THE Second Adam; BEING The Second Part, or Branch of the Comparison between the first, and the second Adam, in these Words, So by the Obedience of One, shall many be made Righteous.  
By Thomas Bradley Doctor of Divinity, Chaplain to His late Majesty King CHARLES the First, and Praebend of York.  
And there Preached at Lent Assizes holden there, 1667/8. Oxon. Exon.  
YORK, Printed by Stephen Bulkley, and are to be sold by Richard Lambert, 1668.   

Imprimatur,  
Joh. Garth wait, Reverendissimo in Christo Patri, ac Dom. Dom. Richardo Archiepis. Eboracensi, à Sacris Domesticis. Datum Episcopo-Thorpae, Jun, 11.1668.   
Rom. 5.19. So by the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous. 
IN opening of which words, we will observe the same Method which we did in our Discourse upon the former, in these four particulars. By considering first, Who was this One?  
Secondly, What was this his obedience?  
Thirdly, How the benefit of it comes to be communicated to so many?  
Fourthly, What Righteousness that is which they gain by it?  
These four particulars clearly offer themselves to our consideration upon the first view of the Text: and so, they are an apt Reddition to the four particulars we considered in the first Adam, in the former branch of the comparison between them.  
To the first then, Who was this One? What, Hath he no Name? Yes, The Prophet. Isay tells you his Name, Isa. 9.6. His Name shall be called wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, etc. Yea, he had a Name assigned him by the Father before he was borne, Math. 1.21. His Name shall be called Jesus: For though he was borne in time, in the appointed time, in the fullness of time, Gal. 4.4. yet he had a being before all time; His go out were from the beginning, and from everlasting, Micha 5.2. jacob's Shiloh, Balaams' Star, daniel's Messiah, David's Branch, out of the Root of Jesse they all meet in this One: All along throughout the whole Scripture from end to end: There is a Vein, a Master Vein, wherein his blood doth run, and whereby he was made known to the Church in all the Ages and Generations of the World; in the Promises, and Prophecies, Types, and Figures, Sacraments, and Sacrifices, until he came himself in Person to fulfil them all, and by his holy Birth, Life, and Death, Resurrection and Ascension, to make them good, and to purchase unto us the righteousness in the Text mentioned. This is that One in the Text; in this One do all these things meet, and concentre: The Apostle both frugally, and prudently set him forth unto us in this short expression of one word, one syllable, and that an indefinite too, for two reasons, he had a double reach in it.  
First, To put us upon a farther inquiry after him, that so we might come to be better acquainted with him, and to know him more distinctly in his Person, in his Natures, in his Offices, in his Works, in his Miracles, and in the fruits and benefits of them all, as they are sparsedly set forth in the holy Scriptures: Search the Scriptures, for in them you think to have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me, saith himself of himself, John 5.39.  
Secondly, To teach us the singleness, the singularity, the Oneness (if you will) of this our Mediator; he is One and he is but One, he is alone, there is not another with him, he hath no partner in this great undertaking.  
And this Oneness in order to this great atchieument consists principally in these three things, he is One in these three respects.  
First, In respect of his Filiation.  
Secondly, In respect of the Union of the two Natures, the Divine, and the Humane, in his One Person.  
Thirdly, In respect of the performance of this great work of the Mediatorship. In all these respects he is One, and he is alone.  
First, In respect of his Filiation; he is the only begotten Son of the Father: God hath many Sons indeed; Angels are his Sons, Job 1. they are his Sons by Creation: The Saints are his Sons too, they are his Sons by Grace, by the Grace of Adoption. But this One in our Text, is a Son after a more peculiar manner; he is his Son by eternal Generation; His only begotten Son, so St. John 1.14. The Word was made Flesh, and dwelled amongst us, and we saw his glory, as the glory of the only begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth: So we profess in the Apostolical Creed, and confess, To believe in Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God: so in John 3.16. In all which places, this addition, of the only begotten Son, is not vain, it is full of emphasis, and doth exceedingly magnify the transcendent love of the Father to the lost Sons of Adam, that for the restoring of them, would part with his own Son, his only Son, and give him up to such hard conditions as he did, for their recovery. No marvel, if the Evangelist reporting this, set it forth with a Note of admiration, John 3.16. God so loved the World, that he gave his only begotten Son, to the end that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have life everlasting. Those four circumstances in it, of Tantus, Tantillos, Tales, and Tanti, that so great a Majesty should look upon such inconsiderable creatures, and those so grievous sinners, enemies, and disobedient to do so much for them, raisses his love and goodness to that height, that is beyond the comprehension of Men, or Angels. When God, for the trial of Abraham's Faith, laid so hard a Task upon him, as to command him to offer up his only Son in sacrifice to him, and saw he was so ready to obey him, as to build the Altar, to bind his Son to the Wood upon it, and to stretch forth his hand to kill him, he stays his hand, It is enough (saith he) hold thy hand, for now I know that thou lovest me, seeing thou wert willing to offer up thy only Son in Sacrifice in obedience to my Word. If that were a sufficient evidence of Abraham's love to God? upon how much stronger evidence may we conclude the love of God to the lost Sons of Adam, which did not only offer to offer up, but offered up indeed his One, and only begotten Son a Sacrifice for their ransom?  
