THE Lord's PROPERTY IN HIS REDEEMED PEOPLE OPENED IN A SERMON AT ST. Paul's Church, London, Octob. 28. BY EDWARD REYNOLDS, D. D. and Chaplain in ordinary to the King's Majesty. Printed by the Order of the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen. LONDON, Printed by T. R. for George Thomason, at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's churchyard, 1660. ALLEYNE MAYOR. Die dominica in festo Simonis & Judae Apostol. 1660. Annoque Regni Regis Caroli secund. Angliae, &c. duodecimo. It is Ordered that Dr. Reynolds be desired from this Court to print the Sermon he preached this day at Paul's. To the Right Honourable Sir RICHARD BROWN Lord Mayor of the City of London; Sir THOMAS ALLEYN the last Lord Mayor, and Court of Aldermen. Right Honourable, BEing desired by the Order of your Court to print this Sermon preached on the last day of the than Lord Mayor, and the first of the present, I shall humbly crave leave to mind both those honourable Persons, and all others, of the signal providence of God to them and us this last year. How graciously the Lord hath carried the last Lord Mayor through the storms and difficulties of a most troublesome government, bearing him up by a spirit of prudence and calmness, above potent frowns, and popular passions, till at last his year was honoured with the most glorious spectacle that this City hath seen for many and many ages, in the happy return of our dread sovereign unto his royal Throne, our eyes have been abundantly witnesses of. From how many afflictions and dangers your present Lordship hath been wonderfully delivered, the Lord providing shelters and chambers to hide you in, from the jealous eyes, and iron arms of those who were then in power, reserving you unto, and recompensing you with this present honour, you cannot but with thankful adoration of divine providence be most sensible of, and affected with. What terrible things the Lord hath done for these three kingdoms, things which we looked not for, in breaking Governments, infatuating Counsels, melting Armies, levelling Mountains, and preparing a way for his sacred Majesty through the hearts of his people to the possession of of his Throne, is so eminently known to all Nations, as if it were registered with a beam of the Sun, and proclaimed by an Angelical Herald. What use both you, and all of us should make of these wonderful workings of divine providence, I cannot give you in better words then in those of Samuel unto Israel, 1 Sam. 12. 24. only fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all your heart, for consider how great things he hath done for you. If unto such a wise and holy improvement of mercies this present Sermon may be of use unto you (wherein is set forth how Ransomed persons are not their own, and therefore not to seek or serve themselves, and how much they are engaged to live to the Glory and service of him that delivered them) I shall have abundantly the fruit of my labours, and I hope therewith the benefit of your prayers, who am From my Study Nov. 20. 1660. Your Honours most humbly devoted ED. REYNOLDS. AT pauls-church, Octob. 28. 1660. 1 COR. 6. 19, 20. — Ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. SUch is the desperate corruption of man's heart, that those very blessings of God which should oblige unto his service, do usually alienate and estrang the same from Him, so that the very Table of wicked men is a snare, and the things which are for their good, do become unto them an occasion of falling, Psalm 69. 22. They no sooner wax fat, but they kick, Deut. 32. 15. Their wealth becomes the fuel of their lust, and their prosperity, the mother of their luxury and intemperance. When they are filled with their pastures, they forget God H●s. 13. 6. When the Lord feeds them to the full, they commit adultery, and assemble themselves by troops in the harlot's houses, Jer. 5. 7. Thus it fared with the people to whom our Apostle writes in this Epistle. Corinth was a rich City in Peloponesus, between the Ionian and the Aegean sea, the Head of Achaia, one of the principal Emporia, or Mart Towns of Greece, celebrated by a Homer. Iliad. lib. 2. Strabo. lib. 8. Cicero Orat. pro. L. Manil L. Florus lib. 2. c. 16 Homer, Strabo, Cicero, Florus: for the great wealth thereof. And as it was famous for Riches, so was it as infamous for those sins which plenty and prosperity use to produce, especially the sin of uncleanness and fornication, insomuch that {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} was an expression amongst the Greeks for Scortation: and they were wont, b Eustath●us in Homer. Iliad. p. 290. as Athenaeus tells us, c Athen. lib. 13. when they prayed for success in their undertakings, d Ambros. de Abra. l. b. 2. c. 11. to vow, that they would bring Whores into the City, as if it had been an honour and service unto it. Grot. in Act. 15 20. & Lo●in. ibid. And learned men are of opinion, that the Apostles in their Council at: Jerusalem did by letters, forbid unto the Gentiles Fornication, Acts 15. 20. because amongst them it was judged a free and lawful thing to make use of mercenary harlots, who for gain did prostitute themselves unto the lusts of men. How much this sin did prevail at Corinth, not only before their embracing of Christianity, as ver. 11. but even after they had been taught by the Apostle, and given entertainment unto the Gospel, as is evident by his complaint, 2 Cor. 12. 21. So we may further gather from the special arguments he furnisheth them with in this Chapter against it. 1. That which altars the end and use for which the body was made, is not to be allowed; but fornication makes a quite contrary use of the Body, then that for which it was made, which was to be for the Lord, dedicated to those services wherein he should employ it. The body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the Body, ver. 13. The Body for the Lord to serve and honour him; and the Lord forth Body, to sanctify and save it. 2. The body which is to be raised unto glory, and which we hope shall be meed like unto Christ's glorious body, is not in the mean time to be conspurcated and dishonoured with so impure a pollution. But God hath raised up the Lord, and will us, v. 14. 