is the pride of man in asserting his own liberty; but for the thing itself, providence and human liberty do very well consist together. Providence is not destructive, but salvative of human liberty: it imposes upon human acts, not a necessity of coaction, but of immutability only, such as no way trenches upon the creature's freedom. Some, I suppose, will not admit that distinction; but that it is a necessary one, appears thus: On the one hand, it is impossible that any act of man's will should fall under a necessity of coaction; for then it should will nolent. On the other, it is impossible that any act of man's will should come to pass in any other way than under a necessity of immutability. For whatever comes to pass, before its existence was future; and whatever is future, comes to pass immutably: if it was not future before, it cannot come to pass at all; if it was future before, it comes to pass immutably: for a future cannot cease to be future, till it come into actual existence. But to pass this, I shall lay down some considerations touching the consistence of providence and human liberty.

1. It is to be noted, that God is infinite in all perfections, incomparably transcending all creatures; that all creatures are finite, but as a little drop or dust, a vanity or quasi nothing before him. This consideration in a humble heart, is able to solve even seeming contradictions. God's immensity, though as indivisible as a point, comprizes the world, without crushing the least quantity together. God's eternity, though an instant, environs ages without confounding the least sand of temporal succession: And why may not God's will, though in St. Austin's phrase it be rerum necessitas, comprehend created wills within its decrees, without any violence or unkind pressure upon their liberty? God is infinite, the creature finite; infinite cannot but immeasurably transcend finite; finite cannot but be every way ruleable by infinite. Let us remember, that God is God; and if men deify their own free will, that "he is a God above all gods." (Psal. 135:5.) And then the next verse will be an easy consequence, "Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that he did in heaven and earth." (Vers. 6.) As the heavens are higher than the earth, so his thoughts are above ours, and therefore the one may easily be conceived to encircle the other; to say, that the human will, without a damage to its liberty, is not ruleable by providence, is to say, that infinite wisdom and power have posed themselves in making such a creature as they could not govern without destroying its faculties. And to say, that the human will, though ruleable by providence, is not so ruled, is to say that the great King of kings and Lord of lords hath voluntarily, and without any necessity for it, waved his principality over his noblest creatures, over the wills and hearts of men.

2. That providence and human liberty should consist together, is necessary on all hands. On God's part, that he may rule like a God over the noblest creatures; that the great thing's, which were to be brought forth through the free acts of men, might come to pass, as became providence, in a sure and infallible way: on man's part, that he may act, though as a man rationally, yet as a creature dependently upon God; that he may humbly acknowledge, that all his liberty is but a drop or little beam from him who is the fountain of power, and therefore must hang upon him in its being and working. Free-will is a principle to his own operations; yet, as the schoolmen speak, it is principium sub Deo et post Deum,* a principle under God and after God.

3. The suavity and congruity of providence reconciles the matter. God doth not ruin his creatures in the ruling of them, nor destroy his works that he may fulfil his will, πρόνοια τῆς ἑκάσου φύσεως σωσικὴ, providence so applies itself to everything, as to preserve its nature. God so administreth all things, that, as St Austin speaks, "Ipsa proprios exercere et agere motus sinat," he suffers them to act and vise their own proper motions: "He gave the Israelites favour in the eyes of the Egyptians," (Exod. 12:36), yet he robbed not the Egyptians of their liberty: he touched the hearts of Saul's followers (1 Sam. 10:26), yet he cracked never a string in their rational faculties: he raised up his people's spirit to build the temple (Ezra, 1:5), yet he did not depress their freedom. Providence doth not operate by violent impulsions, but sweetly accommodate itself to the wills of men. Hence it may very well consist with liberty. It sets down human events, and a congruous mode waiting on them? I mean, it orders that such things shall come to pass, and come to pass freely; so that it is so far from being compulsive, that it is completive of human liberty. Should such things not come to pass freely, the event would no less cross divine providence than human freedom.

4. In Scripture, providence and liberty stand in sweet conjunction. "God opened the heart of Lydia," (Acts, 16:4); yet she opened her own heart to attend: he stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, (Ezra, 1:1); yet he stirred up his own spirit also. Titus went to the Corinthians ἀυθαίρετος, of his own self-choice and option, (2 Cor. 8:17), yet "God put it into his heart," (v. 16.) The Jews did freely crucify our Saviour, yet God's hand and God's counsel determined it to be done," (Acts, 4:28.) The Chaldees march against God's people in violence, and in the pomp of freedom; insomuch that the prophet saith, that their judgment and their dignity proceeded of themselves; yet they were ordained for judgment. (Hab. 1:7, 12.) In these and other Scriptures, providence and liberty are clearly, pregnantly asserted; both are true, both in conjunction. What if we know not how to join these together, or what is the mode of their conjunction? We are yet humbly and piously to acknowledge and confess the truth of both. God can do much more than we are able to search into. Melancthon used often to recite* that of his master, Stadian, viz. "I know both, that God foreknows and determines all things, and yet that there is a contingency; but how to reconcile them, so as to satisfy the contentious, I see not."

5. This objection is solved in Jesus Christ: his human will was free, or else his active and passive obedience was not meritorious or satisfactory; and yet his human will was infallibly guided by his divine, or else his merit and satisfaction were not certainly determined. It is true, some have been so hardy as to say, that Christ might have sinned, or not have obeyed his Father's will. Thus Arius said, Filium Dei fuisse κακίας καὶ ἀρετῆς δεκτικὸν, that the Son of God was capable of vice and virtue. Thus some others have affirmed, that Christ as man might not have obeyed. But the council of Nice pronounced an anathema against Arius for that opinion, as being one of his blasphemies. It is very miserable that men should have no higher thoughts of Christ than so. To say, That Christ might have sinned, or, which is all one, to say, that he might not have obeyed, is to say, that there might have been a discord between the Father and the Son, a repugnancy between the divine and human wills in Christ: that the admirable hypostatical union of the two natures in him, might have been broken and dissolved: that his human nature might have lost and forfeited the rich anointings and over-measures of the Spirit which were upon it: that the great work of redemption and salvation in his hands, might have failed, and come to nothing: nay, and that our glorious Redeemer and Saviour might by his sin have stood in need of one to save and redeem him. All which show the black blasphemies which are couched in that opinion. To say no more of it, I conclude, that providence rules over the free acts of men, and that without any violence put upon their liberty: men act freely, and yet dependently upon God, the primordial cause.

The next objection made against providence, is this: if there were a providence, how or which way should it come to pass, that the wicked should prosper, and the good be afflicted?

This objection so staggered the heathens, that many of them denied a providence upon this account. If there were a providence, say they, why had Phalaris or Dionysius a kingdom? Why Rutilius or Camillus a banishment? Why Socrates a cup of poison? When they saw bloody impure tyrants sitting upon the throne, when good and just men tossed with miseries, and exposed to great afflictions, they hence concluded, that there was no such thing as providence ruling over the world: hence that of the poet—

Cum rapiunt mala fata bonos, ignoscite fasso,

Sollicitor nullos esse putare Deos.

Hence, when Pompey in a good cause wanted success, a sad complaint was made, That, (res divinas multum habere caliginis,) providence, if anything at all, was very dark. Nay, this objection was a scruple to the saints under the Old Testament. Hence those expostulations, "Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea are mighty in power?" (Job, 21:7.) "Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world, they increase in riches," (Psalm, 73:12.) "Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper?" (Jer. 12:1.) "Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously?" (Hab. 1:13.) A scruple they had, yet still they held fast this conclusion, "that God was good to Israel," (Ps. 73:1;) and "righteous in all his dispensations," (Jer. 12:1.) An answer may be made to this objection in many things; I shall only in brief touch upon them. It is a very good rule, Non est judicandum de operibus Dei ante quintum actum: This or that particular piece of providence may look, apart and by itself, as if it were irregular; but if all be set together, the result is nothing but order and harmony. The wicked prosper, but it is only in outward carnal things; within, there are souls desolate and void of grace: it is but for a moment, a little span of life; in the end they sink down into the bottomless pit of perdition. The good are afflicted, but it is in their body or outward lumber; within, there are souls florid and beautiful in grace: it is but for a short time, in the end they enter into rest and life eternal. The blessings which the wicked have, are good in themselves; but to them who take them, separate and without God the donor, they are but a lie, a vanity, a snare to their souls, and fuel to their lusts. The afflictions which fall upon the good are evil in themselves, but to them who bear them in faith and patience, they are antidotes against sin, trials of grace; nay, precious love-tokens from their Father in heaven. The wicked in their worshipping of God, give him only the shell and outside; accordingly, he gives them the things of this world, which in comparison to those of a better, are but toys and trifles. The good serve God in spirit and truth; suitably he "makes them to inherit יש substance," (Prov. 8:21;) that is, those spiritual and eternal realities which transcend all the shadows and pompous apparitions of the world. The wicked are creatures, and so have a portion in this life; yet in the midst of all their prosperity they move to that hell which is the centre of their iniquity. The good are sinners, and so have some afflictions to purge out the relics of sin; yet, in the midst of their troubles, they pass on to that heaven which is the centre of their sanctity. If the wicked should have nothing but adversity, it would look as if there were no judgment to come, no after-reckoning for their iniquity. If the good should have nothing but prosperity, it would seem to hint, as if their reward were only here; as if there were no such things as heaven and life eternal reserved for them. The wicked prosper that we might not set too high a rate or value upon those outward things, which the vilest and basest of men enjoy. The good are afflicted, that the crowns and recompences of holiness might appear to lie, not in this vale of tears, but in that region where there is perfect blessedness. But, pretermitting all these, we have an eminent solution of this scruple in our Lord Christ; what an excellent one was he! what a pure innocent lamb! how meek, humble, holy, harmless, merciful, zealous, heavenly, obedient, patient was he! how fair and lovely in all graces was he? what a divine light and lustre did his virtues cast forth into the world! how attractive and ravishing were the perfections shining out in him! What sermons did he preach! What cures did he do! What was his life but a continual doing of good! Who, where is the man that ever was so profitable to mankind, or so obliged the world as he did! And yet how was he used! What entertainment did he meet withal here! He was despised, rejected, a man of sorrows, acquainted with griefs; extremely poor, not having where to lay his head: at last he was arraigned, falsely accused, unjustly condemned, spit upon, buffeted, mocked, nailed to a tormenting cross, there to breathe out his last. Never did innocency so suffer as here, and yet never did providence show itself in such glory, in and by the sufferings of this Holy One; the great work of redemption was accomplished; his stripes were healing ones; his blood a laver to wash sinners; his cross was a triumphant conquest over death and hell; his sacrifice made a perfect atonement; his sufferings answered for the sin and suffering of a world. His sorrows made way for good tidings; his shame procured glory for us; his condemnation was in order to our absolution; his poverty was to enrich us with grace and glory. This was the very masterpiece of providence; never did the sun see such an incomparable design as here, out of death comes life; out of the sufferings of an holy righteous person, rises up an eternal spring of blessings and all good things.

The last objection made against providence is this: If there is a providence, πόθεν τὸ κακὸν: whence is that greatest of evils, sin; providence rightly and wisely disposes of things, sin is an horrible and monstrous ataxy and confusion, such as makes the earth without form and void, (Jer. 4:23,) as if the old chaos were come again; and how comes it to pass that such an inordinate thing should be in the world? It was the objection of Marcion*, that if God were good, and foreknowing of futures, and able to avert evil, he would not have suffered man to fall.

In answer to this objection, it is to be premised, that God is not, nor cannot be the author of sin: God is light, sin darkness; God purity, sin uncleanness; God omnipotency, sin imbecility; God a pure act, sin a defect. Sin cannot be from such an one as he is: nevertheless it is clear that sinful actions do not fall out altogether without a providence. The scripture is very pregnant herein: Joseph's brethren sell him into Egypt, but God sent him thither. (Gen. 45:5.) Shimei cursed David, but God bid him do so. (2 Sam. 16:11.) Absalom lies with his father's concubines, but God said, I will do it. (2 Sam. 12:12.) A lying spirit deceived Ahab, but God said, Go and do so. (1 King 22:22.) Thus, and much more saith the holy book, but neither is reason silent herein; I shall therefore offer two things.

1. It was a determinate verity, and that before the event, that such and such sinful actions should come to pass; a verity it could not be without a providential purpose, for then it would be an independent, self-originated, unpreventable truth; the thing must come to pass whether God would or no. That which is of itself, and a kind of origin to itself, can have no impediment; it will exist and be a kind of ἀυτουσία, or self-subsistent: to avoid which absurdities I take it to be necessary to say, that such a verity cannot be without a providence.

2. The greater number of human actions are sinful, and if all these were exempt from providence, how could providence rule the world? If God were the author of sin, he could not judge the world: because he could not be author and ultor respectu ejusdem; but if sin fall out without a providence, he could not rule the world, because the major part of human actions are evil.

But seeing it is certain, that providence is for being and order, and that sin is an ataxy and confusion, I shall give a more distinct answer to this objection; and here the light must be divided from the darkness. In a sinful action there are three things considerable. I mean the anomy, or ataxy, the entity, and the order of it.

1. The anomy or ataxy is mere darkness, it is a defect, and only from a deficient agent: it is ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων, as the expression is, (John. 8:44) of a man's own: Creatura habet redire ad non esse a se, the creature falls from its defectibility and pravity; here providence is only a permissor; on the one hand it is certain, that no sin can possibly come to pass without a permission. If God suffer it not, no man can wrong Israel, (Psal. 105:14). And, which is less than an injurious act, Balaam cannot curse her, (Numb. 22:38). And, which is yet less than a cursing word, the idolatrous nations cannot desire her land, (Exod. 34:24). Let a man be in never so great a phrensy of lust, God can hedge and wall him up that he shall not find his paths. On the other hand it is certain, that God is only a permissor of the anomy or ataxy, it is not from him as a cause: the creature being defectible in itself, and under a law distinct from itself, may fail and fall short of the rule; but God who hath no other law but his perfection, and can no more decline from his rectitude than his being, is a mere permissor.

2. The entity in a sinful action, though coexistent with the anomy, is to be distinguished from it; besides the anomy, there is aliquid naturæ, somewhat of positive being. This I think is clear: though an act as it respects the law, and is in linea morali, may be sinful; yet as it is an act, and considered in lineâ physicâ, it cannot be such; for so it is but the mere complement of a natural faculty, and that complement cannot in itself be sinful, because the God of nature cannot be the author of sin. The anomy or sinfulness dwells not alone, but in alieno fundo, in some natural good. Original sinfulness is an inmate in the natural faculties; actual sinfulness is an inmate in some action or motion. The action is inordinate, but it is not the inordination; the inordination is a privation, but the act is not so; the act is a positive thing, but the inordination is not so; the act is the subject of the inordination, therefore it is not the very inordination itself. Now there being such a distinction in sinful actions between the entity and the anomy, the entity or motion must be from God the first being and mover. Arminius himself would have it, Ut totus actus rite providentiæ subjiciatur, quâ actus efficienti, quâ peccatum permittenti providentiæ. As to the malice providence permits, but as to the action or motion it operates; no particle of being can be produced without it; such persons as are by illegitimate generation, are doubtless God's creatures, and that because the generating act, as it is an act, is from God.

3. The order is considerable: In sinful actions all is not mere ataxy; God hath a holy line in the midst of the disorder. In monsters there are aberrations of particular natures, yet providence is not mistaken. In sins, which are moral monstrosities, the sinning-creature is inordinate; yet providence is not without an order touching the same. And here we may take notice of a double order; the one looks backwards, and that is the order of penalty: the other looks forward, and that is the order of conducibility. I shall a little touch upon each of these.

1. The order of penalty is considerable, and that under a double notion; the one is this: A sinful action is pœna sibiipsi, a punishment to itself. Jussisti, Domine, et sic est, ut pœna sibi sit omnis inordinatus animus; An inordinate mind is a punishment to itself. Sin (saith the subtle Scotus)* as it is fluent from the will, is sin; but as it is resident in the will, it is punishment. Or thus: As it fights and wars against the law, it is sin; but as it debases and deturpates the soul in its beauty and serenity, it is punishment. A man cannot sin against God, but he wrongs his soul. (Prov. 8:36.) Jerusalem cannot make idols against God, but she doth it against herself too, (Ezek. 22:3.), in respect of this penalty. God doth not suffer dedecus peccati esse sine decore justitiæ, no not for a moment. The other is this; One sin is a punishment to another precedent. In general, St. Austin tells us, That between the first sin of apostacy, and the last punishment of eternal fire, the middle things are sins and punishments. Sometimes the sin of one person is a punishment to the precedent sin of another. David's adultery was punished with Absolom's incest: Solomon's idolatry with Rehoboam's folly. Sometimes the subsequent sin of a person, is a punishment to his precedent sin. The Gentiles were idolatrous, and God gave them up to vile affections. (Rom. 1:26.) Men love not the truth, and God sends them strong delusions. (2 Thess. 2:11.) In all which instances, peccatum non Dei est, sed judicium; the sin is man's, the judgment God's.

2. There is an order of conducibility to be observed. God permits not a sin irrationally: non sineret bonus fieri male (saith Austin) nisi omnipotens etiam de mala facere posset bene; the good God would not suffer evil to be done, unless he could by his omnipotency bring good out of it. Nullum est malum in mundo (saith Bradwardine)† quod non est propter aliquod magnum bonum, et forsitan propter aliquod majus bonum; there is no evil in the world which is not for some great good, and perhaps for some greater good. Adam by his fall broke in pieces a beautiful image of holiness, and the dust of it made a glass of creature-defectibility. The stock of grace laid up in Adam, was lost; and an unloseable treasury is laid up in Christ's human nature. Joseph's brethren sell him, but God sent him into Egypt to preserve life. (Gen. 45:5). Persecutors scatter the church, and by this means God scatters the gospel. (Acts 8:4.) Thus he orders the very sins of men to excellent purposes.

There being, as hath been said, such a double order, it is most apparent, that both these orders are from his providence who is the God of order: the order of penalty is from him who is justice itself; the order of conducibility is from him who is wisdom itself. Providence is either justly punishing, or wisely disposing of things. The sins of men are evil in themselves, but the order hath a goodness and beauty in it.

These things being laid down in general, I come now to answer this objection in that instance which is above all other, the sufferings of our Saviour. The blackest iniquity that ever the sun saw, was the crucifying of him who was God manifested in the flesh; and yet here providence did not stand off or at a distance, but ordered his sufferings to bring forth the great work of redemption. On man's part there was malice, blood, and unparalelled wickedness; yet on God's, there was justice, righteousness, and a design of incomparable love to save the world: hence it is said, that "Herod, and Pilate, and the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatsoever God's hand and God's counsel determined before to be done," (Acts 4:27, 28). Never was there so horrible a sin, never so signal a providence as here. Some divines do here distinguish thus: the passion of Christ was decreed, but the crucifiers' action was not. Others will not admit this distinction. Beza against Castelio says, that common sense is against it. Chamier thinks that natural light is against it. I confess that I cannot satisfy myself with it. Are the action and passion really distinct? May the one be without the other? May providence be, as becomes it, perfect, if it determine an effect without a cause; or that Christ should be slain, and not by whom? A scheme of one decree hath been let down from heaven to us, whose accuracy is considerable, (1 Kings, 22) there God did not only decree that Ahab should be persuaded to go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead, but that it should be done by the hardest medium, by a lying spirit commissionated to go and prevail. And may we think providence more accurate touching a judgment on one wicked man, than it is touching the redemption of the world by Christ? and yet will it not be more accurate, if in the one the mode and person by whom the thing should be done, be designed, and not in the other? Suppose the action and passion to be distinct, yet is not the passion a dependent on the action? And if the action be casual, must not the passion be so too? And if the passion only be decreed, must not the action be casual? That action which is altogether undecreed (I mean, there being no decree of permission upon which the action as a consequent doth ensue) is undetermined by God; and (because there is no middle determinator) that which is undetermined by God, must remain undetermined, till man determines it, that is, till it be done, or at least in fieri; and that which is undetermined till then, is casual to the very moment of its existence; that is, as casual as any thing can be. And if the action be casual, the passion, which is a pendent upon it, must be so too; and if the passion be casual, it must be undetermined and undecreed as well as the action; and so providence, while denied in the one, is subverted in both. But to say no more to that distinction, we see clearly in the sufferings of Christ, how admirable providence is, in and about the very sins of men. There God was wise while man was foolish; God merciful while man cruel: God just while man unrighteous; the light was God's, and the darkness man's: the order God's, and the ataxy man's; the throne and sovereign dominion God's, the sin and rebellion man's. Wicked projects were turned about to just ends, vile actions were overruled to excellent purposes; at that very death of Christ, in which so many impious hands thrust themselves, providence was not absent, but put in its holy hand and counsel to bring forth the glorious work of redemption and salvation out of it.

One thing more may be noted; we have a pregnant proof of providence in the pious posture of our suffering Saviour. When he was under the unjust and bloody hands of men, he looked above and beyond them to the hand and providence of God; when Pilate told him that he had power to crucify him, he answered, "That Pilate could have no power at all against him, except it were given him from above." (John 19:11.) As much as to say, unless it had been God's determinate counsel, a thousand Pilates could have done nothing at all. When the Jews poured out horrid blasphemies and injuries, he was as a meek lamb, dumb, he opened not his mouth. Indeed there were tears and strong cries to God, but no murmurs or complaints of men; he looked above them to the pleasure of his Father: "When he was reviled, he reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously." (1 Pet. 2:23.) O rare mirror of faith and patience! He knew whom he had to do withal; his eyes were not upon men, but God; not upon their wicked projects, but upon his Father's wise counsel. In all his sufferings he fully acquiesced in his Father's pleasure, saying, not my will, but thine be done.

Further, we may observe, that the saints have ever owned a providence watching over the injuries of men. God sent me, saith Joseph: The Lord hath taken away, saith Job: The Lord bid him curse, saith David: Thou hast ordained them for judgment, saith Habakkuk of the Chaldees. Still they look up to the hand of providence in such events, exercising themselves in holy fear, faith, patience, prayer towards God. Were there not a providence, what should the saints do? which way could they turn themselves for comfort? in a storm of persecution what doth their fear do? it terminates not on man but God, and that upon very good reason; because man is but, as Attila called himself, flagellum Dei, the staff or rod in the hand of God, the great moderator: but if there be no such thing as providence, the staff is no longer in God's hand, out in man's; he may do what he pleases. Hence in such a case it looks like a piece of reasonable idolatry to fear man who determines the event; and like a piece of reasonless piety to fear God, who doth just nothing at all: and what doth their faith do? they fly under the Almighty shadow, and fix their faith as a rare engine, upon that singular providence, which runs towards them in a more than ordinary sweetness through the covenant of grace: in this posture they stand as secure, as if by divine art they could remove the troublous earth into a quieter ubi, or at least be untroubled in the troubles of it. But if there be no providence, what can they do? their shadow is departed, their faith, which may not take so low a centre as earth or man, hath no providence or place in heaven to fasten itself upon, it being irrational to stay on the mercy or power of him who doth just nothing in such events; faith now is no more itself, but a dream or fancy about some providence or invisible hand which is not: and what shall their patience do? in such cases they used to lay themselves down at God's feet, as lambs not opening their mouths; or else speaking low, and, as it were, out of the dust of creature-vileness, in some such submissive terms as those of Eli, "It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good;" an excellent posture for a creature under the great Governor! But if he govern not, patience is no more itself; neither under man, a mere fellow-creature, should it be in so low a posture: it is a grace which can live nowhere but under providence. The taking away of providence ruins patience in the very foundation, no less than the taking away of precepts doth obedience. And what can their prayer do? It can unlock heaven, and by importuning the Governor of the world, do great things: but if God rule not, it is but a mere insignificant thing; no tolerable account can be given, why in such cases they should address themselves to him who is no moderator. Thus we see that the doctrine of providence is of great moment to the graces of the saints. I shall conclude all with the pious words of two emperors; the one is Mauritius, who, seeing his wife and children murdered, said, Justus es, Domine, justa judicia tua. The other is Maximilian, who, in the time of Pope Julius the Second, expressed his thoughts touching providence thus: Deus æterne! nisi vigilares, quam male esset mundo, quem regimus nos? ego miser venator, et ebriosus ille ac sceleratus Julius?

There being a divine providence, such as spreads itself over all things, what acknowledgments and adorations should be paid to it! it upholds and directs all things, it stoops down to worms and hairs; it governs the great things of the church and the world; it ascertains the most casual events; it rules over the freest agents: nay, it reduces sin itself, the most horrible of ataxies, into order; it brings light out of darkness, order out of confusion, good out of evil; it leaves nihil inordinatum in universo, nothing simply totally inordinate in all the world. Oh, how should we hang and depend upon it! our purposes should all have that pious condition, "If the Lord will, we will do this or that," (Jam. 4:15.) Our motto should be, nihil sine Deo, nothing without providence. In all our ways we should look up and wait for the good hand of God to direct and prosper us, without which vanity takes us, and all comes to nothing. In our converses with men we should look above them, to him who sits at the stern and rules. Do they do us good? let us remember the fountain is above, man is but the channel; not the least good drops from them but what was distilled out of them by providence. Jacob saith, "That he saw Esau's face as the face of God," (Gen. 33:10.) Little of God was to be found in Esau, yet in his kindness Jacob spied out a beam of the divine goodness and favour. Do they deal ill with us? let us consider no more of their malice or wrath can issue forth upon us, than providence will suffer; the remainder shall be restrained and kept back: in their verbal reproaches and obloquies let us say with David, "The Lord hath bid him curse." In their real injuries and oppressions let us say with Job, the "Lord hath taken away;" still our eyes should be lifted up above instruments to that wise providence which orders all. In all the great affairs of the church and the world let us still hold to this, "The Lord reigneth," (Psalm. 93:1.) Providence governs the world and all in it; heresies and bloody persecutions may break out as a flood, yet truth shall stand, and the church built upon it. In a word, seeing God is universal governor, we should fear him in every place, eye him in every work, submit to him in every event, depend upon him in every estate, and glorify him in all his administrations. This is indeed to confess his kingdom which ruleth over all, and practically to own his providence, which sweetly and strongly disposes all things to his own praise and glory.

CHAPTER IX:

The doctrine of original sin, the great moment of it—Adam's sin imputed to us

The doctrine of original sin, the great moment of it—Adam's sin imputed to us—The proof of it from Scripture—Adam's capacity—Adam's righteousness—Objections answered—Our inherent pravity—The proof of it from Scripture—The experience of our hearts—The actual sins in the world—The doctrine of original sin manifested from Christ's extraordinary conception—His Headship opposed to Adam's, from the institution of baptism—The wickedness of the Jews in crucifying of Christ—The purchase of regeneration and salvation made by Christ—A short improvement of this doctrine.

IN the next place I shall proceed to consider original sin, the doctrine of which is very momentous. The Psalmist in the fourteenth Psalm notably sets forth the corrupt estate of man by nature; and again he sets it forth in the fifty-third Psalm almost in the same words, pointing out to us the great necessity and utility of this doctrine, which admirably tends to undeceive and deliver us from that fascinating opinion of our own righteousness and worthiness, which too much charms the hearts of all men; and withal to prepare and make us ready to accept a cure from Christ and his regenerating grace. This is a most necessary fundamental doctrine. St. Austin speaking of Adam and Christ, saith,* In horum duorum hominum causa proprie fides Christiana consistit: the christian faith stands in the knowledge of those two men; the one the spring of sin and death; the other the spring of grace and life. And speaking of the Pelagians as denying original sin, he charges them, fundamenta Christianæ fidei evertere,† to overturn the foundations of the Christian faith. Without the knowledge of this sin, that excellent rule,—γνῶθι σεαυτὸν, know thyself—becomes altogether impracticable; a man, though near to his own soul, is a stranger to it; though he hath a reflecting faculty, yet he cannot make a true inspection into his heart. He sees only his outside: within there is a deadly wound, yet he feels it not; a sink, a chaos or corruptions, yet he perceives it not: that holy image which was the beauty and pure rectitude of his nature, is departed and gone; yet he is not concerned at it. He is, as Nazianzen speaks, "totus lapsus," all fallen, all out of order; yet it seems to him as if all were well and in a due posture: he is miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, and yet insensible in all these, according to that false, or rather no-judgment that he hath of himself. He is happy in his misery, rich in his poverty, seeing in his blindness, beautiful in his shame and spiritual nakedness; in the midst of straits and necessities he finds no need of Christ, or regenerating grace: the necessity and excellency of these appear in such proportion as the depth and breadth of that sin is apprehended to be. Hence it is observable on the one hand, those who own Adam to be a fountain of sin and death, do withal own Christ to be a fountain of righteousness and life. Those who see the horrible ataxy and pravity in our nature, see also the necessity and excellency of grace in the repairing of it. On the other hand, the Pelagians and Socinians, who deny original sin, are enemies to grace; it is in the power and will of man, vel nitere flore virtutum, vel sentibus horrere vitiorum, to make himself beautiful with the flowers of virtue, or horrid with the brambles of vice. So Pelagius. In nostra potestate situm est, ut Deo obtemperemus, it is in our power to obey God. So the Racovian catechist. And what room is there for grace, when the power and free-will of man may do the work? The Pelagians affirmed, that before the law men were saved by nature, afterwards by the law, afterwards by Christ. The Socinians say,* that under the old testament good men were saved without any respect to Christ, or faith in him; and what need then was there of Christ, or his satisfactory sufferings for us? the great work might be done without him. Hence it appears that to deny original sin is to cast off Christ and grace. The Jewish rabbins, who made the evil figment in man's heart to be but a light matter, small as a thread, weak as a woman, ruleable by the good figment of our own reason, were very ignorant of that great point of regeneration. Hence Nicodemus, a master in Israel, was startled and stood at amaze at our Saviour's doctrine about it; "How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?" saith he, (John, 3:4.) Such carnal and gross expostulations could never have dropped from him if he had had a true sense of original sin, but for want of that, regeneration was a strange and unintelligible mystery to him. The pagan philosophers had some glimmerings of original sin; hence they complained that the soul had lost her wings, and crept upon these lower things; that it was in the body as a prison, and there looked out at the grates of sense; that it was fallen from the happy region, and inclined to evil. But, because these were but glimmerings, they did not so much as dream of grace or regeneration; because they did not see the depth and venom of our original wound, they thought there was medicamentum in latere, enough in the power and free-will of the soul to heal itself: they reckoned all virtues to be among the τὰ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν, the things in our power: and accounted the will to be such a mistress of itself, that it might make itself good and excellent at its pleasure. By all these instances we see plainly, that the doctrine of original sin is very useful and momentous.

Original sin is set forth by many names in scripture. It is called sin, the sinning sin, the sin that dwelleth in us, the sin that doth easily beset us, the law of sin and death, the law in the members, the flesh and the old man, the root of bitterness, the plague of the heart: in the fathers it is called the paternal poison, the first radical sin, the venom and stroke of the old serpent, the contagion of the ancient death, the weight of the ancient crime, the injury of our original. And St. Austin, that he might ascertain that in which he opposed the Pelagians, called it original sin, from whence that name was afterwards frequent in the church: it was so called, partly because we have it in our original; it is interwoven with our nature, and may say to every one of us, as soon as thou wert, I am; partly because it is derived to us from Adam, the head and original of mankind. Hence when Julian the Pelagian argued thus against original sin*: He sins not who is born: he sins not who begets: he sins not who creates. By what chinks or crannies among so many guards of innocence, do you feign that sin did enter? St. Austin answers him thus: Why doth he seek a chink or a cranny, when he hath an open gate? By one man, saith the apostle, what would he have more? It is that one man Adam, the original of mankind, by whom sin entered into the world; it is by him that it is derived to us. That one text, touching the one man, is enough to break and sweep away all the subtle cobwebs which the Pelagians and Socinians have spun out of their wit and carnal reason to oppose the doctrine of original sin.

Original sin consists in two things:

1. In that Adam's first sin is imputatively ours.

2. In that we have an inordination and inherent pravity derived upon us from him.

The first thing is, Adam's first sin imputatively ours: not that God reputes us to have done it in our own person; not that it is imputed to us in the full latitude, as it was to Adam. We sinned not as the head and root of mankind; we murdered not the whole human nature; we did not usher in sin and death upon the world: no, as the apostle saith, this was δἰ ἑνός, by one Adam; but as soon as any man becomes proles Adæ, in conjunction with him, it is imputed to him, pro mensura membri, in such sort and proportion as is competent to him, being a part and piece, as it were, of Adam. Aquinas illustrates this by a notable instance†: murder, as a sin, is not imputable to the hand in itself, as distinct or separate from the body; but as it is a member in man, and moved by his will: in like manner the sin of Adam is imputed to us, not so properly as we are in ourselves, but as we are parts and pieces of him, and derived our nature from him. Adam's sin was past before we were born. It is therefore, as Bellarmine well expresses it‡, communicated to us in that manner, as a thing past can be communicated, namely, by imputation; we did not personally commit it. It is therefore imputed to us in that measure, as is fit and just for it to be imputed to those who are parts and members of Adam. In that capacity it is constructively and interpretatively ours, and accordingly God justly reckons and imputes it unto us. That this is so, I shall offer some considerations;

1. That of the apostle is very pregnant; "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (Rom. 5:12.) In the original it is, ἐφʼ ᾧ πάντες ἥμαρτον, In him, that is, in Adam, all have sinned. Those words ἐφʼ ᾧ are relative. Three things, as St. Austin observes*, are set down in this verse before; Adam, sin, and death: those words relate not to sin, for sin in the Greek is a feminine; nor to death, for men do not sin in death, but die in sin; therefore they relate to Adam, in him all have sinned. It is true, others take the words, ἐφʼ ᾧ causally, for that all have sinned. But I think that, as I said before, they are to be taken relatively, In him all have sinned. Thus those three things, which the apostle conjoined together in this verse, that is, the propagation of sin, the original of death, and the foundation of both, very well cohere together in this manner. The first we have in those words, By one man sin entered into the world. The second in those, Death passed upon all. The third in those, In him all nave sinned. Thus those phrases, sin entered, death passed, have a plain explication. Sin did not stay in Adam, but it entered into the world: but if Adam's sin be not imputatively ours, how did it enter? It entered by imitation, say the Pelagians: but how vain is this? Sin entered upon all, upon whom death passed, and death passed upon all without exception. But neither infants, who sin not actually, or after the similitude of Adam's transgression; nor those adult persons, who sin actually, but never so much as heard of Adam's sin, could have sin from Adam by imitation. We are all sinners, and children of wrath, not by imitation, but by nature; Adam's sin was not merely his own, but ours by imitation. Thus sin entered into the world, and as a penal fruit of it, death passed upon all; it did not stay at Adam, but passed upon all: and if Adam's sin became not ours, how should that be? The apostle doth not barely set down sin and death, but sets them down in their order and connexion. First sin entered, and then death passed, and that not as a mere infelicity or misery, but as a just punishment for sin. Hence it is observable, that the text saith, that death came by sin, and so passed upon all. The particles (by and so) show that death passed upon all as a punishment. If Adam's sin were not all men's, how could death pass upon infants, who have no actual sin? God is not, cannot be unjust; where there is no fault, there is no room for punishment; if infants in no sense transgressed the command in Adam, the death in the threatening cannot fall upon them, Quâ justitiâ parvulus subjicitur peccati stipendio, si nulla est in eo peccati pollutio? saith Fulgentius; With what justice can an infant be subject to the wages of sin, if the pollution of it be not in him? May there be pœna sine causa, a punishment without a why or a wherefore? It cannot be. If, therefore, even infants in Adam died, as the apostle speaks, (1 Cor. 15:22,) then in Adam all sinned, as he tells us in the frequented text. That this is the genuine meaning of it, doth not only appear by the text itself, but by that which followeth: "By one man's disobedience many were constituted sinners." (Ver. 19.) No unimputed sin can do this. If, therefore, Adam's sin constitute us sinners, it is imputed to us. To say, as the Socinians and some others do, to constitute us sinners, is only to make us obnoxious to death, and so to be treated as sinners, is a thing vain and repugnant to the text. To be treated as a sinner, is not to be constituted such. To be treated as a sinner, when a man is not such, is very unjust and unequal. To be a sinner, is to be culpable or guilty of a fault; and the proper signification must be retained. The apostle in this chapter evidently distinguishes between sin and death, transgression and condemnation, and makes Adam the origin of both: first, of sin; and then, by sin, of death. Therefore, Adam first makes us sinners, and then obnoxious to death. Thus the words being taken relatively, "In him all have sinned," the conclusion is plain, that Adam's sin is imputed to us. Nay, if the words be taken causally, "for that all have sinned," the conclusion is the very same; if "death passed upon all men because all have sinned," then infants, because death passes upon them, have sinned; and how have they sinned? Not in their own persons, they are not capable of sinning actually, but in Adam, the root of mankind: not by an imitation, they are not capable of such a thing; but by a participation of the first sin, which by a just imputation becomes theirs.