Secondly, This Oneness respects the Unity of his Person, consisting of two Natures, the Divine, and the Humane, yet both by hypostatical union so united, as that they make up but one Christ, one Person, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, God Man, to be a fit Mediator between God and Man, and all this was necessary in all the particulars of it. First, That he should be God. Secondly, That he should be Man. And thirdly, That both these should be so united, as to become One. It was necessary that he should be Man, that so he might punctually satisfy Divine Justice, answering for sin in that Nature that had committed it. And it was necessary he should be God, that by the Dignity of his Person, he might add value to his sufferings, and obedience, to make them satisfactory for the sins of the whole World. It was necessary that he should be Man, that he might have what to offer up to God in sacrifice for us, a body capable of death and sufferings, with blood to shed, without which there is no Redemption; and the Godhead is impateible: Therefore saith he in Psal. 40.6. A body hast thou prepared me, Heb. ●0. 5. And it was necessary that he should be God, that so by the Power of his Deïty, he might sustain the Humanity, under the great burden of his Father's wrath, and death the consequence of it, and by his own Power rescue himself by a Glorious Resurrection, and a Triumphant Conquest over all the powers of darkness. It was necessary that he should be Man, that so he might be a compassionate High Priest, sensible of our miseries, and infirmities, and so become a more earnest Advocate and Mediator for Man. And it was necessary that he should be God, that so he might be fit to mediate with God for us: If one Man sin against another, the Advocate shall plead for him: But if a Man sin against God, who shall plead for him? Who, but One, that is God, like unto him? Therefore it was necessary that he should be both, both God and Man, and both in One: Neither as mere Man, so compassionating the decayed Estate of the lost Sons of Adam, as to neglect the Honour of the Deïty wronged and offended; nor as mere God, so tendering the Honour of the Deïty injuried and offended, as to neglect the deplorable Estate of Man kind lost, and undone; but as One that was both, that did partake of both, was near and dear to both, and both to him, he might lay an indifferent hand upon both, and so become between them, an equal and indifferent Mediator. In this Union we have that great Mystery of godliness so much magnified by S. Paul, 1 Tim. 3.16. Of God manifested in the Flesh; that stupendious Mystery, which the Angels themselves do with so great admiration and astonishment pry into, Of God in Christ, reconciling the World unto himself, 2 Cor. 5.19. In this Union of the Divine and Humane Nature of the Mediator thus met together in this One Person, was that great Marriage made up in Heaven, the Banes whereof were so long before Published on Earth by the Royal Prophet David, Psal. 85.10. Mercy and Truth are met together: Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other. In this Union did Isaiahs' Twins meet, the Child, and the Son; Isa. 9.6. Unto us a Child is borne, unto us a Son is given: The Child was borne; but the Son was given; the Child without a Father, the Son without a Mother; both in One, and both but One, this One in the Text, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the God Man, or Man God, Jesus Christ.  
Thirdly, He is here styled One, in respect of the great Work he was to perform in the great Office of the Mediatorship, to make peace between God and Man, to make an atonement, that is, to set them at One, which were before at such a distance one from another, in which work he was alone, he had no partners to assist him. There is but One Mediator between God and Man, the Man Christ Jesus. 'Tis true, Moses was a Mediator, when he stood in the gap between the living and the dead, to turn away wrath when it was gone forth, and the Plague was begun, Exod. 32. So are all the Saints and faithful servants of the Lord, favourites of Heaven, which use the interest they have in God, for the good of the World, to intercede for them, to appease his wrath, and to deprecate the evils which God threatneth to bring upon them for sin, and for transgression, for whose sakes and Prayers, God is often prevailed with, to divert, or to suspend, or to mitigate the Judgements which their sins have called for; but these are Mediators of Intercession, not of Redemption: Of it the Prophet tells us, Psal. 49.7. No man can deliver his brother, nor pay a Ransom to God for him. Nor amongst the Angels is there found a Mediator; Alas! they stood in need of a Mediator, as well as we, but found none: For he took not upon him the nature of Angels: but he took upon him the seed of Abraham, Heb. 2.16. yea, even the good Angels stood in need of a Mediator, though not to recover them out of a lost estate, yet to establish them in that estate wherein they stand. No, nor among the sacred Trinity is there found a Mediator besides him: For although it be true, Omnia opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa, as the Schools speak; and in the continuance of this great Gospel design, the wisdom of the whole Trinity was set on work, and every person in it did contribute to the laying of the plot: yet when it came to execution, by Divine dispensation, it fell to the Son's share to execute it, to transact it, and in his Person to undertake, and go through with it. Of this the Prophet puts us in mind, or rather the Lord himself by the Prophet, Isa. 63. I have trodden the Wine press alone, and of the people there was none to help me, ver. 3. and again, ver. 5. And I looked, and there was none to help: and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm helped me, and my wrath sustained me. This is again remembered by St. John in the fifth of the Revelations, under the notion of receiving, and opening a book with seven Seals: First exclusively, verse 3. None was found that could open it but he. Secondly inclusively, ver. 5.6.7. Where he taketh the Book, looseth the Seals, and openeth it, to the great joy and jubily of the Church, both Militant, and Triumphant: This the Church Triumphant presently testifies, by breaking forth into his praise, in that their new Song, ver. 9 and by their Angelical Doxology, verses 11. and 12. Worthy is the Lamb that was killed, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and honour, and glory, and praise. And the Church Militant join with them, ver. 13. Praise, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb for evermore. And let all those that look for benefit by his Mediatorship, say Amen; and join with this Angelical Choir in their Heavenly Hallelujahs, and say, Glory be to God on high, for this Peace on Earth purchased by the Mediator, and for the good will showed to the Sons of Men.  
2. And so we have done with this One in the Text, the Person by which our deliverance is wrought: We now come to consider of the way and means by which he hath wrought it; & the Text tells us, it was by Obedience, So by the Obedience of One.  
But was this the only way for the Mediator to work deliverance for the Sons of Adam? Or was it suitable to the state of so great a Person, of whom so glorious things are spoken, to submit himself to suffering, and Obedience? Had he come down in State and Majesty, with Power and great Glory, Riding upon the wings of the wind, attended with Legions of Angels and Arch-Angels, in flaming fire rendering vengeance to his enemies; treading upon the necks of Kings and Kesars'; by strong hand vanquishing the powers of darkness, and bearing down before him all opposite Power that did advance itself against his Kingdom; this had been an equipage well becoming the Prince of Glory, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords? But for such a Person so far to lessen himself, as to de-throne himself, to strip himself of all those Robes of Majesty and Glory, which he enjoyed at the right hand of the Father, and to take upon himself the form of a servant, of an Infant, and to come down from God to Man, from commanding Angels, to submit to the commands of vile sinners, and from thundering in Heaven, to cry in a Cradle, was such a condescension, as may well afford matter of admiration and assonishment to Men and Angels. Yet so it was, and so it must be, or we had been all Children without Adoption, Gal. 4.4.5. It was the disobedience of the first Adam, and ours in him, that he came to answer for: And what better way to answer for disobedience, then by obedience? every evil is best expelled by ' its contrary: Will the first Adam in the pride of his heart aspire to the very Zenith of Dignity, the Apex of Majesty, and being but a man, will needs be like unto God? The second Adam to expiate this sin, must come down to the very Nadir of humility, and being God must become Man, that so he might make a recompense unto God for that his inordinate ambition, and so make his peace. Did the first Adam offend by Eating? By Fasting must the second Adam expiate that his intemperance, Matth. 4. Did the first Adam abuse his liberty and privileges in Paradise? The second Adam must make amends for it, by his Heremitical hardship in the Wilderness. Did the first Adam so pusillanimously betray himself, and his, by yielding to the suggestions and temptations of the Devil? The second Adam to repair that loss and dishonour, must encounter the Devil, and in fair cumbating vanquish him again and again, and so fully revenge the quarrel of the first, Matth. 4. Did the first Adam offend by disobedience? By obedience must the second Adam satisfy for it, and so he did; for so saith the Text, By the Obedience of One.  