3. The Members of Christ ought not to be made the members of an Harlot, in as much as this is an high indignity unto Christ, that so pure and holy an Head, should have so leprous and filthy Members. But our Bodies by the inhabitation of the Spirit of Christ in us, are his members, and therefore should not be made one flesh with an Harlot, verse 15, 16, 17. 4. That which 〈◊〉 this is more unnatural and atrocious than other sins, in that other sins do not terminate themselves in the body, but go out unto other objects, is not to be admitted. But fornication brings a peculiar dehonestation and contumely upon the Body, therefore it is not to be admitted, v. 18. 5. Temples which are peculiarly consecrated unto God and to his service, ought not to be defiled or profaned by any Sacrilegious pollutions, for Him that defileth the Temple of the Lord, he will destroy. But our Bodies are Temples for the holy Spirit to dwell in, therefore ought not to be converted into stews, or Receptacles of impure lusts, v. 19 6. They who are not their own, Duorum unius rei in solidum nor in their own disposal, but belong to another Lord, Dominium esse non potest. Dig. lib. 13 Tit. 6. leg. 5. Sect. 15. are not to live after their own Will, or by their own lust, but according to the Will, and the Ends, and Uses of their principal Lord. But we are not our own, and therefore have not the power to live according to our own lusts, but we are His that made us by his Power, redeemed us by his Love, dwelleth in us by his Spirit, therefore Him we are to glorify by pure spirits, and chaste bodies. So the words of the Text are the last argument which the Apostle useth against that great sin which did so abound in that rich and luxurious 〈◊〉; therefore Hierom, Ambrose, Chrysostom, Theophylact dismember them from the words preceding. Wherein are considerable three particulars. 1. A double proposition, the one Negative, ye are not your own; the other Affirmative, ye are God's. 2. The Reason of both, ye are bought with a price. 3. The inference from both, Therefore glorify God in your body and spirit. The first proposition is negative, ye are not your own, therefore it is against the Rule of common Right and public Justice (quae suum cuique tribuit) to dispose of yourselves according to your own counsel and pleasure, None of us liveth to himself, no man dieth to himself, Rom. 14. 17. We have neither Being, nor well-Being, nor subserviencies unto either, of, or from ourselves, therefore none of it is to be disposed at our own Will. There are indeed vain men that say, We are Lords, Jer. 2. 32. Our lips are our own, who is Lord over us? Psal. 12. 4. and thereupon resolve to walk after their own devices, Jer. 18. 12. and to do whatsoever▪ thing goeth forth out of their own mouth, Jer. 44. 17. But as their claim of themselves is but an usurpation, so their living to themselves is but a sacrilege, whereof they must give a strict account. A thing is said 〈◊〉 be our Own Dominio pleno, when we have a Propriety in it, and a Possession of it. Vid. Greg. T●ol. Syntagma. juris. lib. 1. cap. 12, 13 Propriety is two fold, Original, that of the supreme Lord; Derivative, as that of the copyholder, the Emphyteuta, the usufructuary, who hath a right granted to use, or to meliorate, but not to corrupt or abuse the Land or Tenement conveyed unto him. Possession also is twofold, the one by way of Dominion, as when a man holdeth that which is truly his own, or conceiveth bona fide to be his own. The other by way of custody and trust, as a Guardian holdeth the Estate of his pupil; a steward or servant, the goods of his Lord; a Depositary, the goods of him who entrusts him with the keeping of them. This premised, we say, 1. By Original propriety none can call either himself, or any other thing, His own but only God, Exod. 3 14. who alone is the Fountain of all Being, whose Name is, I am, who is of Himself only, and all other Beings are by derivation and participation from Him; For of him; and through him, Rom 11. 36. and to him, are all things. And therefore he only being of Himself can work only for Himself; and being the Author of all other Beings, may justly also challenge to be the end of them; for He made all things for Himself, Proverbs 16. 4. 2. By Derivative propriety men have a Right under God unto many good things: There is a double grant made by God of good things, one by way of general indulgence, and so he hath given them earth to the children of men, Psalm 115. 16. And divided to the Nations their inheritance, Deut. 32. 8. Even Heathen and wicked men have a Right by divine providence to their estates, as he gave unto Jehu and his sons for four generations the Throne of Israel, 2 Reg. 10. 30. And the land of Egypt to Nabuchadnezzar, Ezek. 29. 19 It is a dangerous opinion, which tendeth to the dethroning of Princes, and concussion of States, to teach, that Temporale dominium fundatur in gratia; and that wicked men are usurpers of all which they enjoy; for the Lord maketh His rain to fall on the just and unjust, Mat. 5. 45. And commanded to give unto Caesar, an heathen King, the things which were Caesar's, Mat. 22. 21. And though wicked men by the demerit of their sins deserve to be deprived of good things, yet de fasto, the Lord doth indulge the use and fruition of them. Aquin. 