2. The capacity which Adam was in, is very considerable. He was not considered as a mere individual person, but as the principle and origin of human nature. The admirable endowments of righteousness and immortality, were trusted and deposited in his hands, not merely for himself, but for his posterity. The command was not given to him as to a singular person, but as the root and head of mankind. The covenant made with him ran thus: If he did (as he was able) obey the command, he should transfer innocency and life to his posterity; if not, he should transfer sin and death to it. We were in him naturally, as latent in his loins; and legally, as comprised within the covenant. This is very clear, because the death in the threatening annexed to the command given to him, falls upon his posterity. Had not the command extended to his children, the threatening could not have reached them. Had not they sinned, in Adam their head and root, death could not have fallen upon them in such sort as it doth; that is, in a state of infancy, void of any actual sin of its own. This being the true state of things, it is no wonder at all that Adam's sin should be imputed to us as parts and pieces of him. Adam was here considered as the root and origin of mankind; his person was the fountain of ours; his will the representative of ours. Omnes nos unus ille Adam; We were one with him, and branches of him. Hence we sinned in his sin, and putrified in him as in the root. These things, if weighed, give an easy solution to all the cavils and objections which the Pelagians and their followers make against the imputation of Adam's sin to us. First, they say, Deus, qui propria peccata remittit, non imputat aliena: God, who forgives us our own sins, doth not impute to us another man's. But here is a great mistake, as if Adam's sin were just nothing at all to us. Adam was the root, and bore all mankind in himself; we were seminally and legally in him: his sin therefore was not alien altogether to us, but in a sort our own. We sinned in him as our head; we fell with him, as the branches fall with the body of the tree. St. Austin saith, "Though Adam's sin were alien proprietate actionis, yet it was ours contagione propaginis." Gregory Nazianzen, speaking of Adam's sin, cries out pathetically, "O infirmitatem meam!" O my infirmity! St. Bernard notably expresses it, "Culpa aliena est, quia in Adam omnes nescientes peccavimus, nostra, quia etsi in alio nos tamen peccavimus, et nobis justo Dei judicio imputabatur, licet occulto: Adam's sin was alien to us, because we ignorantly sinned in him; yet it was ours because we sinned, though in another; and it was to us imputed by the just, though secret counsel of God." Again they say, That which is properly sin in us, is voluntary, and an act of our will; but Adam's was not such. I answer: The foundation of this objection,—that all proper sin is voluntary, or an act of our will, is not universally true: vain thoughts are sin, and such as are the objects of a good man's hatred, much more of the hatred of the Holy One; yet they are no acts of our will. The first risings and stirrings of lust, which antecede consent, are sins, and yet no acts of our will. The mutinies and rebellions of the lower faculties against reason are sins, and yet no acts of our will. But might this rule hold in actual sin, yet surely it cannot in original; for then there should be no such thing as original sin, though scriptures, fathers, councils, assert it; though the church have been possessed of this truth in all ages, yet it is an error; there is really no such thing: for neither was Adam's transgression the act of our will, neither is the inherent pravity in us such. If, then, we confess original sin, we must acknowledge that the rule extends not to it. Thus when Julian objects, That there is no sin in infants, because they have not the exercise of freewill, St. Austin distinguishes thus:* Hoc recte dicitur proptur proprium cujusq.; peccatum, non propter primi peccati originale contagium; Whatever may be said in actual sin, it is not so in original. Further; Adam's sin, as to us, may be said to be voluntary in two respects, the one is this: It was voluntary, voluntate primi parentis, in the will of Adam, the head of mankind, while he stood in his integrity. He was the moral head of mankind; and, as Bellarmine speaks, "Totius humani generis gessit personam," He sustained the person of all mankind; his will therefore was interpretatively ours; our will was virtually in his. Murder is imputed to the hand, because the will, though it be not there, is yet in that person of whom the hand is a part. In like manner, Adam's sin is imputed to us, because the will, though it was not personally in us, was yet in him of whom we are parts and members. Thus that learned professor, Dr. Ward, Ex voluntate primi parentis, ex quo tota posteritas derivatur, peccatum illud in posteris, velut in membris Adæ, voluntarium esse censetur; The will of the first parent, from whom all the posterity is derived, renders his sin voluntary in all men, as being members of him. The other respect is this, it is voluntary in us, in our own persons habitually; there is in us an evil frame and disposition to sin and transgress as Adam did, the act was his, yet a seed of it is found in us. Further, they say, it is against justice and equity, that Adam's sin should be imputed to us; that we, innocent in ourselves, should be guilty by a sin not our own. I answer, Adam's capacity considered, there is no injustice in it; he was the head and root of mankind, he was the common trustee of righteousness and immortality for all; the covenant was made with him for himself and for his posterity; his sin, therefore, was not merely his, but ours; neither are we born innocent, but guilty. If it were against justice and equity to impute his sin to us, then it was against justice and equity to punish us for it with death temporal, spiritual, eternal: but the latter is false; so therefore is the former. Death falls as a punishment upon infants void of actual sin of their own. Thus the apostle lays it down clearly, "Sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men." (Rom. 5:12.) Death was not a mere misery or infelicity, but a just punishment. Surely it consists not with justice and equity, that proper punishment should fall on persons altogether void of guilt, or that the threatening of death should seize upon those who no way transgressed that command to which it was annexed; therefore the imputation of Adam's sin to us, is so far from being against justice and equity, that without it the equity and justice of God in inflicting death as a punishment upon all men, cannot be reasonably cleared. I need add but one thing more, God dealt with Adam the head of mankind, upon terms of abundant equity: for as Adam sinning, was to transfer sin and death to us; so Adam obeying, was to transfer righteousness and immortality to us. The terms were equal on both hands; we were in him as our head, as well for the obtaining of blessedness upon his obedience, as for the incurring punishment upon his disobedience. These objections being removed out of the way, I conclude, That the capacity which Adam stood in at first, is a clear evidence that his sin is imputed to us.

3. If Adam's sin be not imputed to us, then neither was his righteousness so; then we never were righteous, we never were esteemed such in God's account; then we are not fallen creatures, we are merely simply as God made us; then what need of renovation or regeneration? An unfallen creature is incapable of reparation. Whence, then, or by what way could it possibly come to pass, that there should be an innate inordination or proneness to evil in us? Such things cannot be found in an unfallen rational creature, yet doubtless they are found in us. The scripture tells us, that we are naturally dark; nay, darkness itself: That the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Nay, the very philosophers spied out this. Hence Tully saith, That man was brought forth into life, not by nature as a mother, but as a step-mother, with a body naked, frail, infirm, with a mind anxious in troubles, low in fears, soft in labours, prone to lusts. Upon which St. Austin glosses thus:* Naturam accusavit, rem vidit, causam nescivit, latebat eum cur esset grave jugum super filios Adam. He accused nature, the thing he saw, the cause he knew not, the grievous yoke on the sons of Adam was hid from him. Nay, the very Socinians, though in the point of original sin they are more blind and void of sense than pagans, confess thus much; Homines ad peccandum sunt naturâ proni, men are by nature prone to sin: nay, it is added, sense and appetite draw them, as it were, with chains to vice. Thus saith one of them, Whence then is this natural inordination and pravity? Is it from the fall? we are not fallen creatures. Is it from the Creator? it is impossible. Darkness cannot be from the Father of lights, nor pravity from the fountain of infinite goodness. Adam's sin not being imputed to us, no tolerable account can be given, how it should ever come to exist among men. But supposing what is most true, that it is naturally in us; yet, unless Adam's sin be imputatively ours, it is not sin in us. What though we want knowledge and righteousness? It is not Carentia justitiæ debitæ inesse, a want of what ought to be in us; it is not a privative want, a want of what we once had in Adam's righteousness, and afterwards lost in his sin; but it is a mere negative want, a want of that we never had, nor never forfeited. Adam's righteousness being not imputed to us, we never had it; Adam's sin being not imputed to us, we never forfeited it; such a mere negative want is no sin. What though there be a pravity and propensity to all manner of sin in us? It is no sin in unfallen creatures, it is no sin to be made or created, it is no sin to be born or brought forth; it is no sin, if there be no cause or foundation of it in us; and there can be no cause or foundation of it in us, if we no way participate of Adam's sin; it may be called misery, but it is no sin: hence that saying of St. Austin, "Nulla foret hominis culpa, si talis a Deo creatus esset, qualis nunc nascitur," there would be no fault in man, if he were created such by God, as he is now born; the pure primordials of nature cannot be culpable. That man who is merely what his Creator made him, is as he ought to be. The result of all is this: Adam's sin not being imputed to us, there can be no such thing as original sin; though this doctrine hath been maintained in the church in all ages; yet there is no such thing, neither is Adam's sin imputatively ours; nor yet is the natural pravity in us any sin. If therefore we will acknowledge original sin, we must acknowledge that Adam's sin is ours by just imputation. Thus much touching the first original thing in sin: Adam's sin is imputatively ours.

The other is this: we have an inordination, and inherent pravity in us; this depends upon the former. All habitual sin hath an essential relation to some actual sin precedent; no man can be a sinner habitually, who is totally free from actual sin. If we had not in some sense sinned in Adam's sin, we could not have been habitually vitiated by it. At first man was an excellent creature, sparkling with a divine image of knowledge and righteousness; all was in harmony, the rational powers of the soul were subordinate to God, their Creator; the sensitive powers were subject to the rational: in every part there was a just decorum. But upon the fall, which was interpretatively ours, the crown fell from our head, the glory of the divine image departed, the soul became naked, the very shame of the body told it, that the primitive rectitude was wanting; darkness fell upon the mind, the once region of light; bondage and impotency fell upon the will, the once seat of power and liberty; all was out of frame: the rational powers turned rebels to God; the sensitive were all in a mutiny against the rational. There was in us a pravity, a horrible propensity to all manner of iniquity; a belial-heart, such as is "evil, and only evil, and that continually." This pravity runs parallel with our being and humanity; it overspreads the whole fabric of our nature, and so adheres to it, that even in the saints it is not utterly extinct till the last breath, nor totally cleansed away till the clay walls of the body fall into the grave. This is the ἐπιθυμία συλλαβοῦσα, the conceiving lust; the womb where all iniquity is formed. This is the grave or sheol in man, which in its unreasonable desires never hath enough. This is that concupiscence, which, as the rabbins say, doth ædificare inferos, make and build a hell for men. Now that there is such an inordination and inherent pravity in us, doth easily appear by the following considerations.

1. The scripture doth abundantly testify it. "Adam begat a son in his own likeness, (after his image,) and called his name Seth." (Gen. 5:3.) Adam was created in the likeness of God, (ver. 1); but after his fall he begat a son in his own likeness. When God created man in his likeness, it was sanctus sanctum, a holy God created a holy man: but when Adam begat a son in his likeness, it was corruptus corruptum, polluted Adam begat a polluted son: and in the text there are two words (likeness and image) to set the greater brand upon corrupt nature. It is remarkable, that the text doth not here speak of Abel, who died without issue: nor of Cain, all whose progeny was drowned in the flood: but of Seth, by whom all mankind hath hitherto been continued in the world: which shows that none are exempted from it. "God saw that every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart, was only evil continually," (Gen. 6:5); and afterwards God saith that it was so from his youth, (Gen. 8:21); according to the original it is, Every formation or figment of the heart: all that was framed or effigiated there, is only evil, and that from his youth: where the Hebrew word used, reaches in other scriptures even to infancy. Which shows that we are transgressors from the womb. Hence one of the Jewish rabbins being asked when the evil imagination was put into man? answered, "From the hour that he is formed." Hence that ancient saying, "Ipse ortus in vitio est;" our first rise is iniquity. Job, speaking of man's birth, saith, "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one." (Job 14:4.) Man, who is of unclean parents, must needs be unclean. Nothing but supernatural grace can purify such an one; none but the Holy One can make us clean. David cries out, "Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me," in the Hebrew it is "warm me." (Psalm 51:5.) He confesses that there was iniquity even in primo ardore, in the first warmth of natural conception: before he was born or saw the light, he was polluted and unclean. Antequam nascimur, maculamur, saith St. Ambrose: before we are born we are polluted. Our Saviour, speaking of regeneration, saith, "That which is born of the flesh, is flesh." (John, 3:6.) In natural generation there is nothing but flesh or corrupt nature; the spirit, or divine nature is from regeneration only. St. Paul styles this inward pravity, "a body of sin." (Rom. 6:6.) It is a loathsome carcass, made up of vile matter. It is not so much one sin, as virtually all; other sins are parts and branches of it. The weight and pressure of this body made even St. Paul cry out, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death." (Rom. 7:24.) Thus, and much more doth the scripture bear witness to this truth.

2. No man, who seriously looks into the frame of his own heart, can want a proof of this truth. Upon a faithful inspection into himself, a sink of sin, a chaos of turpitudes and horrible irregularities will appear to be in him. Reason was lighted up by God, but it is now as a beam prodigiously cut off from the fountain of light. Leaving the first truth, it wanders and loses itself in a wilderness of errors. Forgetting its great original, it gropes in the dark about the supreme end, and cannot of itself find the door to true happiness. It doth, and that by a singular privilege above other creatures, know its Maker; and yet in an unreasonable manner it turns away from him, and seeks a happiness in the lower world, or at best in itself. It should, like the celestial bodies, move circularly; and after a survey of all creatures, return back to the same point from whence it came, which is the bosom of God himself; and yet it flies away from him, and makes its nest in one creature-vanity or other. It hath a natural and indelible instinct after happiness, and perpetually cries out, "Who will shew us any good?" And yet it is not able so much as by a holy thought to aspire after the great blessedness set forth before it in the gospel. Heavy things descend by a right line to then centre: brutes hasten to those things which are congruous and convenient to their natures: only man, though endowed far above these with reason and liberty, falls short, and misses the mark. Pure precepts, excellent promises, heavenly mysteries, are set before him in the gospel; yet, without a supernatural illumination, he cannot perceive or receive them: at most he sees them only in the image or picture of the letter, but not in their liveliness and spiritual glory: a form or shell of knowledge he may have, but he doth not taste or savour the sweetness of them. And all this because his reason, though active enough in naturals, is in spirituals but as an eye without an optic faculty—dark, nay, darkness itself. The will, though its proper object be good, turns away from God, who is goodness itself, and seeks its chief good somewhere else. It opens itself in a free choice to every vanity that passes by; yet is it shut to God and all the offers of grace; forsaking God the fountain of liberty, it becomes an arrant slave and drudge to sin; and, which is wonderfully prodigious, it is in love with its chains, and loth to be made free indeed. All the goodness in God, Christ, heaven, blessedness, outwardly proposed, move it not to stir a foot towards such attracting objects; still it hangs in vanity, and lies upon the dunghill of the world, and rolls itself in the mire of one lust or other. It hath an enmity against God, who made it free; it would be above his will who is supreme: rather than its inordinate lusts should be restrained, it would have God cease to be. There is in every man, as St. Austin speaks,* Amor sui usq.; ad contemptum Dei, a love of himself, even to the contempt of God. The affections are all vain, earthly, carnal, mutinous against reason; insomuch, that they by an unnatural violence depose it, and so unman the man. Hence he becomes as the beasts that perish. The reason saith, this or that is good; but the affections repugn and resist. The soul is paralytic, reason moves to the right hand, affection to the left, and carries all before it. Hence that saying, Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor. The affections, which primitively were servants to reason, are now upon the throne. Reason, though once a royal prince, is dethroned and become servile. That which is the glory of our nature, and proves us to be men, that is hurried up and down by the rude rabble of lusts and malapert passions, This being the natural frame and temper of man, let us sit down and consider. Was it thus from the beginning? Was human nature such in the first impression? Did God put his reason under a cloud, or his will into chains and servitude? Was it from God, that the one turns away from the first truth, and the other from the chief good? Did God put into man an instinct after happiness in vain, or inspire into him an immortal spirit, that it might creep upon the earth, and pour out itself to every vanity? Did God create man at variance with himself, and at first set up that unnatural intestine war, which is between the rational and sensitive powers? Was it his pleasure that the inferior faculties in man should contumaciously reluct against the superior, or that the superior should basely serve the inferior? Without doubt it cannot be. God is light, purity, wisdom itself; these things are darkness, corruption, ataxy, and cannot be from him. No other account can be given of them but this; that they are the bruises of the fall, the wounds of corrupt nature.

3. No man who looks abroad into the world can with any colour oppose this truth. The millions of actual sins, which as a mighty deluge overspread the world, are as so many pregnant proofs of that original pravity which is in us. In the old world all flesh had corrupted its way, (Gen. 6:12). Afterwards all nations walked in their own ways, (Acts 14:16): that is, in sinful ones. Sin is the course of the world. (Ephes. 2:2). It is the element and proper ubi of it; the whole world lies in it, (1 John. 5:19). And whence is it, that sin is so universal, that iniquity abounds in all times and places? Our Saviour opens the bloody fountain of it. "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies," (Matt. 15:19). All these black troops of wickedness, issue out from the corrupt heart of man; the inherent pravity which is there, is seminally all the monsters of vice. The apostle Paul proving all under sin, doth thus describe the corrupt estate of men: "There is none righteous, no not one. There is none that understandeth, none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable, there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre, with their tongues they have used deceit, the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes." (Rom. 3) Here the apostle paints out corrupt nature; not that all men actually do these things, but that there is in every one, even from their infancy, a πανσπερμία, an universal seminary of iniquity, a venomous root of all actual sins. In this respect, the description appertains to all, even to little infants; and the scope of the text requires that it should be so interpreted; for before this description, the apostle tells us, that "all are under sin," (verse 9); and after it, that "every mouth is stopped," that "all the world is guilty before God;" that "by the deeds of the law, no flesh shall be justified in his sight," (ver. 19, 20): and afterwards that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," (ver. 23.) If the description did not reach all men, his conclusions drawn from thence would not hold; the description might extend to some, yet others, at least little infants, might not be sinners or guilty, and consequently might be justified by the law, as having nothing against them. The apostle therefore here, by the actual sins of some, proves original sin in all; and upon that account proves all to be guilty under sin, and unjustifiable by the law; because all have that inherent pravity, which is the root of actual sins. St James tells us, that "every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed," (James, 1:14.) Lust or original concupiscence, is the great tempter; it doth not only entice as an object, but by a kind of impetus and importunity, it draws us away from God, the infinite goodness, to one creature vanity or other: by its motions and titillations it wooes for a consent, and afterwards it brings forth the outward act of sin. The world tempts outwardly, but this is domesticus hostis, a traitor within our own bosom; it tempts not objectively only, but effectively, really inclining us to sin: it is a perpetual tempter. "Resist the devil and he will fly from you," (James, 4:7), but make never so great a resistance against this lust, it will not in this life fly from you, neither can you fly from it. This is that which conceives and brings forth all the actual sins in the world. Nay, it is that which distils sinfulness into the best actions of saints; all the crying abominations in the world, and all the defects in the church are the progeny of it. This is the root of all bitterness, the fomes peccati, the nest and womb of all actual sins.

It may be thought, perhaps, that all this discourse is besides the intended scope, original sin was not exemplified in Christ. But I answer, it was not indeed exemplified in him, but the doctrine of it may be undeniably drawn from him. To this end I shall offer these particulars.

1. The conception of Christ is very considerable. He was conceived in the Virgin's womb, not in the ordinary way of nature; not by the conjunction of man and woman, but in a divine and extraordinary manner; in a way above all the power and law of nature. Hence the angel tells the virgin Mary, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee," (Luke, 1:35.) Hence it is said, that "she was found with child of the Holy Ghost," (Mat. 1:18.) That is, the body of Christ was formed by the infinite power and virtue, though not out of the substance of the Holy Spirit. The substance of Christ's flesh was taken out of the virgin, and like unto ours; but the structure and manner of framing of it, was infinitely surmounting that of ours. Hence his flesh is said to be "a tabernacle not made with hands, not of this building," (Heb. 9:11.) It was not set up in the natural way of generation, but in a miraculous supernatural manner; and why was it thus, but that his human nature might, as St. Luke speaks, be a holy thing, pure from the least tincture of sin? All men who come from Adam in a natural way, contract guilt and pravity in their original; but his flesh was formed out of the substance of a virgin in a miraculous and extraordinary manner, that so he, though like to us in all things, might not be like to us in sin; that he might partake of our flesh and blood in a pure and unspotted way: here we see purity was his prerogative, the common lot of our nature is corruption. It is true, the Pelagians are not afraid to assert, That Christ was free from all contagion of sin; Non excellentia propria et gratia singulari, sed communione naturæ, quæ omnibus inest infantibus*; not by any proper excellency and singular grace; but by a communion of that nature which is in all infants. But this is in effect to say, that the coming of the Holy Ghost upon the virgin, the overshadowing her by the power of the Highest, were superfluous and vain; all might have been as well in an ordinary way: this is to rob Christ of his prerogative, to bring down the Saviour to the common level of the saved, which can never indeed come to pass. There is a great difference between Christ and us in this point: our bodies are formed in the ordinary course of nature, but his was formed in an extraordinary supernatural way. We were in Adam, secundum rationem seminalem; we descended from the seminal virtue in him. But he was in Adam only secundum substantiam corporalem; he took the materials of a body from the virgin; but the modus conceptionis, the manner of framing of it, was supernatural. We come forth into the world by that common benediction, increase and multiply; but he came into the flesh by that singular promise, The seed of the woman shall break the serpent's head. We see here a plain difference. Hence it appears, that purity was a singular privilege in Christ's birth; and pollution is the common lot of ours.

2. The capacity Christ stood in is to be noted. He was set up to be a common head of righteousness and life; and that tells us, that before him there was another, who, by his fall, was a common head of sin and death. Famous is that place. (Rom. 5) "If by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ. As by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men to justification of life. As by one man's disobedience many were made sinners; so by the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous." We see here two heads, Adam and Christ, both are set before us, the one cannot be well known without the other; the Pagans know neither, Christians must confess both. If they say, Christ is an head communicating righteousness and immortality to us; they must also say, Adam was an head communicating sin and death to us; else the apostle's parallel is vain and frivolous, in that Christ, who obeyed in a public capacity, is opposed to Adam, who sinned only in a private one. Both these heads must be admitted, or neither; if both, then there is sin from Adam, as well as righteousness from Christ. Thus St. Bernard saith, Alius qui peccatorem constituit, alius qui justificat a peccato, alter in semine, alter in sanguine; one Adam makes us sinners, another makes us righteous; the one by his seed, the other by his blood: if neither, then the obedience of Christ is made fruitless and to no purpose. Hence St. Austin saith*, that the doctrine of original sin must be defended against the Pelagians, Ne evacuetur crux Christi, lest the cross of Christ be made of no effect. According to the tenor of that place, one head cannot stand without the other. If Adam derive not sin to us, neither doth Christ derive righteousness; both must be only patterns; neither communicative heads; which to say, is utterly to overturn the scope of the place.

3. Our Saviour Christ instituted baptism, and that for infants; but if there be no original pollution in them, what need a washing ordinance for them? The washing of their bodies, whose pure, innocent, undefiled souls are incapable of spiritual washing, is but a shadow without substance, a sacrament without internal grace, a thing too insignificant for Christ the wisdom of God to institute. Hence, when the Pelagians on the one hand granted the baptism of infants, and on the other denied original sin, St. Austin saith, that they spoke wonderful things. In Sacramento salvatoris baptizantur, sed non salvantur, redimuntur sed non liberantur, lavantur sed non abluuntur; In our Saviour's sacrament infants are baptized, but not saved; redeemed, but not delivered; washed, but not cleansed. And a little after he asks, If they are saved, what was their sickness? If delivered, what their servitude? If cleansed, what their pollution? Take away the doctrine of original sin, and the baptism of infants seems to be a very ridiculous thing. To avoid this absurdity, the Pelagians asserted,* That the baptism of infants was necessary, not because there was any original sin in them, but that they might be capable of the kingdom of heaven. But I answer, Where there is no defect, there is all due perfection. If infants are pure and free from all sin, then have they all the righteousness and rectitude which ought to be in them; and if they have so, they are, without baptism, capable of heaven; or if they were not, the baptismal washing, which imports pollution, seems to be a ceremony very unfit and incongruous to be applied to them who are without spot, or to render them apt for heaven.

4. In and about the death of Christ, two things are considerable; The one is the horrible wickedness of the Jews in crucifying him: The other is, the infinite merit which is in his death and sacrifice. Both will manifest the doctrine of original sin.

First, The horrible wickedness of the Jews in crucifying him will do it. The rottenness of the root shows itself in the branches; the malignity of original sin appears in actual ones, especially in those which are of a deeper stain than others are. It was the aggravation of Solomon's sin, that his heart was turned from the Lord, who had appeared to him twice. (1 Kings 11:9.) The more eminently God appears to us, the more aggravated are our actual sins against him; and the more aggravated those are, the more vile and venemous doth the inward root of them appear to be. When God appears to us in reason, which is a beam from him more precious than a world, it speaks desperate corruption in men, that the brutal part should usurp and rule over it; that the vile sensual lusts should tread down that divine spark, and, as it were, annihilate it, that nothing of God might have place in the heart. When God further appeared in the law and the prophets, to raise up a purer knowledge of himself than was to be found in reason, as it lay in the dust and rubbish of the fall, it argues a greater pravity and malignity in men, that they should murder his prophets, and trample his sacred laws, the images of his holy will, under their impure feet; this was in effect, as much as in them lay, to explode God out of his own world, and practically to say, that he should not reign there. When God yet more eminently appeared, when he sent his own Son, very God of God, to be manifest in the flesh; whose glory broke forth most illustriously in excellent doctrines and miracles; whose whole life among men was nothing but innocency, purity, mercy, meekness, goodness, humility, love, zeal, heavenliness, holiness, obedience, and all manner of virtue, in spotless perfection; one might have thought that men would have reverenced the Son; that the indwelling corruption, however it had rioted under other manifestations, would here have made a pause, and stood as one astonied and over-awed at so stupendous an appearance, infinitely transcending all other. For what is the little spark of reason to the brightness of God's glory, or the law in the letter to incarnate sanctity and holiness? Or what are all the prophets to him who came out of the Father's bosom, and brought down supernatural mysteries into the world? Here it might have been expected that iniquity should have stopped her mouth, and held her hands; that the divine majesty of this appearance should have made corruption to retire, and hide itself in the secret of the heart. But alas, the event was quite contrary; original corruption here did its utmost, and showed forth all its malignity: the wicked Jews cried out, This is the heir, come let us kill him. They reviled, raged, blasphemed, persecuted, apprehended, accused, condemned, buffeted, and at last crucified the Lord of glory. Oh, matchless wickedness! never did original sin so fully discover itself, never did the hell in the belial heart so desperately break forth as here. We see here our corruption in its true colours and malignity; it is the root and fountain of the highest impieties; Antichrist-like, it opposes all that is called God; it would have nothing of God remain; it would trample down every appearance of him, not in reason or laws only, but in his own Son, in God incarnate; and, were it possible, it would even crucify and annihilate the Deity itself: rather than part with its dear lusts, it would have God cease to be.

The next thing considerable is the infinite merit in Christ's death: it procured two things for us, regeneration and salvation. First, it procured regeneration for us. This is a most precious thing, it new frames and new moulds us; it produces a new spiritual being; it draws the divine image and likeness upon the heart; it sets the soul into a holy order and rectitude; and whence is it but from the Spirit? Or how is that procured, but by Christ and his sweet-smelling sacrifice? The apostle tells us, that the Holy Ghost which renews us, is "shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour. (Tit. 3:5, 6.) Through him it is that the Holy Spirit comes down and effects this excellent work in us. Again, it procured salvation for us. That we are saved from our spiritual enemies, that we are at last crowned with life eternal, it is from Jesus Christ alone. Hence the apostle calls him "The author of eternal salvation," (Heb. 5:9;) not the minister, but the author of it, meritoriously procuring and efficaciously giving it to his people. But now if there be no such thing as original sin, much of the precious purchase of Christ must be lost: he purchased regeneration, but there being no original sin, where or in whom will it be necessary? What, in infants? In those pure innocent souls there is nothing to be healed, nothing to be mended or new made; where there is no ataxy of sin, there all is in order and harmony; where there is no turpitude of sin, there all is in splendour and glory: here is no need at all of regeneration. Hence, as St. Austin observes,* the Pelagians denying original sin, were under a necessity to say, That infants did not indigere medico, want the physician Jesus: and upon this, that excellent father passes this censure, that therein they erred not in some light matter, but in ipsa regula fidei, in the very rule of faith by which we are Christians. Or what, in the adult? I answer, They which are without original sin, may live without actual; therefore the Pelagians, who denied original sin, held, very consonantly to their principles, That men might live without sin. Thus they argued: He that can abstain one day from sin, may abstain two days, three days, thirty days, three hundred days, nay, for ever! And again; Si necessitatis est, peccatum non est; si voluntatis est, vitari potest: If the thing be of necessity, it is no sin; if of will, it may be avoided. Take away original sin, their arguments must hold good. Adam, while totally void of sin, might have kept himself so; why may not all others, if void of original sin, do so? Having no inward corruption to entice or draw them away unto sin, they may live without it. Here, again, there is no need of regeneration. To go on a little further: suppose a man do fall into one act of sin, yet one act of sin, if we believe the Pelagians and Socinians, cannot corrupt the human nature or will; the man may rise again by his own will, and all will be well again.* As yet there is no need of regeneration. Nay, suppose a man to fall into a habit or custom of sin, in some degree, yet why may not the will, that noble principle of freedom, extricate itself? The corruption is not seated in nature, but in a contracted habit; why may not the will by contrary acts unravel that habit, and rid itself of it? And that habit or inclination being gone, what need would there be of regeneration? An outward reformation may be necessary, but what need of regeneration? That in Scripture is the renovation of a man originally corrupted: hence our Saviour, pressing the necessity of regeneration, doth not urge it from the actual sins of men, but from their natural pravity: "That which is born of the flesh, is flesh," (John, 3:6;) that is, those who have only a carnal generation, and so are originally corrupt, are corrupt; therefore they stand in need of regeneration, or the participation of a new spiritual nature. But if there be no such thing as original corruption, then, according to our Saviour's argument, which presses it from thence, there is no need at all of regeneration. Accordingly, it may be observed, that those men who deny original sin, do extremely fumble and slubber over that great point of regeneration, for the most part confounding inward principles with outward actions. Regenerari ad vitæ mores et actiones referendum est, saith Volkelius:† Regeneration is to be referred to the manner and actions of the life. Ex Christo nasci nihil aliud est quam ejus spiritus participem esse, Christi autem spiritus voluntatis divinæ obedientia est, saith Socinus:‡ To be born of Christ is nothing else but to be partakers of his spirit, and his spirit is obedience to the divine will. All is placed in outward actions: nothing is said of those internal principles of grace which are the proper effect of regeneration: and the reason of this is, because denying original sin, they know no other regeneration but outward reformation only. Much after the same rate speak some other divines, who, not in express terms denying original sin, do yet lessen and diminish it: their discourses of regeneration proportionable to their principles, have but little savour or spiritual relish in them: upon the whole matter, we see that there is little need of regeneration. Again, Christ purchased salvation, but there being no such thing as original sin, who shall be saved by him? Shall infants be saved by him? Indeed, of such is the kingdom of heaven, but what are they saved from? is it from sin? There is no spot in them; Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh, they do no more; they have no real flesh of corruption in them. Is it from wrath? There can be none due to sinless creatures. Is it from Satan? He may come and find nothing in them, nothing belonging to his black kingdom. Is it from the world? They are not yet mentally, morally entered into it, so as to be capable of falling into the snares of it; there is, therefore, nothing at all for infants to be saved from. Hence the fathers in the council of Carthage do in their epistle to Pope Innocent tell us, that according to the Pelagians, there is nothing in infants to be saved or redeemed; nothing vitiated or held under the power of the devil; neither was blood shed for their remission. Hence St. Austin argues thus: He that saith that infants have nothing to be saved from, denies Christ to be a Jesus to them. What is Jesus? Jesus is by interpretation a Saviour, a Saviour is Jesus: those whom he doth not save, because they have nothing to be saved from, he is not to them a Jesus. Thus we see, that there being no original sin, infants (which what christian heart can bear?) are not saved by Christ. Shall the adult be saved by him? As I noted before, they who are without original sin, may live without actual; and so, being void of all sin, are incapable of being saved, because they have no sin to be saved from. It was the opinion of Cassianus, that Christ was aliorum salvator, aliorum susceptor, the Saviour of some, the susceptor of others; the first were drawn in by grace, the second prevented grace. This made Prosper say, Huic sententiæ is potest præbere consensum, qui se a Christo non vult esse salvatum, He may consent to this opinion, who would not be saved by Christ. Cassianus denied original sin; he thought, that in the first sin Adam only sinned, that the will in us is as free to good, as it was in Adam before the fall; and hence he held, that the church was particoloured; part of it was justified by grace, part by free will. These latter, whom nature advanced, were more glorious than those whom grace freed. These latter were incapable of being saved, because they had nothing to be saved from. Hence it follows, that Christ is not the Saviour of all his body, but of part of it; that he saves not all his people from their sins, but some. We see clearly by these things, that if original sin be denied, much of Christ's purchase will be made fruitless and of no effect. As, therefore, we would have a part in Christ and his purchase, we must confess ourselves to be pieces of old Adam, and to have a share in his sin.

It being certain that there is corruption in us, we should reflect and take notice of it. This is that which depraves the whole man, and turns him into a man of sin: every faculty groans under the burden of it, every part hath its wounds and putrifying sores. The understanding, a spark of immortality, is dropt out of its orb, fallen from the first truth and fountain of light; darkness covers it, a black vail holds back its eyes from the glories and beauties of the spiritual world. The thoughts, which are the first born of the mind, are vain empty things, like the fool's eyes in the ends of the earth, garish and running up and down from one thing to another, having no more dependance than is in the broken words or speeches of distracted men: like quicksilver never fixed, unless it be upon trifles or sinful objects. The will, the principle of liberty, turns away from the supreme good; as a slave, it lies in the chains of lust, impotent, and in itself unable to lift up a choice or option towards happiness: its averseness to that good which would ennoble and beautify it, reproaches it with the fall; its propensity to that evil, which soils and deturpates it, upbraids it as an apostate from its original. The affections have lost their wings, and sink down to the lower world as their centre; there they lie in the mire and turpitude of inordinate lusts, and without the elevations of grace they cannot raise up so much as a desire towards the things above: they are apostates from heaven, and rebels against that reason which came down from thence to reign over them. The members of the body are all instruments of iniquity, ready to execute all the commands of sin; the whole man is overspread with an universal contagion. This is the root of bitterness, the seed of all manner of impieties. Every one doth not actually say with Pharaoh, Who is the Lord? Nor with the bloody Jew, Crucify the Son of God: nor like the proud Antichrist, Exalt himself above God: but all these are seminally in us, there is aliquid intus, somewhat in every one's heart answering thereunto. There is that in us, which would trample down every appearance of God in reason, sacred laws, holy motions, offers of grace; nay, and that which, if it were possible, would annihilate God himself. This is an abyss of all evil, this is a black chaos which hath all manner of iniquities in it; and upon the warmth of temptation, will be ready to bring them forth into act. Oh! What matter of lamentation is here? How should we mourn over this innate corruption? Is it nothing to us to have immortal spirits void of God and all spiritual perfections? Nothing to have a reason without light, a will without liberty? Nothing to have a troubled sea of inordinate passions, and innumerable lusts croaking there? Nothing to carry a hell in our own bosom, to have an enmity against that good, which, if received, would perfect and make us happy; and a proneness to that evil which, being embraced, will corrupt and make us miserable for ever? May we here spare our tears? Or can we do less than fill ourselves with shame and self-abhorrency? Paulinus would not let his picture be drawn, because of the in-dwelling sin. "Erubesco pingere quod sum," said he; I blush to paint what I am. St. Paul cries out, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death!" (Rom. 7:24.) How sadly should we look upon that forlorn spectacle, I mean our corrupt selves! How should we loathe ourselves, and lie low at God's feet, if peradventure he may give us a better nature! Of what vast concern is it to wait upon God in ordinances, and by ardent devotions to press into heaven, that there may be a new creation in us. And when that great work is wrought in us, how should we lift up free grace, and sing hosannahs to it for ever! How often should we have that in our mouths, What hath God wrought! We marred the first creation, and he hath set up a second. We lay in the ruins of the fall, and he came down thither to rear up his own image in us again. Graces are now growing there, where sin had its seat; the Holy Spirit now inhabits there, where Satan dwelt and reigned. And what an excellent change is this! Let us distinguish ourselves according to the two Adams. Whatever is vicious or defective in us, relates to the first Adam: whatever is gracious or perfective of our nature, relates to the second. Never can we be too humble under the sense of original corruption which adheres to our nature. Never can we be too thankful for that supernatural grace which gave us a new nature. Because we have a Divine nature in us, we should live suitably to it. Had we but one single creation, we had been eternally bound to serve and glorify God; but when he sets to his hand the second time to create us again in Christ Jesus unto good works, how should our lives answer thereunto! When in the horrible earthquake at Antioch the emperor Trajanus was drawn out of the ruins, it was a very great obligation upon him to serve and honour God who so signally delivered him; how much greater obligation lies upon us, who are drawn by an act of grace out of the ruins of the fall! How should we live in a just decorum to that Divine nature which we are made partakers of! We should still be bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit, and shewing forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light. Again; because the relics of corruption are still remaining even in the regenerate, we should ever be upon our spiritual watch; we should set guards within and without, that sin may not creep in by the ports of sense, nor rise up out of the deep of the heart. When a temptation approaches to us, we should say as a holy man did, Auferte ignem, adhuc enim paleas habeo; Take away the fire, yet I have chaff within. If a Jonah fall into a pet against God; if a David wallow in adultery and blood: if a Peter deny his Lord with a curse, what may not we do! The remnants of original sin in us should make us keep a watch over our hearts, and ponder the path of our feet. Our flesh is an Eve, a tempter within us; nay, a kind of devil, as an ancient speaks, Nemo sibi de suo palpet, quisque sibi Satan est.

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CHAPTER X:

Touching grace—The fountain of it God's love

Touching grace—The fountain of it God's love—The streams supernatural gifts—The centre heaven—Its freeness, in that all perish not in the fall; original sin meriting death, and Christ being a free gift—Its freeness in chusing a church to God—Election not of all; no legislative act, but a singling out of some to life in an infallible way, and merely of grace—Its freeness in the external and internal call—The distinction between the two calls—The efficacy of grace as to the principles of faith and other graces; with the manner of their production, as to actual believing and willing: with the proofs of it, as to perseverance in faith and holiness—The habits of grace defectible in themselves, but not in their dependence.

HAVING spoken of original sin, I shall next consider of grace, which heals that deadly wound. Grace, in the primary notion of it, is the love and good-will of God towards sinners; and in a secondary sense, it is those saving gifts which are derived from that love. These are called graces, because they lie in man's heart, as beams of that eternal grace which is in God's; and tend to that glory in heaven which is grace consummate. God's will goes foremost, and works those graces in man's which make him meet for eternal happiness. The fountain of grace is the free love of God; the streams of it are supernatural gifts in men; the centre of it is the glory of heaven. These things show us the true notion of grace.

1. The fountain of grace is God's free love, which moves itself, and gratuitously flows out in spiritual blessings; these issue out of love, and that is a motive to itself. Emphatical is that of the apostle, "If by grace, then it is no more of works; otherwise grace is no more grace: but if it be of works, then it is no more grace; otherwise work is no more work." (Rom. 11:6.) It is essential to grace to be gratuitous; unless it be so, it loses its nature. Upon this account Pelagius, that enemy of grace, but for his counterfeit recantation, had had in the Palestine Council a just anathema for that saying, "Gratiam dari secundum merita," That grace was given according to merits or works. When the Pelagians said, "Quia ego prior volui, Deus voluit," Because I first willed, therefore God willed; St. Austin tells them, That they brought in merit, that grace was then no longer grace: "In omni opere sancto," saith he, "prior est voluntas Dei, posterior liberi arbitrii;" In every holy work God's will is first in order, and then man's. Without this order, grace cannot be grace, nor God. If he be not the fountain of all good, if the least good start up and anticipate his will, he is not, as becomes him, the origin of all good. The fountain of grace must therefore be in his love.

2. The streams of it are supernatural gifts. It is true, natural benefits are in some sense grace; but this is not the noted acception of the word in Scripture. This acception was but Pallium Pelagianorum, the Pelagians' cloak under which they hid their heresy. Hence, when that question was asked, What that grace was which Pelagians thought was given without any precedent merits? Answer was made, That it was the human nature, in which we were made; for before we were, we could not merit a being. Thus they confounded grace and nature together; but the gifts of grace are above the sphere of nature, and altogether undue to it. Indeed, in innocency righteousness was natural to man, not that it was a principle of nature, or an emanation from thence; but that it was necessary and due to that integrity, which God would set up the human nature in. God would make man very good, and how that could be without righteousness, I know not. Moral goodness is that which is proper to a reasonable creature; neither can it be wanting, but there will be a maim in the creature. There was in man an union of rational powers, in which he had communion with angels: and sensitive, in which he had communion with beasts. This union could not be made in a perfect orderly manner, unless the sensitive powers, being the more ignoble, were subjected to the rational, being the more excellent faculties; that subjection could not be without a righteousness. This is the rectitude and harmony of human nature: without it all the parts and powers of the soul must needs jangle into confusion. God would have man to serve and obey him in a perfect manner: and how could this be without a principle of holy love? Which way should there be actual righteousness without original? Without an internal rectitude, man could not love God as he ought, amore amicitiæ, with a love of friendship, for his own sake; and without such a love, referring all to God and his glory, all man's acts, a primo ad ultimum, must needs be sin. God would set before a man a most glorious end, the happiness of the beatifical vision. And how should man ever arrive at it without righteousness? Or want that righteousness which qualifies for it? Such a want would set him below the most contemptible creatures, none of which are destitute of that furniture which is requisite for the reaching of their ends. In all these respects, righteousness was natural, and in a sort due unto man in innocency. But after man's fall and forfeiture of original righteousness, saving gifts are altogether supernatural; not only as being above the power of nature, but as being totally undue to it. To the state of innocency, righteousness was in a sense due; but to the state of corruption, there was nothing due but wrath.