There are two things in this great transaction well worth our Observation. First, How the second Adam hath traced the first all along step by step; and where ever he found the first Adam had endamaged us, there doth he make a stand, and not pass by till he hath repaired us: As Ezek. 16.6. As I passed by thee, I saw thee in thy blood, etc. The second, How in this reparation, he provides for us all along a remedy suitable to our malady, a salve proper for the cure of the sore, a satisfaction punctually answering the Justice of God for that sin, by which we had offended it, as in the passages above in timated: See it farther more clearly and distinctly in this his obedience.  
There are three branches of this his obedience, by which he hath set us free, and wrought out righteousness for us. First, The Obedience of his Birth. Secondly, The Obedience of his Life. Thirdly, The Obedience of his Death. First, the Obedience of his Birth, in his holy Conception and Incarnation. Secondly, The Obedience of his Life, in his holy and unblameable Conversation. Thirdly, The Obedience of his Death, in his bitter Passion and Crucifixion; and these were all necessary, none of these three could have been spared: For three ways we stood obnoxious unto Divine Justice.  
First, For our Original sin, the sin of our Nature, wherein we were conceived and borne.  
Secondly, For all our sins of Omission; and particularly, for failing in performing the condition of the Covenant of Works, and of obeying the Commandment given in Paradise, in the mandatory part of it, upon which, Life, and Salvation was made over to us, in these words, Do this, and thou shalt live.  
Thirdly, For all our sins of Commission, and particularly, for breaking his Commandment given in Paradise, in the minatory part of it; which said, In the day that thou Eateth thereof, thou shalt die the Death. In all these three respects, we were obnoxious to Divine Justice; We lay under Wrath, and under a sentence of eternal Death; and from all these three, by these three parts of this his Obedience, are we set free. First, By this Obedience, and Merit, of his holy Conception and Incarnation, are we delivered from our Birth-sin, wherein we are conceived and borne; the holiness of his Humane Nature conceived, and borne without sin, being imputed unto us, that so by it, the impurity of ours, conceived and borne in sin, may be cured, and healed, and done away.  
Secondly, By his Active Obedience in his most holy Life, which he led here on Earth, in the days of his flesh, perfectly fulfilling the Law for us, hath he delivered us from all our sins of Omission, which was the second way, by which we stood in danger of Divine Justice: For thus speaks the Law, Cursed is every one that continueth not in every thing that is Written in the Book of the Law to do it: This had we made impossible to be done by us; but done it must be for us, or we all undone. And this is done in the Active Obedience of this our Mediator, and for this purpose was it, that he stayed so long upon Earth, among the Sons of Men; He dwelled among us, as St. John speaks, John 1.14. full three and thirty years; some say more, near fifty, grounding their conjecture upon those words of the Jews, spoken to him, John 8.57. Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? But thirty we are sure he was, when he entered upon his Ministry, what time ever he continued afterward; and this was necessary, that he might have a competent time to fulfil the Law, in all the parts and branches of it; and so, by performing the condition of the Covenant of Works for us, to restore us again to our right, to the Kingdom of Heaven, made over to us upon that condition.  
Thirdly, By his Passive Obedience hath he freed us from all our sins of Commission, answering the Law in the minatory part of it, which said, The soul that sinneth shall die: And, In the day that thou eatest, shalt thou die the death. By suffering death, he hath taken off that sentence of death, that was gone out against us; and by becoming a curse for us, hath taken off that curse that was upon us. And thus hath the Lord laid upon him the iniquities of us all, thus hath he borne our iniquities. By these three parts of his obedience, hath he answered for our disobedience, and set us free from the danger of Divine Justice, in all those three ways in which we stand obnoxious to it, though it cost him dear.  
By his Original Righteousness, he hath freed us from our Original sin: By his Active Obedience, from all our sins of Omission: By his Passive Obedience, from all our sins of Commission. By his Active Obedience, he hath freed us, à poenâ damni, from the punishment of loss. By his Passive, à poenâ sensus, from the punishment of pain. By his Passive Obedience, he hath rescued us out of the jaws of Hell: And by his Active Obedience, he hath opened unto us the Gates of Heaven. This Active Obedience was satisfactory: And his Passive meritorious. And thus you see how he is become unto us a perfect Saviour, and hath by these three parts of his obedience, wrought out for us plentiful redemption. Had any of these three been wanting, he had not wrought out for us plentiful redemption. Had our Mediator only died for us, been crucified, dead, and buried, he had not wrought out for us plentiful redemption; he had only satisfied the Law in the minatory part of it, and by this his Passive Obedience, so taken off the sentence of death, that lay upon us; but he had not thereby restored us unto life, nor to our right, and title to our forfeited Inheritance, he had still left us obnoxious to divine Justice, for the breach of the Commandment in the mandatory part of it; which said, Fac hoc, & vives: do this, and thou shalt live. Had the Mediator by his Active Obedience satisfied the Law, and fulfilled it in the mandatory part of it; and so by his holy Life, fulfilled, and performed the condition of the Covenant of Works for us; yet he had not wrought out for us plentiful redemption, he had still left us open to the Justice of God, for the sin of our Nature, our Original sin, wherein we are conceived, and borne. But that he might work out for us plentiful redemption, it was not enough for him, nor for us, that he should be made a Man, as the first Adam was by Creation; but he must become a Child, an Infant, conceived in the Womb, and borne into the World, after the same manner as other Children are (sin only excepted) that so he might begin the Cure of our Disease, where the Disease itself gins in the very Womb, and that by the purity, and merit of his holy Conception and Incarnation, imputed unto us, the impurity of our Nature may be healed, and our Infants sanctified, and purified in the Womb, and from the Womb, by the virtue and merit of the Conception, and Incarnation of the holy Child Jesus: And therefore we do with as much comfort confess and believe, That he was Conceived by the holy Ghost, and borne of the Virgin Mary: as, That he suffered for us under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. They that lay all the stress of our redemption, upon the death, and blood of Christ, do not fully deliver the Doctrine of our redemption, they overlook the greatest part of it, in