22. ar. 12 qu 2. Opus. de Regimine principis l. 1. c. 10. Bellarm de Pont. Rom. l. 5. c. 6, 7, 8 Baron. Anno 496 Sect. 26, 27. An. 593 Sect 90. Anno 598 Sect 9 Anno 603 Sect 23 Anno 730 Sect 5 Suarez Advers Anglic Sectae errores lib 3 de primate. Pontiff cap 23 And therefore it is a wicked doctrine of those Pontificians, who teach, that an Heretical Prince that is in their sense, one that casteth off the yoke of the Roman Religion, doth thereupon forfeit his Temporalities into the hands of the Pope, and so to make him in ordine ad spiritualia, to be the disposer of Crowns and kingdoms. But this propriety men are to use under those restrictions and limitations which the Lord in his Word hath prcscribed, viz. in order unto his glory, 1 Cor. 10. 32. and in order to the good of our selves and others, else though they have a lawful, they have not a pure and sanctified use of them. Again, There is a divine grant by way of special grace and Covenant, and thus the Lord hath given unto his peculiar people both Himself and his Son, and his Spirit, and all things, that belong unto life and godliness. He is not ashamed to be called their God, Heb. 11. 16. and giveth them leave accordingly to avouch him for their God, Deut. 26. 17. and together with himself and his Son hath estated them in all other good things, Rom. 8. 32. All the gifts, endowments, graces natural or spiritual which he hath bestowed upon any, whether Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas, the most eminent of men, are given for them and their comfort, 1 Cor. 3. 22, 23. They are all given to profit withal, 1 Cor. 12. 7. And for the perfecting of the Saints, Ephes. 4. 12. 3. Again we have the Tenure and Possession of our life, our nature, our faculties, our endowments, all the gifts and talents which are bestowed upon us. But this is not a possession of Dominion, to dispose of these things at our own pleasure, we may not rashly throw away our lives, or profanely lay our our wit and learning, upon the service of Satan, or our own, or other men's lusts. But it is only a possession of Custody and trust, in order to the glory of God, and to the Edification, comfort and benefit of others: For all the gifts and power which God gives, is to profit withal, and for edification, not for destruction, 2 Cor. 10. 8. Sad then will be the account which they shall make, who by luxury and intemperance, by challenges and duels, or by any other way of rashness and wickedness, expose their lives unto danger of ruin: or on the other side, do so pamper nature, and indulge to their sensual appetites, as propter vitam vivendi perdere causas, and have their souls only for salt to keep alive their bodies, and to serve for no other purpose. Who use the gifts of God against the giver of them, and have their wisdom, power, wit, learning, wealth, interests, only as a Panoply of Satan, Luke 11. 22. to fight his battles against God and his Church, 2 Sam 16 20 17 1 as Achitophel used his wisdom against David, Acts 24 1, 2 and Tertullus his Oratory against Paul, 1 Reg 13 4 and Jeroboam his power against the Prophet, and the Scribes and Pharisees their learning against Christ, and Libanius, Lucian, Porphyry, Celsus, and other proud Philosophers, their wits and pens against Christian Religion. Here then offers itself a weighty and serious question to be resolved, namely, when doth a man act as if he were His own, and as if he had the Original Propriety, and plenary possession and Dominion over Himself? In the general I answer, when a man doth exempt himself from all superior jurisdiction, will be subordinate unto none, and from all brotherly Communion, will be coordinate unto none, will neither live to the glory of God above him, or the use and benefit of his brethren about him, will be, as it were alone, Isa. 5. 8. And as if he had a kind of Deity and sufficiency within himself, as Tyrus said, I am a God, I fit in the seat of God, and did set her heart as the heart of God, Ezek. 28. 2. And as Nebuchadnezar said, Is not this Babylon the great that I have built for the house of my kingdom, and for the honour of my Majesty? Dan. 4. 30. And as Pharaoh, Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? Exod. 5. 2. But more particularly we shall resolve this question in four propositions. A man than acteth and liveth, as if he were His Own, and in his own disposal. 1. When he maketh his own Reason his supreme Rule by which to work. 2. When he maketh his Own Will His chief Law and Authority therein. 3. When he maketh his own Interest His ultimate end in working. 4. When he maketh His own performances the principal ground of all his hopes. 1. When a man makes his own Reason his supreme Rule, resolving as Joroboam did, to follow what his own heart hath devised and contrived, 1 Reg. 12. 33. Reason indeed is the candle of the Lord, Prov. 20. 27. But what is a Candle to the sunbeam? unto which the Apostle compareth the Gospel, Rom. 10. 18. The Lord will have no disputing or replying against Him, Rom. 9 20. But will have human Reason strike sail, and captivate itself to the Word of God. For stating of this point, we are to distinguish between carnal Reason and right Reason. Carnal reason, or Reason darkened and corrupted by the Original pravity which cleaveth unto it, is Enmity against God, and neither is, nor can be subject unto him, Rom. 8. 7. It is that which the Apostle calleth {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, Imaginations, High Things, Thoughts, Reasonings, 2 Cor. 10. 5. By the help whereof it is that men do so argue and dispute in defence of those lusts, which they are loath to part with, Vid. Aug. confess l 5. c. 10. & de Civ. Dei. l. 14. c. 14. or be convinced of: a notable example whereof we have in Saul, 1 Sam. 15. 15. 20. 21. Right Reason may be considered, either with relation to the Law, or to the Gospel. With relation to the Law so we acknowledge, that it being the remainder of the Image of God in the mind of man, it is in things moral, though short of the Word, yet consonant unto it. It is short of it, for the Apostle had never known concupiscence to be sin, if the Law had not forbidden it▪ Rom. 7. 