3. The centre of it is the glory of heaven; grace prepares a kingdom for believers. Hence God bids them, come and inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world, (Mat. 25:34); it prepares them for the kingdom. Hence that of the apostle, "Giving thanks to the Father, who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light," (Col. 1:12.) The first rise of grace is in the bosom of eternal love; the appearance of it in men is in supernatural gifts; the period and centre of it is in the glory of heaven.

Two things in this point of grace offer themselves to our consideration; the freeness of grace and the divine efficacy of it.

First, the freeness of grace is to be considered, and that in two or three particulars.

1. It is of free grace, that all mankind doth not eternally perish in the ruins of the fall: that there is a possibility of salvation for any one son of Adam. When the angels sinned but one sin, God turned them down into chains of darkness for ever. Might he not in justice have dealt so with fallen men? He was not bound to repair the angels, those golden vessels, once inmates of heaven; and who can, who dares conceive such a thought, that he was bound to repair men who are but images of clay, dwelling in the lower world? I know many differences are assigned, man sinned by seduction, devils by self-motion; in the fall of man, all the human nature fell; in the fall of angels, all the angelical nature fell not. The sin of angels was more damnable than man's, because their nature was more sublime than his. Men are capable of repentance, but devils not; because whatever they once choose, they do will immovably. But alas! all these are but extra-scriptural conjectures. Man, though tempted, was voluntary in the transgression; all men were involved in the fall, but that is no apology for the sin: the sin of man, if not so high as that of angels, was yet a damnable one. It is a vain dream to suppose that Almighty grace could not have wrought a gracious change in devils. That which differences us from them is, as the scripture tells us, no other than the mere grace and philanthropy of God towards us; he might justly have left us under that wrath, which our apostacy deserved. Two things will make this evident.

1. Original sin, which reaches to all, is properly sin; and, being such, merits no less than eternal death. We all sinned in Adam's sin; by that one man, sin entered into the world. The disobedience of that one, constituted all sinners; which, unless it had been imputatively theirs, it could never have done. The want of original righteousness is properly sin, because it is the want of that which ought to be in us; it ought to be in us, because the pure spiritual law calls for an holy frame of heart: it ought to be in us, or else we are not fallen creatures, but are as we ought to be. If it ought to be in us, then the want of it is properly sin. The apostle proving that all are sinners, and short of the glory of God, tells us, "That there is none righteous, no not one; none that understandeth, none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Rom. 3) Which words denote a want of that habitual righteousness which ought to be in all, even in little infants: that want is sin, else the apostle could not from thence conclude, that all, infants not excepted, have sinned and come short of the glory of God. To want habitual righteousness, which ought to be in us, is to be sinners, and short of our original. That original concupiscence, which is in all, is properly sin; it is over and over called sin in scripture, it is the root and black fountain of all impiety, it is opposite to the law and spirit of God, it impels to all sin, it fights against all graces, and particularly against that of love to God: where the creature is inordinately loved, there God is not loved with all the heart and soul. These things make it appear, That original sin is properly sin; and if so, it merits no less than death eternal. The scripture abundantly testifieth this: "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 6:23.) In which we have a double antithesis, wages is opposed to gift; and eternal death to eternal life. "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin." (Rom. 5:12.) Not mere infelicity, but sin entered; not mere temporal death, but eternal followed upon it. Hence the apostle tells us, That there was κρῖμα ἐις κατάκριμα, judgment unto condemnation, and that upon all men. (Ver. 16–18.) "We are by nature children of wrath, even as others." (Eph. 2:3.) He doth not say, by practice or custom; but by nature, we are children of wrath, that is, worthy of it. Nature, as corrupted, is here opposed to grace; which, as the text after speaks, saves us: wrath appertains to nature, salvation to grace. This one text is as a stroke of lightning, to lay all men flat and prostrate before God: even little infants, being unclean in themselves, cannot, if unregenerate, stand at God's right hand, and enter into the holy heavens; they must, therefore, stand at his left, and go into darkness. Hence St. Austin tells the Pelagians, who denied original sin, That they must forge out of their shop of heresy, a middle place for such infants as are aliens from the grace of Christ: if infants are unregenerate, they cannot enter heaven, the place of bliss. If, as the Pelagians say, they are free from sin, they cannot go to hell the place of misery. Tertium ignoramus, A third place I know not, nor can find any such in scripture: they are therefore subject to eternal death for their original sin. The sum of this argument we have in Anselm,* "Si originale peccatum sit aliquod peccatum, necesse est omnem in eo natum, in illo non dimisso damnari." If original sin be sin, it is necessary that every one born in it should be condemned for it, unless it be pardoned; it being impossible that any one should be saved so much as with one unremitted sin. If original sin be indeed sin, and do merit death eternal, then God may justly inflict that death for it, seeing he cannot be unjust in doing an act of justice, in inflicting that punishment which is due to sin.

2. As on man's part there is a merit of eternal death, so on God's, the mission of Christ to save us was an act of mere grace. This is set forth in scripture, "God commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8.) "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because he sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him." (1 John 4:9.) "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16.) We see here, the sending of a Saviour was an act of mere grace; and grace, being surely free and self-moving, might have suspended its own act; and that suspension, had it been, would have left all men in the ruins of the fall, and that without any colour of injustice at all in God. There is a vast difference between mercy in man and mercy in God; man shows it ex officio, out of duty, and in every failure he is unmerciful: but God shows it ex arbitrio, out of sovereignty, in such sort as he pleases; and to do more he is not obliged. Hence God's purpose and grace are joined together. (2 Tim. 1:9.) His mercy, though an infinite ocean, lets not out a drop towards fallen creatures, but according to his good pleasure: if God, antecedently to his own decree and promise, was bound to send his Son to seek and to save that which was lost; then the sending of him was not an act of grace, but of justice and necessity: it must, it ought to be so; the grace and love revealed in the gospel is a mere nullity, a thing no way free or gratuitous: but if, as the truth is, God were not bound to send a Saviour, then he might have suspended his own act, and left all mankind in the ruins of the fall.

No man who believes these two things, viz. that original sin is sin, and merits wrath; that the mission of a Saviour is grace and self-moving; can possibly have hard thoughts of God's decree in the point of reprobation. We being by original sin in a state of wrath, what might not God do with us? Might he not justly leave us in the corrupt mass? Or might he not justly punish us there? If not leave us; then, as he would be just, he was bound to give a Saviour, and by consequence the giving of him (which is horrendum dogma) is no more grace or mercy, but necessity. If not punish us, then as he would be just, he was bound not to do an act of justice; I mean, not to inflict that death which is as due wages to every sin. To me it is clear, that God cannot be cruel or unjust, either in denying a redemption purely gratuitous, or in inflicting a death justly due to a sinful creature. St. Austin brings in the Pelagians murmuring thus:* "Injustum est in una eademq.; mala causa, hunc liberari, illum puniri." And then answers, "Nempe ergo justum est utrumq.; puniri, quis hoc negaverit!" If original sin be sin, and grace: if God may be just in punishing, or free in giving, then he might without any colour of injustice, have condemned all men: and if so, he might have reprobated all men, and then no scruple can be made touching the reprobating of some. Theodore Coruhert, who in his life wrote against Calvin and Beza touching predestination, at his death confessed, that God might do his pleasure in saving or condemning him; there was no reason of complaint either way. It is very observable, that those who deny reprobation, do either in whole or in part deny original sin, saying that it is no sin, or, which is all one, improperly such; or else they have no true notion of grace in the freeness and self-motion of it. And to do either, what is it? To deny original sin, is to contradict the letter of Scripture, the judgment of the church; nay, and the experience of all men who will but reflect upon themselves. To deny grace to be free and self-moving, is to say grace is not grace, and to evacuate the gospel, and to take away the glory of it. Neither of them may be done by any who calls himself Christian. The true notion of sin is, that it is such a violation of the law, as merits death eternal. The true notion of grace is, that it operates freely and of self-motion. God, though under no necessity, though he might have left fallen men as well as fallen angels under sin and wrath, was yet pleased out of his mere good pleasure to give a Saviour unto men, and to open a door to them of salvation. This is free-grace indeed, and for ever to be adored. Thus much touching the first thing.

2. It is of free-grace that God chooses a church and people to himself; that he designs some certain individual persons to the infallible attainment of grace and glory. And here I shall consider two things; first, that there is such an election. And then, that it issues out of mere grace.

1. There is such an election of men unto grace and glory. Thus the apostle: "He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world," (Eph. 1:4.) "He predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ," (verse 5.) In the clearing of this I shall lay down several things.

1. Election is not of all, but some. It is true, Huberus asserted an universal election of all men: but this is directly opposite to Scripture. "Few," not all, "are chosen," (Matt. 22:14.) The elect are opposed to the blinded ones, (Rom. 11:7;) a clear distinction is made between vessels of honour and dishonour, between vessels of mercy and wrath, between those that are written in the book of life, and those that are left out of it. Election is called ἐκλογὴ; it separates and singles out some to mercy in a way of choice. Were it of all, it could not be election; there could be nothing of choice in it. The elect are said to be chosen out of the world, (John, 15:19:) but all are not chosen out of all, that is impossible. Election therefore is of some individual persons only: "The Lord knoweth those that are his," (2 Tim. 2:19.) Their names are all down in the book of life, (Phil. 4:3,) οὗτος, this individual person, this very Paul, who but now was breathing out blood against the church, this is a vessel of election, (Acts, 9:15,) saith God to Ananias. The elect are called a remnant, (Rom. 11:5,) because it is made up of some individual persons specially singled out of the corrupt mass unto God. The will of God's complacence respects graces without a distinction of persons; "Every one that fears God is accepted," (Acts, 10:35.) "A good man draws out favour from the Lord," (Prov. 12:2.) But the will of God's benevolence, such as election is, is distinctive of persons; for this decrees certain blessings to certain persons, and not to all. Election therefore is not of all, but of some.

2. Election is not legislation. The secret counsels of princes are not their edicts, neither is God's election a legislation. Election is an eternal decree, legislation is in time. Election is but of some, legislation extends to all. Election is that decree, according to which God gives out spiritual blessings to some as a benefactor, legislation sets down that rule, according to which God deals with all as a rector who governs by law. In the covenant of works, that "Do this and live," was not election; neither was the opposite member therein, "Transgress and die," reprobation. In the covenant of grace, that "Believe and be saved," is not election; neither is the opposite branch therein, "Believe not and be damned," reprobation; for then all men, because they are under both parts of the evangelical law, should be both elected and reprobated, which is impossible: nay, because they were in Adam their head under both parts of the first covenant, they should be once before both elected and reprobated. It is one thing to prescribe the terms of salvation, another to choose men to it: one thing to write down laws for all, another to write down the names of some in the book of life. That general law, All that believe shall be saved, predestinates none in particular. It would stand true, if all men were left in unbelief and perdition; if there were no such thins as a church in all the world, but elective; if it secure not a church to God, is altogether insignificant. It is an election of none, that is, no election. Our Saviour sets down two wills of God as distinct: "This is the will of him that sent me, That every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life," (John, 6:40.) And in the precedent verse, "This is the Father's will, which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing." In the one we have God's legislative will defining the terms of salvation for all; in the other, we have God's elective will designing some, that is, the elect, the given ones to it: the first, without terms in it, would not be legislation; the latter, without persons in it, would not be election.

3. Election, being a chusing, a singling out some to eternal life, must needs do some singular thing for them; it must confer upon them some distinguishing grace, such as may reserve them out of the corrupt mass unto God. And what grace is that but faith? If all men did believe, there would be no διασολὴ, or difference among them; the righteousness of God would be upon them all, the rivers of living water would flow in them all, the glory of heaven would crown them all. But faith is a differencing grace, proper to God's peculiar ones; it is not given to all, but to some; not out of common providence, but out of election. It is a choice, a prime grace of secretion, and therefore in all congruity must needs issue out of the great design of secretion, that is, election. If God give alike to all, then he elects none, he differences none; however men may make themselves to differ, God doth no such thing, nor ever intended to do so. Thus election is a mere nullity. But if, as the truth is, there be any such thing as election, then it bestows upon the chosen ones those special love-tokens of faith and perseverance, which make them meet for heaven and eternal blessedness.

4. Election is a sure, infallible thing, such as never fails: hence it is called προορισμὸς, a predestination, or predefinition, such as never misses the mark. Thus the apostle, "Whom he did predestinate, them he also called; whom he called, them he also justified; whom he justified, them he also glorified." (Rom. 8:30.) The words (whom and them) fasten every link to its precedent, and appropriate all throughout the whole chain to the same persons: every person, who is predestinated and called within this text, must be justified and glorified, or the golden chain of grace is broken. "The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are is." (2 Tim. 2:19.) Election is a foundation, not a human one, but a foundation of God, laid in the divine will, standing in eternity, sure in immutability, sealed up with infallible knowledge and invariable love towards the elect: nothing is more momentous than this, that God have a church, Christ a body, and the Spirit a temple. This is the highest of designs, the aim of the sacred Trinity, the very thing upon which God hath set his eyes and his heart more than upon all the world besides; yet, if election be not sure and infallible, that high and precious design may be frustrate and of no effect: and what a blot would this be to providence? And how unbecoming would it be to the Holy One, who sits at the stern and rules all? If so accurate a thing as providence could, which it cannot without disparaging itself, stumble or falter in the things of nature; yet surely it cannot do so in its masterpiece, in the high and precious concerns of grace: election, therefore, must be sure and infallible. That distinction of the Socinians,* (that there is a double election in God, an infirm one of those who assent to the gospel, and a firm one of those who live according to the gospel,) is frivolous and blasphemous; it is in effect to say, that there is infirmity in God, that God's choice is weak, or rather none at all, and man's choice supplies and strengthens it. The great design of a church could not be secured by such a choice as man's, nor by anything less than God's; his election is a sure foundation, his special call according to purpose, and his gifts without repentance. Hence it appears, that according to the opinion of the Remonstrants there is indeed no such thing as election. They say that the object of election is a believer; and, whether there shall be a believer or not, after all the operations of grace, ultimately depends upon the will of man: and if so, how can God elect any one person in the world? The act of his election depends upon the object, and the object upon the will of man; man's will must go foremost, and make the object, or else, for want of one, God's will must stand still, and not choose at all. It is true God hath set down this law or rule, that believers should be saved; but nowhere hath he said that believers should be elected; for that would overthrow his own election, supposing such a law or rule, that believers should be elected. If a man did believe, and so was elected, it would not be God's first law or after-choice, but man's faith which determined the matter: he would be his own elector; God, in the mean time, would not be an elector, but a legislator only. But a little further, to consider the opinion of the Remonstrants: They set down the order of God's decrees in this manner; upon Adam's fall, there was a merciful affection in God towards man; but, justice standing in the way, a Mediator was ordained to offer up a propitiatory sacrifice to God. Hereupon God makes a general decree, that all persevering believers shall be saved; and, because man cannot believe of himself, God decrees media ad fidem, means to beget faith; and as soon as men believe, there is a particular decree for their salvation; or a kind of incomplete election, such as rises and falls with their faith; and when they arrive at the full point of perseverance, the election becomes complete and peremptory. This is their scheme. Here many things are observable; here is a mediator decreed, without respect to that church which in scripture is the choice mark aimed at in the work; here is a general decree to save all persevering believers, and in that instant, no decree of the media ad fidem, the means to beget faith; here is a strange imperfection attributed to God, his will in its eternal acts must be in succession, and make its gradual progresses from a general decree to a particular, and from an incomplete, election (I tremble at the word) to a complete one; and in its passage to that completure, it must all the way vary, and turn about to every point, as the fickle will of man doth; that standing in faith there is an election, that falling there is none; and so, toties quoties, as often as it pleases man to show himself variable, the election will be something or nothing as it happens. This doth not indeed ascribe eyes and hands to God, as the gross Anthropomorphites did; but it assimilates him to the silly turnings and variations of the creature, which cannot but be very unworthy of him. Here is such a particular election as is temporal, and totally superfluous: it is temporal; for if it depend upon persevering faith as its condition, then it must be suspended, and not in act, till that faith be in being. Its condition being temporal, it cannot pre-exist or be eternal. It is also totally superfluous, there being a general decree of saving all persevering believers once past, every individual man who is a persevering believer, must needs infallibly arrive at heaven without any more ado; and then to what purpose is such a particular election? Neither do I think, that the Remonstrants would ever have offered such an insignificant thing to the world, but that they were under a necessity to say somewhat to those many and famous expressions which are found in scripture, touching the election and predestination of persons, which could not be satisfied with that general law, That whosoever believeth should be saved. Here is an election of persevering believers; but in plain terms that is no election at all. Election must be to something, but this is to just nothing; not to faith and holiness, these are presupposed in the object, and there can be no election to that which is presupposed before. There is, therefore, no election to grace at all; no, nor to glory: that persevering believers had a right unto by the general decree of saving such as they are: and there can be no election to that which they had an antecedent right unto. Thus all the great expressions in scripture touching election, vanish into nothing. In election God severs and differences one man from another in a way of choice: but according to the Remonstrants, he gives all in common. And how can God elect without a severing or differencing act? Or how can he do such an act, who gives all in common? It is true God severs final believers to life, and final unbelievers to death; but here is no choice of persons; some go to life, but all, if final believers, should do so: some go to death, but all, if final unbelievers, should do so. Here is no choice at all, but a mere judicial act, according to the evangelical law. When a judge according to law acquits one as innocent, and condemns another as guilty, it is not an act of choice, but of righteous judgment. No more is it in God to adjudge believers to life, and unbelievers to death. But I shall say no more touching the first thing.—That there is an election.

2. Election is of mere grace. It hath no other cause but the divine pleasure only. "We are predestinated according to the good pleasure of is will." (Eph. 1:5.) "To the praise of the glory of his grace." (v. 6). God loves his people because he loves them, (Deut. 7:8). He saith, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious." (Exod. 33:19.). In which words we have will and grace doubled as the only reason of itself. Election is the primum indebitum; if that be not purely free in God, nothing can be so. Iniquus est, saith Seneca,* qui muneris sui arbitrium danti non reliquit; he is unjust who leaves not a gift to the pleasure of the giver. All souls and graces are God's, and he may dispose of them as he pleaseth. If he choose any to himself, he chooses freely, else it is no choice at all: it is not, as the apostle calls it, an election of grace. Election is not built upon foreseen works, for then it would not be an election of grace, but of works; the elect would not be vessels of mercy, but of merit: neither is it founded upon foreseen faith and perseverance; these are given by God not to all, but to some; not out of common providence, but out of the decree of election. Hence the apostle, when he blesses God for the work of faith in the Thessalonians, elevates his praises up to election, the first fountain of grace, "Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God." (1 Thes. 1:4.) And, when he praises God for blessing the Ephesians with all spiritual blessings in Christ, he sets down the eternal rule of dispensing them, "According as he hath chosen us." (Ephes. 1:3, 4.) He doth not choose us according to our faith and perseverance, but blesses us with these blessings according to election; he chooses us, not because we are holy, but that we should be such. Doth God foresee any good in men, when he willeth to them their first good? Or, doth he foresee good in them, before he wills it to them? What need then of his purpose to give it? Or how can he possibly be the donor of it? If he foresee it, they will infallibly have it, whether he decree it or not; they will have it without his gift, which is impossible. Faith, therefore, and perseverance, do not presuppose election, but election is the eternal spring of those graces. Unless this be granted, God doth but eligere eligentes, choose those that first choose him. Man's faith must be earlier than God's grace: he chooses before he is chosen; loves before he is loved of God. And to assert this, what is it, but to lift up man above God, man's will above the sovereign will of his Maker? A vanity it is, and a blasphemy against the fountain of grace, which the saints bless and adore, as the origin of all that good which is in them. God's electing grace is pure grace; his love is merely from himself: hence is that emphatical reduplication, "The elect whom he hath chosen." (Matt. 13:20.) As if our Saviour had said, in election there is nothing but pure election, nothing on man's part, all is from the good pleasure of God.

This truth is notably set forth in our Saviour Christ, he was God's chosen servant. (Matt. 12:18.) The lamb fore-ordained. (1 Pet. 1:20.) And, as St. Austin styles him, præclarissimum lumen prædestinationis et gratiæ, the most famous light of predestination and grace. He was as man, predestinated to the superlative glory of the hypostatical union; and that not out of any foreseen holiness in his human nature, for all that did flow out of that union, but out of mere grace: the human nature did not do or merit aught to be advanced into that ineffable excellency; neither may any man say, Cur non et ego? Why were not I so advanced? Nature is common, but grace is singular. Here we have the prototype and grand exemplar of predestination: Christ was predestinated to be the head, we are predestinated to be his members. He as man was predestinated, that by an admirable assumption he should be the natural Son of God. We are predestinated, that we should be adopted ones. He was predestinated to be such without any precedent merits or works. We are predestinated to be such without them. Hence the apostle saith: "That we are predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren." (Rom. 8:29) Both predestinations were free; and in our predestination there was a kind of imitation of his. Hence St. Austin saith*, Et illum et nos prædestinavit, quia in illo, ut esset caput nostrum, et in nobis, ut ejus corpus essemus, non præcessura merita nostra, sed opera sua futura præscivit; he predestinated him and us: that he should be our head, and we his body, was not from our merit, but the work of God. It is certain that the members cannot be above the head; they were not elected to a beatifical vision out of foreseen faith and perseverance, when the head was elected to the hypostatical union out of mere grace.

3. It is of free grace that God calls men. There is a double call, an external and an internal one; both are of grace.

1. The external call is of grace. The gospel is not a debt, but a mere gift freely given to men. It may be subtracted from a nation for their sins, but it is never given to a nation for their worthiness, for all men are unworthy of it. When God gives it to some, it is not for their dignity; when he denies it to others, there is always in them a concomitant indignity of it. No natural man can be worthy of it. It is merely of God's good pleasure that the sun of righteousness shines in one part of the world, and not in another; that the evangelical dew falls in some places and not in others. Here the only solution is that of our Saviour: "Even so Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." (Mat. 11:26.) I know it is here said by some, That facienti quod in se est Deus non denegat gratiam; To him who doth what he can, God denies not grace. The promise is, habenti dabitur, to him that hath, that is, rightly useth what he hath, more shall be given. Upon the right use of naturals, the Pagans might have supernaturals. The gospel in such a case should be revealed to them. But, as Bishop Davenant ob-observes, experience confutes this; Proferant ab orbe condito vel unius Pagani exemplum, saith he. Let them bring forth, if they can, the example of one Pagan since the world began, who by the right use of naturals attained to evangelical grace. One would think that such as Socrates and Plato might, if any, rightly use naturals; but they had not the gospel manifested to them, which yet hath been revealed to the poor Americans, who comparatively to the other were brutish and barbarous. That of the schools, Facienti quod in se est Deus non denegat gratiam, is, (as Bishop Saunderson in his sermons calleth it,)* the rotten principle and foundation of the whole frame of Arminianism: ultimately it resolves all into nature; salvation is resolved into faith, faith into the gospel preached, that into the use of naturals. Nature may now lift up its hand, and touch the crowns of glory above. Grace may fall down to so low a rate, as to be earned at the fingers' ends of nature. And what is this but pure impure Pelagianism? In the Palestine Synod Pelagius, but for his counterfeit recantation, had had a just anathema for that saying, Gratiam dari secundum merita. Secundum merita with the fathers, is all one with secundum opera, and secundum opera all one with facienti quod in se est. The apostle flatly opposes this opinion. "He hath called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace." (2 Tim. 1:9.) The call is not according to works, or according to the use of naturals; but merely, purely, totally from grace. Rightly to use naturals, is to live up to the light of nature, that tells us that God is the supreme good, and, therefore, in all reason to be loved with a supreme love. We should not give him part of the price, but all the mind, heart, soul, spirit, and that in pure perfection; and who, where is the saint on earth that doth so; Their purest acts of love come forth ex læso principio, out of a heart sanctified but in part; and in their egress from thence cannot but have a taint or tincture from the indwelling corruption; and may we imagine that God should offer the Pagans a gospel on such terms as no saint on earth ever arrived at? Or that he would have them go about by the way of perfection to enjoy a gospel of grace? It cannot be. But suppose that they may have it upon a sincere love of him, can a Pagan out of natural principles truly love God? May true love be without faith, the root; or without the Spirit, the inspirer of all graces? Or doth the Holy Spirit work in a supernatural way, without a gospel or ordinances? Or if it did, doth it work, and not effect so much as the first element in Christianity? I mean a sense of the want of grace? May the Spirit converse in those unclean places, where nothing appears but error, pride, idolatry, impiety, and wickedness of all sorts? It is not reasonable to believe it. If nature could lift up itself to a sincere love of God, the Spirit and the gospel seem to be superfluous thereunto. And as for habenti dabitur, it speaks not to the point in hand, because it speaks not of the use of natural talents: not in Matthew 13, for there it is accommodated to the parable of the seed, and given as an item to such as heard the gospel; nor yet in the 25th chapter, for there the use of the talents is remunerated with eternal life, (ver. 21, 23;) which is a crown too rich to be set upon mere naturals. There the talents upon abuse are taken away; and by consequence, if it were meant of naturals, the abusers must lose their reason, and become fools; which experience denies. But whatever the talents are in that promise, it must be interpreted in eodem genere: If of talents of nature, it runs thus: He that useth naturals, shall have more of them. If of talents of grace, thus: He that useth supernaturals, shall have more of them. But to stretch this promise a genere ad genus, from naturals to supernatural, as if nature might, per saltum, be crowned with grace, is an interpretation very incongruous, and directly contrary to that of the apostle, "He hath called us, not according to our works, but according to his own grace." The end of this promise is to excite men to the good use of talents. But after such an unreasonable stretch of it as makes grace the reward of nature, what can come of it? Where shall the fruit of it be? Not in the church, there they have the gospel grace already; nor yet out of it, there it is not revealed: neither is it possible that those who want the gospel should be stirred up by any promise in it, to seek after it in the use of naturals. Thus we see that the external call is not a debt to nature, but a mere gift of grace. Such as the great gift is, such is the charter. The great gift of Christ was purely, totally gratuitous; therefore the charter of the gospel, which in the manifestation of it is the external call, is so also.

2. The internal call is of grace: and here, because some oppose this call, I shall first shew, That there is such a call; and then, that it is merely of grace.

1. There is such a thing as an internal call. Pelagius, at least in the first draught of his heresy, placed grace only, in libero arbitrio et doctrina, in free-will and doctrine; free-will being nature, not grace, doctrine being grace but not the all of it, he left no room at all for an internal call, he allowed no grace but that external one of doctrine: and in this he spake very consonantly to his other opinions; denying original sin as he did, what need could there be of internal grace? There being no spot or sinful defect in the soul, grace hath nothing to do within, all is well and whole there, and needs no physician; all is in order and harmony there, and nothing to be new-made or new-framed. Therefore, St. Austin observes, that though Pelagius would sometimes talk of a multiform and ineffable grace; yet it was but to put a blind, and cover over his heresy. Still he meant no more than mere doctrine, and external grace; denying original sin, there was nothing within for grace to do or rectify. Socinus, who with the Pelagians denies original sin, makes little or no account of internal grace, though in his Prælections he speaks of an interius auxilium, an inward aid; yet he saith, that faith is generated, potissimum per externa, chiefly by externals; and again, that faith is rather to be called God's command than his gift. But that there is such a thing as an internal call, and that distinct from the external, I shall propose three or four things.

1. All in the church have an external call; but some are not so much as illuminated, it is not given to them to know the heavenly mysteries. Those by the way-side heard the word and understood it not; Christ was a stumbling block to the Jews, and foolishness to the Greeks; and both because he was not, though outwardly proposed, inwardly understood. Christ the power of God, if understood, could not have been a stumbling-block to the Jews, who looked after signs; Christ the wisdom of God, if understood, could not have been foolishness to the Greeks, who sought after wisdom. Mr. Pemble relates this story: "An old man, of above 60 years of age, a constant hearer of the word, was after all so grossly ignorant, as upon discourse to say, that God was a good old man, Christ a towardly youth, the soul a great bone in the body; and the happiness of man after death, was to be put into a pleasant green meadow." Such poor blind souls have indeed an external call, but not so much as the first element of the internal one; illumination, which is the initial thing therein, is wanting in them.

2. All in the church have an external call; but some are for their iniquity judicially hardened under the means: the Word of life is to them the savour of death; Christ, the corner-stone, a stumbling-block: the light blinds them, the melting ordinances harden them. These men have an external call, but nothing of an internal one; it being impossible that the same persons, under the same means, should be illuminated and softened, which are the effects of an internal call, and at the same time should be blinded and hardened under the means which cannot but have in them an external one.

3. Some under the gospel have a wonderful work wrought in them, their eyes are opened upon the evangelical mysteries, their wills are melted into the divine will. God's law is engraven in their heart; his image is the beauty and glory of their souls: a great work is done in them, a new creation appears within; and how should this be, or which way should it be effected, but by that internal call which calls things that are not, as though they were, which in a glorious way calls faith and other graces into being? Hence the apostle saith, That the gospel came to the Thessalonians not in word only, but in power and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, (1 Thes. 1:5.) Here is the true internal call; the word did not only outwardly sound to them, no, it was inwardly engrafted to the saving of the soul; it was strongly and sweetly set home upon the heart, so as to produce faith and love. It was not in mere notions, but it sprung up into a new creature. This is the internal call. If a mere external one might have done it, Pelagius in the rudest draught of his heresy had been in the right. He placed grace in mere doctrine and free will; but to the framing of the new creature, an internal operation is requisite. Hence St. Austin saith, That believers have not only, as others, an outward preacher, but an nward one.* Intùs à patre audiunt, they hear andi learn of the Father. He speaks to them inwardly in such words of life and power as produces the new creature.

4. The ministry of Christ was a very excellent one: he spake, did, lived, as never man did: there were oracles in his mouth, miracles in his hands, sanctity in his life. Never was there such an external call as here; yet would this do the work? Would this secure a church or people to God? No, he tells them plainly, That except they were born of the Spirit, they could not enter heaven. That no man can come to him except the Father draw him. There must bean internal traction, or else there would be never a believer in the world. Trahitur miris modis ut velit ab illo, qui novit intus in ipsis hominum cordibus operari: in this traction there is a secret and admirable touch upon the heart to make it believe and receive Christ: this is an internal call indeed. Yet, as pregnant as the words are, the Socinians have an art to turn God's traction into man's disposition; and the divine energy into human probity; Vis præcipua in audientium probitate consistebat, the chief force consists in the probity of the auditors. Thus Socinus touching that traction. Those who have probity of mind, who will do God's will: those honest souls will embrace the gospel. When God is said to touch the heart (1 Sam. 10:26), the meaning is, they had tangible hearts, such as were inclinable to the divine will; so Volkelius. And again, when God draws men, he proposes his will; and the probi, the honest hearts are persuaded: so the same author. Thus by an odd perverse interpretation of Scripture, the choicest operations of grace are at last resolved into nature and free will. This more plainly appears by that explication which Volkelius in the place first quoted, gives us of probity. "There are," saith he, in man three things, reason, will, and appetite; if the will, the middle faculty, apply itself to reason, there is probity: if to the appetite, there is improbity. We see here what probity is, the mere product of the will; faith is resolved into probity, and probity into the will of man. There is no need of grace, at least not of an internal one. The probity requisite to faith, is according to these men much the same, as Aristotle requires from the auditors of morality, that is, that they act κατὰ λόγον, according to reason. Thus, according to them, there is nothing of mystery or grace in this traction, but only a following the common principles of nature; out of this temper faith will spring up. But do these men believe scripture? There the natural unregenerate man is thus described: he is dead in sin, a corrupt tree which cannot bring forth good fruit, he perceives not spiritual things; his carnal mind is not subject to the law, nor indeed can be; without grace he cannot do good, no, nor so much as spend a thought about it; he is a stranger from the life of God, and blindness is upon his heart: and can there be any true probity in such an one? The Corinthians, at least some of them, were before their conversion, fornicators, idolators, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of themselves with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners. (1 Cor. 6:9, 10.) And what probity was in them? True probity, such as is towards God, is no other than sincerity; and sincerity is not one grace, but the rectitude of all. And may such a thing go before faith? Where true probity is, there is a pure intention to do God's will, and may it antecede that faith, which is the single eye, and works by love? Probity is not an offspring of nature, but of grace; could free will elevate itself to it, there would need no traction, no influence of grace at all.

The fathers in the Arausican council condemn those who subordinate grace to man's humility or obedience, as if humility and obedience were not gifts of grace. To conclude, the fathers' traction doth not stand in man's probity, but in a divine energy, such as produces faith in the heart.

2. The internal call is merely of grace. The spirit breathes where it lists. God calls as he pleases: some are called according to purpose; all are not so. Every heart under the evangelical means is not opened as Lydia's was. God works in us to will and to do of his good pleasure. If God be God, an infinite mind, must needs be free; if free in any thing, he must be so in acts of grace, in his calling men home unto himself. It is true, that according to some, the Spirit is annexed to the gospel, and works equally on all the auditors, But this opinion labours under prodigious consequences; I mean some such as these following are. The Holy Spirit, whose prerogative it is to breathe where he list, and divide to every one as he will, is here affixed to his own organ, the gospel, and must part out his grace equally to all. The ordinance of preaching, as if it were no longer a mere ordinance, or pendant on the Spirit, must confer grace, if not ex opere operato, yet in a certain promiscuous way to all. The minister, who uses to look up for the Spirit and excellency of power to succeed his labours, may rest secure, all is ready and at hand. The people's eyes, which ought to wait on the Lord, if peradventure he will give faith and repentance to them, will soon fall down and centre on the ordinance, where they are sure without a peradventure to have their share of grace. Those emphatical scriptures, which speak of singular grace to some, must now run in a much lower strain. The opening of Lydia's heart, how remarkable soever, must be no singular grace, but common to the rest. The tractions and inward teachings of the Father, which make some to come to Christ, must be general favours, and extendible to those who come not to him. When the apostle saith, "that Christ is to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness; but to them that are called, the power and wisdom of God," (1 Cor. 1:23, 24), how signal soever the difference in the text be, the internal call must be all one; in those to whom Christ was a stumbling block and foolishness, as in those to whom he was the power and wisdom of God. The called according to purpose, are called but as other men: God's purpose is to call all alike, man's only makes the difference. These are the consequences of that opinion, and too heavy, I confess, for me to stand under. I rest, therefore, in that of the apostle, "He hath called us, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace," (2 Tim. 1:9). Here purpose and grace are joined together; if his purpose be free, if his grace be gratuitous, then he calls as he pleases. In calling men home to himself, he acts purely, totally from grace. I conclude with that of Bonaventure, Hoc piarum mentium est, ut nihil sibi tribuant, sed totum Dei Gratiæ; The genius of pious minds, is to attribute nothing to themselves, out all to grace. Thus far touching the first thing, the freeness of grace.

The next thing proposed, is the power and efficacy of grace. The apostle speaks of an exceeding greatness of power towards those that believe, (Eph. 1:19). So emphatical are the words there, that Camero is bold to say,* Nemo, cui non periit frons, negare potest significare vim et potentiam; none, who hath not lost his modesty, can there deny a force and power signified. Now touching the efficacy of grace, I shall consider three things.

1. Its efficacy as to the principle of faith and other graces.

2. Its efficacy as to actual believing and wilting.

3. Its efficacy as to perseverance in the faith.

The first thing is its efficacy as to the principle of faith, and other graces. By the principle of faith, I mean not the natural power of believing. God doth not command us to take down the sun, for which we have no faculties; but to believe, for which we have an understanding and a will; no natural faculty is wanting. Hence St. Austin saith, the posse of believing, is of nature. This power in fallen man, because in conjunction with natural impotency, never arrives at the effect. The natural faculties are by the fall so vitiated, that though in a sense he can, yet he will not believe. Trahit sua quemq. voluptas, one lust or other so attracts him, that he cannot a se impetrare ut velit, he cannot find in his heart to do it. He hath a kind of can in his natural faculties, but the corruption blasts the effect. Neither do I mean that power, which, as some divines say, is supernatural, yet not a habit or vital principle of faith. Nature being fallen, grace (say they) gives a second power to set the will in æquilibrio; but that power doth not, as a habit, incline or dispose a man to actual believing. This power, as I take it, is nothing but nature and free-will. I see not how it should be distinct from it. There are (as the learned doctor Twiss hath observed) three things in the soul: that is, powers, habits, and passions. Powers may be the subjects of habits and passions; but may a power be the subject of a power? A natural power of a supernatural one? This looks like a monster. By the same reason habits may be the subjects of habits, and passions of passions. And is this power of believing free or not? If free, then it is not supernatural; it may be a principle of not believing, and that nothing supernatural can be. If not free, then it determines the event, but to what? To not believing? then it is not supernatural. To believing? then all men (having, as these men say, the power,) must infallibly believe, which scripture and experience deny. I mean, therefore, such a principle of faith, as is a habit and vital principle; such as is seminally and virtually faith; such as hath the nature and essence of faith; such as inclines and disposes to actual believing, and before the act, denominates a man a believer. When the act of faith comes forth into being, is it from a believer, or from an unbeliever? If from a believer, then there was a habit of faith before. If from an unbeliever, how unnatural is it, and how cross to the suavity of providence? There must then be an act of faith, before a principle; a fruit before a tree or seed. What shall we say of such an one? He is a believer in act, but in principle none; as soon as the act ceases, he is not at all a believer. There must, therefore, be a habit, a vital principle of faith: this in the use of means is infused or created, and that by the power of grace. To clear this, I shall lay down two or three things.

1. The principle of faith and other graces, is not produced by mere suasion, by a mere proposal of the evangelical object. In conversion there is a great work wrought within; the deadly wound of original corruption must be healed, the new creature must be set up in us; and can suasion do this? Such a glorious work must be done by an efficient cause, not by a mere allicient one, such as suasion is. A natural man is blind, nay dead in spiritual things: and what suasion can make the bind to see, or the dead to rise? Suasion is so far from giving a faculty, that it presupposes it. The use of it is not to confer a power, but to excite and stir it up into act. Satan uses suasion to subvert the souls of men; and doth God do no more to convert them unto himself? How then should he ever gather a church to himself? Satan's suasions run with the tide and stream of corrupt nature; but God's are against it; and in all reason the balance will be cast rather on that side which hath nature's vote and free concurrence, than on that which hath nature's repugnancy and contradiction. In this work there is more than mere suasion. God is not a mere orator, but an admirable operator; his word is not significative only, but factive, commanding those divine principles into being, vox imperativa abit in operativam; he calls for a new heart, and it is so.