the Active Obedience of his Life, and the Obedience of his Birth and Incarnation. They that lay it wholly upon his Active and Passive Obedience, do not yet deliver the Doctrine of our Redemption fully, they overlook an essential part of it, in the Obedience of his Conception, and Incarnation. But the Apostle doth not overlook it, Phillip 2. when he says, That being in the form of God, and thinking it no robbery to be equal with God: He took upon himself the form of a man, of a servant, of a child, of an Infant, which was in his Incarnation. And the Church doth not over look it, when it celebrates the praise of it with Admiration, in these words (of her despised Liturgy,) When thou tookest upon thee to deliver Man, thou didst not abhor the Virgin's Womb. There did the work of our Redemption begin, which was prosecuted all along, throughout his whole life, his death, burial, and resurrection: out of which, for a believer to draw out of all the parts, and passages of it that comfort that they do afford, and to apply them to those several wants and maladies of his soul, for the supply and cure whereof they are most proper, is a point of high wisdom, and gives unto the foul strong consolation, and full satisfaction. It is something to know Christ Crucified in gross, That Jesus Christ came into the World to save sinners: This gives the Faith of adherence. But to know Christ more distinctly, in his Person, his Natures, his Offices, and the executions of them, in all the parts of the precious Redemption he hath wrought out for us, and take out that merit and virtue, which they do afford, and rightly to apply it to the several wants of our souls, for the relief whereof they are most proper; is much more comfortable, and speaks the Faith of assurance, when we are able to Read in his Original Righteousness, the discharge of our Original sin; in his Incarnation, the purification of our Natures; in his birth, our new birth; in his Active Obedience, satisfaction for all our sins of Omission; in his Passive Obedience, a satisfaction for all our sins of Commission; in his stripes, our healing; in his condemnation, our absolution; in his death, our life; in his burial, our mortification; in his Resurrection, and Ascension, our Resurrection, and Glorification. In the 2 Kings 4.32. we read, how Elisha going to revive the Shunamites Son, went into the Chamber where he lay, and there cast himself upon the Child, and laid his face to the child's face, and his eyes to the child's eyes, and his hands to the child's hands, and so applied himself unto the Child, part by part; and after a little space, the Child sneezed seven times, and revived: So if we can by Faith, thus distinctly apply ourselves unto this holy Child Jesus, and him to us, in all the branches of this his Obedience, by which he hath wrought out deliverance for us; not the Child, but we, which before were dead in sins and trespasses, by virtue and grace derived from him, shall revive and live, the life of grace here, and of glory hereafter with him in Heaven for overmore.  
And so we have done with the second branch in the Reddition, to the first part of the comparison between the two adam's, showing the means, by which he hath satisfied for the disobedience of the first Adam; That was, By Obedience. We now come to the third, wherein we are to consider, The Persons that are benefited by it, and the Text says, They are many. So by the Obedience of One, shall many be made Righteous.  
And here do arise three Questions.  
First, How the obedience of one, can satisfy for the disobedience of another? What Justice there is in this? Or how it can stand good in Law?  
Secondly, If it do so? yet how the obedience of one, should stand good, to answer for the disobedience of so many?  
And thirdly, How man they are, that are to be benefited by it?  
To the first, I answer, The obedience, and righteousness of one, may stand good for another, where these three things concur; or in these three cases.  

First, With the consent of all persons concerned, where all parties concerned are agreed.  
Secondly, Where there is such a Union between the one and the other, that what is done to, or for, or by the one, is done by the other also.  
Thirdly, Where there is a proportion between the offence of the one, and the satisfaction of the other.   
For the first, There are but thee Persons concerned, The Father, the Son, and Adam, with his Progeny. That the Father is agreed, it is clear, John 3.16. He gave his Son. Gal. 4.4. He sent his Son. That the Son is agreed, is as clear, John 10.15. I lay down my life for my sheep. And again, ver. 18. more fully, No man taketh it from me, I lay it down of myself. And that Adam, and his Sons are agreed, is beyond all question, whose case it is, and who only receive the benefit of it. And thus 'tis good even in Law, That the obedience of one, may stand good for another, upon this first consideration; and if it were not good in Law, 'tis good in Gospel.  
The second consideration upon which 'tis good, is this, If there be such a nearness, and union between him that performeth this obedience, and those for whom it is performed, that what is done by him, may be reputed as done by themselves. We read of a King of the Locrenses, which made a Law, That whosoever of his Subjects was found guilty of Adultery, should have both his eyes put out. It so fell out, that the first that was deprehended in that crime, was his own Son; it was grievous to him that his Son should lose both his Eyes; and as grievous, that he should not execute Justice upon the transgression of his own Law: For mitigating between both, he put out one of his Sons Eyes, and one of his own; and this was accounted good Justice; and is the very case in the Text; only with this difference, That he took upon himself but half the punishment; our Mediator took it all, and wholly to himself, to set us free; and Christ, and we, are one. Lord have mercy upon me, (saith the Canaanitish Woman, Matth. 15.22.) my Daughter is grievously vexed with a Devil; implying, That the mercy which was showed unto her Daughter, was showed unto herself, her Daughter, and she, were one: Such is the Union between Christ, and those that are Christ's; so near, that it amounts rather to an Identity, than an Union. If Saul be travailing to Damascus, to persecute the Members; the Head looks down from Heaven, and complains, Saul, Saul, why persecuteth thou me? Acts 9.4. As the Husband with the Wife, the Branches with the Vine, the Members with the Body, are one; even so is Christ, with all that belong unto him: Take it in the Apostles words, 1 Cor. 12.12. As the Body is one, and hath many Members, and all the Members of the Body, which is one, though they be many, yet are but one body: even so is Christ. Where note, That the word Christ here, is not personally to be understood, as representing the Person of Christ; but it is, Nomen collectivum, a collective name, and takes in to it, together with Christ, all the Saints, all believers, the whole Church of Christ under Christ their Head; all which together with him, make up but one body, one Christ, unto whom he vouchsafes his own name, together with himself, even so is Christ.  