7. And if Reason in Morals, those we mean which were natural and concreated, had not been dimmed and defaced, there would not have been any need in that respect, of the publication of the Law, which was promulgated, that thereby we might know sin, Rom. 3. 10. Nay, after the Law was published, the Apostle till his conversion had not the full knowledge of the spiritual nature and wideness of it▪ as after he had, Rom. 7. 9 Phil. 3. 6. The Law is perfect and spiritual, Reason is not. Yet withal it is consonant to the Word, and therefore the Apostle in some cases appeals to nature, and bids us Judge within ourselves, and tells us, that they who have not the Law, are a Law unto themselves, 1 Cor. 11. 13, 14. Rom. 2. 14. And saith of the sin of the incestuous person, that it was not so much as named among the Gentiles, 1 Cor. 5. 1. There is a a Eruptiones animae doctrina naturae congen●tae & ing●nitae natural {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, or habit of practical Principles, engrafted notions of original light which the mind doth most readily assent unto. conscientiae tacita commissa, &c. Tertul de Testim. Aiae. c 5 Primordialis l●x, matrix omnium praeceptorum Dei. Idem advers. Judaeos, cap 2 Called Natural knowledge, Jude, v. 10. And the knowledge of God in the heathen which makes them without excuse, Rom. 1. 20. With Relation to the Gospel, so we say, that the Mysteries of Christian Religion, though they be not against Reason, are yet above Reason. They are not b Ang. de Gen. ad lit l 1. c. 19 against it: therefore our Saviour proves the Resurrection by the Power of God. And in like manner the Apostle, Mat. 22. 29. Acts 26. 8. Mat. 11 27 Yet they are Above it, for eye hath not seen, Rom 16 25 {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}. Justin. Mart. de recta Confes. nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him, 1 Cor. 2. 9 Therefore it is everywhere known by the name of a Mystery, and hidden Mystery, Ephes. 3. 9 Col. 1. 26. A mystery which flesh and blood hath not revealed, but the Spirit of God, Mat. 16. 17. Evangelical Doctrines of faith are not comprehended, nor virtually comprised in the seeds of natural reason, but made known only by divine and supernatural revelation. Lastly, Though Reason is not able to discover Evangelical Mysteries, yet the Revelation of them being supposed, it is an excellent Instrument to make use thereof, and to deduce such consequences from the Principles of the Gospel, as have a natural & clear connexion unto them: and therefore the Apostle calleth Evangelical Teaching, {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, & {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, & {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, A Demonstration, Conviction, Manifestation of the Truth, 1 Cor. 2. 4. John 16. 8. 2 Cor. 4. 2. All which are acts or ways of clear Ratiocination: Vid. Camero de verbo Dei c. 18 For as nature standeth in need of grace to elevate the faculty, and give it a spiritual perception of things which are above it, so Grace useth nature, and the perspicacy and Acumen thereof, to make the more clear discoveries of those Truths which are revealed. We see the state of that habitude and degree wherein Reason stands with relation to Law or Gospel; How the one is more perfect, and the other more sublime, and wherein consisteth the sober and religious use of it. But when a man will exalt his Reason into the Throne, and set up his own high Imaginations, which should be brought into Captivity to the obedience of Christ, above Law and Gospel, and suffer the wantonness of a luxuriant and discursive fancy, Quid magis contra fidelem quam credere nolle quicquid non possit ratione attingere? to dispute away the love due to the one, the faith due to the other, and the obedience due to both, when men will make their Reason the Judge of God's own Word, — Laudatur Maria quod rationem ●ide praevenit, pu●●tur Zacharias quod fidem ratione tentavit, Bernar. Epist. 190. and the last resolution of every thing which they mean to do and believe: This is to tell the world, that they are their own, and that they acknowledge no authority above themselves. 2. When a man maketh his Own Will his chief Law which he is resolved to obey. All the contest between God and wicked men, is whose Will shall stand. The Lord commands that his Will be observed, the sinner resolves that his own Will shall be obeyed. The Law requires duty, the sinner will not do it. The Law threatneth curses, the sinner will not believe it. The Word convinceth of what is God's Will, and the sinner swelleth in contumacy and obstinacy against it. Bernar. de Resurrect. Dom. Ser. 3. Cesset voluntas propria, non●erit infernus. In this case the Lord resolves to make sinners know, whose word shall stand, His or theirs, Jer. 44. 28. To break those whom he did not bend, and to make known his power against their pride, Exod. 9 16. To fetch his glory out of▪ strong and stubborn people, Isa. 25. 3. As a Tempest teareth an Oak that resists it; but hurteth not the corn that yields unto it. Jam 4 6 He resisteth the proud, Psalm 51▪ 4 and will overcome when he judgeth. 3. When a man maketh his Own interest his ultimate end, directing all his aims and designs to his own gain, pleasure, credit, ease, advantage, looking in nothing beyond himself, eating to himself, drinking to himself, Zac. 7. 6. Bringing forth fruit unto himself, Hos. 10. 1. without any conscience towards God's Will, or aim at his glory. But are we so little our Own then, that we may not at all seek ourselves, or eye those things wherein our own interests are concerned? Doubtless we may. He that commands to love ourselves, allows to aim at the profiting and pleasing of ourselves. For love shows itself in benevolence and beneficence, willing and doing ourselves good. But it must not be either arbitrarily or ultimately, not arbitrarily, but with submission to the Rule of God's Will, and not ultimately, but with subordination to the Glory of his Name. We may seek our own preservation, yet so as to acquiesce in God's Providence, Psal. 31. 