2. This holy principle is not produced by assistant grace, as if a natural man did by divine assistance work it in himself. The principle or power of believing is either natural or supernatural; if natural, it is by creation; if supernatural, it is by infusion or inspiration; neither way is it produced in a way of assistance. An assistance is not accommodated to a thing to produce a new power, but to bring forth an act from thence. The light is assistant to the eye in the act of vision, but it gives not the visive power to it: assisting grace concurs to the act of believing, but it confers not a believing principle. The greatest saint in the world stands in need of assisting grace, that his gracious principles may come into actual exercise; he must have help from the holy one, a supply of the Spirit of Christ; the heavenly roots do not cast forth themselves unless God be as dew to them; the sweet spices do not flow out actually, unless God breathe upon them by auxiliary grace; still he wants assistance to the doing of good as he ought; the greatest saint, though a man full of divine principles, stands in need of assistance. And doth a natural man, one void of good, fraught with evil, need no more: is regenerating, quickening, renewing, new-creating grace, nothing but an assistance only? May any one believe that the Holy Spirit in Scripture should give such high, stately titles to an assistance only? May a man be a co-operator, or co-partner with God in the raising up faith and a new creature in himself? It is true, a natural man may by a common grace enter upon preparatories; he may attend upon the means, but what can he contribute to the work itself? he is merely natural, the new creature is totally supernatural, and what can he do towards it? could he contribute ought, what would the new creature be? must it not be part natural as from man, part supernatural as from God; part old as from nature, part new as from grace? Thus it must be if this great work be divided between God and man. Notable is that of Lactantius*: "Jovem Junonemque a juvando esse dictos Cicero interpretatur, et Jupiter quasi Juvans Pater dictus, quod nomen in Deum minimè congruit, quia juvare hominis est, opis aliquid conferentis in eum qui sit egens alicujus beneficii: nemo sic Deum precatur, ut se adjuvet, sed ut servet, ut vitam salutemque tribuat; nullus pater dicitur filios juvare cum eos generat aut educat, illud enim levius est quam ut eo verbo magnitudo paterni beneficii exprimatur, quanto id magis est inconveniens Deo, qui verus est Pater, per quem sumus, cujus toti sumus, a quo fingimur, animamur, et illuminamur?" And at last he concludes, "Non intelligit beneficia divina, qui se juvari modo a Deo putat," he understands not divine benefits, who thinks himself only helped by God. Jehovah must not be transformed into a Jupiter, or a mere helper; man must not share with him in this great work, it is God who makes us new creatures, and not we ourselves. "We are his workmanship," not our own, (Ephes. 2:10.) "Born not of the will of man, but of God," (John, 1:13.) As soon as a man is regenerate, it may be truly said of him, Hic homo jam natus est ex Deo, this man is now born of God; but to say that he is in part born of man's will, is to blaspheme the author of our spiritual being, and to crown nature instead of grace.

3. The holy principles of grace are produced by an act of Divine power: God lays the foundations of faith and the new creature, as it were in mighty waters, in the very same heart in which there is a fountain and torrent of corruption; and no power less than the divine can put back the stream of nature, and set up the heavenly structure of grace in such a heart. The production of gracious principles is in Scripture set forth in glorious titles, such as do import power; it is called a "translation," (Col. 1:13), it transplants and carries us away out of a state of sin into a state of grace. It is a generation, (Jam. 1:18); it begets us to a participation of the divine nature. It is a resurrection, (Ephes. 2:5). It quickens us and inspires into us a supernatural life, of which the fall had left no spark or relic at all. It is a creation, (Eph. 2:10). It raises up a new creature out of nothing, and gives us a spiritual being, which before we had not; and if these things do not speak power, nothing can. Hence the apostle speaks of the gospel coming in power, (1 Thes. 1:5). Nay, that in the success of it there is an excellency of power, (2 Cor. 4:7) and an exceeding greatness of power towards believers, (Eph. 1:19). The work of faith is said to be fulfilled with power, (2 Thess. 1:11). How much more must it be an act of power to lay the primordials and first principles of faith in a fallen unbelieving creature? When there was nothing appearing in our lapsed nature, but a vacuum, a chaos of sin, a spiritual death and nullity, only the divine power was able to repair the ruins of the fall, and rear up the heavenly life and nature in us. This great truth was notably set forth in the conception of our Saviour Christ; it was not in the course of nature, his mother knew not a man, but the Holy Ghost came upon her; the power of the highest overshadowed her, that the holy thing might be born of her, (Luke 1:35). In like manner when Christ is formed in the heart, when the new creature is set up in us, it is not in the way of nature; we know not the human power in this work, here is no less than dextra excelsi, the right hand of the Most High to effect it; here are vestigia spiritus sancti, the footsteps of the Holy Spirit to bring it to pass: the same power and spirit which formed Christ in the womb, forms him in the heart: as in his participation of the human nature there was a supernatural operation, so is there in our participation of the divine. This is the first efficacy of grace, it new creates the heart, and imprints the divine image there; it inspires holy principles, and so lays a foundation for obedience.

2. There is an efficacy of grace as to actual believing and willing. St. Bernard asks the question*, Quid agit liberum arbitrium? What doth free-will do? and then answers, Salvatur, it is saved. And Agatho, in his epistle, lays down this as a rule†, Quod a Christo non susceptum est, nec salvatum est, si ab eo humana voluntas suscepta est, et salvata est; That which was not assumed by Christ, is not saved by him. If a human will was assumed, then it is saved; and it is saved, first in that principles of holy rectitude are instilled into it, and then in that those principles are drawn forth in actual willing: both these are necessary, the first implants the vital principles of grace in the heart, the second makes them blossom, and bring forth precious fruit; without those vital principles the will, however assisted ab extra, is internally in itself but a faculty merely natural and void of spiritual life; it hath no proportion to the vital supernatural acts of faith and love. Neither is it possible, that any such should issue out from thence, no, not by any extrinsical assistance whatsoever: an act if vital and supernatural, must be from an internal principle that is such. Again, unless those vital principles bring forth actual believing and willing, they must needs lie dead, and come to nothing. And yet if we estimate things according to their worth and excellency, we cannot but think it much more easy and eligible for the wise and good God to suffer an abortion in all the seeds and principles of nature, than in those precious and admirable ones of grace, which do not, as the others do, carry the mere footsteps, but the very image and resemblance of his holy nature.

Pelagius would at least in some sense own, that the posse, the mere power of believing, is from God; but he would not have the velle, the actual willing and believing, to be so. He saith, that God worketh all things; that is, he gives to them the operative power. He distinguishes three things,* posse, velle, esse; posse in natura, velle in arbitrio, esse in effectu: power, willing, being: power is in nature, willing in the free faculty, being in the effect. The power, saith he, is properly from God; but the other two are from ourselves, as descending de arbitrii fonte, from the fountain of free-will. Hence St. Austin tells him. That, according to his opinion, which attributed to grace not willing or believing, but a power only, he could not be a true Christian. A power of believing (whether it be as Pelagius would have it, a mere naked power, and no more: or whether it be such a power as is a habit or vital principle of grace,) is not all that grace operates; a mere naked power is not all. To entertain such a thought, is highly to disparage grace. A power of believing is from God; and is not a power of sinning, so too? If free-will, which includes in it a power of sinning, be a creature, it must be so. If a power of sinning be from God, and no more but a mere power of believing be from him, then how is God the author of actual believing, more than of actual sinning? Pelagius, saying That God is said to operate all things, because he gives the operative power; Bellarmine from thence infers this just consequence.† That then God operates all sin, because he gave a free-will, by which all sin is wrought: therefore if God be not the author of actual sin, as he is not, nor cannot be, then neither is he author of actual believing, by giving a power to believe. Both powers are from God; and how hard a thing, and how contumelious to grace is it to say, that he produces as much towards sinning as towards believing! And yet we must say so, if there be no more than a mere power to both. Neither is such a power, as is a habit or vital principle of grace, all that grace operates; those precious seeds and principles were never let down from heaven to sleep and lie hid in the root, but to spring up in actual graces suitable and congruous thereunto. There is a Divine vigour in those principles; and when auxiliary grace stirs them up, and becomes a heavenly dew unto them, they will spring up as a well of living water, and shoot forth as the seed of God. There is a special providence watching over these, to make them come up in a crop of holy fruits.

Some divines express themselves thus: grace gives a supernatural power, and so puts the will in æquilibrio, in an even balance, that it may believe or not believe, as it pleaseth. But what a thing is this! An ἀδιαφορία, or indifferency towards such a precious object as Christ is, looks very ill, and like a sin; and how should it come from grace? If grace work only a kind of indifferency, it doth far less than mere moral virtue doth: moral virtue is, as the philosopher speaks, ἕξις κατὰ τὸν ὀρθὸν λόγον, a habit of acting according to right reason; it carries in it a promptitude and inclination to virtuous actions; it renders them easy, and in a sort natural: and may we, can we, suppose that grace, a principle much more sublime, and of far higher extraction, should only put the soul into an equilibrious state, no more propending to good than evil? If grace operate only a kind of indifferency, then the comfort of Christians is departed; they are afraid of nothing more than of themselves; the vanity and corruption in their own hearts is terrible to them: yet in this case the greatest of fears, I mean, to be left to themselves, falls upon them. They are not to look up to God to fix their hearts upon himself? no, nor so much as to incline them that way; their life must not be a life of faith or dependance upon God, the fountain of grace; there is no warrant for such a thing; grace only works a state of indifferency, and then leaves the will to do the rest: if they will depend upon anything, it must be upon their own will, that is, upon vanity; nothing else determines the great concern of their salvation.

Now here I shall first prove, that grace works the actual willing and believing; and then, that it doth it in a way of power.

1. Grace works the actual willing and believing; and here I shall lay down several things.

1. The Scripture is very pregnant. "God worketh to will and to do of his good pleasure," (Phil. 2:13); ἐνεργῶν, he worketh efficaciously, not a mere power of willing, but the very willing. Neither doth he work the willing conditionally, if we will; for then the willing should be a condition to itself, which is impossible, and should be before he works it, which is directly opposite to the text; but he works it absolutely of his own good pleasure. His work doth not depend on man's consent, but it causeth it; neither doth he work it so, as that man in whom he worketh the willing, might actually not will: for a man who wills, must needs will; and a man in whom he works the willing, must needs do so. If a man do not will, then God doth not work the willing; for a willing which is not, is not wrought: in this case nothing is wrought but the power of willing, which satisfies not the text. If the man in whom he works, do will, the thing is infallible; for a man cannot will and nill both at once: but he worketh the willing so, as that man's willing doth certainly follow upon it. Neither doth he work the willing as a partial concause, for then he should be a cause only ex parte, and do but something towards it, the rest must be not from him, but only from man's will as the author of it; which is to ascribe to man's will, not a merit only but a kind of deity, as if it were the sole author of some supernatural good. But he works the willing as a total supreme cause; he causeth man to will. Man's will doth not co-operate, but sub-operate under the sweet power of grace, moving it to will. It is true, man willeth, but it is casually from grace that he doth so. Man's will is the principium quo which produces the willing; but God's grace is the principium quo which causeth it. Hence St. Austin,—"Nos nolumus, sed Deus in nobis operatur et velle; nos operamur, sed Deus in nobis operator et ipsum operari pro bona voluntate,"* We will and work, but God works both in us. And afterwards the same father adds, "Hocest pium, hoc verum, ut sit humilis confessio ut detur totum Deo:" This is pious and true, that there may be a humble confession, and the whole may be ascribed to God. Again, the scripture tells us, that faith is not of ourselves, but the gift of God, (Eph. 2:8), that the very actual believing is freely given to us. (Phil. 1:29.) We see here, faith is a mere gift, it is not from ourselves, but from God. And what can be more emphatical? It is not said that faith is offered, but given; external things, which exist before they are given and received, may be said to be offered; but faith which exists not before it be given and received, cannot properly be said to be offered. A faith which is not given and received is a nonentity, and a nonentity is not a gift. Faith is God's gift, not where it is not, but where it is. That cannot be properly said to be given, which is not received. Giving and receiving relate mutually to each other; therefore when grace gives faith, it gives the very reception, it causes a man to believe; and when it causes a man to believe, he doth infallibly do so; and if he do not do so, the gift is not a gift of faith, which the apostle speaks of, but of a power only to believe, which answers not to the text. Hence it appears, that actual believing is merely from grace.

2. If God only give a power of believing, and that in common to all, the actual believer makes himself to differ from others. God gave him only the common grace, but the improvement of it is from himself; God gave him only a power, but the act (which hath more of actuality, and so of likeness to God, and indeed is the very end and centre of the power) is from himself. Man may now glory in himself, as contributing of his own, that which is perfective of that power, which is from God. After grace hath done its utmost, man's will is made the umpire, whether the operations of grace shall be something or nothing: God made the heart and the wheels therein, but the motion is man's own; he only must determine this great concern. Grace begins to build the new creature, but man must finish the work, or else it can never be done. Grace sets the will in æquilibrio, and that is all; it must move no further, but leave the event to the lottery of man's will. Thus God is debased, and man exalted; free-grace is dethroned, and free-will is crowned. But if we, as we ought, must glory in the Lord; if we have nothing but what we have received; then we must confess, that the actual willing and believing is from grace; acknowledging with St. Cyprian, "In nullo gloriandum, quando nostrum nihil est."

3. It is a good rule of Celestine, bishop of Rome,† Lex supplicandi facit legem credendi, Our prayers teach us what we are to believe about grace. For what do we pray to God? Is it not to have our hearts inclined to his commands, and united to his fear? Is it not to have our wills bowed to obedience and swallowed up in the divine will? What can be more congruous for man, more pious towards God than this? Yet if the willing and believing be not from grace, it is but irrisoria petitio, a kind of mock devotion. There can hardly be a more unaccountable vanity than this, to beg of God, that which is not within the line of grace to bestow; which is wholly turned over to the power and will of man to effect. We may here say with Seneca, Quid votis opus est? What need any prayers for that which we may have from ourselves? If the thing be not from God but from ourselves, we do not indeed pray, but dissemble a prayer; we make as if the thing were a gift of God, when there is no such matter. The philosopher, saith Epictetus, expects all ἐξ ἐαυτοῦ, from himself, and so may the Christian too in the point of willing and believing; if these be not grace, he need not look up to God for them. Again, for what do the saints praise God? Is it not for touching and opening their hearts to Christ, for making them willing in the day of his power? Is it not for putting his Spirit within them, and causing them to walk in his statutes? What can be more due to God, more proper for a saint than this? Hence they glorified God in the repenting Gentiles, (Acts 11:18). And again they glorified God in converting Paul, (Gal. 1:24.) When David and his people offered willingly to God, he falls into an holy extacy, "Who am I, and what is my people?" (1 Chron. 29:14.) All things, saith he, are of thee; not only our gold and our silver, not only our hearts and wills, but our very actual willingness also: yet if the willing and believing be not of grace, all these are but mockeries and false hallelujahs. They who glorify God in converts, offer but a blind sacrifice, and glorify but an idol of their own fancy. If God do not do the thing, why should we praise him for it? How can we do so in truth, when the matter will not bear it? Indeed we do but dissemble a praise, making as if he were the author of that which is not from him. Thus we see, that willing and believing must be from grace, or else we utterly evacuate those prayers and praises which are offered up to God touching the same. Thus much touching the first thing, That grace works the willing and believing.

2. Grace works it in a way of power. St. Paul speaking of the success of the gospel, saith, "That the excellency of the power is of God." (2 Cor. 4:7.) And again, he prays for the Thessalonians, "That God would fulfil the work of faith with power." (2 Thes. 1:11.) If faith be fulfilled, as it is, by the acts of it, then those acts are produced by the power of grace. God's people are willing in the day of his power, (Psalm 110:3). When the disciples wondered how a camel should go through a needle's eye, how a rich man should be saved, our Saviour solves the knot by the power of God, "With him all things are possible. (Luke 18:27.) The power of grace can fetch off the world, the camel's bunch, from the heart, and make it pass, as it were, through the needle's eye into heaven. It is true man wills, man believes, but it is from the strong and sweet gales of grace that he doth so. The willing and believing are voluntary acts in regard of man's will, but acts of power in regard of God's Spirit, which touches and moves the heart thereunto. It may be thought by some, that there needs no expense of power towards willing and believing; that a power of willing and believing is enough for us. But should God give us only a power to will and believe, and leave the rest to our will, we have great reason to think that we should all do, as innocent Adam did, fall from God, and never reduce that power into act. The divine principles in Adam were pure and without mixture; but the power of believing and willing in us, hath in the same heart where it dwells, an inmate of corruption, which continually counterworks it. In innocency the temptation stood without, a courting the senses; but after the fall it makes nearer approaches, as having a party within ready to open and betray every faculty. To me it looks like a proud thought for any to imagine, that under such a disparity he could act his part better than Adam did. If then the foundation of God must stand, if the election must obtain, if Christ must have a seed, if the Spirit must have a temple, it is no less than necessary, that the power of grace should secure that willing and believing, without which those high and great designs of heaven cannot take effect.

3. There is an efficacy of grace as to perseverance in faith and holiness. Perseverance, whereever it is, is from grace. The inherent graces in the saints are but creatures; no creature, no, not the most spiritual, doth or can preserve itself. All depend upon their original in their being and duration; hence, as St. Jerom observes, God is always a-working; always a-giving; Non mihi sufficit, saith he, quod semel donavit, nisi semper donaverit: It is not enough for me, that he once give, unless he always do so. Hence that of St. Austin, Non ita se debet homo ad Dominum convertere, ut, cum ab eo factus fuerit justus, abscedat, sed ita ut ab illo semper fiat: Man ought not to convert to God, that being made just he might depart from him; but that he might be always made just by him. The physician heals and departs, but God doth not do so; he is still a healing and new-making us by the continual spirations of his Spirit and grace, that we may persevere unto the end. Were not perseverance from grace, there could be no such thing as a life of faith; it would be utterly needless to hang upon promises, or to look up for influences of grace, or with David to pray that God would keep the good frame in the heart, or hold up our goings in his paths. Perseverance being from ourselves, we may centre and safely lie down there. We may say as Laodicea, We are rich, and have need of nothing, no, not of God the fountain of grace. We may do what St. Jerom charges on the Pelagians, that is, bid God depart, he is no more necessary to us. It is true, he gave us a stock of power and free-will; but now we can stand upon our own bottom, all is in our own hand, there is no room for a life of faith, no, nor for any true gratitude for our standing in grace. It is St. Austin's observation, That the angels who stood, were amplius adjuti, more helped than those who fell; therefore they cast down their crowns before God, ascribing their standing, not to themselves, but to grace. Should they do, what they cannot do, ascribe it to themselves, they could not be thankful. In like manner holy men who persevere, attribute nothing to themselves, but all to grace; Quodcunq. in suo rivulo fluit, as St. Jerom speaks, ad fontem refert, Whatever flows in his rivulet, he refers to the great fountain; that he falters and lapses, is of his own; that he stands and perseveres, is of grace. Were it not so, the praise and glory should be ascribed not to God, but to ourselves, which would be to turn gratitude into presumption.

The graces of the saints may be considered in the act, or in the habit. The acts have their too frequent pauses and interruptions; but the habit, the vital principle, is a seed of immortality, and never dies. In the saddest falls of a saint, it may be said of him as it was of Eutychus, "His life is in him." He that is born of God doth not commit sin; nay, he cannot sin. (1 John 3:9.) Doubtless he can sin sins of infirmity; nay, and gross sins too, as appears in the falls of David and Peter; but he cannot sin so as totally to un-frame the new creature, and lay himself in an unregenerate state. This is clear by the reasons in the text, For his seed remaineth in him, and he is born of God. Could he by sin extinguish the very principles of grace, he might sin to all intents and purposes, contrary to the express letter of the text; nay, and his seed might not remain, and he might cease to be born of God, contrary to the reasons in the text. If the Divine seed and birth do not preserve him from regnant sin, such as would overthrow him, it preserves him from no sin at all; the text and reason are altogether insignificant. But if, as the text and truth is, it preserves him from regnant sin, then the divine principles are not extinguished when he falls into sin.

The habits of grace may be considered merely in themselves, or in their dependence. In themselves they are but defectible creatures, and might totally fail; their being is not from themselves, no more is their duration; in their dependance they cannot possibly fail, because they are supported by somewhat greater than themselves. Remarkable is the difference between the case of Adam and that of believers; in Adam, one act of sin expelled perfect holiness; so that upon the fall, there was not left in him so much as the least relic of sanctity, or spark of spiritual life: he, and after him, all his posterity became spiritually dead in sin, not in part only; for then the new creature should be new but in part; but totally, every thing in fallen man wants quickening. But in believers, not one, not many sins are able to drive out the principles of grace, though those principles are imperfect in themselves, and dwell together with much inherent corruption, yet are they not driven out: and the reason of this difference is, Adam had the stock of holiness in his own hands; but the graces of the believers depend upon somewhat greater than themselves. Now touching this dependence, I shall lay down three or four things:

1. The graces of saints depend upon election; though election be in itself from all eternity, yet it buds and blossoms in time. "He hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as he hath chosen us in him." (Eph. 1:3, 4.) Divine graces, which are choice spiritual blessings, issue not out of common providence; but, as St. Bernard speaks, ex abysso ternitatis, out of the great fountain of election. The eternal love, which lay in God's bosom, comes forth in the production of those graces: nay, and in the duration of them, God fulfils all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of faith with power, (2 Thess. 1:11.) "Whom he did predestinate, them he also called; whom he called, them he also justified; whom he justified, them he also glorified," (Rom. 8:30.) We see clearly, predestination carries them through the other links unto glory. It is observable, that when God expresses his fresh mercies to his people, he doth it thus, "I will yet choose Israel," (Isa. 14:1.) God gives such supplies of grace to his saints to make them persevere, that it is, as if he chose them again; when the saints are drooping and dying, as it were, away, electing love gives them another visit, and makes them live; when their love cools and slacks, his love is ever the same, and inflames theirs afresh; and how should their graces fail? "The purpose of God according to election doth stand," (Rom. 9:11.) "The foundation of God standeth sure," (2 Tim. 2:19.) And how should the rivulets or superstructures of grace fail? They can no more do it than the great design of a church can; their lamp never goes out, their seed never dies, the false Christs and false prophets cannot seduce them, (Mark, 13:22.) The canker of Hymeneus and Philetus cannot eat into them, (2 Tim. 2:19.) Election, which is the fontal love, still gives a fresh supply of grace.

2. Their graces depend upon Christ's merit and intercession. Christ prays for Peter, that his faith may not fail, (Luke, 22:32;) neither doth it concern Peter only: in his solemn prayer on earth, which was the canon and pattern of his intercession in heaven, he prays to his Father for all believers thus, "Keep them from evil," (John, 17:15.) If they are kept from evil, they do not fall away, which is the greatest of evils; if they are not kept from evil, Christ's intercession ceases, or becomes powerless, neither of which can be; cease it cannot, because he ever lives to make intercession; become powerless it cannot, because he is a priest after the power of an endless life: what he intercedes for must be done. And this is yet the stronger, if we consider for whom he thus intercedes—it is for believers, parts and pieces of his mystical body, such as he cannot tell how to part from. Notable is that of the apostle, "The God of peace, who brought again from the dead the Lord Jesus, make you perfect," (Heb. 13:20, 21.) That God who would lose nothing of Christ's human nature, no, not in the grave, will perfect believers as mystical parts of him, not suffering their graces to see corruption in an utter decay, nor leaving their souls in the hell of apostacy; this is another foundation of perseverance. Hence Bishop Davenant saith,* Amor Dei in renatos non fundatur in illorum perfectione aut omnimodâ puritate, sed in Christo Mediatore: The love of God towards the regenerate is not founded in their perfection or absolute purity, but in Christ the mediator: as long as he intercedes, their graces fail not.

3. Their graces depend upon the Holy Spirit, and that upon a double account: the one is this, The Spirit dwells in believers, it is an abiding unction, such as abides with them for ever, (John, 14:16.) It is as a well of water springing up to everlasting life, (John, 4:14.) Continual irrigations of grace issue from it to cherish the heavenly nature in them: the Holy Spirit will enliven them, as being parts of Christ. Hence our Saviour saith, "Because I live, ye shall live also.)" (John 14:19.) As long as the spirit of life is upon the head, it will flow down upon the members; and whilst it is there, there can be no such thing as apostacy, but on the contrary, a sweet liberty to all the holy ways of God. The other is this—The Spirit witnesses to believers, at least to some of them, that they are the children of God, and by consequence heirs of him, (Rom. 8:16, 17). And how high an evidence is this? May such a testimony fail or be reversed? Or may believers cease to be children, and fall short of the inheritance? Far be it from that Holy Spirit. The apostle calls the Spirit, the earnest of our inheritance, not for a time, but till the redemption of the church be completed, (Eph. 1:14) till the whole sum be paid in glory: the earnest goes along with the believer to heaven, his graces therefore cannot fail by the way: this is another ground of perseverance.

4. Their graces depend upon the promises: in the covenant of works there was no promise of perseverance; but in the covenant of grace there are many such: "God shall confirm you unto the end," (1 Cor. 1:8). "He will put his fear in your hearts, that ye shall not depart from him," (Jer. 32:40). "He which did begin the good work in them, will perform it till the day of Christ," (Phil. 1:6). "He will put his Spirit into them, and cause them to walk in his statutes," (Ezek. 36:27). In such promises as these, the believer's state of grace is secured: shall we now say, that all these promises are conditional, if we will persevere, or, which is all one, do our duty? Is not this to turn the covenant of grace into that of works? Is it not to evacuate all these promises touching perseverance, as if God spoke in such contradictory terms as these, If you persevere, I will make you persevere, as if perseverance could be the condition of itself? After these promises, the believers are but where they were before. Without these promises it would have been true, that if they persevere they do so; and with them so interpreted, what have they more? What do they contribute to believers, when the main stress of perseverance is laid on man's will, and not on God's grace. These promises were penned to be great comforts to believers, that God would establish them by his grace: but what comfort can they take in them, if the matter be left to their own lubricous will? It is in effect as if God should say, I will preserve you from all evils and dangers, only for that greatest evil of all which is in your own hearts and wills, I will not undertake. What is this but to take away the spirit and life of the promises, to leave the saints in a dead and comfortless condition? Our Saviour tells us to our comfort, "that his sheep shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of his hand," (John 10:28): not unless they themselves will, saith Socinus: but what is this but to nullify the promise? They cannot possibly be plucked out of Christ's hand without their own voluntary consent. So the promise runs thus: They shall not be plucked out of his hand, but only in such a way as the same is possible to be done: that is, the words are absurd, and signify just nothing. But if the promises made to saints, were thus conditional, what are those made to Christ? Hath not God said, That Christ should have a seed, nay, and be satisfied in it? (Isa. 53:10, 11.) Hath he not said, nay, sworn to Christ, That his seed (such as believers are) should endure for ever; that his throne (a chief part of which is in their hearts), should be as the sun? (Psal. 89:35, 36.) And are these promises conditional also? It is true, that there was a condition on Christ's part, that he should obey and suffer for us: but was there any on ours? Must these promises run thus: Christ shall have a seed and a throne if man will? No, the promises are absolute; no mention at all is made of man's will. But if the graces of the saints may fail, so may these promises also. Christ might have no seed, at least no enduring one, such as may satisfy him. His throne, at least that choice part of it which is in the hearts of the saints, may utterly fail, and come to nothing. If the matter be left to the lottery of man's will, how is God true to his son Christ? Possibly there might be no seed of new creatures at all; or if there were, they might fly away from the birth in an utter apostacy. Nay, what if the event did hit right, and answer the promise, yet God is never the truer for that; neither can we say, that he fulfilled his promise in that event, which was never secured by his grace, but came to pass as it happened by the lucky hit of man's will. To conclude: upon the whole matter it appears God hath taken believers into his own hand; their graces shall not fail, because his truth and faithfulness cannot; their standing is sure, because his promises cannot fall to the ground.

To add no more: we see here how we ought in all humility to give grace its due; and this we cannot do, unless we give it all. Non est devotionis dedisse prope totum Deo, sed fraudis retinuisse vel minimum, saith Prosper. To give nine hundred ninety-nine parts to grace, and reserve one only to man's will, is more than true devotion will bear: it is just to give the whole unto God. The Jewish rabbins say, That he who receives any good thing in this world without a benediction, is a robber of God: but the greatest sacrilege of all is, when we own not the grace of God in supernatural blessings which relate to the world to come; Vere humiles totum Deo reddunt, True humble souls render all to God. Let us then acknowledge, with Jacob, "We are less than the least of all his mercies." We were naturally undone, unclean creatures, proper objects of wrath. Why did God send his Son in the flesh to seek that which was lost, wash us in a laver of his own blood, and bring us into favour with him? We might have been born in the dark places of the earth where Christ is not named, where the Sun of Righteousness shines not in pardons and graces. Why did God place us in a region of evangelical light, and set Jesus Christ with all his beauties and treasures evidently before us? Under the gospel there are many blind eyes and hard hearts, many poor souls dead and buried in a grave of sin. Why did he open our eyes upon heavenly mysteries, and melt our hearts into the divine will? Why did he raise us up out of our spiritual graves, and quicken us unto a divine life? There is still corruption within, and temptation without us. Our graces are weak, and in themselves defectible creatures. Why doth he supply us with fresh influences of grace, and maintain the new creature in us? Why are we not swallowed up in temptations and corruptions, but kept and preserved to the heavenly kingdom? Here we must glory in our God and cry out, grace, grace. All the good we have, is from that fountain. Thus St. Paul ascribes all to grace: "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. I labour, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." He acknowledges no highness, but ascribes all his spiritual being and working to grace. I will shut up all with that of Bonaventure: Furti reus est, qui sibi aliquid retinet, cum Deus dicat, gloriam meam alteri non dabo; He is guilty of theft, who retains anything to himself, when God hath said, "My glory I will not give to another." All glory therefore be to him alone.

CHAPTER XI:

Touching justification, as to the law—Christ's righteousness constitutes us righteous

Touching justification, as to the law—Christ's righteousness constitutes us righteous—A double imputation: one to the proper agent, another to those in conjunction; the conjunctions between Christ and us; how Christ's righteousness is imputed to us; that it is not only the meritorious, but material cause of our justification; this is proved from that phrase, "The righteousness of God;" from the nature of justification; from the parallel of the two Adams; from other phrases in Scripture; from a pardon as not being the same with justification; from Christ's suffering in our stead; the objections against imputed righteousness answered; what justifies us as to the Gospel terms; the necessity and connection of a two-fold righteousness; how we are justified by faith; how good works are necessary—A short conclusion.

THERE remaineth yet behind one eminent piece of grace—I mean, justification: this, in Luther, is Articulus stantis et cadentis ecclesiæ, and in Chemnitius, Arx et propugnaculum religionis Christianæ; a sacred thing it is, and difficult to explain; the true measures of it cannot be taken from anything but the holy Scripture, where this mystery is revealed. Touching justification, there are three things considerable—viz., first, we are constituted righteous; then esteemed or pronounced such; and at last treated as such. The first confers a righteousness upon us; the second owns and declares it; the third gives us the consequent reward thereof. The first we have in that phrase of justifying the ungodly, (Rom. 4:5,) for that, unless it were collative of a righteousness, would be the same abomination with the justifying the wicked, (Prov. 17:15.) The second in that phrase of justifying the righteous, (Deut. 25:1,) where the word "justifying" is not effectionis, sed æstimationis et declarations significativum: the third is not so much a part of justification as a consequent of it; neither do I remember that it is called justification in Scripture: the first is the foundation of the other two; unless a man be constituted righteous, God, who is truth itself, cannot esteem or pronounce him such; for that were for him to err, which is impossible: neither can he, who is sanctity itself, treat him as such; for an unrighteous person cannot possibly enter into the holy heaven where eternal life is given to the righteous.

The main query in justification is, What it is that constitutes us righteous before God? righteousness relates to some law; we are under a double law; the one the law of nature or creation, which calls for perfect obedience in every point. The other the law of grace, which accepts of sincerity; we must, if justified, be made righteous to both these; accordingly, I shall discourse of both.

We are under the moral law of nature; this is immortalized by its own intrinsical rectitude; it so naturally results out of the relation which man stands in towards God, that as long as God is God, the supreme truth and goodness, and man, a creature endued with reason and will, it cannot cease to be, or to oblige; it is not imaginable that such a thing as reason should be unbound to look up to the original truth, from whence it came, or that such a thing as free-will, should be unbound to embrace that infinite Good which made it; this law stands faster than the pillars of heaven and earth: it hath a double sanction; a promise of eternal life upon perfect obedience, and a threatening of eternal death upon the least transgression. The promise, though never abrogated by God, could not of itself bud or bring forth life; a sinner, because a sinner, not being capable of perfect obedience, could not have life from that promise, cessat materia. There could be no person capable of the promised life; the law was weak, though not in itself, yet through the flesh, the sin of man. Man sinned away the promise, but the threatening he could not sin away; nay, by his sin he put himself under the curse and wrath of it. Sin made him a fit object and fuel for these; the case standing thus, how or which way should a sinner be justified as to the law? In a sinner there was matter enough for the threatening, but none for the promise. Death might justly seize him, but life he was not capable of by virtue of that law; here infinite wisdom found out that which no created eye could spy out, a way of justification without abrogating the law; thus, therefore, it was contrived, the law, being under the power of the legislator was relaxed, though not abrogated: there may be a double notion of the law; either it may be taken as it is in itself, in summo apice, in its primordial rigour, requiring perfect personal obedience from us; and thus it doth not, cannot justify us; there is a τὸ ἀδὺνατον, an utter impossibility upon it, (Rom. 8:3.) Righteousness could not come by the law, nay, in this sense it worketh wrath, it condemns and curses the sinner; or else it may be taken as it is by the great legislator relaxed, to admit of a satisfaction in our sponsor, Jesus Christ; and thus it hath its end, its δικαίωμα, a righteousness which satisfied it in him; thus it cannot condemn believers. A satisfied law, so far as it is satisfied, hath nothing to say against them who partake of that satisfaction. That of learned Mr. Gataker is remarkable,—Justificatio nostri tum ab evangelio, tum à lege pendet; à lege quatenùs eidem satisfit pro delictis adversùs eam admissis; ab evangelio, quatenùs satisfactio, non à nobis, sed à Christo vicariâ operâ pro nobis exhibetur; the Gospel reveals such a sponsor as hath satisfied the law for us; the law, being satisfied, cannot condemn those who partake of that satisfaction.

It appears by this, that Christ's righteousness is that which constitutes us righteous as to the law; only here many worthy learned divines are at a difference, how it doth so: doubtless it doth it in a way of imputation, but the mode of that imputation is not agreed on. Some say, that Christ's righteousness is the meritorious cause of our justification, and so imputed to us in the effects, in that pardon which discharges us from the law: others, that it is itself in some sort imputed to us, and so becomes the material cause of our justification; I take it, our former divines, who disputed with the Papists about imputed righteousness, are of the latter opinion. Hence bishop Davenant saith,* that, "Ipsissima Christi obedientia nobis imputatur, quasi esset nostra personalis;" the very obedience of Christ is imputed to us, as if it were our personal righteousness. And again he saith, that In se, it is "causa meritoria justificationis;" but as it is applied to believers, "subit vicem causæ formalis," it is in the room of a formal cause. It is true, he saith, That it is imputed to us ad aliquem effectum; not that it is imputed only in the effect, but that it is imputed in a measure, and to some intents, though not in the full latitude, or as it is in Christ. The learned professors of Leyden determine thus: Mirum hic videri non debet Christi justitiam non meritoriæ solum, sed et materialis, imo et formalis causæ rationem habere, cum id diversimode fiat, nempe, quâ illud est, propter quod, in quo, sive ex quo, et per quod justificamur: To quote no more: if Christ's righteousness be only a meritorious cause of justification, then our former divines have striven in the dark, the controversies between them and the papists in this point have been but a vain jangling: no papist ever denied, that Christ merited justification for us, no protestant should ask any more. The council of Trent, laying down the causes of justification, saith, Christus suâ sanctissimâ passione in ligno crucis nobis justificationem meruit, et pro nobis Deo Patri satisfecit. Here our divines should have acquiesced in silence, but surely they thought there was somewhat more in it: for my own part, I conceive Christ's righteousness is so far imputed to us, as to be the matter of our justification; before I come to offer my reasons, I shall lay down several things tending to explain my meaning in this point.

First, there is a double imputation. The one, when a thing inherent or transient is imputed to the very subject or agent of it. The other, when it is imputed to those in conjunction with the subject or agent, as being parts and portions of him. The first imputation is according to the course of nature, the second is according to some just constitution made touching the same: the former is unquestionable, the latter is that which is to be cleared; that such an imputation is possible, and when it is done, true, may appear by these instances. The primitive righteousness of our nature was only inherent in Adam: yet was it imputed to us; we were by God esteemed as righteous in him, else we are not fallen creatures, neither do we need any such thing as regeneration. Adam's sin was an act done by him, yet is it imputed to us; it is derived down upon us as members of him, else the want of righteousness in us is not a privative want of what we once had in Adam, and afterwards lost in him, but a mere negative want, as being only of that we never had or forfeited: Adam's righteousness being not imputed to us, we never had it; Adam's sin being not imputed to us, we never forfeited it; such a mere negative want is no sin. Nay, if Adam's sin be not imputed to us, our inherent pravity is no sin; it cannot be sin in un-fallen creatures; it is no sin to be born into the world; there is no foundation in us to make it sin; and the consequence of this is, that there is no such thing as original sin at all in us, which to say, is to oppose the doctrine of the church in all ages. We see here, that such an imputation to those in conjunction is possible, because it is actually done; and it must needs be true, because it is done by God, who is truth itself, and cannot err. You will say, It cannot be true; primitive righteousness was never in us; we never committed Adam's sin: I answer, this is one thing which overturns religion; we are apt to reject that as false, which our weak reason cannot comprehend. Is not an internal sin in the will imputed to the members of the body? if not, why must the body rise and suffer for it? if so, sin may be imputed to that which it never resided in; in this case the conjunction salves the matter; and by a parity of reason, Adam's righteousness and sin may be imputed to us, as being parts and members of him; and the imputation is true, because it is to those in conjunction, and according to a just constitution. God set Adam to be a head of mankind; we are propagated from him as branches from the root; his sin, therefore, may be justly imputed to us: the imputation of it is according to the Divine constitution: but the reason of that imputation is, because Adam, the head of mankind, sinned, and all in him. It is a pretty question which is started in Anselm, How the senses and members in man should be guilty of sin, when God himself subjected them to man's will? I answer, God's order was meet and congruous in so subjecting them; yet the act of the will renders them guilty, as being in conjunction with it: in like manner, God's constitution that Adam should be the head of mankind, was just and equitable, but this transgression of Adam derives a guilt upon us, as being parts and members of him.

2ndly. The conjunction between Christ and us must be considered, and that is double.