And there are three ties, by which this Union is made up, and they are brought so near together. First, By the bond of Faith. Secondly, By the bond of the Spirit. Thirdly, By the bond of Love. By these three bonds, are they united together, as by a threefold cord, not easily broken. First, By Faith we ascend up to Heaven, and lay hold on Christ. Secondly, By the Spirit, Christ descends from Heaven to Earth, and lays hold on us. And thirdly, By Love, we meet, as it were, between Heaven and Earth, and there close with mutual embraces. Christ in his Incarnation took our Nature upon him, and so was made partaker of the Humane Nature. Then he renews us by his Grace, and so in our Regeneration, we are made partakers of the Divine Nature, 2 Pet. 1.4. And that's another way, by which this Union is made up, and we are brought so near. And this is a Doctrine full of Grace and Truth, and worthy by all means to be received. For from this Union, there flows a Communion between Christ, and his; our sins are laid upon him, and he hath satisfied for them; his righteousness is laid upon us, and we are justified by it, being thus united unto him, and he to us; we draw Virtue from him, as the branches do from the root, and Influence, as the Members do from the Head, whereby we are able to live that life, that is according to godliness, and walk in some conformity to him. By virtue of this Union, we derive Grace from him: Out of his fullness we all receive, and Grace for Grace, 1 John 16. By virtue of this Union, Christ is ours, and with him all his merit, righteousness, and obedience, as in the Text; And so, By the obedience of One, are many made righteous.  
Thirdly, It is not unreasonable, That the odedience of one, should benefit another; if the disobedience of one, may prejudice another: but we see, the disobedience of the first Adam, did prejudice others: It is therefore but equitable, That the obedience of the second Adam should benefit others, depending upon him: Altar in semine, alter in sanguine: and as the one by his seed brought in death; so the other by his blood, might restore to life; that the blood of the second Adam, should be as sovereign to salve, and to save, as the seed of the first was to wound, and to destroy: And let this suffice for satisfying the first Query.  
2 But the second inquires furrher; How the obedience of one, should answer for the disobedience of so many? How so many should be justified, and made righteous by the obedience of this One? And that's answered in these two reasons. The first drawn from the Dignity of the Person obeying, which was of that high excellency, that it made his obedience, and suffering of that value, that was sufficient for the satisfying of the sins, and ransoming of the souls of the whole world; the obedience which he performed, was the obedience of that Person which was God, as well as Man, and thought it no robbery to be equal with God: That blood which was shed for us, was the blood of that Person, which was God, as well as Man: Of this Circumstance, St. Peter puts us in mind, 1 Pet. 1.18. Knowing that you were not Redeemed with corruptible things, us silver and gold: but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb unspotted, and undefiled. To which, if you add, the strangeness of his obedience, humiliation, and sufferings, with the freeness of them, He became obedient, Phil. 2.8. obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. In his Incarnation, He did not abhor the Virgin's Womb. In his Crucifixion, He was in the form of a servant for our sakes; yea, of a Malefactor: He was numbered among transgressors: He was wounded for our transgressions: The chastisement of our peace lay upon him, that by his stripes, we might be healed. All these circumstances add still to the price, and value of his sufferings, and obedience, to make it infinitely satisfactory, and meritorious, for the remission of the sins, and the ransomeing of the souls, of the whole World. The second Reason is drawn from the consideration of the capacity in which the Mediator stood, when he performed this obedience, and wrought out righteousness for us: In this great transaction, he stood not as a single Person, but as a representative; he acted not for himself, but for all believers, for the whole body of the Church, whereof he is the Head. Remember the Title of this Treatise, wherein he is styled, The Stock, and Root of all his Race, the Head of his body, the Church, from which part every branch, every member deriveth, and receiveth grace, virtue, strength, and influence, righteousness and life, there being abundantly sufficient for all, and in whom, and with whom, whatsoever he doth, and suffereth for them, in this capacity, they do it, and suffer it also. Hence are those frequent expressions in the Scripture, wherein, we are said to be in him, and he in us, John 10. We are elected in him, Ephes. 1.4. Adopted in him, ver. 5. Circumcised in him, Col. 2.12. Suffer with him, Rom. 8.17. Buried with him, Col. 2.13. Risen with him, Col. 3.1. Complete in him, Col. 2.10. Suffer with him, Col. 1.24. Yea, Crucified with him, Gal. 2.20. When Christ did, & suffered those things as Mediator for us; we did, and suffered them in him, and so the obedience is imputed unto us, as ours, and is ours, Quo ad usum, & fructum, as to the use, and fruit of it, as well as if all had been done and suffered in our own persons, and better too. And thus you see, how it may stand with Reason and Justice, That one may be Justified, by the obedience of another, and, By the obedience of One, many made righteous.  
3. And this brings in the third Query, How many there may be?  
Ans. Even as many as believe in his name, John 3.16. As many as do receive him upon Gospel terms, John 1. As many as come in unto him, that they may have life: The offer of grace is made to all, without exception, though to none without condition; Ho, every one that thirsteth, let him come, Isa. 55.1. God is no acceptor of persons: but in every Nation, he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted of him, Acts 10.34. God would have all Men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth, 1 Tim. 2.4. He is the Saviour of all, especially of them that believe, 1 Tim. 4.10. Thus generally the Promises run, in universal terms, that no man should despair; yet generally with some intimation too, of some duty on our parts, that no man may presume. You may expect here, that I should fall upon the point of Universal Redemption; but I shall forbear it in this place, especially having Treated more largely upon that Subject, in a Discourse upon it out of Isa. 9.6. and Printed at Oxford in 1650. unto which I refer. In the interim, thus much I will here declare of my Judgement in this matter, That I am persuaded, that when the second Adam took our Nature upon him, and in it, wrought our righteousness for us, there was no Son of the first Adam but he did something for him, so much, as that he shall never perish eternally, in the lake of everlasting burn, unless he forfeit his salvation a second time. What think you of that of St. Peter? 2 Pet. 2.1. There shall be false teachers among you, which shall bring in damnable Heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and so bring upon themselves swift damnation. There are false Teachers that bring in Heresies, damnable Heresies, that brings upon themselves damnation, swift damnation; and yet the Text says, even of these, That the Lord had bought them. How could this be? but that they sold themselves again, and forfeited their salvation a second time; and therefore are truly said, To bring upon themselves damnation. These are they of which the Apostle says, They are twice dead, plucked up by the roots, Judas 12. once in the first Adam, and now in the second too, and so plucked up by the roots, never to grow again. Again, we are to be advertised, That though the second Adam then did something for all, and all Nations; yet he did not do for all alike. What is the meaning of that Parable in the Gospel, of the Kings taking a far Journey, and committing his Talents in trust to his servants, or Factors, delivered them to them, in such a different proportion, To one, but one Talon; to another two; to another five? Who is he that hath the one Talon, but the Heathen, which hath nothing to traffic withal, but the Law, and light of Nature? Who is he that hath the two Talents, but the Jew, which besides it, hath the Law of Moses? And who is he, that hath the five Talents, but the Christian, which to both those, hath the Law of Grace, the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ? It cannot be imagined, that the Kings returning to take their Accounts, will require an equal account of them all, but according to their Receipts. To whom much is given, of him much shall be required: and to whom less is given, of him less shall be required. God is a merciful Creditor, and will require according to what a man hath, and not according to what he hath not.  