15. in whose hand our times are, Phil. 120. and so as to be willing, that God be magnified in our mortal body, Whether by life or by death. We may seek the improvement of any gift temporal or spiritual which God hath given us; 1 Cor. 12. 11 Rom. 12. 13. yet so as to aquiesce in that measure which he is pleased to proppotion unto us, and so as to consecrate ourselves, Luke 11 22 and all our endowments unto his glory: that Christ may divide all our spoils. We are to seek our own salvation, yet even this, if a case could so be put, is to be postponed unto God's glory. But such is his goodness, as never to oppose these two, or set them in competition with one another, but ever to conjoin, and to twist them together. Whensoever we seek the Glory of God; we do eo ipso promote our own salvation. Whensoever we prosecute our own salvation, we do Eo ipso, bring Glory to God. Whatsoever glorifies God, doth ever end in our salvation. Faith glorifies God; Abraham was strong in faith, giving Glory to God, Rom. 4. 20. And the End of our faith, is the Salvation of our soul, 1 Peter 1. 9 Works of Obedience glorify God, Joh. 15. 8. And they are the ready way to our own salvation▪ for after we have done the Will of God, we shall be sure to receive the promises, Heb. 10. 36. God can glorify Himself in our damnation, but we neither can, nor may do any thing tending to our damnation, that God may be thereby glorified: for whensoever we break the Law, We dishonour God, Rom. 2. 23. 4. When a man maketh his own performances the principal ground of all his hopes and desires; having no joy or comfort, but what he can draw out of himself: trusting in his own power to effect and bring about his ends, as Pharaoh and Babylon did, Exod. 15. 10. Isa. 14. 13, 14. Sacrificing and burning incense to his own net and drag, Hab. 1. 16. ascribing successes to his own might and power, Deut. 8. 17. As the proud Assyrian did, Isa. 10. 13. and expecting salvation from his own good works, like the proud Pharisee, Luke 18. 11, 12. But may we not build on our own performances for salvation? Doth not the Apostle call Good works a foundation? 1 Tim. 6. 19 And may we not then build upon it? In answer hereunto, we are to distinguish inter Rationem condignitatis, & rationem ordinis. Between the merit deserving the reward, and the order and consequence which God hath put between the one and the other, making the reward mercifully, but with all certainly to follow the obedience. Again, we are to distinguish Inter causam essendi, & cognoscendi; between the cause of confidence a priori, Psalm 19 11 and the means and arguments whereby to know it a posteriori. Prov. 11 18 Our good works are not the merit, or cause, or proper foundation of our own salvation, or confidence concerning it; but only the free Grace of God, and the Righteousness of Christ thereby bestowed upon us; yet from an holy life, as an effect of Faith in Christ, and fruit of divine love, and certain Antecedent unto salvation, we may draw comfortable arguments a posteriori to establish our hearts in the expectations of it. In which respect the wise man saith, That in the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, Prov. 14. 26. And for the Apostles Metaphor of a foundation, it is there opposed evidently to that which he calleth in the same place, verse 17, The uncertainty of Riches, to note the stability and permanency of that treasure, which they that are rich in good works shall at last enjoy; so that there is nothing of causality intended in it. Not to pass by the notion of a very learned man upon the place; who telleth us, that there the word {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} importeth the same which Gnikar doth in the Rabbins, which signifieth, Sam. P●t. var. litet. l. c. 11. as he observeth out of Maimonides, Scriptum quo cavetur de refundenda creditori pecunia, so that the Apostles meaning, is the same with Solomons, Prov. 19 17. He that hath pity on the poor, bendeth unto the Lord▪ and so hath {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, Bonum nomen, very good security for that which he hath given, God will pay him again. We have seen what it is for a man to live as if he were sui juris, His own, and at his own disposal. And that no man is thus His Own, neither made by himself, nor made for himself: So not our Own. And if not Our Own, than some others we must needs be. And the Apostle tells us whose we are, Bodies and Spirits, All of us Gods; and therefore we cannot without great Sacrilege invade his Right, and mancipate unto an Harlot that which is consecrated unto him. He formed the Body of the dust of the ground, therefore that is His: and He breathed into it the breath of life, therefore the Spirit is His, Gen. 2. 7. His then by right of Creation, and primitive designation; for whatsoever he made, he made for Himself. How then comes in the intervention of a price to make us His, whose we are ab Origine? Sure this necessarily presupposeth an Alienation; for no need to buy back that which before was mine own, if it had not with-drawn itself from my disposal. And indeed such an Alienation there hath been. Adam in his fall, played the fugitive from his first Master and Lord, and by that means sold his posterity under sin, Rom. 7. 14. And sinners themselves renew oftentimes that bargain, and sell themselves to commit sin, as it is said of Ahab, 1 Reg. 21. 20, 26. So the people are said to have sold themselves for their Iniquity, Isa. 50. 1. as Balaam ran after the wages of iniquity; 2 Pet. 2. 15. Jude v. 11. For every one that committeth sin, is the servant of sin, John 8. 34. Rom. 6. 19 and not only so, but a slave and Bondman, he that is overcome is brought into bondage, 2 Pet. 2. 19 as wicked men are said to be taken captive by Satan at his will, 2 Tim. 2. 