The one is that conjunction which is between Christ and mankind in common; the titles given to Christ will manifest it; he is a Mediator, not only an internuntial one, but a satisfying and atoning one, a mediator above all peer or parallel, and that in all his offices, in which he acted not as a private person, or in his own name only, but as the office was in God's or ours; in his prophetical and kingly offices he acted in God's name towards us; in his priestly office, he acted in our name towards God; hence the apostle saith, "That every priest is ordained ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπον, for men," (Heb. 5:1,) to act in their behalf towards God: he was our sponsor, or surety, he undertook to satisfy justice for us. "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God," saith he, (Heb. 10:7.) Burnt offerings and sacrifices could not pay our debts, but he would do it; and for that purpose he took a human nature to do it in: never was there such a surety as he; he undertook to satisfy for us, not as common sureties do, upon a mere contingency, but upon a certain determinate counsel; not when we were solvents or able to reimburse him again, but when we were known utter bankrupts, under a perfect impossibility to expiate the least sin. So plenary was that satisfaction, that if we receive him by faith we are debtors no longer, all our debts are blotted out of God's book, no more to be charged upon us; a second payment cannot be demanded of us; he was the representative of mankind. He did sustinere nostram personam, he stood in our room; he suffered in our stead, not only nostro bono, but nostro loco: it may be thought perhaps that Christ was not a proper substitute; but it was well said by the learned Rivet in another case, Regulis et legibus humanis Deum alligare vult pulvis et cinis: We are apt to limit the Holy One to our rules and measures: but if the mysteries of Christ may be put into the straits of human laws and reason, he can scarce be properly anything of that which the Scripture ascribes to him, he cannot properly be a Surety and a Mediator too, much less a Priest and a Sacrifice too; least of all these, and a Redeemer too in the same sufferings. A mediator doth not pay as a surety doth; nor a surety offer as a priest doth; nor a priest die as a sacrifice doth; neither is a redeemer the very same with these, but distinct from them all; may there be a proper priest and redeemer, a proper offering and paying, a proper sacrifice and price in the same sufferings? these conjunctions seem to carry difficulty in them. Nevertheless, I verily believe that he was properly all these, yet in a way of transcendancy above human law and reason; it is observable in Scripture, that one notion of Christ runs into another,—the notion of a Mediator into that of a Redeemer; he is a Mediator "who gave himself a ransom," (1 Tim. 2:5, 6;) the notion of a mediator into that of a priest, "He is a Mediator for the redemption of transgressions," (Heb. 9:15,) that is, for the expiation of them by offering up himself to God, as it is in the precedent verse; the notion of a priest into that of a surety: hence, in the midst of a divine discourse touching his priesthood, comes in ἕγγυος διαθήκυς, the surety of the covenant, (Heb. 7:22,) nay, it is observable that these notions of Christ are interwoven with that of a substitute, as the mode of performing them. Thus as a priest he gave himself an offering and a sacrifice for us, (Eph. 5:2,) as a Redeemer he was made a curse for us, (Gal. 3:13,) as a Mediator and Redeemer he gave himself a ransom for all, (1 Tim. 2:5, 6,) in each of which the substitution comes in: hence it appears, that Christ is properly all these; or else, as Socinus would have it, all seems to be but a metaphor. To add no more, these conjunctions tell us that Christ was so far one with us, that those things fell upon him, which otherwise he was utterly incapable of. The Holy One was made sin, the blessed one a curse; his sufferings were properly penal, such as were not inflicted by sovereignty, but justice; such as were not the curse causeless, but merited by sin; unless they were merited by sin, they were mere suffering, not punishment: punishment for nothing is no punishment: if there was no punishment in his sufferings, how were they satisfactory? If there was no merit of sin to procure them, how were they penal? If justice inflicted them not, how were they a punishment? or, if they were penal, how could justice inflict them upon an innocent? Here we have nothing to say but this, Christ was so far made one with us, as to render his sufferings penal and satisfactory.

The other is, that special conjunction which is between Christ and believers: Christ is the head, they are the members: the ligatures of this mystical union are the Holy Spirit and faith, "The quickening Spirit," saith the reverend Usher, "descends downwards from the head to be in us a fountain of supernatural life;" a lively faith, wrought by the same Spirit, ascends from us upward to lay fast hold upon him. The Scripture notably sets forth this union, "We dwell in Christ, and he in us," (John, 6:56.) "We abide in him, and he in us," (John, 15:4.) "We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones," (Eph. 5:30–32.) "And he is in us the hope of glory," (Col. 1:27.) This the apostle calls a great mystery, and the riches of the glory of the mystery; we are ingrafted into him as branches into a root; cemented to him as the building is to the foundation; incorporated with him as the food is with our bodies; united to him as members are to the head. We eat his flesh and drink his blood, and become one spirit with him; nothing can be more emphatical; the Holy Spirit, which resides in him the head, falls down upon us his members, and so makes a kind of continuity between him and us, too spiritual and divine to be interrupted by any local distance. Hence St. Chrysostom saith,* that there is μήδεν μέσον, no medium or middle between Christ and us; hence St Austin saith, that "Fideles fiunt cum homine Christo unus Christus:" believers are made one Christ with the man Christ, the head and the body make up one Christ. Hence that of Aquinas, that Christ and his members are but "una persona mystica," one mystical person; the consequence of this admirable union is the communication of divine blessings from him to us, "Tota veræ justitiæ, salutis vitæ participatio ex hâc pernecessariâ cum Christo κοινωνίᾳ pendet," saith the learned Zanchy, All our good things depend on this most necessary union.

Thirdly, the righteousness of Christ may be taken under a double notion, either as it was the very idem to all the laws he was under, or else as it was the tantundem, a plenary satisfaction to the moral law by us violated; in the first notion it was a righteousness ex naturâ suâ, being a perfect conformity to those laws; in the second it was a satisfaction ex divinâ ordinatione, being by God ordained so to be: in the first notion it was not for us; who, being once sinners, were incapable of it. But for himself to justify and sanctify him in that state which he undertook to be in. In the second, it was not for himself, who, as being pure from all sin, was incapable of it; but for us, to justify us sinners against the law. Here I shall only add, that, under the notion of satisfaction, I take in all Christ's righteousness, active as well as passive; though I think the active in itself alone could not have amounted to a satisfaction, because without shedding of blood there was no remission to be; yet the active being in conjunction with the passive, is a part of the satisfaction, and makes it the more complete; for a satisfaction made up of both together, answers the threatening, and honours the precept of the law: it satisfies God's justice in itself by penal sufferings, and in its foundation, that is, God's holiness, by perfect obedience.

Fourthly, the active and passive righteousness of Christ are not imputed to us, as they are the idem, a perfect conformity to the laws he was under; for we were not under the mediatorial law, nor, being once sinners, are we capable of a perfect conformity to the moral; but they are imputed to us, as they are the tantundem, a plenary satisfaction to the moral law by us broken, for so they are very apt and proper to justify sinners against the law. Neither is Christ's satisfaction imputed to all actually to justify them against the law, for all are not justified against it, but it is imputed to believers, as being mystical parts and portions of him. Hence that learned bishop saith,* "Quia insiti sumus in corpus ejus, et coalescimus cum illo in unam personam, ideo ejus justitia nostra reputatur," because we are ingrafted into his body, and grow as it were, into one person with him, therefore his righteousness is reputed ours; neither is Christ's satisfaction imputed to his believing members according to its fulness and latitude as it is in Christ, the head, but in such sort and measure as is meet for it to be communicated to members. This is notably illustrated in the parallel of the two Adams, who are two such communicative heads, as never were the like, who communicate to theirs in such proportion as is congruous between head and members. Adam's sin is derived to each of us, not in its full latitude, but pro mensura membri; and in like manner Christ's satifaction is derived to each believer, not in its full latitude, but pro mensurâ membri: so much of Adam's sin comes upon each one of us, as soon as he is proles adæ, as makes him a sinner; so much of Christ's satisfaction comes upon each one of us, as soon as he is proles Christi, as makes him righteous against the law; in both there is a communication to members, yet in such a way, as that the difference between head and members is observed.

Fifthly, There was a divine constitution, that Jesus Christ should be our sponsor, and standing in our room, should satisfy for us, that he should be a head to believers, and his satisfaction should so far become theirs, as to justify them against the law; accordingly that satisfaction is truly imputed to them. Some persons have been pleased to speak of imputed righteousness as if it were a fancy, a mere putative imaginary thing: but we see here upon what grounds it stands. The first foundation of it, is the divine constitution made touching Christ; the intermediate foundation is this, that Christ was our sponsor and satisfied for us; the immediate foundation is this, that Christ is a communicating head to his believing members, and they as members participate in his satisfaction; these things are sufficient to make us conclude as Bishop Davenant doth, Imputatio non nititur fictitiâ, aliquâ suppositione; sed verâ participatione rei imputatæ: "Imputation doth not stand upon any fictitious supposition, but upon a true participation of the thing imputed." These things being thus laid down, I shall come directly to the point; my opinion is, that the righteousness of Christ is not merely the meritorious cause of justification, but somewhat more; neither is it merely imputed to us in the effects, but itself, as a satisfaction, is so far imputed to us, as to be the material cause of justification; as to the law, I think nothing can be more proper to justify us as the law than that which satisfied it. I cannot tell how to suppose that one thing should satisfy the law, and another justify against it. And here I shall first lay down my reasons, and then answer the objections made against my opinion: For reasons I shall offer several things.

First, I shall begin with that memorable phrase, "The righteousness of God," which cannot but be of great moment in this point; some take it for the mercy of God, and so it is sometimes taken in the Old Testament, "The mercy of the Lord is upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children," (Psalm 103:17,) where mercy and righteousness are one and the same; but in the New Testament, where this phrase often occurs, it is never so taken; the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel. (Rom. 1:17.) Revealed, that which before was only obscurely hinted, was in the gospel clearly opened; but the mercy of God was not only darkly hinted, but openly proclaimed in very high and stately terms in the Old Testament. An instance we have of it Ex. 34:6, 7, where the titles of mercy carry as much of glory and magnificence as any thing can do. We are said to be made the righteousness of God, (2 Cor. 5:21,) but never to be made his mercy; neither would be at all proper to say so. Others take it for our inherent graces, which are our evangelical righteousness; but these, though they come down from heaven, are never called the righteousness of God; nay, on the contrary, they are called our own, as being inherent in us. Hence we find, Your faith, (Rom. 1:8), Your love, (2 Cor. 8:8), Your patience, (Luke, 21:19), Your hope, (1 Peter. 1:21), Your righteousness, (Mat. 5:20.) That which in Scripture is called the righteousness of God, is not the same with that which is called our own there; were our inherent graces imported in that phrase, faith, which is a prime excellent grace, must have its share therein; but the righteousness of God is by faith, (Rom. 3:22). Therefore it is not faith; the righteousness of God is upon the believer, therefore it is not in him. Others take it for pardon; but neither can this interpretation stand. The Jews were ignorant of God's righteousness, (Rom. 10:3), but surely they were not ignorant that God was a God pardoning iniquity. That pardon which in the old Testament is elegantly deciphered by covering, blotting out, remembering no more, casting away sin, is not in the New, veiled in an expression so obscure and improper for it, as that of the righteousness of God seems to be to that intent: leaving these, I take it, that the righteousness of God imports that of Christ, and in this sense the phrase is as glorious and illustrious, as it would be obscure and improper to denote pardon. The righteousness of Christ is indeed the righteousness of God; it is the righteousness of him who is God, of him whose blood is called the blood of God; it is a pure, perfect righteousness, which can consist before the tribunal of God, which was by God ordained to make us righteous. This is it which, being before but darkly hinted, was in the Gospel manifestly revealed; this is that which is upon the believer as a rich covering to hide his imperfections; this is it which the Jews were ignorant of, and submitted not unto: the apostle tells us, that they submitted not to the righteousness of God, (Rom 10:3), and what that righteousness is, the next verse expresses; for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth; the law hath its end in nothing but in his righteousness, which satisfied it. But besides, there is one place, which in terminis calls the righteousness of God the righteousness of Christ, to them who have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, (2 Peter, 1:1.) Observe, it is not through the righteousness τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος, of God, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, as noting two persons, but τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ, Σωτῆρος, of God and our Saviour, as betokening one, as bishop Downham hath observed; like that, (Tit. 2:13), "The glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour," where one person is intended. Thus far it appears, that the righteousness of God denotes the righteousness of Christ. That which remains is to enquire, whether the righteousness of God never imports any more than a mere meritorious cause. It is true in that place, (2 Peter. 1:1), it imports no more, but in others it speaks further: "We are made the righteousness of God," (2 Cor. 5:21.) "The righteousness of God is upon us," (Rom. 3:22); and, as a paraphrase upon the righteousness of God, the apostle tells us, that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to the believer, (Rom. 10:4.) Here I take it, the righteousness of Christ is set forth not only as a meritorious antecedent cause of justification, but as an ingredient, a material cause in it. He that hath only the effect, cannot be said to be made the impetrating cause, no more can we be said to be made the righteousness of Christ, if we only have the fruit of it, not the thing itself. That righteousness, as a meritorious cause, may be said to be for us; but not to be upon us, unless by imputation it be made ours. Christ, in respect of merit only, is no more for righteousness (which yet is the emphasis of the text) than for sanctifying graces, these being as much merited as the other; Christ is so far righteousness as he is the end of the law, and that he is in the satisfaction itself, not in remission, which is the effect of it; the satisfaction itself therefore is made ours in justification. It seems to me a great departure from the text to say, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, that is for pardon, which is the effect, or for impunity, which is the effect of the effect.

Secondly, It is utterly impossible that there should be a justification without a righteousness. Constitutive justification makes us righteous, estimative or sentential justification esteems or pronounces us such; a justification cannot be without a righteousness; nor can anything be a righteousness, unless it answer the law. What then is our righteousness as to the law? Faith, answers the gospel terms: but what answers the law? Surely nothing under heaven can do it but Christ's satisfaction. The query therefore is, Whether that satisfaction be our righteousness in itself, or only in its effects? if in the effects only, then something less than Christ's satisfaction, viz. an effect, is our righteousness as to the law, and by consequence something less than that satisfies the law: I cannot imagine that one thing should satisfy the law, and another justify against it; one and the same satisfaction of Christ doth both. There are but two sorts of righteousness as to the law; the one a righteousness in the idem, a direct conformity to it; the other, a righteousness in valor, a full compensation or satisfaction for the breaches of it; a third cannot be found: where there is neither such a conformity to the law that all is done as it ought to be, nor such a satisfaction to it that all that is done amiss is compensated, there is no such thing as righteousness, a pardon or freedom from punishment there may be, but a righteousness there is not. Because there is nothing done to the law, either by way of obedience or recompence, and where nothing is done to the law, there cannot be a righteousness. Now, a sinner not being capable of a righteousness of conformity, his righteousness must be that of a satisfaction or compensation: not an effect of it, but the thing itself; no other thing can be a sinner's righteousness. It is observable in Scripture, That justification is so set forth, that the law is established in it, (Rom. 3:31;) that its righteousness is fulfilled, (Rom. 8:4;) that it hath its end, (Rom. 10:4.) And all this because in Christ's satisfaction there is a full compensation made for sin, such as comes in the room of a perfect conformity, and supplies that defect of it which rises out of the fault committed; this is done by the satisfaction itself, not by an effect of it. Nothing less than itself could give the law its end or establishment; if that satisfaction be our righteousness, not in itself but in its effects, what is that effect? Is it a pardon? that is God's act; God's act may make or esteem us righteous, but it is not the righteousness itself; is it a jus impunitatis, that is, not the righteousness itself? A righteousness as to the law must be either a perfect conformity or a satisfaction, but a jus impunitatis is neither of these; as in condemnation the obligatio ad pœnam is not the very culpa but a consequent of it, so in justification the jus impunitatis is not the very righteousness, but a consequent of it. A jus impunitatis is opposite to the reatus pœnæ; but a satisfaction, which is our true righteousness, is opposite to the reatus culpæ, as compensating the fault committed. It remains, therefore, that Christ's satisfaction is not in its effects, but in itself our righteousness, which also further appears, in that, when we are to answer for our breaches of the law, our great plea is to that no other than his satisfaction; Ostendo fide jussorem meum, saith Bishop Davenant; When the law makes its demands against me, I show my sponsor Christ, who satisfied it. Now, if his satisfaction be itself our righteousness, it must be made ours by imputation, for that which is not ours, cannot be our righteousness; neither doth God, who judgeth according to truth, esteem it such. You will say, Though itself be not ours, yet it is that for which God doth justify us: to which I answer, Though God justify us for it, yet, unless it be ours, it is no more our righteousness than it is our holiness; when God sanctifies us for it, no man (I think) will call it our holiness; no more, unless it be ours, may we call it our righteousness. If it be ours by imputation, then it is more than a meritorious cause. It is the very matter of our justification; neither can I tell how to think it less, seeing a sinner is capable of no other righteousness, as to the law, but a satisfaction, seeing so glorious a satisfaction as that of Christ is, is ushered into the world for that very end; it is to me unimaginable, that that satisfaction should yet not be our righteousness as to the law, but something less than itself should have the honour of it.

Thirdly, Very momentous in this point, is the collation of the two Adams. (Rom. 5) The first Adam was the origin of sin; Christ, the second Adam, was the origin of righteousness and life. Never were there in the world two such heads as these, uterque quod suum est cum suis communicat, as the learned Beza hath it, Adam communicates sin and death to his posterity; Christ's righteousness and life to his believing seed, in the parallel it is observable, that Christ is as strong, nay, a stronger head than Adam; Adam was τῦπος, a type of him that was to come; and less than the antitype, who was more potent to rebuild the ruins of the fall than Adam was to make them; righteousness came as full from Christ as sin did from Adam, nay, more fully, as the apostle hints in the πολλῷ μᾶλλον, (verse 15,) and in the abundance and superabundance of grace, (ver. 17, 20); hence it appears, that so far as Adam's sin was ours, so far is Christ's righteousness ours also. Adam's sin was not ours in the full latitude, as it was in him, we did not eat the fruit in our own persons, we were not heads of mankind, we did not usher in sin and death upon the would; no, this was δἰ ἔνος, by that one Adam; neither was it ours in the effect only, for then our innate depravity would be no sin, as merely proceeding from that first sin of Adam, in which we participated not: that in the schools must needs be true, Peccatum habituale dicit essentialem ordinem ad præcedens actuale; "It is impossible that one should be a sinner habitually, who in no sense was a sinner before." Hence that of St. Austin, quoted by Dr. Ward, Nulla foret hominis culpa, si talis a Deo creatus esset, qualis nunc nascitur, it remains, therefore, that Adam's sin itself is derived to each one of us, pro ratione membri, proportionably: Christ's satisfaction is not ours in the full latitude, as it was in him; we satisfied not God's justice in our own persons, we were not heads of the church, neither did we usher in life and righteousness into the world; no, it was δἰ ἕνος, by that one Christ, neither is it ours in the effect only; for then the effect, a thing less than the satisfaction itself, should justify or make us righteous against the law, which cannot be: it remains, therefore, that it is itself derived upon each one of us, promensurâ membri: again, Adam's sin did first in order of nature, make us sinners by itself imputed, and then by the inherent pravity consequent; in like manner Christ's satisfaction doth first in order of nature make us righteous by itself imputed, and then by the sanctifying graces communicated by virtue of it. Now if Christ's satisfaction be not itself communicated to us, as members of him, then the glory of his headship seems to fail, he is not so strong a head as Adam, righteousness is not so amply communicated from Christ, as sin is from Adam, Adam communicates the sin itself to us, but Christ communicates his righteousness in the effects only; if Christ only merited justification, the glory of his headship seems not to stand in it; in sanctification he as our head communicates sanctifying graces to us, to be the matter of our sanctification; but in justification he doth not communicate his satisfaction to us, to be the matter of our justification; he merited justification upon gospel-terms before our union with him. What doth he after, or more, as our head in justification? His satisfaction not being communicated to us, he seems not to be so complete a head in justification, as in sanctification; to make this argument from Christ's headship more clear, it will not be amiss to consider some passages in that fifth chapter to the Romans: "Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned", (Verse 12). In this and the two following verses, one part of the collation, viz., That of Adam being laid down, where is the ἀπὸδοσις collationis? Or how is it to be supplied? Some divines think, that it is quite omitted by the apostle, others conceive it to be couched in those words, "Who is the figure of him that was to come" (v. 14), but whether it be the one or the other, surely there must be somewhat understood on Christ's part as correspondent to that of Adam, who was a type of him. Piscator supplies it thus: Plena comparatio sic habet quemadmodum per Adam peccatum introiit in omnes homines, et per peccatum mors, eo quod in Adamo omnes peccarunt, sic per Christum justitia I introiit in omnes credentes, et per justitiam vita, eo quod in Christo omnes credentes pro peccatis satisfecerunt; he saith, That all believers satisfied in Christ, I intend somewhat more in this point than I suppose he did. Yet I would speak less in words than so, I think the expression, that we satisfied in him, is not an expedient one, though in scripture nothing to me seems to sound more like an answer to that, ἐφʼ ᾧ πάντες ἥμαρτον (v. 12), than that text ἄρα οἱ πἀντες ἀπέθανον (2 Cor. 5:15), though the learned Camero saith*, in Christi morte ecclesiæ est veluti satisfaciens Deo: yet I wave that expression, for it seems to import, as if Christ's satisfaction were in its full latitude imputed to us. It is as much as I intend, that we as members of him do in a measure participate of his satisfaction, so far, that it is the matter of our justification against the law: Adam's sin is not communicated to us in the full latitude, but so far as to make us sinners; Christ's satisfaction is not communicated to us in the full latitude, but so far as to make us righteous. But to go on to another passage in that chapter: "As by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous," (ver. 19.) In this famous text those words, ὥσπερ and οὕτω καὶ (as and so also,) are to be noted; it is as much as to say, as it was in the one case, so it is in the other; as Adam's sin was derived upon us, so also is Christ's righteousness, if Adam's sin were in some measure communicated to us to make us sinners; then Christ's righteousness is in some measure communicated to us to make us righteous: we see what is the best way to judge how far Christ's righteousness is imputed to us; not by comparing the imputation of our sin to Christ, and the imputation of Christ's righteousness to us, but by comparing the imputation of Adam's sin to us, and the imputation of Christ's righteousness to us. In that text, "He was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him," (2 Cor. 5:21,) there is no "as and so also", as there is in the parallel of the two Adams; though I think it hard to say, that sin was imputed to Christ only in the effects, for unless our sin, as it was fundamentum pœnæ, was imputed to him, unless it was so far imputed as to render his sufferings punishments; his sufferings were not penal, and if not penal, sin was not at all imputed to him; no, not in the effect; yet if sin was imputed to him only in the effect, it follows not that his righteousness should be so only imputed to us; the apostle saith not, as he was made sin, so we are made righteousness; there is no "as and so" in that text as there is in the parallel of the Adams; there is a great disparity in the cases; sin was not imputed to Christ to constitute him a sinner, but Christ's righteousness is imputed to us to constitute us righteous; sin was imputed to Christ that it might be absorbed and swallowed up in his sweet-smelling sacrifice; but Christ's righteousness is imputed to us that it may abide upon us as the matter of our justification. We see here, in the point of imputed righteousness, we must take our measures—not from our sin imputed to Christ, but from Adam's sin imputed to us. Further; the word κατασαθήσονται, in the 19th verse, emphatically points out the material cause of justification. Christ's righteousness, as a meritorious cause, is an impulsive to God to constitute us righteous, but to be an impulsive to constitute is not properly to constitute, as a meritorious cause it impetrates, that we shall be made righteous; but by that impetration it doth no more make us righteous, than by the impetration of sanctifying graces it makes us holy: notwithstanding these impetrations, we are not indeed holy without those graces, nor are we righteous without a righteousness: as a meritorious cause it was before faith, nay, before the covenant of promise, but then it constituted none righteous. It was for all, but it constitutes not all. You will say, As soon as a man by faith hath a capacity, it constitutes him righteous. How so? It was a meritorious cause before faith, now it is no more; at the first it procured that men should be justified upon gospel terms, and now what new or fresh act or energy hath it? Indeed there is somewhat more on man's part, viz., faith: somewhat more on God's, viz., justifying the believer. But what is there more on Christ's? the merit is as before, one and the same, and impetrates justification on gospel terms for all; on our part there is a difference, one believes, not another; on God's a difference, he justifies one, not another; but Christ stands only as a common cause, his satisfaction is in communi, and constitutes no one righteous more than another. He is no more, as it seems, the end of the law for righteousness to the believer, than to the unbeliever. Now if this be, as it is durus sermo, then it remains that Christ's righteousness is by particular imputation made over to believers, and so becomes the matter of their justification; accordingly the apostle in Rom. 6 speaks of it, not as a common cause, but as peculiarized to believers, such as receive grace. He doth not speak of what Christ merited for all, but of what Christ as a head communicates to his members. The scope of the parallel between the two Adams evinces this; it being no other than this, That both of them communicate to those who are in them. The sum of all is, Adam and Christ are set forth by the apostle as two communicative heads; if Adam's sin be imputatively ours, so is Christ's righteousness also.

I should now pass on to another reason: but possibly some may object, That there is a great difference between the two heads. We were seminally in Adam, we receive a human nature from him; but we were not seminally in Christ, we receive not a nature from him: therefore, though Adam's sin be imputatively ours, yet so is not Christ's righteousness. In answer to this I shall offer several things.

First, we receive a human nature from Adam: but is this the only foundation of the imputation of his sin to us? No, surely: then all the sins of our progenitors should be as much imputed to us, as the first sin of Adam was, which I cannot at all believe. Adam was a moral head of holiness and righteousness to all mankind, but since the fall, no man, no, not Adam himself, was such: the sin of Adam is universally imputed to all, even to the most holy, but so are not the sins of other progenitors: we were not, therefore, one with Adam only by a natural union, but by a divine constitution.

Secondly, we receive a human nature from Adam, and have we not a divine nature from Christ? are we not called his seed? are we not begotten by his Spirit and word? were we not in a spiritual sense seminally in his blood and merits? how else should any such thing as the new creature be produced in a lapsed nature? These things are as proper to make us parts and members of Christ, as a human nature is to make us parts and members of Adam; therefore, the communication of righteousness from Christ must be as full and great as the communication of sin is from Adam. Bishop Usher tells us, that we have a more strict conjunction in the Spirit with Christ, than ever we had in nature with Adam; one and the same spirit is in Christ and believers, but there is not one soul in Adam and his posterity: the communication from Christ, therefore, if answerable to the union, must be as great, nay, greater than that from Adam.

Thirdly, Adam was a head, both by nature and by constitution; sin, unless in conjunction with nature, could not pass from him to us, neither could we, without a nature conveyed from him, have been members of him. It did, therefore, appertain to his headship to convey a nature to us; but Christ was a head not by nature, but above it by divine constitution; he was not to convey naturals to us, but supernaturals; since the fall, righteousness was not to pass to us, in conjunction with nature; nature was to be from one head, and righteousness from another; we were to be made members of Christ, not by communication of nature, but of grace; it therefore did not appertain to his headship to communicate nature to us, yet was his headship as potent to convey righteousness to us, as Adam's was to convey sin: the divine constitution made him such a head, that his satisfaction might become ours for our justification. Thus much touching this argument drawn from the headship of Christ.

Fourthly, those Scripture phrases of being purged, sprinkled, cleansed, washed, justified in the blood of Christ, notably import two things, the one that justification is in a signal manner attributed to Christ's blood, as sanctification is to the Spirit; the other, that Christ's blood justifies by way of application. But neither of these can stand, if that blood be only a meritoritorious cause, not the first; how can justification be signally attributed to it, when as a meritorious cause, it no less impetrates sanctification than justification? nothing singular is done by it in the one more than in the other; not the second, how can it justify by application, when as a meritorious cause it operates only by impetration? You will say, Christ's blood is applied in the effect, in a pardon. I answer: those Scripture phrases before quoted, show that the blood itself is applied to us; how else is it said, that we are purged, cleansed, sprinkled, washed in it? unless it be applied to us, the phrases, how emphatical soever, seem to be improper: surely a satisfaction must in its own nature be a justifying matter against the law, next to an absolute conformity to the law. Nothing is, or can be more justifying against it than a satisfaction; when God hath provided a plenary satisfaction to justify us, how may we think, that it is not itself applied to us actually to justify us, or that something less than itself should do it? the Scripture sets forth this application on both hands; on our part it is applied by Faith; "We receiving the atonement," (Rom. 5:11), and Christ "Being a propitiation through faith in his blood," (Rom. 3:25); and on God's part by imputation, we being "made the righteousness of God in him," (2 Cor. 5:21), "and the righteousness of God being upon us," (Rom. 3:22.) I cannot tell how to think, that such an excellent justifying matter as Christ's satisfaction is, should be provided for us, and yet not applied to us, according to the terms of the Gospel: a pardon is, as I take it, upon the satisfaction not merely made, but applied; for it is given to believers only: if the satisfaction be itself applied, then that is our righteousness against the law; if it be applied in the effect, that is, in a pardon, then the pardon is the very application, and not a pardon upon a satisfaction applied; or if there be a pardon upon a satisfaction applied, there will be a pardon before a pardon; a pardon in the application, and a pardon upon it; if the satisfaction be itself applied, then it may precede a pardon, and a pardon may be upon it; but if it be applied only in the effect, in a pardon, then it cannot precede a pardon, no more than a pardon can precede itself. You will say, a pardon is not upon a satisfaction applied, but is the very application. To this I answer, the learned Mr. Gataker saith, Remissio est justificationis efficacis consequens necessarium; and the worthy Mr. Bradshaw saith, Culpæ remissio accuratè considerata neque totum neque pars justificationis existit, sed contingens tantùm justificationis effectus: I conceive, the application of Christ's justifying blood is in order of nature antecedent to remission. Under the law, first the atonement was made, and blood sprinkled, and then there was forgiveness; under the gospel, first Christ's blood is applied and sprinkled upon us, and then there is remission. "Christ is a propitiation through faith in his blood," saith the apostle, (Rom. 3:25.) and then he adds, "To declare his righteousness for the remission of sins." Christ's blood is first applied, and then remission follows upon it. I say, it follows upon it, but it is no more the same with it under the gospel, than forgiveness under the law was the same with the sprinklings and purifyings by the blood of the sacrifices; when in scripture there is attributed to Christ's blood purging, washing, sprinkling, cleansing from sin, and to a pardon covering, blotting out, taking away, and casting away of sin; I cannot imagine that both these are the same, as if Christ's blood did not by itself do away sin, but only impetrate that it might be done away in a pardon; I take it, these are distinct; first, that blood in the sense herein after declared, frees us à culpâ, and then the consequent pardon, frees us à pœnâ.

Fifthly. If Christ's righteousness be imputed to us, not in itself, but in its effects only, that is, a pardon, then justification, as to the law, wholly consists in a pardon; on the other hand, if justification do not stand in a pardon, then it stands in the imputation of Christ's righteousness to us. On this great point I shall offer several things.

First. The scripture must be the great rule to judge of justification by. There I find that we are justified by Christ's blood, that we are made righteous by his obedience; but that we are justified by a pardon I find not. There I read that Christ is made to us righteousness; that we are made the righteousness of God in him, but not that an immunity from punishment is a righteousness. I know many learned divines take justification and pardon to be one and the same, but I shall consider the chief scriptures which look that way. The first is Rom 4. There the imputation of righteousness, (ver. 6.) and the remission of sin, (ver. 7 and 8.) seem to be the very same. The quotation of the 32 Psalm seems to make it clear to answer to this. I shall consider the scope of the apostle. He doth in the third chapter lay down this conclusion: that we are justified by faith, (ver. 28.) and in the fourth chapter he lays down this: that we are not justified by works, (ver. 4.) that is perfect works such as man may glory in, such as might make the reward of debt. Abraham himself could not reach such a justification. This is proved by two things. The one is this: Abraham's faith was counted to him for righteousness, therefore he was not justified by works. For faith is not works. The other is this: a justified man is a pardoned one, therefore he is not justified by works, for perfect obedience leaves no room at all for a pardon. Touching the first, I shall first consider, what was the object of Abraham's faith, and then how faith is counted for righteousness. The primary object of Abraham's faith was Christ; for the apostle in the third chapter speaks of the faith of Christ; and in the fourth, where the same discourse of justification is continued, the object cannot in any reason be varied. Abraham is set forth as a great pattern of believing, and he can hardly be so to christians, if his faith had not for substance the same object with theirs. The scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, "In thee shall all nations be blessed," (Gal. 3:8). That Abraham's faith and ours might have the same object, God took care that a gospel, a blessing, Christ should be set before him: his eyes were so far opened, that he could see Christ's day, and in a kind of triumph of faith, rejoice at it. (John, 8:56.) It is true, our faith, as having more of evangelical light in it, is more explicit than Abraham's was; Abraham's was in the Messiah in universali, in more general terms; ours is in him in particulari, in propriâ formâ, in a satisfying atoning Messiah, in his blood and righteousness; nevertheless, (this being but a gradual difference according to gradual light) our faith and Abraham's are for substance the same and centre in one object; and Christ's righteousness and satisfaction, though not so clearly known to Abraham as to us, was no less imputed to him than to us, there being the same way of justification by imputed righteousness to him as for us. Christ being the object of Abraham's faith, the next thing is, how faith is imputed for righteousness. Here I answer, faith is counted for righteousness, not as taken in abstracto, merely in itself, but as taken in concreto, in its conjunction with its object: that is, Christ and his righteousness; and then we have the full righteousness of justification, faith in itself answering to the gospel-terms, and in its object Christ's righteousness answering to the law. Here I crave leave to set down the words of an excellent person, though different from myself in this point; the words are these*: "Faith looks both ways, respects both the law and the gospel, and compriseth all that is requisite to our justification with reference to both; all the charge of the law it answers ratione objecti, in respect of its object, which is Christ, and all that is required by the gospel, ratione sui, as being itself the performance of the condition annexed thereunto." Thus he;—I quote not these words, as if in this point he were of my opinion, but because they are full and expressive of my thoughts. Now, that faith is in this place to be taken in conjunction with its object, appears thus: the apostle, in the third chapter proves, "That as to the law, every mouth must be stopped, that all the world must become guilty before God" (v. 19), and then concludes, that "By the deeds of the law, no flesh can be justified," (v. 20). And in his after discourse (as the following words, "but now," do import), he sheweth what it is that justifieth us against the law, viz., "The righteousness of God; that is of Christ, which is not faith itself, but by faith," (v. 21, and 22), and at last he concludes, "that we are justified by faith," (28); but faith, in itself, cannot justify us against the law: for faith was not crucified for us, neither did it satisfy justice on our behalf: it is therefore faith in its object, that is Christ's righteousness which justifies us against the law; that faith which is counted for righteousness is that which establishes the law, (ver. 31;) and that establishment faith makes, not in itself, but in its object, Christ's righteousness, which established the law by satisfying of it; faith, therefore, and its object must be taken together: hence the apostle, who mentions the imputation of faith, (verse 5, in the 4th chapter,) mentions also the imputation of righteousness, (ver. 6.) It is true both are but one in sense, but in words the latter expresses the object of faith, as the former doth the act: thus, as I said before, faith in conjunction with its object takes in the whole of justification; and then the after words, quoted out of the Psalm, touching remission, do not describe the imputation of righteousness in its proper nature, but in its blessed fruit, viz., pardon of sin, which is not properly our righteousness, but a consequent upon it. Another place is this, "Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sin; and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses," (Acts, 13:38, 39.) Here it seems that what is called remission in the 1st verse, is called justification in the next; but I take it, they are not the same in the 38th verse. We have remission in the offer or tender of the gospel; in the 39th we have justification actual as it is in the believer. So they are not the same; justification here is not remission, but justification by sacrifice; justification by Christ's sacrifice is opposed to justification by the legal ones: justification by these was typical, and but in some cases, the law not allowing a sacrifice in all, but justification by that is real, and in all cases where faith is not wanting: here, therefore, justification and remission are not the same. Another place is Luke 18, when the publican penitentially prayed for pardon, "God be merciful to me a sinner," he went home justified, (ver. 13, 14.) Justified is the same with pardoned. I answer, This place shews that justification follows upon true repentance, but not that justification and pardon are the same; the satisfaction of Christ justifies a sinner, a pardon only frees him from punishment. To name but one place more: the free gift is of many offences to justification, (Rom. 5:16,) τὸ χάρισμα, the free gift, seems here to import pardon, as if pardon and justification were all one. To this I answer; The apostle in this famous place sets down a parallel between the two heads, Adam and Christ; Adam's sin and Christ's righteousness; Adam's sin making us sinners unto death, and Christ's righteousness making us righteous unto life. But the word, pardon or remission, is not so much as once named in all the parallel; by the free gift (verse 16,) is not meant remission, but Christ's righteousness. This is clear upon a double account: the one is this,—the free gift is opposed to Adam's sin, and that which in this parallel is opposed to Adam's sin, must needs be Christ's righteousness; this appears throughout the whole parallel, in the 15th and 16th verses Adam's sin and the free gift are opposed; in the 18th verse, Adam's offence and Christ's righteousness are opposed; in the 19th verse, Adam's disobedience and Christ's obedience are opposed: hence it appears, that what is the free gift in the 15th and 16th verses is the righteousness or obedience of Christ in the 18th and 19th verses; neither indeed can the parallel stand, if any other thing than Christ's righteousness should be opposed to Adam's sin. The other is this; these words, "The free gift," are put instead of Christ's righteousness or obedience; this appears in that where the one is mentioned, the other is omitted; in the 15th, 16th, and 17th verses the free gift is mentioned, but the righteousness or obedience of Christ is omitted; in the 18th and 19th verses the righteousness and obedience of Christ is mentioned, but the free gift is omitted. Indeed, in our translation we have the free gift, verse 18, but not in the original. Hence it appears that they are the same; I suppose that in the 18th verse should be otherwise supplied: thus it appears that the free gift is not pardon. Having seen the most material texts, I shall observe one thing more: Justification is set forth in such a way in scripture, that it must needs be distinct from pardon: it is set forth so that the law is established by it, (Rom 3:31): but the law is not established by a pardon, but by a satisfaction. You will say, Our pardon is upon a satisfaction; but if that satisfaction do not justify us, if it be no ingredient in our justification, then in our justification the law is not established as the apostle speaks. Justification is set forth so, that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us, (Rom. 8:4); but the righteousness of the law is not fulfilled in a pardon, neither is it fulfilled in our imperfect though sincere obedience; the Greek word, δικάιωμα, is, as Aristotle saith, ἐπανόρθωμα τοῦ ἀδικήματος, correctio injuriæ, Satisfaction for the injured law, but nothing is such but Christ's righteousness. The apostle in the precedent verse saith, that sin was condemned in the flesh of Christ; and of this there is a double fruit; first justification: "The righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us;" that is, Christ's satisfaction becomes imputatively ours; and then sanctification; we "walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." This interpretation harmonizes with the first verse; there first we have justification, There is no condemnation to them who are in Christ; and then sanctification, We walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. As therefore Christ's righteousness is the only thing which satisfies the law, so it is the only justifying matter against it. Justification is so set forth that the law hath its end; thus the apostle, "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to the believer." (Rom. 10:4.) As he is the end of the law, so he is for righteousness; he is not the end of the law in a procured pardon, but in a satisfaction made and applied; justification, therefore, consists not in a pardon, but in a satisfaction applied and made ours by imputation. Thus far out of scripture.

Secondly, Justification cannot be without a righteousness; that God (who judgeth according to truth, who is just and a justifier), doth not esteem or pronounce us righteous, unless we are so: a pardon is not our righteousness, for that is God's act, and God's act, though it may make or esteem us righteous, is not itself our righteousness, neither is that which a pardon gives, viz. an immunity from punishment; such an immunity from punishment which is ex merâ iudulgentiâ, as in the case of a pardoned malefactor, is not such; the malefactor in that case is treated in point of punishment as a righteous man, but he is not such indeed, his plea is only a pardon, he is free only à pœnâ, not à culpâ, the judge doth not esteem him as righteous, but as one exempt from punishment; nay, an immunity, which is ex justitiâ, as in the case of an innocent person, though it suppose a righteousness in him, yet it is no more itself a righteousness than in the other case; it is distinct from his righteousness as a consequent is from its antecedent. Now if a pardon or immunity from punishment be not our righteousness, then Christ's righteousness, (which was penal and obediential to an infinite value, and did compensate the very culpa, and free us from it) is, as soon as it is made ours by imputation, our righteousness against the law.

Thirdly. If a pardon might be called justification, it is but improperly such; there are then as (I will suppose for discourse sake) three sorts of justification to be distinguished, one by the idem, the very same perfect righteousness which the law calls for, another by the tantundem, a righteousness which is a plenary satisfaction to the broken law; a third by remission only: the first is more strictly justification than the second, because the very letter of the law is fulfilled in it, which it is not in the other; the second is more properly justification than the third, because there is a plenary compensation to the law in it; when in the other there is nothing but a mere condonation: the third is the most improper justification of all the rest, because it communicates not a righteousness, but an indulgence. Now in our case, had there been no satisfaction at all, justification, if possible, must have stood in remission only; but a great and glorious satisfaction being made, it seems very strange that justification should consist only in the less proper, in remission, which frees us à pœnâ, whilst the proper, Christ's satisfaction, which, in a way of compensation, frees us à culpâ, is waved. It is true, it is not totally waved; it is allowed to be an antecedent meritorious cause of justification, but being no ingredient in it, justification still consists in the less proper, while the more proper in that respect is waved.