3. Again, We are to be informed, That there are degrees of salvation, and of damnation too, though all are concluded under two names, of Heaven and Hell, of salvation and damnation; yet in both these, there are infinite degrees, and different proportions: There is one glory of the Sun, another of the Moon, and another glory of the Stars; for one Star differeth from another in glory, 1 Cor. 15. And in respect of punishment, There are, that shall be beaten with fewer stripes; and there are that shall be beaten with more stripes. And although the highest degree of Gospel-Salvation, be but the portion of a few, as our Saviour tells us, in comparison of those that perish; yet there are many more, that attain to some degrees of salvation, both in respect of the evil they are delivered from, and of the happiness they are translated too, which comes far short of the highest degree of happiness, in the Kingdom of Heaven. And although our blessed Lord, which best knew it, tells us, That the way that leads to life is narrow, and the gate straight, and so, few they be that find it: yet themselves there declares himself, that he spoke it comparatively; in comparison of the wide gate, and broad way, that leads to destruction, and of the multitude of passengers that travail thither in it: but otherwise, if they be considered in themselves, they are so many, as it is beyond all Arithmetic to number them. The Evangelicall Prophet Isay, speaking of the calling of the Gentiles, seethe as in a Vision, the multitudes of the Nations, from all quarters, making in to the standard of Christ, and thronging in to Mount Zion, the emblem of the Church, with great zeal and earnestness, Isa. 60. Who are these that come as a cloud, and as doves to the windows of the Sanctuary? v. 8. The multitude of the Sea shall be converted, ver. 5. He resembleth the multitude of the converts to the Sea, to Clouds, to flocks of Sheep, to Caravans of Camels, etc. from Midian, from Kedar, from Nebaioth, from Arabia, from Sheba, from all quarters, coming in to Christ. And suitable to this Vision of the Prophet, is that Doxology of the Church Triumphant, which they Sing in the honour of Christ, and giving glory to him, in Rev. 5.9. Thou art worthy to take the Book, and to open the seven seals of it: because thou wast killed, and hast redeemed us unto God by thy blood, out of every Kindred, and Tongue, and People, and Nation. Neither does it stand with the glory of the Prophecies of old, nor suits with the famous promises made unto the Fathers of the glory of the Christian Church; nor with the price of Christ's blood, nor is it answerable to his purchase made by it, nor with the abundance of God's free grace, nor with the spatiousness of the Heavens, appointed for the habitations of the blessed; spaces, that no man can measure for multitudes, that no man can number, that the number of the Sons of Adam that return, should be so small, as some would persuade us. But for that, we may not take upon us to measure the bounds of the Celestial Paradise, nor to tell the mansions that are in our Heavenly Father's House and Kingdom, which Christ hath prepared for his redeemed ones. It shall be our wisdom, to make it our care, to secure unto ourselves a room among them, that we may be in the number of those many in the Text, that we may fill up the places of the Apostate Angels, and that the number of the redeemed ones may be so much the greater, by so many souls, at least, as are here present. And so we have done with the third particular, in the Reddition to the first branch of the comparison, between the first, and the second Adam, wherein was considered the number of those which are benefited by the obedience of this One Man: And the Text says, They were many.  
We come now to the fourth, and last particular: Wherein we are to consider, What that benefit is, which by this his obedience, they do reap, and receive: And the Text says, That by it they are made righteous.  
Where Note, That they do not leap from sin to salvation immediately, and at one jump; but from sin to righteousness, they must take that in their way, before they come to happiness. In Rome there were two Temples of much note, the Temple of Honour, and the Temple of Virtue; but they were so placed, that no man could go into the Temple of Honour, but he must pass through the Temple of Virtue to it. Virtue is the way to Honour, so is Grace to Glory, Holiness to Happiness, Righteousness to Life: Whom he justified, them he also glorified, Rom. 8.30. but first justified, before glorified, they must pass through that door, before they can enter into Glory.  
Note secondly, That the Text says, They shall be made righteous; they were not so before, we are not righteous of ourselves, we cannot make ourselves so, we must be made so, if ever we be so: Alas! of ourselves we are grievous sinners, altogether borne in sin, John 9 Full of sin, full of corruption, children of wrath by nature, Ephes. 2.2. Neither in this case can we help ourselves, neither are we willing to help ourselves, because 'tis natural to us, and in us, we please ourselves in it, it is sweet unto us, We hug it in our bosoms, and hid it under our tongues, as Zophar speaks in Job: Much power and grace is there required, and put forth to part us, to take us off from our sins and corruptions, and them from us, to change our natures, and to renew us; It is no less than another Creation, yea, a greater work to make us righteous, then was at first to make us men; you see here what strange obedience was performed to the effecting of it, and how much the second Adam hath done for us, in making us by such his obedience righteous, (Tantae molis erat.)  
And there is a three fold righteousness, which by this his threefold obedience he hath wrought out, and purchased for us, and obtained to us.  
First, The righteousness of Justification.  
Secondly, The righteousness of Sanctification.  
Thirdly, The righteousness of Glorification.  