26. Men may be two manner of ways under the thraldom and Tyranny of sin and Satan. 1. Voluntarily by way of Covenant and Contract: as wicked men are said to make a Covenant with death, Isa. 28. 15. as Samuel told Saul, Rebellion is as the sin of Witchcraft, D●abolus jure hominem possidebat quia hemo spon●e diabolo cons●atit, Bernd. Epist. 190 1 Sam. 15. 23. Wherein there is a kind of compact with the devil: and agreement to do such or such service for such or such wages, of pleasure, Nequiter usurpatum, sed juste permissum▪ ibid. or profit, or honour, or some other poor satisfaction. 2. Judicially and penally, when men having long provoked God by their voluntary service of lust and Satan, are at last by divine Tradition given up to uncleanness, and delivered unto Satan, as into the hand of a jailor and Executioner of divine wrath, whereof we read, Rom. 1. 24, 26, 28. 1 Tim. 1. 20. 2 Thess. 2. 11. Thus poor sinners, like fugitive servants, though they have no right to dispose of themselves (for nothing can extinguish the Dominion or sovereignty which God hath over all the works of his own hands) are by their own Covenant, and sometimes by God's judgement, under the power, possession, and command of Satan: for as the Lord gave the land of Canaan to Abraham and his seed, yet the Canaanites themselves had the first possession; so the Lord hath given unto Christ a Kingdom, and a seed, and people to serve him, Psal. 2. 8. 22. 30. Joh. 17. 6. Heb. 2. 13. but sin and Satan had the first possession of them. And as Joshua was by the power of the sword to vindicate the promised land unto Israel, in pursuance of God's Covenant; so the Lord Jesus was to assert the people whom his father had given him out of the power and possession of Satan, and sin unto himself. And here, since that is a true saying of Pliny, Mala emptio exprobrat stultitiam, that an ill bargian doth upbraid a man with folly; this than must needs be a very prodigy of madness, for men to sell away themselves for the poor, low, stinking, momentary pleasures of sin, when the whole world, if a man could enjoy it for ever unto himself, would not be an exchange worthy for the soul, Mat. 16. 26. And therefore whensoever you are allured and tempted unto sin, bring it to this issue, whether the wages of it be worth your souls? If not, do not incur so great an imputation of folly, as to exchange an immortal soul for a momentary and perishing vanity. Now the passing over of these poor Captives from the possession and dominion of sin and Satan unto God, is here said to be by an Emption, ye are bought with a price: For understanding whereof, we are to know, That unto this work of Redemption, two things are required: 1 A Right. 2. A Power to prosecute that Right. The Right standeth in two things. 1. In an ancient and original propriety to the thing purchased. 2. In a Propinquity thereunto. Christ hath a double claim and propriety unto his people. 1 In the Right of his divine nature, and our Creation, because he made us. And we cannot by any fraudulent Contract of ours, divest him of that original and inseparable Right unto his own Creatures: For by him all things were created, Col. 1. 16. 2. In the Right of his Mediatorship, as head of the Church, to whom we were given by the Father, to be in such manner recovered, as he in his Commission should appoint. He had a promise that he should see his seed: for there could not have been a Redemption without the Consent of the person with whom the Contract was to be made. In Election the Church was to be given unto Christ, before in Redemption he could purchase it unto himself. And as Christ had thus a propriety to his people, so he was to Redeem them Jure propinquitatis: for the Apostle alludes to the usage in the Old Testament, where he who redeemed, and brought back an alienated Inheritance unto the family again, was to be a near Kinsman, Lev. 25. 25. Ruth 4. 3, 4. Christ therefore redeeming us, and recovering the estate for us which we sold away, was to be our kinsman, that he might have the Right of Redemption: for he that sanctifieth, and they that are sanctified, are all one, Heb. 2. 11. Sin was to be condemned in our flesh, Rom. 8. 3. It behooved him to be like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high Priest. Whence we should learn as Brethren, to do all offices of love, and of helpfulness unto one another, to restore one another, to bear one another's burdens, because we are all of one blood, Acts 17. 26. Gal. 6. 1. So that whatever services we do to any, we do it to our own flesh, as the Prophet speaks, Isa. 58. 7. But besides a Right of Redemption there is required a Power to actuate and execute that Right. And this power is twofold: A Power of Authority, derived from that Commission and Command given unto Christ to execute all Judgement: Of which Commission we read, John 5. 22. John 10. 18, 34, 35, 36. Mat. 28. 18. Heb. 10. 7,— 9 2 A power of strength and vigour, to do and suffer the things commanded. In which respect Christ is called the Captain of our salvation, stronger than the strong man, able to save to the uttermost those that come unto God through him, Heb. 7. 25. To finish the work given him to do, John 17. 4. To go forth conquering, and to conquer, Rev. 6. 2. To lead Captivity Captive, Ephes. 4. 8. To destroy Satan, Heb. 2. 14. To spoil Principalities and Powers, and to triumph over them, Col. 2. 15. To deliver us from the wrath to come, 1 Thes. 1. 10. And in one word, to offer up himself by the Eternal Spirit unto God, so as to obtain Eternal Redemption for us, Heb. 9 12, 14. By that one offering, perfecting for ever those that are sanctified, Heb. 10. 14. Ceasing from his work as God did from his, to note the consummation of it, Heb. 4. 10. These things qualifying the person that is to redeem; The work itself is double, there is Redemptio per modum liberationis, by way of deliverance out of Captivity, or by way of Ransom, which is called delivering us out of the hands of our enemies, Luke 1. 