Before I pass on, I must consider one objection: pardon takes away reatum pœnæ, the obligation to punishment, and what more can be done to a sinner? Still the reatus culpæ abides, the fault will be a fault, the sinner a sinner; that is, one who sinned; and if no more can be done to a sinner, why is not immunity from punishment, his righteousness, or what can be righteousness if that be not so?

In answer to this great objection, I shall offer two or three things.

First. It is indeed a rule of reason that factum infectum fieri non potest; yet it is worthy the consideration of the learned, whether the culpa, which ever continues in facto, in itself may not yet cease in jure, so far as not to redound upon the person to make him culpable? I shall only mention one instance, and so leave it; the blessed Virgin not being, as her son was, conceived of the Holy Ghost, was no doubt subject to original sin, that put a culpa upon every part of her, and factum infectum fieri non potest. Nevertheless, when the word was made flesh; when his body was framed out of the substance of the Virgin, no culpa did remain, or redound upon his human nature, much less upon his sacred person which assumed it: in sacred mysteries we must not be too peremptory upon our reason, but speak with all caution and reverence.

Secondly. Reatus culpæ, or guilt of fault, may be considered under a double notion, either in itself, in its intrinsical desert of punishment, or else in its redundancy upon the sinner, which consists in three things. First. It so redounds upon him, as to denominate him a sinner, that is, one who hath sinned; then it so redounds as to make him continue worthy of punishment; and again, it so redounds as actually to oblige him to punishment. Now the reatus in itself—in its intrinsical desert—must needs be perpetual, because sin cannot cease to be sin, the denominating him a sinner, one who hath sinned, must be perpetual too, because factum infectum fieri non potest: but as I take it, that redundancy which makes him worthy of punishment is removed in justification, and that which actually obliges him to punishment is removed in remission. It is usually said in the schools, transit actus manet reatus: after the act of sin is passed and gone, the guilt abides. We may say of the sinner, that he hath sinned in præterito, nay, and in præsenti, that he is filius mortis, worthy to die and suffer punishment; but after he hath received the great atonement, after Christ's satisfaction (which is more than an æquipondium to his unworthiness) is imputed and made over to him, he continues no longer worthy of punishment, the sin itself is worthy of it, but he is not: he was once worthy of it, but now he is no longer so. I cannot imagine, that Christ's ἄξιοι, or worthy ones, (Rev. 3:1.) should remain ἅξιοι θανάτου, worthy of death. (Rom. 1:32.) Or that the pure heavens should be inhabited by such as still continue worthy of hell. Christ's righteousness so much outweighs and counterpoises the meritum pœnæ, that is, in sin, that though the worthiness of punishment cannot be separated from the sin itself, yet it ceases to redound upon the sinner as soon as he believes, and hath an interest in that righteousness. It is true the sinner, as he is in himself, is worthy of punishment, but as he is in Christ a part or member of him, a participant of his satisfaction, he is not worthy thereof.

Thirdly. If we look distinctly upon a satisfaction, or plenary compensation for sin of the one hand, and upon a pardon, or immunity from punishment of the other, it will be easily seen where our righteousness lies, and what is our justifying plea and matter against the law. A pardon frees from punishment, but a satisfaction salves the honour of the broken law, repairs the damage done to it, compensates for the violations of it, and comes in the room of that perfect conformity which the law did primarily aim at. In this, therefore, not in the other, stands our righteousness as to the law. Thus much touching my fifth reason, that justification consists not in a pardon.

Sixthly. Christ suffered nostra loco, in our place and stead. Those pregnant scriptures (that he gave his life a ransom, ἀντὶ πολλῶν, in the stead of many, (Matt. 20:28.) that he gave himself ἀντίλυτρον, a counterprize for all, (1 Tim. 2:6.) that he suffered the just for the unjust, (1 Pet. 3:18.) are no cold improprieties, but full proofs of it. He did sustinere nostram personam, sustain our person in his sufferings. There was a double commutation; his person was put in the room of our persons, and his sufferings in the room of our sufferings; he that satisfies for another must do it nomine debitoris, he that pays in his own name, cannot satisfy for another. When our Saviour said to Peter, "That give (ἁνὴ ἐμοῦ καὶ σοῦ), for me and thee," (Matth. 17:27). If Peter had paid it only in his own name, he could not have satisfied for his Master. In like manner, if Christ had suffered only in his own name, he could not have satisfied for Peter or any other. The debt which he satisfied for was ours, not his; he stood as our representative, and satisfied for us; he did not only suffer nostra bono, that the profit might be ours, but nostro loco, that the satisfaction itself might be ours; nevertheless, according to divine constitution, that is, that it might be ours; not immediately, but as soon as we become members of him; not according to the full latitude, but according to the capacity of members; not to all intents, but that might be the matter of our justification as to the law.

Having laid down my reasons, I shall now proceed to answer the objections made against imputed righteousness; only here I must remember the reader of one thing. Let him not think that there are no mysteries in our religion, as if all there were within the line of human reason: there are super-rational mysteries in Christ's person: mortal and immortal, temporal and eternal, the creature and the creator, do in an ineffable manner meet together in one person; and why may there not be such in Christ mystical too? The union between Christ and believers is a great mystery, (Ephes. 5:32), and the communication of his righteousness to them, which ensues upon that union, hath too much of mystery in it to be measured by human reason. Proclus said well, ὴ δὲ λογισμοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις καθυβρίζεις τὰ θεῖα, "Why dost thou reproach divine things with human reasonings? Reason is no competent judge of such matters."

Object. 1. An accident cannot be removed from its subject: Christ's righteousness is an accident.

Ans. An accident cannot be removed from its subject, so as to have a novel inhesion; but it may be transferred by a just imputation. I shall give two instances of this: Adam's sin was imputed unto us; if not, then, as I have before proved, there can be no such thing as original sin, the doctrine of which hath been owned by the church in all ages. Again, our sin was imputed unto Christ, else his sufferings could not e penal: the scripture is emphatical, "He was made sin for us," (2 Cor. 5:21). "The Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all," (Isa. 53:6). St. Austin saith, that he was delictorum susceptor, non commissor. St. Jerom saith, non de cœlis attulit, sed de nobis assumpsit: if our sin was not at all imputed to him, his sufferings could not be penal: to clear this, I shall first prove that Christ's sufferings were penal, in a proper sense, and then, that they could not be such without sin imputed. First, Christ's sufferings were penal. In scripture we find, that our sins were borne in his body, and condemned in his flesh, that he was wounded and bruised for them, that he was made a curse for us, all which speak penal sufferings. If his sufferings were not penal, how were they satisfactory? A proper satisfaction can hardly be proved from an improper punishment. How did he suffer in our stead; if he did, it was in a no-punishment, which is all one, as if Archelaus had reigned in the room of his father in a no-kingdom: what πᾶρᾶδειγμα, or example, was there in his sufferings to deter us from sin? There is no such thing in sufferings not penal: what demonstration of justice was there in them? In sufferings not penal power may appear but justice cannot; we see here his sufferings were penal, but without sin imputed how could they be so? Socinus (who would not have them penal, lest they should be satisfactory too) saith, that Christ died, "Quia ita et Deo et ipsi visum est," because so it seemed good to God and him. But would this make his sufferings penal? no, he intended no such thing, neither will this do it; God's mere will may inflict sufferings, but nothing but justice can inflict punishment. Justice, unless moved, inflicts it not; neither is there any other mover, but that of sin imputed. Where no sin is imputed, there it is, as to punishment, all one as if there were no sin: and where there is no sin at all, there can be no such thing as punishment. We are therefore under a necessity to say, that sin was in tantum, so far imputed to Christ as to render his sufferings penal, and withal we see an accident passing to another by imputation; only here it will be objected, that sin was only imputed to Christ in the effects; but, I take it, this suffices not; for the effect of sin is punishment; and punishment cannot be, where no sin is imputed; a punishment without a why or a wherefore, is a punishment for nothing; that is, it is no punishment; and where there is no punishment, sin is not so much as imputed in the effect. So that if it be imputed in the effect, itself must be so far imputed, as to render the sufferings penal, which makes good the instance.

Object. 2. If Christ's righteousness be indeed imputed to us, then it is imputed in the full latitude; we are reputed by God to have satisfied divine justice, we are then imputatively our own saviours and redeemers; nay, as Bellarmine saith, "redemptores et salvatores mundi," redeemers and saviours of the world.

Ans.—If this principle, that all imputation is in the full latitude, be true, I yield up the cause for ever. I am sure I am not my own saviour or redeemer; I never satisfied divine justice for my sins: but that this principle is not true, I shall endeavour to manifest. Non-imputation and imputation must needs have the same rules to be governed by. This, I suppose, must not be denied by those who say, That the non-imputation of sin, is the imputation of righteousness, (Rom. 4:1.) Sin is not imputed to believers: but how, what, totally and in every respect? no, surely; still the culpa abides, the sin will be a sin, the sinner a sinner; that is, one who sinned; but it is not imputed as to punishment. If sin may be non-imputed in some respects, then righteousness may be imputed in a limited sense also; if all imputation be in the full latitude, then there is no imputation of a thing at all (save only to the proper doer of it) neither according to principles of mere nature, nor according to principles of justice, nor yet according to a divine constitution. Not according to principles of mere nature; according to these, sin internal in the will is imputed to the members of the body, as being in conjunction with the soul; else the body should not rise and suffer for it: but how is it imputed? what, in the full latitude? Doth God account that the sin properly did issue from the members, and reside there? It is not true, or possible, yet in a lower and diminutive manner is it to them imputed; nor according to principles of justice; our sin (and that, as but now was proved) not in the effect only, but in some sense in itself, was imputed to Christ; and that upon principles of justice, upon his sponsion to satisfy for us, our sin was imputed to him. But what, in the full latitude? What, to make as if there were a spot or turpitude in the Holy One? As if he by his own sinful commissions had deserved penal sufferings? No, by no means; but in the least respect that could possibly be, in no other respect than this, viz., so far as to render his sufferings penal. Nor yet according to the divine constitution; this is most proper to the present case. And for this I must bring forth the parallel of the two Adams, because there never were any two such heads as these. Adam's sin, as I have before proved, was imputed to us: but what, in its full latitude? Were we the head of mankind? Did we usher in sin and death upon the world, as Adam did? No: this was by one Adam; but in a lower measure, and according to the capacity of members; it came upon us, as Bellarmine well expresses it: Eo modo, quo communicari potest id quod transit, nimirum per imputationem; it came upon us ex post facto, after the action done; interpretativè and by way of reception, it only so far redounded upon us, as by that sin to make us sinners. (Rom. 5:19.) In like manner, Christ's righteousness is imputed to us; but what, in its full latitude? Were we the saviours or redeemers of the world? Did we usher in life and righteousness upon the church? No; this was by one Christ; but in a lower measure, and according to the capacity of members, it comes upon us only by imputation, and interpretativè, it only so far redounds upon us, as by that righteousness to make us righteous against the law. (Rom. 5:19). These things being laid down, it appears, that the imputation of Christ's righteousness to us doth not imply that we are our own saviours or redeemers, much less that we are such to the world. We did not satisfy divine justice; no: this is, as Bishop Davenant tells Bellarmine, Ridicula illatio, a thing which cannot be inferred from imputed righteousness; we do only as members of Christ so far participate of his satisfaction, as to be thereby justified against the law. To say, that his satisfaction, if imputed to us, must become ours as amply as it is his, is to say things impossible, as if imputation were as much as action; or the derivative could equalize the primitive; as if head and members, because there is a communication between them, must be confounded and become the same; as if the believer, if once called into communion with Christ, as the apostle speaks (1 Cor. 1:9), must become a Christ, a saviour or mediator; all which is mere confusion: but in imputation, the proportion between head and members is kept inviolate. Christ the head, communicates to believers, yet Salva prærogativa capitis; believers receive from him, but it is only in the measure of members.

Object. 3. If Christ's righteousness be imputed to us, then God reputes us to have made satisfaction, and so errs in his judgment, which cannot be.

Ans. God without error imputes Adam's sin to us; yet doth not repute us to be the very doers of it; he without error imputes the internal sin of the will to the members of the body, yet doth not repute the members to have done it. Christ's satisfaction is not imputed to us as to agents, but as to participant members; and that truly, because according to that divine constitution, which made Christ a head, as strong to communicate righteousness, as Adam was to convey sin.

Object. 4. If Christ's righteousness be imputed to us, then we are as righteous as Christ is.

Ans. The consequence is absurd, and the learned Chamier gives this reason: Fieri non posse, ut tàm justus sit, qui inhærenter injustus; imputativè justus est, quàm qui inhærentèr justus; nam iste à se et per se justus est, ille tantùm precario, id est, aliundè et in alio. Christ's righteousness hath distinct respects; as to himself it was the idem, as to us the tantundem; as it was inherent in him, it was justifying and sanctifying too; as it is imputed to us, it is justifying only; it was Christ's in the agency; the glory of it, is ours only by participation; Christ is the author of the satisfaction; we are but the receivers in the quality of members; it was his in the capacity of a sponsor, Saviour, Redeemer, Mediator, Head; it is ours only derivatively, and as participant members of him.

Object. 5. Imputed righteousness is the root of Antinomianism, this dissolves the law, as if it did no longer oblige us to obedience.

Ans. Christ's righteousness is not imputed to us as it is the idem of the law, but as it is a satistisfaction made thereunto: neither was that satisfaction meant to dissolve the law obligation, so as that it should cease to be a rule of holiness in point of sanctification: but to dissolve it so, as that the law should demand from believers no other matter but itself in point of justification. Did it cease to be a rule of holiness in sanctification, we must all be Antinomians. Did it not cease to demand no more than itself in justification we must all be undone; its further demand, viz., perfect obedience from us in our persons being impossible, justification and salvation must be so also. Christ's satisfaction was made, that we might be justifiable against the law, it is imputed that we may be actually justified against it. If the satisfaction imputed run into Antinomianism, so doth the satisfaction made, which is indeed the Socinian outcry; Quis nexus, quæ copula inter fidem, quâ creditur Christum pro nobis Deo plenissimè satisfecisse, et inter bonorum operum studium? So Schlictingius; Quid causæ est, cur is, qui satisfactionem istam persuasam habens, aliquid, in repellendâ à se impietate, justitiáq, colendâ, laboris sibi ponendum existimet? So Volkelius: now what is answered on the behalf of satisfaction made, viz., That the law is still a rule of holiness; that Christ's satisfaction is an inflammative to it, that the just odium of sin is seen in the atoning I blood; that that blood is sprinkled only upon believers, with the like; the same may be as truly answered on the behalf of satisfaction imputed.

Object. 6. If Christ's righteousness be imputed to us, then God sees no sin is in us.

Ans. God sees not sin in us with a vindictive eye, but with an intuitive one he doth; nay, he cannot but do so, as long as there is omniscience in him and sin in us; Christ's righteousness is imputed to us as it is a satisfaction, and that supposes us to have been sinners, else what need could there be of a satisfaction? though the law were satisfied in point of justification, yet still it demands duty in point of sanctification, though that satisfaction take away the imperfection of our duties and graces as to the guilt, yet not as to the very being.

Object. 7. If Christ's righteousness be imputed to us, there needs no new obedience in order to salvation.

Ans. The Socinians object this against Christ's satisfaction; in which notion I take it, that Christ's righteousness is imputed to us. Si jam Deo plenè persolutum est, quod ei à nobis plenè debebatur, quid adhuc nos pietate et bonis operibus maceremus? jam nec Deus nos jure punire, nec ab æternâ vitâ jure excludere potest; so Schlictingius. But Christ's satisfaction may very well stand with our obedience; Christ satisfied the law so far, as that his righteousness imputed, justifies us against the law, but not so far as that it should be our very sanctity and holiness: for then, if imputed, it should become such as they are, inherent; which is impossible: in this respect, therefore, the law asks obedience from us, every believer is ἔννομος Χρισῷ: under the law to Christ, as far under it as it is a rule to our life. Nay, Christ's righteousness is so far from evacuating our obedience, that it is the great foundation upon which the Holy Spirit, the fountain of holiness, is communicated to us, as it was under the law in cleansing the leper; the holy oil was put upon the atoning blood. (Levit. 14:17.) So it is under the gospel in purifying us. First, the blood of Christ is sprinkled on us by imputation, and then the holy unction, the divine Spirit, is poured out upon us: were there no atoning blood shed, the Holy Spirit would not so much as touch upon fallen man: were that blood not applied to us, the Holy Spirit would never dwell in us as a principle of obedience.

Object. 8. Christ's righteousness cannot be both the meritorious and material cause of justification, for then it should be both an external and internal cause thereof: which cannot be.

Ans. We must not here take our measures from reason; it was well said by one: In logicis ratio facit fidem, in theologicis fides facit rationem, evangelical mysteries, though above the line of human reason, must be owned in faith, though the mode of them be inexplicable by us; Christ's righteousness may be considered under a double respect, either as it is offered up to God, or as it is applied to men. In the first respect it is common for all, so far as to render them justifiable on Gospel terms: in the second it is peculiarized to believers; in the first it founds the promises of justification by Christ's blood, in the second it executes them, and (which is as easily conceivable as the other) in the first it is a meritorious cause of justification; in the second a material.

Having answered these objections, which I look upon as most material, I shall conclude as I began, that Christ's righteousness, as it is a satisfaction, is so far imputed to his believing members, as to be the matter of their justification: the law in that point can ask no more of them than that satisfaction; there is enough in that to answer for all their sins.

Thus far I have treated touching our righteousness as to the law. I now come to speak of our righteousness as to the gospel; Christ's righteousness answers as to the law of works: faith answers as to the terms of the gospel. Do this, or die, was satisfied by Christ's righteousness: believe and live, is answered by faith. Christus est impletio legis, Spiritus est impletio Evangelii. Now here I shall first shew the necessity of this two-fold righteousness; and then the connection which is between them.

1. There is a necessity of this two-fold rightness. God at first made man a holy, righteous creature; and upon the fall, he set to his hand a second time to lift up man out of the chains of sin and wrath, into a state of grace and life eternal. God, as Creator, gave man a law of perfect obedience, suited to his primitive nature, and as it were, interwoven with the principles of it. God, as Redeemer, gave us a law of grace, in which there is as much abatement and condescension to our fallen estate, as could comport with his own holiness and majesty. In the former, God stood upon the highest terms of perfect sinless obedience; in the latter he comes down to the lowest terms imaginable. He will justify and save every one who by true faith yields and resigns himself up to the conditions of the Gospel; where there are distinct laws, there must be distinct righteousnesses to answer them. That which comes up to the condescending terms of the Gospel falls much short of the high terms of the law; that which satisfies the law, is a thing of incomparably greater excellency than that which answers to the terms of the Gospel. There are two distinct charges, or accusations to be supposed; the one, that we are sinners, such as have broken the law: the other, that we are unbelievers, such as have rejected the Gospel. Here, therefore, must be distinct pleas; to the first, the plea is Christ's satisfaction to discharge us from the law: to the second, the plea is faith, which is the condition of the Gospel. To the charge of final unbelief, it is no plea to say, that Christ hath satisfied; to the charge of being a sinner, the plea doth not consist in faith itself; but in its object, viz. Christ's satisfaction. The righteousnesses themselves are of different natures; as to the law, our righteousness is without us, in the glorious satisfaction of Christ, made ours by a gracious imputation; as to the Gospel, our righteousness is within us, in that faith which complies with the evangelical terms; as to the law, our righteousness is not the idem, but a satisfaction made for the breaches of it; as to the Gospel, our faith is the very idem which the Gospel condition calls for. It is of great concern in justification, to place these two righteousnesses in their proper orbs; if either of them be carried out of their own sphere, religion is subverted. As to the law, Christ's satisfaction is our only righteousness, it is true; faith receives the atonement, but neither faith, nor any other inherent grace can here be our righteousness. All these have their spots of imperfection: how faltering is our faith? how cold our charity? how much is there wanting in all our graces? all are but in part; not in their full measure, but in their first lineaments. Neither do they dwell alone, but there is a sad inmate of corruption under the same roof. All these must pass sub veniâ, under a pardon, and under the wings of Christ; these are not able to cover their own blots and imperfections; these, therefore are not our saviours or redeemers; these do not satisfy the law; these do not compensate for sin; these do not come in the room of perfect obedience; neither can the true God, though one of infinite mercy, accept them as such: no, nothing but Christ's satisfaction can here be our righteousness. Hence the apostle, having proved that all the world is guilty before God, (Rom. 3:19), immediately after adds, "but now the righteousness of God is manifested," (v. 21.) Where by the righteousness of God, that of Christ must needs be meant; for that, and that only is proper and apposite to answer that charge of the law which makes us guilty before God; that was a salvo to the honour of the law; that was a plenary compensation for the breaches of it; that came in the room of perfect obedience; that therefore is the only thing which could answer that charge: if we bring in faith, or any other grace into this orb, we set them up as Christs or saviours; and in effect we say, that Christ died in vain.

As to the gospel, faith answers to the terms of it; here Christ's satisfaction doth not supply the room: it is true he satisfied for us, but he did not repent or believe for us, for then he should have left nothing for us to do; no, not so much as to accept of that glorious satisfaction made for us. His satisfaction was not to spare, but by its super-excellent fulness to draw out our faith to itself; his atoning blood was not to excuse, but upon a view of his wounds to provoke our repentant tears; he died not for our sins that we might live in them; his pure flesh was not crucified that our corrupt flesh might be spared. The Son of God came not down from heaven to open a door to wickedness, but to promote a design of holiness: it is therefore we who must, though not without grace, repent and believe; faith must keep its station, or else holiness, which is the great design of the gospel, must be overturned.

Secondly. The connection between these two righteousnesses is to be considered; in this connection lies the total sum of justification. Christ's satisfaction answers to the law; faith answers to the terms of the gospel; believers who are righteous to both, cannot but be in a very blessed condition; nevertheless it is to be noted, (as learned Mr. Baxter hath observed) faith is but a particular righteousness, a righteousness secundum quid, only as to the performance of the evangelical condition; but Christ's satisfaction is an universal righteousness as to all other things, save only that performance, for the final neglect of which he never died: faith is a righteousness as to the evangelical condition; yet it is but a righteousness propter aliud, a righteousness subordinate and subservient to that great righteousness of Christ's satisfaction, to make us capable to participate thereof. In this connection we have a heap of mysteries set before us: justice is satisfied by a plenary compensation for sin; mercy is exalted, in that we, though sinners, are justified upon terms on our part as low as the Holy one could possibly condescend unto; the great thing, the satisfaction, which no man, no angel could accomplish, was from Jesus Christ; who being God in the flesh, was able to perform it; the comparatively little thing, I mean faith, which our fallen nature through grace might arrive at, was that which was required at our hands; satisfaction, which we could not have in ourselves, we have in another, even in Christ our sponsor: faith, which we have in ourselves, is that capacity whereby we are made meet to have that satisfaction communicated to us; the satisfaction which I think is the righteousness of God in scripture mentioned, is communicated to us; yet, as infinite wisdom ordered it, it is communicated to us in the lowest posture of the creature; I mean when we are by self-emptying and self-annihilating, faith yielding and resigning up ourselves to the terms of the gospel; faith, which is subjectively ours, is that capacity wherein we receive Christ's satisfaction; that satisfaction in the glory and plenitude is only his; yet, as the sun hangs down his beams to the lower world, it derives itself upon each believer, pro ratione membri: I mention the sun, because the prophet tells us, that upon those that fear God's name, "the Sun of righteousness arises with healing in his wings;" a choice part of which healing I take to be in the communication of his satisfaction to us, that only heals the deadly wound of guilt which is upon us. In Christ's righteousness there is a merit to procure faith; in faith, there is a capacity to have that righteousness made ours; in that righteousness, there is that which covers the imperfections of faith. Thus, there is an admirable connexion between these two righteousnesses. Further, touching our justification as to the terms of the gospel, we must first consider, what that faith, by which we are justified, is; and then how we are justified by it.

First. That faith, whereby we are justified, is not reason, in its own sphere, conversing about God and his goodness, but it is totally supernatural; supernatural in its principle; it is the gift of God: and, as the second Arausican council tells us, it is, per inspirationem Spiritûs Sancti. (Can. 6) Supernatural in its object, it is fixed in a God, in covenant, and in his grace. It hangs upon Christ, and his sweet-smelling sacrifice. It falls in with supernatural promises of grace and glory. Neither is this faith a mere naked assent, which may be in wicked men, nay, and in devils, but it is that which receives Christ, and feeds upon him, eating his flesh, and drinking his blood unto life eternal: Vitam à vitæ fonte haurimus, et in ipsum quasi totos nos immergimus, saith Bishop Davenant: we draw life from the fountain of life, and wholly drown ourselves in him. True faith takes the divine objects proposed, not by piecemeal but in their entireness. It is not merely for God's grace, that honeycomb of infinite sweetness, but for his holiness too, that the soul may be more and more transformed and assimilated to the divine image and likeness. Faith very well knows that no man, who by his rebellions strikes at his holiness, can possibly lean on his grace: so to do, is not to believe, but to presume and trust in a lie. Faith is for all Christ; not only for a meriting and atoning Christ, but for a teaching and ruling one. It knows that Christ must not be mangled, or torn in pieces; the merit must not be divided from the Spirit, nor the water from the blood, these must ever be in conjunction. A half Christ is not the Christ of God, but a Christ of his own fancy, such as cannot profit us. Faith is not merely for promises, which are cordials and pots of manna, but for precepts too. It is meat and drink to do the will of God: promises and precepts run together in scripture; promises are the effluxes of grace; and faith takes them into the heart by recumbency; precepts are effluxes of holiness, and faith takes them in by an obediential subjection; both are owned by faith, and must be so as long as there is grace and holiness in God. Faith cannot stand without repentance; it trusts in infinite mercy; and an impenitent one, who still holds up his arms of rebellion, cannot do so. It rests upon the merits and righteousness of Christ; and an impenitent one, who tramples under foot the atoning blood, cannot do so. It hath a respect for the holy commands, and the impenitent, who by wilful sinning casts them away, and as much as in him lieth, makes them void, can have no respect for them; there can be no such thing as an impenitent faith. We see by these things what a faith that is by which we are justified.

Secondly—The next thing is, how we are justified by faith? Faith may be considered under a double notion; either as it respects Christ, or as it respects the condition of the Gospel. As it respects Christ, it unites us to him—it makes us members of his mystical body—thus it is a sacred medium to have Christ's righteousness imputatively become ours, that we may be justified against the law—nothing can justify us against it but Christ's satisfaction—that cannot do it unless it become ours, ours it cannot be, unless we are believers. Hence the apostle saith, that the righteousness of God is upon the believer, (Rom. 3:22.) That Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to the believer, (Rom. 10:4.) Here faith doth not justify us in itself, but in its object, Christ; to whom it so unites us, that his righteousness so far becomes ours, as to justify us against the law. As it respects the condition of the Gospel, it is the very thing which that condition calls for; in the law of works the condition and the precept were co-extensive; the one was as large as the other; no man could live by that law, but he who had the perfect obedience commanded in the precept; but in the law of grace it is otherwise. The precept hath more in it than the condition. The precept calls for faith, not in its truth only, but in its statures and gradual perfections; it would have us aspire after a παῤῥησία, a fiducial liberty, a πληροφορία, a persuasion with full sails towards the great things in the promise, as if they were sensibly present with us; but the condition calls only for a true faith, and no more. The least faith, if true, though it be but as a little smoke or wick in the socket; though it be but a little spark or seed of faith latent in a desire or willing mind; is performance of the condition. Hence the poor in spirit, who seem to themselves to have nothing of grace at all in them, have a blessedness entailed on them, which could not be, unless they had performed the condition. Woe would it be to christians, if all that is in the precept were in the condition also; if their justification were suspended till they had reached the top and highest altitude of the precept. In reference to the precept, faith hath its degrees and statures; it comes up more or less to the precept; but in reference to the condition, faith hath no degrees, but stands in puncto indivisibili; it hath no magis or minùs in it; the least true faith doth as much perform the condition as the strongest. Cruciger, who prayed thus, Invoco te, Domine, languidâ et imbecillâ fide, sed fide tamen, did as much perform the condition, as he who hath the strongest confidence in God's mercy. The verity of faith is all that the condition calls for; these things, as I have learned from Mr. Baxter, being so, I conclude thus:—as to the precept, true faith falls short; it is not as it ought to be, it justifies not; nay, in respect of defects and imperfections, itself wants to be justified and covered with the righteousness of Christ; but as to the condition, it fully comes up; it is as it ought to be; it is in itself the very thing required; it is in this point a particular righteousness answering for us, that we have performed the condition: yet still we must remember, that this particular righteousness is subordinate to Christ's satisfaction, which is our universal righteousness.

There is yet one thing behind, viz. to consider how or in what respect obedience or good works are necessary unto justification. I shall set down my thoughts in the following particulars.

First, Our good works do not come in the room of Christ's righteousness to justify us as to the law. To secure this the apostle often concludes, that we are not justified by the works of the law; our good works are full of imperfection: the purest of them come forth ex læso principio, out of a heart sanctified but in part; and in their egress from thence gather a taint and tincture from the indwelling sin; never any saint durst stand before God in his own righteousness. Job, though perfect, would not know his own soul. (Job 9:21.) David, though a man after God's heart, would not have him mark iniquities. (Psalm 130:3.) Anselm, upon this account, cries out, Terret me vita mea, My own life makes me afraid; all of it was in his eyes sin or barrenness; our good works did not, could not satisfy the law; no, this was that which nothing but Christ's righteousness could accomplish. We find not the saints in scripture standing upon their own bottom, but flying to a mercy-seat; and as the expression is (Heb. 12:2,) ἀφορῶντες, looking off from themselves unto Jesus the author and finisher of their faith, in whom alone perfect righteousness is to be found.

Secondly, Our good works have not the same station with faith; this appears upon a double account. The one is this, Faith unites us to Christ. And so it is a divine medium to have his righteousness made ours; but good works follow after union; we are by faith married to Christ, that we might bring forth fruit to God. (Rom. 7:4.) Before faith, which is our espousal of Christ, we bring forth no genuine obedience; good works are the progeny of a man in Christ; one who by union with him is rightly spirited to do the will of God: not of a man in Adam, one who stands in the power of nature. The other is this, In the very instant or first entrance into justification, faith is there, but so is not obedience; a believer, in the very instant of believing, before any good works spring up in his life, hath a true title to the promises of the Gospel; the righteousness of Christ is upon him; the Spirit of grace is communicated to him; obedience is a blessed fruit which ensues upon these.

Thirdly, Obedience is necessary, though not to the first entrance into justification, yet to the continuance of it; not indeed as a cause, but as a condition. Thus Bishop Davenant, Bona opera sunt necessaria ad justificationis statum retinendum et conservandum; non ut causæ, quæ per se efficiant aut mereantur hanc conservationem; sed ut media seu conditiones, sine quibus Deus non vult justificationis gratiam in hominibus conservare. If a believer, who is instantly justified upon believing, would continue justified, he must sincerely obey God. Though his obedience in measure and degree reach not fully to the precept of the gospel; yet in truth and substance it comes up to the condition of it; else he cannot continue justified; this to me is very evident; we are at first justified by a living faith, such as virtually is obedience; and cannot continue justified by a dead one such as operates not at all. We are at first justified by a faith which accepts Christ as a Saviour and Lord; and cannot continue justified by such a faith as would divide Christ, taking his salvation from guilt, and by disobedience casting off his lordship; could we suppose that which never comes to pass, that a believer should not sincerely obey: How should he continue justified? if he continue justified, he must, as all justified persons have, needs have a right to life eternal; and if he have such a right, how can he be judged according to his works? no good works being found in him after his believing, how can he be adjudged to life? or how to death, if he continue justified? These things evince, that obedience is a condition necessary as to our continuance in a state of justification: nevertheless it is not necessary, that obedience should be perfect as to the evangelical precept; but that it should be such, that the truth of grace which the evangelical condition calls for, may not fail for want of it: "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city," (Rev. 22:14.) The first fundamental right to heaven they have by the faith of Christ only: but sincere obedience is necessary that that right may be continued to them: in this sense we may fairly construe that conclusion of St James, "Ye see, then, how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only," (Jam. 2:24.) Faith brings a man into a justified estate; but may he rest here? No, his good works must be a proof of his faith, and give a kind of experiment of the life of it. Nay, they are the evangelical condition, upon which his blessed estate of justification is continued to him; in foro legis, Christ and his righteousness is all; neither our faith nor our works can supply the room of his satisfaction to justify us against the law: but in foro gratiæ, our obedience answers to the evangelical condition, and is a means to continue our justified estate: it is true, St. Paul asserts that we are justified by faith, not by works, (Rom 4); which seems directly contrary to that of St. James, that a man is justified by works, not by faith only. But the difference is reconciled very fairly, if we do but consider what the works are in St. Paul, and what they are in St. James. In St. Paul, the works are perfect works, such as correspond to the law, such as make the reward to be of debt, (ver. 4.) Hence Calvin saith, "Operantem vocat, qui suis meritis aliquid promeretur, non operantem, cui nihil debetar operum merito." In St. James, the works are sincere only, such as answer not to the law, but to the evangelical condition; such as merit not, but are rewarded out of mere grace. Works in St. Paul, are such as stand in competition or co-ordination with Christ and his righteousness, which satisfied the law for us. Works in St. James are such as stand in due subordination to Christ and his righteousness, and are required only as fruits of faith, and conditions upon which we are to continue in a justified estate. Works in St Paul are such as no man can do; nay, as no man must so much as imagine that he can do, unless he will cast away Christ and grace. Works in St. James are such as must be done, or else we prove ourselves hypocrites, and our faith dead and vain; in both apostles Abraham is brought in as an instance. In St. Paul the question was, whether Abraham was a sinner; and here the righteousness of Christ did justify him. In St. James the question was, whether Abraham was a true believer; and here his obedience did prove him to be so, and did answer to the evangelical condition; these differences considered, it is easy to understand how we cannot be justified by good works in St. Paul's sense; and yet how, according to St. James, good works are necessary to prove our faith a living one; and to answer the condition of the gospel, that the state of justification, into which we entered by faith, may be continued.

To shut up this discourse touching justification, we must here stand and adore the infinite wisdom and mercy of God in this great work; what poor fallen creatures were we! into what a horrible gulf of sin and misery were we sunk! whither could we turn? or how could we think ever to stand before the holy God? storms of wrath hung over our heads, and might justly have fallen upon us; but how should we be justified, or ever escape? Might the pure perfect law be abrogated, that we might be acquitted? No, it could not be; it was immortalized by its own intrinsical rectitude and equity: might God waive his holiness and justice, that his mercy might be manifested upon us? Would the great rector pardon the sin of a world without any recompence or satisfaction? No; his law is sacred and honourable. Sin is no light or indifferent thing in his eyes; where then shall a satisfaction be found? No creature could possibly undertake it; no man, no angel could or durst start such a thought, as that one of the sacred Trinity should do it: see, then, and admire this incomparable work; the Son of God, very God, leaves his Father's bosom, assumes our frail flesh; in it fulfils all righteousness, and at last is made sin and a curse for us, that we might be justified and pardoned. No sooner are we by faith in union with him, but his righteousness is upon us, his blood washes away all our guilt: through him we (but vile worms in ourselves) become no less than sons of God, and heirs of heaven. What are we, that such things as these should be made known to us—that heaven should open and let down such mysteries before our eyes? What manner of persons ought we to be, who live in the shining days of the gospel: who have so much of the divine glory breaking out upon us! Let us a little sit down, and consider how infinite is the malignity of sin, how deep the stain of it: when God, who cannot nugas agere, made such ado about the expiation of it; when nothing less than the blood of his own Son could wash it out. Now to have slight thoughts of it is to blaspheme the great atonement; now to indulge it, is to rake in the wounds of Christ, and crucify him afresh to ourselves. How precious should Christ be to us; how altogether lovely! What a person is the eternal word! what a union is Immanuel, God and man in one! what a laver is his blood! what a sweet-smelling sacrifice is his death! Who can tell over the unsearchable riches of his merit, or set a high rate enough upon that righteousness of his, which refreshes the heart of God and man? What a sponsor was he who satisfied infinite justice for the sin of a world! and what an excellent head, who makes his righteousness reach down to every believer in the world! Who would not now say that he is totus desideria, altogether loves and desires? What little things are worlds and creatures! what dross and dung in comparison! what a wretched thing is a dead and frozen heart, which will not warm and take fire at so ravishing an object? Who would now live in the old Adam, the head of sin and death, any longer? or content himself in any state short of an union with Christ, in whom righteousness and life are to be had? O how should we act our faith upon him, and give him the glory of his righteousness and satisfaction by believing? How should we venture our souls, whatever our debts are, upon the great Surety? who paid the utmost farthing, and had a total discharge in his resurrection. How we should hide ourselves in the clefts of the rock, in the precious wounds of Christ as in a city of refuge; where the avenging law, satisfied therein, can never pursue and overtake us? How willing should we now be to have Christ reign over us? What! hath he come from heaven, and in our flesh fulfilled all righteousness; and by his obedience unto death, even the death of the cross, satisfied for our sins, and turned away the dreadful wrath due to the same, and shall he not reign over us? Hath he borne the heavy end of the law; the sinless obedience which we could not perform, and the curse; which, if we had been under, would have sunk us down into hell forever, and shall he not reign over us? when, by a condescending law of grace suited to our frailty, he calls for nothing from us but sincerity. Oh! prodigious ingratitude! who would be guilty of it, or can be so, that is a believer indeed? Let us therefore by faith join ourselves to Christ, that we may be justified by his righteousness; and as a real proof of it, let us resign up ourselves in sincere obedience to him; that having our fruit unto holiness, we may have the end, everlasting life.

CHAPTER XII:

Touching a holy life: It is not from principles of nature; it is the fruit of a renewed, regenerated heart

Touching a holy life: It is not from principles of nature; it is the fruit of a renewed, regenerated heart; it issues out of faith and love; it proceeds out of a pure intention towards the will and glory of God; it is humble, and dependant upon the influences of grace; it requires a sincere mortification of sin without any salvo or exception; it stands in an exercise of all graces; it makes a man holy in ordinances, aims, prosperity, adversity, contracts, calling: there is such an exercise of graces as causeth them to grow: The conclusion of the chapter.

HAVING treated of justification, I come in the last place to speak of a holy life; which is an inseparable companion of the other: where grace justifies and pardons, there it heals; where Christ is made righteousness, there he is made sanctification: these twins of grace can never be parted; but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, saith the apostle. (1 Cor. 6:11.) Justification and sanctification are ever in conjunction, as in God justice and holiness: in Christ the priestly and kingly offices; in the gospel the promises and the precepts; and in the sinner the guilt and the power of sin are in conjunction; so in believers, justification and sanctification are in conjunction: were this conjunction dissolved, the other could not well together consist; the person being justified and yet not sanctified: God's justice must spare him, yet his holiness must hate him; Christ must satisfy and save him as a priest, yet not command him as a king. The promises must speak comfort to him, yet are the precepts broken by him; the guilt of sin must be done away, yet the power and love of it must remain; but none of these can stand together, neither can justification stand without sanctification.