For there is a Justifying righteousness: And there is a Sanctifying righteousness: And there is a Glorifying righteousness. The first of these is perfect, but not inherent. The second is inherent, but not perfect. The third is both perfect, and inherent. The first of these, is the perfect, pure, and unspotted righteousness of Christ imputed unto us by grace, and received by Faith, with which the believer being clothed, as Jacob, in the Robes of his elder brother, appears in the sight of the Father, acceptable, and amiable: This is that righteousness which Saint Paul so highly magnifieth, Phil. 3.8. I esteem all to be but loss, and dross, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which is by the Law, but that which is through the Faith in Christ, even the righteousness which is of God by Faith. This is the righteousness, which the same Apostle writes of to the Romans, Rom. 1.16. I am not ashamed of the Gossel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. How comes it to be so? Because therein is the righteousness of God revealed, by which believers are justified, and saved. Of this righteousness, do I understand that, of which Elihu speaks in Job, and to Job, 33.23. and of Job too, or any other in Jobs case, So sick and so weak, that his soul draweth near to the pit, and his life to the buriers, (so some Translations read it) then for an interpreter, a wise and faithful Pastor, to comfort, and to counsel him, to take his Confession, and to give him Absolution, for so much do the words import: If there be an interpreter, one of a thousand, to declare unto Man his righteousness; then will he have mercy upon him, and will say: Deliver his soul from the pit, I have accepted of a ransom: that is, in the righteousness of Christ, here called Man's righteousness; as in the place before mentioned, it was called, The righteousness of God, and very truly both: It is the righteousness of God, because it was wrought out in the Person of the Mediator, which is God: And it is, The righteousness of Man too; because being imputed unto him by Grace, and received by Faith, it becomes his own. This is the first righteousness which we do obtain, by the merit of the obedience of our Mediator; and this is the righteousness we must build upon, for our Justification, Life, and Salvation, and well may: for this righteousness is perfect, pure, absolute, and complete: this righteousness will hold out; this righteousness will abide the trial, and present us with boldness, not only before the Throne of Grace, but before the Throne of Justice; being clothed with it, we shall appear unblameable, without spot or wrinkle. The Lord will have nothing to charge us withal; but in this righteousness, we shall find wherewith to answer him: In this righteousness we have all that we should have, we are all that we should be, we have done all that we should do, we have suffered all that we should suffer. In him we are complete, Col. 2.16. We stand in his sight, as holy, as innocent, as pure, as perfect, as righteous, as the first Adam did in his Creation, before the Fall: Nay, may I not say more, as the second Adam in his humanity, in whose righteousness it is that we shall appear?  
Hold fast this Gospel Truth, and lay it up against an evil day, when thou art cast down with sense of sin, and fear of wrath, when stingings of Conscience affright thee, and the terrors of the Almighty make thee afraid; which way wilt thou turn thee for relief? where wilt thou look for peace? If in thy righteousness of Sanctification, there shalt thou never find it; the holiest Saint on Earth, in this case, if he seek for peace in the righteousness of his Sanctification, he shall never find it, so weak is our Sanctification at the best, so strong our corruption, so many the infirmities, so frequent the failings, yea, and fall too, even of the best, that in their Sanctification, they can never find peace, but the farther they seek for it there, the farther shall they be from finding that which they seek for. When the soul turns, and asks, What peace? The Conscience answers, What peace, while these thy sins and corruptions remain in such abundance? It looks for peace, but behold trouble; for security, but behold disquietness, and fear. But then have recourse to your Justification, to this righteousness of Christ imputed unto you by free grace, and received by Faith, and there you will find it, thence will follow peace; Being justified by Faith. we have peace with God, Rom. 5.1. and peace with our own Consciences too. There is nothing can still the crying, nor stop the bleeding of a wounded Conscience, but only th●● That Christ is the Lord our Righteousness: and that by his Obedience, not by our own, we are made righteous, and this will do it: This, this alone will answer all objections, that can be cast in, to disturb our peace, That the chastisement of our peace was laid upon him: This is the first righteousness we gain by the obedience of our Mediator, The righteousness of Justification; this is perfect, but not inherent.  
The second is, The righteousness of Sanctification; this is inherent, but not perfect: When God is pleased by his spirit of Grace, to sanctify and renew us, to change our natures, to take us out of the first Adam, and to Plant us into the second, to take us out of the state of Nature, and to set us into a state of Grace, by mortifying our corruptions, subduing our lusts, and inordinate affections, destroying that body of sin that dwelleth in our Members, firing out all those carnal lusts and affections, that are in us by the spirit of Judgement, and the spirit of burning: and then in the room of them, to infuse into our hearts holy habits, gracious dispositions, propensions, and inclinations, which is our habitual holiness, which remaining in us as principles of Lise, from them there do daily flow gracious actions, suitable to them, expressed in our Works, our Words, our Walking, our Deal, and daily Conversation, which is our actual holiness, both concurring to make up this our righteousness of Sanctification.  