74. And per modum Acquisitionis, called by the Apostle {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}. The Redemption of the purchased possession, Ephes. 1. 14. We have them both together, Gal. 4. 4, 5. For the former of these we must observe, that here is the Captive, Mankind; They under whom this Captive is detained, Rom 7 6 the Supreme Judge, Almighly God under whose Law the sinful world is held; Mat 5 25 so the Judge is said to cast into prison, Mat 3 20 to destroy soul and body in Hell; to deliver to the Tormentors, Mat. 18. 34. to conclude in unbelief. And under this supreme Judge, Rom. 11. 32. Satan, sin, death, the powers of darkness, Acts 26. 18. which are jailers, sergeants, Officers, all under the Rebuke and Command of the principal Judge. The Redeemed, the Lord our Righteousness; Jesus, that delivereth us from the wrath to come. Jer. 23. 6. The Price by him laid down for the obtaining of our discharge, 1 Thes 1. 10. for in Redemptions a price was to intervene, Ier. 32. 7, 10. and this was his Blood, Ephes 1. 7. 1 Pet. 1. 18, 19 Men may be several ways freed from Captivity. 1 By Escape, as Peter by the help of the Angel, Acts 12. 11. 2 By Dismission and free release, as Absolom was dismissed from banishment by the free pardon of David, 2 Reg. 14. 21. 3 By Power, as Abraham rescued Lot out of the hands of those that had taken him captive, Gen. 14. 16. 4. By Commutation of one for another, as Prisoners in War use to be mutually exchanged. 5. By ransom and payment of a price. And in this manner hath Christ delivered his Church, by giving his life a ransom for many, Mat. 20. 28. 1 Tim. 2. 6. For though it be as to ourselves a free condonation, we have remission of sins by the Riches of his Grace, Rom. 3. 24. Ephes. 1. 7. And though it be as to Satan, and all the powers of darkness a victorious Rescue, whom Christ spoileth, Luke 11. 21. Yet as to God, the Judge, whose Justice our sin offended, from whose wrath we cannot be delivered, till that Justice be first satisfied, Rmo. 8. 32. It was by the Solution of a price, or laying down of a proper ransom; Isa. 53. 6. for the Lord spared not his own Son, 1 Pet. 2. 24. but laid upon him the iniquity of us all, Gal. 3. 13. 4. 4. which he bare in his body on the tree, so that he was made a curse for us; made purposely under the Law, that he might pay, by his Obedience to the Law, that debt which we had contracted, but could never discharge. Unto his Father, did Christ pay this price for us. He had the primitive and original Property in us; from his service we revolting, unto the service of another Lord, were responsible to him as our Judge for so great a wrong; Anselm. Cur Deus homo, lib. 1. cap. 11. Debet omnis qui peccat honorem quem rapit Deo solvere, as Anselm speaks. His Prisoners and Debtors we were: to him alone we pray for the pardon of them. Satan and Death were but his jailers, unto whose power and custody we were delivered. Though they were our Lords, and we their servants by a Covenant of sinning, yet they were Usurpers in regard of God, by intruding upon his Right in us; for we being His, and not our own, had no more power to alienate ourselves from his service, than one man's Apprentice hath to bind himself unto another Master. Here then having been a double wrong done unto God; one by the sinner, another by Satan; Christ satisfieth for the wrong of the sinner, by suffering his curse; and revengeth the wrong of Satan, by rescuing the sinner from him unto his natural service again: the one in a way of Justice, the other of Power. Now lastly, Emption being a Contract whereunto three particulars concur, Just. l. 3. T. 24. Res, Precium & Consensus, the thing bought, the price for which, and the consent of the parties contracting: unto the consummation of this work is required, besides the solution and validity of the price, the Acceptation thereof by the consent of the Judge, that is, of God, to the ransom. And this abundantly made known unto us in the Word; the Lord declaring that he was well pleased in his Son, Mat. 3. 17 That when his soul should be made an offering for sin, Mat. 17. 5 He should see his seed, and prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord should prosper in his hand, and he should see of the travel of his soul, and be satisfied, and by his knowledge should justify many, &c. Isa. 53. 10, 11. That we are accepted in the beloved, Ephes. 1. 6. Who was answered in his prayer by a voice from heaven, to signify God's owning of that sacrifice which he was presently after to offer, John 12. 28. Thus we see how we were bought by way of liberation and ransom. Now lastly by way of Purchase and Acquisition, Christ having thus bought his Church with his own blood, Acts 20. 28. Hath further, by the Redundancy of the merit of that his blood, purchased for it an excellent Inheritance, a Dowry of Grace and Holiness here, and of Glory and Blessedness hereafter: called by the Apostle, The Adoption of sons, Gal. 4. 5. And being thus redeemed, we are now God's Own, not only upon the common and general Title of Creation, as all other things in the world are, but by a peculiar, and in a more gracious manner; by Redemption, as his liberti; by Dedication, as his Temples; by union, as his Members; by Unction, as his peculiar people, whom he hath chosen and formed for himself, Ps. 4. 3 Isa. 43. 21. Which leads us to the last particular in the Text, the practical inference or use which the Apostle makes of both the Propositions, that therefore we should glorify; and as the vulgar addeth, Bear, or show forth God, both in our Bodies, and in our spirits, which are both His; for therefore he hath given us both the one and the other, that we might use them both unto his honour, and preserve them in that dignity and relation which they both have unto him. And indeed, where is the Lord glorious, if not in his works? Bless the Lord all ye his works in all places of his Dominion, Psalm 103. 