A holy life is a life separate and consecrated unto God; the life of sense is common to brutes; a life of reason is common to men; but a life of holiness is separate and consecrated unto God. The epicurean would frui carne, enjoy the flesh; the stoic would frui mente, enjoy his mind and reason; but the holy man would frui Deo, enjoy his God. The Jewish doctors call God, סָקום, place, and the holy man makes him such; he would not go out from God, or seek any other being but in him; he would not dwell in the barren region of self or creatures, but in God, the fountain and ocean of all goodness: his works are all wrought in God; his rest and centre are only in his will and glory; he is not his own any longer. The great titles of Creator and Redeemer proper to his God, will not suffer him to be so; it is no less than sacrilege in his eyes to be his own, or so much as in a thought to steal away ought from God, to whom his spirit, soul, body, all is due. His reason is not his own; as one who knows it to be a borrowed light, he resigns it up to God the Father of lights, to be illuminated by him, and to the holy mysteries, to be ruled by them, without asking any why's or wherefores. Those two words, Deus dixit, God saith, is satisfaction enough to him; his will is not his own, it is not a rule or law to itself. God is indeed such to himself; but the holy man will not perversely imitate God; or like the prince of Tyrus, "Set his heart as the heart of God," (Ezek. 28:2). He will not snatch at God's crown, or assume his glory; he knows that his will was made to be subject to God's, and in that subjection stands his liberty and true freedom. His will doth not stand upon its own bottom, but resigns up itself to his grace to be made free indeed, and to his commands as the supreme law; his affections are not his own; he suffers them not to wander up and down among the creatures, there to gather hay and stubble, a false happiness to himself; but he dispatches them away into the other world, and makes them ascend up to God, the true centre of souls, and fountain of goodness; he surrenders up his soul and all to God: the image of heaven, which is upon him, plainly tells him, that all is due to him who is above; to keep back part of the price or subtract ought from him, is to lie to that Holy Spirit, who hath set his stamp upon every part of the new creature, and by an universal sanctification sealed up the whole man for his own. The life of a holy man is a life κατὰ Θεὸν, according to God. (1 Pet. 4:6.) It aspires after an imitation of the Holy One; it complies with his holy commands, and in all aims at his glory as the supreme end of all. The apostle notably sets forth this consecration of man to God, "They gave themselves to the Lord," (2 Cor. 8:5.) They would be their own no longer. They surrendered up themselves to God; they dedicated themselves to his will and glory. All christians, nay, almost all men will at least seem to cry up a holy life; but that we may see wherein it doth consist, I shall set down several things.

First, a holy life is not the product of our natural reason and will; that of Pelagius (A Deo habemus quod Homines sumus, à nobis ipsis quod justi sumus; That we are men is from God, that we are just men is from ourselves) is impium effatum, a very wicked saying, such as justly grates upon the ears of good men, because it utterly evacuates the grace of Christ. It is true reason is a very excellent thing: it can dive into nature, and bring up some of the secrets of it. It can teem out many arts and sciences; it can measure out rules and moral virtues to men; but it cannot make a man holy; it can of itself tell us, That God is an infinite, wise, just, good, super-excellent being; but after all is done, it cannot raise up that love to him, which is the spring of a holy life; that love is from God, and a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Bellarmine lays down this very fairly and roundly. Non posse Deum sine ope ipsius diligi, neque ut Authorem naturæ, neque ut largitorem gratiæ, nequè perfectè, neque imperfectè ullo modo; That without the help of grace we cannot love God, neither as the author of nature, nor as the giver of grace, neither perfectly nor imperfectly any way. If reason cannot elevate our love to God, then it cannot produce a holy life, which is a fruit of that love. Further, it may, having the gospel set before it, gather up a great stock of notions touching God, and Christ, and the holy commands in the word, and the incomparable rewards in heaven; but it cannot raise up holy principles and actions in us; if it could, then the very first and rudest draught of Pelagius, which made all grace to consist in doctrinâ et libero arbitrio, must be a very truth; then internal grace, which renews the soul, and rectifies the faculties thereof, must be a fancy needless and altogether superfluous; it is true the will in man is a free princle, but to divine objects it is not at all free till it be made so by grace. There is such a gravedo liberi arbitrii, such a pressure of innate corruption in it, that it cannot ascend above itself to love God above all, and dedicate the life to him. Thus we see that a holy life is too high a thing to issue forth from mere principles of nature, when the apostle tells us "That love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, are fruits of the Spirit." (Gal. 5:22.) It is no less than profane to put our spirit in the room of God's, and to say these are the fruits of our reason and will; when again he tells us, that "We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works." (Ephes. 2:10.) It is horrible presumption in us to put by the new creation, and think that the old may serve the turn for a holy life: I can as easily believe that Jewish fable, that there is in the body a luz, a little bone never putrifying, from whence the resurrection begins, as that there is anything left in fallen man which in itself may become a principle of regeneration and holy living; could there be any such thing found in us, there would be no necessity of grace, but of nature only; a Creator we might praise, but a Redeemer we need not: our own spirit may serve the turn, God's may be spared.

Secondly. A holy life is the fruit of a renewed and regenerated heart; it is the budding and blossoming of a divine nature in us; in it a man shews himself to be a man off from the old stock of Adam, and to be engrafted into Christ, and as a branch in him to have life and spirit from him to dedicate and consecrate himself unto a God. Without this new state there can be no such thing as a holy life. Upon this account St. Austin tells the Pelagians, those enemies of grace, that they were in their doctrine ruina morum, the ruin of good life. For if you take away that grace which makes the new creatures, there can be no such thing as a holy life; that must stand upon some foundation, and in lapsed nature there is, there can be no other but a new creature. To show this more fully, I shall lay down two things distinctly. The one is this: An unregenerate man cannot lead a holy life. The other is this: A holy life issues out of a principle of regeneration. These two will fully clear the point.

The first thing is, An unregenerate man cannot lead a holy life. I say not, that an unregenerate man cannot become regenerate; but that an unregenerate man, whilst such, cannot live holily; not that there is a natural impotency, a want of the faculties of understanding and will: but that there is a moral one, and indwelling corruption which renders him incapable to attain to it. That of our Saviour, "A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit," (Matt. 7:18,) carries a great evidence of reason in it; the fruit cannot exceed the tree; the effect will not be better than the procreant cause is; if an unregenerate man be a corrupt tree, if a holy life be good fruit, the one cannot proceed from the other. It is vanity and folly to expect grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles; and to look for a holy life from an unregenerate heart is no less. It is the apostle's conclusion, "They that are in the flesh cannot please God." (Rom. 8:8.) By those in the flesh is not meant the regenerate, who, if any on earth, do surely please him, but the unregenerate. Accordingly, the apostle opposes those in the flesh, (verse 8,) to those in the Spirit, in whom the Holy Spirit dwells (verse 9); that is, the unregenerate to the regenerate. Hence we may conclude thus, The unregenerate are in the flesh, in their corrupt nature; and because such, they cannot please God; they cannot live that holy life which is grateful to him. Therefore the apostle in this chapter doth not only distinguish between the regenerate and unregenerate, the one being in the spirit and the other in the flesh, but between the acting of the one and of the other. The regenerate, or those in the Spirit, are after the Spirit, and mind the things of the Spirit; the unregenerate, or those in the flesh, are after the flesh, and mind the things of the flesh. (Verse 5.) We have here two distinct principles and actings; the regenerate nature acts in a way of holiness and obedience; but the old corrupt nature acts in a way of sin and wickedness; and unless a man be new made by grace, it will continue to do so; neither need we wonder at it; the proverb is no less rational than ancient: "Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked." (1 Sam. 24:13.) A sinner studies sin, and hath it in the very frame of his heart; he thirsts after it, and drinks it as water; he rejoices in it, and makes a sport at it; he is never so much in his element as when he is committing it. But in a holy life there is nothing congruous or connatural to him; his carnal mind is emnity against God; it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be," (Rom. 8:7.) His will is contrary to God's; the way of holiness is a burden to him, too grievous to be borne: and how can we expect that in this unregenerate state he should in the least enter upon a holy life? In all reason first there must be a power or divine principle, and then an act. It is unnatural and cross to the method of wisdom, that the beam should precede the sun, or the fruit the root; that acts of sense or reason should go before their faculties; or that a holy life should be imagined to take place before that divine nature which is the vital root of it. "The eye," saith Anselm, "must be acute before it can see acutely." "The wheel," saith St. Austin, "must be round, before it can move regularly." The will must be first illuminated and rectified in regeneration, before it can rightly will and move. "Repairing grace," saith Hugo, "first aspires, that there may be a good will, and then inspires, that it may move rightly." "Charity," saith the apostle, "is out of a pure heart, a good conscience and faith unfeigned," (1 Tim. 1:5.) But alas! in the unregenerate what principles are there? can aught be found there which may tend to a holy life? His heart is impure through the many vile lusts which dwell there; his conscience is defiled through the many guilts which he hath contracted; his faith is a vain fancy or presumption, and not a faith; and how can he live holily, or what principles hath he for it? There must be a proportion between the power and the act: and so there is in the regenerate, between the seed of God and the crop of holiness; between the holy unction and the odours of good works; but what proportion can be imagined between an unregenerate heart and a holy life? An unregenerate man, as he is described in Scripture, is weak and without strength; and what can he do towards it? He is unclean and polluted, and how can such a thing as a holy life proceed from him? He is dark, nay, darkness itself, and how can he walk in the light? He is dead in sins and trespasses, and how can he live a divine life? He is a stranger, nay, and an enemy to God and his law, and how can he walk with God, or comply with his law? In a holy life we walk in the Spirit, and shew forth the virtues of God; and how can he walk in that, or shew forth that which he hath not? A holy life points directly to heaven as its centre, but the principles in a carnal man tend to hell and death: instead of bearing a proportion to holiness and life eternal, they carry in them a black contrariety and opposition to both. I will only add one thing more; to say, that there may be a holy life in one unregenerate, is a contradiction. The very light of nature tells us, that God must be consecrated in the heart, and worshipped purâ mente. In the heathen sacrifices the priests first looked on the heart, to see that it was right. The Persians thought, that God regarded nothing but the soul in the sacrifice; God loves Spiritualitèr immolantes, those that offer up the spirit to him in every duty; a holy life, if it be such in substance, and not in shadow only, must be from a pure heart; and who can find such an one in an unregenerate man? Or if it could be found there, what need could there be of regenerating grace; If a holy life must be from a pure heart, and such a heart cannot be in a man unregenerate, then it is not at all possible that a holy life should be in him, till regenerating grace hath made his heart right. It is said of Amaziah, that "he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart." (2 Chr. 25:2.) In the first part of the verse his obedience looks very fair and amiable; but in the latter part of it there is a black mark set upon it, to show that it was not right: the like marks must be set upon all that seeming sanctity which is in unregenerate men.

The next thing proposed is this: a holy life issues out of a principle of regeneration. The Socinians (who deny original sin, and therefore cannot speak cordially of regeneration) do sometimes speak so blindly and perversely of the Holy Spirit, as if they meant to confound a holy life and its principle together. Thus Socinus: Christi spiritus obedientia est; The spirit of Christ is obedience; as if the cause and effect were all one. Thus Volkelius will understand by the Spirit, either the mind of man informed with Christ's doctrine, or else the doctrine itself; as being loth to own the regenerating spirit. But it is evident in Scripture that a holy life is distinct from regeneration, and issues from it as a blessed fruit thereof: first, God creates us in Christ, and then there is a progeny of good works: first, he quickens and gives us a spiritual being, and then we walk, and live a holy life: first, there is a good treasure of grace in the heart, and then the good things are brought forth out of it, (Matt. 12:35.) "Ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine, whereto, or into which, you were delivered," saith St. Paul, (Rom. 6:17.) Here we see whence a holy life springs; the gospel was not only delivered to them, but by the regenerating spirit they were delivered into it, and cast into the holy mould of it; and this was the true reason of their obedience in a holy life: "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures," (James, 1:18.) The apostle, in the precedent verse shews us the infinite sun or fountain of all good things, and in this verse he gives us a famous instance in regeneration, opposing it to that concupiscence which is immediately before spoken of; concupiscence is the fountain of sin, and so is regeneration of holy obedience; the very end of regeneration is, that we might be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures, separate from the world, and consecrated unto God in a holy life, living as those who by regenerating grace are made a choice portion and peculiar people to him. It is observed by some divines, That the holy patriarchs had barren wives, that their posterity might shadow out the church, which is not produced by the power of nature, but of grace; the end of which production is, that fruit might be brought forth unto God in a holy life. The Hebrew doctors say, That God out of his great name Jehovah, added the letter he to the names of Abram and Sarah. Hence that of the Cabalists, Abram non gignit, sed Abraham; Sarai non parit, sed Sarah: in allusion to this, I may say, It is not the human principles, but the divine nature (which believers, the children of Abraham, partake of) that makes them bring forth the fruits of a holy life. We have this exemplified in a greater than Abraham, even in Jesus Christ; he was first conceived of the Holy Ghost, and then gave us that incomparable pattern of holiness in his excellent life. Suitably, we are first supernaturally begotten to a spiritual being, and then we live a holy life: "He that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified are all of one," (Heb. 2:11.) Hence Camero observes, that between Christ and believers there is a wonderful communion of nature: both have a human nature, sanctified by the Holy Spirit; he was conceived by the Holy Spirit; they are regenerated by it, that they may live unto God. But to make this point the clearer, I shall consider the two parts of the new creature; that is, faith and love: I call them so, because the apostle, who saith," Neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature," (Gal. 6:15); saith also, "Neither circumcision availeth, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love," (Gal. 5:6.) intimating, that faith and love are two great parts of the new creature: a holy life flows from both these; hence some learned divines observe, that the good acts of heathens have an essential defect in them, the good acts of believers have only a gradual defect; but the good acts of heathens have an essential one, in that they do not flow from faith and love, and so cannot centre in the glory of God; therefore St. Austin retracts that speech, wherein he said, philosophos virtutis luce fulcisse, that the philophers did shine with the light of virtue: but to speak distinctly of these two graces.

First. A holy life issues out of faith; a holy life is virtually in faith, and proceeds actually from it; faith sees the commands of God to be, as they are, richly engraven with the stamps and signatures of divine purity and equity; such as proclaim that God is in them of a truth, and that they are the very counterpanes of his heart; and from hence it presses the believer unto obedience, and secretly dictates that these are the very will of God, and must be done; "Thy word is very pure, therefore thy servant loveth it," saith David. (Psal. 119:140.) The emphatical [therefore] in the text, cannot be practically understood by any thing but faith; the carnal mind, which is enmity to God, would argue from the purity of the command to the hatred of it; but faith, such is its divine genius, argues from thence to love and obedience. It doth not only point out the divine authority which is stamped upon the command, but shows the purity and rectitude which is there to attract us into our duty; and that we may do it in a free filial manner. Faith derives a free spirit from Christ to make obedience easy and natural to us; a man with his old heart drudges in the ways of God, and brings forth duties as the bond-woman did her son, in a dead servile manner; but when faith comes, the commands are easy; and the will is upon the wheel, ready to move sweetly and strongly in compliance thereunto. The believer is spirited and new natured for obedience; his heart is in a posture to do the will of God; everywhere faith finds arguments and impulsives for it. Doth it look upon the life of Christ? It immediately concludes, these are the steps of our dear Lord, and shall we not follow him? After whom shall we walk if not after him? It is true he walked in pure sinless perfection, such as we cannot reach; but the gracious covenant hath stooped to our frailty, and made us sure that sincerity will be accepted, and how can we deny it, or refuse to comply with such condescending grace? Doth it look upon Christ's wounds and bloody death? these will cast shame and confusion upon an unholy life. May any one imagine that our Saviour bore the curse and wrath of God, that we might provoke it; or expiated our sins at so dear a rate, as his own blood and life, that we might indulge them? Who sees not now that sin is bloody, and holiness amiable? and what easy terms are proposed to us, when the death and curse was only Christ's, and the sincere obedience is all that is required to be ours? Doth it look up for the Spirit, the purchase of Christ's death? We well know where that is to be found: the more we walk in the holy commands and ways of God, the more are we like to have of the gales and divine comforts of it; while we are obeying and doing the will of God, that Spirit will usher in assistances and heavenly consolations upon us; to give us an experimental proof of that promise, that the Holy Spirit is given to them that obey him: doth it look within the vail to the rivers of pleasures and plenitudes of joy in heaven, where pious souls see truth in the original, and drink good at the fountain head? Nothing is more obvious than this, that a holy life is the true way thither; who can rationally think that he can carry the blots and turpitudes of an impure life into such a place, or that any thing less than sincere obedience can make him meet to enjoy God and holy angels there? Nothing can be more vain than such an imagination; as sure as heaven is heaven a holy life must be the way thither. Thus we see what a mighty influence faith hath into holiness; hence Ignatius saith, ἀρχὴ ζωῆς πίσις, faith is the beginning of life; without faith a man cannot live a holy life. And St. Austin calls faith, omnium bonorum fundamentum, the foundation of all good things. So good a thing as a holy life cannot stand without it. A fide, saith another, venitur ad bona opera; unless we begin at faith, we shall never come to a holy life. To conclude this with that of the apostle, "Without faith it is impossible to please God." (Heb. 11:6.) Therefore without faith it is impossible to lead a holy life, which is very acceptable to him.

The next thing is, a holy life issues out of divine love; without this neither heart nor life can be right; not the heart; the will without divine love in it, is tota cupiditas, all concupiscence, pouring out itself to every vanity that passes by: not the life; whatever good is done without that love, is done servilitèr, non liberalitèr; whatever is in the hand, it is not done out of choice; in animo non facit, his will concurs not as it ought: in God's account it is as if it were not done at all. Love is the root of a holy life, the summary of the law; though the precepts of the law are many in diversitate operis, in the diversity of the work, yet they are but one in radice charitatis, in the root of charity. True love is donum amantis in amatum; the soul, being drawn and called out of itself by the object loved, yields and surrenders up itself thereunto; if thus we love God, there must needs be a holy life: the heart, when given up and consecrated unto him, cannot choose, but carry the life with it. It would be a prodigy in nature if the heart should go one way, and the life another: true love sets a great price upon its object; and if the object be, as God is, supreme, it rates it above all things; if we set the highest estimate upon God's will and glory, nothing can divert us from a holy life, which complies with his will, and promotes his glory; it is irrational to neglect that which we value above all other things. True love seeks more and more union with God, to be one spirit with him; to have idem velle, et idem nolle; to love as he loves, that is, holiness; to hate as he hates, that is, sin. It aspires after a further transformation into the divine image and likeness: it never thinks the soul like enough or near enough to him; where it is thus, there a holy life cannot be wanting; the heart being assimilated to God, the life must needs answer the heart, and shine with the rays of the divine image which is there. True love desires to have a complacential rest and delight in God; it flies to him, like Noah's dove to the ark, there to repose itself. What weight is in a body, that love is in the soul; weight makes the body move towards its centre: love makes the soul tend, by a holy life, to centre in God the supreme goodness, leaving all other things, as the woman of Samaria did her pitcher; it hastens in a way of obedience to enjoy him. Thus we see how a holy life issues out of a regenerate heart, and particularly out of faith and love; the doctrine of it is not to be slubbered over, as if it did merely consist in external actions or moralities. But we must search and see whether there be a new creature, a work of regeneration at the bottom of it. Job, being by his friends charged as a hypocrite, tells them "That the root of the matter was found in him." (Job 19:28.) He was not a man of leaves and outward appearances only, but the root of true piety was in him; without this all good actions, how specious soever, are but like the apples of Sodom, which, though fair to the eye, upon a touch fall into ashes and smoke.

Thirdly, a holy life proceeds out of a pure intention. Bonum opus intentio facit, intentionem fides dirigit, saith St. Austin.* The intention makes the work good, and faith directs the intention. This is the single eye mentioned by our Saviour: "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light; if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness." (Matt. 6:22, 23.) A pure intention casts a spiritual light and lustre upon the body of our good works, but that being wanting, the whole body of our works is dead and dark, like a carcase void of all beauty and excellency. "Let thine eyes look right on, saith the wise man." (Prov. 4:25.) That is, have a pure intention to the will and glory of God: this is one thing in the church which ravishes the heart of Christ: "Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck." (Cant. 4:9.) The first thing which excordiated Christ, and took away his heart, was the one, the single eye; and then the chain of obedience ravished him also: without a pure intention a man, in his fairest actions, squints and looks awry, by a tacit blasphemy he makes as if there were something more excellent than the will and glory of God for him to look unto; and when man squints, God looks off, and will have none of his obedience. "Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit to himself." (Hos. 10:1.) Fruit, and yet empty, is a seeming contradiction, but the words reconcile themselves. He bringeth forth to himself פְרִי יְשַֹׁרֶה לו, he weighs out his fruit to himself: he proportions his religion to himself; all being for himself, God accepts it not, but esteems it as nothing at all: such fruit and mere emptiness are much one before God. He tells them (Levit. 26:27), That they did walk with him בְּקֶרִי in accidente, at all adventures, when they chanced to light upon him, by the bye; and besides their intention, quasi aliud agentes, as if the service of God were a πάρεργον, a business only by the by; but would God accept them, or take it well at their hands? No, he will walk with them בְּקֶרִי too, by chance, at all adventures; his blessings shall come upon them, as it were per accidens; his mind is not towards them, as it is towards those which serve him spiritually. A man's life cannot be holy preter-intentionally, or by accident: it is a pure intention which spiritualizes and sanctifies the life before God. To clear this, it is to be considered, that the life must be dedicated to God in a double respect; it must be dedicated to him by a conformity to his will. And again, it must be dedicated to him by a tendency to his glory. In both these there must be a pure intention to direct the same.

The first thing is, There must be a pure intention in our conformity to the will of God. Socinus saith, that there is a verbum quoddam interius, a kind of internal word in man; that is, a reason to discern between that which is just and that which is unjust: and then he adds, "He that obeys this internal word, obeys God himself, Etiamsi ipsum Deum non esse quidèm aut sciat aut cogitet;" although he do not know or think that there be a God. And after concludes, "That such an obedience is grateful to God." But as great an admirer of holiness as this heretic would seem to be, it was no less than a profane assertion to say, that there might be a grateful obedience without any respect at all had to God or his will. Doth not St. Paul condemn in the Athenians, the worship of an unknown God? Doth not Christ charge the Samaritans, that they did worship they knew not what? Yet these are the portenta opinionum, which this master of reason vents to the world. But to pass over this; it is not enough for a holy life, that the thing done be materially good; but it must be therefore done, because God commands it so to be; a holy man follows after holiness, because this is the will of God. Now that the material goodness of a thing is not enough, may appear by these instances:—Jehu, in destroying the house of Ahab, did do that which God commanded him to do; yet God saith, that "He will avenge that blood upon the house of Jehu," (Hos. 1:4.) And why so? Jehu did that which God commanded, but he did not obey in it; he did it not in compliance with God's command, but in pursuance of his own design; as it is with the hand of a rusty dial, which stands still (suppose) at ten of the clock, to a traveller passing at that hour it seemeth to go right, but it is but by accident; so was it with Jehu. He seemed to obey in that which hit with his own will; but he did it not upon the account of God's; for then he would have done other things. But though he destroyed Ahab's house, yet he did not destroy the calves at Dan and Bethel, for there God's will did not fall in with his. Another instance we have in the acts of moral virtue in the heathen; those acts were materially good, yet they did not in them serve God, but their own reason. It is true, right reason signifies the very will of God; but they did them not in compliance with reason, as significative of God's will, but in compliance with it as a chief part of themselves. This is evident upon a double account; the one is this: that they were animals of glory. They did what they did, not in a humble subjection to the will of God, but in a proud self-glorying way; they arrogated all the praise and honour to themselves; in all they did but sacrifice to the pride of their own reason. The other is this: They did not only follow right reason in their moral virtues, but corrupt reason in their idolatries: the apostle saith, "Their foolish heart was darkened," (Rom. 1:21). Here they followed reason as a part of their corrupt self: which those, who follow it as significative of God's will, cannot be supposed to do. Right reason, which imports God's will, was against their idolatries; yet they continued in them. Hence it appears, that in their moral virtues they did not serve God, but their own reason. Hence St. Austin contends, that their virtues were not true virtues. They might be just, sober, merciful; but they did all infidelitèr, without respect to the will and glory of God: malè bonum facit, qui infidelitèr facit. Hence, as Camero observes, Lucretia hated immodesty, and Cato perfidiousness; not out of love to God, but because those things were incongruous to reason. Another instance we have in carnal professors under the gospel; they hear, read, pray, give alms, but they do not do these spiritually, in compliance with the will of God; the duties are high, but the aims in them are low and carnal. Vast is the difference between a holy and a carnal man. A holy man is holy even in natural and civil actions; the kingdom of heaven is by a pure intention brought down into his trade; nay, into his very meat and drink. His deeds are by a prerogative wrought in God: when he toils as a servant in servile employment, yet he serves the Lord Christ; all is spiritualized by a pure intention. But on the other hand, a carnal man is carnal even in spiritual actions. There is, indeed, the opus operatum, the flesh, the outward body of a duty, but there is no soul or spirit in it; no pure intention to carry it up to the will and glory of God, to which it is consecrated. Thus we see, that it is not enough for a holy life that the thing done be materially good: no; it must be done in compliance to the divine will. "I will keep the commandments of my God," saith David, (Psal. 119:115) He would keep them, not upon any by-account, but because they were God's, to whose will he dedicated himself. "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God," saith our Saviour, (Heb. 10:7). And again, "I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father, which hath sent me," (John 5:30). Here we have the great pattern of holiness; his will was devoted and swallowed up in God's: all that he did and suffered, was in conformity to the divine will. We must not dream of any true holiness, till we do what good we do, out of compliance with the divine will; as in matters of faith we must believe, quià Deus dixit, so in matters of practice we must obey, quià Deus voluit. His command must sway and cast the balance in heart and life; the nature of holy obedience is this, to do what God willeth, intuitu voluntatis, because he willeth it; and hence a holy man doth not pick and chuse among the commands of God, but carry a respect to all of them.

The next thing is this: There must be a pure intention to direct our good actions to the glory of God. Seeing God is Alpha, he must be Omega; seeing he is the supreme good, he must be the ultimate end of all things. Nothing can be more rational than this, That a creature should be referred to its Creator; that a finite good should run and do homage to an infinite one; nothing can be more absurd and inordinate than this—that a creature should be a centre to itself, or should be loved or enjoyed for itself; or that God, the most excellent being, should be made but a medium, or should be loved or used for some other thing. This is practically to blaspheme, and say, God is not God, there is something better than he to be loved and enjoyed for itself. When the angels would stay at home, and frui seipsis, enjoy themselves, they became devils, and lost all their glory in a moment. All things therefore must be referred unto God; his glory must be the supreme end; to this, angels fly with eagles' wings; to this, holy men walk; to this, irrational creatures by a secret instinct are carried; to this, devils, will they, nill they, must be drawn; this is the great end of all things; for a rational creature not to aim at this, is against nature and reason; the want of this made an essential defect in the moral virtues of the Pagans; here they fall short; they did not in them aim at the glory of God. This appears in divers things: they at the best made virtue but pretium sui, the reward of itself for the honesty which was in it. But they looked no further to the glory of God, as they ought; they looked on themselves as the chief object of their love; and so this love never ascended to God; they boasted and gloried in their virtues, as merely their own, and never saw any centre but themselves; they did not therefore aim at the glory of God in them. Hence St. Austin, who pronounces them no true virtues, saith, that true virtues are to be discerned, non officiis, sed finibus; not by the work itself, but by the end; and that their virtues were good only in officio, in the work done; not in fine, in a right end: and that not only the epicureans, who would taste of carnal pleasures; but the stoics, who would set up right reason, did live after the flesh; their virtues were referred to themselves, and that was corrupt flesh; they were no longer virtues, but pieces of pride and presumption. Virtutes, saith the same author, cum ad seipsas referuntur, inflatæ et superbæ sunt, Virtues if referred to themselves, are proud and blow up with their own excellency. Julianus the Pelagian, was so far convinced of this, that he said, they were sterilitèr boni, because they acted not for God: their virtues would do them no good in another world; in all reason, those virtues which are not referred to God as the ultimate end, cannot possibly have anything of holiness in them. They cannot be holy without a consecration to God, and that cannot be without a pure intention towards his glory. It is not therefore enough for a holy life to have moral virtues, but we must search our hearts, and see what our end is; what forms are in naturals, that the end is in morals, "As the man thinketh, so is he." (Prov. 23:7.) Mens cujusque id est quisque, the man is as his mind is, and his mind is as his end is; though the end be extrinsical to the act in genere entis, yet it is essential to it in genere moris; the act cannot be holy, unless the end be so: hence the apostle tells us, that "Whatsoever we do, all must be done to the glory of God." (1 Cor. 10:31.) The Jewish rabbins say the same, that whatever we do, must be done in nomine Dei, in the name of God: an act not dedicated to that great end, is cut off and separate from its centre. And upon that account it is not holy, but common and profane; no less a nullity in spirituals, than a creature, if cut off from God the fountain of being, would be in naturals: hence St. Austin tells us, That which is good in officio, may yet be sin in fine; for, as the schools speak, Finis dat speciem in moralibus. Those acts which are good in the matter of them may be utterly marred by perverse intention; it becomes us then to look to the scope of our actions. Our Saviour Christ, the great exemplar of sanctity, tells us, that "He sought not his own glory, but his Father's," (John, 8:50, compared with John, 7:18.) He was Deus de Deo, God of God; the eternal Creator; yet as he was in formâ servi, in the form of a servant, a man in time, he sought not his own glory, but his Father's. We see here what is the design of a holy life; it is that God may be glorified: our holiness should shine as a little beam or spark from the Holy One; the drops and measures of mercy in us should point out that infinite ocean of mercy which is in him: we should by our obedience tell the world that God is supreme, and by our sincerity testify that he is omniscient, and present everywhere; we should study how to serve the interest of the blessed God, how to show forth his praise, how to unfold his glory in a holy, righteous, humble, heavenly conversation; still there should be oculus in metam, a pure intention at the glory of God: if we are by a pure intention joined to that great end, then our works will be spiritualized; our holiness will never see corruption; there will be a kind of immortality in every good action: but if we are off from that great end, our holiness perishes, or rather is none at all. There is a worm at the root; one base, low, inferior end or other, putrifies the good work, and makes it moulder into nothing. When the woman in the Revelations was ready to be delivered, the dragon stood before her to devour her child, but it was caught up to God and his throne. A devout papist glosses it thus: "When we bring forth our good works, Satan stands before us to devour them by one false intention or other, and will certainly do it, unless by a pure one they be caught up to God and his glory." Another expostulates thus: Quid juvat bonorum operum prolem gignere, et eam per intentionis depravationem necare? What profits it to beget a progeny of good works, and to kill it by a depraved intention? A man who wants a right intention, murders his best progeny. The church therefore tells us, that "All her fruits were laid up for Christ," (Cant. 7:13.) Proper te, Domine, propter te, is the holy man's motto; all his good works are, by a pure intention, consecrated unto God. When an hypocrite doeth good works, the centre and compass of all is himself only; and upon that account, those works are not good in the eyes of God: but when a saint doeth good works, they fall into God's bosom, and centre in his glory. To conclude: where pure love adheres to God as the supreme good, there a pure intention will dedicate the life to his glory as the ultimate end; then, and not before, may we call the life holy.

Fourthly. A holy life is humble and dependant upon the influences of God's Spirit and grace. Hence the apostle bids us "Work out our salvation with fear and trembling," (Phil. 2:12;) that is, with all humility: and the reason is added, "For God worketh to will and to do of his good pleasure" (v. 13), which would be no reason at all, if we could stand upon our own bottom, and work out our salvation without any dependence upon that grace, which worketh the will and the deed: but if, as the reason tells us, God works the will and the deed of his good pleasure, then we have all the reason in the world to work it out with fear and trembling, as knowing our dependence upon God and his grace. Again, the apostle saith of himself, "I laboured more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the grace of God, which was with me." (1 Cor. 15:10.) Observe his great caution; he ascribes nothing to himself, but all to grace. He said, indeed, I laboured, yet he piously retracts it, saying, yet not I, but the grace of God. He ascribes all to grace, because in all his labours he was in a humble dependence upon it, as being that without which he could do nothing. This note of a holy life doth also show that the moral virtues of the heathens were not right: they were indeed wise, sober, just, merciful: but what was their posture in their doing these things? how did they crow, and reflect upon themselves, and cry up their own reason and will, as the only fountains of virtue? The philosopher, saith Epictetus, expects all ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ from himself. Deorum immortalium munus est, quod vivimus, philosophiæ, quod benè vivimus: Our life is from the Gods; but, which is greater than life, our virtue, is from philosophy. Thus Seneca, their virtuoso, could vie perfection with God himself: Hoc est quod philosophia mihi promittit, ut me parem deo faciat, saith Seneca: philosophy was to make him equal to God. Nay, there is a strain higher: Est aliquid, quo sapiens antecedet Deum, ille naturæ beneficio non suo sapiens est, saith he: there is something wherein a wise man hath the precedence of God: God is God by nature, but the wise man is so by his reason and will. They scorned that virtue should be res beneficiaria, a thing precarious or dependant upon the grace of God; they would have it to be merely and entirely their own. Virtutem nemo unquàm acceptam Deo retulit, nimirùm rectè propter virtutem jure laudamur; in virtute rectè gloriamur; quod non contingeret, si id donum à Deo, non à nobis haberemus, thus Cicero: No man ever thanked God for being virtuous, for virtue we are justly praised, in virtue we rightly glory, which we could not do if it were from God, and not from ourselves: and may we call this holiness? No, surely; it is horrible impiety and desperate pride, for them thus to lift up themselves, and dethrone God the great donor. The angels by reflecting on their own excellencies in a thought were turned into devils; and, I confidently say it, virtues, which by a proud reflex, are turned back upon themselves, lose their nature; being altogether independant upon God, the fountain of goodness, they are no longer virtues, but fancies and nullities. A proud self-subsister is a man in a posture as cross to the gospel as possibly can be; the tumour in his heart makes him incapable of that grace which is given to the humble, the self-sufficiency there makes it impossible for him to live by faith, as the just do; he depends not on God's grace, and now can he live to his glory; he is all to himself, and what can God be to him? Some Pagans, saith St. Austin, would not be christians, quià sufficiunt sibi de bonâ vitâ suâ, because they could live well of themselves. If a man can stand upon his own bottom, and work out of his own stock, to what purpose are Christ and grace? If he may be a principle and end to himself, what need he go out of his own circle? Such a man as this is an idol to himself, fraught with vanity and horrible presumption; but utterly void of God and a holy life. I shall say no more to this: a holy life is a life of dependance; the just or holy man lives by faith; he looks to God, and is saved; he waits till mercy come; he commits himself to God and his grace; he leans and rolls upon him, as not bearing up his own weight; he casts his burden on him, as being too much for himself. He gives himself to the Lord, resigning up all his property in himself, that God may be all in all; still he is in dependance upon him: he moves but under the first mover; he acts but under the great agent; when he sails towards heaven, he looks for the holy gales; when he sows precious seed, he waits for the heavenly dews and sunbeams: still he depends upon grace. In the 119th Psalm, where we have the breathings of vital religion, David admirably sets forth how in all his holy actings he did depend upon God: "Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts; but O that my ways were directed to do so." (Verses 4, 5.) "I will keep thy statutes; but O forsake me not utterly." (Verse 8.) "With my whole heart have I sought thee; but O let me not wander from thy commandments." (Verse 10.) "I will run the way of thy commandments, but do thou enlarge my heart." (Verse 32.) "I love thy precepts; but quicken me, O Lord, according to thy loving-kindness." (Verse 159.) "I have chosen thy precepts; O let thine hand help me." (Verse 173.) We see here the true picture of a holy life: it is working and depending; it is obedience and influence in conjunction. The holy man very well knows, that the new creature, though it be in itself an excellent thing, and more worth than the soul itself, is defectible, and cannot stand alone, or subsist without a divine concourse: it was breathed out from God; and, without his continual spirations to support it, it will vanish into nothing; should God tell him that he should stand alone and upon his own bottom, he would, though richly furnished with divine graces, fall into an agony, and be ready to sink into despair; his heart would immediately suggest to him that he might, with David, roll in adultery and blood; or, with Peter, deny the Lord Christ; or, with Julian, turn total, final apostate, were he left in the land of his own counsel; he knows he might do anything which hath been done by others, St. Austin brings in one speaking thus: Non multa peccavi, I have sinned little, yet love much: and then answers thus; Tu dicis te non multa commississe: Quare? quo regente? Hoc tibi dicit Deus tuus, regebam te mihi, servabam te mihi, agnosce gratiam ejus, cui debes et quod non admisisti? Thou sayest, that thou hast not sinned much: Why? who ruled thee? Thy God saith to thee, I ruled thee, I preserved thee; acknowledge then his grace, to which thou owest even this, that thou hast not sinned as others. The holy man is very sensible that unless God bear him up with his grace, he shall soon sink into all manner of sin. Hence that of Luther, Vita hominis nihil aliud est nisi oratio, gemitus, desiderium, suspirium ad misericordiam Dei: Our life should be a perpetual breathing after that grace of God, upon which we depend: were we full of divine light, yet if we should shut the windows, and go about to possess it in a self-subsistence, we should soon be in the dark, and find by experience that every beam hangs upon that grace which is above: were we never so rich in inherent graces, unless there were influences from heaven also, we should soon spend our stock, and become bankrupts. The holy man is a part or member of Christ, and lives in dependence upon him as the head. There is, as St. Chrysostom saith, τὸ πνεδμα ἄνωθεν ἐπιῤῥεόμὲνον, a Spirit descending from Christ above, which touches all his members, and makes a kind of spiritual continuity between him and them. Hence they are said in Scripture to live in the Spirit, pray in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, do all in the influence of that Spirit, which comes down from the Head to actuate their graces. Hence St. Paul saith, "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me," (Gal. 2:20.) His graces, as they had their being from Christ, the true Immanuel, so were they continued and actuated by the influences of his Spirit which, in a sober sense, are a kind of Immanuel, God with us, to uphold and quicken us to all holy obedience. As the human nature of Christ acted not in a separate way, but in union with the divine; so the believer's graces do nothing apart, but all in union with Christ. Still there must be, as the Milevitan council tells us, an adjutorium gratiæ, a supernatural aid to work in us to will and to do. When we do good, then, as the Arausican council hath it, "Deus in nobis atq. nobiscum, ut operemur, operatur;" God works in and with us, to make us work. The holy man's powers and graces cannot go alone. He is, therefore, depending upon that Spirit which acts the sons of God in pure ways towards heaven. To deny this dependence is, like the worshippers of angels, "Not to hold the head, from which all the body by joints and bands, having nourishment, ministered and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God," (Col. 2:19.) Were the holy man off from the head, what would become of him? what illapses of the Spirit or influences of grace could he look for in a state separate from him? how could he remain holy, or continue in the divine life any longer? in such a case he would be no longer a living branch, but ὡς κλῆμα, a quasi branch, dead and withered, and fit for the fire, as the expression is, (John, 15:6.) He could no more walk in holiness, than the old Dionysius (as the fable runs) could walk a great way with his head off. We see, then, what manner of thing a true holy life is; it is that which stands in doing the will of God in a way of humble dependence upon his grace; it is not enough to do that which is good, but we must do it waiting, and looking up to the God of grace, that he would strengthen our inner man, order our steps, hold up our goings in his paths, incline our hearts, and work all our works in us; that he would, by the continual supplies of his Spirit, enlighten us when dark, quicken us when dead, draw us when backward, hold us when falling, enlarge us when in straits, and actuate our graces in the midst of our infirmities. How excellent is the life, when God's arm joins itself to ours to set it a working; when the Spirit breathes on our graces, and the spices flow out; when the influences of auxiliary grace are as dew; and the roots of habitual graces cast forth themselves in holy works suitable thereunto; when there is grace with our spirit, and, in a sense, a kind of Immanuel, God with us, to incline our hearts to do all the will of God; and in the power of his grace we set ourselves seriously to the doing of it? This is indeed a holy life; not only good in the matter, but pious in the manner of it: a vein of faith and dependance runs through every good work. God, the fountain and original of holiness, is sanctified in every step we take; there is a holy life in us, but the fountain of life is above; we do good works, but God is the great operator—he works all our works in us. I shall conclude with that of the Arausican council, Adjutorium Dei etiàm renatis ac Sanctis semper est implorandum, ut ad finem bonum pervenire, vel in bono opere perdurare possint. (Can. 10.) Help from the Holy One must be ever implored, even by the saints themselves, that they may arrive at the good end, and abide in the good work.