Note. Where Note by the way, That these two righteousnesses, the righteousness of Justification, and the righteousness of Sanctification ever go together, Whom he justifieth, them he sanctifieth, Rom. 8.30. Where ever God bestoweth his Son to justify, there he bestoweth his Spirit to sanctify, sooner or later, more or less. In the I'emple, there was a Laver, as well as an Altar; the Altar for Sacrifice, pointing out our redemption by the blood of Christ: The Laver, for Washing, pointing out our Sanctification by the Spirit of Christ. We must be Washed in the one, if we will be Sprinkled by the other. Christ at his Crucifixion, being pierced by Longinus with a spear, shed out of his precious side, both Water and Blood. There was a Mystery in it, the Blood signifying our Redemption by the Blood of our Redeemer: The Water, our Sanctification, by the Spirit of holiness: There was water for our ablution; blood for our absolution: water for our cleansing; blood for our redeeming: he is not redeemed by that blood, which is not washed by that water; If I wash thee not, thou hast no part in me, John 13.8. Out of that Fountain, the side of Christ, did spring both the Sacraments of the Christian Church, Baptism, and the Lords Supper: The former is unto us, as the Laver in the Law; the latter, as the Altar: The former, the Sacrament of our regeneration; the latter of our redemption: The former, sealing up unto us our washing, and cleansing, in the Laver of regeneration; the latter, our atonement upon the Altar of our Redemption, (let not the word offend you) by way of allusion, at least, you may allow it: but you must not pass by the former, if you look for benefit by the latter: All the washings, cleansings, purge, and purifyings under the Law, did but typically teach, and declare, the washing, cleansing, and sanctifying of Believers, under the Gospel, so much called for every where, Wash your hands ye sinners, and purge your hearts, ye wavering minded, James 4.8. This is the will of God, even your sanctification, 1 Thes. 41 3. Cast off the old man, with his corrupt lusts, and put on the new man, which after God is created, in true holiness and righteousness, Ephes. 4.22. Be ye holy, as I am holy, 1 Pet. 1.16. Fellow peace and holiness, without which, no man shall see the Lord, Heb. 12.14. Our God is a holy God: Jerusalem is a holy City: the Inhabitants that dwell there are holy Saints: the exercises there used, are holy exercises. Into it may no unclean thing enter. All things call for holiness at our hands, if ever we hope to come to Heaven. The Apostle in his Epistle to the Collessians, Giveth thanks to the Father, that he had made them meet to be partakers of the Inheritance with the Saints in light, Col. 1.12. implying, That as we are in the state of nature, and in the first Adam, we are not meet for it. Before we be meet to be partakers of the Inheritance, with the Saints in light, we must be children of the light, and walk in the light. If ever we mean to inhabit in that holy City, we must here get into the Suburbs of it, and learn the Language of Canaan, which there they speak. If ever we mean to bear a part in that Heavenly Choir, in singing Hallelujahs to him that sitteth upon the Throne; we must here set our Harps, and our Hearts in Tune to it: We must get grace, before we can come to glory; righteousness, before we can attain to blessedness, even the righteousness of Sanctification, before we can attain to the righteousness of Glorification, and so we shall be meet for it: That makes us capable of it, that leads to it, even at the next remove: Which is the next particular, and the last to be spoken of; showing the third sort of righteousness, of which, by the obedience of the Mediator, believers are made partakers:  
The righteousness of Glory: And this shall be both perfect and inherent, when all sin, as well as sorrow, shall flee away, all corruption shall be abolished: There shall be no more Devil to tempt, nor world to allure, nor flesh to withdraw; but we shall with free, and full consent of heart and will, serve, and laud, and magnify the living Lord, and rejoice in his presence for evermore: where we shall arrive at the end of our hopes, the full fruition of God in the beatifical vision, in whose light we shall see light, and we shall shine in the Kingdom of the Father, with Angelical brightness, and perfection, our souls shall acquiesce, In ultimo fine, in the fruition of the chiefest good, beyond which, there is nothing to be attained, nothing to be desired, where God shall be to our understanding a Sun of light, to our affections a Sea of love, to our wills abundance of peace: We shall drink of the pleasures of the Celestial Paradise, as out of a River, and be filled with those joys, which are in his presence unspeakable, and glorious: We shall leave the dunghill of this inferior world, with all the corruptions which are in it through lust, and be taken up into the third Heavens, and to the City of the living God, the Celestial Jerusalem; and to the company of innumerable Angels; and to the Assembly, and Congregation of the first borne, whose names are written in Heaven; and to God the Judge of all; and to the spirits of just men made perfest▪ and to Jesus Christ the Mediator, whom though we have not seen we love; but then we shall see him face to face, and our love and joy shall abound and we shall attain to the end of our hopes, in the beginning of our happiness, that never shall have end. Quando erit ille dies, quando erit illa dies? When will the day be, when that day shall be? How should we love, and long for this appearance, and rejoice even under the hope of this glory? Who that hath this hope, would not with St. Paul, Desire to be dissolved, that be may be with Christ? Phil. 1.23. Oh, if we should but let lose our souls, and turn them out, as Noah did his Dove, by divine contemplation, to sore up to the third heavens, and there take a view of the joys and glory of the Celestial Paradise; how would it take us off from these vile things here below? How would it draw up our thoughts, to the seeking, and affecting of the things that are above? from the solicitous care of seeking after the treasures of wickedness, which profit nothing; to the laying up of treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust can corrupt, nor thiefs break through to steal; from seeking after the pleasures of sin which are but for a season, to seek after those, which are at the right hand of God, where is fullness of joy, and pleasures for evermore. Oh, if we could but draw the curtains of Heaven, and look into the Sanctum Sanctorum, and see the joys, and the glory that there is laid up for those that seek it, we would never care for the earth more, we would never care for this world more; the very pleasures of the Court would seem vile unto us, the treasures of wickedness we would trample under our feet; all our thoughts would tend upward, all our care, and study in the seeking of those things that are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God, and where we hope one day to sit on the right hand of Christ. St. Paul had that happiness that never man had but he, To be rapt up into the third Heavens, and there saw those things, which here we Preach of, and to return again. But see what effect it wrought upon him, it took him clear off of the world, his life ever after was nothing, but a Cupio dissolvi, & esse cum Christo: Cupio dissolvi & esse cum Christo: I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ: I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ. All the honour of his Apostleship, the glory of his miracles, the high reputation that he was in amongst the Nations, for his great learning and wisdom; for his works, miracles, and powerful Preach, were all nothing, all these could not satisfy him; nothing could now content him, but Cupio dissolvi, & esse cum Christo: I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ. And why was this high favour vouchsafed to this Apostle, to be thus rapt up into the third Heavens, and after he had seen those glorious things, then to return again; but that he might be an experimental Preacher to the world of all those things that there he saw, and here we speak of? No marvel if the Fathers of old, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Bernard, etc. were so much and often in contemplation, heavenly meditations, spiritual ejaculations, as witness their Manuels, Enchiridions, Soliloquies, Monuments of their Devotion left among us; by these did they live in communion with God; upon these did their souls sweetly feed, and feast, as upon meat to eat, which the world knew not of: By these they even lived in Heaven, while they were on Earth, and in stead of Men, conversed with Angels: Beloved, we have souls, as well as bodies, and consist as well of celestial, as of terrestrial substance; why should our earthly part be more powerful to draw us downward to the vile things here below, than our heavenly part to carry us up to the precious things that are above? where our hopes are, where our Inheritance lies, where our happiness is, where our Christ is, and where we hope shortly to be with him in Glory. Wither the Almighty of his infinite mercy bring us, through the Merit and Obedience of this One in my Text, our Mediator: To whom therefore be all Honour, Power, and Praise for evermore: Amen.  
FINIS.