22. We are his By Creation, the work of his hands. Where glorious, if not in his Members? which are animated by that Spirit of glory, and of God which rested upon Christ, the Lord of Glory, 1 Pet. 44. 1. And we are his by Union, Members that ought to be conformed to a glorious head. Where glorious, if not in His Temple? For in his Temple doth every one speak of his glory, Psalm 29. 9 And we are his by Dedication, built up a spiritual Temple unto him, 1 Pet. 2. 5. Where glorious, if not in his Own anointed people, his peculiar Treasure? Psalm 135. 4. His Jewels Mal. 3. 17. In whom he intendeth to be admired, 2 Thes. 1. 10. Where can he expect Service, if not from those whom he hath redeemed? The civil Law saith, Cod de postilimin reversis l 8 & 17 Petit: de leg Attic l 2 Tit 6 Redemptus est Redimentis per modum pignoris; and Demosthenes {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}. That he who is delivered from enemies, is a servant unto him that delivered him, till he can pay the ransom which was given for him. Quod emitur transit in potestatem ementis. Where Christ is Redemption, he is Sanctification too, for we are redeemed from our former vain Conversation, 1 Pet. 1. 19 And from all Iniquity, Tit. 2. 14. Christ loved his Church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it, Ephes. 5. 26. Rom. 14. 9 Being therefore not our Own, but bought with a price, Let us glorify him that bought us. 1. In Adoring this great Mystery brought about by the Exinanition of the son of God, Aug. de Trin l 13 c 10 Ber Epist 190 and the humbling of him to our Curse: for though the Omnipotent Lord wanted not other means to have wrought this deliverance; yet herein hath he magnified his Power, wisdom, Justice, Mercy and Love, in doing it by the Incarnation and Suffering of his Eternal son: That as the first Adam made us sinners in semine, so the Second make us Righteous in sanguine. To Adore the freeness of it, in that he came unsought to seek, as well as to save, Luke 19 10. And the Discrimination which is therein made between us and Angels; for he took not the nature of Angels, but the seed of Abraham, Heb. 2. 16. Though the Devil in Coelo in tumuit, ego in sterquilinio. 2. To admire the Severity of divine Justice, which would not suffer sin to go unpunished, or the sentence of death against it unexecuted, though it were in his own Son. The unsearchableness of divine Mercy, in accepting a Commutation, a son for a servant, a sacrifice for a sinner. The infinite depth of divine wisdom, in finding out a way to punish the sin, and to save the sinner; to punish it throughly and as throughly to pardon it; to cause him that was eternal, to be made; Him that was impassible, to suffer; Him that was Lord of life, to die: to make our nature in that person pay a debt, which all the Angels in Heaven could never have discharged. 3. To believe and apply the comfort of so precious a Doctrine to ourselves, and to put in for a share in it, and so to glorify God, as Abraham did, Rom. 4. 20. Without it I am a captive to sin and Satan, cursed in body, cursed in soul; my conscience says Amen to the Curses, Deut. 27. 15— 26. The Law holds me under, the Scripture shuts me out; I have no shelter nor refuge from the thunder of divine wrath. But now by the Redemption which Christ hath wrought, God is placable, sin pardonable; the soul curable, the curse removable. And shall God offer Mercy, and I refuse it? Am I bought with a price, and shall I not glorify God by accepting of it? Do I not stand in need of Christ? Is he not provided for me? Is he not revealed to me? Doth he not invite, entreat, command me to come unto him? Did he ever cast away any that did so? May I not venture to believe? May I not reach forth an arm to embrace the sure Mercies of David? Are there not examples of great sinners who have been welcome unto great Mercy, 1 Tim. 1. 13— 16 Lord I am a great sinner, I confess it, I bemoan it, I hate it, I forsake it; I will throw away every thing which keeps me and Christ asunder, thou dost freely give Christ, I greatly want him, I earnestly desire him, I thankfully accept him, I willingly follow him; I am his ransomed servant to be ruled by him, and to live to his grace. I am bought with a price, therefore I will not be a servant of men, 1 Cor. 7. 23. To captivate either my Reason, my Conscience, or my Conversation, to their Will. I am bought with a price, therefore I will be servant to him that bought me, that as he hath by his blood purchased Glory for me, so I may by my obedience bring Glory unto him: For herein is he glorified when we bring forth much fruit, John 15. 8. I will glorify him in my body; by external purity, and exemplary sanctity; I will possess my vessel (i) my Body in Holiness and in Honour, 1 Thess. 4. 3. I will cleanse myself from all filthiness, as well of flesh as spirit, 2 Cor. 7. 1. I will yield my Members servants of righteousness unto Holiness, Rom. 6. 19 I will let my good works shine before men, that they may glorify God, Mat. 5. 16. I will glorify him in my Spirit, by internal purity of heart. I will sanctify the Lord God himself, and make him my fear and dread, Isa. 8. 13. I will labour for truth and chastity in the inward parts, Psalm 51. 6. I will take heed of Jezabel and her fornication, because the Lord searcheth the reins and the heart, Revel. 2. 20— 23. Thus if we glorify him in body and spirit in a way of obedience; He will at last fashion our vile bodies like unto his glorious body, Phil. 3. 21. And raise it up in honour and power, 1 Cor. 15. 42, 43. And he will make our spirits, the spirits of just men made perfect, Heb. 12. 23. and shed abroad his Image fully upon us, when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, 2 Thes. 1. 10. Which that we may do, let us call upon God. FINIS.