Fifthly, in a holy life there must be a sincere mortification of sin, without any salvo or exception; no known sin may be indulged or spared. It is true in a holy man there are relics of indwelling sin adhering to him; there are quotidian infirmities, effluviums of human frailty breathing forth from him; but neither of these are indulged, both are inevitable in this life: original corruption is a very great burden to him: it is the grief of his heart to have such an evil in his bosom; to be a clog upon his faculties, a damp upon his prayers, a cooler upon his zeal and charity, and a stain upon all his duties and good works. This makes him groan and cry out, "Oh! wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death? This is an evil always present; the holy man shakes himself, and yet it adheres; he flies, and yet it encompasses; he mortifies, and yet he must mortify on; it is not, it will not be extinct till death dissolves him into dust. He prays, weeps, sweats, fights, runs, labours, and yet he cannot make a total riddance of it. However, he indulges it not. In like manner is it with his daily infirmities; these are not indulged, but they lie as a heavy burden upon him: he wishes for, he breathes after perfection. Oh! that there were no remaining sin—no motes of infirmity. But alas! it will not be here: Concupiscere nolo, et concupisco, saith the father; Innate corruption will be stirring and bubbling up in us; all that can be done on earth is to war and fight against it; the triumph, the crown of sinless perfection, can be found nowhere but in heaven. But to clear this particular, I shall set down two things.

The one is this: a man who indulges or allows sin in himself, cannot, while he doth so, lead a holy life; he hath no principles for it; no principle of repentance: he cannot mourn over sin while he joys in it; he cannot hate sin while he loves it; he cannot forsake sin while he follows after it. No principle of faith; he cannot trust in God's mercy when he rebels, and is in arms against him; he cannot receive the Lord Christ, when he hath another master to rule over him; he cannot close in with the precious promises of the gospel when he embraces the lying promises of sin. No principle of holy love; he cannot truly love God with an idol in his heart; he cannot love him and close in with sin his great enemy; he cannot love him, and habitually willingly violate his commands. Such an one can have no pure intention towards God's will or glory: not towards God's will; he obeys with a salvo or exception; he picks and chooses among the divine commands; he complies only with those commands which cross not his darling lust. The Jewish rabbins say, He that saith, I receive the whole law, except one word only, despises the command of God. The same divine authority is upon all the commands; and that obedience, which is, with the exception of one command which crosses the indulged lust, is as none at all: nor yet towards God's glory. How can he glorify God, who by wilful sinning dishonours him? or how can he aim at that glory, who aims at the satisfaction of his own lust? or which way can one promote two such contrary ends, as that glory and his own satisfaction? Heaven and hell, light and darkness, holiness and impurity, may as soon be reconciled as two such contrary ends can meet together. Every indulged lust is one idol or other: either it is Baal, pride and lordliness; or Ashtaroth, wealth and riches; or Venus carnal and sensual pleasure; or Mauzzim, force and earthly power; unless the idol be put away, we cannot serve God in a holy life.

The other thing is this: It is of high concern to a holy life to mortify sin. A holy man is one in covenant with God; therefore he must maintain war against sin, the enemy of God. Sin is an opposite to God, a rebellion against his sovereignty, a contradiction to his holiness, an abuse to his grace, a provocation to his justice, a disparagement to his glory; and how can a holy man, a friend of God, do less than set himself against it, that he may kill and utterly destroy it? "Ye that love the Lord, hate evil," saith the Psalmist, (Ps. 97:10.) The exhortation is pregnant with excellent reason: If you do indeed love God, who is purity, power, wisdom, excellency, itself; ye can do no less than hate sin, which is pollution, weakness, folly, and vileness; and if you do hate it, you will seek the utter ruin and extirpation of it: a holy man is one in union with Christ, and upon that account he must mortify sin: in Christ crucified he hath a pattern of mortification; what was done to his pure flesh in a way of expiation, must be done to our corrupt flesh in a way of mortification. The nails which fastened him to the cross, tell us, that our corruption must have such a restraint upon it, that it may, like one on a cross, be disabled to go forth into those acts of sin which it is propense unto; the piercing and letting out his heart-blood, shews us that the old man must not only be restrained, but pierced; that the vital blood, the internal love of sin may be let out of the heart; he was active in his passion; he freely laid down his life, yet violence was done to him; in like manner we must freely sacrifice our lusts; we must willingly die to sin, yet sin must not die a natural death, but a violent one; it must be stabbed at the heart, and die of its wounds: and, because it will not die all at once, it must by little and little languish away till it give up the ghost; there must be mortification upon mortification, because sin is long a dying. But further; we have from Christ not an examplar of mortification only, but a spirit and divine power for the work, while by faith we converse about the wounds of Christ; we have that Spirit from him which mortifies the deeds of the body, (Rom. 8:13.) That mind of Christ which makes us suffer in the flesh, ceasing from sin, "That we may no longer live to the lusts of men, but to the will of God," (1 Pet. 4:1, 2.) If, then, the holy man will live like himself, and as becomes a member of Christ, he must by that virtue and spirit, which he hath from him, crucify his lusts and corruptions: thus the apostle, "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." (Gal. 5:24.) They ought to crucify them; they do crucify them so far, that sin can reign no longer; they go on crucifying every day more and more, that the body of sin may be destroyed.

Moreover, a holy man hath such a divine faith, as blasts all the world in comparison of heavenly things; in the eyes of faith, earthly riches are not the true ones: those treasures which glitter so much to sense, are but poor moth-eaten things; the world's substance is but a shadow, an apparition, a thing that is not; too low for an immortal soul to aim at; too mean to enrich the inward man; the sensual pleasures which ravish flesh and blood are but the vain titillations of the outward man; momentary things; such as perish in the using, and die in the embraces, leaving nothing behind them but a sting and worm in the conscience of the poor voluptuary. Mundane glories, which take carnal men so much, appear to be but a blast—a little popular air: to a man up among the stars, the whole earth would be but a small thing; and to a man who by faith converses in heaven, earthly crowns and sceptres are no better. Now when sin, which uses to wrap up itself in one piece of the world or other, is blasted in its covers and dresses of apparent good; when those pomps and fancies of the world, which usually paint and cover sin, to render it eligible unto men, are discovered by faith to be but vanities and empty nothings. Sin will be loved no longer: nay, it will look according to its own hue like a vile, base, deformed thing, fit for nothing but to be hung upon a cross; there to die and expire. Hence it appears that a holy man, as long as his faith discovers a vanity and nothingness in the fairest prospects of the world, must needs overcome the world, and the lusts of it. Again: a holy man, according to that supernatural consecration which is upon him, surrenders up his love, and joy, and delight to God and Christ and heavenly things; the stream of his heart, which before run out upon the lying vanities here below, is now turned to the excellent things above; his conversation is in heaven; his treasure and his heart are both there; and then what must become of sin? must it not needs die away, and become as a body without a spirit in it? It is the love, and the joy, and the delight of man which animate sin; but if these are not here any longer, but risen and gone away into the upper world, to place and centre themselves upon the excellent objects which are there, then sin must needs languish and die away; it hath nothing to animate or enliven it any more: were this divine surrender in perfection, sin could not so much as be; and proportionably where it is but in truth only, sin must needs grow heartless and powerless. Notable is that of the apostle, Walk in the Spirit, i. e. in the elevations of holy faith and love, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of flesh. (Gal. 5:16.) Sin shall grow weak, and by little and little give up the ghost.

To conclude this character; a holy man, which way soever he looks, sees just reason to mortify sin; the rectitude of the law saith, it must die for its crookedness and ataxy: the threatening of death saith, it must die, or the soul must die in the room of it. The bleeding wounds of our dying Lord say, that the crucifier must not be spared, but die after that manner. That excellent guest, the Holy Spirit, saith, it is too vile a thing to live under the same roof with itself. The precious immortal soul saith, the wounds and turpitudes of it are too intolerable to be endured any longer. Heaven, that blessed region, saith, it is not to be tolerated by any who mean to enter into that place: we must then "mortify the deeds of the body, that we may live," (Rom. 8:13.) that we may live a life of holiness here, and a life of glory in another world.

Sixthly: A holy life is not made up of the exercise of this or that grace in particular; but of the exercise of all graces, pro hic et nunc, as occasion serves. St. Peter saith, "That we must add to our faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge temperance, to temperance patience, to patience godliness, to godliness brotherly-kindness, and to brotherly-kindness charity." (2 Pet. 1:5, 6, 7.) Holy men, who are partakers of the divine nature, spoken of immediately before, have grace upon grace; and must, as occasion serves, exercise one after another, that there may be a constellation of graces appearing in their lives, to give the more full resemblance of the perfections which are in their Father in heaven; our Saviour Christ (in whom all graces are set forth in lively and orient colours, and are really and practically exemplified to our view) had this character justly given him, he went up and down doing good; every step one odour of grace or other broke forth from him: subjection to parents or magistrates, or zeal towards God, or humility in washing his disciples' feet, or meekness under false accusations, or melting compassions, letting out cures on the bodies, and heavenly truths on the souls of men, or admirable patience under great sorrows and sufferings; one glorious ray of holiness or other was always coming from him: proportionably, a holy man, who is a living member of Christ, must be in his measure "holy in all manner of conversation," (1 Pet. 1:15.) In the original it is, ἐν πάσῃ ἀνασροφῆ, which way soever he turn himself, he must be holy in it: he must have a respect to God at every turn; this will best appear by the particular parts of his life.

Take a holy man in divine ordinances, there he is holy. He would first be sure that he is in a right church, and in a right ordinance: in a right church; for there the Lord commands the blessing, even life for evermore; in a right ordinance, for unless the institution be from God, the benediction cannot be expected from him: and then he would serve God in a right manner, and sanctify his name in his approaches; when he comes to an ordinance, he hath high thoughts of God, as being the infinite majesty of heaven, the excellency of all perfections; one whom angels adore, and devils tremble at: accordingly he lies low before God; he serves him with reverence and godly fear; he draws nigh to him, yet forgets not the infinite distance between them; he blushes to think that he must go before so pure a majesty, with the dust of mortality about him: and again he blushes to think, that he must do so in the spots and rags of many infirmities, which being in the soul are much more abasive than those in the body. The beams of the divine glory strike a holy awe into him and make him conclude, that a soul, though entirely given up, is to God but a little, very little thing; but as a beam to the sun, or a drop to the ocean; and which is matter of more shame and abasement; the soul is much less, in that the innate corruption holds back, and the bewitching world steals away a great deal of it from God: very little or rather nothing it is, that we can give to him; however the holy man, such is his divine temper, would not abate any thing, but endeavours in ordinances to give God his spirit and highest intention; he knows that God is a Spirit, and mere bodily worship is as nothing to him. What is the bowing of the knee, when there is an iron sinew of rebellion within? or the lifting up of the hands or eyes, when there is an earthly depression upon the affections? To what purpose is an open ear, when the heart is deaf, and shut up against holy truths? And what a shadow, a mere lie in worship is the body, when the mind is stolen away, and gone after vanity? He therefore sets himself to serve God in spirit and in truth; while God is speaking to him in his sacred word, he would nave no converse at all with worldly objects; he bids these stand by, and not interrupt his attention, while he is speaking to God in prayer; he would not only pour out words to God, but his very heart and spirit, if it were possible, all of it, without reserving so much as a glance, or a piece of a broken thought towards carnal things: a duty to the great God is a thing of vast import and consequence; therefore he would do it with the greatest strength of intention and affection. David like, he calls upon his soul, and all that is within him, to intend the thing in hand; but because when he hath done his utmost, there will yet be many failures and infirmities; the holy man looks up to mercy for a pardon, and offers up all his duties in and through Jesus Christ the great Mediator. In the Old Testament the holy man prayed thus: "Remember, O my God, and spare me," (Neh. 13:22). "Enter not into judgment with thy servant," (Psal. 143:2). "If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, who shall stand?" (Psal. 130:3.) The sense of their many imperfections made them fly to a mercy-seat. In the New Testament we are expressly directed, "To do all in the name of the Lord Jesus," (Col. 3:17). "To make our approaches to God in and through him," (Eph. 2:18). "To offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by him," (1 Pet. 2:5). Every duty must be tendered unto God in and through the Mediator: therefore the holy man doth not stand upon the perfection of his services, but implore a pardon of his infirmities; neither doth he tender his services immediately unto God, but he puts them into the hand of Christ, that being perfumed, and as it were, glorified by his merits, they might from thence ascend up before God, and be graciously accepted by him. Moreover, because ordinances are but media and channels of grace, the holy man in the use of them lifts up his eyes to God, to have them filled with the divine Spirit and blessing; a mere outward sanctuary of ordinances will not serve his turn; he would see the power and the glory, the goings of God in it. He cannot live by bread only; not the life of nature by the bread of creatures only; not the life of grace by the bread of ordinances only: in both he waits for that word of blessing which proceeds out of God's mouth; this is that which makes the ordinance communicate grace and comfort to us. When the Word is preached, it is not enough to the holy man to have the sacred truths outwardly proposed, or to hear the voice of a man teaching the same; but his heart and his flesh cry out for the living God. Oh! that God would speak inwardly in words of life and power; that deep and divine impressions might be made upon the heart, to sanctify it by the truth, and to cast it more and more into the mould of the divine will! Oh! that God would come and shine into the heart, that he would uncover the holy things, and bring forth evangelical mysteries to the view, that the heart might be ravished in the sweet odours of Christ, that the promises might flow out as a conduit of celestial wine, and make the soul taste some drops of the pure rivers of pleasure which are above! This is the desire and expectation of the holy man in hearing; in like manner, in prayer, it is not enough to him to pour out words before God, but he looks for the Holy Spirit to help his infirmities, and breathe upon his devotions; that as Christ pleads above by his merits and sweet-smelling sacrifice, so the Holy Spirit may plead in the heart, with sighs and groans that cannot be uttered; being conscious to himself, what a thing his heart is, how much coldness, hardness, straitness, is yet remaining there, he waits for the Spirit to be as fire from heaven to inflame the heart, and make it ascend up unto God; to melt it, and make it open and expand towards heaven; to set it a running in spiritual fluency and enlargements towards God. The holy man esteems all to be lost and to no purpose, unless he can have some converse and communion with God in every ordinance: his heart and the ordinance have both the same scope and tendency, that there may be a divine intercourse between God and him: "God draws, and he runs," (Cant. 1:4.) God saith, "Seek ye my face"; and the soul answers," Thy face, Lord, will I seek." (Psal. 27:8.) There are divine influences and spirations on God's part, and there are compliances and responses in the holy heart; in prayer it burns and aspires after him who set it a fire by the communications of his grace and love; in praise it carries back the received blessings, and lays them down at the feet of the great donor; in the hearing of the word, it hath something or other to answer to every part; it trembles at the threatening; it leaps up, and in triumphs of faith embraces the promise; it complies with the pure command in holy love and obedience: without this communion, in which God and man spiritually meet together, the holy man looks on ordinances but as dry empty things, void of life, and separate from their chief end; but if the Holy Spirit breathe upon the heart, and that breathe out itself to God; if the soul set itself to seek God's face, and that irradiate the duty; then the ordinance is full of life, and reaches its end. The holy man then perceives that God is in it of a truth: hence one, as Bellarmine relates, used to rise from duty with these words, Claudimini oculi mei, claudimini, nihil enim pulchrius jàm videbitis; be shut, O my eyes, be shut, for I shall never behold a fairer object than God's face, which I have now beheld.

Take him in alms and charity, he is holy there; he knows that he was born, nay, and by a divine generation born again, that he might do good. It was a notable speech of the philosoper, The beasts, plants, sun, stars, were designed for some work or other, σὐ οὐν πρὸς τὶ; and what are you for? When he thinks that he is a man, a rational creature, and which is more, a new creature, and by adoption one of the seed royal of heaven; he sees a necessity laid upon him to be fruitful in charity and good works: if he who hath a first and a second birth, who hath the good things of nature and grace, do not do good, who shall do it? or where may it be expected? The holy man therefore sets himself to do good; he doth not only do the outward work of charity, but he doth it readily and freely; when an object of charity meets him, he doth not say, Go and come again. When he himself goes to the mercy-seat, he would not have God delay or turn him off after that manner: neither will he do so to his poor brother. Not only the command of God, but the taste that he hath of the divine grace, make him ready and free in good works; his good works have not only a body, but there is a free spirit in them; and as the thing given supplies the receiver's want, so the manner of giving revives his spirit: the holy man doth not only give alms, but he doth it out of love and compassion; Beneficentiâ ex benevolentiâ manare debet; he doth good out of good will; he opens his heart as well as his hand; he doth not only draw out his alms, but his soul to the hungry; he doth not only give outward things, but himself, in real compassions to the afflicted: he knows that sacrifice is not acceptable to God without mercy; no more is the outward almsdeed without inward pity; he, therefore, as the elect of God, puts on bowels of mercy, that when his hand is distributing, his bowels may be moved towards those in misery, that he may not give a mere external thing, but aliquid sui ipsius, something of himself—I mean, his compassion; it doubles the alms to give it with pity; mere mercy in itself is a comfort to the afflicted, but when it comes with a supply of necessaries in its hand, it is then a comfort in matter and manner. Moreover, the holy man hath not only human bowels, but Christian; in all his acts of charity he moves from a high principle, and unto a high end; and upon that account the apostle calls those acts "Pure religion," (Jam. 1:27.) And St. Austin calls them a sacrifice, a divine thing. First, I say he acts from a high principle; he doth not extend mercy to men in misery only out of humanity, but out of love to God; he doth not respect them merely because they are his own flesh, such as are in conjunction of nature with him, but chiefly because they are rational creatures, such as stand in relation to God, and are capable of union with him; the love of God, (who alone is to be loved for himself,) is the great wheel which moves our love and mercy towards our neighbour. St. John argues thus, "Whoso seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" (1 John, 3:17.) It is all one, as if he had said, There is no love of God at all in him; for if there were any that would open his bowels towards his brother, piety towards God is the right fountain of charity towards men. Again: he acts unto a high end; "Charitas est motus animi ad fruendum Deo propter ipsum, et se et proximo propter Deum,' saith St. Austin: Charity is the motion of the soul to enjoy God for himself, and itself and its neighbour for God. The holy man in his acts of charity hath a supreme respect unto God; he would resemble and glorify God in them; there is nothing wherein he can shew himself more like unto God than in mercy and love: God, when he proclaims his name, (Ex. 34:6,) insists very much upon mercy. "He is good and doeth good." (Psalm 119:68.) Therefore the holy man would be still a doing of good, that he might in his sphere, though but a little one, resemble that God who doth good in the great sphere of nature. God makes his sun to shine and rain to fall everywhere; and the holy man who would be like him, endeavours to shine in good works, and drop in charities upon all occasions; in all he would have no other centre than God and his glory; his aim is that those drops and models of mercy which are in him may bear witness to the infinite fountain and ocean of mercy which is above; still he desires that God in all things may be glorified.

Take him in prosperity, he is holy there. I may say of him what the historian saith of Mauritius the emperor, His prosperity doth not make him leave his piety. He esteems himself less than the least of God's mercies; he holds all that he hath in capite of God the great donor; he desires to see free grace in every crumb of bread, drop of drink, and moments of patience; when there is a table spread, and a cup running over, and an affluence of all good things, he suffers nothing to be lost, but returns all in a thankful acknowledgment unto the giver. Thus holy David, "All things are of thee." (1 Chron. 29:14.) Life, health, peace, prosperity, the whole catalogue of blessings are from God; the holy man looks on it as no less than sacrilege to subtract the least fragment from him. He looks upon blessings in dependance upon their original; he sees the sense and meaning of them to be this, that our hearts may be guided and directed by them to the infinite fountain of goodness. He possesses them, but he will not be possessed by them; they may flow round about him, but they must keep their distance, and not enter into the heart, which is reserved as a holy place for God; while they stand without and minister to the outward man, they are blessings, and glasses of the divine goodness; but if once they leave their station and are taken into the heart, they are idols and vanities; there is a blast and a curse upon them, because they turn away the heart from God the fountain of living waters. In the midst of all outward blessings, the holy man is but a pilgrim in this world; here is not his happiness or centre of rest; he looks after far greater and nobler things than those which grow here below; corn, and wine, and oil are in his eyes but poor things in comparison of God's favour. Heaven is his country, and, by a divine touch, from thence his heart, though courted by the world, will point thither; he resolves with himself he will be happy only in God, and in nothing else: whilst he is here he uses his outward good things in the fear of God. He knows that, "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof." God is the absolute proprietor, and man but a steward only. The poor man in his necessities hath a right to have supply out of the superfluities of the rich; the charity of the rich is but fidelitas in alieno, Faithfulness in that which is another man's. (Luke 16:12.) Riches are a talent and must be accounted for; if oppression make the beam cry out of the wall, or if outward things become the fuel of lust, or if the non-user bring a rust upon them, it will be a very ill reckoning at the last day; therefore the holy man endeavours to perform his trust; he is, what his riches call for, rich in good works; the goodness of God to him makes him good to others; the open hand of the great donor makes him ashamed to shut his own. His great interest lies in the other world; and upon that account he exchanges his outward things thither, by such acts of charity as follow him and live for ever.

Take him in adversity, he is holy there; as in prosperity, his answer is (what was so much in the mouth of the ancient christians), Deo gratias, God be thanked for this mercy and that mercy; so in adversity, his answer is a holy silence under God's hand: or if he open his mouth, it is in some such language as that, "It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good:" who should sit at the stern, and rule all, but he? His will is supreme, and a law to itself; his actions are all just and wise; the holy man will not murmur, or charge him foolishly; he will not interpose in the government, or so much as start a thought that things might be better ordered than they are; whatever his sufferings be, still he would have God govern; still he concludes, nothing can be better than that which God doth. When he is tossed on earth, he casts his anchor in heaven; his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord; in an admirable manner he hangs upon him who smites him; he adheres to him, who seems to cast him off; he looks for a secret support from him, who presses him down; he expects that the very hand which wounded, should heal him; though all outward things take wing, and fly away, he will not part with God; though God wrap himself up in a cloud of black providences, yet he will wait at the door of one promise or other, till he have a smile or glimpse of the divine favour; and, if that be suspended, yet he will wait on, and comfort himself, The affliction is not hell; all the troubles of this life are but the ashes of the furnace,—a little time will blow them away; and then comes a heaven, an eternity of joy and comfort, which pays for all. The holy man will wait, but that is not all; he sets himself seriously to read the meaning of the cross; and by comparing his heart and this affliction, he picks out the sense thus: Here, saith he, pointing to his heart, is the vanity, and there is the fan which drives away the chaff; here is the dross of earthly affections, and there is the fire which melts it away; here are the ill humours, and there the bitter pills which purge them out; and while he is humbling himself in such considerations as these, at last he comes to read love in the cross, and to have a sweet experience, that even that works for his good; God doth it in faithfulness, to wean him from the breasts of creatures, and to endear heaven to him; to make him learn that great lesson, To be subject to the Father of Spirits, and live for ever; to make his faith and patience come forth, as gold doth out of the furnace, in their pure lustre and glory: and, as soon as he perceives this, all is well; he can now sit down, and sing Deo gratias; not to blessings only, but also to afflictions; upon the whole account he finds, "That it was good for him that he was afflicted. Thus he sanctifies God under the cross".

Take him in his contracts and dealings in the world, he is holy there; he doth, according to that golden rule, Do to others as he would have them do to him. In his contracts he deals bonâ fide, truly and honestly: so he makes, and so he performs them. In selling, he will have no more gain than what is reasonable, and in a just proportion; in buying, he will allow as much; he imposes not upon an unskilful person, but uses him as one would a child, in a fair manner; he will not ὑπερβαίνειν, go beyond his brother; he will not have lucrum in arcâ, damnum in conscientiâ, gain in the purse, with loss in the conscience. No, he loves plainness, he speaks the truth, he doth that which is just and right; he carries himself like a true honest man, and this he doth with a respect to God. Three great things God calls for in the prophet, "To do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God." (Micah 6:8.) If there be no righteousness there will be no mercy; if there be no mercy there will be no humble walking with God. Three great things the gospel grace calls for in the apostle, "To live soberly, righteously, and godly in the world." (Tit. 2:12.) Here is summa vitæ christianæ, the total of Christianity, to live soberly, as to ourselves, righteously as to others, and godly as to God. Still righteousness is one of the three; the holy man deals justly, not merely because it is congruous to his own reason, but because it is congruous to the will of God; the fear of God urges him to it. If he did oppress, "Destruction from God would be a terror to him." (Job 31:23.) A divine Nemesis would pursue and overtake him. The love of God constrains him to it; God is true to him, and he will not be false to others; God is merciful to him, and he will not be unjust to others. The honour of religion calls for it from him: he that is pious in the first table, must not be wicked in the second. A christian must not in honesty be below a pagan; the child of grace must not live against principles of nature; grace is not to take away morality, but to refine and spiritualise it. A horrible shame and blot it would be upon Christianity, if pagans should live as men, in just and fair dealing among themselves, and yet christians should live as wolves or beasts of prey, tearing and devouring one another. In nobis Christus patitur opprobrium, saith Salvian, As often as we do wrong, the Holy Jesus suffers a reproach in us: the Holy Man, therefore, will deal justly, that religion may not suffer by him.

Lastly, take him in a calling, he is holy there; he knows he must not be idle. That of Cato hath been received as an oracle, Nihil agendo, malè agere discis; idleness teaches to do evil; it opens an ear to every extravagant motion; it entertains every sinful fancy; it tempts the devil, the great tempter, to tempt us. St. Jerom adviseth his friends thus: Semper aliquid boni operis facito, ut diabolus te semper inveniat occupatum; Be always a doing of some good thing, that the devil may not find thee at leisure: the holy man, therefore, will have a calling, and therein he will abide with God, (1 Cor. 7:24): and his works, by a divine prerogative, "are wrought in God. (John 3:21.) The ordinance of God, which saith, That he must eat in sudore vultûs, in the sweat of his brow, presses him to diligence, that he may do what the idle man cannot, eat his own bread. The all-seeing eye of God, which is upon all his ways, makes him faithful in his station. A mean servant, if holy, serves "in singleness of heart, fearing God." (Col. 3:22.) The eye of God, which is upon him, causes him to be upright in the service; the holy man in the works of his calling so carries himself, ac si nihil aliud in hoc mundo esset præter illum et Deum, as if there were none in all the world besides himself and God; still his eye is upon God; whatever he doth he doth it heartily, "as unto the Lord, and not unto men," (Col. 3:23.) The great end and centre of his actions is God's glory, and under that he designs to do good to men; he would conferre aliquid in publicam, cast in something into the common good of mankind. A holy magistrate hath the fear of God upon him; he judges not for man, but for the Lord; he judges righteous judgment, and that, as the rabbins say, is a sure sign that the Shecinah, the divine presence, is with him in the judgment: a holy minister carries with him an Urim and Thummim, light in his doctrine, and integrity in his life. He burns in zeal for God and Christ; he melts in labours and compassions for the souls of men. His motto is the same with that of Mr. Perkins, "Verbi minister es, hoc age." In a word, whatever the calling be, the holy man is active, faithful, bent for the glory of God; still he remembers that he is a christian; religion hath an influence upon his calling. His particular calling, which is vocatio ad munus, to a course of life, is made subordinate to his general calling, which is vocatio ad fœdus, to the faith and obedience of the Gospel.

Thus we see, a holy man is like himself at every turn, as occasion is; one odour of grace or other is still a breaking forth from him.

Seventhly, In a holy life there is not only an exercise of graces, but in that exercise a growth of them: the holy man of a plant comes to be a tree of righteousness; of a babe he comes to be a man in Christ; he goes from strength to strength; his path is as the shining light, "which shines more and more unto the perfect day," (Prov. 4:18.) He travels on from virtue to virtue, to meet the everlasting day. He grows in every part of the new creature, till he come to heaven, where grace is perfected in glory. His knowledge grows; by following on to know the Lord, he comes to know more of him; by doing of God's will, he comes to understand it better than ever he did: the eye is more open, the heart is more unveiled, the truth is more sealed to the mind, the understanding is more quick in the fear of the Lord, the taste and savour of divine things is higher than it was before: he had, at his first conversion, a spiritual knowledge and understanding, but exercising himself to godliness, he comes by degrees "to all knowledge," (1 Cor. 1:5), and "to riches of understanding," (Col. 2:2). Notions are enlarged, and withal heavenly things are known per gustum spiritualem, by a spiritual taste of them: his faith grows. At first there was but contactus; but upon the exercise of graces there comes to be complexus fidei; the touch of Christ by faith is advanced into an embrace; the recumbency on his blood and righteousness is stronger; the subjection to his royal sceptre is more full than it was; the reliance on promises, and compliance with commands, are both raised up to a higher pitch than they were before; at last adherence comes to be assurance. His love grows; there comes to be a higher estimate set upon God, a closer union with him, a greater complacence in him than there was before. At last, love becomes a vehement flame, (Cant. 8:6.) flamma Dei, the flame of God, which burns up the earthly affections, and aspires after the full fruition of God in the holy heavens. Also, his obedience and patience are upon the increase: by much obeying, the intention becomes more pure, the will more free, the obedience more easy and abundant; he doth not only do the work of the Lord, but he abounds in it; he doth not only bring forth fruit, but "much fruit," (John, 15:8.) By patient bearing of afflictions, the art or divine mystery of suffering comes to be understood: the heart is yielded and resigned up to the divine pleasure; he would be what God would have him be; he hath not only patience, but "all patience," (Col. 1:11.) Patience hath not only a work, but "a perfect work," (James. 1:4.) Thus in the holy man grace is still a growing.

Further; the holy man grows every way; he grows inward; by exercising himself to godliness his vital principles become more strong, his supernatural heat is increased, his inner man is strengthened more than ever it was before; he hath a divine vigour to overcome corruptions, to repel temptations, to live above earthly things, to perform heavenly duties, and to endure sufferings. He is strengthened "in the inner man," (Eph. 3:16,) and that "in all power," (Col. 1:11,) to do what is decorous to his spiritual nature: he grows outward; he hath not only the fruits of righteousness, but "he is filled with them," (Phil. 1:11.) The influences of grace and supplies of the Spirit, make him to bring forth much fruit, and that with great variety; as occasion serves, all the fruits of the Spirit, "Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance," which the apostle mentions, (Gal. 5:22, 23,) break forth from him in their spiritual glory; "He is like the tree planted by the rivers of waters," (Ps. 1:3,) which hath a fruit for every season; or like "Joseph's fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall," (Gen. 49:22.) There is a redundance and exuberancy of holy fruits, which shew that he hath a divine spirit, a well of living water in him springing up into all obedience and good works. He grows upward; by conversing in holy things, he is unearthed and unselved; he converses more than ever in heaven; the glory of God is more precious to him; his intention towards it is more pure than it hath been; he waits and longs to be in that blessed region where God is all in all: every duty and good work looks up more directly than was usual, to God the great centre and end of all things. He grows downwards, I mean in humility; by conversing with God he comes to have a greater light than ever, which discovers the majesty and purity of God, the rectitude and holiness of the law, the infirmity and relics of corruption in the lapsed nature of man; and this discovery makes him very humble and vile in his own eyes; even his very lapses and falls serve occasionally to this growth: hence St. Austin, treating on those words, "All things work together for good to them that love God," (Rom. 8,) adds, Etiam si deviant et exorbitant, hoc ipsum eis faciat proficere in bonum, quia humiliores redeunt et doctiores; Experience tells him that he is nothing, and grace is all.

Moreover, the holy man never thinks that he hath grace enough; never saith, I am perfect, or, I have attained; this would shew him to be no holy man, to have no grace at all. He is still a breathing and pressing after more grace; the divine touch, which in conversion was made upon his heart, causes it ever after to point towards God the fountain of grace; the sweet taste of grace which he hath had, makes him earnestly thirst after more; it is true, he has not a thirst of total indigence: in this respect "he shall never thirst," (John 4:14.) but he hath a thirst of holy desires after more grace; his soul pants after more of the divine image: Oh! that he were more like unto God! that his will were swallowed up in the divine will! Nothing can satisfy him, unless he be made more holy. He avoids those things which hinder spiritual growth; he will not lie in a sink of sensual pleasures, he will not clog himself with a burden of earthly things, he will not fret away himself in envy; he will not puff up himself with pride and presumption, he will not wither away in an empty fruitless profession, he will not grieve the Holy Spirit of grace, or willfully make any wounds in conscience. All these will be impediments to growth in grace; therefore he puts them away from him: he busies himself in those things which may make him grow: he is much in prayer, that God would give the increase; that the showers of holy ordinances may not drop and come down in vain; that the gales of the Holy Spirit may fill every ordinance, that the sun-shine of God's favour may make every thing prosper: he knows that none can bless but he who institutes; nothing can make rich in grace but the blessing; for that he waits in all his devotions. He is much in the holy word; he hears, reads, meditates, digests it, lays it up as a treasure, keeps it as his life, feeds on it as his meat, hath his being in it; and all that he may grow in grace, that "beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, he may be changed into the same image, from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord," (2 Cor. 3:18), that the face of his heart and life may shine with a divine lustre and beauty. He acts his faith upon Christ, he adheres and cleaves to him; he aspires after more close union and communion with him, that by a divine spirit and life from him "he may increase with the increase of God," (Col. 2:19.) that he may live like one in union and conjunction with Christ; that he may honour that glorious head, in whom the Spirit is above all measure, and from whom it flows down upon all his members. He exercises himself unto godliness; he stirs or blows up his holy graces: he repents, believes, loves, obeys, runs, strives, labours to do the will of God; and all that he may hold on his way, and grow "stronger and stronger." (Job 17:9.) In a word, he esteems it a horrible shame and disparagement to be barren and unfruitful under the gospel. What, is the divine nature, which he partakes of, for nothing? Every little living creature propagates and brings forth its image, and shall the divine nature have no progeny of good works to resemble its Father in heaven? Are ordinances given in vain? The outward rain hath its return in herbs and flowers, and excellent fruits of the earth; and shall the showers of ordinances, which come from a higher heaven than the visible one, have no return at all? To what purpose is Christ a head to believers? A head is to communicate life and motion to the members; and can the members of so glorious a head as he is, be dry and wither away in an empty unfruitfulness? Why is the Spirit communicated, but to profit withal? When it moved upon the waters at first, it brought forth abundance of excellent creatures in the material world; and shall it do nothing in the spiritual one? or shall it produce heavenly principles in men, and not bring them into act or exercise? Nothing can be more incongruous than such things as these. The holy man, therefore, makes it his great business in the world, to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, to abound more and more in obedience and holy walking, till he come to the crown of life and righteousness in heaven.

We see what a holy life is, nothing remains but that we labour after it; lapsed nature lies too low to elevate itself into holy principles and actions; how should we cast down ourselves at God's feet for regenerating grace? How much doth it concern us to wait upon him in the use of means? to have our minds enlightened to see spiritual things? to have our hearts new made and moulded into the divine will? to have a precious faith to receive Christ in all his offices? to have a holy love to inflame the heart towards God? It is God's prerogative to work supernatural principles in us; let us then look up to him to have them wrought in us. We have lost the crown and glory of our creation; we are sunk into a horrible gulf of sin and misery: but oh! let our eyes be upon God; he can set to his hand a second time, and create us again unto good works; he can let down an arm of power, and lift us up out of the pit of corruption: nothing is too hard for him; he can turn our stony heart into flesh; he can, by an omnipotent suavity, make our unwilling will to be a willing one. Oh! wait for this day of power; and when it comes, give all the glory to free grace, and live as becomes the sons of God, who are born not of the will of man, but of God; it is too much time we have spent in doing the will of the flesh; let us now consecrate and dedicate ourselves to the will of God. In the doing of it let us live a life of faith and dependance upon the influences of grace: let us get a single eye, a pure intention towards the will and glory of God. What good we do, let us do it in a holy compliance with his will; in a sincere subserviency to his glory. This is right genuine obedience, in which God is owned as the first principle and the last end. If we depend not on him the fountain of grace, how shall we stand or walk in holiness? If we direct not all our good works to his will and glory, how are our works holy or consecrated unto God? Let us put away our high thoughts and proud reflexes upon self, that we may wholly depend upon his grace. Let us cast away all our squints and corrupt aims from us, that we may directly look to his will and glory. Still let us remember, that the work of mortification must be carried on; if we indulge sin, we rend off ourselves from God the chief good and ultimate end; if we consecrate ourselves to God, we must needs cast away sin from us: the Spirit and flesh are contrary principles, and cannot rule together; the works of the one and of the other cannot be compounded; the great centres, heaven and hell, are at a vast distance, and cannot meet. We must therefore die to sin, or else we cannot live to God; let us labour to be holy in all manner of conversation; let us go forth and meet God in every dispensation; in ordinances let us meet him with devotion and holy affection; in alms, with love and a free spirit; in prosperity, with praises and good works; in adversity, with patience and silence; in our dealings, with justice and righteousness; in our callings, with faithfulness and diligence: in everything let us walk worthy of God; as becomes those who are consecrated unto rum. Let us so exercise ourselves unto piety, that we may grow in all graces; that our faith may be more lively, our love more ardent, our humility more low, our heavenliness more high, our obedience more full, our patience more perfect; that we may have our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Let us be ever making ourselves ready for that blessed region, where there are plenitudes of joy, crowns of immortality, rivers of pleasures; where God is the light, life, love, all in all to the saints.

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MONERGISM BOOKS

A View of Some Divine Truths by Edward Poolhill, Copyright © 2019

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Table of Contents

To The Christian Reader

CHAPTER I: A short view of God's all-sufficiency and condescension in revealing himself.

CHAPTER II: Christ considered as a prophet and a speculum. The divine attributes shine in him; parti

CHAPTER III: Holiness the glory of the Deity: by it God acts like himself, and doth all for his own

CHAPTER IV: God's punitive justice asserted from scripture and nature.

CHAPTER V: God's love and mercy manifested

CHAPTER VI: The power of God manifest in Christ: in his incarnation and conception: in his miracles.

CHAPTER VII: The truth of God manifested in Christ. The promise of the Messiah.

CHAPTER VIII: God's providence asserted from scripture, philosophy, and reason.

CHAPTER IX: The doctrine of original sin; the great moment of it. Adam's sin imputed to us. The proo

CHAPTER X: Touching grace: the fountain of it God's love. The streams supernatural gifts.

CHAPTER XI: Touching justification as to the law. Christ's righteousness constitutes us righteous. A

CHAPTER XII: Touching a holy life. It is not from principles of nature: it is the fruit of a renewed